Out of the stars, rising from rocks and the sea, kindled by sunlight on earth, arose life.Ponder this thing in your heart, life up from sea: Eyes to behold, throats to sing, mates to love.
Life from the sea, warmed by sun, washed by rain, life from within, giving birth, rose to love. This is the marvel of life, rising to see and to know; Out of your heart, cry wonder: sing that we live.
from Out of the Stars by Robert Weston
What a Year...travel, celebrations and more travel...we had something scheduled every month of the year except July and that was before the year started. Here are some highlights of the year...
• Ben and Cheyenne married in August on Long Island Sound in southeastern Connecticut. We are thrilled to have another daughter and to see our son so happy. They continue to be very busy with their medical residencies in Pittsburgh.
• Aris and Stacie bought their first home in Mansfield, Conn. and we were able to help them get settled in August. They have just added their first family member, Denver, a foster pup they adopted. Aris has a new job at UConn and Stacie is a teacher in Putnam.
• We witnessed four other weddings in 2011, two of our nieces, Amy to Andy (May), and Sarah to Marshall (September), and family friends Grant and Marit (September), and Chris and Sabrina (November).
• A trip of a lifetime to an 11th century chateau in southern France to celebrate Portland friend Mark Holloway’s 40th birthday. Trips to Mt. Blanc and Chamonix, Annecy, Lyon, and Geneva, Switzerland made these 10 days memorable.
• Vacations in Hawaii to visit our friends Jay and Toni (March) and to Yosemite National Park (April).
• We climbed Mt. St. Helens (July) with our hiking buddies Dan and Diane.
• Visits from our son Ben, friends Jane and Ted Carroll, niece Abigail and brother Thomas and his wife Monica. Where were the rest of you?!
Believe it or not, we had a very busy year of work (yes, we did work amid all the travel and fun!) Susan successfully launched The Plant Nanny, her gardening business, and Stephen is consulting and supporting the development of “purposework” opportunities for retirees and those of us in the encore stage of work/life. We have been blessed to find work we love, colleagues we enjoy, and the kind of work that meshes well with our mobile lifestyle. And as our friend Toni likes to remind us, so far we have been able to “monetize” our ventures, although that is not something we take for granted. So far, so good!
The Rebel Jesus by Jackson Browne
The streets are filled with laughter and light
And the music of the season
And the merchants' windows are all bright
With the faces of the children
And the families hurrying to their homes
As the sky darkens and freezes
Will be gathering around the hearths and tables
Giving thanks for all God's graces
And the birth of the rebel Jesus
They call him by the "Prince of Peace"
And they call him by "The Saviour"
And they pray to him upon the sea
And in every bold endeavor
As they fill his churches with their pride and gold
And their faith in him increases
But they've turned the nature that I worshipped in
From a temple to a robber's den
In the words of the rebel Jesus
We guard our world with locks and guns
And we guard our fine possessions
And once a year when Christmas comes
We give to our relations
And perhaps we give a little to the poor
If the generosity should seize us
But if any one of us should interfere
In the business of why there are poor
They get the same as the rebel Jesus.
posted by Stephen and Susan Ristau @ 1:27 PM
1 Comments:
What a year! It will be hard to top 2011 for you guys...unless there's a baby that arrives. :-) Blessings to you and your family. It's a joy to have you so close again. Here's to the new year and the purpose, the work, and the peace of what is and what will be.
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