Precious Birthdays

Today and tomorrow are birthdays for two loved ones who have died: my daughter, Betsey, would be 64 today, and my brother, Stewart, would be 95 tomorrow. Betsey passed away in 2016 and Stewart in 2013. I miss them both so much. They both were intensely interested in what was happening in our nation and in the world, and I especially miss being able to talk with them about the dramas that are being acted out today. Betsey traveled quite a bit, and she would often send her dad a postcard. I found one of them today, a very special one, sent from the British Library in England during a trip she made there with her husband, Rob, in October, 1990. She was very excited to have seen up close pages of beautifully ornamented MSS of the Gospel of Luke - the Lindisfarne Gospels. And I, as a bibical scholar, shared her excitement. Thank you, Betsey! I miss you!

Betsey's card

Page one of the Gospel of Luke in the Lindisfarne Gospels

Betsey Crockett (1958-2016)************************************** Stewart was a wonderful big brother - six years older than I am. Readers of this blog will recall that over the past several years I have posted letters he wrote during his military service in WW 2 - the years c. 1944-1946. We had some special time before he left for the service when I was 11 years old, and we played games together, made model airplanes together, etc. Then he went into the service and I was left at home with my mother while both my father and my brother were in the army. That was a difficult time, but also an important time for my development. I "grew up" during that time, and by the time I entered high school in 1946, I was a lot more mature and ready to take on challenges than others my age. So, for example, in 1949, at age 16, I was offered a job driving an 80-year-old glove salesman all over Iowa, Illinois and Missouri - over 10,000 miles of driving in just that one summer. I suspect that similarly, that military experience contributed to Stewart's development as a responsible person also. Thank you for being you, brother! I miss you!

Stewart C. Crockett (1927-2913). This is a photo I found on-line I had never seen before!

Saving Stuff

Today is "Savanna Day," so we got up early and came to Shutesbury. Ellen is off with Savanna, and I am here at the house. Katie and Brendon left shortly after I arrived to attend the premier of a movie Brendon is in that was made by Amherst High School students. Brendon played a gangster in the film. It was being shown at the Amherst Cinema, which is a pretty big deal! They came back a bit ago and said it was great! There will eventually be a link and we can see it on YouTube. Right now, Katie is stacking wood with Dorothy, and Brendon is hanging out. While I was here alone this morning, I worked a bit on a long-range project of digitizing files. I have a red bag which has been sitting in my study at home for months, full of folders waiting to be digitized so that I can throw out the paper. A few weeks ago, I ran into a glitch with using my iPhone to photograph pages - the pictures would not upload properly onto my computer. Reasons unknown! So today I brought the bag and an old iPod that has worked well in the past. The only problem with the iPod is that it has to be plugged in all the time - the battery is totally shot. But that is a small problem. And, in fact, it worked fine - all the photos of pages that I made with it uploaded onto the computer, no problem. So - what did I save and why did I save it? Well, the first thing I did was save some pages that failed to upload last time. The two categories were (1)a folder of letters to and from Brown University faculty relating to the issue of refusal to register for the draft. This goes back to 1967, when I was a chaplain at Brown, and students were struggling with the moral issue of the Viet Nam war. Faculty were responding to a joint letter students and chaplains had sent to President Johnson, signaling their refusal to register. We no longer have a universal draft, but the issue of civil disobedience is still a live one and the letters arguing one side or the other are very thoughtful, coming as they do from some very fine people. So this seemed like a "save" file. It has been very interesting to re-read these letters. The second folder is labeled "Betty Greenhoe." It contains materials relating to Betty's memorial service and committal, which was back in September, 2017 - almost 5 years ago. That includes a eulogy which I gave, which expresses my feelings for Betty. When I tried to upload this a few weeks ago, several pages did not upload. Betty is, of course, the mother of Eliza Greenhoe Bergh, and these pages are precious to me. I also need to make sure that Eliza has copies - I suspect she does, but I would not throw them out without making sure.

