Archive for September, 2008

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Betsy’s Birds IV

September 10, 2008

A goldfinch at our thistle mesh bag. September 9, 2008.

I’ve written several times about Betsy’s new-found infatuation with birds.  I have to admit that right now the birds rank right up there with the weather as far as Betsy is concerned.

I think Betsy’s favorite bird at the moment is the cardinal.  But for several weeks we’ve had glimpses of a goldfinch in the yard.  We’ve never been able to get a picture of it until yesterday.  The picture above isn’t very good, but we did at least get a picture.  After we got this picture we saw two goldfinch around a different feeder, but couldn’t get a good picture because of the screen between us and the feeder.

The bird is getting thistle seeds from the mesh bag.  Evidently goldfinch are particularly fond of thistles, because Betsy got another feeder and filled it with a mixture including thistle seeds and that quickly got the attention of the goldfinches.

The American Goldfinch is a gregarious bird and can be found in small groups during the breeding season and in flocks during the winter.  Hopefully they will continue to be attracted by Betsy’s feeders year around.

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Walking Through Savannah Squares

September 9, 2008
The Hamilton-Turner Inn on Lafayette Square, Savannah. June 24, 2008.

The Hamilton-Turner Inn on Lafayette Square, Savannah. June 24, 2008.

After Betsy and I left the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Savannah, we had a little time to walk around a couple of the squares nearby.

The Cathedral is on Lafayette Square, which is named for the Marquis de Lafayette, the Frenchman who served as George Washington’s aide de camp during the Revolution.  Until 1846 the Savannah City Jail was located beside this square.  In 1983 the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America installed a fountain in the center of this square commemorating the 250th anniversary of the founding of Georgia.

The Hamilton-Turner Inn, built in 1873, faces Lafayette Square, as does the home of Georgia’s prize-winning 20th century author Flannery O’Connor.

We then walked along Macon Street, which contains some beautiful row houses, to Troup Square.

Troup Square is named for George Michael Troup, a native of the region who served as a Congressman, a Senator, and the Governor of Georgia.  Troup Square is smaller than most of the other squares and is made even more unique by its Victorian armillary.

The Unitarian Universalist Church (built in 1851) is on this square.  The organist and choir director of this church, James Pierpont, wrote the song “Jingle Bells”.

To see more of our walk through these Savannah squares click HERE.

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Consider What The Future Might Bring

September 8, 2008
Sarah Palin accepting the vice-presidential nomination. September 3, 2008.

Sarah Palin accepting the vice-presidential nomination. September 3, 2008.

I’m sure my children will tell you that I’m an old fuddy-duddy, and they might  be right.  But I don’t think that I’m quite the Neanderthal that they sometimes think I am.

For example, is the U. S. ready for a female President or Vice-President?  I think we very well may be.  The excitement generated by the Sarah Palin nomination for Vice-President exceeds anything we’ve seen in a long time.  I feel she has generated much more excitement than did Geraldine Ferraro did in 1980.  Betsy has not been particularly interested in politics since we’ve been together, but she sure is interested now.  She can’t get enough information about the new vice-presidential nominee.

Could Sarah Palin successfully handle the duties of Vice-President?  Yes, I think she could.  Was she the most experienced person John McCain could have picked?  No, but Joe Biden isn’t exactly a a sterling example of ‘change’ for Barack Obama, either.

Maybe we put too much emphasis on experience.  Most of the men and women in Congress are ‘experienced’, but they haven’t had a great record of accomplishment for the past ten years or so.  Maybe we need a few more outsiders!

Can the McCain-Palin ticket win?  I don’t know.  But regardless of the outcome of this election, consider the choice we might face in 2012 or 2016:  Hillary Clinton or Sarah Palin.  Wouldn’t that be something to behold?

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This Also Makes it Worth-While!

September 7, 2008
Our front yard -- September 5, 2008.

Our front yard -- September 5, 2008.

Friday was a pretty good day up here on the Plateau.  We didn’t get the rain that the weather people said we might get, but it was cooler than it has been.  I was able to get the front yard mowed, and, if I may say so, I thought the yard looked pretty good.

