Friday, June 16, 2006

Love is a Ball


A Shift Among the Evangelicals

Meanwhile, here in Wolftown...

...our eldest daughter (ED) is about to become engaged to my future son-in-law (SIL). She doesn't know it yet, but we do. Just last weekend, ED called us up from NoVa, where she lives near SIL, and asked if we could meet at a restaurant in between our two homes for dinner. She loves her family deeply and sometimes misses us and the home she grew up in to the point of near despair. We miss her, too, and so we hopped in the car and joined them at Lucio's, trendy little place in Culpeper. Nice dinner, great big schooner-sized glassfuls of ice-cold and limed Grey Goose (our YD drove home while I and LW smiled crookedly). As we were leaving, ED went to the ladies room and we waited for her on the front porch of this converted Victorian home. SIL, looking slightly relieved, said "I never thought she would leave us alone!" It was very unlike him, and then looking around to see if ED was coming, he blurted out "I want to ask for your permission to ask ED to marry me." Well, we love SIL and we knew this was coming sooner or later but, when it did, the relief and joy we felt was boundless. He is a great guy, very traditional (who asks such permission nowadays?), very smart and responsible, good job, top secret clearance in DC and being paid well, and absolutely adores and loves ED.

He plans to do it tomorrow during what he calls "the perfect storm:" at the Nationals game at RFK when they play the Yankees (ED is simply MAD about her Yankees). He wanted to do the scoreboard request ("ED, will you marry me?"-- SIL), but in these modern, corporate, 24/7 info graphic overload days of electronic excess, they don't do those anymore. So, just the ring, the game, and his love presented to her on a lovely summer day at the ballpark. Very fitting for the start of a new team.

UPDATE: Affianced! SIL proposed on bended knee, offering ED a 2 1/2 carat diamond ring! Holy cow, is that love or what! But unfortunately for ED, the Yankees caved with a 9-6 lead, losing 11-6. But something tells me that disappointment is distinctly NOT what she is feeling right now. We're all so happy for her and for SIL that were the ring 100 carats it wouldn't glow as much as we are right now.

The Circle Will be Unbroken

U.S. military opens probe of three deaths in custody

Meanwhile, here in Wolftown...

...lovely wife (LW), youngest daughter (YD), and I took a blanket to the town commons last night to hear the bluegrass gospel group Jesse Jenkins & The Blue Valley Boys [you want a link? are you kidding?]. Dozens of local families dotted the commons stretching out in front of the old library building, a wide and lush lawn of thick grass surrounded by towering elms. They stood around the edges, sat in old lawn chairs. and lay clustered on blankets. A cool breeze delivered the sweet gospel melodies to men in ball caps with calloused hands and suspenders arcing around generous bellies, ladies in print dresses and support hose, and the aging crunchy hippies who could smoke their clothes to get high. Children and dogs cavorted between the distinct groups while polite applause, its sound muffled in the open air, thanked the Boys in the bandstand after each tune. I took in the ebb and flow of quiet chatter, distant laughter, and nods of recognition to friends in the crowd; minor details without significance if they were just about this particular moment. But, they weren't; they were part of the unbroken conversation of humanity that began with our first words. Being in that dialog and comprehending its full richness is a gift indeed.