And I am not getting much done these last few months…
There have been a lot of losses with a lot of aftermath.
I’ll get back to my collection at some point…
Wish me luck.
*****
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is “book.” Come join us! Find out how here: https://lindaghill.com/2016/06/03/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-416/
I am writing this on Friday as we await news on a former pastor, Father James.
He is in a coma in ICU and expected to die soon.
The news is heartbreaking.
I am not heartbroken for him, as he will be released from suffering and dwelling in God who is Eternal Love.
I am heartbroken for his family and friends and all his former parishioners who will miss his care, concern, sense of humor, and gentleness. Although he was retired, he said Mass at local parishes. Just in the last few weeks, I attended a couple of Masses at which he presided.
He was the pastor of a church I attended for over twenty years. He was the pastor for both of my daughters’ baptisms and first communions, as well as my elder daughter’s confirmation. I served on liturgy committee for him for many years, as well as participating in music ministry with my daughters.
After he retired, our parish, which I had known as a welcoming home, ran into major difficulties and eventually disintegrated. That is still heartbreaking.
It is also heartbreaking that the church building that we had renovated under his leadership is no longer a Catholic church. After being damaged in a second major flood, it was closed and, years later, sold to a nearby Christian college. They have recently re-opened it as their chapel, but it is no longer the place we built together. Even the stained glass windows had been removed.
We will lay him to rest from his boyhood church, though, which is fitting. That church is also the mother church in our area, meaning it is the oldest congregation.
One of his favorite Bible verses was from Micah 6:8: “And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
And he showed us how to do that.
Another passage is also coming to mind for me, from Matthew 25:21: “Well done, good and faithful servant!”
I am also thinking of a setting of the final commendation, which is a prayer at the end of Catholic funerals, that we used to sing in Resurrection Choir when Father James would be presiding at parish funerals. The setting was done by Ernest Sands and used this refrain: “May the choirs of angels come to greet you. May they speed you to paradise. May the Lord enfold you in His mercy. May you find eternal life.”
Amen.
*****
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is “break/brake.” Join us! Find out how here: https://lindaghill.com/2016/05/20/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-2116/ .
An open prompt! Thanks, Linda! I don’t know that I could have dealt with anything too exotic…
I am writing this on Friday afternoon and scheduling it because tomorrow is spoken for.
We will be spending the day in Syracuse, attending the festivities for our daughter T’s commencement from SUNY-ESF, which is short for State University of New York – Environmental Science and Forestry. She will be receiving an MPS degree in Conservation Biology. (MPS stands for Master’s of Professional Studies.) Her program was multidisciplinary and geared toward doing conservation/restoration work in the field, rather than doing lab research.
She also concentrated her work with plants. She loves to root out invasive species and help and/or re-establish native ones. She can wax poetic about it! She has had the opportunity to do three internships and we are hoping that an appropriate permanent position will appear.
Tomorrow, there will be a reception with her department in the morning. Commencement is in the afternoon, followed by a reception, followed by dinner back in her neighborhood.
We are so happy for her and as proud as can be!
*****
Linda gifted us with an open prompt this week: start the post with a two-letter word. We could also end with a two-letter word for extra fun. Come join us! Find out how here: https://lindaghill.com/2016/05/13/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-1416/
So, I have been absent from SoCS for weeks – and the reason has to do with a parent.
Specifically, my spouse’s mom, whom I refer to on my blog as Grandma.
Grandma passed away unexpectedly on March 22nd and tomorrow will be our first Mother’s Day without her.
I am very, very grateful to still have both of my parents here; we will be having Mother’s Day brunch with them tomorrow.
My husband, known on my blog as B, has no parents left at all now. We lost his dad almost eleven years ago.
Since Grandma’s death, I have posted very little. (There are some posts about her death and things that have happened since, but nowhere near the number of posts I usually make.) I have done almost no reading of others’ blogs and almost no commenting. I wish I could say that this return to SoCS marked a sea change – that I would be back to my usual posts in Linda’s SoCS and One-liner Wednesday, my usual level of posting at Top of JC’S Mind, visiting dozens of blogs a day, and writing comments.
I wish that, but I know it is not reality.
There is still a ton of tasks that need my attention.
And, in happier news, our younger daughter T is about to graduate with a master’s degree. We expect her to be moving back home to job search, so I need time for her, too.
I hope that all my blog-community friends are hanging in there and having a good time. I also hope that those of you who are blessed to have a parent still living will make an extra effort to contact them and to show that you care.
Because, someday, you may not still have that opportunity.
*****
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is “apparent/a parent”. Come join us! Find out how here: https://lindaghill.com/2016/05/06/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-716/
On the news this week, there have been several features about eggs.
Specifically, a pair of bald eagle eggs in a nest in the National Arboretum in Washington, DC.
One of them has hatched and the eaglet has enjoyed its first meal. The second is expected to hatch over the weekend.
There is a camera for people to watch a live feed of the nest: http://www.eagles.org/dceaglecam/
The bald eagle is the national bird of the United States. It was almost killed by DDT, which bioaccumulated in the adult birds and caused its eggs to be so fragile that they could not withstand the weight of the parent when they were being incubated in the nest.
Since the banning of DDT, the population has slowly recovered. Locally, from our area in the Northeast US, we do sometimes spot bald eagles, which would have been incredibly rare twenty or thirty years ago.
Will the second egg hatch? Will both eaglets survive? We can keep a lookout via the camera and find out.
*****
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “egg.” Join us! Find out how here: http://lindaghill.com/2016/03/18/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-march-1916/
Hold onto your hats, but there has been more in the news on the topic of Tom Brady, the New England Patriots, and deflated footballs.
Despite not being a big follower of American football – or even what the rest of the world calls football and the US calls soccer – I have written about this topic a number of times. (here and here and here and here and here)
The story was back in the news this week because a seventh grader who lives near Boston won a prize at a science fair by showing with science that the footballs would have dropped about 2 psi due to the field conditions of the game.
Weirdly, he shares a last name with the football commissioner who wanted to sanction Brady, even though there is no proof that he or anyone actually deflated the footballs.
And, yes, this does have to do with things like the ideal gas law that I and others posted about months ago.
Will the National Football League finally acknowledge science and admit they were wrong in their report?
Probably not…
*****
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is “ball.” Join the fun! Find out how here: http://lindaghill.com/2016/03/11/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-march-1216/
This post is going to bounce around a lot because it is about this and that.
Someone I know is running for the US Congress! Kim Myers, with whom I served on committees in our school district, is going to run for a seat in the New York 22nd district. She is running for the Democratic nomination; our current Representative is retiring. He is a Republican and considered a moderate – which is what used to be considered very conservative. Kim has served on the school board in our town for 18 years. Recently she has been sitting on the Broome County legislature, where she is the only woman and the minority leader. I’m so hoping Kim will be elected. She is well-known in our part of the district also because she is from the Stack family, who founded Dick’s Sporting Goods. Their original location in Binghamton is still open. She has been involved in philanthropy for years, too.
Unfortunately, this brings to mind presidential election stuff… More primaries and caucuses this weekend. The Republican race has descended further into name-calling and ridicule. At least, the Democratic side talks about issues.
Last night, we got to see a livestream of T’s concert. Her choir, the Hendrick’s Chapel Choir, sang in a choral showcase with all the other Syracuse University choirs. Each group sang a couple of their own pieces and then joined together to sing two spirituals arranged by their guest conductor who had been vising for the week from Temple University. T is a graduate student, not at Syracuse, but at SUNY – Environmental Science and Forestry, which is directly adjacent to Syracuse. ESF students are eligible for courses and extracurricular activities at Syracuse U, so it has meant that T gets to sing in a great choir program, which she loves.
This has been tax prep week. I helped my parents with their taxes earlier in the week and yesterday I plowed through ours and T’s. I am very grateful for TurboTax! I’d hate to have to do them all long-hand, as I used to years ago.
It’s chilly here today, but a big warm-up is in store. By mid-week, it is supposed to get up to 60 F (15 C) which is tremendously warm for early March.
The maple sap has been running early, but there was a maple syrup related tragedy this week. The Holleran family owns a sugarbush in New Milford PA, not that far from here. There is a proposal for a new methane pipeline, the Constitution, that starts in PA, then continues into NY. New York has not yet approved it, but FERC gave permission for tree-felling to begin in PA. The Holleran’s did not want to have their trees cut down; the pipeline route is taking out 90% of their maple trees. The courts allowed the company to take the land by eminent domain, which many of us think is unconstitutional because the land is being taken for private profit rather than public use. At first, the work crews turned away because the trees were tapped and the family and other tree defenders were on the property, which is their land still, even with the court order. The company went to court and then they came back with tree crews accompanied by armed officers and cut down all the trees. The Holleran’s and others had painted American flags on the trees. It was so jarring to see these trees with flags painted on them stacked up. We are all just sick about it. If New York does not approve it, the pipeline will not go in and they will have killed all those trees and taken away part of the family’s farm income for no reason at all.
A happier part of this past week is that I sent in my paperwork and deposit for the Boiler House Poets reunion at Mass MoCA this fall. I am thrilled because one of my poet-friends here is going to come with me. We had a couple of spaces because some of our original group is unable to make the reunion. We are going to be in North Adams for the Fall Foliage Festival and for my birthday. It will be so great!
Well, I could go on writing about this and that for a lot longer, but I think I had better stop before your eyes glaze over. So, that’s that!
*****
This post is part of Linda’s Stream of Consciousness Saturdays. The prompt this week was “this and that” – a post about this and that, beginning and possibly ending with “this” or “that.” Come join the fun! Find out how here: http://lindaghill.com/2016/03/04/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-march-516/
It’s Saturday morning and I just now looked at Linda’s prompt. I was so excited that the prompt was “food”! Maybe Linda is psychic, because it is exactly what I would like to write about today.
B and I are on a getaway for a few days and food was a very important part of the plan. On Thursday, we travelled to Deerfield, Massachusetts to stay at the Old Deerfield Inn. We had never stayed there before because it is pretty pricey, but we had discovered that on a weeknight in the off-season, it was affordable.
We had, however, eaten at their restaurant, Champney’s, before, and that was a big factor in deciding to go there. B had chicken piccata , which was a special that night, and I had a steak and ale pot pie, which was made with a local beer and local root vegetables. It was totally amazing. And very hot, because it came baked in its own little iron deep-dish. It took a long time to eat because it stayed very hot.
One of the reasons we love to eat at Champney’s ,though, is that they make an excellent Indian pudding. As people who read Top of JC’s Mind may recall, we have a thing for Indian pudding. It’s a tradition in B’s family and I have even written poetry about it! (Poems here, here, and here with recipe here.) Being pretty full after our main course, B and I savored a serving of Indian pudding together. Amazing!
Like most inns, breakfast in the morning was part of the deal. I had fresh local yogurt with fruit and homemade granola and a half order of French toast with local maple syrup. B had French toast with scrambled eggs. Then, we ambled out for the day.
We were heading to Lenox and went via Northampton, where I attended Smith College. We had some lovely soup in Thorne’s market – potato leek for me and sausage lentil for B – but then moved on to the real place I want to eat – Herrell’s Ice Cream. Herrell’s was new to Northampton when I was at Smith in the late ’70s – early ’80s and makes astonishingly good ice cream, or, as New Englanders are wont to say, wicked good. I chose malted vanilla, which is one of my all-time favorites. I was afraid B, who is lactose intolerant, would have to settle for sorbet, but they had a couple of “no-moo” flavors, so B got to have peanut butter no-moo. Yum!
We proceeded to Lenox to stay at the Cornell Inn, where we have often stayed on getaways. We had made a dinner reservation at Alta, one of our favorite places in Lenox. B and I shared a salad that featured candied pecans and fried Brie and moved on to our main courses. I had trout, which was excellent. B thoroughly enjoyed pork cheeks braised in cider and served over squash and other seasonal vegetables. If it weren’t a Friday in Lent, I would have sampled it. He said it was great. We wondered if they were really pork cheeks, but I think they must have been as Alta is very particular about all of their menu items.
This morning, we enjoyed breakfast at the Cornell Inn. Breakfast is a highlight of any trip here, as there is always a lovely variety of homemade options. Today’s selection included broccoli fritatta, berry crisp pancakes and cinnamon french toast, mixed berry and oatmeal blackberry muffins, and fruit plate with yogurt on the side. So good!
Now, I am writing this post, but, in a bit, we will check out and head up to Williamstown to stay with a high school friend. Her husband is a (mostly) retired chef, so more great food is on the agenda!
Hope I didn’t make anyone hungry. (I also offer apologies to all my vegetarian friends for rhapsodizing over meat-containing dishes.)
*****
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week was “food”! Yum! Join us! Find out how here: http://lindaghill.com/2016/02/26/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-feb-2716/
I’m happy to announce that I now have 700 followers at Top of JC’s Mind!
Of course, the usual caveats apply. Some people get counted twice if they follow my page on Facebook as well as following on WordPress. Or if they follow my twitter. Or also subscribe directly by email.
I also know that there are people who read my posts without being official followers. I am sometimes taken by surprise when a friend will mention something that they read in one of my posts. It’s a reminder that followers and readers are not the same thing. While I know that only a small fraction of my 700 followers read any particular post, there are readers who are not followers who read every post I put out.
Whether you are a follower, a regular reader, or someone visiting Top of JC’s Mind for the first time, thank you so much for sharing in my blog. I couldn’t do it without you!
*****
This post is part of Linda’s Steam of Consciousness Saturday. This week’s prompt was to begin the post with a contraction. Join us! Find out how here: http://lindaghill.com/2016/02/19/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-feb-2016/
I’m pleased to announce that Silver Birch Press has published my poem “Crowning Glory” as part of their MY MANE MEMORIES series.
The link is here: https://silverbirchpress.wordpress.com/2016/02/20/crowning-glory-poem-by-joanne-corey-my-mane-memories-poetry-and-prose-series/
Besides the poem, you can enjoy a photo of me taken this month in our yard, featuring my “mane”!
Enjoy! Feel free to comment here, at Silver Birch Press, or on Facebook.
PS I managed to copy the photo! But please read the poem at Silver Birch Press, too.
PPS I already did a post for Linda’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday, but this post qualifies, too, so I am adding the pingback here: http://lindaghill.com/2016/02/19/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-feb-2016/
Joanne Corey 