Burning Man Post Card

My son Bradford received a letter yesterday from Vancouver WA. We don't know anyone in Vancouver. When Bradford opened the envelope out dropped a postcard I had sent to him while at Burning Man in September. The attached letter explained the postcard was unsendable through the US Postal Service because of the glitter I applied to the watercolor card. Mari Stephenson of Vancouver had worked at the Black Rock City Post Office and volunteered to repackage and send out all unsendables from her home. In true Burning Man form this burner took it upon herself to spend the time and money to get it done for others. I am forever grateful she did and hope all the other postcards that were mailed will eventually find their homes.

Bloody Tuesday!

Tuesday started with me searching for my keys. Not a totally unusual situation. I eventually found them locked in my Landcruiser. Baffling, since the doors won't lock if the keys are in the ignition, which the were. After 2 hours of cramming coat hangers and other objects into my car window , I finally got it open. The rest of the day was somewhat uneventful until I moved a 10 foot step ladder and felt the crowbar that had been sitting on top of the ladder hit me on the nose. The nose ceased bleeding in 15 minutes. What a gusher. I just went home and went to bed. As the good Presbyterian said after falling down the steps,"I'm glad that's over with."

Nine Lessons and Carols, All Saints Chapel, Sewanee, TN

For the last 5 years our family has driven up to Sewanee,TN to enjoy Lessons and Carols at All Saints on the campus of The University of the South. It is always bitter cold and you must get there an hour and a half early and wait outside to get a good seat for the service. Lessons and Carols were started in England in the 1880's, and is an annual event in many Anglican, Lutheran and Roman churches. Through nine readings (Lessons) of scripture from Genesis to the Gospels and Carols which correspond to the scripture the story of the advent of Christ is told. All Saints is an ancient looking cathedral, although it is not much more than 50 years old. The Sewanee choir sing the carols, many in Latin or German and the audience can sing some also. You can probably hear The Kings Choir perform this service from England on a Public radio station on Christmas Eve. Our Advent Season would not be complete without this tradition.

Florida Christmas Decorations

For the last two years I have had Thanksgiving at my in-laws in Florida. There is something so wrong about eating turkey then sitting on the beach. No icy rain as in Chattanooga. No hot chocolate by the fireplace. No regrets about not raking the leaves off the steps before guests arrive to eat. Both years I've been taken by the Christmas decorations in South Florida. Somehow reindeer on still green grass, wreaths on the front of yachts, lights wrapped around the trunks of palm trees are bizarrely incongruous. This year I sat by the pool as my daughter swam and watched the condo association decorate the pool area. If a Santa went by on a jet ski it would have been a nice touch.

St. John Will I Am Coltrane

A few weeks ago my daughter Esme' and I were in San Francisco. Somewhere in the back of my memory bank I recalled a church devoted to John Coltrane's album "A Love Supreme". I looked it up in the yellow pages and there it was, The African Orthodox Church of St. John Will-I-Am Coltrane. We walked the hills of San Fran for about an hour and finally got there before it started. And start it did. Several saxes, drums and stand up bass blew for a couple hours. A Love Supreme refrain was the basis of everything. There were beautiful icons of Coltrane, as well as an African Christ and African Mary. The best part was when in the middle of a 20 minute sax solo a lady put on her tap shoes and tapped to Coltrane. Check out their web site.

Orville Wright Turns 90

My father turned 90 last week. Bradford, Esme' and I drove up to southern NJ, for the celebration. While we were there we went to the beach, into Philadelphia, and a few flea markets. The trip was way too short.

Framing Photographs Workshop

I gave a little talk to 15 children who were part of Photo Camp at the Creative Discovery Museum here in Chattanooga. I told them why and how photographs should be framed to protect and display them.