Honda Insight sequel

The Hinda Insight story goes on. When John bought it, a few weeks ago, he thought he was going to have to replace the battery pack and, eventually, the rear axle. The battery pack was going to be like a $1500 expense. But it turns out that the battery pack is actually improving as he drives it, and he doesn't think he's going to have to replace it. The rear axle is OK for the time being. But on the other hand, he had real trouble with the manual transmission right from the get-go. It was very difficult to get the transmission to shift into fifth gear or into reverse. It was very stiff, and he actually was getting a lot of pain in his arm just in the effort to shift. He was afraid that the transmission was going to fail, and that would pretty much be the end of the car. But, lo and behold, he was doing some work on the shift mechanism, and something he did fixed the transmission! Now the transmission shifts just as smooth as can be. Unfortunately, this is not the end of the story however. He has learned through investigation and research that the Honda Insight parts availability situation is very bad. Before he bought the car he found websites that seemed to list Honda Insight parts. But now he finds that they are not actually available. So if something goes wrong with the car that requires parts, he may not be able to get it fixed. This is a real shame, because he's getting amazing fuel efficiency out of this car. It's averaging about 62 miles to the gallon, and on some stretches he gets as high as 80 miles to the gallon, which is remarkable. This could be a long-term car for him because it is aluminum in construction and thus has no body rust. If he could solve the parts availability problem it could actually turn out to be a great bargain. If anybody out there knows something about Honda Insight parts, please comment! BUT - P.S., another Insight owner in town told him - don't worry. There is a network of Insight owners who will come to his help! Let's hope!

John's Honda Insight

This and that

I'm going to catch up a bit on photos - I just downloaded photos from the iPhone on to the computer, going back a couple of weeks.

The "young folks" table at the Feinland Seder - l. to r., Jacob, Tamar, Ben and Nathan

Betsey's grave with Easter pansies

Shirley's grave with daffodils which were perfect for Easter

Historian Jill Lepore at a talk at the Brooks Memorial Library Sunday evening

 Jill Lepore is an historian of U.S. history at Harvard and a writer for the New Yorker. She has just published a one-volume history of the U.S. titled These Truths. She gave a very engaging illustrated talk at the library to a packed house. We bought the book to read on our next road trip.

New leaves on Rte. 30 today

We went to the Osher lecture this morning, which is part of the "Good Clash" series - today was on capital punishment (last week was "guns" and the week before "abortion"). Today was particularly invigorating. We are basically attempting to look at both sides of these "wedge" issues and understand why they are so polarizing in our society. We learned today that New Hampshire, which is historically a conservative state, has abolished the death penalty by a veto-proof margin in the legislature. (The legislature is controlled by Democrats; the governor is a Republican. However, many Republicans supported the bill in the legislature).

After Osher we drove north to Grandma Miller's bakery in Londonderry and got Morning Glory muffins - my favorites. It was a lovely, sunny day and the new leaves were that beautiful shade of spring green - a lovely ride.

This evening, our neighbor, Zach Grover, came to the house and reported on a hearing that was held last Tuesday at the town office concerning a permit for his home-based construction business which one of our neighbors is contesting. We were not able to attend the hearing because it fell on a rehearsal night for River Singers. There are good arguments on both sides but it sounds like he'll probably get the permit with some conditions. We basically support him because he has been very helpful to us and the activity at his property does not intrude into our lives visually or aurally. It has unquestionably changed the neighborhood, however, so it is probably not surprising that someone is upset.

Getting ready

Several things are coming up in the next couple of weeks that I need to be ready for. The main one is that I am leading the service and preaching in Guilford on May 5th. I need to turn in the information for the bulletin by next Wednesday. But I'm way ahead of the deadline. I already have bulletin information and a first draft of my sermon. That's good because next week is really full with extra rehearsals and two concerts on Saturday, May 4th. So I feel good about that!

