Thanksgiving time

We have had a full Thanksgiving time. Thursday, we went to Katie and Savanna's, where we were joined by Tye and B, plus Alia Starkweather for a lovely dinner. We had turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, mixed mashed potato and turnip mix (a tradition from my side of the family), brussell sprouts, two kinds of squash, two kinds of cranberry sauce, and mince pie, apple pie and pumpkin pie!  Wow! I ate too much, as usual.

Friday, K&S and Brendon came up and we went to the Putney Craft Tour, ("the oldest continuous craft tour in the country"), and had an especially good time at the Green Mountain Spinnery,  where we had a full tour, and two glass blowers, Bob Burch and Joshua Letourneau, who were both giving demos. Brandon was especially fascinated.

Three bottles by Bob Burch, glassblower

Josh Letourneau

The Green Mountain spinnery

Then Friday evening we went to the Davis's for another thanksgiving meal with Andy, Robin, Emma, and their friend, Steve Vorhees.

Saturday, John and Cynthia came over for a scaled down thanksgiving meal, vegetarian and gluten free, but very delicious. We had a good time talking into the evening by the fire. Today we went to church, and then had thanksgiving leftovers for lunch, and a bit more for supper!

I just had a nice swim at the pool. Had to work some of all that food off with some exercise.

Catching up

Well, a lot has happened since last Friday!

Friday, we drove back from Swarthmore to VT, but we stopped in South Hadley Friday evening to attend a production of Oliver that had both Brendon and Savanna in it, with Katie backstage. Brendon was a member of Fagin's gang of pickpockets, and Savanna played the role of Mr. Brownlow. I got several photos, but they are on the iPhone and at the moment I am in the Subaru waiting room waiting for my car to be serviced, and I have the computer, but no phone. I'll post them later. It was a fun production - fairly stripped down, simple sets, etc. - and Brendon and Savanna were good. Oliver has great songs. Nancy and Bill Sykes were particularly strong characters in this production.

  Brendon (in red vest at left) with gang

Savanna as Mr. Brownlow, with the doctor (who pronounces Oliver a "mealy-faced boy."

The house was pretty cold when we got home late, but we warmed it up pretty fast. 

Saturday was John's workshop on Contemplative Spirituality and the Whole Movement of Life. It came off well, I felt. There was a good turnout - 18 people - and I was close to tears a good part of the day. John found a really effective combination of presenting ideas and sharing personal experiences that helped explain and illustrate the ideas. Several people expressed appreciation for the day. John himself wasn't sure if he achieved his primary purpose or got across his main message. It is a hard message to formulate in a way people can hear and take in. He was hoping for a "moment" to happen which didn't happen. But I felt people were touched by the event and it provided a lot of food for thought. I'm hoping we can do a sequel together in the spring.

I came directly from the workshop to a session at the Dummerston Church with the new minister, the Rev. Shawn Bracebridge, who was giving his candidate sermon on Sunday and meeting with committees on Saturday. The Music Committee was meeting at 4:30, so we got a chance to talk with him about music. He is a musician - he is an organist, and also has a degree in Music Therapy, which he has quite a bit of experience in both with elders and with developmentally challenged children. Shawn is very personable and made a hit with the folks in Dummerston. Sunday morning he gave a very thoughtful sermon on the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well from the Gospel of John. He took the time to really unpack the story and provide background, which I liked very much.
The congregation voted to call him following the service.

Ellen had a "Birthday Ladies"lunch after church, and while she was with her women friends, John and I had lunch together at Katy's in Putney. We had a good visit about the workshop and other things.I learned that he and Cynthia will be doing their Into the Silence service in Dummerston, on the solstice - the first time since 2013. It is a candlelight service of silence and music which they play (harp, cello and Irish whistle). It is a beautiful service and in the past, the church has been full. Since they haven't done it recently, we will need to get the word out.

I went to the pool after supper hoping to swim, but found that it closes an hour earlier on Sundays than the rest of the week, and I was too late.

Monday, I had the option of going to a workshop at the Learning Collaborative (where we go to OSHER lectures) on "computer trouble-shooting." I would have learned from it, I'm sure, but I also wasn't sure whether my specific problems would be addressed in a group setting. I also felt the need to spend some time with the Brahms Requiem, because we had a rehearsal Monday night, and I wanted to feel really on top of it. So that's what I did. I was glad i made that choice,  because we did a complete run-through at the rehearsal and I was much more prepared than usual. I think I will make an appointment at the Mac computer shop for a personal session. I do have a number of computer issues.

So here it is, Tuesday, almost noon., and my car has been in since 9 a.m., and isn't ready yet. Not a good sign!

Tonight we have River Singers. Tomorrow I have a dental appointment for a cleaning. Thursday is Thanksgiving!. We'll be at Katie & Savanna's.

Our water is still low. We have yet to have a long, soaking rain. Just showers.

Exam time

One of the things I found at the Library yesterday was a file of Ellen's dad's course materials: syllabi, exams, etc. Here is a final exam from a course in U.S. History. How well do you think you can do? You must answer five of the nine questions. No peeking on Google!

