Ridiculous, I know.

Hello to those of you who are still around and checking this business of the blog.
I feel that since it's vacation, I'm just taking a vacation from everything that I formerly knew as "my life."
Nothing is normal around here.
My life consists of school, church stuff, and well, okay, that's about it!

With school on holidays,
And church activities on holidays,
And weddings to attend,
And sleeping in to be done
And painting
And cleaning
And much reading - of the Harry Potter variety and otherwise
I feel as though my world is not really mine
And yet totally mine all at the same time.

This concept of doing my thing
on my time
or not doing it
is kind of foreign to me
and the truth is that I kind of stink at it.
Not at it, per-se (sp?)
But at being a good friend
and remembering that the world does not revolve around me
although it's kind of fun when it does
for just a little while.

What's new and exciting?
I have a new hood on my car.
I saw Nate, Shawna, and Kaase last weekend.
I spent the week before that with Skips
and Bennett
and Brian and Shara and Larissa and Dave.
It's good.
And I got to play some ultimate.
And I started painting the trim on my house
and I bought stuff to do yard work - although it's too crazy hot to actually do the yard work
And, very exciting, I am going to go on an insulin pump.
That's craziness.
But very good, I think.
It's all happening a lot quicker than I had planned for.
But what do I know.
My plans never seem to be the same as the way things actually turn out.
And most of the time I'm okay with that.
Or learning to be okay with that anyway.

So, for those of you who are as "very excited" as I am, you can check out minimed.ca and see the cool one that also tests your blood sugar every 5 minutes. Yup. You heard it here. I am actually excited about testing blood sugar. Stranger things may not have happened. :)


This is the new pump and blood testing sensor thing - only that's the old/big glucose sensor and transmitter. The new set, which is the size of a stack of 4 quarters is pictured below:


That's all for now.
I'll be back sooner.
Promise.

Worth a few tears...

I had the great honour of being invited to one of my kids' baptism today. I wasn't really sure what to expect as we all gathered in someone's backyard around the deck and swimming pool with coffee in hand and 7 people with trunks and towels at their sides.

The people getting baptised were asked to share a little bit.
There's something wonderful about hearing a 10 year old get up in front of a microphone and in front of his church members and the friends he had invited say, "This is how Jesus has made a difference in my life..."
And to do it confidently -
not ashamed at all of what he believes and Who he's living for.

I think I read something once about having the faith of a child.
Okay, so I've read it more than once.
I was blessed.
To tears.

God is faithful
and He is good.
And He continues to make Himself known.

I wish I had a picture...

but I don't.

On Saturday night
I watched the moon rise.
I've watched the moon come out before,
but never like this.

We were out in a canoe on the lake.
The sky was mostly clear
we could see the stars
the water was still
and there were two bands of cloud.

We could literally see the moon rising -
the brightness peaking - and then pouring out
above the band of clouds in a matter of minutes.
Intensely orange against the dark sky.
Only to be covered again by the second band of clouds,
but always a hue of brightness poking out the bottom
and then pushing over the top.
Amazing.
I could have laid back in that canoe for hours
just watching the moon
and the stars
and hearing the "silence"
that exists in calling loons and water lightly lapping at the side of the boat.

I couldn't get Psalm 8 out of my head.
I tell my students to really learn their Bible Memory verses
because those verses will come back to them when they least expect it.

And thus, Psalm 8.

"When I consider the heavens
the work of Your fingers
the moon and stars that You have set in place.
What is man that You are mindful of him?
The son of man that You care for him?"

He put the moon and stars in place.
Right there.
Thousands of miles away.
Creating light
forming constellations.
And then He put me there.
And my friends in our canoe.
To be still and know
to be peacefully in awe
of our awesome Creator
and the incredible beauty He designed in the moon rising over the water and above the clouds.

"O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!"

Embarrassed to quote my source...

I've had a few rambling thoughts today.
Some that got rambled out in my head.
Some that aren't finished rambling yet.
And some that have been rambling for awhile -
finally needing to be expressed.

Most of this rambling started a week ago when I read some sermons from this great guy I know who has been a preacher for about as many years as I have been alive (go Dad!).

He was talking about Jesus journey to the cross
from childhood until he is crucified,
and how Jesus never demonstrates the emotion of fear.
Sorrow, yes.
Anguish, yes.
But fear? No.

