Northern Lights

One of the most beautiful signs of Nature I have ever seen.

I was on Lake Kelowna, BC, which is about as far South as you can get in Canada. I was attending a retreat at an Anglican Christian Camp by the side of the lake. Amenities were primitive to say the least! No air conditioning, no glass windows (only torn mosquito netting), no bedding in the huts. The weekend started hot and humid with plenty of mosquitoes!

Fortunately, the air cooled and a breeze came in from the lake, so the next two days were quite pleasant. On the Sunday evening we were seated round the camp fire beside the lake, and at around 10:30pm the nigh sky began to take on a grey glow, as if one was looking at the sky over a city. The grey turned to green, and half an hour later hung in curtains above us. It was an awe-inspiring sight!

One of the people present had a decent camera, and despite camera shake - trying to take a dim light at night - did a remarkable job of capturing the night sky.

Enjoy!

Support our Brother - Fabulous Show In Brooklyn!

Some of you may know Bro. Jonathan Cross, who runs a puppetry company from a space in Brooklyn. He is putting on a special show called 'Theatre of Little Broken Hearts' from now to July 14th, Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00pm, with Saturday matinees at 4:00pm, at his studio at 196 Columbia Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231.

This is a collaboration between him and the acclaimed singer Norah Jones.

The publicity says:
"Set to the Soundtrack of Norah Jones’ critically acclaimed new album “Little Broken Hearts,” The Cosmic Bicycle brings you “Theatre of Little Broken Hearts,” a visual dreamscape interpreting this moody album through the use of puppets, projections, and creative stage imagery.


"As part of the launch of Norah Jones’ album “Little Broken Hearts,” the celebrated experimental puppetry theatre company The Cosmic Bicycle created “Theatre of Little Broken Hearts” which uses Jones’ album as the soundtrack to a visual dreamscape. Each of the album’s twelve evocative songs are accompanied by equally evocative vignettes that utilize puppets, projections and creative stage imagery. First presented at Manhattan venue The Box during the album’s release week as part of a listening event hosted by Bowers & Wilkens. The Cosmic Bicycle will now present the show in an extended run at their home base, The Clockworks Puppet Theatre in Brooklyn.

"Ticket Info 212.614.0001 or Email to info@cosmicbicycle.com".

Please support our Brother in this entertaining event! Indeed, if any Brother felt moved to organize a Lodge Trip, that would be great, too!

My Clematis Plants

I love my Clematis plants. I have so many different varieties, and they never disappoint. The only sad thing is, they tend to be Spring and Fall bloomers, so by the time the BBQ takes place in late August, they will probably be no more than a memory and a tangle of green leaves climbing the trellises.

So that they can be immortalized, here are some pictures of them from my back patio!

St. John's Opening Ode

It was interesting last week. I asked Erik our organist to play both the St. John's Lodge Ode which we have often sung in the past, and the generic Opening Ode used in most English-speaking Lodges around the world (including Britannia Lodge in Manhattan, for one).

The overwhelming vote was not to use the St. John's Lodge Ode! The general feeling was that it was awful, both lyrically and musically. Other than the fact it was dedicated to St. John's Lodge, there was little else going for it. So it was decided to use the usual Opening Ode in future. However, while it is hard to improve on the wonderful lyrics, I felt it necessary to perform a little customization. So here it is: the Opening Ode for our Lodge with new lyrics for the third verse, which reflect personalizing for St. John's Lodge No. 1:

Concerts in the Park

R:.W:. Dennis Daugherty has kindly volunteered to organize a trip to the New York Philharmonic's Concerts in the Park this year.

On Friday, July 13th at 8:00 the world famous orchestra, conducted by Alan Gilbert, will be performing - free - the following works:

• Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 4
• Respighi - Fountains of Rome
• Respighi - Pines of Rome

Dennis will be informing us of the time and place for us to assemble in order to enjoy this wonderful music in such a spectacular setting!

More information on the concerts can be found here: http://nyphil.org/attend/season/index.cfm?page=eventDetail&eventNum=2571&seasonNum=11&mI=0&sI=0

Interesting Book on Practical Freemasonry

I was in Connecticut at the weekend, and had the good fortune to bump into an old friend of mine, Kirk White, who is Grand High Priest of Vermont. We've known each other for a number of years, and share membership in a number of others outside of Masonry, as well as within it. While we were talking he modestly told me he had written a book, 'Operative Freemasonry', described as 'an Operator's Manual for Freemasonry'. From what I have read so far, it seems a very good book (available on Amazon!).

It might be interesting to have him come down to give us a talk on the book. His background is both in psychology and religion, and he had done post-graduate work in trans-personal psychology, particularly in personal transformation and consciousness change. He is also a accomplished Mason and a most engaging speaker.

Washington Inaugural Bible back in Federal Hall

The Bible is back 'home' in Federal Hall.

After two years in the safe at Grand Lodge, a 3-year contract was signed with Federal Hall today and the Bible was returned to its traditional site, just in time for the public to enjoy over the summer season. The National Parks Association has always claimed it is their biggest crowd-pulling asset, and they are absolutely delighted to have it back! All the guides crowded round the artifact as it was put into its new display cabinet, jointly paid for by the NPA and St. John's Lodge No.1. One of the younger members commented it was the first time she had seen it - she had heard many conversations about it before, and she couldn't wait to tell her family. Another said he had seen it on tour when he was younger, and was looking forward to telling the public all about it. Indeed, even as the Bible was placed in its new home, briefing notes were being handed out to all the guides so they could learn what to say to the public during their tours.

Steve, the Assistant Superintendent and Kathy - a familiar face to all those who have gone to Federal Hall to check the Bible in or out - were on hand to see the Bible safely seated. The new display cabinet is securely bolted to the wall and floor, and has thick perspex glass surrounding the display. It is locked in a special way, and the humidity is monitored. The lighting is very soft (of course, the Bible is displayed closed). Two new features are improvements over the previous case design: firstly, there are no holes drilled around the top (so nobody can throw any liquid into the case!); and secondly, the front of the case lowers when unlocked so the Bible slides out and directly into its box (in the old case the whole top had to be lifted off, and it was dropped on more than one occasion!).

We can all share Federal Hall's delight that our Bible is back in the public eye once more - and November will see whether it might be making another trip to Washington DC in February, of course!