May – 2018

Persevere is my Word for this Year.

Looking at where I am in my life, I really don’t want to take on anything new, but I do need to deepen my knowledge and commitment to the things I am doing.

• Politically – I’m going to persist in the resistance.
  • People Power – I continue to serve on the Texting Team for People Power. That means most days I send between 200 and 600 texts to people who have signed up with the ACLU People Power. Some of the texts are invitations to training for organizing. Some are invitations to organizational meetings, and some are invitations to write, phone, or email political representatives. They are all sent individually and answered individually (thank goodness, I have canned answers available – but we individualize everything as much as possible.) Remember, the ACLU is political but non-partisan. I am one of the texting leads on this team. There are four of us who try to take some of the burden off of the folks to do the real work of getting everything set up. We also TRY to deal creatively and nicely with other volunteers who may not be very understanding or kind.
  • Wall of Us – I continue to try to accomplish the four actions requested by Wall of Us every week. For instance, this week we are asked to try to understand Ramadan, support the Muslim Blue Wave, commit to vote and ask others to commit, and build local power with “ActLocal”.
  • I haven’t been able to attend a Poor People’s Campaign action yet, but I’m still trying to clear my calendar for a day.
  • I’m also collecting signatures for a ballot initiative in Washington State, to tax carbon polluters and use the extra money to build more wind and solar power farms. It’s Initiative 1631, and I encourage all the voters in Washington who read this blog to sign the petition.

• Religiously – I’m going to really work at being Moderator of Olympia Presbytery.
  • May’s Leadership Council meeting was pressed for time, and a little fractured, but the May Presbytery Meeting was great. The theme was “Blessed are the Hungry” and everything worked out wonderfully.
    • Our preacher for worship was Carmen Pimms, the Executive Director of Campbell Farms. People are still talking about her message.
  • 
    
    • We also had workshops by churches who have community gardens, churches who started a feeding program that grew into something much more, and a nature study by the Ecology Education director at Camp Soundview.
  • 
    Also at the Presbytery Meeting, we were able to move our Kenyan Congregation, Umoja Presbyterian Church, from New Worshipping Community status, but the status of a congregation of Olympia Presbytery.
  • Interfaith community – I continue to meet with the Interfaith Ladies once a month.
  • At the last minute, I found out about an opportunity to apply to be on the Nominating Committee for the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Amazingly enough, I was accepted, and my nomination to the committee will be voted on June 22nd. I covet your prayers.
• Creatively – I’m going to try to get down to working on my family history/memoir.
  • Fill in gaps on Ancestry.com – Still working on my genealogy (I don’t think it’s ever finished).
  • I’ve started a poetry writing course here at Franke Tobey Jones. Hopefully, I’ll be posting some of my poems here at this blog soon.
  • Keep up with my knitting – I’m turning out a couple of pairs of socks a week. So far this year I’ve turned out 32 pairs of socks and have yarn for 16 more.
• Personally – I’m going to keep up walking, and try to add some resistance training.10,000 steps a day –
  • I’m keeping up with this, but not being obsessive about it.
  • 2-3 sessions of weight training a week – I finally made an appointment for a personal trainer here and I now have appointments to do strength and weight training as well as my Fitbit steps.
• Socially – I’m going to tend my current relationships.
  • Gazebo Group – The Gazebo Group continues to thrive (particularly with the younger (less than 80 years old) members of the community).
  • Maintain congregational ties – I attend weekly Bible study and try to attend whatever extra worship services there may be. In May I served as Worship Leader on Sunday mornings.

I would really appreciate it if you, gentle readers, would remind me of these intentions when you see me fluttering off after the latest cause du jour.

April – 2018

Persevere is my Word for this Year.

Looking at where I am in my life, I really don’t want to take on anything new, but I do need to deepen my knowledge and commitment to the things I am doing.

