Christmas snow gauges

Thankfully we're not Buffalo or Minneapolis or so many of the other cities that took such devastating hits from the storm that made its way across the country this week....but we did have a very, very cold, windy and snowy Christmas weekend.

All of these pictures were taken from indoors, through windows!

My bedroom bird feeder.

Right outside our rooms on the east side.

St. Francis and one of the inner courtyard's sculpted drifts.

That's the statue of Mary on the left.

The trash can of bird seed, the rubber maid container of garden tools

and the orange cones that look like little trees!

All the window screens on the west and north sides of the Mount were abstract designs.

 Well, the O Antiphons began this weekend, decorations are starting to be put up, the huge boxes that hold the large nativity scene for the community room have appeared, last minute Kris Kringle gifs are being bought. the handbell choir and the community schola have settled on their songs for the weekend liturgies---the week of Christmas has begun.

This weekend brought our second snowstorm with a hoped-for white Christmas now in sight. I see on our guest list that a few overnight guests will be with us for Christmas--do join us yourself for the liturgies if you're in the area.

May the peace, joy and happiness of the seasons (the last day of Hanukkah is the 25th) be with you and yours.   

Christmas concerts

After a two year hiatus because of the COVID virus and the reluctance to be in large crowds, the North East Choral group brought back its annual Christmas concert this weekend and it was as special and finely done as I remember it the last time.

In addition to some sacred and regular holiday fare, they sang a song that I had never heard of "The Twelve Days After Christmas" a funny and very clever story of what happened to the twelve daily gifts once Christmas was over! There are versions on youtube and other sites, but here's one where I think the words are the most clear. You'll enjoy it, I'm sure.

Click here to listen to "The Twelve Days after Christmas." 

Sunday afternoon

Sunday afternoon, by an uncommon quirk in the schedule, found us "free" to catch three of our favorite winter sports teams on TV or streaming online. The Pittsburgh Steelers were playing the Atlanta Falcons and since Pittsburgh is led by a young rookie quarterback, along with other rookies in the starting line ups, they are struggling with growing pains this year. However, this Sunday afternoon everything worked out and lo and behold they played beautifully and won! Oh, how I wish Sr. Jerome were still with us...she loved Pittsburgh, wore clothing with their logo sent to her by her nephews and nieces, and just plain enjoyed  being part of the "terrible towel" gang.

Then, we caught most of the Philadelphia Eagles game. They won, too, much to the delight of the half dozen sisters who grew up in the Philadelphia area. They are having a fantastic season, with the best record in the NFL right now. Fly, Eagles, Fly!

Finally, we watched the Notre Dame women's basketball game. This year the major TV channels have started to carry the college women's bball games, the most competitive games between the best teams, of course. This one was a classic between ND and UConn, two teams that have been in the thick of the national scene for a couple decades. We got hooked on ND's team because an Erie gal played for Notre Dame in the early 2000s and now is with the WNBA Minnesota Lynx. On this day, ND beat UConn, who had dominated their games for the last few years. Go Irish! We should see both teams in March Madness for sure. 

Walking to school

For most of my schooling, say grades 5-12, my sister and I walked to school. It wasn't on a major roadway, but rather on a residential, seldom used by the public street that was perfect as a footpath for school children. I remember those times as peaceful, outdoor daily breaks before and after school and, in the earlier years, even at lunch time.

So when I saw an article in our local paper I was curious, as its subtitle was: Mural project adds 12 murals to Erie school walking routes. It went on to detail a mural project, Purposeful Placemaking, by the Erie Art and Culture group in areas where children and families typically walk to and from neighborhood schools. 

Twelve of the planned 50 cityscapes are already finished, the rest to come by the end of 2023. They are absolutely fantastic!  Take a look at them here.  Or, google Purposeful Placemaking and that will take you to the Erie Arts and Culture website, where they are also displayed.

Media stars

Over the last 4-5 days we here in Erie, PA have been "media stars," kinda. When the Weather Channel focused on the first big lake effect snowstorm that passed over the Great Lakes, there we were in the middle of the maps, between Cleveland and Buffalo. The Sisters fielded texts, emails and phone calls from their friends and families who also saw the weather news and contacted them to see how bad it was for us.

Truth be told, it wasn't very bad at all. From Thursday through Sunday we, here in Harborcreek, six miles east of downtown Erie and 12 miles from the New York State line, had 17-18" of snow. See what I mean? The stories of 50-60-70" in Buffalo were unbelievable to us, too. Our amount, especially since it was over a weekend (no school), allowed everyone to stay put if they could and ride it out till Monday, when temps are expected to begin a week of 40s.

