Times to Look Forward To

Despite the dark place we've been, we are now looking forward to things in our near future.

My wife, who has been working since getting out of the hospital, is looking forward to Thursday of this week - the last day of the school year.

This Saturday, our church organist will be getting married. And the wedding will be a musical extravaganza to say the least - we will be singing ten pieces. And although they are quite lovely pieces, some are vocally challenging (especially for this first tenor). But I think it will go well.

Then in another week after that, I get to serve at music camp. Even as I write this, I'm making preperations for that week.

Last year I took a CD player. This year I've got speakers to which I can hook up my mp3 player - and I'm bringing lots of music for these kids!

Anyhow, things are certainly looking up.

Somewhat of a Dark Place

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you may have noted I haven't written here for quite a while. My last post came as the Phoenix Suns finished off the L.A. Lakers in seven games. Since then, it took the Suns another seven games to finish off the Clippers; now they're facing a challenge in the Western Conference Finals with the Dallas Mavericks.

Since my last post, the baby owls of Mayo Clinic have since left the nest. Unfortunately, it took my wife a bit longer to leave Mayo Clinic. She finally got released on Mothers' Day.

With S's health concerns and no paycheck (she's out of sick time for the year) and trying to make ends meet, it's been a little rougher than normal. With the lack of concentration and interest in many things, you could say I've been in a bluesy, dark place. In fact, I wonder if I've been truly depressed.

Yet, as I drove to church yesterday, I was feeling pretty good about myself and things in general. It's not typical of depression to "just snap out of it." But I've done just that. So who knows?

I guess one thing I can attribute to my good feeling is that I was able to get together with my Emmaus group on Saturday for the first time in four weeks. I think that just being in the presence of these friends brought healing to my emotions and my spirit. Just as a dying ember grows cold, it is rekindled when brought back into the fire. That's how I feel now.

Why Nash is MVP - And Kobe is Not

The Lakers were so looking forward to the "hallway series" against the Clippers. But alas, that was not to be. The Suns, springing back from a 3-game-to-1 defecit, put the Lakers away last night in the seventh game of their first-round playoff series by a score of 121-90 [recap], thus earning the right to advance to the semi-final round.

Credit Steve Nash, who has just picked up his second consecutive MVP award. Nash is a class act. He not only plays the game well, but encourages his teammates to do the same. He knows that his team's success depends on team effort.

Then there's the Lakers' Kobe Bryant, constantly throwing elbows at his opponents and complaining every time he gets caught - which is not as often as it should be. It's unfortunate that Raja Bell had to serve a one-game suspension for clotheslining Bryant in game 5; the NBA was certainly within their rights to impose that. However many NBA fans (especially here in Phoenix) believe Kobe got what he deserved. To put it bluntly, Kobe is a dirty player. That's why he doesn't win the MVP, regardless of his awesome play on the court.

After a hard-fought series, it's not uncommon for members of the losing team to go and congratulate the winning team. Many of the Lakers players simply went into the locker room. That's just poor sportsmanship. Maybe they should take lessons from Steve Nash, a true team player - and two-time MVP!

The Owls of Mayo Clinic

I had actually heard about these owls on a Paul Harvey broadcast several weeks ago, and I hear they make the news in other cities on a slow news day.

During construction of the new addition to the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Scottsdale, a couple of owls showed up and built their nest, and then had two babies. Construction on the new cafeteria expansion was halted until these babies can get out on their own. They're about as big as mom now, but still have their baby down feathers. Within a few weeks they should be mature enough to actually fly. But for now, they sit in the nest all day while mom watches over them, as well as people on the cafeteria patio. Then in the evening, dad will come back with a nice dinner, and mom can go out and hunt for her own dinner.

My wife ended up having to go to Mayo on Thursday. A real bummer. But these fascinating animals have been a wonderful diversion.