Those concerts are also on the agenda - River Singers with special guest, Kathy Bullock. Kathy is an African-American Gospel Choral leader from Berea College - this will be the eighth time she has been a guest conductor with us. We love her.  We have two rehearsals with her next week, Tuesday and Thursday.

Dr. Kathy Bullock

Members of the chorus take turns announcing songs and I will be doing one. Here it is:

"Our next song, which is called Kingdom, is a contemporary hymn in the shape- note tradition with music by Vermont composer, Don Jamison, who is founding Co-executive Director of the Vermont Employee Ownership Center and is also founder of the Burlington-based choral group Social Band. Kingdom is a setting of the poem "The Spacious Firmament on High," by Joseph Addison, published by him in The Spectator magazine in 1712, and most famously set to music by Joseph Hayden in his Oratorio, The Creation. The poem is based on Psalm 19.1: "The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork." You might not recognize Addison's poem at first because of changes in verse one. For example, our "the lofty pillars of the sky" has been substituted for his "the spacious firmament on high." Our verse two about the moon, however, is exactly as Addison wrote it. Our hymn omits Addison's verse three altogether. Addison was a highly regarded poet in his time. His biographer, Samuel Johnson, said of him that he "taught a succession of writers to bring elegance and gaiety to the aid of goodness; and ... turned many to righteousness." 

There are several of Don Jamison's hymns to be found on YouTube, but not KINGDOM. But OWEN SOUND is there - we performed that last spring. Just go to YouTube and do a search of his name.

Then on May 19th I am leading the choir in Dummerston. That's a way off, but I think I already know what I want to do.

We are well into spring here now, at last. We have had a lot of rain. 

Rembrandt material?

Julie took this photo of Max in Holland - it looks like they might be on a train. Don't you think Rembrandt would have loved to make a portrait of Max's face?

Max Feinland in Holland

Today is Easter Day and after several days filled with dawn to dusk activity we decided not to go to the 6a.m. sunrise service, which would have involved getting up at 5a.m. or even earlier. But we were there for the 8:30a.m. choir  practice at Dummerston. Mary Westbrook-Geha was leading the choir so I didn't have to be there, but Ellen was the only alto available to sit next to an alto who needs someone next to her to lean on musically. I was actually one of five basses! We sang three pieces: Bob Moore's Easter Introit (with trumpet), William Billings' Easter Anthem, and Handel's Hallelujah Chorus (also with trumpet). The choir sounded great, but the congregation was fairly small - it seems not to swell much on Easter Sunday.

The Dummerston Congregational Church

After church we picked up a NY Times and worked on the Spelling Bee at home. Then I took a nap - I did not sleep well last night - and when I woke up we came down to Katie and Savanna's for supper.

Seder

Seder means "order." The Seder meal follows an specified order, but the Feinlands are fairly loose about following it. There are 24 of us all together.

The Seder during a break for the regular meal

Max and Julie have been in Amsterdam - here is Max among the tulips

Tulip time in Amsterdam

Good Friday

Today we participated in the Good Friday service which went from noon to three at the Guilford community church. Both Ellen and I sang in the choir; we sang nine pieces altogether; and I also provided the meditation on the fifth word, "I thirst." It was a powerful service. I felt good about my contribution, and had  some very positive feedback on it. The "seven last words" provide the opportunity to reflect on some pretty huge life and death issues. Similarly, the evening before with the Seder meal followed by the Office of Tenebrae, goes into places like slavery and freedom, love and betrayal. We feel fortunate to have such opportunities. Ellen is cooking tonight for the Feinland family Seder tomorrow, which will be held at their former place of residence, Pathways, which has a large common room where we have held the Seder before.  But this year Julie and Max will not be there. They were in Amsterdam and now I think they're in Paris.

So much!

We have entered that time of year when so much is happening, it is hard to keep track of it all. It is a wonderful time of year - spring is coming, concerts are happening after weeks of rehearsal, the church year is reaching its climax, life is pulsing in a new way.

I feel fortunate because I am feeling better - my esophagus and stomach seem to be behaving more normally - and Ellen's back seems to be doing fine. So, of course, we are doing more!