In Swarthmore

For the past three days, we have been in Swarthmore. It was Ellen's birthday Tuesday, and she was celebrating her birthday with friends, Wallace, Sarah and Harry. I spent Wednesday at the Friends Library working on my Tolles project, met Sarah, Wallace and Ellen at the Village Inn for lunch, and then Wed. eve I had supper with Jim and Joy Harris in Cherry Hill, NJ. Jim is Shirley's nephew, her brother Ladd's son. I had to find my way to Cherry Hill at night in the ran - thank God for my iPhone GPS function, which worked beautifully, both going over and coming back. I had  a lovely time with Jim and Joy. Jim is very much like his dad, both very good looking and very funny. Joy fixed a lovely supper. Thursday, Ellen and I went to Sarah and Harry's for breakfast, and then came back to Swarthmore in the afternoon. I went back to the Library, and actually finished up the work I needed to do there. Then I drove back to Sarah and Harry's for supper - except I ate early at the college so I could eat before 6pm to help my evening acid reflux problem - but sat in on the conversation around the supper table.

This morning Ellen went back to Sarah's because she left her wallet there while I got up and got packed. We left after 9pm and are now at IKEA where there is WiFi and Ellen is doing a bit of shopping

Sarah, Wallace and Ellen on campus after lunch

The Friends Historical Library where I have spent a lot of time! Those boxes on the table are part of the Tolles archive.

We'll be home late afternoon, and may go to see Brendon in Oliver tonight. Or we may go tomorrow night. Tomorrow is John's workshop at Hallelujah Farm on Contemplative Spirituality and the Whole Movement of Life, which is how John describes his effort to link the inner spiritual life and the outward world of nature. It will include presentations by John, periods of silence, music, and discussion. We're looking forward to it very much.

The Election

What to say? All my thought and energy since Tuesday night has gone into preparing to lead the service and preach this coming Sunday in Guilford. I agreed to lead that service knowing it would be the first Sunday after the election, which was perhaps a form of hubris. But it is an opportunity to witness to something important in a time which the New Testament would call ho kairos - a "pregnant time," a time rich with possibility because of a national crisis. 

David Remnick, editor of the New Yorker, has called the election of Donald Trump "an American tragedy." I can appreciate his article but I'm not sure that is the first word I would choose. I'm thinking more along the lines of "judgment." I'm thinking that maybe we have "gotten the president we deserve," (which can mean different things to different people, of course). But I think a willingness to accept personal responsibility may be the first step both toward the "healing" that everyone says needs to happen, and also toward a commitment to working to turn things around. This is a spiritual crisis for the nation as a whole, but also for all of us individuals who are its citizens. We need to get as clear an understanding of the nature of this crisis as we can. A time for soul-searching and talking with others, including those who see things differently. 

Tackling the woodpile

This late afternoon, Ellen and I finally started stacking wood. This is the pile the folks from the Dummerston church made when they came over several weeks ago.

We'll be doing it in several short sessions. Earlier we were at Osher lectures on Humanism and Islamic Art.

 

           Stacking wood.

        Future heat !

Election tomorrow! 

Friends and films

These past few days have been filled with friends and films. Thursday evening we went to see Power Struggle, a locally-made full-length documentary on the closing of Vermont Yankee, a nuclear power plant in the neighboring town of Vernon, Vermont, and the role citizen activism played in that closing. The filmmaker, Robbie Leppzer, the governor of Vermont, Peter Shumlin, and some of the key "players" in the film were all on hand. They formed a panel after the showing. It was not a beautifully crafted film, but it did drive home the need to keep up the pressure on corporations and government officials, and the fact that the struggle is not over: a lot of radioactive nuclear waste is still stored there in aging containers.

  The panel discusses Power Struggle

Friday evening we went to a potluck supper at the home of Mary Cay Brass  and Manny Mansbach. Mary Cay is our River Singers leader. They were "christening" a new room they have added to their house. It proved to be a great room for singing, which, not surprisingly, we did quite a bit of. The food was good too! The potluck had a Mexican theme, and Ellen brought a tres leches cake, which proved to be very popular. She had never made it before! 

         Singing in the new room.

We also got to know better a fellow River Singers person, Beatrice Birch, who founded and directs a residential community called Inner Fire, which offers adults dealing with addictions and traumatic life experiences the option of healing without the use of psychotropic drugs. It has been an amazingly effective program, and we were very interested to learn more about it. (Google InnerFire). 

Saturday morning we met Mark Kennedy and Cathy Rude at the Brattleboro Coop for tea. They were traveling from their home in North Hero, VT down to Connecticut and wanted to see us as they passed by. When I first met Mark, many years ago, he and his two children, Anne and Joseph, were going through sort of a traumatic time, and I helped them out a bit. I have stayed in touch but hadn't actually seen them for a long stretch, though Ellen had met Mark and Cathy a few years ago. Anne and Joseph are doing well now in college. It was good to see them. 

    In the Coop with Cathy and Mark

After we said goodbye to Mark and Cathy, we hightailed it over to Bennington to have lunch with Mary Anderson and her daughter, Erica, who is visiting from Capetown. Mary had surgery last week and is doing well. After lunch we walked through the beautiful cemetery in Old Bennington, where Robert Frost is buried, and other Vermont notables. It was a beautiful day, and a very lovely cemetery, with hundreds of very old headstones with cherubs and willow decorations, in very good condition. Very nice! 

     The cemetery in Old Bennington

 

      A typical 18th c. cherub decoration

        Robert Frost family gravestone

                  Erica and Mary

After the cemetery, we made a quick visit to the Bennington Museum, which Ellen had never seen. It is famous for its Grandma Moses collection, but you can't photograph anything there. But there was a special exhibit of the artist Milton Avery (d. 1965), and his years in Vermont.

There are also permanent exhibits of Bennington Pottery ceramics and life in Bennington in the "gilded age." 

          Milton Avery's The Picnic

        Bennington Pottery water jug

Imagine riding in this Milton-Wasp touring car!

When we stepped out of the museum we were treated to this scene which was like a painting: