Happy Hallowe'en

Opinions about Hallowe'en are mixed in the blogosphere. Chichimama and Phantom Scribber are feeling a little grinchy about the day, while Halloween Lover--well, what would you expect?! Here at chez Rev. Dr. Mom, it has been quiet, as expected. We learned last year that no on trick-or-treats on our street. I guess I'm not surprised--there are not many kids around, and the houses are kind of spread out. Our house is back away from the street, too. But I kind of miss having little ghosts and goblins ringing the door bell. I miss carving a pumpkin and giving out candy. I even miss dressing up-the last few years I've dressed up to give out candy. I have a great Dumbledore costume (hey, those academic robes I paid big bucks for ought to be good for something!) and I make a pretty good witch as well.

When I was a kid, our costumes most years were put together from things we already had. I remember being a gypsy (would kids even know what that is these days? would it seem racist?) wearing a skirt of my mother's and her costume jewelry. And hobos were cool costumes back then, too, and it was always easy to come up with old raggy things to wear. Of course, some things turned out better than others...I remember clearly the year I was in second grade wanting desparately to be a princess (long before the "Disneyfication" of such a thing--it was more a fairy tale notion). My mother had a trunkful of old semi-formal dresses from her college days that she let us use for dress-up, and although she was not thrilled to do so, she let me wear one for Hallowe'en. Alas, it poured rain and my lovely princess gown was completely obscured by my raincoat.

We usually took pillow cases to collect our loot and I remember the excitement of feeling their increasing weight. Back in those days of relative innocence we freely sampled our goodies as we collected them and we passed on helpful information to passing friends like, "Be sure to go to Mrs. Jones'; she's giving out _________ (fill in whatever was most desirable that year).

Hallowe'en was also the time for ghost stories and other frightening tales. I remember one Hallowe'en --I must have been 5 or 6 at the most--when my older sister and her friends had me absolutely terrified by their stories of what might happen to innocent children on Hallowe'en night. I was frightended of cemetaries for years, and never really liked ghost stories after that time. But somehow it didn't spoil my enjoyment of Hallowe'en.

It makes me feel old when I say things like this but I really think things were simpler "back then". Hallowe'en wasn't so commercialized; there were costumes available to buy but they were generally inferior to what you could make at home. At most you might want a mask to complete your outfit. Hallowe'en wasn't a Martha Stewart decorating occassion either--even jack-o-lanterns weren't as ubiquitous as they are now, at least where I lived, nor was it a Hallmark holiday. We didn't worry about safety then: my friends and I had the run of the neighborhood from a fairly young age without parental supervision, and we never thought twice about the safety of the treats we were given.

Nor was Hallowe'en the introduction to the Christmas hoopla. Last night when I was in the grocery store the shelves were being stocked with Christmas candy even as they marked down the Hallowe'en treats. Not even a day in between. I guess Christmas decorations won't be far behind.

National Blog Posting Month

Starts tomorrow!

Can I do it?

Can I post everyday?

Will I run out of words?

Or bore you all to tears?

Or even bore myself to tears?

Stay tuned.....

If it's Monday it must be time for ....

more random bits:

• I was away in Nearby City Friday and Saturday for our Diocesan Convention. As a rule, I enjoy convention--I love the energy and seeing people from around the diocese and hearing about what is happening other places and the large convention Eucharist. But I found myself missing my former diocese--its smaller size meant that I knew more people and felt more connected. I've been here a year and a quarter and I still feel like an outsider. Convention made me want to find ways to be more connected.
  
  
• Convention was held at Large Beautiful Church in Nearby City. I'd only been there once before and I enjoyed exploring the space a bit. I cannot imagine every serving in such a church (not that I wouldn't want to; I just don't see it happening) but I always love spending time in them.
  
  
• I loved just being in the city. We actually stayed in the 'burbs and took the train in, which I loved and it made me think that perhaps I should consider the 'burbs if they would put me closer to the city--I've resisted the idea of living in the 'burbs if I can avoid it. Friday night we walked a few blocks for dinner and I really wished I had more time to explore. How is it that I am such a city person?
  
  
• The person I traveled with is a flaming extrovert and she talked ALL.THE.TIME! I was worn out by the time I got home. Convention alone is enough to be exhausting to an introvert like me but this was doubly exhausting.
  
