The last two days I've gone to Greenwich, which is only about 60 miles away but only accessible from I 95 and the Merritt Parkway, neither of which is a leisurely drive! In fact, going south from CT is a nightmare.
I was in Greenwich for the Convention of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut. I used to be a real fan of Convention. I would sit near a microphone and make people crazy with my comments on resolutions. When I retired I realized I really didn't care that much any more. I go to convention to see people I don't see much--which is a joy, though watching them grow older is not!
Friday, my friend Charles drove me. Today I drove myself.
On Friday there was a resolution that was amended 5 times and the last time was to remove all the language that had been inserted the first four times so we voted on what we were first given after nearly an hour of quibbling.
Then today there was a similar expenditure of time and passion on a resolution that was really just to clean up some language in the Diocesan Canons (church talk for 'laws') that resulted in voting on what was given us to begin with.
The last resolution was about 'inclusive language in Prayer Book revision' and I left before debate started because I wanted to be ahead of 300 people leaving the hotel AND I could predict about everything--pro and con--that would be said. I assume it passed, but not without heated debate and hurt feelings.
The devotional times were wonderful and the Bishop's address was like a Ted talk with three huge screens that showed stuff all through convention. I told him afterwards that "the Bishop's address" was usually a bathroom break for me, but his was the best I've heard in 40 years or so.
Voting in the elections had to be done on-line and since I have no device I can carry that accesses the web, I had to go in the hall and vote on a tablet provided by the diocese. Humiliating.
I checked out the best low price smart phones since I've been home.
Hello, Moto!
Perhaps soon....
Saturday, November 18, 2017
Wednesday, November 15, 2017
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a few hours from being only a week away. Our small clan will gather at our house--Bern and me, Mimi and Tim and Eleanor, Josh and Cathy and Morgan/Emma/Tegan, along with John our friend since the early 70's and Hanne, who is in her 90's and our friend for 30 years.
Those rare times when Bern, our children, their spouses, our granddaughters and I are together are magic to me--because they are blessings and magic as well.
I happened across a poem I wrote about Mimi and rain and home over 9 years ago. I thought I'd share it here as a pre-Thanksgiving gift.
RAINY DAY
It rained all day in Connecticut
and New York City too, my daughter told me
on the phone tonight.
What else she told me was this:
on her way from the subway to her office,
on, of all streets, 17th Street,
she saw a blur of yellow on a windowsill
at sidewalk level.
She turned back and found a parakeet
with her head under her wing,
more yellow than green,
and found a box in the trash of 17th Street
and took the bird--after a struggle--
to work with her...stopping on the way,
somewhere, I can't imagine where,
to buy a cage and some food and,
though she didn't mention it,
a water bottle, I'm sure.
She spent lots of the day on the internet--
and found Rainy was a girl
because of the color of her beak,
and put a message on Craig's List (whatever that is)
that brought her a dozen calls about missing
parakeets.
None of them, after descriptions were given,
turned out to be Rainy.
So my daughter, most likely, now has a parakeet.
I'm wondering how a dozen people in a piece
of Manhattan, could allow
their parakeets to escape on a rainy day
in April.
And even more, I'm left wondering
if a dozen people who lost birds
were looking on Craig's List to find them...
how many birds were truly lost
this rainy day?
I think of them--wet feathered, frightened,
shivering on windowsills, trash cans
and the just budding trees of the East Side,
heads under their wings,
longing for home.
(Who of us doesn't know the feeling of 'being lost',
damp wings across our face,
longing for home?)
And I'm left wondering
most of all,
if I did anything right in my life
to have a daughter who'd
spend her day trying to find 'home'
and then providing one
for a wet bird she named Rainy,
in honor of
this wet April Monday?
JGB 4/28/08
(Eventually Rainy came to live with us along with Maggie, the bird Mimi brought so Rainy would have a friend. We had them both until Rainy and then Maggie, a year later, died. We loved them greatly. They were a blessing and a gift.
Just like all the members of our small clan are. Blessings and gifts--what we celebrate on Thanksgiving....)