Last weekend, Ellen drove to Swarthmore while I stayed with Katie and Savanna. I got quite a lot done while I was there - in addition to having a fun time with K&S and watching the Final Four games. I was able to "pencil in" my tax returns for both Federal and State taxes. But I encountered some unexpected things in the forms as well as some missing 1099s, so I decided to file for extensions, which gives me time to finish them in a more relaxed way.

I also was able to write a first draft on a meditation I am doing on the Fifth Word of the Seven Last Words for an ecumenical Good Friday service at the Guilford Church. My word is "I thirst." I'm taking a little different tack on it from what I have done in the past or heard others do.

Ellen came back from Swarthmore (where she had a lovely visit with Sarah and Harry and Wallace) on Monday and arrived at K&S's Monday evening, at about 8:30p.m. That was just before the Championship game between Texas Tech and Virginia. We knew if we went home the house would be cold, but we also needed to be at John's house by 7:45a.m., Tuesday morning, to take him to Danby to pick up the Honda Insight. I had thought we would probably go home Monday night, despite the cold house, but we decided to stay Monday eve at K&S's and get up early to go to John's.  That allowed us to watch the game. We rooted for Texas Tech, but they lost in overtime to Virginia. And that's the end of March Madness!

We did get up early and were at John's at just 7:45! It was fun going to Danby - about an hour and a half drive - and a very pretty drive too. The car is pretty cool looking. John is a little worried about some mechanical problems - both those he knows about and possible unknown ones - but he got an inspection sticker there in Danby, and it performed well coming home. It is fully driveable as is, at least for a while.

Here is the Honda Insight. John got it for $800, but more will have to be invested in it.

Later on Tuesday we had a River Singers rehearsal, and we went for soup beforehand. Wednesday I did tax work and we went to the Centering Prayer workshop at the Guilford Church. Thursday was a blessedly open day and I finally got to the pool. Unfortunately, the hot tub was being cleaned, but I did some time on the exercise machines. Friday, Ellen put on a supper for the Dummerston Choir before our rehearsal for Palm Sunday. Only eight people could come but it was a delicious supper (no surprise!) and enjoyed by all. Ellen had roasted squash for that supper and I thought they looked quite handsome on the stove:

Roasted squash cooling on the stove

That was last night. This morning we went to Guilford for an information meeting on the way they will handle the transition next year between Lise Sparrow, our current pastor who is retiring, and a new minister who has yet to be chosen but who will arrive, hopefully, by Fall 2020. Instead of finding an interim minister, they want to explore a new model which involves a period of overlap between the retiring minister and the new settled minister.

Right now I'm at the Dummerston Church. I just emptied the dishwasher of all our dishes from last night. This evening we are going to Tom Goldschmid's 70th birthday party. We are invited to bring poems and songs to share, so I've been thinking about that. Yesterday was John's birthday. We will have a birthday lunch with John and Cynthia after church tomorrow. I also am planning to take them to the theater in May - a production of Gaslight by the Vermont Theater Company - as a birthday present. More on that later. Next week is Holy Week - rehearsals Monday and Tuesday night, special services on Thursday and Friday. Ellen has taken on additional responsibility for a Seder meal and ritual at Guilford Thursday, and I may be roasting lamb for it. We attend the Feinland Seder on Saturday, for which Ellen also prepares food. Then it is Easter. All good, but it is a lot.

Richard E Kim

I recently finished reading Richard Kim's novel, The Martyred, and am currently reading Lost Names, which is a fictionalized memoir about his boyhood in Korea under Japanese occupation. The Martyred takes place in North Korea in 1950 at the very start of the Korean War and draws on Kim's experience as a member of the Korean military from 1950 to 1954, when he was 18-22 years old. The narrator is a Captain Lee, an officer in the South Korean military, but the protagonist is a North Korean Presbyterian minister, Pastor Shin, who is a deeply ambiguous character. I first read this novel in 1964 when it was first published; it was extraordinarily popular at that time, on the Times best-seller list for weeks and nominated for the National Book Award. I was quite moved by it's portrayal of Pastor Shin. After a second reading 55 years later I can still say it is a powerful book that raises very fundamental questions about faith; I like its paradoxes and ambiguities. I can also see that is has some flaws as a novel. It is written in a very "flat" tone - which contributes to its bleakness in a way that is appropriate to its setting and subject, but which also can be seen as a weakness. Lost Names is better written and quite engaging. The title refers to the effort of the Japanese occupiers of Korea to erase all traces of Korean identity and culture, which culminated in the demand that all Koreans give up their Korean names and assume a Japanese name given to them by the authorities. With North Korea being so much in the news of late, these are very interesting books. I am relatively ignorant about Korea, as I suspect most Americans are.

Kim (1932-2009) came to the U.S. in the mid-1950s, was educated at Middlebury College and went on to earn three Master's Degrees, in Writing at John's Hopkins, Fine Arts at Iowa Writer's Workshop and Asian Language and Literature at Harvard. He taught for a while at UMass, Amherst, and lived for many years until his death in 2009 just down the road from Katie and Savanna in Shutesbury (which is where I am right now). His widow, Penelope ("Penny") still lives just down the road and has been Shutesbury Town Moderator for many years. Katie and Savanna know her, of course. She sings in the Leverett Chorus with Savanna and they often car-pool together. But Richard Kim and his work do not appear to be well-known in Shutsbury. Katie and Savanna never met him. I'm hoping I can meet her some day soon. I would love to talk with her about Richard, his life and work. I have many questions, and I think he deserves to be better-known. Maybe a Richard Kim Festival at the 10th anniversary of his death this year would be in order. I doubt that I will be able to organize such an event, however. But, you never know. It does look like we'll be going out to Wyoming in early June.

Richard E Kim, c. 1964

We are going to have an adventure on Tuesday of this week. John has bought a used Honda Insight which is located in Danby, VT and we're going to go get it and bring it back on Tuesday. It will be inspected in Danby and then driven back to Putney. This sounds easy, but there is a hitch. The Insight is a peculiar hybrid, and this car has a not entirely reliable battery pack which will have to be replaced. It runs, but will it run for 80 miles or so? That is the question. We will follow John and use our AAA card to get it towed if need be.

The Honda Insight - similar to John's - cool car!

Changes

Things have changed this week. First of all, Ellen's back pain has almost miraculously gone away. She is feeling sufficiently better to be able to go to Swarthmore this weekend. That involves a round-trip of pretty close to 14 hours of driving which she would not have been able to do last week. Unlike last time, however, I don't feel I can go with her and be dropped off at Princeton to use the library there. So I am going to go to Katie and Savanna's and spend the weekend there. One reason is that I need to get my taxes done and if I waited until we got back I would feel a little pressured. I am also preaching on one of the seven last words at the Good Friday service, and I would like to spend some time thinking about that. My word is, "I Thirst."

The other change this week is that Vermont Public television which broadcasts over channel 41, has shifted their transmission and we no longer receive it. This is a blow because we have TV reception through a roof antenna, and we only receive Vermont Public television and New Hampshire Public television. So we have lost half of our reception. I talked with the people at Vermont Public television, and they tell me that their new transmission is a weak signal coming from the Brattleboro fire station. The problem with that is that there is a very big mountain between us and that fire station. We are on the north side of Black Mountain, and Brattleboro is to the south. 

The little silver lining is that my neighbor Zac has said that he thinks Southern Vermont cable company may be willing to extend cable television/broadband to us. The problem of course is that up to now, our TV has been free. And it wouldn't be free anymore if we had cable. But maybe it's time to join the 21st-century.

The other change is not as rapid as I would like. The weather has warmed and the snow is beginning to melt. But we still have a lot of snow around the house and we don't see any little green shoots yet. And we're still running the woodstove full-time.