Monday, August 19, 2013

Three Beautiful Things 08/18/13: Day of St. Mary, St. Mary's Picnic, Cool of the Back Yard

1.  Eugene as its high feast days:  the Oregon Country Fair, Faerieworlds, the Eugene Celebration, the Whitaker Block Party, and every Duck home football game.  We in the Episcopal Church do, too, and today was St. Mary Sunday and we celebrated the life of St. Mary (after whom our parish is named) with a Solemn High Eucharist:  no food booths, no twirly dancing, no faces painted green and yellow, no karma bands marching through the sanctuary, no Frog joke books, no Kudana, but it was a high feast day all the same and I was moved.

2.  We also had our parish picnic at the Lively Park and I enjoyed a long conversation with St. Mary's intern Brandon McGinnis, Loren Crow,  Bethany, Margaret, and Michael  -- existentialism, non-denominational churches, C. S. Lewis, and a host of other topics kept the conversation alive and fascinating.

3.  The Senior Warden, a.k.a. The Troxstar, Lady Senior Warden/Mme. Troxstar, the Deke, and I wrapped up the evening in the cool of the back yard with the help of gin and tonics, Full Sail Ltd. Bohemian Pilsner beer, Pinot Gris wine, and R and R Canadian whiskey and water and, believe me, whatever major questions about the meaning of life were not addressed and solved at the picnic certainly got settled by the time we broke up our little party at 10 p.m.

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