Those rare times when Bern, our children, their spouses, our granddaughters and I are together are magic to me--because they are blessings and magic as well.
I happened across a poem I wrote about Mimi and rain and home over 9 years ago. I thought I'd share it here as a pre-Thanksgiving gift.
RAINY DAY
It rained all day in Connecticut
and New York City too, my daughter told me
on the phone tonight.
What else she told me was this:
on her way from the subway to her office,
on, of all streets, 17th Street,
she saw a blur of yellow on a windowsill
at sidewalk level.
She turned back and found a parakeet
with her head under her wing,
more yellow than green,
and found a box in the trash of 17th Street
and took the bird--after a struggle--
to work with her...stopping on the way,
somewhere, I can't imagine where,
to buy a cage and some food and,
though she didn't mention it,
a water bottle, I'm sure.
She spent lots of the day on the internet--
and found Rainy was a girl
because of the color of her beak,
and put a message on Craig's List (whatever that is)
that brought her a dozen calls about missing
parakeets.
None of them, after descriptions were given,
turned out to be Rainy.
So my daughter, most likely, now has a parakeet.
I'm wondering how a dozen people in a piece
of Manhattan, could allow
their parakeets to escape on a rainy day
in April.
And even more, I'm left wondering
if a dozen people who lost birds
were looking on Craig's List to find them...
how many birds were truly lost
this rainy day?
I think of them--wet feathered, frightened,
shivering on windowsills, trash cans
and the just budding trees of the East Side,
heads under their wings,
longing for home.
(Who of us doesn't know the feeling of 'being lost',
damp wings across our face,
longing for home?)
And I'm left wondering
most of all,
if I did anything right in my life
to have a daughter who'd
spend her day trying to find 'home'
and then providing one
for a wet bird she named Rainy,
in honor of
this wet April Monday?
JGB 4/28/08
(Eventually Rainy came to live with us along with Maggie, the bird Mimi brought so Rainy would have a friend. We had them both until Rainy and then Maggie, a year later, died. We loved them greatly. They were a blessing and a gift.
Just like all the members of our small clan are. Blessings and gifts--what we celebrate on Thanksgiving....)
Why players kneel at NFL Games
I can't believe all the indignity and anger a peaceful protest has engendered.
Well, yes I can, I came of age in the '60's and had people shout and threaten me during peaceful protest.
Peaceful is good. Very good. What do you prefer, some White Nationalist driving his car into a crowd in Charlottesville?
Why can rich people with lobbyist try to influence opinion of lawmakers be given a pass while rich people who play in the NFL not try to influence popular opinion by peaceful protest?
I wrote a blog almost 3 years ago about the issue the NFL players are addressing, peacefully.
I noticed not many people read it. I have more readers now--so here it is again.
If all the rain we had overnight and all day today had been snow, Connecticut would be Buffalo east.
Seriously, it has been raining for 24 hours solid here--sometimes hard and harsh, sometimes light--but always raining.
I talked to an Indian woman today in a store who lived near Birmingham, England for 16 years. She was talking about the rain and how it could continue for two weeks in Birmingham. Head's up, Seattle, you have nothing to brag about when it comes to rain.
The truth is, I'm trying to write about the weather, but the weather is only a symbol for what's on my heart. I can't stop thinking about how police can kill black men without fear or retribution.
And it's like that thing from the Second World War:
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
That's a version of what a German theologian, killed by the Nazi's said.
I feel like that when I think about how the number of incidents against unarmed black men has escalated recently.
I need to speak out, not only here, on this blog, but some other way. I need to stand in the street and hold my hands up and say, "I can't breathe" before they come for me.
I know it is a horrible metaphor, comparing American police to the Nazis, and I apologize for that. But the war on Black men has become so undeniable that white people must speak out, somehow.
I mourn for my love of this country and its values. That love is fading. It feels like the 1950's to me right now...and I lived through that to what I thought was a better place. We can elect a Black President but can't keep black folks safe.
And it rains outside. On and on and on....
Well, yes I can, I came of age in the '60's and had people shout and threaten me during peaceful protest.
Peaceful is good. Very good. What do you prefer, some White Nationalist driving his car into a crowd in Charlottesville?
