My Travels

Exploring London and other places

2011-05-08T19:44:00.000-04:00

I am enjoying my time in London. There is so much to say and do here! Before I came I thought a week was a lot of time. Now that I am here and almost through the week I wish I had another week. So what have I done with my week?

Finchley Meeting House

Hammersmith Meeting House

John Milton's House

Liz Yeats, Terry SoRelle, Trish Carn, Warren Wilson-Reiner and I spent a day at two Quaker Meetings (Finchley and Hammersmith) and John Milton's House in Buckinghamshire. We learned that Friend Thomas Elwood was a student of John Milton's and influenced him to write Paradise Found. Later that evening we saw a performance of Alls Well That Ends Well at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. The Globe is an outdoor theater with a choice of standing or sitting during the performance. We had seats for which I was happy because the play was 2 and 1/2 hours long. It was also cold. I was glad that a had on my fleece vest, coat, hat and gloves. The others rented a blanket for 6 pounds. Trish provided the cushions we sat on. Watching the play took me back to my senior year in high school when I feel in love with Shakespeare's plays. We read on each year in English and it was that year when I really understood the statements his plays were making about English society.

Tree of Life

Liz, Terry, Warren and I spent an afternoon at the British Museum and several pubs! If you ever spend time in Britain, make sure you plan to spend at least a day at the Museum. We had a wonderful time but there was so much to see that we barely saw what was available. The most amazing part of the exhibit for me was the sculptures made out of gun parts by four artists in Mozambique. It was wonderful to see a Tree of Life and other items made out of items that took lives.

In addition to spending time with Trish, Liz, Terry and Warren I spent time with several other Friends in London. Margaret Fraser was in London for a couple days. It was wonderful that she spent one of them with me. We explored Brixton Market and Brick Lane. I was pleasantly surprised to find a gluten free stall The WAGfree Bakery, Cafe and Deli in the Brixton Market. Thanks to them I was able to eat a Leek and Cheddar pie (my first British pie) and A kitsch kirsch kiss: almond genoise, kirsch, mascarpone, cherries and thin crisp shortcake. I felt like a kid in a candy store there were so many options, something I am not used to experiencing. If you cannot eat gluten and are near the Brixton Market you must visit The WAGfree Bakery. I would loved to have filled up a suitcase full of their products and brought them home with me. Margaret and I walked along Brick Lane where we ate lunch at the Aladin, an Indian Restaurant. Both Margaret and my London tour book said it was a Bengali neighborhood, but times have changed and the community has gentrefied and become an artistic community with many Indian restaurants.

Gluten Free Fish & Chips

I also had a chance to eat the traditional Fish & Chips! The Mermaids Tail on Leicester Square has gluten free fish and chips. I was so excited to be able to order gluten free fish and chips. I have not had fried fish since I was a little girl. My dish came and the portion was hugh. I was sorry that Barry was not there to share it with me. In addition to the fish and chips there were mashed peas on my plate. Not only could I eat the fish and chips, but I also was able to eat the Heinz Ketchup because they use sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. Everything was delicious. I wanted to eat everything on the plate, but it was just too much food. If you want gluten free fish and chips and are in London I highly recommend The Mermaids Tail.

I also got a chance to spend time with Audrey West. It was nice to catch up with her. When I was in London four years ago I stayed with her. I met Audrey when she and her daughter Yola attended the Fellowship of Friends of African Descent in the mid 2000's. I wish we had more than a couple hours to spend together.

Spotted Dick

I was able to spend time with Harriet Hart twice over the week. I visited her one afternoon at Friends House. The second time Liz, Terry, Harriet and I spent the day at the ZSL London Zoo. It was a beautiful day and we had lots of fun. Trish and Roland joined us for dinner. We ate at their favorite fish and chips restaurant, Toff's. I was able to order grilled fish which was wonderful. The group shared a British dessert called Spotted Dick, it had both wheat and dairy so I could not eat it. They really enjoyed it.

I have enjoyed my time in London. There is so much to do here and I did not have time to do everything I wanted. The good thing is when I come back there will be many things still to see and do. I feel like I am finally getting oriented to London and it is time for me to go. I am looking forward to seeing my family. I have missed them very much!

Travel to London

2011-05-06T20:46:00.000-04:00

Warren and I travelled to London together. Trish gave us a ride from Woodbrooke with Sarah Hoggatt to the Selly Oak station where we caught a train to New Street. At New Street we said goodbye to Sarah who caught a train to Lancaster and had a couple more trains and buses to catch to get to Swarthmoor Hall, her next home for a couple days. I needed to purchase my train ticket. As I stood in line Harriet, who had caught the bus from Woodbrooke with Beth bounded up to me and gave me a smile and hug. I purchased my ticket and joined Warren. We found the platform and waited for our Virgin train to arrive.

When the train came we boarded with our suitcases. There was a place in the center that had a luggage rack next to a table. We put our bags on it and sat across from each other at the table. We also happened to be in the cafe car. I was impressed to see that they had a gluten free category with an item listed (vegetable soup) on the menu.

Our ride was uneventful. Warren and I talked. I took a few photos of the yellow fields of rapseeds and occasionally watched the young couple behind Warren who were kissing. Then She decided to sit on his lap while they kissed. We were waiting for them to begin ripping each other's clothes off. Fortunately they did not. Eventually we arrived in London, Euston Station.

Warren and I parted at the station and headed for our hotels. I got directions from the information booth at the station. I was surprised when I crossed the street and began looking around that things looked familiar. Of course they did because I was at Friends House. I forgot that Friends House was across the street from Euston Station. It was nice to see a familiar building as I walked by Friends house. After walking on Euston Road for several blocks I came to Mabledon, the street my hotel was on. I turned the corner and there it was.

I registered with the front desk and walked into my small first floor room with ensuite bath. The bathroom was bigger than the one at Woodbrooke, but the shower was smaller. I hung up my clothes, unpacked my toiletries and said hello to my new home for the week. I was happy to see the customary electric hot water kettle. I immediately fixed myself a cup of tea and sat down in the desk chair to relax. QUIP had been good, but very busy. I was tired and happy to have some time to relax. I ate some dried fruit and raw nuts for dinner. Woodbrooke fed us well over the past five days, so something light was a nice change.

QUIP - Quakers Uniting in Publishing - April 2011

2011-05-05T20:18:00.000-04:00

I attended my fourth QUIP meeting this spring. My first time attending QUIP was four years ago, the last time QUIP was in Britain. That year, 2007, we met at Glenthorne, the Quaker center and guest house in the Lake District.

I really appreciate that QUIP is an international conference. We had Friends from Britain, France, Ireland and the United States of America attend. It is wonderful being with other writers and sharing our experiences with each other. Two members of the Spirit Rising Editorial board, Sarah Hoggatt and Harriet Hart were with us. Some of the British Friends who shared their work and writing experience with us were Gerard Benson, Ben Pink Dandelion, Cathy Benson, Peter Daniels, Alex Wildwood, Gil Skidmore and Harvey Gillman. It was nice to have them with us. Last year the volcano prevented British Friends from attending the conference. This year I also had an opportunity to try writing some peotry and later during the conference wrote a short story.

I learned about a program that Jeanne Henriette Louis and Be Pink Dandelion have put together for the french town of Saumur. William Penn was a student there from 1662 to 1664. As a result the town is naming a square after him. The municipal authorities and the association "Saumur et son histoire" are planning two days of events May, 20-22 on the theme of William Penn and Saumur. Stephen W. Angell, William Frost, and Thomas Swain will be three Friends from the USA who will join them for the celebration.

Irish Friends, Ian Kirk-Smith, editor of The Friend, shared his life with us through participating in a conversation with Trish Carn on Saturday night.

The conference this year was different because British Friends flowed in and out of the conference, unlike last time when because of the location they remained for the full conference. It reminded me of when Philadelphia Yearly Meeting meets at 4th & Arch. Philadelphia Friends flow in and out of the sessions fitting parts of it in their daily schedule when they can. However, it was nice to catch up with some British Friends I had not seen in four years even if it was only for a few hours.

It was nice hearing Hal Weaver share his experience with being one of the three editors of Black Fire. Even though our books are so different Hal and I shared many challenges and similarities that come with working with different cultures and collaborations. I also realized that Harriet, Hal and I all are using the books we have written as tools to futher our ministries.

Harriet Hart and Sarah Hoggatt organized a book launch of Spirit Rising for Friends in Birmingham. They performed a special slide show for us and along with several older Friends read pieces from the book. They sold several books that night. Harriet has planed to give two more presenations here in Britain., one in June at Friends House in London and the second at Britain Yearly Meeting this summer. Each night we end our day with Epilogue. Saturday night I was asked to give the Epilogue. Since the focus that evening had been Spirit Rising, I decided to read a piece written by a Young Friends from Britain. I noticed that none of the pieces read earlier in the evening included Friends from Britain. I wanted to make sure their voices were included in that evening.

Next year QUIP will be meeting back in the United States of America at another Quaker Conference Center, Pendle Hill. This is the closest that QUIP has been to Philadelphia since I have been attending. It will be nice to attend the conference while being able to go home every night and sleep in my own bed. I know Barry will appreciate that as well! I am looking forward to connecting with the writer in me again next year.

Britain - Woodbrooke - April 2011

2011-05-05T16:56:00.000-04:00

Rear view of Woodbrooke

Where do I start? I arrived in Britain on April 28th. I flew from Philadelphia to Brussels, spent two hours in the airport then flew an hour to Birmingham. As I was waiting on the runway at Philadelphia airport I began to ask myself why most of the time I travel abroad I go to new places and by myself? Of course the answer is money. I usually have just enough funds to cover my travel let alone a companion. It helps me appreciate the time I am able to travel with an elder with whom I can explore new places. I thank my parents for providing and environment that supported me taking leaps of faith. I could not do the work I do without that trust they nurtured in me.

Some of the Gardens at Woodbrooke

When I arrived in Birmingham I took a train from the airport to the New Street Station. When I arrived at the station I had the option to take another train to the Selly Oak station and then a bus to Woodbrooke or a taxi. The taxi was more expensive, but after the long trip it was the option I chose. It gave me an opportunity to rest and get to meet someone who told me a little about Birmingham.

Sunning butterfly

I arrived in time for a delightful lunch at Woodbrooke and time to explore the gardens and lake before the conference began. A part of me REALLY wanted to take a nap in my room, but I know the best way to adjust to a time change is to go with the local time. I was fortunate to have a sunny day, so I spent some time enjoying it. The gardens are beautiful. Spring had sprung everywhere. The first part of nature I interacted with was a butterfly sitting on the path basking in the sun. It remained there long enough for me to take several photos before moving to another location. There were Canadian Geese and several BIG birds (Crows and Magpies.) The trees and flowers were blooming. I even had an opportunity to walk across a stream on stepping stones and swing on a tree swing which I have not done since I was a child. There are so many special trees on the property.

Walking stones in stream

Woodbrooke is a lovely facility. My room was small, but it came with a private bathroom. The first room they assigned me was cold. It was on the shady side of the building and the window was wide open. The first thing I did was shut it. The woman who showed me to the room let me know that the heat would come on in the afternoon and I could get a space heater if it remained cold. I checked the room right before dinner and it was still freezing, so I approached the Friend in residence who checked my room and determined that the heater was not working and offered me another room. I had unpacked, but was happy to repack and move to a warm room on the sunny side. Even though the temperature in the new room was warm the Friend in Residence left the space heater with me just in case.

Tree Swing

Western Red Cedar

Lilacs - My favorite flower

This was my first trip to Woodbrooke. The facility is huge! I imagined the number of staff it took for the Cadburys to run the estate. All of the Woodbrooke staff were very helpful. The food was fantastic. They were able to make delicious meals that met mine and several other Friend's dietary needs. I was amazed. There was only one meal, ironically my last one, that they had to fix something special for me. They fixed a batch of corn fritters which I could not eat, so was given a piece of chicken from a previous meal. I did not mind because the chicken was so flavorful. I truly enjoyed my time at Woodbrooke and would love to return there as a sojourner. It is a facility where I would love to take a retreat to write or just rejuvenate.

Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting Fundraising Letter

2011-02-11T18:23:00.002-05:00

Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting

1515 Cherry Street

Philadelphia, PA 19102

January 5, 2011

Dear Friends,

I write for your financial contributions to the Ministry of Vanessa Julye once again. Many of you have given generously in past years, and it is deeply appreciated. Your gifts have helped sustain the work of this ministry and will ensure its continuation. We want you to know that Vanessa's work continues to be fruitful and Spirit-lead, the results tangible and vibrant.

Ten years ago Vanessa Julye received a call to minister with a concern for helping the Religious Society of Friends become a more welcoming community for people of Color. The overall vision of the ministry to which she has been called by the Spirit is to help humanity remember its wholeness.

We celebrated the publication of "Fit for Freedom, Not for Friendship; Quakers, African Americans and the Myth of Racial Justice" in 2009. Vanessa and her co-author, Donna McDaniel labored for seven years on this expression of their leadings. The publication of the book has opened new avenues for ministry on racial healing.

This year we are trying to raise $2,000 for Vanessa's ministry so that she can participate in Quakers Uniting in Publications Conference in England this spring where she continues to feel led to share her leadings with fellow Quaker writers. She is also planning on attending FWCC's international conference the following year.

Please be generous with your contributions. Share this letter with your monthly meetings. Her ministry truly speaks to a need in our religious society. While it remains important to celebrate our differences and our common humanity, healing from the hurts of racism and removing the barriers that unrecognized privilege constructs are essential to the wholeness of our beloved Religious Society of Friends. Your prayers, your participation, and your financial contributions are all needed and most welcome.

All contributions should be sent and made out to Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting. Please write "Ministry on racism" in the memo section of your check. The Meeting's address is above.

Yours in the Light,

Yoko Koike Barnes

Clerk for Vanessa Julye's Ministry Committee

Hawai'i stole my heart!

2011-02-03T01:41:00.019-05:00

Tonight is our final night on the Big Island. As I sit in our hotel room listening to the ocean waves break on the rock and feeling the warm ocean breeze cover my body I feel sad and happy. Sad that we have to leave this fabulous island tomorrow and return to cold, depressing winter. I am so happy we came. Hawaii feels like home. It has the ocean, the sun, warm air, warm ocean water, exotic fish and animals, nice people and good food.

