posted by Helen

We were down in Hartford, Connecticut this weekend for the Bar Mitzvah of the son of our client there. It was wonderful to be included in the celebration. I was inspired by the knowledge that four generations of the family have worshiped at the synagogue where the Bar Mitzvah was held, and I was struck by the fundamental similarities between Judaism and Christianity.

This morning I've been reading a book by American Buddhist nun, Pema Chodron, and am again noticing similarities. I suppose all religions draw from the same well--that principally we are here to love god and to love one another. It sounds good, but how did on earth did we get from that to things like the Inquisition and suicide bombing?

I've always been deeply uncomfortable with religious talk, but I'm learning to relax about it. I think this must be part of what Chodron means when she talks about softening our hearts. It seems logicial to me that most of the world's problems are rooted in how we harden our hearts toward one another.

"We always have a choice. We can let the circumstances of our lives harden us and make us increasingly resentful and afraid, or we can let them soften us and make us kinder."

I have trouble with that choice, but I'm working on it. It's the best I can do.

Yesterday was a black hole

posted by Helen

I'm usually not morose. I wouldn't say I'm an optimist--that's Dave's thing--but generally I'm happy. Yesterday was a black hole.

The main source of my bad mood was an expensive machine. Seems silly, I know, especially since I'm usually so good with machines. I have a mechanical mind and I recognize that they're mostly just dumb robots doing our exact bidding.

The machine in question is a Microboards DX-2 CD/DVD duplicator and printer. If you've ever thought it might be fun to get one, don't. Or buy mine. I hate it.

We've had it a little less than a year. It has never burned and printed more than 5 CDs at a time without my rapt attention to every detail. It is supposed to be able to handle 100s unattended. And yesterday, it broke. Its dumb little robot arms came up before the CD tray opened, the CD tray opened and it was all jammed up. In trying to disengage the arms from the drive and vice versa, I broke one of them off.

Defeated, I dropped the whole mess in Dave's lap. I've tried to get help from Microboards before and had little success. Dave managed to get them on the phone and persuade them to send him a new piece. I have my doubts about whether it will work. It has never worked properly to begin with so I don't see why it would start now.

I think the thing I hate most is we still owe money on the darn thing. That and it doesn't work. Did I mention that?

Okay -- to recap:

1. Never buy anything from a company called Microboards.
2. Just pay someone else to burn and print your CDs

I'm going to Paris now. Let's have lunch in that cafe in the Musee d'Orsay.


Ah, I feel better already.

Retro-blog: One year ago today

posted by Helen

Life has been so crazy lately that I'm taking a moment out of my day to remember that on this day one year ago Dave and I were hiking in the mountains above Meiringen, Switzerland.

It was a gorgeous autumn day. We had lunch at the top of the mountain -- Roesti with Gorgonzola cheese and a sunnyside-up egg. Talk about comfort food!

We were gone for about 10 days in all last October and traveled from Paris to Geneva, Bern, Meiringen, Lucerne and Zurich. I spent my 45th birthday in Paris. At the end of the day, we decided to go up the Eiffel tower on the spur of the moment. It was a bit foggy so we couldn't see much beyond the Louvre, but it was still wonderful.

posted by Helen

We are home again after a 1000-mile road trip around New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania. One high point was a quick visit to Cape May. The temperature was around 80 degrees and it was sunny. Apart from the fact that this little seaside resort town was completely deserted, it was a perfect summer day.

On the way home we visited my parents in Poughkeepsie. This timed out perfectly so that I was able to wake up in their home on my birthday. I think it's pretty fitting to spend some of your birthday with the people who actually made it all possible.

We drove back to Vermont slowly, stopping in Hudson, New York to visit their fabled antique shops. That was fun until we realized that everything was priced way beyond our budget for a simple settee to place in front of the woodstove in the kitchen. I'm not sure who buys antiques in Hudson, but it won't be us. Dave did scoop up a nifty picnic basket at a remote roadside shop on the way back to the Taconic Parkway for just $7.

We tried in vain to have a little celebratory dinner at the Putney Inn on the way home, but it was all booked. "Leaf" season made it a challenge to find dinner at any semi-fancy place so it was lovely to be welcomed at the Parker House when we got home.

What we sing is what we are

posted by Helen

Saturday was a wedge of sunny, warm weather between two gray, rainy days. The Harvest concert went really well. Dave led off with support from members of the group Upstream, including Geoff Dates, Kevin Dann and Jed Dickensen. Pete Meijer followed up with a set of original songs. I love the warmth of his voice.

Next, everyone grooved to the Ethiopian rock of Kiflu Kidane and the New Nile Orchestra. And finally, the Gully Boys would have blown the roof off the joint if we'd been indoors.

Thanks to everyone who attended and helped make it happen, especially Tad Nunez at the Hartford Parks and Recreation Department and the kids of the Youth Garden project in White River Junction.

"Over hills and over valleys,
Over mountains, over seas,
Nations shall sing unto nations,
Until nations cease to be,
Unison in harmony."