News & Notes 2024

 News & Notes 2024

Dear Friends & Family,

Here comes 2025!  Praying for a peaceful year, in so many ways.  A lot happened in the world around us in 2024 that has long-term effects on everyone.

For starters, a quick note on geography: 

Asheville NC is 2.5h drive west of us.

(art from a tee by WS artist ThatBlondeGirlVicki)

Hurricane Helene had a negligible effect on us except for its timing – the week of Bookmarks Festival, at the end of Sept.  We have been out to visit Biltmore and some of our favorite restaurants and makers in western NC, and it's interesting to see what bounced back and what is just outright gone.  It's a little surreal that an amazing international aid organization like Samaritan's Purse, headquartered in Boone NC (home of Appalachian State), is serving their immediate neighbors.  Similarly mind boggling is World Central Kitchen, with boots on the ground in Gaza, and Ukraine, and now Asheville NC?! – one of their early distribution centers in Asheville was out of Sunny Point Cafe, which we have long considered our "Cheers" restaurant, where everybody knows your name.

Closer to home, Earl changed jobs after a year working for the government.  He's now at Collins Aerospace, designing things that go in the seat backs of airplanes.  Here's a quick video explanation.  Basically on some First Class or Business Class seats the passenger gets his/her own "cubicle" equipped with a powered recliner. Earl's job is to make sure all the pieces fit together and receive the correct power and communication.  He is enjoying the team dynamic he has at Collins and that, working once again in Winston-Salem, he can actively plug into the church activities and volunteer at Bookmarks.

We've made ourselves right at home at St Paul's Episcopal, where we got confirmed in March of this year but even before that got active in the life of the church.  Earl drives the bus to pick up seniors from a local retirement community (Lisa calls him The Pigeon – and yes, we know that's not how the Mo Willems book goes) and works with the livestream team.  He's also enjoying men's ministry Bible studies and meetups.  Lisa teaches upper elementary Sunday school but on a weekly signup, nowhere near the intensity of at our previous churches.

Things are going swimmingly at Bookmarks, where we've just finished the madness of retail December in the leadup to multiple holidays.  It should be no surprise that over 30% of the annual earnings of an indie bookstore comes between Thanksgiving and the close of the year.  2024 was affectionately dubbed "the year of Lisa" by our Program and Festival Director because some of her longtime "wishlist" authors came to town, including but not limited to "Other" Lisa Yee (a term of affection for her doppelnym), Dan Santat, Kate Quinn, and Stacey Abrams.  Then at Festival, more than a few attendees told Lisa they recognized her from online – she got to do some informational videos on "let me tell you about" upcoming events and why they're awesome and how to plug in.  Not to mention her Best of 2024 list and a memorable blooper reel in which she proved how being coachable can scare the pants off of everyone not only in the bookstore but also at the adjoining coffee shop.  Movable Feast is coming in January – you should definitely come visit us for our "speed dating with authors" style event.  

Lisa continues to enjoy singing with Winston-Salem Symphony Chorus, and just finished their annual performance of Handel's Messiah.  In the fall they also did a piece that Lisa has loved for years since doing it with Heart of the Triad Choral Society, Andre Thomas' Mass: A Celebration of Love and Joy, paired with Miskinis' Light Mass.  This spring we're doing Verdi's Requiem – come sing with us, or come hear us sing, on April 26 & 27.

       

The squiggs are doing… well, okay, considering.  We said goodbye to TJ in November, bringing our small and squeaky herd down to two, Twix (who has a black face) and Lilikoi (who has one rosette crown up top).  Twix is our adventure eater and will dash out any time she hears us whistle, which started as a specific food cue and now just has "hopeful" written all over it.  Lilikoi is our explorer, and every time their space gets cleaned out or rearranged, she's first to see what's where and stake out the best spots.  They are still enjoying their seasonal haul of pumpkins from friends who turn theirs over to us after Halloween.

On the parental side of things, 

Betty is doing well, still living independently, and enjoying crafts, jigsaw puzzles, and the Bible study at her senior apartment complex.  She's lived at Trinity House 21 years as of next month. 

