Thanksgiving Thoughts 2009

Here we are, another Thanksgiving rapidly approaching. The news from around the world is not much to be thankful for. The news here in the USofA does not offer much to be extra thankful for. With jobs and health benefits being cut-back or totally taken away from those who worked and depended on the contracts and promises made. It does not leave a lot to be thankful for.

We can say, wow or woe, it could be worse, it could be better. It is rarely better when you lose beneficial conditions. Sure, it can be worse and, wow, it is probably going to be.

Can I say there are things to be thankful for? I think so but it has nothing to do with a special day. I can be thankful for our, so far, healthy and reasonable children. I can be thankful for the sun and the light it provides. I can be thankful for all the years food has been on the table and the ability to pay bills. Bills, many of which are not to be thankful for.

Should I be thankful for a country being run by those that do not want to be part of the program they want to provide for us? Should I be thankful for, well, there are so many things not to be thankful for, I shall not try to name.

I will be thankful for the chance to give to some others this Thanksgiving. Having donated turkeys to a couple of needy families lets me be thankful I could. It is a shame it has to be a special time.

I could go on and on but since this may not be read, what would be the point.



Happy Thanksgiving to those that have, as my wishes will not make it so for those that do not.

2009 Dayton/Vandalia Air Fair Parade

On July 16th thru 19th the International Air Fair was held in Vandalia, Ohio. It is on Dayton, Ohio airport property. It has been held there for nearly 3 decades. I lived there for many of the years so close to the site of the Air Fair that I could walk to the entrance. With being that close it was easy to step into and open area and watch the practice flights. Very nice advantage of living so close to the airport, although, the sound of the jets going overhead and nearby gives quite a loud roar. It only last for one week, both the practice days and the actual show.

When the Air Show is in town there is great plans for a parade on the evening before the opening of the gates to the general public. That parade has marched past my front porch for many years, in fact all of the parades have as well as some Vandalia parades at other times.

It is very nice to have a front seat and still be home when it is over. It is a great time to invite family and friends to enjoy the entertainment. Of course it is byob. Drinks and eats are not part of the invite (not for all anyway). The greatest item for the event at the house is the availability of bathroom facilities.

The town fills up with a lot of extra people from neighboring areas as well as many out-of-towners. It has been enjoyable to sit on the porch and watch the people, bumper to bumper, stream past on the way to the show.

There has been many changes that has lowered the numbers clogging the roads. It used to be getting out of the driveway was a major chore for two days. The traffic control has added and changed parking so that much of the traffic no longer goes in front of the house.

I no longer live there but my son and his family do and we happen to be visiting during this last show.

I have an addiction to taking photos and having a digital camera now has lowered my cost and increased my shooting. The video I am including with this will play for 3min and a few seconds more. It contains over 800 individual shots. The viewing is fast and the music is upbeat to match them.

If you have the time and inclination to watch it. I hope you enjoy it. I do.

The individual images of the parade are available on Picasa.

Flag Day in the USofA

June 14, 2009 was flag day, here in the USofA.

In my travels around this nation I look for and photograph US flags as they flutter and flap in the wind. Some are large, some are small. Some are large and flown high on poles some are small, or smaller, and are on businesses and on private homes. To my dismay many are being flown with torn and ragged edges. It seems the pride in flying the FLAG once installed is often neglected. Out of sight, out of mind. Perhaps it is the, I display our colors but have no time to inspect and replace it, or, maybe the cost is too much and will do with the current flag and not think of the disrespect being given it.
A torn and ragged flag could be an honored flag, if it recieved those wounds in battle, or while being flown in a war zone. Those flags can be shown repesct but not by continuing to fly them.
Many of the worn and tattered flags are being flown on city and state properties. That is a sorry situation.

Wilbur Wright High School

Wilbur Wright High School 2009

Wilbur Wright High School located at 1361 Huffman Ave in east Dayton, Ohio opened its doors as a high school in 1940.