One of the really enjoyable parts of this sudden dive into winter was watching our birds. They all came in abundance to our feeders--all day, every day. My favorite "visitors" were this cardinal couple. They were always hanging around my window feeder and seemed a little less jumpy than last year--or so I imagined. Maybe I did a better job of staying still when they appeared! 

Mid-November

Mid-November holds some yearly "markers" so to speak. One you see above: the cacti in the library are blooming, their first of the season. This light pink one is probably 35 years old; there's a beautiful white one that is a little younger and a yellow one which is quite a bit younger, as it started from a single leaf from Sr. Benedict's plant, the first yellow cactus I had ever seen. 

Secondly is snow. This weekend we awoke to our first covering of snow on the grass. It was wet, very wet, but enough to turn the yard white. I think it will qualify as more than "a trace" and therefore we will have a winner in our first snow contest: When will the first snow come? Next week I'll put out the second contest: How many inches will we get this season? A gift card awaits the winner of each.

In the course of four days last week, I visited with two close friends who are both on a terminal cancer journey. Both of the visits were very, very nice, dinner with one and lunch with the other. I found out that the actual visiting was not difficult per se, but the days after...whoa! The ideas, the memories, the thoughts, the mystery of it all, are insidious...they creep around, unawares, yet just under the surface. They  come out at night, at prayer, in a crowd, by yourself...any time and anywhere. I find myself tearing up listening to a song in the car or reading a poignant paragraph in a book, The reality doesn't seem to smack you in the face every minute, it's more like a constantly lingering knowledge, an ever-present companion---quiet in many ways, but never, never too far away. Please remember these two lovely people in your prayers, as we all do for each other at these times.

May the force be with you.

 

Where were you in 1980? I was teaching high school and, therefore, attuned to all the culture of the day, especially that which interested teenagers. One of the phenomena of the time was the Star Wars series.

Arguably the most popular of the series was The Empire Strikes Back which included the introduction of what would become one of the most popular characters, Yoda, the Jedi teacher. Additionally, this is when Luke finds out that the dreaded Jedi master who turned to the dark side and wore the iconic black mask, Darth Vader, was his father.

This weekend the Erie Philharmonic orchestra took the place of the London Symphony and played the entire score along with the showing of the movie. To say that it was out of this world, wonderful, magnificent doesn't really cover being there. I was so proud to be from "little Erie" and to know of such a musical masterpiece coming from our very, very fine orchestra.

On the spiritual side, "May the force be with you" became a greeting that had obvious overtones for all of us who are believers in things beyond the tangible, earthbound world. 

Enchanted

Years ago I fell under the spell of our chapel windows like so many others have. And under that spell I  have taken a number of photos of them that I love:

This is the first one that I ever took and it has been sold as a card in Chapter 57, used for a jubilee program, and bought as a print by many people. My friend Vena saw it one Saturday morning in early December and called me from my dining room vacuuming charge to catch it. I will always be grateful to her.

Since then I have tried to captured them: on the ceramic floor,

On the handbells and their Pyrex music stands.

And my own favorite, in the candle stands for Easter.

More recently I caught a picture of the small chapel's windows, which are a totally different design than the large ones in the main chapel. They include the saying "Let nothing be preferred to the work of God" and have three large inlaid crosses.

But I never thought there were still ones out there to be found, until this weekend.

My friend was walking through the inner courtyard garden, that we use as a short cut from the front door to the dining room. It was well after dark and because we had quite a number of guests this weekend, there must have been someone in the small chapel who had the lights on. Here is what she saw and I ran out to capture it: the small chapel's three windows, from the outside, at night. WOW!

Above normal

After 4-5 days of cold, rainy weather in mid-month, the winds, and anything else that was needed, shifted and we have been blessed with what is turning out to be a full week of above normal temps. These have brought warmth and sun back to us for what I fear may be the last hurrah.....but even if it is, it is a welcome hurrah.

To that end, everyone headed for the outdoors both Saturday and Sunday, even if it meant only a walk around the grounds. I went as far as Lake Chautauqua where I saw one of my favorite old used-to-be- lighthouses. Here it is--rather short as lighthouses go and leaning a little now, but placed right along the lakeshore and looking pretty good overall. 

