No seatbelts on the road to Egypt; Balloon bursts of Love; Love thy voting neighbour
3 Things this week and the poem "God practicing smoke rings"
Thanks for spending some of your weekend with Things I Wrote Down.
It's officially sweater weather here in Delaware (Ontario). And I'm here for it. I learned a new fashion term this week—“eclectic grandpa”—which turns out has been a micro trend this year.
I’ve always embraced the grandpa sweater, but Vogue tells me wearing a long-lasting sweater is a low brow fashion crutch that “relies on pieces—sweaters, loafers, watches, hats, glasses—meant to last decades, if not a lifetime.”
I also did my annual egg nog awareness post over on IG. Do you celebrate life with eggnog too? If not, we're still friends.
Here are three things and an a poem.
1. No seatbelts on the road to Egypt
Ever wonder what it was like to travel at the turn of the first century as Roman roads increasingly connected cities, bandits lurked in shadows, and donkeys strained to carry human cargo?
I was thinking about the flight of Mary and Joseph in the night after they were warned the Judaean King of the Roman outpost was seeking to locate and kill their son. So I wrote a short play about it that's now available on Skit Guys.
In the short skit, Mary shares what it was like to flee for Egypt in the middle of the night after Joseph was warned in a dream that King Herod sought baby Jesus’ life. With no seatbelts or safety nets, the couple clung to actual Jesus as they responded to the warning.
2. Balloon bursts of love
This is one of my favourite accounts on Instagram, a husband and wife duo who prank each other constantly with what looks like balloons filled with white goo.
They burst the balloons and sometimes confetti clouds on their unwitting partner as they walk through doorways, rooms, and even drive-thru windows.
It's hilarious, ridiculous and while I'd hate to be caught in their endless prank loop, it's fun to watch.
I hope their viral videos are worth it (and that it affords them a cleaner).
3. Love thy voting neighbour
Many of my colleagues are American, and they're bracing themselves for the big week ahead.
It seems almost quaint to think how voting used to be something people rarely talked about. Do you remember those before times?
Aside: I'm writing a new series that imagines a time after all this, in the not too distant future where the current democratic system no longer exists, and billionaire fiefdoms are the new power centers after a nuclear event remakes the world. I don't know if it's prophetic or dystopic, but it's thrilling and frightening to imagine (I hope to share more with you soon).
I loved seeing this article from
— Whatever Happens, Love Thy Neighbour. It's so obvious, so American, so right (and gratefully still happening, sadly not enough).
A poem
Everything seems so consequential, then you look up at the sky on your early morning walk and see Orion, his belt glimmering like he’s ready to line dance with Cassiopeia.
The distance between the stars and the cloud of your breath, unfathomable. But a physicist figured out a formula to measure it out. And still, God envelops it all, is bigger than the distance between these two worlds.
Elections. The clamouring on earth. My whole ecosystem of relationships and the joys and struggles that result are infinitesimal.
One way I’ve tried to capture all this is through the following poem, “God practicing smoke rings.” I hope you enjoy it and can glory, a little, in your smallness.
