Seguin

A 2010 Blog - More Aimless 'stuff'

2010-01-14T23:25:00.010-06:00

What is that saying: The only constant is Change . . . or something like that . . .

Blogs blogs blogs - A New 2010 Blog - more aimless musings (how aimless can one be? you ask).

Well . . . apparently - VERY!

Check out the 2010 meandering aimless mumblings . . . and I invite you to jump in and comment now and again - when the fancy strikes you . . . when we are interested in some of the same topics . . . I've discovered that there are connections everywhere and our interests are varied.

A new year . . . good life . . . guilt

2010-01-10T15:24:00.004-06:00

My Aimless Stuff is now on the WordPress blog. However, every now and then I get lonesome for my Very First Rambling Blog!

Andrew Sullivan says that "A blog is in many ways a continuing conversation."

can't do any more

2009-10-09T09:39:00.001-05:00

Most of my Aimless Thoughts are now on Aimless Musings . . . VERY aimless . . .

blogging blogging

2009-09-24T14:39:00.000-05:00

Whoops!

2009-08-12T20:54:00.005-05:00

Seems as though WordPress is now having some problems - thus This Site has MOVED BACK!

OR - maybe I will just continue to post on both blogs . . . hmmmmm - Aimless Musings in general and this Seguin blog with MORE aimless thoughts . . .

And, as Dear Hubby would say: "Who cares??"

THIS SITE HAS MOVED

2009-06-19T04:34:00.003-05:00

This site has moved to

Aimless Musings.

Visit us there!

Haywood Shepherd "Possum" Hansell - Family Information

2009-06-09T12:45:00.016-05:00

Haywood Shepherd "Possum" Hansell was born September 28, 1903 in Fort Monroe, Virginia. He was educated at Georgia School of Technology, graduating in 1924. He married Dorothy "Dotta" Rogers in 1932 in Waco, Texas.

Haywood Shepherd Hansell was the son of Haywood Shepherd Hansell, Sr. (1875-1868) and Susan Wharton "Suzie" Wilson.

Haywood Shepherd Hansell, Sr. was the son of William Andrew Hansell (1843-1907) and Antonia Sabina Jones (1847-1917)
William Andrew Hansell was the son of Andrew Jackson Hansell (1815-1881) and Caroline Clifford Shepherd (1821-1899)
Andrew Jackson Hansell was the son of William Young Hansell (1794-1867) and Susan Byne Harris (1797-ca1873
William Young Hansell was the son of John W. Hansell and Patsy Sammon

Georgia Tech Archives: Class of 1924 Haywood Shepherd Hansell, Jr., Sigma Nu Mechanical Engineering "Possum" Fort Benning, Georgia This boy’s nickname is the most appropriate thing that ever happened. Not that he is ever caught napping, but he certainly looks like his namesake as he makes his appearance for those eight o’clocks. His other qualifications include an ever-present pipe and an operatic tenor, slightly used. Oil Can Club; Scabbard and Blade; Free Body Club; Lieutenant Colonel, R.O.T.C. "Anything to keep from working, even to joining the Army." Major General Haywood Hansell USAF Resources: Blue Print 1924; Actual photo
___________________________________________

In my post about my Cherokee ancestor, Richard Bark Foreman, I made mention of Attorney William Young Hansell, who represented the Cherokee nation in their suit against the State of Georgia.

I welcome any readers who come upon this post who are interested in researching these (my) families - would certainly like to exchange and share research information.

William Andrew Hansell Notes

Copied from THE CHILDREN OF PRIDE - A True Story of Georgia & the Civil War, edited by Robert Manson Meyers, published 1972 HANSELL, WILLIAM ANDREW (1843-1907) Merchant, son of Andrew Jackson Hansell (1815-1881) and Caroline Clifford Sheppherd (1821-1899), was born in Marietta, Georgia on August 10, 1843. At the outbreak of the Civil War he was attending the Georgia Military Institute (Marietta); he volunteered for service and became adjutant in the 35th Regiment Alabama Infantry. In August 1862 he entered the corps of engineers as second lieutenant; in June 1864 he came to Atlanta to aid in the city defenses. After the war he planted in northern Alabama; in 1879 he settled in Atlanta, where he engaged in the fertilizer business for twenty-five years. He was a vestryman of St. Philip's Episcopal Church from 1895 until his death. He died in Atlanta on January 4th, 1907, survived by his wife, Antonia Jones (1845-1917) and was buried in Oakland Cemetery. __________________________________________________

Additional information about Haywood Shepherd "Possom" Hansell on Aimless Musings.

Columbus, Texas

2009-06-08T07:11:00.010-05:00

Information on Aimless Musings

Tucumcari Photographs

2009-05-30T19:10:00.002-05:00

Patsy Bottoms, Patsy Snyder
1952

Tucumcari 'stuff' on Aimless Musings

The Koehler Company

2009-05-30T13:00:00.004-05:00

Back to Aimless Musings

The Theatah!

2009-05-29T13:31:00.004-05:00

Description on Aimless Musings - WordPress site.

A new and perhaps/hopefully different blog

2009-05-23T18:55:00.011-05:00

and hopefully BETTER blog 'brewing' at WordPress.

Visit me there! Soon!! Click on "Aimless Musings."

AIMLESS MUSINGS

The Barter System

2009-05-23T07:38:00.010-05:00

I recall my father teaching young men in the San Luis Valley the printing profession. In payment, the priest who initiated this occupational service for the youth would pay my father in wine. My dad didn't drink wine. My mom didn't drink. Period. Thus, after their deaths, my siblings and I discovered in the old cedar chest - bottle after bottle of crystallized wine.

A great deal of the work he did for others was for nothing. That was him.

My mom was a marvelous seamstress; we would window shop and I would point out dresses that I particularly liked. Then, entering the store, my mother would examine the dress, go home and sew the same dress for me! Oh, how fortunate I was. She also did sewing for friends and neighbors and did not accept any payment. But of course, these friends and neighbors would grace us with something like home-grown vegetables, canned fruit, an especially pretty beaded evening purse for me (at twelve years of age!!) from an aged neighbor who probably had it on her arm in the 1920s with her flapper dress swirling as she danced.

My father also did a lot of print shop work for Orval Ricketts at the Hustler Press in New Mexico and I recall the payment for one particular job: a lovely Two Grey Hills rug. Trade. Barter. It's back.

The Barter System

The exchange of goods and services remains mostly local matter, the Internet is taking corporate barter to new heights.

Airline Reservations Network in Orlando, Fla., sold $800,000 worth of airline tickets last year without receiving a nickel of cash. How? Company president Scott Bender says it's because his company embraces barter. "We barter airline tickets for printing, advertising space and employee benefits," says Bender. "Barter boosts our profitability by opening up a whole world of opportunity."

Financial Executive, January 1, 2001

_________________________________

Man in the kitchen - with eggplant

2009-05-22T15:18:00.018-05:00

Dear Husband
Bless his heart
fried
delicious
eggplant.
He labored.
I enjoyed!

Seen on the internet

2009-05-22T10:18:00.005-05:00

The towels above are not what I saw on an internet blog, accompanied with the prayer: "Dear God, please let me look this hot when I'm in my 40s. Amen."

The photo on Yvette's Texas blog was of a very pretty young girl wearing . . . not much . . .

I love her prayer!!

What is our legacy?

2009-05-21T18:07:00.003-05:00

In the midst of a world that is too big and too fast, a world where information rules like a dictator and news travels like a virus, it is easy to be overcome by the hopelessness of the world and the helplessness of we, its keepers. What impact can we have? What traces will we leave behind?

History, I believe, is not the story of grand acts and masterpieces. History, instead, is the inexorable accumulation of tiny events--footsteps and glances, hands in soil, broken promises, bursts of laughter, weapons and wounds, hands touching hair, the art of conversation, the rage of loss. Historians may focus on the famous, familiar names--but history itself is made, day after day, by all those whose names are never known, all those who never made a proclamation or held an office, all those who were handed a place on earth and quietly made a life out of it.

So, what do we affect during our lifetime? What, ultimately, is our legacy? I believe, in most cases, our legacy is our friends. We write our history unto them, and they walk with us through our days like time capsules, filled with our mutual past, the fragments of our hearts and minds. Our friends get our uncensored questions and our yet-to-be-reasoned opinions. Our friends grant us the chance to make our grand, embarrassing, contradictory pronouncements about the world. They get the very best, and are stuck with the absolute worst we have to offer. Our friends get our rough drafts. Over time, they both open our eyes and break our hearts. Emerson wrote, "Make yourself necessary to someone." In a chaotic world, friendship is the most elegant, the most lasting way to be useful. We are, each of us, a living testament to our friends' compassion and tolerance, humor and wisdom, patience and grit. Friendship, not technology, is the only thing capable of showing us the enormity of the world.

Stephen Dietz, 1992.
__________________________
Friendship exists, complete and absolute from the beginning. You don’t make friends, you recognize them.

I Want to Thank My Brain for Remembering Me

2009-05-21T17:14:00.005-05:00

"When I was first starting to cover stories, I went to the auction of the great horse Nashua, in the main offices of the Hanover Bank, then at 60 Broadway. Nashua's owner, William Woodward Jr., had been shot by his wife, who said she mistook him for a prowler in their Long Island home. The racing stable was put up for auction. Nashua was separate. Nashua was a great champion. They took the returns at the bank."

I Want to Thank My Brain for Remembering Me by Jimmy Breslin

_________________________

April 23, 2009 - Jimmy Breslin's daughter dies.

Cinnamon Croissant Bread Pudding

2009-05-21T16:24:00.013-05:00

The pudding is good without the sauce (if the idea of raw eggs bothers you). Dear Husband declared the pudding VERY good with the sauce and berries, and sans sauce and berries. He ate two healthy servings and proclaimed it delicious.

Tell me

2009-05-21T16:03:00.002-05:00

Why would we prefer to know the worst than to suspect it? Because when we get bad news we weep for a while, and then get busy making the best of it. We change our behavior, we change our attitudes. We raise our consciousness and lower our standards. We find our bootstraps and tug. But we can’t come to terms with circumstances whose terms we don’t yet know. An uncertain future leaves us stranded in an unhappy present with nothing to do but wait.

eggs at Walgreens

2009-05-21T15:01:00.002-05:00

Local Histories

2009-05-21T14:51:00.001-05:00

Booking through Thursday

2009-05-21T14:36:00.002-05:00

What book would you love to be able to read again for the first time?

A book I would like to read again as though for the first time would be Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham. A close second would be To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

When . . .

2009-05-21T07:20:00.010-05:00

I was searching for a parking spot at the library . . the thought occurred to me . . .

When we get our new library, there will always be available parking. I'm praying for that day!

Our library has obviously outgrown the present site.

I was visiting the library before I could walk and remember my mother juggling me and the library books on the way home.

As soon as I could read, I was borrowing library books and anticipating the delight of reading.

In recent years, technology has become an important part of libraries (as well as our homes and our workplaces . . . and in society in general). We are so fortunate to have excellent and dedicated librarians in our library; wouldn't it be nice if we had a new, up-to-date, well equipped, expanded, library . . .

The American Library Association states that the library is important "because it is the only institution in American society whose purpose is to guard against the tyrannies of ignorance and conformity, and its existence indicates the extent to which a democratic society values knowledge, truth, justice, books, and culture."

I pray that it will be sooner rather than later that the citizens of Seguin promote, advocate for, and support plans for a new library in Seguin.

___________________________

Do you know that:
Libraries save lives. In a 1991 study physicians said that information provided by the library contributed to their ability to avoid patient mortality. The physicians also rated the information provided by the library more highly than that provided by other information sources such as diagnostic imaging, lab tests, and discussions with colleagues.
U.S. libraries circulate about the same number of items as FedEx ships each day, i.e., about 5.3 million items.

Numerous studies have confirmed that school libraries staffed by qualified library media specialists do make a measurable difference on student achievement.
There is now research to support what librarians have always said, i.e., libraries are busier during hard economic times.
Five times more people visit U.S. public libraries each year than attend U.S. professional and college football, basketball, baseball and hockey games combined. (1.1 billion vs. 204 million)
In a 2003 Wisconsin study, one-third of non-users of libraries said that libraries deserve more state financial support.

________________________

Library tidbits: The Farmington, New Mexico public library (take the photo tour) has an outside book return drop-off that automatically checks in the books. This is supposedly the only one in the nation; there is one in Germany Wouldn't that be nice??

Richland Memories

2009-05-20T13:27:00.007-05:00

I find family histories and area histories are interesting and rich with memories that for some unexplained reason, we can all share.

My husband grew up in Richland Parish, Louisiana and there have been two volumes of "Richland Memories" published that provide fascinating reading.

For copies of this book:

Original Richland Library

Retoration Society, Inc.

P.O. Box 522

Rayville, Louisiana 71269

We go back about every five years or so for husband's high school reunion (there were 33 - maybe 35 in his graduating class).

My Quaker Ancestry

2009-05-19T22:27:00.011-05:00

The Religious Society of Friends

One never knows about the oral family histories that are passed down throughout the generations. Are these stories true? Are they 'romanticized'? Is the truth embellished?

The story passed down in my Troth family was that for love William Troth and Elizabeth Fields 'stole away' from England to come to the colonies because both of their families disapproved of the Quaker religious beliefs and of the union of William and Elizabeth.

