The View From Aurora

Welcome to my new newsletter.

When I decided to quit the position of editor of High Altitude Hearing, I thought I would leave the subject of hearing loss behind. Of course, I still have hearing loss, as do many of you. So it will be hard to stay completely off that topic.

But for now, we’re going to take a look at the many ways we are all connected, through the experiences of people we meet every day. I love travel, but for now I’m looking at the world from Aurora, Colorado, my home for 30 years. And, I’m finding that right here in town (or nearby) are reflections of life around the world: people, food, culture, and beliefs. Let me know in the comments what you think and what else you’d like to see.—Paula

New neighbors find helping hands

I spent the evening of January 29 at a festive dinner in a Denver neighborhood I’d never visited before. Small houses lined narrow streets filled with cars and joggers and baby strollers. A nearly full moon rose over dazzling displays of holiday lights, as if no one had noticed Christmas was over. In their midst stood a small church, in the basement of which our party gathered.

While the setting was in Denver, the occasion honored members of an Aurora-based organization: Project Worthmore. About 100 staff and volunteers streamed in, shedding puffy coats, and a few furs. In the entrance hall long tables were spread with foods from local restaurants representing many countries. My favorite: Burmese samosas. Don’t ask me to spell the rest.

The atmosphere was full of love and energy. There were speeches, slide presentations, and a small band of musicians, and we were called up in turn to receive applause and small gifts.

A permanent home

Project Worthmore was founded in 2011 by Frank and Carolyn Anello, who wanted to help the refugee families in their community. Frank is executive director.

As he explains on the website, “Before arriving in Colorado, our clients lived all over the world. We serve refugees from over 25 countries who come from diverse cultures and backgrounds, and bring unique skills and perspectives to our community.”

Worthmore’s services include helping recent immigrants get settled in homes and jobs, providing food from local food banks or grown in the DeLaney Community Farm off Chambers Road, and helping newcomers learn English. I started volunteering last year with a group that meets weekly to practice English, and I also have a “conversation partner” I meet with personally every week. I’m still learning about the many services Worthmore provides, and it seems they are steadily adding more. A new headquarters, the Roots Building, is going up on the site near Colfax Avenue, and Frank estimates it will open in March—a new Aurora landmark.

Acts of love

At the dinner I met people who work with Food Share, a group that hands out fresh produce at a central distribution area. In the new building, there will be an expansive grocery store-type display where clients can push carts along aisles. Other crews work on the farm and drive delivery trucks. There is a dental clinic, and plans include adding a medical clinic.

To protect everyone’s privacy, I’m not going to name the people I’ve met or their nationalities. I’m learning words in languages I never even knew existed. I’m making friends. It’s exciting to finally communicate a thought, and to understand what someone else is thinking, and to recognize the immense effort that takes. I recall that in the first training class for volunteers, we had to learn to pronounce and write some Japanese words. Scary and frustrating!

If I hadn’t already thought it was worth the effort, as the crowd began to leave I noticed two older men hugging. One was Black, and the other was white.

The goddess and the saint

I attended a very different gathering two days later, on January 31. It was a jump start on Imbolc, a Pagan holiday that occurs on February 1 and 2, marking the midpoint between the December solstice and March equinox. There we were, in a darkened room at a different church, sitting at candlelit tables and listening to stories about the Goddess Brigid. About 25 people—including scampering children—had come to learn about the newly formed Pagan Circle.

Imbolc is a lesser-known feast, based on ancient Irish lore. In its Colorado incarnation, it forshadows a seasonal turning with green and yellow clothing, symbolic planting of seeds and a potluck board of green vegetables and a cake with yellow-green frosting. The children make dolls out of sticks, shells and cloth. Out of flat straw they weave small crosses with equal arms.

Fire and fertility

Another central theme is fire, as in the return of light and warmth after the dark, cold winter. The Goddess Brigid, says a leaflet, “was born at the spark of dawn” and was called a fire goddess. According to tradition, Brigid was a patron of poetry, healing, blacksmithing, and fertility, specifically in the sense of spring lambs. She has been honored with bonfires as well as candles and incense. Her special flower is the dandelion, whose spiky petals represent the sun.

Aurora residents Jeff and Mimi Sadler led the ritual. Jeff played traditional Celtic music on the piano, and Mimi gave a talk on “Who is Brigid?”

Mimi explained the folklore surrounding her, and noted that as Christianity overtook the ancient Celtic rituals, Brigid became Saint Brigid, and Imbolc became the Catholic feast day of Candlemas.

Swept away

Another Imbolc tradition aligns it with the idea of spring cleaning. The practice is to take a broom, and literally clean your house, but also symbolically to clean the “cobwebs” from your spiritual life with a meditation that “sweeps away that which no longer serves”. Not a bad idea. We stood and waved our hands before us to drive away the habits and thoughts that may have been holding us back from our full potential.

And I could not help admiring the illustrations of Brigid as a beautiful young woman with bright red hair—like my Irish-Italian-Indian granddaughter.

Mimi left us with a copy of this verse about Brigid: “She is the stirring in the soil; the green life that wakes while the frost is still hard upon the stone.”

The lake at Jewell Wetlands