Today Barry and I spent time in the ocean. We went to Kahalu'u Beach in Keauhou. The beach was mostly rock with a little sand. I brought my water shoes so it was easier for me to walk over the rocks into the ocean. Barry forgot his so his feet were bare. Despite his cautious walking he still slipped and cut his toes and leg. They are minor cuts but I wouldn't recommend swimming there without shoes. It is a popular beach for snorkeling. There were many people snorkeling. They were looking at the coral and tropical fish. We did not rent snorkel equipment. I did not need it. I could see the tropical fish with my eyes in the water because the water was so clear and the fish so bright. They were yellow, orange, black & orange, brilliant blue, bright green and tiger fish to mention a few. It was wonderful to swim with them in the ocean where we both were free and not confined in a tank.

Since the beach was close to our hotel we were able to return to our room for a quick lunch then headed south to Pu'uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park. On our way we stopped at the Donkey Ball Chocolate Factory so I could buy some Donkey Balls. I purchased a few items, but couldn't resist asking if their chocolate was fair trade. I knew the answer, but was planting a seed. The cashier had to go to the back and ask. When she returned she said they did not know. I told her that if it were fair trade she would know. I explained to her why fairly traded chocolate was important to me. I was glad that they had white chocolate (which I cannot eat), but bought as gifts for family.

Pu'uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park (Place of Refuge) was such a rich experience. The park contains ancient temples, royal grounds and a place of refuge (sanctuary.) We spent hours walking around feeling the sacredness of this site. The park provided refuge to Hawai'ians who were able to get there. Non royalty who broke Kapu (strict ancient Hawai'ian social system) were killed because Hawai'ians felt breaking Kapu angered the Gods who would send tidal waves, earthquakes, famine and volcanic eruptions. Kapu breakers had to swim through violent and shark filled ocean to reach Pu'uhonua.

The park encompasses royal grounds as well. Kona ali'i (chief, royalty) lived there with their warriors. One of the temples there was built around 1650 and contains the bones of 23 chiefs. There is also a stone wall that was built in 1550 which is 10 feet high and more than 1000 feet long. Also several ki'i (statues) carved out of Ohia trees. One actually stands on the rocks in the ocean. It was a wonderful place to watch the sunset.

Barry and I have been here for a week and there are still so many places and things I want to do here on the Big Island. Barry keeps telling me that it gives us a reason to return. I DON"T WANT TO LEAVE!!!!!! I will miss the call of the ocean. She calls me through all of me senses. My eyes see her beautiful inviting shades of blue, my ears hear the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks reminding my body of the times she has rocked me. When I smell, taste salt, sweat or cry I am reminded of her gentle saltiness.

Hawai'i, especially the Big Island is a place I highly recommend visiting at least once in your life. They even have snow way up on the mountain for those who want that experience. The Island has something for everyone. You can visit a ranch. Ride horses on a ranch or beach. There are magnificent waterfalls and tropical gardens, which we did not get to see, in the mountains. We only had time to explore half of the volcano. Don't forget the green, black, beige (white) and multi-colored sand beaches. If you decide to come to Hawai'i we found the Lonely Planet's The Big Island travel guide to be an excellent resource. We had both the 2002 and 2008 editions thanks to two wonderful friends who loaned us their copies. We used them frequently.

I love you Big Island. You have stolen my heart. I will miss you tremendously when I am back in the cold and barren wilderness of Pennsylvania.

Change in Plans!!

2011-02-02T01:22:00.016-05:00

Yesterday we spent the morning rearranging our travel plans. After talking with family in Philadelphia we took advantage of USAirways travel advisory, relaxed change fees, and rebooked our flight home from Monday night to Thursday night. Then we needed to find accomodations since the condo we were staying in was expecting us to check out the next day, February 1st. We also had to make arrangements for the rental car.

It was a very windy day which meant that the sky over the mountains were clearer making it easier to see and photograph the mountain ranges. Incase you are wondering, yes there is snow here in Hawaii. I even took a picture of it. Later in the afternoon Barry and I drove to Waimea. On our way there we were treated with seeing two rainbows. We saw the first one as we drove to the town. The second rainbow appeared as we were leaving the town. It was brighter and gave Barry a good laugh because it appeared to end at the Burger King. He said Burger King was definitely someone's gold at the end of the rainbow. Upon our return to the condo we once again went to the pool where both of us got into the spa pool. It was so nice and warm. I floated on my back for a while and looked at the stars. If only I could take the hot pool home with me.

This morning we checked out of Kings Land and drove to Kapa'au to visit Kamehameha's statue. The statue was originally lost at sea and recovered. It was repaired, repainted and place on the Big Island in 1880.

As life would have it we are having a second vacation in a new hotel in a different area, Kailua Kona. We returned the rental car and got one from a different agency. So it was like starting over because we had to return to the airport to exchange cars which meant unpacking the old one and packing the new one. Then we drove to our new home.

Our new hotel is closer to the ocean, but the beach is rocky not sandy. The surfers and buggie boarders like this area. It was nice to watch the sun set over the ocean from our hotel room. I just wish I felt safe getting in the water here. We began walking to a beach that the hotel clerk was better for swimming, but turned back when the liquid sunshine showered down on us.

Our visit to Ka Lae

2011-02-01T03:00:00.010-05:00

Yesterday Barry and I went to South Point (Ka Lae,) which is the farthest south you can get in USA. There were rocky cliffs along the coast which created some beautiful spray. There were people jumping off of the cliffs into the ocean to swim and snorkel. I know you are wondering how they got out. There was a very long rope ladder attached to a wooden platforms on the edge of the cliff. South Point was the site of one of the earliest Hawaiian settlements.

We drove by a windmill farm on the road to South Point. Actually there were two an old non functioning one and a new very active one.

After our time at South Point we decided to visit Green Beach. It turned out to be more than we could do. There was a 2.5 mile hike one way from the parking area to the beach on very rocky and pebblely terrain. We got about half way there and decided to turn around. It was a beautiful walk along the ocean. The I was disappointed, but we decided it would give us something to do when we returned. However, next time we will do what most people did is drive there in a 4-wheel drive vehicle. We drove north, back to Waikoloa. When we got back to Kings Land I really needed to get into some water so we walked over to the pool where Barry went swimming and I got into the heavenly warm spa pool. It was fabulous!!!

Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park

2011-01-30T14:47:00.015-05:00

Yesterday Barry and I drove over to Hilo. It was a 2 &1/2 hour drive along the coast and through the mountains. The variety of terrain on the Big Island is spectacular!

Hilo was a cute little city. We did not spend much time there because we were actually on that side of the island to visit the Volcanoes. We stopped in the Big Island Candy store and Two Ladies Kitchen. There were lots of people in both store. Big Island Candies had very interesting candies. They actually had potato chips and Macadamia nuts in chocolate. Two Ladies Kitchen had fabulous Mochi. We purchase several different types. So far we have eaten their strawberry mochi. It was delicious!!!! A fresh strawberry with mashed red bean filling is covered with mochi. If you are ever in Hilo you must go to Two Ladies Kitchen. It is a small store, but their service is fast. You can also call your order in ahead of time. This is the best mochi I have ever had!

Then it was off to the Volcanoes. We stopped in the Kilauea Visitor Center where we were treated with a presentation by one of the rangers. He gave us a map, told us where we could see the latest volcanic eruption at the Jaggar Museum. He explained that we could not get too close because of the dangerous sulfur dioxide gases it was putting out. He recommended that we stop at the Steam Vents to get follow the Hawaiian custom of getting purified. The ranger also recommended walking through the Thurston Lava Tube. The terrain was varied between rock and rain forrest. We could have spent two days at the volcanoes. There was more to see, but not enough time to see them.

We used our GPS to get us back to the condo. The GPS (Gabby) took us the shortest route which was clearly through the mountains. We saved time, but it was a challenging route. It was pitch black and there were some areas where the road was no longer paved, just gravel. At one point according to Gabby the car drove off the road and she kept telling us to take a left turn to get back on the road. We were actually still on the road, there was no place to turn left and if we had we would have gone off the road. Fortunately later our car and her road reconnected and we arrived back to the condo safe and sound.

The Big Island

2011-01-28T15:22:00.020-05:00

Hawaii is fabulous! We are staying in Waikoloa. The weather has been 75-80 during the day and 68-69 at night. We have visited three different beaches, Hapuna Beach State Park and Anaeho'omalu. Hapuna had lots of waves for surfing with boards or your body and boogie boarding. I enjoyed body surfing, jumping in big waves and running with the them. It was lots of fun and good exercise. The sand was smooth and biege. Anaeho'omalu (also known as "A" beach) was very different. The water was calmer and deeper. People were snorkeling, surf sailing and paddling. (I had never seen surf paddling before it looked funny. They looked like they were having lots of fun.) I enjoyed swimming and floating in the water. The sand here was mulit-colored and rocky. It is so wonderful to have ocean water that is warm enough for me to get into and enjoy!! Yesterday we visited Punalu'u Black Sand Beach. The water was too rough for us to get in. It was fascinating there. The sand besides being black was also rocky. The sand was black because the land was obviously cooled lava. The shapes, folds and texture were amazing. The beach was brackish, there were several fresh springs bubbling and flowing out of the rock and pools. The water was so blue with several different shades of blue. In addition to all of this were the sea turtles. They were majestic and beautiful as they rested in the sand. I know it must have taken an incredible effort to beach themselves.

A Dream Come True!!

2011-01-26T15:46:00.016-05:00

I have always wanted to visit Hawaii since I watched Hawaii Five-O in high school. This year my husband made the wish come true. Several years ago one of his annual conferences met in Hawaii. He would not go. I usually accompany him to some of his conferences, so I was very disappointed. Barry promised me that he would take me to Hawaii for our 10th anniversary. Our anniversary is not until May, but that is a terrible time of year for me to take a vacation because I am doing a lot of travel among Quakers.

Our trip has been wonderful. I was not happy that we had to be at the airport early in the morning for a 6:55 am flight. However, we made it in time for our flights. There are no direct flights from Philly to the Big Island so we connected in Phoenix. The boarding process in Phoenix was unusual but nice. We got to the gate 10 minutes prior to the normal boarding time to find that the gate was open and they were inviting people to board whenever they wanted. I always want overhead space near my seat so I was glad to board early. It created a nice atmosphere having people casually walk onto the plane instead of crowding around the gate anxiously waiting for their zone to be called, pushing through the crowd when it is and standing in line that has formed on the Jetway as people are finding their seats and stowing their luggage.

It was an incredibly long day. We arrived in Hawaii at 3:00 pm their time which was 8:00 pm Philly time. When I stepped off the plane, walked down the stairs to and across the tarmac it was the first time in months that I had been outside without wearing a coat. It was sunny and 80 degrees. I was in heaven!!! Barry and I gathered our luggage and took the shuttle to the car rental agency where they gave us a larger car than the compact we ordered. It was a free upgrade we did not see as a gift. At least it wasn't a truck, van or SUV.

Our first stop was the health food store. We needed to pick up some gluten, dairy & corn free food for the week. It was a nice store which carried several of the items I purchase in Philly. They also have a prepared food section that had gluten free turkey loaf and high fructose corn syrup free barbecue chicken. We bought the turkey loaf and chicken, which were delicious, so that we didn't have to cook our first night.

Then it was off to our home for the week, Kings' Land Hilton Grand Vacation Club.

Train Station in Itarsi

2008-11-16T08:32:00.005-05:00

Wow!! So much has happened since my last post. I don't have time to write about most of it now. However, I do want to share my first visit to the train station with you.

Viv and I are in Itarsi. We came here Saturday morning with Beth, Carolyn, Dayal, and Sedhana (Archana's father and sister) on Saturday afternoon. We were here to visit with Archana's family and attend Mid India Yearly Meeting's Centennial celebration.

Earlier this evening, Viv and I put Beth and Carolyn on a train to Delhi. Carolyn is beginning her trip home while Beth will go on to Agra where she will visit the Taj Mahal. The train station was crowded. We had to walk up many stairs and back down to get to the platform. Viv, Beth and Carolyn carried their suitcases until we got to the top of the stairs where we ran into a porter who gave us directions to the correct platform and offered to carry the luggage. Beth and Carolyn decided to accept his offer knowing that they will need to tip him. He picked up Carolyn's hugh suitcase put it opn his head, grabbed Beth's in his hand and carried them down the stairs to the platform. He took us to the section where Carolyn's seat on the train would be and left us on the platform witing for the train. A train did come, but it wasn't the one we needed, it was going to Mumbia (Bombay.) We were in the area of second class section of the Mumbai train. When the train arrived people were hanging out of the car. A man jumped out of a window onto the platform when it stopped. Others piled out of the door. It was very choatic. People were everywhere. They were like sardines piling out of a can. The vendors were yelling, people were getting of the train to purchase food and beverages. It was so interesting to watch. When it was time for the train to leave people were still trying to get into the packed car when it began pulling out of the station. I watched in horror as people were walking along the platform trying to push themselves onto the train in the second class section. I was hoping that Beth would not have to be in that section.

Beth originally planned to leave from Bhopal tomorrow evening, but changed her ticket to leave with Carolyn today from Itarsi. Carolyn had a confirmed seat, but Beth did not, she was on the waiting list. We did not know where she would end up. Our plan was to put her in the section (sleeping car) with Carolyn and hope she could pay for a ticket higher than the general board one she had to stay with Carolyn. Carolyn said she was willing to share her birth.

After the Mumbai train left with everone on it, even the last few who walked then ran along the platform the clean up crew came through. I have learned here in India the first stage of the clean up crew are the dogs and cows. They eat whatever garbage gets left on the ground. It was funny seeing a cow on a train platform. While we were sitting on the platform they announced that the TT Express (Beth and Carolyn's train) was now coming into platform 3, not 1 where we currently were standing. We quickly grabbed the luggage and headed back up the platform for the stairs. We met their porter on the way. He grabbbed their luggage and encouraged us to cross the tracks with him. We continued to the stairs walking as fast as we could. Viv was still carrying one of Carolyn's suitcases. We walked up the stairs of platform one over to the area for platform 2&3 and walked down those steps. As we were walking down the platform to the section where Carolyn's seat would be the porter spotted us and began waving. We reached him a few minutes before the train stopped. He thought we were very silly for not following him across the tracks. Yes, it was a shorter walk, but the drop down and climb up to the platform was bigger than I could or would do. Also I must admit that I did see a rat walking around on the tracks earlier. So, the tracks were the last place I wanted to get stuck. The platform was 4-5 feet higher than the tracks and there were no steps!

We got both Beth and Carolyn on the train. I was glad to see that there were fewer people in the sleeper car than the second class car. Viv talked to the people around Carolyn's birth and explained Beth's situation. She made it off the train just as it began moving out of the station. People seem to easily jump on and off the train at the last moment as it rolls out of the station. We waved by to Beth and Carolyn as they sat side to side talking with the people around them.

