Keys to the Kingdom
Cambridge, MA; mile 3,674
Home at last, thank God almighty, home at last. And the last day more complicated than the first. The running theme the last two days has been house keys: our landlord is in Amsterdam, and our housekeys have been left with one of the other folks living in our building. Of course, he was out of town yesterday (Friday), when I finally got around to warning him of my arrival. The conclusion to the saga was discovering this afternoon that my front door key didn't fit the lock! So at quarter to midnight I'm finally at home, having spent all day locked out. Better than the poor apocryphal fellow in Denmark who went out for a beer his first day in a new apartment and has forgotten where he lives.
Inbetween this off-key adventure, though, was a lot of wonder.A beautiful drive through upstate New York, especially the Adirondacks. Stunning, rolling mountains and lakes and farmland and small roads. An evangelical carpenter who made a walking stick for Mom and talked about how he was looking forward to seeing, in heaven, what kind of carpentry Jesus did. And about the cell churches he was founding. The mad but compasionate look in his eyes, someone working hard to follow where the Holy Spirit was leading.
Getting totally lost just north of Albany -- the last time I was in Albany, I got kicked off a Greyhound bus, so I already had no fondness for the city. 2 1/2 hours wandering small county lanes, thanks to my desire to find a 'short cut' through scenic farmland around the city; then, after taking a construction detour I decided -- heck with detouring back north, I'm sure I can figure out another way to connect with the highway I want... A frustratign experience but one that will probably end up in a sermon at Messiah at some point. A strange example of grace and humility (or rather, the lack thereof).
So it was almost 5 o'clock by the time I saw Jason, with still no word about getting house keys. It was a great gift of time, though. We got to hang out, arrainge storage (another story there -- the moving van broke down, and they don't know when it will arrive in Massachusetts. Heard horrible stories about moving vans catching fire or drivers quiting...). And then spent the rest of the day and evening haying in Shirley, MA. Wish I had pictures for you of the hours we spent, catching hay bales as they came flying out of the bailer, a pitching machine sending 40 pound bales flying out from the back of the bailer into the hay rick, where we stood catching (!) the bales and stacking them up. Great fun ('til the alternator on the tractor broke), hard sweaty work in the setting sun and summer heat, relieved by gin & tonics, green curry, and hydrocortisone (hay leaves incredible welts, especially when youa re foolish enough to work in short sleaves...)
A farmer in NY State, but the same system of bailing as the one Jason and I took part in...
Then this morning, a drive down the rest of Route 2 into Cambridge's Central Square, blasting the last movements from Swan Lake. Arrived safely at our summer sublet. We're subletting the top floor and attic/loft of a townhouse on a quiet private lane just off of bustling, diverse, happening Central Square. Coffee Houses, organic grocery stores, and a strange combination of social service agencies, marxist book store, and the Gap. There are two other units -- a man in the basement, whose twin brother and his wife live in the ground and second floor with their 2 year old, Sophie, and their 7-week-old daughter who is yet to be named.... It's a beautiful building and a decent furnished sublet. There are flaws, of course -- exposed drywall, a fridge that needs serious cleaning, and the joy of living in the top floors on a day when tempratures approached 100. So today I bought a fan, a water pitcher, a mop and sponges. By the time Iza arrives, the place will be clean. At the moment it is as clean as I would make it for myself, but not as clean as I would have it for someone else. And there is a telling statement!
Being locked out wasn't too bad -- I hung out on the for-sale couches in the hardware store and talked with Mom. Then off to Rick and Terry McCall (Rick was my liturgy prof. and was the interim at Messiah for 9 months), where we sat outside and had an excellent salmon dinner. By the time dinner was done, Donna (who lives downstairs) had called and left a key for me under a flowerpot.
So now I'm home. The driving, if not the journey, is complete. I still have to scrub and unpack, begin learning more about Messiah (hooray!), welcome Iza to Mass., head to Maine for a wedding, write a sermon for that first Sunday, plan the conversation with my future in-laws... oh so many things. Good news for prayer because this is more than I can handle, which is usually the most effective incentive to stop, close my eyes, and remember that God is God.
No promises, given the above list, but I will try keep posting to this blog as I continue the rest of this journey, becoming rector at a parish which by all reports is wonderful, full of joy and music and healing and prayer and meditation... Let me know if you're still reading! Drop me a line at revmcdev@yahoo.com
There was even a blimp over Cambridge in celebration of my arrival!
