A Rainbow is a Promise

Yesterday ended a period of waiting. It's end was good- freeing - but also painful. When you finish a fast, you can't go right back to eating regular food... there's some transition that is necessary, and I think that carries over to other kinds of waiting, as well. Today, however, was full of restoration, including a rainbow. I even got to take a picture of it.
A rainbow is a promise between God and his people that he will never flood the earth again. To me, today, it meant that I can depend fully on him. The rainbow along with other things, like beautiful piano music where I didn't even realize there was a piano.
You know how sometimes, when you're really hungry, you eat protein (for me usually a ham-and-cheese sandwich) and you start to feel better, fuller, restored, right after the first or second bite? Sometimes music does that to me, though not in my stomach, of course. It was all the more beautiful for being unexpected.
Anyway.

A river, some ducks, some senior-picture-takers, a book, a friend, a work meeting, a pianist, a rainbow: a promise.

Time & Distance

A post on best friends and how they slowly change and secretly grow more and more into the person they always were inside, until one day you realize you're not really sure who they are anymore, or where, buried inside all the extra layers that time and experience have been piling on, your companion and kindred spirit got off to.

Use your memory, and you will find that this is so. Think of someone from college, someone you knew years ago, with whom you parted ways, only to reconnect, briefly, years later.

I have many friends. They are now who they were always going to be. The older we grow, the further we separate, like branches growing on a tree. I miss my old buds, but I wouldn't, myself, go back to being a bud for all the free travel in the world. (And if you know me,you know I'd give up a LOT to be able to travel freely, without expense)

Perhaps I'm one of those people Zimbardo talks about in this video who always look to the past, lamenting what they've lost. I don't want to be that person. That seems, to me, to be the worst sort of outlook to have, so I'm trying to change it. But occasionally, a stray thought crosses my mind... and I remember.... It's hard not to focus on loss. One of my favorite poems is "One Art," by Elizabeth Bishop. I also really love "i carry your heart with me" by e. e. cummings (both introduced to me by In Her Shoes, and excellent movie that you should definitely watch).
Aaaaanyways. I was just thinking of this one really close friend of mine, and wondering about life... and this post is what happened. :P
over 'n out.
E.O.

Mangoes and Things

So... apparently Tuesday is H-mart day. I was going to go yesterday, but had a stomach ache on the way home and was exhausted from pushing myself in swimming. So it happened today. Fruits of the spoil include: lychee (more on that later), mangoes, an onion, and queso fresco.
Lychee. The reason I bothered to even find H-mart last week in the first place. Today, I found lychee on sale, though it was nowhere to be seen last week. Good. So I buy some. I had heard from several sources that it tastes like "perfume". Um... okay. First of all, they're a blast to peel. They're all spiky and almost prickly on the outside, but you can sink your nail into them easily, and then after a teensy bit of exertion, the outside bit comes off like a dream. The inside, to my mind, tastes like a peeled grape. Seriously. What's all this fuss about perfume? I don't understand. They're a lot of fun, but next time I want something similar... I'll just peel some of the grapes my family keeps permanently in the refrigerator drawer. :P
The mangoes, as always, are marvelous. I don't know why I didn't like them the first time I had one. They're quite extraordinary, and I kind of wish my childhood had been full of them. I think that you experience fruit more intensely when you're a kid. You... well, for lack of a better word, you play with it. Figure it out, get accustomed to its composition. And then, it becomes ordinary. Hah, I'm having trouble explaining why this process of discovering, understanding, enjoying, and getting used to fruit as a kid seems so great to me, but just trust that it's one of those beautiful "Dandelion Wine" type things of growing up, to my mind. A quintessential part of being a kid. Fruits are just all so varied in taste, color, and texture (watermelon, peach, cherry, banana, mango, pineapple, apple, guava...). Yet all have the same purpose; all are sweet, have some kind of skin, and contain seeds. *shrug*
I wonder, sometimes, what other kinds of fruits there are in the world that I haven't encountered yet. I hope that I do, one day, encounter them, and get to take joy in the experience of New Things.
I look forward to it.
over 'n out.

