Adventures

Pumpkin on the Prowl

We are all making our way through Lent and into spring.... Pumpkin and I are finding our way through missing Katie. Pumpkin is exhibiting some very "dog-like" characteristics these days. I have to wonder if all that whispering that she and Katie used to do was really Katie passing along all of her secrets to Pumps. This is how you knock things out of Martha's hand - use your nose and be very persistent! This is how you stretch out in those patches of sunlight on the floor; this is how you lie under the dining room table; this is how you get under Martha's feet when she is cooking.... So Pumpkin seems to have learned well from Katie and she is determined to entertain me with her knowledge!

Today I was reading from a Lenten devotional by Henri Nouwen. Nouwen was so instructive in my life at a time when I needed to know that God loved me. His book, "Life of the Beloved" had a significant impact on my life. Today's meditation begins, "If you dare to believe that you are beloved before you are born, you may suddenly realize that your life is very, very special."
Nouwen's undergirding principle is that each one of us is recognized by God as a beloved daughter, a beloved son. In the same way that God identified Jesus as his beloved son at his baptism, each one of us is also identified as beloved by God. It makes a difference if we believe that. It means, for instance, that when I talk to you, I must also identify you as beloved by God - you are part of my family whether you look, or believe, like me.

Desmond Tutu, Martin Luther King, JR, and many other "persons of reconciliation" recognize this undergirding principle of God's love. God doesn't just love me, the (relatively) good, white, Christian, woman. But I am God's beloved daughter who has many, many siblings. Never has this meant more to us in a world that grows smaller each day. My life is not separate from the life of my sister who suffers in Japan, or my brother who gets killed in Libya. The sin of apartheid where ever it occurs is my sin.

I think I have started preaching! Maybe I need to look for a pulpit?! Just be glad you aren't Pumpkin - she has to listen to me all the time. Well, enough for today all of my "beloved" friends.

Lent begins - Ash Wednesday

"Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return"

Experiencing the liturgy of Ash Wednesday as a parishioner at Christ Episcopal Church here in Sparta was remarkable. For the past 26 years I have been "doing" the liturgy as a priest. It was hard during those years not to focus on the pressure of Lent - 40 days of intense ministry and preparation. As I sat this morning looking at the church dressed in penitential purple I was able to see myself as a part of a community who will be walking the way of the cross together. I am in the midst of a great drama. The drama is simple: we walk together. When the person beside me gets tired or discouraged, I can offer my hand or a word of encouragement. When I stumble, someone will catch me.

Ive been reading the novel, The Sinner, by Tess Gerritsen. It is about a murder that occurs in a convent. The pathologist is watching from a window as the crime scene technicians unload their equipment at the convent. It is snowing and there is ice on the ground. "One of the techs suddenly slid across the stones, arms flung out like a skater as he struggled to stay upright. We're all struggling to stay upright, she thought. Resisting the pull of temptation, just as we fight the pull of gravity. And when we finally fall, it's always such a surprise." This is such a great description of our human condition and the need for community. There I am lying on the ground, shocked and scared by my fall - I knew I was walking on ice, but falling was still such a surprise! In the midst of my misery a hand reaches out to me and helps me regain my balance. I know I am human, but I continue to try to try to stay upright even as I expose myself to those slippery places. How can any of us ever make it without each other!? How can we walk this drama of Lent without our sisters and brothers to help us?

And so the invitation to "keep a holy Lent" comes with the words "assist us with thy grace" ( in Rite I Prayer of Thanksgiving). And here is the most amazing thing about it all - we are meant to be "instruments of God's grace" in this holy drama.

Katie Scarlett O'Hara Honaker

1997 - 2011

On Sunday Katie stumbled and fell. She fractured her left back leg just above the knee. Katie had over 14 years of a wonderful, giving life. The veterinarian could have put a pin in her leg but the recovery would have been long and painful. The vets and staff at Twin Oaks Animal Hospital were incredible. They gave me all the options and no pressure, and I was able to decide that quality of life was better than quantity. She died peacefully in my arms. Missing her is almost overwhelming right now but more than missing her I am so grateful for her wonderful life.

Katie was trained as a "Pet Therapy Dog" in 2001. She visited people in hospices, hospitals, and nursing homes. When I worked at the Cathedral of St. John in Albuquerque, NM Katie went to work every day with me. She greeted the homeless people who came to our outreach center and was accomplished at "working a crowd." She sat beside me when I preached at the Cathedral on St. Francis' Day in October of 2001. When I moved to New Harmony, IN she made friends all over town and loved to ride in the golf cart. For over a year I would drop her off on Wednesday morning at the Ford Home (a home for retired ladies) and pick her up at noon. Her special friend, Virginia De Fries, would walk her and share her with the other ladies. All of our pets are extraordinary in their ability to give love and Katie was no exception to that rule.

With St. Francis' hand on your golden head, rest in peace dear Katie.

Red Sock(s)

Here's the picture of the sock I am currently knitting. The yellow at the top is just the sun coming in the window...the yarn is truly RED! I have worn black so much over the past years that I decided to dive right into color! The top picture is the back of the sock and the one under it is the front. The white line is a row of "waste yarn" which comes out when I add the heel. So, this has been quite a learning project: learning to cast on a seamless toe, magic loop knitting and the "afterthought heel." I haven't done cables in a long time although these cables are pretty simple. I just don't need to tell you how many times I started over on this one...suffice it to say that I am now quite good at the seamless toe cast on!!!

I really love to knit and getting into a rhythm with a project is satisfying. I am able to let the small glitches go and if a project has a "spirit line" (this is what my friend calls her gently done errors) in it I am okay with it. I do love the feel of the yarn in my fingers and the color taking on form. It must be some "earth mother" need:)

I won't wax on about the knitting process because the sun is shining here in the mountains and my sweet golden retriever Katie wants to go out for a walk.

Katie Scarlett O'Hara Honaker

Sharing

I could spend all my time looking at fibers online!! But instead I'm out to give everyone the fiber addiction! So check out the Phatfibers blog listed to the right and catch the fun. Their list of blogs and Etsy shops will keep your fingers busy for a long time. I've been up since before dawn knitting on a sock and will include a picture of said uncompleted sock later. It's my first sock and I'm knitting it toe up. The heel will be put in last. Just something simple to start on! So I am off now to play in my tiny little studio....

Shamed into Blogging

Winter Greens

The last week f January I went to Blairsville, Georgia to be with my family. My brother, Bill, his son Chuck, daughter, Bretta and I did courses at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC. Bill and Chuck did a wood turning course in making "hollow form" vessels. Bretta and I did a course called "Botanical Books". For a week we were able to learn from a botanical illustrator, Redenta Soprano, and a calligrapher and book artist, Annie Cicale. Using Redenta's techniques I did the above drawing when I got home. Being around my family is such a creative stimulus. They sing, they dance, they write music and blog; they turn wood, work with fiber,are excellent photographers, cook, sew, paint and draw. I love to be in their midst and always come home inspired and motivated. We have 2 new bloggers in our family: my great nephew, Reece who blogs at www.wannabejesusrocker.blogspot.com and my great niece who is doing a blog project of called Blogject365 (www.blogject365.blogspot.com). Their mother, Bretta blogs at Creativity Unleashed (www.brettaogburn.blogspot.com). These are talented people!! Bretta hasn't blogged in a while but perhaps this little rant will shame her into offering up some of her projects! Christa is a wonderful writer and artist and Reece writes music with great lyrics. As for me...well I can continue to offer up some poetry and pictures of life here in the laurel thickets of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Life has been great since retirement and as I sit here in the sunshine of a beautiful Valentine's Day I realize how incredibly lovely life is. I decorated my Christmas tree for Valentine's Day this morning. I moved it out onto the back deck after Christmas and it is still green and fresh (let's hear it for those Allegheny County Christmas tree growers!). It was cut from a local Christmas tree farm on the 20th of December and decorated with mostly "bird friendly ornaments". Every now and again I put peanut butter and bird seed on the dried orange slices so the birdies have a treat. I cut some suet up for them and put it on the branches and it was popular!

I can't promise a post every day but I will make a commitment to continue to let you all know about life here at 111 Ivy Lane. Here is a poem I wrote today about a dream I had a couple of nights ago. It feels important.

Severed

It was an old house

built onto a new house.

I saw the chain saw in his hand

as he severed the steps;

cut the house into pieces.

It broke away from itself

and fell mortar and wood;

crumbling dust mixed with sweat

on my father’s brow. I wanted the pieces;

to save them, cherish them, immortalize them.

What did I need from the pieces? Who

was the house? What fell; and why am I

hanging curtains on the windows that remain?

A New Beginning

Having been retired for all of 3 weeks now. I am beginning to emerge from the boxes and am starting to feel the freedom of each day. The desire to write and create is strong. Each cool night brings more color in the leaves around me. I sat down this week to write some thank you notes to friends in Indiana. I decided to create a card and of course one thing led to many others. Here is a picture of the card I created.

And here is the poem that I put inside each one:

Red Dress

Wondering when it would happen,

I asked. The answers from others

could not satisfy my longing.

Did they want to know?

I waited, the squirrels ran and gathered;

the sun pierced my skin.

Late into the season of harvest

I slept. In the darkness of night

I felt a kiss like ice and fire.

My lover had come, bringing a scarlet dress.

The Tanager hiding in the oak desired me.

I knew; it was time to slip my moorings.

The breath of the One took me.

I twirled. In the sun I glittered as

I sailed in the dance.

Martha Honaker

October 2010

Today, I have joined much of the world in watching the rescue of the 33 miners in Chile. As they showed the reaction of the first miner's rescue in the local village, one of the men was shouting"Gracias, El Senor" Thank you God. It brought back short-term mission trips to work in an orphanage in Guatemala in 1986. The children there, in spite of their circumstances, were always thanking God. It is indeed a day to say gracias to God. We are always our best in the midst of tragedy. It brings us together and tears down boundaries. So today the world comes together in thanksgiving for this incredible rescue.