First Presbyterian Church of North Little Rock’s downtown Argenta neighborhood is hosting an Easter egg hunt for all children 10-and-under at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 23, in the church courtyard.
No one has to be a member of the church and no recruiting will be done.
First Presbyterian Church is at 201 W. Fourth St. (corner of Fourth and Main) in North Little Rock. Call 501.374.7677 or go to argentapres.org for more information.
The prizes in the eggs will be peanut-free (because of allergies) and chocolate-free (because of melted messiness).
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I wrote a column published in Thursday’s North Little Rock Times and Sherwood Voice that expressed my frustration with rude shoppers encountered during the Christmas season. It was based on an outing to Park Plaza in Little Rock on Dec. 18.
Then I finished up my shopping Wednesday night by picking up a couple of things at Barnes & Noble Booksellers for my brother, Pat, and a couple of stocking stuffers for my wife, Nancy.
Wouldn’t you know it? I couldn’t have had a better time!
I wandered around amongst the frantic shoppers, knowing that I was done. I purchased the three items I needed and then held the door open for a young lady who was leaving the store at the same time. In return, she tried to hold the door from the entryway to the outside open for me, but didn’t quite hold it long enough.
We laughed about it, and had a pleasant conversation over our respective shoulders as we went our separate ways in the parking lot. By the time I reached my car, I realized that it had taken just that one enjoyable exchange with a stranger to put me in a much better frame of mind about the Christmas shopping experience.
Granted, it may have been that:
A. Officially I was finished shopping for the season;
B. I had been spending time in a book store, which usually calms me;
C. The brush with niceness really did cheer me; or
D. All of the above.
Whatever the answer, I was feeling better about my fellow human beings. And despite my reputation as an occasional grump, that had to be a good thing.
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We met two-thirds of our children, all of whom live in Texas, at the lake house owned by my wife and her siblings at Denby Point on Lake Ouachita for the Labor Day weekend.
Molly, 25, flew in Friday night. Megan, 22, and John Bucy drove up Saturday evening.
John is Molly’s boyfriend, but he and Megan work together at John’s business, the Texas Charter Schools Academic and Athletic Association, based in Austin. They had to get the group’s flag football season off to a good start at events in San Antonio and Dallas.
Our son, Patrick, soon to be 28, and his girlfriend, Sarah Riley, were scheduled to come up Friday, but he was involved in a weather-related traffic accident on Interstate 20, west of Fort Worth on Wednesday night, so his car was knocked out of commission.
Sunday was a busy day on the lake, but Nancy took the youngsters out for some tubing. They were all tired and sunburned by the end of the day, but we did manage a trip into the Shangri-La Resort marina to have lunch and some if their wonderful pie. I had lemon meringue, Nancy had pumpkin with Cool Whip and John and Molly split a piece of peanut butter. Megan settled for the crust. It’s a treat by itself, too.
The kids headed for the “games of skill” available at Oaklawn Park after we all had naps and supper, while we older folks stayed home and watched a movie (in between sessions like this out on the deck to watch the lake get calm and quiet after a busy day).
Monday morning meant early up and out for the kids heading back to Texas. Then I went back to bed while Nancy watched Bogie and Bacall in “Key largo.” She took in “To Have or Have Not” starring those two on Saturday.
We finally cleaned up and loaded the car at a leisurely pace in the afternoon while we listened to the St. Louis Caqrdinals come back against the Milwaukee Brewers, winning 8-6 behind the grand slam home run by catcher Yadier Molina.
It was a nice drive back from a great weekend, but as is often the case, we were glad to be home.
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Weather often changes plans, regardless of the page on the calendar. In the spring, a picnic might be ruined by a sudden shower. Unbearable heat can force cancellation of outdoor plans in the summer.
This month, with Valentine’s Day falling on a Sunday, plans to send flowers to loved ones were affected by recent snowstorms and accompanying icy roads. Earlier that week, some businesses were closed and some florists likely were forced to call off deliveries. In my case, a delivery to my bride at the doctors’ office where she works scheduled for Friday, Feb. 12, had to have a backup plan for a home delivery either that day or Saturday, Feb. 13, because the forecast for more snow made the possibility real that the office would be closed. We don’t think much about the weather until it affects us personally.
Meanwhile, my family celebrates our second annual February Festival, with a gathering of our son, two daughters, one girlfriend, at least one boyfriend and possibly the other at my son’s house in Fort Worth. It also serves as a celebration of my birthday later this week and daughter Molly’s birthday in mid-March. We also throw in Valentine’s Day and a supper with two friends who also are former copy editors at the Star-Telegram in Fort Worth.
Our little festival was born in 2009 when we had to postpone a Christmas trip to Texas because of illness. What we discovered when we moved our Christmas celebration to February last year was the actual date of our family get-together didn’t matter. Yes, we exchange gifts, but the fact that we still were able to gather and enjoy each other was what seemed to matter the most.
So remember, our time with loved ones is fleeting. And have a very Frosty February Festival!
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Can you get rusty at writing a blog?
Has the process existed long enough for rust to form? Still, it has been more than a week, so I should deposit butt in chair and write, as an old English teacher used to tell me.
Between the unseasonably cold weather, the sickening slaying of Salvation Army Maj. Philip Wise on Christmas Eve and the apparent sudden death of former state Rep. Sharon Dobbins on Wednesday, it has been tough getting into the spirit of 2010.
(By the way, I think I’ll go with the pronunciation as “twenty-ten,” rather than “two-thousand-ten,” because it’s shorter and … let’s face it, we’re all going to be saying either “twenty-whatever” or “two thousand-whatever” for the rest of our lives.)
A few items to close out 2009:
- My favorite Christmas-related moment in the spiritual sense was the beautiful job of singing by the children (consisting of three youngsters) of First Presbyterian Church of North Little Rock at the Christmas Eve candlelight service Dec. 24.
