Archive for the ‘American Life’ Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Happy Thanksgiving

November 26, 2009

A photo from the internet.

When I was teaching in China, my students always wanted to know what was the ‘most American’ holiday.  After some probing, I decided that what they really wanted to know was what holiday was most uniquely American.

Many countries celebrate Christmas (it was even celebrated in China) and every nation has a special celebration for its independence.  So I told them that the most American holiday was Thanksgiving.  Part of my reason was the historical background of the holiday and part was the fact that this holiday was about families and being thankful or the blessings of our lives.  But how would you have answered their question?

On this Thanksgiving Day I would like to wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving.  Betsy and I are heading to the mountains of east Tennessee to work off our feast by doing some hiking and visiting waterfalls.  I’m not sure if we’ll have internet access while we’re gone, but we’ll be back home Sunday and I’ll catch up with all of you then.

I would also like to share with you this Thanksgiving prayer:

Almighty God, giver of all good things:
We thank you for the natural majesty and beauty of this land.  They restore us, though we often destroy them.

We thank you for the great resources of this nation.  They make us rich, though we often exploit them.

We thank you for the torch of liberty which has been lit in this land.  It has drawn people from every nation, though we have often hidden from its light.

We thank you for the faith we have inherited in all its rich variety.  It sustains our life, though we have been faithless again and again.

Help us, O Lord, to finish the good work here begun.  Strengthen our efforts to blot out ignorance and prejudice, and to abolish poverty and crime.  And hasten the day when all our people, with many voices in one united chorus, will glorify your holy Name.  Amen.

— The Book of Common Prayer

Tags:, ,
Posted in American Life | 12 Comments »

29 Years Ago: Who Shot J. R.?

November 21, 2009

Who shot J. R. Ewing? Anyone who was around in 1980 and above the age of about six remembers that question and the speculation that it raised.

Dallas, a slick soap opera about the private lives and public shenanigans of the dysfunctional, oil-rich Ewing family,  was America’s hottest prime time series in 1980.  Jock Ewing, the family patriarch, had two sons, J. R. and Bobby.  J. R. was the character millions of viewers loved to hate — a charming and unscrupulous Texas oilman who didn’t let little things like morality or the law get in his way of acquiring whatever he wanted.

An unidentified gunman shot the scheming J. R. in the final episode of the show’s second season, but Dallas fans had to wait nearly eight months to find out who fired the shot.  First there was a summer of reruns, followed by a seven-week actors’ strike.  The first three episodes of the third season were filled with false leads about the identify of the shooter, but on November 21, 1980, the truth was revealed.  The shooter was J. R.’s sister-in-law and mistress, who shot him in a fit of anger.  This show earned the biggest audience share in television history up to that point — 41 million of the nearly 78 million households in the U. S. watched the show.

The huge ratings generated by the Who Shot J. R.? stunt helped popularize the practice of ending a television season with a cliffhanger.

Tags:, ,
Posted in American Life | 12 Comments »

How Brave Am I?

October 24, 2009
Our side yard, Fairfield Glade. October 23, 2009.

Our side yard, Fairfield Glade. October 23, 2009.

I’ve always felt that I was pretty good at handling life’s little setbacks and disappointments.  I thought I could handle any adversity, but I’m beginning to have second thoughts.

As you know, Betsy is in Maggie Valley, North Carolina, with her childhood girlfriends.  She didn’t want me to be bored while she was gone, so she left me with a fairly extensive ‘honey-do’ list.  The two biggest items on the list were mowing the lawn (and picking up the leaves) and stacking the firewood that we were expecting to be delivered.

I finished the lawn on Thursday and it looked pretty good, if I do say so myself.  And just before it got dark on Thursday, the firewood was delivered and dumped in the side yard.

Unfortunately wood wasn’t the only thing that came Thursday.  Thursday night brought high winds and rain which continued off and on until Friday afternoon.  When the rain finally ended I went out, picked up the many branches that had fallen  during the storm, and faced my dilemma.

As you can see from the picture above there is a lot of wood to be stacked, and there also a lot of leaves on the ground.  There’s more wood than I can stack in a single day and the leaves are wet, so it’s going to take more than a day to clean them all up.

So the question — is do I have the necessary courage to face Betsy with an incomplete ‘honey-do list’?  What do you think her reaction will be?  Do you think I’ll end up in the dog house?  Would it do any good to ask Betsy to extend her vacation so I have more time to finish the list?

Tags:, ,
Posted in American Life | 16 Comments »

99 Months and Counting

September 24, 2009
The bride and groom, Knoxville, Tennessee. June 23, 2001.

The bride and groom, Knoxville, Tennessee. June 23, 2001.

I married the beautiful woman above 99 months ago.  We  had a whirl-wind romance — we met in January, had our first date in March and were married in June.  But it was obvious that God was at work in our lives.

We realized there were some disadvantages to getting married at our age — pushing 60.  One disadvantage was that we most likely wouldn’t have as many anniversaries to celebrate as we would have if we were younger.  So we decided we would celebrate monthiversaries as well.  Our monthly celebrations aren’t particularly fancy — last night we had dinner at Cracker Barrel — but it is a  a time when we can appreciate the blessings we have in one another.

