Football and Churches and Ducks, Oh My!

First things first: Did anyone watch either one of the two AFC games yesterday? Because oh my God, the Midwest is having a collective heart attack: for the first time ever, the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts will face off in Miami at this year's Superbowl. While I'd never describe myself as a football fan---it took me twenty minutes to figure out what the hell AFC even stands for--but as a Chi-town native and current Hoosier resident, the anticipation over "the battle of I-65" has inspired me to save both the front page and sports page of today's paper in order to document this historic moment for my future offspring. Next thing you know I'll be wearing team jerseys and chugging copious amounts of Miller Light from a plastic hat. And I don't even drink beer.

It was a good weekend. I did file my work samples into three-ring binders and plastic sleeves and tossed out two garbage bags worth of trash and dusted and vaccuumed and almost orgasmed from the cleanliness of it all. On Saturday night, Luke and I rented Little Miss Sunshine and Snakes On A Plane. One of those movies had us guffawing and crying and celebrating the acting chops of one very talented Office actor. The other also induced tears, but for vastly different reasons. I'll let you determine which is which.

We also went to church.

Since the start of the New Year, I've been thinking a lot about how it's time for us to start searching for a parish of our own, one that provides a strong foundation for the core Christian beliefs we both share. With the Frema-Useless Clutter household currently subscribing to a complicated mixture of Methodism and Catholicism, our research revealed we might both feel most comfortable in the Episcopalian faith. We visited an Episcopal church together last spring and had a good experience with the Mass, though I was intimidated by the grand scale of the architecture. This time around, we chose a church in a neighboring town a little closer to home, on a Sunday when the streets were filled with snow and the plow trucks were nowhere in sight, but we made it, and our appearance was received in a manner similar to Howie Mandel at the Golden Globes, which is to say very, very well, or at least it would have been if I'd been stalking the red carpet.

Because of the snow, there were only a handful of parishoners in attendance, so we basically stuck out like sore, spiritually lost thumbs. We were bombarded with outstretched hands during the offering of peace and personally encouraged to take communion from one of the ushers. At the end of Mass, one of the priests invited us to have coffee and doughnuts in the church's kitchen, an invitation we originally planned to decline, so overwhelmed were we with all the warm welcoming, but the song in her voice was like an imaginary hand gently guiding our footsteps to the room where lukewarm Folgers and supermarket pastries awaited consumption, and soon we were visiting with other families, making small talk about the weather and how we found ourselves in Indianapolis.

All that to say we really liked the parish and plan on visiting again, though we still might check out a few other churches before commiting ourselves to any one place. I could feel those old feelings of sadness bubbling up inside of me again as I sat next to Luke in the pew, just like last time, at the idea of saying good-bye to the faith I'd grown in for so much of my life, and once again I reminded myself that the God I talked to and prayed to and wept with and thanked in the Catholic church was the same one waiting for me in this new Episcopal one, and I wasn't saying good-bye to Him, just worshipping with a new group of people who really weren't as different as I thought they'd be. At least, not in the ways that mattered.

After church, Luke and I went for breakfast and did some shopping. When we finally came home, we noticed this sight in the pond across from our unit:

We didn't think much of it until Luke peered out the window a couple of hours later and saw that the goose was still there, perched in the exact same spot. Figuring the poor thing must be stuck, we marched outside and tossed some stale bread crumbs his way, hoping the promise of food would provide ample motivation to free himself. When that didn't do the trick, Luke hurried upstairs to grab a broom with the intention of breaking through the ice with the handle. Before he could pierce the surface, though,the goose must've questioned the validity of our plan, because he made a clean break for the sky, leaving behind chunks of Market Pantry whole wheat bread as a tribute to his courageousness.

Since we still had three or four pieces of bread left, we circled the pond looking for other feathered friends with which to share our feast, partly against my better judgement. The ducks and I, we have a history, you see.

It started out calmly enough, with the whole flock keeping a respectable distance in the pond, perfectly content to eat crumb after crumb in the water, until they decided they needed to experience their snack up close and personal.

The farther away I walked, the braver they became. Which made me quite nervous. I hastily abandoned a half-piece of bread in the snow, hoping to distract them, but it only left them hungry for more.

I thought walking in the street would instill some fear, surely put them in their place. It didn't, those brazen bastards.

At that point, after many pictures were taken to document my fear, Luke (finally) came to my rescue. Thank God.

 

He makes it look so easy, doesn't he? Not scary at all!

And then the ducks blew him kisses of gratitude, and I began to feel a little silly.

But not TOO silly. After all, I did see Snakes On A Plane. For all we know, the ducks are just biding their time.

Comments

[mjd]

I love this post, and your last sentence had me laughing out loud.

