That's me in the church office, while waiting for the computer to warm up. Yep, it still has to do that.
I volunteered to do just the weekly news while the administrator took vacation. I said no to several other duties that might have needed to be done. I just thought I could add one new thing a week.
It's gotten to be that way. I can add one new thing a day as well. The fact that I used to have the administrator's job but left when I felt it too stressful, was completely reaffirmed. There's not any major thing that makes it stressful. Just that at a moment's notice something new and major might come up.
That's true of life, but sit in an office at a church, and it's multiplied times however many people come to the church.
No, I don't have any tales of woe to share. I did the 2 newsletters for the 2 Fridays she was gone. I didn't have major interruptions. Sigh. Things were sometimes a bit more pushed for last week. So this week feels like a breeze, right?
Well, I've decided to accept the offer of Council on Aging of a low cost lunch served at the Senior Center Mon-Fri. So I finally signed up on Wed. I had to pick a day when I could go over when they were getting ready to serve, and when I didn't already have other time constraints.
The woman in charge wasn't there. She's off helping her daughter have a baby, and the volunteer that was there thought she could do it, and I could come back and start on Fri.
So I did. It meant leaving the studio where I work an hour and 15 minutes early, so as to arrive by 12:00 noon. And when I got there, I had to laugh. No they hadn't ordered me a lunch. They didn't know why, and the woman who said she would wasn't even there today. But several people were absent, so they had an extra lunch.
On Monday it may well be the same story. I have really missed bureaucracy!
So today I did something new. I don't know what tomorrow's new thing may be. Going to that Senior Center 5 times a week is sure to be disruptive of my schedule. I set my alarm so I could do all my morning routine in time to go to the early studio hours that are only on Fri. Of course that gave me enough subtle anxiety I woke up hourly throughout the night to see if it was time for the alarm yet. No kidding. This old body would much prefer to just gently fight off the cats till I can't stand it any longer and get up and feed them.
Speaking of an old body, the right ankle is again giving me awful pains, and then little gripes...so I've been very nice to it today. It's raining today. So I took Tylenol thinking at least I know my joints aren't happy with rainy weather. Ankle has behaved, but I haven't exactly been hiking.
I had cleaned up my kitchen a couple of days ago, and every day since. That's rare for me. I'm a once a week clean the kitchen kind of person. So today I took advantage of all that counter space and made me a good dinner. Silly after strangely (rarely?) having a balanced meal for lunch. But that's what I did...cooked a pot of rice, mixed up cornbread, thawed salmon...which in itself has been difficult for me to think enough in advance to plan that tonight I will actually cook.
That's why the lunch is a good idea. I just avoid cooking these days. Not that I don't like to. But I mostly don't trust myself that much. I make mistakes, forget things, like ovens or burners being on. That's such a big no-no, I'm really super aware, and (you may have noticed) the anxiety is too high to really enjoy working in the kitchen.
So today feels very successful. I've even done a couple of loads of laundry. Not all of it. Heavens, I wouldn't be me if I completely finished something. And there are also some dirty dishes in the kitchen. But now I'm going to watch my Netflix streaming here on the computer (in case you didn't know, I don't have TV any more)...and fold clothes!
Friday, March 28, 2014
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Cars in the picture
Edited June 2014
In 1925 my grandmother (Mom's mom) posed with a nice white-wall tire right behind her. Sepia Saturday this week, (HERE) asks us to show some cars, and these are t
And in 1927 her sister, Margaret and a friend had some really hot looking cars in their background.
In 1949 my father posed in front of our Studebaker in Houston, with my sis and myself.
Here's the back bumper of the same car that year, now at the monument at San Jacinto, Texas.
We had another Studebaker in St. Louis. Here my mom is posing with her daughters.
And another Studebaker, in 1952. (Dresses made by my mom's mom!)
Much later we had a'48 Mercury "woody" in St. Louis.
Mom drove kids to school and home again in it, until it skidded on ice into a ditch one day. I think that was the end of her being a "bus driver." I find it very odd that this picture is of just the car. I wonder why my family kept that one photo of a car all these years.
And here's a lovely picture of my grandmother (Mom's mother) in 52, with what kind of car she's leaning against? Somewhere from the recesses of my brain I want to say Hudson.
