Caverns

I've been in a number of caverns over my lifetime.  The first were famous Mammoth caverns in Kentucky, as a child.  Gerry and I and the kids went into Luray caverns in Virginia, and a few years ago, we toured caverns in South Dakota.  I've always been just a little bit anxious in cavesrn, being slightly claustrophobic.  Also, I  remember the first experience as a child, when they turned off the lights for a few minutes so you could experience utter darkness.  They did that in Luray Caverns in Virginia as well.  It is a darkness like no other.

Yesterday we took a little adventure to Howe's Caverns right here in our own New York, which neither of us had seen before.  I think these were the nicest ones I've been in, more spacious, no turning out the lights.  I am so glad I thought to throw in a sweatshirt at the last minute.  The caverns stay at around 52 degrees all year.   This tour also included a boat ride in the "lake", which was a first.  Steel pipe pieces stuck out of the rocks along the way, and the guide pushed/pulled the boat along by grabbing onto the spikes in the walls. You had to make sure to watch your head as we floated along.

There was a very narrow pathway in the last few yards of the tour, not much wider than a person's shoulders.  It was a bit tight, but I learned that as long as I was moving, I did not feel panicky.

 The first explorer, and later owner, Lester Howe actually explored those caverns by dropping himself in a hole with a rope.  He would have had only a lantern for light.  Brave man, Lester.  And smart too.  He bought the caverns from a neighbor for one hundred dollars cash.

The tour actually covers only a small portion of the underground caverns.   The rest is for the exceptionally brave explorers, and also, the bats!

Ministry Fruit

Today we went back to worship at the last congregation where I had served full time.  It was graduation Sunday, and I wanted to celebrate the graduates,  who were just little kids when I first went there.

I knew there would be old friends to greet, which we did at the reception following the service.  What I had really not expected at all were the spin-offs, the fruit, the stories shared.

A young man was there who had just graduated from college, Peter.  He stopped me as I was exiting the sanctuary to thank me.  In particular, he said that my letter of recommendation for his becoming an Eagle Scout had been very important, very helpful, and was a really big deal.  Apparently, being an Eagle Scout had opened many doors for him that otherwise would not have been open.  Who could have guessed that such a small thing could have made such a difference?

An older woman told me how appreciative she was of the opportunities for her to do dramatic monologues during my ministry there.  She was great at them.  I cannot even remember what triggered all that.  I would write them, biblical characters, she would portray the character, memorizing her entire part!  She said that as a result,  she has joined a theater group and now does that kind of thing often!

There were other such testimonies, as I wandered around the reception hall.  As we were driving home,  I could not help but reflect on how many of the people in the congregation came to the church during the years of my ministry.  It was stunning to think that one's ministry could really have an impact in people's lives, even years later.

It was good to be reminded of the fruit of ministry, the sweetest part! Long after one has left the building, the position, the earth----still, the fruit of one's labor can live on!

How humbling!

Winning

My 'tennis career' has definitely not been spent winning.   By the time I started,  Gerry already had twenty five plus years of experience, so he was so far ahead, that beating him was completely out of the question.  Twenty five years later,  I can, in fact, beat him once in a while. I've improved.  But typically, my reason for playing is for exercise,  for improving my game, and for fun, not for winning.

Today we played mixed doubles with 'Jon and Jen' (let's call them)  Jen is one of the best, if not THE best player anywhere around.  She usually plays only with the 'big boys'.  Today, her usual partner was unavailable, so she was partnered with Jon instead.  Jen was nursing a knee issue.  There wasn't a lot of pain, but having had knee surgery in the past made her a bit tentative, and really destroyed her confidence.  I've not played with Jon very much,  but he clearly was not playing his best game today either.  Jen was not her usual steady competitive self.  Neither one of them were.

On the other hand,  Gerry was playing exceptionally well.  And I also was playing perhaps my very best mixed doubles game, making very few mistakes, which is rare.  The result was,  we were winning.  For me, that was such a rare occurrence.  When Gerry and I play against Jen and her regular partner,  we win some games, but rarely any sets.  Today we won both sets soundly.

While I am not exactly a fiercely competitive warrior,  I must admit that winning feels pretty good!
I should try it more often!

Seniors playing tennis

Alpaca Babies

Today's adventure was going to visit the alpaca.  Friend Sue has two babies, and are they ever adorable!  She has wanted these alpacas for a long time, and recently acquired them.  Alpacas are much smaller than llama, but similar, though native of South America.

The brown one is named Snickers, and the gray one is called Truffles.  They are registered, with an impressive pedigree, as far as alpaca family trees go. (Both are related to Bo Derek).

