Summer of Stories: Marshmallows & the Eternal Flame

In addition to the snowball incident, my friends Rachel and Anna and I had more than our share of adventures. There was the popcorn incident. There was the goldfish swallowing incident. There was the time Rachel passed out on me in the student union. One of the most memorable adventures, though, was the night we roasted marshmallows over the Eternal Flame.

Our school mascot was/is the Flames. As in fire. It's supposed to be all pentecostal and charismatic, I guess, but I've always thought it to be lacking. I think we used to be the Vikings back in the 1950s, but I guess it was too violent. Or too Nordic. I don't know.

So, because of the mascot we had this fountain with a gas-lit "eternal" flame in the middle. Only it wasn't eternal, because I think it blew out more often than it was actually lit. Anyway, on one particularly cold night, Anna and Rachel and I observed the fact that we had an extra bag of marshmallows, for whatever reason. We also observed that, if we bent a couple of metal clothes-hangers, we'd have the perfect equipment for roasting said marshmallows.

And thus it began.

The eternal flame was right across the street from our dorm, so we bundled up, slipped on hoodies for anonymity, and strolled nonchalantly over to the fountain. It being below freezing, the fountain had been emptied and was quite dry, so we proceeded to climb inside and begin roasting our 'mallows. Now, this sort of adventure was highly frowned upon by campus security, so every time a patrol drove by we had to lay down inside the fountain to avoid detection.

We successfully roasted and consumed several petroleum-flavored marshmallows, upping our carcinogen levels for the next few weeks. We figured that we didn't smoke or drink, so a marshmallow or two probably wasn't going to overwhelm our bodies defenses.

There may have also been a few Native American-style fire dances around the flame. To stay warm, of course.

As a refresher, here's the three of us, pre-roast:

Summer of Stories: Old friends

Allison, Sarah, Jessica, & me, circa '91-ish (my chubby, toothless stage). :)

I have several amazing, lifelong friends, a blessing of providentially epic proportions. It is something which I have taken for granted nearly my whole life, and am only now beginning to realize the full weight of.

Jessica and I like to say that we've been best friends since before we were born, since our mothers were best friends, and our grandmothers were also good friends. We lived down the street from each other until we were about 4, when her family moved to Texas, and then to Florida. From then on we faithfully drew each other colorful stick-figure pictures, progressing to chicken scratch-covered postcards, which eventually blossomed into real letters. They visited Tennessee over the holidays; we made the trek down to share in steamy Florida summers and whirlwind trips to Disney World. Somehow the states between us (ok, state - Georgia is HUGE people) didn't seem to matter.

(awkward much? yeah, we were)

I think I took having Jessica for a best friend for granted, because she was just always there, writing letters, calling, loving me for who I was, even though we are really different in a lot of ways. When it came to friendships, she put Jesus skin on and lived in it.

I was overjoyed when Jessica transferred to my college, and we got to share my senior year & her junior year of school. She also stuck around after school for a while, so we got to live in the same city once again. Now that she's moved back to Florida, it's harder to keep up with each others day to day lives, and I'm sure I'm back to taking her for granted all over again.

Sarah and Allison were my daily companions, my playmates, my partners in crime. We held Barbie yardsales, had birthday parties for our stuffed animals, built forts in the backyard, and did all of this in layers of dress up clothes. Our visits became more infrequent as we got older, and we lost touch when we all went our separate ways to college. Then, I was at an Irish pub with friends a few years ago, and the server that came up to our table to was Allison. I jumped up and hugged her; I think she kind of stared at me with her mouth open for a second. We discovered the three of us were all in Chattanooga, and now we get together fairly regularly for dinner or a cookout.

It's a wonderful thing when you're around old friends. It's just comfortable. I don't worry about my hair being frizzy or the dishes in the sink. Old friends know exactly who you are, and somehow still want to be around you.

The most recent childhood friend I've reconnected with is Emily. Emily also spent a lot of time at our house when were kids. Fun loving and accident-prone, she was the instigator of many of my childhood injuries, like the time we played golf with a broom and I ended up wearing a pirate-like eye patch for three weeks. After her family moved to Michigan, Emily and I were also regular pen pals. Between Emily and Jessica, I probably wrote more letters in my pre-teen years than most people do in a lifetime.

Em, her husband, and their three kids recently moved back to Tennessee. Although we hadn't seen in each other in a decade and hadn't even spoken in years, it was so easy just to pick up conversation, to catch up and reminisce.

I wonder if, when time ends and we meet Jesus face to face, if it will be like reuniting with an old friend. I imagine he'll tell us how much he's missed us, how glad he is that we're finally there. And then we'll sit down together, and he'll tell us about how he hung the stars, and why he had so much fun creating sea turtles, and we'll rejoice together that everything has been made new and right again.

Yes, I think it will be a lot like that.

Summer of Stories: New memories

Even while we're remembering the past, we're forming new memories.

Here are a few pictures from our recent Florida trip. I want to remember the beach this way, before the oil came and blackened the pure white sand. It'll be beautiful again someday, but it's going to take a long time.

Summer of Stories: Beach trips

I love this picture of me and my grandmother. I'm not sure who was more wary of getting in the water, and I think we both feel the same today. :-)

I grew up going to Florida nearly every year with my mother, grandparents, aunt, and cousins. Grandma grew up in Pensacola, so we would go down to visit family and play on the beach. My memories from those trips consist of happy nights snuggled in homemade afghans at Aunt Marylou's house, playing in the red dirt of her fire-aunt infested backyard, and picking up seashells on the beach. Most of my beach memories include my cousin Melody.

For visual reference, Melody is on the left, next to Harvey.

