A perfect Sunday

begins with church. Today I facilitated the bible study, for the 3rd time in a few weeks. For the first time, though, the conversation really felt like it worked. People had wonderful insights. They listened thoughtfully to each other. They related the bible passages to the present situation. It was remarkable, actually. We were reading Acts 21-22 and found many ways of relating it to the present threatened schism of the Episcopal church.

I was also the lector for the second reading this morning... about the generosity of the Macedonian churches. It was a pretty involved reading and I managed to get through it without choking. I love when that happens.

Because I was reading, I sat up front, which I never do. I like quiet before the service and find the front of the Nave to be way too social. But today, I just went with the flow and actually enjoyed being front and center.

After church, the kids and I got home and found that Nguyen had prepared a fantastic picnic lunch. My brother showed up and we drove down to Jamestown, to Fort Weatherill State Park, for a picnic by the ocean. It was cool and windy, and still very damp. We bumped into old friends from Bell Street and were sad to discover that they, too, have left our old church. But it was great to see them and catch up.

Then, we drove around to Beavertail lighthouse and hung out down by the tidal pools in the rocks. The tide was out, so we saw all kinds of wonderful creatures, from tiny crabs to sea anemones (in a shocking green color that the aquarium staff said they had never seen before!)

The kids were like little goats, darting around on the rocks, causing their mother to catch her breath in alarm. But they had a blast and didn't get swept out to sea. All in all, a good thing.

Last stop: Ice Cream in the village of Jamestown. It was a little soft for my liking, and melted all over us before we had a chance to finish it, but I will say it was delicious! As I have recently forayed into homemade ice cream, I was very appreciative of the fine quality. (I had death by chocolate.... It was divine!)

Finally, over the bridge and back to our side of the bay. The temperature and humidity climbed as we approached home. We all just crashed when we got back... Nguyen and Emmett on the sofa, me in bed upstairs and Noah, the sole hold-out, relishing that he had control of the remote and could watch Animal Planet with no argument from anyone.

What a delicious day.