I spent four years, 1956 to 1960, in attendance there. I have many memories connected with that school. Most are reasonably good. I managed to go from year to year without having to redo any. I did get really close to it because of American History. However the teacher managed to convince me to pass it or take it again. Whew! I passed with better than usual grade. Fright does much to give cause to action.

I like to think I was at least an average student, in grades if not in spirit. Being permitted to select the subjects in which to be educated in, I chose what was, to me, the easiest. I was not preparing to attend college so I took the required courses and nothing much more. I took art class, all four years, with Mrs. Pound. In my first year she would have given me an A in ink spilling. Other than that I achieved great grades in her class.

Freshman and sophomore years were years I did nothing special. Did not get involved in any extra school activities. In my junior year I woke up and retro selected some courses that I not should have picked at the beginning of high school. If I had not I may not have had the, reasonable, success in income and supporting a family. Education and what the education consists of is important. The school of hard-knocks can teach much but transfer of information by way of school is much easier and faster. Not that I have been instructed the hard way.

Anyway the school is soon to be demolished and along with it the physical icon the students that graduated from there have memories of. There will be no chance to walk the halls and think of all that took place in the years spent there. To look around and think, it seemed much larger then. To remember the dances, the plays, the detention, all those things that affected life. All those important and not so important events that took place in and around the building. Of course the memories will continue until the last graduate has expired.

There is Diana Schwieterman who is working hard at maintaining a memorabilia room and is having to move it from the WWHS building and locate it elsewhere. Diana is power behind keeping WWHS alive with arranging alumnae trips and events. Working hard at maintaining the memory of the school active. Kudos for Diana.

Is this your day?

June 7, 2009;

Is this the day you have looked forward to for so long?
Is this the day you have dreaded for many weeks or more?
Is this it the day that completes all the waiting?
Is this the day when you realize waiting is futile?
To go ahead with whatever you have been dreaming of.
To try for "American idol"?
To try for "Do you think You Can Dance"?
Is this the day you reach for the gold ring,
the day you try for the stars?
Is this the day of all days?
the day you do what you have wished for, have dreamed of, have felt you were created for?
If you feel this is the day, then do all you have to do to achieve the dream.
This is not my day as I don't have the dreams it takes to be great but I do dream.
I dream of happiness for others and of course for me.
To dream the impossible dream... We can dream it, but dreaming does not do what belief and
ambition can do.

The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true.- James Branch Cabell

Memorial Day

May 25, 2009'

The powers that be have determined that this be Memorial Day. Not the day I grew up knowing but suitable to big business. It gives me thought that I could move my wedding anniversary to a more enjoyable date instead of during the winter. Would it really change anything? I shall continue to recognize the original date determined many decades ago.

Memorial Day

This is a day set aside

to remember those that have died.

To give thought and remember

better than January to December.

A special day, I have not need

for memory to succeed.

There are often thoughts of those I knew

a special day will not do.

Removing them from the mind

until the calendar does remind.

would be unkind.

Family members,

Aunts, uncles, cousins

and many friends,

Gone.

However the memory continues on.

April 23, 2009;
Words of prose and wit
On paper sit,
To recognize features
Of human creatures.

The mind,
We find,
Both kind and cruel,
Use thought as fuel.

The eyes,
Surprise,
React in night,
And sudden light.

The nose,
Knows of smell
Of, rank or dank,
It will tell.

The ear,
Does hear,
Sounds of glee
Gaiety and harmony.

From brow to chin
Nose, thick or thin,
Lips full and lush,
flush with blush

The chin skin,
May be thin,
With a simple
Accent Dimple.

The neck
Connects, I expect
Head to torso,
Or so, or more so.

The Shoulders,
Sometimes burden holders,
Macho and masculine,
Or soft and feminine.

The arms,
With charms,
Cuddle and coo,
Bear terror, too.

The hands,
Work the lands,
To create, decorate,
Sometimes to desecrate.

The hips,
Those hips,
Narrow or wide,
Front back or side.

Now the thighs,
Thighs for sighs,
Slender and tender,
Tough and rough.

The legs,
The lower limbs,
Give lift to hips
Rise to thighs.

The knees,
The bees knees,
Give bend to lend,
For walk and talk.

The shins,
The thin skin shins,
Lower legs,
Of lower limbs,

The ankles,
Sometimes perfectly turned,
Sometimes turned,
With sprain and pain.

The foot, with toes,
Arches and woes,
Bunions and corns, without fail,
Then and ingrown nail.

From head to sole
The body whole,
Bits and parts within,
All held within the skin.

The skin,
Keeps them in,
And does defend,
On that we do depend.

With feeling heart
An essential part
With mind for pondering and musing,
Muscles for strength and using
.
We are more than skin, flesh and bone,
We are what we are, not physical alone.

What I knew, What I Thought, What I know

When I was one, I knew nothing, my body did the work by rote.

When I was two, I knew twice as much, of this I make note.

When I was three, I probably knew everything, I was me.

Being four, a snowball of learning, I knew so much more.

At the age of five, getting into such, I was probably talking too much.

Six, a wondrous age, first grade, made me a sage.

Seven, an age of knowing, The world around me growing.

Eight, the wonders of it all, growing, growing tall.

Nine, learning without trying, About life, and about dieing.

Ten, an age to behold, Not so young, not so old.

Eleven, was, I expect, was of me and for me, I suspect.

Twelve, a dozen years, The years of childish tears.

Thirteen, twixt and between, No longer a child, not yet a teen.

Fourteen, wow, the years are flowing, This I'm knowing.

Fifteen, feeling like I know a lot, I think, but really know not.

(The more I know the more I don't know)

Sixteen years, oh the youth's joy, So close a man, yet still a boy.

(First date)

venteen, seventeen, dating time, Takes money, don't have a dime.

Eighteen, could be called a man, To do a man's work, don't know if I can.

(High School graduation)

Nineteen, gotta get better learning, Get a job, need to do some earning.

Twenty, no longer twix or tween, To be twenty, no longer a teen.

Twenty one, have to be, Responsible for all of me.

(Marriage, parenthood)

The twenties make way for thirties, The thirties make way for the forties.

The years have past, now the fifties have been, In the mirror, I see they have fled the scene.

(Grand-parenthood and retirement)

Sixty, that was three score to be, now the three score has passed me.

(Great-grand-parenthood)

Now the seventies are nearing, making the past three score, endearing.

Trip to Pensacola, Florida

April 3-6, 2009;

Wife and I went to visit, nephew and niece, his wife, and her parents in Milton, Fl. That is in the panhandle of Florida. It is about a ten hour drive. The scenery between Winter Haven, and Milton, Florida is lovely, when not in the congested areas of housing or among the bumper to bumper traffic on the major highways.

The trip was quite nice as the traffic was not extremely heavy on the roads we traveled.

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A line of antique Chevys 1955 & 1956.

I was a high school student when they were made.

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Saturday evening there was an anniversary

party given to Nat & Marie to celebrate 61 years of marriage.

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I am a photographic addict. I travel with a camera and take pictures of almost anything. If it moves, shoot it, if it doesn't move, shoot it, but with slower shutter speed. I take enough images to guarantee boring anyone who doesn't have the addiction also.

Digital has helped me save on the cost of film. I used to shoot rolls where others took a couple of pictures. So on this latest highway escaped, I took some over 2000. There will be some trashed. Not shooting for artistic purpose but for photo/video. That is like a time lapse of the trip. Also, some for Google Earth. I have many viewable by Google Earth.

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I shoot water towers, actually towers of many descriptions. Buildings, construction or just some attracting item. Sometimes a sign. Sometimes a tree, an animal, traffic conditions, there are so many. I photograph things and places because they are lovely to view or because they are so unattractive they become interesting.

*

In more words, the pretty and the not so pretty are both attractive in their own way.
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Giving thought to others

This is a fine day, I am among the breathing.

It is fine because nothing exceptional has happened to disturb my mundane existence. Actually I might find it better if it was interrupted with some above normal activity. Being retired, sometime thought as retarded and living in a tin box with visiting privileges. That is a reference to a child's view of her grand-parents life. Since I, our living arrangements meet that description, I refereed to it.

Anyway, this has been a day similar to most of the other days. Where I reside, the most excitement is when the EMTs and Paramedics come in on a call of assistance. That may not be true to all but it does bring out the observers.

I shall mention, our daughter's life has been flushed. She was nailed with a DUI and the judge could only see to be as harsh as possible. That will make it difficult for her to attend to her son's best interest. Yes, she is liable for the charge. Being liable should not necessarily destroy your life. When it cost you your job, your income, etc... It is more likely to drive someone to committing more "crimes".

Enough about that.

I am in contact with a violinist in Ireland. He is a man without a country, a guest in Ireland. Not permitted to leave, restricting his performing area. If he does he cannot reenter Ireland. He cannot go home without losing his guest status.

That would make my daughter's problems a bit less in comparison. I feel that he is a good, fine, violinist. Since I don't play or study the instrument, I only give my thought. I enjoyed his playing.

The reason I decided to write at this time, is this. I was watching some video I am working on, consisting of photos, and his came up and I wanted to mention him.

I have two brothers, had, he was the youngest of the two, but still older than me. He was not a lot older, two years tops, two years younger than the older of the two.

He served our country twice, once in the Amy and then in the Air force. The older of the two spent time in the Navy. I, being younger and the time right, did not enter the armed services. There are times I wonder what my life would be like, if I had enlisted. I am sure it would be very different.

If and maybe when, anyone reads and finds my cyberfiller includes some calories. I will get more involved. It may be if I don't get more involved first there will be no reason to get involved. There are times you need B to get A, and A to get B. That creates a situation of, "what do I do"?

Admiration of musicians

Salutations;

To anyone and anywho that should locate and read my words; I am new to the world of blogging. I have began to search and read, watch and listen, the words and works of others.

This morning, a rainy morning, rain has been much needed, I have chosen the violin as the topic to search. I am much amazed at the connections there are to the violin. I do not play an instrument, wishing won't make it so, but I have great admiration for those that do. I especially have great love of the violin and piano. I do not leave out the other instruments from my likes but the violin and piano top the list. Solo instruments give more and need more dedication to the sounds derived from them. A solo violin can and does give feelings more deeply than an orchestrated arrangement. The Piano does the same but because there is so many more octaves and chording available that while it gives tremendous soul to the music, the violin pulls at the fibers of the body, when played expertly.

While in Shannon, Ireland, I had the pleasure of seeing and hearing a violinist at the Bunratty Castle. There is a Medieval Banquet at the castle and the entertainment given is done in the style of the castle's time period.

I feel he played the instrument very well. As I am not a player, but and avid listener, I enjoyed his playing very much.

While the cost of the banquet is not inexpensive, to me, I felt it was a fair exchange of cost for enjoyment. The personal contact with the violinist, Aland Assiri, it made the evening memorable.

I Wish I was eighteen again...

The title is to be misleading if you think, after reading it, if you have read it, and if you are reading this you have. To define it, I explain. I wish I was eighteen again, not to be young and green to life but to be able to see and be with some of those I have not seen since.

As the earth has rotated so many thousands of times and the hands of clocks have spun 24x364 time more giving age to our existance. Mankind is responsible for the time that has passed. The recording of history and marking of minutes, etc... have made me, put me in the elder status. Those I knew and spent time with, in that teen period, have faded from my physical existance. Since I don't know anything of them since that time, I will figure the cat is alive. That may sound unrelated but it is very related. Hope you can relate and associate.

Of course it isn't just the year of eighteen that has missing friends. It seems that as the years have gone by that I know very few of those I used to be close to or thought I was close to.

Through the years socializing with others has diminished until there is practically none. It is probably my fault as I now live a thousand miles from where they are. The social had stopped long before our moving so distance is not the defining factor. This however again is not the same ones I knew when I was eighteen, not many of them, anyway.

By eighteen, I am actually more accurate to say pre-eighteen, the school chums. Those from elementary and high school. Also those I knew in the ancient times of third, fourth, fifth, etc... It would be good to know something about them. It would make the past seem more authentic.

As I ponder, weak and weary, over an un-notice bit of bore, I think, there may be a rapping, a rapping on my blogging door... I should wish it so. Until then I won't get too involved in putting alot or words to cyberplace.

Thank you gift

Marble relief carving, side 1

Marble relief carving side 2

I did this marble relief and presented it to a gracious hostess.

We, wife, daughter and me, last year, went to Europe. We spent time in many areas but the time spent in Luxembourg was marvelous. We were boarded and entertained by the mother of our daughter's friend, Carol, whom we had not met, previous to our trip. She picked us up at the train station, taken home with her and treated wonderfully. We spent 3 days there and she drove us everywhere we went. She gave us a tour that took us to France, Germany, and areas of Luxembourg. She fed us like close family.

I could tell from her various displays of art that she enjoyed sculptures, paintings and many other genres of art.

It is made of white Italian marble, carved on both sides and sits on a walnut base. For it's size it is really quite heavy. It was not completed, I had started it before we left for Europe and while thinking on how to thank her for her wonderful hospitality, began to visualize finishing it and presenting it to her.

The marble had been in my possesion for more than 30 years before I did something with it beyond it laying around. It is a small portion of a larger slab.

It is in Luxembourg, several thousand miles from me and I picture it among her other collectibles.

TV Station graphics rant

Tuesday March 24, 2009

Before I begin speaking of beautiful things, real or imaginary. I wish to, since I will, wish is incorrect, mention the irritation the TV stations have caused with their annoying graphics after each, and sometime prior, commercial. If I didn't want to watch the show provided, not to be distracted from the scene, I would not be tuning into the channel. The logo they have been putting on the screen for years now are annoying enough.

It seems they are using any reason to mark the screen so that it is not worth keeping to view again. In this age of time shifting and electronic storing, being told what you are watching and what is following is not a desirable service. I understand the studios being fraught about videos being traded and shared, without compensation, but if they are going to market it they will have to accept the way things are. I personally do not think most shows are worth the bother and irritation. I am waiting for the DVD version. If those become branded during the show, I will go back to reading books or spending time away from TV. Should not spend so much time at the entertainment center, anyway.

In not writing a novel about, what should be a minor irritation, I am keeping it short. I know I am not the only one unable to ignore the stations graphic distraction. I may be a bit more bothered by them but I don't think so.

Next will be a lighter type topic.

Beginnings

March 23, 2009

I was born once again, this morning, as morning gives birth to a new day and a new me. It has been doing that, for what seems and eternity, to rise from the depths of sleep, becoming conscious, to face the world day to day.

I don't actually face the world as I spend most of my time at home. I sometimes travel the world via the Internet. There are many tracks, traces, evidence of my movements, no matter how hard we try to not leave a trail. That is to by anonymous, similar to being in a car and doing things we would not do face to face.
I used to go out daily to earn my keep and to keep my family with room and board. All the necessities of living. That is the past as the children have morphed from babies in our nest to adults with nests of their own.
Since the needs have lessened, our nest is much smaller, I left the daily routine of going to a job to exist on a pension.
Without the daily interruption of punching a time clock I had intended to begin using the freedom to do more interesting activities, this has not become a reality. The reasons are mostly excuses, of which I am not going to list.
Anyway, I have tried many art forms, media, from the crafted to the imagined. Poetry, painting, carving, sculpture, leather work, photography, etc...
The art of musical creation seems to be beyond my scope. In that field I am audience, in awe of the ability to convert the physical to auditory rhythms and give pleasure via the ears.
Perhaps I will choose to expose some of the artistic endeavors through photos and text in future writings. I cease this verbiage for now.