Dog Gone

His people have returned! Talk about an excited wiener dog. It has been fun, we'll miss him.

JJ went home this evening. He was a gracious guest and thanked us profusely; but no more than his people did. They had a wonderful time in the Adirondacks, soaking in the scenery and visiting with family.

They returned home via "Little Nashville." They report that unlike in upstate New York, the leaves have not yet turned in Brown County. Well, here neither.

September Award

My friend Chuck at Secondary Roads has honored me with this award. And I have to say, j'Adore his Blog, too. He is so very kind. He gave my blog a big boost on his blog. Thank you, thank you, Chuck.

This award goes from here to
Shinade for the beautiful photography and her beautiful spirit.
Lidian for nostalgia and oddities from the past.
Blushing Rose for travels and feedsack fantasies and nostalgia.
Andrea for her love of God and for her family.
Leigh and Jana for the joys and frustrations of motherhood in today's world. (Read "hilarity.")

Each of these bloggers is a must-visit on my daily rounds.

National Cathedral

On this date in 1907, the foundation stone for Washington National Cathedral was laid in the presence of President Theodore Roosevelt and 20,000 spectators.

This magnificent edifice was completed by the setting of the final finial in1990, witnessed by President George H. W. Bush.

The cathedral has been designated National House of Prayer by the United States Congress.

My visit to this edifice was one of the most awe-inspiring experiences of my stay in our nation's capital city. It merits a visit by everyone who goes to Washington.

Official website of the Cathedral: http://www.nationalcathedral.org

Nature's Tree Planters

About twenty years ago while visiting my father, as the evening grew later and the conversation had run to many subjects, Dad said, "Did you ever watch earthworms plant maple trees?" Say What!? Yes, he assured me, earthworms snake out of their tubes, grab samara the maples have dropped and pull them part-way into the hole. I was, to say the least, skeptical, which prompted Dad to go to the utility drawer and get a flashlight. We went out into his yard and under the beam of the light I saw the wiggling wings of a samara. Watching closely I saw exactly what my father had described to me.

Days later, working in my own garden at home I observed many clumps or clusters of maple seeds all over the area. I grasped the wings of one of these and pulled it from the ground. There were more than thirty seeds packed into one hole!

Don't ever doubt that the ways of nature are curious, indeed. I have since noted that the seeds of some ash trees are also planted in this fashion. There are many other instances of creatures planting seeds, the one that springs first to mind being the answer to the question, "Why do mulberry trees often grow up around fence posts?" Open your eyes; look around you. It's fun!

[a future topic: how a new pond is populated with fish,no stocking.]

Love For a Lifetime

Pastor Doug prefaced his sermon with a statement of three things he tells a couple as they stand before him and the wedding rites are being performed. As the rings are being presented he tells them the ring has no end, even as it is God's intent that the marriage will have no end prior to death of one of the parties; the ring is round, symbolizing equal strength of both partners, neither is to be dominant; the ring is costly, even as the relationship starts with and is sustained by sacrifice.

The scripture lesson is Matthew 19:3-6.

The Seasons of Marital Relationships

1. Romance. Emblazoned across the forehead: "Love Stupid." Two people meet, fall in love. It is a picture-perfect relationship, unlike every other relationship. It is a match made in heaven. Experts say this season lasts two and one-half years.

2. Reality. One (or both) realizes that the mate he thought he could never have is someone he can never get rid of. This stage lasts two weeks.

3. Resentment. No matter how "holy" you are the object of your affection becomes the target of your frustration. "It's not my fault." (She thinks, I went to bed with George Clooney and woke up with Peewee Herman.)

Colossians 3:12-14

Any two people who claim to know the Lord and who have marital trouble, have spiritual issues.

Get relationship with the Lord straight. Deal with each other. Reality clarifies what Romance conceals. During Romance: In love. During Reality: Choose to love.

Pastor Doug testified from personal experience that what kept him and Lori together when resentment set in was not their commitment to each other, but rather their commitment to the Lord.

4. Rebuilding. Love that doesn't get practice will never get past stage three.

Three Great Skills of Lifetime Lovers

• Remembering that we're different. Remember what we like about each other. Recognize that we talk differently, think differently.
• Asking. Ask for and grant forgiveness. The real issue: pride.
• Deciding. Love is based on the decision to hang in there, not on feelings.