I learned that alpacas are both gentle and shy animals, though these would come up and eat out of our hand.  They have to be sheared of their wool once a year.  There is something very calming about their presence.  They have long eyelashes, which probably add to their appeal.


 Sue and her husband have done a wonderful job of building a barn, and doing all the preparation required for such an undertaking (such as learning to give shots).

What a lovely hour spent in the presence of young alpaca.   Of course, I am also rather fond of their owner, too!

 Truffles 

Birds

This season I have regularly kept the bird feeders full.  I especially enjoy sitting in the sun room in the morning drinking my coffee and watching the birds.  There is a bird feeder on the front porch as well, filled with the kind of seeds that seem to attract mostly yellow finches, which I find beautiful.  But I don't get to sit and watch those.

Bird behavior is rather fascinating.  In some ways,  it is similar to human behavior.  The small birds yield to the birds twice their size. Frequently, there is fighting and squabbling over who gets the best seat.  Occasionally, there is even bullying, where one bird is the odd man out and will not be allowed to sit on any of the four perches around the feeder. Different kinds of birds share the same space, both on the rail next to the feeder, and the feeder itself.

 This morning, for the first time, there was even a squirrel in the mix, sitting on the rail of the back patio.  He could not quite reach the feeder though. Many of the seeds end up on the ground anyway.  The birds seem picky, and wasteful with the food, knocking aside the seeds they don't want, which end up below.  

Last year I had a bunny visitor frequently, who ate the seed droppings on the ground.  I read that bird seed is like candy to bunnies.

This is the first year that I have had the time, taken the time, to regularly keep the feeders full.  It certainly does provide a great deal of interesting entertainment.

I suppose we need a book on birds so we can identify the types.  But honestly, I am more interested in their behavior among themselves.

Come to think of it,  the same thing is true of my interest in humans.  It is the interactions that fascinate me the most!!

Nature's Power

I remember years ago seeing a little yellow flower growing right through a crack in a tennis court.  I was so moved by the ability of that little flower to find its way to the light.

And all these years later, I am once again moved by the power of nature.  Here is a lovely evergreen tree growing right in the middle of a tennis court.  I am in awe of its power to grow in such a hostile environment.    There are many lessons here, and as far as I can tell, all of them are optimistic!

I am reminded that nature surely has the ability to grow right over and around, and demolish and overtake all that  human beings have paved and built and created.  And the process would probably not take as long as you might imagine.  Pieces of land next to the highway we frequently travel used to be corn fields.  Now they are forests, and that was in recent memory.

Nature has its power.  Life will have its way.  Sometimes there is absolutely nothing that can stop it.  All it needs is the tiniest toehold, or ray of light, and life will push itself forward.

I stand in awe.

Gardener's Perspective

Last night we heard a speaker talk about her garden.   We had our dates and speakers confused and did not actually go expecting to hear this speaker.  But what a delight she was.

Once in a great while, a presenter comes along who is so enthusiastic, so dynamic, so passionate about his/her subject matter,  that one cannot help but be pulled in, whether or not you might have thought you were interested.

Hers was what I would call a more mystical approach to gardening.  She stressed the difference between imposing one's will on the garden, and listening to what the garden had to teach you.  Her garden is not trained or ordered or predictable, but has a way of doing its own thing,  and she values that.  Her garden speaks to her and she learns about herself and others through it.  While she cannot grow spinach successfully, no matter what she tries, other vegetables might grow profusely, enthusiastically, unbidden.

Among other things, she has inspired a community garden, where individuals plant their own gardens in raised plots.   The raised boxes are about three feet high, and require less bending and are more easily tended.
That was necessary because lead was found in the soil at the chosen location.  Eventually, they identified on an old map that there was once a land mine factory in that exact spot.

What a fitting way for swords to be beaten into plow shares there!

Day Trip

This summer we are taking a number of Day Trips to see some interesting places in New York, or Pennsylvania.  Today we enjoyed a good trip to Le Roy, New York.   We had lunch in a lovely restaurant in a railroad depot converted to a restaurant, which served very delicious food.

 After that, we visited the Le Roy House, an historic home filled with many wonderful artifacts and incredible paintings of the people who had lived there. A number of them were at least five feet tall.

We went to Le Roy primarily to visit the Jello museum. Jello was invented/discovered in Le Roy, New York, thus the museum located in that obscure location.  It was certainly a fascinating story of Americana.   Jello is deeply ingrained in our culture.  Visitors vote on their favorite flavor.  The guide said most people's favorite is a red color (strawberry, cherry, raspberry).  We both voted for orange.  Certain states have certain favorites.   There was jello trivia, recipes, photographs, a CD on a loop with advertisements, and lots of pictures of spokesman Bill Cosby.  Question:  What U.S. President typically has black cherry jello on Thanksgiving?  Answer:  Bill Clinton

We also visited the museum in the basement, where Gerry discovered that Le Roy is also a place which used to manufacture plows.  He is a plow historian and was delighted to make that find.

It was a very lovely small town. For a few years in the 1800's,  there was a women's seminary,  the first one in the United States.   I do wonder why there would be a need,  since it would be another hundred years before the ordination of women.

Lovely day trip.  We have some others planned.

Girls Night Out

Saturday night I took most of my girls out for a girls' night out.  Youngest daughter, who does not live in the area, was not among us, but she has already seen this play, Anything Goes, more than once.  I thought this would be a different kind of family gathering.  Usually, we celebrate events with a dinner  (which typically I cook).  This we the closest date I could come up with that worked for everyone, anywhere near my birthday.  This was my birthday party.

The theater is in a town about an hour away.  We came in two cars, from two different directions, and met there.  Brenda and I were worried that the other three might not make it in time.  They were expected by 7:30, but it was 7:50 before they arrived, having not paid attention to the directions.   But we got into our seats before the eight o'clock curtain time.

There were five of us together, three daughters and one granddaughter. Most of the rest of them have not seen very much musical theater, so I thought this would be a treat.  The setting of this play is the 1930's,  so it was kind of old-fashioned, a classic, and maybe even a bit corny.  But it was funny, and there was lots of energetic singing and dancing, which I especially enjoy, and even a couple of tap dance numbers.  I do hope they enjoyed it. I'm sure they did.

Anything Goes is also playing on Broadway right now, and youngest daughter recently saw it there.  She lives near the city, and somehow manages to enjoy the city life with its endless possibilities.  I don't understand exactly how that happened, since she grew up in a very isolated, very small town.   Now she is definitely urban.

The rest of us are all very much country girls!

Rochester Trip

On Tuesday, I made a trip to Rochester with two goals in mind.  The first was to get-together with a long lost friend, Bonnie, with whom I hung out during my seminary years, and afterwards, though we lost contact somewhere along the way.  Bonnie contacted me, knowing that I would probably be attending the conference in Rochester. She lives in the area.  We arranged to meet, have lunch and attend the clergy gathering together.   Had Bonnie not been my guide  (I followed her into the city), I'm not sure I would ever have found the place.  The convention center was in the middle of down town, and poorly marked.   I would honestly have been lost.

Clergy Session is the beginning of a five day marathon known as Annual Conference.  After attending just the afternoon event,  I was reminded again how much I dislike sitting all day at such a conference.  Plus,  everything has changed since I last attended Clergy Session.  There has been a merger of four smaller conferences into one larger one.  Now, most of the faces are unfamiliar, where once everyone greeted each other with warm hugs. Add to that my retired status, and what emerges is quite a disconnected feeling.

Once again, had it not been for Bonnie, I would have been rather lost. What the future may hold regarding these gatherings remains to be seen.

  

Seven Days

My 'dream life' would certainly involve playing tennis every day during the summer months.  I don't know that I ever really expected that to happen.   But it has!  For the past seven days,  I've played tennis every day!  It has involved different opponents, and the weather conditions were also very different on each occasion as well.  Each outing was from one hour to one and a half hour.

Four out of seven of the days were with Gerry, playing singles. One day it was so hot and humid we played in the morning, rather than the heat of the afternoon, which is when we usually play.  One afternoon it was drizzling rain, though never really pouring.  Another day was cloudy and the other downright cold.  On Thursday, we played with Seth and Judy and the conditions included perhaps 20 mph winds, which made it extremely challenging, unpredictable, humorous and exhausting.  On Friday,  I played doubles with the women. V&M [daughter and son-in-law] were here for the weekend, briefly, to attend a friend's wedding. We played with them yesterday (Sunday)!  Though they are young and in their twenties, we held our own .

I get stiff and achy and sore afterward.  But that's just part of getting older.  I have a couple of old injuries that   bother me occasionally,  but the amazing thing to me is,  I can do it!  It makes me feel capable and strong to be able to play competitive tennis for an hour and a half a day!  Though I might have put that on my 'dream list',  I never really expected that to become a reality!

 I am really proud of myself.

SBNR

I was fascinated by an article in today's paper, written by the Dean of the Chapel at a nearby university.  She described a movement she referred to as SBNR, which stands for 'spiritual but not religious', and went on to say that the SBNR movement is the largest growing segment of the population today, with an increasing number of people who describe themselves that way.  These are, of course, those who are suspicious of  'organized religion' in all its forms.  There was surely a time when I would have described myself that way as well.

But I have been enlightened, at least somewhat, by life, experience, faith, and wisdom.  You see, ever since the first altar was built, or the ten commandment tablets were placed in the ark of the covenant to be preserved,  matters of belief, faith, religion have been 'made mainfest', or taken on some earthly or temporal or structural form.  Even God 'himself' took on flesh and became incarnate. (*Christian understanding)   I think it is virtually impossible to separate faith matters into any hard and fast categories of the spiritual, the religious, the physical.

In the SBNR lingo, 'religious' is probably intended to mean 'of the institutional church'.  Being spiritual, then would be about interest in the sacred,  having questions about the meaning of life,  knowing one's own soul, etc. (without any of that being formalized).  It is an interesting distinction and also dilemma.  Religions all were 'built'/ 'born' out of spiritual urges and inclinations and experiences,  whether that is Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism or other.  Then, over time, those with a particular spiritual inclination developed traditions, beliefs, a unique language and culture.

Perhaps it is simply human nature that any spiritual leaning will mature and eventually become institutionalized. I think of those who want to simply be spiritual and pray and meditate all the time.  Even the pious require an institutional structure to provide convents, and monasteries for spiritual practices.

Maybe the best way to think about spirituality is:   living as much as possible in the grace of God.   Still, our humanity keeps that from being a permanent state.  Instead we build structures and programs, and give birth to religions.  But unlike the SBNR folks, I'm not sure I think that is all bad, as long as the natural processes of death and resurrection also apply to churches.

Temperature

This picture shows today's temperature at the peak of perfection!   It is exactly the same temperature inside and outside, as shown on this indoor/outdoor thermometer.  In addition, there is a slight breeze, and a clear, sunny and blue sky.  One could not ask for a more lovely day.

My life in temperature, however, is not always so rosey. Gerry and I have very different internal thermometers.   He is cold blooded.  I am hot blooded. In the winter, when it is cold out, he definitely wants to maintain the inside temperature at a steady 70 degrees.  When it goes below, to 68, or so, he is more than willing to turn up the heat.   On the other hand, in the summer, when it is hot and we are using the air conditioner,  he is much less willing to be satisfied with a 70 degree inside temperature.  As soon as it reaches 70 degrees, he turns it up to 75.  Now why is that?  Isn't 70 degrees inside the same in the summer as in the winter?  Apparently not, and I just don't get that!

For the sake of our marriage, I suggested that we not get a programmable thermostat, because after all,  at what and whose temp what would we program it ?   Instead, we keep our manual thermostat, so that both of us can constantly turn it up or down behind the other's back, hoping that will go unnoticed for a while, to reach our own comfort level.  That makes for a more equal marriage, where no one person has all the control.
After all,  I don't know how to program a thermostat!

Today's Speaker

 Today the Literary Ladies enjoyed an end-of the year lunch at a beautiful restaurant overlooking the lake.  We also had a guest speaker, a young woman from China.   It was a very fascinating talk, disturbing, and heartbreaking.  She spoke about her own personal experiences growing up in China, and in her family.  Let’s call her Lin-Lin. 

Lin Lin is an accomplished scholar, having earned a Bachelor’s Degree in China, two Masters degrees in the U.S., a  PhD from Harvard, plus having recently published a book.  Ironically, she has her degrees in Women’s Studies, Cultural Studies, and is highly educated in all gender related issues.  And yet, she has not been able to “liberate herself” from the strong indoctrination and brainwashing of her culture, mostly from her mother.  Hers was (perhaps is) a patriarchal culture, teaching that girls are always inferior. She grew up sensing that her mother had shame for giving birth to two daughters.   Lin Lin decided that she would bring honor to her parents by excelling academically, which she did to the highest level possible.  They are proud of her academic achievements, but ashamed because she does not have a man to buy her a house.  (It is meaningless to her mother that she is able to buy the house for herself!).  Lin Lin is not married, and her mother is ashamed of her for that.

It was fascinating to hear her describe her journey as one always filled with the tension and conflict between the core beliefs taught by her parents, and the new knowledge she has acquired from her extensive education. There are surely some pleasures from her many accomplishments, and yet, no matter what she does, she can never seem to get her parents’ approval.  When Lin Lin became a tenured faculty member, she brought her parents here to live with her.    

I listened with sadness and with amazement.  No matter who we might be, or how old, or from what country, with what education,  perhaps many women share a common challenge.  For better, or for worse, we simply cannot entirely erase the tapes of our mothers’ voices from our heads!

For Lin Lin,  there is no relief in sight!   Her mother lives with her!