[Magdalen] Where are we

[Robert Counselman]

What a delightful surprise!  Checked my Magdalen mail and there were all
these messages!!  Great to hear from the group once more.  Things are quiet
in South Texas and since the virus hit, I've been mostly at home trying NOT
to do all the little projects that need to be done.  It's much easier to
cry and complain about not being able to do the things I want to do and
deal with the projects and I could be doing since I'm stuck at home!  Such
is the nature of the human being, I guess.

I had considered that the lack of postings on Magdalen had something to do
with the political climate and perhaps that was a part of it, but these
things do tend to run in cycles and I guess everyone just needed a bit of a
breather.

In any case, its great to hear from all of you once more.  Perhaps one of
my New Year's resolutions for 2021 should be to post on Magdalen
occasionally.  Not much else to do down here anyway!

Hope you all have as wonderful a Christmas as is possible in this current
situation - Safe and healthy above all!

Bob



On Sun, Dec 20, 2020 at 2:05 PM Suzie Buchanan <buchanan.suzie at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I'm still here, but I rarely post as I usually read on my phone and hate
> typing on it!  When I sit at my computer, it is almost always work time.
> I've been rector here in Lenoir NC for three years now.  It's a great
> parish, and I love the area.  We stopped in-person worship in mid-March,
> did a few outdoor distanced services in person this summer, started
> preparing for return to in-person indoor for October, but then our local
> COVID numbers skyrocketed, so we remained online only since then.  From the
> very beginning we've had weekly online worship (pre-recorded), zoom coffee
> hours, zoom bible study and other meetings (book group, committees).
> Mostly I've been recording from home, although we have also delivered
> communion to everyone's home once a month (8 times now) and I record the
> consecration at the church altar.  Vestry drops the little white cupcake
> sized to-go boxes off on people's doorsteps - about 80 boxes for 145
> people.  Longest drive is to one parishioner who lives  Our organist
> records prelude, postlude and two hymns for me to use each week.  It's been
> kinda fun to see our usual 8:00 no-music part of the congregation reaching
> out for help in figuring out how to sing along with the Gloria.  That
> prompted me to adjust how I put the words up on the video - timing the
> phrases with the music.  (All words for the liturgy are on the screen,
> including the readings, so nobody has to download or find an online
> bulletin).  I'm really really tired of all the computer work I do - and
> miss being WITH people.  Tried to visit one of our parishioners at the
> hospital yesterday (she had a small stroke this past week), and couldn't
> even get access for a prayer.  She moves to a rehab facility tomorrow,
> where she will be quarantined for 14 days (but I'm told I will be able to
> have "window visits").  But we've had good phone connections across the
> parish (everyone gets a phone call every week from a vestry member) and the
> vestry meets with me on zoom weekly.  It could be worse.  We've only had
> one person die from COVID, but have had a number of other funerals where
> only a few family members could be present.  That has been the hardest
> piece - even harder than missing out on Sundays together.  We currently
> have a handful of parishioners who have recently tested positive, but
> everyone seems to be hanging in with fairly mild symptoms.
>
> My husband Rick and I are happy to no longer be in a commuter marriage.  We
> did that for my first two years here, but last August he moved to NC and we
> bought a house.  SO glad to have had that landed before 2020 hit!   He was
> able to keep his job with the IT department of Union Presbyterian Seminary
> - he had been working on their main campus in Richmond, VA but now works
> mostly remotely (moved to data management) but also once a week at their
> Charlotte, NC campus (about an hour away from us).  Access to great
> internet was one of the home buying requirements because of his work, and
> it has certainly come in handy for me this year.  And our home is large
> enough that we have been able to set up separate work-from-home spaces for
> each of us.  And had room for me to isolate in house when he came down with
> a mild case of COVID.  I have managed to remain healthy and he's completely
> recovered.
>
> My beloved yellow Lab, Kodi, died on Ash Wednesday after about a half year
> of serious heart issues and a number of surgeries that provided some very
> good final months, but eventually couldn't fix his issues.  Our two year
> old black Lab, Tuckerman, has been very "off" since then, and has been just
> beside himself with happiness when we added a chocolate Lab puppy to our
> household six weeks ago.  She is now 14 weeks old and a delight.  "Abigail
> Foments a Rebellion" is her official AKC name.  And she lives up to it.
> Abby is a bright spot in our home for all of us during this hard time.
>
> Today is Christmas Cookie baking day - so I'd better get back to the
> kitchen for the next batch.
>
> Blessings to you all
> Suz
>


-- 
Fr. Robert L Counselman,
Retired