Why can rich people with lobbyist try to influence opinion of lawmakers be given a pass while rich people who play in the NFL not try to influence popular opinion by peaceful protest?
I wrote a blog almost 3 years ago about the issue the NFL players are addressing, peacefully.
I noticed not many people read it. I have more readers now--so here it is again.
Saturday, December 6, 2014
Rainy days
Seriously, it has been raining for 24 hours solid here--sometimes hard and harsh, sometimes light--but always raining.
I talked to an Indian woman today in a store who lived near Birmingham, England for 16 years. She was talking about the rain and how it could continue for two weeks in Birmingham. Head's up, Seattle, you have nothing to brag about when it comes to rain.
The truth is, I'm trying to write about the weather, but the weather is only a symbol for what's on my heart. I can't stop thinking about how police can kill black men without fear or retribution.
And it's like that thing from the Second World War:
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
That's a version of what a German theologian, killed by the Nazi's said.
I feel like that when I think about how the number of incidents against unarmed black men has escalated recently.
I need to speak out, not only here, on this blog, but some other way. I need to stand in the street and hold my hands up and say, "I can't breathe" before they come for me.
I know it is a horrible metaphor, comparing American police to the Nazis, and I apologize for that. But the war on Black men has become so undeniable that white people must speak out, somehow.
I mourn for my love of this country and its values. That love is fading. It feels like the 1950's to me right now...and I lived through that to what I thought was a better place. We can elect a Black President but can't keep black folks safe.
And it rains outside. On and on and on....
Monday, November 13, 2017
Misty
I've never been the kind of person to hide my emotions. But as I age, my tears and my anger seem closer to the surface.
I just watched a video from Iowa City.
There is a new children's hospital next to the campus of the University of Iowa. The top floor of the hospital looks down on every inch of the Iowa football stadium.
Months ago, even before the hospital was open, a nurse realized hospitalized children and their parents could watch the home games from that top, open floor.
She sent her idea for a wave from the crowd at sometime during the game to the children on the top floor to a U of Iowa website. It caught on.
Between the first and second quarters all 68,000 fans and both teams wave to the kids.
The video was of a 6 year old boy who had a heart transplant 44 days before and has been in hospital for 295 days. Hooked up to all sorts of things, his parents took him to the 12th floor. His reaction, even wearing a mask to block out germs, was so priceless I wept.
I went down to tell Bern about it and had to stop twice before I got it all out.
It was so wonderful and grace-filled and amazing.
The boy's kidneys shut down during his heart problems and he is on a 17 hour a day pediatric dialysis treatment. His mother has slept at home 2 nights only since he's been in the hospital.
So much suffering and yet so much courage and so much love.
Hard not to weep typing this....
And why not, beloved, tears can be of joy and healing.
I just watched a video from Iowa City.
There is a new children's hospital next to the campus of the University of Iowa. The top floor of the hospital looks down on every inch of the Iowa football stadium.
Months ago, even before the hospital was open, a nurse realized hospitalized children and their parents could watch the home games from that top, open floor.
She sent her idea for a wave from the crowd at sometime during the game to the children on the top floor to a U of Iowa website. It caught on.
Between the first and second quarters all 68,000 fans and both teams wave to the kids.
The video was of a 6 year old boy who had a heart transplant 44 days before and has been in hospital for 295 days. Hooked up to all sorts of things, his parents took him to the 12th floor. His reaction, even wearing a mask to block out germs, was so priceless I wept.
I went down to tell Bern about it and had to stop twice before I got it all out.
It was so wonderful and grace-filled and amazing.
The boy's kidneys shut down during his heart problems and he is on a 17 hour a day pediatric dialysis treatment. His mother has slept at home 2 nights only since he's been in the hospital.
So much suffering and yet so much courage and so much love.
Hard not to weep typing this....
And why not, beloved, tears can be of joy and healing.
Sunday, November 12, 2017
I guess I do it too...
I get so out of sorts with the folks in the White House (He Who Not Be Named chief among them) who lean on what Kelly Ann Conway called 'alternative facts' to make their points.
