First and foremost, thank you for the notes and expressions of sympathy. They are very much appreciated and I will be responding to each of you individually as time permits.

If you've left a message on my home phone any time after March 3rd, it's unfortunately been lost. The machine has been recording the messages being left... but then deleting entire batches of them unheard as soon as my partner tries to play them. I gather that he's going to take it out back and shoot it as soon as he can rustle up the bullets.

At present, I'm still at my mother's house; I'll be dividing my time between here and my home this spring.

There was an Easter egg hunt (reportedly the largest in the state - 5,000 eggs) hosted by the neighborhood Pentecostal church this morning. I went to town early to run an errand; when I returned, I saw a woman garbed in a winter coat and dress sprinkling eggs across the lawn. I was too far away to snap a decent picture, but she was a sight both fair and rather funny to see. Later, my mom-in-law and I peeked out to watch the kids scrambling for the eggs - some in suits and dresses, others in sportswear, some with pastel baskets and others with plastic bags.

I'd hoped to get to the local UU fellowship tomorrow, but as with so many other things right now, it's going to have to wait until some other week. I am quite a bit homesick for Nashville at the moment - aside from my man and my dog being there instead of here, I miss my other clothes and shoes (having packed the minimum), my usual food, my own books... although I did bring my hymnal with me. It's currently turned to #344 ("A Promise through the Ages Rings"); singing it is often my favorite part of the Easter services at my home church:

For something always, always sings.
This is the message Easter brings:
from deep despair and perished things
a green shoot always, always springs,
and something always, always sings.