Studying war...

We drove across the state of Mississippi to Vicksburg where we spent the night. In the morning, we took a ride through the Vicksburg National Military Park, the site of the Siege of Vicksburg during the American Civil War. Vicksburg was considered to be very important because it was believed that capturing Vicksburg would sever the Confederate Army in two and open the Mississippi River to Northern traffic along its entire length. The first attempt to capture Vicksburg began in the summer of 1862 and officially ended on July 4, 1863.

The Park is in a beautiful, peaceful setting filled with monuments acknowledging the placement of the Union and Confederate troops. Driving through the area, it is difficult to imagine the brutality of war that took place. But, in fact, it is thought that more than 19,000 soldiers died there. It served to remind me that no matter how just or urgent the reason for war, the true legacy of war is always the same.

As we drove away from the cemetery, I found myself longing for a time when our history isn't told so much as a series of recorded wars and battles but as a record of our humanity and achievements.

The Things You See Along the Way: Going more than a mile in...

 We were sitting conversing with some friends before we left on our road trip and talking about the route we planned to take. Greg said, “We're going to stop in Montgomery, Alabama and check out the Civil Rights Memorial. It's a mile in.” I looked at him askance and said, “A mile in?? I thought it was, like, right on the street.” Greg gave me one of his patented “Greg” looks and said, “A Maya Lin...NOT a mile in.” And he is right, of course. The Memorial was designed by Maya Lin, the woman who created the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C. and it is accessible and right on the street, not a mile in.

The Memorial is a striking design. It consists of a conical piece of black marble with a round smooth top engraved with important events in the Civil Rights Movement and the names of 40 people who died in the Civil Rights struggle between 1954, the year the U.S. Supreme Court ruled racial segregation in schools unlawful and 1968, the year of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination. Water flows from the center of the circle in ripples over the edge of the cone. Behind this is a curved wall, inscribed with the words from King's I Have a Dream speech, “...we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

The day we were there, it was still pretty cold out although it was beginning to warm up. We were disappointed to see that the Memorial was roped off because of the possibility of ice on the ground surrounding the Memorial. It didn't look all that icy to me so I went around the barrier and Greg followed. Out of nowhere a guard showed up to remind us that we were not supposed to be in there. But he was very polite about it and didn't hurry us up too much.

We then went on to the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church where Martin Luther King, Jr. was pastor from 1954 to 1960 and where he helped to organize the Montgomery Bus Boycott. In our inevitable way, we were too early and the church wasn't opened yet. Since we had to get on the road, we just admired the outside and went on our way.

But before we left Montgomery, we had to drive by Riverwalk Stadium, the home of the Montgomery Biscuits AA baseball team affiliated with the Tampa Bay Rays. Low and behold, it was open. So we parked and went in. Being inside a ballpark in the middle of the winter is a special treat even when no one is playing.

We traced the route of the Selma to Montgomery Marches of 1965 only we did it backwards and ended up in Selma. We drove into Selma over the Edmund Pettis Bridge where the marches began. Selma is a charming southern town and we enjoyed our short time there. And we appreciated being able to visit the sites where such profound events took place that we both so clearly remember from our youths.

The Things You See Along the Way: Leaving for Texas...

When we left Central Massachusetts this past Monday morning, it was 50 degrees F. and pouring rain. It was great luck for us that Massachusetts hadn't fallen into the deep freeze yet because had it been 30 degrees cooler with that precip, we probably wouldn't have been able to leave. But leave we did and managed to get almost 600 miles under our wheels before we stopped in Virginia. There was really only one snag we encountered that day. Traffic came to a complete halt in New York because of a car fire. But it only took 20 minutes for us to get going again. Meanwhile, two cars with a bunch of kids kept us entertained by throwing strawberries and goldfish at each other. They did remember to take the goldfish back in the car before they took off again.

And then there was this pooch who was more than interested in what was going on.

Mostly what we saw was a landscape that remained very grey and got progressively colder until by the time we arrived in Virginia, the temps were in the single digits.

Random thoughts on the New Year…

Yesterday's snow.  I like using the flash when it's snowing and getting those big white blobs.  Cool!

1)  Greg and I went out for Chinese food on New Year’s Eve.  it seems that we thought it was an original idea, but when we got to our favorite Chinese restaurant, Dynasty in Southbridge, we discovered we were most definitely not alone.  We did have to wait for a while for a table, but once seated the service was brisk and the food was good, as usual.  When I woke up the next morning, I couldn’t find my cell-phone.  Too many Mai Tais perhaps?  I was pretty sure I left it behind at the restaurant but thought I remembered looking at it on the way home.  Long story short, I put it in a pocket in my purse that I don’t ever use.  So all the searches through my purse didn’t yield my phone because I never thought to look in a pocket I never use.  It was my mind I left behind at Dynasty perhaps, not the cell-phone.

2)  New Year’s Day we spent with friends at David and Roxann’s open house.  We’ve known David and Roxann for a long time now, but I met David’s Aunt Peggy at Curves a few years back.  She and her friend Sandi seemed to show up there around the same time I did and eventually, we got to talking as you do when you just keep going around in the same circle together over and over again.  I soon learned that Peggy and I had David and Roxann in common.  And Sandi used to work with Greg and was godmother to one of our neighbors.  Curves is now closed in our town, but I occasionally run into Sandi here and there and am always glad to see her.  These days, I see Peggy once a year on New Year’s Day though I wouldn’t mind if it were more often.

3)  It began snowing in earnest here around midnight on January 2 but we only ended up with about 6 or 7 inches.  It is cold out there though…very cold.  On a positive note, the snow is light and fluffy and there is no ice around.  That’s what happens when it is very cold.

4)  Another positive thing about this kind of weather is that Olive the pug does her business in short order.  I’m good with that.

5)  We are going to be making an escape from the northern weather soon.  We are leaving for a tour of Texas next week.  While I won’t be riding any mechanical bulls, I do intend to enjoy a little bar-be-cue.

LINKING UP WITH A RURAL JOURNAL'S

RANDOM 5 FRIDAY!

Looking back, #2…

In July, Greg and I managed to make it back to Griswold, Connecticut to look at the sunflowers on the last possible day.  The next day we were leaving for our annual trip to Ohio.  We added another leg to our journey by traveling out to Fort Wayne, Indiana first to visit our friends, Misty and Jenna.  It was a wonderful visit with our old friends, who we miss a lot, and we were impressed with Fort Wayne.  Of course, Misty was a terrific tour guide.  And then we headed back to northern Ohio to celebrate our nephew A.J.’s high school graduation and then down to southern Ohio to visit my family.  Whew!  Sometimes you need a vacation from your vacation.

We weathered the dog days of summer by hanging out.  Not much went on in August but we did occasionally make it down to the beach to watch the dogs frolic in the water.

September was the beginning of a graceful slide into autumn and an interesting month for us.  We participated in our neighborhood yard sale, which is something we haven’t done in many years.  We welcomed a new minister to our church, the Brookfield Unitarian Universalist Church.  I was very happy about welcoming Rev. Craig Nowak because I was on the committee put in charge of finding him.  All that work yielded happy results.  And late in the month, we went down to Bangor, Pennsylvania to visit Greg’s cousins and his Aunt Ann, who we hadn’t seen for years.

October was gorgeous here in New England.  It’s my favorite month of the year.  When we weren’t enjoying the spectacular color, we were staying up late watching the Red Sox win.  To say that we enjoyed the World Series is a supreme understatement.  We also attended the wonderful wedding of Evan’s friends Bryan and Stephanie.  It was a very good month.

November was quiet except that I got to meet my sister Susan in Mystic, Connecticut for a sleepover.  It was great seeing Susan and I had a terrific time at Mystic Seaport.

At Mystic Seaport.  My mother's clan is Thomas, but I don't think any of them were oyster men.

So here we are in December, the end of 2013.  We lost our good friend Jim Egan in December.  And while that brought us great sadness, in general, we had many more gains than losses in 2013.

  It was a pretty good year.

Have a safe and fun New Year's Eve and a Happy and Healthy 2014!

Looking back…

‘Tis the time of year to look back at the year that was.  I have gotten into this habit less from nostalgia and more from needing a concise synopsis of the year to answer questions like:  What year did we go to Timbuktu?  and Didn’t Uncle Sid die in 2013?  So, here goes my first six months of 2013…

In January, while I was still recovering from my knee replacement and nursing the worst cold I've had in years, Greg, Olive, the pug, and I took a road trip from Massachusetts to Apalachicola, Florida.  It was a good antidote for what ailed me.

In February, we got hit with Winter Storm Nemo.  When the heck did they start naming the winter storms anyway?  Nemo was a powerful nor’easter that dropped over 20 inches of snow on us.  We’ve lived in New England long enough to not let that kind of thing hold us back for too long, so my daughter Carrie and I planned an overnight trip out to North Adams, Massachusetts, to visit the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MassMoCA) to see Xu Bing’s Phoenix.  In this photo, you can see the scope of the project, which consists of two huge birds made entirely from materials taken from construction sites in urban China, including demolition debris, steel beams, and tools.  But it is difficult to convey the beauty of the work.  If you are interested in seeing Phoenix in more detail, click here.

March came in like a lion for us and stayed lion-like for a while, but I’ll be damned if I can remember if it went out like a lamb.  In any case, we had more snow to contend with...lots more snow.

Spring finally came to us in April and nothing screams SPRING to me more than the forsythia blooming.  But the Boston Marathon bombing on April 15 shocked and saddened us.

While I stayed home and enjoyed the spring in May, Greg took off on his motorcycle and circumnavigated Lake Superior.  I would enjoy circumnavigating Lake Superior, but in an automobile.

June was a major event for me.  I turned 60 and for my birthday, Greg and I went to Norway.  That’s what Greg gets when he asks me what I want for my birthday.  I guess he figured that it was too much to deny an old woman.  We had a fantastic time in that spectacularly beautiful country!  It could well have been the best birthday gift I’ve ever received.  Sorry, I couldn't stop at one photo.

On the Nærøyfjorden

Scenery above the Arctic Circle.

To be continued…

The Life and Times of Olive the Pug: A Pug’s Christmas…

Olive, the pug, was excited on Christmas morning and anxious to get out for her walk, but a little perturbed when her human stopped to take some pictures.

Once back inside, the pug gazed longingly at the packages under the tree wondering which were hers.

“Dude,” she said, “Whose is this?  It has to be for me!”  Unfortunately, the sweater inside this bag wouldn’t fit a pug.

Finally, she got to open her first package, which was a nice squeaky toy shaped like a lamb.  Unfortunately, the toy made a noise that scared a pug so she didn’t want to play with it anymore.

Then, she got what her little puggy heart desired:   a can of organic pumpkin.  Her favorite gift!

She was a happy pug after that and was content to watch her peeps open what remained of their presents.