Cometsgirl

Jesus said to his disciples, “so, could you not stay awake with me one hour?”

For the first time in my 76 years, I am staying awake with Jesus. I signed up for the vigil that began immediately following the Maundy Thursday service, and will end at noon on Good Friday. I have the 4:30am – 6:00am shift.

Leaving my home I was gifted with an extraordinary moonlit sky.

On entering the church, I “heard” silence.

I am surprised to find it welcoming. I expected to be uncomfortable in this place, alone, in the dark hours before dawn. To be honest, though, I am a bit disquieted when I hear a quiet bump.

I’m reminded of a podcast I heard some months ago. It was an interview with acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton. His passion is to record and find places that are quiet. The quiet which he sets out to capture is not silence, but rather the quiet that is created by the sound of pure nature, void of any and all manmade noise. Hempton considers a location to be quiet if he can listen to the sounds of nature without any manmade interruptions for 15 minutes.

He believes there are only, at most, 12 places in the US where one can go without hearing any human caused noise. He will divulge only three: He names The Hoh Rainforest in Olympic National Park, Boundary Waters Canoe Area Park in Minnesota, and Haleakala National Park in Hawaii. I’m fortunate to be have been to the Hoh and to Haleakala. I can attest to the silence of the Hoh.

It is in this quiet space I now find myself. I do believe I have had a couple of 15 minute periods without any manmade interruption. Imagine that.

I’m behind in my daily psalm reading, so I’m using this time to catch up. From March 28, I shout for joy because of the work of your hands.-Psalm 92:4. The Reverend Barbara Craftan talks about when you stop seeing the beauty around you because you see it every day. She says wherever you are right now, there is something lovely you have stopped noticing. Stop. Look. Enjoy.

So here I am in the beauty of this silent place as I stay awake with Jesus, listening to the silence.

Reading just now from the Book of Common Prayer: O heavenly Father, who hast filled the world with beauty: Open our eyes to behold thy gracious hand in all thy works; that, rejoicing in thy whole creation, we may learn to serve thee with gladness; for the sake of him through whom all things were made, thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Well guess what…. I got to spend an extra hour with Jesus because the 6am shift folks never showed up. They have no idea what they missed.

We began this day with coffee and homemade cinnamon rolls. Both the rolls and the table and chairs were provided by one of Beth’s parishioners. The photograph makes clear the rolls were quickly consumed. Delicious! Much to be grateful for sitting outside on this Spring day.

Today Beth has declared this day to be her Sabbath day. Generally this means doing no work, rather, doing only those things that are fulfilling. I’m along for this Sabbath. This day has already diverted from the “rule” of Sabbath as we’ve been out and about a bit, including a frustrating visit to the post office. Generating anger and frustration, this was NOT fulfilling.

Returning home, frustration lessened as some things were resolved the old fashioned way – speaking to a person on the telephone. This was enough to replace frustration with some pieces of resolution, and even bits of laughter.

Speaking of laughter, last night’s production of Ann was filled with wonderful humor.

Having VIP seating, it seemed fitting we would opt for “VIP” parking. A real bargain.

We arrived garbed in the Ann Richards t-shirts and caught the attention of other attendees and theatre staff. We photographed ourselves as we entered, and then a staff member asked to take our picture which would be added to the theatre’s collection of Ann Richards memorabilia. We were a hit!

Settling into front row seating as we awaited the theatre to fill, and then the arrival of Ann to the stage.

It was delightful!

As Beth worked to resolve some of the move transition issues, I created a cross using found ceramic pieces at the rectory along with a plastic chip picked up at the post office.

Next up packing up lesser-used items for the upcoming move.

Stay tuned.

I’ve found my calling. It’s “installing” scented drawer papers.

I’m so much better at this than potting plants, mostly because I don’t have to do any heavy lifting.

This day began with meeting a mutual friend for breakfast and Live prayer. At 8am sharp, we dropped our conversation and moved into FaceTime Morning Prayer. Beth, or her curate, lead this, along with Compline at night, every day of the week except Sunday.

