Here it is the middle of August and once again our family (daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughters) are visiting us at Heart Lake.
It's been ages since I posted anything on this blog -- the reasons are various, and this post is going to be intensely personal. At St. Mary's, which currently has no rector, Liz and I are both deeply involved although neither of us is on the vestry. Liz is chair of the Property Committee and the point person on two significant construction projects, both of which require loans to fund them. She is also on the Search Committee, which right now is engaged in putting together a parish profile.
I am once again treasurer, and I'm trying to get our financial reporting in order. As a retired high school math teacher, and before that a pension actuary, you might think I would know something about bookkeeping and accounting, but in fact I never learned anything about either. The saving grace is that I am pretty bright and also a good mongoose (the motto of the mongoose family is "go and find out.") So I at least manage to keep up with the bookkeeping and am making slow progress towards improving the reporting.
This summer we knew we would be here at Heart Lake somewhat less than usual -- too many responsibilities keep pulling us back to New York and St. Mary's. But three weeks ago we set out from New York with the expectation of having a pleasant and productive month here, with only two quick returns to the city. On the way Liz began experiencing back pain. It took a week and a half before it was diagnosed as kidney stones. The pain medication is constipating, and Liz is often in great discomfort and/or severe pain.
Meanwhile, I had an incipient sore throat at the same time, and I kept expecting it to develop into either a chest cold or a head cold. But it didn't -- in four or five days I began experiencing pain in my jaw and ear, as well as severe balance problems. An emergency room doctor here in Montrose told me I had TMJ, with arthritis in the jaw joint. A week later, I went to my own doctor in New York, and he saw a canker sore way in the corner of the back of my mouth. I began using Orajel, and I think the canker sore is gone. But the ear ache is still with me, although much milder. Also my balance is closer to normal, but I am still not recovered.
The worst thing for me, apart from the discomfort, is that in the last three weeks I have not been at all productive. Now I have to at least rise to the occasion of a vestry meeting next Sunday, for which I need to have a financial report. I'll make it, but it will be a struggle.
I'm sorry for the tone of this post. I really want to write about the concerns that normally occupy my attention -- environment, the state of the world politically and economically, Bradley Manning, Edward Snowden, Trayvon Martin, the Supreme Court ruling on DOMA, all that stuff. I'm usually stopped from writing about those things by the pressures of everyday life -- and by my aversion to saying something trite. I hope to resume again before too long.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Saturday, July 14, 2012
TEC is Practically Dead (not)
When I was a teenager, I used to go the Binghamton Public Library, check out records of operas and musicals, take them home, and listen to them until I had practically memorized them. One show I heard was Rodgers and Hammerstein's Me and Juliet, in which a chorus of critics sings "The theater is dying, the theater is dying, the theater is practically dead." This show was on Broadway in 1953. I was reminded of it by the reactions of certain critics of the Episcopal Church to the just concluded 77th General Convention.
The theater is not dying, nor is the Episcopal Church. By the way, Me and Juliet had a song called "Keep it Gay," which did not have anything to do with LGBT matters, although you can find Perry Como's version on YouTube with a montage of LGBT images (mostly gay.) Another song was "No Other Love, " which used the same tune as "The Southern Cross" from Rodger's Victory at Sea music.
The theater is not dying, nor is the Episcopal Church. By the way, Me and Juliet had a song called "Keep it Gay," which did not have anything to do with LGBT matters, although you can find Perry Como's version on YouTube with a montage of LGBT images (mostly gay.) Another song was "No Other Love, " which used the same tune as "The Southern Cross" from Rodger's Victory at Sea music.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Occupy
Yesterday, Monday, June 18, 2012, Earl Kooperkamp, who just left as rector of St. Mary's, was convicted of trespass for occupying Trinity Church's Duarte Square on December 17.
Earl has just become Priest in Partnership at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Barre, Vermont. He was sentenced to four days community service.
Several others were also convicted, including retired Bishop George Packard.
I'm sure I'll have more to say about this topic.
Earl has just become Priest in Partnership at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Barre, Vermont. He was sentenced to four days community service.
Several others were also convicted, including retired Bishop George Packard.
I'm sure I'll have more to say about this topic.
Silence
On Sunday, June 17th, 2012, Liz and I, and five other people from St. Mary's joined thousands of others in a silent march to protest Stop and Frisk, Several other members of St. Mary's marched with other groups -- I don't know how many from St. Mary;s there were in total.
Earlier Sunday, at the end of church, Ben Jealous came in and sat at the back. Ben ran a youth program at St. Mary's when he was a student at Columbia and has remained a friend of the parish. During the announcements, he spoke about the march. If you don't know, Ben is the President and CEO of the NAACP. During the announcements, Ben told us a little about the plans for the silent march.
At the silent march, our little group from At. Mary's was joined by a neighbor from Morningside Gardens who happened to see us. Marching near us were Ethan and Rima Vesely-Flad and their son. Ethan works for the Fellowship of Reconciliation and has asked us all to "like" the the Felowship on Facebook, as a birthday present for him. Ethan and Rima are not members of St. Mary's, but they have attended from time to time, especially when they lived nearby a few years ago.
I also saw briefly Ted Auerbach my old friend and former colleague at Seward Park High School. We promised each other to try to get in touch.
Earlier Sunday, at the end of church, Ben Jealous came in and sat at the back. Ben ran a youth program at St. Mary's when he was a student at Columbia and has remained a friend of the parish. During the announcements, he spoke about the march. If you don't know, Ben is the President and CEO of the NAACP. During the announcements, Ben told us a little about the plans for the silent march.
At the silent march, our little group from At. Mary's was joined by a neighbor from Morningside Gardens who happened to see us. Marching near us were Ethan and Rima Vesely-Flad and their son. Ethan works for the Fellowship of Reconciliation and has asked us all to "like" the the Felowship on Facebook, as a birthday present for him. Ethan and Rima are not members of St. Mary's, but they have attended from time to time, especially when they lived nearby a few years ago.
