transitions

so long.

last week we packed up our belongings, said goodbye to those we leave behind & left manhattan for good. our time in nyc has been full-we have enjoyed the experiment of living in such a bustling, bursting place, been blessed by community living, learned a lot about life, & most importantly, we've been surrounded by a community of beautiful friends whom we have grown to love...


[a beautiful picture our friend lowell took of our church surrounding us with their prayers]

but our hearts have dreams of a journey & a new adventure. we remain pilgrims-traveling, seeking, experience new beauty & finding exhilaration in movement.

in the short term, we're spending some time in western new york with amanda's family & then we'll be driving across the continent back to british columbia & very far north to be with daniel's family for a bit. for now, we're taking a deep breath & waiting upon the Lord for our next adventure.

here are some pictures of our last few weeks in nyc.


[on daniel's birthdy we watched 'pyscho' outside in bryant park]















[& had a birthday sushi picnic in the rain]

[our dear friends adriana & sara accompanied us as we moved from nyc & spent some time with us in western new york at amanda's parent's house]


[at lake ontario]




















[in the country]

talstra visit part 1

in july, daniel's parents & his sister, nathania, came for a new york visit. we spent a weekend in western new york with my folks & spent a summer afternoon picnicking & hiking in letchworth state park. folks around here call it "the grand canyon of the east"

 

we also had a "prairie picnic" at my parent's house and enjoyed a sunset with wine & cheese on the shores of lake ontario.

let the beauty we love be what we do.

there are hundreds of ways to kneel & kiss the ground.
-jelalludim rumi

[our family is now one person bigger: meet jordan, our new niece]

boston

daniel & i spent the past four days visiting boston. daniel was attending a conference on community gardening & i spent the days wandering around boston (where i spent a summer while in college) & visiting with my college roommate, katie.

(by the way, she has a new cd out called "firecracker" & is setting off on a tour in the fall [brooklyn & martha's vineyard], she's great, check her out by clicking on the picture)

i spent two leisurely mornings in coffee shops reading anne lamott's newest book- grace (eventually) : thoughts on faith. i loved it.

some favorite excerpts...

'the Spirit lifted me & now it holds on lightly, like my faither's hands around my ankles when i used to ride on his shoulders.'

&

'sometimes grace works like water wings when you feel you are sinking'.

&

'no matter how much of our time is spent in the pursuit of physical beauty, even to great success, the Mirror on the Wall will always say, "Snow White lives", & this is in fact a lie-Snow White is a fairy tale. lies cannot nourish or protect you. only freedom from fear, freedom from lies, can make us beautiful & keep us safe. there is a line i try to live by, spoken at the end of each vedanta service: "and may the free make others free".'

welcome to the digital age!

dear friends & family,
it is true that we have not been as good at keeping in touch with you as we would have liked. well, in recent days, our last remaining excuse for not maintaining proper correspondence has disappeared...

yes folks, thanks to a parcel from this fine & friendly lad & lassie,

we have now been ushered into an exciting & strange new era.....

we've gone digital!

so long public libraries....the talstra's have their very own [new-to-them] computer.

[maybe now daniel will start posting]

abundance: n. a great or plentiful amount. fullness to overflowing

this word, abundance has been rolling around in my head recently. our dear friend, & housemate lowell recently had a birthday gathering (hosted by another dear friend, sylvia, our pastor here in nyc) & after dinner we had a time of blessing & prayer. we passed around a "cup of blessing", each saying the blessings we had received recently & blessings we wished for lowell, then taking a sip & passing it on. the word that sprung to my mind was "abundance". our lives here, since we arrived in september, have been filled to the brim with laughter, friendship, evenings full of food & much love, with learning & growing, with the amazing generosity of others, and with more abundance than we could have ever imagined. our cup truly does overfloweth & we are humbled & amazed.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. -2 Peter 1:2

some snapshots from late spring/early summer....




our bi-weekly soup/bread/wine potluck with taylor alumni friends. these photos are from little davis' first soup night & a few weeks before baby adam's arrival into the world.

some photos from our visit to the museum of modern art with jamie & norm













summer saturday brunch at a peruvian resturant with leigh anna, adriana, & scott. plus, scott
with a sweet red horned car.

























the hastings family at blaine's graduation from college in virginia.

i recently got derek webb's new album mockingbird from the library & have been listening to it while i work. its a biting & cynical-yet-hopeful venture from the voice that brings such quick reminiscence of my high school caedmon's call days.

here are some lyrics from the song "new law" track #2 off the album

don’t teach me about politics and government
just tell me who to vote for

don’t teach me about truth and beauty
just label my music

don’t teach me how to live like a free man
just give me a new law

i don’t wanna know if the answers aren’'t easy
so just bring it down from the mountain to me

don’t teach me about moderation and liberty
i prefer a shot of grape juice

don’t teach me about loving my enemies

don’t teach me how to listen to the Spirit
just give me a new law