Steal away perhaps, but they apparently had some wealth (or at least Elizabeth did). She "was necessitated to dispose of her jewelry to procure the requisite means to defray the expenses incident to her journey [from England to New England] as her family refused to supply her with the necessary means."

{Ancestry of the Haines, Sharpe, Collins, Willis, Gardiner, Prickett, Evans, Moore, Troth, Borton and Engle Families - compiled from notes of the late George Haines, M.D., with some additions by the compiler, Richard Haines, Medford, N.J., 1902}

_________________________

William and Elizabeth settled in Evesham Township, Burlington County, New Jersey in what is known as the Engle Farm. They prospered and were active in the Friends and in their community.

_________________________

"A Friend's meeting, however silent, is at the very lowest a witness that worship is something other and deeper than words, and that it is to the unseen and eternal things that we desire to give the first place in our lives. And when the meeting...is awake and looking upwards, there is much more in it than this. In the united stillness of a truly 'gathered' meeting, there is a power known only by experience, and mysterious even when most familiar." Caroline Stephen, (1908).

__________________________________

My paternal grandmother, descendant of William Troth, died three months before I was born. Her maternal grandmother was a Cherokee of the Paint Clan and her paternal line was English and of the Quaker persuasion. My mother always told me that this grandmother was a Gentlewoman full of grace.

Her son, my father, exhibited the personal qualities I associate with the Quakers: spirituality, kindness, love, humbleness, and a genuine concern for others.

At his funeral a Baptist minister conducted the service. A Catholic priest who knew my father personally (a Frenchman who served in the San Luis Valley in Colorado) also spoke.

The priest mentioned the goodness of my father and his love for his family and how he helped everyone he met. He said that my father genuinely loved people, was never judgemental and he was now with the Saints. That is just about all I remember from my dad's funeral. It is enough.

_________________________________

"Friends' deep spirituality is a source of profound social activism. The need for aiding others ranged from early equality for women, anti-slavery, and religious freedom to penal reform and avoidance of war, and living in such a way as to take away the occasion of all war. These concerns continue today."

A grandson's poem

2009-05-19T17:52:00.006-05:00

Aurora Quest Academy

Support Seguin Arts

2009-05-19T16:49:00.003-05:00

Seguin Art Center

Nunsense

June 19, 2009

The Palace Theater

seen in the parking lot

2009-05-19T16:41:00.002-05:00

Where Trouble Sleeps

2009-05-19T16:14:00.004-05:00

Alease Toomey sat at her dresser, putting on lipstick, getting ready to take her son up to see the electric chair for the first time. She blotted her lips on a Kleenex, reached for her comb. Her dresser top held the basics only -- a jar of Pond's cold cream, a bottle of Jergens lotion, Elizabeth Arden rouge and lipstick, hand mirror, hairbrush -- all on a starched white table doily.

She thought about little Terry Daniels, just down the road. Why not take him along, too? Seeing the electric chair might be especially good for him, and certainly his mother wouldn't be taking him up there. And it would be nice for Stephen to have some company.

_____________________________________

Where Trouble Sleeps by Clyde Edgerton

GVEC

2009-05-19T15:54:00.007-05:00

providing our electric service

The link??

2009-05-19T13:00:00.006-05:00

New discovery

Hominims

Ida

When words collide

2009-05-19T11:13:00.006-05:00

published 1984

It is

supposedly

now permissible

to end a sentence

with a preposition

although it

sometimes

seems a little strange.

I can still hear

my grade school

English teacher

admonishing us

not to.

WHEN WORDS COLLIDE

When words collide, they can collide like trucks on a highway, causing chaos and damage. Or they can collide like atoms of uranium, releasing power and force. Grammatical errors cause words to collide with disastrous results. Grammatical mastery -- craftsmanship -- causes words to collide in a creative burst of energy.

Hugo Whittier - the ultimate anti-hero

2009-05-19T07:26:00.004-05:00

"After he barged into my chambers, Dennis parked his flat, entitled rear end on the set of my favorite chair, the armchair facing the windows that look out over the river, and proceeded to explain the end of his marriage to me while I sat on my bed in my pajamas, squinting at him with all the hatred I bear him, which is a heavy force, although he's as ignorant of that as he is of everything else about me, including the fact that in a short while I'll be dead. Dennis can be counted on to be a narcissist in every particular until his own end, whenever that may be slated to take place. My one regret in being terminal is that I will never know this, or other things."

There is very little to like about Hugo Whittier in Kate Christensen's novel The Epicure's Lament - however he certainly holds our interest.

A quote from Sam Lipsyte on the book's jacket: "What a wonderfully monstrous voice Kate Christensen has created in Hugo Whittier, trust-fund misanthrope, chain-smoking foodie, confirmed cad. His narration is as rich and textured as his Lobster Newburg, which I can almost taste. May we all simmer in the dark with such humor and gusto."

What was happening in the Fifties?

2009-05-18T10:57:00.015-05:00

Red Skeleton

We moved across the entire state of New Mexico in 1953 - one day before school was to begin as I entered my sophomore year. I just knew I would not have the type of dear friends I had in Tucumcari, New Mexico. I just knew I would not have any friends at all in Farmington, New Mexico. Well, school girls do survive a move across the state during their high school years and one has friends everywhere you live (and now in the internet age - where you don't live - but encounter electronically).

This was probably the last of the polio scare years (my husband was unable to attend Louisiana Boys State in 1952 - for that event was cancelled due to this crippling disease affecting so many). [In 1955 Jonas Salk developed the polio vaccine.]

_______________________________

Ah - the Fifties!!!

The Dirty Bop. Chinese Fire Drills. Kidnap Breakfasts. Sock Hops. Juke Boxes - moving the tables and dancing in the drug store and sipping on cherry cokes. Rolled up jeans and wearing my dad's long sleeved white shirt (sleeves rolled and collar up).

Poodle skirts. Penny loafers. Saddle oxfords. Letterman sweater. Going steady (wearing your beau's college or class ring on a chain around your neck).

Skinny dipping in Jackson Lake (same sex) after a slumber party.

Rebel Without A Cause (James Dean). The Wild One. Seventeen magazine.

Elvis!!

Television.

Burma Shave signs.

Copy machine (with the purple ink)

________________________

The word Teenager was created in the 1950’s due to the tremendous population of those in this age category and because teenagers started gaining more independence and freedoms. Teenagers were able to buy more things like food, clothes and music because of an increase in spending money.

The fifties were times of joy and excitement - and I'm thankful for the memories.

_____________________

Two uncles were in the Marines
and both served in Korea.

One was wounded

(and left for dead)

but lived.

The other

- who had served in World War II -
didn't come home.