Tomorrow afternoon Viv and I will take the train back to Bhopal. I saw Beth and Carolyn's departure as a dry run for us. I hope ours is smoother and just as entertaining. Viv and I did not stay and wait for the clean up crew. I assume they will eat the garbage that the passengers from the TT Express left on the platform. I am not sure how the cow got on the platform. I assum it walks up and down the stairs like everyone else unless it jumps 4-5 feet up onto the platform from the tracks. Oh how I would love to see and get a photograph of that happening.

Our Last Day at the Triennial

2008-11-12T00:15:00.004-05:00

Today we leave the Pastoral Care Center. We have had a full time at the Triennial. One of the highlights of the trip so far for me was our visit with the Phanjar village in the forrest.We had a wonderful time signing and dancing with the tribe. They generously served us a snack. I had a chance to watch them make Chai (which I couldn't drink.) At the end of our visit the village walked us back to our van.

After our visit with the village we went to see some cave drawing. They were really neat.

This afternoon we are moving to a hotel in town where we will stay until Saturday morning when we take a train to Itarsi to attend Mid India Yearly Meeting.

Our time as a full delegation is coming to a close. Richard leaves us this afternoon. Tomorrow we lose Gretchen, Nancy and Phillip. Martha will leave us on Friday. Viv, Beth, Carolyn and I will travel to Itarsi together where we will reconnect with some Friends from the Triennial who will also atttend Mid India Yearly Meeting.

The Gods are Awake!!

2008-11-09T12:36:00.002-05:00

The Gods woke up!! Once again we have been experiencing fireworks and fire crackers today. I asked what was happening and was told that it is 11 days after Diwali, a major Hindu holiday - Festival of Lights and the Hindu Gods are awake after sleeping for 5 months. It seems like there have been celebrations almost every day since I arrived. Well at least fire crackers have been going off everyday since I arrived.

Yesterday I went with a Friend to an opthomologist who is the son of one of the Bhopal Friends helping run the conference. He was very nice and took us to his home for tea afterwards. He showed us his nice apartment and we met his mother, wife, daughter and son. We enjoyed ourselves. I have enjoyed every opportunity I have had to get outside of the conference center. It is a large compound with a hospital several schools and a community center.

I am tired and would like to write more, but can't think of what to say. I hope I will get a chance to write more later.

Noise, Noise Everywhere!!

2008-11-07T13:11:00.003-05:00

I miss the quiet of my neighborhood. Car horns, train horns, music, fire crackers. Noise, noise everywhere!! Cows eating garbage in the street, wild dogs, motorcycles everywhere, crowded roundabout that I would never never dream about driving through.

I have met many warm Indian Friends. I am greatly enjoying spending time with Archana and meeting her father!! I tried a new fruit which tasted like a water chestnut. I am looking forward to spending more time in India with Indians outside of this conference.

Our time is scheduled from 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM. At times it is overwhelming and I just have to get away. This afternoon I walked around the courtyard in the sun. It is so nice to be in the warmth. No coats, sweaters, gloves, hats or long underwear. During the occasional times I get cold I can walk outside and stand in the sun for a few moments. Oh what heaven. I like this kind of winter!!!!!! This evening instead of playing games and singing once again I escaped to new market this time with two Indian women and two Aotearoa/New Zealanders. It was there turn to look through and try on the great variety of Shalwar Kameez suits. I picked up the two suits which I had made. After purchasing their Shalwar Kameez suits we walked around the market looking for large mugs for the Austrailan Friends who wanted tea in a proper cup. (Chai here is served in the size cups used for espresso.)

Right now I am sitting in the computer room with two other night owls, Julian Stargardt from Hong Kong and Kenya Cassanova from Cuba. Julian is keeping us entertained as he checks his email and reads about Georgia. Kenya is making a slide show about the Cuban hurricane. She showed us her house where the neighbors coconut tree fell through the roof. Julian is kicking us out so that he can lock up and open tomorrow at 7:00 AM when I will just be waking up.

Shopping

2008-11-06T03:59:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I went to the New Market to purchase a couple Salwar Suits. The funny thing about this trip is that two Indian men took me shopping along with another Friend from Austrialia. The men were taking their assignment very seriously. However, I know it must have been a challenging one for them. I don't know many men who would know where to take a woman shopping to buy clothing. They tried one shop and it was closed. The next shop we entered only made men's clothes which was the same for the next shop. While we had been in the car I showed the men a receipt from a store where another Friend purchased a suit earlier in the week. Finally the man escorting us asked for directions to that store. We found it after a little searching. They had several beautiful outfits. I had fun trying them on. One of the outfits I really liked needed to be altered because the sleeves were too tight. They altered it while I was trying on the clothes. One of the suits they needed to sew. It will be ready tomorrow. However, I am wearing one today. I have gotten several compliments. I hopefully will be able to post a photo soon.
Got to go. I have been helping with registration today.

Arrrival in Bhopal, India

2008-11-04T22:29:00.007-05:00

I made it safely to Bhopal, India. It was a long and tiring trip. I left Los Angeles at 11:00 PM on Saturday, November 1st, arrived in Philadelphia at 6:00 AM Sunday November 2nd. Barry picked me up at the airport and drove me home where I was able to eat, take a warm bath (which helped my knee fell better. I twisted it at Claremont meeting) wash some clothes and take some items out of my CA suitcase to put into my India suitcase.

Barry drove me back to the airport in time to catch my 4:00 PM flight to Frankfurt. I used flyer miles to upgrade my ticket to 1st Class. I was so happy I did it. My 1st class ticket allowed me to

elovate my left knee. I was also able to enter United's Red Carpet Club in Frankfurt where I could get some tea, a piece of fruit and a nice chair to sleep in for several hours. I had a six hour layover in Frankfurt. We arrived around 6:00 AM and my flight did not leave until 1:30 PM.

They have a lot of security in Frankfurt. I had to go through security two separate times to get from gate C2 to B48. The plane was full and this time I was flying coach. What a difference!! I had an isle seat. The Greek gentleman sitting next to me did not adhere to American space. I felt his breathing and the heat of his body on my left side.

Honestly it was a little too close for me, but what could I do? I was trapped in this bin metal plane filled with people. I had no place else to go, so sleep was the best way to escape. Sleep I did for most of the flight. The flight attendant woke me for dinner because I had ordered a gluten free meal. The good thing about special orders is that you get served before everyone else.

We landed in Mumbia at 1:30 AM. Immigration was fairly quick and easy, however, getting checked luggage felt like it took forever. When my bags finally came I got through customs easily. They directed me to the part of the airport I needed to go to check in for my domestic flight to Bhopal. Security scanned my checked bags only afterwhich they sealed them by sliping a plastic tie through the zipper handles and putting some tap over a portion of the zipper. I had to then take them around the corner to Jet Airways. They took my bags, assigned me a seat, gave me a boarding pass and told me to wait for the bus that would transport me to the domestic terminal.

The bus came. We showed our boarding passes and crammed onto it. Some people still had their luggage with them. They were obviously flying with a different domestic airline. After a long drive we arrived at the domestic terminal which was much nicer than the international one. Security had not opened yet, so people were sitting and sleeping where every they could on walls, chairs and suitcases. Once security opened they separated the males from the females because not only did you go through a metal detector, but you were also wanded from head to toe. If the wand went off which it did around my bra hooks the security guard would feel your body to make sure you were not concealing anything dangerous. Your carry on baggage was scanned and tagged. The tag was important because the guard would not let you on the bus that transported you to the plane without it.

The plane was nice, not too crowded. The service was excellent!! They know how to treat customers. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 5:50 AM. We left 15 minutes late because of the amount of air traffic. They served us a hot breakfast on the plane which I enjoyed. When I arrived in Bhopal a young man who worked for the airlines carried my backpack to baggage claim for me.

When I got into the terminal I saw three Indian men holding an FWCC sign. One of the three men was the clerk of Bhopal Yearly Meeting. They helped me carry and load my baggage to their car and drove me to the Pastoral Care Center. There I was greated by several Austrailan Friends who are organizing the gathering. They showed me to my room and kindly let me sleep ALL day. I was so tired that I slept from 9:00 AM until 6:55 PM when they woke me for dinner. They tried to wake me for lunch, I was just too tired to get up. They were afraid I would not be able to sleep last night. I assured them that I would have no trouble and that was correct!!

Pacific Yearly Meeting

2007-10-10T03:28:00.000-04:00

July 30 – August 4, 2007

Redlands, CA

I arrived at the Philadelphia International Airport a little later than I planned. When I tried to check-in on-line I was instructed that I couldn't and needed to report to a ticket agent at the airport. So, my nervousness increased when we arrived to find the airport was packed. The weather had caused several delays and cancellations the night before and was still affecting travel. I got into line. The ticket agent line was moving very slowly so I was not sure if I would make my flight. Especially since I still had security to get through. I saw the security line when we drove up to the drop off area, it was across the bridge all the way back to the hotel. As I stood in line observing the chaos inside the airport Barry walked up. Originally he was just dropping me off, but when he saw the lines he decided to park the car and come in.

I was very happy to see him. His presence helped reduce my anxiety. Everyone in the airport was tense. Frustrated passengers were trying to rebook and the ticket agents were just as frustrated. A woman behind me asked if I would let her in front of me because her plane was scheduled to leave in 15 minutes, since her flight was before mine I did. When she got to the counter she was told that she needed to call USAirways 800 number. The ticket agent next to her was just telling another passenger that she wouldn't get ticketed for the flight same flight because of her mother's inappropriate behavior. The teenager began to cry and the mother increased her nasty behavior. Now it was my turn. My flight was scheduled to board in five minutes. What was my experience going to be like?

Barry and I stepped up to the counter. The mother and daughter were still with the ticket agent beside me. I smiled, knowing that the agent was as stressed as I was right now. I explained that I was instructed to come to the counter when I tried to check-in on the internet. She asked for the credit card used to purchase the ticket. The agent then gave me some news that was both good and bad, my flight was delayed by 2 hours. Now I had more time to get through security and to my gate, but it also meant that I would now make us late for Jean's meeting 1:00 PM at Yearly Meeting session.

I arrived at LAX and was picked up by Jean and Cliff Lester, members of Orange Grove Meeting who drove me to yearly meeting. I was surprised to hear about the many tasks that had for me when I arrived. I was asked to work with Junior Yearly Meeting, middle school Friends, give an interest group and a presentation during business session. I had to do some quick thinking on my feet. I am glad that I brought my computer with me. I was able to put together a presentation for the interest group and print it out in the computer lab.

I spent an evening with Young Friends in Junior Yearly Meeting. The room was full around 60 Friends were present. I was sad to see that there was only one visible Friend of Color in the room. We had good conversations about race, Quakerism, and racism. I was surprised when they could not tell me who John Woolman was. One of the Friendly adult presences had to answer my question. I also felt sad to hear from these Young Friends that they did not feel comfortable talking about Quakerism to their friends. I did enjoy our conversation about race and racism. It was nice to see that almost all of the Young Friends raised their hands when I asked who had close friends of Color. I wondered what I could do to help them be more comfortable with sharing Quakerism with their friends. Our time ended quickly. They asked if I would be willing to return Thursday or Friday. I agreed to return, but they were not able to find a way to schedule another visit.

My interest group was well attended. I was surprised because two Friends from Claremont Meeting came to sessions just to hear my talk. I was surprised during my presentation to be confronted by a Friend who disputed a part of my presentation. She insisted that a quote I used from John Woolman could not have been made by him because he was dead during that time period. I informed her that I trusted my source and believed she was wrong. The next day at lunch a Friend came up to me and handed me a piece of paper. When I looked at the paper it showed John Woolman's dates of birth and death. The woman was wrong, he was clearly alive during that period.

There were two racial incidents. One for which I was support for the person of Color to whom it happened. The other one occurred when I told a European American woman that she could not join us when I met with Friends of Color one evening. We were having an affinity group meeting. Unfortunately, it was in a very public place, but there were no rooms other than our dorm rooms where we could gather. When the woman approached us, I told her that we were having a meeting and she could not join us. It was obvious that she was hurt. I am sorry she was hurt. I was hoping to speak with her the next day, but I did not get a chance to speak with her directly about the incident afterwards. I did see her the next day at lunch, but she was grieving the death of a close friend's daughter. It was clearly not the right time to speak with her then. Several other Friends did because she shared her hurt in worship the next morning. I was not there when she gave her message because I was with the middle school Friends.

Two Friends met with me one night during yearly meeting. They talked with me about coming to the Bay area and doing work with the three area meetings, the school and possibly AFSC this winter or spring. I am holding February and March open for an invitation. I expect to get a formal invitation around November or December.

I was not able to meet with my worship sharing group on the last day of sessions because I spent a second day with the middle school Friends. They invited me to return to continue our discussion about racism. I enjoyed my time with them. It made me wonder about having a youth version of our book, Fit for Freedom, Not for Friendship written. If I am asked to work with middle school Friends again I will be better prepared to share Quaker history with them.

I have received an informal invitation to return to Pacific Yearly Meeting next year.

The Lester's took me home with them after yearly meeting. We had a nice dinner, I dangled my legs in their pool (I forgot to bring my bathing suit) and enjoyed the warm, quiet evening. I went to bed around 10 because I had to be at the airport at 7:00 AM. The Lester's graciously drove me to the airport Sunday morning. I was sad that I couldn't say until Monday so that I could attend Orange Grove meeting with them, but I needed to fly to Dublin on Thursday so I wanted to return home. Thankfully my flight home was smooth and uneventful.

New York Yearly Meeting

2007-10-10T03:26:00.000-04:00

“Stewardship: Our Earth, Our Mind, and Our Soul.”

Silver Bay, NY
July 22-28, 2007

This was my third summer at New York Yearly Meeting (NYYM). As I was getting ready to drive up to Silver Bay with my co-worker, Emily Stewart, I found myself looking forward to seeing specific people and curious about who was going to be in my worship sharing group this year. I was also hoping that the weather was as warm this year as it was last year. It had been in the 90's during the day most of the week. I was happy while the majority of the Friends there were miserable. The YMCA is located in the Adirondack mountains, so they do not have air conditioning in the buildings. I didn't have to wear my fleece that week!!

This was Emily's first visit to NYYM, so as I drove I shared some of my experiences with her. We arrived at the YMCA Camp around 5:15 PM. Several Friends greeted us as we walked to the porch to get in the registration line. Once we had our keys we went to the front desk to get a map to locate Emily's cabin. After dropping our suitcases in our rooms we parked the car and walked to dinner. I ran into Helen who asked me about the worship groups leaders meeting. Apparently there was a meeting for the worship group leaders that began at 5:00 PM. Needless to say I was clearly very late, but I just found out about it, so I told Emily I would catch up with her later.