  
• The weather was abominable Saturday. Heavy rain and high winds...I arrived home Saturday evening around 7 to a completely dark house--power had been out for two hours already. The Kid had lit a bunch of candles and gotten out flashlights (of which we always have too few that work!). We decided to go out to get something to eat since we were pretty sure that other areas had power and we were hoping that ours would be back on by the time we got back. But alas, it wasn't. And I was preaching on Sunday. And my sermon wasn't written. And I always preach from a text. And the Kid had used up what little battery power my laptop has watching a movie when the power first went out. I was more than a little tired and grumpy and trying not to panic. I lay down for a minute to think about what I wanted to preach on--I had done my prep work earlier in the week intending to write on Thursday, but life intervened as it as a way of doing and nothing was written down at all. I am so used to composing on the computer that I knew that I couldn't write out a whole sermon longhand at that time of night so I decided to make an outline. Of course I dozed off--laying down was a BAD idea--and woke up smelling the candles and thinking "omigosh I'm going to set the house on fire!" At least I woke up enough to get my notes written out--fairly detailed notes, but not a full text.
  
  
• The power finally came on around 12:30--right after I finished my work. And yay for turning back the clock because I sure needed that extra hour of sleep.
  
  
• The sermon turned out okay. I preached twice--at 8 and at 10 and I think the sermon at 8 was much better. That's one reason I like using a text--even though it won't be exactly the same preached at different services, it will be more consistent. But overall, I was pleased that I did as well as I did, and I received some good feedback.
  
  
• I saw "An Inconvenient Truth" last night; our church has been sponsoring screenings of it for the last week. It was a great presentation of the issues, but I guess I wasn't as surprised or shocked by it as some people have reported being. I do think it is a serious call to action that we need to take real heed of. My boss is really committed to our church taking the lead in this area in becoming "green". We'll see how it goes.
  
  
• Speaking of my boss, I have been loathe to say too much about work here although I have whined a bit more freely over at Phantom Scribbler's. But this last week has particularly made me crazy--can we say communication? Or rather, the lack thereof? I have been trying really hard to be a good team player and to let go of my particular control issues, but I am having a hard time here.
  
  
• I am thinking of doing this. Since I only post once or twice a week at this point, it would be a challenge for me. But I think I will do it.
  
  
• It's noon and I am still sitting here in my jammies. My days off seem to have a way of getting away from me. By the time I shower and get dressed and eat lunch the Kid will be home from school--because he has a ridiculous schedule--and I already know that he has a ton of work because he has two things that he SHOULD have done over the weekend and didn't--including making a "cell" costume for biology. We bought supplies for it yesterday--50 fricking dollars worth of supplies for it--so it better be good. I so wish he could get motivated to get his work done without all the last minute freakouts and late nights.
  

Random Bits of Monday

• The weather has been gorgeous as only fall weather can be the last few days. It has been cool, though, and the colors don't seem to be quite as bright as this time last year. Part of what I might be missing is the tree which some of you may recall fell on my house last spring. It had the brightest leaves around last fall.
  

• The national weather service is predicting a warm winter for the US, but the Farmer's Almanac is predicting a very cold snowy winter for the Northeast. Any bets on which is more accurate? I love snow; if we have to have winter it ought to be cold and snowy--that's one of the reasons I love living in New England. But not everyone shares my enthusiasm for snow.

• I had a very pleasant weekend. Besides good weather, my friend (and New Testament scholar) came to give two talks at the church. And she brought her doggies along for a visit--the dogs we took care of for a couple of weeks last summer. It was fun having them here for the weekend. I used to be nervous about having people stay at my house, but I am much more mellow about it now, and I enjoy having houseguests.
  

• We're thinking about getting a puppy--perhaps one of these. Goldendoodles (and Labradoodles) are so cute--and theoretically they are low/no shed. I love dogs and I loved having the dogs here this summer. But after having at least one child at home continuously for the last 31 years, there is a part of me that is reluctant to take on another creature that is going to be dependent on me. OTOH, dogs provide as close as unconditional love as you can get....except maybe from babies and I am definitely out of the baby business.
  

• NPR had a feature story this morning about "eating locally", focusing on a project in New Mexico that is trying to market and encourage locally grown meat and produce. A great idea, but what struck me as somewhat ironic was the underlying implication in the piece that this was something new and revolutionary. Isn't this how everyone used to eat?
  

• I'm nursing just a bit of a cold--I seem to have had it in stages: Thursday and Friday my throat was scratchy. Friday I developed a cough, and Saturday my voice was iffy. Yesterday morning my voice was better and the cough wasn't bad, but yesterday afternoon I got a bit stuffy, and I am still a bit stuffy today--not bad, just annoying. And I feel fine, for which I am grateful.

