Jane and Sandra

 

Posted July 10 2010 |  MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION

Ever since Sandra and I had our unexpected reunion, I have become obsessed with finding anything I can about Saint Agnes Villa Camp.  Luckily I saved a lot of stuff from back then in scrapbooks and shoe boxes.  Ya neva know when ya gonna need ya camp things!  The obsession must be contagious, because my mother is digging through drawers too.  Today she handed me an envelope full of old black and white pictures.  I asked her if I could keep them and she said, “Who am I going to give them to?  The undertaker?”  

 -- Jane

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POSTED July 9, 2010 |   CAMPERS FOR LIFE

Well, it's been ten days since Jane & I reconnected after a gazillion years.  We were both in the same place at the same time however because we were a year apart in age (more like a century when you're a little girl),  we only have vague memories of each other.  And yet we know each other.

This is the beauty, the brilliance of technology.  She's on the East Coast and I'm in the Southwest but technology has put us next door.  Neither one of us has ever Blogged until now and neither one of us has a blueprint for how this will all develop but one thing is for sure -- that little nun-run camp from so long ago wasn't just a respite from city heat.  Like the old counselor's whistle Jane still has, it calls to us...an ancient Twitter that Time cannot dissipate.

--Sandra

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Posted July 11, 2010  |  PAINTERS & POETS

We have a coffee house here in South Hadley MA called The Thirsty Mind. I go there for the “space,” the internet connection, used books and something to drink. I often think about work, my lawn, the “to do” list and email. This last visit I was thinking about Sandra. We’ve spoken over the phone only once since blogging began. The conversation was as natural as two folks who see each other every day. Of course we asked questions about each other’s lives but there was no great need to catch up. Funny thing about this camper-connection.  Perhaps it was the hundreds of rosaries, chapel visits, benedictions and prayers all said together under the trees that expanded our spirits and prepared us for this moment a half a century later.

Without any doubt, I know we are so very different.  I recently emailed her a question.  “What are you like in 2010?”  She sent me a picture of her Christmas Tree. I sent her a picture of my journals. 

Here’s what I think. Sandra is the painter – an out there artist in flaming southwestern reds and yellows. Painters have openings and shows with champagne and photographers. I can feel her energy across a whole continent.  I would get third degree burns just spending a day with her. 

I am the poet. Poems are black letters on white paper. Poets hang out in quiet places and do “readings.”  The poets I admire don’t even have websites or books. 

And yet, here we are sharing this place, telling our stories, and it all works. 

-- Jane
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Wherever you are is the entry point. ---Kabir

For Flip

the salamander

under the damp moldy leaf

little flames exposed

July 9th, 2010

Kayaking down the river, you sometimes flip over.  Knowing how to right the boat is an art form. It involves paddle, hips, head, torso and other important equipment. You can also just ease out upside down, shimmy up your paddle, get back in, and bail.  Whatever the method of salvation, you need a method of some kind. I have encountered many unforeseen ripples and eddies up and down the stream and have always been saved by some form of poetry. Sometimes it's a psalm or the poetry of Mary Oliver or David Whyte. I have scribbled a few of my own. This space will be used to share some of what's helped me right my boat time and time again.  At St. Agnes Camp, we were hugging trees, lapping spring water, drinking bug juice, picking blueberries.  Nature got into my soul and never left. And poetry helps me connect to that very soul. ---Jane


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July 11, 2010

i reached down to pluck 
the ripe blueberry from the little bush.
i meant to say i'm sorry
but thank you slipped out before i could catch it.
a life lived to the fullest, freely given.

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July 14, 2010

Dear Sandra,

Good news.  After some detective work I found that there are at least five Sisters who served at the camp who are still alive.  I remember at least two of them.  Sister Rose who ran the Canteen and Sister Mary Conrad who at some point was my cabin nun.  Let's see if we can interview them, get pictures.  This is fun!

Jane