Adventures

So, I've been saying forever that I wanted to go to a) the farmer's market and b) Super H Mart. Today I found a SHM literally on my way home (yay!!) and went in to browse for an hour or so. =) Interesting foods purchased include: mango; raw, unshelled chickpeas, kinder chocolate (yum! a taste of my childhood, lol.), and dorian-flavored wafers. Not so sure how I feel about that last one... I had one bite of one wafer and could taste it for the next two hours, until I ate one of the mangos- which were absolutely delicious.
Plus, it was so nice to be in a place where I didn't know what about 80% of the stuff was, and certainly couldn't read the packaging. =) Odd, the things that make you feel at home sometimes, isn't it? I love the sense of adventure and confusion that came from that hour-long trek. Plus, since I've started cooking seriously now, once a week, I'm thinking I'll probably go there and get one or two select items to try and make new dishes this weekend! =) I already have an awesome curry recipe... ;)
Also, that place had so many differnt cultures represented! Indian, Mexican, Peruvian, German, Russian/East European... and of course, all kinds of Asian. =) That is definitely one of my fav. adventures from this summer so far, and will be happening again. Other adventures this week may include, but not be limited to: having amazing conversations with people I don't really know but am starting to,conversations about God with people on the street, lunch with co-workers (who are finally accepting me into their coterie, w00t!), dinner at an ethiopian restaurant with other friends, house church, and tubing. I'm excited. This week is looking beautiful. Now if I can just remember to get gas...
over 'n out.
E.O.

Time

Time has reached a new height of slow. Weeks have been magically converted into fortnights, and one day averages about three (don't ask me how that works, I'm not entirely sure myself). The weeks are so long that when the weekend (read: Sat morning) arrives, I'm not entirely sure that I'm not delusional, and seriously consider packing a lunch, dressing for work, and getting in my car to commute.
On the other hand, weekends are like beautiful, sparkling glass beads on a string of pretty, but plain, wooden ones. They have events and friends, and allow me to do things I actually want to do and enjoy doing. It's amazing, truly.
In other news, it's been a week now since I talked to my fCA, which is more than ever since we started talking, really. And that's difficult. But the next week will be more difficult still, I think. I might start to wonder if I'm not hallucinating again...
Truly, it is a summer for doubting my senses. :P
I'm also starting to be glad to be home. Kind of. At least, I'm trying very hard to appreciate and remember how much I really do love the people who live here. They're the only ones who've been with me (brace yourselves, here comes a cliche) through thick and thin, and who are ALWAYS around, no matter where I live. Seriously, that is a pretty major thing, that they're still around.
Anyways. I'm gonna go collapse on my bed now, and let the past week drain from my brain; but not before marking all of its days with a little mental check for completion. One more week of "psychological warfare" (to use A.'s term for our current employment) overcome.
over 'n out.
E.O.

Summer so far

So it's june now. Which, to my mind, means that we've finally hit summer (and when you read "hit," imagine a waterplane landing on the ocean, with splashes of that precious liquid streaming out behind it). Everything is slowing down, though not to the point of lassitude.
This is something that I struggle against. I like my life full and moderately-paced, with people and events and learning to keep my mind interested in the next moment. This summer though, I'm working, and the fixed routine gives my mind a choice: either get stuck in a routine-rut, thinking the same thoughts, saying the same things every day, or use the calmness of the routine to give my thoughts flight, to rest, prepare, and actively wait for the coming year.
I'm trying hard to take the second approach. Commuting is curiously conducive to some good thinking. =) And the more I reflect on what's gone on this year and sundry other issues, the more I learn from them. Makes me wish I had more thinking-power. :P
My one regret: Working nearly 40h a week requires me to be separated from my dear sun when it's out in the sky. I'm sure that will be a blessing as the summer goes on and heat rises steadily, but for now, I miss being warm. (*SECRET MESSAGE: MY HOUSE IS A FREEZER. NO JOKE. SOMEBODY RESCUE MEEEEEE! *END OF TRANSMISSION*)
Anyways. Hope your June will be good.
over 'n out.
E.O.