Heaven all around us

"Heaven" seems to be all around us this first half of October. Where you ask? Places like these:

* the people of Erie are being so generous to our Emmaus Soup Kitchen after the fire that brought considerable damage to the kitchen 2 weeks ago;

* here is the environment for liturgy this weekend--such artists in our midst:

* the temps Sunday reached 70--a slight miracle for this October date. Here's a seemingly ordinary scene, but the berries on a single stock, growing in and out of the wire fence, right on the shore of the lake, made a special shot, I thought: nature shining amidst the utilitarian needs of humans;

I guess it's all a matter of seeing what's right around us.

Gallery beauty

I made a quick 48 hour trip to Boston this week to attend "A Conversation" between Joan C. and the author of her biography, Tom Roberts. It was held at the Pucker Gallery on Newbury St. in Boston, the place that has been the longtime gallery of the ceramics of Brother Thomas. Bernie and Sue Pucker are extraordinary hosts and both the gallery event and the dinner at their home afterwards were as special as they come. Here are a few photos from these lovely moments.

Joan and Tom signed many, many books by the attendees. Publisher Robert Ellsberg from Orbis Books was also there.

The primary exhibit of Thomas' works for this show.

The "back room" of Thomas' works!

We have over 100 of Thomas' pieces, Pucker Gallery has over 800. We have some that I've never seen there and they have some, the likes of which I've never seen at our place. Here are two of those.

All mixed up

We're in the middle of a four-week span that is a tough time of year in our part of the country--regarding weather. Half the time it's cold and damp and half the time it's sunny and warm. And this can all happen in one day. It gives new meaning to "layering" as we put on and take off outer layers all day long! Oh, late September and early October!

Take a look at these--from our inner courtyard this week!! They are obviously terribly mixed up, too.

On the other hand, and there seems to always be one, the cool, damp weekend brought no problems to the 30-35 retreatants we had--as they spent their time in activities as well as private, quiet time indoors and had a beautiful retreat experience as part of our Seasons of the Spirit weekends.

A Star is Born

Lady is one of the "stars" of Sister Joan's new book, Two Dogs and a Parrot: What animals can teach us about the meaning of life.

However she seems unfazed by her newfound celebrity.

Despite a cage full of toys, note that she is on her back trying to grab her "favorite" toy: the toilet paper roll.

This gives new meaning to "adapting to your environment"! As she spends quite a bit of time in an office during the work day, Lady loves the "juggle gym" of climbing files. This particular trick is detailed in one of the chapters in the new book.

A Tale of Two Moments

Emmaus Ministries experienced two very opposite moments this weekend.

The first one was rather surreal, as they suffered a fire in one corner of the soup kitchen building that started at ground level and spread upward to the roof. Luckily no one was injured and the building was secured within hours after it was stopped by firefighters. A great thanks goes out to Erie's city fire companies who did a first class job arriving on the scene immediately and working expertly to control the fire and minimize its damage. Go here for more.

But, as scheduled, the Emmaus staff went ahead with its 3rd Annual Harvest Fest on Sunday afternoon under clear skies and warm early autumn sun. A large crowd continued to stop by all afternoon and the shows of support, emotional and financial, are pouring in.

The Brig Niagara

Last weekend we had a rare opportunity--the chance to climb aboard the Brig Niagara, the replica of one of Oliver Hazard Perry's ships from the War of 1812, the Battle of Lake Erie. Here are some of the shots I got, along with a resolve to watch for the announcement of public trips and sign up for the next one that is available!

The Niagara at its berth behind our public library, right on the bay.

The masts are unbelievably tall.

Neatness seems to be a virtue here.

One of the summer crew, some of whom were living on board yet.

A bell with surely an interesting story.

As I said above, neatness!

Special experience

I had often read and heard from serious birders that wild birds can be trained or teased into eating from your hand. But until this week I had never experienced it. One morning when I saw that my feeder (see below) was empty I thought that perhaps I'd try, so I put some food in my hand and maneuvered my arm outside my open window so that my hand would be right up against the feeder. Then I just stayed that way for about 5 minutes, very still and waiting.

The birds saw the food and started flying up to it, but veered quickly away when they saw where it was. After 5 minutes I quit and resumed getting ready to go to work. The next day I tried again. And again, there was a lot of flying and swooping and even noises, but no landings.

Day three: same procedure, same result, until a little tufted titmouse (see below) bravely landed on the feeder and then jumped down to my hand. After flying off with a seed, didn't a little chickadee (see below) follow suit. The landings were so soft, the birds so light in weight, and the picking up of the seeds so delicate, with the take offs so quick, I almost had a heart attack from the experience. I couldn't believe it had happened, wild birds feeding from my palm. WOW, WOW, WOW.

Black-capped chickadee

Tufted titmouse