When the NWS Uses Punctuation

We are under a Blizzard Warning until 7AM tomorrow morning (Thursday). So far so good: I still have power, my phone is working again, all of my kids are home (from Washington, DC to the Canadian border) because of the bad weather, and they all have their chat clients open on their computers for the day. I've had a nap and will clean house later. The cats have given up fighting and are now napping. And I'm getting a dog in the summer! I am so psyched!!

This is one paragraph from the blizzard warning and I think it's both ominous and funny when the science guys begin using exclamation points:

THIS IS A DANGEROUS WINTER WEATHER SITUATION!
BE AWARE THAT TRAVEL WILL BECOME NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE
BY AUTOMOBILE DUE TO BLIZZARD CONDITIONS WITH HEAVY SNOW
AND BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW LATER TODAY OVER
THE ENTIRE NORTH COUNTRY. DO NOT TRAVEL THIS AFTERNOON
OR TONIGHT UNLESS IT IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY!

_/\_/\_

Happy Valentine's Day to Me!

You dis-integrate my differential,

You Dislocate my focus,
My heartbeat goes up like an exponential,
Whenever you cross my locus.
Without you sets are Null and Void,
Would you be my Cardioid?

Anonymous

Don't know what a cardioid is? CLICK HERE!
_/\_/\_

Finally a Snow Day Coming! But a blizzard?

CATS TUESDAY is beneath this post.
From NOAA's Winter Storm Warning for northeastern Vermont for tomorrow: 

THE EXPECTED LOW TRACK AND INFLUX OF ATLANTIC MOISTURE IS NEARLY
IDEAL FOR MAJOR SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ACROSS VERMONT AND NORTHERN NEW
YORK. SNOW AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED TO RANGE FROM 6 TO 12 INCHES IN
THE ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY...12 TO 18 INCHES IN THE NORTHERN
ADIRONDACKS...12 TO 20 INCHES IN THE CHAMPLAIN VALLEY...AND 1 TO 2
FEET ACROSS CENTRAL AND EASTERN VERMONT.

That's me: Eastern Vermont!!

It is now Tuesday night, 10PM, and now I am worried. I am hearing talk on New England Cable News and at NOAA of blizzard. The last blizzard I lived through was awful: no power, water or heat for a week and I ended up with the Red Cross and FEMA.

This afternoon while driving to the college I noticed that all the roadside snow had been pushed way off into the fields in order to make room for new snow. That is always an ominous sign. In the past when that has happened, there was always a huge snow.

I got home from the college and my principal was on the phone within ten minutes: the superintendent has cancelled tomorrow's classes. I had to call three people on the snow tree but my phone suddenly broke! I fixed the phone, made my calls, returned another phone message, and have been scanning all the weather reports. The cats are fighting badly. The people calling me back are also talking blizzard.

10PM:
Now I see on NOAA that my part of the county is expected to have 30 inches of snow by 10PM tomorrow. Two feet six inches! 76.2 centimeters! And the snow won't end until sometime Thursday.

_/\_/\_

Cats Tuesday: My Mouse

Today is a photographic essay.
Since I work on Tuesday nights, I won't be able to visit your posts until late tonight.
Have a wonderful day!

Mouse, orphaned at 3 weeks.

The Amazing Leaping Mouse

Mouse is very tempermental but is happy here.

Mouse is now full grown.

Mouse had to be shaved this winter.
Here, she is glowering at me after biting me while
I was singing the Messiah with my headphones on.
I was in shock!

Mouse and Buddy

_/\_/\_

Another year without a Valentine

_/\_/\_

Emotional Intelligence

clipped from: webhome.idirect.com

I was just lent the audiobook Social Intelligence by Daniel Goleman who wrote extensively about emotional intelligence. Looking over this list (from ClipMarks), I see that I'm doing pretty well!

The Ten Habits of Emotionally Intelligent People
Copyright 1999 Steve Hein, The EQ Institute - May be copied for educational uses.

High EQ people:
1. Label their feelings, rather than labeling people or situations. "I feel impatient."
vs "This is ridiculous."

"I feel hurt and bitter".
vs. "You are an insensitive jerk."

"I feel afraid."
vs. "You are driving like a idiot."

