Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Blog love.
I feel in love with a woman I met on the internet. Really, I did. Don't worry, Honey's OK with it. I was introduced to her about a year ago by some amazing woman who belong to a message board of mine. At first wasn't really into her. I might check in with her every so often, but I was non-committal. Then this summer, when I had more internet perusal time on my hands I started seeing her every day. She's like a habit now. I need my daily fix like I need a cup of coffee. If you know me, you know how important coffee is to my existence. This woman is like me in some ways. She's funny, she tells it like it is, she loves her family, her home, her cooking (and eating), and she loves her cattle. Ok, I guess that's where the similarities end. I don't live on a cattle ranch, but after reading her blog, I just might want to. So if you have a quick second (be forewarned that second will turn into many wasted-for lack of a better word-minutes), check her out. Her name is Ree Drummond and I think she's pretty cool.
Monday, September 14, 2009
My spirit's home.
Back in August I had the wonderful good fortune to vacation in one of my favorite places in the world. It's not some tropical desserted island, or a house the beach. This place that means so much to me is a largely unknown island a mile square 6 miles off the coast of Portsmouth, NH in the Isle of Shoals. This place is Star Island, and it's my spirit's home.
In college, my good friend Kate and I were hanging out one night looking through her photo albums. I stumbled across pictures of a place I had been before, with a hotel with a huge wraparound porch covered in rocking chairs. I told her I knew the place and she didn't believe me. You see, Star Island is owned jointly by the Unitarian Universalist and United Church of Christ churchs. So you have probably only been there if you've gone with a church group. Kate went to the youth conference in high school. I went with my mom and sister when I was about 8. I always remembered it fondly. That night Kate and I decided we would go back there together. (Kate brought her church friend Jen along for the ride-Jen was a youth conference veteran too.)
We ended up going just about every year for five years and have made lifelong friends with the people who go there the same week as us. The way Star works is that you generally sign up to go to a conference that is held the same week every year, with the same people. We like to call it "church camp for adults" Together with the friends we've made we've shared new loves, weddings, births, deaths, and even a rather interesting cruise vacation in the middle of a blizzard (but that's a story for another time).
I hadn't been to Star for a week since 2004, the year I started dating Honey. We did do an overnight in 2006 and Honey decided he wanted to try a whole week. It took us another three years to actually do it. This August we packed up the car and the Lovie and headed to Rye Harbor to hop on the 30 minute ferry to the island. It was like I never left. I instantly felt a peaceful, easy feeling when I got there. I think Honey and Lovie felt the same.
Star Island is a hard place to explain to someone who's never been there. There is only one phone to the island (hardly an issue in today's cell phone era). There are also only three showers a week. (This has been known to turn off MANY people.) Personally I could care less. Did I mention electricity is used sparingly so there are no TVs, or computers. You will also be sleeping on a hard twin bed in a hotel with walls so thin you are likely to hear the person in the other room snoring. So what's the draw? It could be the companionship of friends with a unique bond that is this special place. Or it could be the panoramic views of the New England sea coast all around you. Or the spectacular sunsets that people gather for as if it were a fireworks display. Maybe, the draw is the lime rickeys at the snack bar. Even though I could make a rickey at home, it's never quite the same. Did I mention that the food is really good and served family style so you meet new people every day? (Dessert is made by an insanely good baker and served daily at lunch AND dinner.) For some, the draw is the spiritual fulfillment of daily church services and the silent candlelit walks to nightly chapel. Me personally, rarely make it to sit in the beautiful stone chapel. Don't tell Rev Ed, I know how hard he worked on all his sermons.
I could go on and on about why I love this place. There are plenty of other (and far deeper) reasons why it truly has become part of who I am, but it would take days, and many more pages for me to explain. To put it simply, I always remember who I am and where I came from when I am there. It is a place where I always learn something about myself and I feel renewed when I leave.
There is an anthem that is sung on the last night of every conference, part of which is "Star Island is our spirit's home". There is also a cheer that is said as you come and go from the island. Some people joke that it's a curse. As the ferry pulls away from the dock the island staff, affectionately known as Pelicans, or Pels, begin to chant "R-A-T-S, R-A-T-S" (that's Star backwards by the way) and end with "You will come back, you will come back!". Every time I hear it I shed a little tear because I know I will. After all, it is my spirit's home.
In college, my good friend Kate and I were hanging out one night looking through her photo albums. I stumbled across pictures of a place I had been before, with a hotel with a huge wraparound porch covered in rocking chairs. I told her I knew the place and she didn't believe me. You see, Star Island is owned jointly by the Unitarian Universalist and United Church of Christ churchs. So you have probably only been there if you've gone with a church group. Kate went to the youth conference in high school. I went with my mom and sister when I was about 8. I always remembered it fondly. That night Kate and I decided we would go back there together. (Kate brought her church friend Jen along for the ride-Jen was a youth conference veteran too.)
We ended up going just about every year for five years and have made lifelong friends with the people who go there the same week as us. The way Star works is that you generally sign up to go to a conference that is held the same week every year, with the same people. We like to call it "church camp for adults" Together with the friends we've made we've shared new loves, weddings, births, deaths, and even a rather interesting cruise vacation in the middle of a blizzard (but that's a story for another time).
I hadn't been to Star for a week since 2004, the year I started dating Honey. We did do an overnight in 2006 and Honey decided he wanted to try a whole week. It took us another three years to actually do it. This August we packed up the car and the Lovie and headed to Rye Harbor to hop on the 30 minute ferry to the island. It was like I never left. I instantly felt a peaceful, easy feeling when I got there. I think Honey and Lovie felt the same.
Star Island is a hard place to explain to someone who's never been there. There is only one phone to the island (hardly an issue in today's cell phone era). There are also only three showers a week. (This has been known to turn off MANY people.) Personally I could care less. Did I mention electricity is used sparingly so there are no TVs, or computers. You will also be sleeping on a hard twin bed in a hotel with walls so thin you are likely to hear the person in the other room snoring. So what's the draw? It could be the companionship of friends with a unique bond that is this special place. Or it could be the panoramic views of the New England sea coast all around you. Or the spectacular sunsets that people gather for as if it were a fireworks display. Maybe, the draw is the lime rickeys at the snack bar. Even though I could make a rickey at home, it's never quite the same. Did I mention that the food is really good and served family style so you meet new people every day? (Dessert is made by an insanely good baker and served daily at lunch AND dinner.) For some, the draw is the spiritual fulfillment of daily church services and the silent candlelit walks to nightly chapel. Me personally, rarely make it to sit in the beautiful stone chapel. Don't tell Rev Ed, I know how hard he worked on all his sermons.
I could go on and on about why I love this place. There are plenty of other (and far deeper) reasons why it truly has become part of who I am, but it would take days, and many more pages for me to explain. To put it simply, I always remember who I am and where I came from when I am there. It is a place where I always learn something about myself and I feel renewed when I leave.
There is an anthem that is sung on the last night of every conference, part of which is "Star Island is our spirit's home". There is also a cheer that is said as you come and go from the island. Some people joke that it's a curse. As the ferry pulls away from the dock the island staff, affectionately known as Pelicans, or Pels, begin to chant "R-A-T-S, R-A-T-S" (that's Star backwards by the way) and end with "You will come back, you will come back!". Every time I hear it I shed a little tear because I know I will. After all, it is my spirit's home.
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