There is something about Him that is completely unfathomable to us.
We cannot,
no matter how intensely we try,
imagine a world or a life without fear.
By that and through that,
we can never totally love the way that God intended us to.

I heard someone say last week
(this is the source I am to embarrassed to acknowledge - I'm sure they don't mind!)
That "when you're dealing with choices - you have 2 perspectives:
How would love decide,
and how would fear decide."
The person who said it followed this with,
"You have to let love decide."

The combination of those two thoughts puts me all over the place.
With God.
With friends and family.
With people who I've had deeper relationships with.

Fear that it won't turn out the way I want it to.
Fear that God's will isn't the same as what my eyes see or my heart feels.
Fear that I will be hurt.
Fear that I will really have to love seventy times seven times.
Fear that I will be taken advantage of if I love as Christ loves.
Fear that I understand the example Christ has set before me incorrectly and thus my love is not really a reflection of His.

What it comes back to is that I need never fear His love.
He IS love.
It won't fail.
He always protects.
His mercies are new every morning.
He is faithful.

He loves me.
And wants me to delight in Him,
in His love,
and in loving Him in return
more than anything else.

"Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged,
for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."

Beg, Borrow, and Steal

So maybe I won't call it cheating.
Because if I do,
I may have to claim it as one of my gifts.
When I was at Dordt
our Education profs always told us
to "Beg, borrow, and steal."
Basically they wanted to tell us
that we don't have to reinvent the wheel.
If there's good stuff out there
then use it.
By all means.

So, with that in mind,
I have a new favourite song.
I know that my last one is only a week old.
Yup, that's me.
Flavour of the week.
Ha.
Anyway, it's repetitive,
but not annoyingly so.
It's just an earnest prayer.

May it be mine...
and yours.

Erase - by Geoff Moore

Erase all that's different between us
Until nothing ever separates us
and we love like You love
And we ache when You ache
And our heart is undone
By what makes Your heart break
And we hear what You hear
And we see what You see
And the difference is erased
Erase all the distance between us.

Replace all the space with Your presence
Until we love like You love
And we ache when You ache
and our hearts are undone
By what makes Your heart break
And we hear what You hear
and we see what You see
And the distance is erased.

So build me up
Or tear me down
Until Your heart is all that's found
I want to love like You love
I want to ache when You ache
I want my heart to be undone
By what makes Your heart break
I want to hear what You hear
I want to see what You see
Until the distance is erased
Between us.

Cheating a bit...

So, maybe it's cheating.
But I like to share things that are meaningful.
And if what's meaningful to me as of late
just so happens to be the words
of someone else's song
well, then, too bad.
I'm cheating.

I've had song 7 repeating in my car from Mercy Me - Spoken For
over and over for the last couple of days.
The song is "Word of God Speak".
And that's really all I've got.
He's good and faithful.
Indeed.

Here it is:

I'm finding myself at a loss for words
and the funny thing is it's OK
The last thing I need is to be heard,
but to hear what You would say.

Word of God speak
Would You pour down like rain
Washing my eyes to see
Your majesty
To be still and know
That You're in this place
Please let me stay and rest
In Your holiness
Word of God speak.

I'm finding myself in the midst of You
Beyond the music, beyond the noise
All that I need is to be with You
And in the quiet hear Your voice.

Where Are We, Lord?

"Where are You, Lord?"
A question I think many of us have asked at one point in time.
Probably more often than once.
Perhaps a question that came up in the last number of days.

The events at Virginia Tech this past week have hit me in a lot of different ways; a few that I'll keep to myself, but a few that I think are worth sharing.

I was reading in Luke today - the story where Jesus drives out Legion into the herd of pigs and they run off the cliff and die.

We hear in the news that the shooter had a history of mental illness and police had been called because of unsettling encounters others had with him in the past. And I can't help but think about how quick we are to want to throw blame at someone and ask why people didn't respond differently to the "warning signs." His professor described him as "extraordinarily lonely - the loneliest person I have ever met in my life."

My question instead, is, "Where are we, Lord?"

When I read the story of the man who had Legion living in him, we are told that the man had gone crazy, we also read that he was tied up in chains.
I wonder where we were.
Did he have family who visited him in the hillside tombs where he lived?
Did he have friends that checked in on him every few days to see how he was doing?
Were their people in his life that continued to love him even though Legion often took total control of him?

