That Great Smile

I can't resist leaving the adorable smile of Thomas Voeckler up as the most recent post for a bit.

Photo from velonews.com.

I Love Thomas Voeckler.

My new boyfriend, Thomas Voeckler.

My fiance introduced me to the Tour de France last summer. I didn't know anything about professional bike racing, and still don't know much, but it's an impressive event. Over a hundred guys riding their bikes for hours on end every day for three weeks, through the Pyrenees and the Alps....it amazes me.

So it's becoming an annual tradition for us to get up early in the morning for those three weeks and watch the live coverage of the Tour de France before I leave for work. In fact, we're getting married on the final day of the 2004 Tour de France. Maybe we'll be able to say, in years to come, that we were married on the very day that Lance Armstrong won a record sixth consecutive Tour? We shall see...

Anyway, this year we've both been enthralled, together with the rest of the fans, by Mr. Thomas Voeckler, an adorable 25-year-old French rider who took the lead in the race 12 days ago and managed to hang onto it right up until Lance Armstrong took the lead today. It's only Voeckler's second time riding in the Tour, making his achievement even more impressive. And in addition to the determination and strength that won him those 11 yellow race-leader jerseys, he has the cutest smile I've seen out there this year. Check out those pictures! Every time they put the yellow jersey on him at the end of the day, he'd give this shy little smile that just made me want to peel that jersey right back off of him.

Haha! Just kidding, sweetie, I can't wait to get married to you this Saturday! Mwah!

Seriously, Thomas, you call me if you're ever in Seattle. Swoon.

Independence Day

We sang the hymn "This is my Song" today to close the service at the tiny church I attend. It was written by Lloyd Stone during the interval between WWI and WWII. I found myself weeping as we sang it, and I can't think of a more beautiful or true song to sing on this day.

This is my song, O God of all the nations,
a song of peace for lands afar and mine.
This is my home, the country where my heart is;
here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine;
But other hearts in other lands are beating
with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

My country's skies are bluer than the ocean,
and sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine;
But other lands have sunlight, too, and clover,
and skies are everywhere as blue as mine.
O hear my song, O God of all the nations,
A song of peace for their land and for mine.

Music "Finlandia" by Jean Sibelius, words by Lloyd Stone.

For a beautifully contemplative page combining the words and music of this hymn with some breathtaking pictures from around the world, visit this page at the St. Aidan's Episcopal Church website.