Another summer at Heart Lake

Liz and I have begun in earnest our annual stay at Heart Lake, even as we are both significantly involved in things in New York. As chair of the property committee at St. Mary's, Liz has several important matters to attend to, and I have a full plate as the new treasurer of St. Mary's. This coming weekend, we have both been invited to join the vestry retreat, and so we will have to be in New York for that.

Meanwhile, the long saga of my dental implant and new prosthesis is approaching an end. I have an appointment at the dental school on Wednesday afternoon (tomorrow) and we have decided to drive down in the morning rather than late this afternoon as we originally planned. I am not yet sure whether to aim to get there in time for the Chinese class. To do that, we would have to be on the road by 7 am, 7:30 at the latest, and that might be difficult to manage.

Morningside Gardens still takes a good deal of my attention too. This year I am secretary and chair of the tenant selection (admissions) committee -- I'm not yet sure what other committees I will on. That means I have to be in New York on average at least twice a month for meetings, except possibly a little less in August. Since we try to stay here until at least early October, there's quite a bit of back and forthing.

A few weeks ago, I made a list of the personal projects I want to move forward on -- there were four, to the best of my recollection they are: the Dunciad project, studying Chinese, following and possibly writing about Anglican and Episcopal Church matters, and continuing with the organization of my study at home. After having been here at Heart Lake for a few stints of several days at a time, with a couple of equally long stays in New York, I have added at least one more project to the list -- I want to bring some more order into my genealogy papers.

That list of personal projects does not include reading projects -- Liz and I are reading Joel Kovel's The Enemy of Nature, and I am reading Amos Oz's A Tale of Love and Darkness, and Thomas Cahill's The Gifts of the Jews. I'm also starting again to read Richard Hooker -- right now I'm reading the sermon On the Certainty and Perpetuity of Faith in the Elect, which is printed before the Laws in the Everyman's Library version of Keble' edition. I've set aside Tristram Shandy for the moment.

And then there are the physical tasks associated with this cottage at Heart Lake. There are a number of things Liz and I want to do to improve the place, as well as organize some of the things that fill the cottage (especially the attic), the garage, and the shed.

I could go on, but it's getting towards 9 am and I have to turn to St. Mary's treasurer business.