1 message
Catherine Todd
To: "Catherine S. Todd"
From: Re: Visiting Phil & Phyllis [Re: Cathedral of St. John the Divine
Part of email I sent to Uncle Johnny w/info about Medieval churches in / around Paris:
----- Original Message -----
From: Catherine Todd
To: John Merrick
Sent: Sunday, August 12, 2007 11:01 PM
Subject: Cathedral of St. John the Divine & see you soon, I hope...
Dear Uncle Johnny,
I'm in NYC getting ready to go back to NC tomorrow night (Monday 7:30 pm). Early this evening, I attended the most wonderful church in NYC, The Cathedral of St. John the Divine for "Choral Evensong" singing on Sundays at 6:00 pm, right near where I stay when I'm here. See: http://www.stjohndivine.org/worship_music.html
And since I can't get back to my beloved Paris, I love visiting this church as much as the little chapel wing near the Notre-Dame Cathedral, on île de la Cité, with the gorgeous hand carved organ and accapella singing soaring into the huge, towering Medieval rafters and curves and arcs of the ceiling... we sit in the ancient wood prayer seats with carved wooden doors and marble altar rails, every inch a work of art by unnamed hands who worked "for the glory of God" (and their daily pay!).
I will have to find out the proper names for all these Medieval Church parts one of these days so I can give an accurate description. The church has all kinds of programs (stone carving, tapestry restoration, music and more) and a gorgeous garden with fantastic sculpture, and I believe it's a non-denominational church which is right up my alley. I always try to schedule my trips around being able to get to the Cathedral at 6:00 pm on Sunday, as it's about the only time I ever enter a church. But it's wonderful. Very short sermon, always simple and sweet: tonight's was "how to and the importance of getting along with one's neighbors." Took about 5 or 10 minutes and then more gorgeous music, soaring through the stained glass windows into the early evening night. You would have really enjoyed it.
I just came across this interesting database of Medieval Churches around Paris, hadn't seen this before:
Medieval Database churches in Paris Basin 'A-B' by John James ... - 10:52pmParis Basin Churches A-B. List of all the 1740 churches with something from 1100-1250 period click for map. Prepared by John James, 24 Auguste 2004. ...
http://www.johnjames.com.au/medievaldatabase-parischurches-A-B.shtml
and Pictures of Paris, France Photographs of Notre-Dame Cathedral on île de la Cité, pictures of the most famous of churches in Paris. The Pyramide Inversée, seen from the outside at www.davidphenry.com/Paris/index.htm
I also carry your little book "Everyday Suchness" with me everywhere, as it just fits in my purse. I can't tell you what a difference it has made to my mental state. All I have to do is pick it up and open it and it falls right to wherever and whatever I need to "study upon" for that moment in time. Plus the language is simple enough that even I can understand! I'm going to look for more books by it's author, Gyomay M. Kubose. Buddhist writing and thought really is right up my alley. I can't thank you enough.
In the meantime, I hope to plan to come back to visit you in 10 days or 2 weeks, and will look for my ticket on Tues. as soon as I get back. Thanks for sending me all those airline sale emails, they really help a lot!
I don't know if I mentioned it, but visiting you must have brought me lots of good luck! When I got back we closed on the white house that had been on and off the market with the buyer's financing falling through, and they finally were able to get all their ducks in a row and started moving last week! I got this good news in the morning and then in the afternoon that same day a person called and wants to buy the little green house for $10,000.00 more than we had thought we might have to list it at (for a quick sale) so things are finally falling into place! All because I came to see you, I'm sure! We're getting the last little yellow house done and it's just a half a day or so for the final plumbing hookups, final finish on the beautiful old hardwood floors, final inspection, and we'll be moving into a house that I've redone where I finally get to use one of the whirlpool tubs I've put in for everybody else! Hah - ha - ha! Finally, I get to enjoy some of the "fruits of my labor" at long last! Can't wait, let me tell you.
When I do get to PeachTree City, I've been wondering what you'd enjoy doing: are there any botanical gardens nearby we could visit? Or how about some topiary gardens, or just going to a fabulous nursery? I'd love to help out in the yard as well, and will bring down whatever you'd like, including some of my wholesale bulb catalogs. I've been "working my way through them" for a number of years now. Eventually I will have planted just about every kind of lily they offer, and most of the daffodils! And that's saying a lot.
I loved seeing your garden and all that you've done with it; really fabulous. Send me the name of those roses, and maybe I can bring back some cuttings when I come.
See you soon, I hope... how does 10 - 14 days sound for your calendar? That would be towards the end of August. Call me on my cell tomorrow if you want to: 919-605-0727, or Home # 919-693-0853 Tues. and after, or send an email... I'll call you when I'm back on Tues. and can look at the airport travel schedule. See you again soon, I hope!
Love, Katie
--
*** Traveling:
"A child on a farm sees a plane fly overhead and dreams of a faraway place. A traveler on a plane sees the farmhouse and dreams of home." ~ Carl Burns
Words to live by: "Best of all is to preserve everything in a pure, still heart, and let there be for every pulse a thanksgiving, and for every breath a song." ~ Konrad von Gesner
"The world is made anew each day, for God makes it so. It contains within it all the good and all the evil as before; no more, no less, but the same." ~ Paraphrased from "The Crossing," by Cormac McCarthy
Catherine Todd
6754 Leaning Oak Rd. Oxford NC 27565
H 919.693.0853 U.S. cell 919.605.0727
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