Nancy is, as always, wishing she could play the piano more.  Once she went to the local senior center and made use of their public piano for a bit and they offered her a tidy sum of money to come and do that on the regular – which she would love to, if only there were more hours in the day.  (She also discovered one of her former student's old piano books tucked into the bench!)  She and Mark currently have the kitchen all pulled apart waiting for a renovation to come to pass, that started with a simple idea to take out a non-loadbearing wall.

Henry is closing out his third year at Allview Retreat assisted living, where he is thriving.  (Lisa's commentary: In retrospect, he and Nancy should have taken up separate residences years earlier!)  A particular highlight was Thanksgiving weekend, when with Lisa and Earl up to visit, he joined in on three days' events, from Thanksgiving dinner, which the Yees and Rushings and other friends have done together for decades, then a Chinese meal out the next day when his niece brought down 8 members of his brother Ed's branch of the family from the Philly area, and the peculiar capstone of attending Sunday worship in person at CPC for the first time since moving to Allview.  It was even mentioned from the pulpit that he was in attendance, so there was an absolute line of people he got to chat with after church service.  We're glad that the CPC family welcomed him so heartily, and Lisa particularly is hopeful that he takes up the offer from some individuals to pick him up to attend worship in person more regularly.  Livestream church is nice to have available, but church is the community.

Come visit us at Credo!  Our home got a new roof and a replacement, non-leaky, fully watertight skylight this fall.  We'd love to have guests.  Drop in, visit us specifically, use us as a waypoint en route to or from Florida, anything goes.  And our 17th annual EOPS (Easter on Palm Sunday) open house potluck gathering is once again on the Sunday before Easter, which this year is Sunday, April 13.  

(tree by Puerto Rican poet Lady Lee Andrews)

Hugs to all, Lisa & Earl

News & Notes 2023

News & Notes 2023 

Dear Family & Friends, 

We're still here! 

There was some stuff that happened this year that could have meant we were not here (like, at all), but God. 

Here is the test to find out whether your mission on earth is finished:  If you're alive, it isn't.  ~ Richard Bach  quoted in Do It! Let's Get Off Our Buts  by John-Roger & Peter McWilliams

 

The biggest news this year, and we thank you for praying for us, is Earl's stroke.

TL; DR: All is well and this chapter of our lives is closed.

A little more detail: Shortly before we went to Ann Arbor Michigan for our cousins reunion over Labor Day weekend, Earl lost a lower quadrant of his vision but we didn't realize what it meant and traveled up from NC anyways, enjoying two days of wandering on foot all over and climbing all the stairs to the top of Michigan Stadium for a football game before something minor and unrelated got him talking to our doctor-cousin, who asked the right questions to get a full story and informed us that we were going to the ER. By God's providence, not only did she act as our medical advocate, even the attending physician that afternoon was a former roommate of hers. Earl had to stay a few days in hospital waiting on tests that, were it not a holiday weekend, we could have gotten done all in one day, but we still got back to NC on schedule and with Earl's vision having wholly returned. He had a longish list of doctors and follow ups and OT and PT check ins, but he passed everything without problem including his field of vision test which medically cleared him to drive again by the end of Sept. By mid-Nov we wrapped up what we consider to be the last part of this particular adventure when Earl had PFO closure surgery, an outpatient procedure in which a plastic clamshell is inserted to close a hole between sections of the heart. This hole or flap, which everyone has in utero and which is supposed to close with the vacuum of baby's first breath, stays open to some degree in literally 1 of 4 people and in most young stroke patients is considered part of the reason for the clots getting through to the brain. Our friend Dick phrased it best: Earl's got "piece like a rivet in his heart!" 

Lisa went full time at Bookmarks this year (www.bookmarksnc.org), which honestly was not a huge shift in amount of time, but which gave her the massive benefit of a set schedule. The literary arts nonprofit is still going strong, with 15-20 author events every month, both at the bookstore & through our authors in schools program. Tickets are already on sale for Movable Feast (Jan 27 & 28), a 20-author weekend which is Lisa's favorite event of the year (including Festival) because she gets to actually meet and mingle with all the authors, unlike Festival, at which she can't get to the myriad author talks because she is busy at the bookstore tent. If you want book recs, feel free to ask – this is the fun stuff! Endcap pictured is her favorite reads of 2023. 

We put our passports to use for the first time in a long time this summer, going on our first cruise. We took the MSC Seascape and sailed out of Miami to their private island in the Bahamas, followed by Jamaica, Grand Cayman (Lisa got to pet stingrays!), and Cozumel Mexico (We loved the Cool-ture tour which included Mayan ruins, coffee, and tequila.) Would we cruise again? Absolutely yes, but on a smaller ship (so peopley!) and ideally not on a holiday week during peak season. 

Our small herd of squiggs (our affectionate term for our guinea pigs, all girls) went from four to three this year with Wendy's passing, but Twix, Lilikoi, and TJ are still happily squeaking around our breakfast nook and welcome visitors any time, especially visitors with veggies. 

St Paul's Episcopal Church (https://www.stpaulsws.org/) has been our church home for almost exactly a year now, and we're finding places we can serve. Lisa plugged into VBS and is in rotation to teach the upper elementary Sunday school and serve as lector. Less visibly (completely in character), Earl helps on the livestream team and is in rotation to drive the bus to pick up seniors from a local retirement community (this should give hope to longtime Mo Willems readers and pigeons everywhere). He also is enjoying breakfasts and Bible studies with the men's ministry. Similar groups have encouraged him in different ways and times since he used to meet with the Dennytarians, many moons ago. 

This time of year, Lisa is singing Handel's Messiah with Winston-Salem Symphony Chorus. Come hear her sing, whether live (concert this Tues Dec 12, 7:30p) or streaming (our Considering Matthew Shepard performance is available to stream for FREE until Jan 29, 2024 (www.wssymphony.org/tv/). She very much misses singing with Heart of the Triad Choral Society and would again if schedule allowed.

On the parents end of things: 

Nancy celebrated her 80th birthday in January with a lunch gathering for friends. Thank you also to everyone who sent birthday cards! She enjoys informal lunches with friends, often choosing Hunan Legend as a location. She and Mark are still mostly staying home, including making use of livestream church, but they dine out and go to Toby's Dinner Theatre, do their own shopping, and my mom still drives my dad to all his doctor appointments. She loves snail mail & is getting better with email too. 

Henry had a particularly interesting October when a seemingly negligible case of Covid (his first – he managed to avoid it for three full years) became a nasty case of pneumonia that required a multi-week hospital stay and eventually a drainage tube. Once back at Allview Retreat, with extensive PT and the goal of joining the family for Thanksgiving, he's been on an upward trend health-wise and is getting more mobile. He's now been at this assisted living facility almost two years; it's a converted residence and maxes out at eight residents. 

 

Betty is still living independently at Trinity House, a seniors apartment complex. She's very much a warm weather gal so winters are tougher for her. But after a few years of things being mostly shut down, the community room is in full use again, and she joins in on all the crafts, Bible studies, and Bingo. She loves jigsaw puzzles and word finds. 

 

Moving into 2024 we're hoping for a less dramatic year than the last few have been! Use your voice – VOTE whenever the opportunity arises, local and national elections. Out of area peeps, please holler if you're on the East Coast at all; we would love to see you. And, everyone, our annual EOPS open house, moving towards its 16th iteration, is once again on Palm Sunday, which this year is Sunday, March 24. Come visit! 

Wishing you health & happiness. 

Cheers, 

Lisa & Earl 

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.  Hebrew 10:24 NIV

News & Notes 2022

 News & Notes 2022

Dear Friends & Family,

2022: the year virtually everything changed for the Swopes, except for our physical address… and there were a few months there where that was a very real possibility too!  We realize that News & Notes has not gone out for the past two years (interesting times).  But all this stuff isn't "since the start of the pandemic", this is all 2022 news.  It has been. a. year.

TL;DR: 1) Earl changed jobs, 2) Lisa picked up a second choir to sing with, 3) we changed churches, 4) we had a complete turnover of our squigg herd, 5) Earl's mom made what we think will be her last trip to NC, and 6) Lisa’s dad moved into assisted living.  Also, 7) Lisa's mom is turning 80, so please send cards!

Earl's Job Change 

In the spring, Earl changed teams within TE, moving from automotive sensors to automotive electronics.  This was a great change of teams for him; unfortunately, this summer was a terrible time to work in the automotive industry.  He put out some resumes and providentially got an offer from General Dynamics on a Tuesday, right before a big layoff hit him at TE on that same Friday.  He started in Sept.

Bookmarks 

Lisa still delights in giving book recs as a bookseller with a heavy lean towards kidlit, murder mysteries, and historical fiction.  As an end-of-year surprise, she was awarded a James Patterson bookseller bonus, which means some of the Bookmarks faithful wrote in, lauding her.  Thanks!  Some of her fun projects are the Kids Club subscription program, in which books curated for each individual child go out in the mail every month, a fun way to tell kids that books mean love!, and the 4 on 4th author showcases, where Bookmarks and Winston Salem Writers host a themed group of authors for short readings every month.  Bookmarks Festival, which is where the nonprofit has its roots, pulled in numbers matching pre-pandemic attendance, and the next big weekend-long event is Movable Feast the first weekend in February – we'll have 20+ authors and, unlike Festival where you'll find me in the bookstore tent, I get to meet them all!  Come visit us – the store & us personally – our guest room is ready!  https://www.bookmarksnc.org/ MovableFeast2023

Singing

When there was one tenor at the first rehearsal of the year for Heart of the Triad Choral Society (HTCS), Lisa dropped down the vocal part, which means now she has to sing in bass clef.  It's an interesting mental stretch!  (Fortunately by the concert there were half a dozen tenors including Lisa.)  Additionally, she joined Winston Salem Symphony Chorus this fall (as an alto).  It meets at Wake Forest University and also is a community choir, but it sings more of the big choral works so it stretches her in a different way.

Church

This summer and fall was an interesting time for us as we literally have never had to go church shopping before; God has always placed us immediately.  And God is faithful.  We've enjoyed seeing the different worship styles and welcomes of a number of churches in our area, and for this season in our lives we are worshipping at St Paul's Episcopal in Winston-Salem.

Squiggs (guinea pigs)

We had 100% turnover of our squigg herd, and while we miss #WeThreeSquiggs, we now enjoy the ongoing #SquiggLife antics of Twix, Lilikoi, Wendy's and Trader Jo (TJ).  (see photo at bottom right, names are in order.  Twix has the black face, Lilikoi has one rosette crown on her head, Wendy's has a check mark on her back, and TJ has a bandana marking.)  All are girls, and they all have food names.  They live a charmed life with free range of our breakfast nook, although if you ask them, they haven't been fed lately, or possibly ever..  

Travel

The extended Yee family called together some gatherings this year, so Lisa went to Phoenix in the spring to join with a dozen Yees: aunties, cousins, a niece, and a nephew.  There was a group trip to Arizona Ren Fest (the direct sister faire of Carolina Ren), and a small group went to the Grand Canyon (it snowed!).  Lisa even got to go to Tucson Festival of Books – unlike Bookmarks Festival, where she can be found working the book tent, she got to go to author panels and hear TJ Klune, Victoria Schwab, Craig Johnson (Walt Longmire series), and meet her very favorite illustrator, Dan Santat.

For Earl's birthday (#50YearsofBigFrog) we took a quick Broadway getaway and stayed right in the theater district, across the street from the Winter Garden, where we saw The Music Man with Sutton Foster (although not Hugh Jackman, because God has a sense of humor).  Broadway Tourettes is real, but we restrained ourselves from singing along *loudly*.  We fortuitously went to Come From Away on the very day it became the longest running show at the Schoenfeld Theatre, and we're looking forward to seeing it touring again in a few weeks at DPAC.  

From there we went directly to Ann Arbor MI for another Yee gathering, with a dozen uncles, aunts, and cousins (50% overlap from Phoenix's Yee gathering) for a UofM focused time full of family heritage stories and visiting places that sparked other memories.  Let's Go Blue!

Our Parents

Earl's mom Betty came to visit us this summer for three weeks, and we took a lovely trip to Atlantic Beach with her for one of those weeks.  She told us, though, that this was likely her last trip to NC, that the travel is just hard.  It's not easy getting older!  She is still living independently, and we are always infinitely grateful to Earl's sibs, especially his sister, for being there for the daily stuff, from grocery runs to doctor's appointments.

Lisa's dad Henry moved to assisted living in March.  It's a good fit for him, and he's eating better, has lost a significant amount of weight (mom says he's back to his college weight), and is walking better and relying less on his walker than he was this time last year.  If you want to reach out to him, his cell is 443-251-9312 and email is henryyee@umich.edu.  He's in a residential home that's been converted to a group home for 8 residents; it's about 5miles from mom.

        Lisa's mom Nancy, freed up from being primary caregiver, is learning all kinds of things that she never had to before, like getting the taxes paper- work together.  We're all grateful for the support she has from church and neighborhood friends.  

Also, Nancy is turning 80 on Jan 21.  With her ongoing love of snail mail (even though she finally has a smartphone and is happily emailing people directly (nancy.yee5@gmail.com)), please send cards, notes, kidart, old photos, and if you happen to have any, mom loves rereading old personal correspondence if you happen to have saved her old letters!  9073 Bellwart Way, Columbia MD 21045-2302  Earl and I will be up that weekend to see them and we'll celebrate at Toby's Dinner Theater with Something Rotten, a show that we've seen touring twice and are looking forward to introducing them to.

Looking Forward

For 2023 we trust in God.  We are hopeful that there will be less upheaval than this past year, but we are glad to rest in him.  One of the books that impacted us this year, Out of Chaos by Jessica LaGrone, reminds us that back in the beginning, when the earth was formless and void and darkness was over the face of the deep, God was there, and God made us out of that chaos.  Like it or not, we should expect some of it to persist in our lives!

As ever, if you wander in our general direction, let us know – and within a few hours is fine, any excuse to go to Asheville or Roanoke or Raleigh/Durham, or come stay at our place!  We'd love to see you and catch up in person.

Love, Lisa & Earl

NOTE: We have obviously redacted contact info for the blog, but if you know them (or us) and want to reach out to my dad or be involved in mom's card shower, feel free to reach out to me.

Once a Raven, always a Raven

 QOTD: 

<Big Frog is watching preseason NFL on tv>

Big Frog: Hey, you didn't tell me Flacco's an Eagle!

me: Sorry, I told EKN (who live in Philly).  I should have told you.  Flacco's an Eagle!

<desperate squeaking from the next room>

me: Sorry, squiggs, not that kind of eagle!  Flacco's very friendly, really!

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn - cover reveal!

My favorite book of 2019 was New York Times bestselling author #KateQuinn's The Huntress, which I handsold widely and as recently as yesterday.  I am super excited for her next #HistoricalFiction release, #TheRoseCode, and delighted to be a part of the #CoverRelease today!  You can preorder it at Bookmarks, and I encourage you also to sign up for Kate's newsletter.

Happy reading!

ABOUT THE BOOK
The New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Huntress and The Alice Network returns with another heart-stopping World War II story of three female code breakers at Bletchley Park and the spy they must root out after the war is over.

1940. As England prepares to fight the Nazis, three very different women answer the call to mysterious country estate Bletchley Park, where the best minds in Britain train to break German military codes. Vivacious debutante Osla is the girl who has everything—beauty, wealth, and the dashing Prince Philip of Greece sending her roses—but she burns to prove herself as more than a society girl, and puts her fluent German to use as a translator of decoded enemy secrets. Imperious self-made Mab, product of east-end London poverty, works the legendary codebreaking machines as she conceals old wounds and looks for a socially advantageous husband. Both Osla and Mab are quick to see the potential in local village spinster Beth, whose shyness conceals a brilliant facility with puzzles, and soon Beth spreads her wings as one of the Park’s few female cryptanalysts. But war, loss, and the impossible pressure of secrecy will tear the three apart.

1947. As the royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip whips post-war Britain into a fever, three friends-turned-enemies are reunited by a mysterious encrypted letter--the key to which lies buried in the long-ago betrayal that destroyed their friendship and left one of them confined to an asylum. A mysterious traitor has emerged from the shadows of their Bletchley Park past, and now Osla, Mab, and Beth must resurrect their old alliance and crack one last code together. But each petal they remove from the rose code brings danger--and their true enemy--closer...

Unexpected Roger Miller

After sending my car away with the tow truck (almost certainly the alternator, which we replaced back in February, so hopefully this won't cost us anything but inconvenience)...

Big Frog <watching Barnwood Builders on DIY>: He's not alone, the guy with the steadycam is there with him!

me: You can't use a crowbar and a steadycam at the same time!

Big Frog: But you can be happy if you put your mind to it!

