Day 2

So far, it being less sunny but possibly more pleasant, the crowd seems older, wiser, and more helpful. “I like to see the Ambassador of Good Will (Lee Dodge) & all her human and dog admirers, of which I’m one.” This was signed “Steve Lockitch [something] Alexander Enterprises”. It was difficult to transcribe.

Lee Dodge found another fan with particularly beautiful handwriting. “We’ve been walking Green Lake for 10+ years. The seasons come and go. The trees grow – the bunnies hop! We were 40ish then – we’re 50ish now Hopefully we’ll be doing it when we are 90ish like Lee (The Ambassador) an inspiration to young women of 50. –K&M.” Whoever you are, Mizz Dodge, you are loved.

We know you’ve been waiting, but we got the rest of the Spanish quote from Day 1. “Estamos Aqui. Fer y yo, viedo a lo gente loca que sale a correr sin playera con este frio tan mendigo. Esperando a que salga Victor y dandole de comer a munequito en este hermoso lugar. Green Lake.”

A translation, courtesy of SLM: “Here we are. Fer and I, watching the crazy people that come out to run without a shirt in this frigging cold. I’m waiting for Victor to come out and giving my little baby boy a bite to eat in this beautiful place. Green Lake.” Based on this evidence, a mother with her baby boy probably waiting for her man, I would have to say that I slightly misread this yesterday. Her writing recorded the creation of a memory. I don’t think anyone will need to remember that moment for her.

From all things to some things. The Notebook lives here.

Then came our first religious sentiment, in this case, the actual verse John 3:16. I’m including it here, just so you know what it says next time you see the citation on a sign waving in a gameday crowd.

“For God so loved the world, he gave his only son (Jesus) that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.
Amen.
John 3:16.”

But the writer continued, explaining him/herself. Swearing to the sincerity of a Christianity that the writer implicitly recognizes is not a good brand here in Seattle. “You may not believe this now, but I pray that whoever reads this, a seed has been planted in time just as the daffodils behind me have bloomed, so will you. In time, you will know that you are loved. This is my prayer for you.
E.K.
April 4, 2007”

With that, EK became our first dated entry. She might have also been the first person to fix the notebook. As we wrote in the aforementioned entry, The Notebook had been falling apart. It was in pretty bad shape last night. This morning, however, we found that someone out there had righted its prongs. It could be EK, in the spirit of Christian charity. It could have also been a young guy, I can imagine him, more of a tinker than a writer, who wanted to contribute to the effort and soon found his fingers finding the way.

And another poet, perhaps rhyming with a scrawl that was found deep within the notebook’s pages; it just said, “I love you” and then a name which has been lost to the handwriting of its writer. So it stands a monument to incomprehensible love, the best kind for writing about. Oh, we’ve almost forgotten out poet, W.F.

“Dear H.F. (Ethan)
At this moment
Think of you
And, Smile.
 [heart] W.F.”

We are hoping that they are married and that their matching Fs are not just coincidence. In any case, we can pretend.

Lastly, we have a confession to make. Someone tucked a pamphlet into the bench, right by The Notebook and we took it back to The House. It was a Christian pamphlet, in the form of a letter to a “Fellow Traveler” on how Aesop reinforces Biblical principles but but that Jesus “did what no spiritual teacher or storyteller could ever do. He intervened in our moral dilemma.” The big moral dilemma, I guess, is the one he is referring to.

My moral dilemma, which Jesus has thus far not intervened in, concerns the ethics of taking the pamphlet from the vicinity of The Notebook. My reasoning was that those trained in the black arts of religious avoidance would see the pamphlet and assume that The Notebook was a Christian ploy, like foodbanks, and not see the work for what it truly is: a secular ploy, a word trap. Still, we probably should have left the pamphlet and let The Notebook get bigger than us.