Today's picture is the first on this blog that I didn't take. And a quick glance will confirm that it is certainly not any place near Wheaton, IL. It is a seaside view of Ibiza, Spain.
After a somewhat hectic day today, tonight after dinner I had the chance to soak in some fun college-quad bonfire action!
Thank you Honey Rock office staff for setting this up! I mean, where else can you wonder outside on a random Tuesday evening and roast up s'mores on the grass lawn next to your office?
Today we had morning worship and then piled back into the van for the long ride back to Wheaton and the academic (and otherwise) realities of our normal lives. But fun things along the way like this sight at a gas station helped keep us on our toes:
The rest of the day was a mixture of reading, watching football, catching up on email, and uhh... watching football while thinking about reading (and grading and prepping and...).
It turned out to be a beautiful day up in the Northwoods of Wisconsin! It also turned out to be a wonderful day of remembering and hoping and rejoicing and trusting. A few highlights of the day were 1) being challenged to think more critically about how new "postmodern" values and questions affect how we (and Honey Rock in particular) approach our teaching and our core values, 2) seeing new cabins going up in front of my eyes right next to the place where a Wheaton student drowned just over a month ago, a beautiful picture of redemption and hope as new life and potential spring from a place of sorrow, 3) going out in canoes into the middle of Long Lake right before midnight to see the whole universe spread out above our upturned faces, 4) witnessing this:
This weekend I had the great chance to join a group of people up at Honey Rock Camp for what they call Donor's Weekend. It was a chance to invite people who are supporters of HRC (whether financially or spiritually or any combination) to come up when things are relatively quiet, enjoy a weekend there, and hear from a number of people about what has been happening, what is being planned, and in general provide a forum for feedback, encouragement, and suggestions. It's also a great time of prayer and praise for God's many blessings.
And since Honey Rock is so far north, reminders were everywhere that Fall is definitely marching its merry way south to Wheaton!
I look forward to Saturday and what the day will bring. This really is a place set apart, free from the usual distractions and stresses of modern life. And that makes it a treasure.
Tonight I got to do something quite fun -- I grabbed the 4:57 Metra to downtown, grabbed a taxi to the Adler Planetarium right on the lakefront, and then finally arrived a mere four minutes late for the special lecture I was trying to get to. The talk tonight was "Greek Astronomers and The Ancient Public," delivered with intelligence and insight by Alexander Jones, a generally smart guy out of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at NYU. It was great fun, made more so by running into a Classics colleague from Loyola-Chicago and talking with her and Dr. Jones (no, not that one) and other people afterward, including this one guy in the audience who, when he found out that there were three professional Classicists standing right by him, got all excited and asked his "two questions I've always wanted to ask a Classicist" (ancient Greek pronunciation vs modern Greek and the validity of Graves' conclusions in his book on Greek Mythology -- Graves is so wack but a good storyteller).
But that's not what my picture is of today. I was all set to use a pic from the talk itself, until I walked outside the Adler tonight and saw this right in front of me.
Today was a special day. Why, you ask? Because today is the birthday of some people who don't exist! Well, that's not quite true...they're very real felt-existence is why I gathered tonight at the Wade Center on Wheaton's campus with a cadre of fellow celebrants to celebrate the fictional birthdays of Bilbo Baggins and Frodo Baggins, heroes of the Shire and of good-hearted folk everywhere! And that includes me and a good deal of you good-hearted readers, I suspect. In other words, today was Hobbit Day! Sept 22nd every year, so next year you can plan your own festivities so you aren't left out! (I particularly like the suggestion to celebrate by going barefoot all day and eating 6 meals...)
We ate yummsky cake, drank white-cranberryjuice-blend drinks, sang hobbitish songs, listened to archived recordings of J.R.R. Tolkien himself reading from various parts of his books, and took turns reading from our own favorite Tolkien passages ourselves.
I would like to state for the record that the works of Tolkien, expressly The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and the Silmarillion are my favorite works of fiction pretty much ever. (I'm leaving Homer's Iliad out of this discussion for the moment...) The simple truth is that reading Lord of the Rings in 8th grade -- really, it was more like taking the grandest of journeys aboard the good ship Imagination -- changed my life. Tolkien is probably the largest single reason why I do what I do today. And not only are those books full of the power of the imagination-made-real, but they are full of the truth-made-real. Truth about the dangers of power, about the triumph of true hope, about the ever-present realities of loss and mortality, about the crucial value of the freedom of persons and of the will, and ultimately about the reality of what Tolkien calls the "Author of the Story" and the redemption of his story in the end. In a word, Beautiful.
