Saturday, September 30, 2006

skinny St. Nicholas and the flying camera man

My wife is out of town this weekend, so Ian and I are on our own. Tonight and tomorrow are easy--we'll actually get to attend vespers and DL for the same day! We have the car, so we can actually get out to the Antiochian church. This morning they had a float in the town parade, so Ian and I went to watch. His favorite parts were the horses and the candy (and probably more than those, the fact that we got to see a light rail train go by on the way back to the car). Mine were the skinny St. Nicholas pushing the boat and the camera man who went dashing by ahead of the group--I guess looking for a good spot to get some shots. Hi, Jim! I told "St. Nicholas" when I saw him later that I was disappointed. The Presbyterians had a steel drum, the Baptists had singing puppets, and there we were with one of our best chanters in the parade, and all he did was push a boat ;-) He informed me that they were playing recorded chant, but I couldn't hear it. I guess the Shriners on their three-wheelers must have drowned it out. Anyway, Ian had a good time, and the rain held off until we were leaving. We even got to be part of the parade for a while. Since we staked out a place near the beginning, we overtook them and walked alongside. The sidewalks were mostly filled with spectators, so we ended up walking in the street.

My wife has agreed to meet with Fr. Gregory, if we can find a time to do it. I met with him a couple of days ago, and he said he wants to get a better sense of where she's at, so he can figure out what to do with me. I also got some holy water for the first time. Weird, when you think about it too much--to be carrying around water that's really water, as it should be, and in a used jelly jar no less.

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