Betty Greenhoe - in earlier years********************************** There were several folders I did today which were starting from scratch, so to speak. I'll just list them here: 3)Four pages which list all the places Ellen and I have lived in our entire lives! We have both lived in a lot of places! This includes places we might have lived for only a few months. This goes back to when we made an extensive cross-country trip visiting as many of these places as we could. That was a fun trip! It happened before I started this blog, so there is no blog record of it. Maybe I'll devote a blog post to that topic at some point. I'm saving this for obvious reasons - it's important personal information that I might want to refer to or be reminded of, and it might be of interest to our children, grandchildren, etc. 4) Notes made in graduate school on books and articles about the Dead Sea Scrolls. The DSS are, of course, among the most important documents relating to the history of the New Testament. They were first discovered in the mid-20th century, and their discovery was like a bomb shell dropped into New Testament studies. In the 1960's, when I was in graduate school, they were just beginning to be translated and studied in some depth. Both Jesus and John the Baptist are thought to have had some connection with the Community which produced these scrolls, widely understood to have been Essenes, one of the many sub-cultures within the larger totality of Judaism of the 1st century, A.D. They were a radical community which had withdrawn to live a life of holiness on the shores of the Dead Sea, opposed to what they considered to be the hostile influence of Greco-Roman culture of the time, opposed especially to the Roman government, believing themselves to be living in the "end times," i.e., an eschatological community. In all these respects, they are similar to the early Christians. My reading notes are on about 6-8 books and articles that had been resently published at that time. Some of those articles were written in German! I guess my ability to read German was a bit better 60 years ago than it is today! These notes are, of course, a mere drop in the bucket compared to what was being published even then. And today - omigosh! There must be thousands of books and articles on the Dead Sea Scrolls. If I were to lead a bible stufy group again (I have been asked to do so at the Guilford Church - still deciding whether I will), thse notes would come in handy. So - Save!'

A fragment of the Dead Sea Scrolls********************************** 5) Copy of an article by Jsmes Deetz on 17th century Tombstone art. (James Deetz, "Death's Head, Cherub, Urn and Willow,"Natural History, 1967). This article is both ground-breaking and fascinating, and extremely helpful in providing background for the interpretation of any cemetery in New England which contains headstones from the 1600's and early 1700's. James Deeta was in the anthropology department at Brown University - one of the mentors of my friend, Phil McKean. This is an article I always want to have handy. Save!

A detail of a headstone in Plympton, Massachusetts******************************** 6) Romantic Movement. This folder goes back to my senior year in college, when I was permitted to take a Senior Seminar in English Literature, normally open only to English majors (I was a Sociology major). I wrote two major papers in that course, one on the poetry of Robert Burns, and a second one comparing the poetry of Percy Bysshe Shelley with the thought of Walter Rauschenbusch, the "father" of the Social Gospel Movement. The point behind this comparison was that Shelley's poetry is full of "utopian" ideas - images of a future, ideal, harmonious, humane, community. I'll have to confess that I had completely forgotten this paper! I express very strongly in this paper how important Rauschenbusch was for my own thinking, which is why I had chosen him. I also comment on Shelley's view of woemen - in his utopian vision, women have equality with men and the full opportunity to express theselves and achieve self-fulfillment in their own right. In that respect, I suspect he was ahead of Rauschenbusch! I don't actually say that at the time!

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Walter Rauschenbusch****************************************** The paper on Robert Burns is labeled "Good" by my professor (Dr. Clippenger, who was also Dean of Men). It was good - I put a lot into it. One special feature was that I had recorded a Scotsman, a man who was in a congregation I was serving in Pleasant Hope, Missouri, reading the poetry of Robert Burns, with his natural Scots'dialect. I had found a tape recorder somewhere (they were not common then), and played it when I presented the paper in class, which was very effective. I probably am not going to ever "use" these papers ever again, but I wrote them, and I thik they are worth saving. Why not? 7) A "throw-way file" has been saved because something on the verso side of the pages is worth saving. The "throw-away" is the draft of a letter I wrote to the Editor of the Brown Daily Herald," the student newspaper at Brown U., explaining a comment that had been made at a graduate student discussion I had organized. The comment was that "Brown was not a "top-name" graduate school. Obviously, that comment could be interpreted as "bad-mouthing" Brown. Actually, in context, it was part of a discussion of the negative influence that mass-media rankings of academic institutions have on public perception of colleges and universities, and a more philosophical discussion of what actually constitutes a valid evaluation of graduate education? Is the "fame" of faculty members really relevant to the quality of education? This is interesting, but probably not something needing to be saved. However, on the back side are lecture notes I made on a course I was taking at Rhode Island School of Design in 1966 in my role as a chaplain there. The course was taught by an outstanding RISD prof - Barry Kirschenbaum - on "The History of the Figure in Western Art," a fascinating course! These notes are specifically on sculptors Aristide Maillol and Henry Moore, and the role of the concept of "Arcadia" in art history. These handwritten notes are very interesting, and I want to hold on to them.

