RENEWAL

The website's not that complicated: www.renewingcreation.org - and nor is the idea: a group of students dedicated to working together on sustainability initiatives recognizing that we are meant to be Stewards of the earth not Abusers.  

It's something I've dreamed of seeing happen and now it has due to a group of dedicated folks.  

It all kicked off with a conference at Eastern University and continues with a day of prayer on the 29th.  Totally cool.  So if you get it - that is you get that this earth isn't something we can just take advantage of - join in on the 29th and say a little prayer that we all have better guidance when it comes to taking care of creation.  

After all, as T.S. Elliot said, "A wrong attitude toward nature implies, somewhere, a wrong attitude about God."  

And that can't be a good thing.

Sad

A little less than a year ago this was the scene.  I'm fine with them not winning the World Series -they're my team no matter what.  But I still feel sad that they lost.  I feel sad that a called strike on what should have been a ball ended the 8th prematurely.  And I'm sad that there will be no more baseball in beantown until '09.  But what a year it has been, and what a year it will be come April '09.

"Vacation" or 1000+ mile road trip

So I'm 903 miles, and 8 days of my 1460 mile, 9 day road trip.  A few hundred miles remain as this evening I'll be trecking back north for a stop in Simpson, PA only to leave again tomorrow morning for Dover, NH.

I've seen almost 100 people I've known for years and met another 50 or so "new friends".  I've given 2 talks, led icebreakers, introduced speakers, gone to bonfires, soccer games, and classes I'm not registerd for in a school I don't attend.  I've eaten omlets with the Newman Club, made people laugh, dug holes, planted plants, eaten at the union, falcon, and am on my way to lottie. 

 

I've seen the creek, I've birdwatched, I've cuddled with friends.  I've had beer with MC alumni, used the alumni bathroom, and visited K.P.'s house.  I've laughed, I've been worked up to tears, and I've slept (though not enough).  I've slept on beds, floors, and couches.  I've eaten out, eaten in, and eaten leftovers.  I've seen the Red Sox lose to the point of a 3-1 Tampa lead, and I've seen the Red Sox come back from a 7 run deficit in the 7th to win 8-7 in what may just be the greatest game ever, and soon I'll see a game 7.   

The floor of my car is "slowly" filling up with trash from coffee cups, maps, and directions.  My clothes are once again dirty and in need of a wash.  

I took pictures, I took video, and more importantly I took memories, lessons, and encouragement.  

Messiah isn't a life left behind but a life within that will be with me and each of my gatherings with alumns over the rest of my years.

So here's to roadtrips, friends, memories, reliving the past as part of the future, and never leaving anyone left behind.

the old place

what the water did....

the walls are now gone.... 

the new place

kitchen

one "bedroom'' - the living room looks the same

bathroom

one of the other two bedrooms... also has a closet... its 12.5 feet by 13.5 feet... 

My Mom will like this

As a kid

At 21

Same duck pond and same Willow

Best Birding Day Ever for Me - Including a Red Phalarope

OK so its been over a month and hopefully that NEVER happens again!  But I will make it up to you by my impressive one day total (a lifetime high for me but hopefully I will out-do myself soon!).  

It was Bioblitz day at Odiorne State Park on the Seacoast of NH so I spent most of my day IDing birds with all of the birders.  I even had a few that I called first (a good feeling indeed).  

Then in the evening a few of us headed over to Exeter to check out a Red Phalarope that was reported and we sure enough saw it!  It was in the waste water treatment plant with a bunch of Green and Blue Winged Teal, Mallards, and a Ruddy Duck.

Some of the other highlights of the day including releasing a bird (A Northern Waterthrush) from a mist-net after the banders measured it (they also had a Magnolia Warbler when I was there which was very neat to examine so closely).  This was right after we called out a Virginia Rail from the marsh AND saw my first ever Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow.  

I had a great time with friends and also ID'ed plants and shared some of my botanical knowledge around.  

The Overall list for me for the day was:

1. American Black Duck
2. American Crow
3. American Goldfinch
4. American Redstart
5. American Robin
6. Barn Swallow
7. Belted Kingfisher
8. Black-and-white Warbler
9. Black-bellied Plover
10. Black-capped Chickadee
11. Black-crowned Night Heron
12. Blackpoll Warbler
13. Blue Jay
14. Blue-headed Vireo
15. Blue-winged Teal
16. Bonaparte’s Gull
17. Canada Goose
18. Carolina Wren
19. Cedar Waxwing
20. Common Eider
21. Common Yellowthroat
22. Double-crested Cormorant
23. Downy Woodpecker
24. Dunlin
25. Eastern Bluebird
26. Eastern Phoebe
27. European Starling
28. Golden-crowned Kinglet
29. Gray Catbird
30. Great Black-backed Gull
31. Great Blue Heron
32. Great Cormorant
33. Great Egret
34. Greater Yellowlegs
35. Green-winged Teal
36. Herring Gull
37. Horned Grebe
38. House Finch
39. Laughing Gull
40. Magnolia Warbler
41. Mallard
42. Marsh Wren
43. Merlin
44. Mourning Dove
45. Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow
46. Northern Cardinal
47. Northern Flicker
48. Northern Gannet
49. Northern Mockingbird
50. Northern Pintail
51. Northern Waterthrush
52. Peregrine Falcon
53. Prairie Warbler
54. Red Phalarope
55. Red-eyed Vireo
56. Red-necked Grebe
57. Red-tailed Hawk
58. Red-winged Blackbird
59. Ring-billed Gull
60. Rock Pigeon
61. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
62. Ruddy Duck
63. Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow
64. Sanderling
65. Savannah Sparrow
66. Semipalmated Plover
67. Semipalmated Sandpiper
68. Snowy Egret
69. Song Sparrow
70. Spotted Sandpiper
71. Surf Scoter
72. Swamp Sparrow
73. Tree Swallow
74. Turkey Vulture
75. Virginia Rail
76. Yellow Warbler
77. Yellow-rumped Warbler
78. Tern sp.