I also saw briefly Ted Auerbach my old friend and former colleague at Seward Park High School. We promised each other to try to get in touch.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Hiatus
It's been a long time since I posted. Months and months.
A lot has happened. One is that my brother Philip was found dead in his apartment on October 14th, two days after my last post.
Philip was the second to die among 17 cousins and siblings on my mother's side. My brother Curtis was the first. I am now the sole survivor of my nuclear family.
On my father's side, Philip was the third to die of 13. The first was my cousin Meg and the second was her brother Max.
On October 28, two weeks after my brother Philip died, Glenn Bater died. Glenn was my friend and colleague on the board of directors. I miss him.
Here at Morningside Gardens we're coming up on another election for the board. This one promises to be nearly as contentious as last year's was. I don't expect to say anything more about Gardens matters, but you never know.
At St. Mary's, we have found a treasurer to replace me, so I am back to the more comfortable role of assistant treasurer. Our rector of about twelve years, Earl Kooperkamp, has belatedly made good on his promise to leave after a decade at St. Mary's, so are gearing up for a search.
This past Thursday, April 12, we were shocked to learn that our long time sexton, Robert Jones, died of a severe asthma attack. There's a picture of Robert on St. Mary's Facebook page.
None of this, however, explains why I haven't posted since October.
I have been plugging away at my genealogy database -- entering sources I should have entered years ago. It's slow work, but I'm progressing. but that's not why I haven't posted, either.
I've started a few times to write something, but each time I've dropped it. I'm hoping that now that spring is here and I've got the news out of the way,I might find inspiration to write something substantive.
Meanwhile here's a picture of Liz and me (and others) posted on our 35th wedding anniversary. It must have been taken the day before There seems to have been a baptism at St Mary's that day.
A lot has happened. One is that my brother Philip was found dead in his apartment on October 14th, two days after my last post.
Philip was the second to die among 17 cousins and siblings on my mother's side. My brother Curtis was the first. I am now the sole survivor of my nuclear family.
On my father's side, Philip was the third to die of 13. The first was my cousin Meg and the second was her brother Max.
On October 28, two weeks after my brother Philip died, Glenn Bater died. Glenn was my friend and colleague on the board of directors. I miss him.
Here at Morningside Gardens we're coming up on another election for the board. This one promises to be nearly as contentious as last year's was. I don't expect to say anything more about Gardens matters, but you never know.
At St. Mary's, we have found a treasurer to replace me, so I am back to the more comfortable role of assistant treasurer. Our rector of about twelve years, Earl Kooperkamp, has belatedly made good on his promise to leave after a decade at St. Mary's, so are gearing up for a search.
This past Thursday, April 12, we were shocked to learn that our long time sexton, Robert Jones, died of a severe asthma attack. There's a picture of Robert on St. Mary's Facebook page.
None of this, however, explains why I haven't posted since October.
I have been plugging away at my genealogy database -- entering sources I should have entered years ago. It's slow work, but I'm progressing. but that's not why I haven't posted, either.
I've started a few times to write something, but each time I've dropped it. I'm hoping that now that spring is here and I've got the news out of the way,I might find inspiration to write something substantive.
Meanwhile here's a picture of Liz and me (and others) posted on our 35th wedding anniversary. It must have been taken the day before There seems to have been a baptism at St Mary's that day.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Summer's End
All right, it's actually Autumn. But today is the day the Liz and I finally begin withdrawing from our summer place and returning to the Big Apple. Yesterday we took our last canoe ride and put the canoe in the garage for the winter. Yesterday I briefly stood in the lake while I took the steps off the dock. Now that's all over.
We're not completely closing up yet -- we'll be back briefly tqwo r three times in the next couple of weeks. Partly it will depend on how much I can get in the car -- pratly on the weather. Our first return will be sometime next week -- I hope on Monday, since that is supposed to be warm and sunny, but perhaps later in the week. On that visit, I'll drain the water and bring in the outside furniture.
Oh, I forgot to mention that on Sunday we took a 6 and 1/2 mile hike that was actually 8 and 1/2 because of the walk from the car to the beginning of the loop and then became 10 and 1/2 because we tokk a wrong turn and had to retrace our steps. It was grueling and scary because we got pretty close to sunset, but since it turned out ok we were fairly happy and relieved at the end.
This summer I zeroed in on my family history project and I am planning to continue it over the winter -- which involves taking a lot of papers home that I don't really have room for in my study. So making room will be part of my New York activities.
My attention to what we are calling "my project" has had some side effects: I am less involved at Morningside Gardens than I might otherwise have been; I have not been following Episcopal Church developments as assiduously as I was before; I have not been blogging about things either.
For example, I have not mentioned meeting Canon Alan Perry in Allentown on September 24 -- that put me back in touch with my thoughts on the Anglican Covenant. In fact, I have not mentioned the meeting of the North American Academy of Ecumenists at all. Although I am only a hanger-on, I find these meetings stimulating and thought provoking and this one was exceptionally good.
One week ago today, we were going to come back to Heart Lake from New York, but we delayed our return by a day so we could join the march from Foley Square to the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) site. We were near the front of the gathering in Foley Square, which was union led. As we entered the square we were offered caps -- by chance they were UFT caps and I was happy to wear one. It was good to see the unions in solidarity with OWS. It is just possible that this will develop into a real populist movement on the left. It remains to be seem whether the kind of real structural change we (the American people and the entire human race) need will begin to happen. Can the 99% actually bring about change? In truth, the 1% are supported by a cadre -- at least 9% and probably more -- so the 99% is really 90% or less -- and how many of those have the consciousness to realize that the game is rigged and to (at least) sympathize with OWS?
Postscript: I wrote the above before breakfast. Now it's almost suppertime and we are in New York.
We're not completely closing up yet -- we'll be back briefly tqwo r three times in the next couple of weeks. Partly it will depend on how much I can get in the car -- pratly on the weather. Our first return will be sometime next week -- I hope on Monday, since that is supposed to be warm and sunny, but perhaps later in the week. On that visit, I'll drain the water and bring in the outside furniture.
