Celebration, Florida - Christmas, 2007
pondering them in her heart."
Luke 2:19 NASP
Florida Christmas
The heavenly host in the hammock
(Cardinal, jay and heron) sing with
‘Migrants in the agri-factories.
Modern Magi “Make-A-Wish" so
Pilgrim tourists rest away
Affects of tragedy.
'Gators and ghosts of Displaced Seminoles
Watch o're the manager mangrove
And the public school nursery
Where young Madonnas live
“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever”.
Beth - December 2007
Dear Ones,
If our lives were a Christmas Pageant, we'd be the Baby Jesus- no worries, no responsibilities, unaware of anything except the present moment.
Like the babe in the manger, we have the warmth of nurturing love from all of you, the generosity of the poor we meet along the way, and encounter the wise in unexpected places.
New as we are to this life at sixty with grown daughters caring and cared for by good men partners in a way it took us years to figure out, we seem to have no needs to name.
We are in a period of grace with time to observe and reflect on life's paradoxes and trust that within them we will discover our next reason for being.
While we wait, we pray with and for all of you.
Peace and good___________,
Tuesday, September 18, 2007 – Twenty-Sixth Letter
Celebration, Florida
Dear friends and family,
While this Tuesday Letter is not a travelogue, it is about a most amazing leg of our journey. Our oldest daughter, Jen, married Chad Frost on a sunset cruise ‘round St. Petersburg Bay on Friday, September 14th. Jen has always been a happy person, but at the moment her wedding ring was placed on her finger her eyes laughed in a way I haven’t seen since she was three and realized the magic of Christmas. The moment was magical for me too, but not in a Disney sort of way – more as if tectonic plates shifted into place and we’d entered new time and space.
Sometime in her early teens we distinguished between Nervous Mother and my Red Flag feelings. “Mom, I want to…” she’d say, and I’d say “ Nervous Mother needs to know how you’ll handle x-y-z” and she’d say “1-2-3”, and I’d say “Okay.” OR, I’d say, “I don’t know why, but I have red flags about this one,” and we’d talk, and pray and wait for clarity. Nervous Mother hasn’t been a part of our relationship for years, and the red flags have been few and far between, but on this night, as she said “I Do,” SNAP, she was “Jen Frost”, I went “Through the Looking Glass, “into the Wardrobe”, onto “King’s Cross Railway Station Platform 9-¾” and “over the rainbow” all in an instant, and what red flags were left transferred to Chad.
Jen and Chad have been best friends for almost 10 years and roommates for 3 so it wasn’t a huge surprise when they bought their house in June, but THEN Chad asked Art for permission to marry Jen while hanging kitchen shades together. Chad told Art they had no plans except they knew they would elope and Art told Chad that when the girls were little he promised them 2 plane tickets and a ladder for just that purpose and handed Chad a check. A month ago Jen called and asked us to their very private ceremony - 3 parents, 3 siblings, 1 best friend and the JP.
In the midst of her own good news, Jen began coordinating her sister’s October bridal shower. Meredith’s wedding isn’t ‘til April, and as in all things true about my daughters it will be totally different. (She’s been planning her wedding day since she was 3 but Jen was never going to get married. So much for childhood definitives.) I’m enjoying Merri’s stories as she and Geoff plan their special day – my sense is it will be twenty-first century traditional, and I’m not giving a lot of input. My promise to the girls was that we’d pay for the college where they’d grow into the women God intended them to be and then they’d be strong and healthy and on their own.
Not really, of course. But, really. I’m in awe of the women my daughters are, think their choice of life partners are perfect for them, and am thoroughly enjoying this phase of our life’s journey. Art and I are “In-Laws” and while we’re still “Mom and Dad”, we’re also peers. Oh My Goodness!
Peace and good___________,
Beth
P.S. Early in the morning after Jen’s wedding, Zachary and Scarlet Earls were born to my nephew Matt and his wife, Amy – Joy, Joy, Joy. Can’t wait to meet them in October.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007 – Twenty-Fifth Letter
Celebration, Fl ,
And all the men and women merely players.” As You Like It 2/7
As Banquo’s ghosts surround Macbeth an aura of childlike enthusiasm emanates from one of them. “That’s Bill”, his wife, Glo, and I smile, whisper quickly, quietly to each other. I don’t know if acting had been on Bill’s Life List, but since the day my mom sent him off to Little League with the enthusiastic cry, “Come back with your shield or on it”, carrying a sword has been. Bill may have been as old as “5” when he fell in love with Shakespeare and three score later he is one of the conquerors in a small community theater’s production of Macbeth. Life can’t get much better than that for Bill we figure, so we make it a point to have his first performance be our first official stop on our first trip north in the van.
Bill’s enthusiasm carried over to breakfast the next morning where we learned much about theater, discussed long and short-range travel plans, and my early morning research comparing the Spirituality of Macbeth and Hamlet. (My bottom line thesis: Hamlet is a lonely young man in the throes of a deep moral dilemma, and Macbeth may just be forgiven on the other side because the loss he feels at the death of his Lady makes him human again.)
Our second stop was Albany and Art’s Cousin’s wedding weekend. The night before the wedding we were all to meet at 7:30 at the lounge at the Hampton Inn and Suites so we went early to have dinner, an experience that is now on our list of “Favorite Moments in Small Town America.” The restaurant, Yono’s, has semi-private dining spaces, a menu that has both Indonesian and Continental Cuisine, and a staff that was endearing in its professionalism. “Don’t worry, M’am. Chef and I will not allow anything to be placed in front of you that does not meet your dietary needs.” And then we were served a complementary Duck Bisque that proved to me “Gluten-free” doesn’t have to mean bland, and Art and I need to learn to cook.
Art grew up with the first generation of this set of cousins, but when we get together I feel as if I grew up with all of them. The last time we were with this clan was at the bride’s big brother’s wedding exactly seven years ago but it was as if it were yesterday. Makes one want to study quantum physics and the eternal now.
The other reality is that time flies. We surprised ourselves as the quantity and quality of visits we made in three weeks. Although we saw far too few friends, we enjoyed lots of family, thanks to the van. We first appreciated our decision to “downsize to upgrade” when, on I-64 we saw a sign for the Shenandoah Nat’l Park Skyway, made a 90 degree turn and traveled across the mountain tops with the windows down watching black bear and deer feed on wild berries. We couldn’t have done that in the motorhome. Nor could we have had the late night, early morning conversations that parking at people’s homes allowed – 7 different driveways over the course of 2 weeks!
Among other events, we enjoyed a rained out BBQs with friends, a sunny day on Cape Cod with siblings and their grandchildren, a rich visit with my niece and her husband from Illinois as they headed to the Cape and we headed home, and met my cousin’s two brothers –in-law who were hosting her daughter who is our good friend in Gloucester, VA where we’d stopped at a Thousand Trails campground so we could visit the Jamestown Fort Site. (After visiting it and Plimoth Plantation St. Augustine gets our vote as America’s first hometown.)
While in Plymouth, Merri and Geoff joined us on the Plimoth Plantation’s members’ escort boat as the Mayflower II sailed around Cape Cod Bay to celebrate it’s 50th anniversary. The boat was built by and sailed to the US by Englishmen grateful for America’s entry into WWII. That night we borrowed Merri’s A&E “Horatio Hornblower” Series, which led us to celebrate our sea legs which we found at Mystic Seaport, and embrace our English heritage, found on the Mayflower, until we got to Yorktown and remembered they were our enemy during the Revolutionary war.
Don’t you love history? Probably not as much as I do. In preparation for this trip my light reading was The English and the Indians a look at the similarity and differences between the Jamestown and Plimoth colonies and their relationships with the native peoples they encountered. Things we didn’t learn in elementary school: the native peoples liked being called “Indians” because the identity generated mutual respect between their various nations and English. The “Indians”, until Europeans taught them differently, fought hard and fair. They’d stop fighting when their opponents ran out of arrows, and kidnapped each other’s children as a way to prevent death and encourage negotiation during times of war. Most intriguing to me, faith-filled Englishmen felt that the spirituality of the native peoples was far more Christ like than their own, but with a perverse logic insisted on converting them to the “true faith.”
Which brings us full circle to my thesis on Shakespeare’s spirituality.
"She should have died hereafter;
There would have been a time for such a word.
