week of grace 27

Sunday 14 June • Pentecost 3

Despite having unpublished all my other grace week posts, I decided to air this list of 6 for this week, at least for a few hours.

1. Blue Berries. Black Berries. More blues and more blacks.

2. Brief Eucharist at Church On the Hill Wednesday evening to celebrate Saint Barnabas, "Barnie".

3. Seriously working through logistics about packing, etc. for relocating to Future City very soon.

4. Survivors of Suicide Loss Strength for the Journey 5K on Saturday.

5. First Communion this morning at Church Around the Corner.

6. Third graders got their very own bibles this morning at Church Around the Corner.

7. My neighbor brought me a mini apple pie from the famous apple pie town of Julian. Rather than being a typical pie, it's more like a huge apple dumpling like my grandmother used to bake.

week of grace 26

Pentecost 2

1. Finding a place in Future City! My idea of paying a little more short-term than I could afford long-term bore fruit.

2. As usual, Berries. Berries, Berries. Blues and blacks. Blackberries still are 6 ounces for $1.50; after I asked the produce clerk how much longer, he replied they had a huge overstock, so without his saying more, it sounds like another week.

3. Excited and exciting welcoming text from one of my new housemates in Future City!

4. Brief Eucharist at Church On the Hill to celebrate the Feast of the Visitation.

5. Getting to my storage unit, pulling out misc furniture to donate (not knowing where I might be going, I'd kept and stored those pieces only so I wouldn't need to replace them), and donating the misc furniture to AmVets.

6. Getting to my storage unit, pulling out misc furniture to donate, and I was ecstatic J's son P wanted the maple desk from my grandparents' place. Originally it was a high-end piece, but had served its utility for me.

7. Have I been mentioning blog and design housekeeping much in these lists? Yes, I have been. This past week no blog (re)-formatting, but I semi-finished several design revisions.

8. Fun times at the annual Fiesta at Ascension RC (technically another "Church On the Hill"): Filipino Platter for Friday dinner, followed by two pieces of cake for dessert.

9. Fun times at the annual Fiesta at Ascension RC (technically another "Church On the Hill"): Burger with onions and French Fries for Saturday lunch, followed by one piece of cake for dessert.

10. Fun times at the annual Fiesta at Ascension RC (technically another "Church On the Hill"): another Burger with onions and French Fries for Sunday lunch, followed by a cannoli for dessert. It was so fun that B and her daughter from Church Around the Corner happened into the Fiesta to my lunch table, where I'd met a friend of housemate P's, and then another acquaintance joined us. "Degrees of separation?"

11. Haircut, highlights, eyebrow wax, etc. at salon near the nearby shopping center again. Not that $$$ matter (they don't? I know they do!), but prices there are only about ⅔ of what they used cost at L's, and her place was relatively inexpensive, since her salon was in her garage.

week of grace 25

Sunday 31 May • The Octave of Pentecost, a.k.a. Trinity Sunday

This is another short list, another with the biblical #7, yet I truly am thankful for all the evidence of grace in my life—maybe especially these days that I've been organizing files and folders, editing and updating design and image files, donating clothes and other items. A lot of that organizing and tying together loose ends seems to go with my decision to hospice this phase of my life so I can begin the next phase well.

1. More updating, editing, housekeeping on this blog! It sounds endless, and it almost is, but hopefully all book reviews and other book-related posts will have clean links to amazon, reasonably sized pics formatted large enough to enjoy. Then there are all those other non-books blog posts that I'm also re-working through.

2. Berries. Berries, Berries. Blue ones and black ones. Still more abundant, affordable, succulent black berries and blue ones from geographically not very far away: as usual.

3. New shoes and nine(!) pairs of socks for the Survivors of Suicide walk / run / jog / (trot, canter, lope) 5K I'm doing on Saturday 13 June.

4. For safekeeping I copied and pasted notes from the (not many) bible studies I've lead over the past couple of years into Urban Wilderness – City Paradise.

5. Another double innings of the state fair award winning Thrifty Ice Cream: Butter Pecan and Cookies and Cream.

6. Fabulous baptismal and eucharistic liturgies at Church On the Hill for Trinity Sunday, a.k.a. the Octave of Pentecost. Unlike that last time I took baptism pics, I got almost five dozen that are very usable.


7. Another yummy lunch from the Panda Place. I'm convinced that's the best price and nutrition deal there is for healthy food at a realistic price. Did I say that last time? Yes, I did!

week of grace 24

The Day of Pentecost

Short list this time, and I just noticed it's the biblical number "7"!

1. The glow of the waxing crescent moon.

2. Berries. Still more abundant, affordable, succulent black berries and blue ones.

3. More or less finishing updates on at least a half-dozen groups of older and some recent photos and other raster images and getting them uploaded to my online storage. Pulling together loose ends and feeling a little more secure.

4. Thursday was the last Thursday family dinner until next fall at Church Around the Corner. What an wonderful, safe, essential ministry by, for, and to everyone involved.

5. Exhibit and reception for housemate / landlady Pam's annual art show at Gallery 23 at Spanish Village in Balboa Park.

6. Informal celebratory liturgy for the Day of Pentecost this morning at Church Around the Corner.

7. Yummy lunch from the Panda Place. I'm convinced that's the best price and nutrition deal there is for healthy food at a realistic price.

weeks of grace 22 & 23

1. The scent of jasmine drifting through the air, here, there, and everywhere!

2. You know I need to mention still more abundant, affordable, succulent berries from geographically not very far away: as usual, both black ones and blue ones.

3. This is another more than one week of grace post, and last Sunday was Mother's Day. I'm slowly writing through a first-ever Mother's Day post for my brand new blog that I haven't officially outed yet.

4. A few more updates on my non-fb design site, suntreeriver design. I truly want to migrate to Wordpress, but it looks very good; despite weebly not offering a whole lot of creative footer options, the footer's growing well, as well.

5. I registered to jog / walk / run the Survivors of Suicide Loss 5K on June 13. I'm participating for C, who ended her own life shortly after Easter Sunday 2014. This will be my first 5K since former city (edited to say} in eight years! Picture is from actual event, added later,

6. A festival of heavy rain most of the day on Thursday! Still not enough to compensate for the serious drought, but it was plenty to generate hope.

7. Third Saturday lunch for May with the Friday evening potluck peeps from the PCUSA I used to attend.

8. Thursday's rain cleared the air so wonderfully, yesterday, Saturday felt full of hope and clarity of thought and purpose, too.

9. I just designed a dog bed hang tag for a new client, and when she learned I had two kittehs, she offered to send beds for them—in addition to paying me for the hang tags, of course.

10. Because for various reasons I wasn't going to get to Church Around the Corner or Church on the Hill, this morning I serendipitously worshiped at Ascension Roman Catholic up the hill from here. Thursday was Ascension Day, their feast of title – patronal feast as Ascension's pastor expressed it – and today can be celebrated as Easter VII or as the Sunday after Ascension, Exaudi. I thought Ascension Day was a Holy Day of obligation in the RC church, and my research revealed it still is, but most churches in most North American dioceses have transferred the feast to Sunday (most Protestants who follow the lectionary also celebrate Ascension on Easter VII).

11. Honeysuckle scents wafting through the air.

week of grace 21

So much to say, to feel, to grieve, and to hope towards. This is my first weeks of grace since a month ago, on April 06, when I blogged a short, 3-week long grace weeks list. I've noticed how T from Praying on the Prairie (who originally inspired me to begin my own weekly list) tracks small joys during the week. As I commented to T, "eventually I also want to keep track of the tiny moments of grace on my phone so I'll have better lists each week, but at this point I need to allow myself some graceful ease."

1. For April, Saturday lunch with my old Friday evening potluck group from the PCUSA was fourth rather than third Saturday because our old restaurant venue closed. We met at another location of the same eatery chain, and so happily discovered T, our usual server, now worked at the new to us location, so again she served us lunch! (picture isn't actual venue.)

2. After Saturday lunch, another *meaningful* meaning-filled conversation with PB.

3. More succulent blueberries and blackberries! Can't get enough of those!

4. After about a year, I finally totally updated my non-fb design site, suntreeriver design, a real necessity since I don't post client work on fb. I love the social media icons I designed; I also created a couple other icons I'm not currently using―instagram and google+.

5. Due to intentionally lengthening my delivery time and intentionally not bidding directly on gigs, the same psychological space that let me update my site also allowed me to finish updates of several of my older design pieces.

6. Yet more juicy, mouth-watering blueberries and blackberries. Did I already list those? why not twice, since I bought them more than once this past week, and lots more times than once during the month since my last weeks of grace post.

7. In this space of several weeks, several more Thursday evening family dinners. It feels as if they play "Home" by Phillip Phillips every single time I'm in Big Box. "Just know you're not alone 'cause I'm gonna make this place your home" always reminds me of Church Around the Corner.

8. Wonderful, celebratory liturgy for Easter 5 at CAC.

9. I especially loved watching preschooler J, my usual Thursday dinner companion A's grandson, serve as one of the offertory gift-bearers during the liturgy on Easter Day and on Easter 5.

10. Tangy, flavor-filled California bowl for Sunday lunch at Rubio's: white rice; chicken chunks; chipotle sauce; tomatillo (cilantro, lime) salsa; guacamole; pico de gallo; black beans (the kind my Dominican landlady always got); lettuce; Raspberry iced tea.

11. Would you believe a little more editing and updating on this blog? Including my new Weeks of Grace footer pic.

weeks of grace 18 - 19 - 20

This is Bright Week, the Eighth Day!
I'm blogging Three weeks' worth this time—from late Lent into Easter day.

1. Still more blog housekeeping on this one, and on a couple of old ones I don't list anywhere but that still are online if you remember what and where they were.

2. More planning for my future more inclusive, casual blog; it will include some amazing art I found on a couple of inactive blogs, as well as on preservation project, my urban blog I update now and then. Did you know "preservation project" is an older title than desert spirit's fire?! I need to add that to my future FAQ!

3. Yummy (as usual, but not quite as always) Third Saturday lunch with the former Friday evening potluck group from the PCUSA, and another insightful conversation with PB.

4. 25 March, and the last Wednesday evening soup supper for Lent 2015 at Church On the Hill, followed by brief Eucharist for the Annunciation—such a cool festival!

5. 26 March, and the last Thursday family dinner and Holden Evening Prayer of Lent 2015 at Church Around the Corner.

6. Getting a few more LA housing hits and ideas that hopefully will lead to something temporarily semi-permanent in the near future.

7. More good prices on both Blueberries and Blackberries this time! You know I've taking advantage of their being in season!

8. Since LN, my cosmetologist died a few weeks ago, I had to find someone else, and Wednesday in Holy Week I discovered a wonderful hair salon very close to where I'm living. Not only was it a little less expensive than Linda's Garage, the person who'll be my new stylist as long as I live here and she works there, even gave me a hug like LN always did!

9. This year I did the entire triduum at Church Around the Corner: Maundy Thursday—Noonday Holy Communion.

10. Housemate / landlady / friend P finally returned from Northern AZ Thursday afternoon! She brought me some awesome clothes from the (high end, elite neighborhood) Goodwill—Really! A reversible quilted jacket, a paisley t-shirt, a dark brown velvet jacket (all for autumn and winter), and a spring-summer cotton shirt in tomato red, teal, and blue on white—one of my all-time fave colorways.

11. This year I did the entire triduum at Church Around the Corner: Good Friday―Noonday Tenebrae; we sang ELW hymn 666, "Wondrous Love."

12. This year I did the entire triduum at Church Around the Corner: Easter Sunday―"Festival Eucharist with organ, brass, choir."

13. Christ Is Risen Indeed! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

PS I took the header pic after the end of the liturgy, after they'd extinguished (is that the word?) all the candles, including the Christ candle.

week of grace 17

It's Monday already! Yesterday was Lent IV, Laetare, one of the rose (paraments, vestments) Sundays in the the liturgical calendar. Here's another list of happenings that help with hope from the past week.
1. An invitation to be a guest on Women of Wisdom on Blog Talk Radio!

2. More blog housekeeping on this one, and on a couple of old ones I don't list anywhere but that still are online if you remember what and where they were.

3. Despite doing poorly with daily lectionary reading and journaling, I made lists and decisions in preparation for moving and relocating. Yay, me!

4. Another yummy Wednesday evening soup supper at Church On the Hill.

5. First LBW Evening Prayer / Vespers of this daylight saving season at Church On the Hill! I've previously mentioned Dale Wood's setting of the Magnificat is one of my all-time fave pieces of liturgical music.

6. Again I got to serve as pianist for Holden Evening Prayer after Thursday family dinner at Church Around the Corner. So sorry it was because A was sick and coughing, but I still appreciate the opportunity and the appreciation I got.

7. Four free fun – mainly for headlines and headers – fonts!

8. I visited quite a few design sites and further considered updated content and layout for suntreeriver design dot com. I'm also cool that I'm okay with its not being a responsive site yet.

9. Good prices on both Blueberries and Blackberries this time!

10. How wonderful watching newly called (mostly to the Hispanic ministry) and ordained Pastor N preside at Eucharist and to receive the Bread of Life from his hands.

11. We sang ELW hymn 666, "Wondrous Love."

12. A shoutout to myself for not only having my camera with me (because phone camera is only 3MP, I prefer the 16MP Canon so I can use pics professionally for print projects) and also for getting at least a dozen very good pics at church on Sunday. Though I just about always bring the camera along everywhere, I've been in too much pain to look outside myself to notice if anything is picture-worthy.

13. In the northern hemisphere, who isn't still enjoying the longer, lighter, truly summery days?

13. Annual kids – youth – special needs choir spaghetti dinner benefit after Sunday worship at Church Around the Corner.

week of grace 16

Another list of small but significant joys from the past week. I'm sure a few things happened prior to Wednesday, but nonetheless, Wednesday is my start day.

1. Serving as pianist for Wednesday noon Eucharist at Church Around the Corner.

2. Enjoying a light soup and bread lunch afterwards, which was an esp nice surprise, since I'd forgotten they served lunch on Lenten Wednesdays.

3. Another Wednesday evening soup supper at Church On the Hill.

4. Final Compline of the wintery season, since we switch to Evening Prayer/Vespers for Wednesday evenings during Daylight Saving Time (or brief eucharist to celebrate a festival that occurs during that week).

5. I was excited to be pianist for Holden Evening Prayer after Thursday family dinner at Church Around the Corner. The harmonies in Holden are so lovely and unexpected – but not jarringly so – in a lot of places.

6. On Thursday 05 March, the kindle edition of W's book, JustMeQi came out! We're still working through the back cover for the print version ;)

7. Editing, streamlining, etc. my sun country living blog that used to be one of my two active design blogs (most recent post in May 2013). I haven't posted any art on my suntreeriver design blog since January 2014, but need to realize I've tried to keep my Facebook page alive with the types of art my two design blogs used to feature.

8. I've gathered and edited enough client design and my own design finally to update my professional design page, which I need to trust will happen within the next week. This is particularly important, as I don't post client work on Facebook and need to be able to refer people to a site that showcases my work well.

9. Blueberries this time! 18 ounces for $5!

10. In the northern hemisphere, who isn't enjoying the longer, lighter days? Shorter nights, as well!

11. New design client left feedback, "wow, you are my new graphics person! I really thank you." That means a lot to me, since he has the types of projects I enjoy doing and that are my best thing—"right up my (design) alley."

week of grace 15

Listing up some small yet significant happenings from the past week.

1. Participating in synchroblog for the first time in a while. I hope it will become one of my regular things again.

2. I've continued sorting, packing, and deciding what to "delete" before relocating. Three big trash bags and a big laundry basket full of misc ready to go to the critter thrift store!

3. First Wednesday evening soup supper of Lent 2015 and afterwards serving as organist for Compline at Church on (the) Hill. Would it be a good idea to make that two line items, esp since I don't have a long list this week?

4. First Holden Evening Prayer of 2015 at Church Around (the) Corner. Not only did we have a lot of guests for family dinner, several people who hadn't known we have prayer/worship rather than bible study after dinner during Lent joined us in the chapel and said they loved it! Two line items again?

5. During his evening prayer meditation/homily, related to his mentioning how enriching diverse experiences can be, Pastor J gave my teaching a shoutout!

6. I've been enjoying reading through the daily lectionary on PCUSA.org—it's a freestanding two-year cycle that does not parallel the Revised Common Lectionary. After only a little more than a week, I'm so appreciating its logic and continuity; I've been writing some verses into my lenten journal.

7. Somehow I've managed to journal something every day in Lent so far.

8. Blackberries again! 12 ounces for $4! last time they were 6 ounces for $2.99, $1 less than $4 the previous time, so they're getting more seasonal with prices correspondingly lower.

9. It's raining! We're still officially drought-stricken, but any precipitation is a major gift and also a big surprise.

week of grace 14

Again today I'm listing up the little things so I can better appreciate them.

1. I blogged twice for Shrove Tuesday: on happiness, which I'd been trying to write and post since May or June; and on homecoming, which historically has been one of my favorite and sorest topics.

2. As a housekeeping/housecleaning task to start out Lent, I updated, cleaned up, and simplified the sidebar of this blog!

3. As part of my Lenten observance, I joined fb friend S's Oral Memory Scripture Project.

4. After I wished fb friend T "hugs and hope" on her birthday last Monday, she liked that greeting so much she created a group called Hugs and Hope with the description: "This group is a place to share good deeds for others. All deeds are equal – big and small. Our purpose is to offer hugs and hope to others. You never know the difference one good deed can make for someone else." I'll be on the lookout for ways to do good.

5. On Ash Wednesday I began daily paper journaling for Lent―per my blogged Shrove Tuesday blog, I expect to do anything between a single sentence and a brain dump. I'm using a 150-page notebook I got from amazon vine—first day I wrote 3 pages, 2 on the second day, so assuming a 3 page daily average. the thick notebook will be a just right fit for the 40 days and 6 Sundays of Lent, and it has pockets for random notes, pictures, and other ephemera. Among other possibilities, I'm going to claim a verse or two from the daily lectionary readings already completely spelled out on PCUSA.org, and post those in my journal. I'll use my second, Berry colored 150 page notebook during the 50 days of Easter. How cool is that?

6. On Ash Wednesday instead of following through with my plan to attend Church Around the Corner, I ended up playing Ash Wednesday evening liturgy at Church On the Hill for F, who phoned me early in the day feeling scarily unwell. (Next time F called me, he was fine.)

7. When I arrived at CAC for Thursday evening family dinner, the office admin told me senior pastor had gone home sick, so I got to facilitate bible study again—but this time with Pastor J's notes instead of my own ;) As always, it went so very well—does that maybe deserve a line of its own?

8. Following through with a suggestion in a photography book I recently reviewed, I actually did some local photo sketches Saturday morning and posted them on Facebook! Now to begin drawing in one of the several sketchbooks I've recently acquired.

