Now Playing: Brahms, Requiem, Track 1, "Blessed Are They That Mourn."

"Has your blog become one of those "lonely few", an artifact of the time before Facebook?" - Petr

That says exactly what I've been feeling for the past month or so. Methinks it looks a wee bit abandoned around here. *ahem*

I wish I could have taken a photograph of today.

Beautifully quiet this morning, chilly, incredibly still.

Since Nicole, Hannah, and I were planning to go to Redeemer today, I had time to do my devotions before church. On our way out, we picked up Dipti and Divya, who were in town this weekend for Sarah G.'s wedding.

We arrived at Redeemer in time for church. I sat next to Rachel because she wanted me to: vaguely pleasant little-kid associations with, "Mommy, can I sit next to -- in church today? Please, please, please?"

We took communion today. The first time in awhile for me, since January at least. I was meditating on the (philosophical) image of God as a page on which time is inscribed as a line (an explanation for His omniscience, sovereignty, etc.). Something made the association between that and us being "inscribed on the palms of His hands" as I looked at the bread and wine laid out on the communion table. He can not not know what is written on Himself--and He would not have it any other way. A sense of His continuous burning consciousness of me, intense perhaps to what would be pain to us, but willing on His part, joyful.

The method of taking communion today, though, was a wee bit unpleasant. They set up four "stations" with elders, and we just walked up in lines, took the bread and cup, ate and drank on our own, and passed on by. I was talking about that with Hannah afterward, and she used the word "bureaucratic". Part of the point of communion seems to me to be the very experience of standing around the table with other believers, seeing the body of Christ spiritual in that small section for that small moment.

After church, we drove back to campus. Nicole, Hannah, and I ate lunch in the caf, the caf's "famous" waffles. We ogled a pair of international students who slathered their waffles with enormous amounts of ice cream and hot fudge. And we remembered together the "good ol' days" (I teased Hannah for sounding like an old person) of freshman and sophomore years when we'd spend hours sitting in the caf, cramming as many people as possible around the small round tables and watching the guys concoct ridiculous combinations of food (usually Asher and DMac, though Kevin's specialty was drinks).

At about one o'clock, we went our separate ways. I wrote e-mails for about an hour to Elizabeth, Alyson, and Missy. Then I noticed that I'd missed a call from Syneva, so I took my phone and went outside to the new U. The afternoon was just cool enough that at first I wore my hoodie, sprawled on the grass in the sunshine, my jeans rolled up to my ankles. I love the feel of firm earth under my back, warm sunshine, the rich, rich smell of the grass. There were a few other people scattered over the U, sunbathing or playing frisbee. Syneva and I talked for an hour or so. I watched a honeybee burrow in the short green grass.

Just after we finished talking, Jenny H. rang me to ask if I was free to hang out with her. Only a few people had showed up to play soccer, so she was free early. I walked over to the pitch to meet her, and then we drove to Riverside in her car with the sunroof open. Oh, it was a lovely day, lovely, lovely. Riverside was crowded with people. She parked the car, and we crossed the street on the raised footbridge, then crossed the river on the long bridge and walked alongside it.

The whole town seemed to be out. Two families with loads of wee children, equipped with fishing poles and buckets. "Saunterers", "shufflers", bikers wearing brightly-colored spandex, loads of people walking dogs of every shape and size (Jenny cooed whenever she saw them), fathers shepherding children on training wheels, teens on rollerskates, women pushing strollers, ridiculously fit runners/bikers of every age and variety, sleek muscles bulging, weaving effortlessly between all of us paeans sauntering down the footpath. People sitting on blankets on the brown grass by the river. The Bradford pears are blooming right now, shimmering haloes of white blossom, dazzling like the haloes of Byzantine saints. The river flowed fast and loud over a low dam, and below the dam, people in waders were standing out in the middle of the water, fishing.

She drove me back to campus. She left me off on campus. We were both tired, well-stretched from the walk. Satisfied from the sunshine. Rachel was studying in the apartment. It was past five o'clock. I napped for an hour or so.

When Rachel and I got tea from the caf, we took our sandwiches out on the old U, sitting up closer to the library. The U was fairly crowded. Someone had strung a hammock from two of the young trees. "Good to see they're being put to some use," Rachel chuckled. People were sitting on blankets, too, and kicking soccer balls/throwing footballs. Mourning doves cooed in the trees. The grass where we sat was scattered with fuzzy bud shells, like rabbit's ears, soft as silk. The evening was beautiful. Cool, cool grass underfoot, cool sky overhead. Long thin clouds, like grass plumes pulled silver against the blue. In the west, where the sun was setting, they were vivid gold leaf, and higher, iridescent mother-of-pearl, unusual and beautiful. We didn't talk much. People rode skateboards down the sidewalk. We saw Kathryn and DMo having their engagement photos taken. I lay on my back in the grass and watched the sky. Airplane contrails interlinking.

We walked back to the apartment. I worked on Bible study, Psalm 22 this week. Then I started this journal entry and made tea for Rachel and me. We still had some windows open, though the night was becoming much cooler. Tara texted me, so at about nine o'clock, Rachel and I drove over to her house. The three of us settled down and watched Howl's Moving Castle. Lovely light fairytale, full of gorgeous scenery. Reeshe sprawled on the sofa next to Rachel and snored contentedly.

After the film, we chatted for awhile, and then Rachel and I went back to campus.