• Politically – I’m going to persist in the resistance.
  • People Power – I continue to serve on the Texting Team for People Power. That means most days I send between 200 and 600 texts to people who have signed up with the ACLU People Power. Some of the texts are invitations to training for organizing. Some are invitations to organizational meetings, and some are invitations to write, phone, or email political representatives. They are all sent individually and answered individually (thank goodness, I have canned answers available – but we individualize everything as much as possible.) Remember, the ACLU is political but non-partisan. I am one of the texting leads on this team. There are four of us who try to take some of the burden off of the folks to do the real work of getting everything set up. We also TRY to deal creatively and nicely with other volunteers who may not be very understanding or kind.
  • Wall of Us – I continue to try to accomplish the four actions requested by Wall of Us every week. For instance, this week we are working to take the blue tsunami to Pennsylvania on May 15, keep the pressure on for a free and open internet, demand that congress pass legislation to protect Robert Mueller, and make sure my senator stands against Trump’s transgender military ban.
  • (I know I asked you to fuss at me if I took on something new but…) I’m attending resistance training with the New Poor People’s Campaign. We’ll see where that leads.
  • I’m also collecting signatures for a ballot initiative in Washington State, to tax carbon polluters and use the extra money to build more wind and solar power farms. It’s Initiative 1631, and I encourage all the voters in Washington who read this blog to sign the petition.

• Religiously – I’m going to really work at being Moderator of Olympia Presbytery.
  • March took off with a bang and a Leadership Council meeting early in the month to plan a Presbytery Meeting and discuss other business for the presbytery.
  • As Moderator, I welcomed and installed a new pastor to one of our churches in April. Greg Ikehara-Martin was called and installed at Long Beach Presbyterian Church. That church is in one of the remote corners of the Presbytery. It is arguably farther away from the center than any other church, but they are a faithful, welcoming group of people. It was a pleasure to be with them for the installation. They are also located (as the name implies) in a beach community, so their membership shrinks in the winter and blossoms in the summer. Big Al and I took the opportunity to take a mini-vacation and went down a day early and came back a day after. Unfortunately the weather was dreadful, but we enjoyed our time in a hotel, right on the beach.

• • Bethany is reading So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo. I’m in a discussion group weekly.

• • Interfaith community – I continue to meet with the Interfaith Ladies once a month. This month the larger group that contains both men and women will gather for an Iftar.
  • New Worshiping Communities – I continue to serve on the Presbytery’s New Worshipping Communities Task Force.
• Creatively – I’m going to try to get down to working on my family history/memoir.
  • Fill in gaps on Ancestry.com – Still working on my genealogy (I don’t think it’s ever finished).
  • I’ve started a poetry writing course here at Franke Tobey Jones. Hopefully, I’ll be posting some of my poems here at this blog soon.
  • Keep up with my knitting – I’m turning out a couple of pairs of socks a week. So far this year I’ve turned out 32 pairs of socks and have yarn for 16 more.
• Personally – I’m going to keep up walking, and try to add some resistance training.10,000 steps a day –
  • I’m keeping up with this, but not being obsessive about it.
  • 2-3 sessions of weight training a week – I finally made an appointment for a personal trainer here and I now have appointments to do strength and weight training as well as my Fitbit steps.
• Socially – I’m going to tend my current relationships.
  • Gazebo Group – The Gazebo Group continues to thrive (particularly with the younger (less than 80 years old) members of the community).
  • Maintain congregational ties – I attend weekly Bible study and try to attend whatever extra worship services there may be. In May I will serve as Worship Leader on Sunday mornings.

I would really appreciate it if you, gentle readers, would remind me of these intentions when you see me fluttering off after the latest cause du jour.

March – 2018

Persevere is my Word for this Year.

Looking at where I am in my life, I really don’t want to take on anything new, but I do need to deepen my knowledge and commitment to the things I am doing.

