Starr King View
February 2008 Newsletter
Schedule of Sunday Services - 9:30 a.m.
February 3: “How Music Changes Our Lives”
The Rev. Sarah C. Stewart preaching.
February 10: “The Rabbit Who Stole Groundhog Day”
Worship for all ages presented by Religious Education and Worship and Music Committees
February 17: “Spiritual but Not Religious”
The Rev. Sarah C. Stewart preaching.
February 24: “All Are Chosen”
The Rev. Sarah C. Stewart preaching.
Continuing the Dream
In 1980, a group of people answered an ad in the paper and a dream began. The dream continued in 1994 when those people together with others who had joined them, courageously built the meetinghouse. And now it is up to us to continue the dream they started.
The Continuing the Dream Capital Campaign begins next month with a kickoff event to which all members are invited. Save the date – Saturday, March 8.
Capital Campaign Committee
Activities Committee
Activities Committee has planned a sledding party for Saturday afternoon, February 16, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Donor's house. They live on Page Rd. in Campton. Bring sleds or coasters or try one of the Donor's toboggans. Bring a snack to share.
Once again we were able to contract with "Two Fiddles" to do a barn dance on March 22. Put it on your calendar now for a good time.
In Fellowship February 2008
As we move toward expanding our fellowship building, we have been looking back toward the building of our current space in 1994. Those who worked on that building remember fondly the physical labor that fellowship members and friends put into the construction. The woodwork, including the sanctuary floor; the lighting structure in the sanctuary ceiling; the front entryway; the back ramp and planters; all these things and many more were crafted and installed by members of the fellowship. If you weren’t part of our community then (as I wasn’t), I encourage you to find someone who was and talk to him or her about that project. It was a moment of great accomplishment and good work in the history of the fellowship.
This time around, the builders whom the Building Committee has interviewed have indicated that there will be less opportunity for sweat equity. I can imagine fellowship members and friends painting and doing finishing work at the end, but it’s not clear how much
chance we’ll have to help with the building itself. But before you feel too downhearted about that, remember that we still have many opportunities to put our “sweat equity” and labor into the life of the fellowship. We can put sweat equity into our program.
One area of our program which really needs our efforts right now is the Religious Education program. After seven years our Director of Religious Education has left to become the Christian Education Coordinator at Plymouth Congregational Church. She is one
of the many people our fellowship has sent into the world to continue her vocation of religious leadership. We have a great search committee in place for a new Director of Religious Education. But it might be several months before we hire the perfect new Director of Religious Education. In that time, we have the opportunity to put sweat equity into the children’s religious education program. Sign up to spend a Sunday, or several Sundays, with our children. There is a great curriculum available to teach our children about the basics of Unitarian Universalism. What better way to support our program and our budget with your efforts than to have fun with our kids on a Sunday morning?
There are congregations that hire people to accomplish all the work of the congregation. One of our strengths as a fellowship is that everybody gets involved. Our program is truly volunteer-led. Keep up this great and proud tradition by contributing your time and energy to our program and our new building.
In fellowship,
Sarah
RE NEWS
The start of the New Year has brought many new, as well as returning, faces to the SKUUF RE program. We are so happy to see everyone. The children are hard at work getting ready for the annual February production. This year the play is titled “The Rabbit Who Stole Groundhog Day.” The children are hard at work, not only working on costumes and practicing their lines but also, with the help of the Worship and Music committee and the Choir, planning the service for February 10.
We are now having two separate programs being run downstairs. Cindy Spring has been working with the three to six year olds on the Storytime curriculum. It is such fun to see so many bright new smiling young faces! The older group, seven to twelve years old, will be working on the UU Alphabet once the play is completed in February. Our first day will be on February 24 with the letter A for alphabet, to introduce the children to the spring curriculum! We look forward to seeing one and all.
This year we are encouraging one and all to attend the tobogganing party at the Doners on February 16 as we will not be hosting a sledding party on a Sunday this year. See Activities Committee article on page one for details!
RE Calendar for February
February 3: Chapel downstairs for all
3-6 year olds - Storytime
7-12 year olds - Play rehearsal/final practice
February 10: Worship for All Ages upstairs.
The Rabbit Who Stole Groundhog Day
February 17: Winter hike to Rainbow Falls 7-12 yrs Leave at 9:30 return by 11:30
3 –6 yrs. Storytime (or the hike if parents wish)
February 24: 3-6 yrs. Storytime
7-12 yrs. A is for Alphabet
There will be childcare available every Sunday in the Nursery as well.
Volunteers are needed to help with “Storytime” and “The UU alphabet.” See a member of the RE committee to see how you can help!
Aluminum Cans
Remember to bring your aluminum cans to SKUUF. Let us continue to recycle for the good of SKUUF and the planet.
Parents Night Out
A great time was had by all; parents, babysitters and children who participated in the first of the year Parents Night Out. Volunteer sitters and children played in the nursery while parents enjoyed great conversation and food nearby at the Common Man.
If you are interested in participating, sign up in the foyer. The next date is February 2.
We hope to have the group grow as we continue to meet the first Saturday of each month from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
From Your Prez ~
Last month I wrote about the Capital Campaign and all the folks who are busily working on it. I thought it might be good to tell you how things are looking at this point.
Most of you know that we spent last spring and much of the summer writing up a five-year strategic plan. It was approved by the membership and became the “blueprint” for the Building Committee. The Committee met with Stu White, the architect who designed our meetinghouse, and he drew up plans to fulfill the visions captured in the five-year plan.
In December the membership voted to accept the preferred building plan and to increase the amount of funds available to the Building Committee for further work.
We are very fortunate as a Fellowship to have received gifts from a former friend and two former members to use toward improving our building. These gifts have made it possible to begin the process even though the Capital Campaign has not yet begun.
On January 27 the members of the Fellowship will vote to approve the Capital Campaign. A few weeks ago, Tamsin Kemos, a financial consultant from the Unitarian Universalist Association, gave us the results of her feasibility study. She spoke with thirty members and friends of SKUUF and found that we could raise over $400,000 through a Capital Campaign. We already have almost $300,000 set aside for the project, so if all goes well we will be 2/3rds of the way to our goal. (The current building plan, which includes much more space, better accessibility, and energy saving techniques, will cost $1,100,000 to $1,200,000.)
So where will the rest of the money come from? The Board is exploring a few grant opportunities, one from the UUA and another from the Concord, New Hampshire Congregation. We will also be looking into bank financing.
In May, at the Annual Meeting, the membership will be voting on both the final plan and the financial arrangements needed to get there.
I am very excited about this project. With added space and accessibility we can do so much more for our members, our friends, and our community.
Cindy Spring
The 2008 SKUUF Directories are ready
Pick up your copy from the basket on the Guest Table in the foyer. Although a great deal of effort has been made to insure accuracy, there are bound to be errors. If there is a mistake in your information or if your address, phone number or email changes, please notify our Office Assistant. We will publish corrections in the newsletter from time to time.
Remember to wear your Nametag.
It helps Everyone.
Adult Ed - Sundays at 11:00 a.m.
February 3 - Planning for the Unexpected: When Medical Decisions Must Be Made by Someone Else
Are you thinking about End of Life Planning? Do you have a Health Care Power of Attorney for someone else? Learn about the issues within the context of New Hampshire Law.
February 10 - Health & Aging
When do we start to prepare for a healthy "old age"? What is it one must do to be healthy and happy during their senior years? How can we help each other and our families maximize their health? There will be an overview of current health research and then a discussion on the myths, facts and experiences that can assist us all in being healthier.
This information was presented to the Wise Women in Training group whose members requested that it be presented to the whole fellowship.
February 17 - Maximizing the Potential of Your Home Computer and Reducing Energy Consumption at the Same Time
Most homes have multiple electronics items that consume a great deal of energy. Much of what we do with our computers now involves so much multimedia that they can function as well as our televisions, DVD players and stereos to entertain us. Learn what you can do to replace an entire entertainment system with just your computer and reduce your energy consumption.
February 24 - Training for Readers
A training session to improve your public presence and help you get involved as a reader for our Sunday services. Come to learn how to be confident in front of others, and use your voice and body to the best of your ability while reading and speaking in public.
Notes from the Treasurer
Welcome to February everyone! I hope that you all are well, or well on your way to recovering.
By the time that you read this we will have made the next decision on our way to expanding the SKUUF building. I have never been involved in a capital campaign before and it is with a bit of trepidation that I have approached developing the estimates of cost and the future year budgets. An estimated budget will be presented at the January 27 meeting to show an integrated picture of how all of this will fit together financially. For me it is both an exciting time and a bit of a scary time- I am not used to working with numbers that size.
I have also been working on the draft budget for the next fiscal year, FY 2009 that will start in July 2008. We, the committee chairs and I, have been working to keep the budgets as low as we can for the next few years to balance the pressure of the capital campaign for our resources. I say “our”- they are mine as well as yours, and it is important for me to remember that.
Watch this space for future developments related to our capital campaign’s finances!
SKUUF Finances Snapshot as of January 16, 2008
Fiscal Year to Date:
Income $ 73,587.72
Expenses $ 70,092.01
Important Balances
Operating Funds $ 17,015.69
Building Funds* $ 244,290.60
Endowment Funds* $ 11,632.23
Remaining Principle on Meetinghouse
$ 44,333.03
This represents only selected funds and liabilities. Please note that this is not a full accounting of assets or liabilities. If you would like more detailed information feel free to talk to Gary, or me.
*These funds represent multiple accounts grouped together.
Big, Big UU District Celebration
April 11 and 12
at UNH in Durham, NH
You may recall we’ve mentioned this upcoming celebration. And much has been written about it in the District newsletter which all members of our congregation should have just received in the mail. Registration forms and information are in the Foyer (look for the bright yellow packet).
Plan to come for the night of April 11, for the day of April 12, or for both. Home hospitality will be available for those who would like to stay overnight. We will arrange carpools from Plymouth. Families will have childcare provided, and there will be a children’s program organized by Peter Bowden, a children’s television producer who has worked on Peep and the Big Wide World and the new Curious George show.
The celebration is for all of us, bringing together into one powerful new UU District the congregations of the three Northern New England States. The process leading to this celebration has been a long and meaningful journey for the many folks in our own congregation who’ve been working hard on this at many levels (ministry, religious education, legal, and financial).
The President of the UUA, Bill Sinkford, will speak. Bill also has a special time planned to be with all the youth present. We will open with a banner parade of all the member congregations present from Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. We will be singing a song written specifically for this celebration. On Saturday morning there will be a final vote for consolidation which our SKUUF delegates will have the honor of casting. It will end on Saturday afternoon with a ceremony that will include a 3-state choir, Greek Chorus, and Liturgical Dance, as we retire symbols of the old Districts and bring in the new!
Come and be part of a truly historical event! It really will be special if we have a good representation from SKUUF, and I hope you will plan to join me in Durham.
Newsletter Deadline
March Newsletter deadline is Friday, February 15, 2008.
Building Committee
Along with the architect and the construction manager, the building committee has been meeting weekly to refine the project design so the construction manager can supply the next cost estimate for the addition. Our previous estimates were based on an average cost per square foot. This time estimates will be for the various construction areas (i.e. carpentry vs electrical vs. HVAC). Much like the plans, each successive estimate will be more accurate than the last one. Most of our meetings this month have been used to bring the construction manager up to speed on the project and allow him to ask questions of the architect and us.
By the time this reaches you, we should receive a report from FoamTec who evaluated the insulation in the current building and will make recommendations on how to improve problem areas.
Our plans have moved from “fat line” sketches to computerized AutoCAD drawings...now they look “official,” although revisions will continue. These new beautiful plans were hung in the foyer for you to see at any time. Our computer generated “walk-thru” of the addition is coming along nicely. We will soon see roof lines, windows and other exciting design features.
As always, feel free to talk to any of us about your concerns, ideas or comments!
