Happy Halloween!

Awhile ago I ordered a book of vintage Halloween postcards from Amazon.com. They quickly arrived and soon I misplaced them. I had intended to send them to friends, but am now reminded of this saying my father used to repeat: "The road to hell is paved with good intentions," as I have not done so.

Happy Halloween!

This is the first Halloween I have not bought any chocolate for trick-or-treaters, because I am committed to buying only Fair Trade Chocolate candy. (Husband CB complained that we don't have any "good" candy, but that's healthier for us, too.)

Whatever Halloween candy you have in your house, Hungry Girl has a handy guide to those treats. She posts the calories and the Weight Watcher points for each "fun size" and other handouts.

Anne has a cheery Halloween reflection at her Reverent Irreverance blog.

Last Minute Success

Unfortunately, that seems to be my motto. In high school, college and grad school, I lived this out--I always wrote papers the night before and got A's. Unfortunately, age has set in and I'm not as gifted on the spot like that anymore.

Today I was lucky enough to think of a way to get my car's annual safety inspection done while I was at my Tai Chi class. Last night CB noticed that the inspection sticker was expiring on Halloween, something I had completely ignored. Usually by waiting until the last minute, one spends hours waiting for one's turn.

Instead, this afternoon I left my car at the service station to be in the inspection queue and then I walked two blocks to the church for my Tai Chi Class. Two hours later I walked back, and the inspection had been completed.

What a satisfying day, especially with it being cooler and much less humid outdoors--in the mid 70s this afternoon. (Like a Bellingham summer day!)

Us at 60!

Jan and CB
Austin, TX

O God

O God, the Spirit of truth,
help us to be truthful with one another.
O God, the Spirit of gentleness,
help us to be gentle with one another.
O God, who knows what is in our hearts
more clearly than we do ourselves,
help us to hear one another.
O God, lead us in the way
of truth and love. Amen.

~~Richard Harries

Harries, Richard. "#362."The Book of a Thousand Prayers. Ed. Angela Ashwin. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002. 150.

This prayer is also posted at A Place for Prayer today. Please visit this ministry blog of RevGalBlogPals.

Centering?

Thanks to my friend Ron who emailed this cartoon.

The Best Season of Life

My friend Mary Jane sent me this card for my birthday. It is a perfect expression of how I feel about turning 60 years old.

Last week I was reading in the Gospel of John and was surprised by a rarely-noticed (by me) verse in the story of Jesus turning the water into wine at the wedding at Cana (John 2:1-12):

Then he called the bridegroom aside ¹⁰and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now."

With this landmark birthday approaching, I noticed the latter part of verse 10: "you saved the best till now." That perfectly describes how each successive decade has been for me: life keeps getting better. It seemed "old" to turn half-a-century ten years ago, but my 50's have been happier and happier. Now that I'm even older, I am anticipating that my 60's will be, too.

My faith in God and meditating have helped me to realize more of the abundance in my daily life, especially in my family and friends. I am such a blessed person; today I am grateful to know this as truth.

Today is the first day of my seventh decade!

SURPRISE!!

Monday is a big birthday for me (60!), so my only wish was to have dinner with my children, which was on Saturday night at my favorite Austin, TX restaurant The Eastside Cafe. Of course, daughter AE and KA from Seattle would not come, but Austin was an ideal location for daughter MJ from San Antonio and son BJ from Houston to meet us, because DC and 8-months-pregnant AA live there.

So we drove to Austin on Saturday, with two slight mishaps on the way. First, a Suburban sounded (and looked) like it hit our car when we were turning left from the right lane onto a one-way street--and the Suburban on our left went straight! We both stopped, but could see no damage, except for a scrape low on the front left fender, which seemed too low to be from the Suburban. So with a sigh of relief, we went on. Then about 10 minutes later, I realized that I had brought blouses along but NOT my skirt, so back home we drove. (That turned out to be beneficial, because we decided to make our own sandwiches for our lunch before driving on.)

We met at DC and AA's home in Austin and got to see the future baby nursery (in 3-4 weeks!), which is painted aqua with pink accents. They know they are having a baby girl, whose name will be Avery Elizabeth. Right now it is estimated, from a sonogram, that she weighs about 6 pounds.

After BJ and his girl friend TP got there, MJ arrived. We were telling her about the above-mentioned misadventures when suddenly from the kitchen came two figures I was not expecting at all -- AA and KA! From Seattle! MJ had picked them up at the Austin Airport for their 24-hour visit to TX. Husband CB and the kids had planned this for months to surprise me; I am overwhelmed by their love.

