Feast of Meeting/Groundhog Day

So, how many others watched the movie Groundhog Day yesterday? We did, and I think we watched it last year, too. We'd just rediscovered it and the kids much enjoyed it as well. I should have put Groundhog Day as a movie I could watch over and over because we have watched it many times. What a fascinating concept! A day lived over and over. It has advantages and disadvantages: on the pro side each day you could learn as much as you want, you get to start over, you can do whatever you want with no consequences. On the downside: each day you start back with whatever reputation you had--whatever you did to better your relationships with people means nothing each morning, as in the movie. He was known to be a grump and primadonna and each morning, even though he did a lot to change that, he was known as just that. But somehow he overcame, somehow he remade himself so believably that he was able to eventually win people over during that one day. I was thinking last night that if this happened to me, I'd hope that I hadn't left a bunch of stuff undone--like a very messy house, so that I'd have to do all that work before it was liveable, or else live each day in a mess. I suppose it was an emotional mess that Phil was living in, that he had to clean up every day.

Yesterday we Orthodox also celebrated the Feast of Meeting, which is when Mary and Joseph took the 40 day old Jesus to the temple for the first time. Anna and Symeon recognized him for who he was--the Messiah and said they could die satisfied now. I've always loved the words of Symeon: "Now let your servant depart in peace, for my eyes have seen my salvation, the light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of your people, Israel."

There was a brunch after liturgy, but unfortunately I got sick during the service and had to go right home afterward. I thought I'd gotten the flu, because it came on so suddenly. I felt like a truck had run over me. I went straight to bed and spent most of the rest of the day in bed, only emerging when I was sick of being in bed and dragged myself out. I even missed part of the movie because I was not feeling well enough to sit and watch it. But today, wonder of wonders, I'm mostly better.

On another note: the other day the kids and I went to the Portland Art Museum. I was very impressed! So impressed was I that I bought a membership. We didn't see nearly all of it--I'd say we could probably go back five times before we've walked through everything. They had a special exhibit going--the Hesse dynasty art. I liked the way they tied in other things that are going on in that period--like talking about things happening at the same time as Martin Luther was starting the reformation, and there's a special Brothers' Grimm storytelling session because the Hesse dynasty commissioned them to write their stories. I loved Tsarina Alexandra's tiara--it was shaped like laurel leaves and encrusted with diamonds. (And I'm not a jewelery person!) But she only wore it for 8 months before she died of tuberculosis. There was another set of romantic paintings that really caught my eye--I thought they were really beautiful. They portrayed peasants and pilgrims in a beautiful landscape, quite fantastical but not in an impossible way. The artist died at age 22, though; he drowned while swimming with friends. I can't remember his name or I'd put it here.

Anyway! I've been thinking of posting a list of things we like to do in Portland, like I did for San Francisco, but of course we haven't seen too much yet. Perhaps it could be a work in progress.