Something Amazing

One of the things I like most about the condo we live in is all the opportunities we have to do things we like to do. There's an exercise/fitness room where I go to use machines like a treadmill or a stationary bicycle, or a machine to toughen up my abs. I go there while I wait for the mail to be delivered each morning. There's a wonderful kitchen where one of the ladies bakes cookies. There's no way to hide the smell of fresh cookies so I provide an element of assistance to the residents by following my nose to perform quality control of the cookies. (I was pastoral "quality control manager" at a church one time when they made peanut brittle and would not sell any until I had put my stanp of approval on the latest batch.) (Is that what opened my life door to diabetes?) This week I have to go to the computer room to edit and make a dvd or cd of a video I took last week. There is a theater - complete with surround sound - where we show movies from time to time. There is a library where I help with sorting and stacking a good size variety of reading material. And there's a arts and crafts room as well. (The ladies are making a quilt.)


One of my favorite places is the men's workshop complete with all kinds of power tools and workspace. The picture above came out of the workshop and I never cease to marvel at some of the things Howard Hatch comes up with. It's really hard to sense the size of the cross - probably not more than two feet tall. In it is cut
an abbreviated life of Christ from birth to ascension. He uses tiny drills and saw blades that hardly seem larger than a medium embroidery needle. I'm sure you'll agree with me that Howard has a profound gift. I asked him if he'd make one for me but he said I'd have to wait in line until he does a couple more for their children. At the moment he's not working on crosses - he just finished a combination lock - made out of wood - even to the tumblers in the lock.


One of the tragedies of life is when people retire and then have no idea or interest in creating something. Maybe creating a hole-in-one or breaking a hundred on the golf course would be great. But what I like about Howard's projects is that when he finishes one it's a tangible thing to look at and treasure for a long time to come.
For me it may be video, or art, or writing, or crewel. And the best part is that when one thing is done there's another project down the road. For instance, Howard showed me a whole series of wooden locks he'll be making in the immediate future. People like Howard give the inspiration to do more than just sit around - and that's a good thing.

Earth Day

As this is written I'm looking out over a sunlit skyline of Chicago. But it was rainy (or cloudy at best) in Indianapolis over the weekend. As I have mentioned earlier, we rode a train from Michigan to Chicago, and Friday we drove to Indianapolis for a semi-family reunion and to visit the annual Earth Day celebration in downtown Indy. In past years there were thousands who attended and it was in a major downtown park area. We walked around and enjoyed the beautiful downtown Indianapolis area and then joined the crowd for displays and music.


A high point of the celebration (at least for us) took place in an immense children and youth tent. All kinds of displays but for us the high point was a presentation by the Earth Drummers which includes Seth Utter, one of our grandchildren (middle left in the below picture). He's been in the group for about five years and really enjoys playing percussion instruments.


Our first contact with percussion groups was on the beach in Venice, Florida several years ago and we really enjoyed it. We were in a motel and heard drums and we walked out on the beach and there was a large group performing on the beach. Every kind o drum or percussion instrument you could think of and it was great. So when Seth got involved in his group we were really enthusiastic. It's not a big group but they love what they are doing and they have a lot of variety in instruments. They enter into a performance with a lot of enjoyment and their sense of rhythm and technique is great. I can see Seth continuing with this in years to come because it is not simply some kids having a nice time - it is a music outreach that is really popular with a lot of adults today - adults from all walks of life. And it really takes commitment, talent, and a gift for music.


So if I may aim this at a particular person, I want to say to Seth that the performance was great and I hope you/he will keep performing for years to come. It was worth every second of our trip. And if a person asks, "What's so great about a bunch of drums?," don't knock it until you've heard one of these groups. It'll really get your toes tapping and there's nothing boring about it.

