Being Independent

Today we celebrated our nation's independence. As I sit in our tiny apartment and await the cacophony of the fireworks that will punctuate the day's festivities, gleeful shrieks and the staccato of firecrackers drift into our living room. Just the staccato...not the actual firecrackers. They would probably damage the furniture. Hordes of children, all hepped up on freedom and popsicles, sit outside long past their bedtimes. Not my children, though. They conked out quite a while ago.

This afternoon we participated in the annual "bike parade" here in this Campus Crusade-dominated apartment complex. Since we arrived here bikeless, however, we had to content ourselves with decorating Jack's stroller. This definitely counts as a craft (which helps me, as that item on my list has seen little progress). The fruit of our labor, completely homespun, turned out sort of bizarre and flamboyant-looking, but I liked it.



All three kids participated in the festive-making of the stroller, and all of them had a blast...until they saw the throngs gathering in the parking lot outside our door. Many other families had gone all-out, festooning their bikes and scooters with yard after yard of crepe paper, shiny ribbon, banners, and the like. Joy worked through a long moment of pause before she agreed to allow her friends to see her with us and our humble creation. I have to say, though, that I'll take home-decorated pennants with hearts and stars and oddly-shaped Transformers over yards of curly ribbon any day. They looked adorable in the parade.

Later in the evening I squeezed in one more craft-like project. (An edible craft still qualifies as a craft, right?) We spread vanilla pudding and whipped topping in a 9x13 pan and asked the kids (and two of their dearest friends) to decorate it with strawberries and blueberries. Red, white, and blue dessert.


Two more crafts down. Even with my modified goal, though--20 crafts this year instead of 40--I still have a long way to go. I may need to enlist Joy's help on this one.

One other exciting thing happened today. I ran into my smart, funny, articulate friend Heather. Heather and I haven't had overmuch opportunity to develop our two-year acquaintance yet, but I really, really like her. The fact that she teaches English at the university level would have endeared her to me all on its own, but on top of that, she WRITES. Like, actual things. And teaches others to do the same. Her latest book, How to Write with Flair, will soon make its way onto my nightstand. While I wait for its arrival, though, I've spent the last couple of days perusing her blog. Our chance meeting at the bike parade led to a tentative plan to have lunch together, and I can't wait to catch up and talk about life and God and writing.

Inspired by her exhortation to embrace prose infused with life and creativity (she likes verbs like "grapple" and "fritter"), I've actually attempted something a little bit unusual with this very blog post. The one in front of you right now. I've omitted a very common English verb...one for which writers (myself included) often settle instead of searching for the exact right word in the exact right voice. I don't know whether I got it exactly right, but I've enjoyed the exercise! It has taken a while, though. The fireworks have now come and gone, and judging by the mostly-quiet, the children have finally gone to bed. I'll soon follow.

Can you figure out what verb I've eliminated? If you took my A.P. English class in high school, you may have an advantage...most years I assigned a short essay with this same challenge.

I'll likely return to something closer to my normal written voice next time, but thank you, Heather, for raising the bar!