You will repeat these stages all through life.

Read I Corinthians, chapter 13.

You will live mostly happily ever after!

Assignment for this week.
If you are married, sit down with your spouse and review and renew your marriage vows. For better or worse; for richer or poorer; in sickness and in health; love and cherish so long as you both shall live.

If you are single, choose a skill and put it into practice. 1) Affirming differences; 2) Forgiving; 3) Decide to love and keep on loving a close friend.

More Saturday Evening Post

(Note the cover price: 20 cents.
It was not until 1964 that the
price was hiked to a quarter.) The other of my pair of old Saturday Evening Posts is this December 14, 1963 issue which I saved for obvious reasons.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy 1917 - 1963 RIP

My Uncle Ben

Raymond Benson Lacy, or Ben B. Lacy as he is better known, was born September 25, 1919 in Wiley, Colorado.

Uncle Ben and Aunt Fern were dry land farmers on the high plains of Colorado for many years. Finally, though, they acquired irrigated acreage on the Arkansas River near Las Animas where they continued agricultural pursuits, but in a much different fashion. Uncle Ben served several years as Bent County Assessor. When they retired, they moved to an idyllic spot near the mountains.

Ben and Fern are musically gifted. Uncle Ben taught himself to play the fiddle and Aunt Fern plays piano and keyboard. They have provided music for community functions and church activities for many years. They continued their nursing home ministry well into their eighties, and only in the past two or three years have they not been able to continue that.

They have two wonderful children, a boy and a girl, both of whom, with their respective spouses, have provided them with grandchildren.

I caught Uncle Ben in his garage beside his BuickParkAvenue.
That is his wife of more than seventy years, Fern Hendrix Lacy, there with him.

HAPPY NINETIETH BIRTHDAY, UNCLE BEN! May the Lord's blessings and happiness be with you both. We love you.

Motel Postcards

Paradise, indeed. Doesn't look too busy, does it? I believe this trip was in 1968.

One of the kids wrote the card to Grandma.

This, I don't doubt, was "state of the art" in nineteen-seventy something. Looks to me as though the designer had not yet awakened from his psychedelic nightmare.

(Can you even imagine traveling with four kids and going to places like Ogallala, Nebraska and Jonesboro, Arkansas? Again, thanks to Lidian for the Motel Postcard idea.)

Devil's Tower

September 24, 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt declared Devil's Tower to be the very first National Monument.


Do you remember 32 years ago while sitting in a theater you were totally enthralled as Roy and Gillian sneaked past the military cordon, made their way to the site of the alien spaceship landing? That Steven Spielburg! And that John Williams!

Check it out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoyPu95yCxw&NR=1

Lost Bridge

Lost Bridge, Huntington County, Indiana. This bridge spans the Salamonie Reservoir on Highway 105. The history of the bridge is fascinating, as it involves bridge-building with no road, fund allocations and remonstrances, lost plans and lawsuits. But today a modern bridge carries a modern highway north and south through the county. The name "Lost Bridge" stuck, but it is really easy to find!
Our tour guide.

Happy Birthday, Grandson Brayton!

Autumnal Equinox and Heroism

Fall begins at 5:18 P.M. EDT today.

Two hundred thirty-three years ago today, Nathan Hale was hanged by the British for spying. General Washington had asked for a volunteer to shadow the movements of Howe's troops. Twenty-one year old Yale graduate Captain Hale stepped forward, thus giving his life for the freedom of a new nation.

"I regret that I have but one life to give for my country."

Nathan Hale, June 6, 1755 - September 21, 1776 RIP

Please read the story of Nathan Hale by Rev. Edward Everett Hale at

http://www.connecticutsar.org/patriots/hale_nathan.htm

Sunset Cruise

One of the highlights of the visit to Salamonie was a sunset cruise on the lake. We boated up the lake almost to the east end, then turned and cruised down to the dam. We were on the water over two hours and never a boring moment, because simply drinking in the sights, and the calm, made it a rich and fascinating experience.
Oops. Turn the camera around.
Pulling away from the pier.

Are they bitin'?Great Blue. He's 200 yards away and the little Canon 4mp strained really hard, but not bad.Oh, there's another one!
Enlarge him a little. Make him fuzzy, but there he is.

Timing of arrival at the dam was perfect. This is my favorite shot of the week.