When I arrived at the location for the meeting it had obviously ended. There was only one person, the facilitator, left. We talked for a few moments, then I went on to dinner. There I was greeted by Noel and Daisy Palmer, Margaret Mulindi, Beverly Archibald, and Rosetta Graham from Baltimore Yearly Meeting. It was a treat seeing Rosetta, she had not come to the last few Fellowship Gatherings, and I had missed seeing her.

After dinner we were welcomed by the director of the YMCA, and NYYM Clerk, Ernie Buscemi. We ended the session with worship.

The worship sharing groups meet at 9:00 AM each morning beginning the first (Monday) morning of yearly meeting, meeting on the last (Saturday) morning is optional. There were approximately, 30 Friends signed up for the Racial Healing worship sharing group, so we divided the group into three sections. I lead section#2 which met inside Brookside, which conveniently was my dorm. Since I am not an early morning person it was something I greatly appreciated. There were 8 people in my worship sharing group. One of the participants was only at yearly meeting for the beginning part of the week. We had a good group of Friends. We spent the week addressing Advices and Queries that focus on Equality from the Faith and Practices from Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, Britain and North Pacific Yearly Meetings.

Monday afternoon I met with 8 members of the Task Group on Racism to help them with their plans for their workshops at Powell House this year. They are sponsoring three weekend workshops two of which will be at Powell house. The themes for the workshops are:

Where are we? (As individuals and a yearly meeting)

Where are we going?

How do we get there?

They needed help identifying facilitators for these sessions. I needed to hear more from them before I could recommend anyone. Their goals are to build community among people in NYYM working on this issue and to help the yearly meeting move forward on eradicating racism in the yearly meeting. When our time ended we all agreed that we still needed to continue our conversation, so we scheduled a meeting on Friday afternoon.

In business meeting on Tuesday morning, Emily gave a report on the FGC Youth Ministries program. Then there was a Listening Session to help them move forward in their understanding of their position as members of Friends United Meeting. They spent the time addressing the queries:

"How do we as NYYM understand our own differences in theology that undergird our different understandings of gender."

"In FUM, as in much of the Quaker world including our own Yearly Meeting, the Orthodox/Hicksite split has never been truly resolved. What does this lack of resolution mean to us at this time? What work might it call us to?"

They clearly had a lot to say to one another. Only certain voices were heard in this session. Their clerk assured them that this was not their last chance to talk about this issue. She informed them that there will be other chances and today was only the beginning of their process.

That afternoon I attended one of the several Racial Healing Worships where 12 Friends were present. After the worship I attended the Black Concerns Committee Meeting. Elizabeth Gordon spent the first hour of the meeting reading excerpts from her book, Walk With Us: Triplet Boys, their Teen Parents & Two White Women who Tagged Along.

During the second half of the meeting, the Committee brainstormed ideas for promoting both Walk with us and Fit for Freedom. Black Concerns agreed to sponsor different events for each book in the New York Yearly Meeting area. They also talk about the new form of enslavement, the Prison System.

Wednesday afternoon, I met with six Friends of Color. We discussed colonization in Kenya, the changes in Kenya which have occurred over the past 50 years and learned that African American history hasn't been taught accurately in Kenyan schools. We were just beginning a discussion about Friends United Meeting when it was time to end.

After dinner that evening, I took a walk down to the lake before heading to the evening plenary. This was the first time in my three years at Silver Bay that I had gotten a chance to take a few minutes for a leisurely walk on the grounds. When I got to the auditorium I saw Eden Grace outside. We had 15 minutes before the program was scheduled to begin, so we sat down outside and had a long conversation about Friends United Meeting, their work in Kenya and the Fellowship of Friends of African Descent's decision to go to Ghana instead of Kenya. Eden and I were so engrossed in our conversation that we talked through the program.

Thursday, the Task Group on Racism gave their report on the floor of business meeting. During the afternoon business session a memorial minute was read for Stanford Aston Mighty. He was an African American member of NYYM. I met Stanford and his wife, Cora my first year at yearly meeting sessions. They were a powerful couple. I missed them both last year and this.

Friday afternoon I met a second time with the Task Group on Racism. The group was smaller this time (6 people.) We talked more about the weekends. The group agreed that they saw these workshops as a way to promote racial healing. We agreed that childcare should be provided for all three workshops. Then we talked about the Task Groups expectations for FGC's assistance.

The final business session was at 8:00 PM. There we learned that 709 people registered for sessions, 181 of them were Junior Young Friends and 73 for the circle of Young Friends. 126 were first time attenders. The Circle of Young Friends read their epistle, after which the second reading of the epistle was read and it was approved.

I worked very hard during yearly meeting. A lot of my work was behind the scenes. I attended all of the business sessions to support Ernie Buscemi, my friend and the First African American clerk of NYYM. This was her first year as clerk during annual sessions. New York will hold their sessions next year at Silver Bay again next year, July 20-26, 2008.

Friends General Conference Gathering

2007-08-27T22:22:00.000-04:00

2007 Gathering - River Falls, Wisconsin
June 30 - July 7, 2007

The Gathering went well this year. Barry and I flew out to Minneapolis, MN on Friday evening. We were fearful that the plane would be delayed or canceled. We had tickets on Northwest which was experiencing many cancellations due to personnel problems. Several Friends from Philadelphia were on the flight with us to MN. Barry and I had bulk head seats, so we were the first off of the plane. We were fortunate that our flight left and arrived on time. I knew that it would not be possible for us to purchase any food at River Falls at 10:00 PM, so we purchased takeout meals in the airport before heading to baggage claim and the shuttle bus that would take us to River Falls, WI.

We were warmly welcomed by a Friend in baggage claim who explained to us how to get to the shuttle bus. Two Friends from California who had arrived earlier in the evening joined us on the tram to the bus. When we arrived at the bus several Friends, mostly from the West Coast were waiting on the shuttle for us to arrive. The shuttle was scheduled to leave at 9:00 PM, when the time arrived we still did not have everyone on the bus. I knew of at least four Friends who were supposed to be on the bus with us who were yet to arrive. In fact they did arrive five minutes later. We watched the sunset on our drive to River Falls. The Conference Coordinator, Traci and some volunteers were up and waiting for our arrival at the student center. They registered us, we got our room keys from the university staff and the volunteers assisted us with getting to our dorms. Barry and I were glad to get to our room, make our bed and get in it. We both knew that Saturday was going to be a very long day.

Saturday morning, Barry and I borrowed a friend's car. We picked up the boxes for the Center for people of Color and drove them to the building where we unloaded the boxes and I set up the Center. We had our organization meeting Sunday afternoon where we agreed to the following schedule for the week:

Monday 9:15 PM - Planning for Mid-west Gathering
Tuesday 3:15 PM – Read stories
Tuesday 9:15 PM – Gathering for people of Color only
Thursday 3:15 PM – 2^nd Read stories
Thursday 9:15 PM – 2^nd Gathering for people of Color only

Sunday afternoon I had an opportunity to meet Joy Zarembka, a biracial Friend who has published the book, The Pigment of Your Imagination. It is a Comparative Study of Great Britain, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Jamaica on the family socialization of biracial offspring. Later that evening Joy and David (her father) introduced the plenary speaker, Cecil Nyiramana. She is a Tutsu survivor of the Rwanda genocide. Cecil is the founderof Women in Dialogue, which brings Tutsi survivors of the genocide together with Hutu wives of men in prison accused of participating in the genocide.

Monday afternoon I attended the Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Racial Healing CMR co-sponsored with the Center for people of Color. I am happy to report there were no racial woundings in this worship. Janice and I also participated in Development’s reception for monthly meeting representatives for FGC. Each program was asked to have a person there to give a brief presentation on the program. Barry and I had dinner with Joy Zatembka Monday evening. Our conversation continued into and through the evening program.

Tuesday afternoon we held FGC's Committee for Ministry on Racism’s Listening Session. We were asked to respond to the following two queries in a worship sharing format:

Query on Wounding:What story can I tell today of my experience of racial wounding at this Gathering of Friends General Conference in River Falls, Wisconsin? What have I done that I felt may have hurt others? What wounds have I felt, that others have caused me to feel?

Good News Query: What story can I tell about my life in Quaker meeting or ways I have seen others interact in the meeting community that show healing around the issues of systemic, individual, or group racism? How has my work allowed me fuller life in the spirit?

Tuesday evening I attended Joy Zarembka’s interest group. The room was overflowing. She talked about many of the experiences she had while gathering the data for her book. Joy also gave a powerpoint lecture in which she asked some provocative questions such as:

a) Do mixed raced people have the option of choosing a race?

b) Does each person choose his/her race or

does society choose race?

c) Are people the same & therefore we should not use words like “black” and “white?”

Friends engaged in a lively discussion. One in which some people of Color were offended. However, the offensive statement was identified as being offensive by a person of Color.

After Joy's interest group, Friends of Color met at the center. It was late, 9:30 PM and we were all tired, but also glad to be together. We shared photos of our family with the group. We enjoyed spending time together so much that we agreed to meet again on Thursday evening also at 9:30 PM.

Thursday early afternoon I attended the session co-sponsored by

CMR and A&O co-facilitated by Jane Berger and La Verne Shelton: Tools for Building Inclusive Community. The room was full and Friends clearly appreciated the session. When we arrived at the Center for reading books to children we were surprised to see that there were no children, but there were a few adults. So Jean Marie and Marvin read to us. It was fun! Once again Friends of Color got together at 9:30 PM at the Center. Several of us were among the group that met on Tuesday night, but there were also some Friends who had not been able to join us then. We spent the time exchanging Gathering stories with each other.

Friday, the last full day of the Gathering during the worship for racial healing sponsored a person of Color shared a racial hurt she experienced in her workshop during the Gathering. I made a point of approaching her afterwards and spent time talking with her. Barry joined near the end of our conversation. Later that evening we packed up the center so that the boxes could be packed onto the truck for their ride back to Philadelphia.

The next morning, Barry and I packed up, took the shuttle to the Minneapolis airport and flew back to Philadelphia. As with our ride to Minneapolis, there were several Friends on our flight.

After Britain Yearly Meeting

2007-07-15T22:23:00.000-04:00

May 8-10, 2007 – Tour of Britain
Audrey and I returned to her apartment after leaving yearly meeting sessions early. Originally we were going to spend the afternoon with her family, but the weather was rainy so the picnic was canceled. Instead, we took a bus down to the Thames River and walked around. It was nice to get some exercise and see some of the typical tourist sites in London.

The first place we went after getting off of the bus was to the Somerset House, an 18th century palace-an imposing mansion built in 1547 by Edward Seymour, 'Protector Somerset' to the Tudor King Edward VI which has been turned into a major cultural hub, where we walked across the court yard through the unique water fountain.I am sure many people over the years have enjoyed walking in the water through that courtyard on a hot summer day. However, as you can see from the above picture of Audrey, it was not a warm day, so I walked carefully doing my best not to get wet. However, this walk brought us closer to the Thames. In fact we were on a bridge that was built across the river. I took several photos as we walked across the bridge. As we walked across the bridge we noticed some unique artwork.

As we walked across the bridge we noticed some unique artwork. We noticed a life size sculpture of a man on the bridge and posted on several nearby buildings. We counted around 20 different figures on various buildings. They clearly were recently installed.
After crossing the Waterloo bridge we walked along the Thames. Many people were out doing the same thing. It was not what I would call a warm afternoon, but the weather was clearing and the sun came out. There were teenagers and young adults skateboarding. People were riding the colorful carousel as others watched. A few feet away from the carousel we came upon a woman who was posing as a statue. She was spray painted gold and bronz with metallic paint. I gave her a pound for taking her picture. I thought it was fair because I knew she was an artist trying to make a living by posing all day.

The next item we came upon was the British Airways London Eye. I had seen it a couple times from a distance, this was the first time that I was close enough to ride on it. It looked like a neat ride, but I was not going to stand in a long line and pay $30.00 to ride on this large and flashy ferris wheel.

To the left of the London Eye was the London Aquarium . It was a huge building with lots of room for all types of aquatic marine life. If we had had more time I would have paid the $27.00 fee to see what they keep inside. The building was so large that I needed to wait until we got on the other side of the Thames to take a photograph of the entire building. At the end of the aquarium we needed to walk up a set of stairs which took us up to the street. There I had a chance to see Big Ben and Westminster Abbey up close and personal. Both buildings were so
beautiful and large. I was sorry we would not have time to explore them. If I ever get a chance to return to London I will definitely plan to reserve time to explore the aquarium, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace. I never got any closer to the palace then the cab ride from Victoria station the first day I arrived.

On the other side of the Thames we came across a memorial to the Battle of Britain (July-October 1940). It was several life size bronze and stone structures. The main piece had a soldier bursting out of it. Someone had placed a silk red flower in the soldiers hand. After spending time reading the inscriptions we continued walking. Next we came upon another monument, this one was for the Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Flying Corps, and the Royal Air Force.

As we continued walking we saw an obelisk and sphinx. These were unusual finds to me, so we stopped and read the inscription. It turns out that the obelisk was presented to Britain in 1819 by Mahommed Ali Viceroy of Egypt.

We completed our walk and ended up back on the bridge we were on earlier to catch another double decker bus back to Audrey's home. We arrived at Audrey's apartment feeling good that we had been able to get some exercise.

When I awoke the next day I planned to spend that morning writing my article for The Friend. I was hoping to visit the Victoria Albert Museum in the afternoon. My friend Liz told me about an exhibit at the Victoria Albert which she had found very powerful and knew I would like to see called "Uncomfortable Truths." The exhibit contained a series of contemporary works in the Museum's galleries and public spaces that raised questions about the haunting and ambiguous legacies of slavery. I was looking forward to seeing it. However, ended up spending all of my first free day writing the article for The Friend instead of touring London. The article was published in the May 18^th issue. The important thing is that I was faithful.

On the second day, I took a train to Brighton where I worshiped with Friends during their midweek worship. After worship we ate homemade soup with some of the Friends who remained for lunch. I was not able to eat the bread or dessert available because they were not gluten free. Harvey Gillman gave me a tour of Brighton in the afternoon. Despite the cold and rain we walked around the town. During the tour we walked by Momma Cherri's American Soul Food Restaurant, visited The Royal Pavilion, the Pier and the library. We met Colin (Harvey's partner) for tea in a shop that served gluten free cake and herbal tea. On our way to Harvey and Colin's we stopped at the market to purchase some soy yogurt and gluten free pasta for Harvey to use as a substitute in the dish he was making for dinner. Harvey fixed us a delicious dinner. They have a really nice apartment with a terrace which is covered with flowers and looks out on the town and the ocean. Harvey had a meeting at the meetinghouse at 8:00 PM, so Colin walked me to the train station to catch the train back to London.

On Thursday, the next day, I caught a bus to the tube, to the train station where I bought a ticket for a train to Bristol. I was invited by Marian Liebmannan to see an exhibit marking the bicentennial celebration of the ending of the slave trade at The British Empire & Commonwealth Museum. The museum had an exhibit called "Breaking the Chains - The Fight to End Slavery." The museum was right next to the train station, so I was able to walk there. I found it a very powerful exhibit and highly recommend seeing it. Marilyn and her husband Mike met me at the museum. They were running late so we only had time to eat lunch and have a conversation in a café next door. Before I knew it Marian and Mike were walking me to the train station to catch my train back to London. They were allowed to walk me to my train.

The next day I took the train again, but this time to Gatwick Airport and flew home. In many ways my time in Britain was full and I was really ready to go home. However, I found myself feeling sad on the train ride back to London from Bristol. I had done so much, but there was so much more I wanted to accomplish. I know that if I was meant to do those other things, way will open for them to happen another time. Now it was time for me to return home to my family, friends, colleagues and cats.

Britain Yearly Meeting

2007-07-15T21:43:00.000-04:00

May 4-7, 2007

London, England

Barry left for the airport a little after 8:00 AM. He made it to the car rental agency where he returned the van and flew home. Audrey and I purchased an Oyster Card for me to use. The card gave me unlimited travel on the buses and London Underground. Once I had my card we went shopping at Fresh Market (Whole Foods) to purchase more gluten free items. By the time we finished it was for me to go to the International Tea at Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM).

The international tea was a nice idea. It gave me the chance to meet new Friends, recognize and acknowledge old ones, including Viv Hawkins and Thomas Swain. During this time they served us tea and refreshments and introduced us to the clerks of the Yearly Meeting (Martin Ward, Richard Ogden and Lis Burch.) Then all of us from different countries had a chance to introduce ourselves. After the introductions we handed in our travel minutes and were invited to remain in the room for the first time attenders to Yearly Meeting session. I decided not to stay because Viv invited me to join her and Marjorie Hall, a British Friend she knew from Pendle Hill for a tour of Friends House. When the tour took us to the bookstore we searched for my pamphlet, Seed Crack Open, which I had been told would be there. It was. A friend of Marjorie’s, Helen Lockwood, joined us at this point. She purchased a copy which I signed for her. We sat outside of the bookstore for a few minutes to talk and then it was time for the evening session.

The first order of business for Yearly Meeting was accepting the appointment of the Clerks. The second minute focused on giving 85 non members of BYM permission to attend the sessions. The rest of the evening was spent on routine business. We adjourned around 9:00 PM to reconvene in the morning.

Friends in Britain are much calmer and quieter than Philadelphia Friends. I was waiting for the passion, which eventually did come out from a few individuals during the sessions. I counted the visible people of Color on one hand. Audrey joined me at Yearly Meeting for the Swarthmore Lecture, Saturday evening. Audrey West introduced me to Joyce Trotman, an African American elder in Britain Yearly Meeting.

I was invited to participate in a session on Sunday afternoon for BYM attenders to meet Quaker authors who were present at Yearly Meeting. The room was small and filled with more authors than general participants. I found this time together an additional bonding experience as a Quaker author. Each author was given a few moments to talk about their latest publication. I talked about the Seed Cracked Open. I had met many of the authors at Quakers United In Publication. It was nice to be together again.

Viv agreed to serve as my elder for my workshop, Abolition of Slavery: Racism as a legacy of slavery, on Sunday evening. My workshop was well attended approximately 60 Friends came. I was glad that there were several young Friends and people of Color present. Audrey joined me again at Yearly Meeting for the workshop. The format we decided to use was that I talked about Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting’s process for supporting my ministry then Audrey shared her experience within BYM. When she finished I facilitated a quick exercise and then we opened the floor for questions. Our time (one hour) was too short. Many Friends had their hands up to ask questions or make comments who I couldn’t call on because our time was over.

Monday morning Audrey and I went to Friends House together to attend the final sessions of Yearly Meeting. We both were anxious to see what was going to happen in the final "Diversity and Inclusion" session. I am sad to share that we were both disappointed with the report. If you would like to know more about my reaction you can read my article that was published in the May 18th issue of the Friend.

Judy Kirby, editor of the Friend asked me to write an article for them about my reaction to the “Diversity and Inclusion” sessions. I agreed to write one before I realized how soon it was due. The challenge for me was that the Friend is a weekly magazine, so I needed to write the article during or right after sessions. I am not used to having such a short time line.

I enjoyed my time in London at BYM. Friends were very nice to me. I am thankful for the time several Friends took to explain Britain Yearly Meeting procedures, logistics of Friends House and took care of me in other ways. Friends House is a large building with several floors, it was not always easy to find specific offices and rooms. Many local Friends brought their meals with them and ate them in the courtyard. There was one custom which I greatly admired and would like for my Yearly Meeting, Philadelphia, to consider adopting. Britain Yearly Meeting has a wonderful practice of providing meals at Friends House during sessions free to international visitors. In addition to providing me with a free meal, the staff at Friends House made sure that I had gluten free alternatives each day. I am very thankful for the opportunity to participate in Britain Yearly Meeting and to explore Friends House.

I was surprised at the number of Friends I knew there. I did not expect to see two Friends from Philadelphia; Viv, member of Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting and Thomas (Clerk of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting) who were also present.

I got a chance to meet Michael Booth, a former colleague from Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) who works in the London office. I also took time to visit the FWCC office. In the five and a half years that I worked for FWCC, Section of the Americas, I never had an opportunity to go to London and visit the World Office or the staff. I purchased the last 22nd FWCC Triennial mug, created to raise funds to pay for the costs for the African Friends attendance. I have always like the slogan, "Cooperation is better than Conflict" and the design used to illustrate it. I was able to transport it home safely.

Lake District 1652 Quaker History Tour

2007-07-13T20:05:00.000-04:00

April 29 –
May 3, 2007
1652 Country Tour

Barry joined me in Britain for the tour. He arrived in Gatwick the morning of the 29th, rented a 7 passenger van and drove (for the first time in his life) to Grasmere to pick up me, Liz Yeats, Terry SoRelle (her husband) and Warren Wilson Reiner. We expected his drive to take at least six hours. After lunch Liz, Terry, Warren, Peter Daniels and I took a walk in the hills around Glenthorne. We wanted to hike high enough to be able to look down on one of the Lakes for which this area is famous.

When we finished our hike, we still had about 90 minutes before Barry arrived so we decide to walk into town. As we were walking around we saw Barbara Mays and Harvey Gillman. Earlier Harvey had invited us to have tea with him in town. We asked him if his offer still stood. He said yes, so we decided to have tea in a cafe over the bridge next to the river. They had an empty table and enough chairs for us to all sit outside on the terrace by the river. We were sitting around enjoying each other's company when Barry called me on my cell phone to say he had arrived at Glenthorne. We paid our bill and returned to Glenthorne where we packed the van and said goodbye to the Friends who were remaining there for a one or more days before returning home.

I was so glad to see Barry. I had missed him so much. It was also nice not to be the only person of Color. Now there were two of us. Friends had been very nice, but in some ways it was also lonely being the only person of Color. There were not many people of Color in Grasmere which was very different from London.

Barry drove us from Grasmere to Ulverston. I organized a three-day tour of the 1652 country with the assistance of Sheila and Peter Fox for us to take during the days between the Annual Meeting and Britain Yearly Meeting. The five, of us resided at Swarthmoor Hall during our tour, April 29^th – May 3^rd. It was a tremendous gift and real bargain to stay there. I highly recommend it. The accommodations are nice and the price is reasonable.

Sunday, April 29th
Bill Shaw gave us a tour of the staff break room and the Margaret Askew suite, the area where we lived. We bought dinner from a Chinese food fish and chips takeout and returned to eat it at Swarthmoor Hall. After dinner, Barry went to bed. He had had a very long day, this was his first day in Britain and he was exhausted. Warren, Liz and I looked at the different books, pamphlets and postcards on the literature table in the entryway. Warren noticed a pamphlet, The 1652 Country that gave detailed information (including driving directions) on the historic sites in the Lake District. He purchased it which proved to be important. At 8:00 PM, Bill Shaw came back to the house and opened the "Great Hall"where we worshiped. I sat in Margaret Fell's chair. At the end of worship we all thanked Bill and went to bed.

Monday, April 30th
Rex Ambler and his wife Catherine spent the day with us. They met us at Sawley Meeting House. We used a map and the directions from the pamphlet to get us there. Rex gave us an introductory talk on George Fox, the political and religious climate in Britain in the 1600's; setting the scene for our pilgrimage. The wardens provided tea as we ate our lunch picnic style on the lawn of the meetinghouse, rested for about 30 minutes then headed off for our climb up Pendle Hill.

The climb up Pendle Hill was much more challenging than I expected. Several Friends who knew of my surgery warned me that the climb was steep and I should not feel bad if I found it too difficult to climb to the top. Barry and I heard their words. The climb was not only steep, but the ground was very slippery because it was covered with small pebbles. The wind was incredibly strong. I was very glad to be wearing my wind block fleece coat and have my gloves, scarf and hot in my pocket. I made it to the top by walking slowly and stopping to rest when necessary. To see photos of us on top of Pendle Hill look at the photographs I have uploaded in my flickr account by clicking on this link or the mosaic to the right at the top of this site.

We sat behind the shelter of the stone wall on the top of Pendle Hill where we worshiped in an atmosphere of quiet and warmth as the sun beamed down on us. The view from Pendle Hill was spectacular. It was hard to take pictures, the wind made it difficult to hold the camera still. This was one of the times I was grateful for the stabilizers they install in cameras today. Even so, Barry and Rex took most of our photos on top of Pendle Hill. Walking down was still challenging because of the pebbles, but easier for me than walking up. I was able to get photos of the many sheep who were on the hill with us. They were clearly more acquainted with people than the ones in Grasmere. The ones on Pendle Hill let us get close enough to take a decent photograph without a zoom lens.

Tuesday, May 1^st
We traveled to Brigflatts Meeting House near Sedbergh. There Tess Satchell, warden of Brigflatts Meetinghouse gave us a talk. Afterwards David and Sheila Solloway guided us to Firbank Fell where we ate lunch prior to a short Meeting for Worship. Then they guided us to Kendal Meeting House and left us in the knowledgeable hands of Sheila Williams our tour guide for the Quaker Tapestries. We began our tour with a presentation by Sheila about the tapestries. After which we viewed a video about George Fox and Quakerism told by using the tapestries. Then we were able to view the 77 tapestries.

When we returned to Swarthmore Hall we found that all of the rooms in the house were still open. So far we had been so busy that we did not have time to explore the hall. The five of us decided to push dinner time back and take the time to view the rooms then. It was wonderful to be able to walk around the rooms, touch items that belonged to the Fells and Fox. I was surprised to find the chair in which John Woolman died also in Swarthmoor Hall. We had a great time exploring and took lots of photos. When we arrived at Bill's office on the third floor he let us look and hold some of the rare books they have, including the small bible that George Fox carried around with him. When we finished our tour we drove to a local tavern, The Miners Arms, and ate dinner.

Wednesday, May 2^nd
We visited Lancaster Castle. The pamphlet recommended that we park in the back of Lancaster Meetinghouse. We did. We went inside the meetinghouse to let Friends know we had parked there. While Liz looked for someone to notify, the rest of us used the restrooms or took photos of the building. Then we walked over to Lancaster Castle to meet our tour guide, Jenny Paull. She is the tour guide who specializes in giving tours that focus on Quaker history. Since Lancaster Castle is still being used as a prison today, we were not allowed to take pictures while we were inside the building. Cindy, Carolyn Terrell's daughter happened to be at Lancaster Castle (She and her family were in Edinburgh. Her husband was doing some work there) so she and her three children joined us for part of the tour. The tour included a visit to a court room, seeing many of the barbarous tools used on prisoners in the 17th & 18th century and having the opportunity to be locked up inside a 17th century holding cell.

Our next stop was Preston Patrick Meetinghouse. John Camm lived on a farm near the meeting house and he convinced Thomas Loe in Oxford who in turn convinced William Penn. Also John Woolman stayed near there shortly before he walked to York. Patricia Bradbury, Ken & Rose Hill greeted us there. They shared the history of the meeting with us and as was the practice served us tea and biscuits. Barry and I learned to carry gluten free biscuits , tea cakes or pudding with us for these moments.

Bill Shaw was scheduled to do a round up session for us to share what we experienced, and conclude with a closing Meeting for Worship in the Great Hall. However, he invited us to join him in attending

Meeting for Worship at Rookhow Monthly Meeting. Friends gather at Rookhow the first Wednesday evening of the month. Barry, Liz, Terry and I took him up on his offer and followed him to worship. Warren stayed at Swarthmoor Hall to pack and go to sleep early because he had to leave at 6:00 AM the next morning to start his journey home. The Friends at Rookhow meeting were very welcoming. The wardens, Lesley and Robert Straughton welcomed us to the Lake District. Barry and I also got a chance to talk to another couple who invited us to stay with them the next time we are in Ulverston.

Thursday, May 3^rd
The next morning we began our journey back to London. On the road we stopped at a hotel and ate breakfast. It was Barry's first time eating a tradition British breakfast of bacon, eggs and sausage. He gave his mushrooms, tomatoes and black pudding to Liz to eat. We self catered during our stay at Swarthmoor Hall, so we prepared our meals on our own. Our goal was to get Liz and Terry to the airport in time to catch their return flight to the USA. We arrived at Heathrow in plenty of time. We got there at 2:00 PM for their 6:00 PM flight. After we dropped them off Barry and I needed to drive to Audrey West's. We met Audrey and her daughter Yola when she attended two Fellowship Gatherings in 2002 & 2003 in Atlanta, GA. We got a little lost in London, but finally found her house. Our plan was to unload the van, return it to Gatwick and take public transportation back to Audrey's because we knew parking was very limited in her neighborhood. We were very fortunate, getting lost worked in our favor. When we arrived there was a parking space on the street outside of her house. We had to wait five minutes for the parking to be legal, so by the time we finished unloading we were able to leave the van there until 8:30 AM the next morning. We decided not to return the van until the next morning when Barry needed to leave for Gatwick. He had to leave for the airport at 8:00 AM. I was sad to see Barry return home. I really enjoyed our time together and didn't want it to end, but he needed to return to his job working for the City of Brotherly Love who had actually been in touch with him several times during our trip.

