The Beautiful...and the Not-So-Beautiful

Well, we're out at Notre Dame for another Pearl-a-Palooza (forty family members gathered for the ND-Michigan game!), so there's not much time to blog.  But I thought I'd quickly share with you some of the sights I've seen out here.

First, here's a lovely painting of Our Lady, for whom this beautiful university is named (and Her Son, of course), that I saw in the lobby when my husband and I dropped in at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart yesterday.

Breathtakingly beautiful, isn't it?  I love it, love it, love it.

Now for an example of the not-so-beautiful out here on Our Lady's campus.  I took the picture below when we were getting a tour of our youngest son's awesome basement four-man dorm room two days ago.  It's big enough for four beds, four dressers, four desks, four closets, two mini-fridges, and a huge L-shaped sectional sofa with a 42" T.V. set in front of it.  It's really quite the top-of-the line digs for a quartet of college sophomores.  But it is definitely not beautiful.  Remember, this is four guys living together that we're talking about, and not a neatnik in the bunch.

Yes, that's an empty pizza box--and for all we know, it's from two weeks ago.  And next to it sits an empty sports drink bottle.  (I believe that section of carpet is the official "recycling bin.")  And of course, there's the requisite dirty sock.  (As you can see, the carpet is not just a recycling bin; it also serves as a garbage can and a laundry hamper.)  This is only a small section of the man cave; there are plenty of other food wrappers, empty cans and plastic bottles, and dirty socks on the floor in other areas of the room as well.  But having raised only sons--five of them--this is nothing I haven't seen a hundred times before.  And my boy and his three roommates are thrilled with their set-up, get along great, and aren't bothered by each other's messiness in the least.  That in itself, I suppose, is a very beautiful thing!