Oh, I forgot to mention that on Sunday we took a 6 and 1/2 mile hike that was actually 8 and 1/2 because of the walk from the car to the beginning of the loop and then became 10 and 1/2 because we tokk a wrong turn and had to retrace our steps. It was grueling and scary because we got pretty close to sunset, but since it turned out ok we were fairly happy and relieved at the end.
This summer I zeroed in on my family history project and I am planning to continue it over the winter -- which involves taking a lot of papers home that I don't really have room for in my study. So making room will be part of my New York activities.
My attention to what we are calling "my project" has had some side effects: I am less involved at Morningside Gardens than I might otherwise have been; I have not been following Episcopal Church developments as assiduously as I was before; I have not been blogging about things either.
For example, I have not mentioned meeting Canon Alan Perry in Allentown on September 24 -- that put me back in touch with my thoughts on the Anglican Covenant. In fact, I have not mentioned the meeting of the North American Academy of Ecumenists at all. Although I am only a hanger-on, I find these meetings stimulating and thought provoking and this one was exceptionally good.
One week ago today, we were going to come back to Heart Lake from New York, but we delayed our return by a day so we could join the march from Foley Square to the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) site. We were near the front of the gathering in Foley Square, which was union led. As we entered the square we were offered caps -- by chance they were UFT caps and I was happy to wear one. It was good to see the unions in solidarity with OWS. It is just possible that this will develop into a real populist movement on the left. It remains to be seem whether the kind of real structural change we (the American people and the entire human race) need will begin to happen. Can the 99% actually bring about change? In truth, the 1% are supported by a cadre -- at least 9% and probably more -- so the 99% is really 90% or less -- and how many of those have the consciousness to realize that the game is rigged and to (at least) sympathize with OWS?
Postscript: I wrote the above before breakfast. Now it's almost suppertime and we are in New York.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Update on September 11, 2011
Today is 9/11. I have to admit that I don't feel particularly moved by this anniversary. This year that's partly because I am at last actually working on publishing my family history cum genealogy, and have already put some of it on the web. (at allenandliz.com.)
A month ago our famiy was here -- Jane, Scott, Amanda and Juliana. They arrive Thursday, August 11, and left Sunday, August 14. It seems such a long time ago now. The day after they left, I drove to New York for a meeting. After I came back, for a week and a half I worked fairly steadily on my family history project and on a sermon I was scheduled to give at the Heart Lake Church on August 28th. Meanwhile, Liz worked on a proposal for a grant related to a new boiler at St. Mary's. On Tuesday, August 23, we felt the cottage shaking -- it was the earthquake in Virginia. Then on Sunday August 28, Hurricane Irene broguht large amounts of rain to our area. We had lost power hear in the middle of the night, so we had no power when we woke up Sunday. Church at Heart Lake was cancelled, so I didn't get to deliver my sermon. For about four hours on Sunday, starting around 10:30 AM the winds off the lake was strong and drove large amounts of rain straight at us. Water came in around the glazing in our porch windows and under the door. Without power, Liz was unable to work on the proposal. We had planned to drive to New York on Sunday afternoon, but we rescheduled for Monday. When we left, the power was still off. Our drive on Monday was uneventful until we hit the intersection of Rte 17 and the Thruway (I-87). Both the Thruway and Rte 17 were closed and everyone was trying to cross Long Mountain on Rte. 6 and take the Palisades Parkway. A trooper told us that the parkway was a parking lot and advised waiting a few hours, which we did in a park in Monroe. When we finally left Monroe about 4 in the afternoon, it was slow but steady going over the mountain, but on the parkway itself we moved pretty steadily.
The remains of Irene did a lot of damage north of us -- in the Catskills and in Vermont. Where Jane and Scott are in North Middlesex was spared the worst, but there was a lot of flooding not far from them.
After mailing off the proposal, we returned to Heart Lake on Wednesday, August 31. Along with our cousin Tim, we hosted our by now regular Labor Day Sunday family gathering. My mother's two surving siblings were there with spouses, as well as other representatives of each of the four families of my grandparent's children. There was also one family of second cousins. The threatened rain held off, and it was a vey pleasant gathering.
Then on Monday afternoon the rain started. The rain was light the rest of Monday and on Tuesday, but got heavier on Wednesday and serious flooding began on Thursday not very far from here. Finally the rain stopped Friday afternoon. The remnants of tropical storm Lee raised our lake as high as I have ever seen it. We are near the top of a hill. Down in the valleys, the flooding was devastating. Binghamton, my home town and just forty minutes from here, was flooded and in the surrounding area lots of homes were inundated. 20,000 people were evacuated. The Susquehanna River in this area isn't expected to subside below flood level until late tomorrow.
Tomorrow, I go to New York for evening meetings both Monday and Tuesday. Liz will stay here at Heart Lake and I expect to be back Wednesday afternoon -- I hope fairly early. In addition to the laundry, I'm taking home the first load of genalogical materials to aid me in writing through the fall and winter.
A month ago our famiy was here -- Jane, Scott, Amanda and Juliana. They arrive Thursday, August 11, and left Sunday, August 14. It seems such a long time ago now. The day after they left, I drove to New York for a meeting. After I came back, for a week and a half I worked fairly steadily on my family history project and on a sermon I was scheduled to give at the Heart Lake Church on August 28th. Meanwhile, Liz worked on a proposal for a grant related to a new boiler at St. Mary's. On Tuesday, August 23, we felt the cottage shaking -- it was the earthquake in Virginia. Then on Sunday August 28, Hurricane Irene broguht large amounts of rain to our area. We had lost power hear in the middle of the night, so we had no power when we woke up Sunday. Church at Heart Lake was cancelled, so I didn't get to deliver my sermon. For about four hours on Sunday, starting around 10:30 AM the winds off the lake was strong and drove large amounts of rain straight at us. Water came in around the glazing in our porch windows and under the door. Without power, Liz was unable to work on the proposal. We had planned to drive to New York on Sunday afternoon, but we rescheduled for Monday. When we left, the power was still off. Our drive on Monday was uneventful until we hit the intersection of Rte 17 and the Thruway (I-87). Both the Thruway and Rte 17 were closed and everyone was trying to cross Long Mountain on Rte. 6 and take the Palisades Parkway. A trooper told us that the parkway was a parking lot and advised waiting a few hours, which we did in a park in Monroe. When we finally left Monroe about 4 in the afternoon, it was slow but steady going over the mountain, but on the parkway itself we moved pretty steadily.
The remains of Irene did a lot of damage north of us -- in the Catskills and in Vermont. Where Jane and Scott are in North Middlesex was spared the worst, but there was a lot of flooding not far from them.
After mailing off the proposal, we returned to Heart Lake on Wednesday, August 31. Along with our cousin Tim, we hosted our by now regular Labor Day Sunday family gathering. My mother's two surving siblings were there with spouses, as well as other representatives of each of the four families of my grandparent's children. There was also one family of second cousins. The threatened rain held off, and it was a vey pleasant gathering.
Then on Monday afternoon the rain started. The rain was light the rest of Monday and on Tuesday, but got heavier on Wednesday and serious flooding began on Thursday not very far from here. Finally the rain stopped Friday afternoon. The remnants of tropical storm Lee raised our lake as high as I have ever seen it. We are near the top of a hill. Down in the valleys, the flooding was devastating. Binghamton, my home town and just forty minutes from here, was flooded and in the surrounding area lots of homes were inundated. 20,000 people were evacuated. The Susquehanna River in this area isn't expected to subside below flood level until late tomorrow.
Tomorrow, I go to New York for evening meetings both Monday and Tuesday. Liz will stay here at Heart Lake and I expect to be back Wednesday afternoon -- I hope fairly early. In addition to the laundry, I'm taking home the first load of genalogical materials to aid me in writing through the fall and winter.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Another month gone by
Another month has passed, and the current week is certainly eventful. On Tuesday we were sitting on our porch here at Heart Lake in Northesatern Pennsylvania and we felt the cottage shaking. Of course it was the earthquake, but for a moment we thought it was a big animal.
Now there's a hurricane bearing down on us. We had planned to drive to New York Sunday afternoon, but now we realize that would be foolish -- we'll wait until Monday. There's no telling what conditions will be if New York City takes a direct hit, or even a very near miss. Here at Heart Lake we're certain to get a lot of rain and maybe wind, but so far the projected path of the eye is well to the east of us.
Meanwhile, I have been working steadily at my family history, found at allenandliz.com, or rather, that's the introductory page to the site. I have posted the bulk of my TMG data, some of which is really not yet ready for publication, and am working on text pages to accompany it. Some of the commentary is already there. I will be posting details about the current state of the work on my genealogy blog.
Now there's a hurricane bearing down on us. We had planned to drive to New York Sunday afternoon, but now we realize that would be foolish -- we'll wait until Monday. There's no telling what conditions will be if New York City takes a direct hit, or even a very near miss. Here at Heart Lake we're certain to get a lot of rain and maybe wind, but so far the projected path of the eye is well to the east of us.
Meanwhile, I have been working steadily at my family history, found at allenandliz.com, or rather, that's the introductory page to the site. I have posted the bulk of my TMG data, some of which is really not yet ready for publication, and am working on text pages to accompany it. Some of the commentary is already there. I will be posting details about the current state of the work on my genealogy blog.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Oh, What a Week!!
Last Monday evening I had an insect sting or bite that I didn't even notice until my arm began to swell. On Tuesday, I began taking benadryl for the swelling and I was heartened that it was contained -- it didn't spread. But it didn't go away either and I knew I had to see a doctor. We were planning to drive back to New York on Wednesday morning, so I decided not to see a local doctor here in Pennsylvania, but to wait until I was home -- a decision I shouldn't have made, but in fact there were no bad consequences.
On our way home Wednesday, after we had been gone an hour, we realized we had forgotten to bring a very important flash drive, so we turned around, went back to the cottage, got the flash drive, and proceeded to drive home, arriving two hours later than we had expected. And arriving into a very hot New York City, with record breaking 100 degree temperatures.
I got to the doctor on Thursday and he prescribed a powerful antibiotic and told me to come back in a week for blood tests. Also, if there was no improvement, he wanted me to come back Monday (that is, yesterday.) I noticed a small improvement on Friday, and by Sunday it was clear that the antibiotic was dramatically reducing the effects of the infection.
One of the things on our schedule in New York last week was to have work done on our car -- it needed a new power steering pump and and oil pan gasket. So we took the car to our mechanic Thursday morning. We also had an important joint meeting of the finance, property, and stewardship committees at St. Mary's. Liz is working on putting together a grant proposal for some of the money we need for a new boiler at St. Mary's.
But our major preoccupation while we were in New York was working towards a resolution of a family situation involving some property in Vermont. That took up almost all of Liz's time and good deal of my time on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Since my arm didn't need attention, on Monday morning we began loading the car for our return to Heart Lake. Thin coming weekend sees a trip to Vermont for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, a return to New York on Sunday so I can attend a meeting at Morningside Gardens on Monday, and then a return to Heart Lake next Tuesday, a week from today. So our packing took that upcoming schedule into consideration.
We got off shortly before ten in the morning, not good, but not too bad considering the things that had been occupying us on Sunday (I haven't yet mentioned the Vestry meeting and a farewell party for our interns, both on Sunday afternoon.)
After about 35 miles, at the top of the Palisades Parkway, I discovered that there was too much play in the brake. I was cautious with the brake as I went over Long Mountain on Route 6, and drove more slowly than usual on Route 17 to our favorite stop at Stewarts in Goshen. I began to notice a little stiffness in the steering, and thought, oh gee, I'll have to take it back to the garage to have that looked at. But as I pulled into Stewarts, I found that the power steering had failed completely. Manually steering a modern Buick is a lot different from manually steering a car was in the 1950's. A kind woman in the Stewarts directed us to a good garage in Goshen who sent us on to the local GM dealer. It turns out that we had sprung a leak in the brake line to one of the rear wheels, so we lost brake fluid. About the same time, the new (rebuilt) power steering pump failed. It was a message -- it's time to stop putting money into this car.
