[Magdalen] How's everyone?

[Ann Markle]

Not much news on this front. The bad news is that, after 20 years, I
started smoking again in November, quit during Lent, and started up again
when I drove to Illinois Easter week to visit my family. I know I'm killing
myself, and every day I say I’ll quit, and then I buy another pack! Sigh.
I’ve also gained weight, so I could be feeling better about my poor old
body.

On the upside, I'm still sober, enjoy my job, and am completely besotted
with my little dog. My summer project is to renovate my trailer by the
lake. There are a couple of projects that I need help with, and I’m
thinking about who I might ask to help me. The rest I plan to do myself:
removing 4 bunks from the back bedroom and building in a double bed for
myself, removing a beat-up old sofa and gross carpet from the living room
area and building a bench-sofa that will convert into another double bed,
doing some minor interior repairs, and painting the whole interior.  I'd
like to do some planting around the outside and build a fire ring/pit.

The job also affords me the luxury of buying a new bicycle (I had 2 stolen
within 4 days last year, and replaced them with a used one that I’m not
thrilled with). I love riding my bike, it’s an important way I stay active
during the summer, and want one I love to ride. I’m also planning another
trip to Italy this fall, this time in the far south and maybe back to
Sicily. That’s also thanks to my job and the regular income it provides.
I’m still chasing black madonnas, and who knows how many more years I’ll be
able to travel freely and easily?

Otherwise I stay busy with work, some volunteer work, yoga, and my two
study groups. I’ve also started affiliating with a nearby art/teaching
studio that has biweekly workshops; my most recent project there is a small
mosaic. I'd live to do one on clear glass, that I could hang in a window.

My current book is “Inventing the Middle Ages,” and while it’s not exactly
a page-turner, I'm learning a lot about historical analysis and bias.

I’ve also got a new pair of glasses. After a decade of wearing little
rimless ones, I’ve got a pair of big, SERIOUS glasses now, I suppose a la
Rachel Maddow.

That’s about it for me.

On Wed, May 9, 2018 at 12:58 PM Ginga Wilder <gingawilder at gmail.com> wrote:

> Are we open?  I hope so.  May we check in with each other?
>
> John and I are well.  Each of us has some health concerns, but we fare
> forward in good ways.  I have my second cataract surgery tomorrow...if it
> goes as well as the first, I'll have 20/20 distant vision for the first
> time since I was a small child.  I've already purchased some inexpensive
> red bifocals and look forward to trying them out tomorrow or Friday.
>
> Good news happening in The Episcopal Church in SC.  By the end of June, we
> anticipate hearing from SCOTUS that they have denied cert in the Lawrence
> appeal.  We are thinking about reconciliation and buildings now...don't
> know what is possible, but this consideration is a good distraction.
>
> Our children and grands are also good.  Today is our son Jay and his wife
> Annie's 26 wedding anniversary, AND their son Zach's 22nd birthday, AND
> Annie's mom's 76 birthday. Zach graduates this weekend from Syracuse and
> will go to work in IT for Ernst and Young in Arlington, VA.  We visited
> with each of our NC children/families last week.  Great to see Robert's
> group in their home - granddaughter Rory turned 5 while we were there.  Had
> dinner with Jay, Annie, and Melanie, who was the only child home.  Katie
> came home the next day from UNC.  We spent Saturday night with Ginny in
> Winston-Salem, NC where she is rector of St. Anne's Episcopal Church.
> Ginny's wife Barbie was fetching her daughter from Duquesne.  St. Anne's is
> progressive, involved in lots of outreach ministries, and has an
> exceptional music program.  The church is less than a mile from Wake Forest
> University and the NC School of the Arts.
>
> Anyway, I thought we might resume conversation in the pub with ordinary
> things.  So, what's up with the rest of us?
>
> Ginga Wilder
>
-- 
Ann

The Rev. Ann Markle
Buffalo, NY
www.onewildandpreciouslife.typepad.com