Lost in the basement...when you come up from below the house, via the crawl space or the basement, don't forget to check for Schips...all of them! Today, the MELSTER and, unbeknownst to me, THE GREAT JORDANO, accompanied me for a crawl through the crawl space to fix a little something.

Task completed, Mel leaped on out and I shut the door behind her. A few minutes later came the unmistakable barking of THE GREAT JORDANO, loudly reporting that he was still below decks. Kind of brought back his barge days: deep and dark in the hold checking for mysterious odds and ends. Remarkably, his fresh two-day-old bathed coat remained lustrous and shiny! He was a bit miffed, though.


posted by JEFF HARTZER at 4:46 PM

Camping with the Schippeteers, on and around Labor Day weekend, 2002

For the first and only time, the slaves Jeff and Debra went camping on that strange occasion known as Labor Day weekend, when everybody in tar-nation desperately enjoys the outdoors. We drove to Oklahoma City for a wedding and a visit with friends, camping on the way there and back. The schippeteers did very well, although Miss Mellie suffered a sprained ankle. Fortunately, she is completely healed now.

One of the highlights was Daddy Jeff giving the schippeteers a swimming lesson, an activity inspired by first Jordan and then Skipper leaping off the dock to explore ...

“¡Ayiyi! There is no ground! This is like a bath gone terribly wrong!”

The boys enjoyed the lesson, but Miss Mellie thought the whole experience beneath her, as, of course, it most surely was. She very much wanted to fish and was displeased that she did not embark on this venture. All around her people sat on the dock doing nothing but holding a rod in front of them and complaining about not catching anything. This is Miss Mellie’s idea of a good time!
posted by JEFF HARTZER at 7:27 PM

Your careless gifts of a moment,
like the meteors of an autumn night,
catch fire in the depth of my being.

a Firefly by Rabindranath Tagore
posted by JEFF HARTZER at 11:23 PM

We salute The Great Jordano who has now been with us for over a year. He spent his first days with us just moments before the chaos of 9-11-01 took place. He is truly a blessing and only gets better with age and sophistication.

Skippertown also salutes this day,
Yom Kippur as seen through
the beautiful eyes of the Schip Mistress, aka Div'rah Chanah: Jewgirl

[NOTE: Jews prefer to use "G-d" as a way around the decree against depicting a name for the Divine.]

Yom Kippur, 5763
Today is Yom Kippur, "Day of Atonement," the culmination of the High Holy Days which begin every (Jewish) year.

I love this day, which may sound odd, as it is a very solemn and serious day spent fasting and praying. But I see this as a day of joy and
beauty. It is on this day that I am best reminded that we are all One with each other and with G-d. It is on this day that we are on par with
the angels and enter the new year purified. It is also a day rife with riddles worthy of your local Zen Buddhist Temple.

In Hebrew, the word for repentance literally means "return," as in a reunion with G-d. And yet we are never far from G-d, as the soul's
essence is bonded to G-d's and that bond can not be changed by human actions, good or bad. Atonement is for purifying the soul so as to
reveal its oneness with Divinity, even though human sin can not sully that which is already divine.

On Yom Kippur Jews confess collectively for every sin committed willingly or not over the past year, taking responsibility for the actions
of each person in the community. But even though we are all one and responsible for each other, Jews believe that offenses between
humans can only be forgiven by humans. Nothing on this day supersedes earthly restitution.

I used to think of this as the ultimate guilt: It's all my fault! But then, it's all your fault, too. And we are all in unity with G-d. That pretty
much wipes out shame. Excellent! And now we commit anew to each other and the realization that we are One to really great music.
Awesome!

Just makes you want to get up and confess, doesn't it?

Div'rah Chanah: Jewgirl

posted by JEFF HARTZER at 12:33 PM

here's a link leading to the joy of Schipps...!
posted by JEFF HARTZER at 9:10 PM

We are so far beyond the perimeter of acceptable absence...pardons-a-many.

All these tough days of infamy relived have not gone unnnoticed by the red, white. and blue Schipperkees of SkippertownUSA.

Please stay tuned. And feel free to use our Message Board.
posted by JEFF HARTZER at 8:00 PM

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Jordan&Mel

Our History with Schips!

Deb with the Melanator