Betsy took the above picture after I had finished mowing.  You can see most of our large rose bed with the lawn in the background.  The roses are putting on a pretty good display now, and both of us enjoy them very much.

The rose bed still needs some work — the soil still needs to be improved and we still have some problems with erosion.  But the roses are doing much better than we dared hope two years ago when we started the rose beds in the front of the house.

I must admit that keeping up with the yard and flowers can be work at times.  There are days when I ache all over.  But I’ve long thought that getting my hands dirty while helping things grow was good therapy.  And on days when the yard looks as good as it did  on Friday, I know it’s all worth-while!

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Mister Mom

September 6, 2008
A male cardinal feeding a juvenile, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. September 4, 2008.

A male cardinal feeding a juvenile, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. September 4, 2008.

I’ve written about Betsy’s infatuation with birds a couple of times now, and I have to admit she’s getting more and more interested with each passing day.  Betsy can sit watching the birds for hours at a time.  She tries to get me interested, but I don’t have that much patience.

As Betsy has added different feeders and different types of seed she’s attracted many different birds — hummingbirds, bluebirds, titmice, chickadees, sparrows, wrens, flickers, and cardinals.  There are also blue jays; Betsy wasn’t too keen on them until she read that blue jays frighten off squirrels.  (Squirrels can really do a number on our flower beds!)

We can sit on our couch and watch the birds at four feeders on our deck.  A couple of days ago we watched a male cardinal with a young juvenile.  The juvenile got to the deck railing, but didn’t seem to know what to do next.  After a few minutes the male cardinal started feeding the juvenile — the male would peck up some seeds and then take them over to the juvenile and put them in its beak.  I couldn’t get a picture of the feeding, but I did get the above picture of the two of them.

Cardinals will be here year round, and although I know the juvenile will grow up I hope he’ll stop by for a visit now and then.  I wonder if Mister Mom Cardinal will be able to get some rest once the juvenile has grown?

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This Helps Make It All Worth-While

September 5, 2008
Autumn Buglar Iris, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. September 4, 2008.

Autumn Buglar Iris, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. September 4, 2008.

I’ve talked about the ‘joys’ of gardening several times — there always seems to be something that needs to be done.  Today I had to mow the leaves on the lower side of the house.  It’s been so dry here this year that the leaves are falling off the trees and it’s only early September!  We usually have some beautiful autumn color in October, but I don’t know if we’ll have many leaves left on the trees by then!!

But in spite of the work and aggravations there are many joys to working in the yard and garden.  I’ve read that it’s good exercise to work in the garden and the aches and pains I sometimes feel cause me to agree with that.

But as I said there are many joys.  Our roses are starting to put on a beautiful autumn display now that the weather is a little  cooler.  And the picture above shows another joy.  The first of our reblooming iris bloomed  yesterday.  We have many iris that bloom in the spring and we enjoy them immensely.  But some of our iris bloom again in the fall, giving us one more display of color to enjoy in the yard.  They help make all the work worthwhile!

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Yard Work Is Never Done

September 4, 2008
Edger blocks used in one of our original flower beds.

Edger blocks used in one of our original flower beds.

When Betsy and I first saw the place that is now our home, we fell in love with the house.  The yard was okay — the landscaping consisted primarily of grass in the yard and an overgrown rock garden.  That didn’t really bother us, since we would only be able to get to the house a couple of weekends a month.

We moved to the Glade in 2003, but since I was still working, we didn’t get to do much landscaping.  But by the spring of 2004 we were ready to begin some landscaping of our own.

One of our first projects was to build some circular flower beds around our lamp post  and two trees in our front yard.  We used edger blocks to build the beds as you can see in the picture above.  The edger blocks seemed to do the job and we were able to build the beds fairly easily and quickly.

Our next project was much bigger — to control erosion on the side of the house we built a long flower bed into the side of the hill.  For that project we used retaining wall blocks.  It took us over a year to finish that bed, but it was finally done and we were happy with the looks of the bed.

Our first rebuilt bed.

Our first rebuilt bed.

But now I have to go back to those original beds.  Over the past four years the edger blocks have spread apart and even fallen a time or two.  So now I’m in the process of replacing the edger blocks with retaining wall blocks in those three beds.  I’ve got one done, as you can see from this second picture.  Two more to go — I wonder will need to be done after that?

