Huzzah, New York!

I became a resident of Massachusetts on Friday, May 14, 2004. It is a point of lasting pleasure and satisfaction that I went to the Wales Town Offices on Monday, May 17, to register my business on the very same day same-sex marriage became legal in the Commonwealth. Today, I join so many of my friends and all others celebrating yesterday's vote in the state senate and Gov. Andrew Cuomo's signature legalizing same-sex marriage in New York.

My pleasure magnified three-fold by the words and actions of a Republican, a Democrat, and a Seventh-Day Adventist pastor, all sharing my understanding of and commitment to the separation of church and state.

As reported on nycapitolnews.com:

Castro, who represents a western Bronx district, is the only Seventh-Day Adventist in the state’s legislature. Raised Catholic in the Dominican Republic, Castro voted “no” on a same-sex marriage bill in 2009 for religious reasons, but talks with gay activists, constituents and his pastor changed his mind this year, he said.

With his pastor, Castro “spoke about the fact that I thought it was the right thing to do. But religiously I was definitely torn. He said to me, ‘Look, civically, you have a responsibility to represent your community. That has nothing to do with God.’”

“The issue here is literally of religious freedom,” Cuomo said to reporters Friday afternoon. “This is not about marriage in a religious term. This is a civil law issue, and we want to make sure we keep it separate.”

He added, “I happen to be a Catholic, and that’s my business. That’s my religion. This is about marriage as defined by government not by religion.”

Exactly.

Well done, New York. Very well done!

More tornado aftermath

Last night at dusk, I drove up Hollow Road, along US 20, and back down Route 19, getting my first look at tornado damage in Brimfield. It was sobering.

Today, after dropping off 3 large bags of garbage (over half of it the former contents of my fridge and freezer) at the Wales Transfer Station, I headed back up Hollow Road for a daytime look and an errand in Brimfield. Coming home, I turned up Haynes Hill Road.

OMG.

Being up close and personal made such a difference. All of the other tornado-damaged areas I'd driven along were main roads. Well. Hollow Road isn't, and it is shocking, but the damage along narrow little Haynes Hill Road brought tears to my eyes.

All along my drive, I kept wishing for a good camera even as I shuddered at the thought of stopping and taking pictures of the damage the tornado wrought on others. Today, it was all I could do to stop myself from coming home for a pair of work gloves and then returning to the crew of people working up on one of the destroyed properties on Hollow Road. I wanted to lend a helping hand for the day, to ease their burden direc. Only time is a gift I don't have to give right now. Not if Renovation is to have a Souvenir Book come the start of the Worldcon. Not if I am to retain a hope of fulfilling other commitments already made. So I drove on, and stayed home once I got here.

If I could create time out of whole cloth, I'd be there helping now. And I'd be taking pictures, too. Not so much of the damage, but of the signs. The hand-painted signs of thanks, the professionally printed banners hanging from damaged houses giving thanks for help received, the little lawn signs advertising construction services, roof repair, tree removal, and more. I cracked up at one hand spray-painted editorial sign at the end of a driveway along Route 19, right in the middle of the tornado's path:

Tornado vs. House 2011
House: 1
Tornado: 0

I marvel and celebrate the fact that in the midst of overwhelming destruction, so many of those affected are moved to spend their own stretched resources of time, energy, and money to make and post signs and banners expressing their thanks and communicating with all who pass by.