Jim and Pat Ebacher - Our Life: June 2008

Monday, June 23, 2008

A Great Lewis River Hike

Lewis River Hike, 2008

We had a great hike and 2 night camp out at Bolt Shelter, on the South Fork of the Lewis River. Unexpectedly, the river was in full bank spring snow melt, and very impressive. Madeleine came along at the last minute, Samson tried out his new backpack, and we met Dominic, Kelsie and Ken, who arrived shortly after midnight on Friday night.

We had a great day hike amongst the ancient cedars. Samson readily slept afterwards, of course, on my sleeping bag. The shelter hasn't deteriorated much more, but remains in poor condition. Ken actually set up his hammock under it's roof.

The pot in the fire is one layer of a yellow cake, which became a great two layer cake with chocolate frosting. It turned out very tasty. Sorry, no pictures of myself or of Kelsie and Ken. Kelsie or Don, did you get some?

Got some salmon on the way home, from the Native Americans at Cascade Locks, and had a great barbeque with Mary [Ebacher] and Norman Espridge, Mary of the Indiana Ebacher clan.

Enjoy the pictures.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Miesha - Stepping Out in Bellingham!

Here's Miesha and her apartment-mate Vanessa, by Miesha's desk in her bedroom.

This the outside of her apartment, 491, apartment 201. Good neighborhood, near bus line and right across the street from Watcom Community College.

Here's their kitchen. Nice.

Here's the view to the outside of the patio. Very secluded off the patio/balcony.

And, about the only bad thing was her mattress didn't quite fit the new bed. Oh bummer.

Great job picking out a wonderful apartment and apartment-mate. "You're gonna make it after all!" Click Here for your new theme song!!!

Mary Tyler Moore - 1973 Theme Song

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Smart Car Parking is Fun!

I couldn't resist! Parking the Smart42 in the motorcycle parking at Home Depot! And followed by pictures of the hike Maddie and I took last weekend on the bluff at Cape Horn, on Highway 14, near Stevenson, WA. Nice view of the Columbia River Gorge! It was muddy, but fun.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Join the Campaign

Dear James,

Hillary Clinton was very gracious in offering her support to my campaign over the weekend. I admire her and her supporters for their hard work, courage, and tenacity. And I'm grateful for everything they've done to build our party.

But the battle ahead of us will be unlike anything we've ever faced, and it's going to demand unprecedented focus and resources.

We need to unite as Democrats, not just to defeat John McCain in the general election, but also to support Democratic candidates at every level of office in every part of the country.

Now is the time to come together and build a movement that will ensure a new kind of politics and a new kind of leadership

Join us today to learn more about the campaign and be part of history:

http://my.barackobama.com/joinus

Democrats are more energized than ever before.

I have seen millions of new voters registering in all 50 states so they can be a part of this party at this historic moment.

I have seen people in unprecedented numbers knocking on doors, making phone calls, and talking to friends and neighbors about the kind of change we're fighting for.

This passion isn't for me or any other candidate. This passion is for change.

People of all ages and backgrounds are ready to restore the fundamental values that unite us as Democrats -- that we owe our children and our great country a better future.

The gains we made in 2006 were a huge step forward, and the leadership of Speaker Pelosi should make all Democrats proud.

In 2008, we have the opportunity to build on this progress, and I'm committed to doing everything I can to elect Democratic candidates up and down the ballot.

But I need your help to make this happen.

Join my campaign, and be a part of this movement to change America:

Friday, June 6, 2008

Obama in '08 - Change We Can Believe In

How can we, as a family, support Barack's election to President of the United States. Chime in! No idea is too crazy. It seems to me our work on this will need to either involve money... always useful to a political campaign, or travel and working for another state democratic organization that needs to turn from purple to BLUE. Let's start thinking and discussing this.

Love,

Dad

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Neat Mushrooms in Missouri

I was in Springfield, Missouri for a software training, and noticed these cool mushrooms. Cheers!!!

Fr. Roger's Eulogy

Roger Joseph Ebacher, OCSO
May 19, 1919 – April 15, 2008

Eulogy

My name is Jim Ebacher, and I am Fr. Jerome’s nephew. My father was Fr. Jerome’s kid brother. They called him Bill, and we call Fr. Jerome, “Roger”, and his Medicare card calls him Joseph. It’s all kind of confusing. But, had my father lived into his old age, I’m sure he would have been here today at this lectern, also finding a way to make you laugh a little bit. So, I guess I’ll speak to you in his place.

Roger was born on May 19th, 1919, to French Canadian immigrants on May 19th, 1919, and grew up in Amesbury, Massachusetts. We trace our ancestry to one lone mercenary, a Frenchman, recruited by the Braunschweigers to fight the American colonial rebels in the war of Independence. The Braunschweigers lost that fight, but like many of those who were defeated, Jean-Baptiste Ebacher and his descendents the Ebacher and Baker families, settled in and around Quebec, Canada. At the turn of the last century many French Canadians we enticed to immigrate to Amesbury, Massachusetts to work on the new carriage factories, making the early horseless carriages. They needed skilled carpenters. Roger grew up as a boy in the Amesbury neighborhood called the “brickyard”, and as you might guess, this area was not known for its stunning views or fine homes. He was one of a family of four brothers and five sisters. Their mother died when Roger was in the 6th grade, naturally a traumatic experience which scarred Roger throughout his life and lead to his frail disposition. He has three surviving siblings; Beatrice, Margaret and Therese, all religious sisters in the order of St. Critienne in Marlboro, Massachusetts. Please keep them in your prayers.

