Friday Five: Love the One You're With

Today's RevGalBlogPals Friday Five invitation:  Please name five things you like about where you are living now... and as your bonus - 1 thing you don't like.

The view from my deck

1.  The view from my deck.  It looks out over a river valley and up a modest mountain in the distance.  Along the side of the mountain, I can see the tiny cars on the turnpike and the tunnel they are approaching or exiting.  The Applachian trail runs lower along the mountain following the path of the river.  Sitting on my deck, I can enjoy sunsets, moon phases and fireworks. 

The diner and train

2.  The almost-world-famous 24-hour diner.  Just a three-block walk from my house, I have enjoyed some very fine conversations with some very special people over some pretty decent meals there.  I wish they didn't have a sign that says, "We may refuse service to anyone for any reason" and I wish their coffee was better.  They make great chocolate milk shakes, though!

3.  I can hear the train from my house.  I like a distant train whistle in my world on a semi-regular basis.

4.  I have wonderful next-door neighbors.  The last three places I've lived, I've been blessed with better-than-good neighbors.  That's something that you can't make happen.

5.  "Some" people look down on where I live.  It's a small town that is considered, by some in these parts, to be not the coolest town around.  It was once a very blue collar mining town.  It's the kind of place people fancy moving up from.  Strangely enough, that makes living here all the more appealing to me.

BONUS:  One thing I don't like:   The freakin' firehouse sirens!  C'mon guys, it's 2010.  Put technology to work and ditch the sound pollution.

Simple Wonder: The Ice Tray

The ice tray of my childhood

My last house was a parsonage, so it came with appliances we didn't choose.  The refrigerator/freezer was a massive side-by-side model in stainless steel with a door dispenser that could be instantly tapped for cold water and ice in your choice of crushed or cubes.  Getting a glass of ice water took mere seconds from first thought to first swallow.

No matter.  I don't drink ice water.  But I do drink iced tea.  Especially in the summer.  Lots and lots of iced tea.  Brewed, please.  No powder.  And never, ever will I submit again to Zimmerman's (so called) iced tea, no matter how many people try to convince me of its superiority.  It's made from (ugh!) powdered tea.  Read the label.

In my current house, the much-more-modest refrigerator/freezer was my own purchase.  It has no fancy door dispenser.  It doesn't even have an ice maker.  Yet, even in these most hot and humid days, I somehow manage to stay well-hydrated with real, honest-to-goodness brewed iced tea, cooled by ice I extract myself from my three very plain white plastic ice trays.  

What I like about ice trays:

Wordless Wednesday: Precious babies

My baby (Amy) and her baby (Daniel)

Word Wonders: Univocal vs. Equivocal

My niece Laura took this pic

I may have been the only person in the RevGalBlogPals "Friday Five" game this week who chose "univocal" instead of "equivocal" given that choice.  I've had some fun thinking about my process in making what was, for me, a very surprising choice.  The way it went:

Did You Know? The Bechdel Test

Thanks to Ode: The online community for intelligent optimists:

I just found out about the Bechdel Test for women in movies.

From the web site:  The Bechdel Test, sometimes called the Mo Movie Measure or Bechdel Rule is a simple test which names the following three criteria: (1) it has to have at least two women in it, who (2) who talk to each other, about (3) something besides a man. The test was popularized by Alison Bechdel's comic Dykes to Watch Out For, in a 1985 strip called The Rule.

Regarding some movies I've liked:  Despicable Me and Stranger than Fiction pass the test; Ratatouille and The Pursuit of Happyness do not!

Check out the Bechdel Test Movie List and see if your favorite movie passes the test!

Friday Five: Decisions, Decisions

The RevGalBlogPal "Friday Five" topic du jour is "DISCERNMENT" and the assignment blessedly avoids angst or deep digging.  "Tell us which word in the pair appeals to you most, and after you've done all five, give us the reason why for one of them."

1) Cake or Pie:  CAKE
2) Train or Airplane:  TRAIN
3) Mac or PC:  MAC
4) Univocal or Equivocal:  UNIVOCAL
5) Peter or Paul:  PAUL


Reason for Mac over PC:  I don't like to struggle.  My MacBook doesn't freeze up. It's easy to figure out.  It does what I want to do instead of the other way around.  And -- with a really cute hot pink skin -- goes everywhere stylin'!


Most difficult choice:  Peter or Paul, and it was the most fun to think about!


Catch 22 choice:  Cake or Pie, because I'm gluten free.  However, either can be made GF, and I've always liked cake the best, and not just for the icing, either.


My go-to discernment method:  For the big decisions, I don't always know what saying "yes" to God looks like.  However, when I consider saying "no" to something, and it feels like saying "no" to God, then "yes" is the way to go.  