• I've never liked being sick, and it's hard for me to admit to being sick--most of the time a cold doesn't qualify. My mother says that I always said "I feel fine!" when I was a kid, even when I had a fever or was otherwise clearly indisposed. The only time (other than upset stomachs) that I recall really feeling sick as a child was when I had the measles--during summer vacation no less. I did feel pretty miserable then.

• I made some really yummy soup last week. I intended to make a recipe for sweet potato soup from the Moosewood Lowfat Cookbook but realized I was missing a couple of key ingredients. So I decided to improvise. I cooked onion in olive oil til it was tender and then added three peeled and cut up sweet potatoes, a cut up sweet red pepper and vegetable broth. Instead of the seasonings called for (which were southwestern) I added some curry powder, ginger and garam masala and cooked it til the potatoes were soft. Then I blended it til it was mostly smooth and blended in maybe a third of a cup of peanut butter. I added some frozen corn and simmered it for a few minutes. It was DELICIOUS. Now my goal is to recreate it--I didn't measure anything, but that is how I tend to cook anyway. I get good results, but sometimes it proves impossible to reproduce them.

• What is with BlogRolling anyway? I've only been using it for about 10 days, and 2 of those days it has marked EVERY blog as recently updated, and I'm pretty sure that isn't the case. Other days it doesn't mark all of the ones that ARE updated.
  

• I need to take some comp time at work--I've worked far too many hours on days off lately, but it is hard to find extra time to take off. (I wonder what it would feel like to have a job where you work eight hours and then go home and don't think about it again til the next day? Do those jobs exist? Would I be bored out of my mind?) And how annoying is it to have worked on my day off to meet a deadline only to find out that my boss completely blew the deadline off?
  

• I read and enjoy posts of random comments on lots of other blogs, but when I write one I still fear that it is going to bore everyone silly.
  

Blogiversary

Happy Blogiversary to me!

I started this blog a year ago today. I wasn't sure what to expect--what I'd write about, whether anyone would even come read or leave comments. A year later I would say that I haven't written everything I've wanted to. Often I have posts in my head, but I get busy and by the time I get to the computer they are gone, or too muddled to write. But I do feel like I have connected with an interesting community of bloggers more than I would have thought possible, and that is really, really nice. This community seems to be comprised of a perhaps unlikely mix of mommy blogs, academic blogs, and clergy/Episcopal blogs. I've only met one blogger f2f, but I hope to meet more. Edited to add: rereading this, I realize this isn't quite accurate, because there are at least two bloggers on my blogroll whom I knew before I--or they--started blogging.

I'm never sure whether what I choose to blog about will be incredibly boring to others or not. And I cannot predict which posts will get comments, but I've decided not to worry about it. I love taking pictures and posting those, but I don't want this to just be a photo blog. So perhaps in the next year I will spend more time writing. Or not. We'll see.

Name Game

As seen at profgrrrrl's place:

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 75 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

My first name, at least as I spell it, was not at all common when I was a kid, but I know that it has increased in popularity. But what really surprised me is that my last name is tied for the 23rd most popular last name. Wow. I am surprised because I NEVER run into anyone else with that last name.

I checked my mother's name: there are 559 people with her name. I am gobsmacked about that because her first name is not one you hear very often and it certainly doesn't make any top baby name lists. Very interesting....

Industry versus ecology

Today's New York Times has an alarming article about possible outcomes from the recent e.coli contamination of bagged spinach. Or perhaps I should say one alarming possible outcome with far reaching implications, and that is increased federal regulation of agriculture. I might, before reading this article, have seen this as desirable; after all we want to know that our food is handled properly and that we are as protected as possible from toxins in our food. But in fact such federal action could result in further hampering the ability of small farms selling locally to make a go of it.

The main point of this piece is that when agriculture became industrialized and industrial solutions to problems began to be implemented the long term effect was to create more problems that then require greater industrial intervention, until we end up with a system far removed from natural ecology. Feedlots for cattle were cited as an example of this, and in fact, some have speculated that the most virulent strain of e. coli we are dealing with now originated in feedlots where cattle are fed an unnatural diet supplemented by large doses of pharmaceuticals. When I lived in Florida I lived near such a feedlot and it was indeed a nasty place. It's not hard to see that the likelihood of contamination is greater in such a place than when animals are in a more natural environment. The increased regulation of meat packing plants that came about from the incidents of e. coli in ground beef a few years back has put many smaller meat packers out of business, meat packers who likely would have handled the locally grown grass fed cattle.

All of this demonstrates that bigger is not better, than an industrialized society while perhaps more efficient takes us farther and farther from what is natural, and that is a loss that seems hard to recoup. Sometime in the last year I vowed to try to eat more locally and more seasonally, but I haven't done very well. Part of it is my dislike of shopping and cooking--I end up with whatever is easiest. And that is the other component: where I live the supply of locally grown food is very very small (unless you count cranberries). There are a few farmer's markets open in the summer but their limited hours meant that I was never able to get to one. And our chain grocers do not carry local produce.

But I need to do better, even if it means that I drive an hour to get to the nearest Whole Foods. I know that they are not without problems, and perhaps I'm fooling myself to think that they are any better...but I don't know a better solution at this point.

On Being a Pacifist

I've considered myself a pacifist for a number of years now. I cannot tolerate violence, but more importantly I cannot see how fighting--war--solves anything in the long run. I'm neither a politically savvy person nor an historian, so I don't have a full repertoire of arguments to back my claim that pacifism is a better approach to the world, but I have been musing about why I feel so strongly about pacifism.

I'm the second of four children and while I don't consider myself to have been persecuted or mistreated as a child, there was a period of time when I was "picked on" by siblings on both sides. Most of my squabbles with my older sister were purely verbal, although she did haul off and sock me a good one occasionally. But my younger brother was quite physical, and I bore the marks to prove it--black and blue marks on my shins I remember in particular from the year that my brother wore heavy "work boots" every day. He must've been 7 or so, but he could kick hard, and those boots hurt! And he was always ready to punch whoever he happened to be unhappy with at the moment. My mother didn't like to intervene in our squabbles, believing rightly or wrongly that we would be better off to work it out on our own, and I can remember wailing plaintively to her about unfair it all was. "I can never get the last hit!" was my frustrated complaint, and it was true. No matter how hard or how often I hit my brother back, he would always come back at me. There was no end to it.

My parents believed in spanking for discipline. I wasn't spanked often, and I only remember being spanked by my mother, never by my father, but I remember again thinking how unfair it was that parents could hit children. And I'm not sure spanking ever had the desired effect on me, if the desired effect was to make me repentant for whatever my transgression was. I grew up swearing that I would never spank my kids, but it was hard not to, especially in the face of LOTS of criticism from my mother and sister for not disciplining my children properly. And I confess that I did swat the behinds of my kids out of frustration a few times--and felt absolutely awful afterwards. And realized yet again that responding aggressively is not a solution.

Neither of these experiences is really related to the subject of war, which is what pacifism is really aimed at for the most part. But they did sow the seeds for me, the belief that fighting back only encourages more fighting back, that aggression breeds more aggression, that the circle of aggression once started is difficult to break, and those notions are connected to war. But it took me a long time to put this all together and to articulate it. I grew up in the sixties when WWII was often the subject of movies and TV shows--both serious and comedic. War was romanticized, and besides, who could say that fighting the Germans in WWII was a bad thing?

I also grew up in the era of Martin Luther King,Jr. and witnessed as a child his example of non-violent resistance. But it wasn't until much later when I read as adult about his work, and about the work of Gandhi that I came to believe that non-violent resistance made a great deal of sense--far more sense that fighting back.

When the World Trade Center was attacked, I was incredibly sad, like everyone else. I knew that the world was changed, perhaps irrevocably. But in one way, my reaction was different from many others. I did not feel the need to seek revenge. I've thought about that a great deal, and I've realized that the lust for vengence seems to be missing in me. I don't say that to sound superior, just to note the fact that I don't seem to have the need to get back at people that seems so strong in others. And I don't see how making others suffer, killing others, really achieves justice (this is one of the reasons I am against the death penalty as well). What's more the notion that retribution should bring solace to victims' families is misplaced,and honestly not sound psychologically. So a war of retribution makes no sense to me either.

I was in seminary when the war in Iraq was launched, and we spent a great deal of time talking about just war theory and whether this war met the criteria as a "just war." But those arguments seem weak to me; how can we see any war as just?