So we looked at cars in our price range that the dealer had, and narrowed the choices down to two, one five and one six years old -- a Buick LaCrosse and a Chevy Malibu. The Chevy is very like an updated version of the Vega we were driving when we first began going back and forth to Heart Lake -- it's very practical for carrying stuff, but not as comfortable as the Buick. The Buick has a very roomy trunk like our present Buick, and will suit our needs very well. So I think we'll go with the Buick. Both cars had to be prepped, so we got a loaner Malibu, and after the 2 hour drive to Heart Lake from Goshen, I am strongly leaning to the Buick.
Soon we face a four hour drive to pick up the car and come bake to the lake.
On our way home Wednesday, after we had been gone an hour, we realized we had forgotten to bring a very important flash drive, so we turned around, went back to the cottage, got the flash drive, and proceeded to drive home, arriving two hours later than we had expected. And arriving into a very hot New York City, with record breaking 100 degree temperatures.
I got to the doctor on Thursday and he prescribed a powerful antibiotic and told me to come back in a week for blood tests. Also, if there was no improvement, he wanted me to come back Monday (that is, yesterday.) I noticed a small improvement on Friday, and by Sunday it was clear that the antibiotic was dramatically reducing the effects of the infection.
One of the things on our schedule in New York last week was to have work done on our car -- it needed a new power steering pump and and oil pan gasket. So we took the car to our mechanic Thursday morning. We also had an important joint meeting of the finance, property, and stewardship committees at St. Mary's. Liz is working on putting together a grant proposal for some of the money we need for a new boiler at St. Mary's.
But our major preoccupation while we were in New York was working towards a resolution of a family situation involving some property in Vermont. That took up almost all of Liz's time and good deal of my time on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Since my arm didn't need attention, on Monday morning we began loading the car for our return to Heart Lake. Thin coming weekend sees a trip to Vermont for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, a return to New York on Sunday so I can attend a meeting at Morningside Gardens on Monday, and then a return to Heart Lake next Tuesday, a week from today. So our packing took that upcoming schedule into consideration.
We got off shortly before ten in the morning, not good, but not too bad considering the things that had been occupying us on Sunday (I haven't yet mentioned the Vestry meeting and a farewell party for our interns, both on Sunday afternoon.)
After about 35 miles, at the top of the Palisades Parkway, I discovered that there was too much play in the brake. I was cautious with the brake as I went over Long Mountain on Route 6, and drove more slowly than usual on Route 17 to our favorite stop at Stewarts in Goshen. I began to notice a little stiffness in the steering, and thought, oh gee, I'll have to take it back to the garage to have that looked at. But as I pulled into Stewarts, I found that the power steering had failed completely. Manually steering a modern Buick is a lot different from manually steering a car was in the 1950's. A kind woman in the Stewarts directed us to a good garage in Goshen who sent us on to the local GM dealer. It turns out that we had sprung a leak in the brake line to one of the rear wheels, so we lost brake fluid. About the same time, the new (rebuilt) power steering pump failed. It was a message -- it's time to stop putting money into this car.
So we looked at cars in our price range that the dealer had, and narrowed the choices down to two, one five and one six years old -- a Buick LaCrosse and a Chevy Malibu. The Chevy is very like an updated version of the Vega we were driving when we first began going back and forth to Heart Lake -- it's very practical for carrying stuff, but not as comfortable as the Buick. The Buick has a very roomy trunk like our present Buick, and will suit our needs very well. So I think we'll go with the Buick. Both cars had to be prepped, so we got a loaner Malibu, and after the 2 hour drive to Heart Lake from Goshen, I am strongly leaning to the Buick.
Soon we face a four hour drive to pick up the car and come bake to the lake.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Publishing my Family History and Genealogy
Finally my genealogy is back online at my new website. I'm starting small -- so far I have information up only on people descended from my 2nd great grandfather, Manzer Judson Goodrich. Manzer's oldest son, my great grandfather Earl Ashton Goodrich, was born in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, not far from Heart Lake where I am writing this. I am beginning by publishing the information I have on his family, because several of my first and second cousins have expressed interest in the family stories. All four of Earl's grandparents, six of his eight great grandparents, and three of his sixteen second great grandparents lived in Susquehanna County. Two of his great grandparents lived in adjacent Wayne County, Pennsylvania and two other great grandparents lived two counties away in Chenango County, New York. I'll be adding information on all of those families. After that I'll be moving on to my father's family, my maternal grandfather's family, and my great grandmother Grace (Dayton) Goodrich's family. There are also pictures, letters and other exhibits to be added. I can't predict the order in which I'll be adding things.
For over fifteen years I have been using what I think is the best genealogy computer program on the market, The Master Genealogist, commonly called TMG, from Wholly Genes -- the link is actually to the Wholly Genes website. Some people think that TMG is hard to use, but I have always found it pretty straightforward.
The web presentation of my genealogy data is generated by John Cardinal's program Second Site, which is designed for use with TMG data. I am also using Second Site to link the narrative section of my family history to the more specifically genealogical pages.
I have no connection with either Wholly Genes or Second Site except as a satisfied user, although I contributed two chapters to the book Getting the Most Out of The Master Genealogist.
The website is in its infancy and has a lot of growing to do. Right now all I have is the beginning of the narrative and some rudimentary information on Manzer Judson Goodrich, his three wives, and his descendants. Part of it is still pretty kludgy. There will be pictures soon and information on more people. Navigation will improve, too.
For over fifteen years I have been using what I think is the best genealogy computer program on the market, The Master Genealogist, commonly called TMG, from Wholly Genes -- the link is actually to the Wholly Genes website. Some people think that TMG is hard to use, but I have always found it pretty straightforward.
