Alternatives

I spent time at the Alpine Library today doing some reading and working on letters for Katie using the library computer. We enjoyed My Antonia so much, I checked out two more Cather novels: O Pioneers and Death Comes for the Archbishop. We had a lovely supper on the deck - chicken salad, with pecans, apples, grapes, celery. Delicious. Steamed asparagus. Capped with fresh strawberries on coconut ice cream - all prepared by Ellen. We also watched the U.S. Women's soccer team upset Germany 2-0 in the World Cup semi-finals and advance to the finals. 

Computer woes once again

After weeks of trouble-free computer operation, I started having problems as soon as I tried to use my laptop here at Paul's house. It's the old. "spinning colored ball" problem when I attempt any operation. Only this time, when I went to the library (where in the past it worked fine) I was not able even to get the computer to boot up. Guess I'll have to take it to Jackson. I can do blogs on my iPhone, but it's easier fixing the size of pictures using the computer. Pictures get clipped when uploaded from my phone and not re-sized. Be sure to click on a photo if you want to see its full dimensions. 

After breakfast

The weather improved dramatically after breakfast and Ellen and I decided to walk back to the lodge - maybe a mile and a half. Ellen wanted to investigate wild flowers. So we told the driver we were walking and set out. We found some familiar, and some unfamiliar. As we went,  the rack passed us on its return trip and we waved goodbyes to our new friends. We were also passed by a group of folks on horseback-another activity available at  FRSP.

                 Salsify

          Verbane

         Large Beardtongue (we think)

              Prickly Poppy

               Thistle, with visitors

Un-identified; couldn't find it in the Nebraska wildflower book. 

            So long, friends! 

     What a great place for a horse ride!

Family Reunions

We sat at breakfast with three folks who had sat opposite us on the hay rack, two women and a man (the one who clowned  with the rain pants). They were from Omaha, and were returning from a family reunion that had been held at Estes Park at the YMCA of the Rockies camp, the same place where Ellen and i had stayed back in May (see posts starting May 2) - the camp I had worked at in 1951. They had loved it there. Their family was Polish/Irish and about 80 attended the reunion. They hold it every three years, each time at a different part of the country. 

Fort Robinson State Park is itself also evidently a popular family reunion site. They have a dozen or so former officer barracks which have been converted into duplexes, with each side sleeping 12-20, depending on the building. Sleeping accommodations are a mix of private rooms with queen beds and dorm rooms with bunk beds. Each unit has its own kitchen. They are very reasonable - the rent works out to about $15 per person, more or less, which is a good deal. But the folks we were talking with saw two disadvantages - having to do your own cooking, and location. FRSP is not near a major airport. Hard to get to. But nevertheless, Ellen and I fantasized holding a Tolles/Baker/Feinland/Crockett/Shay gathering there. We have had similar fantasies about doing something like that at Naulaka, Rudyard Kipling's home in Dummerston, which is owned by the National Trust, and can be rented. Anybody interested? 

     Our table-mates from Omaha

One of the brick barracks you can rent for a reunion at Fort Robinson.

Wet breakfast

Ellen and I signed up for a Monday morning Hayrack breakfast. We met in the parking lot at 7:45a.m. and climbed into a hayrack outfitted with benches (but no hay), pulled by a jeep (no horses, unfortunately). There were about 18 of us. As we waited for possible stragglers, the sky grew more and more ominous, which inspired a lot of banter. Sure enough, not long after we set out, it started to rain. Pretty hard. One couple had had the foresight to bring an umbrella. One family had all kinds of rain gear. But we had brought nothing for rain and a man across from us had on just a short-sleeved shirt. The family lent him some spare rain pants which he comically wore on his head. We arrived at an attractive glade beneath some buttes where a buffet breakfast was all laid out- pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage and home fries, plus juice and coffee out of an old campfire pot. It was great but it was still raining, and when I looked down at my plate, water ran off my cap onto my pancake. But everyone took it in stride and within about ten minutes the rain had stopped, and soon the sun was shining and we quickly dried out. 

       People breaking out rain gear

       Making the best of a wet ride

         Breakfast in the rain

           Clearing up

           A beaut of a butte!

Yesterday

Let's see, yesterday was Saturday. We left Bartlett at about 10 a.m., and drove across Illinois on Rte 64 to cross the Mississippi River at Savanna, IL/Subula, IA and on to Anamosa, Iowa to stop and see Betty Remley.

