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English Country Dancing
  For
our entire marriage Nancy has wanted to dance -- preferably with
me. Perhaps she has finally found a way to get me to join
her.
On Saturday evening, February 7th, the entire Sleight clan
(Grandma Jean included) attended the 2nd Annual Pemberley
Society Ball at Seattle Pacific University. On my
web page depicting the event I wrote, "Special
thanks to Annie for telling everyone I'd agreed to come to the
Pemberley Ball, (when I'd said nothing of the kind!)"
Annie is a member of the
Pemberley Society, a group of SPU students who cherish (and
study) the works of Jane Austen.
As long as I had to go, I decided to get into the spirit of
the thing, I was secretly intrigued, since we
would be stepping through the dances that my British Naval
heroes danced to.
 Nathanael wore my military uniform
(to great effect) that mom had sewn in 1975. I, on the
other hand, decided to mimic Citizen Chauvelin, mostly because a
black tux vest was easy to obtain (and I like black). My
cravat was a long scrap of vinyl-like fabric scrounged from the
basement, but folded properly, and adding a colorful pin, it was
quite convincing as the real thing. A tux shirt I'd never
worn fit the style of Austen's Regency era well enough.
My new beard, grown at the request of my daughters, augmented my
"look." In fact, our whole family got into the sprit of
the evening quite well. Annie's boyfriend Tom Disher
attended but did not dance much. I understand how
intimidating it can be to attempt so foreign an experience.
It's why I had always passed on this type of event before.
But this night I found myself grinning with sincere pleasure as
I discovered that it could be done. Many present were new
to the forms of this dance style. I did not stand out as a
road hazard.
Grandma Jean had a wonderful time even if she could not dance.
Many of those in attendance brought her treats and stopped to
talk with her as she sat on the side. But this too was
true to form. At a real Regency era ball, the matrons and
elderly would sit around the outside of the dance floor and
marvel (and gossip about) what they saw.
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 Blue
Pearl Granite in March?
In early February, Nancy picked me up at work and drove
us to south Seattle to pick out the granite slab to "finish" our living
room. After much searching, we found our first choice, a 117"x74" slab
at Pental Granite and Marble. A second slab was found at DAL-Tile
nearby, just in case. 
Nancy had brought a 12"x12" tile that had
the color and shade that she had hoped to find in the larger slab.
It was no trivial matter to find a slab large enough and with enough
blue (as opposed to black and gray).
In mid-March we
expect to get our window sills, and a nine-foot top to a long low
cabinet. It was built by our cabinet maker for positioning under the
south dining room windows. The chosen slab is so large that
additional small table tops will also be cut from it.
  Laurie
Comes to Visit
In late
February, Laurie came for a two week visit, ending March
10th. Grandma Jean looked for her coming with
great expectation. Her plan was to give Nancy a
much needed rest, help with Jean's needs, as well as
cook healthy meals for the family. Next
month I will write about all she accomplished in her
visit.
In February we got more cold
weather.
Wrestling Season
Comes to an
 End
I wondered if I would enjoy covering a season of BCS
wrestling with my camera and web site without a son on
the team. I did feel somewhat distant from the
wrestlers but I still enjoyed the activity.
Todd Williams, the father of sophomore Xavier Williams, began to
take video and he will fully replace the need for Nancy
as videographer next season. Oscar Del Moro
augmented my photos since he travelled to many of the
more distant tournaments. Since Matt is a senior,
I will not have his help next year.
Al Jewett, Skylar's dad, was even a better fan than I
was. Skylar is a freshman business student at SPU
and was second only to Nathanael in pins last season.
Al attended most of the duals and tournaments and drove
me to and from the Tacoma Dome where we watched our
three BCS wrestlers each go "two and out."
Freshman Tyler Erme was easily defeated at 125.
Junior Jon Fouquier lost in hard fought matches and Matt
Del Moro lost in an excruciating seven period match.
I sat next to Oscar as his son went the distance in his
final match.
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 Dad
Turns 90
If he can make it to 90, perhaps I should take better care of
myself. I have more hope of years of service beyond SPU.
He brought his own cake and came over with Randy and Mitsuko
Hasagawa on February 28th. He was off to California on yet
another of his trips of condo-hopping, so he would miss being in
Seattle on his March 3rd birthday.
We had "The Monstrosity" set up in the living room (to watch JB's
fun movie 27 Dresses she'd check out from the Library) so
we used it to watch slide shows of Laurie's daughter Katherine's
wedding in Maryland to Adam Kidwell.
Laurie made another healthy lunch and we got out the good china.
But before dad could get away, Nancy tried to have a candid
discussion about the finances required in wife Jean's home care.
The display of his stuborn character (and Nancy's) put a damper on the
festivities -- but these issues needed to be aired. Nancy
learned something about how a stone solid defense can triumph over
an aggressive but ill-prepared offense.
Having Laurie and Randy present at the meeting may actually bring
positive changes that will ameliorate some of Nancy's anxiety in the
whole matter.
 
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Seven Stanzas at Easter
Make no mistake: if He
rose at all
it was as His body;
if the cells’ dissolution did not reverse,
the molecules
reknit, the amino acids rekindle,
the Church will fall.
It was not as the flowers,
each soft Spring recurrent;
it was not as His Spirit in the mouths and
fuddled
eyes of the eleven apostles;
it was as His flesh: ours.
The same hinged thumbs and toes,
the same valved heart
that—pierced—died, withered, paused, and
then
regathered out of enduring Might
new strength to enclose.
Let us not mock God with metaphor,
analogy, sidestepping transcendence;
making of the event a parable, a sign
painted in the
faded credulity of earlier ages:
let us walk through the door.
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The stone is
rolled back, not papier-mache,
not a stone in a story,
but the vast rock of materiality that in
the slow
grinding of time will eclipse for each of
us
the wide light of day.
And if we will have an angel at the tomb,
make it a real angel,
weighty with Max Planck’s quanta, vivid
with hair,
opaque in the dawn light, robed in real
linen
spun on a definite loom.
Let us not seek to make it less monstrous,
for our own convenience, our own sense of
beauty,
lest, awakened in one unthinkable hour, we
are
embarrassed by the miracle,
and crushed by remonstrance.
John Updike (1932-2009) from
Telephone Poles and Other Poems
Updike may have been a ribald author at times -- but he
was a disciple of Barth.
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Bits and Pieces
I bought a CD by Gatewood Elementary School classmate Alex Eppler.
Even in 6th grade he was a balalaika virtuoso. I emailed him at
his Seattle-area flute making company and he sent me this photo.
Nathanael ran at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) 2009
Indoor Track & Field Championships in Nampa, Idaho on the 21st. He
ran the mile in 4:31.73, winning his heat and taking 9th place overall.
His teammate, Daniel Friesen, who Nate had chased all season, finished
8th at 4:30.82. It was only Nathanael's 2nd sub-4:40 mile.
He had run 4:31.19 just one week earlier at the UW Husky Classic,
again behind Daniel who ran 4:30.74.
The video of his Idaho race is amazing.
2009Indoor.pdf
BCS paid me $150 to serve as the official photographer for the WIAA
State Wrestling program at the Region 1 championships. I turned
around and paid $150 to BCS so Jeannie Beth could turn out for Track &
Field.
Family friend "Beth" Morse (102) passed away
in February. We attended her service at Fauntleroy Church.
JB is named after Grandma Jean and Elizabeth Morse.
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