Saturday morning, some girlfriends and I are packing up and heading down to Gulf Shores, Alabama for some much needed R & R and will be staying in the fabulous Island House hotel. Friday night I'm meeting Danielle at our half-way point in Tuscaloosa and we're going to hopefully stock up on all kinds of goodies and then enjoy a chilled out night with Clint at our apartment. I'm hoping to get out of B-ham early so as to maximize beach time......
That is unless Ernesto foils all of my plans.
Damn Hurrican season. I was listening to the radio this morning and I realized that today is the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, or what is otherwise described as "one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history". Over 1,800 people were killed as 80 percent of the city was submerged. At the time, Clint and I were doing the music for a church way out in Chelsea. I remember a man at the church who approached Clint one Sunday soon after Katrina and suggested that we sing some patriotic songs. I distinctly remember the incredulous look on Clint's face, but he totally went with it. "Well sir, why do you think we should do that?" And the man, serious as a damn heart attack, looked at him and said "Well, I mean, that's what we're fight for down there in New Orleans is America, isn't it?" Not fighting poverty, or homelessness, or devastation, and despair. No folks, we're fighting for AMERICA in every catastrophe. I remember being so proud of Clint as he looked that man in the face and said ever so tactfully, "Well sir, I'm only given 4 or 5 songs a week to sing, and I don't know about you, but I'd rather sing about Jesus." Another reason my husband is probably better than yours.
As I was reading the article above, I came upon this quote and I really liked it:
''I'm going to pray to the good Lord that he put his arms around the levees. I'm praying that he hug the levees tight so they don't break again, that he keep us safe,'' said 58-year-old Doretha Kitchens, whose home in the Lower Ninth Ward was submerged under a 10-foot wave.
I love to hear people talk about God in such familiar, physical terms. How comforting and terrifying, to think of being hugged by God-his ability to be so gentle and yet the thought of his physically holding together levees that hold back tons and tons of water. I love it. And to hear someone that has been through such a disaster still be able to say "the good Lord". . I think it's really beautiful. I hope that one day I can believe like that too.
So all that to say: I really hope that there's not a hurricane this weekend, nor any other weekend for a long time.
I also hope that i don't see any of these:
Is anyone else in the world still totally traumatized by watching JAWS when they're were entirely too young? Cause I definitely am.
9 comments:
Hating America is never cool. That's what this is. Plain and simple.
anonymous- or should i call you Zephyrhills?
i didn't make a single anti-american comment in this entire blog. i don't hate "america" which I assume to mean the United States of America. i did however make pro-jesus comments, which is a totally different thing. anything you found to be anti-american was self-projected...meaning you're an idiot and you need to work on your reading comprehension skills. please feel free to comment more after you have passed first grade english and have learned how to sign your name.
anon - I disagree. I think hating america is VERY cool. in fact, I think it's cool to hate pretty much everything. like children and robots and anonymous posters from zephyrhills. and if you are thinking "that doesn't make any sense", then fantastic. that's exactly how I felt after reading your idiotic comment on my friend liz's blog.
liz - hope you have a good time at the beach.
I'm really tempted to chant "USA!" right now, but I will refrain. Plain and simple.
I actually did see a bit of "Jaws" as a little kid and it made me a very nervous 5-year-old when I took swimming lessons.
brian- thanks. i live for the beach. but if i was a "good christian" i'd say that i lived for Jesus, and to not use profanity all while waving my american flag.
benj- chant away.
and i also watched jaws when i was 5, except i watched the whole thing, and then had a recurring nightmare for years that jaws was coming out of the bathtub faucet.
I love it when Clint responds to people that way-- he can be incredibly disarming and cool when I really probably would not have been able to keep myself together.
I feel bad for you sometime. Don't you realize that Jesus equals America, and we are the theocracy that Jebus loves best. Life could be easier on you, you know.
matthew- isn't it crazy how utterly reasonable he can be sometimes??
ersatz- i love it.
damn! I wish I could go with you to the beach.
-kelly
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