 

Mississippi River at Savanna, IL

While we were at Betty's, another Betty, Betty Ogden Miller, came by. Betty is the daughter of Parke and Lucille Ogden, who were members of my father's church in Anamosa back in the 1950's when I was in high school. I worked for Parke on his farm the summers of 1947 and 1948, and the summer of 1949, I was a driver for Betty's grandfather, Dan Umbenhauer, who was a salesman for the Grinnell Glove Company. I was only 16 years old, but I got the greatest job imaginable - driving 10,000 miles through Iowa, Illinois and Missouri using a company car with an expense account. Dan was in his 80's, but still the best salesman the company had. Betty brought some photos. Here's one:

Lucille Ogden and her father, Dan Umbenhauer, in the 1940's.

I love this one of Dan, which shows how short he was. He is younger in this photo than when I knew him, but he still had this elan in his 80's. We were called Mutt and Jeff - I 6'5" and he was 5' if that. 

Dan Umbenhauer on the right

I got a nice shot of Betty Remley and Ellen as we were leaving

Betty and Ellen

After Anamosa, we drove across Iowa - and had the "couldn't find a motel room" adventure, finally ending up in Sioux City at 11p.m.

Today we drove across Nebraska on Rte 20, stopped for a lunch out of our box at a roadside rest area,

Spring Valley Rest Area in western Nebraska

Tonight we are at Fort Robinson State Park, in a lodge.

Fort  Robinson Lodge

We going on a Hayrack breakfast in the morning. Stay tuned!

Alarm Will Sound

We ran into a problem yesterday finding a room for the night. I didn't have cell phone data access all across Iowa, so when we found a WiFi hotspot I went online to find a room. It was about 7p.m. by now on a Sat. night. Everything was booked in two destination towns ahead of us that were at about the right distance away. So we stopped at motels along the way and they were fully booked! What was going on? So I used the Super 8 app and found a room at Sioux City in a Ramada Inn (Super 8's were all booked). We wouldn't get there until 11p.m. but we had a room. Then Murphey's law kicked in. The next two towns we went through along Rte 3 had what appeared to be virtually empty motels. Oh well! 

We got to the Ramada Inn at about 11p.m. and determined to sleep late. But at 7a.m. the alarm clock went off. I guess a previous tenant had set it and housekeeping hadn't bothered to make sure it was turned off. Ellen pushed a button (we were in a king-sized bed and the alarm clock was on her side - poor thing !) and the alarm stopped buzzing, but 10 minutes later it went offi again! I guess she had hit the "doze" button. This time she got the right button and we got a bit more sleep, maybe. But I heard housekeeping knocking on doors down the hall and realized we hadn't put out a "do not disturb" card. I got up but there was no card on the doorknob. Ellen found it later hanging on the iron. Not the first place I would think to look for it. Needless to say, we didn't get any more sleep! Fortunately, there was a decent motel buffet breakfast to compensate a bit. 

The eulogy

We just finished listening to President Obama's eulogy at the memorial service for Rev. Clemente Pinckney in Charleston, S.C. An unforgettable moment for our country, very likely unique in American history, to have a President speak as he did, in so heart-felt, candid, and emotion-filled way, on a subject so important, and so fraught with pain and controversy, and then to break into song. Amazing!

We were having lunch with Carol Plagge, my brother Stewart's dear friend, during the original broadcast, so we are grateful that C-Span re-broadcast it this evening. Becky came over and joined us for supper. We remembered my brother with love. He would have been 88 years old yesterday. All of this, of course, on top of the Supreme Court's affirmation of same-sex marriage earlier today. What a day! Reason for hope for our nation and the world in the midst of so much violence and despair! 

Important things are happening

I'm hoping that some TV network will broadcast the memorial service for the Rev. Clementa Pinckney this morning, and especially President Obama's eulogy. Some important things are happening in our country right now - the tragic killings in Charleston, S.C. and the response to them, the Supreme Court ruling yesterday on the ACA, and today's expected one on same-sex marriages, the negotiations with Iran which are coming to a climax and perhaps a resolution. Truly a remarkable time.

I was very interested in David Brooks' NY Times column on Robert E. Lee today - part of an ongoing discussion in the wake of the Charlestown, S.C. massacre. Much has been said about the Confederate flag, but there are many other symbols of the Confederacy, and Robert E. Lee is one. Countless schools have been named for him, for example. Should those schools be renamed? My father, who was born in the south, was a great admirer of Lee. And there was much about him to admire. He was a fine man in many ways, and a great general. But he supported slavery and fought to preserve it. He was a slave-owner himself, and reputedly a harsh one - contrary to his reputation as a kind and gentle man with his own family. Brooks suggests a compromise - don't totally eradicate his name from monuments, but rename the schools, because schools shape young people's attitudes. Perhaps Robert E. Lee schools could become Clemente Pinckney schools. That would be progress, in my view. The Rev. Pinckney was also a kind and gentle man, a "fine Christian gentleman," a phrase often used to describe Lee. He would be a worthy successor.