For many years, we would go to Pensacola to see family, then head over to Panama City for our relaxing beach time (this was when it was just starting to become an airbrushing, go-carting tourist trap. don't judge). I have great memories of Melody and I playing in the surf for hours, building sandcastles, getting eaten alive by sand fleas, and even dancing around in our matching grass skirts. Our annual trips got more infrequent as all of us grandkids got older, and the long car rides got to be too much for my grandfather.

My grandfather passed away several years ago, but my Grandma still likes to go back to Pensacola every couple of years visit her nieces, and be reminded of the place she and Grandpa met, I think. Last week my mom, aunt, and I had the privilege of joining her on such a pilgrimage.

I'd had high hopes for the trip, because of all those wonderful memories. But wasn't everything I'd hoped it would be.

Grandma was sick, and wasn't quite herself. In between coughing fits, she was bossy and irritable. I probably would have been, too, if I was 80 years old and felt as bad as she did. Mom and my aunt were both stuffy and snoring, so no one slept a whole lot. Melody wasn't there, neither was my little brother. Neither was Grandpa. I had no desire to collect shells, because they didn't match my house's decor (snooty, huh). This trip was just different. I wasn't a kid anymore.

There were many really good things about the trip, too. The beach was beautiful and clean, still unspoiled by the coming oil slick. The weather was perfect. The hotel was great, with a nice little pool and a great view. We saw amazing sunsets. We got to visit with family. I got to talk with my aunt a lot, which I don't think I've been able to do it years. I think I had the most fun of the whole trip when mom and I went out to the beach by ourselves on our last evening, walked along collecting shells for a craft project she wanted to work on, watched the sunset, and entertained ourselves by setting the camera's timer and attempting the perfect jumping-in-the-sand photo.

We can't get the past back, obviously. But the present can be good, too. And I'm so grateful for such wonderful grandparents, who took the time to share their past and present.

And, in case you're wondering, our timer photos were hilarious, if unsuccessful. :)

Disney World, Part 2

Ok, so where were we.

Let's see, we'd had an amazing dinner at Marrakesh, and, happy and full, we wandered around some of the other countries for a bit while we waited for the fireworks show. Here we are dancing in Italy.



And attempting to take no-flash pictures in China.


The fireworks show was great (sorry, no pictures), but as soon as that was over, we took our weary feet back to the POPS Century (our Disney hotel) and got a good night's sleep.


Next, onto the Magic Kingdom! While all the Disney parks are wonderful, there will always be a special place in my heart for the Magic Kingdom. You know, it's the one with the Dumbo and Peter Pan rides, and of course Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion. So many good ones! :)

The quintessential castle/crowd shot.

I think I was tired at the Magic Kingdom (it was day 3 after all), because I didn't take nearly as many pictures. It was also threatening to rain most of the day, so maybe I was afraid of getting the camera wet. To make up for the lack of pictures, I'll post a couple of videos for you.

We got to Magic Kingdom early, before it opened, which is great because Mickey and friends come out, and do a song a dance for you before they open the park. It's all very fun. We did all the popular stuff early (Buzz Lightyear [my favorite ride at MK!], Space Mountain, teacups, Haunted Mansion, Pirates), then headed back to Hollywood Studios in the afternoon (when MK got super crowded) for the Indian Jones Stunt Show (we didn't have time to see it the day before). It's a great show, so we were pretty excited.

A little clip from the show:

A funny story at this point in the day: on our way out of the park, Lyndsay and I were pulled aside by a cast member doing customer satisfaction surveys. We got to fill out this little online survey about the quality, price, etc. of the food available. The funny part was that I had waited in not one, not two, but three lines that day, trying in vain to buy a snack, all of which sold out just prior to me reaching the snack stand. I was able to tell the survey "your food is great but please, have some more of it!", and was rewarded for my efforts with a Disney pin, which is happily perched on my dresser at home. :)

Ok, from there we headed back to POPs for some pizza, rest (us girls), and pool time (the boys). We needed to be refreshed for our late-night Magic Kingdom adventure!! That day happened to be Magic Hours, which basically means that anyone staying in a Disney hotel gets to stay later than everyone else. We could stay till 3 a.m.! We put on our rain jackets and hit the soggy but brightly-lit park.

We particularly enjoyed Tomorrowland, with the People Mover and the spaceship ride - the view was great. I loved the glowing castle, as evidenced by the 100 + pictures I took from various angles around the park.

You get the idea. My favorite new MK attraction was the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, an interactive show where the cartoons talk back to you. Somewhere, somehow, there's gotta be someone holding a mic. It's awesome. It's a hard one to take pictures of, though, because it's on a screen, so here's one of the waiting area.


Another highlight of the evening: Lee's "extreme" version of the Tea Cups. While each cup spins around the big circle automatically, there's also a little wheel inside the cup you can turn to spin in little circles as well. The harder you turn, the faster you go. Terrifying, and super fun! :)

By this point, we were getting tired. This is our "I'm soo sleepy but I do not want to leave!" face.

Ultimately, Lee and I only made it 'till about 1 a.m. I think the Slatens made it till 2 or 2:30. Even though I've been to Disney many times, being in the Magic Kingdom at night was something I'd never gotten to do before, and it was a blast!

To conclude this Disney World adventure recap, let me say that if you ever have the chance you should so go to Disney World! I would recommend that you wait until small children are at least 7 or 8 years old, or their experiences will be limited, and probably forgotten. And if you don't have kids, go anyways! You may be surprised at how much fun you have. :)

The Happiest Place on Earth

Disney World: perfect.
Parks visited: 4.
Miles walked: ridiculous.
Friends: incredible.
Food: tasty.
Pictures: coming.

I've been waiting such a long, long time

I'm not talking about some glorious achievement, momentous occasion, or life milestone.

I've been waiting for this:

(source)

And guess where we're headed in a matter of days? Chi-town!!

Cubbies, here I come!