Facts are facts. "Alternative facts" are what we know as 'lies'.
Well, I probably need to get off my high horse! I am guilty of an 'alternative fact' all my own.
A few days ago, I wrote a blog called "Putting it on the line" in which I confessed how left wing I truly am.
In my tirade I said the Barry Goldwater suggested privatizing the Tennessee Valley Authority (fact) that delivered the electricity to where I lived (alternative fact).
My friend Mike Miano commented to say I was wrong. We got our electricity from the Appalachian Electric Power company, created from coal our neighbors dug from the ground under not so ideal conditions.
Here's the only difference between me and our President--I've been telling that 'alternative fact' (i.e. lie) for years, thinking it was true.
Once Mike, who grew up 7 or 8 miles from where I did, was a year ahead of me in high school and one of my roommates in an off campus apartment with the most lusted after address imaginable (69 Richwood Avenue) is absolutely right. I told a lie for years and convinced myself it was the truth because it suited my purposes and made a good tale....
Thanks to Mike, I'll be examining and pondering everything I say as "the truth" with a new eye toward what else have I made up to meet my needs.
That could be a soul cleansing exercise and not a tad humbling.
I'll let you know how that goes (uncovering the lies I tell as alternative truths) and why. Or you could try it on yourselves and see how it goes.
I wish Mike would talk to our President....
Facts are facts. "Alternative facts" are what we know as 'lies'.
Well, I probably need to get off my high horse! I am guilty of an 'alternative fact' all my own.
A few days ago, I wrote a blog called "Putting it on the line" in which I confessed how left wing I truly am.
In my tirade I said the Barry Goldwater suggested privatizing the Tennessee Valley Authority (fact) that delivered the electricity to where I lived (alternative fact).
My friend Mike Miano commented to say I was wrong. We got our electricity from the Appalachian Electric Power company, created from coal our neighbors dug from the ground under not so ideal conditions.
Here's the only difference between me and our President--I've been telling that 'alternative fact' (i.e. lie) for years, thinking it was true.
Once Mike, who grew up 7 or 8 miles from where I did, was a year ahead of me in high school and one of my roommates in an off campus apartment with the most lusted after address imaginable (69 Richwood Avenue) is absolutely right. I told a lie for years and convinced myself it was the truth because it suited my purposes and made a good tale....
Thanks to Mike, I'll be examining and pondering everything I say as "the truth" with a new eye toward what else have I made up to meet my needs.
That could be a soul cleansing exercise and not a tad humbling.
I'll let you know how that goes (uncovering the lies I tell as alternative truths) and why. Or you could try it on yourselves and see how it goes.
I wish Mike would talk to our President....
Friday, November 10, 2017
Just a few pieces of good news
Tuesday was full of good news for liberals like me. Way beyond Democrats becoming governors in Virginia and New Jersey. Some more pieces of good news.
*Charlotte elected it's first female African American mayor.
*St. Paul elected it's first Black mayor.
*In Minneapolis, Andrea Jenkins, a transgendered black woman won a seat on the City Council.
*In Seattle a lesbian, Jenny Durkar was elected mayor.
*In Helena, Montana a Liberian immigrant, Wilmot Collins, became mayor beating a man who ran on not wanting immigrants in Helena. 1% of Helena's population is black....
*Danica Roem, a transgendered woman, won a seat in Virginia's house defeating the man who wrote a bill restricting bathroom use to gender of birth.
*Also in Virginia, 2 Latinas and a Asian America became the first of their kind to be elected to the stat house of Representatives.
*Ravi Bhalla became the first Sikh mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey.
*Also in New Jersey a black woman, Ashly Bennet, unseated John Carmon from the Board of a county. Carmon posted a deal on Facebook asking if the women on the women's march on Washington would be home in time to cook dinner. Now he has time to cook his own.
There were more GOOD NEWS elections, but those really caught my attention.
I hope it's a ground swell for 2018. I hope and pray.
A government of the people and by the people--ALL the people....
*Charlotte elected it's first female African American mayor.
*St. Paul elected it's first Black mayor.
*In Minneapolis, Andrea Jenkins, a transgendered black woman won a seat on the City Council.
*In Seattle a lesbian, Jenny Durkar was elected mayor.
*In Helena, Montana a Liberian immigrant, Wilmot Collins, became mayor beating a man who ran on not wanting immigrants in Helena. 1% of Helena's population is black....
*Danica Roem, a transgendered woman, won a seat in Virginia's house defeating the man who wrote a bill restricting bathroom use to gender of birth.
*Also in Virginia, 2 Latinas and a Asian America became the first of their kind to be elected to the stat house of Representatives.
*Ravi Bhalla became the first Sikh mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey.
*Also in New Jersey a black woman, Ashly Bennet, unseated John Carmon from the Board of a county. Carmon posted a deal on Facebook asking if the women on the women's march on Washington would be home in time to cook dinner. Now he has time to cook his own.
There were more GOOD NEWS elections, but those really caught my attention.
I hope it's a ground swell for 2018. I hope and pray.
A government of the people and by the people--ALL the people....
Thursday, November 9, 2017
Moore is better
Is it possible that the allegations of sexual abuse against Weinstein, Spacey, O'Riley and so many others both here and abroad will finally convince people of what has always been true--that women are seen as prey for men who are predators?
Bern has always said, "Men are dogs". And, in many cases she is right. The recent spate of allegations is stunning--but not surprising.
But the best one came today--Judge Roy Moore, Republican candidate for Jeff Sessions Alabama Senate seat, has had 4 women allege he was sexually abusive toward them while they were minors....
The accuser who brought the others out of the woodwork was 14--14 for God's sake--when Moore, who was 32, undressed her, touched her, kissed her and asked her to touch him. She refused and he did take her home. But a man of 32, a lawyer, doing that to a 14 year old? Give me a break.
Judge Moore was thrown off the Alabama Supreme Court twice for ignoring federal law. He believes homosexuality should be against the law and punishable by prison. He doesn't believe Muslims should hold elective office. He thinks the 10 Commandments should be on public display in government buildings. He thinks anyone should be able to carry a gun in public. He does like horses, I'll give him that, but any Conservative Evangelical who abuses minor girls should be beaten to a pulp.
The law in Alabama says that it's too close to the election to drop off the ballot--the special election is next month. Steve Bannon and Fox News folks are defending him. He is arrogant in his denials.
So, we get to see if Alabama is willing to send a pedophile to the Senate just as the country (and a huge majority of Evangelical Christians) sent a "p***y grabber" to the White House.
I can only pray that the uproar over sexual harassment will last longer than a news cycle and that women will finally, ultimately, correctly be heard for the Truth they are telling.
We shall see, won't we....
Bern has always said, "Men are dogs". And, in many cases she is right. The recent spate of allegations is stunning--but not surprising.
But the best one came today--Judge Roy Moore, Republican candidate for Jeff Sessions Alabama Senate seat, has had 4 women allege he was sexually abusive toward them while they were minors....
The accuser who brought the others out of the woodwork was 14--14 for God's sake--when Moore, who was 32, undressed her, touched her, kissed her and asked her to touch him. She refused and he did take her home. But a man of 32, a lawyer, doing that to a 14 year old? Give me a break.
Judge Moore was thrown off the Alabama Supreme Court twice for ignoring federal law. He believes homosexuality should be against the law and punishable by prison. He doesn't believe Muslims should hold elective office. He thinks the 10 Commandments should be on public display in government buildings. He thinks anyone should be able to carry a gun in public. He does like horses, I'll give him that, but any Conservative Evangelical who abuses minor girls should be beaten to a pulp.
The law in Alabama says that it's too close to the election to drop off the ballot--the special election is next month. Steve Bannon and Fox News folks are defending him. He is arrogant in his denials.
So, we get to see if Alabama is willing to send a pedophile to the Senate just as the country (and a huge majority of Evangelical Christians) sent a "p***y grabber" to the White House.
I can only pray that the uproar over sexual harassment will last longer than a news cycle and that women will finally, ultimately, correctly be heard for the Truth they are telling.
We shall see, won't we....
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