What happened in Virginia this week was horrific.
Don't get me wrong.
I can't imagine,
and don't even want to,
what it was like to be held at gunpoint
or to block a doorway to save the lives of my students
or to try to escape, only to find the doors chained shut.
I can't imagine what it would take to walk back into those buildings
to go back to class and not be afraid that it will happen again.
I can't imagine losing a friend or sibling in circumstances like this.

But I think we're missing a piece.

I'm not saying that reporting this man to police on prior occasions was wrong.
I'm not saying that professor who saw the signs and tried to raise flags and spent one on one time tutoring him didn't do her best...because I really think she did.

But it spurred me to ask what Jesus would have done.
And then to ask what difference it makes that I am called to be like Him.

Jesus greets the demon possessed man.
In fact, He greets the demon.

The townspeople had locked him up.
"We" called the police.
"We" let him be the "loner".
Did "we" also love him?
Did "we" let him know that he was a valued person, created in the image of God?

Did the man who suffered from mental illness,
the man whose family "never could have envisioned that he was capable of so much violence,"
the man who was described as quiet, withdrawn, "the question mark kid",
a man who was obviously hurting,
did he have friends who checked in on him?
Did he have people in his life who knew how much he hurt?
What made him feel so incredibly lost and alone?
What a miserable and sad life he endured if it brought him to a point of feeling like killing those around him and finally killing himself was the only way.

I'm not trying to blame anyone.
Or take the responsibility of what happened away from the man who has left many hurting people behind.

What I really hope and pray
is that instead of turning around
and telling his family that their apology means nothing
instead of second guessing his peers,
the police,
the higher ups at the university,
let's recognize that we live in a broken world.
Let's recognize the hurt that he felt.
Let's recognize that there are people who tried to reach out to him.
Let's recognize that Jesus greeted the demon.

And let us pray for his family.
Yes, for the families of the victims.
But for his family, too.
The hurt inside their brother and son
was very probably something that they were helpless to understand.

May they come to know and understand God's grace.
May we be the hands and feet of Jesus.
May they experience God's grace as we extend it to them.
May we live the difference that it makes that we are called to be like Christ.
Who also gave his life for the criminal on the cross beside Him.

Thomas The Twin

Have you ever thought that we're pretty hard on Thomas?
He has gone down in history as the doubter.
That's how he is remembered.
No one speaks about him as the guy who wanted to be sure of the truth.
Nobody tells stories about how he was speared to death in the interest of spreading the Gospel.

Think about it a minute.
One of his best friends had gone from being welcomed into Jerusalem with Hosannas
to being arrested and crucified
in a matter of a week.
You want to talk about an emotional roller coaster?
Up, down -
confusion, sadness, helplessness, guilt for leaving Him with the guards -
He knew how Jesus had died.
I'm not sure if he watched the crucifixion or not,
but it doesn't really matter.
It was the talk of the town, I'm sure.

Either way, if I put myself into his sandals for just a short moment
and imagine where I would have been at
I can't come up with much more than
"emotional wreck".

I'm a skeptic with simple things
like if Grenadine syrup is really made from pomegranates.
And that won't really affect my life.
It won't change my emotions
or put into question what I have devoted my life to for the last 3 years.
I didn't leave my job
to walk the country side
learning the truth
and then sharing the Good News of what I had learned.

But Thomas had been in the inner circle.
Not only did Jesus know him,
but he knew Jesus.
He loved Jesus.
And, just like you or I would have,
he doubted the reality that Jesus could really be alive.
In fact, if anything,
I think we should commend him for his honesty.
He said what I'm sure some of the other disciples were thinking.

And that gets me to "Thomas the Twin".
I learned today that the name Thomas means twin.
And I think there is some incredible irony there.
Perhaps it is God quietly putting His sense of humour
into what He knows is generations of people who just don't get it.

We single Thomas out as someone different.
He is remembered all on his own
as the guy who didn't believe.

In truth, he is probably the disciple that many of us are like.
Our "twin", if you will.
If I am honest with myself,
there are a lot of things I doubt.
I know that God can heal cancer.
I know that God can bring reprieve to those who suffer from depression.
I know that God loves me even though I mess up over and over and over.
I know that life is better when God is control instead of me.
I know that God holds each one of us in His hands
even if it seems that He lets us go from time to time.
I know a lot of things.
But do I really live in a way that demonstrates that I believe them?
Or maybe the better question is,
"Do I really believe them?"
Because if I do,
there are parts of my life that should be different;
Parts of my life that should demonstrate this faith just on their own.
I shouldn't have to remind myself what I believe
if I really believe it.

