Guest Post

Thanks to Andy Hanson (Adventist Perspective), an abridged version of my article in Friends Journal (Sept 2009) appeared as a guest post on the Reinventing the Adventist Wheel blog. I had been wondering if I should continue trying to get my book published and have also been thinking about a more scholarly article about Friends and Adventists. As I feel my intellectual and creative energy returning, Andy's message is such a timely blessing!

Music, birds, flowers, misc 2009

Dec. 28th, 2009

Went cross-country skiing yesterday at the local nature center and for a nice long walk at Aman Park this morning. Snowing constantly since Sunday morning.

Just finished an excellent book called Forest Born, by Shannon Hale. Hale is shaping up to be another LeGuin. In Enna Burning, she described the moral issues surrounding the use of the atomic bomb. In this one, she describes the curse/gift of "people speaking," aka charisma combined with the extreme empathy of very sensitive people (especially those who were abused as toddlers). Looking forward to reading her graphic novel & adult fiction. On the other hand, I wasn't interested enough in Madeleine L'Engle's The Joys of Love, which she wrote for her granddaughters in 1940, to finish it.

Enjoyed visiting my sister & nephews on the 19th, and our best lesbian friends in Ypsi from the 18th-20th. Had fun at Trader Joe's & Whole Foods, & the tour of Zingerman's Creamery. Good goat cheese, batman! Also had a giggling good time visiting with my friend Jim on Saturday.

Dec. 8th, 2009

mother nuts

My mother has gone to the psych unit of the hospital again, my sister says. It really seems like mom needs to live vicariously through me, so when I refuse to take her calls, she goes bonkers. She seems like a stalker without boundaries.

Dec. 4th, 2009

Snow!

13.5" of snow overnight here (that's the official figure & I sure brushed off at least that much from the top of the garbage container when I wheeled it out)! Plus, 3-6" more expected today.

Nov 5, 2009

I attended a concert by GVSU's New Music Ensemble. They performed "In C" by Terry Riley, a "minimalist masterpiece" completed in 1964. Their new CD, "In C Remixed," got a great review in the Newsweek (October 12, 2009). The composition was printed on the back of the program--it is 53 measures long & each musician must start at the beginning and go forward in order, but is free to decide when to begin playing, how many times to repeat the measure, what octave to play it in, what variations to play, etc. What could be chaotic is instead richly layered, both rhythmically & harmonically, sometimes sounding like John Adams, sometimes like whale songs, sometimes just like itself. It was beautiful. When I returned to the office, I realized that we didn't own the cd, & am ordering it for the Library. Thus what was originally just an ordinary liaisoning event became a collection development opportunity. 

Nov. 1st, 2009

Went for a walk today, down to the Nature Center & on the shortest path. Noticed some periwinkle raspberry canes, one lone New England aster, and the golden light of the path in the woods.

Sep. 11th, 2009

now this is an opera I might enjoy...

Medical librarian pens opera about boxing legend Joe Louis: “Shadowboxer: An Opera Based on the Life of Joe Louis.” “Boxing is a perfect subject for an opera,” he [John Chenault, composer/librarian] said, “because it brings together something so physical and intense as boxing with something so intense and emotional as opera.”

Aug. 24th, 2009

Richland Horse Trials

Went to the trials on Saturday to see both show jumping in the arena and cross-country. It was great to see all of the gorgeous horses up close, and the galloping jumps and splashes through water.... Definitely worth the donation to Cheff Therapeutic Riding Center. The riders & horses ranged from "novice" to Olympic-level, with one trainer bringing 5 horses of his own and multiple students. 

Jul. 21st, 2009

UP travels

We went to Tahquamenon Falls which were roaring tannin-brown & I spotted a Blackburnian warbler & a yellow-rumped warbler. I went back the next morning because it was so beautiful--giant ferns in the woods, 8-foot-tall thistles, multiple falls, etc. At Seney National Wildlife Refuge, spotted Sandhill cranes, a yellow warbler, ospreys (flying & nesting), loons with chicks on their backs, trumpeter swans & cygnets, a kingfisher, cedar waxwings, an Eastern kingbird, & a Northern Flicker. We also heard a Hermit Thrush singing away, saw a beaver swimming, & spotted a ruffed grouse sitting just outside the preserve. Gorgeous. I also enjoyed driving through the Keweenaw Peninsula, including Agate beaches, Brockway Drive, the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse, & Canyon Falls (wow, flat rocks in MI, & maple-syrup-colored spume). Visited Ed Gray at his studio in Calumet & some other art galleries. Enjoyed the views & architecture in Marquette.

