Out to lunch

Today we went out to lunch with Luther and Diane Durgin at the Whetstone Station Brew Pub in Brattleboro. I've known Luther for almost 60 years. He's a bit older. He both preceded me and followed me as pastor of the Dummeston church back in 1956-57. I was summer pastor in 1956, he then took over in September when I went back to seminary for my third year, and then I took over after his year at the DCC when i returned to become the regular pastor in June of 1957. Diane is also a pastor, and was the interim minister at Centre Church in Brattleboro back when Shirley and I were still at the Guilford Church. They are now retired and live in Winchester, NH. We have a lot in common and enjoy seeing them from time to time. They, like us, are dealing with questions of where to live in these later retirement years. It was our first time at this restaurant under its newest incarnation and we liked it.

                 The view from our table at the Whetstone Station Pub. 

The view out the window is of the Connecticut River, the bridge to New Hampshire, and Wantastiquet Mountain. 

                              Luther and Diane Durgin

Continued good weather

This has been an amazingly mild and sunny November so far. And looking ahead, it will continue to be fairly mild, but with some showers Thursday.

Ellen put on the coffee hour at Guilford Church on Sunday, with me helping to schlep and in charge of making coffee. It was very successful in the sense that almost everything got eaten up. 

Sunday evening we went to the "Best of Show " screening of Very Semi-Serious, a delightful movie about New Yorker cartoonists. Cartoonists are sort of an eccentric lot, but interesting for sure. Roz Chast is as funny in person as her cartoons. It was fascinating to see the people behind our favorite cartoons.

Monday was the final session of our Osher classes. Tom Toleno wrapped up his presentation on Malawi with a video of animals in the bush. The final session on water was also mostly videos - very interesting. One told the story of a proposed federal dam on the West River back in the 1930's which would have put several nearby villages under water - West Dummerston, Williamsville, Newfane, part of Townshend, etc. Citizens rose up and fought it tooth and nail. And they won. The government gave up the idea of one big dam in Dummerston and opted for two smaller ones in Townshend and Jamaica as a flood-control measure. Those dams put some houses under water, but no villages. One of the photos showed a group of men holding rifles standing on the steps of the West Dummerston Baptist Church, ready to defend their homes against the Corps of Engineers with armed force if necessary! Maybe this provides some background on why Bernie is a bit soft on gun-control! 

Two films

We just saw two very good movies (in the Film Festival), very different from each other but related in a way. The first was Plastic Paradise. The title is ironic. It's really about plastic hell. It's about the trillions of tons of plastic of all kinds that has ended up in the oceans of the world and is destroying them and the life in them. And ultimately us too, because our life depends very much upon the health of the ocean. The central focus of the film was The great pacific garbage patch - a vast collection of plastic waste created by ocean currents, not unlike what happens when you flush the toilet. It can be as large as the continental U.S., and is mostly underwater. It drifts with the currents, and  some of it ends up on islands that interrupt the currents, like Midway Island.

The film graphically portrayed the garbage itself, and even more disturbing, the marine life and birds that get caught in it, or ingest it. Every time we e.g., choose to take a one-time use, plastic bag to take something home from the store, we're encouraging the continued manufacture of those bags, and thus continuing the flow of plastic into the ocean, with resulting death and who knows what long-term effects on life of all kinds. We film-watchers had to watch while a dead albatross' stomach was cut open, there to see an incredible array of plastic, including a bag or two. Please use re-usable cloth bags! There was a panel after the film. Two women from Newburyport, MA, spoke about their successful efforts to get plastic bags banned in their city. A representative of VPIRG (Vermont Public Interest Research Group) spoke about similar efforts in VT, esp. in the legislature. It looks like a state-wide ban of plastic bags is deemed too radical. But we may get a five-cent tax on them that will discourage their use. The MA folks said that the more towns that ban them, the more likely the state legislature would support a ban. The VPIRG guy also mentioned a proposed ban on microbeads. I didn't even know about them. They are plastic microspheres used in cosmetics and even toothpaste! They go through treatment plant filters and into water everywhere. E.g., Lake Erie is heavily polluted with them. IL has banned them, as has CA, but the bans don't go into effect until 2018! Meanwhile . . .

                              The panel after the film on plastic pollution 

The other film was titled All the Time in the World. It was about a family (mom, dad and three kids),  who decided to leave their busy, suburban lives for nine months and live in a remote cabin in the Yukon Territory. The film was made by the mom. No film crew. No electricity. No clocks. No devices. Cabin miles and miles from human habitation. Deep cold. They managed to do it! Everybody pitched in. They all worked hard, including the youngest child (5 years old?), played together a lot, read a lot, slept long hours in the depth of winter, spent a lot of time outdoors ( e.g. In getting water everyday and wood for fuel), and were very sad to leave their cabin. It was a lovely film in many ways. Their life was virtually plastic-free. Sure as heck no one-use bags! They were very in touch with the natural world around them. It would be interesting to see a sequel about their life after they returned. Did that experience fundamentally change the way they lived? 

