I’ve suddenly begun to dislike using my office/studio. I don’t know why. If any of you have been in there you know it’s a great space. The walls are painted a deep red – which Lindell says is a pre-requisite for anything postmodern, even a post modern Abbey. I have a couple of arm chairs for spiritual direction appointments; a desk to write on; and a long table top for art projects. There are beautiful collages made just for me and Emily’s stunning photographs. By all accounts it’s a well appointed place.

I just can’t seem to settle down in there lately.

Maybe it’s because it’s dark in my office – in spite of a whole wall of windows (they … {read more…}

Years ago, back in college, I bought Paul a hand-crafted teapot in Santa Cruz, CA. It was an incredible splurge at the time, and I agonized over whether to buy two matching mugs (I did). This is what happens when–full of Namaste tea for a toxin cleanse I’m doing–the handle breaks, the teapot falls, and the tea ball tumbles down the basement steps.

Eden started sobbing, because this was Daddy’s special teapot. But after we cleaned it up she said, “At least you can use it in a mosaic.”

At Monkfish Abbey we have some spaces in our annual cycle where we just kind of float. For instance, we sort of slip past Eastertide and Pentecost and use the time between Lent/Easter and Solstice as a bit of a reprieve. We call it Ordinary Time – thought it doesn’t correspond with the actual Ordinary Time of the Church Year. It suits the rythm of our living, it work for us.

During this little lull of Ordinary Time, the monks have signed on to help host and cook at our Thursday night gathering. Last week it was Melissa turn. She read to us from a Barbara Ueland’s If You Want to Write: A book about Art, Independence, … {read more…}

Hello Friday readers! Welcome to the Urban Abbess’s new weekly posting of handy tips, ideas, and stuff-that-I-like. Today’s inspiration: a backyard dinning table.

It seems like every Target, Fred Meyer and Sears is sporting giant 9 piece outdoor dinning sets these days. Gone is the simple two-bench picnic table that got a quick coat of redwood stain each June. According to the American marketing machine, in order to eat hot dogs and watermelon, the average household now needs a table for six, with cushioned arm chairs and a sun umbrella. The latest of these design wonders even include a built-in firebowl in the center of the table. You don’t even have to squat to roast your marshmallows!

If this is your … {read more…}

If you don’t read Gin Straight from the Cat Dish you really should start. Miss is always funny and poignant, and sometimes makes me want to cry a little — or long to be as insightful and cool as she is — or both. I highly recommend it.

Hello my blogginng lovlies!

The Urban Abbess has been sorry to be gone so long, long, long. But I’m afraid I’ve submitted to the call of the wild – which being the urbanite that I am, means I’ve been lured into the “great outdoors” of our front and back yard. Right now I’m writing to you from the porch swing, wearing my floor-length India-print wrap around skirt ($5 at Goodwill) and a tank top — and I am not even cold! It’s 80 degrees and breezy, last night we slept with the windows open, and people have been boldly venturing out in sleeveless things and flip flops without fear or trepidation. If you live in Phoenix, or maybe Alaska, you might … {read more…}

Here are my notes from the Blessing Rite we did for the Powerhouse — worskhop to the amazing Fremont Solstice Parade. Liza, one of the parade organizers, asked me to bless the space with light and peace. Enjoy!

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Welcome to all! Intro: Rachelle, Abbess and Monkfish Abbey (a generous soulcare community) and Jen, one of our community members. My family and I have totally adored the last four years of celebrating the Summer Solstice with this community, and we’re honored to be invited to bless the workshop space. Thank you!

This is a three- part rite of blessing:
• Invocation
• Personal blessing
• Infilling of the space.

If at anytime you feel uncomfortable, feel free to opt out and simply observe.
Non-sectarian rite …we’ve tried to … {read more…}

“In this house, everyday is a party!”

Sometimes, things are so good I start saying things like this in my head, even though I know it isn’t technically true. I read somewhere that this is a Scorpio trait –this mild schizophrenia. Who knows? Anyway…last night at Monkfish Abbey we had dinner in the back yard. It was unseasonably warm, and that spring-fever vibe was in the air. I’d just rescued two old kitchen chairs from one of those side-of-the-road furniture piles, and was completely obsessed with gathering up six of them and recovering the seats with retro-patterned fabric. I’d managed to get the first two covered and was determined to launch our … {read more…}

I wrote a piece for the Fremont Art Council (FAC), and I’ll be damned if they didn’t up it smack dab on the front page of their annual newspaper, the SOL. The kids are totally excited because their picture is right on the front page! There isn’t a weblink, but I’ve posted the text below.

Speaking of press, Monkfish Abbey got another nod last week when we were mentioned in a front-page story for the Seattle Times. There’s a bunch of other intriguing groups mentioned in the article, which you can link to here.

In other exciting news, the FAC folks also invited me to bless the workshop space for the Solstice Parade. I am unbelievably excited! … {read more…}

What’s a pastor’s kids doing at the Solstice Parade? Having the time of their lives!

My kids, ages 3 and five, are laughing and screaming at the top of their lungs. They are seated on either end of a giant see-saw, one of them embraced by a man in drag, the other seated with a fellow wearing a leather vest and holding a wine bottle in one hand. In addition to being flung up and down through the air on an enormous piece of wood, the entire see-saw is on huge wheels and two FAC folks are whipping the thing around in circles. It’s a playground experiment in centrifugal force – supersized!

This certainly isn’t the childhood I grew up with! In … {read more…}