Sermons and Reflections from an Episcopal Priest
We went to Richmond for a couple hours yesterday so Daniel could do some research for a paper he’s writing. While he toured the museum, I walked down to the Capitol and strolled through the monument park, taking pictures along the way.
The high was 67, the sun was shining, and a breeze pulled lightly at my skirt as I walked. I sat on a sun-warmed bench and watched a squirrel groom herself from her perch in the nook of a mature oak tree.
Though spring hasn’t yet taken hold of the landscape, there’s still plenty of green to be found. My instagram photo was taken out the kitchen window on the morning of Snowpocalypse 2014. I took the digital photograph later the same day; the temperature had warmed enough to melt the first snow, but more snow fell rapidly within the hour and blanketed bare limbs once again.
Daniel noticed the first sign of spring daffodils on Sunday evening. This tiny bulb is braving snow right now; I hope it can manage.
Other images: wooden curly cue on fallen branch; fresh snow on leaves; spindly branches in fog
I’m participating in my sister’s One Word Photo Challenge. This week the word is magenta. I plan to post one DSLR photo and one instagram picture for each challenge. Those flowers look much more magenta in real life, I promise.
If you’d like to participate, get more information here.
I know I spend a lot of time talking about the weather, but the weather is so wonky! 54 yesterday and 26 today? But I’m enjoying my days for the most part; having instagram makes it easier for me to keep track of the little things that make each day special: a beautiful sunset, homemade vegetable soup, snowy train tracks, a reflection in morning coffee, and an abandoned Downtown Mall.
Tomorrow morning before we depart, I intend to land and see what can be found in the neighborhood.
-Christopher Columbus
It’s remarkable that every time I take my camera out for a walk around the neighborhood, it manages to surprise me. New growth, new decay, new shadows. I go out thinking it’s a lost cause and come back satisfied. I like bringing my camera on walks in familiar places because it forces me to dig a little beyond surface-level attractions to discover something unique, something that I never noticed before.
I’m so thankful for the sunlight and the lengthening days. I love this light-soaked neighborhood in all its brambly, kitschy, charming, brick-laden glory.
The sun was shining earlier so I decided it was high time for a walk around the neighborhood, but by the time I got home and ate lunch, it was cloudy and the temperature had begun to drop.
I’ve been playing a bit with instagram since I got an iPad Mini for Christmas. The above photos were taken today and yesterday. The quality’s sub par, of course, but it gives me a chance to catch moments and places I’d otherwise miss since I don’t like lugging my DSLR around with me every day.
Our recent visit to New York in one word? Relaxing. Surprising, because when I think of NYC I think of sensory overload. The 6 hour drive coupled with parking issues and various train and subway connections was exhausting, but it was lovely to settle into our friend’s cramped apartment, cuddle with his fluffy cats, and have the confidence of city dwellers to back us up as we adventured around the grid of gray streets teeming with hustlers, tourists, and commuters.
Our itineray was relaxed this time around, but we still got to take in attractions unique to NYC. On Sunday, we attended Lower Manhattan Community church, then headed over to China Town for 4-for-a-dollar dumplings with church friends. On Monday, we took the long commute over to The Cloisters, a museum devoted to the art and architecture of medieval monasteries and chapels. We ate Venezulean street food for lunch, then took the evening off.
We watched lots of Friends, ate lots of bagels, and drank coffee from the corner coffee shop.
On Tuesday, we stopped into a few vintage shops, shopped at the American Apparel Outlet, and ate delicious Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches in the East Village for lunch. We lounged until evening, then headed out to Brooklyn to attend a New Year’s Eve party. A fun anecdote: the hosts had received mail addressed to Sufjan Stevens, who apparently recently moved into their old apartment in the same building!
We spent the final hours of 2013 with new and old friends, discussing our favorite moments and greatest achievements of the year. Midnight came quietly. We idled away the night with a few more episodes of Friends and the sort of odd conversations that tend to arise in the wee hours of the morning.
I didn’t make it home for Christmas this year, but I came pretty close. We spent Christmas day at a family friend’s childhood home in tiny Woodstock, Virginia.
It was a proper country Christmas. We fed the hens, chased the guineafowl (that was mostly me), ate pot roast with mashed potatoes, and opened gifts by the fireplace. It was just how Christmas should be. I missed my family, but I’m thankful that another one welcomed us in as two of their own.
Hope you had a lovely Christmas day!
Tiptoeing around the backyard squishing muddy earth into the ridges of my boots seemed like the best thing to do on this quiet Christmas Eve Eve afternoon.
The town is bustling with holiday vacationers, but no one thought to plan any last minute events. I’m going to try to convince Daniel to eat popcorn and watch a few movies with me.
We finally got a Christmas tree! It’s rather small, several feet shorter than last year’s, but it’ll do. Ah, the smell of evergreens. Daniel found a hand-carved nativity scene on ebay last month, so we placed it on our side table next to the tree. I love that St. Raphael the giant archangel watches over the scene.
This past weekend was full of Christmas cheer. We sang carols around the piano at a cocktail party Saturday night, watched the church children’s pageant yesterday morning, and attended our church’s Lessons and Carols service in the evening. Since I’m in the church choir now, I got to participate in all the special music and help lead the congregation in song. I love Christmas when it’s celebrated with intention, ritual, and care. Christmas without the observance of Advent isn’t nearly as lovely (I say this coming from a non-liturgical background)!
“Go and tell John what you hear and see:
the blind regain their sight,
the lame walk,
lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear,
the dead are raised,
and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.
And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”– Matthew 11:4-6
We last went sightseeing in Baltimore in December 2012. This time around was much different. Daniel’s mom, a Baltimore native, was our chauffeur and tour guide last year, which made getting around simple and fairly stress free. This time, we relied on the hotel shuttle to drop us off at the Inner Harbor (beautiful, but a bit touristy) and walked where we could.
On Friday night, we went to Fridays after Five at the National Aquarium (only $12.00 after 5 pm until March 28!) then sought out a place to eat. On our way to Cheesecake Factory, we spotted a Pizzeria Uno and a wave of nostalgia washed over us both. We ate at one of the original Pizzeria Uno establishments almost every night when we visited Chicago with friends in college. Chicago was the first big city I visited and it will always hold a special place in my heart.
Since we were technically there to attend a Religious Studies conference, we spent most of Saturday at the convention center reading, attending panels, and catching up with friends when we had the chance. I gave myself a tour of the premises while Daniel attended a session and found that the 4th floor offered lovely city views. We joined some friends for crab cake sandwiches at the Rusty Scupper for lunch.
After checking out of the hotel on Sunday, we went to Savers, a delightful thrift emporium, then met up with Daniel’s cousin, Dustin, for lunch and a glimpse of the Ravens game at a local sports bar. He suggested we visit historic (founded in 1772) and affluent (situated in the 3rd wealthiest county in the US) Ellicott City. The antique stores were mostly rubbish, but the coffee shop we visited had good hot chocolate. We finished off the day with a quick trip into the city to check out the Walters Art Museum and visit with the girl I used to babysit and her mom at their hotel (they were there for the conference, as well).
A trip to Baltimore makes for a unique, enjoyable, occasionally alarming experience.
Daniel’s friends asked him to officiate their wedding in Lakeland last weekend, so we flew down to Florida for the first time in a long time (in fact, Daniel hadn’t been back since we moved over a year ago). It was a weekend of reunions and reminiscences.
Though most of the people we hung out with are Daniel’s friends and family, I did get the chance to see my friend, Amanda, in Orlando for an hour or so.
Seeing old friends is a great reminder of the progress we’ve made. We think our lives are boring until we’re forced to summarize them to people who no longer experience our routines firsthand, alongside us. Everything is reanimated. We defend, reflect, reconsider. We begin to see ourselves as the protagonist in a grand narrative like we did when we were young and dreaming. We see each other through new eyes. We see we’ve grown up.
As we drove along the wide Florida roads, I realized that Virginia really feels like home, maybe more than Florida ever did. I am swaddled in the mountains, set at ease by this community. Life is richer here.
All I need now is for my Florida friends to move to Virginia. That would be heaven.
I went on a 5 mile hike on a section of the Appalachian Trail that runs through Shenandoah National Park with friends from church on Saturday. It’s one of the best things I’ve done all year. We stopped at overlooks along the way to rest and read some Psalms, and on the last stop we shared in the Eucharist. One of the girls said that the hike felt like a prayer. I agree. Thank God for this place.
Leah Wise 
