Meet Pascual

I wrote this little Easter story for my kids. They got a kick out of it. Perhaps your family will like it as well.

Meet Pascual, Order of the Lagomorph. He’s a rabbit. Well, technically, he’s a hare, but he thinks that sounds too fancy. In fact, most people call him a bunny, which is fine with him.

Pascual, like any rabbit, enjoys hopping and eating vegetables, but he is not any rabbit. For one thing, unlike other rabbits, Pascual is more than two thousand years old, but I’m hopping ahead.

When Pascual was born, he was a normal animal. Only he was, perhaps, a bit more curious than a typical rabbit. He didn’t always run away, as rabbits do. He would watch things.

One day, his curiosity brought him to a most curious scene: a woman atop a donkey, led by a man. The woman’s belly was big and round. Pascual decided to follow them.

They stopped first at a busy house and it was very loud. Then they ended up in a manger. The man helped the woman down. He was very careful with her. Pascual was very curious.

You may have already guessed what Pascual saw that night in the manger. You see, the lagomorph is a kind of rabbit that lives near Bethlehem. The woman was Mary. The man was Joseph. And a special baby was born that night.

Yes, Pascual was there for the first Christmas morning. It was a magical morning. And, it turns out, a bit of that magic got into Pascual. He was no longer just a rabbit. He understood who the baby was and he loved him.

Pascual stayed by the manger, more curious than ever. Soon, there were visitors. They brought gifts, as you know, of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. A gift, of course! Why didn’t he think of it?

So Pascual, knowing little of what humans value in a gift, found an old basket that had been left in the road. He filled it with the most interesting rocks he could find and placed it in the manger for Mary.

When she saw the basket full of rocks, Mary threw the rocks out and kept the basket. And so it became Pascual’s tradition to bring the family a basket every year for the child’s birthday.

As Jesus grew up, Pascual watched him. He watched him learn Joseph’s trade as a carpenter. He watched and listened when Jesus taught. One day, Jesus, still a boy, was teaching in the Synagogue.

Mary and Joseph didn’t know where he was. They were looking everywhere. Pascual saw that they were worried but, being a rabbit, he couldn’t tell them where Jesus was.

So he decided to show them. Pascual gathered berries and made a trail to the synagogue. Mary and Joseph followed and found Jesus teaching the grown ups, which Pascual found very amusing.

Pascual observed miracles from Jesus. His rabbit heart leapt with joy when Jesus raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead, and healed the sick, blind, and deaf. What a joy it was to be a rabbit in the days of Jesus.

But all was not to remain happy. Confused and heart broken, Pascual watched as Jesus died on a cross at Calvary. There was such sadness all around. Such despair. What could a rabbit do?

Three days later, Pascual was still wondering what he could do when Jesus appeared, risen from the dead, to Mary. His little rabbit heart leapt with joy again to see his friend, and to learn that death was not the end.

And then Pascual decided what he would do. You see, there is a little part of the story that I left out earlier, and that it took Pascual himself a long time to realize: Pascual had become a magic rabbit.

Pascual didn’t get old. He didn’t die. And he had other magic as well. So every year, on the day when Jesus was resurrected, Pascual delivers baskets to the kids of the world, like the baskets he used to give Mary.

And he leaves jellybeans because they remind him of the berries he used to help Mary and Joseph. Pascual wants us all to find our way to Jesus.

He replaced rocks with eggs in the baskets because he realized humans don’t have much use for rocks. And the eggs, a shell from which life can emerge, remind Pascual of Jesus breaking out of the tomb.

Yes, as you have surely figured out, Pascual is the Easter Bunny.

You might wonder how I know all of this. Well, Pascual wasn’t the only animal in the manger on Christmas morning.

Peanut

He's already so huge compared to these two-week pictures.

More Like It

Anxious to redeem the Philippines from my prior vacation post, I am pleased to report that Calatagan is fantastic (with photos to prove it).

Valentine's Lip Sync and Other Updates

I don't have permission to post all pics and videos, but here is Katie doing "It Takes Two" by Rob Base, with Michael attached. And since I felt the decoration team did an excellent job, I have posted some pics of their work. And a few other pics for good measure. If/when I obtain permission, I will add some excellent video.

This guy flew by my head at our Scout camp out last night. Picture doesn't offer scale. About one inch long. Hyrum Liddicoat expertly knocked him out of mid-air with his iPhone, missing my ear by mere inches.

Force Awakens via projector = best camp out ever.

Katie at work

Valentine's Playlist 2017

Songs from another great year with Katie Hart.

