Boulevard Park in Bellingham

Boulevard Park is off a street known as "the Boulevard" in Bellingham, which goes along Bellingham Bay from the downtown area to the south side that is called "Fairhaven." There are many condos built (and being built) on the hills above this park. It is a good thing this area was made into a city park when I was in college (1970's), or condos would cover the area.

All the summers we came to visit here as our children were growing up (and even pre-children), it was a tradition for my mother and me to walk around Boulevard Park. Since her death, we have continued to do this on trips back here, trying to be there for the sunsets. CB, MJ and I will walk there tonight and probably on Wednesday and Thursday nights, also. However, Friday and Saturday nights will be spent at high school reunion activities so no Boulevard Park, and we'll drive back to Seattle on Sunday.

Bellingham!

MJ and I got to Bellingham tonight! I always get excited when I drive over the Samish (mountains), which are the gateway to Bellingham. Lake Samish can't be seen as clearly as before because so many trees have grown up, but here's a good picture:

August 10

It is funny/odd how anniversaries of dates can affect one, without awareness of what day one is living in. I've been especially thinking of my mother today and feeling a little sad. Just a little while ago, I realized that today is August 10. That was my parents' wedding anniversary.

A few days before my mother died in July 1992, I was here in Seattle visiting TFJ. We went shopping and the only thing I was interested in finding was an appropriate anniversary card for my parents, because I knew it would be the last one they shared. I found a silver Asian floral card that was just right, which is now framed in my house.

One day after buying the card, I got the phone call in Seattle that my mother had slipped into a coma. She died the next day. So long ago and usually I do not think about it.

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One more day in Seattle before heading north to Bellingham. Husband CB went off on a Greyhound bus to Bellingham today. His parents met him at the bus station. If I had parents living, I'd rush up there, too.

Tomorrow MJ and I will visit the Music Experience and then meet AE at the University Bookstore, because it's a good place to find cards, which I love to send. Then we'll get KA at her office and go to Green Lake to walk around it. I am excited about walking around Green Lake. (Since it's flat, my knee should be okay; I've learned it hurts when I go downhill!) After dinner with the girls, MJ and I will drive the rental car to Bellingham to CB's parents' home, which is about a mile away from where my parents' house is/was.

It is wonderfully cool weather-wise and beautiful. It's hard to imagine Texas heat right now!

Something to remember

Do not be angry that you cannot make others

as you would wish them to be,

since you cannot make yourself

as you wish to be.

-- Thomas à Kempis

Seattle!

We arrived safely in Seattle, only an hour later than scheduled, yesterday. We have had wonderful meals and lovely, cool weather. Husband CB and I are staying with dear friends, while daughter MJ is sleeping at daughter AE and partner KA's apartment. We had breakfast near the University of Washington this morning with AE and KA. I had oatmeal with FRESH strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries! WA State has the sweetest and best berries! Now friend TFJ and I are going to walk her two fluffy white Samoyeds. On Monday we'll drive north to Bellingham.

Hiroshima Day

Another thank you to Ellie at Child of Illusion (again).

Also go and look at the picture posted by Quaker Dave.

And Cecilia has a prayer for us all to pray.

Leaving on a Jet Plane--for Seattle!

I'd forgotten how sweetly John Denver sang. I found this video of him singing "Leaving on a Jet Plane," which I had not heard for many years. It brought back memories of dating CB, which is most appropriate since we'll be going to our 40th high school reunion in two weeks.

CB, MJ, and I will be flying to Seattle tomorrow. MJ's boy friend CS is kindly taking us to the airport in the morning. Another "good-by" for him and MJ!

We will visit daughter AE and her partner KA in Seattle, as well as some old, old friends (back to high school days!). Then we'll go to Bellingham, where CB's parents and siblings live and also where our high school reunion will be.

I'll be able to blog every so often from CB's parents' computer. I'll be eager to catch up with blogging friends!

No Going Back

No, no, there is no going back.
Less and less you are
that possibility you were.
More and more you have become
those lives and deaths
that have belonged to you.
You have become a sort of grave
containing much that was
and is no more in time, beloved
then, now, and always.
And so you have become a sort of tree
standing over the grave.
Now more than ever you can be
generous toward each day
that comes, young, to disappear
forever, and yet remain
unaging in the mind.
Every day you have less reason
not to give yourself away.

~ Wendell Berry ~

(The Sabbath Poems)

Houston weekend trip

This was the view of Lakeshore Church in Houston from the other side of the freeway-- where we stayed with MJ's friend's family. That's the church of Joel Osteen. I would not go and see or hear him, but it was interesting to see how huge his church is. That's about the only picture I have relating to our trip, because I didn't take my camera.

The friend's family was very hospitable and friendly. They have two dogs, one cat, one rabbit, one snake, and two large lizards. I slept in one of the daughters' bedrooms with the molting and unmoving python in the aquarium, which luckily had a screen over its top.

23 year old son BJ drove from northwest Houston to have dinner with us at a Chinese restaurant on Saturday night. We had a nice meal and then MJ and boy friend CS went off to the Houston Dynamos soccer game. BJ and I went and sat at Starbucks and talked for a long time, which made me a happy mom.

Sunday we drove to BJ's rental house, which he shares with two college friends. The three work only about five minutes away from their home and come home each workday for lunch. Troy, the Brittany Spaniel, has a large backyard to run around in, with several large shade trees. BJ showed us where he works, too. We liked seeing some of his new life in Houston, where he moved about four months ago.

It was a much better weekend than I had anticipated. MJ and CS greatly enjoyed the soccer game, where the Houston Dynamos beat Columbus Crew 2-0.

"Fiscal Conservatives"

From Ellie at Child of Illusion:

Father Barnabas in Zambia!

Barnabas was a young seminarian from Zambia when I first met him four years ago at the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio. Now he has been ordained in the Roman Catholic Church in Lusaka, Zambia!

I vividly recall the conversation with him that opened up my life to Africa. Our class in moral theology was small and we met for dinner. I was sitting next to Barnabas, and I asked him where he was from. "Zambia." Then I asked him where Zambia was. As he described the countries surrounding Zambia, I had to tell him that I did not know where those countries were either! That's when he told me that the sad thing about most Americans and Europeans is that they do not know where an African country is unless something dreadful is happening there. GULP--so true!

Due to our friendship and continued contact, I was one of five students at OST who traveled to Zambia in June 2006 with a professor, Ursuline Sister Maria Cimperman, who is the author of When God's People Have HIV/AIDS: An Approach to Ethics, a book I highly recommend. The trip was amazing, especially with the time spent in outlying areas with Catholic missionaries connected with the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Our hearts and minds were stretched by what we saw and learned. We also met Barnabas' mother and his cousin who is a sister serving in Mongu, Zambia.

Since then members of our group have become priests, one continues his studies to become one, the sister continues in her process, and I started to blog. I was the only Protestant lay (older and married) person along on that trip; oddly, I added my mothering attitudes to our group and to what we saw, especially with the children, who varied from energetic to sick and apathetic in the villages, schools, and orphanages we visited.

I am grateful for Barnabas and praise God for guiding him and bringing him to the priesthood in the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. It is good that he has returned to Zambia.

Seek the Truth

From Jim Winkler, General Secretary, General Board of Church & Society, United Methodist Church:

"It always amazes me when I meet people who obviously don’t pay attention to what is going on in the world, but are nevertheless eager to express their opinion. At the same time, I know that many others feel beaten down, disheartened by the course of life. Too often, they are hungry, poor and sick. Many feel powerless and disenfranchised about life.

"There’s no easy answer to these sad realities. Once you know something about the injustices surrounding you, failure to act is irresponsible.

"The citizens of Nazi Germany learned that the hard way. After the war, millions claimed they didn’t know what was happening in their own country. They may have been fearful. They may have tried to ignore reality, but they knew something bad was happening — even with Goebbel’s masterful lying.

"Disease, poverty, war, violence, hunger, racism and other social ills confront us. Don’t bury your head in the sand. Seek the truth. Pay attention, please. Follow Jesus and get to work."

To read the rest of the article, go here.

Barack Obama's Stealth Socialism

I know I am naive and idealistic. I do not have the experience or the ability to write about political issues as other bloggers do. Still, I want to live like the swami quoted in the post below and as shown by Jesus.

A few minutes ago I received in my email an article from July 28, 2008 about "Barack Obama's Stealth Socialism" that was written in horrifying adjectives and descriptors about Obama's plans to redistribute wealth from the "successful" to the "others." While labels like "socialism" and "Marxism" were thrown around, I remembered how a philosophy professor told me once how Christianity and Marxism are closely related, with the latter refuting God, but that the actions advocated were similar. Think of how Jesus told people to live through the Beatitudes, which are believed by most scholars to be actual words of Jesus, and the Golden Rule.

Yes, impossibilities for individuals, let alone communities and nations, to live by. But what about aiming for them? What about trying to look out for someone's welfare other than my own? Sure, I can only change myself, but I can change things about myself so that life may be more equitable for someone else.

But do I? Do I really want to? I think that's the problem when one starts to criticize the policies Obama suggests. . . . These are scare tactics, which then cause people to react against them rather than to consider them. However, if they could be looked at and even analyzed, possibilities might open up.

I'm glad these proposals are out for public discussion and even ridicule--I believe we need to think and talk about them! Let's do something positive rather than arguing about such things as homosexuality and marriage!

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Among Obama's proposed "investments":

• "Universal," "guaranteed" health care.

• "Free" college tuition.

• "Universal national service" (a la Havana).

• "Universal 401(k)s" (in which the government would match contributions made by "low- and moderate-income families").

• "Free" job training (even for criminals).

• "Wage insurance" (to supplement dislocated union workers' old income levels).

• "Free" child care and "universal" preschool.

• More subsidized public housing.

• A fatter earned income tax credit for "working poor."

• And even a Global Poverty Act that amounts to a Marshall Plan for the Third World, first and foremost Africa.

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Maybe the adjective "free" is what upsets people. HOW will we pay for these things? It always goes back to higher taxes, which is not comfortable, especially as I age. Still, those proposals above are good things.

They would address the inequities that Missy posted about on July 27, 2008 (about the same time the above article was published!). Thank you to Border Explorer who made me notice this important post at Missy's.

Go and read Wealth and Poverty at Missy's and compare what she writes with the article about "Barack Obama's Stealth Socialism".

My wish

If you see good in people, you radiate a harmonious loving energy which uplifts those who are around you. If you can maintain this habit, this energy will turn into a steady flow of love.

Annamalai Swami 1906-1995

Going to Houston

Well, what was supposed to be a trip to see 23 year old son BJ in Houston and then to shop at the outlet mall near his house up in northwest Houston has morphed into a complicated trip. MJ's boy friend CS desperately wanted to go to the Houston Dynamos soccer team game on August 2, so it came about that he and MJ would go to that on THIS trip. (How convenient!)

CS even gave MJ a Dynamos shirt today to wear to the game.

Then MJ arranged with a friend from Laity Lodge Youth Camp that we would stay at her house, and this friend and her boy friend would also go to the soccer game. So tonight I call the friend's mother, who did NOT know that Margaret's mother is coming along! She thought only MJ and CS were coming. . . .

So after various phone calls, it is finally worked out that MJ, CS, and I are all staying at this friend's home in southern Houston, near 610 and 59. That is quite far from BJ's home, so he may or may not come and meet us around there. BJ lives in northwest Houston--by 290 and 8.

Through the telephone conversations, I jokingly told her we were becoming "new best friends," which is a term used on the first night of the Walk to Emmaus. It turns out that she and her husband have been on Walks, and we bonded as we talked of those team experiences, especially when I told her that I'd been a Lay Director in 2001. We've been invited to go to church with the family on Sunday morning.

Sometime on Sunday we'll drive to northern Houston to see BJ's house that he shares with two college friends and his energetic Brittany Spaniel Troy. Finally on Sunday afternoon I guess we'll go shopping.

MJ and CS are wanting to be together as much as possible, because he'll be off to Stanford University in the fall. CA and TX are very far apart. Their imminent parting is this coming Wednesday, the night before our family leaves for Washington State.

Friday Five: Lock Me Out, Lock Me In

From RevGalBlogPals:

1) How do you amuse yourself when road construction blocks your travel?
It’s easier when I am alone—listen to the radio or cd in my car. If my husband is driving, he’s complaining. Eventually, I end up praying, “Bless CB, change me.”

2) Have you ever locked yourself out of your house? (And do you keep an extra key somewhere, just in case?)

Once I had to break a little pane of glass on the backdoor to turn the deadbolt in the door to get in. No key is hidden outside.

What was much worse was when I took our big black Lab to the vet about five blocks away about seven years ago. I ran back to our house to get a key for the car, and I ran under/into a low branch of a mesquite tree! Suddenly I was on the ground, with blood pouring down. I didn’t realize that I’d been “scalped”! Someone in a car drove by and asked if I needed help, and I said no. I got home and was shocked to find blood pouring down on me. It wasn’t that bad really—looked worse than it was; blood flows easily from a head wound. My husband came home from work and took me to the doctor where I had 12 stitches.

(You can see how low the branches of a mesquite tree lean down.)

3) Have you ever cleared a hurdle? (And if you haven't flown over a material hurdle, feel free to take this one metaphorically.)
A landmark hurdle was when I learned to dive into a swimming pool in 7^th grade. When I was in 1^st grade, I’d fractured my skull. So for several years afterwards, I was warned not to dive into pools, and the fear instilled in me stuck. Finally, a swimming instructor kept urging me to try at the swimming pool at Yokosuka Naval Base, and I did it! It was a freeing experience that I still remember.

4) What's your approach to a mental block?

Go for a walk; do research on the internet; read a book.

5) Suggest a caption for the picture above; there will be a prize for the funniest answer!

(I'm not very funny--only unintentionally, it seems.)

What's the password?

Run, run, gingerbread men!

All Smiles!

We're all smiling because of the delicious dinner that MJ and boy friend CS cooked for us tonight! Homemade lasagna with their own garlic bread and a salad. We all had seconds! Their nutritious meal ended with chilled watermelon. What a lovely evening.

Think of God as the Hinge

You brood in the night in its fearfulness,
You dawn the day in its energy,
You move at the edge of night
into the margin of day.
You live at the hinge between fear and energy.
You take the feeble night and give us strong day,
You take our fatigue and bestow courage,
You take our drowsy reluctance and fashion full-blooded zeal.
What shall we say?
You, only you, you
You at the hinge--and then the day.
You--and then us,
from you in faithfulness,
us for the day,
us in the freedom and courage and energy,
and then back to you--in trust and gratitude.
Amen.

Walter Brueggemann, Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth, 5.

A Mirror of Questions for the End of the Day

At the End of the Day:

A Mirror of Questions

By John O’Donohue (1953-2008)

What dreams did I create last night?

Where did my eyes linger today?

Where was I blind?

Where was I hurt without anyone noticing?

What did I learn today?

What did I read?

What new thoughts visited me?

What differences did I notice in those closest to me?

Whom did I neglect?

Where did I neglect myself?

What did I begin today that might endure?

How were my conversations?

What did I do today for the poor and excluded?

Did I remember the dead today?

Where could I have exposed myself to the risk of something different?

Where did I allow myself to receive love?

With whom today did I feel most myself?

What reached me today? How deep did it imprint?

Who saw me today?

What visitations had I from the past and from the future?

What did avoid today?

From the evidence—why was I given this day?

Tuesday in Corpus Christi

Husband CB and I ate dinner at the Yardarm Restauarnt tonight, which is in a house on the water side of Ocean Drive a few blocks from our house. We went out because MJ was not going to be home for dinner.

She and her boy friend CS cooked dinner for his family tonight: almond chicken, zucchini and rice. I wonder if they'll ever do the same for MJ's family (us)?

I have a date for the arthroscopy surgery on my right knee--August 27. That will be after we get back from Washington State and have moved MJ into her dorm at Trinity University in San Antonio.

AND the mosquitoes are starting to swarm when a mammal comes outside!

"I cannot live without books."

With so many blogging friends and the ease of the internet, I just ordered more books, as if I needed even one more. My "excuse" is that I want to have them to read on the airplane and during our trip to WA State, which starts next Thursday, August 7.

So I just ordered:

Outright Barbarous: How the Violent Language of the Right Poisons American Democracy
which Quaker Dave is reading on his vacation right now.

The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power
which Sherry recommended.

And then I happened to see a new book by Macrina Wiederkehr-- Seven Sacred Pauses: Living Mindfully Through the Hours of the Day which I can only blame on myself.

I have been saving a book Yolanda suggested for the trip, too--
When Crickets Cry, the only novel of this bunch!

They say confession is good for the soul, so there's mine for literary greed!

Prayer

"Do not place your happiness in what you can hear or feel of God in prayer but rather in what you can neither feel nor understand. God is always hidden and difficult to find. Go on serving God in this way, as though God were concealed in a sacred place, even when you think you have found God, felt God or heard God. The less you understand, the closer you get to God.

"Prayer will teach you, too, that God is nearer to you than you are to yourself. After passing the fiery crucible and stepping through the narrow doorway where you can bring nothing with you, enter the cave of your heart that contains God, whom the universe cannot hold."

~~Pierre-Marie Delfieux
The Jerusalem Community Rule of Life

Life After Life

"Meister Eckhart says emphatically, 'There is but one NOW.' In other words, This is it! For Eckhart, to limit the understanding of eternity as life after death is rather strange. When we pray, are we not in the presence of God's eternity, God's fullness? Rather than life after death, it would be better to speak of life after life. In other words, the God who is present now, and the God who will be present then (i.e., after death) is simply present--now and always. God is not limited to time and space. It is not that God lives an endless number of years and can be everywhere at the same time. The eternal presence of God is like our very breath. We cannot touch it or measure it, but without it there is no life." (18)

Pierce, Brian J. We Walk the Path Together: Learning from Thich Nhat Hanh and Meister Eckhart. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2006.

**Another quote from this book is in the post below.

Listen attentively under the tree

Brian J. Pierce, OP, author of We Walk the Path Together: Learning from Thich Nhat Hanh and Meister Ekhart, writes:

"I was invited to take part in an indigenous religious ceremony with the Lenca Indians in Honduras several years ago. Mixing ancient Lenca rituals with Christian prayers, the elderly rezador, or shaman, performed the ceremony while holding a freshly cut pine bow in his hands. I later approached him and asked about the symbolism behind the frequent use of pine branches in Lenca worship. He looked at me with his wide, dark eyes, and said:

"Oh, you do not know? Then let me tell you. If you sit quietly beneath a pine tree in the early morning hours, before the sun rises, and listen very attentively, you will hear the pine tree singing to God." (9-10)

Psalm 96:11-12
"Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord."

