I am not myself when Chip is away, to paraphrase that Kathy Mattea song that always makes me cry– Where’ve You Been, about Claire and Edwin who never spent a night apart in 60 years and now they are in separate beds on separate floors of a hospital. Don’t worry, Chip is fine. I am too, he has just been visiting his mom for a few weeks (she’s a very active ninety-something year-old and just fine too)– I couldn’t go with him because someone had to stay home and throw sticks for the dogs. But now he is back and we all very happy. So there’s that.
And then there’s this– what a difference ten days makes:
On the plus side, I’m glad the winter storms are over and that the snow is melting quickly. When the sun comes out it heats up the house so efficiently that I don’t need to light the woodstove. The snow/ice path to the beach shrinks every day and I have helped it along with rakes, shovels and sand and gravel.
The Episcopal Bishop of Alaska came to visit while Chip was away and he and his wife stayed next door at the little house. He wore a white robe, chanted the eucharist prayers and gave a nice sermon about love and kindness and all the things that make me happy to be an Episcopalian. They also brought challah bread from Sarah Bishop at the Old Field Kitchen for the church potluck at our house. The same bread that anchors Jewish Shabbat. It looked too pretty to eat but we polished it off quickly.
I love that our church service is rooted in old traditions too– the readings and music, the Book of Common Prayer- while at the same time the values of Jesus, loving your neighbor with no exception, have a modern application. Men and women clergy and lay people co-operate on all levels of leadership in Episcopal churches regardless of sexual identity or orientation. Everyone is invited to receive communion. As one of our parishoners said, our church may be very small these days, and kind of older, but we are holding the space for the broader community. St. Michael’s will have a priest here for Holy Week and Easter, if your are curious, or seeking, please join us.
For me Lent is a time of reflection and that becomes a kind of springboard from winter darkness into summer light. Having Chip away helped with that stillness, and so did the immobilizing storms.
Of course the lion of March gave way to the lamb by the time he returned home. “You have no idea,” what the weather threw at us, I told him. Luckily, I took a few pictures.
Of course it’s like everything in life isn’t it? Without these last dramatic winter days I wouldn’t appreciate the first spring evenings nearly as much. Last night it was so warm that we sat on the deck in light jackets with a friend and toasted the mountains and the Chilkat River — and our great good fortune to live here, and that we made it through another winter.
Oh– as to all that shoveling, stove-stoking, and quiet reflection when Chip was away? Well, I moved my weekly Back Country volunteer radio-host shift on KHNS from Tuesday to Thursday so I can write in the beginning of the week when I’m most productive. That’s the plan anyway. (Starting next week.This week I’m off.)
Susie is on the radio now, and she just said that she is getting used to the Tuesday announcement schedule now that, “Heather has slid down the week to Thursday.” Then she said she met someone new to town the other day and, “I asked her if she had a dawg, an’ she said yes, an’ I said, good cuz if ya’ll don’t we’ll issue yah one…” Everyone has dawgs, she said. (No kidding. We have at least one dog that is a regular at church in the summertime.) I love Susie’s radio accent. This is what happens when a girl from Philly plays country music in the afternoon. I wonder if I sound country-western when I spin records? I’ll have to ask Chip. In the meantime, I’m dreaming of beach picnics and brainstorming about the next project. Stay tuned.
