What I Did on My Summer Vacation

On my summer vacation I went to Maine to visit friends. Maine is the last state on the East Coast that I hadn't visited. I always thought I would like Maine; something about its ruggedness and rocky coastline and independent character appealed to me the same way Vermont did even before I moved there. And I wasn't disappointed: I loved Maine.

The first few days we stayed at my friends' cottage very near the water. These cottages are right around the corner from my friends'.

J grew up going to this cottage every summer. She and D (her partner) have done a lot of fixing up, and it's really cute. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of it.

We went to the beach, where the Kid discovered that he really does like the ocean--after telling me all summer that he didn't. (How pathetic for a kid born in Florida and living where we now live!) D's 7 year old niece, J-c, was visiting from London and she and the Kid had a great time together--somewhat of a new experience for both of them since the Kid has no younger siblings, and J-c only has a step brother who doesn't live with her full time.
















































At a different beach we looked for shells for J-c's craft project--a shell covered bird house.













After the first few days in the cottage we stayed at D and J's house, just about a mile away. It has a great deck for relaxing and watching the birds.





























We went to a cove near the house with some great driftwood.



The doggies like to swim here, too.


























One highlight of the trip was leaarning to play golf. Well, the Kid learned, and he's pretty good, and I putzed around--I'm really bad, but it was still fun. The golf course there is older and not at all fancy and chichi, which suits me just fine. Unfortunately, the golf pictures are on J's computer, so you'll just have to use your imagination for that!

J-c and D polished up their Frisby skills with the Kid.






D and J have two really great dogs (these are the dogs we took care of for a couple of weeks).

Reuben was waiting for his mom to come back. Isn't he the cutest?


















Diamond is a great lady, and she knows she's the queen of the household!






One day we saw a "llama parade" and invited the llamas to graze in the front yard for a bit. There are five llamas who live with a family down the road from my friends' house, and they are far friendlier and tamer than I would've imagined.










One of the llamas was a bit lazy and like to sit down to eat.



















Llamas have very interesting hooves and they only have bottom teeth.





As usual, I took some pictures of flowers.
































On a shopping trip D and I saw a chocolate castle--36 pounds of chocolate!



It was, simply put, a wonderful vacation.

Home Again, Home Again

We arrived home a couple of hours ago from 10 wonderful days visiting friends in Maine. It was my first trip to Maine, and I fell in love with the place. We went the beach and learned to play golf (well, I sort of learned, but the Kid is really good) and explored the area and just relaxed and had fun. I took lots of pictures, and will post some later.

I returned home with a laptop that has both a battery that won't hold a charge for more than an hour (if that) and a power cord that needs replacing. SIGH. I do have my desktop, so I am not completely without computer, but truly, I love using my laptop, and often the Kid and I want computer access at the same time. So, my dilemma is--when do I stop putting money into a three and a half year old laptop, and just buy a new one? And if I take the plunge, do I switch to Apple? My friends in Maine each have an Apple and they really love them. I priced out the new MacBooks, and while they aren't cheap, they aren't a lot more than a comparably outfitted Dell. Decisions, decisions.

Edited to add: I bought a new power cord for the lappie because the Kid had to use the other computer and I was in withdrawal....but I am definitely saving up for the MacBook.

Turtle Update

It seems that the turtle, she came to lay eggs.

There is a large pile of mulch in my driveway, left there by folks who were working on my yard (and never finished, but that's a different story) and yesterday when I came back from dog walking, I noticed that it had been dug in, all over one side. I mentioned this to someone at the office, who told me that the same thing had happened last summer before I moved in. Last year, one of the yard workers dug up and moved all the eggs closer to the pond behind my house.

I can't even SEE the pond right now because the undergrowth has taken over, and we're apparently not allowed to cut it back without all kinds of permission....even though the pond is human made, it is still on a wetland. So I don't think I'm going to be trying to move the turtle eggs. And if someone ever comes to move the mulch...well, that doesn't seem to likely now. I just hope those baby snappers have a good sense of direction when they hatch.

Sunday Visitor

It's hot here, but there is a pleasant breeze, so after church the Kid and I were sitting in the back yard with the dogs we're taking care of for a couple of weeks. The dogs love to chase the squirrels and rabbits and chipmunks, but the critters aren't around too much in mid-day, and the dogs were laying in the grass, quite relaxed. Suddenly, though, they took off towards the driveway, clearly having detected something that I had missed. Here is what had caught there attention:



The biggest snapping turtle I've ever seen was sitting in the middle of the driveway. The dogs tried to get close, but the turtle snapped at them. Not wanting them to get bit, I hurried them in the house and grabbed by camera.

After taking a few pictures I had to go inside to get fresh batteries for the camera. While I was inside the Kid watched the turtle amble across the driveway towards the house. I went out a the back door and snuck around to see the turtle climbing the step to the side door. Finding his/her way blocked, s/he ambled down into the flower bed.












Making its way through the flowerbed, the turtle headed for the woods in front of the house and under the cedar bushes. To give you an idea of the size of the turtle, here it is next to the sprinker.





And as it passed my car

Random Bulllets of ....Grocery Shopping

Being the keeper of teenager who needs frequent (read non-stop) nourishment, I've decided I need to shop and cook more often so yesterday afternoon I went serious grocery shopping. It was a frustrating experience.

• I wanted some couscous. Just plain couscous. Not parmeasan couscous, or roasted pine nut couscous or couscous with peppers, just plain couscous. The only way you can buy plain couscous, apparently is in Very Large Containers--$8.oo worth. That's a lot of couscous for two people.

• I wanted some fresh fruits and vegetables. It's summer after all. Shopping at Whole Foods in the city got me used to knowing where the produce I bought came from, but that's not so easy at my standard chain grocery. Even when the sign up above says "organic" or "locally grown" you have to read the fine print on the stickers to make sure you aren't getting Chilean fruit or Canadian tomatoes (what a concept!).

• And it turns out it's just about impossible to eat local here. I went to the local produce market that had been recommended to me, thinking "farmer's market" but when I arrived it was just a glorified grocery store produce department + fancy cheeses and wines and a meat department. Honestly, I think it's there mostly for the beach goers who don't want to go to the big grocery store. No fresh local produce to be had. Sigh.

• My desire to leave a smaller footprint is in direct proportion to the number of highly packaged individually wrapped throwaway products available to tempt me. And I admit that I am susceptible to some of them. So I cancel myself out--I buy environmentally friendly and non-petroleum based laundry detergent and then buy the individually wrapped petroleum based Shout wipes, because I am a slob and need them to keep from ruining my clothes.

• And speaking of environmentally unfriendly throw aways products, what is it with the proliferation of battery operated toothbrushes, each with its own unique pattern of moving, vibrating, pulsating bristles? I am dentally challenged and always looking for a good toothbrush, soI am somewhat susceptible here, too. But the one that I actually think does a good job on my teeth doesn't have a replaceable battery, so I've pledged not to buy another one.
  

• Instead of all the special cards that have to be scanned and points that have to be collected (and the stupid slips saved) and special prices that change weekly, wouldn't it be easier for the stores and the shoppers just to mark everything down a bit and forgoe all the gimicks? Wouldn't it save all of us money and aggravation?
  

I did manage to make it home with some ingredients to cook some meals, but I am not inspired, no I'm not. I used to like cooking, and I was a good cook. But that was then, and this is now....takeout pizza, anyone?

Arrrgh...

I'm really not a Luddite, but I think I must be the last person around not to have a wireless connection. I bought my laptop 3 and a half years ago, and at the time wireless cards weren't automatically included. I have a desktop with DSL, and I used my laptop for taking notes in class and working in the library. And for those things, it was probably just as well I didn't have internet access to distract me. More recently I decided I would just wait until I bought a new laptop to get wireless.

But while I was staying at LD#2's apartment I got used to having internet access on the laptop. And it seems increasingly unlikely that I can afford a new laptop this summer, and the Kid and I often compete for time online. So this weekend I bought a wireless card and router.

Well, the wireless card works fine in the laptop, but the router has turned out to be a huge frustration. After running the set up CD a few times, connecting and reconnecting everything but never getting it to actually complete the connection, and then spending an hour and a half on the phone with a technician all I have succeeded in doing is messing up my DSL on the desktop so that it's not working at all Which means that tomorrow I'll have to spend more time on the phone with different technicians who also won't have a clue aobut what I'm talking about or how to fix it :(

So how is it that I am on teh internets, you might be wondering. Well, it just so happens that the public library is right across the street and I can pick a wireless signal from there quite niclely. If I'd known that I might have bought a wireless card sooner :)

The "New Gender Divide"

The New York Times is running a series this week on the "New Gender Divide in Higher Education." The first article detailed how women were "leaving men in the dust"--working harder, earning higher GPAs and graduating with more honors. Women applicants also outshine male applicants, and in many colleges, the balance between genders is shifting, with more women than men enrolled.

I'm not surprised by these statistics. I taught at a small Catholic liberal arts college that became coed in the mid 70s, and continued to have more male than female students well into the 90s. But beginning in the mid 90s things began to change, and when I left in 2002, all of the trends mentioned in the NYT article were noticeable: the gender ratio favored women by a few points; women applicants were stronger; women students tended to excel and to garner more honors than did the male students. And this caused no small amount of consternation among the administration, who lamented the lack of "gender balance" and worried about how the environment made it difficult for male students to excel. This at a school where "women's studies" had to be called "gender studies" to be "fair", where women comprised (at the time) less than 40% of the faculty.

Puh-leeze! I am not unsympathetic to male students--I have two sons after all, and both of them have struggled more with school than their sisters did, not from a lack of intelligence, but because of motivational reasons. But I am also old enough to remember being told that I might as well not apply to _________ because unless I was valedictorian, as a woman I probably wouldn't be admitted. I am old enough to have witnessed the way all the guys were encouraged to think about a variety of careers and the girls were encouraged to be teachers. I am old enough to remember when the classifieds listed jobs for men and women separately, and when the assumption was made that men should of course earn more because they were the bread winners.

I have a difficult time believing that the educational system has shifted so radically in the last 10-20 years that it now places men at a disadvantage. I do believe that male students are struggling more, and I wonder about their apparent lack of motivation. Or is it an unconscious sense of entitlement instead? A feeling that as men they don't have to work as hard because they know that men still have the advantage in getting good positions, that men still earn more than women even if it is the women who are graduating with the honors?

Or is it about power? I have a theory, admittedly sexist, that men have worked hard to keep women out of the educational system, out of the work force for so long because at some level they knew they couldn't compete. Men have longed used every pseudo-scientific biological, sociological and psychological reason, as well as every religious reason that they could come up with to justify keeping women in their place. But these reasons have by and large been laid aside over the years, and women are out, women are competing, and women are excelling. And the men can't stand it.

I know that I am over generalizing, that there are men out there who welcome the full participation of women, men who work hard and excel, men who are not threatened by females who excel as well. But it still strikes me that [many] men, those who comprise the patriarchy that is still in place, are afraid --afraid that they can't compete with women, afraid of losing their power.

This fear of losing power is, I think, also at the root of the problems that are tearing apart the Episcopal Church, and affecting our wider culture as well. Those who have traditionally held all the power in the Church have been males, straight (for the most part) white males, and they are terrified of losing hold of that power to women, and to gay men. I've heard it said that misogyny is at the root of much homophobia, and both are at play among the neo-cons in the Christian world.

Back on the higher ed front, I find it both sad and amusing that small colleges are turning to football to recruit more men...I wonder how long it will be before the college where I taught, which abolished its football program in 1954, will go that route. Because football will bring in them men, the strong macho men, and football remains one of the few sports where women haven't yet demanded equal time.

I came of age as the women's movement gained power, and I've seen things change. My daughters had opportunities that weren't available for my generation, and I've rejoiced in that. I've been hopeful, too, as I've watched things change, that we might really achieve a world that was "gender blind" with regards to admitting and hiring and promoting and paying. But I'm not so sure any more.

Wedding Pictures

from The.Best.Wedding.Ever.

The setting: Outdoor Chapel overlooking the lake

















The view from behind the altar area
















The Vows
















The Homily



















The Bride and Groom
















Married...

















photos taken by The Kid

Home Again, Home Again

We drove home on Thursday, having extended our time in VT as long as we could. The Kid had been sleeping on the couch, and allowed as how he'd be glad to be back in his own bed, and he was anxious to connect with friends. As for me, I had a workshop on Friday night and Saturday to begin to prepare for a new youth program we are putting in place this fall (J2A for those who know about such things).