It was neat to see lots of bedrock, stamp sands from the copper mining, white birch & cedars in abundance, wildflowers blooming. Oh, & to eat baked goodies from the monks at the Jampot!

Wildflowers:
Yellow: black-eyed Susans, golden Alexanders, buttercups, goat's beard, St. John's wort, hawkweed (Canadian), sweet yellow clover, goldenrod, yellow lilypads, wild parsnip, something which looked like yellow vetch (help, please, if you know it!), hop clover, sulfur cinquefoil, fringed loosestrife.

Orange: hawkweed, daylilies.

White: pussytoes, daisies, daisy fleabane, Queen Anne's lace, sweet white clover, yarrow, white lilypads, fringed campion, spreading dogbane, thimbleberry, bunchberry.

Pink/purple: thistles (8 feet tall!), New England asters, sweet peas, crown vetch, milkweed (common) & swamp milkweed, sweet clover, spotted knapweed, wild roses, purple loosestrife, fireweed.

Blue: harebells.

Other: sedges & giant ferns at Tahquamenon.

Experienced the Party....

Jun. 2nd, 2009

pond, VA, crafts

The putting in of the pond is going ok. Maybe 1/2 of the pond sides are backfilled. I was feeling tired & grubby when the phone rang, & it was a childhood friend who now lives in Seattle, calling to see if we could get together for lunch (here in MI)! How pleasant it was to see her & her mom. Too bad it took Amy away from her office for 5 hours.

While we were in Virginia, I took a guided tour of the Cascades Gorge, which I had walked several times before when it was still open to the public. Now one has to pay. But it was worth it for the things I learned (too much to repeat here). 

Tomorrow I may visit the carving club, as I have a hankering to learn & Amy gave me a tool kit for xmas. We stopped at the Tamarack in West Virginia & I was amazed by the quality of the art & craft work there. Oh, and I saw Damascus (folded) steel for the first time, as in Laurie Marks' books.

The cherry tomatoes, lemon thyme, and rosemary are in (I still prefer to wait until after Memorial Day to plant). Sage is doing well, same with chives & lemon verbena. Our late-blooming lilac is particularly fragrant this year, as it loves the cool weather. Iris are Tall & gorgeous!

May. 20th, 2009

bloomin' ...

The paw paw trees are blooming, with their maroon flowers. Trillium are dying pinkly and the bluebells are slimming down, but Jack-in-the-Pulpits, geraniums, phlox, and violets are all flowering profusely, and the Dame's Rocket has started taking over roadsides. And the mosquitoes are swarming, SWARMING I tell you! So I got a very brisk, heart-healthy, arm-waving walk in early. Near the end of my walk the breeze blew strongly enough so I could breathe the greening beauty in deeply.

May. 14th, 2009

Birdwatching & wildflowers

I have decided that birdwatching is very frustrating here--the birds are very shy & flitty. I enjoyed going to Point Pelee last Sunday--the warblers are much less shy there & thus easier to see. I have been seeing Rose-breasted Grosbeaks regularly, along with Baltimore Orioles. At Pt. Pelee, I added a blue-winged warbler to the life list; we also saw many yellow warblers & orioles--even a Baltimore-Bullocks intergrade.

Here at home, there is a small gray gnatcatcher or warbler-type with a faint eye-ring which is extremely adept at keeping itself hidden in the tree and teasing me by accompanying me on the whole walk but allowing only 2 glimpses in an hour or so. Its call is very mockingbird-like, cycling through 2 repeats of many species like robins, jays, etc.

Wildflowers spotted today: honeysuckle, may apple, common strawberry.

