The NaBloPoMo theme for January 2012 is “Beginnings.”
“January 1st is a blank slate, and you can make the year anything you want it to be. … You can take a single step, right? And after that, it’s just putting foot before foot, taking your new journey slowly and letting it unfold at its own pace. Along the way, blog about your experience.”
Posted in 2012-01 Beginnings
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Lippe feeds the birds
Lippe and Midnight look out the window
Lippe accompanied Midnight on her morning patrol, and noticed that the bird feeders were all empty.
Lippe and the bird feeders
Lippe bundled up in his warm hoodie, and helped me collect all the feeders.
Lippe and sunflower seed feeder
He held each feeder open while I filled it, and then we hung the full feeders on three sides of the house where the birds would find them.
Lippe shivering
Afterwards, Lippe was shivering so hard, all the photographs were coming out blurry!
We decided to spend the rest of the day reading in front of the fire.
Lippe visits the art museum
Today, Lippe and Andy and I visited the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester.
Memorial Art Gallery, photographed last October
Lippe sitting on wreath at Gallery entrance today
Clock by Wendell Castle
We saw many beautiful works of art, including the Extreme Materials exhibit (although I couldn’t take any pictures there).
Here are a few of the highlights.
Mexican pots
The gallery has recently renovated many of their exhibits from the permanent collection. The first floor houses items from Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
Lippe liked the gold mask
This mask is from the Chimú culture in Perú.
My twin!
Lippe was excited to meet the Laughing Boy from Mexico, but disappointed that the gallery store didn’t have a replica of the hat to buy as a souvenir.
Bench by Wendell Castle
This bench was carved by Wendell Castle, who also made the wonderful blue clock we saw near the gallery entrance. It’s very comfortable.
Second floor of the memorial art gallery
The second floor of the MAG houses mostly European art.
This is interesting!
During the renovations, the MAG staff added some excellent interactive educational displays.
An 18th c. Archbishop of Paris
This well-fed archbishop reminded Lippe that it was almost dinner time.
The rest of us weren’t ready to leave, though.
Fountain Court and baroque organ
As I was photographing the ornate baroque organ in the Fountain Court, I heard a guard shout “No swimming in the fountain!”
Lippe in the fountain
Oh, dear!
I knew who that had to be.
Lippe sliding down the handrail
On the way downstairs, Lippe decided that the handrail would be faster than the elevator.
Tomorrow, we will have a very quiet day!
Lippe joins the choir!
Lippe came with me to choir rehearsal tonight.
Lippe on his way to choir rehearsal
He’s been looking forward to it for days. He missed his chance to sing in the Boar’s Head Festival, and was so eager that he couldn’t wait until I finished dinner and packed up my music.
Tree in the church courtyard
On our way from the parking lot to the choir room, we stopped to look at the lighted tree in the inner courtyard of Third Presbyterian Church.
Lippe checks my box for new music
We stopped at my box to pick up new music and my copy of the choir newsletter.
Oops!
Right away, Lippe spotted a typo. “It’s not 2011, it’s 2012!”
Lippe at the piano
Since the assistant organist hadn’t arrived yet, Lippe offered to accompany the rehearsal. That didn’t go very well.
Lippe in the tenor section
After a brief voice placement audition, Lippe was accepted into the tenor section, where the other singers made him feel welcome.
While Lippe worked very hard, and tried his best, the result was less than successful. Lippe will not be singing with us on Sunday morning.
Lippe with Peter DuBois
Our choir director gently advised Lippe not to quit his day job.
xxxx
Lippe goes shopping
Lippe has recovered from his sniffles, and felt well enough to help with the weekly shopping.
First stop
Our first stop was the pet store, to stock up on litter and treats.
Then we went grocery shopping.
Wegmans
The Wegmans store on Monroe Avenue in Pittsford, NY (a Rochester suburb) is the largest supermarket in the area. They have an excellent selection of all kinds of food, housewares, and lots of other stuff.
Lippe rides in the shopping cart
Lippe decided to ride in the shopping cart, instead of in my purse, so he could have a better view of the wonderful things inside the store.
Look at all the fruits and vegetables!
Right inside the door was the Produce department, filled with fruit, vegetables, and people.
Then came the bakery, with freshly made bread, rolls, muffins and pastries. It smelled so good!
The meat counter was overwhelming!
There was a very long meat counter…
Dozens of domestic and imported cheeses
dozens and dozens of different kinds of domestic and imported cheeses…
Lippe at the Asian food buffet
and a deli. There is also a ready-to-eat buffet where one can choose entrees and side dishes to eat in the Wegmans Market Cafe, or to take home.
Lippe inspected the fish
When we got to the fish counter, Lippe was very glad he’d worn his hoodie!
Lippe was tired by this time, so—after a brief stop to appreciate the fresh-cut flowers—we stopped at the Tea Bar for a rest.
Lippe searching for cat supplies
Our last task was to find the shelves with cat food and toys (less expensive here than at the pet store).
There it is!
Cavendish and Maxwell were running low on their favorite flavor of stinkyfood, Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Ocean Whitefish and Tuna.
So many to choose from!
Lippe also wanted to get a hostess gift for Midnight, so we looked at the toys.
She'll like this one. It squeaks!
He finally decided on this toy.
Lippe makes friends wherever he goes!
That’s it. We have everything. Time to go through the checkout line and pay the cashier!
We went home, unloaded the groceries, gave Midnight her gift, and took a nap to rest up for choir rehearsal this evening.
Lippe catches a cold
Lippe is ready to go!
Today, we wanted to take Lippe to the art gallery, so the three of us got in the car.
Lippe wanted to drive
Lippe offered to drive, but his feet didn’t reach the pedals, so he had to be content riding in my purse.
When we got to the gallery, it was closed. The gallery used to be open on Tuesdays, with free admission all afternoon. When did the hours change?
Disappointed, we went home again, and ate lunch. Andy tutors at an elementary school on Tuesday afternoons, so I had Lippe to myself for a couple of hours. I took him with me to run errands.
Lippe at the bank
We went to the bank, where Lippe flirted with the teller, taking off his hoodie to show off his muscles. She was impressed, but warned him that it was winter, and he might catch a cold!
Macho Lippe, of course, refused to put his hoodie back on again.
Silly wookie!
After stopping for gas, I noticed that Lippe was shivering and sneezing. The teller was right—Lippe was coming down with a cold!
Fortunately, our vet’s office is right down the road, and one of the techs was available for an emergency appointment.
Achoo!
The vet tech was very firm with Lippe. She told him he was lucky it was only a cold, since he could have picked up a secondary pneumonia infection. She gave him strict instructions to:
- wear a shirt even indoors
- bundle up in a hoodie whenever he went outdoors
- eat healthy food
- take his vitamins (she gave him a packet)
- get lots of sleep
We went straight home from the vet’s office, postponing the rest of our errands.
The vet gave Lippe a nice bathrobe to bundle up in.
Lippe spent the rest of the day bundled up in his new bathrobe, sipping tea in front of the fire. (Did you notice how the bathrobe matches his eyes?)
No more adventures for Lippe until he recovers!
Lippe was introduced in yesterday’s post.
Notes for a future road trip: MJT
I love museums, especially natural history museums. The highlight of my day in Oxford, several years ago, was the Ashmolean, with its geological specimens, stuffed dodo (the model for Tenniel’s illustration in Alice in Wonderland), and other curiosities.
While catching up with my pile of not-yet-read magazines, I discovered an article on unusual American museums in the June issue of the Smithsonian magazine. The first museum the article mentions is The Museum of Jurassic Technology.
The online exhibits definitely have the flavor of the older Ashmolean exhibits, and the photos in the Smithsonian article reinforce that impression. The MJT is definitely going on my list for a future trip to southern California!
Posted in 2012-01 Beginnings, Museums, Travel
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Lippe is here!
Say hello, Lippe.
Lippe arrived late this afternoon.
Who is Lippe?
It’s a long story.
Several years ago, when I became aware of Twitter, I was eager to learn more. Wary of making a fool of myself under my personal or business name, I decided to test the waters by creating an account for my cat, Quark. Quark could make all the newbie mistakes and, when I was comfortable with Twitter culture and knew how to behave, I would start my own for-real Twitter account.
Tweeting as a cat was loads of fun. I discovered that there are thousands of pets with their own Twitter accounts, and a whole bunch of stuffed animals that tweeted, too. They, and their typists, were friendly and entertaining. One of the friends that Quark made was a German guinea pig named Mookie (Twitter name: @schnille). Sadly, Mookie died (guinea pigs are short-lived creatures) but his stuffed friends @fuzzyFreya and Lippe are still making friends all over the world.
Lippe, in particular, has become a seasoned world traveler. Over the past year or so, this little stuffed Wookie (kin to Star Wars character Chewbacca) has visited friends in many places, and had wonderful adventures, collecting postcards, clothes, and souvenirs from each of his hosts. His activities here will be quieter and less adventuresome than some of his hosts have provided for him. We’ll be showing him around town, and sharing some of our daily chores and pleasures.
Tonight, after his long trip, Lippe decided to spend a quiet evening here at home, getting acquainted with our three current Feline Overlords, Midnight, Cavendish, and Maxwell, and relaxing in front of the fire.
The first order of business was to light the fire.
Lippe supervises the fire-starting process
Lippe supervised piling the logs in the grate, adding the fatwood, and setting the whole thing ablaze.
Lippe watches the fire
It took a long time to get everything set up correctly, to Lippe’s satisfaction, but I think the results were worth it!
Unfortunately, Midnight is a privacy nut, and rarely allows me to get a photograph of her. I’ll try again later this week.
Cavendish and Maxwell, on the other hand, absolutely love the camera.
Cavendish welcomes Lippe
Cavendish was a bit wary of the stranger at first, but after Lippe gave him a chin scratch and a tummy rub, he consented to share his pillow.
Max enjoys Lippe's company
Maxwell soon lured Lippe away, however, with the promise of a warm snuggle. They spent the rest of the evening together, before going off to bed.
Plans for tomorrow include a trip to the art museum.
Before we know it
“Time passes. If we don’t play with our kittens when they’re small, they’ll be all grown up before we know it.”
~ Fiona Robyn, Writing Our Way Home
Fiona was talking about the growth of her real-life kittens, Roshi and Tsuki, and the need to pay attention to life as it happens.
I like to think of it as a metaphor for cherishing Beginnings. A kitten is the beginning of a cat. A wedding is the beginning of a marriage. A sentence is the beginning of a story.
Beginnings should be nurtured, protected, nourished.
This week, I joined a new book discussion group. (Well, it’s new to me. The group has been meeting for several years, although I just joined yesterday.) I’ll have to miss the next meeting, since I have a previous commitment, but I’m definitely cherishing it. The book is interesting, as are the group members. We each come with different perspectives, different attitudes, different life experiences. Everyone talked a little. Everyone listened a lot, interested, respectful. I’m looking forward to future discussions.
This was a Beginning, and beginnings are important. I must notice and remember Beginnings. If not, before I know it, I will be somewhere else, doing something else, and all the wonder of that particular Beginning will be lost to me. Before we know it, we change. Before we know it, we forget.
Cherish your Beginnings.
Posted in 2012-01 Beginnings, Ideas
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Fear and trembling
Today was the first day of the Boar’s Head and Yule Log Festival at Third Presbyterian Church in Rochester, NY. Every other year, on the weekend closest to Epiphany, the church puts on an extravaganza of pageantry and music with a cast of more than a hundred adults and children.
Not exactly a worship service, though there are many worshipful moments. Not just a pageant, though the costumes and banners make a spectacular visual display. More than a concert, though the 60-member choir, strings and brass, and vocal soloists put on a very professional performance. It’s a community event, reaching beyond the immediate congregation to bring in a large audience for one last chance to sing favorite carols and whoop it up before packing the holidays away and going back to normal life.
At the very end, after the angels have sung, the shepherds have worshipped, and the kings have presented their gifts, the choir sings the great 4th century hymn from the Greek Orthodox Liturgy of St. James (translated from Greek to English by Gerard Moultrie):
Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
And with fear and trembling stand;
Ponder nothing earthly minded,
For with blessing in His hand,
Christ our God to earth descendeth,
Our full homage to demand.King of kings, yet born of Mary,
As of old on earth He stood,
Lord of lords, in human vesture,
In the body and the blood;
He will give to all the faithful
His own self for heavenly food.Rank on rank the host of heaven
Spreads its vanguard on the way,
As the Light of light descendeth
From the realms of endless day,
That the powers of hell may vanish
As the darkness clears away.At His feet the six wingèd seraph,
Cherubim with sleepless eye,
Veil their faces to the presence,
As with ceaseless voice they cry:
Alleluia, Alleluia
Alleluia, Lord Most High!
“…and with fear and trembling stand.”
Fear and trembling certainly described a few of the youngest cast members:
- the young man with the angelic voice, King Wenceslas’ page, who forgot his lines during dress rehearsal, but was word- and note-perfect through both performances
- the even-younger kids who carried the gifts for the three kings, struggling to remember to lift each gift high when the spotlight shone on them, and to walk slowly (but not too slowly) down the aisle, and to kneel in exactly the right place before the manger
- the tiny Wood Sprite, who opened and closed the show, dancing down the aisle with a candle
They overcame their fear, and stopped trembling, in large part due to loving advice from the stage manager and many of the more experienced cast members. The advice they were given is worth remembering, for all of us, as we progress through our own dark and rough places.
- “Take a deep breath.”
Stepping back for a moment—remembering to breathe, centering—helps break the fear cycle. - “It’s OK to be afraid.”
Fear is a normal reaction to the unknown, to things that are unfamiliar and threatening. Don’t feel ashamed or guilty about it. Accept the fear, but go on anyway. - “Listen to the music.”
Take one step at a time, one breath at a time, slow step by slow step, in time to the music. It will bring you as far as you need to go. - “We all love you.”
Your family and friends are wishing/willing/praying for you to succeed. Feel that energy carrying you forward.
Posted in 2012-01 Beginnings, Life, Music
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Always a beginner
One of my quote-a-day subscriptions recently sent this, from Thomas Merton’s Contemplative Prayer (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1969, p. 37):
“We do not want to be beginners. But let us be convinced of the fact that we will never be anything else but beginners, all our life!”
I love being a beginner.
Much as I enjoy playing expert, teaching people useful stuff, explaining things that confuse them, I’m happiest when I’m learning something. Yes, I love using my new knowledge or showing off a new skill, but I’m always curious about what comes next, what lies underneath, they why of things.
My mother told me that the second word I ever said (after “No!”) was “Why?”. She have been right. (Personally, I’d put it third, after “Panda!”. I distinctly remember saying that one, when I was very, very young.)
Why? was my favorite word all the way through school, and I seriously annoyed almost all of my teachers with it. Most teachers wanted me to remember facts, lots of facts. Since I could do that easily, they didn’t want to waste time with explanations and background information. They especially didn’t want me to ask why? when they told me to do something, or repeated a school rule.
The Why? obsession drove me to major in the sciences, instead of English (which would have been much easier for me). After college, that same Why? obsession led me to work as an R&D chemist.
I still ask Why? (or, sometimes, Why not?) manymany times a day: reading the news, developing websites, writing technical documentation, reading a book, learning new music, talking with friends, working out a project plan, even potting plants. Each Why? leads me to search for (and usually find) an answer, but there is always another Why? lurking in the background, and another behind that, and another, and another. Always more to learn, more to understand.
I will always be a beginner, and I’m OK with that. Really.