I want to be Irish!! Notre Dame Fighting Irish, that is...

Okay, it may be a little late, but I am reconsidering my commitment to attend the University of Washington. The Huskies are okay & all, but I want to be IRISH!!! Notre Dame Fighting Irish, that is. Maybe I can go there for a master's in something like "leisure studies" (e.g. National Lampoon's Van Wilder). It would be worth it just for the football tickets!!

While in Indiana on business the last 2 weeks I had the totally one-of-a-kind, quintessentially American experience of going to a football game at Notre Dame University. It was the Fighting Irish vs. the Purdue University Boilermakers. Purdue is a few hours down the road in West Lafayette, Indiana, maybe not a huge matchup but a great highway rivalry. No one gets on your nerves like your neighbors, right?

The day was beautiful & warm, summer turning into autumn, & the campus was just GORGEOUS. I wandered down stately tree-lined streets, admiring the famous golden dome, the Sacred Heart Basilica, huge winding oaks, & maple trees dappled with gold and red. It was so pretty that I almost forgot to go to the game.

In front of the Dome I watched the marching band form up for the game. The drumline struck up & started to play, & the band made a loud & stately procession down to the stadium. At the start of the game the band played the national anthem, & as the last note faded away, a Navy fighter jet flew RIGHT over the stadium!! I have no idea how they did it, but the timing was perfect, & the jet was unbelievably close and LOUD. Then the band played an Irish jig, & fans danced on the bleachers. Pretty exciting start, hunh?

My seat was in the North end zone about 25 rows up, just about where the football goes through the uprights. I hadn't sat on the end before but it turned out to be a good viewpoint. In the first quarter Purdue scored first, so at first it was looking like another loss & another bad season... The Notre Dame defense was playing really well, but their offense looked just awful.

Just as things were starting to look really bad, one of the Notre Dame defensive backs intercepted the ball & ran w/it for a touchdown. That seemed to change the momentum of the whole game--ND got on the scoreboard & felt a little more confident, started to step it up, & by the 3rd quarter they were kickin' butt & taking names. The Irish won it handily, 38-21, by two touchdowns & a field goal, & I have never had more fun in my entire LIFE.

After the game ended the players all gathered up in front of the student section, with the band behind them. The band played the school song(at least I think that's what it was), & everyone sang, players, band & fans. It was sooooo cool! Then, the cathedral bells rang announcing mass at the Basilica! (I love that they have a mass on campus before & after the football games--I can just hear the liturgies: Hail Mary, full of grace, our sacred lady of football, blessed art thou among women; may our passes be swift and complete, our penalties & turnovers be few, and our receivers not fumble the ball...)

One funny thing I noticed, everybody in the WORLD seemed to be standing on the sidelines during the game. Not just players & coaches, but ushers, policeman, state troopers, about 30 cameraman, the jet pilots, cheerleaders, drum line, & people who seemed to have just wandered in off the street... It's a wonder how more people don't get injured like coach Charlie Weiss did a few weeks ago (complete ACL blowout) when he was accidentally hit from behind by one of his own players. Also, everything at the snack bar was prefaced by the words "Fighting Irish"--so instead of nachos they had Fighting Irish Nachos, Fighting Irish Peanuts, etc. At the bookstore on campus, which is really almost a small shopping mall w/a Starbucks & Gelatteria, they were selling Fighting Irish everything--golf balls, towels, gift wrap, snow globes, even doggie bandanas.

Anways, I have the pictures up on FLICKR at http://www.flickr.com/photos/11346477@N04/sets/72157604984251353/ if you are interested. In the meanwhile, wishing you a beautiful, football-filled autumn!!

Layla

Goodnight, Sweet Prince

Well, this weekend we finally laid our sweet cat Peanut to rest. Back in March he started eating a lot less, lost a lot of weight, & just wanted to sleep all the time. The vet diagnosed him with Feline CRF (kitty kidney failure), & guessed it would only be a couple months. We decided to keep him going with medical treatments, & instead he held out for six months. However, he was in many ways a really different cat after we started all the shots & treatments. I'm not sure I would do it again.

My husband, who can soldier on through the most hellatious pain, was a complete wreck when it came to our little 7-pound cat being sick. He just couldn't bear to deal with it. So, I went by myself yesterday with Peanut to the vet. I held him and talked to him while the vet administered a pair of shots. He gave some final purrs waiting for the anesthesia to kick in, & a few minutes later he was gone. The vet said Peanut was happy we were letting him go.
I've heard of people seeing visions of the soul leaving the body, but have never seen it myself. This I have witnessed though--whatever life is that inhabits the body, whatever pulse, electricity or quickening it is--as soon as the body dies, it is GONE. Within moments you can feel it turn from something alive to an inanimate object. Being there with him, holding his small furry body when his heart stopped, it was overwhelmingly clear that his sweet and calm presence was still just as strong. For me, it reminds me that our bodies are just temporary vessels, meant to be used gently and laid aside when no longer needed. Ever taken off a pair of wet & muddy garden clogs, when you're ready to go into the house after a long day working outside? Kind of like that.

Alan and Bradley buried Peanut under the mulberry tree in our backyard, in a sunny spot where he liked to sit, play with the bunnies & watch birds fly overhead. I adopted a couple special needs cats from Best Friends (Layla and Thumper), as a memorial. My heart is sore and we are sad with missing him, but I know he was ready to go & it was long overdue. I'm reminded of Horatio's lines at the end of Hamlet:

Now cracks a noble heart.
Goodnight, sweet Prince.
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.



My profound thanks to Tanya's Feline CRF website and the Feline CRF info group for their support, advice and kindness, & to Cynthia Rylant for her sweet book, Cat Heaven. She also painted these wonderful illustrations.

PS. I went out to the Mulberry tree to check on him this morning. It was cool and damp, and still golden with the sun coming up. A flock of Canadian geese flew right overhead, honking as loudly as a ten-gun salute. A beautiful moment.

Thai Massage Part 2 -- Stretch... Aaaaand Release

Anyways, what I REALLY wanted to share with you is the most interesting insight I got from this class. Thai massage is like yoga in that you are working at "the edge" of your existing range of motion, but it takes a gentler approach. Once the therapist places you in a posture (that may have seemed unattainable on your own), you are stretched a tiny bit past your existing comfort level. But, after only about a breath it is released. The muscles gets a chance to relax and rest--you can almost feel them exhaling! The same stretch & release is repeated again, typically about three times for a pose.

Because the stretches are held more briefly than in yoga you'd expect it wouldn't work as well, but in fact the opposite is true. The repeated combination of stretching and resting develops trust in the body. Because it knows the discomfort will only last a moment, the body is more willing to release and relax. Throughout the workshop, I saw this phenomenon repeated enough times w/different people and body types to know it's not a fluke.

After having a chance to experience this both as giver and receiver, I understand why it works. So many of us push ourselves so hard so continuously, whether professionally, athletically or even spiritually. In the continual push to do more though, it's easy to forget that incremental steps and rest are critical to the process. If a muscle is pulled relentlessly, its natural reaction is to defend by pulling back. But, when exertion is followed by time to rest and honor our effort, trust develops. We become more willing to stretch outside of our comfort zones. I see a profound wisdom in this.

Of course this is all based on my observation and intuitive understanding. I am not speaking as an LMT or a person with any medical background at all. But, it really got me thinking... What would I be willing to try if instead of jumping off a cliff holding an umbrella (as I usually do), I only had to stretch outside my comfort zone a tiny bit for a moment? Hmmm.

Now, stretch... aaaaaand release! :)