I must confess that we did not attend church on this fine Easter morning. We failed to arise early enough for sunrise service, and failed to brave the crowds for a more regular service. Yet the day had an Easter feel to it in any event. The day felt alive and full of renewal.
I learned of a Creative Commons release by the Bach Guitar Duo which is available here. I downloaded this fine album of classical guitar duo music and donated a little money to the cause in thanks. I find myself very partial to simple classical guitar and lute music nowadays, as well as the acoustic guitar music of northern Brazil.
I watched two shows on television that interested me this morning. One was about the gnostic gospels, a topic about which I know some things but was glad to learn more things. The other was an episode of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, which focused on the Adele penguins of Antarctica. I miss Marlin Perkins, who might have added gems like "watch out, Jim, those penguins can really nip!". But the show was very good, and there is something life-affirming about watching those penguins fly from the waters onto the shore.
I joined the throngs who play the cell phone game Angry Birds. I visited Quizno's sandwich shop to get a roast beef sandwich for lunch. I read the travel section of the paper, which advised that Yellowstone Park is a very large park, and counseled granting bears and wolves a berth sufficiently wide to fit a football field within the distance.
We took a walk at Towne Lake Park in McKinney. I love seeing the Texas dandelions in bloom.
They look a bit like the common dandelion, but, true to a Texas myth, they are much larger.
We walked the mile and 1/4 around the Towne Lake, passing a yellow labrador, an Easter picnic complete with a bounce house, and a muscovy duck with several very small and very yellow ducklings.
Then we walked on the nature trail, where we saw a Carolina wren and a cardinal, as well as greenery everywhere.
I watched the website of the St. Louis Chess Club, where they offered live coverage of the U.S. Chess Championship and the U.S. Women's Chess Championship. I enjoyed seeing Irina Krush's game against Anna Zatonskih, which illustrated how a seeming natural move could be a losing blunder. The commentary by Jennifer Shahade and Maurice Ashley was entertaining. I like the part in which former world champion Garry Kasparov phoned in and teased the commentators about a few position evaluations.
I took our dogs for a walk to the park. This becomes an increasing challenge now that Teddy is 16, but we all made it to the park and back in good shape. Beatrice spotted a mockingbird and a rabbit along the way, but her harness restrained her joie de vivre.
The news reports that thunderstorms with tornadoes are to the west of Fort Worth. I hope they bring rain to quench the fires, but not the winds to cause damage.
We watched a great 60 Minutes piece about the monastic life on Mt. Athos in Greece. Soon we will eat oven-fried tilapia, roasted new potatoes and broccoli. We had a very nice day together. I look forward to the week to come.