Life: a bunch of ups and downs

As this written we're sitting in the 37th story condo of our middle daughter Amy. It's in Chicago and there are a lot of ups and downs here in the windy (and at the moment - cold) city. At least the sun is out and flowers are beginning to bloom along Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive. I haven't seen that much on State Street where she lives - but then, I don't think State Street is noted for its flower beds.

We rode the train from Michigan yesterday - it took five hours but it's a really pleasant way to go - even if you end up in the darkness of Union Station's dungeon platforms. And there are subways even darker - but you end up in the sunlight on an elevated railroad towering over the streets.

Then there are places like Amy and Vic's condo. It's a long way up. But there's more - you can ride an elevator up to the roof - the sixtieth floor. We went up on the roof a year or so ago to watch an air show - it was outstanding. Exhilarating. And a great opportunity to experience vertigo - which I get anywhere over three stories up. You can imagine what it is like for me to go out on the balcony and look down from 37 stories on the Chicago Theater (near Macy's across the river) and on tour boats cruising up and down the Chicago River. Then look up at skyscrapers like the Sears Tower to the south of Amy and Vic's building. By the way, her building is one of two condo towers that make up the Marina City complex (which also has the House of Blues music facility) It also is called by some "the corncob condos" because they look like ears of corn. So for a short time we are living high on the hog, so to speak. A real change from our second floor senior condo where you don't hear sirens and fire engines 24 hours a day.


I got to reflecting this morning: it's just like life. Sometimes we live in the depths of darkness when it seems as if everything is wrapped up in darkness. Sometimes we find ourselves emerging into the brightness of an encouraging day. Sometimes we find ourselves down low
in the pits of discouragement and darkness and frustration. Then there are the highs of life - the days when we ride high on the sixtieth floor of life - or like the Sears Tower, or Hancock building and the world is spread our before us revealing the best things of life. Or maybe hiding the dismal side of life. I have a hunch we all have moments when we fall into ruts and we find a need to break away to get a different view of life. I know I do. At any rate, even if I don't like heights it's great to get a new and expanded view of life. So, I'm glad for this moment of life - for family - for a great view on life - and for tomorrow when we drive to Indianapolis to see another segment of our family. The sun is shining and I like to think it's God smiling on us this morning.

Blame it on the Trailers

We frequently dig out old pictures - especially those of children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. And then the numbers start to add up and I think to myself, "we sure have a lot of family. After all we only started with one - and another, and another, and another, and then, finally, a fifth. How come? Well, I guess we all know about the laws of nature but beyond that,
I blame it on the trailer(s).





When we were first married we lived in a one room apartment with a fridge in the corner and a hotplate in the closet and a bed that tended to collapse. Cost: $25 a month. Oh, and we shared a bath with five other couples. Then we graduated to a big one-room apartment with a shared kitchen. $30 a month. Next it was a remodeled railroad refrigerator car where I worked out my rent by refurbishing and painting other units. Finally we graduated into the trailer world.





First it was a 27 foot one-bedroom rental and then we bought a 33 foot one bedroom New Moon trailer just like Luci and Desi had in the movie "The Long Long Trailer." Our family grew and with two children we went to the pictured one, a brand new 38-foot Elcar than we hauled eight thousand miles behind a 1954 Olds 88 (one way) and a 55 Buick Special (the other way).

Another child and we upped to a 5o foot Buddy with two bedrooms (one with bunkbeds on one side and a small bed on top of a dresser. Another child came along (our Hallowe'en son - trick or treat) and we moved into a three bedroom Contempori fifty-five foot ten wide. Wouldn't you know - another child came along. This set us to thinking and we finally decided to buy a house in North Carolina. What do you know --- no more children. Thus it becomes obvious -- the reason for five children was trailer life. Blame it on the trailers!





We've lived in a lot of houses since then. Most were smaller homes - one or two were mansions that were provided as parsonages.





The point I want to make today is that condo living didn't become all that difficult. After all, we spent a lot of years in trailers. And now we're too old for children. Except for grandchildren and great grandchildren/ And that's a different story.

