Quaker meetings I have attended

I was trying to learn about customizing maps on Google Maps today, so I experimented by creating this map:

Quaker Meetings I have attended

Locations are in three colors: blue for meetings or Friends Churches, yellow for Friends General Conference Gathering, and green for Pacific Yearly Meeting annual sessions.

I'm definitely a coastal Quaker!

Updated 4/29/09: fixed hyperlink

Eyes Wide Open at Stanford 4/30/09

Just found out this is happening this week. Original announcement at http://events.stanford.edu/events/188/18875/:

Eyes Wide Open: An Exhibition of the Human Cost of War

The exhibit includes over 400 pairs boots that will be on display in White Plaza, as a reminder of the fact that our country is still at war. Each pair of boots represents the death of a soldier from California in the current Iraq war.

Date and Time: Thursday, April 30, 2009. 8:00 AM. Approximate duration of 10 hour(s).
Location: White Plaza [Map]
URL: http://www.afsc.org/eyes/ht/d/sp/i/38782/pid/38782
Audience: Faculty/Staff, Alumni/Friends, General Public, Students, Members
Sponsor: Quakers at Stanford
Contact: 650-644-5130 / quakerfriends -at- lists.stanford.edu
Admission: Free to all
Download: Email event
Print: Use this permalink

Happy earth day with Tom Chapin

Today I had to take the children to school, as Robin was heading out early for a work meeting.

I decided to grab a Tom Chapin CD, as that had served me well recently on a day when I picked up the boys. In particular, Seven Year Old has been quoting the song, "Dog Rules," so I wanted to find the one with that on it. I couldn't. (It's actually a tape in our collection, which wouldn't work in the car I was driving. But I digress.)

Instead, I grabbed a CD with various songs about recycling and the environment. Good enough. We made it to the car and got going. Meanwhile, Robin had left the car radio on KFOG, the classic/contemporary rock station. Their on-air guest was talking about Earth Day.

Oh, right! I forgot it was Earth Day.

That's when I realized I had grabbed Chapin's CD, "This Pretty Planet." And song 12 is "Happy Earth Day"! It felt as if I had been guided to it. It was nice to listen to it, even during part of my day when the children weren't in the car.

At the end of the day, when I asked the boys how their Earth Days had been, Ten Year Old said he had gone to the Eco-Kids club meeting in the after-school program and wrote two letters. One was to Pres. Obama about pesticides and another to Pres. Obama by way of Greenpeace. So we can expect to get mail from GP now. (He carefully pointed out that he didn't put his school email address on it, and he doesn't check his email anyway.)

Finally, here's a link to Robin's post, Further Appreciation of Tom Chapin.

Affirmation circle: Story of a 5th grade basketball team

Ten Year Old played on the 5th grade basketball team this year, with other students from the Friends School in a league at a city rec center.

Following the last game of the season a couple of weeks ago, the team gathered for a pizza party in a room at the rec center.

Once most of the team was there, along with a hefty chunk of the parental population, the boys gathered in a large circle, mostly rather quiet and calm. In fact, I was struck by just how quiet and calm they were. No doubt part of it was they were tired after a day at school and then a game on the court. Yet clearly, they were simply used to drawing together, without anyone asking them or directing them.

Coach Chris, one of three coaches for the team and the lead PE teacher at the school, asked for a moment of silence. Whatever chatter remained disappeared. There was some rustling, but still an air of calm and quiet fell about the place.

A few minutes later, Coach Chris asked the team to share an affirmation of something or someone from the season. He said that once the first person said something, then it would go around the circle in order from him. Students could contribute their own affirmation, echo what someone else had said, or pass.

After a less than half a minute of waiting, the first student spoke up. He thanked the three coaches for their help and the parents for their support. Many of the students echoed his remarks. Another boy thanked the parents of another student for giving him rides to practice. When my own son's turn came, he said that boy had spoken for him -- the same parents had given my son rides, too.

One of the last affirmations came from a boy who thanked a teammate for his efforts, saying that he hadn't started out as the best player but he had really worked hard and been a leader and inspiration for the others. This coming from a 10 or 11 year old boy about another one -- wow!

The final affirmation came from the staff coach at the rec center. I believe this was his second year working with teams from the Friends School. He was warm and full of praise for the team and they way they supported each other. I couldn't help but think that this team must be a bit different from most he works with. They sure didn't win many games, or even score that many points, but they had a spiritual maturity that was awesome to behold.

Another Day, Another Tooth

The day after I wrote that last post, Seven Year Old lost his other top front tooth. Once again, a basketball to the face hastened the inevitable. Two days in a row he gets a basketball to the face! Poor kid.

Pretty charming though.

Stop to smell the trees

Seven Year Old and I had a nice trip to school today. (Ten Year Old is on his fifth grade camping trip, two nights at Ben Lomond Quaker Center [yay!] and one night backpacking in to Big Basin State Park.)

We brought a mix CD along that a parents of a preschool friend made of kid-friendly pop songs, so we bopped to that in the car into the city.

I parked near 14th & Guerrero, and he asked, "Why do we always park here?" Making it sound so far away. All of one block and half of another!

As we walked down 14th, we passed a mock orange in bloom, and it smelled heavenly. I pointed it out, and the smaller tree next to the first one had blossoms at nose level for both of us. Silas really liked the scent, and he stopped for a bit to sniff. (You can see the tree on Google maps' street views, at about 460 14th Street...)

As we continued walking, he pointed out the next tree, but it didn't seem to have any blossoms. I kept walking, but he stayed where he was, then called me back. A few of the branches out over the street did have flowers, and he had spotted them. Then we noticed that almost every tree on the block was in bloom.

By the time we got to Valencia, he was skipping along he was so happy, and then he reached out to hold my hand as we went around the corner.

Lord, thank you for the many blessings in my life. Here are two of the bigger ones!