Back home indoors, I'm well into my latest craft project--the title banner for our newest professed member. You can read about her on our community website if you haven't already--here. 

This is what it looks like in the early stages, as the title itself emerges. It will be followed by an outer border and then the inner border. Finally a good ironing, a hanging stick and string, and voila, ready for the receiver. I'm aiming for Christmas, but it's coming along so well right now, maybe Thanksgiving ...maybe.

October days in the northeast

Today we had the dreamed-of-experience for the fall: a drive along the lake shore at the high point of the turning of the leaves. And, WOW, were they beautiful. We headed up to Buffalo and then another 60 miles east to Rochester, NY, home of Kodak and Eastman School of Music, to name a couple of their proud products. My friend Anne's niece was coaching her NYU women's soccer team versus the University of Rochester women. I've never had much interest in soccer though I know it is the #1 worldwide sport, but I am warming to it with this connection. It still seems odd to me to run around, though with much skill I will admit, for 90 minutes and end up with a 0-0 tie or 1-0 win/loss. I guess the scoring isn't the issue, it's the skill, defense, etc. Anyway, I still don't totally get the allure, but it's getting more fun to watch when I know some of the major players involved.

However, on the other hand, our neighboring Buffalo Bills are having a return to their golden oldie days of Jim Kelly and OJ Simpson and all their wins. Finally they have a great quarterback and today they beat the Chiefs, who are a top team! Can you say Super Bowl?! 

A shout out to a Pennsylvania team also having a fabulous football year, so far...the Eagles of Philadelphia. They are currently undefeated and in first place in their division as they are benefitting from an Alabama-trained quarterback along with other fine players. 

A final sharing: despite the reference above to the beautiful fall scenes around us here, I posted our annual When Will Be the First Day of Snow? contest. Last year we had nearly 40 entries from community members.....what we won't do for a $5 gift card to Walmart!!😏 

A lovely surprise

 

We've had a tree in chapel for the month preceding the Feast of St. Francis, October 4th. It wasn't the first time we've had a live oak tree in chapel, but it did bring another first for me. Over the last week or so the trees in our area have begun changing colors...even though it's earlier than average. And then, the last days of September I noticed that, sure enough, the leaves on the tree in chapel were changing color, too! 

I can't remember ever seeing such a thing, a tree changing color indoors. Perhaps it's not uncommon, but it is to me. So here's a picture of it on October 4th itself, right before its transfer and planting outside. Thanks to the Care of the Earth committee for such a creative idea. 

Here's some more "daily news," especially for those of you who know us well: this week the handbell choir and the monastery choir both started up their rehearsals after a 6-month of so hiatus--longer for the singing group. It's really nice to get these going again as they are both a very special part of our offerings for prayer and liturgies.

Secondly, although the Covid virus is still with us, it seems to have "morphed" into another phase, not just for us I'm sure, but for others, too, I suspect. Here and there one sister at a time will test positive, some have no symptoms at all, others tell us theirs are cold or flu-like. They isolate in their rooms for 5+ days and when they test negative they continue to be masked and eat alone for awhile. Those who had close contact with them also go into masks for a bit and get tested regularly, etc. Fortunately no one has had to be hospitalized and we even go through weeks with no cases at all. 

Boosters are again on the horizon this month for everyone! 

Good Reads

I am in the middle of a streak. A streak of coming upon good, good books. Back on April 17 I did a blog post on the book, A Psalm for the Wild-Built--a monk and robot book, by Becky Chambers. Good fantasy literature with underlying or obvious spirituality themes (see the Dune  series or even Tolkien's works) is one of my favorite genres. Over the last couple of weeks I finally read the sequel to the April book, Prayer for the Crown-Shy and, what is not always true for sequels, it was as good if not better than the first book. What a find!

                                     

Then, a friend gives me Elizabeth Trout's latest Lucy by the Sea. Here's another genre, stories of everyday people in everyday situations.  Anne Tyler and her wonderful writing of stories set usually in Baltimore, Maryland, stand out as favorites here. But this Elizabeth Trout, her two books on Olive Kitteridge, the first won the Pulitzer Prize, and now this one on Lucy are making me wonder if Tyler is really my favorite. What magnificent writers these two!