Related Muppet Show clip

Hinged women's retreat - Most impactful

Grace Pres is on the big side of small churches - about 70 people on a Sunday morning.  So to have 19 of our ladies attend a weekend women's conference is a big deal.  Off the top, half the church is male and half the church is kids, so this was a big portion of the eligible demographic!  (Kudos to the men who stayed home as involved parents... and remember, it's not babysitting if they're your own kids.)  The biggest collective takeaway, I think, is that we need more women's events for us to get together and know each other better.  Stay tuned.  I have an idea at the end.  And if you were among the ladies not able to join us this time, please know we missed you and want you to come with us to future events!

Friday we had 5 local speakers over dinner, and I took pages of notes before losing my workbook (I think it got cleared when dinner got cleared.)  But the closer said to look over our notes and write down one single thing that most impacted us, so I remember this:

We are all broken people, born broken into a broken world.  So be compassionate.

And if that's all I've got, that's pretty good.

Saturday we spent the day in Ephesians, which, having grown up at CPC under Allen Harris, I always consider time in Ephesians a wink from God that I need a refresher and a reminder and to just dive back in.

Most impactful:

from Melissa Kruger, on It Matters What You Know, Eph 1:3-23

(CPC's mission statement drew from Eph 1:16-23: To know Him, to know Our Hope, and to know His Power.)

It matters what we know to be true.

Prayers reveal our hearts.

What do you think about when you're not thinking?

And a super-cool Oprah-based illustration:  If Melissa handed out $100,000,000 inheritance checks to each of us but we couldn't cash them until next month, how would that change how we lived today?  Where would we eat?  What would we do?  What would we give to?  It changes our decision-making.  

But then if she started handing out pennies for today, and one got 50 and another 200, another 5, and another 5000, would you fight and complain over "you got the best portion"?  I like her car better.  I like her house better.  Her family has it all together and mine's a mess.  What we have on earth is just pennies!  Don't compare your house/job/situations!  (I'm satisfied with just a cottage below/A little silver and a little gold/But in that city where the ransomed will shine/I want a gold one that's silver lined!  I've got a mansion just over the hilltop/In that bright land where we'll never grow old/And someday yonder we will nevermore wander/But walk the streets that are purest gold.)

What am I trying to do? 

& what am I praying about being able to do?

What happens when we don't have hope?

What happens when we don't think we have riches?

What happens when we think we're powerless?

We have RESOURCES AVAILABLE to us!

WHAT DO WE BELIEVE?

Courtney Denton on It Matters Who You Are (Eph 2:1-10)

The importance of BUT GOD.

We were dead, and the dead cannot save themselves.  BUT GOD!  A one-way love, that relentlessly pursues us, with a love we do not earn but we desperately need.

Words do not cause faith, but faith is manifested in good works, just as thunder contributes nothing to lightning but is a result of it.  

God could not make Stradivarius violins withiut Antonio Stradivari.  ~Antonio Stradivari

We get to be part of the process!

Karen Hodge on It Matters How You Walk (Eph 3:14-4:16)

We BECOME what we BEHOLD (worship), and we are continually BECOMING what we will BE (walk).

God's love surpasses knowledge, but I want to know all I can.

Magnitude, in all directions:

1) Wide enough for all nations

2) Long from eternity past to eternity future

3) Raise us to the heavenly places 

4) Deep to reach from heaven and reach us

5) Filled up to overflowing

There is no neutral in life, we're always moving on a trajectory. 

1) What are you beholding?

2) How are you growing? 

3) How are you going to step into worship this week?

So...

Again, the biggest collective takeaway seems to be that we need more women's events for us to get together and know each other better.  So here's my idea:

Girls' Night Out

for intergenerational ladies: Depression-era, Boomers, Gen X-ers, Millenials, and that weird micro-generation that I personally self-identify with, the Oregon Trail generation.  From let's say middle school age up thru "not dead yet".

Save the date: Friday, March 13, 6-8:30pm.  We'll get a table, maybe two or three, at Sing Into Spring, which I admit is also a benefit dinner for Heart of the Triad Choral Society.  Tickets are $20 (less for kids), and we will also have a silent auction which you are welcome to but not obliged to bid on things.  My goal with this is to get together with some of you and just share our lives together!  

What most impacted you?  And who wants to come to dinner?