I'm looking pleased with the snow while our little Studebaker is covered in about 1956 (or maybe 58) and my father has the job of shoveling.
I think my family took pictures of people, usually posed, and with mostly fake smiles on our faces. The cars were something my Dad was proud of most of the time...so perhaps he posed us near them. But also they were the way to catch us up all dressed up on the way going somewhere.
The Rogers family drove Studebakers for years. My dad in the middle between his parents in 1942. They had driven to visit us in Dallas, and I think they lived in San Antonio at that time. I'm pretty sure everyone was waiting for me to be born about then.
In 1949 my father posed in front of our Studebaker in Houston, with my sis and myself.
We had another Studebaker in St. Louis. Here my mom is posing with her daughters.
I think my family took pictures of people, usually posed, and with mostly fake smiles on our faces. The cars were something my Dad was proud of most of the time...so perhaps he posed us near them. But also they were the way to catch us up all dressed up on the way going somewhere.
Early morning shots
Oh, and give a plaintive MEEEEEE-ow every 2-3 minutes, just as she settles back to sleep, so she won't forget I'm here.
They don't come when called any more than I do!
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Happy birthday to the woman who gave me life
Things my mother would have liked...
She transferred her own addictive personality to religion, and I grew up in a shame-based existence with an elephant in the living room...where getting sick was forbidden by our religion, and my parents were so dedicated to it they moved over 800 miles to put myself and my sister in a school based upon that religion. My father and his whole family were also dedicated Christian Scientists.
I'm so glad, as a boyfriend once told me, "that I maybe turned out as normal as I did...having been raised in such an abnormal household." I hope my children (and theirs) have finally broken the craziness of dependencies and can solve their problems without a substance or a "rote system of prayer."
I once drew a picture of my childhood survival as a person (me) inside a mason jar, who had no space in which to grow...all twisted and squeezed into a limiting area that I could see out of...and of course I eventually broke out, or perhaps emerged from the lid that was opened at some point. So I made a tee shirt for myself as an abuse survivor one year with that image on it. Abuse takes all kinds of forms...and once we survive it we need to learn a new way to be in the world...breaking all the victimization cycles one by one.
So my compassion for the abuser is difficult, but now I do understand the system and it helps me to love her.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Happy Ancestor birthday
11) Mary Margaret (Polly) Norman Conn
Birth 23 Mar 1792 in Culpeper, Culpeper, Virginia,
Death 13 Dec 1833 in St Charles, St. Charles, Missouri,
10) Mother of Hannah Leak Conn Booth,
9) mother of Richard Booth,
8) father of Eugenia Almetta Booth,
7) mother of Eugenia Booth Miller
6) mother of Mozelle Miller Webb Munhall
5) mother of Mataley Webb Munhall Rogers
4) my mother
3) myself
2) my children
1) my grandchildren.
Does that make her an 8 times great grandmother? Or maybe only 6, because a first grandmother is 2 above me already.
Then she also had interesting parents (who I wrote about HERE)
Isaac Norman:
Birth 25 Aug 1765 in Culpepper, Virginia,
Death 11 Sep 1828 in Elk Creek, Spencer, Kentucky,
and Hannah C. Gage Norman
Birth 20 Apr 1762 in Culpeper, Virginia,
Death 28 Feb 1845 in Elk Creek, Spencer, Kentucky
The connection through St. Charles, MO, where she died, is of interest to me. That's because when my family moved from Houston TX in 1950, we stayed a while in St. Charles before moving to St. Louis, MO.
The Conn family moved to St. Charles between 1826 and 1830, since there are birth records of children in those years. In 1826 they still were in Shelbyville, KY, where their son, Isaac Thomas Conn was born, and in 1830 daughter, Rebecca Martha Conn, was born in St. Charles, MO.
Let's look back at the history of St. Charles. Founded by French Canadians around 1765, it was part of Spanish territory. "The Boone's Lick Trail began in St. Charles and was the major overland route for settlement of central and western Missouri then known as the Boonslick or "Boonslick Country." At Franklin, Missouri the trail ended and west ward progress continued on the Santa Fe Trail."
So though the Conn family moved from settled farming in KY to the new state of MO, this was one of the more settled areas by the time of Rebecca's birth in 1830. And by then my Gx6 grandmom, Polly Conn would have been 38. She gave birth one more time, to Mary Ellen Conn on 7 Mar 1833, then died in December of that year.
The first church in St. Charles was called St. Charles of Bormoreo, (San Carlos Borromeo) a Catholic church.. The Conns in Shelbyville, KY had been buried in Elk Creek Baptist Cemetery. I have no idea if there's a grave nearby for Polly Conn...but at least today I feel I understand a bit more about her life.
If you check a map of St. Charles, you'll see it's at the confluence of the Missouri River and the Mississippi River, kind of north west of St. Louis. When I moved there in the 50s, flooding occurred in that area almost every spring. I imagine it had been happening when the Conns lived there also.
According to Ancestry, Mr. John Thomas Conn, her husband married again in Ralls County, Mo in 1836, and had 3 more children with his new wife, and they all moved to Texas, but not including Hannah Leak Conn who would be my Gx5 grandmom. I'll write more about her on her birthday, 13 April. Hanna Leak moved to Indiana where she probably lived with her mother's older brother, Lemuel Norman. I know she married in Indiana, though in a nearby county.
Polly's husband was John Thomas Conn, Birth: 9 Apr 1790 in Plum Creek, Jefferson, Kentucky;
Death: Nov 1844 in Gonzales, Gonzales, Texas.
John Thomas' parents also moved on this westward migration, and his father died in 1835 in Ralls, MO. His mother remained in that county and died in 1845 after the rest of the Conn family moved to Texas. Maybe some of John Thomas Conn's brothers or sisters remained as well in Missouri.
Birth 23 Mar 1792 in Culpeper, Culpeper, Virginia,
Death 13 Dec 1833 in St Charles, St. Charles, Missouri,
10) Mother of Hannah Leak Conn Booth,
9) mother of Richard Booth,
8) father of Eugenia Almetta Booth,
7) mother of Eugenia Booth Miller
6) mother of Mozelle Miller Webb Munhall
5) mother of Mataley Webb Munhall Rogers
4) my mother
3) myself
2) my children
1) my grandchildren.
Does that make her an 8 times great grandmother? Or maybe only 6, because a first grandmother is 2 above me already.
Then she also had interesting parents (who I wrote about HERE)
Isaac Norman:
Birth 25 Aug 1765 in Culpepper, Virginia,
Death 11 Sep 1828 in Elk Creek, Spencer, Kentucky,
and Hannah C. Gage Norman
Birth 20 Apr 1762 in Culpeper, Virginia,
Death 28 Feb 1845 in Elk Creek, Spencer, Kentucky
The connection through St. Charles, MO, where she died, is of interest to me. That's because when my family moved from Houston TX in 1950, we stayed a while in St. Charles before moving to St. Louis, MO.
The Conn family moved to St. Charles between 1826 and 1830, since there are birth records of children in those years. In 1826 they still were in Shelbyville, KY, where their son, Isaac Thomas Conn was born, and in 1830 daughter, Rebecca Martha Conn, was born in St. Charles, MO.
Let's look back at the history of St. Charles. Founded by French Canadians around 1765, it was part of Spanish territory. "The Boone's Lick Trail began in St. Charles and was the major overland route for settlement of central and western Missouri then known as the Boonslick or "Boonslick Country." At Franklin, Missouri the trail ended and west ward progress continued on the Santa Fe Trail."
The first church, built in 1791, was dedicated to San Carlos Borromeo, and the town became known as San Carlos del Misuri: "St. Charles of the Missouri". This church was destroyed by a tornado in 1916. The Spanish Lieutenant-Governor Carlos de Hault de Lassus appointed Daniel Boone commandant of the Femme Osage District, which he served until the United States government assumed control in 1804. The name of the town, San Carlos, was anglicized to become St. Charles. William Clark arrived in St. Charles on May 16, 1804. With him were 40 men and three boats; there they made final preparations, as they waited for Meriwether Lewis to arrive from St. Louis. They attended dances, dinners, and a church service during this time, and the excited town was very hospitable to the explorers. Lewis arrived via St. Charles Rock Road on May 20, and the expedition launched the next day in a keelboat at 3:30 pm. St. Charles was the last established American town they would visit for more than two and a half years.Wikipedia also says...
When Missouri was granted statehood in 1821, a decision was made to build a "City of Jefferson" to serve as the state capital, in the center of the state, overlooking the Missouri River. Since this land was undeveloped at the time, a temporary capital was needed. St. Charles beat eight other cities in a competition to house the temporary capitol, offering free meeting space for the legislature in rooms located above a hardware store. This building is preserved as the First Missouri State Capitol State Historic Site and may be toured. The Missouri government continued to meet there until Jefferson City was ready in 1826. Gottfried Duden was a German who visited in the area in 1824. Travelling under the guidance of Daniel M. Boone, he wrote extensive accounts of life in St. Charles County during his year there. These he published upon his return to Germany in 1829, and his favorable impressions of the area led to the immigration of a number of Germans in 1833.
So though the Conn family moved from settled farming in KY to the new state of MO, this was one of the more settled areas by the time of Rebecca's birth in 1830. And by then my Gx6 grandmom, Polly Conn would have been 38. She gave birth one more time, to Mary Ellen Conn on 7 Mar 1833, then died in December of that year.
The first church in St. Charles was called St. Charles of Bormoreo, (San Carlos Borromeo) a Catholic church.. The Conns in Shelbyville, KY had been buried in Elk Creek Baptist Cemetery. I have no idea if there's a grave nearby for Polly Conn...but at least today I feel I understand a bit more about her life.
If you check a map of St. Charles, you'll see it's at the confluence of the Missouri River and the Mississippi River, kind of north west of St. Louis. When I moved there in the 50s, flooding occurred in that area almost every spring. I imagine it had been happening when the Conns lived there also.
Polly's husband was John Thomas Conn, Birth: 9 Apr 1790 in Plum Creek, Jefferson, Kentucky;
Death: Nov 1844 in Gonzales, Gonzales, Texas.
John Thomas' parents also moved on this westward migration, and his father died in 1835 in Ralls, MO. His mother remained in that county and died in 1845 after the rest of the Conn family moved to Texas. Maybe some of John Thomas Conn's brothers or sisters remained as well in Missouri.
Friday, March 21, 2014
The statues in the zoo
A few years ago I took my grands to the Tampa Zoo. It's in Lowry Park and is a lovely zoo. I've been there several times, and remember what a laugh it was back in the early 70s when we first moved to FL. But by the 2000s it became a place to enjoy and learn for intergenerational fun.
At the bat exhibit my grands decided they were also hanging upside down, thus their hairs being "pushed" against gravity. Not sure about how they knew what a bat's facial expression might be!
We were out early in the morning to beat the heat, but the Koala was determined to still sleep-in.
Did she really want to pet the goat, or not? Hope you don't mind my interspersing some animals with the grandchildren's pictures.
Yes, that's exactly the pose for the penguins..maybe less the shades and sandals.
My favorite exhibit...
Oh look, he's thirsty for water!
Isn't that cute!
Guess that's enough looking through fences at zoo animals for today. I'm giving this post to Sepia Saturday, even though these statues are alive. Come over to see other folk's posts where there may be some statues that are man-made (HERE).
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Happy Spring everyone!
I'm kind of late. Somehow this year spring has been such a struggle. Maybe because the days that normally swing back and forth, and the days that are gentle, just haven't been anything like it this spring.
I'm thinking weather and seasons are going to be changing with more and more drama in the coming years. Just my guess.
The first blush of promise that daffodils were coming...at the beginning of March. I was so happy to see them.
Cut when freezing rain was on all the flowers for over 24 hours...March 17-18
These are troopers! Taken March 18, 2014, and they are still beautiful on the 20th.
I'm thinking weather and seasons are going to be changing with more and more drama in the coming years. Just my guess.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Living with limitations
A friend mentioned one day, there are a lot of people who have trouble understanding the condition of having invisible pain...
I agree.
I also think it's sometimes hard for me to remember that I have limitations, which aren't pain but are the sensible things I know I should do to prevent pain.
For me pain is an incessant cough, which leaves me hurting in my ribs, gasping for breath, and often peeing my pants I cough so hard.
That cough from hell was with me 3 months this last winter. And I had maybe a week when I got over, in between each month. I found that something was really happening in those weeks I felt good, which brought it back. I continue to have intermittent short coughing spells, not so insistent, but with a loud mucousy sound which people think is maybe catching. It isn't or I'd have gotten over it by now.
