Standing up for my faith

For those of you who do not know, the people in the state of Maine will go to the polls next week to vote on a number of hot issues, not the least of which is whether to allow gay marriage in Maine. It was legalized, and now, next week, people can vote on whether or not to overturn the decision. Those in favor of preserving "traditional marriage" are asked to vote "Yes" on question 1.

I haven't weighed in on this issue--for a myriad of reasons. However, when my God, my faith, and my religion are repeatedly insulted and disqualified, I become upset. This has been the case with all the propaganda surrounding the ballot question. There is an egregious double standard regarding the supporters and naysayers of this initiative. Those who support gay marriage are tremendously outspoken, almost to the point of assuming their way is the "obvious" way to vote. Yet, those who disagree, seemingly, are called "racists," "bigots," and "hatemongers," to only name a few. When, in fact, the only "hatemonging" I have seen has been done by the supporters of gay marriage--all over Waterville, folks have desecrated the "Yes on 1" signs, kicked them in, spray painted "NO" over the yes, and sprinkled the whole area where the signs reside with "rainbow flags." This is nothing short of terrorism--and, if I may be so bold, a hate crime. There has been no reporting of this in the news, yet I can't even imagine the fallout if the "reverse" group had committed the crime.

Whether one agrees with gay marriage or not (and, whether I agree with it or not) is completely and totally irrelevant. In fact, my biggest complaint about this whole "deal" is that the question is even on the ballot in the first place. If it is true that we live in a democracy where all are entitled to "equal protection," then there really is no reason why this should not be legal. Case closed.

But, as it happens, we do have the opportunity to vote, and many of us are Christian. And many of us are being called, as I wrote before, "hatemongers," "bigots," and "racists." Like I wrote above, the question as to if anyone agrees or disagrees with gay marriage is completely irrelevant. Your opinion doesnt matter, and neither does mine. A decision has already been made, and it has been made by God. Whether I support or don't support the question is of no consequence, since it is not my decision to make. God has already made it. And, as a Christian, I follow God's word.

I am not here proclaiming that I am some "high and mighty" Christian. But I am a Christian. And being a Christian means that I sin. A lot. On a "minutely" basis. I am not some "pure" being--I mean, 94% of the things I say end in "that's what she said." And I have been known to drink a beer. But, as a Christian, I believe in God's forgiveness. FOR ALL. And I believe in God's love. FOR ALL. God does not "hate fags," as some churches (the ones who give Christianity a bad name) would like you to believe. God loves all of us the same, and God treats everyone the same. In God's eyes, a sin is a sin is a sin, and we are all guilty. And God holds us all accountable--from the wife beater to the perpetual liar to the gay marriage participant to the alcoholic.

I do not judge anyone's lifestyle. And I do not presume to know what is "right." I try to love and forgive as many people as I can, like we all should. And I DO try to listen to God. And the question of same sex marriage is not MY decision to make. Like I said: God has decided. I think that at the heart of this whole issue is the selfishness of our human nature--we are so focused on our self and our own happiness and our own whims. But, as a true follower of God, it doesnt matter what "feels right" to you....it is all about Him. There is work involved in resisting temptation and making sacrifices--in all facets of our lives. No one said it was easy.

So, when one calls people like me a racist or a bigot or a hatemonger, what that person is essentially doing is calling my Lord a bigot or a racist or a hatemonger. And I take umbrage to that, and find that just as offensive and disrespectful, arguably, as when the "coin is flipped," and gays feel disrespected for THEIR lifestyle. There cannot be this double standard. Don't assume all Christians are these radical freaks; some of us simply follow God's word. And that is it.

Whether people like to believe it or not, each one of us worships something, and each one of us serves a god--that, obviously, may run the gamut from Jesus to Allah to Rush Limbaugh to Sony Playstation. And I find it completely ironic when leftists discredit the Holy Bible. Whereas I consider the bible the authority on law and morals, others point to the United States Constitution--so don't chastise me for putting my faith in a "document," because you are doing the same thing. And, with all due respect, my "document" is something written by God.....not rich, fat, slave owning white guys.

Please consider what I am saying before leaving the hate-filled comments. This is NOT a judgement call on homosexuals--some VERY close people in my life are gay. This is NOT an endorsement on either side of the voting issue. This is merely my attempt at showing the disparity that exists in this context. And this is my soapbox to stand up for my faith--a faith that has, in the past several months, taken quite a beating.

Peace.

Visit with the Clauss-Veals

Above, Callum plays with his "finger buddy" Michael. Callum really enjoyed "Trienta Uno Minutos," a Chilean children's comedy show featuring Spanish speaking puppets who make fun of the news.....

I put this next picture on here, just so I could hear my mom comment incessantly about this looks EXACTLY like me and how Callum makes the same faces I make, etc....
Amanda and I did a lot of drugs last night....
This is Wolff House on the UNH Campus. It houses the CENTER FOR ACADEMIC RESOURCES, where we both worked in college. A romance was born here.....

This is a historic blog: It is my first entry using a Mac. I decided to bring my Macbook home (since it has sat in my desk drawer for the past three years) in order to learn a little more about how these things work. The Goldsmiths would like to be Macs....right now we are PCs. We need to get a new computer soon, so maybe a Mac of our own is in our future???

We went down to Rochester NH for Friday night to stay with Andrea and Michael. After eating a good dinner of sausages, broccoli, and bean salad, we watched Callum run around their gray granite kitchen floor, trying to chase his reflection IN the floor.

On Saturday, it rained. Like crazy. All day. We headed over to our Alma Mater, the elite University of New Hampshire. We went to the MUB (Memorial Union Building) to check out what was new, and to buy Callum his first UNH sweatshirt. In retrospect, we have NO idea why we went to the MUB bookstore versus Hayden Sports, where we would have paid half as much....but I digress. So, after dropping 40 bucks for a toddler's sweatshirt, we went home. If it were nicer, we would have walked around the beautiful campus, but it was a nasty day. UNH holds such a special place in our hearts....it is where we met, it is where we fell in love, and it is where we lived for five years. It is part of us. We love it there. But we love our home in Maine.

We came home Saturday night and totally VEGGED out. Callum DID NOT sleep very well at Andrea's, waking up all night long. Plus, our inflate-a-bed kept going flat through the night. So we were very happy to sit at home, eat Asian Cafe, drink tea, and listen to the rain. I will report, too, that Callum's chimney and freshly sheetrocked room were bone dry during the four inches of rain we got! So good news.

So that is it. I am off to Portland for a conference tomorrow. And now we are going to go watch some Netflix. After I buy the new Blackeyedpeas song on iTunes!

Where have you been?

I remember how when I wrote my graduate school pedagogy (kind of like a "mission statement") I alluded to the fact that I find teaching English so desirable because, in life, people are always asking the question "where are you going?" But with English, language arts, and writing, one can truly explore the question of "where have you been?" It is imperative that, once in a while, we stop, reflect, and ponder the places we've been. These are pictures from about a year ago (give or take a couple of weeks....). So much has happened since last October.....

Callum absolutely loves his cousin Emma! He has her picture in one of his photo albums, and he always walks around carrying it and saying "Emma" over and over again. Back when this picture was taken, Callum didnt know an "Emma" from a Brontosaurus.....but now he is so much more aware of the people in his life. He has a very good memory, and as a testament to this, when he saw his Baa-Baa (great grandfather) for lunch yesterday, he got all excited and INSISTED that Baa-Baa change his diaper, show him the pumpkins, carry him around, etc. And he had not seen his Baa Baa for a couple of months. Also, Callum loves all his grandparents. He associates "ampy" with anything having to do with coffee. And he associates Nanna, Puppa, and mee-mee with anything having to do with the phone....

Look how chubby this kid was....

Looking through pictures from last year, it dawned on me that the Garners are about to celebrate their first wedding anniversary! That year went by fast, huh? This is a picture of Amanda and Michelle at the rehearsal dinner at the lovely bed and breakfast in Rangely. We had such a wonderful time during the whole event planning--from engagement to wedding day. And now, Michelle and Chris have their very own little pumpkin: Reid. We miss getting together with them....

Auntie KK and Uncle Twon came up last Halloween (Anthony and I enjoyed a couple of growlers of OPB while we gave out candy to 300 kids....), and they are planning on bringing Jackson on his "maiden voyage" to Maine THIS Halloween. Callum was a pumpkin last year--a very awkward, fussy, and amorphous pumpkin. This year, he'll be a duck (Amanda is sewing the costume as I write this) and six month old Jackson will be a pirate! Should be pretty neat...especially with the virtual "block party" we have with the Greenlaws in back of us, and, this year, the Shores right where Paul and Lucille used to live.....

My little pumpkin! Callum has started saying his name....when you ask him who he is or what his name is, he responds, with an ear to ear grin, that his name is "Al-man." You have to hear it to truly appreciate it.

I wonder what where we'll be NEXT October..........

Mr(s). (Gold) Smith Goes to Washington

Augusta Maine's waterfront on the Kennebec River. Get in a canoe, paddle north for about 18 miles (portaging around a dam) and you can then walk the 200 feet to our house. Yeay.

Our statehouse, as photographed from "Capitol Park."

Or at least Augusta.

Today Amanda began her new job. She is still working for the state of Maine, only now she is working directly for the legislature right in the State House. Her new title is "legislative services assistant," and she reports directly to Mr. David Boulter, who is the executive director of the legislature. Wow....pretty cool stuff Amanda.

Basically, Ms. Piles will be doing human resources stuff and working directly with the congressmen and women, along with the senators. Mike, do you capitalize "senators" and "congressmen?" You would know....

It is a big change and (if I do say so myself, since Amanda is very modest) a big step up for Mrs. Goldsmith as far as the challenges go.

As a family, we decided to take advantage of this offer, even though it means we'll be taking a pay cut; part of this position entails Amanda only working three days a week (part time) on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. However, this means that she'll be home with Callum two days each week. Two of the other days he'll go to "school" with his friends, and then on Fridays he will be with his Mee-mee (do I see the resurrection of "zoo days?")

We are really excited about the time Amanda will be able to stay home, and we could really care less about the money. All that stuff does is cause problems anyway.

Congratulations Amanda!!

(**editors note: From a completely selfish point of view, I have to say how great it was to come home yesterday--one of Amanda's days at home--to the presence of Amanda and Callum greeting me at the door, the smell of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, and the sight of homemade meatloaf ready to bake in the oven**)

Wood's in.....

So I am realizing I havent been doing well at keeping up with this blog. I guess this is for two reasons: One, I really dont think anyone reads it anymore. Two, we desperately need a new computer. This one is missing the "r" key, and it is really REALLY slow (it is 6 years old) and that really bothers me. But then I got to thinking: I dont really care if no one reads this, because WE read it and, just like MET's, it is a good way to remember our own lives and what we do from day to day. Someday we'll look back and enjoy this. And I guess I just need a new computer. I have TWO school computers (macbook and Gateway notebooks) which are faster. Maybe I should use those. Okay. I digress...

Obviously, THIS year's wood is done, and has been for a while. Part of it is shown below....the first blue tarp, and the green tarp all all for this year. I am really proud of the fact that I have split all our wood (by HAND...not these wussy splitters....which I know I will have to succumb to when I am 70) because it makes me feel I am providing for my family. Part of the many issues I have...haha. We have actually used a bunch of wood already, since it has been a pretty cold October. I have been using all my "kindling" wood, which is dry and good for hot and fast fires, and that stuff is basically gone already. A cold month.

Here is Callum standing in the woodshed, getting ready to grab a little piece of wood. He is getting really into the wood stove, and he loves carrying little pieces of kindling around. Also, as a Callum update, he is really into horses and whales lately...in fact that is all he talks about now.
Ahh.....fresh (and seasoned) red oak. Nothing smells better than freshly split red oak...it is sweet and musky and heavy. It is awesome. The downside is that because of this wet-like smell, it takes freakin' three years to dry and become seasoned. Oak is a VERY heavy and dense wood that is perfect for wood stoves. The stuff you see in the "shed" is all red oak that has been seasoning for three years. It should be awesome this year. The stuff to the left of the shed is the wood I just finished splitting and stacking (well, actually, Amanda stacked four pieces). Callum is walking around my "staging area," where I split all my wood (note the chopping block in the center). On Saturday I finished cleaning it all up, separating the bark for kindling, small pieces for fall fires, and chips for my "smoking" ventures. The black container next to the shed is a compost bin I made. Good stuff. I love my wood.