I think that it is fun when the hometown wins. Both of your hometowns, so to speak, won last night. As you know, I am definitely a fair weather fan, but I bought a Bears shirt and wore it proudly to school and church. I was prepared to buy a Colts shirt if the Bears lost and the Colts won. However, I plan to stick the Bears for the Superbowl although that Peyton Manning was amazing last night.

The good Methodist pastor from Texas was promoting singing When the Saints Go Marching in on Sunday. I bet those Episcopalians knew the right team to cheer for in the heart of Indiana.

[David McNelis]

They were great games....but they were from the NFC and the AFC...not 2 AFC games. :)

[Molly]

KJ and Jack LOVE to feed the ducks. We usually bring a whole loaf to make the experience last a good amount of time. And the trick to keeping them at a safe distance? Bring a one year old who "KAAK"s at them like a ferocious beastly monster. They keep their space.

[jenabeeb]

Ever have one of those ducks bite you? Happened to me when I went WITH Molly and KJ a couple years ago to feed them. Not fun.

And I was totally thinking about you yesterday when both the Bears and Colts won. So who are you going to be rooting for? You didn't tell us...

[daddy d]

What a good day: church, football, and WILD animals! It was somewhat parallel here in the I-65 above US-30 area. Bird food was place in a feeder for the first time of the year. It is good for birds to find food for themselves. But ground cover mkes it harder to find and so then we help. Football was so good the even the both of us watch nearly all of both games. And Sunday school class was pretty well attended.

[Stacey]

Um, I've always been a little afraid of birds, and this is EXACTLY WHY. Dear God.

[Lena]

Could I love your range of topics more? You're so good at this. ;)

The Indianapolis/New England game was awesome from start to finish!

We are going through the same thing with churches. It feels emotionaly wrenching, but you are absolutely right: there is only one God and He's not leaving.

[Silly Hily]

I just snorted at the thought of Jack "KAAK"-ing at the ducks. Hey, I saw that pic on Molly's blog of Jack growling at a cousing over a toy at Christmas.
I would have freaked out with all those ducks around me too. They are, after all, wild animals. I'm so glad you had your camera with you to document it. Too, too cute!
All I could think of when I saw that duck on the frozen pond was Idgie telling Ruth and Buddy Jr. about the lake froze with the ducks on it in "Fried Green Tomatoes".
I wish you and Luke continued luck in finding a church.
Last but not least: Go Colts! I must root for them. Peyton played for my college football team.

[VirginiaGal]

So much Snow! Please share....I NEED a snow day, hey, I'll even take an ice day if it comes to that. Really, any weather excuse to spend the day on the couch watching TV and sleeping. "Anything can happen on a snow day." ^giggle^

[Angela]

In that last picture, there's a little duck on the left, just outside the circle of greedy geese. There's something so sad and lonely about that little duck. I'd like to think to myself that you caught Luke in the moment just before he reaches down and gently feeds that little duck a choice piece of Market Pantry whole wheat bread. Otherwise that little duck just makes me too sad for words...

I'm kind of emotional today.

[Cora]

Oh. Dear. Lord. You brave woman. I would've been sobbing, had I been in your shoes (with the duck situation, not the football). I can't even go read the duck entry you linked to, so afeared am I of what I might read there. But thank you for trying to resuce the goose. I may not like the fowl, but I wish them no harm.

[Isabel]

Those are beautiful pictures. Simply beautiful. You can't tell that you were nervous, at all.

(Dude, we owned ducks and turkeys at my house. And I was always scared of them!)

Hooray for visiting a nice church. I hope you can find the peace you are so diligently looking for. And you're right, it's the same God and he loves you and is happy that you love Him.

[TasterSpoon]

I love how when you go out in the street that white duck is totally checking for traffic.

Go Bears.

[Lindsey]

I love this post too! I love the pictures of you, Luke and the ducks--priceless.

Edgar and I have gone to an Episcopal church together. It makes most sense for us. He was raised Catholic so he finds the services to be pretty similar. I was raised Episcopalian so..umm...well, I guess there isn't much compromise on my part...hmmmm At Edgar's nephew's Baptism last month we were at a Catholic church, but it was so very similar to my church back home so I knew the prayers and the songs, etc. Edgar was so confused as to how I knew everything and he didn't. I was like, um...I think it's all pretty standard. I was perplexed as to how he didn't know these songs! As we were leaving it hit him..."Oooh, I went to a Spanish Church. I don't know it in English."

[Liz]

I'm glad you were ready to rescue the duck, even though he flew away on his own. Maybe he was just meditating?

[Luke]

It's too bad I didn't get you getting freaked out by the approaching ducks on video. Maybe next time.

You didn't mention that some of them would eat out of my hand, and not a single one of them bit me.