Reader’s Theater

We held our second Reader's Theater presentation this evening - Chapters 13-20 of the Gospel of John, or, as we are saying, The Gospel of Johanna, positing the possibility that the Evangelist was a woman. We had only three in the audience this time - it was a beautiful spring evening. Also, it was a free-standing event this time. The first one was right after church, and there were a lot of folks already there. But everyone felt it was worth doing regardless. It was a powerful experience. I fully intended to get a portrait of the group, but forgot to. Today was also John's birthday - 62 years old! How did that happen? When I turned 62, in 1995, my father had been dead for 38 years! I took a card to John at his house, and I got to see their new E-bike! They got it at West Hill Bike Shop on sale. It has an electric motor that kicks in and provides a boost when the pedaling becomes difficult. John rode it into Putney yesterday - a 14-mile r.t. - and was not exhausted! He really likes it. Cynthia will use it too. Here it is:

It looks like an ordinary bike, but tnere is an electric motor in the hub of the rear wheel, and a battery in the vertical bar going from the handlebars to the pedals. Pretty clever! It is not a very powerful bike, so you can't go fast and you have to keep pedaling some, but that assist makes all the difference in making it doable for John, I think. I'm really happy for them. If I could still ride a bike, I would probably want one too, but my balance issues make riding a bike very dangerous. The last thing I need is to fall off a bike! But I can still vicariously enjoy theirs! I am gradually getting things done. Reader's Theater is over. We got through Holy Week and Easter, with choirs on back-to-back Sundays. I have pencilled in my Federal and State tax forms. Now I just need to ink them in and that will be done. Maybe life can assume a more normal shape and rhythm, with regular exercise, and not feel so pressured, as it has felt these past several weeks. Next week, we will be involved in Brendon's birthday on Tuesday, and on Wednesdsy, we will go to Maine in the afternoon to see Jim and Mary, but also see Ellen and Jim's cousin, Paul, who has sort of come out of the woodwork and will be in Owl's Head for three days. Ellen saw him a lot as a child, but hasn't seen him for decades as an adult. He is the son of her mother's sister, Ruth. So that will be interesting! This coming Saturday, we have an all-day musical workshop with Kathy Bullock, which will take place at the Guilford Church. So things aren't really slowing down, but these are not events I need to prepare and lead. I do still have the May 21st event to plan and produce - the 25th anniversary of Shirley's death. That will involve a lot of coordination. After that we may go out west - we'll see whether Katie and Savanna need to have us around to help out during Savanna's new round of chemotherapy. All that remains to be seen.