Some gifts are special

Some gifts last forever - some last a little while. Then there are the gifts that make no sense at all, won't go together according to the plans, or last less than a day.


The above book was a gift from a son-in-law last Christmas that makes sense, and lasts forever. At least it has taken four months of daily reading to finish. In the bathroom, of course. And now I just let it fall open on occasion and see what wealth of information it contains.
I may have read it before but at my age I've probably forgotten what it says anyway.


It has all kinds of information we can't get along without - or maybe with for that matter. For instance, did you know that Kevin Shelley cracked a world record by getting hit over the head with forty six wooden toilet seats in one minute. Bet that made an impression.
Did you know that there are at least 230 million vehicles in the United States but only about 105 million parking spaces. Where do clunkers fit into this? Oh, and think about this: about once a year a house in the United States is hit by sewage falling from an aircraft. Then there is a page-long story with a natural gas report (consider that any way you wish.)


But wait - the book is not strictly focused on distastful subjects. There's a history of digital cameras - high tech subjects - movie stories - sports topics - history -- arts and crafts -- all wrapped up in a 538 page volume that has made the last four months much more enjoyable and a lot of essential (and non-essential) information I could/could not have lived without. Maybe.
Then I looked at the cover and realized that this was the 22nd edition. Guess I'll have to brouse around some second hand book stores to find back issues. Then, again, This volume will probably keep its place by the throne for some time to come. Or until next Christmas when I hope the next edition shows up gift wrapped under the tree.


Let me conclude with a couple of essential thoughts. Did you know that there are about 1,200 peanuts in a regular-size jar of peanut butter? Said Katherine Hepburn, "If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun." Think about that for a while.


Till next time..........................

A four month Marriage No-No

In the early 1950's General Dynamics produced the intercontinental bomber, the B-36.
It had six pusher-type propellers and four jet engines and was big - certainly in aircraft dimensions of the day. A lot of people have seen the movie "Strategic Air Command" starring James Stewart and June Allyson and the B-36 was one of the planes featured in the movie.


What a lot of people don't know is that General Dynamics also produced a cargo version of the B-36 and it was known as the C-99. Even by today's standards it was big - almost the same dimensions as a Boeing 747 in use on many airlines with intercontinental routes. In 1954 it was huge.


In 1954 the C-99 was flying cargo between several Air Force depots - Kelly Field, Texas; Spokane and Tacoma, Washington; and McClellan AFB, California, outside Sacramento. The XC-99 was big and heavy and was limited in the fields it could operate from. Because of this, relatively few people ever got to see this huge airplane in operation.


In 1954 Joyce and I were assigned to McClellan AFB on a temporary assignment. Housing was hard to come by for for TDY (temporary duty) personnel and we were fortunate to find an apartment made out of a retired railroad refrigerator car. Our bedroom window looked out at the end of a major runway and thus we heard (and could see) every aircraft landing or taking off. That included World War Two propeller-driven fighters, Military versions of the Lockheed Constellation, and -- the XC-99.


The B-36 and XC-99 both had unusual sounds - nothing sounded like them. One time I heard that special sound - a kind of a hmmm - hmmm --- hmmm or vroom-room-room grumble. It was early in the morning and I jumped out of bed. The sound got louder; then I decided this was a momentous sight and I called to Joyce, "Wake up - wake-up. Come to the window." Thinking there was a disaster, Joyce jumped out of bed and came to the window and asked, a little breathless,"What's going on?" I pointed out the window just as the XC-99 came into sight and said, : "Look, the XC-99!!!" Very quietly, and with deep emotion, she said, "You mean you woke me out of sound sleep to see an AIRPLANE?"


As indicated in the title of this blog, there are some things you wake a wife up for. A fire in the kitchen. A tornado coming across the field to your house. But never, never, wake a wife up to see an airplane pass by the back window. No matter how big. No matter how rare a bird.
Especially when you have only been married three or four months.