Life began to change.

Cheesus

2009-05-18T08:41:00.003-05:00

Praying Jesus
Dallas couple found Jesus - in a Cheeto.

Dancing in the hall at the Holiday Inn Express

2009-05-18T08:28:00.003-05:00

I don't know this little girl's name;

she was such a happy child

who brought a smile to our faces.

When a photo is not just a photo

2009-05-18T08:04:00.005-05:00

interesting manipulation of photos

Obama calls for understanding

2009-05-18T07:53:00.002-05:00

Obama at Notre Dame

On the thorny issue of abortion, Obama dared suggest, common ground was possible: "Maybe we won't agree on abortion, but we can still agree that this is a heart-wrenching decision for any woman to make, with both moral and spiritual dimensions."
And on that issue, too, Obama called for honest, thoughtful, faith-based debate: "Each side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and conviction. But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature."

Forgive your enemies

2009-05-17T15:50:00.001-05:00

FUMC Youth

2009-05-17T15:38:00.003-05:00

The youth of Seguin First United Methodist Church

have been selling breakfast tacos (yum!yum!)

to raise money for their summer Mission trip.

Way to go, Guys and Gals!!

trivia

2009-05-17T15:14:00.002-05:00

Red Skelton

His radio and TV roles: Bolivar Shagnasty, Cauliflower McPugg, Clem Kadiddlehopper, Freddie the Freeloader, George Appleby, J. Newton Numskull, Junior, the Little Kid (mean widdoe kid), San Fernando Red, Willie Lump Lump, Sheriff Deadeye

Mickey Mouse's nephews

Ferdy, Morty

Joe Rosenthal

Photographer who won Pulitzer Prize for picture of U.S. Marines raising the American Flag on Mt. Suribachi, Iowa Jima (March 15, 1945): the event was restaged so Rosenthal could get a good picture.

Cumberland Road

First federal highway

Margaret Gorman

First Miss America, 1921; blue-eyed blond, 5'1", 30-25-32, 108 lbs., 16 years old

Grendel

Monster slain by Beowulf

I am grateful for

2009-05-17T14:53:00.002-05:00

grandsons who visit in the summer.

Cops & Kids Picnic

2009-05-17T11:46:00.021-05:00

Five years ago, our oldest grandson got out of school early in the Spring because his Denver school building was having some renovation and re-construction work done. We jumped at the opportunity to bring him to Seguin for an extended vacation. Of course, we looked for fun things to do while he was here and noted that the Seguin Police Department was having a Cops & Kids picnic at the Seguin Activity Center. That was our exposure to this marvelous event. It was great fun for our grandson and for us.

A few months after that first Cops & Kids event, we attended the Seguin Citizens Police Academy classes, subsequently joined the SCPAAA (Seguin Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association) and since then we have volunteered to work at Cops & Kids. It is a great venue for the kids to meet our law enforcement officers and fire department personnel. The kids love it and it is gratifying and fun to see their excitement.

An aside: my husband and I have been fervently praying for Edmund Kuempel (as has everyone who knows him) and every event we have attended since he was hospitalized has had group prayer for this devoted public servant. God heal Edmund.

Beautiful Things

2009-05-16T06:30:00.004-05:00

Guadalupe County Children's Advocacy Center

2009-05-16T05:41:00.008-05:00

Maria and Christy

So welcoming . . . (the children love these ladies!)

We all love these ladies!

Volunteers

SPD Captain Maureen Watson

Sheriff's Department Investigator Craig Jones

What is the size of your personal space?

Volunteers and Staff making a difference

with Director Paul Marsh

Guadalupe County Children's Advocacy Center

seen on court street

2009-05-15T21:05:00.003-05:00

El Ranchito - after a night out

2009-05-15T08:58:00.008-05:00

Now where better to wind up an evening than at El Ranchito
for a snack and a drink??
One ALWAYS sees someone you know
at El Ranchito.
I love this restaurant!

The food is good.

The service is excellent.

The atmosphere is conducive for visiting with friends.

I love El Ranchito!

Oooooh - so good . . .

Now, what would a psychologist say about a man

who meticulously folds his napkin when finished with his meal?

What would a psychologist say about a woman

who crumples her napkin after finishing a meal??

Going further: what would a psychologist

say about a Republican and a Democrat

living together (lovingly I might add)

for almost fifty years?

The detail oriented folded napkin

and the passionate (about everything)

crumpled napkin

together . . .

forever . . .

makes life so very interesting

and fun!

Book Gluttony!

2009-05-14T22:24:00.016-05:00

Book Gluttony! Are your eyes bigger than your book belly? Do you have a habit of buying up books far quicker than you could possibly read them? Have you had to curb your book buying habits until you can catch up with yourself? Or are you a controlled buyer, only purchasing books when you have run out of things to read?

I find television to be very educating.
Every time somebody turns on the set,
I go in the other room and read a book.
~Groucho Marx

We lost thousands and thousands of books in the 1998 flood and admittedly there were some books I had not yet read but knew I would read - some day. Do I still buy books at every opportunity? You bet I do.

So many books - so many unexplored worlds . . .

Book Gluttony? I suppose so.

I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves. ~Anna Quindlen, "Enough Bookshelves," New York Times, 7 August 1991

Let books be your dining table,

And you shall be full of delights

Let them be your mattress

And you shall sleep restful nights.

~Author Unknown

Books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a house. ~Henry Ward Beecher

Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing. ~Harper Lee

Praying for Edmund

2009-05-13T21:31:00.005-05:00

Rep. Edmund Kuempel, who collapsed at the Capitol during a late-night House session Tuesday, remains in intensive care in stable condition at an Austin hospital, a spokeswoman for Speaker Joe Straus announced this morning.

O God of heavenly powers, by the might of your command you drive away from our bodies all sickness and all infirmity: Be present in your goodness with your servant Edmund that his health is renewed.

In your Son's name. Amen.

Zombies

2009-05-13T21:23:00.002-05:00

Phorid fly

OVERTON – Zombie fire ants may not sound like a cool thing, but wait a minute, said a Texas AgriLife Extension Service expert.
On April 29, on the grounds of the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Overton in East Texas, Dr. Scott Ludwig released fire ants infected with a new type of phorid fly, a minuscule parasite that only preys on red imported fire ants.
The infected ants will soon exhibit some very bizarre behavior, he said.
"First they become zombies, their movements under the control of the parasite. Then their heads fall off and the parasite emerges," said Ludwig, , AgriLife Extension integrated pest management specialist.
Previously released phorid flies only preyed on ants in disturbed mounds. In contrast, the species, Pseudacteon obtusus, that Ludwig released in April is attracted to foraging red imported fire ants and not disturbed mounts. Which is even better, he said, as attacks of ants are not dependent upon the mounds being disturbed.