Home at last, thank God almighty, home at last. And the last day more complicated than the first. The running theme the last two days has been house keys: our landlord is in Amsterdam, and our housekeys have been left with one of the other folks living in our building. Of course, he was out of town yesterday (Friday), when I finally got around to warning him of my arrival. The conclusion to the saga was discovering this afternoon that my front door key didn't fit the lock! So at quarter to midnight I'm finally at home, having spent all day locked out. Better than the poor apocryphal fellow in Denmark who went out for a beer his first day in a new apartment and has forgotten where he lives.
Inbetween this off-key adventure, though, was a lot of wonder.A beautiful drive through upstate New York, especially the Adirondacks. Stunning, rolling mountains and lakes and farmland and small roads. An evangelical carpenter who made a walking stick for Mom and talked about how he was looking forward to seeing, in heaven, what kind of carpentry Jesus did. And about the cell churches he was founding. The mad but compasionate look in his eyes, someone working hard to follow where the Holy Spirit was leading.
Getting totally lost just north of Albany -- the last time I was in Albany, I got kicked off a Greyhound bus, so I already had no fondness for the city. 2 1/2 hours wandering small county lanes, thanks to my desire to find a 'short cut' through scenic farmland around the city; then, after taking a construction detour I decided -- heck with detouring back north, I'm sure I can figure out another way to connect with the highway I want... A frustratign experience but one that will probably end up in a sermon at Messiah at some point. A strange example of grace and humility (or rather, the lack thereof).
So it was almost 5 o'clock by the time I saw Jason, with still no word about getting house keys. It was a great gift of time, though. We got to hang out, arrainge storage (another story there -- the moving van broke down, and they don't know when it will arrive in Massachusetts. Heard horrible stories about moving vans catching fire or drivers quiting...). And then spent the rest of the day and evening haying in Shirley, MA. Wish I had pictures for you of the hours we spent, catching hay bales as they came flying out of the bailer, a pitching machine sending 40 pound bales flying out from the back of the bailer into the hay rick, where we stood catching (!) the bales and stacking them up. Great fun ('til the alternator on the tractor broke), hard sweaty work in the setting sun and summer heat, relieved by gin & tonics, green curry, and hydrocortisone (hay leaves incredible welts, especially when youa re foolish enough to work in short sleaves...)
A farmer in NY State, but the same system of bailing as the one Jason and I took part in...
Then this morning, a drive down the rest of Route 2 into Cambridge's Central Square, blasting the last movements from Swan Lake. Arrived safely at our summer sublet. We're subletting the top floor and attic/loft of a townhouse on a quiet private lane just off of bustling, diverse, happening Central Square. Coffee Houses, organic grocery stores, and a strange combination of social service agencies, marxist book store, and the Gap. There are two other units -- a man in the basement, whose twin brother and his wife live in the ground and second floor with their 2 year old, Sophie, and their 7-week-old daughter who is yet to be named.... It's a beautiful building and a decent furnished sublet. There are flaws, of course -- exposed drywall, a fridge that needs serious cleaning, and the joy of living in the top floors on a day when tempratures approached 100. So today I bought a fan, a water pitcher, a mop and sponges. By the time Iza arrives, the place will be clean. At the moment it is as clean as I would make it for myself, but not as clean as I would have it for someone else. And there is a telling statement!
Being locked out wasn't too bad -- I hung out on the for-sale couches in the hardware store and talked with Mom. Then off to Rick and Terry McCall (Rick was my liturgy prof. and was the interim at Messiah for 9 months), where we sat outside and had an excellent salmon dinner. By the time dinner was done, Donna (who lives downstairs) had called and left a key for me under a flowerpot.
So now I'm home. The driving, if not the journey, is complete. I still have to scrub and unpack, begin learning more about Messiah (hooray!), welcome Iza to Mass., head to Maine for a wedding, write a sermon for that first Sunday, plan the conversation with my future in-laws... oh so many things. Good news for prayer because this is more than I can handle, which is usually the most effective incentive to stop, close my eyes, and remember that God is God.
No promises, given the above list, but I will try keep posting to this blog as I continue the rest of this journey, becoming rector at a parish which by all reports is wonderful, full of joy and music and healing and prayer and meditation... Let me know if you're still reading! Drop me a line at revmcdev@yahoo.com
There was even a blimp over Cambridge in celebration of my arrival!
posted by tetracontadigon at 6/25/2005
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