The final piece of the puzzle, so to speak, fell into place for me when I heard someone say that pacifists don't have to justify pacifism by explaining how it would've prevented past wars. Often pacifists are asked if they would have refused to fight Hitler when Germany declared war, or refused to fight if they had known about the concentration camps and the slaughter of Jews.I don't know any pacifist who wouldn't have responded in some way to that situation. But in truth those are the wrong questions. The questions to ask are "at what point in history could things have been different so that the events that led to WWII (or WWI or any other war) would not have transpired. And even more importantly, what can we do to change world conditions to prevent future wars?"--because NOW is the time to do those things.

I don't believe that we should submit to terrorists. But I don't believe that war--especially the war we are engaged in in Iraq--is making us any safer from terrorism. On the contrary, this war has given terrorists new reason to fight. I think we should stop fighting in Iraq--and the sooner the better. Most of all, I think that we need to change our world view so that we no longer see war as an option. As the most powerful nation on earth we need to bring our considerable resources to bear on eradicating poverty and disease. We need to truly respect other religions and other cultures instead of expecting everyone to be like "us". Perhps we cannot end all wars immediately, but if we don't work to change the mindset of the worl, we shall surely destroy ourselves.

Perhaps this is all naive dribble, but it is what I believe.

Updated!

I had not updated the links in my sidebar in months, so today I spent a ridiculously long time making a blogroll and adding it to my sidebar--during which time 90% of my blog seemed to disappear, leading to great panic on my part. But somehow it reappeared after I quit working on it---I totally don't get it, but whatever....

I didn't mean to leave anyone off, so if you're not there and you want to be, email me.

Civic Duties

From the RevGalBlogPals, in honor of the fall election season:



1) How old were you when you voted for the first time?

It was 1972, and I was 19. IIRC, that was the first presidential election after the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18.

2) What was the contest at the top of the ballot?

President, and I voted for George McGovern. As an aside, Jimmy Carter was the first winning candidate I voted for, and he is still one of my heroes.

3) Can you walk to your polling place?

I could, I guess, if I had time. But it's not really convenient to walk.

4) Have you ever run for public office?

No. But when I was a kid I wanted to be a senator.

5) Have you run for office in a club or school or on a board?

In eighth grade, I ran for secretary of the student government. Of course I didn't win; if I got a dozen votes I was lucky. I was incredibly young and naive even for 8th grade....sigh....this is related to the content of a post that is lingering in my draft folder...

Weekend in the Woods

Our diocesean camp and confernce center is nestled deep in the woods on a lake in a state just to the north (yes, it is a bit odd that it's in another state). This weekend forty-five members of my church traveled there for our First Annual Parish Retreat. I am happy to report that a good time was had by all. (And this report is accompanied by more than a little relief on my part since I was in charge of planning this retreat, and much anxiety ensued as the time approached!)

The camp is a beautiful place--rustic enough to be charming and with enough amenitites to be comfortable. And the setting was perfect for an early fall weekend in New England. Although it rained both Friday and Sunday, Saturday was bright and sunny and brisk. We had a nice balance of program time and free time to enjoy the lake and the woods and the wonderful setting.

Saturday afternoon we saw an incredible rainbow.



It was neither the brightest nor the largest rainbow I've seen, but it was the only rainbow I've ever seen that was straight up over head and that did not approach the horizon on either end.

One of the great parts of this weekend was sharing time with people of all ages. Our group's ages ranged from 3 1/2 to 84. We had three couples in their 80s present. Two of these men were prisoners of war during WWII, and one of the women was an ambulance driver during the war, and they love to tell stories about their experiences. Saturday night we had a bonfire by the lake, and sang songs from just about every generation present.

As usual, I took lots of pictures and I'll leave you with just a few, taken Saturday afternoon during free time.

Wild Things

As we pulled into the driveway tonight, I caught sight of a furry critter off to the side, at the edge of the wooded area that separates the driveway from the church. I wasn't sure what it was so I slowed down and turned on my bright lights to see better. It was very furry, white on its back and darker below--yes, it was a skunk and a fairly large one at that.

In the just over a year that I've lived here I've seen a greater variety of wildlife thatn I 've seen in any other place I've lived--a fox, an oppossum, a snapping turtle, geese, rabbits, numerous birds (American goldfinches, purple finches, Baltimore Oriole, tufted titmouse, red bellied woodpecker, downy woodpecker, white breasted nuthatch, cardinals, blue jays, robins...) and of course the ubiquitous squirrels and chipmunks. I didnt' expect any of this when I moved here; while it is wooeded area adn lots are large, it is a heavily settled area.

This is the firest time I've seen a skunk, and I hope, honestly, that it doesn't become a fequent visitor!