Ruth Semrau

I have been to Portland/Vancouver a number of times over the last few years that my son has lived there, and each trip brings some new experience.

If the weather is good, the approach to PDX is always a pleasure. You can see the big peaks of the Cascades and if you’ve done some homework, even tell which is which by name. This time, the airplane came in very, very close to the north side of Mt Hood, snow capped even now. So close that I had a little involuntary urge to dodge away from it. I’ve never had the experience of flying next to a mountain before. So many people were straining to look out the port windows it is a wonder we didn’t tilt right in to it. It was thrilling, but one such event is enough.

My son and his wife have a sailboat that they keep berthed at Olympia at the bottom of Puget Sound. They have taken trips around the Sound, and Jim says that that is enough for him – at least for now. The boat is rated for ocean travel but at 34 feet length seems to me far too small to take out on any ocean even if it is Pacific. Another dangerous thrill.

It is very difficult when you are enduring broiling heat in Texas to feel that the next day you are going to be freezing in the mist and chill. Of course I brought the wrong clothes, but borrowed some sweaters from the family to stay warm. The weather was alternately sun and shower, highs in the 60’s. When the sun shone everything sparkled. We visited the Portland Rose Garden one afternoon and the sun very nicely stayed out for us then. This garden is next to the Japanese Garden in Washington Park on a steep hillside overlooking the city and Mt Hood to the east. A feast for the senses.

It is such a relief to anticipate getting away from the usual grind – and so sweet to come back to it, too!

We would prefer that no one be surprised to receive a fundraising call from Friends of the UUA, so we ask that you please share this information with the members of your congregation through a mention in your congregational newsletter or other announcements.

As a supplement to periodic mailings, Friends of the UUA will be conducting a fundraising phonathon beginning the week of October 9th and continuing through mid- November.

Outreach Associates, a telemarketing firm located in Pittsburgh, will be phoning members who are currently active Friends of the UUA to ask them to renew their support and to consider becoming Sustaining Friends. (As you may know, Sustaining Friends agree to provide recurring monthly contributions, which increase the efficiency and effectiveness of donations as we reduce the frequency of solicitations to that group.)

Our contract with this firm requires that all callers must be courteous, respectful, and succinct as they offer identified Unitarian Universalists an opportunity to support our Association directly. Your feedback about the calls will help us to monitor their quality. We have established a Friends Phonathon Hotline to facilitate that feedback: Members may call (617) 948-6525 to leave a message to ask to be placed on the "no call" list or to share a comment directly with a UUA staff member.

Your willingness to support the UUA enhances our ability to provide services and programs to member congregations and presents avenues for future growth of Unitarian Universalism throughout the country. If this phonathon is occurring at an inappropriate time for Friends of the UUA to be contacting members of your congregation, please let me know by return email before September 25th.

The mind cannot exist within the body, as the body, or somewhere in between; nor can the mind exist wholly independent of the body. Such a mind is not to be found; the mind is therefore devoid of intrinsic existence. And when beings recognize this nature of their mind, liberation can take place.

--The Dalai Lama in Practicing Wisdom