Thanksgiving Nov. 24, 2022

Enjoy your Fall was a sign I saw in a nursing home. A charming couple I know could have printed it on their walls. A few days before Thanksgiving the hostess fell. She broke her right wrist, sprained her left wrist and broke her nose. 

Cancel Thanksgiving? Don’t be silly. 

With the aid of two close friends and a dozen emails asking for starters, they pulled it off. Big Time. The host ruled the kitchen, preparing turkey and gravy, stuffing or do you say dressing? and heating up various dishes: corn bread, scalloped onions, herbed brussel sprouts, cranberry dressing, homemade apple pudding, pumpkin pie.

Because of her broken nose our hostess had raccoon eyes. There were dark circles under her eyes that extended across her taped nose. In the midst of this was her gentle smile and a twinkle in her eyes that a fall couldn’t erase. 

How many people? I don’t know. Maybe twenty? twenty-five? ranging in age from nine to eighty plus. Mostly Americans with a few Dutch and Germans added, speaking perfect English of course. 

It was a glorious Thanksgiving. 

November 18, 2022

 I attended the New England Crime Bake, Nov. 11-13.

Among the ups: William Martin’s master class on your first line, first paragraph, first page, Reading the Crime Scene, Best New England Crime Stories: Deadly Nightshade, connecting with an agent, finding open submissions, the hard working  Hilton staff, the IngramSpark Tennessee reps, the buzz and excitement of talking about books.

Among the downs: taxi from Boston to Dedham by driver who kept his eyes glued to his smartphone claiming he knew the route. $74 later we arrived. Speaking of money, the Hilton charged for everything. The cuisine? Many of us didn’t pay the $35 for evening left overs, eating bar food instead.

Nov. 5, 2022

 The Ramallah Friends Meetinghouse was built in 1910. It was originally for girls. Now it’s coed. Let’s hope it continues to survive.

 From Friends United Meeting – Weekly E-news

Ramallah Friends Meeting

There has been an active and vibrant Palestinian Quaker community in Ramallah since the late 1800s. In 1910, this community built the Ramallah Friends Meetinghouse and later added another building that was used for community outreach.

The Ramallah Friends Meeting has always played a vital role in the community. In 1948, the buildings and grounds became the home to many Palestinian refugees. Throughout the years, the members of the Ramallah Friends Meeting organized numerous community programs such as the Children’s Play Center, the First Day School, and women’s activities.

By the early 1990s, the Meetinghouse and Annex, which housed meeting rooms and bathroom facilities, fell into disrepair as a result of damage inflicted by time and the impact of conflict. So serious was the deterioration of the meetinghouse that by the middle 1990s it was impossible to use the building at all.

In 2002, a committee consisting of members of the Religious Society of Friends in the US and the Clerk of the Ramallah Meeting began to raise funds for the renovations of the buildings and grounds of the Meetinghouse. By November 2004, the renovations were complete, and on March 6, 2005, exactly ninety-five years to the day after the dedication, the Meetinghouse and Annex were rededicated as a Quaker and community resource.

Friends meet every Sunday morning at 10:30 am for unprogrammed Meeting for Worship. Everyone is welcome to attend, and the Meeting frequently welcomes visitors from outside Palestine, Friends and friends alike.