Roger began his religious life at the minor seminary of Our Lady of LaSalette, in Enfield, New Hampshire. There, he was schooled in High School subject matter and in the languages of Greek, Latin, French and English. After LaSalette he explored his vocation with the LaSalette fathers, and I believe was quite close to ordination with them, when he felt called to the Trappist community at St. Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer, Mass, which he then joined. While at this Abbey, he lost all his collected poems as the result of a fire, something he quietly grieved his entire life. He was part of the original foundation to Pecos, New Mexico, and he studied at the Vatican for a short time. He was with the community when they moved to this location in 1955. My apologies if I have any of this wrong.

In his final days, Roger told me quite often that he felt on the whole quite blessed in this life. He also expressed regret that he did not have a stronger prayer life and that he wasn’t a very good monk. The rule of St. Benedict has the motto Prayer and Work. Roger’s work was teaching, which he did as novice master for many years, painting, and his duties as Mass Secretary, and finally keeping everything tidy in the Sacristy. He believed all priests should be grounded in the classical philosophical thoughts of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas, as well as the 20th century writings particularly of Whitehead. During the 1970’s Roger embarked on a systematic study of modern science, reading Biology, Physics, Anatomy, Psychology, and finishing with what he came to believe was the basis of all understand of matter, Quantum Physics. Naturally, there were few he could knowledgeably discuss these pursuits with. At the same time he began a study of painting with a teacher in McMinnville, a pursuit he dedicated a number of years to. Roger didn’t think he would live to see the new church, but he did, and he liked it very much, although he has his doubts when it was being planned. He expressed his appreciation for the love and support of Abbot Peter often to me, and enjoyed a warm fraternal relationship with Dom Bernard.

Roger was nervous and frail for much of his life. He was very conscious of his weak voice. He had a touchy constitution and generally kept only a few close friends in the Abbey. He had a number of secular contacts; men and women who came to him for confession and who enjoyed discussions of philosophy. These visits were uplifting to his spirits. I don’t know anything about most of these relationships, but I’m sure their stories will be told and we will learn new things about Fr. Jerome.

He was a philosopher. His writings represent a body of concise thought about the nature of existence. And, in his later years he felt that it was quite complete, that he has said all he wanted to say, even if it sadly may never be read and understood by another human being. In his final years, he often spoke of how he felt a peace with the completeness of his writings. The only spiritual connection he ever spoke of to me was with ST. THERESE OF LISIEUX, a doctor of the church, known as the little flower. He had an old black and white photograph of her in his room, and he often spoke of feeling her personal presence with him.

Roger was a beloved uncle to me, and like a grandfather to my children. Maybe this is an odd thing for a monk. I don’t know. It seems quite natural to us. My relationship began the year before my father died, when I spend January term here, having come by Greyhound bus from Minnesota. Some of you here today remember this. Roger returned my visit by officiating at our wedding in Minnesota just 4 years later. He gave First Communion to our four children, and no matter how noisy and rambunctious they were, always received them with love and joy. Like us, he rejoiced in their achievements and growth. Over the past few years he often spoke of his longing to be with God in eternal life. He was impatient with his existence and not at all sure why he was still hanging around. Roger was my father surrogate, and although I miss my father very deeply, I have always felt he was actually still with me, not at all gone. And now, I grieve the loss to me of both of these gentle men who have given me so much.

His last coherent words to me were that when it gets down to it, it’s really all about the Father Almighty. Just the Father, at the center of it all. And I will leave you with that mystery. It might be an unwritten coda to the symphony of this one monk’s life of seeking an understanding of existence. Roger felt he had come to some measure of Truth in his thoughts and writings, and also felt the presence of the devil who was trying to shut him up. I believe Roger has finally won his struggle; his struggle with life and Truth.

When we come into the world we proclaim our arrival with loud cries and complaints. When we go, life just sneaks out of us. Somewhere between, if we are lucky and we put for the effort to find it, one can find a measure of revelation. This is what I’ve learned from my dear uncle.

I want to thank you all for coming today and letting me speak briefly with you. I want to express to all of you the gratitude for the prayers that made Jerome’s passing a smooth journey, and supported us throughout the vigil and his illness these past many months.

I want to close with a poem Roger wrote a long time ago. It’s called “Imaculata”.

IMMACULATA

She rests in the clean dawn, my white-
winged Dove, in the clefted reef, cooing,
wooing the Rising-Sun.

Mine is the Morning-Glory, bright
in twilit brittleness,
lipping,
lapping the soonest Ray.

She is a Forest-Virgin, awed
to tremor and hush, yet
dancing,
clapping her atom-hands.

Mine, this clearest fountain, with
trembling sparks in glee,
leaping,
telling of full-day’s Flame.

James Joseph Ebacher
Read at Roger's Funeral Reception
4-19-08

Jim and Pat Ebacher - Our Life

Monday, June 23, 2008

A Great Lewis River Hike

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Miesha - Stepping Out in Bellingham!

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Smart Car Parking is Fun!

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Join the Campaign

Friday, June 6, 2008

Obama in '08 - Change We Can Believe In

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Neat Mushrooms in Missouri

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