Keeping Christmas When traditions have to change by Ken Rummer How will I keep Christmas this year, in retirement, in this new place? Now that Christmas is no longer part of my job, how will I mark the season? In my growing up years, we often attended Christmas vespers at the university. It was held… Read more »
December 1, 2017
Sightings
Keeping Christmas When traditions have to change by Ken Rummer How will I keep Christmas this year, in retirement, in this new place? Now that Christmas is no longer part of my job, how will I mark the season? In my growing up years, we often attended Christmas vespers at the university. It was held… Read more »
Missing Choir Hearts on Fire, Brains on Ice* by Ken Rummer Eight months into retirement, I realized I missed singing in the choir, a surprising conclusion for one who never took choir in school. There was an elementary school solo on “I Dream of Jeannie With The Light Brown Hair” and a fifth grade… 
The Field One Last Crop by Ken Rummer Beyond our yard is the trail and beyond the trail is the field. The field marches north to the dusty fog that marks the gravel of the next mile road. Thomas Jefferson’s grid of surveyed squares is much in evidence around here. This is land the… 
The Big Sort Downsizing the retired pastor’s library by Ken Rummer Last to be unpacked were the books. They had lived in four tall bookcases and one small one in the church office, and in three tall bookcases in the home library, but only three of those bookcases came with us to the new… 
The ambush Jumped by nothing to do by Ken Rummer Well, it finally came, and when it did, it took me by surprise. My friend had headed for home after helping me paint the garage floor. My wife was off caring for a grandchild. And I was sitting in the reading chair watching the… 
Fireflies The light is for shining by Ken Rummer Wild flowers are blooming on the embankment leading up to the trail. It’s an old railroad right of way that’s being encouraged to go natural, now sporting some prairie grasses and the blooms that show with them. This being our first summer here, I… 
Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! A View From the Pew by Ken Rummer Sundays feel different, in retirement.* Without a sermon to deliver (Will I lose my notes? Will I lose my place? Will it make any sense at all?), without arrangements to arrange (Will the liturgist show up? Is the air conditioner working? Is there water… 
Waiting is hard Living the in between times By Ken Rummer It’s not like I’ve never waited before. I’ve waited for the cereal box-top prize to come in the mail. I’ve waited in the wings to go on stage. I’ve waited for summer vacation and for Christmas morning and for spaghetti water to boil. But… 
Facing Retirement Wrestling With The Ghost of Samuel By Ken Rummer I’ve had trouble envisioning my life in retirement, and I suspect a ghost is involved, the ghost of Samuel. Years ago, when I told my parents about my decision to go…