I looked back at the 2021 blog on the days around Halloween, as I still remember riding the NYC subway surrounded by folks in costumes and everyone with a mask, resisting death from COVID-19 as we started to unwind the lockdown and Halloween was back.
In 2021, I had taken Susie and Mariah to NYC to see some shows that were just reopened for my sabbatical, which I took in the middle of the pandemic. Susie had multiple strokes during the trip, and I was trapped in NYC as an Accidental Tourist while Susie spent four weeks in rehab at Mount Sinai West in Hell’s Kitchen.
I felt it was a note to me now about what was happening. Again, I remember all the support the Smith Family gave me in NYC. I made it work, but they made it something more than just survival. Thanks!
But it is All Saints’ Day, and at the church I hear the chime and Susie’s name called out, and we sing, “For All the Saints,” but I also hear “When the Saints March In.” Tears steam my glasses while I usher at church.
The day started with an alarm; it was time change, and our experience of time had changed. I rose, seemingly late, as it is Fall Back today. I am happy to rise with only a little stiffness (the you-are-over-60 usual feelings and not the painful stuff I have enjoyed the last few days). I get my robe, put on worn-out but comfortable slippers, and head to the kitchen to make fresh coffee. While it starts, I take my meds and head back to the office. Time to write a blog and retell Saturday’s story.
My brain seems to have been in a blender. I cannot assemble a step-by-step narrative, and the day comes to me in random flashes, some after I have published the blog and require revisions. I get the blog posted and dress in my usual sweater vest, dress shirt, Pride tie, and soon am too early to church, funny on a time change day, and see Eric K headed for coffee.
I finish chatting with Deborah, spending part of my morning with her as I drive in, I follow Eric K and we have a coffee (or tea in my case) before service. Eric K and Ellen are headed to Brazil with us. We talk about the trip and plans.
We head back, and I take my post as usher while Z and Dondrea struggle to connect the AV to the projectors. I help with the photos I took of the setup last time there was an issue. I have never been briefed on the setup, so I try to be supportive and also stay out of the way.
I do plug in the Apple mini as the plug and restart it. That seems to get it running but not connected. Two panicked calls and various resets, and it is working, about time, for Ken’s sermon. All the words to say are in the handouts, and the music is in the pew books. We can do Methodist without EV.
Ushering was complex because we had more visitors, and it was communion. As usual, I am impatient with the sermon, as we have work to do, but Ken seemed to be connecting with the congregation. “All to the Glory of God” was his title, and it was then combined with slides of various scriptures. Ken was painting with a wide brush, not his usual style of details and historical references. His message was that our relationship to God is about connecting to the Glory of God, not serving it or existing only for God’s glorification, as some men and church theologians had said.
We had a church meeting and managed to corral folks into chairs and start the meeting as an usher. The DS (name forgotten) and Karen (a retired pastor) were here for the meeting. It ran off the rails a few times. Now, instead of the grand parade of reports I attended for hours twenty years ago, it is a quick procedural hurdle. The Pastor’s pay package had an error that caused various grumbling as the Conference cut a $2,000 increase to pastors. Dondrea and Ken, who attended the meeting, do not remember this passing.
The readings, where we remove missing members, were not prepared for the meeting. There was some musing, and we added it to a list (our Elder Karen and DS were slightly annoyed). The nominations did not list all the positions or whether people were keeping their positions.
Aside: I have already acted to fix the issues.
With that done, the chairs and tables were put away (and a spill was mostly cleaned up—once again showing that the cleaning really needs to be done after Sunday too), and I collected Dondrea, and we headed to Ava Coffee. There, they have a $40 lunch for two with a shared dessert, excellent full-sized sandwiches, and drinks. We enjoyed a moment of peace and good food, then jumped into getting a visa application in for Dondrea. We got started, but slow WiFi and a missing converter made it impossible to finish.
We returned home, and Dondrea called me once for clarification (yes, the addresses don’t fit well on the forms) and got it all submitted. Excellent! I did boring things. I started picking up the house and getting it back in some order.
I cleared the table of painting and various paperwork that has accumulated from trips. Corwin stopped by, got his mail, and missed dinner (I had made a pork chop earlier, but overcooked it). He was OK as he had already dined. We chatted for a while, and I kept picking up and bringing order to the house. Corwin headed out later. He will clear out the gutters and watch the house for me while I travel to Brazil.
I found a notebook from Susie from 2008 and read some of the entries to Corwin. They sounded so much like Susie, and it was good to share them. I did toss the notebook after sharing. Flights and travel, doctor’s appointments, and the usual; nothing really to keep.
I watched more episodes of the Borges and later found some card tricks while organizing. I went online, downloaded the instructions for one, and added links to the others to my browser to find again later. I did not know how to do the melting card trick, and it was fun to learn. I’m not sure I am ready to do that, since it involves sleight-of-hand and I am out of practice (if I ever was really in practice). But I love gaff cards. Now that I have glasses, I might be able to use the marked decks again. Hmmm. I am never so sure about gimmicked cards, since they are often fragile and require precise sleight-of-hand.
I returned to the house and cleared the table, got the living room mostly back in order, and assembled the kitchen. I also did some laundry and got it clean and hung up. Folding will have to wait.
And that seems to be it. Thanks for reading.