1. The Eye, Brandi Carlile--This song makes me thankful Katie had the patience to stick with me early on.
2. Try Everything, Shakira--Like, for example, having another baby.
3. Getting Ready to Get Down, Josh Ritter--I just think it's a fun song.
4. I Lived, OneRepublic--Pretty much our family theme song. "I owned every second that this world could give; I saw so many places; the things that I did." We listened to this about 15 times while driving from Charleston to Orlando last summer.
5. O Mio Babbino Caro, Renee Fleming--One of these things is not like the other. But Renee is just the best.
6. Astronauts, Rachel Platten--"Let the world disappear, there are places up here we can hide. Somewhere only we can find."
7. I Fall To Pieces, Patsy Cline--No explanation necessary. Just so great.
8. Ring of Fire, Johnny Cash--Ditto Ms. Cline.
9. We Know the Way, Opetaia Foa'i and Lin-Manuel Miranda--Another one made poignant by our frequent travels. "We keep our island in our mind."
10. Cupid, Sam Cooke

They Arrive

We watched Arrival last night. Such a great film. Shot straight into my all-time favorites list. Mild spoiler alert ahead: As Louise had her brain rewired by learning an alien language, I feel that my brain is being rewired by learning 12-year-old female offspring language.

But seriously, as I approach middle age, time has changed. The past is a bigger part of my present and, increasingly, I can predict at least the major trends of the future. Time becomes compressed. In the film, Louise sees the future. She sees pain and heartache. However, knowing that there is also joy, she makes the decisions that lead to the painful end. This resonated very much with my religious beliefs. Similarly, I have found great spiritual peace in accepting my place in the universe. Make no mistake, I am not resigned; I am consecrated. I interpreted the movie in this way. Louise "arrived" at spiritual peace by proactively choosing the path that was already laid out for her.

It is joyful to arrive, and to watch the arrival of my children.

Speaking of, here is a nice pic of Michael

I Have ADD

I'm not being funny or ironic. I officially have it; professionally diagnosed. I take medication for it. I am sharing in this forum with a small audience in mind. Maybe this will be helpful to them. If it is of interest to others, bonus.

I don't really love talking about it. Of all the mental health problems out there, I feel like my ADD probably has the least stigma, yet it totally has a stigma. Such as when a potential employer, upon learning that I take medication, said to me, "We don't hire people like that." Or, less seriously, but still not awesome, when people casually comment about how ADD is a made up thing.

On that point, for the sake of conversation, let me concede that it is a "made up" thing. That said, college is a made up thing. Sitting in a classroom for eight hours a day as a child is a made up thing. Placement tests are made up things. Personality screens used by employers are made up things. All of those made up things systematically work against people who have brains that work like mine. So when I get diagnosed with "made up" ADD, and I can take medication that allows me to pass those screening tests and become gainfully employed, I am thankful. So I don't even care if it's made up. The diagnosis describes me accurately and the treatment is effective.

Seeking professional help, even if a formal diagnosis does not follow, is not a sign of moral weakness. Accepting a diagnosis, including the taking of medication, is not giving up.

Of all the books I've read in trying to understand my own condition and other issues in my family, I like The Explosive Child the best. The prescribed solutions are not even as useful as the underlying premise of the book: That we all want to be good and useful to society, just some of us are unable without extra help. It is so charitable. And really it applies to all of us, not just those with problems that put us on one spectrum or another. We all have difficulties we are trying to overcome.

Finally, to my fellow ADD afflicted, and those married to such, I recommend Brandi Carlile:

I am a sturdy soul
And there ain't no shame
In lying down in the bed you've made
Can you fight the urge to run for another day?
You might make it further if you learn to stay

National Lampoon's Subic Vacation

We wanted to get out of the city for a few days. Manila is a massive concrete jungle and with the baby, we hadn't yet had a chance to get to any of the world famous beaches of the Philippines.

All the top rated beaches, even though still in the same country, require either a boat or a plane ride from Manila. With the baby, we were hoping for just a reasonable road trip for our first time out. For various reasons, I had procrastinated the reservations. So the main resorts were all booked up. Thus, I looked for a house through Airbnb.

Based on conversations overheard here and there, I had Subic Bay in my head as a reasonable place to go within a few hours drive of Metro Manila. I booked a house that looked nice online and we headed out. Upon later reflection, I was able to recall that those overheard conversations said only that Subic Bay was "a place" that a person "could go." No actual recommendations.

The drive was  nice. No problems there. As we rounded a corner and made the final descent over the hills and into the bay, I started having my first apprehensions. We could finally see the water, and it was full of massive tankers.

We rounded another corner and were greeted by the sign: "Welcome to Olongapo Home of the Most Beautiful Women in the World." At first we found this charming. Before long, I was realizing less virtuous reasons a town might label itself thus. Think Bourbon Street, but less classy and totally impoverished.

