Thursday

I've been out and about today, I went to Communion this morning then six of us went for lunch.  Afterwards I found another shipping company but they told me to go to Staples and get a cardboard box, I thought I'd be provided with a big wooden one, like I had when I came here, but I picked up something 12 x 12 x 12, which I think will take my needlework stuff.   My precious threads, which have taken a lifetime to collect, I will put in my suitcase.

 

After I got back from lunch I cracked on with the afghan I am making for myself, which  will go on the bed in my new home.    Tomorrow I will tackle the kitchen cupboards and try to figure what I am going to do with my books and CD's.

 

The major news story of the day has been Trump saying that women who have abortions should be punished, and both the pro and anti abortion lobbies immediately pounced on him, so he tried to walk that back, saying he "misspoke".   

 

But he is always misspeaking and Cruz is beginning to catch up with him.  He - Trump - had a meeting today with the chief Republican guy, and no one knows what that was about, but according to Trump it was a very good meeting.    One interviewer was pressing to know who called the meeting, but Trump kept dodging  and evading the question, so obviously it was the boss man who summoned him, and since then Trump has stopped calling Cruz "lying Ted".   We'll see if he stops hurling insults altogether and starts behaving more Presidentially.

Personally, I like Kasich  but if I venture to say so I am dismissed by those not in agreement who say "she watches Fox News" but my opinions of Kasich are formed by what he is saying in interviews, or addressing meetings.  And I don't need Fox News anyway to tell me what to think.

Thursday morning

Hope to be coming back to British rule, or at least the hope of it being restored in the not-too-distant future, I've heard that the general consensus to the Referendum of staying in Europe is that most people want the hell out.

Yesterday morning I went over to Tecumseh to join Donna and her friend Judy, for coffee and lively political chat, and that was very good.  Then when I got home I made some caramel crunch to take to the meal last night at Emmanuel, which has always been an old favourite but this was sticky, I have decided I am never going to make it again.  I have a recipe for chocolate fudge which looks very straight forward.  It was all eaten though, someone even finished off all the fragments I'd put in a dish.     Afterwards I joined the restive teenagers at Fr Bill's confirmation class.

 

Today I am going to hunt out another shipping company, yesterday I went to the only one I know and

was very put off by their rudeness, but someone last night told me of another company, so I will check that out today.

 

In the meantime I had better press on.

 

 

 

Later Tuesday

Two posts in one day and it's not like I have anything momentous to say.

I thought I'd make a really nice parting gift afghan for the Senior Centre and purchased the main colour of this. rather than using some of what I had.  But after a weekend spent over the back of the reclining chair I quite like it, and am not so keen on parting with it.  I'll give the Senior Centre another one.  I have two or three besides the two for my grandchildren.  I'd quite like to bring them back with me - maybe I could put them in one of those bags where I vacuum out the air, and it makes them into smaller, flatter packages.

Hmmpphh.   She's not often moved, she's even been allowed lately to clamber all over the suede sofa, shedding her hairs, but this is where I draw the line, snuggling into my handiwork is something - in the words of the late, great Winston Churchill - up with which I will not put. 

Just came across this photo, it was taken recently at St Crispin's when I was learning about my personality.   At the end of the day the four of us from Emmanuel were relaxing with a glass of wine and playing a game, I think it was called Taboo.

Tuesday morning

Hope you all had a good holiday weekend, which is a bit longer at home - here everyone got back to work yesterday, which was fortunate for me and my car.   I went with Terry to the church car park, he put some air into the tyre, and I followed him back to his workshop where he changed it.   There had been a screw which had embedded itself in it, slowly letting air out.

 

I was thinking how blessed I have been here, always having Terry to turn to in my car crises, he has looked after me so well.   I'd had a good auto mechanic in Seaford too who hugged me when I left, and wished me all the best.

 

I certainly don't expect to make any money on my battered old '96 Honda, but Terry said he would give me something for it, so I am not having to worry about its disposal when I leave.

 

I went to the hospital yesterday to fill in for a chaplain who was away, and had lunch with Bill which was pleasant.   I can't say I got back to my sorting out, I was feeling a little bit lethargic, but I will crack on with it today.

