Hangin' with Francis

Last weekend I was invited (along with three other Bossey students) to represent the World Council of Churches at an "Interreligious Youth Gathering on Peace" in Assisi, Italy, sponsored by the Roman Catholic Church. The event was in commemoration of a peace-focused gathering of religious leaders invited to Assisi by Pope John Paul II in 1986. There were about 100 young adults between the ages of 20 and 35 ("youth" is broadly understood in Europe) who attended, and although there was not much substance to the meeting, we had a good time. Some photos, for your viewing pleasure:

First stop, Rome. Above, I'm standing in front of St. Peter's Cathedral with my friend Eva from Slovakia, who is studying at Bossey with me. Below, the all important Italian gelato - even though it was cold outside.



Below is me standing outside the gorgeous Basilica of St Francis in Assisi, where Francis is both commemorated and buried. I highly recommend a pilgrimage to Assisi if you ever get the chance - it's preserved almost as it was in the middle ages, with winding cobblestone streets carved into the side of a hill.

Moving

Dear Friends,
I have just about cleared my office of all "stephanie" stuff -- no pictures, no pottery, no books! It feels very strange, to say the very least. Lots of teasing about cold weather and encouragement to soak up all the warm November sun that we're experiencing just now.

Today I rolled up my big "cloud of witnesses" bulletin board to take with me; it has most of your smiling faces and others' from graduations that I have celebrated in my 6 years here.

Jim and I will close on our brand new house next week and the movers will be here on Monday to pack us up and move us out(although we won't actually go to Michigan until the end of the semester). If you're interested, I can send you an email with our contact information and timeline. We'll actually be hanging out in one of the sabbatical apts in Hunter while all our worldly possessions travel ahead of us to Michigan. Our realtor knows someone who will make sure the stuff gets placed in the appropriate rooms; when we arrive (around Dec. 20/21, Lord willing & the snow don't fall) we'll begin the fun of finding ourselves in a new house, a new state, a whole new life! YIKES!

Lots of mixed feelings -- mostly good, mostly exciting -- some trepdiation and no little amount of sleepless nights figuring out where the piano will go and if our new family room will hold the old sofa and chair. What kind of fridge and washer dryer to get? Long coat? Boots? Ice scraper and shovel?!! How's Sammy (our self-righteous cat) going to deal with this? He'll have to be a totally indoor kitty now and fortunately for us, he has no real say in the matter although he has taken to yowling as only Siamese self-righteous kitties can do...

Anyway...these are the thoughts for now. I think about you often, hold you close in my heart and miss you soooooooo much!

78 degrees on November 6th

Forcasters are calling for flooding in all the usual places in Portland by the end of the day today. Here in Santa Rosa we experiencing yet another warm afternoon - sunlight filling up all the rooms, front and back doors open to catch a breeze. I'm in shorts and a t-shirt and I'm restless. All this sunlight is just not right. How does anyone get any work done around here?













Well, November it is and 78 degrees as well - so here are some updates on the garden:

First - a picture from mid-summer. I had just put in some beans in the middle - notice the little teepee frame thing. I thought it was going to be a wonderful structure...













Well... it turns out that whoever it was that dreamed up a beanstock large enough for Jack and the giant didn't stretch their imagination much. That massive green thing in the middle are the beans that ate the garden.





















and one more thing: I went up to watch Audrey (my youngest daughter) be a drum major and conduct a marching band field show at her high school homecoming.

Send news!

Anitra