2. Distinguish between thoughts and feelings.
Thoughts: I feel like...& I feel as if.... & I feel that
Feelings: I feel: (feeling word)

3. Take responsibility for their feelings. "I feel jealous." vs. "You are making me jealous."

4. Use their feelings to help them make decisions. "How will I feel if I do this?" "How will I feel if I don't"

5. Show respect for other people's feelings. They ask "How will you feel if I do this?" "How will you feel if I don't."

6. Feel energized, not angry. They use what others call "anger" to help them feel energized to take productive action.

7. Validate other people's feelings. They show empathy, understanding, and acceptance of other people's feelings.

8. Practice getting a positive value from their negative emotions. They ask themselves: "How do I feel?" and "What would help me feel better?" They ask others "How do you feel?" and "What would help you feel better?"

9. Don't advise, command, control, criticize, judge or lecture to others. They realize it doesn't feel good to be on the receiving end of such behavior, so they avoid it.

10. Avoid people who invalidate them, or don't respect their feelings. As much as possible, they choose to associate only with other people with high EQ.

Vista? Uh Oh!

Windows Vista Upgrade Decision Flowchart

I have already heard pretty bad stuff: from colleagues and now from my kids who ignored my advice and went to the Dark Side. Macs expensive? I never had to buy a new printer, drivers, or pricey software upgrades just to get a new OS. And my OS works!

Click on this and you will be taken to the web site (in a new window)
so that you can see it large and printable.

_/\_/\_

To love at all is to be vulnerable . . .

This is my smiling father in 2003 at Union House Nursing Home in Glover, VT.

Daddy was an enigma: a withdrawn and emotionally distant intellectual, mathematician, physicist, and engineer. His childhood scarred him so badly that he was unable to maintain contact with his own children and we have all suffered greatly. Yet he is still my hero and probably always will be.

Named after my father, I never felt I was able to be the person he wanted me to be. In the end, ironically, when he was trapped in his body and brain with Lewy Body Dementia, I felt that I met his expectations. I cared not what trapped him: I finally was able to spend time with him. I spent every evening with him. We watched the news or Antiques Roadshow. We talked and I read books to him. I would leave when it was time for him to go to bed. On Sundays I spent many afternoons with him eating in the dining room. They were wonderful times for me. I finally felt useful and important to him. Best of all, Daddy never was confused about who I was. The nursing home was my social life and my church was my support.

The books we read were important to us. We covered the ancient history of the British Isles, the history of ∏, a history of e, and finally, a history of trigonometry. We read at least two of Eli Maor's books. In each book that we read I carefully wrote the date of when we finished them.

In Maor's book on trigonometry I read that Descartes's designation of the x-axis as horizontal and the y-axis as vertical in the coordinate plane was entirely arbitrary. I misunderstood what was meant by that and disputed the arbitrariness of it. Daddy agreed with me. I found Maor's publisher and began a short e-mail correspondence with him. Maor and I never discussed my dispute about the Cartesian plane (I would never admit to Maor that I thought that he, a true mathematician, could be wrong!). We spoke of my father and my young students and mathematics education. (Maor was not wrong, of course. I was wrong in the way that I read his statement.)

Christmas 2003 was the most beautiful of my life. Two of my children, Amelia and Andrew, were able to be with me for Christmas. The Christmas Eve service was held at the Glover church. The church is next door to Union House. I asked permission to take my father to Christmas Eve service, the nurses dressed him appropriately for the walk in the cold, clear night and off the four of us went.

The short walk was ice. It was dangerous for him to be out walking on it. But with me on one side, my tall and strong Andrew on the other and Amelia in the back, we kept him safe and secure. He was able to walk up the steps. The sanctuary was already packed and many of the congregation knew as soon as they saw us that this was my family that they had never seen. I was so proud and so happy that we were together. Daddy sat between me and his grandchildren.

I was concerned that he might become confused and anxious with the crowd of people and with the music. But he never was scared. He recognized every hymn and sang every one. I cried with happiness during the whole service. I had given my father a Christmas in which he participated and which touched his heart.

At the end of the service, the flame of the Christ candle is passed from person to person throughout the whole congregation. As we light our neighbor's candles in the darkened sanctuary we sing Silent Night, Holy Night until every single candle is lit. Daddy accepted his flame from Amelia and he then passed it on to me. He held his candle steady, despite his Parkinson's shaking.

After the service we made our way through the throng. The congregation was wonderful as they parted for us so that we could pass through them without Daddy being crushed. They helped us down the stairs and past the ice in front of the church. They understood the importance of this night for this small broken family.

I have never experienced such a holy Christmas.

When Daddy died in 2004 my life unraveled in many different and strange ways. He is no longer here to help me as I struggle to put it back together.

_/\_/\_

To love at all . . .

One of my favorite quotations from C. S. Lewis. I was reminded of it in another blog today:

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket — safe, dark, motionless, airless — it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.”

