Inspiration

Last night we went to a concert by the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus. The program was called One In Spirit and it featured music from many traditions and was spiritual, inspirational as well as beautiful and moving. And the performance by the Chorus was magnificent.

The theme behind the program was to celebrate the many faith-based communities around the Twin Cities that have gone out of their way to be inclusive of gay people in their congregations, often in opposition to their national governing bodies. It was so encouraging to see such a loving, all-encompassing congregation, both on stage and in the audience.

As part of the program there was a display of the Shower of Stoles Project, an exhibition of liturgical stoles of GLBT people who have been excluded from service because of their orientation or gender identity. Many of the Chorus members wore a selection of these stoles.

Our friend Tim Hodapp, who is a member of the Chorus (he has a lovely tenor voice) did a reading from 1 Corninthians as part of the program; Tim served for years as a Catholic priest, and in fact celebrated his last mass ten years ago last night. Tim wore a beautiful stole that he used in his priesthood. Other clergy from churches in the Twin Cities spoke, all affirming, welcoming messages. One of the best things I heard said last night was from one of these clergy: "We take the Bible seriously... not literally."

First Harvest

Spent some time outside yesterday afternoon; took down the fencing around the daylily bed, began the unending job of gathering fallen wood to burn and began poking under the straw covering some of the flowerbeds. Looks like some healthy looking iris and also some sedum made it through the winter OK. I didn't want to uncover too much, it's still a little early.

Then, as I walked past the herb garden on the south side of the house, I saw this little guy surprisingly and rather proudly displaying himself:



It might be kind of hard to make out, but that's chives, and apparently it's a pretty hardy perennial herb. It's amazing how the tiniest hint of green can make you feel renewed. The Promise of Spring indeed.


I brought a little in (snipped with the herb shears that were a Christmas gift from Martha, thank you again, Martha) and Carrie put it into her homemade version of 'Top the Tater'. Yumm!



Now this morning it's raining a hard, cold, slanting, almost winter-y rain. Even though it's not quite April yet, I'm reminded that T.S. Eliot nailed it when he wrote: "April is the cruelest month..."

Wafer Thin...

Sunday we had a great 'Buca event' with Chris, Molly, Eric, Jeannie, Jori, and the Wolfs.


It was a 'multiple birthday' deal, Chris, Molly, Eric and Jori having had recent birthdays, except for Chris, whose birthday it was that very day.



As usual at Buca, there was a ton of food, too much, but enough to get a taste of everything and lots of leftovers besides. To my surprise, Chris insisted on ordering the green beans! Gosh, that makes a dad proud, to see his kids ordering vegetables voluntarily. Of course the garlic mashers were the one 'must have' for everyone. Unfortunately we were three people short (there were only 11 of us) to sit a the Pope's Table. We had fun anyway!



We all had a great time, stayed until the place was pretty much closed. Carrie said she was the most full she's ever been. Enjoy Buca, and love all of these people.

House Sitting

I'm in beautiful Scandia, MN for a few days, house and pet sitting for Christine and Richard. They're in Savannah for their anniversary, and they return on Monday.

Things are pretty much 'the usual' here. Two cats and two large German Shepherds to care for. They're all well-behaved with a couple caveats. The cats constantly want to escape from the house, so a good deal of care is required when entering and exiting. That's Obi Wan on the left, Figaro on the right, both planning their next escape.

The dogs live to play frisbee and can get, well, rather insistent about it. The mud that's everywhere makes playing outside a challenge, especially in the housekeeping sense. On the whole they're good doggies, though.

One of the perks of being here is that the bandwidth is so much zippier than ours at home. About five times zippier. Lots of music and Old Time Radio being downloaded, all legal of course. Of course.

On another front, I finished the newsletter we write for the Amery Humane Society today and delivered it to the printer. Mary, the shelter manager, wants to have 1000 printed. I think it's the biggest run of my work ever to appear in print. Woo hoo!

Here's a link to a PDF for anyone who's interested.

You Don't Know Me

Tonight, maybe for the first time ever I think, Carrie sang to my guitar playing. We're working on You Don't Know Me by Cindy Walker and Eddy Arnold. I think Carrie's more familiar with the Bette Midler version; me, maybe the Ray Charles. Anyway, it's incredibly cool to hear her beautiful voice singing over my clunky, fumbly chords. It's so awesome to be able to share this together. I'm also trying to learn one of my all-time favorite songs, All The Things You Are. I'd love to hear her sing that, too.

Weekend Roundup

Lots of good times this past weekend. On Saturday we went to Christine and Richard's for what we hope will become an annual event... a St. Patrick's Day gaming party. We decorated the place with tons of decorations, and of course there was a bounty of yummy food. We'd decided to have the emphasis be on gaming rather than cooking, so it was an hors d'oeuvres deluxe kind of deal.