The web presentation of my genealogy data is generated by John Cardinal's program Second Site, which is designed for use with TMG data. I am also using Second Site to link the narrative section of my family history to the more specifically genealogical pages.
I have no connection with either Wholly Genes or Second Site except as a satisfied user, although I contributed two chapters to the book Getting the Most Out of The Master Genealogist.
The website is in its infancy and has a lot of growing to do. Right now all I have is the beginning of the narrative and some rudimentary information on Manzer Judson Goodrich, his three wives, and his descendants. Part of it is still pretty kludgy. There will be pictures soon and information on more people. Navigation will improve, too.
Monday, July 04, 2011
Independence
We're back at Heart Lake for the summer. This year I swear I'm going to make real progress on my family history project as well as getting the books in the attic organized.
I thought I might have separation anxiety after my term on the board at Morningside ended about two months ago, but in fact I don't. I'm just relieved, especially given what the current board has to face. If I feel moved to do so, I may write a little about that later.
I have agreed to remain as co-chair of the Tenant Selection Committee (our name for the admissions committee) and have also agreed to join the new Apartment Sales Committee. Those committees are meeting on Monday and Tuesday evenings next week and I'm going back to New York for both meetings -- which means two nights away from here. Not so long ago, it cost about $35 to make the trip -- now it's over $50.
I'm also still Treasurer of St. Mary's, a position I want to give up, and that will take some of my attention (and gas money) this summer aas well. I'm grateful that others, especially Warden Dorothy, are carrying a great deal of the responsibility for financial planning and keeping us on track.
For the most part, I'm free -- freer than I've been any time since February 2003.
For the most part, I'm free -- freer than I've been any time since February 2003.
Saturday, May 07, 2011
Well, we've come to the end of another board year
Well, we've come to the end of another board year here at Morningside Gardens. This year the terms of four of us board members were up. All four of us were eligible to run again but for varying reasons each of us chose not to run, so there were four vacancies. Seven candidates ran for those four positions; they ran as two slates -- one slate of three people and one slate of four people. The slates were each backed by one of the two parties that have dominated internal politics here at Morningside for the past few years.
In the past, I have agonized over how to refer to the two parties, since they don't have names and aren't even really parties. For the moment I'm going to use color names that don't carry too much baggage (at least for me) -- Purple for the supporters of the slate of four and Orange for the supporters of the slate of three.
While the parties embody divisions that have been with us during the more than thirty years that I have been actively involved in the governance of Morningside Gardens, their recent history goes back to the debates over the resale price that occupied us in the first half of the past decade and culminated in a change in the price structure in 2006. The Purples have at their core many persons who supported the increase in price while the Oranges have at their core many persons who opposed the increase in price.
Some vocal members of both the Orange and the Purple parties have made public statements which I deplore, and it is easy to caricature the stances of both parties. Despite slogans and hyperbole, though, both parties are concerned about both the future and the present well-being of Morningside Gardens and of its cooperators. However, they have divergent views of the best way to achieve that well-being. There is also, on each side, a deep mistrust of certain people on the other side which often spills over into a near total rejection of anything put forward by any of the people on the other side.
The Orange slate won the election handily, but one member of the Purple slate out polled all three of them. When we take into account that four of the continuing members of the board are supported by the Orange party and three are supported by the Purple party, it appears on the face of it that the board is starting out divided seven to four or possibly six or seven to three with one or two swing persons. This is essentially the position we were in two years ago and we didn't come out at all well. Last year we had a board which started out divided five to five with one swing vore. Again we didn't come out well.
The reason we came out badly each year is mistrust. Two years ago it was mistrust of the manager by the newly elected officers and mistrust of the officers by the minority. Last year it was mistrust of the preceding year's officers by the newly elected officers. I am not proud of my own role in the past year -- if I had been a little more thoughtful, I might have been able to steer us away from what became an expensive debacle -- expensive in dollars but more importantly expensive in increased ill-feeling and party spirit.
With four new members, the board has an opportunity to try to pull together. Time will tell.
In the past, I have agonized over how to refer to the two parties, since they don't have names and aren't even really parties. For the moment I'm going to use color names that don't carry too much baggage (at least for me) -- Purple for the supporters of the slate of four and Orange for the supporters of the slate of three.
While the parties embody divisions that have been with us during the more than thirty years that I have been actively involved in the governance of Morningside Gardens, their recent history goes back to the debates over the resale price that occupied us in the first half of the past decade and culminated in a change in the price structure in 2006. The Purples have at their core many persons who supported the increase in price while the Oranges have at their core many persons who opposed the increase in price.
Some vocal members of both the Orange and the Purple parties have made public statements which I deplore, and it is easy to caricature the stances of both parties. Despite slogans and hyperbole, though, both parties are concerned about both the future and the present well-being of Morningside Gardens and of its cooperators. However, they have divergent views of the best way to achieve that well-being. There is also, on each side, a deep mistrust of certain people on the other side which often spills over into a near total rejection of anything put forward by any of the people on the other side.
The Orange slate won the election handily, but one member of the Purple slate out polled all three of them. When we take into account that four of the continuing members of the board are supported by the Orange party and three are supported by the Purple party, it appears on the face of it that the board is starting out divided seven to four or possibly six or seven to three with one or two swing persons. This is essentially the position we were in two years ago and we didn't come out at all well. Last year we had a board which started out divided five to five with one swing vore. Again we didn't come out well.
The reason we came out badly each year is mistrust. Two years ago it was mistrust of the manager by the newly elected officers and mistrust of the officers by the minority. Last year it was mistrust of the preceding year's officers by the newly elected officers. I am not proud of my own role in the past year -- if I had been a little more thoughtful, I might have been able to steer us away from what became an expensive debacle -- expensive in dollars but more importantly expensive in increased ill-feeling and party spirit.
With four new members, the board has an opportunity to try to pull together. Time will tell.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
No Anglican Covenant
This afternoon, I emailed the following statement to both the General Convention office of The Episcopal Church and to the Covenant Study design group of the Diocese of New York.
My parish, St. Mary's Manhattanville, came out unanimously against the Anglican Covenant at our Annual Meeting on the first Sunday in Lent. A drafting committee, of which as it turned out I was the principal drafter, came up with a statement for submission to the national church by the stated Easter deadline. I apologize for a little awkwardness in the statement, especially for the fact that the scriptural quotations are somewhat loosely stuck in. I simply ran out of time and I wanted to include all the suggestions of all the members.
Here is the statement:
* The Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1888 provides a sufficient base for the unity of The Anglican Communion.
* The discipline that would be imposed by the Covenant is contrary to the traditional autonomy of the provinces of the Anglican Communion [Covenant § 3.2.2] and, in particular, of The Episcopal Church.
* The Covenant would change the balance of Scripture, reason, and tradition by minimizing the role of reason.
* We are concerned that the Covenant would establish an ultimate teaching authority that would impair freedom of conscience by dictating which beliefs and norms are permitted to Anglicans.
* We believe that each province in the Anglican Communion, and in particular, The Episcopal Church should continue to be free to respond to its discernment of God's will.
My parish, St. Mary's Manhattanville, came out unanimously against the Anglican Covenant at our Annual Meeting on the first Sunday in Lent. A drafting committee, of which as it turned out I was the principal drafter, came up with a statement for submission to the national church by the stated Easter deadline. I apologize for a little awkwardness in the statement, especially for the fact that the scriptural quotations are somewhat loosely stuck in. I simply ran out of time and I wanted to include all the suggestions of all the members.
Here is the statement:
April 23, 2011
Resolution of the Annual Meeting
St. Mary's Manhattanville Episcopal Church
521 West 126th Street
New York, New York 10027
In response to the invitation extended to all parishes in The Episcopal Church to study and comment upon the proposed Anglican Communion Covenant, this parish of St. Mary's Manhattanville Episcopal Church in New York, New York recommends that the General Convention of The Episcopal Church not endorse the Covenant. Adopted unanimously, March 13, 2011.
New York, New York 10027
In response to the invitation extended to all parishes in The Episcopal Church to study and comment upon the proposed Anglican Communion Covenant, this parish of St. Mary's Manhattanville Episcopal Church in New York, New York recommends that the General Convention of The Episcopal Church not endorse the Covenant. Adopted unanimously, March 13, 2011.
A drafting committee was authorized to expand upon the bare bones resolution and has concluded that we concur with the reasons set out in the vestry resolution of St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Albany, New York as follows:
* The Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1888 provides a sufficient base for the unity of The Anglican Communion.
* The discipline that would be imposed by the Covenant is contrary to the traditional autonomy of the provinces of the Anglican Communion [Covenant § 3.2.2] and, in particular, of The Episcopal Church.
* The Covenant would change the balance of Scripture, reason, and tradition by minimizing the role of reason.
* We are concerned that the Covenant would establish an ultimate teaching authority that would impair freedom of conscience by dictating which beliefs and norms are permitted to Anglicans.
* We believe that each province in the Anglican Communion, and in particular, The Episcopal Church should continue to be free to respond to its discernment of God's will.
We also have a reason that is related to our history. As the sponsoring parish of two of the women who were ordained priest in Philadelphia on July 29, 1974, we see that one effect of the proposed Covenant would be to discourage actions that offer challenges to the church through prophetic witness. In this connection some of us are reminded of the words of Isaiah (61:8):
For I the Lord love justice,
I hate robbery and wrongdoing;
I will faithfully give them their recompense,
and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
I hate robbery and wrongdoing;
I will faithfully give them their recompense,
and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
We also think of St. Paul in 1 Thessalonians (5: 16-20a):
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of prophets,
We are aware that Paul’s next words are “but test everything.” We believe the proposed covenant has too great a potential for quenching the Spirit and short-circuiting testing.
Finally, some of us feel, along with our Suffragan Bishop Catherine Roskam, that A Covenant for Communion in Mission is worthy of our study and attention. To quote Bishop Roskam, “It is neither juridical nor punitive and is consonant with our Anglican tradition—member churches joined by common prayer and common mission.”
St Mary’s Manhattanville has ministered to all sorts and conditions of people in what is now called West Harlem since our founding in 1823. For nearly 200 years we have stood for peace and justice for all – for racial justice, economic justice, gender justice, and sexual orientation justice.
Respectfully submitted,
on behalf of the Rector, Wardens, Vestry, and Annual Meeting of St. Mary’s Manhattanville,
Allen Mellen, Treasurer
Cc: Covenant Study design group of the Diocese of New York
The Harrowing of Hell
There are three things on my mind this Holy Saturday. First, comments on the proposed Anglican Covenant are due to the General Convention office by tomorrow, Easter Sunday, if they are to be considered by the drafters of the Blue Book Report to the 77th (2012) General convention . Second, in just over a week cooperators here at Morningside Gardens will be electing four new members to the board of directors. Third, the likelihood is diminishing that the outgoing members of the Board of Directors will be voting on a capital loan for which we have applied.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
I asked for it
AN OPEN LETTER TO ALLEN MELLENThe foregoing was delivered to me Monday evening, March 21. It's about a mortgage refinance that the coop has applied for. The writers appear to think that the board will be voting on the refinance at tonight's meeting, but that is not correct. They also appear to think that because I have described myself as a swing voter on some issues that I am a swing voter on this one. That also is not correct.
A most important Board of Directors vote is scheduled for March 22 one which will affect Morningside Gardens for the next 10, 20 or 30 years. WE URGE YOU TO ABSTAIN ON THIS VOTE. That decision should not be the responsibility of one man; it should be made by the entire body of shareholders.
We know that you have served our coop over many years in many capacities, and now we ask you to serve once again in this most urgent way. ABSTAIN! You've made courageous choices in the past. You can make this one too.