Everyone was so nice and welcoming. We had tea at all of the meetinghouses. The wardens and our guides were very knowledgeable and flexible. Sometimes we got lost and were late arriving. This was such an amazing experience. I think all Friends should have an opportunity to go on the 1652 Country tour. It helped make George Fox, Margaret Fell and the Valiant 60 more concrete for me. It was also nice to be able to be in the same physical spaces they and other early Friends were. I am still processing the entire experience.

I would love for the Fellowship to include a pilgrimage one year with our Gathering.

Living at Swarthmoor Hall was fantastic. I thought we would be in a building on the premises, but didn’t believe we would actually be housed in the “The Hall” itself. We had keys to Swarthmoor Hall!!! Bill Shaw is a caring and funny man I am glad I had an opportunity to get to know him.

Liz, Terry, Warren and I all agreed that Barry did a wonderful job driving in Britain. He had not driven on the left side of the road before. He also was great understanding and mastering the circles and the signs for the circles. I am still in awe of his driving, especially the first day when he drove 6 hours after only a couple hours of sleep on the plane. Not only did he have to drive on the left side of the road, but also the local roads in the Lake district are tiny. Regardless of the size of your car most of the roads could only handle one car at a time. Many times we or the car approaching us had to pull over to the side of the road for the other car to pass. Many times you could only pull over at a particular place where they made it a little wider specifically for the purpose. The British had a patience for this practice that I couldn't even image drivers in the USA tolerating such a practice.

Quakers United in Publications Annual Meeting

2007-07-13T03:50:00.001-04:00

"Writing and Publishing as Ministry"

April 26-29, 2007 – QUIP, Grasmere, England

I traveled to Britain because Quakers United in Publications (QUIP) invited me to be one of the plenary speakers for their Annual Meeting. This year’s theme was, Writing and Publishing as Ministry, which is at the heart of the organizations work. I was invited to give a presentation on Friday night, April 27^th on the topic of Writing in the Furtherance of Ministry. At the beginning of March I received an email from the registrar telling me that the meeting was full. Wow, that was great news.

Glenthorne
We arrived at Glenthorne, a beautiful Quaker Country House & Conference Centre. The first F(f)riends I saw were Liz Yeats and Warren Wilson Reiner sitting outside on a bench enjoying the unseasonably warm and dry Lake District weather.

Presenters
Half of the people who attended were from Britain in addition to one person from Wales and one from France. It was so enriching to be at the conference. Thursday evening we began the conference with a panel of editors sharing their ministry of assisting authors in their work. Many of the participants were Quaker authors. The time I spent with them was invaluable. Alex Wildwood gave a presentation titled, “Authentic leadings: the making of a Quaker author” I agreed with so much of what he said. It was wonderful to know that I am not the only one who has the experiences he described. We displayed our publications around the meeting room. Talked about projects that we were actively working on. I bonded with these Friends in the three days we had together. It was here that I owned the title of being a writer. How could I deny it when I was surrounded by so many authors who shared many of the experiences of writing as ministry I have whether it is for a journal, presentation, pamphlet or book. I am sorry that my co-author, Donna McDaniel was not able to be with us. I think this meeting would have been a very enriching experience for her too.

I was one of two presenters addressing the theme, Writing in the Furtherance of Ministry on Friday evening. I shared the evening session with David Blamires, a retired lecturer and professor of German at Manchester University in the UK who has special interests in medieval and 16th-century German literature, fairytales and children's literature. The Social Responsibility Council of London YM (now Britain YM) in 1973 published his book Homosexualtiy from the Inside. He recently contributed an article on 'Quaker Tradition' for Homosexuality and Religion: an Encyclopedia, edited by Jeffrey S. Siker (Westport, CT, Greenwood Press, 2007.) Since 1987 David has edited the Friends Quarterly.

My presentation was well received. Several Friends told me how hopeful it was for them to hear, especially my minute. My new travel minute from Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting was very powerful for many.

Tea Time and Lunch
We were treated extremely well at Glenthorne. We had tea everyday along with hot and/or cold breakfasts and three course dinners. We picked up a brown bag lunch each morning as we left breakfast. Many of us drank our tea and ate our tea cakes and biscuits (one of the gluten free items I purchased for myself in London) outside at the picnic table or on the benches along the sides of the buildings. The practice of eating outside was repeated at lunch time.

Exploring Grasmere
The weather cooperated the entire time we were at the conference by giving us bright, warm weather allowing us to eat outside everyday. Each day after lunch we had a break to take a short nap or walk into town. Friday afternoon I walked into town with another attender who was representing the Tract Association. We explored Grasmere. I purchased some traditional Grasmere ginger bread to take back to the FGC office and give to my colleagues.

Saturday afternoon a small group of us walked past the center of town to visit Dove Cottage, the home that William Wordsworth lived in while he was in Grasmere. One of the authors at the conference, Gerard Benson led our tour. He spent a year at Dove Cottage doing research and writing.

On Saturday evening, Harvey Gillman gace a delightful presentation on his recently published book, "Consider the Blackbird." We were joined both Friday and Saturday nights by a couple who were not a part of our meeting, but were guests at Glenthorne and interested in Quakerism.

Sunday morning we expressed concern about the status of bookstores and publishing among Friends. Several bookstores have closed in the past year and Britain Yearly Meeting is in the process of evaluating their publications program. This was an important issue for all of us present (authors and publishers.) The group wrote a minute expressing our concern. The meeting ended on Sunday with worship. I was encouraged to return next year when QUIP is meeting in North Carolina. I am thinking of returning because the theme next year is “Publishing with Immediacy.” They will examine using the internet in publishing books, blogs and other communication mechanisms.

Travel to Britain

2007-07-13T02:56:00.000-04:00

April 25, 2007 – First Day in Britain - London, England

The Airport

My flight left Philadelphia the evening of April 24th. It was hard to leave Barry in Philadelphia. This was my first visit to the United Kingdom. I was feeling very nervous about traveling by myself. This was my first trip on my own since my surgery and pain in my back. It was difficult for me to lift or carry heavy items. I arrived on time at Gatwick Airport. My time in immigration went relatively quickly and smoothly. The ticket counter for the trains was located right outside of immigration. The ticket agents were extremely helpful. The gentleman who helped me called the Scala House (the building where I was spending the night) to get their exact location so he could help me purchase the proper ticket. He showed me where and which tube to take after I arrived in the Victoria Train Station. I thanked him for his help and went to baggage claim to get my suitcases.

I arrived at the right moment because a baggage handler was placing the unclaimed suitcases on a cart. He helped me put my bags on my cart. Those of you who know me know I don't travel lightly and this trip was not exception. I pushed my bag to and through customs. It felt strange because there were no agents in customs so we just walked through. This was a new experience for me.

Travel to London
When I entered the main area of Gatwick there were crowds of people, many announcements over the loudspeaker and lots of signs. I found the signs that would guide me to the trains and followed them. As I approached the area with the trains I heard them announcing that my train would be departing in five minutes. Just as I was looking at my baggage wondering how I was going to get it on the train a voice said, "Do you need help miss?" I looked up and saw a young man in a uniform. I told him I did and that I needed to catch the train to Victoria Station. He called over a colleague to help him with my luggage and the three of us walked over to the section for my train, down the stairs onto platform and onto the train. They placed my bags on the luggage holder. I wanted to tip them, but only had 20 pound bills. I gave the young man a 20 pound note. He told me it was too much, which I knew, but it was that or nothing. I explained that I didn't have anything smaller. He called his colleague back and between the two of them they were able to come up with change. They gave me 15 pounds back.

The train ride into London was about 45 minutes. We made a few stops, but not many because I was on an express train. When I arrived in the station I found a porter who was right by our train to help me with my bags. Graham had recommended that I take a taxi to Scala Hou se because I would have to take two tubes, which meant walking up and down stairs with my suitcases. The porter took me to a taxi where he loaded my bags inside. I gave him a 5 pound tip.

Arrival in London

We drove by Buckingham Palace. The taxi driver began explaining where we were and what I was seeing as we drove after I asked him what Buckingham Palace was when we approached it. He asked me if this was my first visit to London. As

we drove by many places I was excited to see them in person and looked forward to returning to tour them during my free few days in London after Britain Yearly Meeting.

When we arrived at Scala House he assisted me with my bags. The person at the front desk announced my arrival to Lucy. I had made arrangements with Lucy and Graham to spend the night with them in their suite at the Scala House. Graham was out visiting friends, so I spent most of my first day with Lucy and Simon. We walked to a local restaurant and ate lunch. When we came out it was raining, so we returned to Scala House to get rain gear. Of course by the time we came back outside the sun was out again. Lucy, Simon and I visited the Tate Modern Museum, walked across the Millennium Bridge and walked along the Thames. When we returned I got directions to the local organic food market from Lucy and walked to it. I got a little lost at first, but eventually found it. They had several gluten free and fair trade products. I purchased some items to supplement my meals at Glenthorne. Elizabeth Cave had sent me an email several days before I left to tell me I needed to bring supplemental food. They had several different types of gluten free bread. When I returned to the Scala House Graham was home, so we went out for dinner.

The next morning the four of us crammed into a taxi cab with our luggage that took us to Euston Station where we boarded a train to travel to Windermere. Graham, Lucy, Simon and I traveled together. In Lancaster we met up with Harvey Gillman and a couple other Friends who traveled to Windermere with us on the same train. Elizabeth Cave met us at the train station. She drove our luggage to Glenthorne while we followed in a taxi cab.

Fellowship of Friends of African Descent

2007-07-12T15:13:00.000-04:00

"A Time for Healing Through Community"

April 12-15, 2007
St Helena Island, SC

My mother drove down to the Fellowship of Friends of African Descent Gathering with me. It was important that she went because two weeks prior to our departure I injured my back and was experiencing a lot of pain in my lower back. I was able to sit in the passenger seat of our car comfortably. However, sitting in the drivers seat was painful so my mother drove everywhere we traveled.

Visit Liz in Savannah, GA

We left Monday morning so we could take two days to drive down to Penn Center. I also planned to spend Wednesday with Liz in Savannah. My mother got sick so we spent the day in the hotel instead of with Liz. I used the time to do some work that I had not been able to complete prior to leaving. Mom was feeling better the next day, Thursday, so we spent the morning and early afternoon in Savannah with Liz, Helen & Robin, a former co-worker from Friends General Conference & Robin, her husband. We got a chance to visit Liz in her new house. The directions Frank gave us were perfect. They took us directly to the front door. Liz gave us a tour of the house. Liz, Helen, Robin, mom and I ate lunch at Liz's dining room table. Then we all piled into Liz's car and drove to Tybee Island to do some sight seeing. We stopped at the Lighthouse, but the line was long and we didn't want to stand in the heat to walk up the stairs inside of a very hot lighthouse. The beach was more exciting to us so we left the parking lot of the Lighthouse and drove to the beach. Tybee beach has a pier and pavilion. We walked along the beach, on the pier and around the pavilion. Many people were fishing off of the pier. The beach was surprisingly crowded with people of all ages. We assumed that many of the children and college students were there because their schools, colleges and Universities must have been on spring break. Before we knew it it was late afternoon and mom and I needed to leave Savannah to return to South Carolina so that I could attend the Gathering.

FFAD's 13th Gathering

The Gathering began with dinner on Thursday. It was smaller this year, fewer ad

ults and children attended. Several of my friends did not attend, including Barry. This was the first Gathering I attended without him.

As usual there were new Friends I had not met before who came and I enjoyed meeting and getting to know them. We had several business meetings, heard from members of the American Friends Service Committee's Third World Coalition about conditions in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi post Katrina, poured libations at the beach and watched the FFAD video that one of our members is making.

Fellowship Decisions: Travel to Africa - Kenya or Ghana?

The Fellowship made several important decisions. We decided not to combine our Gathering next year with FGC’s Midwest Regional Consultation for Friends of Color. Our biggest decision was something we had been talking about for several years, a trip to Africa. We talked about traveling to either Kenya or Ghana. As a group we were concerned about the homophobic environment in Kenya. The Fellowship has a diverse membership, we are gay, lesbian and heterosexual. The majority of the meetings in Kenya are programmed with a pastor and are members of Friends United Meeting (FUM). The extreme homophobia, which is deeply ingrained in African culture and reinforced by East African Christian theology Statements heard by members of New York Yearly Meeting who attended the strategic planning meeting about homosexuality while in Africa were:

“We don’t have any homosexuals in Africa. We don’t have that problem here.”
“The suicide rate for gay Friends in Africa is very, very high.”
“In the forty-six languages spoken in Kenya, there is no word for homosexual.”

“In the younger generation of African Friends, homosexuality is not such a big
issue.”
“God made Adam. When he was lonely, God made Eve out of him. God told them
to be fruitful and multiply. How are two men to do this? The Bible makes it very
clear that marriage is between a man and a woman. I do not understand why we
are having this discussion.”

FUM held a general board meeting in Kenya in February 2007. Just prior to this board meeting they had strategic planning meetings in Kakamega. In the morning of the second day of the meeting the clerk of Uganda Yearly Meeting "gave a lengthy sermon on Romans 1:18–32, proclaiming repeatedly that even those who condone homosexuality are worthy of death." Gi

ven this sermon and the general concern about the sexual ethics portion of FUM's personnel policy; the group was concerned about our safety among Friends in Kenya. Finally, on Saturday evening we decided to travel to Ghana, (and possibly Togo and Benin) West Africa in 2009 or 2010. The Friends in Ghana are unprogrammed and Independent, which means they are not affiliated with FUM. A subcommittee was appointed to plan that Gathering. I volunteered to serve on that committee. As a result of our decision to go to Africa we agreed to meet in Atlanta at Morehouse next year June 19-22.

Thank You Penn Center

The Fellowship has enjoyed meeting at Penn Center on St Helena Island in South Carolina. It was a warm, affirming and grounded environment for us. However, travel to the area is expensive for anyone who needs to fly. The nearest airport is Savannah which is about an hour away. Friends then have the added expense of paying for a limousine to drive them from the airport to Penn Center. Our decision to go to Africa encouraged us to relocate to Atlanta which will reduce the expenses related to travel so that Friends can begin saving money for traveling to Africa. We will miss meeting at Penn Center very much. It was like returning home for many of us each year we gathered there.

