siblings, burned things, and eye tests

My brother was here. He came in for a high school reunion. He and I attended a small private school, well, I did through 7th grade after which I begged my parents to let me go to public school like my sister but he went all the way through. St. John's is a small school attached to the Episcopal church we went to. About 60 kids per grade. The social atmosphere was not a good fit for me which was the main problem. I didn't know where I fit and it was giving me an ulcer. Turned out that was something inherent instead of just something I hadn't found yet but I did learn to deal with it better. Also mandatory Wednesday morning church services.

We don't see John very often. He lives up in the Pacific Northwest and has for longer than he lived in Texas which he left after high school for college and then further and then further and then further and then a little closer until he landed up there and stuck. I guess the last time he was here was when he still had part ownership in a small plane and he flew it here and gave us all rides. The last time I was visited them was I guess when mother died. Been a while.

Anyway, my (younger) brother arrived Friday evening and he stayed with our (eldest, for him) sister (I'm the middle child). Marc and I went there for dinner Friday. Saturday I worked at the antique store and that night he drove in to the city for the party. I declined to accompany them into the city for an IKEA excursion on Sunday but after they got back I went over and hung out while he did a few fix-it things for her. A fierce storm blew through with lightning and thunder right on top of us and the street flooded. It lasted about an hour but dumped 4" of rain on my sister's house. 

Monday we went on an excursion to Bastrop, a small town in the hill country with a lively historic downtown with shops and places to eat. It was a nice day and it gave us something to do while we spent time together though being Monday, many of the shops were closed.

Bastrop Forest that burned in 2011 when Texas caught on fire during a severe drought.

A huge field that was solid yellow with flowers.

On our way we stopped in La Grange for gas and when we got back on the highway there was a giant plume of black smoke not very far ahead. Turned out to be a car on fire but we couldn't tell that from where we were. We were about 20 cars back maybe with a gas tanker pulled over onto the shoulder just ahead of us. It held us up for about half an hour as we watched emergency vehicles converge on the scene...police, sheriff, fire department, ambulance.

He headed back home today so I went to get my driver's license renewed which of course I have let go til just about the last minute. It expires on May 1^st and this year they won't let me do it on-line. New picture and new eye test required I guess. Also they had to adjust my weight since the last time I renewed it I still weighed a scrawny 106. And of course new fingerprints in case I turn up in a ditch somewhere with no identification.

And for the first time in my life, I failed the eye exam. I'm not surprised though. My right eye is definitely worse than my left eye and as I recall, I squeaked by last time I had to take it. I rattled those first two segments of numbers right off but that third one was totally blurry. I made an attempt and think I got some of them right but there were some I didn't have a clue. She was real nice about it, gave me as much time as I wanted but in the end, I was just guessing and told her so.

So now I have to go get an eye exam and either a pair of glasses or a note from the doctor saying I'm good to go.

love and marriage

I see that the Supreme Court is going to take on Prop 8 and the Defense Of Marriage Act. I would be glad that this debate is finally going to be put to rest but with such a conservative court, I'm not sure that they will be able to keep their religious views out of it and come to the only right decision.

Prop 8, in case you aren't aware, is California's amendment to their state constitution that banned gay marriage. It has been challenged in the courts and found to be unconstitutional but it's proponents keep pushing it to a higher court and it finally made it's way to the top. The challenge to DOMA is only against the section that prevents the federal government from recognizing and giving the rightful benefits to same sex marriages even if it is legal in the couple's home state.

It seems to me the outcome should be pretty clear. In this country we are supposed to have separation of church and state.

Although many states have banned same sex marriages, their main reason for doing so is based on their religious beliefs, a 5,000 year old book of stories. Their god finds it abhorrent so they find it abhorrent and since so many LGBT are not staying in the closet and insist on being who they are in their public lives as well as their private lives and they fall in love and want to get married, that somehow threatens these religious people so they scrambled to make it against the law. To 'define' marriage. And, by god, their tax dollars will not go towards benefits to people that god abhors.

Only, that's just their religious opinion.

The reality of it is that human gender and sexuality is extremely complex. It comes in many forms and there is no one 'right' way to be.

Isn't it enough that two people, regardless of their sex, have bonded in love and want to have a committed relationship? And if special civil rights are given to married people should not same sex couples be granted those rights as well? Because it's not just about being able to get health insurance through your spouse's job. It's about having the right to sit by your loved one and make decisions for them while they are gravely ill. It's about having the right to inherit, without all the taxes, the estate of your partner. It's about having the right to be recognized as a unit by all the powers that be. It's about not being marginalized in your community. And yes, it's about getting the same perks from the government as opposite sex couples and why not?

Regardless of what they claim, this group of religious people did not invent marriage and should not be allowed to define marriage, an institution that has existed in many forms throughout human civilization. I'm not saying that these religious groups should be forced to marry LGBT people if they are against it. I am saying they should not be allowed to force their particular religious beliefs about the right or wrong of human sexuality on the rest of the population and deny marriage to anyone who so desires it. Marriage does not require a religious ceremony.

It is my great hope that the Supreme Court will be able to take religion out of the equation altogether when they deliberate these two cases because when you take religion out of the equation, there is not one single good reason to deny the gay community the right to marry.

St. Stanislaus Catholic Church installation

St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Chappell Hill TX

The installation for St. Stanislaus was yesterday and it went well. Installations always make me nervous because so many things can go wrong, not the least of which is me getting measurements wrong (hard to believe, I know, but sometimes it happens). Installations are the moment of truth in my work. Do they fit, do they get put in without incident, do they look good, are they happy?

We had a very good installer for years who did all the work himself or with a helper and Jon was also good at problem solving, coming up with ways to do unique installations. Unfortunately, several years ago he hit a downward spiral in his life which he could not recover from and he succumbed to a heart attack. I have been working with a new company, someone who had installed our work before on rare occasion. Fortunately, Randy agreed to do all our installations. You might not think that would be a hard thing to find, someone to do the installations, but I have been turned down by many people not wanting to take on the responsibility. Randy has a good sized company and so I don't always get the same crew. For St. Stanislaus, he sent two men with whom I was unacquainted which always turns up the stress factor for me, especially since the panels were 50 - 90 lbs each and five of them were in high window openings. On a ladder high window openings using cups (cups are like portable handles that attach to the surface of glass by means of a vacuum). They did the high windows first and it took two or so before I relaxed, confident that they would get the job done without mishap. I try to keep one eye on the installation in progress while appearing not to be watching them closely. No one likes to be under a microscope while they are working. I have to have faith in them so that they will work with confidence.

13 pieces of glass in 12 openings. The moment they set that last panel it was as if someone cut my strings. We have been working basically non-stop since late summer with one deadline after another looming and with a week of teaching in Austin in there too. All the fatigue just sort of settled in and I was glad Marc was driving us back to Houston.

Click to enlarge all the photos

inside

full view of the wall

Angel doors with Confirmation (transom)

Marriage (left) and Baptism (right)

Extreme Unction (last rites) (left) and Ordination (right)

Communion (left) and Reconciliation (confession) (right)

Tree Of Life (left) and Trinity (right)

Cry room