Our Kind of People

2009-05-13T20:23:00.004-05:00

One of my first encounters with an early pioneering family in the black upper class was meeting members of the aristocratic Syphax family from Virginia. . . . the history of [this] family can be traced back to Maria Custis, the mulatto child of First Lady Martha Washington's grandson, George Washington Parke Custis. "Custis fathered Maria with Ariana Carter, one of his female house slaves," explained Syphax, a well-to-do, retired real estate broker who lives in Virginia, "and when Maria asked her father, who was also still her owner, for permission to marry Charles Syphax, a black slave who worked for her father, he released both from slavery, gave her a wedding in the mansion, and offered her and her new husband fifteen acres of the Arlington estate...."

Our Kind of People by Lawrence Otis Graham, pp 8-9

Handle with Care

2009-05-13T15:22:00.004-05:00

Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult

page 119

When Mom called me down to dinner that night, I moved with all the wild and crazy enthusiasm of a death row prisoner heading to an execution. I mean, it didn't take a rocket scientist to know that nobody in this household was happy, and that it had something to do with the lawyer's office we'd gone to. My parents had not done much to mask their voices when they were yelling at each other. In the three hours since Dad had left and returned again, since Mom had cried into the mixing bowl while whipping up her meat loaf, you'd been whimpering. So I did what I always did when you were in pain: I stuck my iPod headphones in my ears and cranked the volume.

Law Enforcement Appreciation Week

2009-05-13T14:55:00.008-05:00

The Seguin Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association provided lunch for the Seguin Police Department today - a small act of appreciation for all the SPD does for Seguin.

ALMOST A MEAL CASSEROLE

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef - browned, drained

1 cup chopped onions

28 ounces canned tomatoes - chopped

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups potatoes - diced

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

10 ounces frozen corn - thawed

10 ounced frozen lima beans - thawed

1 large bell pepper - cut in strips

1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions

In a bowl, combine browned and drained beef, onion, and tomatoes with liquid, Worcestershire sauce and salt.
Spoon into a greased 3-quart casserole.
Layer the potatoes, flour, corn, lima beans and green peppers on top.
Cover and bake at 375 degrees F. for 45 minutes
Sprinkle with the cheese and continue baking, uncovered, for 30 minutes longer.

[Very good for preparing ahead of time. To reheat, place foil loosely over top and reheat in oven for about 20 minutes.]

Where is he going?

2009-05-13T14:42:00.005-05:00

he looked so very very weary . . .

Work on the Justice Center Continues

2009-05-13T09:49:00.003-05:00

The Book of Qualities

2009-05-12T17:34:00.006-05:00

Worry

Worry has written the definitive work on nervous habits. She etches lines on people's foreheads when they are not paying attention. She makes lists of everything that could go wrong while she is waiting for the train. She is sure she left the stove on, and the house is going to explode in her absence. When she makes love, her mind is on the failure rates and health hazards of various methods of birth control. The drug companies want Worry to test their new tranquilizers but they don't understand what she knows too well: there is no drug that can ease her pain. She is terrified of the unknown.

by J. Ruth Gendler

O God

2009-05-12T17:14:00.002-05:00

God,

what a waste!

He was so needed

by us all

...by You.

and yet You kill,

it seems at will,

Your young,.

Your trained,

Your highly skilled

(and not a few)...

Stephen first

...then James...

and...

O God!

our Savior, too.

Did I say "waste"?

Forgive

the stupid words

we cry

in anguished haste.

The Gardener

plants

and reaps

with skill.

...it's only

that we're left here

still.

by Ruth Bell Graham

ChiroJava Saturday night!

2009-05-12T16:59:00.003-05:00

ChiroJava
5th Anniversary
Celebration

Saturday, May 16th

7:00pm - 11:00pm

Street Dance

Fun

Friends

Free Coffee & Dessert

114 South Austin Street

Hope to see you there!!!

Cool Mint Cafe

2009-05-12T11:41:00.012-05:00

THE COOL MINT CAFE

San Marcos, Texas

Texas Highways article

The Flower Car

2009-05-12T07:38:00.003-05:00

Misinformation

2009-05-12T07:07:00.005-05:00

"They shall beat their swords into plowshares." This rendering of Isaiah 2:4 contains an anachronism introduced by the translators. The plowshare belonged to the type of plow invented in the seventh century A.D. in order to turn the heavy turf of Europe. It was unknown in the East at the time those words were written.

Far from the Madding Crowd. This is the title of Thomas Hardy's novel as correctly rendered: the word is not maddening, which is often said and which means something else. Madding means "frenzied" and maddening means "annoying." Hardy did not originate the phrase, but borrowed it from Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard."

"Dear hearts and gentle people." Despite a widespread belief to the contrary, these are not the words found on a scrap of paper in the possession of Stephen Foster when he died. They are, rather from a popular song of the 1950s. What Foster had written was "Dear friends and gentle hearts." Nobody has ever figured out why he wrote it. Some speculate that it was a title or a phrase he meant to use in a song.

bulldog. Not so named because of its appearance, but because bulldogs were especially bred during medieval times in England for the cruel sport of bullbaiting, which continued to be popular until the eighteenth century.

Delayed Gratification

2009-05-11T16:12:00.002-05:00

self control

The Selfish Gene

2009-05-11T09:45:00.009-05:00

Now, Richard Dawkins is actually writing about Darwin's theory of the 'selfish gene.' I admit that although I've had the book for ages, I've forgotten much of what I read. Now and then, I go back to it to read something that has 'popped up' in my memory bank and I want to learn a little more - or refresh my memory of what I DID read.

In the Endnotes of The Selfish Gene, Dawkins states that he is not advocating selfishness as a principle by which we should live. He writes that "perhaps because they [the reader] read the book by title only or never made it past the first two pages, have thought that I was saying that, whether we like it or not, selfishness and other nasty ways are an inescapable part of our nature." He is not advocating that at all.

"In fact genes 'determine' behaviour only in a statistical sense. A good analogy is the widely conceded generalization that 'A red sky at night is the shepherd's delight'. It may be a statistical fact that a good red sunset portends a fine day on the morrow, but we would not bet a large sum on it. . . . It is a statistical forecast only. We don't see red sunsets as irrevocably determining fine weather the next day, and no more should we think of genes as irrevocably determining anything. There is no reason why the influence of genes cannot easily be reversed by other influences."

This brings to mind a situation a dear niece and her husband are facing. They will (hopefully) be adopting a newborn baby girl who was born to a mother who has seen a World of Trouble and has not had many advantages at all. Now, this baby is in an orphanage. However, if my niece and her husband adopt and raise the child, she will be raised in a loving, nurturing, intellectually stimulating environment. The circumstances of her birth will not determine her future.

God bless these caring folks in our midst who adopt children who otherwise would (in all likelihood) have a life with no promise at all.

___________________

Postscript: am I bothered by the fact that Richard Dawkins is an atheist? I wouldn't say that I am bothered by it; I am actually more puzzled by his atheism, I suppose.

It baffles me that there are some who do not believe in God; it is so far from my known world. I see God in everything. I 'feel' God in everything. He is everpresent.

Just Walk Across the Room

2009-05-11T08:31:00.007-05:00

This month each of the Sunday School classes in our church is studying Bill Hybels' book Just Walk Across The Room and the pastors' messages center on this same theme.

Sunday's lesson keyed on some very common sense observations that should (in my opinion) really be daily habits. Four DON'Ts:

Don't talk on and on (and on!) about yourself or your interests. Learn a little about the person with whom you are talking.
Don't (again - talk and and on at length) with incoherence. Make your point so someone can understand what you are saying.
Don't use 'insider' religious jargon (not only can this be boring - not everyone is knowledgeable about your particular religious catch-phrases).
DO NOT act superior.

Now, to me - whether one is sharing one's particular faith beliefs or just talking generally: these are very good rules. These habits are conducive to building friendships and making life much more interesting.

Several years ago someone shared with me his particular "One Minute Rule." He promised himself that he would not talk about himself more than one minute. Rather, he would learn about others and encourage others to share their stories. He said that even though this was a bit difficult at first (because like all of us: selfishness is sometimes present), he found that his life was really enriched and he made some good and fast friends who are much more interesting than he (I think he was being modest, though).

As for the next items on the above list, I think that is just Good Manners and Being Considerate.

I am grateful for

2009-05-10T12:44:00.002-05:00

CHILDHOOD FRIENDS

unpublished letter to the editor

2009-05-09T18:59:00.002-05:00

Our family histories

2009-05-09T16:47:00.010-05:00

Shirley Abbott, in Womenfolks Growing Up Down South writes that "We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies. These spirits form our lives, and they may reveal themselves in mere trivialities -- a quirk of speech, a way of folding a shirt. From the earliest days of my life, I encountered the past at every turn, in every season. Like any properly brought up Southern girl, I used to spend a lot of time in graveyards."

Perhaps learning about our heritage - about our ancestors - gives us insight as to who we are. Maybe we are just curious folks who like learning about our ancestors and solving puzzles. Perhaps there is something familiar in a child that reminds us of a grandmother or an aunt or a mother and we want to know more.

I became interested in learning more about my heritage about the time my last child was graduating from high school - and then I was off and running. I couldn't learn enough and I have never lost the desire to learn more. And more.

Several years ago I read a letter my great-grandmother wrote about coming to Texas from Arkansas with wagons, kids, horses, pots and pans (and a daughter's suitor following on horseback until he became disheartened - and sadly, he went back to Arkansas and killed himself). This great-grandmother wrote about the Cherokee Indians coming to their camp while her husband and sons were gone - whooping and hollering and knocking over her large kettle of boiling water which she prepared for washing clothes and how angry she was.

They camped in many places before settling for a brief period of time in Oklahoma (for the birth of twins), then Texas and later Lincoln County, New Mexico and finally in Colfax County, New Mexico. She wrote that Pat Garrett came by, offering his help with whatever she might need while the menfolks were gone. This great grandmother lived until she was 90+ and walked to the post office each and every day and kept a fine home. She saw her brother Darl killed in the front yard of their Bentonville, Arkansas home by 'bushwhackers' during the Civil War. She had many stories.

We all have a story to tell. I treasure the generous genealogy friends I've made through the years as we have shared our research. This 'hobby' has enriched my life and I have learned much about my family and about history and about friends.

My Irish Ancestor Alexander Glenn

My Scottish Ancestor Thomas Culwell

My French ancestor Daniel Jouet

Was this the first chain letter?

2009-05-09T10:24:00.005-05:00

Suiting up

2009-05-09T09:53:00.004-05:00

I wish I still had a waist.

Not to mention - the moolah to purchase such an elegant suit...

St. John Ribbon-Laced Knit Jacket

$1,095.00

Stretch Silk Tank
$245.00

Diagonal Textured Knit Skirt
$395.00

But then - I would still probably be wearing my levis and "I Love Seguin" tee-shirt with need-to-be washed tennis shoes . . . so what the heck . . .

Abstinence Education (only?)

2009-05-09T08:50:00.011-05:00

Texas, which is Ground Zero
for abstinence education,
has one of the highest
teen pregnancy rates in the country.

President Obama’s 2010 budget
would end nearly all federal funding for abstinence-
only sex-education and launch a new teen pregnancy
prevention initiative using “evidence-based” programs.
The full details of the budget were released on May 7, 2009
and teen pregnancy groups quickly siezed on this major change.

Statistics
The United States has the highest rates of teen pregnancy and births in the western industrialized world. Teen pregnancy costs the United States at least $7 billion annually. Thirty-four percent of young women become pregnant at least once before they reach the age of 20 -- about 820,000 a year. Eight in ten of these teen pregnancies are unintended and 79 percent are to unmarried teens.

Teenage Pregnancy Consequences
Teen mothers are less likely to complete high school (only one-third receive a high school diploma) and only 1.5% have a college degree by age 30. Teen mothers are more likely to end up on welfare (nearly 80 percent of unmarried teen mothers end up on welfare).The children of teenage mothers have lower birth weights, are more likely to perform poorly in school, and are at greater risk of abuse and neglect.The sons of teen mothers are 13 percent more likely to end up in prison while teen daughters are 22 percent more likely to become teen mothers themselves.

[information obtained from The National Campaign To Prevent Teen Pregnancy ]

William Carlos Williams

2009-05-08T17:47:00.002-05:00

This is just to say . . .

This Is Just To Say
by
William Carlos Williams

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

Mother's Day Flowers

2009-05-08T15:52:00.006-05:00

Mother's Day Wishes

- 1,793 miles from the East Coast to Seguin -

Thank you!

Bud Shrake dies

2009-05-08T11:16:00.005-05:00

"Austin is in mourning..."

Wikipedia Bio

The Once Forbidding Land

Lean on Shrake's Rock

Library Loot

2009-05-08T10:28:00.002-05:00

The idea is to post your library haul each week (or each time you visit).

The Last Lion The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy by the Team at the Boston Globe, edited by Peter S. Canell
The Renegades by J. Jefferson Parker
One Under by Graham Hurley
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult

Swine Flu in Texas

2009-05-08T07:27:00.005-05:00

Hopefully this is on the wane . . .

Texas counties with confirmed cases include:
Bexar-4
Brazoria-1
Cameron-2
Collin-3
Comal-4
Dallas-8
Denton-1
El Paso-7
Fort Bend-4
Guadalupe-13
Harris-8
Hidalgo-1
Johnson-4
Matagorda-1
Montgomery-1
Nueces-1
Starr-2
Tarrant-22
Travis-2
Non-Resident-1

The earliest known onset of swine flu in Texas was April 11. The most recent known onset of the illness was April 28.

Party?? NO! NO!

I am grateful for

2009-05-07T20:00:00.003-05:00

Grandchildren

Becoming a grandmother is wonderful.

One moment you're just a mother.

The next you are all-wise and prehistoric.

~Pam Brown

William Elliott Hazelgrove

2009-05-07T14:56:00.006-05:00

Every book begins with Page One.

Hazelgrove wrote Ripples in 1992 (which is when I read it). I've been wondering how his writing has evolved and of course 'googled' him. I am especially interested in reading his novels Tobacco Sticks and Rocket Man.

So many books!

The following is copied from Ripples:

As I have gotten older, I have becoming increasingly aware of the painful inadequacies of the people around me, to whom I alone have assigned great expectations. It is no fault of theirs if they should fall short of this imaginary level which I set for them and they knew nothing about. My mother told me once it will come as quite a surprise to realize the world is not composed of people such as yourself, and that if I survive the ensuing crisis I just might learn something. She was right. I was surprised, and can only hope that I have learned something.

I love to cook . . . but some days . . . this would be nice

2009-05-07T14:17:00.009-05:00

An Outlaw in Your Kitchen

AFTER LONG DAYS AT WORK, JUDY McQueen and Buzzy Basch of Concord, N.H., were too tired to cook. But they got sick of pizza and Chinese takeout. So two months ago they hired Lisa Miner to whip up dinners like shiitake-stuffed chicken breasts and maple-mustard pork tenderloin. She mails them menus, shops, then visits their kitchen once every few weeks, fixing 10 reheatable dinners for two. The cost: $265. Says McQueen, "It's the next best thing to having your mom live next door."

A Way with Meals

The sign on the car in New Braunfels: "Personal Chef - Thyme and Wine Bill Waring 872-4653 http://www.thyme-n-wine.com/"

Beautiful Minds

2009-05-07T06:31:00.006-05:00

Beautiful Minds
The Parallel Lives
of Great Apes and Dolphins

by Maddalena Bearzi and Craig B. Stanford

pp 2-4

...A gorilla and a bottlenose dolphin are about as closely related as a mouse and an elephant.

In spite of these differences, dolphins and apes--and by extension ourselves--share some strikingly similar and profoundly important traits. All three groups--the various dolphin species, the four great apes, and we humans--possess the acme of brains on Earth today. With due respect to a few other brainy animals like elephants, the cetaceans--dolphins and whales--and higher primates are the most cerebral of the world's creatures. We are all highly intelligent relative to the millions of other co-inhabitants of Earth. We live in highly complex, often fluid societies which defy the easy categories that apply to most other animals. The two creatures have evolved in parallel, exemplifying what biologists call convergent evolution. Although a casual observer won't see these parallels, research on dolphins and apes has produced increasingly abundant evidence for the comparison.

...However you define intelligence, apes and dolphins are second only to humans in brainpower. Their brains are enormous in comparison to the size of their bodies. This brainpower has allowed dolphins and apes to possess communication skills and social interactions so complex that we are only now beginning to understand how they work. Unlike most animals, apes and dolphins tend to live in flexible, open societies, and the relationships among individual animals are based on long-term memory of who is whose friend, and who owes whom a favor.

Slave Transactions of Guadalupe County, Texas

2009-05-06T21:32:00.003-05:00

page 244:

Estate of Alexander Ewing (died August 22, 1857)
September 1, 1857
Probate Record Book D, page 423

I will that my wife Mary Jane choose fifteen of such of my Negroes as she may desire...until such time as the Estate may be divided between her and our children...And the balance of said Negroes belonging to my estate I desire that my...executors...take to the State of Mississippi or Alabama...and there sell the same...

sprung a leak

2009-05-06T14:11:00.004-05:00

Hopefully our water bill will be lowered next month.

landscaping to conserve water

2009-05-05T18:57:00.003-05:00

Teaser Tuesdays

2009-05-05T10:57:00.006-05:00

Teaser Tuesdays asks you to: Grab your current read. Let the book fall open to a random page. Share with us two (2) sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12. You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

So I drive into town for my first date in two years in a red 1941 Chevrolet four-on-the-floor with a John Deere motor grader hooked behind me. The engine sputters and churns and I wonder if the truck will make it. Chunks of mud spray behind me off the tires. The engine stalls on the main road, sending my dress and bag flying onto the dirty floor. I have to restart twice. [page 115]

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

loving God

2009-05-05T10:40:00.004-05:00

Frederick Buechner writes

Loving God means rejoicing in him. it means trusting him when you can think of a hundred reasons not to trust anything. It means praying to him even when you don't feel like it. It means watching for him in the beauty and sadness and gladness and mystery of your own life and of life around you. Loving each other doesn't mean loving each other in some sentimental, unrealistic, greeting-card kind of way but the way families love each other even though they may fight tooth and nail and get fed to the teeth with each other and drive each other crazy yet all the time know deep down in their hearts that they belong to each other and need each other and can't imagine what life would be without each other--even the ones they often wish had never been born.

Buechner

2009-05-05T08:29:00.003-05:00

Several years ago I corresponded with a delightful lady who lived in one of the eastern states (memory ain't what it used to be and I can't recall just where she lived). We initially began corresponding regarding my French ancestor Pierre Jouett. [A descendant John "Jack" Jouett is called the Paul Revere of Virginia. He was also the attorney who represented his cousin Lewis Robards in the divorce suit from Rachel Donelson Robards Jackson (who married President Andrew Jackson) . Another descendant James Edward Jouett was the person David Farragut spoke to when he said "Damn the torpedoes. Jouett, full speed!" Just throwing in some family trivia . . .]

Throughout the ensuing months and years, she and I shared our genealogy research, as well as our thoughts about family, passions, interests, history, writing, etc. In one of my e-mails, I mentioned that I admired the writer and theologian Frederick Buechner and how his writings truly spoke to my heart.

Her reply was

"Oh, Freddy! He was so handsome and fun. We lived across the street from his grandparents and I was thrilled when he would come to stay; our families were great friends."

FREDDY! I was ecstatic to be corresponding with somewho could refer to Frederick Buechner as "Freddy."

I've since lost contact with this interesting and delightful woman but most certainly remember the Buechner reminisces.

I think I had almost every book Buechner wrote and lost all but a few in the 1998 flood (ah - the historic flood; it has become a reference point for my life, I think).