JJ the Blogger

Wiener dog helps himself to my lap when I'm watching TV or reading. Not a problem; he nestles down and lies still. But when I'm blogging and he jumps up onto the keyboard, well-- that's a dog of another persuasion. Actually, jealousy plays a role. I'm very proprietary and I fear that he will put up a post on my blog which is better than mine. Growl. Get down, JJ.

Also, Cookie's nose has gotten a bit out of joint, since he is proprietary and believes that JJ is a usurper. The joys of harboring animals.

He First Loved Us

"We are never going to be the persons we can be without first receiving God's love, then reflecting His love," Pastor Doug tells us as he introduces the message for today. "You cannot give what you don't have."

The scripture lesson is I John 4:7 - 19.

Five Principles of Relationships
1. When people have profound experiences they want to share them. (v. 12)
2. An encounter with God's love is a profound experience. (v. 12)
3. Those who live close to God find that their love for others is always increasing. (v. 16)
4. Love eliminates fear. (v. 18) When there is no fear, we stop competing, stop depending on others for validation.
5. We love because He first loved us. (v. 19)

I Peter 4:8 Love overcomes a multitude of sins.

How does one get close to God? Simple: 1. Hang out with Him. How? Read His Word. 2. Hang out with others who love Him. Be in church where you can fellowship with other Christians.
You will become more like Christ. The more you love God, the more you will love people.

Two Challenges for the coming week.
1. Have you accepted the Lord? Pray the prayer of confession of his Lordship and ask Him into your heart.
2. Married? Ask the Lord every day to show you one way to love your spouse. Do it.
Single? List six family members, co-workers or friends. Each day ask the Lord to show you one way to show your love for the one on the list whose 'day' it is. Do it.

Happy Birthday, Great grandson Caleb!

Salamonie Retreat

Our CCF met at Salamonie Reservoir this week. We arrived there Sunday afternoon and returned home Thursday afternoon. As usual a good time was had, at least by us, even if we cannot speak for 'all.' Hope everyone enjoyed it.
Purdue entomologist teaches us about the forty-seven varieties of fireflies. Or lightning bugs, since they are "lightning bug fireflies."

In the gardens at the Interpretive Center.

Beauties of God's creation and a warm, sunny day in which to relish them.

[More images on Monday.]

Dog Visits Dog

We have a boarder, a house-guest who will reside with us for the next two weeks. His name is JJ. He is much more playful than Cookie is, but then relatively speaking it is pup vs. codger. They get along well. Cookie ignores the antics.




This dachshund stands eight inches at the withers, he is 34 inches long, tip-to-tip.

You may think he is blobbing out here, but no, he is walking past the camera.

Notwithstanding his short legs, he can easily access furniture, including not just the seat and the arms, but the backs of the sofas as well. And to afford himself a better view of the outside world, he will go there if not deterred by the watchful eye of the host or hostess.

Like his canine host, Cookie, JJ is a good dog.

Another Retro Bus Depot

Greyhound Bus Terminal, early 1950s.

Last Friday, Lidian showed us a retro depot in Buffalo. So today, I'll share with you my visit to the Chicago station in 1953. I was traveling by bus from Muncie, Indiana to Seattle, Washington and found myself with a three-hour layover in Chicago. So at 2:30 a.m., I am walking around the Loop. By myself. Would I do that now? Unlikely is an understatement. As a callow youth with obviously nothing much to his name, and in 1953 (did I already mention that?) I doubtless faced the world with a much different outlook (clueless) than I do now as an old, quite old, guy in this first decade of the twenty-first century.

I wish I could say I would feel as comfortable doing that now as I did doing it then; but whether or not I have changed, the world has changed.

Yeah, yeah. I've changed.

Home Again

We have just returned from where we enjoyed four glorious days and four restful nights.

I will start the "rounds" of visits to your blogs tomorrow. It may take a while to catch them all, but I don't want to miss a thing. (Kinda strange being unconnected, but probably something that should be done more often?!)

Will share some of the outing later.

Happy Birthday, Great granddaughter Mikayla!

Momma, Oh Momma

When I was just a tiny young girl
My Momma dressed me up, put my hair all in curl
She put me on her lap and she held me real tight
And she rocked me to sleep every night

The one day she told my Daddy, she "had to be free"
Such pain, I did not know that included me
She said, "You and your Daddy and Big Sister too,
But I'll keep the Baby and we'll all make it through."