Besides the four of us, Michael, Diane, Gary and Leslie joined in the fun. Some folks played 500, I taught Richard a couple of easy card games and then we all played and ancient version of 'Scruples'. The photo shows Diane and Gary pondering whether or not to return the hypothetical dollar they found in the couch after a hypothetical party.

Sunday Kelly had us over for tacos, etc. We had a fun time, especially since Desmond and his family were there too, and he kept us amused by being a pirate the whole time. He's way into the pirate deal, knows all the words to Sloop John B, and has a bandanna, a sash and a great pirate cutlass he wields with much verve. Stupidly, I didn't take any photos of him! (And speaking of photos, Kelly graciously lent me her copy of Photoshop, and I feel like it's Christmas! I couldn't resist doing a little painting on the photo above.) It was good to see Jen, Kelly and baby Ren; they're such loving, awesome parents.

Anyway, a enjoyable, relaxing time at Kelly's and the best brownies in the world for desert. Kelly, how about leaving the recipe in the 'comments'? (I'll get some comments on this blog if I have to beg for them!)

In the kitchen

It just occurred to me that I should mention our book club get-together last Sunday. It had been re-scheduled from two weeks before, when we got our only major snow-dump of the year (so far, cross your fingers). Here's a photo of folks hanging out in the kitchen, where a lot of hanging out tends to happen at our house. This was shot before the Wolfs arrived and added to the bounty. This day turned out to be the 'gin-and-tonic inaugural' day of the spring, as it got up into the 50s. A lovely day and it was so good to see everyone together.

The book we read this month was Trailerpark by Russel Banks. Carrie had picked it and I think everyone got something out of it. Like most of his stuff, it had its depressing aspects, but there was also a nice sprinkling of resilience too. He is a powerful, gifted writer and I'm glad we read this book.

On a side note: I've added a link to Ann Rauvola's flickr site in the Links column on the right. Ann is a dear friend of ours, a graphic designer and a talented photographer. Check out her page when you get a chance.

Do Lord Deliver Our Kind

After a little searching today I dug out an LP by Robert Hunter, Tales of the Great Rumrunners. I was looking for the song called Boys in the Barroom. I'd forgotten how much I love that song, how primal and ancient it sounds. It's in that same drawer as songs by The Band or Dylan or Tom Waits; old, Civil War era songs (or so you'd swear), but with that slightly modern twist. Carrie and I used to sing this song together after a bump or two; I think it might have been the only song we knew all the lyrics to. We must bring it back into the repertoire.

Click here to download it, and next time you're sitting around with friends late, late in the evening and you need that 'winding things up' song, here you go.

I think it's my default campfire song.

Teapot

Here's a photo of the lovely and funky beehive teapot I got from Meighan for Christmas. There are so many things about it that I treasure; here are a few of them:

• Its design makes me smile, obviously
• It reminds me of Meighan every time I use it
• It pours perfectly, without spilling a drop, a surprisingly rare quality in teapots
• The sturdy and practical metal tea infuser from Michael Watkins fits it exactly
• It's not brand new; in fact, the patina of tea on the inside, as well as the craquelure that covers the sides and bottom speak of decades of workaday use by tea-drinkers who will be forever unknown to me
• That fine network of cracks, as well as the larger crack lines lend it a fragile quality that endears it to me all the more. Every time I reach to lift it down from the cupboard the thought passes through my mind that it could shatter, and that this just might be the last time that I (or anyone) get to use it

If it ever does break, it will surely end up in the garden. Maybe then an actual bee might land on it or even call it home.

Major Relief

Relief is what I'm feeling this afternoon, having undergone this morning my first ever colonoscopy. I'm not only relieved that it's over, but that the experience itself was much, much less traumatic than I'd anticipated. But that's usually the case with me, tending to imagine things will be worse than they end up actually being.

I will say, however, that the 'prep' was worse than I'd expected. WebMD says: "For many people, the prep for a colonoscopy is more trying than the actual test." I can attest that not only is this true, it's a considerable understatement. Drinking a gallon of salty sewing machine oil in three hours (I actually took longer) and suffering the results therefrom is not my idea of how to spend a lazy March afternoon. But I digress.

Two other notes: I was elated to learn that I don't have to undergo another of these adventures for 10 years; and I'd like to give my warmest regards to Judith L. Trudel, M.D. who made this most intimate of experiences if not exactly pleasurable, at least gentle and mercifully swift.


She has a special place in my... well, heart.

And to top it all off, everything looked healthy and A-OK. As usual, Carrie was there with me all along the way, supportive, encouraging and loving through the whole thing. Now on with life!

February Is Up

You can see it here. Rose is pretty much expressing my opinion of the month, photographically speaking. Don't expect much. Some nice photos of Carrie, though.