Seated figure by Aristide Maillol

Recumbant figure by Henry Moore*************************************** So - there was a morning's work. 7)

Cardiology

Today, I had an appointment with a new cardiologist, Dr. Antoine Soueid. Ellen came with me. I had actually met him before, during my stress test a few weeks ago. But I'm not sure I was actually introduced to him by name at that time. For probably 20 years, my cardiologist was Dr. Burt Tepfer. I liked him very much. He was sort of laid back, which I liked. Dr. Soueid is not laid back, but he seems very capable. He has thus far not found any heart-related issue that explains my shortness of breath. But I have one more "test" - I'm now wearing a "Zio" patch which will record my heart activity for a week. I have an accompanying book in which to record "incidents" like shortness of breath or irregular heart rhythm, dizziness, etc. So, we will see.

Dr. Soueid

Dr. Tepfer***************** After the appointment, we went to a memorial service for Dee Keller, someone I got to know quite well back around 2005-2008, when I was Moderator of the Association and she and her husband, Bob, served on the Executive Committee. She is one of the most supportive people I have ever known. She died over a year ago, but COVID delayed her memorial service. I learned from family members and friends who spoke even more about what a remarkable person she was.

Dee Keller

Stops in Maine

We're on our way home, but we have had a lot of stops on our way. We stopped for lunch at the Popeyes in Kennebunk. We stopped at the Scoop Deck in Wells for ice cream. We stopped at the When Pigs Fly bread outlet in Kittery. Now Ellen is at a Carter's outlet buying some baby things for a baby shower for Mark Nissen and his wife which will be July 5th at Mary Anderson's place in Bennington. We're taking Anne Janeway with us to the shower, and Ellen is also buying a present for Anne to bring, because it is hard for Anne to get out and shop.

Popeye's at the Kennebunk Rest Area

An iconic Maine image at the center of the Food Court at Kennebunk Rest Area

Another decorative feature - is there a dog racing track nearby?

The Scoop Deck in Wells, Maine - great ice cream!

When Pigs Fly bread display

The Carter's Outlet at Kittery Mall******************************* LATER We got home at about 8pm, safe and sound. Along the entire trip I read aloud, off snd on, from our current read-aloud book, Flying, Falling, Catching which is a book both by and about Henri J.M. Nouwen, published posthumously (2022; Nouwen died in 1996) with Carolyn Whitney-Brown. It will be the subject of discussion at the GCC Book Group which is meeting July 31st. It is about an experience near the end of Nouwen's life when he became deeply attached to a group of trapeze artists, the Flying Rodleighs, lived and toured with them for a time, and went deeply into their lives and their art, and came to believe that their story had universal spiritual significence. The book draws heavily on his own diaries and journals and his own notes for a book he intended to write about them, but never finished because of his death. I have long been attracted to Nouwen's writing, especially since the period right after Shirley's death, when I picked up his The Inner Voice of Love and started to cry as I read the chapter titles! It got me through that period of grief and was very healing for me. I also was moved by his study of Rembrandt's portrait of The Prodigal Son - both because I love Rembrandt, and I also love the way Nouwen gets inside the painting. So, I am enjoycing this book we are reading now.

Dinner at Claws

This evening we finally had good weather for an anniversary dinner at Claws, a casual seafood restaurant in Rockland that has what is considered the best seafood around. Fine dining in a casual atmosphere. The seating is essentially outdoors, but it is a roofed pavillion, and in cooler weather there are plastic side windows that keep it from being too breezy. There is also the option of an unroofed deck. We opted for the pavillion, and were quite comfortable. It was a fine evening - sunny and not too windy, but still on the cool side. Jim had haddock tacos, Mary had fishcakes, Ellen had a haddock sandwich and I had steamed clams. Everything was relly good. I love steamed clams and feel that summer is complete when I have a chance to have them. No one got a lobster dinner, probably because the price is out of sight -though I was treating and said price was no object. Maybe I'll splurge later in the summer. Dessert was waiting for us back at the house - a freshly baked blueberry pie by Mary from her own blueberries. That was really yummy too! After dessert, we watched the same episode of Endeavor on Masterpiece Theater (PBS) we watched last evening, but this time, we streamed it and had captions. Last night we watched it on broadcast TV and captions were not available, and we felt we were missing a grest deal of the British dialogue, and were sort of confused at the end as to just who had done what! It was well worth watching the second time and this time it was much clearer, for sure. Earlier today I took a little walk using Mary's poles - mine are back in Shutesbury where I accidently left them when we went there for "Savanna Day." Otherwise it was a pretty quiet day. Jim did enlist both Ellen and myself to be reoorded singing a round he had composed about peace in Ukraine. He made multiple tracks of himself, Ellen and me so that it sounds like a group. I spent much of the day listening to the Guilford service (which we missed of course) or listening to Vermont This Week which is broadcast on Friday evening , but it is on Vermont PBS, and we only get New Hampshire PBS on the TV. However, it is archived on VTPBS website and can be watched later. I also did out word games - I did well on Spelling Bee, average on Wordle and bombed on Quordle. Oh well!

