vividreports: Apologies!

I apologize to my faithful readers for the long gap since my last post, which I think was ten days ago! I'm not sure just why that is the case, but it is. Ten days ago, we were in Maine. Since then: we came back from Maine on the 23rd, stopping at Ogunquit on the way by, getting in a short walk on the beach (the town was still collecting $20 for all-day parking, so we had to fit our walk into the 30-minute-limit space we occupied); went to River Singers rehearsal on the 24th, Concert Choir on the 25th. Also on the 25th, I renewed my membership in the Colonial Pool and have been going regularly since (I had not been to the pool since May). On the 26th, we went to see the new Downton Abbey movie at the Latchis - very enjoyable; a little silly in the plot but who cares? All the characters feel like family members. On the 27th, Brad Temple, plumber, came and (1) installed a new faucet in the kitchen sink, (2) unplugged the bathroom sink drain and (3) fixed a slow leak downstairs at the toilet cut-off valve. All things that have needed doing for some time. Our water situation is getting a little dicey. It has been very dry and our spring has gone down. It is at the six-foot level right now; four feet is the danger point. So we are not hauling water, but we are conserving water. One reason I joined the pool finally is that I can shower there. We are using dirty dishwater to flush the toilets, and we are going to the laundromat. Just those three things save quite a bit of water. So the level has stayed the same for a week and it is raining as I write, so maybe it will even inch up a bit. Katie and a friend are coming for a 3-day visit in two weeks, and we are hoping we don't have to institute draconian water-saving measures while they are here. So far, so good.

Friday evening, the 27th, we went to the home of Tom and Nancy Ragle to see a movie, Meet Joe Black. We had never seen this movie before (even though it's been around for close to two decades), and we enjoyed it a lot. It stars Anthony Hopkins and Brad Pitt. Definitely recommend it. We also just enjoy being with the Ragles. Tom and Nancy were instrumental in Shirley's getting involved in the Guilford Church back in 1976, and Tom was also helpful to me even before that, when we moved back to Vermont from Wisconsin in 1973. He was President of Marlboro College at that time and offered me a job there. They are old friends of mine that Ellen has come to love as well. We have been extraordinarily fortunate in that regard in both directions. I love her family and friends and she loves my family and friends. Needless to say, it doesn't always work out that way.

Tom Ragle

Saturday, the 28th, I went to a memorial service for Paul Nelsen, a very talented man I have known for as long as I have known the Ragles. His was a life in theater: actor, director, producer, professor. He was also a Shakespeare scholar, with a special interest in the Globe Theater in London. For three to four decades, he took groups of students (and later adults from the community) to London every year for a two-week immersion in London theater. That's a lot of theater! I never was able to go on one of those theater trips, to my regret. I first met Paul at Windham College, where he was a theater colleague of Joe Greenhoe (Eliza Greenhoe Bergh's dad). He and Joe founded the Windham Summer Repertory Theater there, and our son John (as a boy) was an actor in some plays they produced, including The Equivalent Lands, Joe Grrenhoe's 1976 Bicentennial play about colonial Vermont. Paul's memorial service was, not surprisingly, very theater oriented.

Paul Nelsen

Speaking of Shakespeare, the Osher Lecture series is starting up next Monday and the topic is Shakespeare. The first play is Macbeth, so I dug out my old college Shakespeare text (yes, I still have it!) and have been reading Macbeth. Looking forward to that series.

Sunday, the 29th, we went to the Guilford Church, sang in the choir, and I did the "prayers of the people" with Katherine Breunig. The service featured the church's connection with Kenya and Wangari Maathai, including a song she taught us. (She visited the Guilford Church back a couple of decades ago, and our choir was invited to sing at her Memorial Service at Cathedral of St. John the Divine in NYC back in 2009 (I think that was when it was). Many from our church have visited her Kenyan village on several occasions and done work there. Later on Sunday we went down to Shutesbury and had supper with Katie and Savanna.

Wangari Maathai

Another thing that has been going on over these past days is that we are stacking wood - mostly Ellen because my shoulders limit what I can do, but I do what I can.

I have also set up a special little work area in my study where I can work on Hebrew and Greek Bible translation. It is very inviting, but I haven't found the time to actually do it yet. This grows out of both the work I have been doing for the past year or so on re-visiting my 1966 doctoral dissertation and my recent acquisition of Robert Alter's new translation of the Hebrew Bible.

Our Subaru has developed a new "rumble" and vibration in the wheels - tires? wheel bearings? We have a service appointment Friday, but we are wondering if another car might be in the offing.

Last night we had River Singers again - we really like the song selection a lot. Tonight is Concert Choir.