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Lenca Indians
"The Lencas are one of the seven largest ethnic groups in Honduras. Numbering 100,000, they live in the central department of Las Paz, and the western departments of Lempira and Itibuca, as well as in some smaller communities in the northern part of the country. Their homes are made form bahareque a mixture of mud and bamboo. Their communities lack all of the basic services such as running water. Roofs are made of clay tiles or nylon. In a twenty square meter room there is a bed and a kitchen. The bed is made from pieces of plywood tied to posts and sunk into the dirt floor. Eight people usually occupy one bed. At night the cold mountain air seeps through the cracks in the walls and results in frequent respiratory illnesses. Many Lencas work on coffee plantations and harvest. "

Green Faith

A Powerful Mission

GreenFaith is New Jersey ’s interfaith coalition for the environment. Founded in 1992, we inspire, educate and mobilize people of diverse spiritual backgrounds to rediscover their relationship with the sacred in nature and to restore the earth for future generations.

Founded on Shared Beliefs

GreenFaith’s work arises from beliefs shared by the world’s great religions:

• Caring for the earth is a religious value. Environmental stewardship is a moral responsibility.
• Spirit - We grow spiritually through our relationship with the earth.
• Justice - Everyone has the right to live in a clean, safe environment.
• Stewardship - People of faith have a vital role to play in restoring healthy ecosystems around the world.

Our programs are built around these three core values: Spirit, Justice and Stewardship in relation to the earth.

Making a Difference

GreenFaith makes its impact by:

• Inspiring: We help people of faith rediscover their relationship with the sacred in nature.
• Uniting: We bring people of diverse traditions together to care for the environment.
• Supporting: We provide practical tools to help religious institutions put belief into action for the earth and all life.
• Transforming: We help faith communities grow through deepened spirituality and a renewed commitment to a healthy environment.

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Although Green Faith started in NJ, they have resources for the USA. I typed in my zipcode on scorecard that showed pollutants and conditions for Nueces County, where I live in TX.

The link to this scoreboard was found on their JUSTICE page, which has other resources, too.

My priest sent me the link to Green Faith, and I urge you to check it out! Scroll down on this main page and you'll find a site index.

Anglican Church Around the World

About ten days ago, the BBC News put out this info about various Anglican churches worldwide. I'm a little late, but being way off in Texas in the USA, where the only news I hear about the worldwide Anglican communion is through various blogs, I found this to be quite interesting. To see the world map, go here.

This may be too elementary for most people, but it helped me.

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The Anglican Communion - the Anglican Church around the world - is in turmoil over the issue of homosexuality.

Traditionalists are strongly opposed to the ordination of gay clergy and the blessing of same-sex relationships whereas liberals are urging tolerance and change.

A rift developed in 2003 after the consecration in the US of an openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson. The ordination of female priests is also a contentious issue.

In June 2008 some 1,100 traditionalist Anglicans gathered in Jerusalem at the Global Anglican Future Conference (Gafcon) to form a network to combat modern trends in the Church.

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England
Primate: Dr Rowan Williams
Number of Anglicans: No figures are available for England (rather than the UK) but the most recent national Social Trends survey found 22.2% of people identified themselves as Anglican when asked. This would give a UK figure of about 13.4 million. However, the Church of England puts the number of regular churchgoers at 1.7m.
Total population: 50.8m (60.6m UK)
History: English Christianity emerged from the missionary work of St Augustine, sent from Rome in 597, and from the work of Celtic missionaries in the north. Separated from Rome in the 16th Century and became Protestant.
Stance on gay issue: The issue came to the fore in 2003 when a gay canon was elected Bishop of Reading. Before he could take up his post there was an outcry and he was persuaded to resign by Archbishop Rowan Williams. Some senior clergy voiced dismay at this. Under Church of England guidance, gay priests can enter civil partnerships as long as they remain celibate.

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Australia
Primate: Dr Phillip Aspinall
Anglicans: 3.9m
Total population: 20m
History: Founded in 1788 with the arrival of the first emigrants from the UK.
Stance: No official stance on homosexuality however Dr Aspinall said he felt "sadness" about the Gafcon rift and added that there was room in the Church for different views.

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Canada
Primate: Fred Hiltz
Anglicans: 642,000
Total population: 32m
History: First church building was St. Paul's, Halifax, in 1750.
Stance: A statement issued after Gafcon says: "We are committed to constructive dialogue on all issues facing our beloved church and the Communion, including the blessing of same-sex unions. We remain convinced that as contentious as this issue may be, it should not be a Communion-breaking issue."

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Central Africa
(Botswana, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe)
Primate: Post vacant
Anglicans: 600,000+
Total population: 36m
History: The first Anglican missionary to Malawi was Bishop Charles Mackenzie, who arrived with David Livingstone in 1861.
Stance: Former Archbishop Bernard Malango said the appointment of Gene Robinson "brought darkness, disappointment, sadness and grief" to his province.

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Kenya
Primate: Benjamin Nzimbi
Anglicans: 2.5m
Total population: 32m
History: Mombasa saw the arrival of Anglican missionaries in 1844. The first Africans were ordained to the priesthood in 1885.
Stance: Archbishop Nzimbi has consistently and strongly spoken against admitting homosexuals into the church.

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New Zealand
Primate: William Brown Turei
Anglicans: 584,800
Total population: 3.9m
History: The Anglican Church in New Zealand had its beginnings in 1814 when the Maori chief Ruatara agreed with the Reverend Samuel Marsden to give protection to three missionaries and their families at Oihi in the Bay of Islands.
Stance: No stated policy.

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Nigeria
Primate: Peter Akinola
Anglicans: 15m
Total population: 134m
History: The rebirth of Christianity began with the arrival of Christian freed slaves in Nigeria in the middle of the 19th Century.
Stance: The church remains strongly and vocally opposed to homosexuality, regarding it as taboo and contrary to the teachings of the Bible.