One could not see these two films and not turn a very critical eye toward ones own life. 

A balmy evening in Brattleboro

What an incredibly warm day this has been for Nov. 6th! I brought in more wood this afternoon and then this evening we went to a Hallowell sing at a Day of the Dead commemoration at Experienced Goods, which is Brattleboro Hospice's thrift shop and main money-maker. A shrine had been set up where you could leave a note or light a candle for a loved one, and at 6pm about 18 of us gathered to sing. We had a good audience.

The Day of the Dead shrine and part of Hallowell. 

Then we walked up to the Library to hear Tony Barrand and Keith Murphey sing old Vermont songs from the Atwood family collection from Dover, VT. That event was packed! It is always a delight to listen to Tony and Keith. The program they did tonight was made into a CD called On the Banks of the Coldbrook. Google that and you'll learn all about what we heard tonight. 

           Tony and Keith

This was just one of about six amazing things happening in Brattleboro tonight! The town was buzzing, and the unusually warm evening made it all the more magical. We are so lucky to live here! 

Visit with Mimi

Yesterday we went to Northampton to spend some time with Mimi. It being Election Day, she had the day off. First we went to the house and played with Theo:

         Theo is cute!

Then we went for lunch at Paul & Elizabeth's. Very nice. 

          Paul & Elizabeth's

       Our sweet granddaughter ! 

Lunch was followed by a little Harrell's ice cream. Then we went to the Northampton Farmer's Market. There were at least two familiar Vermont farmers there. Mimi won a coupon that entitled her to a $1 pumpkin which she later made a pie with. She filmed the whole process. Go to YouTube and search  "The Great Pumpkin Pie Disaster." It's a riot.

    Fall color at the Farmer's Market

Then we had to get Mimi back home so we could get back to a rehearsal of River Singers. It was an unusually warm day for November 3rd. We had a good time. 

River Singers rehearsing in the Westminster-West church, Mary Cay Brass, leading from the piano. 

My amazing beautiful daughter

Betsey sent this photo today - taken on their patio in Boulder, CO. Wow!

 You're looking good, Betsey ! You are an inspiration! 

A little under the weather

This past weekend was a mixed bag. I've been on an antibiotic since last Wednesday and it seemed to catch up with me on Saturday. I was preparing the service in Guilford, and Ellen was wondering if she might end up having to fill in for me, which is what she did the last time I was scheduled to preach at Guilford (and did a wonderful job, I might add). But I rallied and felt able to do the service (maybe that extra hour that we were given helped), and everyone said it was a wonderful service. But I was pretty wiped out afterward, so we came home and I went to bed. Ellen went to another movie - Radical Grace - which was about the "nuns on the bus" and she loved it. I felt better Sunday eve after a rest and went with her to see Requiem for the American Dream which featured Naom Chomsky reflecting at length on what is happening in our country economically. It could have been a Bernie Sanders ad. But it was sobering.

I got a reasonable nights sleep and we went to OLLI again today, this time on music in Malawi in the A.M. and Pure Water for the World in the P.M. Both very interesting. The morning featured Tom Toleno's wife Andrea, who is an elementary school music teacher in Keene, NH, and both learned music from children and adults in Malawi, and also taught sight-reading to adults there. She had some charming videos of children singing in school. 

During the noon break we walked this beautiful, leaf-strewn road:

A old road, closed to traffic, near the OLLI building.

This road goes by a pretty swampy area, and I took a picture of this lovely mosaic of leaves under water:

After OLLI we talked briefly with Katie and Savanna, who come to the afternoon session, and then hightailed it up to Bellows Falls, about 12 miles up the road, where we joined Kathy Leo and Tom Goldschmid at a Hospice volunteer training session. We gave a brief presentation about Hallowell, the Hospice singing group we have been a part of for 13 years, and what the experience of singing at the bedside means for us. We sang some songs as well. The group was very appreciative. 

Afterward, Ellen mailed some cards at the BF post office and I took some shots of downtown Bellows Falls at dusk. 

    Main Street in Bellows Falls at dusk

     Bellows Falls Post Office

  

Tonight I'm snug in bed while Ellen takes in 2 more movies. She can't get enough. Next year, she says, she'll see them all if she can! 

Another thing that happened last week is that Ellen spent time with Tamar on Friday, and they worked on making felted pumpkins, which Tamar really liked doing. Here's what one looks like:

Amazing what you can do with a little wool!