Okay, so I'm not totally done.....the stuff on the right is the oak (which looks stacked like crap because it was muddy and the ground was uneven). But the stuff to the left is rock maple (sugar maple) which is awesome stove wood, but splits harder than atoms. The oak and birch, on the other hand, splits easier than Jon and Kate Gossline.....I just wanted to tell some "split" jokes. But the maple sucks to split, and basically you need a wedge and a sledgehammer....which is kind of what Jon Gosselin needs to make HIS problems go away.......

Amanda's job will be to cover the wood with tarps.

It is a LOT of work, and my hands look like raw hamburg, but wood is an awesome workout and nothing beats heat from a wood stove. So, when the weather turns colder, come on over, "sit a spell" by our stove, and enjoy a glass of port or fresh beer. We'll be waiting for you....

Thinking about work.....

And the connection it has to television. So many of our favorite shows (Are you being served? and The Office) are shows that are set at a workplace. Then I started thinking about how sooooo many television shows and films are set at places of work---both conventional and unconventional. I came up with a list. Can you add to it? It is fun to try to brainstorm.....

The office
Greys anatomy
ER
Scrubs
Mystic pizza
Designing women
News radio

Cheers

The West Wing
Taxi
WKRP in Cincinnati
Office space
Are you being served?
Fawlty towers
MASH
NCIS
CSI

(all the other lame copycat NCIS shows)

The Unit
Upstairs Downstairs

Cocktail

What else??????????? Let us get a DIALOGUE going......

We went to the Apple Farm,

and here are some picture.....

Callum with a Belgian Quarter Horse named Prince. Actually, Callum wasnt really the least bit interested in the horse. But mommy loves horses.

Callum LOVES apples....he loves holding them, picking them, eating them, and putting them into "peck" bags. Today was a beautiful, cool, WINDY day, and we had a wonderful time picking apples. What we did was this: We played this morning, then Callum went down for a nap at around 12:30. While he did that, Amanda worked on the wallpaper taking downing, and I finished splitting next year's firewood (we'll stack tomorrow). Also I washed my Allez in preparation for a few more good fall rides. When Callum awoke, we went into the backcountry of Fairfield.
I will be getting an 8x10 of this. I love it. Look how happy this kid is. I can only pray that this happiness and exuberance be with him all of his life. He makes me smile more than I ever thought possible.

Callum is only in the 20th percentile for his height and weight (MY son???). But, alas, he is now tall enough to ride on my shoulders (his legs werent long enough for me to hold before that). He enjoys riding way up high, and it makes it easy for him to grab apples!

Last night after CS went to bed, we had some fun of our own....

We made some firestarters for the stove (melting and reforming the remains of old votive candles), and then we carved a jack-o-lantern. We took the seeds from the pumpkin, coated them with oil, honey, and salt, and roasted them. Yum!! Here is our 'jack....

No one lost any finger, and it looks so good sitting in our breezeway, alight with a candle inside. It actually looks kind of creepy when you see it from the street....

Meanderings 55

Five brief thoughts for your Thursday (or Friday morning)

1. Some of my students this year plan on majoring in "Wildlife Management" when they go to college next year. That's a funny phrase, isnt it: "Wildlife Management?" Doesnt one negate the other? Isnt the whole point of wildlife is that it is "wild" and can't be "managed?" It is like in the book THE CATCHER IN THE RYE when the school's mission statement is to "mold young minds into free thinking individuals." How can you "mold" free thinkers? It is just one of the many phrases in our language that just doesnt make sense.....like "liberal rationalism."

2. How many species of living things are there on the earth? Like thousands, right? And here we are, human beings, at the top of the food chain and sitting on the top rung of the ladder. So here's a fair question: Why are we the only species that "burns" and needs to put on sunscreen? Do all animals burn and we, as humans, are just a bunch of pansies who cant be in any pain? Did we miss that part of the evolutionary process? Were we out buying sneakers with lights on them when that happened? I mean, you hear all the doctors telling us not to go outside without a hat or without sunglasses or without SPF187......what about dogs or cows or horses or deer or any of the other thousand things that live outside all summer? Humans suck.

3. Every time a fly lands on something, it defecates. That is so funny. So I guess we humans DO in fact have SOMETHING going for us. At least we dont crap every time we stop moving. Can you imagine how funny that would be? Can you imagine if when every single time you sat down you crapped yourself? What a free-spirited, worry free world that would be!

4. I am getting ready to boycott any pizza place that has a pizza called "meat lovers." What kind of crap is that? Why do people who like meat or vegetables need to be labeled and categorized as "lovers?" Can't we just want to have bacon, sausage, hamburg, and ham and not be a "lover?" No one else has this stigma! I mean, if I order mushrooms on my pizza I'm not suddenly a "mushroom lover." And if I just get cheese on my pie that doesnt mean I'm an "anti-topping lover." Just one more attempt by the liberal PETAs to linguistically mark carnivores as a different, "bohemian" race of individuals.

5. So we get the paper on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. The paper gets delivered to our house by like 5 in the morning. One morning, at roughly 5:08, I was reading the paper, when I came across an ad for a local Chinese food restaurant advertising their specials. "Call NOW for free delivery!" it read in big letters. I thought of how funny it would be if I called at 5:08 in the morning, on a Friday, demanding Chinese food. I mean, it does say to call NOW! Obviously they arent open....so is that false advertising? Isnt it sad that I think about things like this? Will someone hug me so I dont feel so lonely....

Does my Nannie look like Jon Stewart?

Hi this is Callum. I think my Nannie looks like Jon Stewart. Here are a couple of pictures of him.

And here is my Nannie

What do you think? In one of my daddy's "Bicycling" magazines there is a picture of him (along with a short interview) about how he often commutes by bike. Whenever I see it, I say "NA-NA" or "MY-NA-NA" or something. I really think it is her. Sometimes I tell my mommy and daddy what books I want them to read to me (ee-I-ee-I-o for my farm book, "birtday" for Spot's Birthday party, etc). Lately, I just point to my Bicycling magazine and say "NA-NA." Am I crazy or is there a similarity here???

I don't feel so good......

If Callum could say that (and I am surprised he can't), he would have on Friday. For sure! When I picked him up from daycare, he was absolutely unable to be consoled--he wasnt just "yammy," but, rather, he was crying profusely. Nothing seemed to make him feel any better. Finally, I went back to one of my old "standbys" from when he was "really" little--rocking with him to music. First, we listened to some Colin Hay (the former singer of Men at Work), and then I sang to him myself. Within minutes, he was OUT...and he NEVER sleeps on my shoulder anymore--he is much to busy! Anyway, I relished each and every moment of the "treat" of having him sleep on me (even though it was because he was sick) and I had Amanda take a picture as soon as she got home.

He woke up briefly (enough to say "meow" and mumma) and then was back asleep on Amanda's shoulder. He actually had us pretty concerned. He had no fever, but he could not stay awake, wanted nothing to drink, and was averse to eating anything....
This is what happened when we put him in his high-chair to get him to eat.....

Finally, right before he went down to bed, he threw up all over the place--on me, on Amanda, on his bedroom floor, on his meow, etc. But he went right to sleep and had a pretty restful night.

By the next morning, he was like a different creature.....

He was happy and smiling and back to his old self. He must have had one of those "12 hour bugs" or something. He "discovered" the chair Nannie got him last year for Christmas, and he lounged around on a rainy Saturday, watching Elmo DVDs.....

I can't look at this picture and not laugh......he is me, George, and Ortiz all in one small little body.....

He still is a little bit "off," but I think he is coming around. I have a feeling it is going to be a nasty cold/flu season around here in Maine. Already, so many kids at school are sick, our neighbors are all sick, etc. Other than this, it was a great weekend for just hanging out and relaxing....no pressure to do anything, since it was so crummy out. In fact, other than watching football and DVDs, cooking, and eating, I dont think we did anything. Lynne and George came over last night and we had ham (a Mellogold from Joseph's, of course). And today I went to church alone so Amanda could be with Callum....then Amanda and Mandy went out on a lunch date at the Last Unicorn. In the afternoon we swung over to the Home Depot (probably my second least favorite place on the earth....second only to the impending construction of the George W Bush library in Texas) to look at paint. Amanda has been stripping. Wallpaper off the living room and dining room, and we (or she!) is almost ready to paint

Have a good Monday!

The Old Neighborhood: Remembering Mike Murphy

(can you find me?)

When I was born, we lived on Foundry St in South Easton. The “old neighborhood,” as I now call it, involved a series of 7 or so raised ranch houses, each residing on a couple of acres of wetland, and the houses were all connected by one common “lawn,” as it sprawled for a quarter of a mile or more, connecting all the houses. It was a “green” highway, long before the environmentalists coined the phrase, and we’d ride our bikes over and through and around our neighbor’s lawns, back and forth between the two “boundries” of the Shaw’s on the western side, and the Willins’ on the east. Back and forth we’d go—Willins, then Marchants, Murphy’s, Browns, Penny’s, my house, Gryniuks, Goods, and Shaw’s. Springs, summers, and falls were endless bike rides, pick-up football games, and waffle ball tournaments.

Mike Murphy was first “best friend;” we lived three houses away from one another, we attended the same nursery school class, and we were inseparable until middle school, when he went his way (hockey, Xaverian “private school,” and a different social circle) and I went mine (books, Oliver Ames “public school.”). I think it’s a rite of passage affecting all of us—we had friends with whom we thought we were inseparable….those “endless summer” friends with whom we tossed the baseball until it was bath time and the last light of the purplish 8:30 sky began to slide beneath the earth. We have these friends and they weave the fabric of our lives; they affect us in rich and profound ways, and then they are gone—geographically, socially, and academically. Life was so innocent and innocuous when we were young—the world only existed for the quarter of mile of Foundry Street we knew. The “outside” was invisible.

When the news came this past weekend that Michael Murphy died in his sleep, I felt a wave of surrealistic awe. Life had moved on for both of us, and I hadn’t spoken, in person, to Mike for probably 15 years. Facebook brought us together in a sort of way, as we became “friends” a couple of years ago. In fact, Facebook was a way for all of us to re-connect, as former “Eastoners” got together this week to mourn, write, and pay respects to Mike. Why do we do this? Why is there this need to reconnect with our past? For me, I find solace in knowing that others remember what I remember….that others have lived a common life, that there is this anchor and this “place” to where we can return. I am comforted knowing that even though I may live in Fairfield Maine, teaching English, and even though Mike Murphy may be the vice president of a stock broking firm, we still share a commonality—the commonality of scuffed up baseballs thrown back and forth, wrestling matches in each others basements, and muddy shoes and socks from exploring the wetlands of our oaky woods backyards. Sometimes the world gets really big and it’s just nice to know you have a past.

When I logged on to Facebook this morning, folks living hundreds of miles away from me (and from Mike) have all re-centered themselves to pay homage to a life cut way too short. People have returned “home,” even if in the broad spectrum as the World Wide Web. His passing has brought old friends together once again, and I find this riveting. As an English teacher, I’m reminded by a book by Tom Wolfe called “You Can’t Go Home Again.” The slogan is an adage to which many adhere. But this I believe: A piece of us never truly “leaves” home, so we need to fear an inability to return. As humans, with souls and hearts (and Bluetooth wireless, iPods, and 80 hour per week jobs) I think we sometimes become unaware of the way our bodies exist as fragments—some residing in the past, and some in the present.

Michael Murphy’s passing, for me, is a commentary of our own mortality; its not so much a “wake up call” for living life to its fullest and seizing the day—although for many it could be. But, for me, his death strikes a powerful chord regarding the need to stay grounded in a past. Someplace. We all have a rich, full past if we choose to acknowledge those parts, separating those memories from the more perilous and disdainful ones. Now, 31 and a husband and father, it is awe inspiring to see how far we’ve all come away from our once sacred childhood grounds. And its not that I have any regrets—on the contrary I now live a very fulfilling life. I guess its just that the death of a childhood friend makes you think about things a bit. It’s a comforting lesson in this big scary world to know that you don’t in fact ever leave home. And that is a good thing. Its good to have a place.

Rest in peace, my friend.