Well, as they would say in ancient Rome if ancient Romans zapped themselves forward in time to read fantasy books in a language that they couldn't read:
Felix dies natalis vobis duobus, O hobbiti pleni animorum altissimorum!
As a person who really resonates with both music and with words, it is perhaps not surprising that one thing I really love doing is reading and thinking through song lyrics as I listen to the song. Doing this has really opened up lots of songs to me in richer, deeper ways that had gone unnoticed before. You know how it is: you've heard a song for a long time, maybe even really like the music or the words, but you've never really thought through what the heck it's actually saying, and one day something in the words of the song just hit home and then BAM you're listening along at a whole new level, heraing things and making connections you've never made before. Well, maybe that's not a common occurence for some others, but it is for me. And today I offer an example (and they've got a rockin' violinist): "Without You (I'm not alright)" - by Article One
Here are the lyrics: I was lost, I was scared, and I was broken I was never meant to fall out on my own I should have known... I could have turned to you for answers But kept you further than the stars and off my mind Was so blind...
[Chorus] Tell me how, to turn my life around Tell me how, I ever lived before I found you Show me now! Will you come and breathe the answers into life? Cause living without you, I'm not alright
All I was in the past I left behind me Now your love has cleared away all my mistakes Walk by grace When I see shadows in the distance All the black and white can quickly turn to grey Light my way --
[Chorus]
[Bridge] You find me in the places I hide Your love lights up the corners of my mind Oh without you, I'm not alright!
I'm not alright When I'm living without you, I'm not alright Someone's lost, someone's scared and hearts are broken But they were never meant to face life all alone So I'll go, so I'll go, so I'll go...
[Written by Nathan Piche, Matt Piche, Tedd Tjornhom, Tasia Tjornhom, Lynn Nichols and Cindy Morgan] * * * * * * * *
What thoughts/images/connections did you have while reading and listening? Please do share -- I love the community of ideas.
Astute readers will recall that the week before classes started I went up to Honey Rock, a camp settled in the Northwoods of Wisconsin that is owned by Wheaton and used for a variety of programs. I went to help run their Passage program, a transition-to-college curriculum. I had a tremendous time, not only from working with the students and enjoying the scenic beauty of the camp itself, but also from the special opportunity to hang out with and really get to know a bunch of other faculty members here at Wheaton. Those sorts of opportunities are all too rare, but extremely valuable as we learn from each other and build real community. I think many of realized this, so one of the Chemistry profs who went designated herself the "Social Chair" and started planning a few times this semester that a few of us could get together and reconnect during the semester. Tonight was one of those times, and we had a sweet time of hanging out, being ourselves, laughing, driving bumper cars maniacally into each other, and making spectacles of ourselves at bowling (whether from greatness or from... well... its opposite).
Behold, my greatness. (greatness at what, I won't say -- this picture nicely leaves out the spectacle that followed this moment... )
One of the things that makes Wheaton College so great and so special are the really interesting, talented, and usually downright funny people that make up its faculty ranks. I'm really enjoying getting to know them better.
Wheaton College has a pretty darn good Division III football team -- as of today we are ranked 4th in the country at that level. Tonight was the first home football game of the year, and I thought it would be a good idea to catch all the excitement and cheer the home team. All of us in the stands had help of course.
It was an epic blowout. Go Thunder! (AGITE TONITRVS!)
Today was deadline day. For what, you ask? Why, today was the submission deadline for individual abstracts for possible inclusion in the program of the 106th meeting of the Classical Association of the Middle West and South, to be held next spring in Oklahoma City. I've attended this Classics conference every year since 2001 (my first year in grad school when it was held in lovely Provo, UT and where I made the sudden realization that good BYU students don't wear bushy beards like the one I had at the time...) and I hope to have my abstract accepted this year. For those who don't know how this sort of thing works: 1) in the course of your academic research you land upon an idea or insight you'd like to share with others in the profession, 2) you write a one-page summary of your idea/argument and send it in by the deadline, 3) you find out later in the fall if you are accepted onto the program as a presenter or not.
My research basically involves me reading ancient books (in nice, modern type-set editions) whence I get my head full of ideas, followed by modern books about those ancient books, followed by more books... you get the idea. Here's one I read in tonight while writing my abstract:
My main research is on the extremely fascinating Roman epic poet Lucan. Now this guylived a crazy life. Maybe I'll write a bit more about him some time.
Oh, the title I proposed for my paper? Dueling Memories: Augustus’s Res Gestae vs. Lucan’s Bellum Civile
I am a fairly musical person, and the instrument I love using the most is the voice. I can play some piano and guitar, but nothing moves me like tight vocal harmonies. It's also beautiful to be able to combine that love with music directed towards God, to whom I owe so much -- well, everything, to be precise.
