The past couple of days were supposed to be boring, but ended up being pretty jam-packed. I guess I never realized it, but I like being busy. I like having projects, tasks, meetings, events, and just enough peaceful time thrown into the mix.
Tuesday and Thursday I rode my bike into town. This has been a very rewarding experience. Bike riding slows me down, quite literally, and I am able to take better notice of what’s around me, as compared to whizzing by everything at 40 MPH. Grant it, I have had a little extra time on my hands lately, so biking might not be the practical form of transportation all the time. However, I plan on doing it as often as I can. It’s one of those “little things” (Mother Teresa) I can do individually to make a positive impact on the environment and society. It makes a positive impact on my body, too, which is a nice side effect.
I wasn’t exactly sure how long it would take me to get downtown, and I ended up arriving a bit early. I was headed to a restaurant at 2:30 to turn in an application. Since I arrived early, I had time to wash up and spray some perfume on in the bathroom at the Mast General Store (you work up a good sweat walking & biking four miles in August). Refreshed, I checked out some stores that I had wanted to look around in. At one store, I ended up talking with a very nice woman named Tammy for quite a while. I hope to remain friends with her. It’s easy to maintain friendships here once you establish them. It’s a large city with a small town feel.
The next day, I stopped by her store again and we chatted a while longer. I also went to the French Broad Food Co-Op Organic farmer’s market. Ever since I was a little girl, I have associated certain things with a very romanticized aura. Lattes, walking a dog in a park, rocking chairs, tea, sun-dresses, bakeries, and apparently, organic open-air markets all elicit feelings of the beautiful, good, and romantic. There I was, in Asheville, a city of art and activists, I had ridden my bike into town, and was now walking around a parking lot full of organic farmers chatting with people they knew by name. It was a surreal moment for me. People were selling beautifully bright flowers, red ripe tomatoes, crisp green beans, and all other kinds of treasures grown from God’s earth.
Lately, when I pray at meals, I have been trying to pray very conscious that my food comes directly from God. I usually tell God something like this “Thank you, Father, that I have dinner. Thank you for the rain that nourished the ground and caused this food to grow. Thank you for the people, that you made, that cultivated the land. Thank you that this food goes into my body and makes me strong and healthy and gives me energy. Thank you for how you provide for my needs.” It has been a very edifying thing to really make myself think about the origins of the food I’m eating. It has taken what used to be a common moment of the day and transformed it into a really spiritual moment of thanksgiving with the Lord. And it reminds me of the goodness of the Lord, which, for me, is a hard concept to digest.
My back-pack full of potatoes, green-beans, hummus, grapes, and corn chips, I decided to head back home to shower and enjoy the spoils. I had parked my bike right in front of the Asian Bistro. As I approached my bike, I realized a friend I had made through The Underground was having lunch directly in front of where I had parked at the restaurant’s outdoor seating. I couldn’t remember her name. I was torn between Gina and Katrina…Regina invited me to join her. I sipped some water and, among other things, we talked about UNCA where she is an art major. Hydrated, we hugged and parted, and I pedaled my little self back to the house where I was glad to take a cold shower.
Later that night I headed out (by car :-D ) to play Frisbee. I know I’ve already mentioned it, but I love Frisbee people! It is such a great community. God’s beautiful orchestration of events continues to amaze me. Just like my bike being parked right in front of Regina’s choice for lunch, another friend from The Underground, Jenny, has an Uncle who ended up being one of the top-dogs in the Frisbee league. He invited me for beer and pizza after we played (a traditional outing of the ultis). I also found out that there is a huge tournament this weekend. I will miss it on Saturday because of work, but Saturday night they are having an after-party at the Root Bar, complete with free beer and a blue-grass band. Some of you know of the glory of the Root Bar :-D, and you know who you are. Ultimate is famous, and maybe a little infamous, for it’s parties. It’s a two-day tournament so hopefully I will catch some of the action on Sunday. Although, I’ll probably end up spending time with Underground people; we will see.
It is such a different world living here. Instead of “The Jav”, the norm is to spend time at a pub in order to hang out & get to know someone. The half-time tradition of my ultimate team is for our captain to tell a “dirty” joke. I hardly notice swearing anymore. I shop at a grocery store where you can refill your shampoo bottle, and get checked out by a girl with dreads, a nose ring, and tattoos. It has been and will continue to be an adjustment; an adjustment of my attitude and my understanding of God and of people. I want to be free. Rob Bell has said “I’m convinced Christians need to throw better parties.” How true! There are people here who are more genuine, kinder, freer and honest about who they are than most Christians I know. I don’t want to be uptight. I don’t want to be easily offended. Jesus wasn’t. I want to see my experiences here the way he would see them. I want to throw better parties.
PS – another highlight of my week was watching a little boy of about 8 years enjoy some whip-cream from the can while his Mom was loading clothes at the Laundromat. Oh yes.
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