Here I Go...

How long has it been since my last post? I knew this would happen! Now it’s a quarter past six in the morning and I can’t sleep, so this may be a great time to catch up.

When I last left you, Hillary and I were living at Trinity House Catholic Worker and I had just been mugged. Since then, Hillary went to the ER, we moved out of Trinity House, I got into “school”, we road-tripped to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon, made it back to Albuquerque in one piece (barely!) and we are now beginning to pack our things and wrap up here, as we prepare to make our way back to the South East (this time to Asheville, NC) just in time to catch the annual SOAW demonstration in Columbus, GA.

We still work at Trinity House, running hospitality, 3 days a week (we love the guests!), but we could not longer continue to reside there, due to an extreme allergy Hillary seems to have to an environmental allergen in the house (probably a mold that our bodies are unfamiliar with, being that we’re east coast ladies). She suffered a 14 day migraine that landed her in the ER, but which miraculously disappeared 2 days after sleeping elsewhere.

We are now living a block from Trinity House with a really lovely couple who we met at church! One is a former family practitioner, the other an Episcopal priest (Oh, if only Hillary and I were a bit more mainstream, they might well be us!). We are so grateful for the opportunity to get to meet, grow to know and live with such wonderful people! I am so amazed by their incredible hospitality; they took us in with no hesitation after meeting us once and very briefly! We have fallen into a comfortable rhythm of sharing meals, sharing chores and sharing time with each other. After struggling so hard to “make” community for so long, I have to laugh at the ease with which we have found it in this house. These people are such the example of Jesus’ teachings of hospitality- offering us not only shelter and food, but a home, meals, fellowship and mentorship. I think often of the perfect, beautiful, irony of coming here to Albuquerque with the intention of offering hospitality and finding myself so joyfully on the receiving end. If I were Hillary, I would be able to think of the verse in which Jesus blesses his disciples with the knowledge that they (we) will always have to be on the receiving end of hospitality and the works of mercy.

We went to Las Vegas, NV! And the Grand Canyon! I’m sure I don’t have to tell you I much preferred the latter. But, oh Las Vegas, what a trip.

It was a very cold ride, in an old veg-oil mercedes with no passenger side window. We wore many layers. (do you recognize that awesome red sweater that Hillary is wearing? That one I started knitting for her back in June? Well, it’s done!)

We caravaned with the lovely ladies in the center there: Mary and Sister Angeline. Never underestimate the speed of a nun! These ladies booked right passed us and kept on going! We finally convinced them to slow down for us young folks.

Las Vegas was… strange. We were there for the International Catholic Worker Gathering and didn’t do too much exploring of the “night life”, but what we did see was… overwhelming. The great epitome of American culture: MONEY, SEX(not the good kind), FOOD, DRUGS! emphasized with flashing lights and glitter to boot. We walked around a couple of casinos, mouths agape, and listened to drunken gamblers sing America the Beautiful with glasses raised in a bar within a casino. The gathering was fine. I’m easily overwhelmed by large groups of people, and there were some discouraging conversation with former friends from other communities, but I helped with a round table on sexuality in the Catholic Worker movement, met some interesting people, and got to hear Wes and Sue Howard-Brook give a talk connected to Wes’ new book: Unveiling Empire. The round table was perhaps a bit disappointing. I forget how far radical Christians have yet to come in terms of sex-positivity, but also how defensive they are about just how “tolerant”/”accepting” they and their communities are (just because you tolerate monogamously partnered gay and lesbian couples, does not mean you are sex-positive). But it’s a start.

We visited the Las Vegas Catholic Worker!

and headed back to Albuquerque, making one little stop along the way…

(Bobbie’s and my love is as deep as the canyon!)

I really didn’t feel like I could leave the South West without seeing it for myself.

We finally made it home after a bit of debacle and by the grace of God.

But now we’re trading scenery again.

These mountains…

for these…

Asheville, NC!

We hop on a bus in less than 2 weeks! We’ll arrive in Atlanta the night before my birthday and spend a couple of days with friends until heading down to Columbus for the SOAW demonstration (and to see my grandmother!). Then, it’s over to Alabama to pick up Hillary’s car, pup and eat some Thanksgiving food. We should arrive in Asheville a day or two after Thanksgiving!

See you there?