Committee for Ministry on Racism

2007-07-11T17:58:00.000-04:00

March 16 - 18th, Friends General Conference's Committee for Ministry on Racism had their annual winter meeting in Washington, DC. Since my energy level was so low I decided to travel to DC the day before the meeting. I took the train down to DC Thursday afternoon. It gave me an opportunity to rest from my travel and be ready for the tour and meetings. Neil Froemming and Sara Satterswaite’s generously hosted me instead of staying at the William Penn House with the rest of the Committee. They live only a few blocks away.

National Museum of the American Indian
We had a guided tour of the National Museum of the American Indian on Friday afternoon. Later that evening we had dinner at Neil and Sara's house. We ate take out food from a nearby Indian Restaurant. After our delicious dinner we sat around Neil and Sara's television and watched the very powerful documentary, “In the Light of Reverence: Protecting America’s Sacred Land." This documentary tells the struggle of The Lakota, Hopi and Wintu people, the traditional caretakers for three sacred areas who fight to co-exist with non-Indians whose concepts about land use, culture and what is sacred are different from theirs.

Committee Meeting at William Penn House
Our Committee met all day Saturday at the William Penn House. The Committee decided to sponsor a consultation for Friends of Color in the Midwest in May 2008. The joint conference with CMR and Youth Ministries has been pushed back to March 2009. Fit for Freedom, Not for Friendship is expected to be ready the fall of 2008.

Paul Ricketts was at William Penn House that weekend. He was there with a group from primarily peace churches in Fort Wayne. They scheduled a meeting with Keri Maloney, Sen. Lugar's legislative assistant for military affairs. Their meeting went well. I was glad to see him just sad that we were not able to spend any time together.

Dinner at an Ethiopian Restaurant
Saturday night we went to a local Ethiopian restaurant for dinner. I was excited because on the menu they said that they had two types of bread ( injera), one made with wheat and another made with Teff (a gluten free ancient Ethiopian flour used to make unleavened bread.) However, when we questioned them it turned out that even the Teff injera has wheat in it which meant that I had to get a separate meal because the joint meal we ordered was served on the injera.

Final Day of Work and Worship with Friends
We finished our meeting Sunday morning at Friends Meeting of Washington and worshiped with Friends there afterwards. I was surprised to find a member from Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting who has relocated there. I was happy to see several Friends of Color that I knew. We had a few moments to greet each other and talked for a few moments, but they were on their way to a committee meeting.

Angelina Conti and I returned to Neil and Sara's to wait for our late afternoon train after eating lunch and driving around Howard's campus looking for African shops which might be open on Sunday.

California in January 2007

2007-07-11T14:44:00.001-04:00

Orange Grove Meeting – Pasadena, CA

January 16th I flew to Los Angeles to spend six days working with Friends in the Pasadena area at the invitation of Orange Grove Meeting.

When I arrived on Tuesday afternoon, a friend and member of Orange Grove Meeting, Michelle White picked me up at the

airport. She was also my host. The first thing we did was have lunch. Then Michelle took me shopping at Wild Oats where I was able to pick up the gluten free and soy products I needed for the week.

Meeting with the Committee
Later that evening I met with the Friends responsible for bringing me to Orange Grove (David Morse, clerk of Worship & Ministry; Michelle White, Clerk of Peace & Social Concerns; Cliff and Jean Lester, two members of Oversight Committee) to review the schedule for my visit. We

met after a nice dinner hosted by Cliff and Jean.

American Friends Service Committee Regional Office
The next morning, Wednesday, Jean drove me to downtown, Los Angeles for my meeting with the AFSC regional office. We met for two hours. They shared many concerns with me.

Orange Grove Meeting
Later that evening, I facilitated a discussion on race at the meetinghouse. Around 20 Friends attended. Several Friends came from Orange County Meeting. Elaine Emily, a member of Strawberry Creek Meeting, served as my elder for the evening.

California African American Museum
Thursday afternoon, Elaine Emily and I drove into LA and toured the

California African American Museum.

Friends Western School
Friday morning I visited with Friends Western School. Again Elaine served as my elder. I met with all of the children at one time. They ranged in age from Kindergarten to sixth grade. I found it very challenging to engage and keep the children engaged, but Elaine felt I did a wonderful job holding their attention. Elaine and I remained for lunch. During lunch we got an opportunity to talk with some of the teachers and parents. The school has a community lunch on Friday, where they invite parents, members of the meeting and board members to join them for lunch. Elaine left after lunch to drive to Orange County to attend a Pacific Yearly Meeting Nominating Committee Meeting.

Workshop for Orange Grove Meeting
Saturday afternoon I facilitated a 3 hour workshop at Orange Grove Meeting. 20 Friends came from several different meetings to participate. The workshop went well.

Meeting with Friends of Color
Sunday morning I had breakfast with three Friends of Color, two African American women and one Korean woman. We had a good time together. I encouraged them to come to the Fellowship Gathering. Both of the African American Friends had attended at least one previous gathering. It was a very good meeting, one that was very supportive of the Korean Friend who shared her feeling of isolation with us for the first time. The women decided they wanted to continue meeting as Friends of Color and will invite some of the other local Friends of Color who were not able to join us for breakfast.

Final Day at Orange Grove
We drove to the meetinghouse after breakfast where I gave a presentation on the experience of some African Americans in the Religious Society of Friends. The presentation was well attended. I didn’t get a chance to count, but I think there were 35-40 people who came, again from several different local meetings. The meetinghouse was full. The presentation ended in time for worship. A questions and answer period was scheduled for after worship. My presentation was audio taped. The question and answer session was not well attended, the group who planned and orchestrated my visit participated plus a few other Friends. Since there were not a lot of questions I used the opportunity to talk with the group and help them think about what they wanted to do next. They decided that they wanted to form a committee to address racism in the meeting. I hope they are able to establish the committee.

I'm Back!!

2007-07-11T13:24:00.000-04:00

Hi Friends,

I know it has been several months since I have written. Many of you know that in February I had my thyroid and three large nodules that had attached themselves to it removed. The surgeon said it was the size of a grapefruit. I am very happy to have it out of my throat, but have struggled with the amount of time it is taking me to recover. After several months my doctors have gotten my synthroid dosage correct, but my energy level has not returned to where it was pre-surgery. As a result there are several things I had to cut back on. Unfortunately, writing in this blog was one of them. I did create and maintain a blog about my surgery which you can read on CarePages which you can view by clicking on this link www.carepages.com , registering and looking for my carepage which is titled, Vanessa Julye.

Believe it or not I have done a lot of traveling since my last entry. I plan to write about all of those trips. Some will have more information than others. So look for my trips in 2007 on this blog.

My Visit to Colorado

2006-12-12T23:43:00.000-05:00

On November 3, 2006, I flew to Denver, Colorado to be keynote speaker for the Colorado Regional Meeting of Friends Fall Gathering. The theme of the Gathering was Creating Community: Confronting Power, Prejudice and Privilege. The Gathering was held at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park, Colorado. Bruce Thron Weber picked me up at the airport, took me shopping at Wild Oats to pick up some corn & gluten-free products. We had dinner with his wife, Penny and daughter, Katya at a Thai restaurant before heading to the Rocky Mountains. It was dark when we drove to the YMCA, so I did not get to see the mountains until the next morning. They were beautiful, but those of you who know me know that I was really unhappy to be in the cold. Despite the fact that it was a bright sunny day, thanks to the wind it was cold!

Will Alsup agreed to serve as an elder for me for the weekend. We spent some time talking and getting to know each other a little on Friday night. I was scheduled to give my keynote address at 1:30 PM on Saturday afternoon, November 4th. So we agreed to meet after lunch so that we could spend some time worshipping prior to my talk. The title of my talk was Faithful to God's Leading, Moving Toward Wholeness.

Friends listened as I shared my struggle with God about what message I should bring to Friends in Colorado. In addition to that struggle I presented some of my work on the history of racism in the United States of America. After my presentation we had time for a question and answer period. Friends asked several questions. I felt good that they had so many questions.

After my keynote, I also facilitated an interest group. Fortunately my group was in the same room where my talk had been. God was moving very strongly in me that day. I was moved to throw out the design I had come to the Gathering ready to present and design a new one with different exercises. I was led to have the workshop focus on "Whiteness." 14 Friends participated in my interest group. This turned out to be the right area to focus on because Friends were not ready to leave when our time was over. I was willing to stay later, but let Friends know our time was over and gave permission to anyone who had another commitment and needed to leave to do so. No one left the room and we remained there an additional 15 minutes.
Participant in the workshop my workshop: What We Can Learn from Our Past.

Pelican Lee and her partner Rebecca Henderson came from New Mexico to participate in the weekend. Peli and I met in 1994 in Abiqui, New Mexico. Peli and I got a chance to spend time together last winter when she came East to participate in Niyonu's Beyond Diversity 101 workshop at Temenos in March. It was such a wonderful surprise to see them. Their presence also helped me feel less alone.

Rebecca Henderson & Pelican Lee

I was exhausted after my presentation and interest group. I returned to my room instead of going to dinner. I called Barry because I needed to hear and get energy from his voice. He and my mother were at a restaurant celebrating our eldest daughter's birthday. Our brief talk energized me enough to walk to dinner. It was nice that the YMCA had taken my food allergies in account and had a selection of foods in the buffet that I could easily eat. I sat at a small table with two other Friends.

As we walked back from dinner a Friend told me that she appreciated me sharing my struggle with writing my talk. She said she had come ready to argue with whatever I said, but that sharing my the extent to which I wrestled with God for my message made it easier for her to listen to me. Her words were very important to me. I feel vulnerable when I present my work, but this talk made me more vulnerable because I began it with sharing the amount of struggle I went through in writing it.

Later that evening, I attended the Cabaret, the traditional Quaker talent night. Will Alsup along with several other Friends performed. The performances ranged from singing while playing a musical instrument to an elementary school age Friend sharing a joke.

I attended one of the sessions of the business meeting and was surprised to learn that they were in the process of discerning if they should affiliate with Friends General Conference. In a letter dated September 2006, InterMountain Yearly Meeting sent several queries to their constituent monthly meetings for Friends to discuss, season and discern in your Meetings and Worship Groups.

Each Meeting was asked to share the queries along with the accompanying background materials. The yearly meeting requested that they prepare their responses to send to the Continuing Committee meeting. The meetings are to be held at Mountain View Meeting in Denver this coming January 26 and 27. Each of the queries suggested possible action to be taken by the Yearly Meeting. Here is the querie regarding the FGC affiliation:

Affiliation with Friends General Conference

Several Meetings in Arizona Half-Yearly Meeting have asked that our Yearly Meeting give consideration to affiliating with Friends General Conference. Background documents are posted under "Fall 2006 Queries" on the Yearly Meeting website http://imym.org that provide information about FGC, define what it means to formally affiliate with FGC and describe the process of mutual discernment that takes place when a Yearly Meeting or Monthly Meeting expresses interest in affiliation.

Query: How does your Meeting respond to the requests that IMYM explore affiliation with Friends General Conference?

The Gathering ended with lunch. As we drove back to Denver I was able to see more of the mountains and countryside in the daylight. When we got into town at Estes Park, we saw a big elk eating in a person's front yard. It was an unusual sight. I was sorry we did not have time to stop for me to take a photograph.

To see more photographs from my trip go to my flickr accout.

Friends General Conference Central Committee

2006-12-09T21:12:00.000-05:00

Central Committee 2006!!

Vanessa & Janice Domanik (CMR Clerk)

New FGC Staff members, Naman Hampton and Angelina Conti with Frank Barch (personnel committee member)

Friends General Conference's Central Committee met October 26-29th in New Windsor, Maryland. It was a very good meeting. A lot of work was accomplished. The Committee for Ministry on Racism (CMR) gathered for dinner on Saturday night. We had our formal committee meeting in September in Philadelphia.

The development committee presented FGC's clerk, Marian Beane, a special fusia bonnet for her to wear. It was very popular and comfortable. Marian was very gracious and let many of us try it on.

Interim Program Staff Coordinators: Emily Stewart & Vanessa Julye

Central Committee approved making both the coordinator positions for the Committee for Ministry on Racism and Youth Ministries (YM) permanent positions. The CMR position was increased to a three day a week part time position and the YM position was made full time.

I have been serving as the interim coordinator for CMR over the past year. I have agreed to serve as the long term CMR coordinator.

Pastsy Martin & Traci Hjelt Sullivan relax after Saturday evening Plenary session.

Watching Crash!!

2006-11-01T21:52:00.001-05:00

Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting

On the afternoon of October 15th Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting's Ad hoc Committee on Race and Racism sponsored the showing of the film, Crash. Unfortunately, it was a very busy Sunday in Philadelphia. We were competing with the Aids Walk. Around 15 Friends joined us to watch the film. All, but one Friend stayed to share ice cream and talk about the film. Our discussion was artfully facilitated by Barry Scott.

Official Pennsylvania Historical Marker honoring William Chester Ruth

2006-10-02T22:32:00.000-04:00

Ida E. Ruth Jones with her brother William Chester Ruth

Bright and early at 7:00 AM this morning I picked up my mother and we drove to my brother's house. When we arrived we transferred ourselves from my car to my brother's. Then the three of us drove to Gap, Pennsylvania. Why did we do this?

We drove to Gap to participate in the unveiling of a historical marker for my Great Uncle William Chester Ruth. The Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission along with Marvin Stoltzfus dedicated a Pennsylvania Historical Marker honoring my great uncle. Nancy Hess, a local historian and Communications Coordinator of the Octorara Area School District organized this important event.

Several officials were there:

Joan Lorenz - Local Historian and member of Salisbury Township Historical Society
Bruce Bomberger - PA Historic & Museum Commission representative Curator from Landis Valley Museum
State Representative Art Hershey
State Representative Gordon R. Denlinger

The Octorara Area High School Chorus performed two hymns: "I Love Thy Kingdom Lord" (1800 by Timothy Dwight) and "Walking By the Saviour's Side (1895 Irvin H. Mack.) Dannon Stewart, a member of the chorus, read the biographical sketch for my Great Uncle.

William Chester Ruth (1882-1971)

He was an inventor who had at least 52 patents. As a child he had an uncontrollable urge to take his toys apart. This inquisitive nature led him to invent numerous pieces of farm equipment and machinery. He moved from Ercildoun, PA to Gap PA in 1917. My Uncle Chester worked for Luken's Steel when he moved to Gap. In 1923, he opened his own Blacksmith Shop. Some of the items he created in his Blacksmith shop were:

The Baler-feeder
The Automatic Tie Baler
The Manure Spreader
The adaptor for the grain elevator which enabled it to be plugged into a light socket
The Cinder spreader

During World War II the US government commissioned William Chester Ruth to design and manufacture secret devices for airplanes and bombsightings.