May. 8th, 2009

more wildlife & wildflowers

Yesterday while walking, a friend & I saw an eastern hognose snake, Virginia bluebells all over--including the white variation, wild ginger, & Jack-in-the-pulpit.

Today I saw several rose-breasted grosbeaks, garter snakes, a ribbon snake, painted turtles, nesting mallards, red trillium, & white & magenta violets--never seen such before--gorgeous.

May. 6th, 2009

birds & wildflowers

Today I spied a scarlet tanager, a veery singing veerily, phlox & false lily of the valley blooming, and redbud starting to haze the creek banks.

May. 3rd, 2009

New blooms

Golden Alexanders, marsh marigolds, rue anemone, wild geraniums.

Apr. 29th, 2009

Blooming in the woods

Yesterday & today: Early meadow rue, Blue cohosh, wood anemone (discovered when I had to bushwack because the path was under a "lake"), self-heal, ground ivy.

Apr. 26th, 2009

wildflower update

While the hepatica are done, now open (in addition to those previously listed) are: trillium, violets, squirrel corn (think wild, white "bleeding hearts"), swamp buttercups. The forest floor is blanketed in wildflowers!

Last year we bought a pair of pre-formed plastic tubs for a backyard pond. Yesterday Tullio  helped me dig, so the larger tub fits in the ground now. Next: dig the hole for the smaller section. Too rainy today (yes, we got wet yesterday). Time for a walk, to listen to the frogs.

Apr. 15th, 2009

wildflowers & fowl

In Aman Park (Grand Rapids) today, I spotted the following blooming: the hepatica are everywhere!, spring beauties, spring cress, bloodroot, Dutchman's britches, false rue anemone, myrtle, & the forsythia. The last 2 were probably planted by the original owners of the land & have gone wild (is there such a thing as feral flowers? "escaped cultivation" or "naturalized"). Also, I saw a male Wood duck splashing down into one of the vernal ponds--gorgeous.

Apr. 3rd, 2009

Ramps

The wild leeks are springing up like crazy here.  Anyone for a ramp dinner?  Need to know more? Check here.

Apr. 2nd, 2009

new kitty

We have a new addition to the household: "Dawn's Choice" (Choice) is an 8-year-old American Shorthair, silver shaded, retired-from-the-beauty-queen-circuit, female (spayed) cat.

Apr. 1st, 2009

wildflowers

The hepatica are blooming, though they were appearing to shiver in the cold wind! Aman Park, Ottawa Co., MI.

Mar. 12th, 2009

Aboriginal art

Today I'm off to a lecture called “Art as Spirit among the Australian Aborigines” by James Cowan (1942-).  I know I've read at least one of his books, and he has had shows at GVSU--his collections of Aboriginal art are fantastic.

Last Saturday I had much fun attending the Stulberg Competition in Kalamazoo.  It was the 1st time ever (34 years of this international competition) that a string bassist had ever won--I think Nick Schwartz will be as good as Edgar Meyer--sweet and ultra-clear tone, great interpretation, beautiful playing all around.

Commanding compassion

I've had my gallbladder out & am making a good recovery. Just after my surgery, my wife was told by someone that my wife should go to that person's house to help her with her chores, to take my wife's mind off her own troubles. I found that particularly insensitive, as my wife was doing her best to run our household, take care of me, and keep her head above the water with her own inner turmoil. Did that person offer to bring us a meal or otherwise help us out? No.

A week later, this same person announced that she thought that certain folks should be making more effort to attend their committee meetings. She also denounced dual memberships in the sense of going to other meetings or churches -- which takes people away from our meeting -- and why can't that be done on Saturdays? (BTW, this is a person who is consistently late for M/meetings, who demands that others help her yet doesn't seem to make much effort to help others.)

I am angry, wanting to elder this person. Who is she to question our Meeting's discernment about memberships? I find strength comes from these connections, not diminishment. Why does she feel free to demand so much time & energy? Why doesn't she ever step up to the plate to organize the events she would like to see us doing?

I need help finding relief from my anger, and help finding compassion. I realize that I probably react so strongly because I would rather complain than act, & I see how this behavior is defeating both to myself & others. I have a hard time loving myself, let alone loving others as myself.