¡ Going to Home Depot to Learn Spanish !

¡ Si. Voy a Home Depot para aprender español!

. What clothing stores are for women, hardware and lumber stores are for me. My idea of shopping heaven is a couple of hours leisurely strolling in Home Depot and looking over things besides what I came in to buy. In addition I actually enjoy looking up at the bilingual aisle signs in Home Depot. The vocabulary taught in schools is stingy about technical terms. (I am self-taught in Spanish and find language books to be just as anti-nerdy.) So I am delighted to learn that hardware is ferretería, doors and windows are puertos y ventanos, and other departments roll musically off the tongue: plomeriá y baños, línea blanca y cosinas, iluminación y electricos, and the loveliest in both form and meaning: jardinería.

. I know this is inconsistent, but I often grumble when I see one of those yellow foldup signs in front of the entrance to a men's room here in Maine. Not because of the inconvenience, but because the bilingual sign repeats the message in Spanish, not very sensible in this region. French is the third most-spoken language in the United States. Here in the Northeast it is so prevalent as a second language that we are considered to be part of that mysterious land "Francophonie."

Spanish spoken in the USA	French spoken in the USA

My mischievous sense of humor exacts a fun revenge:

Watch out. ¡Piso Mojado!
Posts the guy who does this chore.
Don't slip inside, amigo
Take care, do not ignore!

I know your need is urgent
You really have to go,
But I used mucho detergent
You might slip upon the floor!

Because I know no Spanish
I'll guess, here at the door:
Mojado must mean Banish:
Don't piso on the floor!

What's So Holy about "Holy Week"?

. When the word "rhythm" is heard the first things that come to mind are repetitions taking place in seconds, as in music. It's an indispensable part of the enjoyment. What about rhythms that run their course in minutes, hours, or days? Annual cycles are rhythms, too, and so ritual observances provide a similar comforting effect.

. Following on what I mentioned in an earlier post about Lent, this time of year marks the death of something and of a transforming rebirth. Yesterday was Palm Sunday. Fronds of palm are given to congregations of many Christian churches. (My mother believed that burning some of these holy palms averts disaster during thunderstorms.) At a time when confetti, flash cameras and the proverbial red carpet were scarce, plentiful palm fronds, available locally served the purpose: welcoming celebrated personages who were honored by having them travel over strewn palm on their path.

. I always wondered why Jesus reentered Jerusalem that day, when he certainly knew what would ultimately happen if he did so. Lately I concluded that he must have wanted to set an example for his followers to stand up for their beliefs, sincerely and bravely, no matter the cost.

. However long it was between his happy arrival and his bitter end, today it is observed in the span of a week. The events of that time have been the inspiration for thousands of works of the visual arts and music. Most recognizable is the Last Supper, which is traditionally commemorated on Thursday of Holy Week.

. Apparently less well-known (or perhaps less well understood) is Good Friday, a remembrance of the Crucifixion. Our Chamber Choir has recently performed a work based just on that one event, Membra Jesu Nostri, composed in 1685 by Dieterich Buxtehude. Modern readers may find the literal translation shocking "Body Parts of Our Jesus". But it was actually based on a medieval Latin poem that the composer set to music. He and the audiences of the time were unlikely to have associated morbid connotations, but simply heard it as a veneration of Christ's sacrifice. The concerts were well attended and it seemed that the audiences soon got into the meditative "zone." (Thanks for this very apt expression, John.) Perhaps this YouTube video might serve as a proxy to convey some of the atmosphere of those meaningful evenings spent communicating this wonderful music to the public.

. As a meditation the theme of the day could mean setting aside a time to confront one's physical mortality and to ponder what it is about ourselves that is imperishable. It might surprise you to learn that Good Friday is a civil holiday in Connecticut and nine other states. Perhaps the State is justified in declaring a holiday under the same logic as for Christmas. Though religious in origin, the State i merely recognizing it as an appropriate day, off given its solemnity for many employees.

. Some people express their reverence by various durations of fasting, and perhaps also observing silence, sometime during the "Triduum" (Latin: "three [significant] days") of Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I actually tried the whole enchilada once, with a fast after suppertime Thursday until sunrise on Easter. (Because I was working it was impossible to also observe silence.) Surprisingly there were very few ill effects. I felt quite spacey much of the time, but this state did make it a lot easier to remain recollected during that time.

. Speaking of "recollected", I did not realize the power of that word. On a Friday my boss was bugging me to complete or implement some work that was a bit stressful and did not actually need to be done right then. Maybe the fasting had loosened my inhibitions a little bit. I don't know what I expected, but probably to be told to do it anyway when I said "Sam, it's Good Friday. I just want to stay recollected." To my astonishment he accepted this, almost respectfully, as if deferring to a higher priority. I moved on to other low-key things the rest of the afternoon, but made sure to finish that other job on Monday.