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Southern Africa
(S Africa, Lesotho, Namibia, Mozambique, Swaziland)
Primate: Thabo Makgoba
Anglicans: 2m
Total population: 65m
History: British Anglicans met for worship in Cape Town after 1806 and the first bishop was appointed in 1847.
Stance: No official stance. Archbishop Makgoba attended Gafcon but said he hoped for reconciliation within the Church on the "thorny" issue.

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Sudan
Primate: Daniel Deng Bul
Anglicans: 5m
Total population: 38m
History: The Church Missionary Society began work in 1899 in Omdurman. Christianity spread rapidly among black Africans of the southern region.
Stance: The previous Archbishop Joseph Marona, who retired in December 2007, said the Church should tackle the effects of war and poverty before homosexuality. "We have much worse things to face," he said.

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Tanzania
Primate: Valentino Mokiwa
Anglicans: 2m
Total population: 36m
History: The Universities Mission to Central Africa and the Church Missionary Society began work in 1864 and 1878 at Mpwapwa.
Stance: Archbishop Mokiwa has said homosexual practice is a sin and has spoken of a "leadership failure" at Canterbury over the issue and the ordination of women priests.

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Uganda
Primate: Henry Luke Orombi
Anglicans: 8m
Total population: 26m
History: After its founding in 1877 by the Church Missionary Society, the Church grew through the evangelisation of Africans by Africans.
Stance: Strongly opposed. The Ugandan church severed ties with its US counterpart over the election of Gene Robinson.

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United States
Primate: Katharine Jefferts Schori
Anglicans: 2.4m
Total population: 290m
History: Anglicanism was brought to the New World by explorers and colonists with the first celebration of the Holy Eucharist in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607.
Stance: The first church to elect an openly gay bishop - but only after long and heated debate.

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West Africa
(Ghana, Gambia, Liberia, Sierre Leone)
Primate: Justice Ofei Akrofi (Ghana)
Anglicans: 1m
Total population: 31m
History: The Church of the Province of West Africa divided to form the Province of Nigeria and the Province of West Africa in 1979.
Stance: The Church broke ties with its US counterpart over the confirmation of Gene Robinson. The archbishop called homosexuality "unscriptural, unnatural and totally incompatible with Christian values".

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West Indies
(including Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago)
Primate: Drexel Gomez
Anglicans: 777,000
Total population: 5.3m
History: The Anglican Church arrived in the West Indies with the original English settlers in the early part of the 17th Century, the clergy for the most part being state chaplains to the English officials and planters.
Stance: Archbishop Gomez has said the confirmation of Gene Robinson is incompatible with scripture.

Road Crossing

"We become neighbors when we are willing to cross the road for one another. There is so much separation and segregation: between black people and white people, between gay people and straight people, between young people and old people, between sick people and healthy people, between prisoners and free people, between Jews and Gentiles, Muslims and Christians, Protestants and Catholics, Greek Catholics and Latin Catholics.

"There is s a lot of road crossing to do. We are all very busy in our own circles. We have our own people to go to and our own affairs to take care of. But if we could cross the road once in a while and pay attention to what is happening on the other side, we might indeed become neighbors."

~~Henri Nouwen

Copied from Roberta at Spiritually Directed.

Cat Tail Signals

I've always been a "dog person," but when little daughter MJ wanted a kitten from her first grade teacher, I relented. That kitty (named "Pumpkin" by MJ but "Psycho" by older sister AE, which is the name that stuck) suddenly died when she was 7. So we got another kitten for MJ, thinking she was heartbroken--that is Gracie. Oddly, Gracie likes me best of all, especially when I'm reading--that's when she wants me to pet her. MJ and Gracie are indifferent to each other.

So I need this info about what signals cat tails give you, as I don't really know!
Your cat's tail is an indicator of its mood and if you observe the tail's movements, you can learn many things from these signals. There are a number of tail signals that the cat can display:

• Tail curves gently down and then up again at the tip:
  This is a peaceful, relaxed cat.
  
  
• Tail raised slightly and softly curved:
  Something has caught your cat's interest.
  
  
• Tail held erect but with the tip tilted over:
  Your cat is in a friendly, greeting mood but may have some reservations.
  
  
• Tail fully erect with the tip stiffly vertical:
  This is a very intense greeting display and has no reservations.
  
  
• Tail lowered fully and possibly even tucked between the hind legs:
  The cat feels defeated or submissive.
  
  
• Tail lowered and fluffed out:
  The cat is showing fear.
  
  
• Tail swished violently from side to side:
  This signal indicates that the cat is very angry.
  
  
• Tail held still, but with tip twitching:
  This signal shows the cat is mildly upset.
  
  
• Tail held erect with its whole length quivered:
  The gesture appears to show happiness or friendliness usually given to its owner as a greeting. It is also the same type of gesture used in territory marking (used by whole males).
  
  
• Tail held to one side:
  This is displayed by a female cat in heat.
  
  
• Tail held straight and fully bristled:
  This signal is one of an aggressive cat.
  
  
• Tail arched and bristled:
  This signal is one of the defensive cat.

Found here.

Friday Five: What you absolutely, positively can't leave home without

Singing Owl wrote the Friday Five for RevGalBlogPals today:

We will be at a chaplain's convention when you all are answering the Friday Five Questions. I'll look forward to reading your answers next week when I get home. At the moment we are trying to get the car loaded so we can hit the road, so this will be a simple F.F. This running around madly in order to leave has me wondering: what are the five things you simply must have when you are away from home? And why? Any history or goofy things, or stories?

You all remember having kids continually ask, "Are we there yet?" With four children, one is still known for doing this frequently and continually on trips--third child and son BJ. We all remember him at 4 or 5 years old, asking insistently,"Are we there yet?"--and we had not yet left the Corpus Christi city limits!

Family car travels these days are only with husband CB and me. So we do not need all the snacks and activities from by-gone days.

1. Cooler with water and cans of soda--I have to have my TAB, and CB wants his Diet RC and/or Fresca. Trash sack is necessary, because on any and every trip I save all the cans and bottles to recycle when I get home. (I was thrilled on a trip a few years ago when rest areas in CA had recycling bins at them.)
   
2. Books--I always take two or three just in case I finish one! For the car, I also need my "reading" sunglasses for my old eyes.
3. My pillow--I only like to sleep with this pillow.
4. White noise machine--because CB snores very loudly.
5. Notecards and address book, because I like to send mail, especially POSTCARDS on trips.
   