1. Politically – I’m going to persist in the resistance.
   1. People Power – I continue to serve on the Texting Team for People Power. That means most days I send between 200 and 600 texts to people who have signed up with the ACLU People Power. Some of the texts are invitations to training for organizing. Some are invitations to organizational meetings, and some are invitations to write, phone, or email political representatives. They are all sent individually and answered individually (thank goodness, I have canned answers available – but we individualize everything as much as possible.) Remember, the ACLU is political but non-partisan. I am one of the texting leads on this team. There are four of us who try to take some of the burden off of the folks to do the real work of getting everything set up. We also TRY to deal creatively and nicely with other volunteers who may not be very understanding or kind.
   2. Wall of Us – I continue to try to accomplish the four actions requested by Wall of Us every week. For instance, this week we are asked to support the Campus Blue Wave, call for a Town Hall in our district on April 7, sign a petition for justice for Stephon Clark and let our local police departments know his killing was NOT okay, and try to convince our Senators that Mike Pompeo is NOT okay for Secretary of State.
2. Religiously – I’m going to really work at being Moderator of Olympia Presbytery.
   1. March took off with a bang and a Leadership Council meeting early in the month to plan a Presbytery Meeting and discuss other business for the presbytery.
   2. As Moderator, I serve as one of the Trustees for the Presbytery.  The Presbytery voted to agree to co-sign on a $2.4 loan for the church I wrote about last month. They have already raised half of the money themselves with a capital campaign, and through grants and gifts from the community.
   3. Interfaith community – Last Tuesday, our interfaith community was hosted by the Temple for an Interfaith Seder. Presbyterians, Lutherans, Episcopalians, Jews, and Muslims all gathered for this ancient meal and ritual.
   4. New Worshiping Communities – I continue to serve on the Presbytery’s New Worshipping Communities Task Force.
3. Creatively – I’m going to try to get down to working on my family history/memoir.
   1. Fill in gaps on Ancestry.com – Still working on my genealogy (I don’t think it’s ever finished).
   2. I finished the course here at Franke Tobey Jones on writing memoirs. I wasn’t too impressed with the leader, but I did get a few more vignettes about my life written.
   3. Keep up with my knitting – I’m turning out a couple of pairs of socks a week. I sold 5 pairs to someone here at Franke Tobey Jones. That will give me enough money to buy another batch of yarn.
4. Personally – I’m going to keep up walking, and try to add some resistance training.
   1. 10,000 steps a day – I’m keeping up with this, but not being obsessive about it.
   2. 2-3 sessions of weight training a week – I still haven’t been regular with this (still a slacker on weight training.)
5. Socially – I’m going to tend my current relationships.
   1. Gazebo Group – The Gazebo Group continues to thrive (particularly with the younger (less than 80 years old) members of the community).
   2. Maintain congregational ties – I attend weekly Bible study and try to attend whatever extra worship services there may be. In May I will serve as Worship Leader on Sunday mornings.

I would really appreciate it if you, gentle readers, would remind me of these intentions when you see me fluttering off after the latest cause du jour.

February – 2018

Persevere is my Word for this Year.

Looking at where I am in my life, I really don’t want to take on anything new, but I do need to deepen my knowledge and commitment to the things I am doing.

1. Politically – I’m going to persist in the resistance.
   1. People Power – I continue to serve on the Texting Team for People Power. That means most days I send between 200 and 600 texts to people who have signed up with the ACLU People Power. Some of the texts are invitations to training for organizing. Some are invitations to organizational meetings, and some are invitations to write, phone, or email political representatives. They are all sent individually and answered individually (thank goodness, I have canned answers available – but we individualize everything as much as possible.) Remember, the ACLU is political but non-partisan. I am one of the texting leads on this team. There are four of us who try to take some of the burden off of the folks to do the real work of getting everything set up. We also TRY to deal creatively and nicely with other volunteers who may not be very understanding or kind.
   2. Wall of Us – I continue to try to accomplish the four actions requested by Wall of Us every week. For instance, this week we are helping Florida’s young people launch “Vote for Our Lives”, gather support for “Walk for Gun Control”, ask companies to disavow the NRA, and explore our elected representatives stance on gun control.
2. Religiously – I’m going to really work at being Moderator of Olympia Presbytery.
   1. February was a gentle month for Olympia Presbytery. We didn’t have a Leadership Council meeting.
   2. As Moderator, I serve as one of the Trustees for the Presbytery. One of our downtown churches has recently found out that their building built in 1924 is in real danger in case of an earthquake and it will cost $4.5 million to retrofit the building and make it safe. That church was down to 7 (that’s right – 7) members about 20 years ago, but they decided that they wanted to stay who they were and where they were and they deliberately started serving their community. They have grown to over 150 members and are one of the fastest growing churches in the Presbytery. They have an after-school program for two schools in the neighborhood. They run a medical clinic, a clothes bank, and other neighborhood services. The Presbytery was pleased to agree to co-sign on a $2.4 loan. They have already raised half of the money themselves with a capital campaign, and through grants and gifts from the community.
   3. Interfaith community – I continue to attend the monthly Interfaith Women’s tea and last week I went to the Interfaith conversation that is held monthly with local Presbyterians, Lutherans, Episcopalians, Jews, and Muslims.
   4. New Worshiping Communities – I continue to serve on the Presbytery’s New Worshipping Communities Task Force.
3. Creatively – I’m going to try to get down to working on my family history/memoir.
   1. Fill in gaps on Ancestry.com – I’ve done a little bit of work on this, but only in fits and starts.
   2. I’m taking a course here at Franke Tobey Jones on writing memoirs.
   3. Keep up with my knitting – I’m turning out a couple of pairs of socks a week. I took a sackful to the clothes closet at the church mentioned above.
4. Personally – I’m going to keep up walking, and try to add some resistance training.
   1. 10,000 steps a day – I’m keeping up with this, but not being obsessive about it.
   2. 2-3 sessions of weight training a week – I still haven’t been regular with this. I will try to set up an appointment with the director of the Wellness Center to establish a set day and time for some personal training (still a slacker on weight training.)
5. Socially – I’m going to tend my current relationships.
   1. Gazebo Group – The Gazebo Group continues to thrive (particularly with the younger (less than 80 years old) members of the community).
   2. Maintain congregational ties – I attend weekly Bible study and try to attend whatever extra worship services there may be. I’m not able to walk with the Thursday group, or go to Book Club, usually because of moderatorial duties. In May I will serve as Worship Leader on Sunday mornings.

I would really appreciate it if you, gentle readers, would remind me of these intentions when you see me fluttering off after the latest cause du jour.

January – 2018

Persevere is my Word for this Year.

Looking at where I am in my life, I really don’t want to take on anything new, but I do need to deepen my knowledge and commitment to the things I am doing.

1. Politically – I’m going to persist in the resistance.
   1. People Power – I continue to serve on the Texting Team for People Power. That means most days I send between 200 and 600 texts to people who have signed up with the ACLU People Power. Some of the texts are invitations to training for organizing. Some are invitations to organizational meetings, and some are invitations to write, phone, or email political representatives. They are all sent individually and answered individually (thank goodness, I have canned answers available – but we individualize everything as much as possible.) Remember, the ACLU is political but non-partisan.
   2. Wall of Us – I continue to try to accomplish the four actions requested by Wall of Us every week. For instance, this week we were asked to contact legislators in favor of renewed DACA protections, to try to stop Trump from rolling back Michelle Obama’s Healthy School Lunch program, to make calls and small donations to College Dems in Florida, and to petition to restore voting rights to people who have served their sentences and been returned to society.
2. Religiously – I’m going to really work at being Moderator of Olympia Presbytery.
   1. I moderated the installation service for a pastor who has been serving a little church for two years in a temporary assignment. The church has, under her leadership, reached the place where they are financially able to have a pastor in a permanent position. I walked with them as COM representative for the first half of her time as a temporary supply.
   2. I helped lead a day-long planning retreat for the Leadership Council and heads of the major Commissions and Committees for the Presbytery. We have plans for all the stated meetings of Presbytery. We have dates, (potential) special speakers, and activities outlined for the next year. We will be walking through the Beatitudes at Presbytery meetings.
   3. Interfaith community – I’ve been to the Interfaith Women’s tea and tonight I’m going to the Interfaith conversation that is held monthly with local Presbyterians, Lutherans, Episcopalians, Jews, and Muslims.
   4. New Worshiping Communities – I continue to serve on the Presbytery’s New Worshipping Communities Task Force.
3. Creatively – I’m going to try to get down to working on my family history/memoir.
   1. Fill in gaps on Ancestry.com – I’ve done a little bit of work on this, but only in fits and starts.
   2. I’m taking a course here at Franke Tobey Jones on writing memoirs.
   3. Keep up with my knitting – I’m turning out a couple of pairs of socks a week. I gave away a lot of them at Christmas, but I’m rebuilding my stash. When it starts go exceed the space I’ve allotted for it in the corner of the living room, I’ll take a sackful to the clothes closet.
4. Personally – I’m going to keep up walking, and try to add some resistance training.
   1. 10,000 steps a day – I’m keeping up with this, but not being obsessive about it.
   2. 2-3 sessions of weight training a week – I haven’t been regular with this. I will try to set up an appointment with the director of the Wellness Center to establish a set day and time for some personal training.
5. Socially – I’m going to tend my current relationships.
   1. Gazebo Group – The Gazebo Group continues to thrive (particularly with the younger (less than 80 years old) members of the community).
   2. Maintain congregational ties – I attend weekly Bible study and try to attend whatever extra worship services there may be. I’m not able to walk with the Thursday group, or go to Book Club, usually because of moderatorial duties.

I would really appreciate it if you, gentle readers, would remind me of these intentions when you see me fluttering off after the latest cause du jour.

2018

I’ve been struggling to figure out some intentions for the coming year. I gave up on resolutions a while ago. I’m taking persistence as my Word for the Year.

I read this today that suggested we should take a year to go deeper, rather than wider, and it is really resonating with me. I don’t know whether I’ll do this for a whole year, but here at the beginning, I think I’m going to try something like that.

Looking at where I am in my life, I really don’t want to take on anything new, but I do need to deepen my knowledge and commitment to the things I am doing.

1. Politically – I’m going to persist in the resistance.
   1. People Power
   2. Wall of Us
2. Religiously – I’m going to really work at being Moderator of Olympia Presbytery.
   1. Interfaith community
   2. New Worshiping Communities
3. Creatively – I’m going to try to get down to working on my family history/memoir.
   1. Fill in gaps on Ancestry.com.
   2. Keep up with my knitting.
4. Personally – I’m going to keep up walking, and try to add some resistance training.
   1. 10,000 steps a day
   2. 2-3 sessions of weight training a week.
5. Socially – I’m going to tend my current relationships.
   1. Gazebo Group
   2. Maintain congregational ties.

I would really appreciate it if you, gentle readers, would remind me of these intentions when you see me fluttering off after the latest cause du jour.

May Review

Here were my intentions at the beginning of the year. Let me review how I’ve done, so far. (I know, I know, I get later and later. This is for May, really.)

RESOLVE (or better yet – INTENTIONS)

• Finish losing the weight I need to by eating right (lo-cal, lo-carb, wine only on special occasions) and strength training 3 days a week.

May was a disaster for my diet. Two weeks spent eating out with family and eating on the train spelled a gain of about 5 pounds. I tried to get it off once I got home, but not much luck.The farmer’s market is open, and I’m visiting it every week.

I INTENDED to keep on losing in June. We’ll see how that went.

(I ought to just leave this paragraph out, because I never get around to it, but I’ll keep the intention.) I still haven’t done any strength training yet this year, but again, I INTEND to.

• Walk regularly, either alone or with a group, at least 4 days a week for at least 5 miles.

I did really well, considering that I spent six days in a train and four days in a car. I did walk a little every time we stopped, and was able to still average 8000 steps a day.

•  Grow enough vegetables to enjoy and to help supply the food bank.

My garden is coming along nicely.

The artichokes and the cilantro really got away from me while we were gone.

• Travel to see Bill and his family.

We managed this nicely traveling on the Empire Builder to Chicago.

We had dinner with Ray and Kathy, and then rented a car to drive to Birmingham.

We stopped to visit my cousin just west of Nashville, and got to meet her grandson.

Then we had several days to tour around in Birmingham, including a “walking tour” of downtown where we saw lots of markers to the Freedom Trail.

On the way back to Homewood, we went across Red Mountain and stopped to look at Vulcan.

On Sunday we rode up to Lookout Mountain, and I got to “See Rock City” and “See Ruby Falls”! Spectacular!

We got Ian graduated from High School, and drove back to Chicago and then rode the Builder back to Seattle.

• Take several short trips as well.
• • To Pacific Beach
  • To Portland – DONE
  • To Spokane to look for genealogical information
  • To the San Juan Islands (because we’ve wanted to return and keep saying “We can do that anytime”, but we never do.)
  • To Victoria, BC

I’m looking forward to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in Portland in June. What a gift that it will be held on the West Coast. It probably won’t be out here again in my lifetime.

• Keep up with Headspace and Tai Chi.

I’ve fallen off with my practice of Headspace, but I still meditate regularly every morning. I credit it with helping me keep my sanity.

I’m not very faithful with Tai Chi but I usually make it to class at least once a week.

That’s where I am and what I’ve been doing for the past month. I hope I keep up with you better in June, but don’t count on it.

 

April Review

Here were my intentions at the beginning of the year. Let me review how I’ve done, so far. (I know, I know, I get later and later. This is for April not May or March.)

RESOLVE (or better yet – INTENTIONS)

• Finish losing the weight I need to by eating right (lo-cal, lo-carb, wine only on special occasions) and strength training 3 days a week.

I had a decent month with my diet in April, but I had a bit of a set-back when I fell on one knee a couple of weeks ago. I wasn’t able to walk or ride the cross-trainer for about a week, and I managed to gain a couple of pounds. But I got rid of them the last week of April, so that’s good.

The farmer’s market is open, and, although it’s a little early for anything except asparagus, the lure of fresh vegetables is strong.

I INTEND to keep on losing (even a little bit) this month, although it will be hard since we’re traveling the last two weeks of May and I won’t really be in control of the food. I will do my best to eat right even though we’re eating in restaurants and on the train.

I’m still avoiding wine, except for the occasional glass when I’m eating out with a group, or at a party.

I still haven’t done any strength training yet this year, but again, I INTEND to. (Yeah, yeah, yeah. One of these months you are going to see this post and find out I’m lifting weights and doing lots of core exercises. Just not last month.)

• Walk regularly, either alone or with a group, at least 4 days a week for at least 5 miles.

Except for the week I had to take off to baby my knee, I did pretty well. Even so, I managed to get 200 miles in April (but barely.) I’m afraid I may be short of mileage in May because of time spent on the train and in a car, but I’ll try to get some exercise at stops.

I walked down the hill to the Ruston Way Water Walk a couple of times. A vendor has added a velocipede rental service and folks seem to be enjoying their rides.

I also walked down the other side of the hill to Owen Beach. The kayakers were out in force.

•  Grow enough vegetables to enjoy and to help supply the food bank.

My garden is coming along nicely.

I think I showed you a picture of the artichoke plant earlier. It’s having artichokes!

• Travel to see Bill and his family.

We’re leaving shortly on the Empire Builder to Chicago. Then we’ll rent a car, and visit my cousin just west of Nashville, and get  to Birmingham in time for Kate’s graduation from 8th grade. Then we have several days to tour around (possibly go to Shelbyville, TN to check on genealogy stuff or to Atlanta or Tallahassee to visit friends.) Then Ian will graduate from High School, and we’ll drive back to Chicago to see Ray and Co., and then ride the Builder back to Seattle.

• Take several short trips as well.
• • To Pacific Beach
  • To Portland – DONE
  • To Spokane to look for genealogical information
  • To the San Juan Islands (because we’ve wanted to return and keep saying “We can do that anytime”, but we never do.)
  • To Victoria, BC

I’m looking forward to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in Portland in June. What a gift that it will be held on the West Coast. It probably won’t be out here again in my lifetime.

• Keep up with Headspace and Tai Chi.

I’ve fallen off with my practice of Headspace, but I still meditate regularly every morning. I credit it with helping me keep my sanity.

I hope to get back to Tai Chi with more regularity. I usually make it to class at least once a week, but life has seemed to get in the way recently.

• Al’s cataract surgery went very well and we only have two more weeks of drops. He’ll go back to have a refit on his glasses after we get back from our trip. I’m going to have my cataracts done this summer after GA.
• We were both delegates to our county Democratic Convention, but, unfortunately, it was a real mess. It started at 1:00 pm on a Sunday, and we left without doing anything except signing in at 4:30 pm. I understand it was still going on at midnight or later when the janitor threw them out of the school so the staff could clean up for the next day. Apparently they adjourned to the parking lot and were there until 1:30 or later. The problem was there were brand new precinct chairs elected at the precinct meetings who didn’t know what they were doing, and they handed out way too many credentials. Consequently they spent all that time figuring out who was a legitimate delegate. I appreciate new voters participating, but they really need to be trained, and understand the rules before they get as far as the County Convention.

That’s where I am and what I’ve been doing for the past month. I hope I keep up with you better in May, but don’t count on it.

 

Update

After the dreadful weather the last weekend of September and the beginning of the first week of October, we’ve had several days of bright blue sky and warmer temperatures. The weekend was simply mahvelous! Last evening, after dark, a nice rain moved in, and, although today is bright, with scattered clouds, it’s colder and very windy (no reading on the porch for me). WeatherBug says it’s 54 degrees with a wind chill of 52. The rest of the week looks like it will be changeable, with scattered showers and sunbreaks. Typical fall weather!

The trees around town have started changing colors, and there are some spectacular sights. Maybe I’ll remember to take my iPad and get some decent pictures of the really beautiful ones later this week, if only the wind doesn’t blow all the leaves off of them. We lost one of the big trees that line the drive onto campus last week in the storm last week, but, so far, the trees in the forest over the fence from my backyard seem to be holding their own.

Kudos to the Ducks for maintaining their place as #2 college football team in the nation with their game against Colorado. Unfortunately, the Cowboys were didn’t fare so well, although they were in it until the last play of the game. I was very impressed with U-Dub (that’s the University of Washington) against Stanford on Saturday night. They seem to be a real team this year, and the Ducks had better buckle down and try hard next week when they play them in Seattle. It’s the featured game of the week on ESPN next Saturday. ESPN will be bringing Game Day to town, and the excitement is running high.

About the only excitement for us last week was a Lunch Bunch trip to Silk Thai. I wrote a guest post for the Franke Tobey Jones blog about it, but so far it hasn’t been published. I’ll let you know when it finally pops up.

We talked about DESPAIR in Sunday School yesterday, and we’ll be talking about it for the next several weeks. We’ll be looking at Biblical references to despair (think Job), and we’ll be using Kathleen Norris’s Acedia and Me to explore further. We’ll be looking at acedia as containing depression but being different. In one episode of West Wing, Josiah Bartlett says “There’s a Korean word, Han. I looked it up. There is no literal English translation, it’s a state of mind, of soul really. A sadness. A sadness so deep no tears will come, and yet still, there’s hope.” I think that’s what we’re looking at. What is the Christian response to that existential angst?

I’m trying not to bore y’all with my thoughts on the idiots in Washington, DC., but it’s never far from my mind. Lord in your mercy…

Voter Registration

I went to a training last night (sponsored by Win-Win Network) to be a volunteer for Voter Registration. I was a volunteer registrar in Texas for several years, and I was interested (and super pleased) with the way Washington handles their voting and voter registration. We can’t discuss individual candidates or parties, but we can talk about issues (Food Stamps, Faithful Budget, etc.)

In the first place, Washington votes by mail. A couple of weeks before the election, the state mails you your ballot, along with a nice pamphlet explaining any ballot initiatives and containing a picture and a couple of paragraphs about each candidate (that they have submitted themselves). Then, any time you want to you can sit down with whatever literature you want, or ask whoever you want whatever questions you have, and you fill out your ballot in the privacy of your own home. Then sign your ballot, stick a stamp on it, and mail it back, or drop it off in any of the conveniently located drop boxes around the area. Your ballot just has to be postmarked or in the drop box by 5:00 p.m. on election day.

To register there’s a simple form to fill out that asks for name, birthday, residence address, and either your Washington driver’s license number, or the last four digits of your social security number. Then you check the box that says your are a resident, and sign and date the form.

THAT’S IT!

If you were registered before, and now have a different address, you use the same form to change your address. You also use that form to change your name (like if you got married, or divorced and want to use your maiden name).

There are also a couple of really nice wrinkles:

1. If you are a college student, you can put your residence either at your regular home or at college. And you can put down a different address as where you want to receive your mail. So if someone wants to vote in Tacoma where their parents live, and they want to get their ballot mailed to Bellingham where they are going to school, that’s okay. They just put a separate mailing address on the form.
2. If you are homeless (or mobile) as are so many clients of the food banks where we will be registering people, you give a physical address, and then you can have your ballot mailed to the food bank or the shelter or a PO Box.
3. If you aren’t 18 years old yet, but will be by election day, you can go ahead and register.
4. You self-certify that you are a citizen and eligible to vote (there’s a fine for perjury), but at the time of registration I don’t have to worry about it. And felons who have served their time (including any parole) are eligible to vote.
5. If you are under an order of protection because of domestic violence or the like, and you don’t want to put down your address (because voter registration is a matter of public record), then there’s a phone number to call so you can still vote, but your address is kept confidential.

It’s such a breath of fresh air to see that Washington WANTS their citizens to vote, especially after the way Texas is making it harder and harder.

One more reason I’m eternally grateful that we moved.