Sometimes we say that we are the biggest critics of the characteristics of others that we hate in ourselves.
Thomas, I would like to say,
is my equal.
Instead of singling him out,
perhaps I should join him
and acknowledge my lack of faith.
He brings out that part of me that doubts;
the part of me that knows the answer
but doesn't act on it
because feeling it in my heart
and allowing it to transform me
takes more than just knowing.

It takes believing.
And it means surrendering myself to the Spirit of God.
I'm not really good at surrender.

Perhaps a good place to start
is with Thomas' words of greeting for Jesus
"My Lord and my God"...
humble me, that I may truly believe
and so live the joy of the resurrection.

The Resurrection...

We read the resurrection story from Matthew on Sunday,
and I was struck by how the angel comes to roll away the stone
and then, it says, he sits on it.
The ground is quaking,
the guards shake and fall to the ground like dead men,
the women are afraid,
and the angel sits.
He is not surprised or afraid.
He knows what God has done and will continue to do.
There doesn't appear to be any part of him
that feels rattled by the situation,
rather there is a peace and relaxed strength about him.
He sits as if to say,
"My God keeps His promises.
I'm here as a messenger,
but I am at peace and confident that God is the victor
and I have nothing to fear."
He sits.
He knows and trusts in God's faithfulness
and in the promise of the resurrection.
He sits.

Ahh, the Mountains...

I had the incredible privilege this past weekend
of being reminded of just how small and insignificant I am.
I need that.
Especially when it is coupled with the thought
that even though I am small and insignificant
I am loved
and given more grace than I could ever deserve.

It doesn't take much for me to be humbled when I'm in the mountains.
Almost nothing actually.

The first day we had incredibly clear views of the surrounding peaks.
Beautiful.
"Stand in awe of God" seemed a simple task.
The second day it was cloudy.
Peaks covered with clouds.
Sun-rays peaking through.
And yesterday's "simple task"
seemed even simpler.

At one point, I found myself in the middle of a black diamond mogul hill.
(What I was doing there is a whole other story.)
I stopped and just started to laugh.
Looking around was incredible.
It was steep.
We were surround by evergreens
and mountains
and more mountains.
And all I could do
was be in awe.

For part of the afternoon
a friend and I took off our skis halfway down the mountain.
We carried them across the trail
and sat on the side slope that faced the surrounding mountains.
And just took it all in.

When I got up and continued skiing down the hill
I proceeded to sing.
Yeah, out loud.
And quite loud.
Going down the mountain with my arms out wide
(poles, too - don't worry, I did shoulder check to make sure I wasn't going to take anyone's eyes out...)
the way I used to walk on the sidewalk to Southview
and run around the soccer field
taking it all in
and offering it all up.

I got some strange looks,
but it didn't matter.

In the van on the way home,
we were listening to a CD that seemed to keep pumping out songs that hit my heart.
And there I was.
Small and insignificant indeed.
But listening to God instead of indirectly yet incessantly
telling Him that it's all about me.

"How refreshing to know You don't need me
How amazing to find that you want me." (Casting Crowns)

Ahh, the mountains.
And the One who carved them out...

...and blessed.

So I shared in my last post that I am spoiled.
I would like to acknowledge this time how I am blessed.

A mom of some of the youth in our church decided that she likes me.
How nice!
For real, though, she wanted to do something for me.
It started out by offering me licorice.
I turned down the licorice not knowing when she asked
that she had bought some to share with me
to say thanks for working with her kids.

Two weeks later at youth group,
she asked if I wanted a piano.
Whaahhaa?
From licorice to a piano?
Yes, indeed.
As part of receiving a newer piano and being asked to "pay it forward"
she blessed me with her piano.

I have already spent many late nights playing all the old pieces I learned in elementary school.
And I'm thrilled to get it tuned
to play
and to learn more.
It's wonderfully relaxing.
And I sing on the inside while I play.

Here it is in my living room.

Oh, sadness...

Well, I promised someone that I would keep the world updated on my now incognito mode of transportation. Sadly, and I do mean sadly, my good friend "Blue Lightning" (as she was named by one of my students - May I note that at the time I did NOT know that the cheerleaders for the Blue Bombers are also called Blue Lightning) was towed away last week. She served me well. And I took a picture of her from my front porch before I left for school on Tuesday.