Tonight was practice for the Praise Team at my church. I tend to be on the schedule about once a month or so, and it's both great fun and a great team, all devoted to a great God.
I have had occasion to visit Blanchard Hall a few times over the past few days, as I talk with folks over in the History Department about the prospect of getting ancient history classes started up again (things look pretty good within the next two years, I'm happy to report). Blanchard Hall is the landmark building on campus, the cool-old-made-of-stone building that all good 19th century colleges like Wheaton need to have in order to put on campus stationary and the like.
So you may have seen the hallowed halls of Blanchard, BUT have you seen the storied stairwells?
This is looking straight up from the bottom of the west stairwell. Sometimes a new perspective is nice.
Some people don't like Mondays. I like them -- I get to go to work to do the coolest stuff in the world. And when Monday afternoons at work give you views like this when you're walking over to the history department to meet somebody, well, let's say I'll raise a glass (of tea) to Monday tonight.
Prediction: speaking of tonight, the Patriots annihilate the Bills, despite my pleas to the GoF's. (who could care enough about the Raiders to even predict that game's score?)
The past few Sundays I've decided to ride my bike to church, in part because it saves gas and is thus cheaper, but mostly because these past few weekends have been absolutely gorgeous. After church today (which was very good -- joy comes through obedience...chew on that for a while...), I kept riding my bike further out to explore some more out that way, in and around Glen Ellyn. I brought an academic book with me that I had to read, so every now and then I would find a neat place and stop and read for a while. Mixing a love for exploring the outdoors and getting through academic work at the same time felt great!
My big discovery today was the Willowbrook Wildlife Center, a place that provides rescue for animals that are normally wild and then puts them in habitat places on-site that are open to the public. The place is very nice and comes complete with a lovely butterfly garden, koi pond, and a pretty neat set of nature trails. Here is one of the workers who was showing off one of the hawks.
I think I'll definitely go back. A great place to find a tree-covered bench and read to your heart's content.
Today, the end of another week, was one of those glorious days when the sun shines lazily upon the green grass and it's not too hot and it's not too cold and everything inside of you says everything is just right. (a far cry from 8 years ago) One group of students seized the afternoon in suitable fashion by setting up a few tables on the grass of the quad and playing chess to their heart's content.
Behold the Knights of Thunder! (that's actually the chess club's name here, totally sweet)
Another propitious day! 9/9/9! We will get at least a 10/10/10 next year, which will be even cooler, I have to admit. Although there is something fairly numinous about having three 9's in a date when it's square root is itself 3... (that was for you Katrina)
Wheaton College celebrated such a special day by hosting a service fair, with lots of local churches and student ministries setting up info tables, crowned with the below tent which served up ice cream all afternoon. Mmmmm.
The day was also celebrated with a surprise birthday for -- of all people -- ME in my Thucydides class (upper level Greek)! As they pointed out, it was my 1/12 birthday (since August 9, my actual birthday was one month ago) and they found it a perfectly legitimate reason to celebrate in class with ice cream, brownies (delish), and chocolate chip cookies! Needless to say, I have wonderful students who clearly are going places. Yes, I love my job.
Labor Day -- a perfect day not to labor, if you can help it. To take advantage of this wonderful day and its wonderful weather, I and five other friends piled into a car and wove our way into Milwaukee to watch my beloved St. Louis Cardinals play the Milwaukee Brewers.
Not only did we win, but the St. Louis pitcher threw a 1-hitter! The ESPN folks that evening described it as "maybe the best game they've seen pitched all year." Great time had by all.
The picture today is not mine -- and it's not even really a picture at all. Today is the last Sunday before the NFL gets in full swing. Thus, instead of watching football today I re-created with a long, wonderful bike ride with a friend, made some fun discoveries along the way of parks we didn't know about, and generally had a good time. So that's what I did -- can you guess what the amazing Brothers Manning did to pass the time while waiting for their season to start? (this was just too funny to pass up!)
Are you ready for some FOOTBALL!? Today marked the start of full-swing college football in the US, '09. It's a rite of fall, every year, and one that I have come to enjoy since the start of my grad school days at the college-football-crazy University of Iowa ("Go Hawks!"). I started following sports much more when I was attending a school whose football team stands as the de-facto state "professional" team, given that there are no professional major-sports teams in Iowa. Heck, my last year in Iowa City I even lived in a house directly across the street from Kinnick Stadium, and on game days it was college football central! There's nothing quite so uniquely festive and crazy as that kind of midwest, college-town atmosphere. I particularly miss the "foot-long corn dog lady" who was one of about 9 vendors that set up in our front yard. I'm sure she was there again today to help feed the over-100,000 people that converge on Iowa City for home game days. And I'm proud to say that today the Iowa Hawkeyes pulled out a dramatic (if unnecessarily close) win over Northern Iowa by blocking not one but TWO field goals on consecutive plays, all within the last seven seconds of the game.
