back to dc.

i went home to minneapolis for thanksgiving. no. i did not make it north during my five days home. i entertained myself in the little apple. they were such full days. i bounced into the airport that monday night. the car rental people laughed at my giddiness. but before i even got there...i had a moment.

as i waited in the dulles airport, outside of dc, i had a moment. in my excitement to see the city i love, i felt a twinge of something in my heart. "what is this?" i thought. "is it sadness?" "am i feeling a little sad to leave these people?" "oh, no! i think i am falling in love with this funny little congregation!"

it is indeed right and salutary that i should fall in love with this little congregation. that i should begin to love the people entrusted to my care. it stunned me. they are so different from me, yet my heart has begun to care for them. i have begun to worry about them and wonder about them. it is good.

and so i bounced around minneapolis, just like my boys bounce in my confirmation class. i was delighted to see the things that fill my heart with wonder. i was happy to see my favorite hairstylist, my favorite cafe collective, my favorite co-op. then, all those wonderful people that i love at home. it was the first time fiona said i love you to me. melted me.

i came back to dc. stunned. immediately felt stressed. i realized how much i reflect the culture of minneapolis and minnesota in myself. dc still feels foreign. yet, i think i am beginning to feel like i am the vicar to this congregation. so. dc...strange. reformation...good.

so that is that.

this is the choir from reformation singing in paris. it is a piece that the music director wrote, a quote from luther set to music. it is beautiful. and i will shamelessly say that he has a new piece just published by augsburg fortress that is quite lovely. psalm 23. choral arrangement. very pretty.

a day of strange learnings...

on tuesday the staff took me out for my birthday lunch. after we got back there were some visitors to the church office.

those visitors were the family of the founder of the congressional black caucus.
the founder, Augustus Hawkins, passed away last week and the family wanted a memorial for congress before the session adjourned...reformation was the location picked...

so. we were checked out by the cops for congress. then...rumours of nancy pelosi, speaker of the house started coming...which meant...secret service.

it was a little crazy. it was an unofficial state funeral. about as close to being a state funeral without actually being one.

speaker pelosi came. the majority leader of the house came. barney frank and maxine waters came. the chaplain for congress was there. the first roman catholic to be the chaplain for congress. a very nice man.

i had never heard of gus hawkins. i learned that he was an incredible man. he sponsored a bill with hubert humphrey (one of my personal favorites). the bill was called the humphrey-hawkins bill, but in california where mr. hawkins was from they called it the hawkins-humphrey bill. he believed that people should have:work, education, housing, healthcare, and justice. my kind of guy.

he was a new deal democrat...sigh, i have fantasies of being that kind of democrat. when being a dfl-er really meant something. when minnesota was still the land of humphrey, mccarthy, mondale, and later wellstone.

i feel like i had a good education today in american history. i learned a little something about people that worked hard to make the world a little better. i learned about a man that lived with integrity.

i also learned about...
secret service...
they really do have those little ear pieces. they really do talk into their hands! i saw one do it. anneka was really excited. she hadn't seen it happen in the four years she had lived here. she feels her dc experience is complete now! :) the secret service guys definitely scan the crowd. it is weird talking to them while they are scanning. it is also weird to know they are looking at you trying to figure out what you profile as. anneka said i didn't fit into any of their profiles...go figure (nose rings and clerical collar). but, they were very nice. especially when we had a potential issue with code pink protestors. don't get me wrong, i like a good protest, but a funeral is NOT the place. just because you are in pink does not make it okay. it really doesn't make you any different than fred phelps. it is just disrespectful.

so. that was my adventure in dc today. i stood less than 10 feet from nancy pelosi. i heard barney frank speak. pretty crazy. not bad for a girl from pinewood.

new adventures...

sorry for the delay in updates...i am just a little pokey.

i was very homesick at the end of october. feeling pathetic and lonely here in dc. then i was rescued by my friend liz and her daughter fiona! fiona is the cutest and smartest kid EVER! okay...i might be a little biased...but, now i will make you all suffer pictures of the weekend i spent with liz and fiona. which are really pictures of fiona looking cute. :)

they were here the first weekend in november and it happened to be the weekend i preached. all saints' sunday. it was fun having them there to hear me preach. they came, along with max (liz's husband, fiona's papa) to hear me preach the very first time i ever preached in a congregation in minneapolis! so that was very nice to have them come.

we went on adventures to eat waffles at the coffee shop i go to in adams-morgan. liz and i get waffles in north minneapolis, so of course we had to eat them in dc! and then we went to the national zoo. we saw panda butt. and we saw elephants and hippos. we saw lots of monkeys too. fiona liked the elephants. i think it was the largest animal she had ever seen. we went into the store and she fell in love with a stuffed panda...so, fiona now has a baby panda that she loves.


fiona, liz and the elephants!

we went on an adventure to baltimore. neither of us had been there. a few wrong turns and we got there. it was fun to be in a different city. we took a duck boat tour. now, duck boat tours are an adventure. they are based on army vehicles that can go on land and in water. so you tour the city on land and then you get to see it from the water. it is a good kid friendly tour. lots of music, they give you duck caller noise makers, and the tour guide knows all sorts of stuff.


me and fiona in baltimore. we hung out on the inner harbour.


fiona in her monkey coat on the duck boat.


this is a photo of the first co-operative in the US. at least i think that is what the tour guide said. it is in baltimore. it was started by women to make baby clothes. liz and i were excited to see it.

we saw some costa rican relatives of liz and fiona (papa max is costa rican), we stalked liz's uncle owen who lives in dc. then we went to the quaker lobbiest building since it is a green building. a VERY full weekend. i felt so much better after they came. nothing like being loved by a little kid to make you feel better. i got home from church on sunday and fiona yelled, "maggie, maggie, maggie!" the world is okay when a kid is happy to see you.


and finally, 'cause i just love her so much...another picture of fiona! :)