_/\_/\_

Photo Hunters: Broken

Click to see larger on flicker. It will open in a new window.

Folks in the Vermont woods used the woods to store their trash. It was cheaper to pile up old farm equipment and household trash out there then to haul it off. There were no dumps long ago anyhow, so there was no where to take it.

I have found two such dumps on my property. One, near my spring-fed well, was for household trash. We have found medicine bottles from the 19th century there and other fascinating objects. The metal objects are often difficult to identify because of oxidation. The other dump, where this plow blade was found, has a very big old saw that I may never get out because it is so large. Two old milk cans that my daughter and I have brought back to the house were also there.

This plow blade was detached from the plow, which is still up there. I am not a country girl, only a girl that loves the country passionately and visualizes life here one hundred years ago through a romantic lens. I think this plow was used by horses. There is land across the road that used to be a hay field before the beaver moved in approximately 30 years ago and drowned the land. That is the only area here that could have been farmed because of the mountainous terrain.

Thank you for visiting, have a wonderful week, happy blogging, and I love VT!

_/\_/\_

Peeing on Electric Fences

Any boy can find an electric fence here in the Kingdom.

T, our classroom para, does morning meetings in my homeroom because he knows what he is doing in morning meetings. Today was Book Thursday. We go around the circle talking about books we are reading. But T's discussion stopped the show: peeing on electric fences. He described how to do this, as written in the book he was reading: Harris and Me by Gary Paulsen. All six of the boys' eyes lit up. What a great idea! As I envisioned all six of my male charges electrocuted in the snow, I spoke up: "Well, I don't know how exciting that would be. After all, when my father had an electric fence for the cows, he hooked it up to an old car battery. That can't be too dangerous."

But B, 10 years old like all the boys, interrupted. "Oh no no, it's bad! It hurts!" So obviously we had some personal experience here. The other boys' faces lit up even more. They all exchanged wide eyed glances. I tried again and asked T, "What happened to Paulsen? How badly injured was he?" T, father of two boys, watching the reactions of the boys, was laughing so hard he barely heard me. But he described how the boys in the book were hurt. They could not walk normally for a week. "Oh man, that's so cool," was whispered in awe all around the circle.

No, not all around the circle. The three 10 year old girls, sitting near me, all of us females together, were looking at me, slowly shaking their heads, rolling their eyes. They all have brothers. They seemed to be saying there was nothing I could do to stop this conversation. It was difficult for them to suffer this male silliness but they were patient. I whispered to them, "Why do they do this?" They all three silently raised their eyebrows. Who can understand the boys? Who wants to?

I asked the boys, "Why do you do this?" Then they all began roaring with laughter, doubled over. They began to impersonate John Wayne of all people! Who would think that in 2007 ten-year-old boys would even know who John Wayne is? You could tell that they couldn't wait to get out of school today and try this thing out.

I thought I would end the conversation and said, "OK. If any of you come to school walking funny, I'll know what you did." That sent them out of control as they began to walk like cowboys, imitating John Wayne, roaring with laughter. Only ten-year-old boys have a laugh that can both scare you and fill your heart with joy.

_/\_/\_

Booking Through Thursday: Book Care

Booking Through Thursday

What kind of care do you take of your books? Let's review, shall we?

1. Are you careful with the spines? Or do you crack your books open to make them lay flat?
2. Do you use bookmarks? Or do you dog-ear the corners? If you do use bookmarks, do you use those fashionable metal ones? Or paper?
   
3. Do you write in your books? Ever? If you do, do you make small marks, or write in as much blank space as you can find? Pen or pencil? Highlighter? Your name on the front page?
4. Do you toss your books on the floor? Into book bags? Or do you treat them tenderly, with respect?
   
5. Do you ever lay your book face-down, to save your place?
6. Um--water? Do you bathe with your books? Hold them with wet hands? Read out in the rain? Anything of that sort?
7. Are your books lined up on a bookshelf? Or crammed in any which way? Stacked on the floor?
8. Do you make a distinction--as regards book care--between hardcovers and paperbacks?
   
9. And, to recap? Naturally, you love all of your books, but how, exactly? Are your books loved in the battered way of a well-loved teddy bear, or like a cherished photo album or item of clothing that's used, appreciated, but carefully cared for?
   
10. Any additional comments?

Oh, I am not a polite, considerate reader. I know that because of these questions! I crack books open, whether hard cover or paperback. Without thinking I have cracked library books. It was thoughtless. You can multitask with a book that lies flat. You can also keep your place easier when you don't have a fashionable metal bookmark! And about those bookmarks? Electric bills, pencils: they all work fine. I have even used a strand of hair that I found on my shoulder. It worked!

