Divine Interventions

I went to the store after the gym, but failed to get dog biscuits. Baby's big, brown eyes look desperate as I unpacked the bags, and feeling guilty I opened a bag of Ritz crackers and gave her one. I thought she'd hate the make-shift treat, but she went crazy. She loved them. It must be the salt.

Then, tonight in class, the school was giving free H1N1 shots. I went down with Abu and Lossine and the nurse scooped me up and the next thing I knew, I was getting pricked with a needle and inoculated from pig disease.

So, I post today thanking the great whatever for his/her divine intervention. Swine Flu and Saltine wafers. Both meant to be.

Making the best use of time

On my way home from Roberts School today, I picked up Abu and Lossine to get them to Empire Soccer practice after dropping his family off at their brother's apartment. Once I got to them to the field, we learned the practice was canceled, so they decided they wanted to see if they could run with me. They didn't have sneakers, though, so we got footed them with old kicks of mine that were two sizes two big. They did great and reported they never ran so far and it was good training for their junior year on the Varsity Soccer team at Nottingham. With all the quirky minutes of my day flying into managing tasks, it was nice to have running partners for an hour. It's evenings like these that I think about globalization and what it must be like for these Liberian teenagers making sense of their worldly experiences, especially on the roads of North Syracuse, New York.

Because of the kindness of a Canadian friend, I was able to take Lossie, Abu and Robert, all from Liberia, to see the movie Invictus starring Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman. Based on Nelson Mandela's use of the South African rugby team, the victory of the world cup is used as a way of uniting the complicated politics of a historical South Africa that is still a nation in the making, and one that has been troubled by a multicultural, divided community. It was a good film to see and to think about and I recommend it to all. Here is the poem that is handed to Matt Damon, captain of the team, by Morgan Freeman, president of the country.
Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley