My Vatican Splendor "toothpick holder"

For the past few years my two sisters, my brother and I have spent a day in the fall with my mom to celebrate her birthday. This year we went to the MN History Center to see the Vatican Splendors exhibit. The artwork on display was pretty amazing and we decided that when money is no obstacle its really much easier to build a fine collection of fine art. The intricate detail work on the dishes (I know there are real words for each item-I'm too lazy to look them up) used for communion was impressive. I suppose it would be sacrilegious to consider melting them down to provide proper health care to the retired nuns who live in poverty relying on donations.

The part of the display about digging in the mid-1900's for St. Peter's tomb, in secret for a couple of decades, had me remembering Geraldo Rivera's dramatic unveiling of the supposed vault of Al Capone's wealth (which only contained some bottles). Apparently, the Vatican excavating crew found some bones that they thought were St. Peter's, so they hid them so they wouldn't be misplaced, then someone else found them and then they were place in a proper reliquary. Enough about that.

The gift shop had all the usual museum type stuff--reproductions of the artwork, statues of the some of the popes, calendars, creches and postcards. The only item that got me to open my wallet though was the Vatican Splendor shot glass. My sister and I were laughing so hard that the clerk was even laughing with us. He said something like, I see you found our "toothpick holders". I bought two--one for me and for my most Catholic friend.

After seeing the rest of the museum, doing a little shopping, we went to Moscow on the Hill for dinner. Its a Russian restaurant. I would like to go back someday when I'm not driving as they have flights of vodka you can order--six different kinds of their over a hundred kinds of vodka to try. I tried one shot of the house cherry vodka and thought it was excellent. It would have been a good time to use my new shot glass but I forgot it in the car.

Rome and Moscow, all in one day. I hope my mom had fun.

Noisy and Messy

Molly Ivins was one of my favorite columnists. She wrote for several publications but finished her career in Texas at the Fort Worth Star Telegram. The following quote is attributed to her:

"So keep fightin' for freedom and justice beloveds but don't you forget to have fun doin' it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. And when you get through kickin'ass and celebratin' the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who come after how much fun it was."

And so ends another election season. Although the mud-slinging got tiresome, the money spent overwhelming and the rhetoric hard to believe--it was as it should be. From the President of the United States, to Congressional races, to local county and city contests-never should such big decisions be made quietly. This democracy is a noisy, messy business isn't it?