Alone on a Limb

A Christmas Gift

2009-12-06T19:49:00.004-05:00

He loved being a daddy and granddaddy. He doted on each of those grandchildren. He invented a ridiculous name for each...Whippersnapper, Scamp, Scalawag. And one the grandkids eventually came up with an unusual name for the granddad which was soon adopted by all the others.

This year, 1986, almost the whole clan gathered for a three day family reunion at Thanksgiving. They got together at a daughter’s home in Tennessee. There was great food. There were family stories. The whole bunch crowded into the Grand Old Opry to hear Little Jimmy Dickens and Sarah Cannon (Minnie Pearl). He took about half the bunch with him to a big craft/antique fair. Back at the haouse there was more laughing and joking and more stories and more food. And on that last day, as everyone was ready to drive off toward their separate cities and towns and states, someone said: “We ought to take some pictures!” So some were dragged back inside to pose. There were pictures made of just about every combination of grandparents, parents, and children imaginable.

He hated to leave, but he had something up his sleeve. He was glad to get back to his special projects.

You see he had decided to use his woodworking shop to build a memento for each of the children. Sleds for the boys - some were Yankees and could use them - and doll cradles for the girls - just right for the Cabbage Patch dolls every child had in 1986.

Monday and Tuesday, December first and second he spent a good bit of time gathering materials. Making drawings and templates. By Wednesday afternoon, December third, his basement shop was strewn with maple and oak and pine pieces. There were cardboard templates of cradle rockers and sled runners. There were some pieces already cut and ready for sanding. Others were marked for cutting. He had been there for a bit that morning I imagine. His jacket was hanging on a nail by the back door with his carpenters pencil and rule in the pocket.

But he wasn’t there.

He had gone out to bring in some firewood that morning. Collapsed into a chair. The EMTs worked to revive him as they sped to the hospital but it was to no avail. He died before noon.

That afternoon his son walked around the house, trying to find a way to cope with overwhelming grief. Then the son walked down those stairs into the basement workshop. He could smell the cut wood and in that jacket by the door he could even smell his Dad's Old Spice and sweat. He could see his Dad in the care and love invested in patterns and pieces of wood. And suddenly he knew how to use the grief. His father had left therapy all around that basement.

He called his brother. “You take the sleds. I’ll handle the cradles.” For three weeks they were their father’s hands on earth. For three weeks they cut and shaped and sanded and stained and polished. There have never been sleds or cradles more saturated with love.

And on Christmas morning 10 children found under their Christmas trees beautiful final gifts from their loving Grandshaw -- that was their silly name for him.

But my brother and I had received the greatest gift of all that Christmas of 1986... our father gave us a job to do.

I wrote a poem about Daddy’s workshop and those sleds and cradles:

In Daddy’s Workshop, The Day He Died
December 3, 1986
for Charles Shaw, 1919-1986

Scraps of pine,
pieces of oak
await his hands
measuring,
guiding the teeth of a saw,
— the bite of a router,
— the grit of a sander,
— color from a brush,
— the polishing rag.
His stubby fingers trace the shaped edges;
test the smooth surface.

Scent of pine,
and pungent oak
mingle with his
in the denim jacket
on a nail near the door,
with pocketed pencil and tape handy.

He stands here, hours ago,
the great boy,
planning his surprise,
sketching, exploring the shapes to be formed.

Scraps of pine,
pieces of oak
— want cutting, shaping, sanding, shining;
— cry to be more: sled, cradle, rocking horse;
— await his hands.

He speaks to the scraps and pieces:
“Tomorrow I’ll buy maple for the runners.”

Tomorrow is here;

and he is here
— in scraps and pieces
— in scent and plans;
and here am I,
— his hands.

Scraps of pine,
pieces of oak
cry to the him in me:

You have rockers, ends, planks, plans,
and three weeks till Christmas.

On Thursday at the Rome/Carrollton District United Methodist pastors' Christmas dinner I concluded this way:

Now I’m a double Methodist PK. My wonderful mother is right here in my audience so I’ll have to finish up this most personal of stories by reminding you that...

Another Father has given a bunch of jobs to be completed right here in the north and west part of Georgia. And I for one am very grateful for the way Charles Shaw and Ruth Shaw have worked at those jobs. But I’m also very grateful for the way Jim Turrentine and David Campbell and Warren Jones and Jacqui Rose-Tucker and Dewey Bailey [who told a story tonight that I’d never heard about my Dad] ....and all of you in this room... are working as the Father’s hands on Earth.

Thanksgiving and Apple Pie

2009-11-26T23:04:00.011-05:00

Another glorious Thanksgiving. Mama read the 100th Psalm and led us in a prayer Then we sang the doxology and dug into a record breaking collection of wonderful recipes.
Turkey, cornbread-dressing, spiral-sliced ham, onion pie, yeast rolls, tomato pie, various cranberry sauces including a tart sauce for the meat that includes cranberries and horseradish and onion, a cranberry sauce hors d'oeuvre made of slices of jellied cranberry sauce with walnuts and a cream cheese concoction, regular pound cake, chocolate pound cake, pecan pie, ... I could go on.

My favorite dessert was Lillian's Skillet Apple Pie. The recipe comes from the Taste and See That the Lord is Good Cookbook published by the Tallahassee Heights United Methodist Church.
One stick butter
Two pie crusts
Half cup of granulated sugar
Two teaspoons cinnamon
One cup brown sugar
Four to sic Granny Smith apples

Preheat oven to 350°
Put butter in skillet and place in oven to melt. Stir brown sugar into butter till blended well. Place one pie crust on top of mixture in skillet. Place sliced apples on that. Mix cinnamon with granulated sugar and sprinkle onto apples. Top this with the second crust. Make small slits in crust. Brush crust with butter and sprinkle with a little sugar. Bake 45 minutes until lightly browned. Serve warm and top with a generous dollop of ice cream. Yum!

Thanksgiving doubles in our family as a celebration for our birthday buddies, Joan and Amanda.

And this year we had the added attraction of our little grand-niece fräulein, Emma, who is visiting with her Mom and Dad, Michi and Josh. What a little charmer!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T08:08:00.002-05:00

I am a blessed man in too many ways to enumerate.
A loving wife. Two great young women who call me "Dad". A brilliant and adoring and adorable mother. A generous and thoughtful extended family of five sisters, a brother, and a whole passel of neices and nephews and the resulting greats and in-laws.
I married into another whole wonderful family that treats me like blood kin.
I live in the greatest country on earth that allows me to think for myself.
I have a job that allows me to perform (one of my favorite activities) and fool around in nature (another favorite pasttime).
I live in a beautiful old house smack in the middle of a gorgeous town, with a riverside walking trail right out my back door, and two blocks from the church where I worship.
I have a heritage of smart, funny, boisterous, reverent, affectionate loved ones that I remember with true love and gratitude this Thanksgiving day.
Thank you Lord!

Continuing a tradition begun by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, President Obama made the following proclamation for Thanksgiving, 2009.

A PROCLAMATION

What began as a harvest celebration between European settlers and indigenous communities nearly four centuries ago has become our cherished tradition of Thanksgiving. This day's roots are intertwined with those of our Nation, and its history traces the American narrative.

Today, we recall President George Washington, who proclaimed our first national day of public thanksgiving to be observed "by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God," and President Abraham Lincoln, who established our annual Thanksgiving Day to help mend a fractured Nation in the midst of civil war. We also recognize the contributions of Native Americans, who helped the early colonists survive their first harsh winter and continue to strengthen our Nation. From our earliest days of independence, and in times of tragedy and triumph, Americans have come together to celebrate Thanksgiving.

As Americans, we hail from every part of the world. While we observe traditions from every culture, Thanksgiving Day is a unique national tradition we all share. Its spirit binds us together as one people, each of us thankful for our common blessings.

As we gather once again among loved ones, let us also reach out to our neighbors and fellow citizens in need of a helping hand. This is a time for us to renew our bonds with one another, and we can fulfill that commitment by serving our communities and our Nation throughout the year. In doing so, we pay tribute to our country's men and women in uniform who set an example of service that inspires us all. Let us be guided by the legacy of those who have fought for the freedoms for which we give thanks, and be worthy heirs to the noble tradition of goodwill shown on this day.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Thursday, November 26, 2009, as a National Day of Thanksgiving. I encourage all the people of the United States to come together, whether in our homes, places of worship, community centers, or any place where family, friends and neighbors may gather, with gratitude for all we have received in the past year; to express appreciation to those whose lives enrich our own; and to share our bounty with others.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twentieth day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fourth.

BARACK OBAMA

Thanksgiving Week Flashback: Seven Blessings

2009-11-26T00:01:00.001-05:00

Few have as much for which to be thankful on this American holiday. Here is a post I wrote about a few of my many blessings. It was written in February 2007.

_________

Seven Blessings: First Edition

I am surely the most blessed human being in the world. I am so incredibly blessed that it is hard to know where to start. Since this is the first edition of what will, perhaps, be a series, I feel an obligation to be basic.
Two of my sisters (I have five) have already posted theirs. You can check them out at Sunday Seven.
Here we go --

1. I am constantly blessed by my family:

I live with someone who loves me and whom I love and trust and have fun with. I have two daughters who love me, tell me so, and despite their occasional aggravation with me, seem absolutely devoted to me. I admire each more than they can know. I am the son of an incredible woman who is a pastor, writer, poet, wonderful cook, and loving mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. I am a sibling to six other people and a brother-in-law to several more and the uncle or cousin of a bunch more, all of whom get along remarkably well, with only occasional growls - usually about political stuff - all of whom love each other, treat each other's children like their own, and seem to actually enjoy being together.

I had a father whose love for me was unconditional, thank goodness, since I was a petulant teen at times. I was spoiled rotten by my paternal grandparents and adored my maternal grandmother and even though my mother's father died when she was a child his tremendous influence on her and her siblings was a positive influence on me as well. I don't want to leave out my wonderful aunts and uncles: Aunt Mary kept my baby picture on her bedroom wall till the day she died. Uncle Tom, the State Patrolman, let me off the hook and didn't tell Mama and Daddy when he stopped teen Terrell that night ("Please, Lord," I prayed, "don't let that be Uncle Tom!" It was.) Daddy's brothers called me "Sampson", Uncle Grady still does, and teased me mercilessly, (and I loved it) and slipped me nickels for slushy Cokes out of the barber shop Cokebox and dimes for ice cream cones down the street at the drug store.

My wife's family adopted me as soon as Sheila did, as a full-fledged member of that family, and I love them just as much as my own.

2. I am blessed to be an American.

Other countries' skies are as blue; their mountains are sometimes even higher; their flora and fauna as fascinating; their people and customs as intriquing; or as Lloyd Stone wrote in the wonderful hymn:

This is my song, Oh God of all the nations,
A song of peace for lands afar and mine.
This is my home, the country where my heart is;
Here are my hopes, my dreams, my sacred shrine.
But other hearts in other lands are beating,
With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

My country's skies are bluer than the ocean,
And sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine.
But other lands have sunlight too and clover,
And skies are everywhere as blue as mine.
Oh hear my song, oh God of all the nations,
A song of peace for their land and for mine.

I will not pretend that my country is perfect. It has often fallen short of its promise. But what a promise. What a dream. What a beacon of light it has been at its best!

3. I am blessed to have wonderful friends.

Friends like Mike Burton, Mike Bock, Steve and Laurie Craw, Mildred and Phillip Greear, and many more, have shared our joy in good times and helped us bear our grief or other troubles in hard times.

4. I am blessed to have a job that I enjoy.

They pay me a pretty good salary to corral a bunch of nine- and ten-year-olds every day and tell them the stories of our wonderful country and help them explore the wonders of our beautiful world. And I do it on a big campus that includes a beautiful brook, steep hills, mixed woods, some boggy bottomland, and grassy meadows and that borders a huge wildlife sanctuary.

5. I am blessed with pretty good health for a nearly sixty-year-old.

I take an aspirin a day, a small BP pill, and something for triglicerides. I have an achy foot and generally achy joints, but after I quit taking Crestor, the big hurts stopped (If you are taking that stuff and start to have major joint pain, talk to your doctor!) Trying to get the cholesterol down with oatmeal and walking is sometimes a pain, figuratively, but getting it down with Crestor was always a literal pain.

6. Speaking of walking, I am blessed to live where a wonderful walking path goes right past my backyard.

I walk at least 3 to 5 times a week usually 2 or 3 miles at a time, along our scenic Riverwalk or through our quaint downtown. My companion is a wonderful conversationalist, who laughs at my wit, and who loves me - my wife.

7. What a blessing singing has been to me.

It has made me a bunch of friends. It helped me win Sheila. It has allowed me to show out on stage in a bunch of musicals. It provided me some of my favorite experiences with my daughters. It gives me some of my favorite teaching moments. It has given me some of the most intensely joyful moments of my life.

Oh, my! I've just gotten started! But Sundays roll around every seven days.

Thanksgiving Week Flashback: Sweet Potato Souffle

2009-11-25T09:44:00.003-05:00

Another in my lazy man's posts for Thanksgiving Week. This was an thinly disguised effort to rev up my readership during the Hallothanksmas Season by posting a recipe for a dish much loved by many but not by me.

From November 2007:
__________

I am not fond of Sweet Potato Soufflé. Georgia Warner was a great friend of my late mother-in-law, Mavis Matthews. I am posting Georgia's recipe -- which I am assured by connoisseurs of Sweet Potato Soufflé is an excellent one -- for purely ulterior motives.

Georgia's Sweet Potato Soufflé
3 cups of mashed sweet potatoes
1 cup of oleo, melted and cooled
2/3 cup of canned milk
1 cup of sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Mix the above ingredients and pour into a casserole dish.

Then:
1 packed cup of brown sugar
1/3 cup of flour
1 cup of chopped Georgia pecans
1/3 cup of softened oleo

Mix these ingredients and spread over the potatoes.
Bake at 350° for one hour.

- Georgia Warner
From Taste and See That the Lord is Good (Psalm 34:8)
A cookbook from Tallahassee Heights United Methodist Church

Sweet Potato Souffle
Sweet Potato Soufflay
Sweet Potato Suoffle
Sweet Potato Sooflay
Sweet Potato Souflae
Sweet Potato Soofflé
Turkey & Dressing
Thanksgiving Dinner
Christmas Dinner
Side Dishes

Thanksgiving Week Flashback: XIII Thanks

2009-11-24T09:38:00.000-05:00

Another Post from the Past for Thanksgiving Week. This one from November of 2006:

________

Of course my Thankfulness is boundless this fourth Thursday of November, and my list of official Thanks is very similar to a thousand others posted today:

The Official List

For Sheila
For Brannon
For Lillian
For Mama
For Daddy and the others who have gone before us.
For my brother and my five sisters
For a job I love and that pays the bills
For a warm bed and a comfortable home
For my country and its Bill of Rights
For a warm, affirming, church family
For the fourth chapter of First John
For loyal friends
For song

But a more interesting list might be:

The Other List

For toilet paper (What percentage of humans in history have had such a luxury?)
And while we're at it, for indoor flush toilets. (I have walked a path at night, indoor flush is preferable.)
For opposable thumbs (Without them, no Lord of the Rings or 23rd Psalm... or Sweet Potato Soufflé, for that matter.)
For persistence of vision (OK, this theory has been debunked, but I'm thankful for persistence of conciousness or whatever it is about us that allows us to perceive the present and connect it to the past and even envision a future.)
For iPod (All my music in a package smaller than a cigarette pack, for heavens sake!)
For ice cream (Only we twentieth and twenty-first century folks get to eat this delicacy regularly, though Dolley Madison served it at James' inauguration. I'll bet James never had a dish of Jamocha Almond Fudge or Moose Tracks.)
For the world's most elegant computer, the iMac.
For all of the events major and minor, incidental and purposeful, of history from the beginning of time that resulted in the coincidence of sperm and egg that produced me. (Selfish, I know, but basic.)
For sex. (Where did the Lord come up with that idea?!)
For Thomas Edison (and Henry Ford, Steve Wozniak, and all those other guys) who came up with ways to make me more enlightened (after a fashion) than the great Kings, Philosophers, Heroes, and Conquerors of the past.
For the wonderful interaction of a mixture of gases with the flora and fauna and soil and copious amounts of liquid water and sunlight on our beautiful blue marble that allows this grand but isolated oasis to support me and mine.
For family days and dinners with Mama's Yeast Rolls, spiral-sliced ham and a huge turkey, mashed potatoes and Mama's Wonderful Dressing, Carol's Famous Apple Pie, Mama's Marinated Carrots, and, yes my friends, Sweet Potato Soufflé. Yes, I said, Sweet Potato Soufflé. That's Sweet Potato Soufflé. And Southern Pecan Pie. And delicious Banana Pudding. (Do think Mary Winkler would like Sweet Potato Souffle? Or Crawford Loritts? Do Sunnis, Shites, and Kurds eat Sweet Potato Souffle? Is this dish the attraction to all those illegal Mexican immigrants? Will a huge fence from the mouth of the Rio Grande to the Pacific keep out those determined to have Sweet Potato Souffle? Can I sink any lower in my quest for Sitemeter hits? As I've said, I don't even like Sweet Potato Souffle, and I'm tired of reading about Mary Winkler, bless her heart! And what, after all, does the best Scrabble play ever recorded add up to? Scrabble's "Don Larsen" is Michael Cresta, a carpenter.)
For the wonderful laughter that follows lines like these:

"...cows have many."
"...there goes a chicken!'
"...boom, boom!"

Thanksgiving Edition
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Thanksgiving Week Flashback: Acrostic

2009-11-23T09:31:00.001-05:00

I have been so neglectful of the Limb of late! Here is the first of a few oldie goldies(?) for you for this week of Thanksgiving.

From November 19, 2007:

_________

Acrostic poems are great for special occasions at school. Kids like structure. They want to know how to DO it. The acrostic gives them a beginning point for each line, but a lot of leeway for what follows. Aileen Fisher's little acrostic of thanksgiving is a great model.

All in a Word

T for time to be together, turkey, talk, and tangy weather.
H for harvest stored away, home, and hearth, and holiday.
A for autumn's frosty art, and abundance in the heart.
N for neighbors, and November, nice things, new things to remember.
K for kitchen, kettles' croon, kith and kin expected soon.
S for sizzles, sights, and sounds, and something special that abounds.
That spells ~~~THANKS---for joy in living and a jolly good Thanksgiving.

- Aileen Fisher

-----------

The series of posts, A Poem to Start the Week, is my little anthology of poetry, many of which I have used with my students in elementary schools during 27 years of teaching.

Previous Poems to Start the Week:
All In a Word • The Spider • The Eagle
Some People • Custard the Dragon • Statistics 101 • The Spider and the Fly
Back to School • The Inchcape Rock • Ogden Nash • Trash
Hearts, Like Doors • Casey at the Bat • Always a Rose • Home at Last
Bag of Tools • Carpe Diem • Poems About Poetry • Man's Best Friend
Spelling is Tough Stough! • Blue Marble • Tacks, Splinters, Apples and Stars
Oh, Captain, My Captain! • Metaphor • Introducion to Poetry
Loveliest of Trees • Flax-Golden Tales • The Dinosaurs Are Not All Dead
Owl Pellets • Mummy Slept Late • Just My Size
The Kindest Things I Know • Miles to Go • Love that Brother
Oh, Frabjous Day!

Other Posts about Children's Literature:

The Lion's Paw top kid's OOP book!
Harry
Aslan is Dead!
Multiplying People, Rice, and Readers

A Teacher's Life

You can read some of my own efforts at poetry here.
And then there's Alien Invasion.

A weblog dedicated to Poetry for Children.
Watch Sonja Cole's reviews of children's books at Bookwink.com.
The PBS series Favorite Poem Project

Sunday Concert - Fear Builds Walls Instead of Bridges

2009-11-22T09:30:00.007-05:00

Good morning!
I have been sorely neglecting my blog and my Sunday Concert offerings!

This is one of my favorite tunes, and I also love the hymns to this tune: "This is my Song" for its message of brotherhood and "Be Still My Soul".

I've written a couple of times about "This is my Song" and "Finlandia"

A Sunday Seven
Finlandia

Now I can add another hymn that uses Sibelius' beautiful "Finlandia". This is sung as part of one of the Gaither Homecoming concerts and is new to me.

I then shall live.
As one who's been forgiven.
I'll walk with joy to know my debts are paid.
I know my name is clear before my father.
I am his child and I am not afraid.
So greatly pardoned I'll forgive my brother
The Law of love I gladly will obey

I then shall live
as one who's learned compassion.
I've been so loved
That I'll risk loving too.
I know how fear builds walls instead of bridges
I'll dare to see another's point of view
And when relationships demand commitment
Then I'll be there to care and follow through.

Your kingdom come, around, and through, and in me
Your power and glory, let them shine through me
Your hallowed name, oh may I bear with honor
And may Your living kingdom come in me
The Bread of Life! Oh May I share with honor
And may you feed a hungry world through me

AMEN

Fort Hood Memorial Service

2009-11-11T17:36:00.005-05:00

The memorial service at Fort Hood

Remarks of President Barack Obama - As Prepared for Delivery

Memorial Service at Fort Hood

November 10, 2009

We come together filled with sorrow for the thirteen Americans that we have lost; with gratitude for the lives that they led; and with a determination to honor them through the work we carry on.

This is a time of war. And yet these Americans did not die on a foreign field of battle. They were killed here, on American soil, in the heart of this great American community. It is this fact that makes the tragedy even more painful and even more incomprehensible.

For those families who have lost a loved one, no words can fill the void that has been left. We knew these men and women as soldiers and caregivers. You knew them as mothers and fathers; sons and daughters; sisters and brothers.

But here is what you must also know: your loved ones endure through the life of our nation. Their memory will be honored in the places they lived and by the people they touched. Their life's work is our security, and the freedom that we too often take for granted. Every evening that the sun sets on a tranquil town; every dawn that a flag is unfurled; every moment that an American enjoys life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - that is their legacy.

Neither this country - nor the values that we were founded upon - could exist without men and women like these thirteen Americans. And that is why we must pay tribute to their stories.

Chief Warrant Officer Michael Cahill had served in the National Guard and worked as a physician's assistant for decades. A husband and father of three, he was so committed to his patients that on the day he died, he was back at work just weeks after having a heart attack.

Major Libardo Eduardo Caraveo spoke little English when he came to America as a teenager. But he put himself through college, earned a PhD, and was helping combat units cope with the stress of deployment. He is survived by his wife, sons and step-daughters.

Staff Sergeant Justin DeCrow joined the Army right after high school, married his high school sweetheart, and had served as a light wheeled mechanic and Satellite Communications Operator. He was known as an optimist, a mentor, and a loving husband and father.

After retiring from the Army as a Major, John Gaffaney cared for society's most vulnerable during two decades as a psychiatric nurse. He spent three years trying to return to active duty in this time of war, and he was preparing to deploy to Iraq as a Captain. He leaves behind a wife and son.

Specialist Frederick Greene was a Tennessean who wanted to join the Army for a long time, and did so in 2008 with the support of his family. As a combat engineer he was a natural leader, and he is survived by his wife and two daughters.

Specialist Jason Hunt was also recently married, with three children to care for. He joined the Army after high school. He did a tour in Iraq, and it was there that he re-enlisted for six more years on his 21st birthday so that he could continue to serve.

Staff Sergeant Amy Krueger was an athlete in high school, joined the Army shortly after 9/11, and had since returned home to speak to students about her experience. When her mother told her she couldn't take on Osama bin Laden by herself, Amy replied: "Watch me."

Private First Class Aaron Nemelka was an Eagle Scout who just recently signed up to do one of the most dangerous jobs in the service - defuse bombs - so that he could help save lives. He was proudly carrying on a tradition of military service that runs deep within his family.

Private First Class Michael Pearson loved his family and loved his music, and his goal was to be a music teacher. He excelled at playing the guitar, and could create songs on the spot and show others how to play. He joined the military a year ago, and was preparing for his first deployment.

Captain Russell Seager worked as a nurse for the VA, helping veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress. He had great respect for the military, and signed up to serve so that he could help soldiers cope with the stress of combat and return to civilian life. He leaves behind a wife and son.

Private Francheska Velez, the daughter of a father from Colombia and a Puerto Rican mother, had recently served in Korea and in Iraq, and was pursuing a career in the Army. When she was killed, she was pregnant with her first child, and was excited about becoming a mother.

Lieutenant Colonel Juanita Warman was the daughter and granddaughter of Army veterans. She was a single mother who put herself through college and graduate school, and served as a nurse practitioner while raising her two daughters. She also left behind a loving husband.

Private First Class Kham Xiong came to America from Thailand as a small child. He was a husband and father who followed his brother into the military because his family had a strong history of service. He was preparing for his first deployment to Afghanistan.

These men and women came from all parts of the country. Some had long careers in the military. Some had signed up to serve in the shadow of 9/11. Some had known intense combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, and some cared for those who did. Their lives speak to the strength, the dignity and the decency of those who serve, and that is how they will be remembered.

That same spirit is embodied in the community here at Fort Hood, and in the many wounded who are still recovering. In those terrible minutes during the attack, soldiers made makeshift tourniquets out of their clothes. They braved gunfire to reach the wounded, and ferried them to safety in the backs of cars and a pick-up truck.

One young soldier, Amber Bahr, was so intent on helping others that she did not realize for some time that she, herself, had been shot in the back. Two police officers - Mark Todd and Kim Munley - saved countless lives by risking their own. One medic - Francisco de la Serna - treated both Officer Munley and the gunman who shot her.

It may be hard to comprehend the twisted logic that led to this tragedy. But this much we do know - no faith justifies these murderous and craven acts; no just and loving God looks upon them with favor. And for what he has done, we know that the killer will be met with justice - in this world, and the next.

These are trying times for our country. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, the same extremists who killed nearly 3,000 Americans continue to endanger America, our allies, and innocent Afghans and Pakistanis. In Iraq, we are working to bring a war to a successful end, as there are still those who would deny the Iraqi people the future that Americans and Iraqis have sacrificed so much for.

As we face these challenges, the stories of those at Fort Hood reaffirm the core values that we are fighting for, and the strength that we must draw upon. Theirs are tales of American men and women answering an extraordinary call - the call to serve their comrades, their communities, and their country. In an age of selfishness, they embody responsibility. In an era of division, they call upon us to come together. In a time of cynicism, they remind us of who we are as Americans.

We are a nation that endures because of the courage of those who defend it. We saw that valor in those who braved bullets here at Fort Hood, just as surely as we see it in those who signed up knowing that they would serve in harm's way.

We are a nation of laws whose commitment to justice is so enduring that we would treat a gunman and give him due process, just as surely as we will see that he pays for his crimes.

We are a nation that guarantees the freedom to worship as one chooses. And instead of claiming God for our side, we remember Lincoln's words, and always pray to be on the side of God.

We are a nation that is dedicated to the proposition that all men and women are created equal. We live that truth within our military, and see it in the varied backgrounds of those we lay to rest today. We defend that truth at home and abroad, and we know that Americans will always be found on the side of liberty and equality. That is who we are as a people.

Tomorrow is Veterans Day. It is a chance to pause, and to pay tribute - for students to learn of the struggles that preceded them; for families to honor the service of parents and grandparents; for citizens to reflect upon the sacrifices that have been made in pursuit of a more perfect union.

For history is filled with heroes. You may remember the stories of a grandfather who marched across Europe; an uncle who fought in Vietnam; a sister who served in the Gulf. But as we honor the many generations who have served, I think all of us - every single American - must acknowledge that this generation has more than proved itself the equal of those who have come before.

We need not look to the past for greatness, because it is before our very eyes.

This generation of soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen have volunteered in a time of certain danger. They are part of the finest fighting force that the world has ever known. They have served tour after tour of duty in distant, different and difficult places. They have stood watch in blinding deserts and on snowy mountains. They have extended the opportunity of self-government to peoples that have suffered tyranny and war. They are man and woman; white, black, and brown; of all faiths and stations - all Americans, serving together to protect our people, while giving others half a world away the chance to lead a better life.

In today's wars, there is not always a simple ceremony that signals our troops' success - no surrender papers to be signed, or capital to be claimed. But the measure of their impact is no less great - in a world of threats that no know borders, it will be marked in the safety of our cities and towns, and the security and opportunity that is extended abroad. And it will serve as testimony to the character of those who serve, and the example that you set for America and for the world.

Here, at Fort Hood, we pay tribute to thirteen men and women who were not able to escape the horror of war, even in the comfort of home. Later today, at Fort Lewis, one community will gather to remember so many in one Stryker Brigade who have fallen in Afghanistan.

Long after they are laid to rest - when the fighting has finished, and our nation has endured; when today's servicemen and women are veterans, and their children have grown - it will be said of this generation that they believed under the most trying of tests; that they persevered not just when it was easy, but when it was hard; and that they paid the price and bore the burden to secure this nation, and stood up for the values that live in the hearts of all free peoples.

So we say goodbye to those who now belong to eternity. We press ahead in pursuit of the peace that guided their service. May God bless the memory of those we lost. And may God bless the United States of America.

In Kettering, 4481 Voters See The Light

2009-11-04T11:57:00.007-05:00

I came in dead last. But according to the last count, 4481 voters in the Kettering School Board race -- Kettering, Ohio -- voted for me. Obviously, these 4481 voters were the ones who had carefully studied this race in depth.

I did project a point of view in this election, and did outline a specific platform. Much more than the other candidates. Taking a stand probably has a bigger downside politically, than it does an upside. But, with the right campaign, I think I could have won.

I've got to wonder how many who voted for me had any idea what my point of view is. A number of people I spoke with would say, "I'm voting for you, because you asked me to." Some who voted for me might have liked my signs or liked the name, BOCK. Some probably voted for me because they completely misunderstand my point of view.

But some also said, "I'm going to carefully study the League of Women Voters Guide before I decide."

My statement in the guide, I will make as part of a request to the new board when it begins in January. Fate has made me an activist.

The League Statement:

Public education needs a big leap in quality — including a big leap in cost effectiveness. We need a ten year process of transformation that will result in a 21st century system of education. Community consensus is needed. Leadership is needed. The biggest challenge for the Kettering School Board is to lead the community in creating a shared vision of the future, and, in creating a well-thought out, long-term plan to bring that vision to reality

How Do You Spell Che Sera Sera?

2009-11-02T13:23:00.004-05:00

I can see how it might be feasible that in my school board election contest I might win. But it seems more likely that I will not win. There are a zillion unknowns so it's almost impossible to calculate. I'm sort of resolved either way. Either way, it's been a good experience and, either way, I think some good will come from it.

I could have tried a lot harder -- but then, if I win with the scant campaign I've run, the voice of the people will have spoken even louder. I'm still plan on coming to Georgia.

News From the Front (Part 2)

2009-10-21T22:40:00.001-04:00

This evening was the League of Women Voters “Meet the Candidates” evening. I will post a new You-tube soon showing my answers. I was disappointed by the small turnout. So, I directed my comments to the vast You-tube audience that will soon see the video that I hope to produce. The best review I heard says what I hoped to accomplish, it was by a 18 year old senior at the high school, and he said, "I appreciated your passion."

North Carolina

2009-10-10T09:14:00.010-04:00

Scenes from our drive to Lake Junaluska
(more photos from Lake Junaluska and Waynesville here)
(And a few more here.)
(And still a few more.)

Dahlias

2009-10-08T21:24:00.004-04:00

Just for the record, I can grow some nice dahlias, too. Here are some I picked today. My yard is a disaster this year, but ain't the dahlias pretty? The lighting wasn't great so the colors are off a bit.

The red ones are from tubers Mike Bock gave us last year. The others are from tubers I bought last spring.

Report From The Front

2009-10-07T12:47:00.003-04:00

Monday I opened the editorial page of the Dayton Daily News to a big article in which the editors recommended that of the five candidates for the school board, Kettering voters should choose the three current board members seeking reelection -- the “best picks.” I write about it here and about the letter to the editor I wrote this morning.

This You-tube is from the League of Women Voters’ program that will air about ten times on the local cable. Each of the five candidates answered the same questions. In this edit, I just show my responses. I was thoroughly depressed after the taping because I was sure I did horribly. During the taping, at one point I remember meandering down some corridor wondering where in the world I could ever find a conclusion. I felt better after I eventually saw the video and my stammerings and partial thoughts did not stand out as much as I had feared.

My best answer, I think, was the third question, “what project would you like to work on, if elected?” I announced my “little book,” -- “Kettering Public Education In 2022.” The shortest Lulu book allowed, in the style of my first book, is 32 pages. I intend on recycling some of my articles from the first book, but I still need about 16 pages of new material. I show an initial outline here. I am pressing to finish the project by Saturday. I will offer a free e-book but ask for a donation as a fund raiser.

Part of the theme I am attempting to develop in the campaign is the importance of transparency, so, in this video, I decided to talk about issues the other candidates avoided -- the need for a new tax next year, the teachers' raise, etc. Staying quiet is usually considered the smart choice -- I am more likely to be punished for this strategy than rewarded.

Somehow the sound and video are not in synch. The new iMovie has the tools to make the correction -- but I don’t think I’ll take the time to try to redo the whole thing.

The DDN editorial didn’t help me. Had this taping occured after the editorial, I would have responded. Of course, it is a mystery how the public makes its electoral decisions. I’m preparing my ego for the possibility that I could come in dead last. We have two community meetings -- with all five candidates -- between now and the election -- both at churches. Both of these two meeting I arranged with the churches and arranged for Kiwanis to sponsor one evening and the League of Women Voters the other.

I hope to make it to Rome after the election, I’m thinking before Thanksgiving, if we can find a good week-end.

Sunday Concert: Truthful Lies

2009-10-03T18:38:00.005-04:00

Kathryn Windham
(Photo from NSF site)

Bil Lepp likes to brag about his lying. The boy has made off with the top prize for lying in multiple storytelling contests. I can aver that his lies are admirable whoppers.

Bill Harley nearly flushed himself in fourth grade and earned a trip to the office on the very last day of school.

Rev. Robert Jones has made an old sermon illustration into a ballad. You remember the preacher in the flood who turned down three rescue attempts while "trusting in the Lord".

Donald Davis does the quintessential Donald Davis impression. His stories are nearly perfect. I love them despite the fact that his delivery style is relentlessly presentational.

Barbara McBride-Smith had us rolling on the pavement under the bigtop as she gave the exquisite details of how properly to prepare for a mammogram.

John McCutheon with his guitar, banjo, autuharp, and hammered dulcimer, and songs and stories - talking and singing of his friends, Pete Seeger, Mike Seger, Mary Travers and his new wife Carmen Deedy - kept us laughing and weeping and singing till past midnight.

But the queen is 91-year-old Kathryn Windham. No artifice here. From the heart and absolutely true on any level that matters. You know Aunt Bette, and her Daddy, and her Sister, and her stingy uncle by the time she's through. And you know and love the teller and her molten words.

Sheila and I will leave the hotel again in five minutes for the final performance of the day. It is hard to choose. Maybe we'll listen to the "Williams Tell" -- that's Willy Claflin, Bil Lepp, and Bill Harley, together in the "Library Tent".

If you ever get the chance to visit the National Storytelling Festival take it. The first full weekend in October, 37 years running. Jonesborough, Tennessee.

Here's one story song we heard at the Midnight Caberet last night.

Guarranteed to make your day brighter.....

2009-10-03T18:34:00.001-04:00

Stolen from Beth Hughes' Facebook wall. I do not know these people

Sunday Concert: For Gordon

2009-09-27T07:51:00.007-04:00

Gordon Norton from Lillian W. Shaw's Wilkerson Family album

I first posted this song two years ago. Today I repost it in memory of Gordon Norton, who loved good church music and whose funeral I will attend today. Gordon was my Dad's first cousin and spent a part of his childhood living as a brother to the Shaw boys with my grandparents in Milstead, Georgia. Gordon had a nice tenor voice and often sang solos at church and in weddings and funerals. He fit in well with his boistrous cousins -- Charles (my Daddy), James, Grady, Bill, and Jack, as well as his "real" brother, Reubin. How even my tough grandmother (Mama Shaw) survived all those jokers I can't imagine. But what a lot of joy, hilarity, and love congregated when they did. Only Grady and Reubin are left.

Take a look at the pics while you listen to the music.

Gordon and Reubin Norton from Lillian W. Shaw's Wilkerson Family album

Lewis, Ruby, Gordon, and Reubin Norton from Lillian W. Shaw's Wilkerson Family album

-----

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
from A Thanksgiving of American Hymns
Brigham Young University Combined Choirs and Orchestra
Although Joseph Smith was crazy as a bessie bug his followers can make music. Sheila and I bought the CD and video of this wonderful concert years ago. It played on public TV year after year. I love all of the arrangements. We especially enjoy this one and "How Can I Keep From Singing".

Mary

2009-09-16T22:08:00.006-04:00

I smuggled my tiny reel-to-reel tape player into the huge old theater in downtown Cincinatti. Our seats were on the last row of the highest balcony. Mary and Paul and Peter ran into the spotlight on the faraway stage that evening in the late sixties and began one of their rousing songs. I ate it up. I sang fervently along when invited. And I left an even more devoted fan of this wonderful trio and especially the beautiful girl with the long straight blond hair that she occasionally threw back with an unabashed jerk of her head as she sang. I spent my adolescense with a mental pin-up of that gorgeous girl in my brain.

Mary Travers died today. Another little part of me is gone as well.

The last time we planned a vist to hear the trio at Chastain in Atlanta the concert had to be cancelled on account of Mary's health. That demon leukemia claimed her.
She was the one I first heard sing John Denver's song, "Follow Me". It was one of several songs we used in our wedding.

Later note: I've spent the last hour or so enjoying song after song of the trio on youTube. It breaks my heart that I won't hear and see them in person again. What a concert they gave. Thank heavens for the redeeming aspects of our often aggravating modern world: I can call up a miniature concert right here in my own house at any hour.

I'll be there when you're feeling down,
To kiss away the tears if you cry.
I'll share with you all the happiness I've found,
A reflection of the love in your eyes.

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go.

And if you take my hand my son
All will be well when the day is done.

I'd sing out danger,
I'd sing out a warning
I'd sing out love between my brothers and my sisters,
All over this land.

How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
How many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?

You see I like to share my life with you
and show you things I've seen
Places where I'm going to, places where I've been
To have you there beside me and never be alone
And all the time that you're with me, then we will be at home

Click on the PP&M label to read other posts concerning Peter, Paul, and Mary.

And here is the PP&M website:
http://www.peterpaulandmary.com/

What I am Doing: Out On A Limb -- I Think This Should Be A Lot Of Fun

2009-09-15T18:32:00.004-04:00

I think this should be a lot of fun. After too much dithering, I decided to seek election to the Kettering School Board. The board has five members and each serve a four year term. Every other year there is a school board election and, this year, three seats are open. The three incumbents of these board positions are seeking reelection and, I, and another candidate, a person with an unlikely name, James Brown, are the other candidates. At age 61.9 I am the youngest of the lot.

I’ve lived in Kettering now for almost 35 years. That fact seems impossible. And, I’m thinking, I should be a better citizen -- I have a lot to contribute to public education. If September 11 was a wake up call, shouldn’t we all be awake by now?

I need a lot of practice -- how to I summarize in some convincing way my thinking about this election -- so I asked my local Democratic Club (I’m the vice president) to practice in front of them. I had one member who agreed to, whenever in her estimation it was deserved, to hold up an “Applause Sign.”

I think a campaign as a Reality Show might be a great idea. I would go door to door in a community and inquire if anyone in the house might be interested in being part of a community movie. In the first movie, I could announce my candidacy as I wipe snowflakes from my brow and take tough questions from the press. I’ll keep you posted.

I’m thinking of making a video in my dahlia garden in the style of "My Dinner With Andre," sort of weaving together my views of everything while looking at the ineffable.

I’m still coming to Rome -- maybe shortly after the election. Maybe we can make a movie. I just bought the new mac system -- snow leopard -- $180 seemed a little steep, but it looks like it has a lot of great stuff. I made this video with the new system -- but didn’t take the time to learn how to use the feature that is suppose to stop the shaking. The new I-Movie has a lot a new features. I’m going to redo this you-tube tape and stop that camera shaking and also use some footage from a second camera that was also filming. I also want to conclude the tape with the same words with which the tape started.

Sunday Concert - Debbie Drake

2009-09-13T23:03:00.005-04:00

When Mrs. Knight sent me to the office I got a surprise. I was in sixth grade at Ellijay Elementary and we had just gotten our new educational TVs for the school. I was more than a little taken aback to find our principal leaned back in his office chair being educated by the shapely Ms. Drake by way of this new technology.

Here she is:

He knows who he is.

2009-09-09T21:08:00.007-04:00

President Barack Obama is grounded.

He knows who he is.
He knows what he believes.
He knows how he wants to lead America and why.

Yesterday I watched and listened as he talked with my students about their future and their responsibilities.

Tonight I watched and listened as he talked with their elders about their future and their responsibilities.

Tonight he demonstrated once again that he is the most dynamic, clear-headed, articulate, pragmatic but principled ... grounded... statesman to lead this country in my lifetime.

We are witnessing history.
We are witnessing a transformative Presidency.

I am proud to be an American tonight.

Our country is blessed with exactly the leader we need for today.

Sunday Concert: Matthew

2009-09-07T00:06:00.003-04:00

John Denver gave one of the best concerts I ever witnessed in person. Sheila and I saw him at the Omni in Atlanta sometime in the seventies. He sang from a revolving stage. He sang for a couple of hours with a brief break. When it was over there were no encores - I guess he didn't believe in 'em.
This song was a favorite of mine way back when. I used to sing it occasionally.

Folk Wisdom: Slopping Hogs

2009-09-05T17:18:00.009-04:00

"The Lord won't feed the pigs, if you won't tote the slop bucket."
-Coach Nick Hyder c. 1965
(paraphrased)

Nick Hyder (L) and Wright Basemore (R)

Coach Hyder is legendary in Georgia. After coaching the mighty Chieftains of West Rome High, my alma mater, he was called down to the ultimate high school football town, Valdosta, Georgia. His career record in football was 302-48-5. He was the first coach in Georgia to reach 200 wins in 20 years and 300 wins in 30 years.
In 1996 Nick died suddenly of a heart attack in the cafeteria at Valdosta High School. He was buried in a custom casket - Wildcat Black and Gold - donated by the previous Valdosta legend, Coach Wright Basemore who had time before his own death several years later to have a second edition of the casket made.
I knew Coach Hyder as our baseball (124 wins-67 losses) coach in the mid sixties when I got to sit by him game after game and record the balls, strikes, hits, and other stats. Since I could figure batting averages and use complete English sentences to communicate with the sports editor of the local paper, and since I couldn't hit or catch, I settled for being the scorekeeper for Coach Hyder. I got to interact with him a lot during the games. I enjoyed that much more than the geometry class I took from Nick. He was a good teacher, as I recall, but I recall other stuff more than the geometry.

One thing that I admire about Hyder is that he refused to use foul language with the kids. Anyone who knows me knows that I too dislike crude language. I admire those who can express themselves more creatively than with repetitive scatalogical or profane words. He set high standards for himself and for his players and students.

An aside: A few years ago a friend cast me as a crazed murderer in an independent movie. In it I had to be... well, a crazed murderer. Those kinds of folks are generally very profane. The script was improvisational. I imagined my berserk character wildly and profanely berating the object of his hate. So I cussed. And we reshot the scene several times. I found the cussing easier each time. When I saw the scene on screen, I was appalled. My friend left little on the cutting room floor. The cussing went on and on. Coach Hyder would have had my hide, and my mother may if it ever gets shown publicly. I cussed more in that one day than I have during the total other days of my sixty-two years.

Another fellow has posted notes on a football speech Nick gave in the 80s. You can check that out here.

I wish I had a better memory or had been a disciplined journal keeper. The man had a way with words. My classmate (and West Rome's blazing little running back of the sixties) Dick Sapp posted the quote on a friend's Facebook wall recently and I stole it.

So this is the first of occasional postings of Folk Wisdom, the bits of good word choices, apt images, or sage advice that crop up in our every day interaction with other folk.

Ted Kennedy on Health Insurance

2009-08-26T19:49:00.003-04:00

This is the cause of my life. It is a key reason that I defied my illness last summer to speak at the Democratic convention in Denver—to support Barack Obama, but also to make sure, as I said, "that we will break the old gridlock and guarantee that every American...will have decent, quality health care as a fundamental right and not just a privilege." For four decades I have carried this cause—from the floor of the United States Senate to every part of this country. It has never been merely a question of policy; it goes to the heart of my belief in a just society. Now the issue has more meaning for me—and more urgency—than ever before. But it's always been deeply personal, because the importance of health care has been a recurrent lesson throughout most of my 77 years.

— Ted Kennedy

I haven't always agreed with Ted Kennedy, but on this issue he has been absolutely, and tenaciously, right.

Why in the world would anyone prefer to have a private, for profit, insurance company rationing health care rather than We, the People, jointly sharing the costs and benefits?

I don't want the Canadian plan, but it's better than the status quo.
I don't want the French plan, but it's better than the status quo.
I don't want the British plan, but it's better than the status quo.

I want an American plan, drawing on the best ideas from all the other industrialized nations, a plan that will guard our right to keep our doctors and even our private insurance if that is what any one of us wants, but that also has a public option to help reduce costs and insure that every American has health care when he or she needs it.

Please call/write/e-mail your Congressmen and Senators. Doing nothing is not acceptable. Let them know we will not let them bankrupt our nation by refusing to reform the monstrous status quo. Let them know we are tired of for-profit insurance companies rationing health care. Let them know that the majority of us want universal coverage for every American.

Health insurance reform -- WITH a public option -- this year!