What's For Dinner

I enjoyed something easy, easy, easy and delicious for last night's dinner.

Searching the grocery aisles for dinner inspiration yesterday, I found something called "Recipe Inspirations" .  That's what McCormick calls its packet of premeasured spices enclosed with a recipe card.  The presentation is appealing and it I decided to plunk down $1.99 for the "Rosemary Roasted Chicken with Potatoes."  I normally would consider that too expensive for small amounts of spices that I could combine myself, except that I didn't have the rosemary.  When I added up the cost of the packet, the chicken and the potatoes, I spent slightly less that I was going to spend on a ready-made roasted chicken with no potatoes.  And I made it myself!

Wordless Wednesday: Christmas in July

Best Friends

Marilyce and Chelsea

I don't call any one person my "bestest" because I am blessed with more than one amazing special friend.  When I refer to one of them, I call him/her my "best friend" not because I can't choose, but because it's a true description for several people in my life. They are the "through thick and thin" people in my life; they are the ones who have navigated the *stuff* in my life when it's been piled high and deep.

We took a vacation together.  
We went on retreat to plan and dream.  
We talked for hours, long distance, from coffee shops and bookstore.
We hiked for miles and miles.  
We drank wine and dreamed of Maine cottages.  
We held each other for dear life.  
We made worship together and we slayed dragons together.  
We kept our cool.

Today I had a long and wonderful conversation with one of you.  And it was delicious!

(Great pic, girls!)

Grandmother -- Me!

Daniel holding onto his momma

On May 31, I became a grandmother when Daniel was brought into the world.

I wonder if there is anything else I can say that will can anything more to that sentence or that picture.

Today, I think not.

Starting Again ... (again)

I'm not all that jazzed about this particular topic to get my blog up and running again. But it's better than any I've come up with, so here goes, courtesy of RevGalBlogPals:

1. Did you grow up with pets?

Yes. We had cats, a dog or two, chickens, some fish, a baby alligator (or was it a crocodile?) and a burro, but not all at the same time.

2. Do you have any pets now?

Yes. I have a 13 year old cat named Ruby.

3. What is the funniest or worst thing any of your pets have ever done?

I can't think of anything outstanding in either category.

4. Who is/was your favorite pet?

I have a special place in my heart for Charley, the black cat I had during my teenaged years. Ruby is also very special to me.

5. How did you train your different pets?

You don't train cats; they train you!

BONUS: Pictures of a pet or one you wish you could have.
This is a picture of Maya who rules the household of my extended family in Baton Rouge.  She looks a lot like Jack, our former cat who has relocated to Portland, and it also resembles Eddie, Jack's little brother.

A Year of Silence

Three days shy of a year of silence on this blog ...

Funny how it's easy to say "Yea, God!" when things seemed to be going peacefully and sensibly. The last year has been neither peaceful nor sensible in many ways.

Still, I wish I had been more vocal, even here, about the many "Yea, God!" moments:

The UCC National Youth Event -- bus ride and all the great, great kids!

I became a mother-in-law when Amy & Jaymz got married

Enjoying son & daughters, mom & sisters, nieces and nephew -- missing my brother and his family

Making plans for next year's cruise with the WHOLE family!

God still speaking and still leading ...

I am in transition --giving thanks for the Dille Parish UCC and saying heart-felt, sometimes heart-wrenching, good-byes -- and giving thanks for a new (to me) congregation and moving toward a new ministry setting at Jerusalem UCC.

I am at peace.
And I am back ... smiling ...

YEA GOD!

My High School Clique, they say

We were the BHS Buccaneers!

What Highschool Clique Do You Belong To? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Geek/Nerd Haha! ok. go computer geeks! Geek/Nerd 80% Loner 67% Hot 53% Emo Kid 33% Jock 27% Prep 27% Goth 13% Punk 13% "Ghetto" 7% Stoner 0%

Not ashamed of the gospel

Does this look like an anti-war protester? Or a DFH? It's actually a picture of a faithful and courageous Christian leader who is not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Yesterday, Rev. John Thomas and Rev. Linda Jaramillo, both national leaders in the United Church of Christ, were arrested for attempting to deliver to the White House a petition for peace in Iraq. The petition carried some 60,000 signatures, including mine, I'm happy to say.

Mainline church leaders have never been asked to the White House, nor has the president of the United States found time in his schedule to grant even one meeting that mainline church leaders have requested.

In 2003, as war in Iraq is promoted, President's schedule "too busy" to meet with mailine church leaders

Methodist leaders encourage Bush to repent

Yet, he has been very accessible to, and influenced by, the likes of James Dobson and the (far) religious right.