Yes I write in my books (not library books, not even by mistake). I use markers, pencils, whatever is nearby. I use sticky notes. All over the place. When I run across a book I have sticky-noted, it's pretty fascinating to read what I chose to note!

I toss books everywhere. I don't have a purse, I have a tote. It carries lots of books and papers. It's a bit awkward in public at times, but it works, too. But the books are on the stairs (not too many!), in two milk crates in the bedroom. The bedroom has a basket of books, too, as well as a table with small piles. My car carries textbooks. I tried carrying my personal reading books there but they got too dirty. I need textbooks everywhere and they are big and heavy, so the car is a good place for them.

My books are laid open, face down all the time. Bookmarks can fall out too easily and laying them down on the page I am on is much quicker and easier. The books get wet in the kitchen and bathroom but not because of baths. Reading in a bathtub is very cold! I can't imagine doing such a thing! I suppose if my old house wasn't so drafty I would consider it. But it would be torture.

At times I prefer a hard cover edition of a book. Why? The print. It is bigger. Getting older you know. Sniff. Otherwise, the only ones who prefer hard covers are my daughter's dogs. They think hard cover is a much better chew.

So back to my chewed up, stained, broken books. They are so familiar and comforting because they are full of memories. I sign the inside front cover of every book I own that I read. I write the date that I finish reading it and the place that I finished reading it. I also keep a chronological journal, as Charlotte Bronte did, of all the books I read. I began that list in 1990 and recently migrated this journal to LibraryThing.

LibraryThing is another social networking site with forums, groups, tags, and a huge database of ISBN numbers from the Library of Congress. It is designed so that you can inventory your home library but I use it to catalog the books I have read. You can then see how many LibraryThing members have the book and view other statistics about reading. You can join groups of people with similar interests and use anonymous librarything mail.. I have not gotten that involved in it yet but I like the idea that my book journal is safe. LibraryThing is free for up to 200+ books. A lifetime membership costs around $25.

Well that's it for this week! Thank you for dropping by and I'll see you next Thursday!

_/\_/\_

Cats Tuesday: Matilda

Matilda and her son, Turnip

I want to tell the story of Matilda and the moth. When I taught in the inner city in Connecticut, I found Matilda behind the school. She was just about the cutest thing I had ever met. Her huge eyes enchanted everyone and her sweet, outgoing personality endeared everyone. As young as she was, she quickly became the mother of all the cats in the house. We learned very soon after rescuing her that Matilda was going to be a mother for real!

Young Matilda

Matilda was the best cat mother I have ever observed. She taught her family of five kittens how to drink from a water bowl by having them sit around the bowl while she drank. I then watched as one by one they tried to drink it. Repeatedly Matilda would demonstrate the technique for them as they struggled with this new skill.

Another day as the kittens were lined up on the kitchen floor (how did she get them to do this?), Matilda brought a huge moth into the kitchen. We lived in the city then, but had built the cats a large and safe run so that they could be outside. Occasionally different animals like moths, earthworms, snakes, and even birds were killed and brought into the house.

Using the live moth, Matilda demonstrated her hunting skills for the kids. Some were horrified and cringed in fear of the moth. Others tried to jump in and play. But Matilda kept them all in control until she let them kill the moth with their play.

I miss those days with Matilda and the kittens. I kept all the kittens except one which I gave to my son. There are only two left now: Zorro and Turnip. Zorro you have seen before in my photos. Turnip is in the first photo of this post with his mother.

Matilda died the day after Thanksgiving 2005, from a severe case of ECG, an auto-immune disease that is not controllable forever. Even while in severe pain, Matilda was kind and gentle to others and slept in my arms all of her last night. I was unable to let Matilda suffer any longer and tearfully let her go in peace.

Even dogs trusted Matilda and allowed her to nibble their mouths.

_/\_/\_

NEW FRIENDS!

Remember me?, originally uploaded by giori.

What a good day: so many blessings after an awful weekend!

At the Parish Council meeting tonight, Evelyn told us she has decided to stay on as pastor! Finally I will have a new friend and I am so excited about it. I can rebuild after the loss of M as pastor two years ago. It was a huge loss to me when he left.

Today I decided that I will get a dog: a Cavalier. Amy has told me how they are the breed I need. They prefer sleep to motion, are small, companionable, and wonderful to cats. I will be looking now so that I can have my puppy as soon as school gets out. When I return to school in the fall, Amy can help at the kennel with daycare and extended care if I need it.