I've seen specialists, and am continuing to do so.
But just common sense led me to figure out that recuperation at 71 requires patience. Just because I feel better, I cannot resume going for half a mile walk. I cannot go on day long trips, or take plane rides that get postponed requiring staying up for hours into the night.
So now I'm on the cusp of almost being well. And today I had a challenge. A phone call asking me to help an acquaintance, who had asked for a meal to be brought to him following a day or so with hospital tests. He said he had to cut back on things he did, and was asking for help.
I talked to another person who also was called to help. I said how I've already said no to a task that I probably could achieve on a computer, but that I was trying to limit how many new things I took on. I really want to be well. Shopping and cooking and delivering a meal sounded like a lot.
So I called the man back and said I couldn't bring him a meal. I explained that if I did more than I already had planned for the day, it could possibly set me back in my own health. He understood, having just received the same advice from health professionals.
My cough is almost invisible, until I inhale some chemicals (like incense) or dust particles when someone shakes some clay dust around. That's when people see what I am dealing with. The rest of the time I can sit quietly, talk with a group of friends, and walk around. I can even throw some pottery, but at a much reduced rate than maybe a year ago.
Today I noticed I have avoided doing a lot around the house. I don't really have funds to have someone else come in and do good cleaning. I decided rather than feeling overwhelmed by it all, I'd just start things. I could start the dishes, and the rest would wait till another sinkfull of suds. I could start cleaning litter boxes, and scoop the other one tomorrow. I have approached the things that most need to be done. When I run out of spoons in the drawer, it's time to wash dishes!
The 2 cats I live with make sure to get their food every morning. That's my alarm clock. I am able to go shopping once a week, and maybe go pick up a take-out dinner once a week. So far I've paid my bills pretty much on time. I mostly keep track of the medicines I take. I've delivered pottery orders on time too. But I really have let myself down while trying to slowly take care of myself and my environment. I feel really guilty about this.
Getting on line, writing blogs, it's an escape from running the vacuum, from putting things away, from cleaning out the things right outside the front door. Honestly, when a friend came over, she saw a broken bird bath and a shelf full of dead plants in little pots. Nice welcoming if you want something ghoulish.
I know lots of people are recuperating from one thing or another. These invisible limitations are so difficult, not only for my friends to give me support, but for me to acknowledge and accept. Drat it all!
I agree.
I also think it's sometimes hard for me to remember that I have limitations, which aren't pain but are the sensible things I know I should do to prevent pain.
For me pain is an incessant cough, which leaves me hurting in my ribs, gasping for breath, and often peeing my pants I cough so hard.
That cough from hell was with me 3 months this last winter. And I had maybe a week when I got over, in between each month. I found that something was really happening in those weeks I felt good, which brought it back. I continue to have intermittent short coughing spells, not so insistent, but with a loud mucousy sound which people think is maybe catching. It isn't or I'd have gotten over it by now.
I've seen specialists, and am continuing to do so.
But just common sense led me to figure out that recuperation at 71 requires patience. Just because I feel better, I cannot resume going for half a mile walk. I cannot go on day long trips, or take plane rides that get postponed requiring staying up for hours into the night.
So now I'm on the cusp of almost being well. And today I had a challenge. A phone call asking me to help an acquaintance, who had asked for a meal to be brought to him following a day or so with hospital tests. He said he had to cut back on things he did, and was asking for help.
I talked to another person who also was called to help. I said how I've already said no to a task that I probably could achieve on a computer, but that I was trying to limit how many new things I took on. I really want to be well. Shopping and cooking and delivering a meal sounded like a lot.
So I called the man back and said I couldn't bring him a meal. I explained that if I did more than I already had planned for the day, it could possibly set me back in my own health. He understood, having just received the same advice from health professionals.
My cough is almost invisible, until I inhale some chemicals (like incense) or dust particles when someone shakes some clay dust around. That's when people see what I am dealing with. The rest of the time I can sit quietly, talk with a group of friends, and walk around. I can even throw some pottery, but at a much reduced rate than maybe a year ago.
Today I noticed I have avoided doing a lot around the house. I don't really have funds to have someone else come in and do good cleaning. I decided rather than feeling overwhelmed by it all, I'd just start things. I could start the dishes, and the rest would wait till another sinkfull of suds. I could start cleaning litter boxes, and scoop the other one tomorrow. I have approached the things that most need to be done. When I run out of spoons in the drawer, it's time to wash dishes!
The 2 cats I live with make sure to get their food every morning. That's my alarm clock. I am able to go shopping once a week, and maybe go pick up a take-out dinner once a week. So far I've paid my bills pretty much on time. I mostly keep track of the medicines I take. I've delivered pottery orders on time too. But I really have let myself down while trying to slowly take care of myself and my environment. I feel really guilty about this.
Getting on line, writing blogs, it's an escape from running the vacuum, from putting things away, from cleaning out the things right outside the front door. Honestly, when a friend came over, she saw a broken bird bath and a shelf full of dead plants in little pots. Nice welcoming if you want something ghoulish.
I know lots of people are recuperating from one thing or another. These invisible limitations are so difficult, not only for my friends to give me support, but for me to acknowledge and accept. Drat it all!
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
the work of a church
Here's our minister, Rev. Michael Carter. I don't know how many other white congregations have a black minister, especially in Southeaster US...but we do. We're currently working to be able to have a full time minister in the next 5 years. At this point we have increased Rev. Michael's time from half time when he started a little over a year ago to 3/4 time now.
As a congregation that is tolerant, accepting, eager to help others, and diverse as all get out, we have lots of energy going different directions. We are proud to be a Green Sanctuary, and a Welcoming Congregation to all LGBT folks. We look hard and seriously at racial issues since Rev. Michael has been here. We look hard and seriously at many issues that require standing up against injustices.
I'm on the Board of Trustees this year, and for at least another one following, and I have the office of Secretary to the Board. I also sing in the choir...when my coughing is under control. This week I'm helping while the Office Administrator is on vacation.
Each week I meet new people and welcome them to become part of this growing community. And most important, I see friends who have become close in the 6 years I've been here. I've jumped in and done several interesting and sometimes challenging tasks for the congregation. Now I'm trying to keep my activities in balance with my physical limits.
Look at the pretty red and white cloth that is on a table under the daffodils. The cloth was made by women who are members of our Partner Church in Transylvania (now Romania, but formerly Hungary.) The Unitarian Church is the official church in the tiny town where our Partner Church is located. There are very few members in that church, and the town is gradually diminishing as well. Nobody knows how long they will continue to have their visiting minister come on the long and poorly paved road to give them any services. Our women's group has had an annual "yard sale" that is much more than that term, in order to raise funds to support our partner church.
Our church is on a growth swing at this point. We are moving toward renovations and improvements to the building, as well as more programming for the interests of the community. I'm glad to be part of a monthly LUUnch bUUnch, a discussion group that Rev. Michael facilitates. He and another member have also provided a weekly evening series of classes about Transcendentalism (which had a lot of Unitarians in that movement.). Another evening program has been a monthly series of videos and discussion of various TED talks, facilitated by various members (including myself.)
The latest interest for me is an upcoming series of classes called the "Wild Quest" for Women and Girls, focusing on the Divine Feminine. (This class still has a few openings and starts next month.)
I encourage you to check out our web page if you want more information about our little congregation. Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Swannanoa Valley (UUCSV)
But I'm not writing to proselytize. (Hey I spelled that right the first time.) Well maybe I am a little. I have no idea who my readers are, if any live within driving distance, besides friends who either already go to this church, or maybe have their own faith homes. I just talk about lots of things here on my blog, and today I felt like sharing this important part of my life.
How do I know it's important? The amount of time I spend there - the rich relationships that are founded around activities and friends who I've made there - and my own spiritual growth which continues to have stimulation there.
Next Sunday a dear friend, Cathy Holt, will give a workshop on Heart Speak, a way to have improved communication at 1 pm (March 23). I'm looking forward to immersing myself in this, to remind myself of things I probably already know, but could sure use a refresher course.
The service on Sunday morning on the 23 will be by another dear friend, H. Byron Ballard, who will give us a real Pagan celebration of the earth changes that this season brings.
Tuesday night is a program with Rev. Michael talking about membership. He may show the DVD I've seen before about a church that grew and grew and grew. Honestly, I would be happy to stay about this size, maybe twice the current number in members, but that's about as much as I can feel comfortable with. I already don't know all the people who are members...and I know that's going to continue unless I'm busy after church on Sundays meeting many of the newcomers. They are our growth, our life as an organization, and besides, I find such interesting people come to UUCSV!
I also hope more young families with children will check out our liberal religious education.
I raised all three of my sons (from the 70s till the 90s) in Unitarian Universalist congregations. It was really important for me to have them learn about all world religions before they chose as young adults what they would believe in for their own spiritual paths. This just doesn't happen in any other church that I know of.
Why would any parent not want their child to have all the information available for this important choice? I hear uproar coming from those who are firm believers that theirs is the ONLY WAY. Do you know how many people are now UU's who were raised in that "Only Way" system? Think about it for a moment.
You can subscribe to our weekly news (Current) and our monthly Newsletter on line...in case you want to know more about what is going on.
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| Lee and Robert |
Monday, March 17, 2014
I love St. Patrick's Day
...from green beer to the great step-dancing to drumming. Ahhh.
Shamrocks are beautiful, if somewhat weedy once they are established. "Erin go bragh!"
I need to read seriously the Irish history which includes some of my ancestors, as well as the Scottish ones who were forced to move to Ireland by the British. I don't know which side is right or wrong. And lots of wonderful music has been written.
I love the myths. Bridgid.
The ancient sites. Newgrange.
So I will salute St. Patrick's day, which was brought by the immigrants from Ireland to the US...and still goes strong each March 17. Erin go bragh!
And especially a toast to my son who was active celebrating St. Patty's day this weekend. I hope he's feeling up to going to work on the real St. Patrick's Day!
Shamrocks are beautiful, if somewhat weedy once they are established. "Erin go bragh!"
I need to read seriously the Irish history which includes some of my ancestors, as well as the Scottish ones who were forced to move to Ireland by the British. I don't know which side is right or wrong. And lots of wonderful music has been written.
I love the myths. Bridgid.
The ancient sites. Newgrange.
So I will salute St. Patrick's day, which was brought by the immigrants from Ireland to the US...and still goes strong each March 17. Erin go bragh!
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| St. Patrick's Day Parade, Dublin, Ireland |
Friday, March 14, 2014
still here
Well, you know what I was doing those 2 days it was 70 outside...don't cha?
The chair is out in the drive /patio, and a table next to it. I've finished several Laurie R. King books this week...and I did put sunblock on my face too!
Then the winds came...and the chill returned.
Why do I think this March should be any different than most of them?
The daffodils have survived 2 nights in the 20s.
And today we're going back up to 58.
Yesterday's sunshine was only 40 degrees. But let's not measure our lives by the temperature, the wind, or the rain and/or snow. Sun and clouds are part of our cycles.
My life is to be measured thus. I saw this on FaceBook the other day, and saved it. I need to read it again and again. Thus another cycle. Learn, forget, learn, try to live it, forget for a while, learn again.
And before you read it, part of its poignancy to me is that I've been doing a sinus cleanse for the last month by drizzling salt water through my nostrils once a day. Lots of saline fluid has helped my allergies. So now to raise that to another level...
The chair is out in the drive /patio, and a table next to it. I've finished several Laurie R. King books this week...and I did put sunblock on my face too!
Then the winds came...and the chill returned.
Why do I think this March should be any different than most of them?
The daffodils have survived 2 nights in the 20s.
And today we're going back up to 58.
Yesterday's sunshine was only 40 degrees. But let's not measure our lives by the temperature, the wind, or the rain and/or snow. Sun and clouds are part of our cycles.
My life is to be measured thus. I saw this on FaceBook the other day, and saved it. I need to read it again and again. Thus another cycle. Learn, forget, learn, try to live it, forget for a while, learn again.
And before you read it, part of its poignancy to me is that I've been doing a sinus cleanse for the last month by drizzling salt water through my nostrils once a day. Lots of saline fluid has helped my allergies. So now to raise that to another level...
An ageing master grew tired of his apprentice’s complaints. One morning, he sent him to get some salt. When the apprentice returned, the master told him to mix a handful of salt in a glass of water and then drink it.
“How does it taste?” the master asked.
“Bitter,” said the apprentice.
The master chuckled and then asked the young man to take the same handful of salt and put it in the lake. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake and once the apprentice swirled his handful of salt in the water, the old man said, “Now drink from the lake.”
As the water dripped down the young man’s chin, the master asked, “How does it taste?”
“Fresh,” remarked the apprentice.
“Do you taste the salt?” asked the master.
“No,” said the young man. At this the master sat beside this serious young man, and explained softly,
“The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains exactly the same. However, the amount of bitterness we taste depends on the container we put the pain in. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things. Stop being a glass. Become a lake.”
~ Meditation Masters
“How does it taste?” the master asked.
“Bitter,” said the apprentice.
The master chuckled and then asked the young man to take the same handful of salt and put it in the lake. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake and once the apprentice swirled his handful of salt in the water, the old man said, “Now drink from the lake.”
As the water dripped down the young man’s chin, the master asked, “How does it taste?”
“Fresh,” remarked the apprentice.
“Do you taste the salt?” asked the master.
“No,” said the young man. At this the master sat beside this serious young man, and explained softly,
“The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains exactly the same. However, the amount of bitterness we taste depends on the container we put the pain in. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things. Stop being a glass. Become a lake.”
~ Meditation Masters
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Monday, March 10, 2014
A great Aunt I missed meeting
Annie Lou Gibbs Rogers Wilson b. 3.10.1879 Huntsville, TX, or
Willis, Montgomery, Texas,
d. 7.11.1956 Corpus Christi, Nueces, TX (Hitchcock Texas may be where she's buried). The two birthplaces are because Huntsville is given on her death certificate. But it also has her father's initials penciled in "incorrectly." Her father was William Sandford Rogers...not M.T. Rogers.
My grandfather's sister. I wonder if I met her when I was little?
I doubt it.
But it's always possible. Mmm, think back to when I was 7. Were there some Wilsons we visited? Or did they visit my grandparents? Maybe part of my grandfather's 72th birthday. Well, I'll post pics of that event, and hope one of the people in the crowd might have been his sister.
The following photos must have survived the fire in my grandparents' home in Fort Worth many years ago. I think I posted them before...HERE
I just had a go-round with Ancestry, where dear Aunt Annie Lou's husband is listed twice and they won't allow me to merge the listings, saying they are related and it will shift things in my tree. Darn right, the daughter is listed under one of Patrick Henry Wilson's postings, and there are 3 other children listed under the other husband also Patrick Henry Wilson, and all kids have the same pair of parents. ARGH.
Anyway, I'm going to send this out there to hope someday I'll get Ancestry straightened out. Nah
d. 7.11.1956 Corpus Christi, Nueces, TX (Hitchcock Texas may be where she's buried). The two birthplaces are because Huntsville is given on her death certificate. But it also has her father's initials penciled in "incorrectly." Her father was William Sandford Rogers...not M.T. Rogers.
My grandfather's sister. I wonder if I met her when I was little?
I doubt it.
But it's always possible. Mmm, think back to when I was 7. Were there some Wilsons we visited? Or did they visit my grandparents? Maybe part of my grandfather's 72th birthday. Well, I'll post pics of that event, and hope one of the people in the crowd might have been his sister.
August 28, 1949 My grandfather, George Elmore Rogers.
I just had a go-round with Ancestry, where dear Aunt Annie Lou's husband is listed twice and they won't allow me to merge the listings, saying they are related and it will shift things in my tree. Darn right, the daughter is listed under one of Patrick Henry Wilson's postings, and there are 3 other children listed under the other husband also Patrick Henry Wilson, and all kids have the same pair of parents. ARGH.
Anyway, I'm going to send this out there to hope someday I'll get Ancestry straightened out. Nah
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Soup Supper at UUCSV
The children and parents and other church friends gathered last night for sharing soup and a movie.
Strangely enough, all the children were girls. (Though one young man did have some dinner and left pretty early, since he was a teenager, you know)
So here is my recording of some of our fun. (I admit I left before the movie, having tasted some wonderful soups!)
Strangely enough, all the children were girls. (Though one young man did have some dinner and left pretty early, since he was a teenager, you know)
So here is my recording of some of our fun. (I admit I left before the movie, having tasted some wonderful soups!)
