Sunday, November 25, 2018

wedding in the land down under


It was a delight to spend last week in Perth, West Australia with my friends from Oxford to celebrate the wedding of two of those friends, Loretta and Jorge. Despite all the bridesmaid fun of riding along for heaps of last minute errands, it was a joy to spend time with these lovely people. The mini-reunion of friends flowed in later in the week, and it was all very sweet to my heart. We caught a couple sunsets at the beach, spent a day in the country wine tasting, saw kangaroos, had a seaside fish and chips picnic, and shared some beautiful meals & charming cocktail hours. The wedding was lovely and the reception was amazing—imagine the fun and dancing when one side of the family has Italian heritage and the other Cuban! Such a joy to celebrate with these dear friends. 
















Sunday, October 28, 2018

embers of autumn

The fall has lingered with sunlit days even as the air has grown increasingly crisp. My neighborhood smells of woodsmoke, decaying leaves, and a sweet toasting sugar smell. (I am not making up this idealized autumn scent...I am yet to find the source of the sugary scent, but I have noticed it clinging around the house at the corner since mid-summer.) October's mornings have grown darker and sunsets have drawn in uncomfortably close upon the afternoons—and now the rain has begun to drizzle on autumn's smoldering embers.  

The longer fall stays, 
the longer winter's chill is held at bay. 
Each leaf that nails its colors to the mast
forestalls the grey
makes autumn last
is a friend
Ally of each now tenuous morning of sun
that holds off the rain
grants reprieve
 for even one more day. 


Saturday, September 29, 2018

autumn in earnest

We are already a month into the semester, and the trees are turning—it is autumn in earnest. 



Though the days have grown steadily cooler, and the sun is already rising disconcertingly late, this week lifted my heart with sunshine—afternoons warm enough to shed my jacket on my coffee run.


This is a glimpse of what I do when I am not either behind my laptop at home drafting my thesis proposal and sitting behind my computer at work in Regent's communications department! My classes this term, include the discussion-based seminar pictured above (in action just beyond my coffee)... I also have lots of books to read and papers to write. How does this all fit in my week? 
By doing very little else, it seems.


Still really grateful to be here and to have this season to learn, grow, and be formed. I am even more grateful to be learning in a school that insists that our heads not outrun our hearts. That kind of integration is rare, and I am so blessed to have it enfold my learning during these years. 

Thursday, July 26, 2018

summer thus far

Well, so far there has been a whole lot of this: 



 And there is going to be a whole lot more as well. I've been spending most of the time that I am not at work (or in summer classes) preparing to draft my thesis proposal in August—a significant project in its own right. But that will be followed by a full fall term, and that, in turn—if all goes well—will be followed by The Year of the Thesis. So a whole lot more of the above. I'll spare you the photo of yet another pile of books. I think there are ten new ones stacked on my desk even as I write this.

However, the days right now are as long as my book piles are high, so there is still time for catching late afternoon beach time (or a morning walk there before I hit the books), and a weekend drink with friends. Such things also happen—and the sunshine lifts my heart.


On the patio of an open-to the-public sailing/kayak club on the beach near my house.


(Stripe flash mob? Nope. Just friends that all showed up to dinner wearing stripes.What are the chances?!)

Another gift comes in form of blackberries: they have just begun to ripen. My summer in Oxford introduced me to picking blackberries along the river—my original blackberry summer—and Vancouver has allowed me the unlikely opportunity to continue that tradition with overgrown blackberry bushes truly everywhere here. 


That pretty much sums up my second summer in Vancouver thus far. Lots of work, lots of study, but making a point of enjoying the sun and long days. I know they will not last nearly long enough.



Saturday, June 9, 2018

the non-picturesque part

Only rarely is my life in Vancouver swept up into vast mountain vistas and towering pine forests. But that's what gets all the press. Meanwhile, my view this summer has mostly been of the pages of a book. Or rather, of lots of books. Between working, taking a few credits of classes, doing the reading for those, and reading for my thesis  proposal... I've been a busy bee. 

Basically, the mountains I have seen the most are the mountains of books on my desk!


Hopefully soon real summer weather will arrive, and I will retire to the beach in the late afternoons of the long-light days after reading or working. But so far its been cooler than this time last year so it still feels like summer hasn't come yet...a disappointment since the nice part of the year is so short here already! But c'est la vie. In the meantime, I'll just read. 

Sunday, May 6, 2018

weekend on the edges of the wild

This weekend I went camping with friends from church—we were at Porteau Cove, along the Sea to Sky highway which runs from Vancouver to the ski haven of Whistler. We would not have asked for more perfect weather: despite the cold nights, daytime was sun and summer through and through...I have a moderate sunburn to prove it! I spent Saturday—yes, all of it—in my bathing suit on the beach...laying on a piece of driftwood reading a book. Amazing. 

Speaking of amazing, we saw everything from seals, otters, and bald eagles, to brilliant stars, and speechless sunsets. The site is hardly remote, but with its arched driftwood beach and vast panorama of islands and summits layered out into the horizon, drawing you into a wild blue yonder... it seems  a world apart. A world stretched along the watery edge of a vast untold wild.













A weekend away on the edge of the wild...changing pace, breathing deep—making space. 

Saturday, April 21, 2018

hiking in Deep Cove

After a semester of sitting in lectures, sitting in libraries, sitting writing at desks, (okay, and some sitting in cafes, too....) what better way to stretch your legs than with a hike? 
Made plans late yesterday evening to join a couple friends from church on a morning outing to Deep Cove to hike Quarry Rock—and woke up to probably the most beautiful sunny day we have had yet this spring! Had a lovely hour on the trail and ate the food we packed atop the scenic rock outcropping. Rustic lunch al fresco—with a view. 






Saturday, April 14, 2018

end of semester celebration

Last night we celebrated the end of the school year with dinner and dancing, and reflecting on the gift of this past year doing life together as a community—L'chaim! (To life!) 





Saturday, April 7, 2018

another visit to Oxford

I had the pleasure (in part courtesy of Regent College Student Association's conference fund) of flying back over to my dear Oxford for a week this spring to attend a conference. A lovely time with a handful of friends—lovely just to be soak in the ambiance of the town as well. Blessed by a deeply encouraging conference which again refreshed my vision for my studies at Regent... a good trip all around. 


Visited my college—Wycliffe Hall—to have lunch with my principal and tea with one of my tutors.






New College—a decent conference venue, don't you think? 




New College dining hall—they do an amazing roast duck leg. Seriously. It was served at the conference dinner last year as well because its just so good!


With friends Mari, Amanda, and Sukai at the conference


My dear friend Kathleen (who was gracious enough to let me stay with her all week) on a bridge near her characteristic haunt, Port Meadow


The springtime temperature plummeted and it snowed!! Equally beautiful and miserable. I take it back. Full disclosure: it was definitely slightly more miserable than it was beautiful. 


But all was forgiven over a last morning coffee to reflect and process at Cafe Loco with its view of Christchurch cathedral. This reconciled attitude was strongly helped by a hardworking radiator against the wall under my table, and a very decent eggs benedict. 

Gallery of Friends: