Vacation Time

Marie Howe tells Krista Tippett of On Being (episode: "The Power of Words to Save Us") how much she loves terms "ordinary time" in the church calendar and how fascinating it was (and is to her) in contrast to the "non ordinary" times of the church.  

Ordinary time originally meant to me when I would go through the missal when I was a kid. Remember, those swaths of time between high holy seasons was ordinary time. there was always coming, the coming of ordinary time, the coming of ordinary time, the coming of — and then first Sunday of ordinary time, second Sunday of ordinary time. I remember just thinking what a strange and wonderful way of talking about everyday life. And so this notion of when nothing dramatic is happening, but this is where we’re living. It’s not Easter. It’s not Christmas. It’s not Lent. It’s not Advent.

Tippet responds:

Here’s another line from “Nowhere.” “This is how things happen, cup by cup, familiar gesture after gesture. What else can we know of safety or of fruitfulness?” What struck me in that and also in the piece you just read, there are those tiny rituals of life in there. It strikes me that these rituals of ordinary time themselves are a little bit like poetry, these condensed, kind of economical little packets of beauty and grace that carry so much more forward than is obvious.

All this week Jennie and I have been saying "Oh, it's Thursday: what were we doing this time last week?"  Last week we were on a road trip to Burlington, Vermont.  With some ease, we are able to recall what exactly we did -- road bikes to the Colchester causeway, had breakfast at the August the First bakery, walked down to the arts district.  

"Vacation time" seems different than "ordinary time."  It's easier to remember, it's slower, it has more memory handles.  "Vacation time" can mean "the quality of time when you're on vacation" (maybe I'm thinking specifically about road trip vacations?).   The whole time can be like "the method of Loci" memory technique.  "It's Friday: what were we doing this time last week?" is easy to answer.  Ask me three weeks ago what my favorite parts of July 2 are, and I'd be helpless to answer.

We have different times -- ordinary time, high holidays, "advents" and "lents" of different kinds.  I don't know why this is important to being human, why it adds meaning or gravitas to days, but it does.

This all calls to mind the rituals of remembering: anniversaries, etc.  

I know that social media apps will do call up pictures from years ago on this date.... as does Google Photos or Apple Photos.  Two years ago on this date.  Ten years ago this week.  Some of these are really worth memorializing.

I was thinking yesterday of the HDT book "The Daily Henry David Thoreau: A Year of Quotes from the Man Who Lived in Season."  by Laura Dassow-Walls.  You could build a year of anniversaries to celebrate and remember.