Circle Dinners This Spring
For the first time, at least in recent memory, we will be holding Circle Dinners in the spring. We are hoping for five or six volunteer hosts. As usual, we will want to spread them out, starting them in late March and concluding toward the middle or end of May. We like a range of locations too, so all the dinners aren't either north of Plymouth or south. We will need at least one home which would work well with children as well as their parents. A Sunday brunch often works well for this. In addition, we hope to have at least one Friday evening, one Saturday evening, and one weekday evening. A second Sunday brunch would also work.
For those of you new to Circle Dinners, these are potlucks at various SKUUF homes. Usually there are six to twelve guests. They last for about three hours. They're a wonderful way to have a good time and get to know folks you may not have had much chance to talk with before. You don't have to be a member or to even have been around for very long at SKUUF to host a dinner. You just need to have an interest in doing it. When we have the list of Circle Dinner locations, there will be sign-up lists in the foyer.
Lost Your Coat?
Please check the coat rack in the foyer. On the right end there are four coats that have been around for quite a while. One of them could be yours.
Social Justice
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
The February outreach is the Pemi Youth Center located on Main Street in Plymouth. The collection for the Pemi Youth Center will be taken on February 24.
The Pemi Youth Center, Inc. is a New Hampshire not-for-profit organization founded in 1999, which provides a safe and well-supervised after-school destination, serving youth ages eleven to seventeen of Grafton County, New Hampshire. Especially targeted are those young people experiencing problems at school – academic or otherwise – or who are in a dysfunctional domestic situation, including those referred by the state District Court system.
The Pemi Youth Center believes that the youth of today need to be reconnected to their community and to realize that they are valued members of that community. Their mission is to provide a safe and welcoming place where youth may gather outside of school and gain a sense of community, belonging and self-esteem. The Pemi Youth Center provides for the holistic needs of our youth through academic assistance, mentoring, art initiatives, support groups, recreational activities, nutritional guidance, early alcohol and drug prevention and intervention, and community service learning. They seek to provide positive role models and mentors for our youth through our PSU student and community volunteers. All services, programs and activities at the Pemi Youth Center are offered at no cost to local youth and families.
They collaborate with many area organizations and institutions to bring programming to local youth. These organizations and institutions include, Plymouth State University, CADY Inc., ADAPT Inc., Whole Village Family Resource Center, Lakes Region Community Services Council and Friends of the Arts.
They take steps to address the local issues that affect Plymouth’s area pre-teen and teen population and provide an alternative to the negative influences. Locally, they are focusing on increasing the opportunities, skills and rewards, which promote positive development in a nurturing environment. They stress the importance of strong relationships and work on preventing the continuation of generational abuse/neglect by modeling healthy parent/child bonds. They guide young people in making healthy choices for themselves and by doing so they are not only supporting youth in their daily lives, but are instilling in them a sense of commitment to themselves, their families, their communities and future generations.
SOCIAL JUSTICE CONCERNS
The Social Justice Committee continues to explore ways to act on the priorities set by the Fellowship at our fall potluck. The evening of January 16 was available to the Executive Director of the Granite State Fair Tax Coalition, Paul Henle, to help us understand the unfair aspects of property tax issues in New Hampshire. We had a good audience of a number of people who had not been in our building at all before. Questions asked after the viewing of a DVD on our new large TV were tough and gave those of us listening practice in what we might expect at our individual town meetings. Everyone left with a petition for their respective town and were connected with Jane Armstrong, LWVNH president who is organizing petition drives in our area. We have until February 5 at the very latest to get the number of signatures needed.
Our next committee meetings will focus on sustainable living projects in which we hope to involve all members and friends. We welcome new committee members anytime. We continue to meet the first Thursday morning of each month at 8:30 a.m. Check with us about the location.
Community Closet
Remember, the Community Closet can always use our help. There is a basket in the foyer for your non-breakable food contributions. You can drop off canned or boxed goods anytime.
Our Favorite Books for 2007
(As space allows, each month we will list
some of the books mentioned in our annual
Book Sharing service.)
Jubilee Trail by Given Bristol
The Kite Runner by Gary Mortenson
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson
An Ordinary Life Transformed
by Stephanie Rutt
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
Skill with People by Les Giblin
Share-a-Book Grows!
A SKUUF member shared her story of the importance of books in her childhood in the section of the service for all ages before the holiday. She inspired many of us to share our love of books and reading by giving to our Spanish book project at SKUUF.
Several folks added to the theme with creative ways to help children and grandchildren understand the importance of sharing. We can help you find a Spanish-English book pair, such as the Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. The child in your life will enjoy their own copy, and the copy in Spanish will be sent on to the children in Nicaragua. We are sending a set of picture books for a regular story hour this year, as well as some practical books on health and nutrition for our adult friends.
We are winding up our annual fund-raising for this project, but there is still time to write a check if you have not yet done so. Thank you to all who have already made this a special year for the families in Nicaragua!
Campus Ministry
Bring your sweetheart!
The United Campus Ministry at Plymouth State University will hold its Fourth Annual Cabaret fundraiser on Valentine's Day (Thursday February 14) at 8:00 p.m. in the Hartman Union Building on campus. Starr King Fellowship has a long history of involvement with this progressive, interfaith campus ministry.
Tickets are $25 for an evening of dessert, coffee and live music. Please see Sarah Stewart for tickets or more information.
Green Sanctuary Committee
The UU Ministry of the Earth, which facilitates the Green Sanctuary Program nationwide, has developed a new manual for guiding Green Sanctuary programs in individual congregations. We are in the process of receiving this new manual and determining what this will mean for our program and application for Green Sanctuary status.
As a Committee we remain committed to working with the Building Committee, Architect and Contractor to assure both the new addition and current structure meet high performance standards and particularly thank the Building Committee and Architect for their diligence in designing for this outcome.
We hope some members of the Fellowship will be able to participate in the UU Ministry for the Earth suggested event for January - FOCUS THE NATION.
On January 31, Focus the Nation, a national teach-in, plans a day of focused discussion about global warming solutions for America, at all educational levels. For faith organizations and civic groups, there is a second way to Focus the Nation: host a screening of Focus the Nation’s free, live interactive webcast, The 2% Solution, the night of Wednesday, January 30. This interactive, special production will feature Stanford Professor Stephen Schneider, green jobs pioneer Van Jones, and business consultant Hunter Lovins, and will be available free of charge on Earth Day TV. The webcast will be ideal for sparking small group discussion, and help your group participate in the national citizen vote on global warming solutions. http://www.focusthenation.org/nationalteachin.php
On February 14, at 7:00 p.m. the Green Sanctuary Committee will host a public showing of the documentary What a Way to Go – life at the end of empire. This is described as a disturbing, compassionate, sometimes humorous personal essay about coming to grips with climate change, resource crises, environmental meltdown, and the demise of the American lifestyle. Friends and experts analyze the historical, social and psychological factors driving us toward human extinction. The filmmakers challenge the audience to face the future with courage and integrity. Daniel Quinn, author of Ishmael and the Story of B, is quoted as describing this film this way, “The two hours of this documentary are two hours that bring hope for the future of humanity by awakening and informing in the most profound yet lucid way imaginable.”
7th Principle
Green de-icing tips
The most common de-icing compound is sodium chloride - salt. When applied, it melts any snow or ice on roads and sidewalks and helps prevent new ice from forming. Sodium chloride is a very effective de-icing agent, is very easy to obtain and is inexpensive. The problem is that up to 90% of the salt enters the soil near the road as runoff or splash and may even wind up a great distance away in waterways. The widespread use of salt has created a number of environmental problems, including:
- damage to roadside and garden vegetation.
- contamination of well water
- increased salinity of waterways
- corrosion of vehicles and infrastructure
Also, Salt can play havoc with soil nitrate and ammonium levels. Over a period of time, the salt laden soil can nitrify ammonium at a faster rate, and these nitrates then wind up in local waterways. Very low levels of nitrates increase the risk of eutrophication of rivers and lakes, plus cause algae blooms in coastal waters.
