In Shutesbury, MA

I am in Shutesbury, MA at Katie & Savanna's. Ellen and I got up early this morning and got here at about 9:15a.m., in time for me to go to church with Savanna. Ellen continued on to Pennsylvania and I assume that she is now at Kendall, Kennett Square, where Wallace now lives. I think she is staying in someone else's apartment who is away, since Wallace's apartment has no guest bedroom. I hope she had a good drive after we got the Subaru back in good running order yesterday.

The pastor at First Congregational, Amherst, Rev.Vickie Kemper, started off referring to something that had happened which made it a "dark time," but we were in the dark, because we had not been listening to the radio. Later, we learned about the two horrific mass shootings in El Paso, TX and Dayton, OH. We realized with chagrin that we had at first thought of the worst - a nuclear attack - and were "relieved" that it was "only" a mass shooting. That is what we have come to.

I have spent the afternoon talking with Savanna, blogging and working on Spelling Bee. The letters this week were an "N" in the middle, with TAHMOR around the outside. It was a hard one forme, but I finally got the 3-pointer and managed to be a genius, though I missed several they got. Katie spent most of the afternoon at a much higher level - she was with Tye prompting her with questions to help her prepare for an LPN certification exam she is taking tomorrow.  Katie was impressed both by how comprehensive the exam is, and how much Tye knows. We all wish her good luck on the exam. This weekend, Brendon has been with his mother visiting Krystal's aunt who lives in Vermont. That made it possible for Katie and Savanna to come to Marlboro yesterday. He will come back here tomorrow.

One thing I hope to accomplish here is to ink in my final tax forms and get them in the mail. I took extensions last April, but I think (hope!) that I have accurate penciled-in versions. I brought everything with me. I don't quite remember why I didn't finish the job in April, but I think it was because I was under pressure because tax day came the day after Palm Sunday, when I was leading the choir in Dummerston. So, here's hoping I can get that off my mind.

I also hope I might find time to get to the Amherst College Library. I have some things I want to find and possibly photograph there. That includes Robert Alter's new translation of and commentary on the Hebrew Bible - It's 3 vols., so I'm not going to photograph the whole thing! But maybe just the Book of Isaiah, which would be useful for my dissertation work. Also, I'm just eager to see it and especially see what his commentary is like. I also would like to meet Penny Kim, widow of Richard  E. Kim, Korean-American author of the 1964 novel, The Martyred. She lives just down the road. June 23rd was the tenth anniversary of his death. I read The Martyred when it was first published (and was quite moved by it), and have since read two other novels by him. I would like to learn more about him. (See my earlier post "Richard E Kim"for April 7, 2019).

Ellen will return Tuesday evening.

Good luck on your exam tomorrow, Tye!

And have a good visit at Kendall, Ellen!