Holy Thursday

Yesterday was rough.  I’ll just give you the Cole’s notes:  I finally got to my end station at 10:30pm, some 4 hours later than expected, so we got home around 11, and I was in bed and fast asleep almost immediately.  The news today reports that there were trees downed on the rails, plus the power outages and signal issues resulting in the cancellation of about 6 trains and several hours delay for others.  The photo was taken from the carriage and the trees are heavily coated in ice and frost!  Today I’m still tired and in some pain; I spent the day just sitting and trying to recoup some energy.  I did call Don, who was doing the typical “man” thing… I told him that I’d put some hamburger patties in the freezer — I threw out the box, as there were only 3 patties, and put them in a ziplock bag on a shelf.  He called to ask where in the fridge were they?  I said “freezer” and he said he couldn’t find them.  So I video called him to see where he was looking.  You guessed it — the fridge.  Jerry growled at me when I was on the phone, and hasn’t left Don alone for more than a few minutes.  He apparently looked for me all yesterday when they got home.  I think the ice storm was his revenge on me!

My little niece was awake when I arrived last night.  Her face lit up when she saw me, and she pretended to be shy for a second, but when we said, “Ok, bedtime now.  Auntie’s going to sleep,” she went without protest and slept quietly.  I was allowed to sleep in, but I came downstairs while they were having breakfast.  I was again greeted by a 1000W smile from her, and my nephew looked like he couldn’t believe his eyes!  He held on to my hand while he put his boots on for daycare, and I got some unsolicited hugs.  It’s great to be back with them, and they’re planning various things for us to do.  Right now I hear him saying, “Auntie Sonja is missing!  She’s downstairs!”  They had an Easter egg hunt at daycare, and I’m apparently slated to help count the takings 😆 

Today is the biggest feast of the Catholic Church — well, the whole Christian church, really.  It’s the holiest celebration of the year, and in fact, it’s so important the the service that starts tonight doesn’t end until Glorious Saturday.  It’s called the Triduum (3-day) and it marks everything that’s central to the faith.  One of the ceremonies tonight is the ritual washing of feet, followed by the establishment of the Eucharist.  As I’ve said, I really love this season, beginning with tonight.  The ceremony has a couple of very important points — first, is the emphasis of the role of service.  Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, over the protests of Simon Peter, who considered that it was not right for Jesus to do the work of the lowest servant.  I’ve always been somewhat squeamish of this idea — I was never in consideration for having my feet washed, as that was traditionally only for men — but the thought of bending over someone’s smelly feet to wash and dry them was repellant!  But it’s a very powerful reminder of the value of service to others.  The other is in the creation of the Eucharist, in which Jesus says, “Do this in memory of me,”  I may not be in line with the official teachings, but I think that it’s significant that the Church’s main rite is around a meal.  That, to me, underscores community probably better than almost anything else.  Bread, wine, community… What else unites families better than sharing food together?  Finally, tonight the Eucharist is moved to the Altar of Repose, the crucifix and all statues are covered as we move into the period of mourning which always starts off Easter.  Tonight the focus is the Last Supper, tomorrow the crucifixion and Saturday night is the lighting of the paschal fire.  Such beautiful and powerful liturgies that are so important that it takes 3 days to complete!

I was interrupted by my niece who wanted to assign me “my” favourite princess.  She suggested one that I heartily dislike, and after much negotiation decided that I can be Belle, because Belle likes to read and is smart.  Then she informs me that she loves me a lot.  The child has a future in negotiation… that’s my assessment, and I’m sticking to it. Please excuse me, I’m having stories read to me, something about spaghetti and bedtime approaches rapidly!  I need to head up and get some sleep, as the pain hasn’t gone yet; but Auntie is very happy telling stories and learning who likes which Disney princess! Good night!