Three Beautiful Things 03/26/16: Breakfast at Plato's, Easter Vigil, Springtime at the National Arboretum

1. In my ongoing diner quest, this morning I drove down Rt. 1 to Plato's Diner, a neon and chrome Greek and American joint that serves breakfast all day. I enjoyed the ambiance a lot, thought the service was very friendly, and my breakfast was solid enough that I'll go back. It's a good "on the way" location given trips I like to take into NE Washington, D. C. and that makes Plato's Diner inviting.

2.  Do other Episcopalians see it this way?  For me, the most epic night in the entire year of worship is the Saturday night before Easter and the Easter Vigil service. The service tells the whole story of God's power of creation and deliverance, of bringing life out of death and nothingness in the stories of the creation, Noah's Ark, the parting of the Red Sea, and the dry bones of Ezekiel.  These stories then culminate with the discovery that the tomb of Jesus is empty and that he once was dead and now lives again.  If it's possible to experience the sweep of the Judeo-Christian story in a single evening, the Easter Vigil service makes that happen and, for me, it has the accompanying effect of calling up my own history with Easter and the joy of many many Easter Eves from my past, especially at Whitworth and St. Mary's in Eugene.

3. After breakfast, I drove on south a ways to the National Arboretum to take pictures of cherry blossoms and any other spring blossoms I might find.  I had an especially good time hanging around the National Capitol Columns, a set of twenty-two Corinthian columns that used to grace the East Portico of the Capitol in Washington, D. C. The columns sit on a small hill and a few cherry trees sit below and I had fun taking pictures of the cherry blossoms in the foreground with the columns in the back. I may have had more fun than success! Evidently, this is a romantic setting (I don't know anymore what is or isn't romantic!) -- it was fun to see couples with a photographer in tow, tromping around, posing for pictures with cherry blossoms, magnolias, and the columns setting the romantic scene.  Here are a few of the pictures I took: