A Couple Musical Links

I am getting things ready for the NEW CHURCH YEAR and so am being hasty with today's post.  However, two musical giants have died this week and are deserving of you attention.  One is Jerry Leiber.  The other is Nick Ashford.  I have posted links to a couple of articles for each. 

Also, if you would like to see some ukulele versions of their work, feel free to "like" Burbania Posts on Facebook.  I have posted some video links there.  The versions aren't mine but I had a good time finding them....

Here are the articles:

Nick Ashford also there is an article here that you might find interesting.

Jerry Leiber (from Time Magazine) and the NYT

The Farmers' Market

Lately, we have been volunteering in the Natick Community Organic Farm (NCOF) "stall" at our local farmers' market.  When I say "we" here, I mean my family.  On weeks that we help out, we get over to the farm, help load the truck, staff the stall (from 9am when the market opens until 1pm when it closes), then break everything down and help unload the truck back at the farm.  The whole process takes up between 5 and 6 hours of our Saturday. Though we pitch in on everything, we are not alone.  Other people--particularly at the farm--are around and in charge. This is a good thing.

Our reasons for doing this are multi-faceted.  We want to do something as a family to give back to our community.  It is a way to fight back against the general consumerist culture we all live in.  In the 'burbs it is easy to forget that the world isn't really set up for our own personal convenience.  We are supposed to find ways to pitch in and serve the community.  This is a way that works for us.  Besides, the boys get to practice their math while making change.

We do a lot of service through church, of course.  That, however, is also where I work.  Parish ministry is, in many ways, a life of service.  It is also a public profession that naturally draws family members into many activities as well.  Still, to be solely a volunteer is a different thing.  I remember growing up in a politician's family.  There really was a difference between volunteer work that had to do with my dad's career and that which did not.  For us, part of volunteering outside the church is to give the kids a chance serve in a way that they can own.

NCOF also has to do with local food, one of my favorite subjects.  Even though we have a CSA share from Many Hands Organic Farm we also maintain a relationship with NCOF.  We have been members--off and on--since we came here.  The Assistant Treasurer at Eliot Church works at the farm.  The boys both attend programs there during the school year and take part in its summer camp.  In fact, I walked over to the farm a couple hours ago to purchase some tomatoes for dinner.  My son was working the cash box.

Another advantage I have found to working at the Farmers' Market is that I get to talk to people.  This helps my extroverted pastoral self survive the "low season" at church without driving family or congregants crazy!  The topic of conversation is naturally different.  I am called upon to plumb the depths of my culinary knowledge.  The identities of many of the veggies are not quite as obvious as one might think.  Herbs, in particular seem to be confusing for folks.  People--rightly--want to know which tomatoes taste sweetest.  The same goes with the onions.  The massive celery also seems to generate a large number of questions.  It is a challenge to talk about food for such a stretch of time. 

I do my best to answer their questions and to do a little research when I can.  I worked on farms in high school and have managed to maintain a garden from time to time.  I ask my sister-in-law (an organic farmer in Maine) when I can.  However, the best resources for information have been my CSA experience of the past couple years and my own tendency toward culinary adventure.  I have yet to see a vegetable that I haven't used in some way.  This week, though, we were all stumped by the difference between the "Cucumber" and the "European Cucumber".  My son was selling both kinds today.  I hope he noted the differences...

Baseball Sunday and Summer Services

It appears that we are reaching that part of the UU Blog cycle when we talk about how churches should really have summer services. Talking about the issue can make us sound a bit like a broken record but--really--that's fine.  It is the sort of annual ritual that never quite reaches adequate resolution. It needs to be brought up again. 

Regular readers of Burbania Posts are, I think, well aware of my position on this.  Summer services in my congregation are used to try out new things.  We turn the smaller attendance and generally more casual atmosphere to our advantage by worshipping in a way that we might not otherwise.  It is fun.

This summer attendance has been higher than usual (though still way below what we expect when school starts back up again).  Maybe our attitude is paying off!  No matter what the reason, our regulars are enjoying themselves and, I think, the visitors are as well. Incidentally, some of my colleagues have mentioned the whole "summer visitor" thing and there is truth in that.  We have had many more this season than in the others.

I was back in the pulpit after a few weeks off.  In spite of that gap, I have been around church a lot this summer.  I have been here enough, in fact, to endorse the importance of having the pastor around even when most everyone else is on vacation.  God doesn't really go to the Cape, after all!  That said, I also believe that people need to have realistic expectations for the season.  In most liberal-to-moderate Burbanian congregations things will be smaller.  Again, this can be taken as a strength.  It is a time for people to learn and adapt, creating something new and different for when the rest of the church returns.

This was "Baseball Sunday" for us as we went from our worship service to Pawtucket, Rhode Island to watch the Red Sox AAA affiliate get destroyed by a team from Syracuse.  That, too, is something that we don't get to do the rest of the year.  It is our second time doing this and we learned from the first.  Reserved seats got us under the stadium roof, for example.  We also gave away our excess tickets to random folks at the gate "Courtesy of the Eliot Church".  They sat with us as well.

Perhaps I will post the "sermon" later.  I have written before about how our summer format is such that the whole service has an integrated "sermonish" feel, so perhaps it won't work all that well.  Our readings were from Babe Ruth (about liking pitching for the Sox better than batting for the Yanks), Jackie Robinson (about Hank Greenberg), Walter Johnson (about the 1924 World Series), and Paul.  We sang three hymns, all accompanies by the ukulele, of course.  They were "Abide With Me", Take Me Out to the Ballgame", and "Oh Freedom".  I received some nice comments about how the uke facilitates the singing without being overwhelming.  I also decorated the sanctuary with baseball-themed pictures, books, and such to help with the "immersion" experience.  Maybe next year the PawSox will actually win...

Parking Lot Garden

Over vacation we took the time to eat at the Thai restaurant in Skowhegan.  The fact of its existence is a sign of the changing world we live in.  When we lived and worked in Skow the same building was a pizza shop that regularly rotated through management.  Then it was purchased as a movie set for the HBO miniseries "Empire Falls" (based on a book by the same name).  Empire Falls is a fictional town loosely based on municipalities in the area where I grew up ( I grew up in Lisbon Falls, in the Androscoggin Valley).  In the book the town is definitely "working class".  It is the kind of place where they barely notice the recession because there hasn't been a "recovery" for decades.  Skowhegan is a bit like that, too.  It feels like home.

Anyway, the building became a diner named after its role in the movie (the "Empire Grill").  It featured the "diner siding" you can see in the top picture and a faux-weathered sign out front.  The breakfasts there were pretty good but, apparently, that restaurant manifestation ran its course.  Now they serve up some very fine curry.  The noodle dishes are OK, too. However, if you like curry, go with that instead.

What I wanted you to check out, though, is the back of the building and the garden they planted in the small space between the vertical walls and the parking lot pavement.  There are a variety of herbs (including a very healthy Thai Basil plant), squash plants, and some tomatoes just beginning to ripen.  This tiny garden is evidence of the sort of tenacious practicality I like about the people of my home state.  I hope they have a much longer and more successful stay than their predecessors.

They were also--it should be noted--at the Skowhegan State Fair...

Home Again

I am back at work starting Monday.  There is a long list of tasks waiting for me.  There are the emails and phone calls that have piled up.  Also there is planning to do both for the end of summer services and the beginning of "regular" church in the fall.

Of course, I am coming off my annual trip to Maine.  We stay at our "camp" on Lake George, which divides the towns of Canaan and Skowhegan.   Our time at the camp is important to us.  We reconnect with each other.  Of course, we reconnect with more than that.  There is something supernatural about a natural world that pushes in on you in a way that it cannot in the 'Burbs.  The glories of Creation surround you like the water in the lake.  They hold you up. 

 The trick with vacation is to find a way to bring it with you.  After the more stately pace of  "rusticating" while visiting friends and family, the return to the general chaos of Burbanian life can be a let down of cosmic proportions.  If I look down while jumping off the dock (a mere fantasy this year as we never got the dock in) I can see the splash my feet make before the rest of me reaches the water.  That is where I am right now.  I am in the air, looking for the splash.

Still, time does not wait.  The boys received their homeroom assignments.  This includes Norm, of course, who will be returning to structured education after his "sabbatical" year.  We are all excited.  It is an important year for the church, too.  Customarily the year after a sabbatical is one of increased energy and opportunity for everyone.  A vision for the future becomes more clear.  The plans and dreams of a year ago become altered into some new reality.

Here's to all of you waiting for the splash of Autumn.  I pray that it goes well for you.

Here is part of a very long prayer from Theodore Parker

O thou who knowest what all time shall bring forth, we cast our eyes forward, and though every day is hidden in darkness before our eyes, we pray thee that there may be such light within our heart, that it shall make it all glorious light about us, from hour to hour, and in strength that thou givest us we may do the appointed duty of each day, and reverently bear its cross, and so fill up our time with thy service.

Football Season

So the sports world has been a bit surprised by all the public interest in the NFL since their lockout ended.  I don't know why.  The new contract is the product of many hours of conversation and compromise in light of the current global financial situation.  Neither side chose to paint the other as greedy,  godless and un-American beings bent on destruction of our nation.  Nor did either side choose spectacular capitulation as a negotiating strategy (yeah, you know what I'm taking about).  That meant respectful dialogue, give and take...you know where this is going...

Anyway, so sue me for taking refuge in football prognosticating.  It has been a rough week in many respects and it will get rougher. 

My first installment has to do with the rather tricky subject of division selection.  Regular readers know that I am too lazy to cover the entire league and instead choose two divisions from each conference.  Hopefully, they turn out to be the most interesting.  Last year was a mixed bag, with the AFC East and the NFC North delivering (though in different ways) and the "Wests" (both AFC and NFC) proving their minor league credentials once again.

At this early date, therefore, I have only decided on two divisions.  The other two might get cut...

First the Keepers:

AFC East:  The early storyline here is the arms race betwixt the Jets and the Pats.  Both teams have made key acquisitions in the last couple of days.  Both are viewed as marquee teams likely to challenge for the Super Bowl.  The past few years have seen the Pats win the division and the Jets move ahead of the Pats in the playoffs.  Very exciting stuff.

Of course, there are two other teams.  The Buffalo Bills continue to aggressively pursue a move to Toronto by proving that they could be a reasonable farm team for Toronto's CFL Argonauts.  The other team (Miami Dolphins) has so far decided not to compete much this year either, avoiding any temptation to get a quarterback to play for them (Denver's Kyle Orton being the most obvious upgrade).  They also have taken on Reggie Bush, a high-quality RB when he is well and when he ummm...doesn't carry much.

Players to Watch:  Chad Ochocinco (Pats) and Darelle Revis (Jets)

NFC North  The soap opera the Vikings provided us last year should continue for a while longer until QB Donovan McNabb shows what is "left in the tank".  I am going out on a limb and saying that there is plenty in there.  It will be up to the coaches, though, to scheme in ways that work for him.

The Lions are looking better all the time.  However, they haven't given much thought to the offensive line, so we can expect to see a plethora of QB's this year.  Jay Cutler of the Bears will get his chance to show that he is not the whiner many people think he is.  I never had this opinion of him, actually.  However it seems traditional for Bears fans to despise their QB's.  Why?

Finally there are the Super Bowl defending Packers.  Not a bad lineup of teams and only one (the Vikings) bothers to have cheerleaders.

Players to watch: Donovan McNabb and Jay Cutler

And the other two divisions.

AFC West These teams are traditionally horrible.  There is just some really bad football that gets played by these teams.  The only reason to watch is because of the odd-but-intriguing elevation of Tim Tebow to sainthood in Denver.  If Orton doesn't get traded (he is slightly better than Tebow but doesn't paint bible verses on his eye-black) maybe there will be a QB controversy.  Otherwise the Chargers will likely win the division so no real need to watch.

Of course Tebow could turn out to be good which might pull me back.  However, I am thinking next season will be a break-out year for him.

NFC West Boring....(snore)...

OK, Tavaris Jackson (Seahawks) may turn out to be interesting...

Links:

Here is a link to my post about Cutler and the Myth of Toughness

And the Argos