__________________________

From Faith and Fiction:

The ways God appears in our lives are elusive and ambiguous always. There is always room for doubt in order, perhaps, that there will always be room to breathe. There is so much in life that hides God and denies the very possibility of God that there are times when it is hard not to deny God altogether. Yet it is possible to have faith nonetheless. Faith is that Nonetheless.

Writing strikes me as intravenous. As you sit there only a few inches from the printed page, the words you read go directly into the bloodstream and go into it at full strength. More than the painting you see or the music you hear, the words you read become in the very act of reading them part of who you are. . . . If there is poison in the words, you are poisoned; if there is nourishment, you are nourished; if there is beauty, you are made a little more beautiful.

more Anne Lamott

2009-05-05T08:12:00.002-05:00

There is ecstasy in paying attention. You can get into a kind of Wordsworthian openness to the world, where you see in everything the essence of holiness, a sign that God is implicit in all of creation. Or maybe you are not predisposed to see the world sacramentally, to see everything as an outward and visible sign of inward, invisible grace. This does not mean that you are worthless Philistine scum. Anyone who wants to can be surprised by the beauty or pain of the natural world, of the human mind and heart, and can try to capture just that--the details, the nuance, what is. If you start to look around, you will start to see. When what we see catches us off guard, and when we write it as realistically and open as possible, it offers hope. You look around and say, Wow, there's that same mockingbird; there's that woman in the red hat again. The woman in the red hat is about hope because she's in it up to her neck, too, yet every day she puts on that crazy red hat and walks to town. One of these images might show up dimly in the lower right quadrant of the imaginary Polaroid you took; you didn't even know at first that it was part of the landscape, and here it turns out to evoke something so deep in you that you can't put your finger on it. Here is one sentence by Gary Snyder:

Ripples on the surface of the water--
were silver salmon passing under--different
from the ripples caused by breezes

writing

2009-05-04T18:39:00.002-05:00

...Then I look into my students' faces, and they look solemly back at me.

"So why does our writing matter, again?" they ask.

Because of the spirit, I say. Because of the heart. Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation. They deepen and widen and expand our sense of life; they feed the soul. When writers make us shake our heads with the exactness of their prose and their truths, and even make us laugh about ourselves or life, our buoyance is restored. We are given a shot at dancing with, or at least clapping along with, the absurdity of life, instead of being squashed by it over and over again. It's like singing on a boat during a terrible storm at sea. You can't stop the raging storm, but singing can change the hearts and spirits of the people who are together on that ship.

Navajo Bear Fetish

2009-05-04T17:27:00.003-05:00

strength, inner power to perceive ones present circumstances

A Directional Fetish Carving set carved by Navajo Fetish carver Roy Davis and his brothers Herbert and Jeff, was sent into space aboard the space shuttle "Endeavor" in 1994.

Navajo Rabbit Fetish

2009-05-04T17:18:00.003-05:00

The rabbit is believed to be

the special guardian of women in childbirth

and is also associated

with safe birth and long life for children.

Survey Results

2009-05-04T11:33:00.007-05:00

Question wording: Do you think the use of torture against suspected terrorists in order to gain important information can often be justified, sometimes be justified, rarely be justified, or never be justified? [Pew Research Survey]

Results

Evangelical Christians (62%) and weekly church-goers (54%) are the largest percentage of Americans who believe torturing terrorist suspects is often or sometimes justified. And while weekly church-goers who believe torture is never justified matches that of the overall population (25%), only 16% of evangelicals think it is never justified.

Susan Sontag article

Leon Panetta article

Alan Dershowitz article

Interrogation Debate

Just Walk Across the Room

2009-05-03T15:39:00.008-05:00

During the Sunday School hour, our church is studying Bil Hybels' book Just Walk Across the Room. Hybels is senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, near Chicago.

Just Walk Across the Room by Bill Hybels

Ten Deadly Traps of Evangelism

I am grateful for

2009-05-03T11:13:00.003-05:00

my husband

Dear God,

I prayed, all unafraid
(as we're inclined to do),
I do not need a handsome man
but let him be like You;
I do not need one big and strong
nor yet so very tall,
nor need he be some genius,
or wealthy, Lord, at all;
but let his head be high,
dear God,
and let his eye be clear,
his shoulders straight,
whate'er his state,
whate'er his earthly sphere;
and let his face have character,
a ruggedness of soul,
and let his whole life show,
dear God,
a singleness of goal;
then when he comes
(as he will come)
with quiet eyes aglow,
I'll understand that he's the man
I prayed for long ago.
- Ruth Bell Graham

I tend to overuse!!!

2009-05-03T10:19:00.002-05:00

Are they making a comeback??!!

borrowed from Lamar University library

2009-05-03T09:49:00.003-05:00

SWEET BEAST,

I HAVE GONE

PROWLING:

Novel

Dallas

by Hermes Nye

Charles Franey, as we have seen, was born in 1859. At that time nearly everybody in Canada or the United States lived on a farm, or got his living from one: You went to school for a few years, learned how to divide 1247 by 13, how to write a fair hand, and how to spell "niece" and "either." If you could construe a sentence, knew where Madagascar lay or who Shakespeare and Columbus were, so much the better. Then, by the time you were sixteen, you were ready for a little courtin', knowing that as soon as you popped the question, either her old man or yours would fence off the north forty and cut out a good bull and a few cows from the herd: The neighbors would come and build you some sort of house and barn, dance at your wedding, and shivaree you later in the evening while you were on the featherbed inside, fumbling with the buttons on the bride's new flannel nightgown.

I am grateful for

2009-05-03T06:32:00.004-05:00

my children

some thoughts on faith

2009-05-03T06:22:00.004-05:00

Can you imagine the hopelessness of trying to live a spiritual life when you're secretly looking up at the skies not for illumination or direction but to gauge, miserably, the odds of rain? Can you imagine how discouraging it was for me to live in fear of weather, of drizzle or downpour? Because Christianity is about water: "Everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters." It's about baptism, for God's sake. It's about full immersion, about falling into something elementary and wet. Most of what we do in worldly life is geared toward our staying dry, looking good, not going under. But in baptism, in lakes and rain and tanks and fonts, you agree to do something that's a little sloppy because at the same time it's also holy, and absurd. It's about surrender, giving in to all those things we can't control; it's a willingness to let go of balance and decorum and get drenched.

I am grateful for

2009-05-02T08:01:00.002-05:00

my sister and brother

Cutting up . . .

2009-05-02T07:41:00.006-05:00

The bittersweet art of cutting up

books

Handbags made from book covers at Rebound Designs

I am grateful for - UNCLES

2009-05-01T21:23:00.003-05:00

I am grateful for

2009-04-30T22:02:00.002-05:00

the availability of interlibrary loans