WYD in 17103 - Part 5 - Single Parenting 101 or Why God's plan for a one-man one-woman union is perfect.

Not a deck. Nor a new bedroom. It's a new phone system! With the new outlet in the kitchen I am now able to get rid of the crank-phone and the party line. I now have a base unit, sounds Star War-ish doesn't it, a "base unit" and two, count them two satellite cordless phones. Again the satellite reference wreaks of Star Wars.

Today was also Day One of "Walk the Dog Week". Not to be confused with The Food Channel's "Wok the Dog Week". Seth and I have to walk a friends dog while they are on vacation. Not a tough job since the dog to be walked is the last surviving mammal from Noah's Ark. He's old, really old. However he still needs to exercise, poop and pee at least twice a day. So there's where we come in.

Today was also paint the bleachers day at Bishop McDevitt High School. Being a member of the marching band and being in good status, Seth wanted to participate. Little did I know that what they need him for was to be a 'paint roller'. No, not one to roll the paint onto the bleachers, but rather one to be dipped in paint and then rolled on the bleachers. When I went to pick him up he was covered from head to toe in blue paint. He said it was dry but I made him turn his shirt inside out before getting into my vehicle. Band! Teenagers!

Today was also mill yesterdays tomato sauce, pick today's tomatoes, start today's sauce, finish the wiring job from last evening, set up the new phones, answer the new phone that is ringing! Hey, wait, it's my Ann calling from Lourdes, France.

All is well there. Drinking water is some what of a challenge for the group. To solve that problem they found that they could drink the water from the Lourdes Grotto spring. It's spring water, holy, pure and potable. Also it is tied to many miracles of healing. I'm guessing Ann will return home showing no signs of grey hair.

Today was also go to the store for Grandma Delp, fix her light and get her masking tape. Grandpop wasn't left out of the mix as it was take him to church, let him watch Seth walk the dog and go out to eat supper day.

Then it was home again to watch the Phillies beat the Nationals, boil my sauce and sit on my recliner. Didn't get to shred and freeze the zucchini but will do that tomorrow, I promise.

All these things are done routinely around here but normally there are two people handling the responsibilities. I am gaining a greater insight and a greater respect for single parents. God's plan to join two people to share family responsibilities is right on! Never meditated on that fact but now that I think of it, would it be anything less than perfect.

Oh, I forgot to mention, I got 30-gallons of free gas today. Thank you Giant Markets. That's the fifth time this calendar year I've been able to do that. Take that OPC! Take that Obama! Take that Congress! We can and will defeat you all.

By the way, the picture of Seth above has nothing to do with this blog. It was just a good shot from yesterday and thought I'd share it. - DD

WYD 2011 in 17103 - Part 4 "Sink or Swim" or Hershey Park really isn't all that bad when the alternative is ...

I went to bed last night knowing that the dawn would bring sorrow and heartache. Sort of like the condemned man who can hear a guy whistling a happy song as he drives nails while building the gallows from which the condemned will hang in the morning. Strike one was another day apart from my Ann. Strike two was I was going to spend a good part of the day at Hershey Park (HP). The final strike and also just as unavoidable was that I would once again have to crawl under the kitchen sink and try to unclog the unclogable.

Note: Merriam-Webster defines "oxymoron" as: a combination of contradictory or incongruous words. I'd like to point out to you that I consider "a good part of the day at Hershey Park" to be very oxymoronic. No part of the day is "good" when at Hershey Park, except for the tram ride from the park to my car.

As is typically the case, Seth and I were up and running behind schedule immediately. We stopped for breakfast, picked up his friend Michael, stopped at Grandpops to abscond with his cell phone and charger and headed to Hershey Park. Walked directly to the voucher exchange line, got our tickets and walked directly into the park. This is too easy. The boys went directly to Storm Runner and rode twice within 20-minutes. Then it was on to the rest of "Hershey Park Happy". After a short while I separated myself from the boys and took off on my own. I had a leisurely stroll through the Boardwalk and Water Park. My feat hurt so I decide to throw caution to the wind remove my shoes and low cut socks which are pretty wild when one considers exactly whose feet they were on and dove feet first into the Wave Pool. I stayed far from any waves being created in this man made sea because I didn't have a swim suit on, the head life guard only let me in because I swore and signed an affidavit stating I would not get wet above my knees because I didn't have "proper swimming attire" on and because I had just finish watching "Shark Week" on the Discovery Channel and who knows what danger lurks beyond the breakers.

After standing in ankle deep, cool water for 15-minutes I work up a powerful thirst. Being who I am and not being able to help myself, I brought along my refillable mug that I either picked up from a trash can at HP or bought for a dime at some yard sale. In past years HP would gladly refill these for 99-cents plus 6-cents for the governor of the Commonwealth. But not this year! This year HP decided that locals who were doing this were costing Hershey Entertainment tens of dollars each year in soda sales and so they upped the ante to $1.69 plus a dime for the governor of the Commonwealth. This is just another reason why I detest HP. Number one on that list is the $10 parking fee but that's another blog.

I did get a refill on my kettle-corn for the $2.25 refill price but I guess they some how knew when they scanned my admission ticket that I had legitimately bought the first fill up four years ago. I linked up with Seth for a few moments before he went to meet more of his friends. With the new found sense of adventure stirring deep with in me, I set out across the park. I jumped on the Dry Gulch Railroad, tramped to the tram and the went to see a show. By this time I was beat so I called Seth and said I was headed home.

Now like the first few moments of the morning when the condemned man awakens, he probably has two things on his mind that aren't connected with ropes or falling. He is thinking wheres the bathroom and what's for breakfast. Me I'm thinking, BLT's for supper and how fast can I get home. Then as unexpectedly and suddenly as a lightning strike a voice in the back of my head located somewhere between my ears whispered, "kitchen sink". So just like the dead man walking, going up the steps to the gallows, I went home, cleared out the stuff beneath the sink and once again attacked the plumbing. My friend Scott stopped in and we are in agreement, so it must be so, that any charges from a plumber are justified and warranted regardless of what they are.

I buried the full length of my heavy duty snake not once but twice and each time I retrieved copious amounts of the blackest, slickest, nastiest stuff this side of a Gulf oil slick. It was so bad that the towels I used to wipe the snake off are still burning with a strange yellow-blue-orange flame in my fire pit. But like the Susquehanna River, my drain is flowing free.

I was so happy and Scott was so happy with my being happy that we immediately knocked a hole in my kitchen wall and installed a new outlet so I can change my house phones. Plumbing, electrical work what does tomorrow hold? Maybe a deck or a new bedroom? One never knows.

So all in all it was almost a perfect day in spite of HP and the sink. Only having Ann here to share in the madness could I have achieved perfection.

I pray your days in Lourdes are as near perfect as mine in 17103. - DD

WYD 2011 in 17103 - Part 3 "Do Nothing Day"

Woke up late this morning after a night of fitful sleep. Immediately checked the flight tracker and saw that BAW flight 28 had safely landed in London and that BAW flight 374 to Toulouse was soon to depart. Did the wii, ate breakfast and got Seth up. My do nothing day will consist of submitting pictures for prints, filling the bird feeders, reading the sports and going to get said prints.

Left just before 11 A.M. for Sams. Got the prints and remembered Grandma Delp needed a new phone chord. Ding, ding. That's not the phone but the LOW-Fuel-Level indicator in our Equinox. So It's over to the gas pumps for a quick refresher. Now on the Mifflin Avenue to deliver one chord and several WYD pictures. Lawn needs mowed. Counter light isn't working. Started to look at the light but got sidetracked by something and it was completely gone.

Let Mifflin for Feeser. Delivered pictures at Feeser and was told that the sink I fixed last week was now unfixed and a plumber was to be called. I nixed that idea as I said I'd revisit my non-guaranteed work from last week. Like the light I completely forgot about the sink as Grandpop had Seth and me take him to the bank. We not only went to one bank but to two. Mission accomplished. Stopped at Giant for TP, garlic, milk, etc. Delivered Grandpop back home and returned to Boas. Picked tomatoes, made sauce, called Aaron, pattied burgers, cut pork roll, fired up the grill, ate supper and began the clean-up when I decided to mow two front lawns, one full lawn, look at a light I forgot earlier and return to do sink warranty work.

Then a giant wrench was thrown into the works. The kitchen sink refused to let water drain away. So I tore everything apart, cupboard, plumbing, you name it, I tore it up. I buried two snakes down the drain and fixed the problem. I washed the dishes and set off to accomplish my planned after supper missions with only about 95-minutes of day light. Without Seth it couldn't have been done. He performed like a champ. Mission accomplished.

We returned home and I put the cupboard back together while Seth showered. I then tried to do several rouge dishes and ... the sink backed up again. Ugh! That's going to wait until tomorrow.

This may seem hectic and somewhat busy but a call from Lourdes, France from my Ann made the entire day one of joy. All is well there and all are enjoying the pilgrimage. If they are happy I am happy. As I go to bed now I know that tomorrow I face a clogged sink, a day at Hershey Park (please read my past blog on Hershey Park, another day without my love and what ever else life decides to throw at me. Bring it on! - DD

WYD 2011 in 17103 - Part 2 "Bark-in-the-Park"

I made it through the night. Immediately upon wake-up I checked flight tracker to find that prayer is answered and the plane made it. That's not unlike the hundreds of other planes that crossed the Atlantic yesterday but British Airway Flight 228 carried the most important cargo in the world, to me any ways. I guess that my view of 35,000 foot vapor trails has changed as I now fully under stand the value and importance of the contents of the aircraft creating those trails. Maybe not so directly to me but to someone else who cares as much about the contents as I did about the contents of BAW Flight 228. My next mission, and I have chosen to accept it, is to safely get BAW Flight 374 from London to Toulouse. As I write this it is less than an hour to take off so I must hurry as I'll be really busy very soon.

And now a note about what going on with Seth and me at 17103. After the departure we came home and I milled the tomato sauce I'd started to cook down yesterday. It smelled wonderful! It has become a tradition to make enough sauce to last until it's all gone. Making it fills our house with the incense of love, of late summer, of the coming Autumn, of family times gathered around a bowl of Angel Hair pasta and of good eating. After watching the Phillies overcome a six run deficit, through both open and shut eyelids, we went went to the Senators game using some gift tickets. I enjoy going to see the team but this year so far has been the pits as far as having a good experience at the ballpark.

Our first trip there was a mid-week day game in May. It happened to be the day that 137,289 school kids cut class (legally under the ruse of an educational field trip) to sit in the row behind me and scream non-stop at the top of their little 'nails-on-a-blackboard' adolescence voices. My second trip was a night game in June which was actually very pleasant until the sun went down and the mayflies from the Susquehanna River filled the air as snowflakes due during a January blizzard. It was so bad that the next day I found may flies in my armpits and under my toe nails. Game three was once again a freebie for me as a friend gave me four seats for a July afternoon game. The seats were on the left field foul line, unshaded and close to baseball most exciting minor league player Bryce Harper. Have I mentioned that at the noon start time it was already 93-degrees. Did mention that Bryce Harper did not play. Did I mention that the temperature rose to as high as 97-degrees. Did I mention that Hershey's ice cream make a really good icepop.

So, last night Seth and I go to the Metro Bank park once again. School is out so there should be no screamers or foot stompers. It's mid-August so the mayflies should be gone for the summer. It's a night game, game time temp is 77. Delightful! Only, it's "Bark-in-the-Park" night! And bark they did. Only those of you who truly know me can share in the excitement I had to be there. As the pet owners paraded around the stadium struttin' their stuff I was 'entertained' by countless outbreaks of alpha-dogs claiming their territories by snarling, barking wildly and stretching their leashes to the snapping point. During the game the Senators kept promoting a game in early September when "Cowboy Monkeys on Dogs" would be their for our entertainment. Guess I'm destined to be there. - DD

WYD 2011 in 17103

The day that was close to two years away finally arrived today, August 10, 2011. It seems like a life time ago that Ann said "St Margaret Mary's Youth group wants to take kids to WYD in Madrid in August 2011. Wouldn't it be nice if we could go." To which I replied, "Why not. Start saving and I'm sure there will be fund raisers."

I knew Ann wanted to go and in short order Rebecca and Micah joined the pilgrimage. Things started slowly at first but over the past 18-months we have been involved with many fund raisers. We took on possibly the most successful one when we agreed to make peanut butter fudge to sell. We made close to a thousand pounds of fudge and talked about the trip each time we made it. Today as the buses were loading I thought I could still smell peanut butter in the air.

