Help, hope and prayers

Our hearts and prayers go out to all the people affected by Hurricane Katrina.  We feel deeply sorry for all the people who have lost their homes and loved ones, for the region that has lost many of its prized and charming cities, and for the nation that has lost much of its dignity in the way that people, both inside and outside the tragedy, have responded.  If we learn nothing else from this horrific chain of events, we should at least come away knowing that mother nature cannot and will not be tamed by men, and that human nature finds it much easier to point a finger than to lift one.  
We are not innocent of this;  We have pretended that we understand the angst the victims are experiencing, yet we have felt angered by the looting, shooting and rioting;  We ourselves feel frustrated by the weakness of government and institution response, yet there is little that we ourselves have done.  Last night we called 1-800-HELP-NOW and donated what we could to the Red Cross.  Now perhaps we can feel that we have helped, but inside it does not feel like enough.
This one natural disaster has brought an entire nation to its knees.  Now, while we are there, we must pray for us all.

www.redcross.org

Good wine doesn't come under $15

Or at least it's hard to find. Out of 73 bottles at the "World's Greatest Wine Values" tasting with the Ann Arbor Tasters Guild, we each found only two that we might enjoy—and they weren’t even the same two between us. Many contained sulfur stronger than a coal mine, and one, according to the sponsor, was the best (or is that worst?) example of bad corked wine he’d ever had. Others were far sweeter than our roughened palates approved of. Even so, it was an event well worth experiencing. Jon had never been to a tasting before, while this was Cortney’s fourth. It was fairly crowded, but the people spread themselves out evenly enough, the only downside being that the hors d'oeuvres went quickly. We were all quite stunned by the enormous vat that the waitstaff poured the spit buckets into. We hear there’s quite a disgusting moment in the recent movie Sideways that is directly related to the spit bucket. We’ll have to check it out soon, especially with our newly enlightened vocabulary. Thanks, Dad H.

 Michigan football countdown: 5 days to go!

"Watch out, Jon's in manly mode!"

That has to be the quote of the day.  As if we had a quote of the day.  Well, we do in this entry, and as one can tell by the picture, Jon really was in manly mode this evening; with a hatchet (a purchase he was very proud of) and his goggles he set out to break up some fire wood for tonight’s deck fire (this being after he grilled the burgers, too).  Now, if that isn’t manly mode, what is?  I suppose we could have added a flannel shirt.  Kristin and Matt tell us that part is required for the Lumberjack Competition on ESPN.  But flannel or no, Jon and Matt got the job done and all four of us felt strangely proud to roast marshmallows over a good strong fire that we built ourselves. The last time Jon and I tried to build a fire in our new outdoor fireplace we failed miserably and the partially burned logs from that evening are still gracing our catch-all box (read: old sandbox) in the backyard.  But tonight we were successful and it felt like a right of passage – we made a fire without the help of the scout master!  By the way, we also underwent another right of passage today, this one a hold over from the 1950s suburban American dream – Matt and Kristin called to borrow an egg to make the cake that they were bringing over for dessert tonight.  Now, we realize that it wasn’t a cup of sugar, but we figure that this is close enough.  Yes, I suppose we are adults now… when we want to be.

Michigan football countdown:  6 days to go!

Artwork belongs on walls

So how long does it take to put new artwork up on walls?  It depends on the artwork and the difficulty of the location in which it must be hung.  Sometimes.  For instance, we have this great metal sculpture thing (named "Ray") that belonged to Cortney's godfather and was given to us as a gift... last summer.  It is still in the basement, mostly because we want to hang it above our stairs, which requires either a fancy ladder or acrobatics, or both.  We also got a great clock from Jon's mom for Christmas, and until tonight that was sitting on the wine rack in our kitchen, but there is no excuse for that delay beccause it is just on a normal kitchen wall now, ticking away.  Then there's the African photograph we got at the Art Fair several weeks ago.  It waited on the floor in Cortney's office until tonight when it has finally come to rest on the wall above our bed.  Ah well, Ray will have to wait another few weeks I fear.  As for our bedroom, we are now sleeping in the heart of Africa although the wildlife seems to be a bit on the small and cuddly side (except for the turtle, which dwarfs our bed).

A marriage in numbers

We have been married for 17,544 wonderful hours, driven 7,011.24 miles on trips, shared 1,773 meals.
We have been married for 731 days, rented 110 movies, visited 38 National Parks and 26 of the states.
We have been married for 24 months, been to 11 major cities, 8 football games, 7 zoos, 5 stage shows, 4 theme parks.
We have been married for 2 years, adopted 2 cats (we already had 3 dogs), flown 1 flight, bought 1 house.
We have been married once, but it has provided thousands of joys and will provide an uncountable number in the future.

Happy anniversary to us.