Minutiae from May in the Mountains

I am having trouble believing it is already June.  Before the new month turns into the month that is slipping away, let me record some moments from May that I don't want to lose.  Let me collect some of the Facebook posts that never made it into a blog post:

--I am at the saddest Barnes and Noble in all of North America, the only store still functioning in a once vibrant mall, working on my sermon for Sunday, thinking about the Trinity and community as one does, on the Thursday before Holy Trinity Sunday and after Pentecost.

--There is a dead wasp under the table, which seems like a great metaphor in the saddest Barnes and Noble in North America, but I don't think it will fit with my sermon. Same for the fact that in every light fixture, at least one fluorescent tube is out. I did finish a mostly finished draft of my sermon for Sunday, so that's a plus, even if I can't use these abundant metaphors in this sad, sad store.

--Long ago, I majored in interpreting poetry. This morning, after a long time on the phone, I discovered what one specialist charges for interpreting lab results. I majored in the wrong thing--but then again, the specialist probably doesn't create lines of poetry like the ones I created this morning: Does milkweed grow in the mountains? / Monarchs migrate and the world burns," and I'm adding some lines about the coronation of Charles and a reference to the late Permian period extinction. Perhaps I didn't major in the wrong thing after all.

--Last month, I made bread dough, and put the extra in the freezer. Today, I had it out to thaw, a lump of solidly frozen dough in a plastic bag, on the deck railing. We will not be grilling it for lunch. A squirrel nibbled through the plastic bag and into the bread dough before I noticed. I suppose it could have been worse--a bear would have been worse.

--Today I am grateful for a smooth plumbing install--replacing supply line valves for the kitchen sink that will be part of the remodeled kitchen. Those of you who have known the Berkey-Abbotts for a long time know that we have not always had smooth plumbing installs, but happily today went well for Carl Berkey-Abbott, plumber extraordinaire.

--For a variety of reasons, I haven't been taking naps in the past 9 months. I took one today; I forgot how glorious a nap can be. Those nap/rest ministry people are onto something!

--"All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go"--but I'm not leaving on a jet plane. My car is packed too, and soon I will head west and south, back to our Lutheridge house, heading west and south for the next chapter, which will be a continuation in some ways (seminary studies and online teaching) and new adventures too (volunteering at summer camp in a variety of ways).

--Your resident seminarian found herself oddly impressed by this Coronation sermon--well done, Archbishop.

--Since NPR.org has live coverage of the coronation, I am watching it. I spent many years studying British literature, so I'm not uninterested. The attempts to be more inclusive interest me, but even more, that at age 70 something Charles finally gets the job he's wanted all his life, that reality warms my heart.

--Back in December, I heard my upstairs seminary apartment neighbor singing "Silent Night" with the grandchildren that were half a world away (ah, the miracles of technology). I just heard them singing "Old McDonald Had a Farm." I will miss this. Of course, even if I stayed in this apartment, I would miss this, since they are moving to be closer to those grandchildren.