To say the last week leading up to today was hectic is the same as saying that the ocean between here and there is wide. Packing for one is tough, packing for three is challenging especially when one of the three lives in the 19123 zip code. Of course having raised seven children Ann took it all in stride. Instead of needing three pairs of shoes, three capris, four blouses (short, long and sleeveless), two pair of shorts, sweaters, jackets, ponchos, umbrella, toiletries, eight undies, two bras, endless socks, bed rolls, ground covers, passports, licenses, ids, and on and on ad infinitum, we need all that times three. Except for the bras and undies, Micah passed on the bras and would only say that he need less because "One pair last three day, rightside-in, inside out and commando."

Then due to some misinformation, everyone was told that Euros could be purchased at AAA auto club by anyone but that reality was different, we gladly made multiple trips to triple-A to purchase them for all those non-members. I am not saying we were in and out of there a lot but we are on a first name basis with the desk ladies, on the Christmas card list of the Euro seller and have been asked to host a trip to Europe next fall.

"Chaos" was the word that best describes the final five hours before boarding the bus for BWI. I'll let it at that. No one person is to blame, it was just the situation. To have teens and recently teens just stand and jump up and down shouting "We're going to Spain!" and breakout out into uncontrolled singing and shouting, pretty much paints an accurate picture of the energy and adrenalin generated by the moment. Those times and those moments are over for me as I much prefer a more pedestrian pace and a 'let's just get-on-with-it' attitude. I have been stressed many times since 1975 and today jumped into the Top Ten for me. I had several friends who do not imbibe offer to meet me afterwards with a case or a couple of fifths. From this I was assured that what I was experiencing was not only me.

And then the engines roared to life, the doors were closed, and exhaust fumes filled the air with the fragrance of departure. They were gone. Rather, Ann was gone.

The only way I can describe the feeling I had and still have is that I feel like one of those chocolate bunnies found in your Easter basket. Nice on the outside but a hollow feeling on the inside. I guess thirty-six years of living and loving someone elicits feelings like that at times like these.

Father God, guide their steps, surround them with angels and let them feel your presence. Be with Seth and me here in 17103 and spin that hour hand hastening them home. - DD

I'm Coming Back

It's been a while since I last made an entry here. Guess it was one of those gray moods or valley times that we all experience from time to time. Anyhow I am back.

Vicit Agnus Noster

Today I was listening to Michael Card's Christmas CD, The "Promise". I do this as I work in order to block out the surrounding office noise. Suddenly I realized that I was listening to "Vicit Agnus Noster". One-hundred percent of my attention was on the music and the lyrics. I was transfixed, hyptnotised maybe. I became somewhat agitated as my three years of Latin education failed me as I tried to translate the songs title and lyrics. It was further frustrating in that I had gone through this exercise times before and I failed to stir up the mental powers to retrieve that which I had already commited to memory.

As I was soon to understand this was part of the plan. I opened Yahoo and keyed in 'Vicit Agnus Noster'. For some unknown but Spirit led reason, I bypassed the first three entries and clicked on the fourth one. I found myself on the Michael Card web page with the songs lyrics and a devotional from Michael Card. I was blown away by the simplicity of the paradox presented by Vicit Agnus Noster, our Lamb has conquered.

Here are the lyrics from the song.

Vicit Agnus Noster

Vicit Agnus
Vicit Agnus
Noster eum sequamur

Did Abraham himself not say
God would provide a lamb
To take instead the punishment
That should belong to man

And so to humble shepherds
Was His glory first revealed
And with His birth a covenant
Made long ago was sealed

Vicit Agnus
Vicit Agnus
Noster eum sequamur

Out of His dark obscurity
The Light of God has shone
And through the meekness of the Lamb
God's strength would be made known

The just and gentle Promised One
Would triumph o're the fall
And conquer by His own defeat
And win by losing all


Had I been able to recall the Latin translation of 'Vicit Agnus' I would never gone to Yahoo and had I not gone to Yahoo I would not have been touched by Michael Card's devotional on the subject. Following is the devotional as written by Michael Card. "Vicit agnus noster eum sequamur." - Dan

(vicit agnus noster eum sequamur is an ancient Latin motto which means, "our Lamb has conquered, Him let us follow.")

Should the motto not read, "vicit leo noster eum sequamur," "our Lion has conquered, Him let us follow?" What is the meaning of the motto as it stands? "Our Lamb has conquered." How is it that we have come to follow One who is predominantly represented as a lamb? Where does the paradox come from that teaches weakness is strength, defeat is victory and poverty wealth? The paradox is rooted in this disturbing image of the conquering Lamb.

Throughout most of the Bible He is not the lamb who conquers, but the one who is Himself conquered. In the Old Testament the lamb is the helpless, innocent substitute and sacrifice. It is slain to be consumed. Its' blood is splattered on the doorposts to mark the homes of the faithful so that the angel of death will 'Passover'(Ex.12). The Old Testament lamb is victim not victor.

Likewise, throughout most of the New Testament, when the Lamb of God appears He seems the most unlikely candidate to conquer. He is born in a stable, like a lamb. He is first recognized by shepherds who themselves have just come from the fields and the birthing of other lambs. Except for a couple of incidents, primarily at the Temple when His "lionish" side surfaces, He is the innocent even weak lamb. He is finally apprehended at Passover and slain precisely during the three hour period when the other Passover lambs are being sacrificed, his own forsaken cries echoing together with the helpless bleating of those other sacrificial lambs. According to exact ritual observance the bones of the Lamb are not broken in the sacrificial process, ironically by two soldiers who couldn't have cared less about ritual observance (Jn.19:31-36). And even as the other lambs are eaten so He had earlier instructed His disciples to consume the bread that was His body. At the moment of His resurrection, when we might expect to hear the roaring of the Lion of Judah, we instead hear nothing but the confused shouts of the women witnesses, whose testimony would have been unacceptable in their own society.

It is not until the close of the New Testament in the book of Revelation that the Conquering Lamb appears. Though still portrayed as being slain, He is yet the One who has conquered.

In the first scene in chapter 5 John is standing amongst a great crowd witnessing an angel flying about with a scroll which no one, it seems, is worthy to open. So caught up is John in the vision that he begins to weep. He understands that if the scroll is not opened history itself cannot unfold.

Then one of the elders standing alongside John in the midst of the great crowd says to him, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah... has triumphed...!" "The Lion" says the elder. So John looks up, blinking back the tears expecting to see just that. But what does he see?

"Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain..." John sees not a lion but a lamb, a triumphant Lamb, sitting on a throne. The unfolding of the image of the conquering Lamb has begun.

The second scene is from chapter 17. John has been transported to the desert where he sees a woman, a prostitute, astride a detestable scarlet beast. A conflict is about to erupt between her dark forces and the Lamb.

v.14 "They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is King of kings and Lord of lords- and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers."

The final scene, in chapter 19, takes place amidst the roaring sound of a great multitude in heaven. It is the long-awaited marriage supper of the Lamb, the final consummation of a romance that will last forever between the Lamb and His followers, His Bride. The context is exultant worship. The opening words of the thundering multitude "Hallelujah!" The conquering Lamb is finally wed. History has come to full blossom. It is the Kingdom. It is heaven.

Christmas, the celebration of the first Coming of the Lamb, looks back to the humble stable and the simple shepherds. The setting is a dark, fallen world. He has come to expose through his weakness the impotence of what the world calls power. He has come to show us that it is we who are upside down.

In that sense, Christmas is a preparation for the celebration that will be the second Coming of the Lamb triumphant. The contrast between the settings of the two Comings could not be more extreme. Instead of a silent stable and a bunch of motley shepherds, there will be a resplendent multitude whose praise can only be described as a "roar."

prayer:
Oh Lamb of God, innocent, helpless One, born in a stable, held in shepherds' arms, sleeping in the hay. You are the Lamb, our Lamb, meek, gentle and spotless Victim.

Yet you are the Lamb victorious. You have conquered sin and death. You have overcome the evil one. The throne is Yours. The glory Yours. We look up to see the lion and yet it is still You that we see, both reigning and slain. And You bid us follow.

This Christmas make us mindful of what Your first Coming means. Enfold us in the paradox that is the wisdom of it. Let this Christmas clear our vision so that we might look ahead and upward to Your second Coming. Let us await, a faithful Bride, longing for the feast.