However, my new car - yet to be named - is serving me very well. I was delighted to have my wonderful father come to visit and assist in the purchasing process. I am spoiled. I turned the odometer over 200 clicks today. It's pure craziness. And I used the trunk for groceries for the first time, too. It's small stuff, I know.
But fun. Here is my new friend and companion. Perhaps it will have to be a he this time around. It may be my lifelong companion. (I have no spoiler on mine...didn't want to spoil 'er...okay, maybe it's still a she...)

Explaining...

I'm not always very good at explaining what goes on in my head.
Writing helps a lot.
That seems to be where my honesty meets my thoughts and emotions.

Funny thing about not being a good explainer -
I'm a teacher.
I hope I'm better at explaining the world than I am at explaining myself.

I've been reading bits and pieces of other people's lives
through emails and blogs and books
and coming to discover that sometimes they say it better than I can.

There's a big part of me that's exhausted.
A big part of me that's okay.
A big part of me that knows that God hasn't
and won't
leave me on my own.
And somehow doors keep opening
and people keep stepping up to the plate
(I think some of them have hit a whole inning on their own for me).

Lots of them I didn't even call in.
But the Head Coach,
He let them know I needed a pinch-hitter.
And there they were.

I don't have a lot of words to describe that in a better way
except to say:
I'm getting a new car.
My students are still alive - and doing well, I think. :)
My marking is finished.
I have been given more time to work on my report cards.
I have a taxi service :) and place to be while my current car is out of commission.
I get to see my dad this week.
I got to chat with my grandma this morning.
I have a student who wants to fail grade 5 so she can be in my class again.
I don't have to make a lunch tomorrow.
I didn't have to make supper on Friday.
I slept in yesterday.
And today.
I'm wearing my favourite sweater...for the lots-of-days in a row.
Only I washed it in between, so now it's even clean!
I had a great email from a good friend.

And as someone else's words put it:
"God is doing exactly what I need Him to do right now -
holding me and not letting me go."

And God cries...

This afternoon after doing some reading
and taking some me and God time,
I went outside with some friends
and skated and played "hockey"
(as much as can be played with 4 people...)
but it was perfect weather.
And there was almost no one else on the rink.

And it got me away from me for awhile
which I needed it to do.

After having a head-on-butt encounter
(short girl bending knees while trying to get the puck
from tall guy standing straight, resulting in collision)
that left my neck a bit out of sorts,
I realized that time on the ice was winding down
and it was time to get back into my other world.
The real one.

It seems to me that lately brokenness in the world
has become bold and italicized.
It may be just in my own mind
and especially in my own heart
but I can't seem to shake it.
And maybe that's a good thing.
A humbling awareness of where I need to bring the light of the resurrection.
A humbling awareness of what it is that we are human and we fail.
And how great it is, then, that God loves us.

But it's a painful thing.
And I can't help but be aware that if it bothers me as much as it does
that it leaves me unable to sing How Great Thou Art -
not because He isn't great...
but that He is - He's that great...
That He sees much more hurt than I can even imagine.
And He doesn't just see it, but He experiences it.
Because He hurts when we hurt.
And He knows the way He wanted it to be.

On my drive to church tonight I couldn't help but pray,
"Maranatha, Christ come quickly."

"Behold, I am making all things new..."
Why do the renovations take more work, energy, and time than the original building project?

Oh heh.

So I haven't shovelled in a good while. Actually not since my uncle visited in the first and second weeks of January. It has snowed a fair amount since then. In little dustings, mind you, but enough to make the steps slippery and uneven.

Last night it snowed a bunch more and as I went down the back steps I couldn't see if I was on a step or on the sidewalk. This new snow also covered the unevenness of the old snow.

And heh.

I totally twisted my ankle and slipped. I was covered in snow before I even got to the garage. Great start to the day, eh? But I protected my kids' work and my laptop. Yes, hold your breath. I am such a hero.

Then I played floor hockey at lunch, because at that time, my ankle seemed pretty much recovered.

It is now rather sore. I cannot cross my ankle under my other leg on the couch.
Maybe I'm just a princess.
But it hurts.

And what can I say? It's my own fault. I vow to shovel before Monday. I have a meeting at my house and I cannot have my guests twisting any ankles.

Eloi, Eloi...

My head has been a few places in the last while.
My heart, too.

I was at a concert tonight and must confess to not really listening at all.
It was loud enough that I could tune out the world around me and just focus inside my own head,
which, to be truthful,
has been a difficult task as of late.

I was challenged yesterday to discover and get to know the heart of God.
And the fourth song the band played tonight (the first one I knew) had a repetitive chorus of "I want to fall in love with You."
A song of intense desire to truly know and love our Creator.

And suddenly I was in my own world.
Asking questions of myself.
Falling in love involves coming to really know and understand the heart of someone else.
And in this case,
coming to know and understand,
as far as is humanly possible,
the heart of God.

How does He hurt when we, His delicate creations, hurt ourselves?
How does He hurt when we simply can't hold onto the truth that He loves us enough to have watched and allowed His son die in our place?
How does He hurt when for lack of words and understanding we settle into robot mode, acknowledging that He is taking care of both our most significant and insignificant needs, but forgetting to thank Him for His grace and for His faithfulness in doing so?

If I look into the heart of God,
I see a Father who loves us so much He lets us go...
only to have us hurt Him in return.

And then I see His faithfulness.
In spite of every other detail.
In spite of my failure to look outside of me.
In spite of His hurt, His sadness,
He looks down on me and says,
"You still need my love.
Even though you hurt me.
Even though you don't believe I am enough.
Even though I want you to turn to me first - not after everyone else.

But because I love you,
I will provide for you friends -
who act in my name.
Who walk alongside you.
Who listen to you.
Who offer comfort and prayer.
Who remind you to hope.
And to trust.
And to be still and know
that I am God.
I am your God."

Eloi, Eloi, lama NOT sabachthani?

Because You have promised,
and are faithful.

Saved by the Bell...

It is a faithful God who gives us the changing of the seasons
both outside
and inside.

Class dismissed.

Indoor Recess

Do you remember indoor recess?
On those days when it was just plain too cold to be outside?
Or maybe it was raining.

But the point
is that you were stuck inside a building...
or maybe even inside a classroom
for a whole day.
You couldn't get out.
You couldn't run around.
You couldn't get any fresh air.
And maybe you got a little out of control -
cabin fever, as it were.
You couldn't REALLY have recess
and enjoy playing outside the way you were supposed to.

Allow me to list some of the things that went wrong yesterday after 2 indoor recesses:
2 white board markers on the floor without their caps.
2 desks over-turned, contents spilling on the floor.
1 of the 2 desks was overturned on purpose -
because the kid whose desk it is "did something weird".
One boy crying.
2 kids playing keep away with a big exercise ball.
a book and pile of papers on my desk found itself knocked to the floor.
3 girls in a yelling match and tears over a "fun" game they were playing on the board that goes something like this:
"__place name here__ is a ____insert words not worth repeating here _____."
3 stolen birthday cupcakes taken from on top of peoples' desks.
Sounds like a fun day, hey?

I think I'm currently undergoing an "indoor recess."
It's like someone or something is telling me I can't get outside...
Can't run around,
let off a little steam,
maybe even a yell or two.
Some fresh air would be nice
but I'm stuck.
And it makes the inside of me go a little out of control.

There's a piece of me that needs to get out...
or be let out.
It's healthy.
It might be a bit cold.
The dark cloud may hover awhile.
My hair might even frizz from the humidity and the rain.

But really,
there's something very healing
about being honest...
something very healing
about a good breath of fresh air.

Not that I'm out to get anyone...

Ever have one of those days where you're not sure which way is up?

I've had a few lately...and decided to share this upside-down-ness with one of my colleagues. Myself and a friend took some time after school the other night and turned every poster and bulletin board in his classroom upside-down.

We offered to help clean it up after school...we're not COMPLETELY heartless!
And we kept the Canadian flag right-side up.
Good citizens, indeed!

The Dutch-Italian-Ukranian...and all those...Job

So there it was.
The coldest night of the year.
Not so much Bruce Cockburn's rendition,
but Winnipeg at its finest.

And the 3 cars lined themselves up.
First in the alley.
Weapons of TP and water in hand.
Then in front of Mac's.
Because really,
what else is there to do
on the coldest night of the year
than go for slurpees?
Especially in Manitoba.

So Bruce,
and Hugh and his island chain,
and all those fine cast members
who got to drive Austin Minis -
to you I say, "Amen."

"You need three at least."