the simple life is over

John got his learner's permit on Monday. I see a light at the end of the tunnel. (I'm not ready to let him drive through it, yet! with me in the car, anyway.) While I can see that soon I will be free of the job of chauffeuring our baby and am stunned by that freedom momentarily, I can also feel the frenzy waiting for me to be swept up in. There are so many things I'd like to do! I just hope I can be discerning about what commitments I will make...

what's up?

I'm looking outside my window and up into blue sky. Used to be I took blue skies for granted, but with the fires we've had in northern California this summer, I've seen lots less of them. As often as not, we've had smokey skies. At first, our brains notice haze, milky colored skies and we wonder is that just smog or humidity, some kind of front moving in? and then our noses register the smell of fire or rather of smoke. Is that burnt toast? and then, is there a fire? The fires are far far away but the winds bring the smoke down here to our cities by the bay and we're reminded that nature is doing a clean up job somewhere very dry. I'm reminded of how blowing winds bring things from other places... what other things are blowing my way that I am aware of and what am I missing because my nose doesn't tell me so?

so sad to say a final goodbye

Robbie just called from the ferry from Catalina Island to Long Beach on his way to get a root canal in Torrance... long story. He called to tell me that "remember that professor who gave his final lecture...." We stumbled around a while trying to communicate... oh, yeah. I went to look on -line and then Robbie remembered his name: Pausch? and then I knew why Robbie was calling. I am so sad that Randy Pausch has really left us. He warned us and he left so much of himself behind.. and to those of us in cyberspace, his final lecture too. He was such a generous soul. I pray for peace for his family and for safe travels as he enters eternity. Thank you for sharing your life and your spirit with all of us. It's going to take a bit to say goodbye. I still wasn't ready for you to leave this earth.

traveling with tommy

Hold on! That's what we're trying to do in this picture of the three of us in Paris. It's not easy! Tommy is on the move. Actually, Tommy finally succumbed to the wedding cold that everyone got in Normandy and so our time in Paris we spent trooping around just the two of us while Tommy recovered in his hotel room. We did have a few meals together however and for that we are grateful. We wouldn't have been in France at all except for the fact that Tommy's dear friend, Moyra, got married there, and he served as her witness, and so we were invited. It's all his fault. He brought us in his wake. Thank you, dear Tommy. France, October 2007

billy's convergence quilt

It's been since Christmas since Billy and Terri picked out this fabric and we cut out the convergence quilt. Today, I finally finished it... with "bubbles" quilted all over it, in circles of different sizes, created with the use of juice glasses and bowls of assorted sizes. I chose that lighter blue for the many swimming pools Billy has spent a good % of his lifetime swimming, playing water polo and teaching lessons in. The other spaces: sand, sky, earth, sunsets. If he doesn't put it on his wall, I'll put it on mine... it'll remind me of him and of "group projects". Thanks, friends.

our gammy is 100

She's always been pretty in pink. Irene Viriginia Flynn (nee Smith) was born 100 years ago yesterday on July 10, 1908 in New York City to James and Catherine Smith. She was the eldest daughter in a family of four girls and three boys, I believe. She married Joseph E. Flynn, (USN) and lived on both coasts while raising two daughters, including her faithful and loving daughter, my mother, Patricia J. Flynn. Gammy, as we call her, has been stylish, fun and funny, and gifted in so many ways. I cherish her smile and her laugh, and her humor. My sister Alison resembles her a lot. Happy Birthday Gammy! Whenever I see fuschia lipstick I think of you and smile.

cool thoughts

I just finished reading Nora Gallagher's Practicing Resurrection... where she describes her discernment around her priesthood in the Episcopal Church. Her discoveries along the way, were familiar to me. Feeling called to serve the people of God, wanting to be close to the source of our salvation in the Eucharist, and seeking a deeper way to be in the world. What she discovered was a call to write, that fed both herself and others. The priesthood exacted a cost she could not pay, while being true to her vocation as a writer. She stands now astride the two worlds of priest and lay, conscious of the both/and nature of every baptized person's role as priest. What would it look like if we accepted our call as priests? We could put on our virtual cleric's collar and step out with a sense of purpose for the Savior's sake.