AROUND THE MEADOW AT CHRIST CHURCH COLLEGE, OXFORD

My friend Richard and I walked the path around the meadow at Christ Church while I was in Oxford.

The buildings of the college are far in the distance.

As sunset approached, but before Mr Sun disappeared over the horizon, he gave us the wonderful display of color against the dark clouds.

The different appearance of the sky in the various pictures makes it hard even for me to believe that the photos were taken on the same walk.  In the center and to the right, the small brown speck is a deer.

A drainage canal beside the path around the meadow, which Richard said is, "...vitally needed because the land is immensely soggy, and otherwise the cows' hooves would rot....  It's a very damp place, Oxford."

"DIVINITY BELONGS TO THE POST-EASTER JESUS, NOT THE PRE-EASTER JESUS" - MARCUS BORG

"Divinity belongs to the post-Easter Jesus, not the pre-Easter Jesus. To think of Jesus as divine actually diminishes him. If he was divine and had the power of God, then what he did wan’t all that remarkable. He could’ve done so much more.  But the classic Christian affirmation about the pre-
Easter Jesus is not that he was God, but that he was the decisive revelation of God.  This is the cumulative meaning of the exalted language that Christians use for Jesus: in him, we see what can be seen of God in human life.”— Speaking Christian by Marcus Borg

If the classic affirmation about Jesus is that he was not God before the Resurrection, why have I not heard this before now?  What do you think?

FROM FOX NEWS!

WHAT'S OLD IS NEW AT ST JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH

For the past several months, the pipe organ in St. John's Episcopal Church in Thibodaux, LA has been away for repairs and maintenance. The instrument was returned to its place in the church while I was away with a new (to us) antique console.

Another view of the console.

The organ pipes in the loft were moved to a more forward position, which makes them stand out nicely.

How lovely it was to have our wonderful old organ back in its place in the church.

MEANWHILE BACK ON THE HOME FRONT

Right after I left for England, Grandpère planted and tended greens in his autumn garden.  He knows I love my salads, and greens fresh from the garden make the best salads.
 

 

By the time I came home, the greens were ready to eat. Grandpère does not pull up the entire plant but rather breaks off leaves until a frost is on the way or the plant gets too old.  The two photos above are different varieties of lettuce.

My favorite green, roquette (rocket), is pictured above. Grandpère plants roquette especially for me, because he doesn't care for its bite, but the bite is what I like. The best salads include a combination of the three greens.

All too often, I take for granted the fresh produce from the garden, and sometimes it takes a reminder from others for me to realize how fortunate I am to have fresh fruit and vegetables throughout much of the year.

SIGNS FOR SALE IN THE COVERED MARKET IN OXFORD

Ha ha.  I didn't buy, but I laughed and took a picture.

DECEPTION, DECEPTION, AND MORE DECEPTION BY OPPONENTS OF OBAMACARE

Talking Points Memo reveals the latest schemes by health insurance companies to deceive policy holders about their options under the Affordable Health Care Act.

Across the country, insurance companies have sent misleading letters to consumers, trying to lock them into the companies' own, sometimes more expensive health insurance plans rather than let them shop for insurance and tax credits on the Obamacare marketplaces -- which could lead to people like Donna spending thousands more for insurance than the law intended. In some cases, mentions of the marketplace in those letters are relegated to a mere footnote, which can be easily overlooked.

The extreme lengths to which some insurance companies are going to hold on to existing customers at higher price, as the Affordable Care Act fundamentally re-orders the individual insurance market, has caught the attention of state insurance regulators.

The insurance companies argue that it's simply capitalism at work. But regulators don't see it that way. By warning customers that their health insurance plans are being canceled as a result of Obamacare and urging them to secure new insurance plans before the Obamacare launched on Oct. 1, these insurers put their customers at risk of enrolling in plans that were not as good or as affordable as what they could buy on the marketplaces.

I read this statement recently on Facebook:

"Just heard a WH Advisor on the news say if your health insurance isn't changed or cancelled you can keep it...said it with a straight face."

I agree that the White House could have phrased the statement better. Certain people with private health insurance policies will receive cancellation notices from their insurance companies because their policies will no longer be sold, as they do not meet the MINIMUM standards under Obamacare (or Romneycare, if you will). In other words, the policies are SHIT and do not adequately protect policy holders from the cost of health care for catastrophic illness or accident.  The policy holders who have received cancellations will be able to find policies which provide adequate coverage at reasonable cost through the Affordable Health Care marketplaces. 

Pardon the vulgarity, but I am beyond anger at the deception by insurance companies and Republicans who do not want Americans to have affordable health care. Their actions are despicably evil. To paraphrase Joseph Welch at the Army-McCarthy hearings:

"You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir]s and mesdames], at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"

AN AFFLICTION OF WHITE BOYS

Cheers,

Paul (A.)

From someecards.

DOUAI ABBEY IN ENGLAND

Douai Abbey - Woolhampton, Berkshire

A beautiful place of worship in England which a friend took me to visit is the Roman Catholic Douai Abbey in Woolhampton in Berkshire.  From the homepage of the abbey:

Douai Abbey is home to a community of monks of the English Benedictine Congregation. The monastery is under the patronage of St Edmund, King & Martyr, and was founded in Paris in 1615. Uprooted by the French Revolution it came to settle at Douai in Flanders. After more political turmoil the community of St Edmund finally returned to England in 1903, to Woolhampton in Berkshire, at the invitation of the Bishop of Portsmouth.

The interior of the abbey was quite a surprise, as I expected it to look not quite so traditional. When I left, the exterior was once again a surprise, and I felt somewhat as if I had been in two different structures. The interior includes contemporary touches, such as the techie lighting, the crucifix, and the stained glass windows.

Close-up of the crucifix

The close-up of the crucifix is stunning. In the abbey, the crucifix is positioned quite high, so the close-up after cropping the photo is an exquisite surprise.

Stained glass window with cool colors

Stained glass window with warm colors

I intended to post the stories of my travels in chronological order, but I had writer's block when I tried, so the posts will be about whatever strikes my fancy at the moment.

Image of the exterior of the abbey from Wikipedia.

WHAT GOOD IS IT?

Of what use is a retractable dog lead with ten knots in it?  While I was away, Grandpère managed to get to ten.  We've had the lead for years and had a knot or two from time to time, but never ten.  I'm down to four now, using a combination of the blunt side of a seam ripper and my fingernails, but it's tedious work because the knots were pulled tight as the lead continued to be used.  I'm going to bed.  The rest of the knots can stay till tomorrow.