Today we live on a former Air Force base in which a major industrial portion of the facility has been converted to repair and maintain 747 cargo aircraft. They have a unique engine sound as well. And my love of airplanes has never waned. If we hear one of the 747's taking off I still run to a window or into the back yard to see it take off into the wild blue yonder. Only thing is, she does the same thing. Maybe time mellows a person - or maybe she has figured over these almost six generations that it's not worth fighting some things - it's easier to join in. Just so long as a husband does not run to the bed, shake her, wake her out of a sound sleep, and say, "Come to the window; you gotta see this."


Yes, dear, I've learned my lesson!

What Would Today's Teachers Do?

The picture goes a long way back - to when my brother and I went to a two-room school. As I looked at the picture I thought to myself: "With all the upsets in our 21st Century school system, how would our teachers in today's society handle what teachers in 1940 contended with.

I know that one of our daughters is a teacher and we are very proud of her. But she may be a bit concerned and maybe upset by what I am going to say in this blog.

If you look closely at the picture you will see two teachers - Mrs. Hall at the lower left and Mr.Crounce in the top row. Mrs. Hall taught grades one through four. Mr. Crounce, in a room next door, taught grades five through eight. And if you look closely, neither of them looked young - especially Mr. Crounce, who was well along in years, was an amazing person who taught all kinds of classes - reading, writing, 'rithmatic, geography, history, --- you name it - he taught it. Well, I need to back up a bit - he did not teach music - they had a traveling music teacher who came for an hour or so every week or so. And what I want to emphasize is that unless a student had a significant mental problem (and there were one or two that did) he or she eventually graduated from the two room school to the "big" high school seven miles away able to read, write, and handle a reasonable level of mathematics.

It could not have been an easy job working with four classes at the same time. The teacher would work for a while with one class then move back a row to the next class (a grade higher)

and then back a row to another class until he or she reached the eighth grade when they would go back to the fifth grade at the front of the classroom. It meant that teachers had to work with all levels - and it also meant that students had to spend a lot of time on their own. And when the year was done each class moved back a row and the eighth grade moved out the door.

I am very proud of the fact that I went to a two room school. I have great memories of Mr. Crounce and Mrs. Hall - and I credit a lot of my talents and abilities to the educational foundations they built in my life. I think to myself that a lot of the great people of the past 65 or 70 years - people who brought us into the electronic - atomic - scientific - intellectual world of today were people who might have come out of a one or two room school beginning.

The nearest thing I can see today is home teaching and at least two of our daughters did just that - and did it successfully. I think some Charter Schools deserve a lot credit as well.

I read recently that the city of Detroit will be closing over forty schools in June. To make matters worse, the knowledge level of students is often deplorable. Why? We've seen a change of educational priorities. Sometimes students who aren't able to read graduate from high school

perhaps because they have skills in sports. Sports and other peripheral activities often are given priority over basic educational subjects that are essential to being able to cope with the workplace. I have a problem with the priorities of education within the teaching profession. Granted, teachers deserve and need a fair and equitable support package. But in many cases teachers don't seem to exhibit the same outlook on teaching that Mr. Crounce and Mrs. Hall had - and I venture to say that they worked for peanuts because they truly loved working with young people - after all, this picture reflects the era of the Great Depression. Please notice that both of them are smiling. In short, I deeply appreciate the gifts and sacrifices my teachers made for me.

I don't want to blame school administrators and teachers for all the shortcomings of where we are today -- a lot of the fault lies with parents as well. And with distractions like television, video games, and entertainment as well. We didn't have those back in the 1930's and early '40's. All we had was personal social life and a different quality of life.

Guess I'll just close with a hat's off to those parents who home teach, and to those people who seem to have some old-fashioned priorities in life. Maybe I'll keep my prayers aimed at the hope that traditional values will be brought back because they are the basis of good ethical, moral values on which our country was built.