We pulled in to our neighborhood and Katie just started laughing and saying, "It will be fine. It's totally fine. This is an adventure. This will be fine." Imagine that being said in a kind of hysterical, Shutter Island sort of way. If you've seen any films by Eli Roth, you should be able to imagine the neighborhood perfectly.

Our house was indeed nice. Once inside, it was totally nice. Our hosts met us. They were kind. They made some recommendations. The kids, very good sports, were eager to get to the beach. So we quickly settled in and then reloaded the car in beach mode and headed out.

At the beach, my pattern recognition radar sent up immediate warnings, but it took a few minutes to process and act. There were no families at this beach. There were no children, except mine. Up and down the beach there were middle-aged (and older) white males and young native females. No families. Huh, that's weird.

There was a party barge about 50 yards out in the water with a restaurant on it. My kids were just getting into the water near the barge when Katie asked me how they might flush the toilet on the barge. Indeed, I could see the barge had a bathroom. So I walked to the water and told the kids that the barge might be discarding human waste so let's move away and please, don't put your heads under water.

That's when I noticed that the water was black and viscous. I pondered that for a moment as we walked down the beach away from the barge. The kids got back in the water. I saw a sewage drain from a beachside hotel draining directly onto the beach, the sludge being absorbed by the sand. I looked down the beach from that sight and saw that the sub-sand sludge would be entering the bay exactly where my kids were swimming.

So I did a Google search on my phone of "can you swim in Subic Bay." When the results came up, I ran to the kids yelling, "Out! Everyone out right now!"

Oh, Internet. You only find what you Google for.

On the bright side, when we returned to our rented house, we discovered Settlers of Katan as the first board game the entire family loves to play together with minimal fighting. So that's a major win, frankly.

Next day, we tried a nearby water park in order to enjoy water while avoiding the bay. We were almost literally the only ones there. It was like one of those post-apocolypse movie scenes at the abondanded amusement park.

Here is the view from the top of the water slide ladder:

We enjoyed the slides. I still told them to keep their heads above water and mouths shut tight. We enjoyed the clean private beach area.

Here you can see the local kids, wearing their school uniforms, sitting on top of the rock watching my kids in the wave pool.

The kayak ride in the bay, below, ended it for me. It was a clear kayak, meaning I could see below. As I paddled through and over garbage, I just couldn't take it. We returned, earlier than planned, to Metro Manila.

Tim's Favorite Things 2016

Things I used for the first time, discovered, read, watched, experienced during 2016 that were totally awesome:

1. Bullet Journaling. Rediscover the joy of analog. I switched from Moleskine to Leuchturm and I am very happy with the switch.
2. Movies. 2016 was full of (mostly Disney) movies I love.
1. Finding Dory. Average in many ways, but I loved the idea of absent parents leaving clues to help us find our way home when we get lost in the big ocean of life. Love, love, love.
2. The Jungle Book. "The strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack."
3. Moana. What a great theme: Looking backward to our ancestors gives us courage to move forward and explore. Truth!
4. Fantastic Beasts. A hero without muscles, Newt Scamander wins with kindness and quiet persistence.
3. The smell of baby powder and Dreft. Having a baby again is so awesome.
4. The Man of La Mancha. So, I saw this 20 years ago, but listened to the soundtrack this week for the first time since then, and discovered this musical only has meaning when you reach age 40. My new favorite. Now I have to read Don Quixote.

Christmas Pics

Warning: Intended for grandparental audiences; others view at your own boredom risk.

Henry with new Pokemon game for 3DS, and reindeer antlers.

Michael observes and plots for greater participation next year.

These are so-called "gaming" headphones, designed to be worn comfortably for many hours.

So many more gifts and we are thankful for all, but didn't want to post a pic of literally every item.

I Walked in Manila Today

We have a driver. I feel like I could end the post with just that sentence. Think about that. I, Tim Hart, totally ordinary kid from Idaho with a modest government salary, have a personal driver. So the economics of Manila are nuts.

So my driver was driving me to work this morning. Katie needed him back earlier than usual for appointments she had. Traffic, always a nightmare, was worse than usual. We were completely stopped, half way to the embassy. So I made the call: I'm getting out. Driver, go get Katie. And I walked the last two kilometers.

You see things when walking that you miss when driving. You smell things. You feel things. Homelessness in America is usually an individual thing. In Manila, on the busiest avenue, it is a multi-generational family affair. I observed families washing, eating, playing together. On the highway. So the economics of Manila are nuts.

I don't have problems. If I ever imagine that I have problems, please punch me directly in the face.