Uncle "Ches" married Gertrude Miller. They raised one son, Joseph. Joseph married Roberta States who gave birth to three children: Richard, Janie and Gwendolyn. Richard and Gwendolyn were both at the unveiling along with their children.

My Great Aunt Ida and her sister Lucy were also there. So many of my relatives came out for this 9:00 AM ceremony. I was happy to see so many people. Our second Ruth Reunion was scheduled for September 2nd, but it had to be cancelled because of the weather. The weather forecasted that it would rain all day and it did. So I thought I was going to have to wait until next fall to see members of the Ruth family. Having a second historical marker unveiled in Pennsylvania for our family was a bonus.

My Great Grandmother, Ida Ella Ruth Jones, (Uncle Ches' sister) was the subject of the first marker. Her historical marker is located in East Fallowfield, PA at the corner of route 82 & Rokeby Road. It was unveiled on Saturday, October 23, 2004. Many of the same family members were present for that ceremony as well. My great grandmother was a folk artist who created over 300 paintings and pencil sketches after the age of 70.

Here she is holding one of her paintings:

Cold Wave an oil painting she completed in 1950.

I feel blessed to be a part of this family. My ancestors founded churches, were pastors, artists, entertainers, farmers and of course inventors. My paternal great great grandfather, Robert Allen Pinn, was one of 16 African Americans to earn the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1865 for his actions at Fort Harrison in the Battle of Chaffin's Farm in 1864. George Ruth, William Chester's brother, frequently performed at the White House during President Warren G Harding's administration. He conducted a 40-piece orchestra.

I am glad that I was able to be present on such an historical day in my family and proud to share it with you. Double click on my flickr banner to see more photos from this event.

Marvin Stoltzfus
Current prop erty owner

Building and Sustaining Community

2006-09-29T17:21:00.000-04:00

September 15-17, 2006 - Cape Cod Retreat for Friends of Color

Lynda Black, a member of my meeting, Central Philadelphia and I drove up to Falmouth, MA to participate in a weekend retreat for Friends of Color. West Falmouth Preparative Meeting has a house behind their meetinghouse. They agreed to host us for the weekend. They did a wonderful job. We had a great time. The weather turned out to be beautiful. However, it did not start out that way.

When Lynda and I left Philadelphia the sun had just come out. As we drove into New Jersey and got onto the turnpike we drove into the rain which had just ended in Philadelphia. It rained the entire drive up to Cape Cod. At times the conditions were absolutely terrible. We passed several accidents on the road and were thankful that we were not involved in any of them. The rain was not constant, it was off and on, sometimes misting, sometimes torrential. Many people were not driving cautiously. After driving for 8 hours we finally arrived at Falmouth Quaker House.

We were warmly greeted. Several Friends also were delayed because of the rain, so it was decided to wait until Saturday to hold any sessions. The four Friends who were there had spent the time socializing until we arrived. Lynda and I joined them as we ate, then we unpacked the car and made our beds so we could get a good nights sleep.

The next morning the rain had stopped and it was bright and sunny. We were joined by a Friend from Maine. After breakfast we had our first session. Ernie Buscemi facilitated a discussion on Community. We shared our experiences of being a Friend of Color. Some of us were the only Friend of Color in our meeting while others had several other Friends of Color. During this discussion two more Friends joined us, one from Connecticut and another from Massachusetts. It was a very nurturing and important session.

Our group piled into three cars into Woods Hole, MA for lunch. We ate at a restaurant called the Fishmonger (shown to your left.) It was a cute restaurant in a quaint town. While we were waiting for them to put some tables together for our group, the draw bridge opened. The draw bridge is in the middle of town. Traffic was stopped and we got a chance to see one boat drive into the harbor and a sail boat go out. By the time all of that excitement was over our table was ready. We were half way through our meal when another Friend from Maine joined us.

We returned to Quaker House to continue our talk about community. However, before we began we posed for a group picture. Two of the Friends who joined us for the retreat are not in this picture. We came from six different states; Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

In our afternoon session we continued our talk on Community and also talked about our next Gathering. We spent a significant amount of time hearing and talking about East Sandwich Preparative Meeting and Sharon's struggle with them. We focused our conversation on nurturing and supporting her. Then we turned our attention on our next gathering. We decided to meet in Philadelphia in the spring. It was time to break for dinner.

Our dinner was prepared by a fantastic cook, Vernon (Buddy) Pocknett. He served us a traditional Mashpee Wampanoag meal. We had a fantastic meal of stuffed quahog, freshly caught and baked fish, baked potatoes, acorn squash and string beans. Buddy, his wife, Renee Lopes-Pocknett, and son, Aquinnah Lopes-Pocknett, joined us for dinner. We had a very special dessert after dinner. Four of the people in our group had birthdays in September, so I birthday cake was brought out and we all sang happy birthday. It was a beautiful chocolate mouse cake. I am allergic to wheat, so I couldn't eat it, but everyone said it tasted delicious. We spent the rest of the evening talking, listening to music and having fun. Some members of our group stayed up very late enjoying each others company.

The next morning we cleaned up the house, packed up the left over food and headed for East Sandwich Preparative Meeting. Members on East Sandwich had prepared a welcome breakfast for us. Unfortunately, our caravan got lost on our way to the meetinghouse and we arrived late for breakfast, but in time for worship. It was a very gathered and powerful worship. Sandwich is a divided meetinghouse. Worship was held on the left side of the meetinghouse. It was nice to see some familiar faces in the meetinghouse. Anne Nash and K Brown were among the Friends who worshipped at East Sandwich that day. Paul and Mary Mangelsdorf were also there. The Friends who were there were very nice. They had organized a potluck lunch which included the food they had brought for the breakfast we missed. I had a chance to talk with a few Friends. I signed their guest book and sat down to eat my yogurt when it was time to leave. Lynda and I said our goodbyes. As we were leaving we found out that the Friends who were upset with Sharon, her mother and Friend Rachel had not come to worship with us that morning. I was sad to hear that they decided not to worship with us. I am not sure what they were afraid we would do during our visit. I am also sad that they missed such a wonderful worship.

Lynda and I had a nice drive home. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon. We followed Ernie Busecemi's car to right outside of New York City. We said our final goodbye when we stopped at a rest stop. They headed for the city and we went to New Jersey.

It was my first trip to Cape Cod. I am glad that I went. It was nurturing to spend the weekend with Friends of Color. We were able to cry and play with each other. Share our stories and find out that we were not as alone as some of us felt. One Friend had stopped attending worship and decided to return because of our time together. We have promised to stay in touch with one another. I created a yahoo group for us to be able to do that. However, sharing messages, pictures and calendars over the internet is not the same as face-to-face time together. I am really looking forward to our spring gathering!!

Eastern Shore of Virginia

2006-09-25T23:00:00.000-04:00

September 7-9, 2006

It has been a while since I posted to my blog. Of course I have traveled to several places this month. This blog entry is going to focus on the trip I took to Eastville, Virginia to spend some time with my mother and great aunt.

My great aunt is like a grandmother to me. Both my grandmothers and paternal grandfather were dead before I was born. My maternal grandfather, a widower, remarried when I was a little girl, but she and I were not close until recently. My great Aunt, Ida Jones Williams, is a remarkable woman. She is in her 90's, lives by herself, drives her car and travels all over. Aunt Ida was asked to write a book about African American education in Northampton County, Virginia as a part of the state's celebration of Jamestown being 400 years old in 2007. http://www.jamestown2007.org/home.cfm

My mother and I have been helping my great aunt with her manuscript. My mother types her text into the computer, I have been scanning photographs into the computer, taking pictures and assisting with layout. I have also been researching ways to publish the book. One of the things the committee that asked her to write the book did not make clear to her was that they expected her to self publish. My great aunt is going ahead with writing and publishing this book because she is an historian at heart.

My great aunt went to Virginia to attend Hampton University in the 1920's. She graduated with a degree in homemaking. She got married, remained in Virginia with her husband and the two of them taught in the segregated school system. I have been enjoying hearing about her experiences teaching in Virginia. She made sure that she took her class on a trip each year so that the children could get an opportunity to travel off the eastern shore. I was surprised to find out that the schools there were segregated until 1970. Many European American parents avoided desegregation by enrolling their children in private schools. I am learning a lot about African American education in Virginia from helping her with this book.

Before my mother and I drove back to Philadelphia we went to one of my favorite places on the Eastern Shore, Cape Charles. The ocean water there was still warm. We removed our shoes, rolled up our pants and skirt and walked along the shore in the water. Cape Charles has renovated their beach over the past year. They removed old pylons and parts of an old dock, brought in sand, expanded the beach and built a couple breaks off shore to reduce the waves during a storm. Most of the houses along the beach are for sale along with many other houses in the town. The town is changing from a small quaint lower to middle class town to an upper class retirement community. A community of expensive town houses have been built just slightly outside of town. Last year I took a couple photos of the dock and pylons because they were interesting. I wish I had taken more photos of the beach in general.

Here it is after they removed the wood and were placing the new sand.

This is what it looks like now. Here are photos I took this September.

The Niagara Movement - Harpers Ferry, WV

2006-09-02T21:52:00.000-04:00

On August 18th, Barry, Ellen and I drove down to West Virginia. We went to participate in the Centennial Celebration of the Niagara Movement. The National Park Service had invited all of the descendants of the original participants to gather at Harpers Ferry for a weekend of activities. Barry's great grandfather, reverend Garnet Russell Waller and uncle, Dr. Owen M. Waller were among the people who participate in the Niagara Movement's visit to Harper's Ferry in 1906.

Most of the events occurred on the former campus of Storer College. On Friday evening we heard Donzaleigh Abernathy, Juandalynn Abernathy and Dar Dixon perform "Women of Niagara." When we returned to Harpers Ferry on Saturday we attended the descendants reception, heard Dr. David Levering Lewis give a keynote address on W.E.B. DuBois, listened to a gospel concert performed by The Dixie Hummingbirds, and a panel discussion on the topic: "The Problem of the Twentieth Century will be the Problem of the Color Line: Breaking Barriers in America." The panelists were Juanita Abernathy, Reverend Walter Fauntroy, Dr. Eddie Henderson, Monte Irvin, Cheryl White and Joseph Wilder moderated by John W Franklin. While we were quietly listening to the first panelist I heard a commotion at the back of the tent. I turned around to look and saw members of the KKK, dressed in black clothing and Nazi regalia, surrounded by riot police standing at the back of the tent. A few men seemed to be saying something to them when a policeman walked up to the group, spoke a few words and the crowd dispersed. The some of the Klansmen sat at the back of the tent while others stood near them. I was proud that their presence did not disrupt the program. Eventually the members of the KKK left followed by the riot police. The next day an article was in the papers about the Klans attendance.

The Martinsburg Journal

Sunday, Aug 20th, 2006

HARPERS FERRY -- The audience barely missed a beat when about 20 members of the Ku Klux Klan showed up at the beginning of a Niagara Movement Centennial Commemoration event in Harpers Ferry Saturday afternoon.

Children, who were among the nearly 2,000 people of various races waiting to hear a panel discussion on racial issues, gawked in confusion. Most apparently knew little about the group.

"Could they bomb us here, mama," asked one boy.

"Yes," was the answer, and the boy looked mystified.

The adults, who remembered when the KKK wore white robes and hoods and terrorized blacks and others, seemed to stiffen as the black-clad group took their seats to the rear of the tent. Klan members were wearing an alternate uniform Saturday, consisting primarily of black clothing and Nazi regalia.

Another boy sized up the black jeans, T-shirts and red emblems the men, women and teenagers wore.

"Aw, we could take them, couldn't we," he said.

The crowd laughed and turned their attention to the stage as six black barrier breakers shared stories of overcoming racism and offered words of advice.

Panelists included the Rev. Walter Fauntroy, the first District of Columbia delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives; Monte Irvin, a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame who was among the earliest black players in Major League Baseball; Eddie Henderson, the first black to compete in the National Figure Skating Championships; Cheryl White, the first black female professional jockey and Joseph Wilder, a musician who helped to integrate Broadway.

The KKK members left the panel discussion after Juanita Abernathy, widow of civil rights leader the Rev. Ralph David Abernathy, spoke to the audience about the importance of education and responsible voting.

Their exit, under escort by several federal police officers as was their entrance, went unnoticed by most of the audience.

Once the panel discussion ended we took a break and returned to the hotel. We stayed in a hotel near Harpers Ferry in Sheperdstown, WV. Barry's mother, aunts and uncle also joined us. We all stayed in the same hotel.

Later that evening we went back to Harper's Ferry to hear the Count Basie Orchestra. They performed a special "Niagara Suite" composed and arranged by Dr. Frank Foster who was present to conduct their performance. The suite was made up of three parts: The opening suite was "Spirit of John Brown," Part two, "Conference Time," and the final movement, "The Battle We Wage." The Preservation Hall Jazz Band also performed that night, simultaneously at a different location at Harpers Ferry.

On Sunday, August 20th, (Barry's birthday) we were up bright and early and back at Harpers Ferry 6:30 AM where we caught the bus to Murphy Farm. There we joined other descendants from the 1906 movement. A white carnation with the name of one of the 1906 participants was given to family members to place on the foundation for the original site of John Brown's Fort. Then at 7:30 AM we gathered by the river and re-enacted the pilgrimage made by our ancestors in 1906 to the foundation of John Brown's Fort. We walked around the foundation and sat down for a short program. I had the opportunity to sit next to Juanita Abernathy. After the program I had an opportunity to talk with Juanita Abernathy before we loaded the buses to return to the parking lot.

We drove back to the hotel, checked out and gathered in Sherperdstown for brunch. It was the first time that the family as a whole shared a meal together that weekend. Once our stomach were full, we drove back to Harpers Ferry for the last few hours of the celebration. We returned in time to hear Odetta perform songs of freedom and inspiration, the final panel discussion: "Reflections of W.E.B. DuBois" moderated by Dr. Lawrence Hogan. The panelists were W.E.B. DuBois' granddaughter, Dr. DuBois Irvin and Dr. David Levering Lewis. The Delfeayo Marsalis Quintet performed after the presentation prior to the closing ceremony. During the closing ceremony a Niagara Centennial plaque was presented to the National Park Service. The final event was having everyone present gather outside of one of the Mather Training Center for a centennial photograph.

The weekend was filled with wonderful jazz music, panel presentations, several speeches and ended with a presentation of a commemorative plaque and group photograph. I am very glad that I was able to be present for this momentous occasion.

Click the end of this sentence to see photographs of the event posted by the National Park Service .

Below is a photo from the weekend taken by various members of the family with our camera. View more pictures by clicking on the flickr.com box on the side.