There's no doubt that icy roads are a killer; so something certainly needs to be done and some governments are looking into various other substances that can be used. Calcium Magnesium Acetate (CMA) and Potassium acetate (KA) are both biodegradable materials that have less of an environmental impact than rock salt. Unfortunately, both CMA and KA are more expensive and ideally need to be applied directly to surfaces before snow and ice is able to build up. Another option being researched is the use of beet juice mixed with brine. Once sugar has been extracted from sugar beets, a waste product remains that producers noticed never froze. This mix has been in use in several states, including Illinois.
For around your own home and car, here are some other de-icing substances I have found mentioned on the web which may have a less negative impact on the environment when compared to rock salt.
· Spreading urea instead of rock salt. (Urea is still a salt, but with less impact. Rock salt will melt ice down to 5°F, while urea will only melt ice down to 25°F).
· Calcium chloride (pretty much as above)
· Fireplace ash
· Sand
· Sprinkle baking soda lightly over steps
· Volcanic rock
· A tablespoon of rubbing alcohol mixed with a quart of water, and a drop dishwashing liquid. Increase alcohol levels for a more rapid effect.
Regardless of what you using for de-icing, bear in mind that more is not necessarily better, so always follow the manufacturers’ guidelines for any product you use in order to further minimize environmental damage.
For keeping your car's windscreen free of ice, fill your windshield wiper tank with a mix of one part water and two parts vinegar and use the mix prior to leaving your vehicle for the night - this should help prevent ice build up.
(Help tips from:
Michael Bloch/Green Living Tips.com)
Words from Walter
ONE DAY IT ALL CAME TOGETHER –– SORT OF
Three aluminum foil balloons entered our house on the first of November. Barbara, daughter-in-law to my wonderful wife, Lisa, blithely brought them for my birthday. They were helium filled, brilliantly reflective, round, small, and a bit flat like extra sofa cushions, and each tied with a long thin pink ribbon. Barbara secured them all together in one knot to a lamp shade in our living room and joined us for tea. Soon her husband, Chip, Lisa’s eldest son, arrived for dinner and brought wine for the celebration. (I wrote, above, that my wife, Lisa is wonderful; so are Barbara and Chip.) It was a lovely little party, and the balloons lent a festive air to it but otherwise were largely ignored.
Immediately following our guest’s departure I found myself sitting down in the living room, relaxing, and studying the balloons. They floated with each other quite close together, high in the air –– about seven feet above the floor –– gently twisting, turning, casually massaging each other, and moving slowly in a generous circle about
four to five feet below our high, sloping ceiling. The somewhat bizarre effect of all this was a very happy and settling one.
In the following days and nights the three balloons were always in gentle slow-motion –– veering, bumping, trading positions, one ducking under the other or soaring over the third –– and their brilliant, wavering surfaces bounced bits of light all about the room. When the source of light was the sun, the balloons flashed beads as bright as diamonds with tiny rainbow spectrums in each bit of brilliant, beautiful, nearly blinding light.
I guess I had already started to anthropomorphize these innocent little balloons. Anthropomorphizing has become a habit with me –– as I struggle to reach middle age.
But circumstances suddenly confirmed and took over the process when one early morning in mid November I found one balloon motionless on the floor and the other two floating sadly above, cheek to cheek, looking down at their fallen friend and at every move I was making. At this point, of course, my anthropomorphizing talents made me quickly grasp the realities of the situation: that the fallen one had left behind her loving sister, Lucy, and Lucy’s long-standing sweetheart, Lukie. (Their names had come to me just like that!)
The grief of the two survivors, though invisible, was real and heavy and made the atmosphere chilly and damp. When I took the fallen one from the room, they held to each other; they did not allow the ever-moving air to come between them. They turned and floated as one in the shifts and spirals of their silent environment.
Time flies more swiftly in the summer, but even in the cold and ice and snow, it slips by startlingly fast. Now it’s December, and I’m sitting on the couch looking through the new New Yorker that had come that day. The two balloons, now a month old, are still as close as close together as possible, looking down on me; they are swaying, turning slowly, but steadily looking down. My turning of the magazine pages brings me face to face with a poem entitled One Day; I read it, and almost before I had finished, my mother has quietly joined us. The balloons also seem aware of her sudden presence; they just know all about ghosts.
My mother was near outrage. “Can you imagine calling this a (and she spelled the word) p-o-e-m? This magazine actually prints the word, “poem” next to the title! Why, this so called poem has no rhyme, rhythm, or song; no punctuation marks, no capitalization except for the pronoun, “I”; incomplete sentences ––! Why, it’s a big red “E” at the high school I went to, and I hope at the one you went to, too!” And then as suddenly as she had come, she vanished.
I wanted to reply to her comments, but as quickly as she had come, my mother had slipped away.
Those poetic conventions she missed so much were a long yesterday ago, and her critical description would apply to most of today’s contemporary poetry. I wish we could have talked it over, because I, myself, had to go through a conversion to modern poetry. Today, I would even posit to her that Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is stunning and beautiful poetry, and I’m quite certain that with enough time for talk and study of examples, my mother would agree, and be generally accepting of the literary evolution in the 20th century.
Well, here we are with two loving balloons, the poem entitled One Day, and its message. I really should say messages; they come through quite movingly and hauntingly –– and the balloons seem to be getting them, too.
In précis, it’s about a quite elderly and ailing couple contemplating death and wondering who will be the first to go. She suggests they arrange to go together; he says, no, she will get better and he should go first. And then the poem unhelpfully ends with the very same line it started with. That line is:
“One day one of us will be lost to the other.”
That’s it, the whole poem. Nothing happens at all; you leave them as you found them. But the reader! wow! the reader is left in a cruel and awful mess!
Without saying so, the poem compels the reader to grapple with heartrending questions, to decide which order of departure –– first or second –– is the kindest, the most altruistic, the most giving, the most loving. Should one of the couple, to ease the pain of the other, take charge and arrange the order. It slams you in the face with these soul searching questions.
In a troubled mood I bid the two balloons a good night and go off to bed.
The next morning, one of the balloons, Lucy, had began a routine of slowly descending a foot or two and then drifting back to her usual position of face to face with Lukie. As she returned, they kissed and patted each other. Lukie didn’t like this new descending and returning procedure; he was nervous and unhappy with it. He seemed to hold his breath and tremble as Lucy sank, then show great relief and joyous agitation as she ascended. It was a ballet in the air –– in space; I longed for the music Claude Debussy would put to such a scene.
With each passing day Lucy’s sinking moments became more frequent, slower, closer to the floor, longer to return, and Lukie more and more anxious. He greeted each return with more and more affection, each separation with more and more discomfort. He would stare down at her trembling with fear, passionately kiss her upon her return; he seemed to try to lock her to him. It was really and truly a beautiful ballet. And then, of course, one morning in early January she was down on the floor never to rise again.
Lukie hung around for a few more days, but he was utterly uncommunicative. I wanted him to tell me what that poem meant to him. Did he wish he had expired before Lucy so she could take some consolation in having life a bit longer than he, or did he miss her so intensely that he was glad she had not suffered his appalling denouement of being without her? Of having him “....lost to the other....” forever.
I hope that no word more diminishing than “sophomoric” comes to the reader’s mind in judging and characterizing the above report of my adventure with three balloons. I’m not yet ready to have my driver’s license taken away.
Walter Faithorn
We Are Trying Something New
For years the newsletter has used the traditional font Times New Roman. In an effort to make our newsletter as clear and easy to read as possible, we are trying a different font, namely Tahoma. We are making this change on the hard copy, the emailed version and the newsletter as seen on the website. We may decide that what works in the paper copy is different from what works best on the website.
This is an experiment and we need your feedback. Do you think it is easier to read or not? Do you just hate the look of it or love it? Whatever you reaction, please let us know. Share your thoughts with Bev Seavey or Barbara Avery.
Barbara Avery, Editor
Starr King View
Minister: Rev. Sarah Stewart
sstewart@starrkingfellowship.org
Office Administrator:
admin@starrkingfellowship.org
Office: (603) 536-8908
Website—www.starrkingfellowship.org
Starr King Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
PO Box 337
Plymouth, New Hampshire 03264