#44 The thoughts of the first man to eat an oyster.

I am so hungry that I could eat this thing.  I wonder if it’s poisonous? Well, here goes nothing.  I didn’t vomit.  That’s a good sign.  I wonder if I tell people these are good they’ll believe me?

#45 Your most transcendent ice cream experience.

When I was teaching in Alaska, one of my colleagues went to Italy over summer vacation.  When I happened upon this teacher in the airport in Anchorage when it was time to go up to Selawik for another year of teaching she started telling me about her trip to Italy and all the wonderful things that she got to do and see. The one thing she mentioned more than anything was the gelato.  She continued to mention the gelato for the next two years.  She really like gelato.  “Well, this birthday cake is pretty good but what I could go for right now would be some gelato.”  If you invited her over to your house and offered her something to drink her typical response was “yeah, I’ll take a coke but what I really want is some gelato.”  Surprisingly, that got very old.

Four years later, my sister Alyssa invited me along on her trip to Florence, Italy.  I had never been to Europe and I was super excited because I knew that I could become one of those annoying people who went on and on about gelato.  It’s not like I had never had gelato.  You can get gelato at the Minnesota State Fair, you can get gelato at the Mall of America, heck, you can even buy gelato at the grocery store.  So, just like the secret of realty is location, location, location.  The secret to the mystical power of Italian gelato is location.  The only thing better than pistachio gelato, is eating pistachio gelato sitting outside on the Palazzo Vecchio.  It just tastes better because you are so dreadfully hot you think you are about a block from the sun.  But you have cool, creamy, wonderful gelato and you will live long enough to see all the treasures at the Academia Gallery.  When Michelangelo’s David looks down on you, his knowing eyes will seem to point out the gelato that has melted all over your t-shirt.

#46 Describe exaltation. 

To praise, to sing, to want to shout out!  Sometimes exaltation comes from seeing something and being inspired.  The first time I saw the Missouri River, I was completely speechless.  I had a feeling that my life would never be the same.  This river was so big and wide and majestic!  I felt like Lewis and Clark rolled into one.  I had the same feeling when I walked along a frozen river and looked up at the aurora.  Nature has a tendency to amaze me.  You can see God’s creation in each minute detail.