8-8-08

As its plain to see I haven’t been blogging as much lately, but it is certainly not due to a lack of ideas. In fact, the ideas are piling up in a folder on my desktop.

I guess summer brings about more reasons to be out and about. Besides that I’ve been getting in more exercise time, usually outdoors. I’m also in the “hoeing out” mode as it pertains to the collection of stuff in my office area. Last weekend I spent a few hours purging some files and have more of that to do this weekend.

Last weekend I watched an old BBC video of the 3rd book in the Narnia series, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and then got inspired to re-read the book which I’m about half way through. I have a couple other books I’m working on at the same time and switch from one to another depending on my mood and the hour.

Wednesday night this week I attended a social event at the zoo for the Association of Fundraising Professionals. About fifty of us gathered on the deck overlooking the waterfowl pond and had in our view a flock of flamingos on the opposite shore. We sat around tables chomping on hors d’oeuvres*, comparing notes on a variety of fundraising topics.

At one point while conversing with colleagues from Case Western Reserve University, the Red Cross and the Geauga Park District, one of the zoo staff came up to introduce us to a barred owl which was tethered to her hand. I got a close-up view of the edge of her wings which are designed in such a way as to permit her to fly very quietly so as to sneak up on prey. We learned that she consumes varmints in their entirety, but the bones and such get matted up into little pellets in her gut, which exits by way of her mouth (not sure about correct anatomical terms).

Every Thursday night for the past several weeks we’ve had a special summertime Bible study on ethics in the Old Testament, taught by Jim Fenske who has the subject down pat since he also teaches it at Lutheran West High School. He makes it quite interesting and brings it to life with current day ethical issues.

In my entry on March 30 I quoted Buechner’s admonition to take note of the ordinary events of our days, so that’s what I’ve done here on this 8th day of the 8th month of 2008, the year of our Lord.

*I had to look up the spelling on that one. Technically it’s French for appetizer, but they were filling enough to not need dinner later.

Summer blooms

Here's what is blooming at the Cleveland Botanical Gardens as of this past week.

Mongolia Part 2

A couple weeks ago I had opportunity to visit with my nephew Craig and hear more about his trip to Mongolia (see previous post on June 2nd). While in Mongolia he conducted research as part of his graduate studies in civil engineering at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.

I'll let the photos do most of the talking for this post.

His research team spent most of their time near Erdenet, the location of a large copper mine, part of which you see here. To give perspective, the little dots you see in the photo are large trucks and other mining vehicles.

The waste water containing various toxins (heavy metals such as lead, arsenic and others) from the mining process is piped to an open pond. The toxins seep into the soil, ground water and is also carried through the air. I won't get into the history/politics of how things got this bad, but suffice it to say that efforts are being made to remedy the situation.
Here you see Craig and and team mate doing a land survey using global positioning devices and traditional surveying tools. Craig is wearing a piece of Mongolian clothing called a Del. Several of the team members had one custom made for themselves. It was a chilly day and he happened to be wearing two hats. One of the local women told him that meant he would have two wives. Here are some of the team members taking samples from the area that the waste water dumps into.

In this photo Craig is doing a land survey and preparing to take some samples in an area where the local people bring their livestock to drink from the stream.

On the left is a family milking its goats and on the right is goat cheese drying in the sun.

Left - a Mongolian shepherd.....Right - traditional Mongolian homes called Gers.

Left- Hospitality inside a ger.....Right - girl coaxes baby goat to drink.

A Buddhist shrine

I'll do another post on this after Craig finishes up his research this fall on the samples they brought back from their trip. We may complain about governmental bureaucracy, but on the other hand consider where we might be without the EPA....

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Together for the long haul

For all of my growing up years and all the years since, my life has been greatly enriched by a Mom and Dad who have stuck together through thick and thin. I know that has taken commitment, patience, forgiveness and love (even when they didn’t feel like it), day after day, year after year….sixty-two of them. That’s endurance!

Here's a pictoral journey through the years.

In the beginning......

The wedding portrait:

Together in service to their country:

About 1975...I think I took this as part of a photography class.

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Taken about 1993, with a 4x5 camera (the photographer stands under a dark cloth draped over the camera so as to see the image inverted on the glass on the back of the camera. The negative is actually 4"x5"). I was taking a class on large format photography.

Fiftieth Wedding Anniversary portrait (1996) taken by me in the portrait studio where I worked in Parma.

Another photo taken by me on

July 5, 2008 on the back porch of "home".

Happy Anniversary!

"This is My Country..."

I closed out my birthday yesterday with a patriotic concert by the Cleveland Pops Orchestra and fireworks at Crocker Park. I especially enjoyed the sing-along in which I could hear hundreds of voices around me singing old favorites like, My Country ‘tis of Thee, America the Beautiful and The Battle Hymn of the Republic. Tiny flags had been distributed and these were all raised up and waving in time with the music.

I saw in the program that the Battle Hymn of the Republic lyrics had been written in 1861, during the Civil War so I looked up its history. The author was abolitionist and social activist Julia Ward Howe who had been visiting a Union Army camp on the Potomac River near Washington D.C. and heard the soldiers singing John Brown’s Body. She awoke the next morning full of inspiration with the words to the Battle Hymn of the Republic, set to the music of John Brown’s Body. It was first published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1862 and became popular during the Civil War. I distinctly remember this song being sung at the funeral of former President Ronald Reagan, by one of the armed services choral groups.

There are six verses, here are three:

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword;
His truth is marching on…..

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat;
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet;
Our God is marching on….

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me;
As He died to make men holy, let us live to make men free;
[originally …let us die to make men free]
While God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! While God is marching on.

You can hear the music here:


http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/b/h/bhymnotr.htm


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Born on the fifth of July

I came into the world by way of cesarean section and the doctor didn't want to work on the Fourth of July so the fifth it was. My birth certificate says it was 10:10 a.m., and my birth weight was 6 pounds, 4 ounces.

It's pretty cool having a birthday on the day adjoining this great national holiday. If the Fourth falls on a weekday it means having a day off work. Then there are holiday get-togethers, fireworks and so on. Here is a snapshot when I was still pretty little...

This is a formal portrait several months later. Looking closely at the print, one can see that it is a black and white photograph that was hand tinted

A "mutual pledge"

In 1776, John Adams said of the newly established Independence Day… It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore."

Although it’s late on the eve of July 4th it is pointless to go to bed, as several of my neighbors are getting a head start on the "illuminations" part of John Adams' declaration. Here is a photo from a 4th of July fireworks display over Terminal Tower in Cleveland’s public square several years ago, preceded by a patriotic concert by the Cleveland Orchestra. In this instance I was there with a couple of friends and my nephew Brian who was living in the area for the summer, earning some college money working for Kokosing. It's a little tricky photographing fireworks but I was happy with this one.

In addition to all the hoopla, it is good to reflect on the historical significance of this day. Here is the last paragraph of the Declaration of Independence:

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence