B E B E R E

In spite of the meterologists' warnings that we were going to get the Grand Deluge, it turned out to be a nice weekend. Picked up a couple (mismatched but still complementary) dinner plates, a couple jelly jars and a pretty little spring skirt at the boutique. Also wandered over to the new antique market over in Davis and left with a pretty, Wiener-werkstaette(isch) vase. It had a crack in it that had been repaired, so Hal kept saying "it's got a crack, it's got a crack," as though this were a problem. All I know is that it's darn pretty (the shape's very art deco like and it's got a lovely trumpet creepers on a trellis design painted on it.) and, because of its hurt, it was priced to leave the place. I figure that, if I put a tupperware bowl inside, it might make a nice container for some of the hydrangeas I'm hoping will come up this summer.

On the walk home from the antique store, we heard the bells tolling and knew what had happened. Though initially I wanted to cry, I do understand that this is all for the best.

At the moment, I've an almost total media moratorium, as I just don't need to see the attempts to spin news out of nothing. One friend mentioned that it was All Pope All the Time in his neck of the woods, with a good portion of the air time going to correspondents asking The Man In The Street how they felt about a.) sanctioning of gay marriage b.) women in the clergy c.) birth control. As if this is all anyone can think of regarding the third longest papal reign ever.

Norm Geras this morning offered a post on John Paul II's relating to Jewish people, and on the personal recollections of some Holocaust survivors. What I find to be particularly striking in this is the Pope's reference to the Jewish people as the "elder brothers" of the Christians, and of his steadfast insistence in the need to forge bonds and ensure the survival of Israel.

Such talk of unity from a man who was considered a staunch conservative. Such revolutionary talk of Jews being the "older brothers" of Christians has painted other clergymen as radical or even antireligious. I'm not amazed by it, however. It seems right in character.