The largest cities

We were driving through Cleveland yesterday and Ellen said,  "I wonder where Cleveland ranks in size among U.S. cities?"

                       Cleveland skyline

Not long ago, we would have just gone on wondering, but today, it's easy to get an answer to such a question with a smart phone. The answer surprised us. Cleveland is 48th. We were surprised by the top ten - maybe you will be too (maybe not 1-5, but 6-10 had some surprises: 

1. New York City

2. Los Angeles

3. Chicago 

4. Houston

5. Philadelphia

6. Phoenix

7. San Antonio (big surprise)

8. San Diego (another surprise)

9. Dallas

10. San Jose (yet another) 

Three of the top ten U.S. cities are now "saints" ! 

Sign language

We saw this sign in front of a church in Albion, PA:

"Jesus wants to "friend " you on Faith Book."

We just crossed over into Ohio on I-90:

          Ohio Welcome Center

I 'm reading aloud from a book given us by our friend, Margot Torrey, which is a collection of remembrances of life as a child at a beloved family vacation house on Lake Sunapee, NH, illustrated with her  own woodcuts:

Motel breakfast

Just had breakfast at the Allegheny Inn & Suites, where we just spent the night. It was not bad - oatmeal, bagel with cream cheese, hard boiled egg, OJ with some pea protein powder stirred in, and a decaf coffee. Here's the view out the window from where we are sitting:

You can see our Subaru in the parking lot.

Starting a new journey

We left home this morning on a new journey which will take us to Wyoming and Colorado. We left home at about 10a.m., met Mary Anderson in Bennington for coffee and a scone at the Brown Cow, took the NY thruway to Geneva, NY, down to Penn Yan for supper at Seneca Farms, one of our favs, then down to I-86 and over to Olean and down to Warren, PA which is where we are now at a motel. A total of about 450 miles. Which leaves over 500 to Bartlett tomorrow.

I took a shot off the deck this morning because when we get back there will be a shed there. 

                 Here's how it looks now.

     The shed will look like this but not as deep. It will be 8x6. 

Today is Betsey's birthday! Happy birthday, Betsey! You are amazing! 

Father's Day brunch

Today was a lovely Father's Day. It began with a choir rehearsal at the Dummerston Church, a service at which I both led the choir and preached on Reconstructing Fatherhood. I received very positive comments on both the music and the sermon. After church we went to visit an old friend whose husband died last week.  She had just moved back to Dummerston yesterday and I knew I would not have another chance to see her for weeks. It was very good to see her daughter too. Then we went to Panda and met John and Cynthia for brunch. They had been at church earlier. We had a lovely meal as you can see:

                A lovely Father's Day brunch 

Surprise!

Yesterday Tom Goldschmid very kindly offered his truck to take a load of OSB and lumber - salvaged from the old shed we brought down - to John's house. He plans to use it to build a hermitage on their land - a quiet place for contemplation. The OSB had been covered with a tarp during a couple of days of rain, and when we pulled off the tarp, this is what greeted us:

Anyone know the name of this beautiful snake?

Anniversary dinner

Last evening Ellen and I celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary with a dinner with Katie and Savanna at one of our favorite restaurants in the area: Burdick's in Walpole, NH. We had appetizers of a plat de frommage and asperagus with prosciutto and ricotta cheese, plus some sliced baguette bread. Ellen and Katie both had the all-vegetable plate, Savanna had beef stew, and I had a bitter greens salad and steamed mussels. We shared some chocolate cake for dessert. It was more than enough food and quite delicious. Katie had been at Miriam's bat mitzvah - we sang together with Katie on guitar - but she then left after the ceremony to go down to Cape Cod to a church retreat where Savanna and Brendon were, so we heard all about the retreat. It was an interesting retreat and an ideal experience for Brendon, especially, with lots of fun activities for kids. Also at a beautiful spot on the Cape.

   Ellen, Katie and Savanna at Burdick's

                The happy couple! 

It's a little hard to believe that Ellen and I have been married ten years! We are very blessed to have each other, and our larger families! 

Yesterday Zac did more work at the house, bringing in new gravel, and I found a moment to take a car load of trash, rotted OSB board and tar paper from the old shed, and rusty metal junk to the landfill. Zac also took a truckload of logs he had cut over to John and Cynthia's house. Lots getting done!

Miriam's party

Miriam's bat mitzvah event ended, as such events usually do, with a party. It was in many respects very much like her brother, Ben's, bar mitzvah party three years ago: it was held at the same Smith College facility, a former faculty club; it was held on two levels, the upper one for  the young folks, the lower for the elders; it involved a buffet dinner, and a D.J. had been hired for the young folks, to play music, lead games, provide patter. After dinner the adults went upstairs and joined in the dancing and some games. At one point, Mimi called up seven different "cohorts," each of which lit a candle, e.g., her immediate family, her larger family, friends from Pathways, where she lives, from Hilltown school which she attended earlier, and from Pioneer Valley Performing Arts where she is now, etc. A video played over and over showing pictures of Mimi, her family and friends. It was a wonderful inter-generational event; a good time was had by all. 

       Miriam about to tag someone 

                  More games

       The "elders " enjoy their meal 

             Everybody dance!

Miriam lifted up in a chair during the Hora, which it is traditional to do

  Rabbi Riqi (center) came to the party and fully engaged in the fun

   Miriam decorates a balloon (dad in the background)

Opening things up

The shed is no more. And the area behind it has been opened up, cleared of brush and trees. Over the past forty-two years, the forest has grown up and was crowding the house, which was beautiful in its own way, but was creating a problem of continual moisture - the house couldn't breathe, it never dried out. We now get the benefit of the morning sun, and it makes quite a difference. Zac, our neighbor who did the work, also carved out a swale which will direct the water running off the hillside and, we think, solve a long-standing drainage problem which created sort of a bog in the spring. It has also opened up a view of a cluster of granite boulders which were hidden by the trees. It is a shocking transformation, and there is still a great deal to do in terms of cleaning up brush, bucking up logs (we'll get a lot of cord wood out of it, and quite a bit for John and Cynthia too), seeding, etc.

Here is the way it looked before:

Here it is now:

The shed used to be in the middle of this photo. 

We 're hoping the ferns will eventually fill all this in - they've done a great job up to now. 

                     The swale 

Miriam's Bat Mitzvah

This morning was Miriam's Bat Mitzvah ceremony. It was held at Beit Ahavah, the Jewish synagogue in Florence MA, which shares space with the Florence Congregational Church. Ellen and her friend, Wallace, spent all day yesterday at the synagogue, preparing fruit platters and making flower arrangements.

Both were beautiful:

       Flower arrangement #1

         Flower arrangement #2

One of the fruit platters for the luncheon

The Congregational church is relatively free of overt Christian symbolism, so it is easy to adapt it for use as a synagogue:

The Bat Mitzvah ceremony was incorporated into the regular Shabbat service. Photographs were not permitted during the service, but there was a lot of picture-taking beforehand. 

The Torah scroll is housed in this beautiful ark.

Miriam is rehearsing her reading of the Torah. She chanted an extended passage from the Book of Numbers. It was a much longer section than a young person normally attempts, and she did it with confidence and verve. The text she read was without vowels - what is called an "unpointed" text- so she had to learn the pronunciation orally and also master the chant tones. She did it very well!

She seems pleased: 

In the service, Miriam gave a commentary on the Torah passage which she had read -  a little sermon called devar Torah - which was very passionate. The passage from Numbers dealt with the sending of spies into the land of Canaan to scope it out. They came back with a report that while the fruit was huge and abundant, the people were also giants. The people became very discouraged and began to complain. This made God very angry, and he decided to wipe out his people. At this Moses intervened and "talked God down" to a calmer place. Miriam made a great deal of the fact that  Moses argued with God and that God could make a mistake in judgment. "Nobody is perfect, not even God." Her language and her delivery were very vivid. 

There were two highlights in the service for us. Ellen had made a tallith - a prayer shawl - for Miriam to her specifications. Not the usual white wool with blue bands. This was purple silk with colorful bands. It was perfect for Miriam. I never had a chance to take a picture of it, but I'll get one eventually. Ellen presented the tallith to Miriam at the beginning of the service. 

The second thing was that Katie Tolles (voice and guitar), Ellen, Jim (on fiddle) and I sang a beautiful song of healing called Mi shebeirach by Debbie Friedman. We got a lot of very appreciative comments afterward. 

One of the most moving parts of the service is the blessing given the child by her parents. Julie and Jerry's words of blessing had everyone in tears, including themselves!

After the ceremony there was a wonderful lunch and then we got some time off before an evening party. Ellen, Wallace, myself, Jim and Mary all spent part of that time in the Smith College botanical gardens, which are next door to where the party is being held. Here are some scenes:

   

       Wallace and Ellen investigate a rock garden at Smith College

The gardens are organized into beds of plants with similar genetic make-up

    A heron sculpture in the lily pond 

                   Sweet peas

         Mary, Jim and Ellen at the gate

In a few minutes the party will begin!