 

As to Hilary Clinton.  The FBI have finished looking at her e-mails, but her problems are far from over, they are about to interview all her friends and family.  I find it hard to believe she is actually a candidate for the Presidency with all this going on.  There are not many people agreeing with me, but I can't see her making it to the White House.  What is it they say about smoke and fires and so on.

Well I will get on with my day, and might be back later.  I certainly will if there is any news on Clinton.

Easter Sunday

Happy Easter all friends and loved ones.

I'm a bit early with this post, it is only 11.00 am, which is what passes for lunchtime in this country.   I went to the 8 o'clock this morning as I was reading, and afterwards hung out with some friends going to the 10.30.

 

When I got out to the car park someone spotted that I had a very flat tyre.  He offered to change it, but I asked him to run me home, and I'll get Terry on to it in the morning - it's not a holiday here.  It has clipped my wings a bit, I was thinking of seeing the movie 'Revenant' down town this afternoon, but perhaps tomorrow.

 

I might be back later if anything dramatic happens, like the FBI have finished with Hilary Clinton, and she's about to indicted.  But I think I am the only one who thinks she might be.

Good Friday

I’ve been dwelling on the Beatitudes (like you do) in particular “Blessed are the Peacemakers…….”.

I LOVE the Peacemakers.    Those whom Jesus calls “the children of God”.

Sometimes we all have an issue with a statement voiced or expressed, but the Peacemakers express their disagreement - not by hurling harsh words and angry rhetoric - but by gently pointing out their perceptions of it, seeking to bring an understanding of another’s view,  and if all else fails, at least agree to disagree.   

Note - at the hospital yesterday I introduced myself as a volunteer chaplain and the patient either didn't hear, or understand, so his son shouted "she's a preacher ,Dad".  So here I am being a preacher.

 

Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday is a common and popular name for the Thursday before Easter Sunday.   It got its name from the Latin word mandatum, which means "commandment"  and it commemorates Christ's Last Supper, at which He instituted the Eucharist and the Priesthood, and gave them the new commandment that "they should love one another".

 

In Britain on Maundy Thursday there is a tradition of giving silver coins to the poor, which is said to have originated with St. Augustine in 597 AD at Canterbury, and has been performed by the monarch since the days of Edward II.

 

Washing of feet is another Maundy Thursday thing, and at one time was carried out by the monarch.     James II is said to be the last British monarch to personally perform this and it was abandoned in the 18th century, which doesn't altogether surprise me, I can't see the Hanoverian kings having much truck with washing the feet of the poor.

Perhaps it is having a revival because I remember it as part of the service at Denton, and we had it tonight at Emmanuel.  I don't usually, at any church, participate in this but at the last moment this evening I decided to do so.   I was somewhat surprised that the water was warm and it was actually quite pleasant.

 

So we are moving through Holy Week, tomorrow as you know is Good Friday.

 

Tenebrae

I went to the Tenebrae Service this evening, it is the day before Maundy Thursday.

Tenebrae is Latin for 'shadows' and I think the Service differs from church to church.   The church is usually in darkness apart from candles, but the overhead lights at Emmanuel were kept on, just dimmed a bit during the service. 

There are as many candles on the altar as there are readings, plus a white Christ candle, in our case this evening there were 15 candles and readings, and I did one of them.

The readers go up one at a time, read their assigned selections, and extinguish one of the candles, until only the Christ candle remains. Then Fr Bill read the first part of Psalm 22, which Jesus quoted on the Cross, and the Christ candle was put out, leaving the congregation in near total darkness, and at this point, the service ends with a very loud bang symbolising the closing of the Tomb..

There is no benediction and the people leave in silence. (The lights are turned up but remain dim so that people can see their way out.)

Changing the subject...........

I suppose you could say I have an indoor and an outdoor cat.   The indoor cat, Bubbles, certainly has the most  comfortable billet - this is a cushion with a fleecy cover when she feels like a change from her sofa in the living room.

I don't know if this cat wants to be taken in, but I look at it and say "you've got no chance".

Tuesday in Holy Week (posted Wed am)

The service this evening was a candlelit Evening Service, it was short, only 20 minutes, but lovely.  The church was entirely candlelit, and there was a mass of candles on the altar.   Back home I think the Health and Safety crew would be kicking in.

 

Here I am wrestling with the problem of Bubbles when I leave, I will have to have her put down.  There is no way she would want to go to anyone else, I know she'd rather die.   I went to an Animal Hospital in town, explained the situation and the fact that she is 17.  They were very kind and said they'd do it, and I could hold her while they did, I told them I didn't want to just drop her off.   There was much shedding of tears and passing of tissues.   Then I went to the Senior Centre and cried on Kate and Mary's shoulders.   Of course there are going to be sad moments like this, I've been here a long time, but am so looking forward - you can't imagine - to being back among my family and precious grandchildren.

 

Well it is actually Wednesday morning, I had better get on with my day.

Monday in Holy Week

Phyllis came this morning and gave me a hand turning out my pantry, I was grateful for the help and it was good to spend time together.   She said she might go home for a visit next year, her brother wants to throw a party for her 80th birthday.   She is pushing 80 even harder than I am, and does twice as much - or more - helping out in the community.   And she is another one asking me what I am going "to do" when I get home.   The short answer is that it will be a change to open my eyes in the morning and not think about any responsibilities for the day - chaplaincy visits and making desserts for Wednesday's meal.

 

The walls of the Senior Centre are crammed full of photos of veterans, and I had two or three photos in a frame I took at a Remembrance Day service in 2010, the main photo being of Cecil Johnson, who was a well known veteran locally, and I thought I would take it along to the Senior Centre to add to the other veterans there.  Kate seemed very pleased to have it.  And she gave me something "that I could use to take on the aircraft"  ...

 

I am not sure about the "taking on the aircraft".   It looks as if I'm bragging, like, "look how special I am".  And I'm probably bragging telling you about it.   When I grew up people who did voluntary work were regarded - disparagingly by those who didn't - as "do gooders";  it wasn't until I came here and saw how much people did for others that I came to think that maybe doing good, contributing in one's community, wasn't such a BAD thing after all.

 

In the news...........As you probably know the Obamas are visiting Cuba, and a big deal is being made of the fact that Raoul Castro  wasn't at the airport to meet them.  SHOCK, HORROR, OUTRAGE. Trump said that he should have turned his plane around and come straight back.   How Presidential is that??

 

Trump is so supremely confident that he is going to win the Election (and I am beginning to think he might) he has assembled all his foreign policy advisers.  The phrase about counting, chickens, and hatching comes to mind.

 

The field has narrowed from 17 to 3 and the front runners, Trump and Cruz, are urging Kasich to opt out because he hasn't got a mathematical chance of winning, and he will split the vote if he stays in.  Ha, ha.   I think I'd vote for Kasich, if I had a vote.   As far as I am concerned it is all about likeability, never mind the politics, and Kasich is likeable.



 

 There is a service at Emmanuel every evening this week.   This evening's service was focused on healing.  I didn't go up for anointing with oil, it is not something I am used to.

Sunday,

I don't know why, maybe I woke up rather late and groggy, I'd taken a sleeping pill last night, not really a very good idea, and didn't make it to church.

My only trip out was to pick up something for lunch, and have spent the day going through stuff and sorting, sorting, sorting.

I didn't have the television on much, have had enough of Donald Trump ranting and raving, hurling insults at the other two candidates in the race.   Very presidential.   In spite of him saying that he will be the most presidential president since Abe Lincoln.   Yeah.

Saturday

The weather seems to have turned cold suddenly after being up in the 70s and 80s.   It was 44 when I first went out and was going through town;  later it got to 65 but felt colder than that, probably due to the strong breeze.   It was very bright and sunny though.

 

I went to the monthly AARP meeting this morning.  It is not really terribly interesting but I go to catch up with Phyllis who was there with her husband, Joe, and that was good.  It is held in the cafeteria of a Baptist church school, and the lunch is always typically "school" food.  In fact it is the same meal every month.

 

Apart from that everything else has been run-of-the-mill.    I watched television while I crocheted, but for practically all the afternoon I became increasingly irritated by the local barking dogs.  I wondered why Americans have dogs, they're not treated as pets - no, I shouldn't make such sweeping generalisations, I am sure there are millions of Americans who love and cherish their animals - just not round here.   The people opposite were out and their dog was tied up in the front yard - on what I considered to be too short a leash - and barked all the afternoon.   The Animal Welfare place is closed on Saturdays, I did pick up the phone to complain to the police, then put it down again.   Reminded myself that my days of having to listen to barking dogs are numbered - hooray!!!!

 

So not wildly exciting, but that has been my day.

St Patrick's Day

And everyone on television was dressed in green, which coming from New York (the programme that is) didn't surprise me.  But I was surprised when I ventured out into town, and found everyone there in green - not just in the population, but also in the Senior Centre, and  there isn't even any Irish population in Shawnee  

 

Me, not thinking of it, pulled on one of Larry's Orange OSU tee shirts when I got dressed.   Later I realised I was the only one walking around Shawnee in orange (not that there is any significance here) and  reflected on the fact that my great grandfather was an Orange man, took part in those marches they're so fond of in Belfast (or were, I don't know if they still do).   Perhaps that's why I'm so Protestant, must be in my DNA.  And I even went on You Tube to listen to the  late, great, Jimmy Ferguson singing the 'Orange and the Green' 

                            

                            Oh it was the greatest mix up you have ever seen,

                            Me father he was Orange, and me mother, she was Green. 

 

In the afternoon I went to the Senior Centre to listen to the singing.   I was telling them at the desk on the way out that we don't have anything like that in England,  I'd have to go to the Welsh Valleys to hear anything like that live.

 

As you might imagine there is an enormous amount of sorting out and throwing away to do here, mostly throwing away, so perhaps I had better get on with it.

One thing though before I go - The FBI seem to be taking a long time investigating Hilary Clinton, and in a supermarket tabloid I was looking at today it said two of the things that they are looking at are large donations from foreign governments for the Clinton Foundation.   And she helped a Swiss bank block an Internal Revenue probe into $18 billion hidden away in accounts by Americans.   Even if I get to hear the outcome of this in Britain I doubt that I'll see her in an orange jump suit, and ankle bracelets.



 

 

Tuesday

The weather has been lovely, warm and sunny and bright, and 72 when I drove through town, and I have needed to be about.

 

I went to Walmart and was gazing at what passes in this country for smoked salmon, and thought happily of the smoked salmon lined up for me when I get home.  And what is going to be on my first shopping trip to Waitrose, Sainsbury, or wherever, will be Melton Mowbray pork pie, and Ambrosia creamed rice.

 

Of course there will be many things - apart from wonderful friends - that I will miss when I am back in the homeland.  This is cattle country, and I'll never find better steaks.  And the wonderful skies in Oklahoma.   I will miss Wednesday nights at Emmanuel, but the church I will be joining in Oxford looks very active and promising.  If anyone is interested it's website is http://www.standrewsoxford.org.   

 

I thought too of how accommodating people are here.  This afternoon I needed a prescription, I'd had my last refill, and my doctor is away for Spring Break but my pharmacy gave me it to me anyway.

 

Everyone has started cutting their grass and Kevin came today to do mine.  I told him I was going home, and after looking and sounding suitably sorrowful - and very taken aback - he asked what I was going to "do".    Do??   Do??   I asked.   He pointed out that I am busy here, I have a hospital chaplaincy round  for example.  I told him I was going to retire.

 

I hope David Cameron is not about to call a General Election.  I have had it with elections and politics.   My tv remote is stuck on Fox News and doesn't know its way anywhere else - although on another channel, I think about 1am or some other unsuitably late (or early) hour, there is a programme about the Real Secret Service in Britain, I have made a note to watch.

 

Well, I have a living room to tidy up a bit, the contents of two cupboards are strewn all over the place.

Sunday

Well, the clocks went forward last night, but somehow I missed it.  There are usually lots of reminders on television, perhaps I turned it off too soon.  

 

So I was an hour late for church, just got there in time for the Communion part of the service, and  spent the day cracking on finishing off  an afghan I think I will keep for myself and bring home, if there is room in the suitcase as I've done a couple for my grand children.  Tomorrow I am going to get seriously down to sorting and throwing out.

I took this in one of the hospital's waiting rooms to show you how big chairs have to be in this country to accommodate the seriously obese here.

 

I'm Coming Home

and I don't mean Heaven, which is the usual connotation here.

Son Tim is arranging for me to move back to the UK to live near him and his family in north Oxford, in the area they call Summertown.

It will be at least a month hence, so I have time to sort through eight years of accumulated possessions and make lists.   And say a long goodbye to Bubbles.

I can't begin to tell you how much I will miss all the kind, wonderful friends I have made at Emmanuel, and in the wider Shawnee community, but I am ready for this next stage of life.

There isn't much more to say at this point, but will keep you informed.

Wednesday

Had a pleasant morning visiting my friend Donna, on the other side of Tecumseh, there were three of us altogether - another friend who is native American contributed an interesting perspective -  and we chatted about a wide range of topics and politics.

 

When I got home - via the hospital where I chatted with Bill for a while - I knocked up some shortbread,  which I took to Emmanuel with the cakes I'd bought to support the bake sale.  I said I wouldn't be back for the meal this evening though, I just wanted to get home.   Crash out.

Monday

All I can say about today is that it was uneventful, I was recovering from all the excitement of yesterday.

Tomorrow I will be at the hospital, there is great excitement there, a new wing is opening, so I plan to be there.

4th in Lent - Mother's Day.

But not over here, it's not part of the church calendar here.  Americans didn't have lots of servants who wanted one Sunday a year off to visit their mothers, so the notion of Mother's Day has been taken over by the greeting card industry, I think it is in May, but don't know why.   Anyway, loved ones sent me electronic greeting cards and messages and that made my day.

 

I thought of all the children in churches at home this morning presenting their mothers with little posies made up by the women of the church, and usually there were enough to give one to other elderly ladies present as well.

Last evening Bruce and Rosalyn kindly invited me to see the film 'Spotlight', and Donna came as well.   Briefly, its synopsis is that a Boston Globe reporter uncovered a ring of paedophilic monks.  SHOCK, HORROR.  I don't even walk round the grounds of St Gregory's without casting suspicious looks at any I might pass.  A bishop back home - a monk I liked and highly respected for many years - is now cleaning out the loos in Lewes Prison after a conviction for paedophilia. 

In every nation there are monks with paedophilic tendencies.  I was in Ireland when news of their local paedophilic monks broke.  It was actually quite heart wrenching, the entire community was devastated, in total shock.  Elderly farmers who had grown up in,  and loved the Catholic church, were walking round looking dazed and vowing they would never go to Mass again.

Afterwards Bruce and Rosalyn invited us in for tea and blueberry biscuits, then I made my way home.  I'd left some bacon in a frying pan - and I know this probably sounds revolting - but I decided to crisp it up and snack on it, so I turned on the stove and wandered off.   Next thing I knew the pan was on fire, and the smoke alarm was screaming so loudly it could be heard from one end of the street to the other.  I've never heard it before, I had no idea it was so LOUD - I had a smoke alarm in Seaford, but nothing on the scale of this -  I threw the pan out, opened both front and back doors and a neighbour from across the road rushed in and turned them off (it's the law that there has to be one in every bedroom).   Dale across the road is away on a holiday, or she would have come in as well.

So today I have just been recovering from all this excitement.  In the afternoon I went to Walmart for a new frying pan.


 

Wednesday March 2nd

It has been a bit chilly today, but the last few days have been lovely.  Just like summer in England - in the 70s, deep blue sky, and warm.  Yesterday I debated where to go to sit outside - there are a lot of parks in Shawnee, but I settled for my front porch.

 

This evening I went to Emmanuel, I didn't need to do a dessert, it was team Mexican who do their own.   Fr Bill wasn't there so there wasn't a class afterwards and I left after the meal.

 

The news is still all about the campaign for the Presidency, I just wonder what I am missing in the rest of the world.  David Cameron might have died for all I know.   

 

Hilary Clinton is still smiling and gracious, shaking hands with would-be voters, not seeming to have a care in the world apart from the Election.     The latest news about her is that the Department of Justice has offered immunity to a key witness, a former staffer who set up her e-mail server.   So she is not about to be let off the hook anytime soon.   The only person who keeps reminding the world that she is under investigation is Donald Trump, who has vowed to "get to the bottom of it" when he becomes President.

 

There is another debate, I think tonight, but Ben Carson is not attending.  He hasn't said he is dropping out, but he probably thinks there is not much point in being there.   The back and forth has always been between Trump, Rubio, and Cruz.