An even better surprise was my present from my children--a proposed pre-Christmas portrait of them all, including Avery! The last portrait was taken in 1997, and I am so pleased and excited that they'll do this for me. What a gift!

Today is the last day I will be 59, and I already received the best birthday presents possible -- and my birthday has not even come yet!

Let our fears be transformed

I have recently rediscovered Psalms for Praying by Nan Merrill. It is inspiring in a mystical way and a great aid before sitting in contemplative prayer.

Here is a portion of one of the Psalms I read a few days ago:

Impregnate us with Love, O Comforter!
Let our fears be transformed;
let all that keeps us separated
and confused flee!
As smoke is blown away, so let our
fears rise up before You;
as wax melts before fire,
let our fears be melted by Love!
Then will we be released
from bondage;
we will exult before the Beloved;
we will be jubilant with joy!

Merrill, Nan C. "Psalm 68." Psalms for Praying: An Invitation to Wholeness. NY: Continuum, 1997. 129.

Easy Vegetarian Garbanzo and Tomato Soup

I recently had this delicious soup at the Mustang Island Retreat Center. Tonight I made it (minus the leeks). It is easy and quick to make.

Garbanzo and Tomato Soup

2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 leeks, sliced
2 zucchini, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
4 cups canned chopped tomatoes
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 fresh bay leaf
3 1/2 cups vegetable bouillon
14-16 oz. can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
8 oz. spinach

Serve with:
freshly grated Parmesan cheese
sun-dried tomato bread

1. Heat the oil in a large pan, then add the leeks and zucchini and cook them briskly for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

2. Add the garlic tomatoes, tomato paste, bay leaf, vegetable bouillon, and garbanzo beans.

3. Bring the soup to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

4. Shred the spinach finely, add to the soup, and cook for 2 minutes. Season to taste.

5. Discard the bay leaf. Serve the soup immediately with freshly grated Parmesan chees and warm sun-dried tomato bread.

Friday Five: Friendships

Old Friends by Michael Leunig

Songbird brings today's Friday Five for RevGalBlogPals: some questions about friendship.

1) Who is the first friend you remember from childhood?
The first best friend I made was in first grade. Her name was Cece. We made up a "secret" language of substituting all first letters with "M" and so she was "Meme" and I was "Manet". (In first grade I insisted about being called "Janet" because my first grade teacher Miss Golden called me that. I even told my parents to stop calling me "Jan.") I was very impressed with Cece's mother, because a couple times she substituted for our teacher, and I wished so much that my mother could have done that. (Maybe that was the beginning of my desire to become a teacher, myself.)

2) Have you ever received an unexpected gift from a friend?
The most extravagant and surprising gift was that my friend Beverly made me a handmade quilt! She presented it to me in the Wisdom Class. It has an African theme, and I love it. (You can see both sides in this picture.)


3) Is there an old friend you wish you could find again? Or have you found one via social media or the Internet?
I wish I could find Cece!

And I am surprised that I've made blogging friends whom I have never met (except for Diane and Serena!).

4) Do you like to get your good friends together in a group, or do you prefer your friends one on one?
Usually I like one-on-one, though close friends in a group are fun.

5) Does the idea of Jesus as a friend resonate with you?
I have never felt a personal relationship with Jesus.

Prayer for Our World

Our Loving Creator God,

We bring before you this day
the burden the whole world carries
as it endures extreme poverty and hunger
in every land.

Stretch out your loving arms, we pray,
to embrace the suffering women, men and children
whose bodies, minds and spirits are shrinking
before our very eyes.

Help us to look, really look,
with clear eyes and open hearts,
to see the pain and hopelessness
in their bewildered eyes.

Kindle within each one of us
a flame of love and purpose,
and then

Enable us to channel our love into action
in every way possible
and impossible.

For this we pray. Amen.

~Mimi A. Simpson of Santa Barbara, CA

Ed. Margaret Rose, Jenny Te Paa, Jeanne Person, and Abagail Nelson. Lifting Women's Voices: Prayers to Change the World. NY: Morehouse Publishing, 2009. 90-91.

This prayer is also posted at A Place for Prayer today. Please visit this ministry blog of RevGalBlogPals.

Gay Teen Suicide Awareness Day

My daughters AE and KA in Seattle have contributed their personal testimonies that "It Gets Better" to the U-Tube Project begun by Dan Savage. Their stories and those of many other LGBT people are profound, hopeful and compassionate. I hope gay teenagers will look at one or more of them to realize that things will not always be so bleak and dismal.

Here is some info about Dan Savage and this project:

"What started out as a single video uploaded by the Seattle-based sex columnist and gay activist Dan Savage has quickly turned into an Internet phenomenon, with "Project Runway" star Tim Gunn, talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres, and other celebrities releasing powerful videos telling gay teens they aren't alone and that their lives will improve.

"The hundreds of videos uploaded to the It Gets Better project have been viewed more than a million times, Savage says."

To read the rest of the article, go here.

Dan Savage

Two Frogs

One day, two frogs were enjoying the day in the barn when they accidentally fell into the farmer's bucket of cream, and they couldn't get out. The two frogs kept swimming around to keep from drowning, and every once in a while they would try to climb out, but this was becoming very tiring.

One frog kept saying, "This is useless, we should just give up." But the other frog just ignored the comment and kept swimming. Finally, the pessimistic frog gave up and drowned. The other frog was sad at the loss of his friend, but he wasn't going to give up. He kept swimming and swimming, and, finally, the cream turned into butter and the frog simply climbed out.

This story shows that even if we stumble and others try to pull us down, we got to keep on swimming because, eventually, the cream will turn into butter and we'll make it out of the pail.

(Our priest Sandy Casey-Martus read this story in Sunday's homily.)

Blessing 2

These two quotes, from yesterday and today, speak of receiving God's blessing and returning the blessing, creating a continuous circle or world of blessing, love. (However, the following words were written by an Orthodox theologian in patristic language. The italics in parentheses are my way of trying to be inclusive.)

"Man is a hungry being. But he is hungry for God. Behind all the hunger of our life is God. All desire is finally a desire for God. To be sure, man (humanity) is not the only hungry being. All that exists lives by 'eating.' The whole creation depends on food. But the unique position of man (humankind) in the universe is the he (she) alone is to BLESS God for the food and the life he (she) receives from God. He (A human) alone is to respond to God's blessing with his (her) blessing. . .

"To name a thing, in other words, is to bless God for it and in it. And in the Bible to bless God is not a 'religious' or a 'cultic' act, but the very WAY OF LIFE. God blessed the world, blessed men (humanity), blessed the seventh day (that is, time), and this means that God filled all that exists with God's love and goodness, made all this 'very good.' So the only NATURAL (and not 'supernatural') reaction of man (humankind), to whom God gave this blessed and sanctified world, is to bless God in return, to thank God, to SEE the world as God sees it and--in this act of gratitude and adoration--to know, name, and possess the world. . . The first, the basic definition of man (humanity) is that he (she) is THE PRIEST. He (Humanity) stands in the center of the world and unifies it in his (her) act of blessing God, of both receiving the world from God and offering it to God--and by filling the world with this eucharist, he (she) transforms his (her) life, the one that he (she) receives from the world, into life in God, into communion with God."

~~Alexander Schemann in For the Life of the World

Blessing 1

"Blessing involves relationship: one does not bless without investing something of oneself into the receiver of one's blessing. And one does not receive blessing oblivious of its gracious giver. A blessing spirituality is a relating spirituality. And if it is true that all of creation flows from a single, loving source, then all of creation is blessed and is a blessing, atom to atom, molecule to molecule, organism to organism, land to plants, plants to animals, animals to other people, people to people, and back to atoms, molecules, plants, fishes."

~~Matthew Fox in Original Blessing

Dinner for Six

Like many other churches, All Saints Episcopal Church began organizing "Dinners for Eight" starting this fall. Our group dwindled to three couples, instead of four. Tonight is the dinner at our house.

CB is going to grill steelhead trout on the grill. I made a curried rice salad this morning. Others will bring a salad, a vegetable and dessert. It will be fun.

I thought I would share the recipe for the salad, because it is a favorite of my family:

Curried Rice Salad with
Apples and Chick-Peas

1 1/2 cups brown basmati rice
5 scallions, sliced
1 medium apple, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup raisins
3/4 cup chopped red bell pepper (I use yellow)
1 cup cooked chick-peas
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
1 tsp. ground turmeric
1 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. mayonnaise
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce (or vegetarian variety)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil

Bring the rice and 3 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, until the water is absorbed and the rice is tender, 40-45 minutes. Fluff the rice with a fork, and set it aside.

Combine the cooled rice in a large bowl with the scallions, apple, raisins, pepper, chick-peas, and cilantro.

Whisk together the turmeric, curry powder, salt, mayonnaise, Worcestershire, lemon juice, and olive oil.

Stir the dressing into the salad and serve at room temperature.
(However, we like it chilled.)

Callan, Ginny. Beyond the Moon Cookbook. NY: HarperCollins, 1996. 109.

IT GETS BETTER: Gene Robinson, Bishop of New Hampshire

BLOG ACTION DAY!

Pause and think about that for a moment!

Today is Blog Action Day concerning our need and access to WATER around the world.

Blog Action Day 2010: Water from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

• Every 20 seconds a child dies from a water-related disease.
• 890 million people lack access to safe water.
• 2.5 billion people don’t have a toilet.
• $25 brings one person clean water for life.
• Over 200 million hours of labor each day are consumed each day to collect water.
• The majority of the world’s illness is caused by fecal matter.
• More people on earth have cell phones than toilets.

For more information about FACTS about the water crisis go here.

Friday Five: Connections

I am currently reading Bowling Alone by Robert D. Putnam, where he explores the changes in community in the USA in the 20th Century. He explains how communities, people, and especially children function better when they live where there is high social capital. Basically, it means that "relationships matter."

We all know this because Christianity (and other religions) emphasize the Golden Rule:

All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,
do ye so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.
Matthew 7:1*

So here are some questions to ponder for this Friday Five about connecting with:

1. Self: Who was your hero/heroine when you were about ten years old?
When I was ten, I had just skipped fourth grade while being in a 3-4 grades combination class. I was in fifth grade and reading and reading Louisa May Alcott's books. While in that 3-4 combination class, an "older" student challenged me as the younger that I wasn't "old enough" to read Little Women, so (of course) I did! That was my favorite books for years and years; I was disappointed when my oldest daughter did not like it because it was so anti-feminist. Thus, all I can think is that my hero (or favorite author) at that time was Louisa May Alcott. She patterned Jo after herself, so I guess that independent spirit is what I admired. (I am glad to see that my two daughters feel more independent than I did at their ages.)

2. Family: Who are you most like? Who is most like you?
Having no siblings, I am like both my parents. I always wanted to be more like my mother, but have shown the insecurity of my father much of my life. After visiting my cousin Margaret in Canada, I was validated by her telling me I was more like my mother and her family than I had ever realized.

3. Friends: How do you stay in touch?
I stay in touch through sending cards, some emailing, blogging, and reading about friends on Facebook. I am not good about calling people; I like them to phone me, but somehow it is a hurdle for me to make the call.

4. Neighborhood, community: What are ways you like to be involved?
I am involved in small spiritual groups; two different Renovare Groups meet in my home every week. I need to be friendlier with my neighbors. I know I fall into the decreasing "social capital" relationships described in the Bowling Alone book.

5. Job/church: Do you see a need that will help in developing connections?
Small groups are helpful and asking individuals one-at-a-time reaps benefits. (But that usually means phone calls. . . .)

Bonus: I am impressed with Robert D. Putnam's writings and efforts to increase community connections. His group compiled 150+ ways to get involved, which are illuminating and surprising to look at. To print that list, go here. Just to see the list, go here.

* And I appreciate MomPriest printing other translations of Matthew 7:1-5:

Matthew 7 from The Message
A Simple Guide for Behavior
1-5 "Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, 'Let me wash your face for you,' when your own face is distorted by contempt? It's this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.

or this one from the NRSV

Matthew 7:1-5
7“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. 2For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. 3Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? 4Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.

Letter Writing

Recently I have received two letters that touched my heart. One was from my cousin Margaret, who still writes lengthy handwritten letters that I can never compete with. The other was an email letter from my sister-in-law Chris. Both wrote from their hearts and tears come to my eyes when I think of what they wrote.

Letters stay with us; we can re-read them. Plus, handwriting immediately reminds me of the writer. If I see a scrap of my mother's handwriting by chance, I am swept back into her presence. I think it is sad that such remembrances will be lost, since there is little need or call for personal handwriting these days.

In years past, I wrote long letters, especially to my friend Nancy who now lives in California. We met in junior high on the Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan in the 1960's and kept our friendship alive through many, detailed letters through the years. However, in the past decade with the advent of email and then cell phones, our writing has dwindled.

I am more likely to send cards and notecards now. I have a drawer full of old boxes of stationery from years and years ago, but rarely use those sheets of paper. The love for writing and receiving real mail influenced me in discovering The Letter Writers Alliance:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My cousin reminds me of my mother, and she wrote this to me:

Just as I remind you of your Mother and probably would remind you of your Grandmother Anne if you'd known her when she was younger, you remind me of my mother and "second mother" Aunt Dolly.

Somehow I am still connected with my mother's family and even that connection can be recognized (by someone else)!

Procrastinating

Thanks to Blue Eyed Ennis.

Know it is there

Empty me of the bitterness and disappointment of being nothing but
myself
Immerse me in the mystery of reality
Fill me with love for the truly afflicted
that hopeless love, if need be
make me one of them again --
Awaken me to the reality of this place
and from the longed-for or remembered place
And more than thus, behind each face
induct, oh introduce me in --
to the halting disturbed ungrammatical soundless
words of others' thoughts
not the drivel coming out of our mouths
Blot me out, fill me with nothing but consciousness
of the holiness, the meaning
of these unseeable, all
these unvisitable worlds which surround me:
others' actual thoughts -- everything
I can't perceive yet
know

know it is there.

~ Franz Wright ~

(God's Silence)

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FOX News

My naivete is showing in that I only learned today that FOX News pays Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee, so FOX interviewers are asking questions of fellow employees of FOX. . . I would expect slanted questions to be queried. . . .instead of impartiality.

Paul Krugman wrote a recent editorial about this.

"With Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee all making moves indicating they may run for president, their common employer is facing a question that hasn’t been asked before: How does a news organization cover White House hopefuls when so many are on the payroll?

"The answer is a complicated one for Fox News. (See: GOP's struggles play out on Fox)

"As Fox’s popularity grows among conservatives, the presence of four potentially serious Republican candidates as paid contributors is beginning to frustrate competitors of the network, figures within its own news division and rivals of what some GOP insiders have begun calling “the Fox candidates.”

"With the exception of Mitt Romney, Fox now has deals with every major potential Republican presidential candidate not currently in elected office.

"The matter is of no small consequence, since it’s uncertain how other news organizations can cover the early stages of the presidential race when some of the main GOP contenders are contractually forbidden to appear on any TV network besides Fox."

Above comes from a September 27, 2010 article by Jonathan Martin and Keach Hagey.

Raise the Bar Hershey!

There is an excellent article "Is There Child Slavery in Your Chocolate?" by John Robbins from the September 24, 2010 Huffington Post that I urge you to read. He gives anecdotal and solid info, with many links about chocolate, including the following report.

"In 2006, Hershey acquired the Artisan Confections Company21, which produces Dagoba Chocolate and Scharffen Berger chocolate22. By acquiring the company, Hershey inherited Dagoba’s cocoa purchasing policies for its specific branded items, which include the “Conacado Bar” that is made using cocoa from the Conacado Fair Trade cocoa cooperative in the Dominican Republic. Dagoba’s drinking chocolate, syrup, and cacao powder are also Fair Trade Certified™.

"Of 22 different chocolate bars, baking products, and drinking chocolate produced by Dagoba, seven are made using Fair Trade Certified™ cocoa. No products under the Hershey label outside of the Dagoba subsidiary use Fair Trade Certified™ cocoa. When considered as part of Hershey’s total product line, these Fair Trade Certified™ products constitute less than one percent of the company’s offerings."

Download the entire report "Time to Raise the Bar: The Real Corporate Social Responsibility Report for the Hershey Company" HERE.

Pancreatic Cancer

My mother died of pancreatic cancer only 42 days after diagnosis in 1992. She was only 72 years old.

November is National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month.

Pancreatic cancer is the only one of the top ten cancer killers with a five-year survival rate still in the single digits—and the survival rate hasn’t changed in nearly 40 years.

You can change that by helping advance research, support patients and create hope.

Blog Action Day 2010

Blog Action Day is October 15, 2010

This day is to unite the world's bloggers in posting
about the need for clean water throughout the world.

1. Unsafe drinking water and lack of sanitation kills more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Unclean drinking water can incubate some pretty scary diseases, like E. coli, salmonella, cholera and hepatitis A. Given that bouquet of bacteria, it's no surprise that water, or rather lack thereof, causes 42,000 deaths each week.
2. More people have access to a cell phone than to a toilet. Today, 2.5 billion people lack access to toilets. This means that sewage spills into rivers and streams, contaminating drinking water and causing disease.
3. Every day, women and children in Africa walk a combined total of 109 million hours to get water. They do this while carrying cisterns weighing around 40 pounds when filled in order to gather water that, in many cases, is still polluted. Aside from putting a great deal of strain on their bodies, walking such long distances keeps children out of school and women away from other endeavors that can help improve the quality of life in their communities.
4. It takes 6.3 gallons of water to produce just one hamburger. That 6.3 gallons covers everything from watering the wheat for the bun and providing water for the cow to cooking the patty and baking the bun. And that's just one meal! It would take over 184 billion gallons of water to make just one hamburger for every person in the United States.
5. The average American uses 159 gallons of water every day – more than 15 times the average person in the developing world. From showering and washing our hands to watering our lawns and washing our cars, Americans use a lot of water. To put things into perspective, the average five-minute shower will use about 10 gallons of water. Now imagine using that same amount to bathe, wash your clothes, cook your meals and quench your thirst.

While these facts may be grim, there is hope for real solutions as more and more people around the world are waking up to the clean water crisis. Earlier this year, the UN declared access to clean water a human right and groups like charity: water and Water.org continue to work tirelessly to bring water access to the developing world.

And now, on October 15th we all have a chance to help shed more light on water issues around the world. Take a moment to make sure to register your blog and grab an action widget, and get ready for an amazing day of blog activism.

Friday Five: Fall Word Association

Trees in Calgary last week

Singing Owl offers this Fall Word Association for RevGalBlogPals:

Give us the the first word that comes to mind (you know how that works, right?) and then add a little something about why, or how or what.

1. Pumpkins--carved

2. Campfire--rarely experienced, because we did not go camping. My dad was a career Marine and felt that "camping" was too much a part of his job description.

3. Apples--crisp and juicy

4. Color--fall leaves, which do not occur in south TX. I miss colorful and cool autumns.

5. Halloween--costumes, trick or treating
However, this Halloween is different for me since I have become aware of child slavery in the growing of cocoa beans, so I am not buying the usual bags of chocolate mini-bars to hand out to trick-or-treaters. My commitment to buying Fair Trade chocolate bars is getting me to buy non-chocolate candies to hand out. (That is a healthy choice for me--less snitching!)

For more info about child slavery/fair trade chocolate, go here.

Meditation Lessens Shyness

The above picture shows how I usually feel at large gatherings, social occasions, and/or parties. I am usually the one who feels left out, thus showing others that I do not want to be with them. . . .not that I usually realize that at the time! I am an introvert; I am shy.

Because of my tendency to feel shy when I am in new situations, I was worried about my cousin Margaret's 80th birthday party in Calgary this past Saturday. I thought that I might fall back into myself and simply endure the time with all the people celebrating Margaret.

However, I forgot about myself and had a wonderful time. I helped Margaret's children set up first in the church auditorium and then looked for solitary people and introduced myself: "I am Jan, Margaret's cousin from Texas." That broke the ice and each person was warm and friendly.

This was a radical departure from the wedding I went to last summer for Margaret's daughter Kathy in Banff. I was glad to leave early because I knew so few people and escaped to the hotel as soon as I could!

I think the big difference in me since then is the consistent twice-daily practice of Christ-Centered Prayer. Before that wedding, I was sporadically meditating, but I newly committed around that time to pray twice a day, every day. Meditating is bringing greater peace to my life, plus less awareness of ME-me-me.

It's obvious that we are called to be kind to others and not selfishly focused on oneself, but my shyness has usually revolved around me not feeling good enough, not enough for people to want to talk with me. Then I would hide and withdraw, thus again indicating I am not interested in talking to anyone.

I am really grateful that I could wholeheartedly celebrate with Margaret, her family and friends on her 80th birthday! Thanks to God, I did not keep looking at myself but looked at each person as special (holy).

Margaret laughing after she blew out the candles on her birthday cake.

Home from Calgary

Home again, to cooler Texas, which has received two cold fronts since my visit to Calgary. It is still getting up into the 80s F. but cools off below the summer normal of 78 degrees F. at night. Now that cold fronts have passed through the area, we will not get any more hurricanes in 2010!

I spent six days with my cousin Margaret in Calgary. Margaret looked so pretty this day that I had to take her picture. She says she never knows how to smile in pictures; don't we all feel that way sometimes?