Nine years passes quickly

 In August at our summer community days we got together to take a Community Photo. We gathered in the chapel, arranged by height, and tried to show off our best smiles for the camera. This week the large print of this endeavor was hung in the administrative hall, at the south end near the community room (for those of you who know our layout). It replaces one that has hung there since 2013. You can imagine that there are lots of changes in 9 years! Stop by and see it when next you come.

click to enlarge

End of summer treat

 

Smiley's ice cream truck came by at noon Saturday for a delightful end-of-the-summer 

surprise for the community, courtesy of friends of one of our sisters.

Here's the board with all the selections and, after you've studied it for 10 minutes, 

you put in your order. Much to my surprise the owner, seen here, was a Villa student 

of mine years ago. They always seem to know me, but for me it's harder! 

Guess I'm closer to looking like my 40-year-old self than they are their 16-year-old self!

The queue for the Queen had nothing on us! It took one hour to serve the 40-50 sisters 

with a sundae or cone. Well worth the wait! 

The lost and found

This Sunday our presider presented a reflection on the Gospel that is worth my attempt to share. The reading brought three short parables of Jesus to us about the lost and the found. He started by musing on Lost and Found departments in many large institutions, public places and the awareness that the items "lost" end up taking up a greater and greater space, as not many of them are claimed/"found" by their owners.

These parables, however, bring us stories where the lost are also found.

The first would be seen as totally ludicrous, he said, if it was really understood as we understand it today. No shepherd in his right mind would leave a flock of 99 sheep to try and find just 1 lost one. Secondly we have a woman sweeping her house to find 1 coin, lost out of her 10. Much more realistic in a way because 1 out of 10 is more to lose than 1 out of 100, and that for women of the first century owning much money at all would have been unusual and therefore a real loss. In both cases, whether they make sense in their importance or not, the lost sheep and lost coin are found...amid great rejoicing.

Finally, the lost son, in the prodigal story that we know so well, is not really the son that left his father's house and returned repentant--the lost son is the elder son who cannot understand or accept his brother's "finding" nor his father's compassion and forgiveness. He is the one who is really lost at the end of the tale.

All of these, in the way so many of the Christian parables appear, are stories of paradox and mystery and head-shaking. Not much logic here, not much of the expected behavior or outcome. Welcome to the Gospels of Jesus.

A welcome home

 

After nine hours of travel a walk around our place helped the transition back 

by discovering these sights: here's a patch of cosmos that is replacing

a tree planted in memory of two of our sisters' sibling.

The new bridge across the marshy area on the way to the hermitages

is coming along. This is sort of like replacing the 19th century

village bridge with the George Washington across the Hudson

(which I was on this week, by the way).

And one of the new trees, that spent its first 3 years in a garden,

is now on its own in the yard. Seems to be doing ok. Hopefully next 

year it will survive the winter and flourish in the summer.

 

And, finally, here are some old friends which I hadn't seen

on the grounds all summer. Back to graze in the lawn and 

poop on the sidewalks all day!

Seek...in every little shore town

 

Along the county trail that we walk nearly every day, there is a smaller tributary with a sign that announces it as "Butterfly Lane." It's chock full of tall colorful flowers and.....butterflies. Here is a photo of what we found there early one morning this week. 

The Jersey shore seems to be a summer extension of Philadelphia and New York City. And, as in those two large cities, there are Catholic churches everywhere. I swear every little shore town up and down the coast has at least one and sometimes two of them. We haven't felt that the one nearest to us really fit us too well, so this weekend we traveled 5 miles north to the next town and "tried" their church: Saturday afternoon 4:00 pm Mass. The people were friendly, the music good, the reflections on the gospel were fine and the presiding priest did his part well and let everyone else do theirs. All in all they seemed happily engaged in their parish, at least from the little we observed and read about in their bulletin. It fit much better. 

When on vacation

My mother had a theory on eating out: "If you're going to order what you could have at home, what's the point of eating at a restaurant?" she'd say. I think of this often, especially when I'm eyeing the chicken entrees at some eatery! 

I'm going to expand her philosophy by saying" "If you're going to do on vacation what you do at home all the time, what's the point of going on vacation?" 

In that vein, here's one of the I-don't-get-to-do-this-at-home activities that Anne and I are enjoying this week on vacation: slowly and purposely reading newspapers, in this case the Sunday New York Times.

It has opinions, columns, arts and leisure, and news articles from everywhere/about everything. But here I am sharing with you my favorite feature, "Metropolitan Diary." Every week on this 1/2 page they run four or five little vignettes from New Yorkers, about their everyday life in this huge gathering of people, pace and possibilities.

Here's one from last Sunday's issue, shown above. You can google it and get a free session to read a few of them without the standard fee.

