Uphill idealist

Thursday June 11th, First Lutheran Church of Jamestown will be hosting a tail gate party in the Church parking lot (on the corner of Chandler and Foote Ave.) for members of the neighborhood and the students of the high school across the street. The party is from 3-4 featuring Brian Morganti from the band, Awaken the North Wind , performing a solo set. Hot dogs, water and snow cones and give-aways will be free for all who attend! For more information, please contact Tara Eastman at First Lutheran Church of Jamestown at 716-664-4601 or eastman_tara@yahoo.com

The props are almost done. The kids have practiced and practiced that short poem skits from "Where the sidewalk ends"many times. We have sung "All you need is love", so many times that I'm going to bed and waking up to it in my head. Will they all make it to open house? Will they remember who the line leader is? Will they have fun with all of it? One singing game, two short skits and a group song. I hope so... I guess this means I have debut night jitters for my "Hand's on Drama" group at ROK Club (Rogers Outstanding Kids - After School program)... I know, I know ... it will all be great. Right? Pictures to come soon! Image from music for penguins.

Image from CSS play. Here is Writer's Almanac segment for today: June 3rd, 2009. Click here to listen to the podcast for today. The Ordinary by Kirsten Dierking It's summer, so the pink gingham shorts, the red mower, the neat rows of clean smelling grass unspooling behind the sweeping blades. A dragonfly, black body big as a finger, will not leave the mower alone, loving the sparkle of scarlet metal, seeing in even a rusting paint the shade of a flower. But I wave him off, conscious he is wasting his time, conscious I am filling my time with such small details, distracting colors, like pink checks, like this, then that, like a dragonfly wing in the sun reflecting the color of opals, like all the hours we leave behind, so ordinary, but not unloved. "The Ordinary" by Kirsten Dierking, from Northern Oracle. © Spout Press, 2007. Reprinted with permission. (buy now)

Last December NPR did a news piece on the 'Junky Car Club' . This club is comprised of folks choose to drive slightly to seriously old, not so tricked out humble cars so that they are able to give more of their income to humanitarian charities like Compassion , World Vision , Food for the Poor and so on. A few months ago I had the opportunity to consider buying a newer car or repairing my 1993 Buick, and after the dealer tempted me with a shiny red grad am with a moon roof, I opted to repair and keep my almost-antique. Part of this was to avoid the monthly payments and the other aspect was trying to better balance wants in contrast to my needs. It made me smile to come across an organization that celebrates trying to live more simply by modifying our own needs, so that we can being to better care for others. Thanks 'Junky Car Club' for encouraging drivers to choose a humbler form of transportation so that those in need can be lifted up. Join the club!

There have been the: "Yikes, where did that deer come from!" while speed bumping at 55 miles an hour over a 8 point buck's carcass and slamming on the brakes to have the kids cell phones whistle past my head and smack into the dash moments. There have been back road winter conditions at 2 am with the students saying, "Yeah, I only live 10 more miles up this road marked 'Off season conditions'. There have been plenty of "How long till we get there?" and "Can we stop so I can go to the bathroom?" moments. But the most trying of them all will have to be one hot, hot summer day in Western PA returning home from picking up a van-load of children from summer camp. The trip to camp was about 3 hours, pick ups tool about an hour, and the trip home another 3. I was prepared with snacks, juice and even a volunteer to help me out; but this moment could not have been foreseen. About 40 miles from home, the van engine started to whine and winnie, t...

Photo from uncommon pics. Bits and pieces Isn't is funny how sometimes in a time of crisis or action it can seem that we feel more whole? I think perhaps what happens is that in the midst of concern for someone else, people shift gears into "taking care of business" mode. There is a sense of focus in those times; taking someone to the ER, helping a friend get to a doctors appointment, kissing bo-bo's of a child and so on; that this focus takes over. This seems to be very true for me. All the distractions that normally float in my mind are swept clean and I intellectually know what to do next. Right now I wish I could transfer some of the crisis focus into my daily un-crisis life. Everywhere I look, I see something that needs to be attended to - on the inside and out. I need to see one thing at a time and take a steps towards calm focus on a daily level. I remember asking an old friend one time where I should start in a certain situation. She replied, "The beginni...

Breathe in Breathe out Feel your heart's rhythm pat and pound. Listen to your footsteps press in the ground. Touch leaves that shiver from wind blowing all around. Breathe in Breathe out Pause and let the moment sink in. Let the solace wash over. Wrap yourself in cotton and down. Breath in Breathe out Give a smile to a friend. Let you eye corners crinkle with no end. Roll in laughter, let it win. Rest. T.L.Eastman 09" Painting by Clive James .