USA visits and beyond

Though I've seen this before, I got the idea this time from Fran.


visited 39 states (78%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or determine the next president

Then I continued to copy Fran by trying out for the world, but my daughter AE would have many more countries to check off.


visited 14 states (6.22%)
Create your own visited map of The World or determine the next president

Aftereffects of Dolly

Dolly is a tropical storm in Mexico now and is waning down. Last night the power went off again at about 9 o'clock. It was hot and muggy as rain pounded and thunder sounded. The front right quadrant of the hurricane came over us and dumped lots of water. Sometime during the night electricity was restored, though almost 100,000 people in south TX lost power. Further south crews are still working on restoring electricity to homes and businesses. We had 7 inches of rain yesterday!

No ill effects in our area, EXCEPT for the forthcoming crop of mosquitoes! The bugs with the extremely high humidity will make outside ventures unbearable. (With the sun shining right now, the humidity is 82%.) I may not even hang laundry out on the clothesline!

Now? What is happening now?

I am still researching and reading books about listening. Once having learned that one of my gifts is being a "Gatherer," I see how I love to gather information and new learning! That is also a weakness, because I'd rather do that than put everything together and WRITE!

One of the people I keep seeing referred to is Brenda Ueland (1891-1985), who was a writer. I like that her mother was a suffragette (for womens' votes!), and my mother's mother was one, too. She wrote a short essay entitled "Tell Me More," which is in her book Strength to Your Sword Arm. (A pdf of "Tell Me More" can be found here.)

So here is a wonderful paragraph from that essay about listening:

"In order to learn to listen, here are some suggestions: Try to learn tranquility, to live in the present a part of the time every day. Sometimes say to yourself: 'Now. What is happening now? This friend is talking. I am quiet. There is endless time. I hear it, every word.' Then suddenly you begin to hear not only what people are saying, but what they are trying to say, and you sense the whole truth about them. And you sense existence, not piece-meal, not this object and that, but as a translucent whole."

~~Brenda Ueland

NOW--that describes how to live, listen, love.
Contemplative listening=contemplative prayer.

Lots of rain!

Dolly

---

from NOAA at 3 pm in Texas

Lots of rain, some minor street flooding, but we're lucky in Corpus Christi. Storm bands are still circling around without too much wind (30-40 mph gusts). We've been in the "orange" area most of the time today. The only problem was an hour with no electricity around noon.

All the rain makes us very glad that the high school campers got back last night. MJ slept late and is now napping again. It's always nice to nap or read in bed when it's raining, which hasn't happened much here lately.

I am getting my last sources noted for my Shalem paper on listening and spiritual direction today, so writing should start in the next day or so (finally).

Meme ME ME!

In a spontaneous way, I've been tagged by I am Chorus for another meme:

Here are the rules:

1. List these rules on your blog.

2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog.

1. My husband and I bought the house we are living in two different times--in 1987 and again in 1994.
2. I can say "This is a beautiful fish" in Japanese.
3. My husband and I were in the first graduating class of Sehome High School in Bellingham, WA.
4. I love to eat cold salmon, especially for breakfast.
5. Several friends here think this is odd, but I don't--In my entire life, the vehicles I have ridden in or driven have never run out of gas.
6. In college it took TWO female undergraduates (friend NM and me) to equal ONE weekend (MALE) manager of the student union coffee shop.
7. I am the shortest member of my nuclear family; at 5 ft. 6 1/2 in. my four children and husband are all taller than I am.

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

1. Fran of FranIAm
2. Sue of Inner Dorothy
3. Katherine E. of Meaning and Authenticity
4. Sara of Much Ado About Something
5. Presbyterian Gal
6. Ruth of Ruth's Visions and Revisions
7. EmJayDee of Set the Bird Free

It is a silly meme, but I am very interested in the new facts I'll learn about each one of you. If someone else wants to do it, comment here and go ahead!

Tuesday at our house

• MJ and all the high school campers are on a bus coming back to Corpus Christi from Leakey where CAC was held. Due to Hurricane Dolly, they are coming home a day early. So they had the traditional Prayer Trail last night where the signs of all the seniors were somehow arranged. They'll be back around 7 o'clock tonight. I'm glad.
  

• Do you remember that I had an MRI on my knee about a week ago? Today the doctor called me up and said he wants to do arthroscopy on it. He recommended doing it earlier than later so no more damage is done. However, we're going to Bellingham, WA on Aug. 7 and when we get back I want to help MJ move into her dorm. So it looks like this will be done in September.

• The Wisdom Class was not argumentative today, because only five people were there, including me. Only one man came. We had a lovely discussion and sharing about chapter 8 in Richard Rohr's Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality. That chapter is entitled "The Rejected Banquet," and how we refuse to accept the love of God lavished upon us.

• The uncertainty of Hurricane Dolly continues. That's why so few came to the Wisdom Class today. It looks like it will land south of here, near Brownsville. We'll get some wind and rain, and our area sorely needs rain. Bands of rain clouds will start appearing in the morning (Wednesday).
  

Logo lost!

Yesterday I started wondering why my comments didn't have a picture, but I thought Blogger was just messing up. Nope, my picture had disappeared!

I guess the copyright law took away my logo by Gretchen Markle, which is disappointing. I loved that painting, but someone bought it. I also see that her paintings are no longer featured on Project Laundry List, so Gretchen must have exercised her legal rights and pulled her paintings. If you go to that first link, you can see what my logo was for about 14 months. I loved it.

Although I am devoted to using the clothesline to hang out clothes to dry, my very favorite possessions of all are BOOKS, so that's my new logo, for the moment anyway. Maybe someday I'll get a picture of me that looks okay. . . .

Hoping not!

We're watching Tropical Storm Dolly. . . . Crown Weather Service.

Summer cold

I have a nagging summer cold. Blah with a drippy nose. Not really sick, but not wholly well either. And it's hot, with Tropical Storm Dolly brewing in the Caribbean.

Emptiness & Spaciousness of the Present Moment

“I also try to remind myself of what I know from experience: the two most important facts about the spaciousness of the present moment. No matter how full of wonder or how empty and barren the moment seems, it is always sufficient. And no matter how much exquisite joy or pain I may feel in the moment, it will never be more than I can bear.

“The emptiness of the spaciousness of the present moment is sufficient. It contains everything that is needed for lovingly beginning the next moment; it seeks only our own willing, responsive presence, just here, just now. And we can bear whatever experience we have in the spaciousness of this present moment. If we project it into the future it may seem impossible, but just here, just now, it is not too much. There are no exceptions—not physical pain, not in psychiatric disorder or emotional agony, not in relational strife, not in war, not in oppression, not in loss, not in spiritual aching, not in dying. Love is too much with us for there to be any exceptions.” (109-110)

May, Gerald G. The Awakened Heart: Opening Yourself to the Love You Need. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1991.

Which is it? Weekend

Enjoy your Friday Night!

Friday Five: What's in a name?

RevHRod asked the Friday Five questions at RevGalBlogPals today:
1. So how did you come up with your blogging name? And/or the name of your blog?

I don't have as much imagination as other bloggers (and e-mailers) and just have my name--Jan, though I do like my clothesline icon that goes with my name. The name of my blog (Yearning for God) is my greatest desire and so is expressed here.

2. Are there any code names or secret identities in your blog? Any stories there?

I just use initials for family's names, which is not very inventive, but is more easily remembered by me! I usually will try to label the initials with a term of "daughter" or "oldest son." Here's a rundown on my family:

• CB--my husband for almost 37 years
• DC--first son, who lives in Austin and just turned 29
• AA--DC's wife--they have Sampson, the calm miniature Bull Dog
  
• AE--second child, first daughter who lives in Seattle and is 26
• KA--AE's partner
  
• BJ--third child, second son who lives in Houston, is 23 and has Troy, the hyper Brittany Spaniel
• MJ--youngest child (and daughter) who just graduated from high school and is 18
  

3. What are some blog titles that you just love? For their cleverness, drama, or sheer, crazy fun?

Talking to Myself, Episcogranny, Seeking Authentic Voice, and Much Ado About Something. There are so many creative people--and many, many more!

4. What three blogs are you devoted to? Other than the RevGalBlogPals blog of course!
FranIAm, Faith in Community, and Meditation Matters. (And of course my daughter's blog, though she doesn't post regularly.)

5. Who introduced you to the world of blogging and why?

Katherine E. of Meaning and Authenticity (another good title!) was a friend I met through the Spiritual Formation Academy #17 in San Antonio. We were in the same covenant group for all two years. She emailed her various friends when she started her blog last year. I discovered that she and I were growing reconnected through her blog posts and my commenting, and so I decided that I would try blogging, which opened up a whole new world to me. Due to Katherine's connections with RevGalsBlogPals, I met others in this organization, which I could then join after I had been blogging for three months.

Bonus question: Have you ever met any of your blogging friends? Where are some of the places you've met these fun folks?

I haven't met Katherine since we started blogging, even though we live in the same big state of Texas. I met Serena in Edmonds last summer when we made our annual trip home to WA State; I hope to see her again next month! When I went to the Episcopal Relief and Development conference in Minneapolis in April, Diane and her husband took me out to dinner at a wonderful jazz restaurant!

Crossroads

I seem to be at a crossroads in my life. My oldest child turned 29, and my youngest is going off to college. And in a few months I will be 58, which means I have been a mother for HALF my life. Since my mother died at 72 and my father at 79, I am not sure if I will live another 29 years. But even so, what will happen in the remaining time after 2 X 29 years?

Empty nest. Final paper for the Shalem Program of Spiritual Guidance to write, which I am working on now. Three final scholarly papers for my master's degree in theology at Oblate School of Theology, as next spring is my deadline. Closets to clean. Books to either find shelves for or get rid of. (AND 40th high school reunion in August!)

There is lots to do. Average or memorable? Love makes life memorable, so I hope I remember to live with love and gratitude as I learn to live more fully in the next phase of my life.

Christian Adventure Camp (CAC)

Today MJ left with the other high school graduates for Christian Adventure Camp (CAC), the summer camp FUMC sponsors every year back near Laity Lodge Youth Camp, where MJ spent the previous six weeks as a counselor. (I wrote about CAC in #3 of a recent Friday Five.)

These kids are called JACITs, which stands for Junior Adult Counselors in Training. It is traditional for the graduating seniors to be specially situated there. In fact, this year they have t-shirts that label them as "sneakers"--but good ones they were told.

Each JACIT was supposed to paint 3-5 signs with Bible verses, quotes or aphorisms painted on them. MJ and boy friend CS painted them late into the morning the other night. The ones they did are in the picture above. Evidently these are posted along the Prayer Trail, which is a traditional last night activity at CAC.

Luckily, the rest of the high school kids and parents will be going up on buses tomorrow. It turns out that MJ's sleeping bag and stadium bleacher seat with back rest were left in our trunk. At least, she'll get them tomorrow when the other buses arrive.

Spiritual Experiences

"A helpful rule of thumb here is whenever a spiritual experience or the search for spiritual experiences become the overriding focus of attention, things have gone astray. Although spiritual journeys often begin in the context of experience, and although experiences constitute major vehicles of insight, growth, support, and service along the way, the goal of the journey can never legitimately be experience itself. The goal is beyond experience, and has to do with our actually becoming who God means us to be and doing what God means us to do. Experiences can sometimes be helpful means towards this end, and they can sometimes get in the way. But they are never the end in themselves."

~~Gerald May

May, Gerald G. Care of Mind, Care of Spirit: A Psychiatrist Explores Spiritual Direction. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1992. 46.

Clothesline accessories and info

Project Laundry List is making air-drying laundry acceptable and desirable as a simple and effective way to save energy. In other words, CLOTHESLINES!

They now have a store, too, where you can buy clothespins, clothespin bags, clotheslines, books, and other things related to drying laundry outside. (And remember, my mother-in-law dries things on a clothesline in her basement in rainy WA State.)

I find it hard to find a clothespin bag, so today I ordered a new one for me.

God's Love

You have first loved us, O God, alas. We speak of it in terms of history, as if you have only loved us first but a single time, rather than that, without ceasing, you have loved us first many times and every day and our whole life through.

When we wake up in the morning and turn our soul to you, you are the first. You have loved us first; if I rise at dawn and at the same time turn my soul towards you in prayer, you are ahead of me; you have loved me first.

When I withdraw from the distractions of the day and turn my soul in thought towards you, you are the first and thus forever. And yet we always speak ungratefully as if you have loved us first only once.

~Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)

And from Meister Ekhart:

"The love by which we think we are loving God is actually the love
by which God first loved us."

This last quote of God loving us first was found in Richard Rohr's book, Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality, which is the book we discuss in this morning's contentious Wisdom Class. How I hope this love can guide us all in listening and speaking. (That's why Kierkegaard's prayer posted above is this morning's class meditation--before the book discussions starts.)

Richard Rohr writes:

"Our lovability is not a moral achievement on our part, but God's pure gift on God's part. To paraphrase Meister Eckhart, 'The love by which we think we are loving God is actually the love by which God first loved us.' All we are doing is completing the circuit, and allowing the flow (see John 15:16). You cannot really get there; you can only be there. God does all the loving." (165-166)

July 14

Being both a baby boomer and an only child, I seem to mark dates with sentimentality. Today is the 16th anniversary of my mother's death, which I wrote about last year. I'm not that sad, just remembering.

When she died, I called to tell a close friend (JJ), and she replied, "Not on MY birthday!" So it is JJ's birthday today--we went to high school together and were bridesmaids in each other's weddings. Because of JJ's birth and my mother's death being on July 14, I especially notice people with birthdays on this date. I now have four friends celebrating their birthdays today. I really like knowing them connected with today.

If it's your birthday today, leave a comment.

"The Life of Meaning"

I buy way too many books. I have scads I have not read yet. I love books. And today I found a treasure that is a collection of essays that sixty contributors read/spoke on PBS' Religion and Ethics Newsweekly program. The Life of Meaning:Reflections on Faith, Doubt, and Repairing the World has 67 different offerings, and I am finding it lovely to skip around the book and read whichever one catches my fancy. And I'd "lost" it since February, when I ordered it!

I enjoy this thought from Phyllis Tickle so much that I will copy it here. It's from her short piece entitled "With or Without Religion":

"People talk about life being a gift. I think that's probably a crock. It's not that it's a gift to you--it's that your life was created to serve God. It is God's life. The fact that your awareness dwells in this life should not be confused with who owns it. You know, my awareness, perhaps, will die when I die. Who knows how much of it is neurological and how much of it is real? My obligation--my joy, my gift--is to see that this part of livingness that is me learn truly to celebrate its maker and to serve him (her)." (182)

The very first essay is by Thomas Lynch, who is a funeral director, essayist and poet, and I liked how he described his idea of God:

"But the older I get the list of things that I have to worry about is getting shorter and shorter. And if I just turn those things over to God (whoever God is these days, and she or he changes a lot for me from day to day), God seems to be taking care of them." (15)

I'm glad I found this book today, especially for the times I am cooling off from being out at my clothesline!

Hot Sun

Personally, I think it's both. It is HOT. It is 90 degrees F, but feels like 99 degrees, probably because the humidity is 61%.

One good thing about the blasting heat is that all MJ's towels from camp dried in only three hours on the clothesline--while I was at church. I keep taking things off the clothesline that have dried to dry more today; I'm on my fourth load of wash to be dried outside. (MJ brought several bags of dirty towels, sheets, and clothes home from camp.)

MJ is off with her boy friend CS and his two younger brothers to play soccer, even in this heat. They are all Texans, after all. The bonus is that they will go swimming afterwards.

Coming Home

I was only trying to find an image evocative of MJ returning home after six weeks of camp. We are very excited that she's coming home this evening!

*Painting: 'Coming Home' Beverley Grant, 2007.

The one above is so beautiful that I had to post it, but it is relating to much more tragic and traumatic leave takings in Australia--the removal of Aboriginal children from their families.

1897 The Aboriginal Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act (Qld) allows the Chief Protector to remove local Aboriginal people onto and between reserves and to hold children in dormitories. Until 1965 the Director of Native Welfare is the legal guardian of all ‘aboriginal’ children whether the parents are living or not.

Photograph: School, Mornington Island, 1950. Courtesy of the State Library of Queensland and the community of Mornington Island.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Artist: Beverley Grant
Title: ‘Coming Home’, 2007
Symbolism: Brown, reds and black represent the people and the land. White represents the spiritual connection between the people and
the land.
Story: The family sitting around our circle, participating in a smoking ceremony down by the Lachlan River, NSW. Footprints signify return to family, people and homeland.

~~
And this reminded me of seeing the movie "Rabbit-Proof Fence" which is worth renting, if you have never seen it. It's based on the true story of Molly Craig, an Aboriginal girl who was taken away from her family and found her way back by walking 1500 miles along the rabbit proof fence.

Self-Awareness

Iced Butterscotch Brownies

Although I am pretty sure I posted a picture of this old children's cookbook before, I cannot remember when. This is the cookbook that has our tried and true recipe for Butterscotch Brownies, which we always have to make 4 X the recipe, because the original makes such a small batch.

For my Friday Renovare Group, I promised to make a little dessert for a member's birthday and so I tried a new Butterscotch Brownie recipe, which is basically the same one that's in the Betty Crocker's Cook Book for Boys and Girls, except that nuts and coconut are added, plus a thick layer of icing! (I should have taken a picture, but we ate them all up hours before I thought of this.) So here is the yummy recipe:

Butterscotch Brownies

From The Best from Helen Corbitt’s Kitchens, p. 366

4 Tbsp. melted butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg
¾ cup flour
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. vanilla
¼ cup coconut
½ cup broken nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and sugar together until they are light. Mix in the slightly beaten egg. Sift the flour, salt and baking powder together and add them to the butter-sugar mixture. Stir in the vanilla, coconut and nuts. Spread in a buttered 8” x 8” pan (though I used approx. 7” X 11” pan) and bake fro 25 minutes.

Cool and spread with Caramel Icing:

½ cup butter
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup milk
1 ¾ to 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Melt butter until brown, add brown sugar and cook, stirring constantly until sugar is completely melted. Gradually pour in milk and stir. Cool. Add confectioners’ sugar and vanilla; beat until thick enough to spread.

~~~~~

Did I even think about the doctor's warnings about pressure on the knees?