HILLSPEAKING
from The Anglican Digest 

EASTER A.D. 2007

ABSENCE makes the heart grow fonder. – Thomas Haynes Bayly (1797-1839).

There are probably quite a few GIs and ex-GIs who, having received a “Dear John” letter, would disagree with Thomas, but having spent almost five weeks away from Hillspeak this past winter, I am inclined to believe that Thomas is right on the mark.  Apparently Godfrey shares that sentiment.  He greeted me with joy and abandon.  It had been two-and-a-half years since I visited my children and grandchildren on the West Coast and I enjoyed every minute of it, but the pull of Grindstone Mountain remained strong.

Hillspeak is definitely a four-seasons place and each season has its own particular charm.  There is no real way to compare California’s Central Valley version of winter with the winter atop Grindstone.  The Central Valley’s winter, dare I say it, is simply a paler and cooler version of its other seasons.  At Hillspeak the four seasons are separate and well defined with an almost Norman Rockwell distinctness about each.

Flora and fauna illumine the seasons with such precision we sometimes wonder if the deer subscribe to some calendar service to alert them to the changes.  The deer that casually and contentedly wander across the Lower Meadow and through Hallo-we’en Park a good part of the year are not to be seen on the first day of hunting season.

Aside from the differences in how the seasons come and go, I missed the warp and woof of daily work with the Ministries of Hillspeak (and that despite the fact that I asked for a brief timeout for Operation Pass Along in the Lent issue of THE ANGLICAN DIGEST).  One of the peculiarities of working with the Ministries is that we observe, in some fashion, each of the seasons of the Church Year at least twice because with a small staff we have to work well ahead of each season (for instance this “Hillspeaking” was written in mid-January).

An absence of only a few weeks helps to identify, as well as affirm, one’s perspective.  Just as Thomas Bayly mostly got it right, so did John Howard Payne (1792-1852) “...  there is no place like ...[Hillspeak].”

Come, see for yourself.



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