"It was imprudent of us, in the first place, to become authors. We could have become something regular, but we managed not to.
We were lucky, but we were also determined." Roy Blount Jr

"I don’t change the facts to enhance the drama. I think of it the other way round, the drama has got to fit the facts,
and it’s your job as a writer to find the shape in real life."
Hilary Mantel

Monday, July 16, 2012

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Sunday, July 08, 2012

Busy in Indy

I left NH on Tuesday to attend the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, which occurs every 3 years. I am staying in this Hotel adjacent to the Indianapolis Convention Center.



Over the past 5 days, the temperatures have exceeded 100 degrees, several times reaching 107 degrees. It's a historic heat waves. I have made use of the skywalks between the hotels and the convention center.

Our first business day was July 4th. I wore red, white, and blue as I posed with our diocesan mascot, a moose.



That night, I saw fireworks from the adjacent baseball stadium as well as from my own hotel room, which overlooks downtown--I had an awesome view of the civic fireworks display.

I have been keeping up the diocesan deputation blog. Here I am in a hotel corridor, at work, this morning.



A very exciting development was the consent to the election of our future bishop in the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops. Our group had the privilege of escorting him before our House (Deputies) for an ovation. Here we are before the procession (he's the priest wearing black with the blue badge which is actually purple--the colour of bishops.)



I serve on the Communications committee. We review resolutions related to that topic and pass them on to the House with a recommendation. Here is most of the committee.



To say I miss the Chap and the dogs and my refreshing cool forest and cold lakes is a huge understatement. But I am busy, enjoying mysef with friends old and new, and experiencing some terrific liturgies and preaching. So all is well.

Sunday, July 01, 2012

Lake Weekend

Today is the Chap's birthday, and it's a milestone. Meaning it ends with zero.

Our celebrations began yesterday at the lake cottage, from which his brother, nieces and nephew were departing after their annual week in NH.

I came separately, with the dogs, transporting the Birthday Cake. Said cake was a very big deal. I've been baking from chidhood and consider myself fairly adept. But never have I attempted a) the Chap's Aunt Ginnie's legendary lemon coconut pound cake, or b) to bake any sort of cake in a bundt pan. Yesterday, with much trepidation, I combined both a) and b). Much to my amazement--and relief--I was successful in both efforts.



Our Friend From the North Country joined us at the lake, bearing many gifts with alcohol content from Ireland and Belgium.



Also our friend the Reverend Canon, bearing homemade baba ganoush. (It was his hens' holy and miraculous fresh-laid eggs that went into the birthday cake, and were surely responsible for the excellent outcome.)

After nibbles...



...and gurl time on the dock...




...and libations (and sampling the still-warm birthday cake), we took the Chap to a favourite seasonal Asian restaurant. Some of us returned to the cottage for more birthday cake with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.

A beautiful, clear, not-too-hot birthday allowed the Chap and his (somewhat) younger spouse to spend a day by the water. He went for an early morning swim while I walked the girls. We ate breakfast on the screen porch and he opened more presents. (Lots were opened yesterday, at the Lodge and with our friends.)

At mid-morning we all went down to the dock to watch the Big White Boat pass up and down the Bay. And we watched an eagle soaring cloud-high. And I had fun with Ruth, teaching her to run back and forth from me at the end of the dock to the Chap and Jewel sitting at the opposite end. (She went swimming to cool off.)

Afer lunch the rest of us went swimming (except Jewel, who isn't terribly keen.) Then came a period of reading and computing on the screened porch. I returned to the dock to photograph the loon.



In the late afternoon we walked the dogs--a deer loped across the road in front of us, but I was the only one looking in the right place at the right time. On our return, the Chap took a congratulatory call from my parents. We had an early cocktail hour--the birthday person sets the rules. He did some dinnertime grilling.

Now we're awaiting a "golden pond" sunset.

So often we're in Montreal at this time, for Canada Day and the International Festival de Jazz, and the Chap gets fireworks on his birthday. But this year I couldn't be happier being togther on our beautiful Bay. Where he's been swimming for practically all of his life:



In addition to celebrating the nativity of my dear husband, I'm absorbing and cherishing the calm and peaceful atmosphere of this place. I will soon depart for a vast convention center compelex in a Midwestern city, which will be my home for ten days and nine nights. It's so difficult to pry myself away from New Hampshire at this time of year. To detach myself from spouse and dogs and the big house on the little lake and the cottage on the Big Lake and the thrilling and exacting effort to create digital editions of my backlist books. But I was elected by my diocese to undertake an important task in big-C Church governance...so off I go.

In case I don't make it back here to do so, I wish all my US blog readers a happy Fourth of July. I won't have a holiday, but I'll manage to be festive anyway.