. Every year I seek a sunrise service on Easter morning. Not all churches offer this, and the ones that do may not have one every Easter. So I have to scan the newspaper to find one. Each time I end up in a congregation of strangers, which makes me feel lonely, but also "connected" with others for whom the time means as much to them as to me. Sometimes these services are held outdoors. I like this because indoor noises like people shifting around, whispering or coughing are all dampened in the open air. More important the rising Sun in the background, given the underlying context of Resurrection, adds to the poetic unity of the occasion.

. A couple of memorable Easters stand out in my mind. One year the leader closed the outdoor service by inviting the people to shout the traditional phrase with which Greeks greet each other all that day: "Xριστοs ανεστι! Αλιθοσ ανεστι!" (Christos anesti! Alithos anesti!" = Christ is risen. He is risen indeed.) The Orthodox chant of the same phrase is quite lovely. Here are examples as sung by an individual and by a choir. I found a similar one in Aramaic, the liturgical language of the Maronite Catholics of Lebanon and of some other Eastern Catholic churches.

. At another Easter, a congregation consisting mostly of University students arrived for a 4 am service at the local Newman Center. After some opening ceremony small candles were distributed to everyone and soon all were invited outside. It was peaceful at that early hour. At the door of the church someone brought out a lighted Paschal candle and, without speaking, lit those of two adjacent persons, who in turn lit two others and so forth. The effect was quite moving. In the quiet darkness the symbolism of refreshment of the souls of those gathered was unmistakable.

. My friends in France and Québec have already wished me "Joyeuses Pâques". (I like that the greeting is in the plural, as if wishing many more.) So let me pass this Happy Easter greeting on to you too, knowing you will help it along on its journey around the world!

. Pax Christi,

Frank

Announcing New Search Engine!

. Computer genius Iam Savvi announced his new Internet search engine, Giggle™. Savvi claims some of the improvements over competing Internet finding aids include establishing an extensive list of 'stopwords'.

. "Most search engines ignore words like 'the', 'of', ' in' and the like. But we have programmed our search engine to ignore hundreds more, so Giggle™ runs much faster than competing services. Of course people need to be more thoughtful and precise in their choice of keywords. But isn't that an improvement of the intellectual atmosphere in the world?" he opined.

. "We don't want to be finding any webpages that are depressing or boring or unhappiness-making, so this affects our choices of stopwords, like "violent", "calamity", "harm" et cetera," said Savvi, an informal guy who asked us to use his nickname "Savvy".  "They are saying 'Everything is in a name'. Good for the business, too!" he quipped. Savvy avows an interest in making Giggle™ a truly international service in token of which he has adopted the following mottos for his company:

. "Quid pro quo, vere. Sed tamen qui est quid?"

. "Tanzen und singen, die Frühling zu bringen."

. "Es muy macho a decir '¡Viva yo!' "

. "Le roi des poissons? C'est en effet le Poisson d'avril!"

. "Talking and reading, please dear customer, that is how we are doing business," he says from his small office in Varanasi. "Yes, we are telling you truly how up to date we are. You see, our city was called Benares. But going back to the roots is so 'in' now so we readopted the original ancient Sanskrit name Varanasi. Isn't that so frightfully good thinking?"

. When asked how he was able to start up his company so quickly, he replied: "Oh yes, we are being very thankful to the gracious workers at our call centers for working so cheaply. You see, India is now so prosperous that labor costs are flewing the coop, like right over the Himalaya!"

. "But we were able to be establishing our user assistance call centers cheaply, in poorer countries. Presently we are having one in Millinocket, Maine and another in Detroit, Michigan. Soon another is being set up hastily in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and right after that, another in Riverside, California.  The town fathers and mothers of Cambridge, Massachusetts are trying convincingly to have us set up a call center there, too.  (It is very tempting, as I have heard that those talented, but poorly paid citizens, have among them capability to speak 123 languages!)  Isn't that so very nice? We are having agreeable partnerships with America! This makes me very happy, to make friends in the other hemisphere. I feel so totally global now, just right for this modern age, yes?"

. "Being desirous of a representative Asian opinion we looked for someone with a broad perspective. When I asked for a comment on Giggle™ His Humbleness the Dalai Llama was kind enough to explain." Savvi quotes Him as follows:

. "Wherever I go, my main interest or commitment is in the promotion of human values such as warm heartedness – this is what I consider the key factor for a happy life at the individual level, family level and community level. In our modern times, it seems that insufficient attention is paid to these inner values. Promoting them is therefore my number one commitment. Therefore, it's important to use the good potential to be a happier human being. That is what I found so beautiful about Giggling."