Dear Diary, I was waiting for a cab to take me from an urgent care clinic near Lincoln Square to a nearby emergency room. I had fallen the night before while leaving the theater, smashing my knee and face on the sidewalk. After an interminable wait, I spotted a lone cab stopped at a red light. The driver indicated that he would pick me up as soon as the light changed.

Then in a clear breach of taxi etiquette, a man who was maybe 20 years younger than I, jumped into the street ahead of me. He saw me and must have realized I was waiting for the cab. He obviously didn't care because when the light turned green, he hopped in brazenly. I was angry. Then the unthinkable happened.

The cab approached me, the taxi thief opened the door, asked where I was going, invited me in, waited as I hobbled aboard and told the driver to take me where I was going, which was a few avenues out of this man's way.

He told me he was late for a doctor's appt. and asked how I had gotten hurt. I said I had fallen after leaving the theater. He asked if I worked in theater and said that his wife did. When we got to the emergency room, he wouldn't accept any money for the ride and asked just one thing in return: He wanted me to tell his wife what I had told him: that he was the nicest person to ever steal a cab from me.

"She needs proof sometimes that I'm nice," he said.

I didn't get his name or his wife's, but hopefully she will read this. Gwen M.

Fourth and final

Ok, here's the fourth and final update on the first home that was built on the lots we sold along Carters Beach Rd. (north of East Lake Rd on the Glinodo side of our property). The first three "reports" were May 15, June 12 and July 10. Here we are August 14.

Front

Back

I don't think our new neighbors have moved in yet, but it is very close. It took me a while to like the window selection. All I could think of was washing them--all those individual panes. But I think the look of them, framed in the white all around, is beautiful. Worth the washing! The back, of course, is stunning. What a deck! and quite hidden and private and right up against the woods that surround it on three sides. They should see our local wildlife up close and personal.

The next three weeks I'll be sharing with you our exploits from the Jersey shore. I'll try to pick things that make you green with envy.....that's if you're a water/beach person!

Shore Life

This week was our annual LLL or Summer Community Days and, in between the yearly corporation meeting and Monastic Chapter business, we can get in a little unusual relaxing time.

Here's what I ran into while sitting and reading at Shade's Beach (1 mile east of here): a blue heron, walking around the area where 8-mile creek empties into Lake Erie and on the wing when a couple hikers got too close. (He/she did return however!)  So calm and peaceful.. Lake Erie shore life.  

Click to enlarge

Eleven goats a-chewing

 I think I'm the only local media that hasn't included our visiting goat herd in a story--so here it is.

We stopped down yesterday to look in on them and found all eleven lying down, near the bus, chewing. Jennifer, the goatherd, told us that yes, indeed, this was their chewing time. Can you find all eleven in this photo?!

They are fascinating to watch. I'd like to say they are cute, but they really aren't. They're kinda' goat-like, not those cute little faces on lambs or even grown sheep. But, they are industrious, even obsessive in their duty and for that we are very grateful. The surprise of the visit is meeting Jennifer, Mike and Joe who are great, friendly, founts of information and seem thrilled to be here. They have fallen in love with our Glinodo property--but really, who wouldn't!

Meanwhile, back on the south side of East Lake Road our gorgeous summer continues. And for that we are very thankful, also.

                                               From the outside of chapel and from the inside.

Bridge over troubled watery grounds

If you have ever been to our place and traveled out to the hermitages in the nearby woods, you'll appreciate our latest grant-funded project.  Thanks to the work of our development office grant writers, we are finally replacing one of the two bridges that our guests need to cross to take a walk in the woods or get to the hermitages for a weekend of rest, relaxation or retreat time. You see, they are only accessible by foot, while pulling a wagon or sled loaded down with food and personal supplies. The old wooden ones were fine--for awhile--but as we all know Mother Nature will always win out---and she did---for the bridge right outside the sunroom at the beginning of the hermitage trail.

Here's the new cement one in its first days--it should be done soon.

---

If you haven't had a chance to read up on Let's Goat Buffalo and the eleven goats from the program that are with us, helping rid our woods of invasive species, go to our website for almost daily updates and don't miss their own website and the names, histories and personalities of each goat...darling!

Blooming summer

One of our sisters took photos of the gardens that are tended by community members

and made a terrific bulletin board display.

Some are at the Mount, some are at small group living places.

Some are flowers only, some vegetables only, and some both.

They are all in full bloom right now!