So, I basically watched college football most of the day, while simultaneously eating food, learning to tie knots (I bought a book recently, they're fun to work on while watching TV!), or even reading a few chapters out of (you know I wouldn't make this up) The Cambridge Companion to Evangelical Theology. But today's picture is from the football game that held the most international significance of the ones I watched -- now this is real futbol!
I watched the US team defeat El Salvador in a crucial World Cup qualifier match, y todo en Español. Those Spanish-language sports announcers really know how to get excited. GOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLL
Let's get this straight -- SAGA is the bomb. Whatever you tend to think of when you think of campus dining food, here at Wheaton College the food is incredible. Let me say it in Latin: incredibilis! There are tons of options, lots of healthy foods (and a few not healthy, but they're cutting back on fried foods this year a lot), lots of ethnic foods including standing daily stations for Italian, Mexican, and oriental dishes, along with what I call affectionately "Sandwich-Land" and made-from-scratch soups and a "home cooking" section and cereals and even flavored butters. Flavored butters. And don't even get me started on their desserts and ice cream. Just check out their weekly menu online if you don't believe me. These are not standard, gimmicky ethnic dishes either, they're pretty authentic complete with native spices and such. In sum, it's really good.
So much so that some of my friends like to find reasons to have lunch with me whenever possible. Today I got to share lunch with two good friends (one my neighbor [see Day 4]--and one a fun Iowa friend who was in town visiting), and we had a great time.
Kate was agog at the new food stations, and even commented once that coming to SAGA felt like eating on board a cruise ship. I'd have to agree -- I feel rather spoiled here! Great food, great friends, great conversations, great laughter over this and that. Hmmm... maybe I'll do it again next tomorrow! (it's on -- PF reunion tomorrow!)
Today is 9/3/9. (at least in the US it is) It's a square root day! Did you eat any root vegetables in celebration? Today is the last such square root day we will ever know, as there are sadly not 16 months in a year to give us a 16/4/16. Alas.
I enjoyed today by getting outside as much as I could. Simply walking around and taking it in. Stopping to smell the flowers -- like this one right in the heart of campus!
It's times like today that I recognize just how beautiful this place is that I work. I really am blessed beyond measure to be here. Around dinner time I grabbed up some work and headed out to a nearby park where I munched on fast food while reading Thucydides, and right when I was getting ready to leave I got to watch the sun set into the West in a blazing ball of occidental glory. (now you're all going to look up what occidental means, right?) I pumped my fist in the air and shouted -- because you can't see something that glorious without responding! [insert obvious spiritual application here]
I am not only a college professor, but specifically a professional classical philologist. [high-five yourself if you've ever even seen that word before] That means it is my job to study the languages and literatures of the classical world of ancient Greece and Rome. In other words, I live in a world of books. And I love it.
I was reminded of this earlier this evening when I got to explore some of the archives of the Wade Center, a research library for C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and five other British authors who were in some fashion or other connected to Lewis. This research archive (which includes a large section of Lewis' personal library, extensive holdings of correspondance, articles and books and other sundry items relating to the seven authors, and even a wardrobe that Lewis played in as a child as well as the very desk on which Tolkien wrote The Hobbit!!!) is a fabulous gem located right here on campus in little Wheaton, Illinois. And it is entirely indebted to the power of the book. Good literature is powerful stuff. Good literature matters.
My own personal treasure trove of classical literature on campus comes in the form of the Loeb Library collection in the reference room of our campus library. They are bilingual editions (original language and English) of almost all of the surviving Greek and Roman literature. All accessible, right at your fingers. I love finding reasons to walk across the way and go to the "Loeb section." There are always treasures to uncover, hidden gems to stumble across unawares, well-known passages to revisit. The Greeks and the Romans were/are fascinating. And they're all right here.
Red is for Roman, Green is for Greek. Literature matters, because it can contain flashes of Truth that pierce to the soul, that tell us something about who we are. And sometimes, it's just plain fun.
How did you celebrate the first day of September, 2009? If you're lucky, you did what I saw these college students doing as I left our first faculty meeting of the year.
Mmmmmm.
A few more months, and you won't be seeing any green in this photo. Thanks, summer, for sticking around as long as you can.