The future is becoming bright with new relationships to develop and new loves to look forward to. The cats should not mind a dog at all. They have had dogs before and have trained them well. Just think: somebody to walk in the woods with and somebody to watch over things here. There will be obedience classes and all sorts of things to do with my dog. My Dog! I have thought of this possibility for five years and now I will have My Dog!

Should I get a boy dog or girl? What about the name? What dog furniture and toys and food will I need? The photo above is of a Cavalier enjoying the outdoors. What a wonderful photo! So many wonderful adventures to look forward to!

_/\_/\_

Nobody Had Fun Today

I have not had a fun day. It's freezing cold out, it's snowing, I'm sad and upset again after beginning some healing, I didn't go to church, and I ran out of oil (and I am on automatic delivery!). So the oil man came about 5 PM and had to bleed some oil pipes. Of course, I have not cleaned at all, and it is an awful mess here. But at least I am alive, right? The following article references Brighton (Island Pond): right up the road.

From the Hartford Courant:

Conn. Man Dies In Snowmobile Accident
Associated Press

February 4 2007, 4:46 PM EST

It was a deadly weekend for the delayed snowmobile season in northern New England, with four snowmobilers killed and at least five others injured across the region.

On Saturday, Mark Delgrosso, 49, of Niantic, Conn., was killed when the snowmobile he was riding left a trail, went into a ditch and hit a rock in Brighton, a snowmobiling hub in northeastern Vermont.

Police said the force of the crash threw Delgrosso from his machine into an embankment.

Two men died in New Hampshire, where three other adults and a child were seriously hurt.

"It's been one after another," said Fish and Game Conservation Officer Michael Matson.

Snowmobilers also died in Maine and Vermont as enthusiasts took advantage of new snow and newly frozen lakes and ponds throughout the region.

"The ponds are frozen now. You have your first good snowfall and unfortunately, some people aren't using caution," Matson said. "Everybody's out there because they have been waiting so long for the snow to come."

In Baldwin, Maine, Arthur Auger, 24, of Salem, Mass., died Friday evening when his machine slammed into the embankment of Woods Mill Pond.

The accident occurred around 7:30 p.m. while Auger was trying out the machine he had recently purchased, Mark Latti, spokesman for the warden service, said.

"He was unfamiliar with the pond and unfamiliar with the snowmobile," Latti said. "He was driving along at a high rate of speed and he struck the embankment of the pond. He didn't know it was coming."

In New Hampshire, Russell Davis, 52, of Belmont died Saturday afternoon after hitting a tree in the town.

Saturday evening, a 37-year-old man was killed when his snowmobile apparently hit a small island of rocks on Arlington Pond in Salem. His name hadn't been released.

"He didn't see a small island come up in front of him," police Sgt. Eric Lamb said. "At night, these islands come up fast."

In Washington, Vt., a Massachusetts man broke his pelvis and four vertebrae when his snowmobile collided with another on Saturday. Charles Peet, 27, of Belchertown, Mass., was participating in a fund-raising ride. The other rider was unhurt, police said.

Two crashes in New Hampshire on Friday and Saturday sent four people to the hospital with serious injuries.

Keith Vigeant, 32, of Derry, N.H., crashed on Sunset Lake in Hampstead during Friday night's snowstorm. Fish and Game said Vigeant crashed into shore in poor visibility. Investigators believe speed was a factor.

And Saturday evening in Derry, N.H., two snowmobiles crashed on Big Island Pond, sending two men and an eight-year-old boy to the hospital.

Fish and Game said the machines collided nearly head-on, while both were going about 50 mph.

The drivers - Michael Derienzo, 39, of Sandown, N.H.; and Anthony Kalil, 20, of Atkinson - and the youngster all were seriously hurt.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press

Ejector

Remember that award-winning "bouncer" ad from the United Church of Christ? The spot showed several bouncers stationed at a velvet rope outside of a church who refused to admit undesirables. Now, the UCC expands that concept with its latest television commercial: "Ejector." The 30 second-spot takes place inside a church where we see a single black mother and child. But they're not wanted here. The church elders push the ejector button. Mom and child fly into the air, Goldfinger style. Same things happens to a gay couple and a senior with a walker. If you thought the last spot was controversial, this one is already creating more buzz. "Ejector" has been rejected by ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and the WB. It will only be seen on cable.

UCC Synod

Click on Let It Shine above to open a new window to the UCC Synod site.

Confirmed Guests as of today:

Bill Moyers, Voice of the Pacific, Marian Wright Edelman, Ricardo Esquievia, Rabbi Naameh Kelman, Ingrid Mattson, Rachel Barton Pine, Still Paint Theatre Collective, Chung Hyun Kyung, Davey D, He Qi, Kim and Reggie Harris, Valerie Jutson, Leonard Pitts Jr, John Hockenberry, Maria Otero, Ray Kurzwell, Susan Brooks Thistlewhite, Kevin Phillips, Marilyn Robinson, Walter Brueggemann, Phil Porter, The Children's Orchestra Society, Harry Knox

See You In Hartford!
click on the headline to open a new window to the UCC synod info page

Welcome and we are delighted that you may be joining us in Hartford for The Twenty-sixth General Synod which will be part of the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the United Church of Christ. Our members in the Connecticut Conference are working hard to make our 50th anniversary Synod one we will all long remember. Given this anniversary Synod, those who have attended Synods before will find some changes as part of our time together will be devoted to celebration activities as we both look forward to who we are as the United Church of Christ and explore who God is calling us to be and to become in the next 50 years. So come prepared to worship, to study, to fellowship, to celebrate and to Let It Shine!!

When and Where Is General Synod?
General Synod will officially convene on Friday afternoon, June 22nd and will adjourn on Tuesday evening, June 26th following the closing worship. Synod is in downtown Hartford, Connecticut at the Hartford Civic Center. It's an arena designed primarily for sporting for events, but it will be our home for five days and we'll have the usual exhibits, worship, music and workshops. The good news is that the Civic Center seats over 14,000 people , so we have plenty of room to make this the biggest Synod ever.

What about Registration?
Registration will open for visitors on December 1st. and everyone must register. The Civic Center staff will be on hand each day to check registrations and they will only allow those who are registered in the facility. We have convinced them that Sunday worship must be open to any and all who wish to attend and they have agreed to allow this for our community wide worship on Sunday afternoon only. Other than Sunday afternoon, registration is required for all. There are a variety of registration options depending on how long you plan to be at Synod; they are listed below:

• General Synod registrants delegates, associate delegates, and visitors attending all five days: $150
• Seminarians and Youth attending all 5 days, $100
• Those attending only Friday, Saturday, Sunday, $100
• Those attending Saturday only, $50
• No registration required for children under 12 (note: child care is available, there is a cost for child care, see other needs form, pre registration is required for child care)

You will register online by visiting ucc.org, clicking on General Synod registration and following the instructions. If you are a voting delegate or associate conference delegate, your conference will have registered you, so if you have questions, give them a call. DO NOT re-register.

If you are planning on coming just for Saturday, note that there's a registration amount for you too!! We suggest that everyone register in advance, but if you don't decide until the last minute to come, there will be onsite registration in the Civic Center, so don't let that stop you from coming to the party!

Where Do I Stay?
There are a number of housing options and a wide range of costs, including University Housing which we are holding exclusively for youth until March 15th. If the beds are not filled by youth by March 15th, we will open it to others. After you register, you will be able to go into the link for the UCC Housing Bureau where you will see all of the hotels designated as General Synod hotels. We have negotiated special rates for these hotels and the General Synod shuttle will service these hotels. A description of all of the hotels as well as the room rates is included in this document. Please DO NOT call the hotels directly, if you do you may not receive the negotiated rate and your stay will not be included in our room block. Please help us manage our budget by using the hotels contracted for Synod. If you choose to go outside the Synod block (good luck as we have about every hotel in Hartford) but if you find one that is not on our list, you will be on your own for transportation to and from the Civic Center. We have significantly increased our room block, so there should be enough hotel space for all. We will monitor this carefully and if it looks like our rooms are filling up, we'll contract for more, so don't panic?but also please don't wait until April or May to register and select housing. Again, registration and housing opens December 1st. You won't be able to get housing without first registering. Voting Delegates: your conference will have already made housing arrangements for you, so please do not make additional housing arrangements. If you have questions about this, call your conference office.

What's the Schedule
The schedule isn't complete, but here's a thumbnail sketch:

Friday afternoon, opening hearings and organization of Synod
Friday evening, opening worship
Saturday, Synod in the City (see description below)
Sunday morning, (planning still in progress)
Sunday afternoon Community Worship
Sunday evening, Delegates in Committees, visitors welcome
Monday Morning, Delegates in Committees, Visitors welcome
Monday afternoon, plenary, keynote and business
Monday evening, plenary and worship
Tuesday morning and afternoon, plenary and business
Tuesday evening, Closing worship

Synod in the City
This is after all, not just any Synod ,it's our 50th Anniversary Synod, so we're going to dispense a bit with business as usual and a good deal of Friday, Saturday and Sunday has been set aside for the celebration of our past and a conversation about our future. The opening worship on Friday evening will kick off the celebration. On Saturday, delegates and visitors will all have a chance to be a part of Synod in the City. It's a day long festival of worship, Bible Study, workshops, lectures, concerts, etc. There will be a number of simultaneous events, so you won't be able to see or hear everything, you'll have to make choices, but we expect to have something for everyone. We'll begin Saturday morning with worship in the Civic Center and a keynote address, then we will fan out in the downtown area for a host of other events; you choose what you want to go to, space will be available on a first come, first serve basis, but there will always be something happening in the Civic Center and there's plenty of room there!! We'll end the day back together in the Civic Center for a grand celebration.

What about..FOOD!!
As exciting as we think the program will be; you still gotta eat!! There will be a lot of people to feed, so we have alerted the hotels and restaurants to be prepared. There will also be vendors in the downtown area during Synod in the City and we have asked the Hilton Hotel (the headquarters hotel) to be prepared to sell boxed lunches for Saturday. There will be the usual sponsored meals on Friday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday; these are meals sponsored by a Covenanted Ministry or other group. The list of sponsored meals will be posted at registration and you can purchase tickets for these in advance. Remember, tickets for sponsored meals must be purchased in advance and they are non refundable. There are only tickets available on site if the sponsor has purchased additional ones to sell at their booth; tickets for sponsored meals will not be sold at on site registration.

Youth Program
50 4 50 1000 Strong!! We hope you are planning on bringing a group of youth to Synod!! Check the General Synod website for the 50 4 50, each conference is encouraged to bring at least 50 youth to Synod in celebration of the 50th Anniversary. DaVita Carter McAlister in Local Church Ministries and Ken Brown in Justice and Witness Ministries are working on a program that will be geared for youth, but will overlap with the General Synod program as well. Check the website and click on 50 for 50 for more details.

New and Updated Information
We'll post information as we have it available, but we suggest that you check the website after the 15th of each month for updated information, including more details on preparing for Synod, where to pick up registration materials when you arrive in Hartford, detailed schedules for Synod in the City, business to be considered by Synod, information on keynotes, worship and ongoing program details.

If you have questions, you may call or email

Registration
Denise Shimell
shimelld@ucc.org
216-736-2133

Destiny Shellhammer
shellhad@ucc.org
216-736-2149

Housing
GSHousing@ucc.org

Sponsored Meals
Heather Iriye
iriyeh@ucc.org
216-736-2105

Exhibits
Valerie Smith
smithv@ucc.org
216-736-2104

Synod Business
Lee Foley
foleyl@ucc.org
216-736-2192

Youth Programs
DaVita Carter McAlister
mccalld@ucc.org
216-736-3871
Ken Brown
brownk@ucc.org
216-736-3727

Photo Hunters: Gross

Blame Flickr. OK, blame the cats, too, and global warming. I have put this photo underneath the text so that if you are queasy, you can leave now and not look.

It's been a warm winter as we all know. In November, about Thanksgiving time, I was furiously looking for bugs on which to practice macro photography. I have a Flickr account and wanted The Great Shot. But there were no bugs! It was too warm for snow, but was cold enough for all the bugs outside to disappear. I left the house to go hunting for anything interesting to shoot. I immediately stumbled upon what I find all spring, summer and fall: a dead shrew near my car. My Buddy cat always arranges his kills around my car in the garage (so I will be sure to find them and enjoy mouse stew?). If not for global warming, the poor shrew would have been safe in its burrow underground and Buddy would never have gifted him to me.

When Buddy presents his kills to me I praise and thank him. But he was out hunting again. So I ignored the dead body and continued on my own hunt for photos. I found nothing.

But there was that dead shrew in the garage . . .

If you want to see more, click on the photo to see it full size.

I never posted the photo on Flickr. Family members told me I had "gone 'round the bend." Happy Blogging and thank you for visiting!

_/\_/\_

Girl Shot Walking From School

The mayor of Hartford and all the other officials are always so busy trying to get businesses to invest in the city and to get well-off people to move back in. Why bother? The city can't even take care of its own and the kids are still being shot. I'm disgusted.

