It is Donny's birthday today! Recently I dreamt that Donny was actually a set of twins, but I kept forgetting because they were never in the same place at the same time. Maybe it's a Sign for the coming year? Or maybe Donny bilocates? The boy is a mystery.
This past month, Julie got to go to Washington state to do research for her new book. (Jealous!! ;)) She writes: i stayed on puget sound in rural washington state to interview some indie catholic people. fr. rand gillen is an urban hermit who subs at the ellensburg episcopal church; he showed me the incredibly complicated steps for knotting traditional prayer cords, part of his creativity/ministry. bishop alan kemp says mass every sunday at olalla drug treatment center, so i got to see his routine. otherwise, it was enjoying happy dogs, the gig harbor marina (one of two pix in which you can see mt. rainier, regal above the trees), the ferry to seattle, in-season blackberry pie, the full moon rising on the sound, and, most especially, being enfolded in the big family of lalaine wong (small-business whiz, rose gardener, farmer, and chef) at the aloha b&b.
See pictures here!
Mary's partner Mark (in the cap, above!) sends along this news: I want to share some exciting news about the band I have joined. The band is called The Loom and we are heading out on the road for our first tour next week. The band is coalescing and there a great deal of encouraging kindness coming our way. Catch us before we get all famous and stuff, m'kay?
You can catch them in Brooklyn, Montreal, Portland, and Boston! Give them a listen, and see the full details of their tour, here. Go Mark!!!
The lab I work in is famous for "discovering" (in the Western sense) the effects of the hallucinogen salvinorin divinorum. The New York Times is running a piece on it, and we're in it! You can read it here - be sure to watch the video, too, where they interview my P.I. and show some of the lab. It's a really fun place to work (see evidence here). The article is well on its way to being Most Emailed today!
Da - maybe an idea for Melleray's garden? Teehee ;)
Julie sent some lovely pictures from a recent outing with Uncle Dick! She writes: on sunday, uncle dick and i spent the afternoon at the storm king art center, which is 500 acres of contemporary sculpture, set on rolling hills in the hudson highlands, all designed to be a nature/art harmonium. you can get on a tram, hop off at any point and walk around, and then get on the next one. it was an astonishing place; we will definitely go back! and take a picnic next time!
Julie came to North Carolina for a short, sweet visit at the end of August. In this picture, she is planting onions. We got to celebrate Nicole's arrival at Melleray and my birthday (yes, very late ;)) with big summer meals at the picnic table, featuring garden greens so fresh they were still warm from the sun. Here are some beautiful pictures she took while she was here!
Clare and Stefan made the big move! After more than ten years in New York City, they've packed everything up for the serenity of Vermont. This is the first picture they sent of their house, which they'll be renting for at least a year while they get settled in - click on it to see a bigger version! You can also see the patio and outdoors in Clare's most recent Weekly Rite, seen here.
All I can say is...I can't wait to visit ;)
Wonderful-exciting! You can now see, online, the short film we made for the play Fistful of Love - i.e., the Big Wedding Scene. It was a very hot May day when we filmed this (see pictures starting here), but it was so worth it. During performances, whenever the film came on, all of us actors would creep out from backstage to watch it. We had a beautiful live version of the Beck song you hear here, and it was always a sacred shared moment. You can credit the genius of our assistant director Jim Haverkamp for it. Watch the film here (and click in the lower right-hand corner of the picture, to make it expand to full-screen).
Mom died today, seven years ago. Sometimes the anniversary passes lightly, and sometimes more heavily. Today I feel sad.
Dad wrote to me: "Ellie reports that Grammy used to say that when the
cicadas started up in
He wrote a beautiful, beautiful poem for Mom: "Of Mary Anne, My Midsummer Night's Dream." You can read it here, or just below:
Her bearing regal, luminous even-
a midsummer night’s dream. I will never
get over her, a midsummer vision
in gold lame’, flattened sandals ever
devil may care the details—dust, my faults.
I conjure her presence, renaissance faire
here where I walk, green grassed under tree vaults
she seems to me, her possibilities
poised again, after her night in homespun,
like Cinderella to dance in Belize
the sun never finally sets. I would
follow wherever she goes, to admire
her peerless lips, steal a kiss if I could
like the musk of midsummer’s dusk, humid
and salt. We were never more one than when
dancing—neither of us cared which one led.