The drive to breakfast was accompanied by the fireworks of sunrise.

After the prayer breakfast we set out for the rectory to continue our preparations for Beth’s return move-in. That’s when I did my own move-in, literally. I moved inside. My task was to line all the drawers in the master bath. Upstairs I cleaned out some cabinets in the guest bath and lined shelves. It was not near as physically challenging as working in the yard. I guess I’m a wuss. I will say, tho, I’m good at the precision of measuring and fitting. Hence, my calling.

After lunch and errand running, we returned home for rest time. Beth was far more deserving of rest than I, so I found a kind of rest in the making of crosses.

Reeds with bloom going to seed.

Orchid stems with seed pod from an oak tree on the rectory grounds.

Reeds with vine twirlings.

Tonight we’ll go to the theatre to see the play, Ann. Authored by Holland Taylor, it’s the story of Ann Richards who was Governor of Texas in the 90’s. I was such a fan and supporter of her. I even joined a dear friend to walk with 1,000’s of others through Austin, Texas, when Ann was inaugurated as Governor.

So I’m really looking forward to the play. Beth and I will be wearing Ann Richards t-shirts from that Inauguration Day.

Stay tuned.

Not long after I arrived, Beth and I drove over to the rectory to check some things out, and see what we might need to purchase at one of our favorite stores. Lowe’s. NOT!

Going through flooding has necessitated doing some home improvement shopping.

You gotta shop where you gotta shop.

But first…. Soto’s for fabulous TexMex! An amazing repast.

Then on to Lowe’s where we purchased garden gloves, huge bags of potting soil, a variety of plants, a dolly. For good measure we tossed in a giant streetside trash can.

Loaded up, we returned to the rectory where we spent much of the afternoon potting plants, cleaning up the yard, and organizing pots and plants around the yard. Whew! Hard work for those who are oldering .

The azaleas survived being under 5′ of floodwater. Just lovely.

While walking around the yard I kept coming across crosses that were askew. Most likely strewn about when underwater.

I was thoughtful about the “found” crosses, even as I gathered material for my own cross making.

Returning home, hoping to rest a bit, a call came in about a parishioner’s death. A quick clean up and we were off to a memory care center for Beth to pray with the family.

These kinds of things seem to occur whenever I come to town. No wonder I was once asked to please let the parish know when I was planning a visit. I’d surely like to think these happenings are unrelated to my visit.

Still….

Orchid stalks found in the yard.

And now this day comes to an end. Peaceful rest.

I’ve been home six days and I’m about to take a seat, once again, in that chair in the sky.

I’m headed to Houston early this morning. I’m going to help Beth pack up for a second return to the rectory – after flood #2.

I drove to Atlanta last night for an early flight. This was much easier than leaving home at 3am in the morning. Plus, snow was forecast. I believe WAS is the operative word here.

It’s chilly in Atlanta this morning. I’ll travel 689 air miles, while also “traveling” in temperature degrees. High of 45 at home, 78 in Houston. I’m hoping I packed light enough.

What a beautiful morning to fly.

I mention the two floods. In each one I mostly focused on unpacking. This week I’ll be using my packing skills. I’m actually a most excellent packer. Almost world renowned. Seriously.

Making light of hard times sometimes helps. I have been so close to these floods, even participating in one of them. I need to find some light and humor to sustain me. There is hard work ahead this week, for body, mind, and soul.

I’ll need to carve out a bit of time for cross making.

In the meantime, here are the latest cross creations.

Acorn sanded flat to be affixed to found wood.

The other 2 chimes from the broken wind chime (featured earlier) cloaked in seed pods.

Found penny attached to Apple tree scraps.

Pussy willow branches gathered roadside in Colorado.

Spoons served with local cappuccinos. My coffee companion created this cross.

Just landed. See you on down the road.

And so we all disperse this morning, headed home to Texas and to Georgia. By car, by plane.

I took an early morning walk to move my car closer to the lodge for loading up.

Soon the slopes will open.

The sun will come up.

Walking into town was such a quiet scene.

Then a fairyland feel.

I love this.

I pray for peace for all this day.

My drive to Eagle airport was gorgeous, and involved a number of “scenic overlooks”.

Driving out of Lone Eagle Lodge.

Gotta have one for the road.

Pullovers along the way.

My plane is here.

Traveling mercies.

A fitting way to end this high-time trip. A double gondola ride to North Peak for Der Fondue Chessel dining.

An immense dining hall, capable of seating 300, was set up for a gastronomic feast. We began with tableside preparation of Caesar salad, followed by two pots of two kinds of cheese fondue. Then came a raclette grill of chicken, beef, bratwurst, and potatoes,

Musicians strolled by, stopping to play a few tunes.

All topped off with two pots of chocolate fondue – milk and dark chocolate.

A veritable feast!

The return gondola ride drifted down as the sun completed its setting. Both Mark and I activated our night sky apps so as to identify the stars which now appeared in the sky as dark settled in. We spotted a contrail high above, identified through a favorite app of mine as Southwest flight from St. Louis to Las Vegas. Ah, the wonders of it all.

Looking outside and below our balcony just now….

These few days have very much been a Rocky Mountain high. Homeward bound tomorrow.

Traveling mercies.

This a blue sky day. A Colorado blue sky. I’m sitting out on the condo balcony drinking Sam Pelligrino, reading the New York Times, covered in sunscreen. Watching skiers and snowboarders of all ages and abilities slide by. And occasionally a sled carrying an injured person slides past.

The lodge is situated at the base of River Run.

It’s ski in/ski out. Very convenient.

There’s Mark now.

And Georgia and Jack.

This is likely to be the last of the many family gatherings we have enjoyed at Keystone. In addition to the enormous joy we have all shared these past few days, it’s been a healing time for me. Eight years ago Jack and I were in a ski accident in this very place. It was far worse for him than for me. I’ve carried some responsibility for this ever since, because as a grandmother I felt like I failed to protect him.

He’s long recovered in body and mind. Being here these past few days has done much for the healing of my heart. Jack asked me if I was glad to be back. Yes I am.

Making crosses in this time and place has been especially meaningful.

Sticks stuck in our burgers to indicate doneness, tied with twine found by Georgia.

Napkin which accompanied my club soda on the flight to Eagle, now folded and cut.

Found button at the car rental affixed to found twigs.

Tonight we’ll take a double gondola ride to dinner. Stay tuned.

This afternoon we boarded a gondola for a ride up to the Summit House, where we were met by the snowcat driver who would drive us up to the top of the world. Almost literally.

Waivers signed, and dressed for super cold weather, thirteen of us climbed into the snowcat.

It was quite a ride!

The snowcat parked on the edge of the Independence Bowl. 12,200′. We clamored out of the cat and walked around.

Our driver pointed out all the peaks and related points of interest.

It was breathtaking! Truly. I slowed way down, but that just let me have time to savor the views. I did veer off on my own a bit. The driver informed my family that there would be a “whoosh” sound if I were to disappear. Hilarious.

The Heckel highpoint stance.

.Jack contributed the artwork just as we boarded for the return trip down the mountain.

Airborne at just under 40,000 feet for much of the flight, we descended to 6,600′ in Eagle. My drive to Keystone saw a gain in elevation to 9,200′.

Growing up in Colorado, I’ve always believed my lungs developed “super breathing” capability. When I travel to higher elevations I’m thankful I’m not winded or short of breath.

Today I expect to be close to 12,000′ as we go off on a snowcat adventure. These machines are used primarily for grooming the ski slopes throughout the night.

This morning brought more snowcats at work preparing the slopes for skiers and snowboarders.

Sunrise on a chilly morn.

At 3:15 this afternoon, we will gather to catch a ride on a gondola up to Dercum Mountan at 11,600′. We’ll board a snowcat – a HEATED – snowcat and head off into Independence and Bergen Bowls.

A Ricky Mountain High for sure.

Stay tuned.