15-Year-Old Refused To Give Up Jewelry, iPod
By RACHEL GOTTLIEB, TINA A. BROWN
And STEVEN GOODE Courant Staff Writers

February 2 2007

A 15-year-old sophomore who had stayed late at Bulkeley High School to finish a test was walking home alone Wednesday afternoon when a teenage boy wearing a ski mask jumped out of a silver car and demanded her iPod and jewelry.

"I'm not giving it up," the girl told her assailant in Spanish.

"I'm not joking," he threatened again and again.

Then the assailant raised his hand as if he meant to hit the girl in the head. She raised her arm to defend herself.

That's when he shot her, said Bulkeley Principal Miriam Morales Taylor, repeating the story Thursday that the girl told her from Hartford Hospital, where she is recovering.

The bullet went through the girl's arm and lodged in her torso. As she fell, the masked teenager, who police described as a Hispanic youth with blond hair, jumped back in the car and sped off, leaving the girl bleeding on Shultas Place, her iPod still in her possession.

Police said early Thursday that no one had been arrested, and later Thursday department officials were unavailable to comment.

The girl immigrated to Hartford from Peru less than a year ago and had stayed late at school to finish a Spanish exam.

Shultas Place is about a block from Bulkeley High in Hartford's South End. Morales Taylor said the girl told her there were no other pedestrians and no witnesses nearby about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday when she was attacked.

But a Shultas Place resident saw the girl pick herself up from the ground only to stumble and fall again.

The resident, who declined to give her name because she feared for her safety, said she was waiting for a cab in the lobby of her building Wednesday afternoon when she saw the girl staggering down the street asking for help.

She said the girl fell on her face in the middle of the street, and she went outside to help her.

"What happened?" the woman asked the girl, who started to pass out and fell on her face again.

"I asked her what happened again, and she said somebody shot her. She said she was shot because they were trying to steal her jewelry."

The woman asked a neighbor to call an ambulance after the girl said her arm and hand were burning. The woman removed the girl's coat and discovered a lot of blood, she said.

"She was dozing off. I thought this kid was going to die right there. I kept hitting her in the face to keep her awake."

The girl underwent surgery at Hartford Hospital, and Morales Taylor set off to find the girl's mother. She didn't want the mother to get the news from police.

"They came to America looking for a better life," Morales Taylor said. "Now the girl is terrified of coming back to school. Her mother wants more police patrolling around the city. She wants to make sure this doesn't happen to another child."

The girl's surgery was successful.

"She was lucky," said Morales Taylor, who stayed at the hospital through her surgery. "The bullet didn't damage any organs."

On Thursday, Morales Taylor spoke to students over the school's intercom.

She told them what happened on Shultas Place and reminded them of the importance of walking in pairs and taking care to know who is around them.

"I tell them all the time when I see them wearing their gold chains and carrying electronics not to have them visible," the principal said.

She told the students to be careful on the streets and not to display their gold chains or electronics such as iPods.

But if anyone demands their belongings, she said, she tells the kids, "be smart and give it up. You have a better chance to survive."

The woman who found the girl and made sure she was taken to the hospital was happy to learn Thursday that the girl is going to survive. The girl sent her a message through the principal.

"She told me that the girl said she wants to meet me," the woman said.

Contact Rachel Gottlieb at rgottlieb@courant.com.

Courant Staff Writer Helen Ubiñas contributed to this story.

Copyright 2007, Hartford Courant

Booking Through Thursday: Habit-Forming

Booking Through Thursday: Habit-Forming

What are your reading habits? Do you tend to read at specific times during the day, or does it vary from day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute?

Don't forget to leave a link to your actual response in the comments--or if you prefer, leave your answers in the comments themselves!

Habit or way of life? I can go long stretches without reading because of work and then go through periods when all I do is read. I find that I read more in the summer than winter. Most likely this is because of the better light and more time. Reading in bed? It is seldom possible without immediately falling asleep!

In the summer I get up with the sun and sit on the porch and read for hours. Every summer I read one Stephen King book. I look forward to that and save it for the summer. If not careful, it can consume the day. I deliberately wallow in fiction by my favorite authors. I also pick one new author to discover each summer. I focus my non-fiction reading primarily on Vermont and New England authors.

In the winter this seldom happens except on school vacation weeks. While I read mostly non-fiction all year round, the winter is the time for the really heavy stuff: the mathematics, science and history books. I will occasionally toss in a novel and most likely it will be a classic.

Of course, I always have a book in my purse (which is actually a Bean tote bag!) for any time I can slip in a couple of pages! I also am now using audible.com and iTunes for audiobooks on my iPod which is the greatest!

I'm looking forward to the responses on this week's meme. It'll be fun to see how other people manage their reading time!

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