ABSTAIN. Use your one man vote, like everybody else, to vote for new Board Members who will help guide us into our financial future, which is by definition both unknown and unknowable.
Thank you for your past service and for your honorable decision now.
Sincerely,
[eight signatures of persons most of whom I know]
It happens that the three directors who some stockholders tried to remove are against this loan, as are two others on the board. But my reversal on the matter of sanctions and my opposition to their removal from the board was not because I think they are right and certainly not because I think they are right on the subject of the loan.
There's no doubt that the terms of the loan we expect to be offered are not those we would like, but I am convinced that they are the best we can get.
I'm posting this now, before the board meeting, and I may update it later.
Wednesday, March 09, 2011
"Mardi Gras" party at St. Mary's
I expect that soon there will be sone pictures at St. Mary's Facebook page.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Trouble at Morningside - Six
Today is the day of the special meeting at which the cooperators at Morningside Gardens will vote whether to remove directors from the board. Voting will be separate for each of the three directors in question. I have circulated a statement setting out the reasons I am urging cooperators to vote NOT to remove any of the three.
Others have also circulated statements, some urging a vote to remove, other urging a vote not to remove. I have long since given up trying to predict how votes here will go, so there is nothing to do but wait for the outcome.
We'll know the results by tomorrow afternoon.
Others have also circulated statements, some urging a vote to remove, other urging a vote not to remove. I have long since given up trying to predict how votes here will go, so there is nothing to do but wait for the outcome.
We'll know the results by tomorrow afternoon.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Trouble at Morningside - Five
Some private emails have made it clear to me that I need to make very explicit two things that I thought I had said clearly.
When I brought up the matter of last spring's censure of a board member, it was for the purpose of stating that I think that censure can be enough of a rebuke for actions the board deems improper. Once the person has been censured, that's the end of it. The censure does not alter the person's eligibility to fill any corporate office. In that instance, I thought that from the beginning. Only after the fact did I conclude that I should have applied that principle instead of voting to impose sanctions on three board members.
Second, while I have found what I am calling the Maimonides standard (don't say or do anything to cause hurt to another person) to be a useful guide for my judging my own conduct, I never said that it is binding on anyone else, nor do I judge anyone's conduct by that standard.
I need to amplify that last statement a bit. In a blog post, I used the word "conspiracy" and referred to "the devil." "Conspiracy" was an unfortunate choice of words to describe the agreement to keep the motions to sanction the three a secret from the rest of the board until they were introduced at the September 14th board meeting. I am sorry now that I consented to the secrecy agreement, but at the time there seemed to us all (including me) to be sound strategic reasons for doing it that way. I apologize for calling my fellow board members co-conspirators, just as I apologize to the other five board members for my part in springing the motions on them at the meeting.
A second thing that needs clarification is my use of the term "the devil." As I said in part three of this series, when otherwise good people act to cause harm to other people, I find it useful to attribute that to a malign influence. I say that not to let people off the hook for their own actions, but to try to counter the all too human tendency to demonize other people. I do not mean to suggest that any individual is possessed by "the devil."
When I brought up the matter of last spring's censure of a board member, it was for the purpose of stating that I think that censure can be enough of a rebuke for actions the board deems improper. Once the person has been censured, that's the end of it. The censure does not alter the person's eligibility to fill any corporate office. In that instance, I thought that from the beginning. Only after the fact did I conclude that I should have applied that principle instead of voting to impose sanctions on three board members.
Second, while I have found what I am calling the Maimonides standard (don't say or do anything to cause hurt to another person) to be a useful guide for my judging my own conduct, I never said that it is binding on anyone else, nor do I judge anyone's conduct by that standard.
I need to amplify that last statement a bit. In a blog post, I used the word "conspiracy" and referred to "the devil." "Conspiracy" was an unfortunate choice of words to describe the agreement to keep the motions to sanction the three a secret from the rest of the board until they were introduced at the September 14th board meeting. I am sorry now that I consented to the secrecy agreement, but at the time there seemed to us all (including me) to be sound strategic reasons for doing it that way. I apologize for calling my fellow board members co-conspirators, just as I apologize to the other five board members for my part in springing the motions on them at the meeting.
A second thing that needs clarification is my use of the term "the devil." As I said in part three of this series, when otherwise good people act to cause harm to other people, I find it useful to attribute that to a malign influence. I say that not to let people off the hook for their own actions, but to try to counter the all too human tendency to demonize other people. I do not mean to suggest that any individual is possessed by "the devil."
Moravians
Yesterday (Thursday) , Liz and I drove to Bethlehem, PA, to attend the Eucharist that formally inaugurated the full communion relationship between the Episcopal Church and the Northern and Southern Provinces of the Moravian Church. The link is to the write up of the event at Episcopal News Service.
Liz was a member of the Moravian - Episcopal Dialogue when it began in 1999. Liz left the dialogue for personal reasons after interim eucharistic sharing was approved by both Moravian provinces in 2002 and by General Convention in 2003. Over the years of Liz's ecumenical involvement, I have met a number of folks in the field, including some Moravians, and it was a pleasure to see people I knew in Bethlehem last night. Mostly it was a pleasure to attend the joyous service in Central Moravian Church.
It was a welcome break from the troubles here at Morningside.
There is a video of the service at the Episcopal Church website.
Liz was a member of the Moravian - Episcopal Dialogue when it began in 1999. Liz left the dialogue for personal reasons after interim eucharistic sharing was approved by both Moravian provinces in 2002 and by General Convention in 2003. Over the years of Liz's ecumenical involvement, I have met a number of folks in the field, including some Moravians, and it was a pleasure to see people I knew in Bethlehem last night. Mostly it was a pleasure to attend the joyous service in Central Moravian Church.
It was a welcome break from the troubles here at Morningside.
There is a video of the service at the Episcopal Church website.
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
Come on, Mouneer
The Episcopal / Anglican Bishop of Egypt has issued a statement which essentially buys into Mubarak's speech of last night. I am disappointed but not surprised.
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