I love seeing her face because she reminds me so much of my mother, who died in 1992.

Margaret at age 80

One goal of my visit was to get a picture of Margaret and me together. My last night there, her daughter quickly took 8-10 pictures. I was sure one would be good, but I came home to find that NONE were on my digital camera. I guess she took them so quickly that the camera only beeped for the focus and did not take a picture. It is my fault for not checking to see the pictures right after she took them; then we could have rectified the situation. I am disappointed, but have sweet memories of us laughing together as our pictures were supposedly snapped. I hope we will have another opportunity sometime in the future to visit each other again.

On Sunday Margaret asked her oldest son (who is only 10 years younger than me) to take me out to look at trees. He is an avid athlete; his siblings and mother told me not to let him get carried away on our trek. He told me we would take about an hour walk at Fish Creek Provincial Park which was an underestimation. We must have walked 5-6 miles, which was enjoyable as we chatted and walked.

Fish Creek

World Habitat Day!

The United Nations has designated the first Monday in October
as annual World Habitat Day.
World Habitat Day 2010 will be held on October 4.

My husband CB has volunteered for our local Habitat for Humanity chapter in Corpus Christi since 2006. They build about four houses from scratch a year. He is helped to build the 16th and 17th houses since he began helping. He works four days every week, even in the heat and humidity rampant in south TX. Thus, we heartily support Habitat for Humanity efforts in the USA and around the world!

Here is more info about today's World Habitat Day:

"On Oct. 4, 2010, in recognition of World Habitat Day, Habitat for Humanity will raise awareness of the need for improved shelter and highlight Habitat’s priorities: the worldwide connection between human health and housing, and, in the United States, neighborhood revitalization. These themes echo the United Nations’ chosen theme for 2010 for events in the host city of Shanghai, China and the rest of the world: “Better City, Better Life.”

"Every week, more than a million people are born in, or move to, cities in the developing world. As a result, the urban population of developing countries will double from 2 billion to 4 billion in the next 30 years. (Kissick, et al: 2006)

By the year 2030, an additional 3 billion people, about 40 percent of the world’s population, will need access to housing. This translates into a demand for 96,150 new affordable units every day and 4,000 every hour. (UN-HABITAT: 2005)

"Habitat for Humanity hopes that by raising awareness and advocating for universal decent housing we can dismantle and alter the systems that allow for poverty housing and make an affordable, decent place to live a reality for all."

For more information about World Habitat Day 2010, go here.

Yearning

An Excerpt from There Is A God, There Is No God: A Companion for the Journey of Unknowing by John Kirvan

John Kirvan provides a new translation and interpretation of the fourteenth century spiritual classic. Here is a passage on the spiritual practice of yearning.

"There comes a moment
when there arises in your soul
a movement that you are
at a loss to describe.

It moves you to desire
you know not what,
only that it is beyond your imagining.

It is God at work within you.


Let God do his work.
Let him lead you, as he will.
He needs only your consent

Be content not to see,
and put aside your need to know.

Accept that someone is moving
lovingly within you,
even if you do not recognize
that it is God at work."

Canada beats the USA

Today I found Cadbury Dairy Milk milk chocolate at a local pharmacy here in Calgary that is clearly marked "fair trade." Whenever I look at Cadbury milk chocolate bars in the USA, they are not marked "fair trade" at all. Of course, I have only looked at selected stores in TX and WA State, but I think they are indicative of the products sold all over the USA.

Obviously, there has not been a demand for FAIR TRADE CHOCOLATE in the USA to Cadbury. I guess Kraft bought Cadbury, so that would be the place to write. I emailed Cadbury and asked about American Cadbury Dairy Milk bars not being fair trade and never received a reply. Most annoying.

So I ask you, have you ever seen the above wrapped chocolate in the USA? Please tell me where!!

Talkeetna, Alaska

We took the train from Fairbanks to Anchorage and stopped at Talkeetna for one night, hoping to see Denali (but didn't).

Jan and CB

What stands out in my memory for Talkeetna is the BEST CINNAMON ROLL I've ever had in my entire life, even better than my mother's!

There are the cinnamon rolls on the bottom shelf.

THIS is where to buy the cinnamon rolls!
The Talkeetna Roadhouse

This is also the place where I stopped counting my Weight Watcher points and ceased to think of dieting, but it was a vacation, right?