- Favorite Christmas album discovered this year was the one by Chris Isaak (released in 2004). It has a lot of steel guitar and clever rephrasing of some traditional lyrics that gave it a Hawaiian feel and made offering seem light and enjoyable.
- Funniest moment (in retrospect) was my two brothers and I sitting at Mom’s dining room table playing dueling smartphones, all of a different make and model, as two of us compared a new iPhone and Droid received as Christmas gifts while the other brother showed why he was sticking with his Blackberry.
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What we have discovered at our house in the past couple of years is that you can enjoy the season of Christmas, both spiritually and secularly, without repeating everything you have done in past years.
That list might include things ranging from getting the entire roofline covered with icicle lights and stringing up every card you receive in the mail to going to every upscale neighborhood for viewing the battle of Christmas decorations and getting homemade cookies baked for every neighbor.
Sometimes we get some of them done and sometimes we don’t, but my wife and I have enjoyed the holidays just as much.
The children are in Texas. We planned to travel south to see them last year, but an illness caused us to postpone the visit until late February. We called it the February Festival and we enjoyed it so much that we are doing the same thing for the 2009-10 holiday season.
With less rushing to see different members of the family, we had time to attend a wonderful Christmas Eve candlelight service at North Little Rock’s First Presbyterian Church. It was a beautiful service, complete with a fourth-generation child being baptized in the sanctuary.
We got some of our cards mailed and others we did not. Some of the ones we received had photographs of friends and family whom we likely see several times a year, but never think to photograph.
One thing I did have an opportunity do for the second year in a row was make a phone call playing the part of Santa Claus on a last-minute check of the naughty-or-nice list to a pair of beautiful neighborhood girls. I don’t remember how the relatively new tradition started, other than from a conversation with a neighborhood mom. The first year only the kindergartner was willing to get on the phone with Santa, but this year, the younger sister — now a toddler — could not wait to get her turn on the phone. She was anxious to tell Santa what she wanted, but his old ears heard “a camera,” when what she wanted was “a camel.”
Sometimes even Santa can be thrown a curve.
What we have discovered, though, is that it seems to be easier to get the new year off to a good start when you are easing into January from a more deliberate speed, rather than rushing up to Jan. 1, trying to slow down.
Happy New Year. I hope yours is off to a good start.
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The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department has a new fan — or at least a supporter of its program to tweet changes in road conditions online via Twitter, the 140-character messaging network, used primarily in a social manner.
My brother, Pat, who had heard that Arkansas had flooding problems before he left his home in the Dallas area on Christmas Eve, signed in to his rarely used Twitter account. He clicked on “follow” with the AHTD to have the latest in Arkansas road conditions sent to him on his Blackberry smartphone as he drove up to my parents’ house south of Little Rock.
Pat said it made a big difference in his ability to finish the trip. By the time he reached Benton, he knew that the area on Interstate 30 at the Saline County-Pulaski County line, which had been closed most of the day, had re-opened.
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It’s been a great Christmas for our family.
It started with a wonderful candlelight service on Christmas Eve at First Presbyterian Church in North Little Rock. We thank all of the members for their graciousness in sharing their special service with us. It was their first service back in their sanctuary after nearly two years, thanks to a generous donation from a contractor who donated and installed a new HVAC system.
On Christmas, Nancy and I went to my folks’ house, where we spent part of the day with them and my brother, Pat, who lives in Carrollton, Texas. He arrived safely after a tough drive, running from the threat of snow in the Dallas area and through a series of closed roads because of flooding here in Arkansas.
My younger brother, Andy, who is a Memphis paramedic-firefighter, is scheduled to come down Saturday.
On Christmas night, we spoke by phone with our children, who live in Texas.
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I knew that Thanksgiving at Lake Ouachita with my parents, our kids and their respective girlfriend and boyfriends would add to the rush. Still, I was surprised that I had not done a better job of scheduling than I had when I noticed how long it had been since I had posted here.
We did have a wonderful time and great food from everyone at the lake house that Nancy and her siblings share out off U.S. 270. Patrick, girlfriend Sarah and his pit bull terrier, Lou, came up from Fort Worth; Molly and boyfriend John traveled from Austin to meet in Dallas with Megan and boyfriend Clayton, who live in Sherman, Texas. They rode up together. My folks came over from their house south of Little Rock. It was a crowd of 10 plus Lou and our Lhasa apso, Daisy, but we had a great time.
Molly and John got up early on Black Friday to go into Hot Springs and fight the crowds for a great buy on GPS units.
Later that day, we headed back in this direction to meet and have some family photos taken at The Old Mill in North Little Rock. Our photographer, good friend Dan Limke, arrived first and called us to say that at least 30 other people had the same idea, so he went across the river to Little Rock and scout out a new location at Heifer Village.
After everyone arrived, we redirected our various vehicles south of the river for a serious of family combinations that tested Dan’s considerable patience. But it was for family photos that don’t get taken often enough these days.
Thanks, Nancy, for all the work that goes into hosting such an event. Thanks, Dan, for working on a holiday weekend to preserve our memories.
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A night at Arkansas Repertory Theater’s “Follie Holidays” provided a great time.
Nancy and I were entertained as the talented actors, dancers and singers amazed with their talents.
They were all graduates of The Rep’s Summer Musical Theater Intensive training program and their talents made a great statement for the effort.
The skits about various holidays — major and minor — were too numerous to mention, but among the highlights were renditions of “Danny Boy” and “Summertime” that would be showstoppers in any theater.
“Follie Holidays” runs through Saturday, Nov. 14. Tickets are available at The Rep box office at 601 Main St. in Little Rock or by calling 1-866-6THEREP or 501-378-0405.
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