Beautiful Sunday

Today was wonderful. Actually, this whole weekend was pretty alright. I did a lot but also managed to find time to rest/rejunvenate. It's a rare occasion when you find that right balance. Saturday morning was Help the Homeless walkathon in DC. My agency was a beneficiary of this so we were all out walking in support of. Walkathons and demonstrations and such take on a whole new meaning and scale when in a city so big. There must have been around 20,000 people for this walkathon and the weather & route were beautiful. We began in front of the Capitol building and walked around the tidal basin, past all the memorials. Not a bad way to start off a Saturday morning, walking 5K with 20,000 of your closest friends. But I guess it took it's toll on me cause I had the sweetest nap that afternoon. Our house is still freezing (it's about 13 degrees in here right now) so laying on my bed in the sun with the block heater on was a nice way to spend the afternoon. It also worked out well because my housemate Marissa and I decided to take in the new Harry Potter movie (it didn't finish until 1:15am!). But it was wonderful. I can't wait for the last book to be out!! Needless to say, I slept in a little this morning. Didn't make it to a morning service but headed over to the church for the after service forum on Energy and social justice. One of the speakers was a rabbi who is the director of the Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light ("a non-profit initiative that helps congregations, religious institutions and others in the Washington, D.C. area work for a more just, sustainable and healthier creation by reducing the threat of global warming"). They have a website to be checked out: http://www.gwipl.org/. More interesting food for faith/political thought. And because it was such a beautiful sunny day I decided to take advantage of the weather and get in a bike ride (I'm still pinching myself - to think it's November 20th and I'm still riding my bike and not freezing). I tried out a new trail which just happened to take me past the huge Mormon temple just north of here. So of course I had to stop by and check out their visitor's centre. I don't really know what I was expecting but of course I was immediately met by a very nice woman who told me all about the good news of Mormon. The centre was set up like a museum with different displays and such like of Joseph Smith discovering the golden tablets. It was pretty cool though (I know that Rhett would have loved it!). And so I ended my beautiful Sunday by attending the monthly Taize service at Christ Lutheran Church in DC with 3 of my housemates. Followed by a very tasty Tex-Mex potluck meal. Now, I look forward to a shortened work week and my second Thanksgiving of the year. It will be good.

Remembrance/Veterans Day Weekend

Another weekend done and gone and a beautiful one it was. The weather was absolutely gorgeous today. And it was made even better by the fact that I got to do one of my most favourite activities - canoeing!! The first time since the beginning of July. One of the women on the volunteer corps board has this tiny 16 pound canoe and together we went out to the canal and had a little paddle & walk. Of course we can't both fit in this tiny canoe together so we took turns. This woman is wonderful though. She's in her early 80's, recently widowed and oh so active. If I can only be as active as she is when I'm her age, I'll be so happy. Anyways, I'm already having dreams of next summer...so many canoeing possibilities!

Our poor beautiful house has been having some issues lately. Fortunately the weather has been nice or else we'd be in trouble. We're having furnace/thermostat problems. That is, they aren't working. It doesn't matter how high the thermostat is set (even 90 degrees - fahrenheit of course) the house won't heat up past 60 degrees (which is like 15 degrees celcius). Not so much fun when it's like 5 or 10 degrees outside and close to freezing at night. But someone's coming to look at the furnace on Friday and I have a block heater in my room so at least I'm set - it's just the rest of the house that must suffer. Our washing machine also decided to quit this weekend. Probably cause it's too cold ;) Anyways, it's only stopped agitating during the wash cycle but will still rinse and spin. So if we want we can at least soak and rinse our clothes. Again, we're too lucky as a new washer will likely be installed within the week. But our house always keeps us on our toes.

One of the more interesting things I did this weekend was go the National Holocaust Memorial Museum on Saturday. If you're ever in Washington, I highly recommend it. Not easy subject matter but so well done. It was just a wonderful way to honour Remembrance Day weekend. The permanent exhibit of the museum is on 3 different levels and you start at the top and work your way down. The top level is about the Nazi rise to power, anti-semitism and events leading up to the beginning of the Holocaust. The middle level is about 'the Final Solution' and the lower level looks to the future while also highlighting some of the heroes of the resistance movement. It's a lot to take in but I found there were certain visuals that really made an impact. The museum has a lot of video footage of the concentration camps and newsreels of the time. Also a lot of artifacts from the camps. You can go inside one of the cattle cars and they have displays filled with some of the artifacts that were taken from the people before they were killed. It really made for some good reflection for myself. Realising how we continue to be guilty of silence even today as there is so much violence, hatred and genocide occuring around the world. Near the end of the exhibition they had one quote posted that I had heard before but it never really hit home quite the same way:

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out.

- Rev. Martin Niemoller

An important thought for us to take seriously. It was a very sobering experience.

November 6th...high of 24 degrees Celcius!!

Well it's kind of late on a Sunday night, particularly because I have to work tomorrow but I figure I should write now while the weekend is still fresh in my mind. And it was a good weekend so I want to share ;) Saturday night my housemate Valentine and I went and saw the memorials which were incredibly beautiful. I had never seen them in the daylight either but by night they were gorgeous - all lit up. Both the Vietnam and Korean War memorials were especially moving. The Vietnam memorial is very simple. Just two long walls that meet to form a corner filled with the names of every soldier who died during the war. The names are grouped chronologically by date of death. I think perhaps the fact that the Vietnam war is more recent and because there are many parallels to made with the current Iraq war (or so I think) make the memorial particularly powerful. Lincoln & Jefferson were also very nice by moonlight...classic DC attractions.

The highlight of my weekend though was definitely the church service I attended this morning. Valentine and I (again) were planning on attending a service at Luther Place (a Lutheran Church in downtown DC) but when we arrived there for 11 there was a sign on the door saying that the service was at 10 am this Sunday. So we headed back to one of the churches we had passed on the way from the metro stop and ended up at Foundry United Methodist Church. First off, the building was just incredible. The sanctuary had a high domed ceiling and lots of stained glass windows. And there must have been 300-400 people at the service. It was an interesting service for a few reasons. Just this past week the United Methodist Judicial committee (or something of the like) had given one of their ministers the right to bar a gay man from membership in his congregation. This was a big deal because apparently the United Methodist bishops (worldwide) have denounced this ruling. At the beginning of the service the minister spent a fair bit of time explaining the situation and asserting his disagreement and disappointment with the ruling. I've been totally impressed and blown away by the strong political stances taken by all of the DC churches I've been to when it comes to the issue of being accepting of all people regardless of sexual orientation. It makes me excited and hopeful for the Church and Christianity. Apart from this the service was also incredible. They had special music for All Saint's Sunday. A full choir, soloists and string players did Schubert's Mass in G and the music was so moving. The service was very traditional but at the same time very open, touching and personal. All in all, for a first experience at a United Methodist church it was most definitely amazing.

And now, it's Sunday night, work tomorrow and time for bed. Grey's Anatomy has just finished and as per usual, was really really good. So until next week...or sooner.

At Home in My Room

Just a few shots of my cozy little room. It's the former porch and it's the only room in the house with wood panelling. I like it a lot :)