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The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist

September 3, 2008
The organ of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Savannah. June 24, 2008.

The organ of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Savannah. June 24, 2008.

When Betsy and I were planning our anniversary trip we did some internet research on our proposed destinations, especially Savannah since neither of us have ever been there before.  I knew about Fort Pulaski and I knew I wanted to visit the fort.  I knew that Savannah was a very historic and a very beautiful city, but that was about it.

One of the Savannah attractions mentioned in the AAA online tour book was the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.  “This cathedral is one of the largest cathedrals in the South, and features marble railings, floors and altar.  In addition there are murals, stained-glass windows, large carved-wood stations of the cross, and a solid white-oak 2,081 pipe organ.”

Both Betsy and I decided the Cathedral would be a good place to visit.  Our tour of Savannah took us past the Cathedral, so we got a good idea of how to get back.  After our tour we drove back to the Cathedral and went in.

The Cathedral was everything the tour book said it would be and more.  It was physically beautiful and spiritually inspiring.  We would highly recommend this attraction to anyone visiting Savannah.

To see more of the Cathedral click HERE.

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A New Man in Betsy’s Life!

September 2, 2008
Hurricane Gustav coming ashore. September 1, 2008.

Hurricane Gustav coming ashore. September 1, 2008.

Betsy has a new man in her life!

I didn’t realize, until after we were married, what a ‘weather’ person Betsy is.  She is absolutely fascinated by weather — all kinds of weather.  She has several weather widgets on her computer desktop.  I can’t count the number of weather sites she has bookmarked in her internet browser.  But I do know that the Weather Channel is her favorite television channel!

I must admit that I found Betsy’s fascination with weather to be slightly amusing.  Huricanes, blizzards, rainstorms and floods all get her attention.  Of course, since she used to live in New Orleans, anything effecting that city really gets her attention.  She was delighted to find that DirecTV was broadcasting a local New Orleans station with hurricane coverage nationwide.  She watched that quite a bit Sunday evening.

Still, I didn’t think too much about Gustav until very early yesterday morning.  About 4 o’clock I heard a noise in the living room and woke up to find my bride watching New Orleans television coverage of Gustav!!!

Gustav will still cause a lot of rain in Louisiana and Texas, but I for one am glad the main infatuation is over.  The next hurricane is Hanna, so that doesn’t worry me so much.  But they’ve just announced that hurricane Ike is on the way.  I wonder how much sleep I’ll get when he gets here?

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Heroics on Mount Tai

September 1, 2008
I'm on the left of this picture taken in July, 1990.

I

I was looking through some pictures yesterday when I came across the one above.  That picture was taken in 1990 at Tai Shan (Mount Tai) in China.  I was in China as part of an exchange  program between a Chinese university and Heidelberg College, the college at which I was teaching.

I had forgotten about the waterfall in the background — I guess I can’t add it to our waterfall ‘collection’ since I didn’t know Betsy back then.  The young man on the right is ‘Joe’, our guide from the Foreign Affairs Office of Tianjin Normal University.  The other two men are colleagues of mine — Richard Cordell taught Chemistry at Heidelberg while Mel Cassler taught Mathematics.  I taught Computer Science.

Our hosts had taken us to visit Mount Tai in Shandong Province.  Mount Tai is one of five sacred mountains in China, and is often called the “First Mountain Under Heaven”.  For most of China’s recorded history emperors went to Mount Tai to hold ceremonies of worship to the gods of heaven and earth.  The mountain contains 22 temples, over 100 other buildings and more than 1800 carved stones.  It’s an area rich in cultural history and is listed  as both a world natural and cultural heritage by UNESCO.

We were taken about half-way up the mountain to Mid-Heaven Gate, where we caught a cable-car to the top of the mountain.  While we were at the  top, ‘Joe’ asked if anyone would like to walk down the mountain to the bus rather than take the cable-car back.  He said if we made it down the 5,000+ stairs we would be made ‘Heroes of the Peoples Republic’.

All the younger members of our group declined “Joe’s” offer, but Richard, Mel and I took him up on it.  The picture above was taken after we got back down to the bus.

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