Oh, Momma, oh Momma, why'd you go away
Momma, oh Momma, please come back to stay
Oh Momma, oh Momma, all through the night
Momma, oh Momma, who will hold me real tight
...

Hearing the sound of the train whistle
As it was crying through the night
Over the hill and just out of sight
It seemed to say as it sped on its way

Momma, oh Momma, I needed you today
Momma, oh Momma, I needed you today
...

Excerpts from "Momma, Oh Momma" from Gifts from God
by Grace JoAnn Harrison
© 1995 Grace JoAnn Harrison
Used by permission.

Chicago

Life on the farm in Southern Illinois was little more than a foggy memory of lazy days and playing in the dirt. After all, Grace had been only four years old when the country went to war to fight against the evil people trying to destroy the world. The family moved to Chicago so that Daddy could go to work in the defense plant. Seemed that factory work was really important now and everyone had to do his share.The family, good Lord how many were there, moved into a walk-up apartment just blocks from the stop at 63rd and Halstead. Brent and Joe and Cam were already off to the service. Cam and Brent were in the Navy and Joe was an Army Paratrooper. Cam and Joe had never really lived with the family after Grace was born. Mother, Dad, Ila, Donna, Nadine and Grace. It would be yet another couple of years before Pamela was born. So Grace had three older sisters to lord it over her, and a Mother who hadn’t time nor concern to care one way or the other, so long as nobody bothered her. Dad, when he was home, was too tired to notice anything, unless it was something that annoyed him.

Barely had they gotten settled into their new environment than Grace was enrolled in the parish school. They were not Catholic, but the public schools were torn with so much strife and tension at the time that Mother preferred to have the younger girls in the parochial environment. To say that Grace found the adjustment to this new routine unpalatable would be to do an injustice to the reality. The nuns repeatedly shushed the girl in class and insisted that she must be quiet. “But,” she insisted, “I wanna talk!” Her knuckles got intimately acquainted with the teacher’s ruler. One of the nuns even sewed a wide band of lace to the bottom of her new skirt, which not only upset little Grace, but it annoyed Momma, too. The “Penguins” as she would later designate them, became her arch-nemeses.

Summer days and weekends were more bearable. There were impromptu baseball games on the cinder-covered vacant lot nearby, where Grace was designated "Flash" by her brother. And where a fall or a slide into second was sure to draw blood on severely skinned knees.Young as they were, Nadine and Grace had the run of the city and quickly learned the “El” and how to get around. Vacant lots provided playgrounds, as did the utility tunnels beneath the rails. Excitement was too often on the edge of hair-raising fright. Everyone survived. For quiet times on a rainy afternoon, there were paper dolls and macaroni to be dyed and strung for necklaces.

Then before she finished the third grade, there came the day that Grace was told that Mother and Father were getting a divorce. Pammy, the baby would stay with Mother; but Grace and Nadine would be moving back to Mt. Vernon with their father. The mental turmoil that this sparked in the eight-year old girl was almost too much for her to bear. She could not figure out why Momma loved Pammy enough to keep, but she wouldn't keep her. She was convinced that something had to be wrong with her, else her mother would not want so desperately to get rid of her. Grace clung to Mother's legs with both arms, and with tears flowing profusely, begged to stay. But Mother only said, "Hush. I know what is best for you."

Adults will do what they are gonna do. Momma had other fish to fry.

© 2008 David W. Lacy

1964 Continued

A few more images from the "Truman" SatEvePost we introduced last week.

Do you remember when cigarettes were sold without a warning from the Surgeon General? Not on the packaging, not in the advertising.

And there really was an American auto company called "Chrysler Corporation." Station wagon? the youngsters say, What was a station wagon? Or, Ewww.

Festival Wrap-up

Friends Stan and Pat came over Saturday afternoon and the four of us closed down the Pork Festival.

Whew! It's over. Back to normal in Hometown? Whatever that might be. Oh, let's see. Perhaps a meal with veggies and a whole lot less g-r-e-a-s-e.

Pictured below, the backs of a few of the guys strolling around the square.

And the Courthouse Cornerstone remains firmly in its place.

Happy Birthday to Son, Kenneth!