This Week

For no clear reason, an old schoolyard/summer-camp ditty came to mind earlier this week: Ta-rah-rah-BOOM-dee-ay, there is no SCHOOL today, our teacher PASSED away, we shot him YES-ter-day, we threw him IN the bay, he scared the SHARKS away, ta-rah-rah-BOOM-dee-ay, there is no SCHOOL today. Disturbing sentiments, to be sure. But the song was always delivered with gleeful anarchic abandon, and safely enough in the midwest, I suppose, where shark-infested bays are few and far between.

Children love stuff that's right on the edge of forbidden subjects. Come to think of it, I remember another song of that type, which I learned in Kampsville, IL: There was an old kotter who lived by the CRICK, he often watched boys playing their [pause] marbles in springtime and good times of YORE, along came a maiden who looked like a [pause] decent young maiden as she sat on the GRASS, when she rolled over you could see her [pause] bright yellow clothing, she looked like a DUCK, she said she was learning a new way to [pause] bring up her children to sew and to KNIT, while in the barnyard they shoveled the [pause] sweet violets, sweeter than all the roses, covered all over from head to toe, with sweet violets.

At age 10, I was not able to guess many of the "missing" words and thus missed most of the humor of it. (Ah, the frisson of hinting at forbidden words.) However, the missing words were provided to me and defined, thus enriching my vocabulary immeasurably.

This was a week for pushing boundaries in some ways. I took a Scottish dance class which triggered all my massive insecurities, but it was ultimately fun. Yesterday, my aquarium trip was canceled so I was able to take my favorite yoga class ... only to find we had a substitute teacher. Afterward, I went running and then went for dinner and a movie - finally, the U2 3D movie I'd been wanting to see for a while. It was good.

It's strange how little exposure I've had to smokers. I ran into a woman on the elevator the other day, when it was bitter cold, and she said she was not happy about going outside ... but (holding up her unlit cigarette) it was totally worth it.

The gospel of John small group is going well so far, although differently than I imagined. My co-leader and I had thought the group might end up mostly men (it was looking like a 4:3 split for a while). Ironically, it is all women. The guys never showed up; a real pity, as it's nice to have balance.