9. Another yummy third Saturday lunch with the former presby church Friday evening potluck group; it included an excellent conversation with P.

10. Blackberries again! and they're only $2.99/6 oz. now, $1.00 less than they sold for everywhere last week!

11. It's raining! Yay!

week of grace 13

You know that therapist reminded to savor the little things; I'm doing exactly that.

1. another Taco Tuesday featuring two fish tacos at Rubio's on Aero, my most usual location

2. rainbow sherbet (lime, raspberry, orange) and coconut pineapple ice cream Wednesday―very first trip of 2015 to RiteAid for a double dip in a cup

3. Thursday evening family dinner at Church Around (the) Corner

4. someone brought clementines for the taking to church dinner, so I picked one up; they also brought lemons, but I already had enough.... so that's a surprise orange two weeks in a row!

5. chocolate ripple and vanilla / orange sherbet ice cream for Thursday dinner dessert—we have ice cream every week, orange/vanilla was a surprise

6. thursday night's clear bright stars in the dark winter sky

7. valentine's day Saturday

8. my baptismal birthday on Saturday, 14 February, Valentine's Day!

9. Valentine's Day Saturday

10. sorting through more stuff to donate to the critter thrift store

11. these longer, warmer days have given me a burst of optimism, as has...

12. ...my at last necessary decision to get out of this geographical area since I want some real opps to contribute

12a. added later—how could I leave this out? fresh blackberries from the store!

week of grace 12

Just as last week's, this is another sparse list, but I'm keeping this label going. As that therapist reminded me, ya gotta savor the little things—as an example he suggested freshly falling/fallen powder, but we don't have any of that in these here parts. In the spirit of savoring the small stuff, why not a photographic headpiece and tailpiece?

1. Flowering Crabapples all over the neighborhood and in the front yard (remember, it's early February):

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2. Enjoying another Taco Tuesda—again at Rubio's.

3. Serving as organist for brief eucharist celebrating the feast of the presentation/candlemas at Church on the Hill. Christmas truly is over.

4. As usual, helping serve Thursday family dinner at Church Around the Corner.

5. After Thursday family dinner, instead of bible study, we heard an excellent, energetic talk by visiting Reformation 500 (1517-2017) EKD envoy Margot Käßmann; stay tuned for my upcoming blog about her presentation.

6. A stranger gave me a sweet fresh clementine!

7. J's North Coast Strings orchestra concert Saturday evening! The program included Bach, Vivaldi, a Vivald-Bach transcription, and lots of other interesting and/or fun music.

8. A fresh, tasty, Mexican dinner at El Pollo Loco with J after the concert.

9. Continuing to get an interesting variety of design projects. As they insist, "meaning and purpose help keep you sane," and design truly has been saving me.

10. Lemon Tree a few houses away (please remember, it's early February):

week of grace 11

Another sparse list, but I'm still in survival mode and I'm still keeping this label going.

1. Enjoying Taco Tuesday again at Rubio's.

2. Solid response (for Facebook) to the 14 new designs I added to my Revised Common Lectionary B gallery on my page. !

3. Although I usually enjoy overnight hosting Interfaith Shelter at Church Around the Corner, I'm happy I won't this year, because it means I can attend J's winter orchestra concert next Saturday evening. Until now, her winter and spring concerts (and summer, too, which is almost something else altogether) always have been on Tuesday evenings, so this works out providentially.

4. Playing liturgy and hymn Wednesday evening on the Johannus organ at Church On the Hill for brief Eucharist celebrating the Conversion of St. Paul.

5. A couple of rave reviews from clients for design projects I agree were outstanding solutions.

6. Solid conversation along with ideas to consider with P Friday morning.

7. Noticing the sky still was light at 5 pm/17:00 hours!

8. Continuing to get an interesting variety of design projects.

9. Facilitating Thursday evening bible study at Church Around the Corner again last week! Such great response―again!