The Family Letter

Two things to start off. First, I do realize that I missed a week. What I am about to cover is the week from Sunday, 16 November through today, 22 November. I’m not going to try to go back and cover two full weeks, especially since I sometimes have difficulty remembering what I ate for dinner last evening.

Second, this is a blogging first for me: I’m writing this in a Laundromat. I wanted to try this today because I can do several loads simultaneously, rather than only one at a time (back at the apartment). So while it will cost $0.25 more per wash and dry, it should save time. We’ll see if it is worth it. Normally I would vacuum and do work around the apartment while I wait for the laundry. Since that’s not really practical here, I decided to bring ye olde laptop and blog!

So, starting last Sunday… It was my Sunday to preach. It wasn’t my best sermon since coming to St. John’s, not by far. The readings had to do with the end of the world—apocalyptic literature, as it were. I used that theme to say, basically, that things do not get all happy, with smooth sailing through life and so on, once one becomes Christian. Rather, being Christian gives us something to hope for, a reminder that all is not for naught. It is about attitude and perspective more than anything else. 1000 went much better, I thought, than 0800. It’s nice to have the brain fully in gear.

Sunday afternoon was a full afternoon off, with nothing scheduled at church or elsewhere, so I did one load of dark laundry to tide me through the trip (keep reading). I also baked bread for my own use.

Monday was, thankfully, also another full day off. I cleaned house, putzed around in general, and started to get ready for Tuesday. That consisted of baking brownies for AKMA and Trevor, packing a large backpack and a garment bag, and prepared a shopping list. By Monday evening I’d had enough of that sort of thing but was pretty much set, so I got to take it easy.

Tuesday morning I threw all my suitcases into the car along with a Styrofoam cooler. I drove to church, got a little work done and, at 0900 when Doug came by, followed Doug down PA Route 60 to a commissary near Pittsburgh. I executed a serious raid. By the time I’d loaded one shopping cart, checked out (to the tune of $128, which bought a lot more than I thought it would!), and loaded my car, Doug was still only half-way through the store. I waited in my car until he was done, and then loaded the perishable goods—in the cooler—into Doug’s car. We both stopped briefly at the PX and the went our separate ways: He back to Sharon/Hermitage and I to the Pittsburgh International Airport.

After a quick check in and trip through security I had a long wait for my plane to Chicago Midway. The flight was uneventful. Jane picked me up and we proceeded to go to dinner at Nevin’s Pub in Evanston, IL (along with David Heady). That was a good chance to catch up with some really good friends. From there we returned to school, where I checked into the tower room (over the refectory), and then hung out with Jane, Hope, Si, and others in Jane and Hope’s common room. I returned to my room late in the evening, bathed, and turned in.

Wednesday I became a star! (Ha!) The whole point to this trip was for me to be interviewed on video tape for the PLSE project (pronounced “pulse”). You can read all about the project here. The on-tape interview happened at 1100, so I had time to have breakfast with John Driebelbis first, and also to visit with some more friends (with one notable exception: Susie. I’m sorry Susie!!!). The interview itself went reasonably well. I know I was pretty “stiff” expression wise, and there were a few things I didn’t say that I wish now that I had, but overall it was good for a first time. They wanted to know my opinions on a number of things, all related to the recruitment and nurture of young people for ordained ministry.

After the interview they wanted some video of me being “priestly” and “chaplainly”. So I changed into Air Force blues and wandered around waiting for them to be ready. I grabbed some lunch in there, and got a few odd looks—I guess there aren’t too many AF people wandering around Seabury these days! We finally crossed Sheridan Road and took video of me walking up and down a sidewalk (how exciting!), sometimes greeting David Gortner. After that I changed again—this time into liturgical dress—and met them all at Garrett’s chapel, where they filmed me pretending to preside at the altar. Since this won’t be released until February, I vested as a priest. (No lightening has struck yet.)

From there I raced back across to Seabury, grabbed my bags, and returned to Midway Airport. This time David Heady was at the wheel. I cut my timing getting back very closely, but fortunately I got through security with a minimum of fuss and time… Only to find out that the gate had changed and we had to wait for another plane. We got off the ground late, and didn’t get back into PIT until about 1921 local time. I collected my luggage, walked to the car (a looooonnnnngggg way to the car), and headed back to Sharon. In Sharon I stopped at church to retrieve a package and then went home via Arby’s. I ate a quick meal, took a hot bath, and turned in.

On the way back to Midway I noticed that I wasn’t feeling top notch, and my voice was getting weaker and scratchier. By Thursday morning speech was no longer a possibility. I could whisper a little, squeak a bit, but that was it. I IM’ed with Tina, our secretary, before she left for work to let her know and then drove in. [Time to put laundry in dryers, please hold.] I went in, “told” Doug that things were not as they should be health-wise, and tried to get some work done. I really wasn’t feeling tip-top, either, so that didn’t amount to much. At 1000 I attended Eucharist rather than participating as clergy. It was a healing service—how appropriate!

I spent that afternoon mostly playing with my new toy (remember the package I picked up on Wednesday night?), and getting it ready for full use. I also turned out a newsletter article and did some advanced work on future sermons. At 1600 I decided that I’d had about enough… I was tired, my throat was really getting sore… So I took off, went to the drug store for something for the throat (Chloraseptic pocket packs… not worth the price, by the way) and went home. I had plain pasta and tuna for dinner after unloading groceries into the apartment, and then went to bed early.

Friday I got up late, didn’t shave, and dressed in a black t-shirt and khaki slacks. I got in around 1000, and “chatted” with Tina. At 1030 a gentleman from Moore’s Sound (Ed Moore himself) came by to evaluate our sound system. While I was still home I’d typed up a page and a little with our concerns and a guided tour of the existing system. It said something like, “Pleased to meet you. I can’t talk. Please ask yes or no questions. Read the following first.” at the top. It worked! I had to whisper a bit from time to time, but he got what he needed. I was very impressed. Last year he did 153 churches of all shapes and sizes, plus he really asked good questions and gave good answers.

After he left I started to do some more work. Tina had been helping me with phone calls, most of them personal. On the way home Wednesday evening someone lightly rear-ended me at a red light, knocking my bumper loose on the right side. Tina handled the call to the insurance agent, made some calls to Civil Air Patrol people (see below), and got me a doctor’s appointment. In fact, at about 1130 she came into my office and said, “Pack up and go. Now! They’re only open until 1200 and they’re waiting for you.” So I dashed off to the doctor. The official diagnosis must have been something bacterial, because he prescribed an antibiotic. I picked that up along with some cough syrup, and returned home for lunch.

Friday afternoon I obtained a quote on the car ($270), took that to the insurance agent, picked up my perishable groceries from the church freezer, and came back home. I put all of the groceries away, cleaned up a bit, and then decided I’d had enough. A little later in the evening I walked up to Giant Eagle for Throat Coat Tea (others have recommended it) didn’t find it, and walked back. I spent the evening chatting with folks and then went to bed early again.

This morning I slept in just a bit. I’m still feeling under the weather, though my throat is a bit better. If I concentrate I can talk very deeply, but it still isn’t a pretty sound. Also, some of this bug has crawled into my chest, as I am now coughing more frequently. Sigh. Looks like Doug’s on his own tomorrow morning. I’ll be there, but I can’t see reading the Gospel or distributing communion (would you like that with or without bacteria, young lady?).

I was supposed to give the invocation and benediction at the annual CAP banquet tonight (1800). I might be able to croak it out, but given the choice would rather no embarrass myself that way. Plus another quiet evening seems in order. Once the laundry is done I’ll return home, maybe vacuum, post this, and then have dinner (cooking in the crock pot right now).

Okay, now about the new toy. The PowerBook G4 notebook computer arrived this Wednesday! It is working well, and I have now copied everything I need onto it. The old iBook is at home right now, having MacOS 10.2 installed on it. I formatted it and will install Panther tonight (10.3) in preparation for it’s sale to some good home somewhere. The new machine is great… Fast, a much nicer screen (15.2” versus the old 12”), it has a built-in CD burner (which will also burn DVDs), a m