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow …,”Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 5, lines 17 –19
The actor’s voice touched the place in my heart where regret and forgiveness, loss and gratitude converge. Several of you who helped me to learn to cherish that place are experiencing great loss right now. Please know that Art and I offer up our present joy as a prayer for your journey toward peace.
Peace and good___________,
Beth
P.S. Remember to check out our pictures at www.peaceandgood.us
Tuesday, June, 19, 2007 – Twenty-fourth Letter
Celebration, Fl
In the months since last writing we’ve traveled from the Kennedy Space Center to the Gulf of Mexico, and spent a week on the Keys where God said to the angels, “Here, paint this jigsaw puzzle.” I couldn’t figure out its theme until the pieces came together at The Enchanted Forest, a Brevard County endangered land preserve where a one mile walk begins at pine trees, meanders thru scrubland to tropical rain forest and back again. Florida is unique because it’s a peninsula of swampland boarded by sea currents and while we try to make it a people’s habitat, it’s size, the sun’s intensity and the fact that it’s flat may make that impossible to sustain. We’re not yet into our first summer here and have already seen the impact the Ocean/Gulf currents have on our environment - something the mountains of New England keep hidden :-).
As most of our Disney/RV friends left Florida for family visits and work in other places, we began hosting a garden party of sorts. We helped about 300 children a day from all over the world make caterpillars from clothespins and pom-poms at the Epcot flower and garden festival while folks from the University of Florida explained the flora and fauna to their parents. The simple activity drew on all our skills as teacher and engineer and gave us enough material for a book on cultural differences in parenting. The last few weeks our garden guests were mostly families from Florida who come to Disney the way Bostonians visit the swan boats, but early on we met folks on spring break from England (very polite) and New England (very intense.) I recognized myself in the parents whose faces morphed from confidence to worry when they saw that they’re very articulate and independent child had the fine motor skills of a 2 year old…usually because that’s how old the child was! After a day with a lot of confused parents I apologized to my children for being like that but they assured me I’d been forgiven a while ago.
Merri even flew down from Plymouth for a family brunch on Mothers’ Day weekend where we had our picture taken with “Captain Jack Sparrow”. (It’s not ALL about Johnny Depp -I loved the Pirate Ride even before he made it famous!)On days off we camped at Manatee Hammock, a county park near the Kennedy Space Center twice: once for the “Members Only Opening” of the new “Shuttle Launch Experience” and then to see an actual launch from 10 miles away. We were close enough to see the launch pad but far enough that as the shuttle lifted the air was silent except for the exclamations of awe from the people watching. It was only after the shuttle seperated from the rockets that its sound came rolling across the water like thunder upside down.
Thunderstorms happen just about everyday in Florida’s summertime, bringing much needed rain and messing with people’s vacations. I opened the porch door when today’s storm began, but closed it quickly and moved to the inside bedroom to humor the dog who was on alert the whole time because he doesn’t know that he’s protected by a place built to sustain a category 4 hurricane with lightening rods all around. Perhaps we need to trust the dog’s wisdom and be more alert ourselves?
When we made the decision to downsize to upgrade we had no idea how the rhythm of our life would change. I’m more involved in Disney than I’d ever imagined I’d be and much to my surprise and Art’s delight we begin our department’s “Train the Trainers” classes tomorrow. Our commitment to Florida grows deeper as we explore more, and with that comes the challenge of a transition we hadn’t really made while we still owned the big motorhome. The idea of traveling six months each year allowed us the illusion that we would always be a physical part of the lives of old family and friends, but it was difficult this winter as life passages affected people we care deeply about and we were unable to be there to sympathize or celebrate.
I DID travel to my niece’s college graduation. Kel is her parents’ fourth child and I hold a special place in my heart for people in that position, seeing as it’s mine J. While there, I read the paper she’d written as a junior studying in South Africa about the concept of Ubuntu which loosely translated means “I am because you are.” When I asked a cast member from Kenya about it he said in his country it means that one is more than just a person, one is part of a community that is more like a family. When I told him that anyone who ate a meal at my parents’ table was family he said, “Yes. That is it. You have a good family.”
So dear family, for you all have shared a meal with us, remember that the table now reaches quite far and there is always a plate set for you - except in July when we’ll do a busy ping-pong like visit to immediate family in NY and MA.
