Moving on

The hurricane is over. Irene is gone. There is plenty of rebuilding and cleaning up and restoration of utility services to be done. I rejoice that elderly parishioners I could not contact yesterday had their phones restored to I could do so this noon. Take a deep breath. Rest, relax and restore after carrying so much tension and anxiety (unbeknownst to my conscious self!).

Meanwhile, the "moving on" thought for today is:

What does it mean to be called as a people by God into new community and to be broke?

What are the implications?

Cross Posting ramblings

I posted this in the comments at Episcopal Cafe under "Hurricane Check-in":

Hurricane watch Saturday

Took the dog for her usual 5:00 a.m. walk down the bike trail. On the return it was beginning to spit rain out there.

I have two brothers who live in the evacuation zone in Delaware. The one who lives right on the beach has, according to the other brother, probably (probably!) already left for inland Maryland. The other brother and his rescue greyhound King Charles, are "probably" going to stay put. He's not on the beach. I'm trying to remember if he's near marsh land. Oh bother. My anxiety level is rising. Must remember to breathe.

Today I will tie the porch rocking chairs to the railing. And I'm going to cut myself a big bouquet of zinnias. I'd rather cut them all since they're going to be pummeled to the ground anyway so might as well enjoy them inside. Can't do anything about the green zebra stripe heirloom tomato plant. I might pick some of the larger fruits - not really large enough yet, but still...better than not enjoying them at all.

Later today my partner in ministry, the latino missioner, and I will plan a thanksgiving service for later in the week, for the passing of the hurricane. I look forward to that.

Hurricane

'Nuff said.

When I was a little girl, growing up in a bungalow across the street from the Passaic River in smalltown Millington, we kids loved hurricanes (of course!), especially when we lost electric power.

Daddy would bring out the kerosene hurricane lanterns and we'd all sit around the big four foot square heating vent (the only one in the house) between the living room and the dining room.

We heated with coal, so power outages didn't keep us from being warm and cooking. Yes indeed, the top of the coal furnace was just below the level of the floor. Daddy took the grate off the vent opening and Mom cooked on top of the furnace.

For us kids, power outage storms were an adventure, camping out without the inconvenience of nature.

Now I am old. I've prepared without being panicy. If things cut loose outside and fly around, well, they do. Meanwhile one of the newly fledged redtail hawks is perched on the crossbar of the steeple cross on the Catholic Church cattercorner from our house, and the other one is perched on the microwave - what are they? antennae? - on top of the office building across the street from our back yard. Calling to one another. I wonder what they are saying.

I shall announce church services are cancelled for Sunday. Better safe than have people worrying up to the last minute. Leaving me with only one worry I can't do anything about: What happens to Xena, labrador retriever warrior princess of all Norwalk, on Sunday when she has to go out and attend to business during the storm?

August's strange treasures

For the past few weeks I have been finding the sheddings of cicadas around the pine trees in the back yard of the rectory. At first, I just noticed that the holes in the ground - early in the spring the exit/entrances for burrowing bees - were more numerous and much larger. Then I started to see a few sheddings near the holes. Now the ground is littered with them! They lie about in piles of six to ten, and more. Here's a link to someone else's photos of cicadas - not my cicadas nor my yard, but easier than doing my own photos!

Miss Xena has had her own cicada incident. She took one on this afternoon. It was still in the grass, probably drying its wings. I rescued it and tossed it over the fence into the next yard. I have no idea if it will survive Xena's exploratory playing.

Meanwhile, yesterday late afternoon, I saw my first warbler in the city since I moved here five years ago, and certainly the first in the three summers we have been in the rectory. It was a black and white warbler (black and white is its name - here it is). Not to be confused with the blackpoll warbler.

Also, the tomatoes are bearing fruit, against all odds (planted in soil undercut by pine tree roots). The prize is an indeterminate heirloom, green zebra. It just wasn't setting fruit. Finally, Newlin restaked it and, voila! Fruit galore!

I'm also trying to sprout some Italian green beans and some Italian green summer squash seeds for a late planting. We shall see.

And the glory of it all - the zinnias are really taking off.

If I had gone away for vacation, as I was going to, I would have missed all this. It's not quite so relaxing, vacationing in the rectory, next to the church and its parking lot. Newlin and I have screened off much of the fence so I can have a little privacy.

Vacation bonus: I have been drawing something, anything, and often some things almost every day for three weeks. I am very proud of myself. And let's not forget, I am still on target for reading at least one complete murder mystery every day!

A good vacation. I will miss it. And I will still have zinnias, birds, tomatoes, and drawings to remember it by.

Vacation Treasure Hunt

I was watching History Detectives on TV and found, on their website, that you can submit a family mystery to them to research so I dove into the Thien Family Archives, of which I am the caretaker, to see if I could find the stuff I knew I have on my Dad during WWII with Douglas Aircraft and Wendover Utah.

Well I found it, but not until I found his father's birth certificate, giving his father's father's and mother's names. And, just for a bonus, my mother's father's geneology from Norway (in Norwegian but with translation, thank God!). AND, the Goodrich family photo from the 1800's of the "Goodrich Drum Corp" with names. Hidden gold!

Tomorrow, a day with Ancestry.com updating the old family tree with solid info. I love this stuff.

And I'm still going to write to History Detectives to see if they can verify my dad's part in certain aspects of WWII which have been part of the family lore but with little detail. Bonus there: a commendation for Daddy, a civilian, aboard a ship attacked at sea, for his service above and beyond.

And then there's "Aunt Alma" (Daddy's aunt), the artist and genealogist, but that's another story, for another day.

Right on!

"If you want to create jobs, CREATE THEM!" Rep. Jan Schakowsky (d - IL) "If you want to create jobs, HIRE PEOPLE!"

The purpose of wealth - including church endowments and the profits of business BEFORE taxes and dividends to stockholders - is to provide jobs for people, AT A LIVING WAGE, so that there is no person who is not employed at a living wage. Lois Keen, jobbing priest (TEC)

Just do it.