Sunday, January 23, 2005

Our Charming Little Blizzard


another snowy day somewhere
Originally uploaded by Peacebang.
I awoke this morning to the noise of 55 mph winds battering at the house, which was built in 1765.
Assuming we'd lose power today, I got in the shower immediately. A girl doesn't want to have to air dry her hair, after all. The house is clean, I've got dishes in the dishwasher and keeping my fingers crossed we don't lose power mid-cycle, and all the faucets are dripping hot water to avoid freezing pipes. The cat and I marvel at the scene, and even though the driveway has been plowed three times in the night, ain't no way I could have gotten around the corner to church this morning. The drifts in front of my door are chest level. My cute snow shoveling guy, Dan, stopped by last night to check on me. As he left he said the thing that warms the heart of every secretly whimpy lone homedweller: "Call me if you get scared." Everyone in town likes to take care of the single gal minister,who they think of as all spiritchal and stuff, and not much good at practical knowledge, and they're so right! Last night I had to call my neighbor Larry to ask if my fire was getting too big. Above all, I do NOT WANT TO BURN DOWN THIS HOUSE.

I am listening to this wonderful Frenchy jazzy gal named Madeleine Peyreux, courtesy of H & R who burned me a copy of the CD last weekend. Back in the days when we could leave our houses. I am even more grateful today to my mad compadres S and M, who spirited me off to the North End on Friday night. It was just what the Winter Doctor ordered, before the claustrophia-inducing blankets of white stuff.
If you have any deities of whom you are particularly fond, please appeal to them to get me on my flight to Savannah, GA tonight. Or even tomorrow morning would be okay. Thank you.

10 Comments:

Blogger fausto said...

Will your marvelous plow guy come to Milton?

Ours never came at all last night, even though when we hired him he had promised to do exactly what yours did during storms like this. He never even called. Instead he sent out a Portuguese-only-speaking crew at 10 this morning who couldn't make it up the driveway with their truck, and left with my 2+ (and climbing) feet of snow just sitting there, but not before handing me a bill.

(Were we Unitarians too hasty in abandoning the Calvinist view of human nature?)

10:51  
Blogger rebeccascott said...

That Madeleine Peyroux cd is such a winner. Expecially the first track, which is a cover of a Leonard Cohen song. A voice like Billie Holiday without trying to sound like her. knew you'd like it... http://www.madeleinepeyroux.com/

10:55  
Blogger PeaceBang said...

Smcisaac, dear,you raise a good point. I think it was an important theological innovation for Unitarians to reject Calvinist perspective on human nature, but not to replace it with broody-woody existentialism or New Age narcissistic humanism (e.g.: "humans are great! I'm my own God!"). We do best and have most integrity when our rejection of Calvinism leads us to an equally rigorous discipline of self-culture, which has its own Calvinistic sternness that comes from a rigorously honest and occasionally harsh assessment of one's own inner life, not from the judging Papa-God. Right now UUs are suffering from excess "up with people" self-esteem based humanism, which has all the holding power of Velveeta on a warm afternoon. And no, you can't have my shovel guy. ;-)

11:12  
Blogger PeaceBang said...

Hello Mama Rebecca! I LOVE Madeleine P. and thanks for the link.

11:14  
Blogger fausto said...

What we need is a Covenant of UU Pelagians. First order of business would be developing a sixth- and seventh grade RE curriculum on "salvation by character", then an Adult RE one. Or maybe vice versa. Use likenesses of Channing and Clarke as a logo instead of the flaming chalice.

My snow guy still hasn't called back. I've called him three times.

11:38  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am Mrs Philocrites' snow guy, and am I ever glad that she canceled her Sunday School. Our little Honda won't be going anywhere for a while, although I have finally dug a clear path out to the street. Happily, we are urban dwellers and have only eight feet of driveway to worry about. Unhappily, our side street is low on the list of streets to plow. Mm, mm: love that hot chocolate!

16:41  
Blogger PeaceBang said...

The idea of a "Salvation by Character" curriculum featuring Channing and J.F.Clarke has my lip quivering like Dorothy's in "The Wizard of Oz."
There's no place like home ... there's no place like home... there's no place like home...
Can you imagine the notion of self-culture with some actual theological grounding? I swoon.

17:13  
Blogger Chalicechick said...

((( Use likenesses of Channing and Clarke as a logo instead of the flaming chalice.))

*ahem*

Should I be taking that one personally?

21:04  
Blogger fausto said...

No, there are many webheads who could appropriately be described as 'flaming', but you, cc, are the very picture of level-headed rationality.

07:32  
Blogger Chalicechick said...

The CSO made a very unpleasant snorting noise when I read him that last post.

CC

11:30  

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