Peace and good__________,
Beth and Art
(Check out the rest of our pictures in the 2007 Photos archive to the right of this letter.)
March 6, 2007 -Twenty Third Letter
Celebration, FL
"Do you know why February has only 28 days?" "Because it's the longest month of the year. That's been my truth since 1972 when the only real light came from children's laughing eyes and even that faded when the cold set-in for seven weeks of "indoor recess".
This year though, February was too short. The month began with a trip to a campground just west of Tampa that we've yet to see because half way there a brake on the motorhome seized. The good news: we had 2 days left on the warranty so the coach was towed and repaired at no expense to us.
We kept our "vacation focus" the next day and visited Bok Sanctuary, a gift to Florida from a turn of the century Pennsylvania philanthropist where I took some of my best photos ever that you�ll never see because I accidentally deleted them as I practiced with Adobe Photoshop. A membership with the sanctuary gives discounts to other Florida museums and wildlife sanctuaries so we joined, and checked off the places we want to visit. There are dozens in Central Florida, then we added The Keys, the Everglades and Florida's 100 + state parks, looked at each other, said the Motorhome is too big, traded it in and bought a conversion van. Imagine a 20foot commuter van that seats 15 people, Raise the roof and lower the floor, take out the middle two rows and put in sink, refrigerator, microwave, a two burner stove and a water closet, remove the back two seats and put in couches / beds, use maple for the cabinets and rich brown upholstery on the driver and passenger seats that swivel to face a portable table, add propane and holding tanks, an awning, air-conditioner, furnace, generator and an inverter, TV, DVD/VCR, a CB and Sattlite Radio, and voila, you have a Sand colored Roadtrek 190 Popular LX Motor Home. (see www.roadtrek.com)
We naively assumed that because it was new, albeit a 2006, the van would be in good mechanical condition and didn't do a test drive. One always learns. Now, while the dealership and the chassis service center shuffle the vehicle back and forth because house parts need to be removed at one place before auto parts can be repaired, the coach manufacturer is paying for a rental; a nice way for us to re-enter the world of two car families (it is a van, afterall)
We weren't really THAT naive. The manufacturer is ISO9000 certified and because that was Art's bailiwick his last 10 years at Waters, we were confident that we'd purchased a well-made unit. And there was something sweetly ironic that the company was so responsive to our problem because we used the ISO9000 Quality Standard language in our correspondence during the same week that Art was volunteering at the 15th International Conference on ISO that he chaired for several years.
Between the conference and family we�ve not had time to use the vehicle anyway. Jen and her friend Chad were here for the weekends before and after their vacation in the Bahamas. My brother, Bill and his wife Glo spent 4 days with us because she just retired from teaching J and they could, and then Merri and her fianc' Geoff, flew in for 4 days of park hopping and wedding planning. (Date - April 19, 2008 - an intimate affair of 100 - most of whom their blood relatives)
Lent began in February and I'm using this holy time to become centered in my goal to be emotionally, spiritually and physically strong by my 60th birthday in October so that like Grandma Moses I'll become famous for my simple art (a tabletop book of photos, poems and essays) at age 80. Jen's made me a part of her project management graduate thesis and has set a tough goal for me: 6 note cards finished by March 31st which, she promises, will teach me everything I need to know about photo editing - and then we'll focus on the writing.
Also in February, the race for the White House started way too early without anything of substance yet reported about any candidate (I'm far more concerned about the road-rage shooting after the Daytona 500 race).
Florida's storms arrived quickly and left dramatically but while the tornados made the national news the lack of moderately priced housing and affordable home-owners� insurance has more far-reaching, long term implications.
Saddest of all, while headlines about Anna Nicole Smith's death and family took turns with those about the astronauts' love triangle, close to 100 U.S. military personnel died in Iraq.
The endless analysis and conjecture on non-stories ignite my passion for justice, highlight my sense of powerlessness, and keep my mind buzzing about world events, but the words of a 20th century icon help keep me focused on my Lenten Commitment.
" A little less conversation, a little more action, please." (Elvis Presley)
6 cards, 6 pounds, 6 prayers, 6 weeks til Easter. These are my goals. What are yours?
Peace and good_______,
Beth
Copyright 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 Beth Ramos
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