I knew I would feel torn about leaving--it was really wonderful spending time in City by the Lake, pleasant and relaxing, and I remembered once again why I had loved living in that area--but I didn't expect the feeling of depression that seemed to settle over both of us as we drove in the driveway. So I focused on getting busy--filling the bird feeders, unpacking, starting to think about work again, and the Kid went to the library across the street to stock up on movies, and signed on to IM to let everyone know he was back.

I've been thinking a lot about why I feel discontented here; there are lots of reasons, but the truth is, I have to find a way to make this place feel like home, since I think we'll be here for a while--a year or two more at least. I've always been able to adapt to where ever I was living, but it is proving to be more difficult this time. And we've been here a year this week.

I've also felt like I've been caught in this weird time warp. The Kid didn't get out of school until just a few days before we left for vacation, and it hadn't been very warm, so I felt like I was still waiting for summer. Now, not quite three weeks later, I'm looking at the calendar and thinking how soon summer will actually be over, since we are almost half way through July. It's warmer and the humidity of summer has arrive, and the backyard, the area between the stone wall and the pond, has taken on a jungle-like appearance.

Part of this time warp feeling comes, I think, from not being on an academic schedule anymore. Back when I was a student or teaching, summer psychologically began in May and stretched out almost endlessly ahead of me. Suddenly it feels shrunken. We do have more summer plans to look forward to; the challenge for me is to not just let all of summer slide by before I know it.

July 4th Photoblogging

Here in City by the Lake, the fireworks are always on July 3. They are set off from a barge out in the lake.

On the way to the waterfront














The boathouse at dusk














The moon over the lake














And the fireworks!

How Cool Is This?

Skype--it's very cool. Downloaded the free software, bought a headset that is "Skype certified" (although I'm not sure that certification is really necessary) and had my first overseas conversation via computer with LD#1.

I will admit that I am not much of a phone caller; call me and I'll talk but I just don't pick up the phone to call anyone that often. And the idea that one can call overseas without it being a Big Deal was still new to me when LD went to Korea last year. So our phone calls were few and mostly made by her, even though I missed talking with her. Skype makes it so easy (and free) that hopefully we'll be talking more often.

Her Bags are Packed and She's Ready to Go

Tomorrow morning I will rise at 5 to drive LD#1 to the airport for her flight back to South Korea. She's been back in the US for just three months (well, two actually because she spent most of May in South America) and she's ready to go--partly because she needs to get back to work, but more, I am realizing, because that is where she feels most at home right now. She really has her feet in two worlds--but for now, I think her heart is in Korea.

My older daughter is a beautiful, intelligent , articulate, compassionate, strong-willed woman. I am incredibly proud of her--of her commitment to the things she believes in, of the her commitment to family in a family that isn't always easy to part of, of her courage. I am happy that she is able to follow her heart. But I really miss her when she is so far away.

Looking at my children gathered here for the wedding, I feel a little nostalgic for their childhoods. I know there were times when I could have been a better mother. I wish I could go back and fix some of the things that happened; I wish I could have protected them from some of the hurts they experienced. I wish, too, that I had held tighter to some of the special moments. But I can't relive the past; there are no "do-overs" in the real world. What I can do, however, is treasure my children as adults. If I have one hope for the future it is that I will have a better adult relationship with my children than I do with my own mother.

SoI will hug my beautful daughter good-bye in the morning, and I will tell her how much I love her and send her on her way. And then I will start counting the days til she will be home again.

Godspeed and good travel LD. I love you.

A Wedding Homily

Part of my role as officiant at the wedding was to preach a short homily. I like preaching, but I am never sure how well a sermon or homily is going to "work" until it is delivered. I am always aware that what I mean to be saying may be heard very differently. Doing this wedding homily made me more anxious than usual about all this--I would be preaching both to old friends and family who know me well but had never heard me preach, and to new acquaintences and new family. Scary, and humbling as well.

Here is what I preached. It was, I think, well received.

The Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage
June 24 2006

We come here together today in this beautiful and holy spot to celebrate and bless the marriage of M and J, an occasion we’ve been eagerly anticipating for some time now—anticipating because those of us who have come to know M and J as their parents, their grandparents, their godparents, their siblings and cousins and friends see in them so much promise—promise of love and caring and hope and passion, promise of a life together that can be rich and full and nourishing. Seeing that promise we want to nurture and support them as they forge their lives together.

Weddings are wonderful occasions for celebration —celebration that brings together family from near and far and that is certainly true at this wedding where family is present in full force. Families are complicated structures—tangled webs of relationships, weaving together individuals with distinct and characters and quirks into something new, something that both preserves and enhances the best parts of each individual. These webs of family at their best provide a network of love and support, of friendship and companionship for those who are part of that web. But the frailties of human nature mean that those same tangled webs can be the source of tremendous stress—from the aggravations of everyday life, from the mixing of people with different personalities and different backgrounds, from dealing with the unexpected bumps and bruises that life can bring. Being family is not always an easy thing.

The marriage of M and J signals the beginning of a new family—the weaving of a web of new relationships that brings together the family webs they are already part of, but that also is new and fresh, vital and growing, one that will no doubt change and develop its own character over time. At its best this new family web is one that will nourish the lives of M and J, bringing them joy and a sense of completeness. But realistically, we know that this same new family may at times bring them pain and sadness. As Madeleine L’Engle just reminded us, to marry, to become family is to take the biggest risk in human relations one can take. One cannot take the risk of great love without also taking the risk of great pain.

The words we speak today as M and J marry remind us that we are members not only of those complicated family webs created through birth and marriage, but also of the family of God. God our creator calls us to live fully, to embrace life with all its joys and sorrows, and God our parent nurtures and protects us, supporting us as we attempt to do so. God’s love for us is unconditional, yet God also calls us to live in a particular way, a way that reflects the boundless love God bestows on us. And how might we do that? One of the best pieces of advice I’ve seen comes from one of the readings suggested for weddings in the prayer book. This reading comes from the Letter to the Colossians and it says in part “…clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience…bear with one another…and forgive each other. Above all, clothe yourselves with love which binds everything together in perfect harmony”.

M and J, I give you these words as you come together today before God and this gathering of friends and family to pledge your love for one another, and your promise to live out that love in your lives together. Each of you comes as a fully formed individual, unique and special in your own way. You are choosing to go forward together in marriage, to weave a new web of family as you become partners on life’s journey—a journey that will no doubt be filled with joy and with sadness, with good times and bad, with rough waters and smooth sailing. My prayer for you as you proceed on this journey is that you may be open to an awareness of God’s presence and God’s love in your lives, not only in the times of joy but also in the times of sadness, and that that love and the love you have for each other may sustain you as you become individually and together more fully who God is calling you to be. May your life together as a new family in the family of God may be richly blessed.

The.Best.Wedding.Ever

LD#2 and SiL were married yesterday afternoon at an outdoor chapel overlooking the lake. I know I am biased, but I have to say that it was truly The.Best.Wedding.Ever. LD#2 and SiL planned and organized everything, and they did an incredible job, making a wedding weekend that was welcoming and hospitable for family members and friends who traveled great distances to be here. They cooked dinner for family on Wednesday night Friday after the rehearsal there was a pizza dinner for the wedding party followed by a dessert cruise on the lake for the wedding party and all the out of town guests--such fun and it was incredibly beautiful on the lake. And the wedding itself was breathtakingly beautiful. We could not have asked for better weather. The bride was beautiful and happy, and the groom glowed. Tears and laughter were part of the ceremony--tears in the eyes of many of us as the bride walked down the aisle and laughter as she mispoke part of her vows--she led the laughter, and it was a great moment.

And the reception was one rocking party. I am not much of a party person, and I'm really bad in large groups, but I had a wonderful time, dancing more than I've danced in years (and apparently without embarrassing my children too much!) It was my great pleasure to spend time with my dearest and oldest (not in terms of age but in terms of time) friends during the weekend festivities. One of these friends was my labor coach when LD#2 was born, and is her godmother, and she gave a very moving toast. SiL's family are warm and friendly people and I like them a lot. On top of all this, I am with all four of my children at the same time for the first time in several years, also a wonderful thing.

I filled up both my memory cards with pictures, but I don't have the right software on my laptop. So pictures will come later.

Coming Home

It's no secret to readers of this blog that there are two places in this world that lay claim on my heart, and I am writing from one of them. We arrived Wednesday afternoon, and I as drove across the Green Mountains I had this strong sense that I was coming home. My family of origin finds it perplexing that a southern born and raised girl like me would be most at home in this state far, far to the north, but in fact I do feel very much at home here, and have since I first set foot here for a job interview twelve years ago.

The weather has been absolutely perfect since we arrived--warm but not too hot, sunny with just enough breeze. LD#2 , whose apartment I am staying in, lives in the city where it is possible to walk many places, and I've really enjoyed that. Rehearsal night festivities included a cruise on the lake, and it was incredibly beautiful.

I am so full of nostalgia and longing. I knew that when I chose to go off to seminary, to follow my call to ordination, that it would mean leaving this place. Being in the city that I came to love so much made it much easier to be away from here. But now I am living in a place that doesn't feel like home to me, that I don't always like even though it is a beautiful place sought by many. I've long prided myself on being adaptable, on being able to live happily where ever I found myself, and I want to do that now. But my heart is pulled to another place.

My Bags Are Packed and I'm Ready to Go

Well, almost. House isn't clean, but it isn't going to be. The Kid has some last minute things to do in the morning, and I have to fill the bird feeders. But I think I've packed everything except toiletries which I'll do in the morning after I shower. And then, we're outta here!

Tomorrow we'll drive to Vermont, picking up elder son at airport midway between here and there. And then the celebrating begins, culminating in a wedding! Lovely Daughter #2 and her fiance will be married on Saturday afternoon, yours truly officiating. And while they are off to honeymoon, the Kid and I are staying in Vermont for 10 days to hang out and relax. My introverted self will need it after 5 days of being with lots of people, many of whom I don't know. I am so looking forward to some time off. We'll spend a few days with LD#1 who will be heading back to S. Korea a week from Thursday after almost 3 months in the states (well, 2 months here and one in South America). And we'll just enjoy summer in VT. The Kid will also be enjoying the World Cup on s-i-l's 50" HDTV--something we certainly don't have here!

I hope to post some pictures after the wedding, but I'm not 100% sure of internet access. My laptop doesn't have a wireless card--yeah I know, but it's 3 1/2 years old, and I'm not putting any money into it, because I'd really like a new one in the next few months.

Always one to procrastinate, I've spent way too much time on the computer today, following GC, responding to email, and blogging. That's probably why the house isn't clean :( I hate getting ready to travel--it makes me very anxious. Maybe that's why I don't travel that much. Once I'm there, it's great...but getting ready, not so much.

Now it's off to bed. I'll be kicking myself for staying up so late when the clock goes off in the morning.

It's All About the Patriarchy

or why I am feeling both angry and sad about the thing I've been celebrating.

I am wonderfully excited about the election of a woman as the Presiding Bishop; she is eminently qualified to do the job, and her initial statements have been exemplary in their emphasis on reconciliation and healing in the church, something we badly need these days.

But from all sides--and primarily from men on all sides--I hear so much negativity, so much criticism, so much b***s*** about how the church isn't ready for a woman leader, we need to think more about the consequences of this action, this is a slap in the face for Anglicans who don't accept women's ordination as priests to say nothing of women as bishops.

I expected to hear this from the conservatives, who have been spoiling for a fight ever since convention began (actually ever since GC last met in 2003). But it's similar responses from moderates and liberals that I find most disheartening. At first I was just sad, but right this minute I am burning with anger. The response that put me over the top was a criticism by a male priest of the "triumphalism" of the responses of women to this election. He went on to say that it was clear that women wanted a woman as presiding bishop and didn't give a sh*t about the consequences (his words).

This is absurd beyond measure. A committee comprised of men and women made the nominations. But the election itself occurred in the House of Bishops--a body that is 99% male. 188 votes were cast; of those 188, a total of 12 were women. That's right--12 out of 188 bishops present were women. So clearly, it wasn't just women wanting a female presiding bishop.

I won't apologize for celebrating. I don't celebrate because I wanted a woman presiding bishop at any cost. No, I'm celebrating because the House of Bishops was able to discern that +Jefferts Schori was one called to be PB at this time, and they didn't let gender get in the way. I am celebrating because this is a validation of women's ministry through out the church. I am celebrating because I remember when I couldn't even be an acolyte because I am a girl, and now a woman is presiding bishop. I am celebrating because this is a glorious thing.

As for the consequences, yes there will be some. But I'm increasingly convinced that the Episcopal Church cannot stop in its tracks to accommodate the beliefs of the Archbishop of Nigeria, and other who might disagree with us. Unity in the church worldwide is important. But membership in the world wide Anglican Communion is not worth sacrificing what we as a church believe we are called to do and be. That applies to women in holy orders, and that applies to full inclusion of LGBT people in the church and the blessing of their relationships.

I've always been concerned with women's issues, but I've never considered myself a radical feminist, nor an activist feminist. But this may push me over the edge. It becomes clearer and clearer to me that despite the strides we've made in terms of rights and justice for women, we are still firmly ensconced in the patriarchy. Perhaps I'm incredibly naive not to have realized it before. And sadly, my life in the church--where women have come a long way in my lifetime--has helped me reach this point. So much of the controversy in the Episcopal Church, and likely in the larger church as well, is tied up with men--mostly white straight upper-middle class men--who feel their power being threatened. They couch it in terms of biblical and theological arguments, but it still boils down to the same thing.

Twelve years ago when I was hired for my teaching job, I was the first woman to be hired on the tenure track in my department--the department with either the second largest or largest number of majors every year. The women faculty formed a women's caucus and worked hard for equity--representation on committees, fair hiring, equal treatment in the tenure process. The response of men, especially in the administration, was 'why do you need to do this?' That they had to ask that is indicative of why we had to do it. Over the 8 years I was there, the balance shifted and women approached 40% of the faculty (shocking, I know). The balance in the student body shifted as well, and women comprised 51-52% of the student body--and they comprised the majority of the honor graduates. All of this at a college that was not coed until 1975. The last two years I was there, a great hue and cry arose about the threatened status of men on campus. We needed to recruit more men. We shouldn't try to hire women faculty. We needed special tutors for male students becasue clearly the academic enviroment was not friendly for them. I just want to shriek. And I see that reflected in the church in large and small ways. There are more women priests than ever before, and women have become bishops. Women are good at ministry. The patriarchy is threatened again. And worldwide it is even worse.

Some of you are probably thinking, "didn't she know this before?" Well, on some level I did. I got angry when I was teaching, too. But the criticism of our "triumphalism" today was like a slap in the face. I won't kow-tow to the partiarchy. I won't become like them to succeed. (and I am tempted to write...I am woman, hear me roar, but that would be cheesy wouldn't it?) :)

This has turned into a rant, and I don't have time to really edit it, but ya know what? I am going to post it anyway....and then back to packing for VACATION and the WEDDING (more on those later!)

Celebration Going On!

History was made today in Columbus OH. Meeting in convention, the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church elected the Rt. Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori as the 26th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. I never expected this to happen at this point, and I am so excited. I've been getting a flurry of emails--women--clergy and laity alike--all over the church are celebrating.

I know gender should not matter; in fact, I believe the best candidate for the position regardeless of gender was elected, but this is nonetheless very exciting. To put this in context, the Episcopal Church has only been ordaining women as priests since 1976, and the first woman bishop was elected in 1989. There are still some in the Episcopal Church who do not accept women priests, sadly.

According to the Episcopal Church website, the Presiding Bishop "is elected every nine years to serve as the Chief Pastor and Primate of the Church. In this role the Presiding Bishop is charged with responsibility for leadership in initiating and developing the policy and strategy in the Church and speaking for the church as to the policies, strategies and programs authorized by the General Convention." The Presiding Bishop also respresents the Episcopal Church in the wider Anglican Communion. Her election is bound to be controversial in that respect as the Anglican Church in many areas will not ordain women at all.

Oh, happy day!

Just Because I've Been Complaining So Much

about the weather, let me say that the sun is out today and it's (almost) 70F. Hurrah!

But boy, do we ever have water problems at church. Yesterday we had one drain cleaned out because we believed that it was backing up and causing part of the library flooding, and things were looking good. Today when I arrived at church, water was spewing out of the toilets, yes backing up into the bathrooms in the undercroft. Apparently the water table is really high (should we be surprised?) and forcing water back into the church. Ready Rooter was there when I came home, but I don't know what the final verdict on a solution is.

Moral of this story: don't build on a wetland. Wish they'd known that in 1888.

The Sound of Thunder

coming from the Weather Channel icon on my desktop is not a good omen, and it just rumbled again. Each rumble indicates an update in the "severe weather" watch in effect; this week of course that is for rain and flooding. So the good news (NOT!) is that heavy rain is expected late this afternoon and evening with the potential for more flooding. And the weather system producing that rain apparenlty will be centered right over my neck of the woods.

And the 10-day forecast? The sun is expected to come out on three of those 10 days, and the temperature will get above 70 four times. Hello....it's June!

Lest you think I am a weather wuss, I lived in northern Vermont for 8 years, and June was never this cold. I can handle blizzards--bring em' on! I can deal with late spring. Chilly falls are fine. I love it when it is cool at night. But this is JUNE! School will be out in a week. People are coming to the beach. Temps in the 70s with some sun is all I ask. Sheesh.

And LD#2 will be married in two weeks--outdoors. Could we please have some nice weather in New England by then?

Yes, I'm feeling a bit curmudgeonly today. It's been one of those weeks.

The Calm after the Storm

As the pixies over at Phantom's know, yesterday's rain and wind caused a little excitement here at Chez Rev. Dr. Mom. I'm happy to report that the tree




that caused most of the excitement has been removed, leaving behind some fire wood for next winter, and a couple of small dents in the gutter. It could have been much worse.

I didn't get a picture of the flood in the parking lot yesterday, and luckily, by this morning it had subsided, so no flooded church nursery or office. Yet more rain is forecast for tomorrow and Saturday but hopefully not as much as we got yesterday.

I should add that the church is built on a wetland. It was built in 1888, before such things were regulated, but it means that drainage is always and forever a problem on parts of the property. The rectory, where I live, is on a hill above the church, so I don't have to worry about flooding. I know that what we've dealt with is so minor to what other parts of the state had a few weeks back, I really shouldn't complain.

But it really would be nice to have some warm, sunny weather for a while.

Book Lust

Madeleine L'Engle has long been one of my favorite writers, and about 10 years ago, I began to collect her books. It began innocently enough...wandering through a used book store one summer afternoon, I found a signed copy of A Severed Wasp for the very reasonable sum of $10. I'd read it previously and enjoyed it, and how cool to have a signed copy, even if it wasn't signed for me!

Of course, this wasn't my first L'Engle purchase. I already owned some of her children's books bought to read to/with my own children, along with some of her adult non-fiction. But I'd never thought about intentionally acquiring a collection of her books. That summer I spent a lot of time in used book stores. The Vermont city where I was living has several good ones, and they were a wonderful way to spend a summer afternoon. Mostly I was browsing, always on the lookout for an interesting old psychology volume (at the time I was collecting books by B. F. Skinner, as well as books on child development). And I began to look for L'Engle books as well, and bought a few, nothing rare, nothing valuable. Over the next year or so I picked up a few more of her books--some I'd read before, and some I hadn't. I began to look at her list of published books and count how many I owned. The book lust was growing.

A year or two later I discovered on-line used book sellers, and my quest became serious. I began to look for L'Engle's more obscure works, and over time I acquired a few of them. But there was one--Ilsa--that seemed to be totally unavailable, no matter how hard I looked. It was her second book, not very successful, and according to the few people I've encountered who ever read it, not very good. But I still wanted to have it.

When I started seminary, I gave up my L'Engle book quest--too many other books needed to be bought, and I have about 40 of her books now. Hadn't really thought about it lately. But tonight I clicked on an email from one of the better on-line booksellers and found myself searching for L'Engle books again. And what should they have listed but FOUR copies of Ilsa!

Ah, but they are not cheap, these copies of Ilsa. Nor should they be, I guess. One is a signed first edition--for $900 dollars. Not terrible for serious book collectors I suppose, but way out of my price range. The least expensive is a little over $200--still out of my price range this summer, which means, I guess, that I am not really a serious collector. But oh, I would like that book.

Living Vicariously

LD#1 just returned from a month in Bolivia, and she put up a fascinating photo essay on her blog. I figure the only way I'm going to see most of these places is through her eyes. Luckily she is observant and smart and funny.

Friday Photo Blog--A Walk in My Neighborhood

The marsh by the bay...




































Shells on the beach








































Flowers in the 'hood...
































































And a Red-bellied woodpecker in my yard....