Enchantment

     My 5 days to Virginia's Eastern Shore were packed with striking images.  Long stretches of country roads and cornfields, a sense of unfolding history as Victorian houses, groves of trees, and mansions with tree lined entrances passed by.
     As we were headed up Rt. 13, I glanced over and saw a street lined with turn of the century homes facing each other, and nearby, acres and acres of cornfields.  These images will stay with me.  The occasional tractor would approach, requiring us to yield and move to the side a bit.

The Heart of Stone (from Exekiel 36: 24-28, NIV)

"I will take you out of the nations;
I will gather you from all the countries
and bring you back into your own land,
I will sprinkle clean water on you,
and you will be clean.
I will cleanse you from all your
impurities and from all your idols.

I will give you a new heart 

and put a new spirit in you.

I will remove from you your 

heart of stone and give you

a heart of flesh.
And I will put my spirit in you
and move you to follow my decrees and
be careful to keep my laws.
You will live in the land I gave your
forefathers; you will be my people,
and I will be your God."

Who moved the stone
that morning in the tomb.
It was rolled away, rolled away
for good.

Heart of Stone.

A rolling Stone.
That is me,

Seeking.

Thinking.

Listening.

Hoping.

I look inside my heart 

and see judgement

where I need to see acceptance.

And my heart is open to change.

God, create in my heart a 

new song,

a new song for Easter.

Remove the old fears,

for fears should not hold us back

from what is best for us.

It is right to keep pressing forward.

And so I press

forward,

toward the land of my ancestors.

my father and mother.

My great-grandfather who

fought in the Civil War.

My grandmother Birdie

who comforted her mother.

My father, Albert,

barely 19 when he entered

the First World War.

Tomorrow

I leave,

for my homeland,

Virginia.

Virginia.

The sound of it

rolls off my tongue like honey.

I will see the mountains again,

and the beautiful valley.

God, let any sadness from

my past fade like 

the fog of the morning mist.

Let my heart be full

of thanksgiving and 

praise,

and let me be a blessing

during this time

of celebration and reunion.

While I may not live in the land

forever,

I will be in the land

for a time.

A time with family

and old friends.

For I will be in the place of 

my childhood

and there will be rich

stories to bring back

of the people who

were happy to see me, who loved

me then,

and love me now.

And now I am back

Cousin Andy's Ancestors during the Civil War

got an email from cousin Andy last week:

"managed to get on a train of wounded back to Richmond from Manassas without having his leg amputated. He ended up staying with the family of  his Uncle, Gen. Joseph Ried Anderson who owned the Tredegar Iron Works and was nursed back to health by his cousin Ellen Graham Anderson.  (JRA was a field commander early in the war but was later brought back to Richmond to run the Tredegar because of its importance to the Confederacy.  They married but she only lived about a year – not sure of her cause of death but could have been childbirth. His second wife was Mary Louisa Blair and the youngest daughter was named Ellen Graham Anderson. MLB’s father was Col. William Barrett Blair and his wife was Judith Cornelia Nichol (daughter of Gov. Nichol of NY.) So we had conflicting loyalties within the family.

We plan to get to Richmond in the future and hope to see you.

Andy

Finding Beauty (c)

         "You can only 

find as much beauty 

as you carry."  

    Sometimes we fail

 to notice the beauty around us 

as we seek to find it 

elsewhere.

     

Me embracing the world on Tangier Island, Virginia, one year ago.

  

The House on Second Street (c)

The house on Second Street,

A product of the Gilded Age.

Marbled bathrooms,

Gas lights,

Brocaded curtains,

And porcelain in the parlor.

Waterford crystal,

Oriental rugs,

Tiffany lamps,

Add a servant or two, 

 Serving cocktails at 5.

Mysterious rooms,

Each painted a different color,

green, blue.

Imposing, dark.

Along came two young children,

One a toddler,

The other five,

Who laughed and teased,

And toured the downstairs

on a trike and a

wagon.

Laughter and innocence

 Echoed off those walls,

Then the two,

Husband and wife,

Separated,

Each to his own room.

Now everyone had their

Own big room,

Containing secrets,

No more, no more.

Like smoke,

those memories have faded

into their proper hue,
of gentle green and blue.

We can breathe now--

Well loved and

Protected
And secure.

Letter to Family

    Dear John and Chris,  had a nice and relaxing trip up to the Eastern Shore of Virginia and am staying on the water at Mimi and Jim's house on the water.  Had my first swim yesterday in their pool and enjoyed the sight of the egrets flying by.

 Last night we ate in Onancoke at the Inn and Garden Cafe and visited the art galleries in town.  I kept expecting to see a film crew drive past, as this was a "picture perfect" town on the water.  Some houses have deep water docks so people can keep their boats in their back yards, so to speak.  We topped the night off with a visit to the carnival, run by the volunteer fire department.  What a night!

I've known Mimi since my Richmond days, and later in Alaska...so nice to re-connect.