Do you like Olives?

I want to plug an HBO series from 2014 that my friends and I just finished watching on DVDs from our local library: Olive Kitteridge. A very, very good story of a woman and her family in a small coastal town in Massachusetts. Four hour-long episodes that cover about 25 years in their lives. Fine acting and a fascinating story. Strong women and men. I believe it was made from a novel, so if you prefer that medium, you might try the book.

You can read more about it here and even watch a trailer.

This week has been filled with what I call "days stolen from winter." The temps have been in the 60s and even 70s as autumn gives us its last warm breath! For those of you who aren't fanatic weather people, we live on the Great Lakes Plain with an average of about 100" of snow a season. Last year it was 110" but it wasn't the snow that did us in--it was the cold. We had a week in February that not only closed our schools but affected our early spring bushes and, for some, their whole summer growth.

The wisdom, I guess, is to wait a second year and see which ones come back on their own and which ones don't. So we hope against hope to see forsythia next spring!

Scenes from one of our gardens. The hummingbirds are long gone, but just in case.

Are those a couple of peppers...in November?

Nature is not picky where it grows.

The Journey

This weekend two women, who have lived with us for a year as postulants, officially entered the novitiate--which is a "really big deal" in one's spiritual journey, so to speak.

I think it's an appropriate moment to reflect on one of the many wonderful poems Mary Oliver has written about life and the journey we all make through it.

"The Journey"

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice--
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.

But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.

It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.

But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,

determined to do
the only thing you could do--
determined to save
the only life you could save.


Mary Oliver

Two busy months

After a very, very busy September and October--event after event, guests upon guests (all quite wonderful), I admit that I am looking forward to what APPEARS to be a quieter November--starting this weekend with two "at home" gatherings, primarily just for "the natives"!

The first is a Halloween party Saturday night. Halloween party here means fun things for dinner, some attendees dressing up in costumes, candy and a movie on the big screen in the community room. I think I'm going as a Pittsburgh Steeler fan. I have a great long sleeved Steeler T-shirt and a brand new cap that one of our sports loving nonagenarians lent me. I'm on the front desk switchboard in late afternoon and I think I'll dress for that and then just continue the theme for the "party." There are prizes, but I doubt that I'll win--we have some crazy costume lovers and they are sure to upstage most of us.

Secondly, on Sunday our two postulants are received into the novitiate as canonical novices for a year. It is a very moving ceremony and marks quite a point in their journey as seekers. The upcoming year will enable them to really get a handle on whether to continue on this path or to realize that God is leading them to another one. We, as supporters and sisters, pray especially for them this year and do what we can to offer them a very special year of discernment, study and a deepening of their life here in this monastic community.

A year for reflection

A couple of years ago two graduates from Canisius College in Buffalo joined our Benedicta Riepp program and came to live, work and pray with us for a year. They were delightful gals and, as part of their experience, they started blogs, sharing with their families and friends this unique year in their life. If you have been reading this blog for that long you may remember the link to their blogs and the encouragement I gave you to experience a different angle/view/experience of the daily here, than you were getting from me.

Well, here is a chance again! Our postulant, Valerie, has been blogging for a month or so and last week her blog, "Walking in the Holy Presence," went public! You will find a permanent link to it on the right side of this page, but a first encouragement to read it right here today. She is doing a fine job, very good writing, filled with honesty, openness and interest. I learn quite a bit from reading it myself! Enjoy!

"October gave a party"

Autumn is moving along very nicely, as this week without harsh rain and winds has brought our golds and reds and yellows out in full bloom. When the sun shines on the woods and roadsides it is really breathtaking. That can all disappear in a whisper if a heavy rain and/or strong winds blow through...crossing our fingers that we get a lot more beautiful days.

To see the results of my apple "test" you can compare this photo with the one on Monday. Twenty apples set out, eleven there today. Between the deer, squirrels and numerous other "critters" I'm not sure which got to them but 7-8 are totally gone, a couple chewed on site and the rest seem poised to disappear this weekend.

Finally, a tribute to one of my most faithful "fans" and supporters. Our eldest (and wisest?!?!) sister turned 98 this week. That makes our range 98 to 27! Congratulations Sister Placida and thank you for all your encouragements, the fine book reviews for that page on our website and for sharing these daily trivialities with your friends and families. I hope they enjoy this little lens into our daily life here at MSB in Erie.

"October gave a party.."

October = Apples

We have been the beneficiaries of baskets and baskets of apples this month, as local farmers and neighbors are very generous with their harvest. Yesterday one of the sisters told me that there were 3-4 boxes of "apples for the deer" in the kitchen! I wasn't exactly sure what she meant, but I found them and gladly set them out in my usual place for our herd. Here's my deer "deli," usually only open in deep winter when the snow covers every bush and shrub on our grounds causing the soft, overly ripe apples from our kitchen to find their way to this "table."

The behemoth that is our air conditioning system.

Hidden nicely by a perimeter of arbor vitae which not only hide it a bit, but cut the noise, too.

The cement base for the system stays much more snow-free than the ground around it. A perfect place setting for hungry deer.

PSU blue & white

Over a dozen community members are at Penn State Wednesday and Thursday for the opening of Sister Joan's literary archives. Quite an event, in the October orange and golden fall scenes of rural Pennsylvania. The first afternoon of panels and speakers went very well. Thursday morning's were just as good for the wrap up. Most presentations are available online through this site.

We were on the road by 2:00 pm, getting "out of Dodge" right before a huge concert came into town: Paul McCartney.

Here are some views of this glorious event:

The exhibit is large and beautiful. On display through December 15. Try to get there!

Joan and Sister Simone Campbell outside of the Paterno Library.

Joan presenting her keynote at the end of the 2-day event.