I was remembering today a conversation that I overheard in a crowded train compartment from Florence to Venice when Taido and I were in Italy a few years ago. We had just spent several days in Florence that I had spent years carefully planning, seeing paintings and sculptures that I had only dreamed I might ever lay eyes on. Every moment had been perfect, with glorious meals in between visits to museums. We had walked and walked through the city, making friends with its sacred passageways and reveling in the delight of being together in such a place. So, it was with some horror that I listened to a several young people discuss their time in Florence with less enthusiasm than I had for this beloved city. One girl in particular expressed her disappointment in the city with complete ignorance of the fact that the jury is already out on whether or not Florence is one of the most magnificent places on earth, and therefore her opinions were not in any way adding to or taking away from Florence’s reputation, but rather only revealing a lack of ability to see beauty on her own part. However, she later confessed that she hadn’t really seen much of Florence while she was there. She had been traveling through Europe for a while, as young people do, with plenty of time, but not much money. And she had been so thrilled to discover that her hostel in Florence had free internet access that she could hardly tear herself away from being able to email and chat with friends to actually get out and see the city of Florence itself, and the weather had been rainy and cold, so it was much easier to stay in. I was sad for her that getting to travel so much had made her take Florence for granted, and again, horrified that she neglected the delights of the Uffizi for free internet access. But today, when I remembered that conversation afresh, I had a weensy bit more understanding for this poor girl. Because though the wonders and thrills of the city of Vancouver are just outside my doorstep, I have a bathtub! How could anything be better than a bathtub today? The sun is shining and I can see the waterfront from the upstairs window. I watched the sun set over it as I read to the children last night in their cozy upstairs rooms.

I don’t want to forget how wonderful are some of the luxurious pleasures that have been bestowed upon me in the last 12 hours. Among them are putting my cheek to a pillow that felt neither damp nor cold. Drinking my coffee out of a ceramic cup, the edges of which feel so good to my lips that I can’t understand how I have drunk so many times before from mugs without experiencing the wonder of how that little bit of pottery feels. I sat in bed this morning, propped up on big puffy pillows and read a chapter from a book. That may sound mundane, but friends, there are so many luxuries contained within that small sentence that you cannot possibly see, like the fact that I wasn’t wearing two coats, a hat and lots of long underwear. We had lasagna last night that we baked in an oven. And need I even mention all the bathing, the smell of my new bar of green tea soap, the washing of clothes (and blankets and sleeping bags), the cleaning out of the van and re-organizing of all the jumbled up tubs. We found all the things that have been lost to us for weeks. There are three bedrooms, one of which Mary Polly is having all to herself, while the three boys happily share. She spent hours in the organizing or her possessions last night, making her room just perfect. She got up and made not only her own bed this morning, but also the boys’ beds, to preserve the charm of the upstairs bedrooms.

All these gifts would be enough, really. More than enough. But as God’s grace is lavish, the house procured for us by my mother-in-law for this week just happens to be unbelievably nice. Even in the details, like the super soft bed linens, it is palatial. It is also in a charming neighborhood, one block from the waterfront, with breathtaking views.

But even though it would be so easy to stay shut up in this beautiful home for every minute that we have it, I will, at the beckoning of my husband who has found us a church to go to this morning, venture back out into the city on this beautiful day. It is so lovely outside, as Anne says, I am sorry for those who have not yet been born today, because they will not be able to enjoy its beauty. And so I must go, for I have a skirt to put on before we are out the door.