Claws Restaurant

Our seating under the pavillion

View of Rockland Harbor through the plastic side curtains

The yummy blueberry pie!

Shaun Evans as Endeavor Morse

Sunday in Maine

Today was a trifecta of celebrations: Juneteenth, Father's Day and Ellen's and my 17th wedding anniversary! I would say that we managed to celebrate all three. We went to church at the Unitarian-Universalist Church in Rockland with Jim and Mary. The regular pastor was away, so the service was led by a layman, who also happens to be running for office in the Maine senate. He was articulate and also succinct. He devoted part of the service to the observance of Juneteenth through readings and the singing of one of the earliest of the songs of slavery; We are Climbing Jacob's Ladder. The dominant theme was fathers, and he emphasized especially the reality that our own fathers were flawed, and that those seeking to be good fathers are also flawed and that our faith gives us the insight and courage to face up to that reality and to keep striving to achieve "fatherhood." After church, we went to Phil McKean's home in Cushing, where we found Phil, his daughter, Susannah, and his grandson, Samuel, who is 20 years old, and whom I had never met before. A very fine young man who I enjoyed talking with. During our lunch together, (which, when they realized it was our anniversary, became a celebratory lunch), Susannah's husband, Paul, "zoomed" in from London, and also her brother, Tom, my godson, who was in Corsica, and for a bit of time, her daughter, Chloe and her boyfriend, James (not sure where they were). Sort of amazing! We enjoyed "impossible burgers," quinoa salad and cold salmon. It was very cold, raw and windy outside (in the 40's and raining) so we stayed inside and also postponed an earlier plan to have an anniversary supper at Claws, a nice seafood place in Rockland which has all-outdoor dining. I think we'll try that Monday night. This evening we had a nice supper with Jim and Mary (inside!), played a game of Scrabble, which Ellen won (much to her surprise), and then watched Episode One of Season 8 of Endeavor on PBS. One of our favorite programs, and that's true for Jim and Mary too. So - a satisfactory day all around!

The U-U Church in Rockland

Susannah McKean Nicklin talking with her brother, Tom, on Zoom

Tom McKean, all the way from Corsica!

Susannah and Phil McKean

Paul Nicklin, Susannah's Husband

Samuel Nicklin

Part of a memorial garden Phil is crea†ing for his wife, Deborah, who died in late April. One of the things we did today was share ideas for the music that will be part of the memorial service for Deborah in September.******************

Another section of the memorial garden.

We're in Maine

We are at Jim and Mary's in Owl's Head, ME. We left at about 9am this morning and got here a bit before 6pm. But on the way, we stopped in Portland to visit my friend, Paul Jones. I have known Paul for about 34 years - he started coming to the Guilford Church about 1988. He brought South African Freedom songs to the church from his involvement in Amandla, a chorus in Greenfield, MA which specialized in those songs. For several years we sang together in the Blanche Moyse Chorale. Paul went to medical school and became a child psychiatrist. For some time he lived and worked in Washington, D.C., working with children who had life-threatening illnesses, and also teaching at Georgetown U. He also is a guru in a Japanese form of meditation. He has always had Type 1 diabetes, but a few years ago he was diagnosed with M.S., and that eventually affected him cognitively, and he had to give up his work. He moved to Portland because his mother was there - very elderly and in a nursing home, but she died two weeks after he moved. Nevertheless, he likes it there, has a nice apartment near the ocean and Fort Allen Park, and it means we can visit when we go to Maine. I had not seen him in person for many years, so it was great to see him again. He brought chinese take-out back to his apartment and we had lunch there. He has gotten back into writing poetry, and he read us several of his poems - they are really good! I hope he will publish them. We had about a two-hour visit, and enjoyed it very much. Monday will be his birthday, so it was sort of a birthday party. We liked his neighborhood very much - old Victorian mansions overlooking the park and the ocean.

Paul Jones in his apartment

The view from the car of Fort Hill Park, near Paul's house

Old scene of Fort Hill Park

A more recent view of Fort Hill Park

Strawberry shortcake tonight!

A new painting above the dining table!