I spent the last few days making lists and thinking about what I needed to take with me to CA for the Clergy retreat. That and immersed in email. There was an incredible outpouring of posts on the CAW lists about the clergy, about the purpose of the retreat, about misperceptions of what problems were occurring. It was really amazing. Some people spoke of a complete lack of confidence in all the clergy, a lack of magick coming from the clergy, and suggested the entire clergy body take a sabbatical for a year and a day. I found this very disturbing and once again questioned my decision to go for CAW clergy ordination, not because of questions about the clergy, though. I was disturbed by the attitude towards clergy being expressed. There was a lot of hostility by some. But gradually others began to respond, to give support, to speak of the confidence they had in the clergy. I guess if some are supportive and some are opposed then that is just about what one can expect in almost any endeavor.
Jack drove to our house and Tom drove us both into the airport. The line wasn't long and the wait went quickly. The plane from Madison to Chicago is a smaller one. I love the take off. The airplane goes faster and faster and there seems to me to be a gathering of energy. Then we are off and climbing. I can never quite catch the exact moment when the wheels leave the ground and we are truly flying but I feel so exhilarated. I like landings too as we circle down in and the houses and things get bigger and bigger. We got to Chicago slightly early but still hurried across the airport to get to our connecting flight. I introduced Jack to the moving walkways. He didn't realize that you actually go faster by walking on them. We switched seats since I had had the window seat in the first plane. I wanted him to be able to look out and see us take off.
I asked the attendant his name but I couldn't quite catch it. He leaned over and touched my shoulder, and said that I had been touched by an Angel. He was very upbeat and seemed to be having a good time. I liked that. The trip went quickly as Jack and I talked the whole way. We had not spent much time together for quite a while. There was so much to talk about. We talked about counseling, teenagers, mental development, at what point a teenager could be considered an adult, etc.
When we got to San Francisco we went to get our luggage, and it was there:) I had a duffle bag that I couldn't actually carry but Jack took the two larger bags and I took our carryons. We got a shuttle to the central car rental area and then waited there for our off site rental shuttle. Eventually we got to the car rental place and Jack rented a car. He was shocked and dismayed to find that the $80 he had expected it to be ended up at about $200 by the time he switched to a slightly larger car to fit his 6'+ frame, bought the insurance for $45 because in CA they can charge you for the lost income a car would have made while it is in the shop getting repaired if you damage it as well as the damage and repair costs, bought a tank of gas, and then of course there are the taxes. I offered to pay him back a part of the cost although if I had gone alone, I would have been picked up by a friend. It did seem fair as I was going to benefit from his renting the car.
One of the first things I noticed upon stepping out of the airport was the warmth and how green the grass was. I was thrilled to see all the flowers in bloom. What a sight for these winter weary eyes! What a miracle to step into Spring!
Maerian's house was quite nice, a duplex interconnected through the matching closets. When and if they move out of there they will have to put the wall back to turn it back into two separate houses. But for now there is a kind of wiggly, snaky hall as one steps into a closet, turns to go through the open side into the next closet, and turns again to go into the next house through the front of the closet. I thought it was kind of fun every time I went from one to the next. It felt like a liminal moment, betwixt and between. And we were told that when the retreat actually started that one side was for peace and no politics and so the feeling of moving from one world to the next was accentuated.
It was really great to see Maerian again. It had been a long time and I missed her. We also got to meet her kids, Robyn and Elyce (hmmm I don't know how to spell that). They are beautiful and charming young women. Robyn gave up her bedroom for us. It was nice to have a bed too. Later in the evening we went to meet Rob, Maerian's partner and have dinner. They treated us to a wonderful Thai meal. Yum. I can't remember all the names of the dishes we tried. We had a good time. And what a doll Rob is, cute, sexy, smart, funny, and very entertaining! Sigh…
Copyright © 2001 Kyril Oakwind