Bush meets with Religious Right to get support for Iran policy

As a disciple of Jesus Christ who seeks to be a peacemaker, I am inspired today, and energized, by the witness for peace that led to the arrest yesterday of John Thomas and Linda Jaramillo at the White House gates.

Friday Five: Thankfulness

RevGalBlogPals Friday Five:

List at least five things (people, places, graces, miracles...) for which you are thankful. You may elaborate as you wish, or keep it simple.

What a great topic! I'll play ...

* My children who are all grown, scattered (NYC, Oregon, and L.A.) and, still today, a bottomless source of inspiration and joy:
* The church I am privileged to serve, for which no picture would be adequate.
* Nature -- all kinds, all places -- human and otherwise -- reminders of God's beautiful and redemptive presence in unlikely places. So, add travel to this one, too.
* My family of origin -- incredible people, all. They show up in my life at all the right times! I'm also thankful for the Edwin Friedman family systems theories that have turned out to be so helpful in ministry and so true.
* Friends -- including cyber-friends. You all know who you are. Still, you will never fully know how much I cherish you and all the reasons why.
* Vocation, because meaningful work is more gift and grace than $$$ and luck.
* Rest and Recreation, even though my response to this gift, far too often, is "no thank you." God help me!
* Mexican food, and other international food. Love to cook it; love to eat it at home or out. Wish I could find more of it here, and some adventuresome people who enjoy eating something different.
* BOOKS -- all kinds, all the time!
And this is not all ... oh, no, this is not all!

Digging, for God's Sake

Baton Rouge, April 2010: Final resting place of Maya the kitty

Yesterday, I finally got to the bottom of the pile of stuff that had built up before, during and after my sabbatical leave. I would like to say that a clean desk, for me, means that my ministry life is running smoothly and is cleaned up, in every sense. Well ... maybe ... but ... The act of cleaning up my desk is just as likely to indicate that I'm either avoiding some thing(s) outside the office or trying to get control when I feel out of control.

Ditto, ditto for cleaning the house or digging in the garden. Cleaning up can be just what needs to be done, and gardening can be simply a wonderfully satisfying act of caring for my space. Or, depending on the ferocity applied, either of those might just be an incredibly cathartic physical exercise in the nick of time.

Sometimes -- well, lots of times -- when I go digging, I dig up something great. The "garden surprise" was a tiny red salamander thingy and was one such blessing that it still makes me smile. Yesterday, in my office cleaning frenzy, I dug up a part of myself that I had lost, and I certainly wasn't expecting that! Grace, you surprised me once again!

Hayride!

It's a perfect day for a hayride! The Bright Beginnings kids (preschoolers) are going to pile onto the Youngs' haywagon today and enjoy the great ride that Chris always gives us. Over the hills and through the changing autumn leaves we will travel on dirt roads and maybe even through some fields. I get to tag along with the both the morning and afternoon classes, and I love it! Add "hayride" to my list of pastoral perks. Life is good!

UPDATE: Martha was our tractor driver for the morning ride; Chris drove the afternoon run.

Lucky Me!

Every pastor should be welcomed back from her sabbatical leave by THIS in the parsonage yard. What is it? On the right, a "birthday card" and on the left a sign that essentially says to put your money in and "flush your sins" here! And both signs in Spanish to celebrate my attempts to regain my Spanish fluency while I was gone. How clever they are!

And that same energy is just as creative and unpredictable and fun in our ministry together. How blessed I am!

She loves her some football!

My favorite NCAA teams:
LSU Tigers, Auburn Tigers
My favorite NFL teams:
New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers

Hmmm ... cats and saints.
Sorry, this southern transplant to PA still can't root for the Eagles or the Steelers or the ... what? ... Nittany Lions? I am still a fan of the teams of the South.
LSU plays Virginia Tech tonight. Go, Tigers!

Lead us from death to life ...

Sabbatical leave is over with and I am on my way back from wonderful Louisiana to my pastor life in beautiful Northeast Pennsylvania. Leaving Baton Rouge on Sunday, I spent that day and night in Biloxi, Mississippi with my sis and my mom before going on my way. Dayton Scoggins, chainsaw artist, has made art out of some dead trees along the Gulf Coast down there. In the background are distressed trees bravely leafed out, surrounded by vacant lots that were once (B.K. -- Before Katrina) thriving businesses in prime coastal real estate.

The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is very real. I saw lots full of empty FEMA trailers and "camps" of people in FEMA trailers and camping vehicles. I heard Louisiana residents disgusted at the amounts of Federal money "squandered by Louisiana graft and corruption" even though most of the waste has been by the Federal government. I also heard about many people still displaced, suffering or otherwise affected by Katrina, two years later.

I do hope, with the chainsaw artist, that something beautiful eventually will be crafted from what Katrina has wrought.