roygbiv

this happened completely on accident.  i swear!  a little touch of beauty in the midst of the mundane.

a lovely puritan benediction

I'm reading William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation for the early American literature class I'm teaching this term and he includes in it a letter the pastor the first Puritan colonists left behind in the Netherlands, John Robinson, wrote to his brother-in-law, John Carver (the colony's first governor).  Bradford says that in the letter, we see "the tender love and godly care of a true pastor."  And I think he's right. 

Robinson closes his letter to Carver with the following benediction:

"And the Lord in whom you trust and whom you serve ever in this business and journey, guide you with His hand, protect you with His wing, and show you and us His salvation in the end..."

I think that is so lovely.  And encouraging.  How great is it that I get to be encouraged like this while I'm preparing to teach my classes?  Pretty great.

transitional phases

i was listening to NPR the other day and there was a spot about this physicist guy who studies the transitional phases of something fancy that i don't remember the details about.  but what stood out to me was the way this physicist was talking about how elements go through transitional phases--like ice to liquid water to steam--and how in the transition between states, something kind of mysterious happens.

and this made me think about how transitions and change are not always my favorite thing.  and about how i sometimes can be pretty hard on myself about not liking moments of transition.

somehow the idea that even water--an element that has no emotions, no psychology, no anything except material existence--has to go through an awkward, mysterious, not-completely-understood transitional phase as it moves between states made me feel better about whatever weirdness i experience as i move between states in my own life.

it's a sort of affirmation that the difficulty of transition is natural--not just me not knowing how to do it right.

new year, new you.

i am probably not unique in the fact that i have a love/hate relationship with new year's resolutions.  on the one hand, the idea of a fresh start, a new beginning, a marked time for change is really appealing.  on the other hand, it always feels like it comes with SO MUCH PRESSURE.  in all caps.  just like that.

so.  this year, i almost resolved not to resolve.  but then i had a change of heart.  and i decided to resolve to resolve gently.  to resolve to do things i *want* to do anyway.  to resolve to do things i *already* do, but to do them slightly better.  as proof of my gentleness, i have not started on a single one of my resolutions.  except, now, this one: to actually write in this space more frequently. even if i feel like i have nothing to say. (thanks for the nudge, darby)

my other resolutions feel mundane, so i'll save listing them out.  but the gist of it is to work towards living the life i want to live, but don't think i have time for.  with some resolve, i'm betting i have more time to do the things i want to do than i think i do. 

happy new year!

variations on a theme

read this morning:

"The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease.  Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.  I say to myself, 'The Lord is my inheritance; therefore I will hope in him!"

The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him.  So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord."

--Lamentations 3: 22-26

email doppelgangers

i get emails for other "bstaffords" on my gmail account on a fairly regular basis.  there's a bev out there, i think.  and a brian.  i get a lot of emails for brian. he gets invited to a lot of great parties in san francisco.  if i lived there, i would totally show up to some of them.  

and today, i "met" him. this morning, he sent his itinerary for a flight from london to dublin to "his own" address.  i emailed him back and let him know that, as much as i'd love a trip to ireland, i doubted i could pass for him.  he wrote back to say thanks and to say he was glad to know who was first in with the bstafford gmail address.

it's funny to finally have contact with this person i get mistaken email for all the time. i don't know him at all--but i kind of know a fair bit about his life.  and, i'm kinda proud to have been first in line for that gmail address.  hehe.

do you have an email doppelganger?  have you met him/her?

calibraskan

"calibraskan."  that's what i've decided i am.  and i think the events of the past week prove it.

saturday, october 3, i was in san francisco with my brother and sister-in-law at the hardly strictly bluegrass festival in golden gate park.  it felt like home.  which, technically, it kind of was for a lot of my life.  growing up an hour south of san francisco, we went into the city a fair bit.  when i stepped off the plane and looked at the hills, the traffic, the trees...i knew that this place will always be a pretty big part of me.  here are some highlights:

you can spot gillian welch (with david rawlings) being her amazing self, the golden gate bridge, ralph stanley charming the crowd, and old crow medicine show as viewed from our spot in the woods.  aaaaaaah.  sigh of satisfaction and joy.

fast forward one week to saturday, october 10.  omaha, nebraska.  outside, it looks like this:

yep.  snow.  4-5 inches of it.  and my calibraskan self actually enjoyed it.  and went to the last farmer's market of the season in it.  without gloves.  without proper shoes.  and had a great time.

needless to say, it's been a good week.  plus, all kinds of fun things happened in the middle of the week.  i'm exhausted, but i'd do a week like that again any old time.