We still make a bigger deal out of anniversaries, but our monthiversaries are special times for us.  Yesterday we celebrated 99 months.  We hope there are many, many more to come.

Tags:, ,
Posted in American Life | 21 Comments »

Shopping with the ‘Old Folks’

August 27, 2009
George at Cafe Uno in Maryville, Tennessee. July 23, 2001.

George at Cafe Uno in Maryville, Tennessee. July 23, 2001.

It’s amazing how time flies!  It wasn’t too many years ago that I did most of my grocery shopping on Saturdays.  When my first wife, Elizabeth, became too ill to do the shopping, I would buy groceries on Saturday mornings since I didn’t have to work then.  I continued to do my grocery shopping on Saturdays after Elizabeth died.

Now Betsy and I do our grocery shopping on Wednesday.  Why, you ask?  Because our local Kroger store gives senior citizens a discount on Wednesday.  And if that’s not enough incentive, they also provide FREE COFFEE to seniors.

But recently there has been a change.  It wasn’t all that long ago that I got my feelings hurt if the checkout person asked ‘Do you qualify for the senior discount?’.  Now that same question makes me feel pretty good!!!

I’d like to think that I don’t look as old as a majority of the people in the store on Wednesdays, but perhaps I’m just indulging in wishful thinking.  I guess I might as well admit that I’m now one of those ‘old folks’.  But there is a bright side — on Wednesdays the store plays Big Band music over their sound system.  That’s a big improvement over other days of the week!!

Tags:, ,
Posted in American Life | 14 Comments »

Scenic Sunday # 51: We Hold These Truths

July 5, 2009
Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. November 18, 2000.

Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. November 18, 2000.

This is my post for the Scenic Sunday meme, which shares beautiful scenes from around the world.  To see more Scenic Sunday posts, or to join and show your own pictures, click HERE.

The picture above may be more historic than scenic, but I think it is appropriate for this holiday weekend.  This is the room in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, in which the Declaration of Independence was signed.  That document laid out the fundamental promise and obligation of a new nation.

… We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. …

Two hundred and thirty three years later, work still needs to be done to reach that ideal.  But progress has been made and is being made.  The words of July 4, 1776, still define and animate the nation today.

Tags:, , ,
Posted in American Life | 12 Comments »

Happy Fourth of July

July 4, 2009
Fireworks at Opsail 2000, Norfolk, Virginia. June, 2000.

Fireworks at Opsail 2000, Norfolk, Virginia. June, 2000.

Happy Fourth of July!  I hope you are having a wonderful weekend.

What’s the Fourth of July without fireworks?  Since we were gone most of the day Friday helping my parents I didn’t have a great deal of time to go through my photo archives to find Fourth of July fireworks.  But I did find the photo above.  It was made in June of 2000 at Opsail 2000 in Norfolk, Virginia.

We’ll probably watch Knoxville’s concert and fireworks show on television.  The Knoxville Symphony is quite good and they have a very good fireworks display.  But  I’ll admit that I’m showing my age, especially when I remember the Fourth of July celebrations of years past.

For example, consider the concerts we hear nowadays.  They seem to be dominated by Broadway tunes, popular music or rock and roll.  Now there’s nothing particularly wrong with any of those, but whatever happened to Stars and Stripes Forever and the other patriotic songs we used to hear so much more often?

While I was out in the yard a couple of days ago I heard This Is My Country on my iPod.  Now I’m showing my age, but that song, by Don Raye and Al Jacobs, sums up what I feel about this country — not just on the Fourth of July, but every day of the year:

What difference if I hail from North or South
Or from the East or West
My heart is full of love for all of these.
I only know I swell with pride and deep within my breast,
I thrill to see old glory paint the breeze!

This is my country! Land of my birth!
This is my country! Grandest on earth!
I pledge thee my allegiance, America, the bold,
For this is my country to have and to hold.

Tags:, ,
Posted in American Life | 9 Comments »

Meeting Old Friends For The First Time

June 13, 2009
Leedra, Betsy and Shelley. Cleveland, Tennessee. June 12, 2009.

Leedra, Betsy and Shelley. Cleveland, Tennessee. June 12, 2009.

Yesterday was a very special day for Betsy and me.  We got to meet a couple of our blogging buddies in person!

The picture above shows Betsy with Leedra (left) of Leedra’s Photos For Fun and Shelley of Building A Log Cabin.  We all have been visiting each other’s blog for many months.  Leedra lives here in Tennessee not too far from us, but Shelley lives in Michigan.  Shelley and her husband Greg came down to Chattanooga on business, so a get-together was arranged.  We all met in Cleveland, Tennessee, for brunch.

As soon as we met it was like a gathering of old friends.  We talked, and talked and talked.  I’m sure we ate somewhere along the line, but it was the fellowship that was  most important.

We’re hoping that Shelley and Greg will soon get back to Tennessee when they can stay longer.  Betsy and I are hoping that we can soon get up to Michigan as well.  Shelley and Greg have a beautiful log cabin in northern Michigan and Betsy and I know that there are some beautiful waterfalls up there.

Tags:, ,
Posted in American Life | 10 Comments »

Memorial Day

May 25, 2009
The Tomb of the Unknown, Arlington. July, 1992.

The Tomb of the Unknown, Arlington. July, 1992.

The picture above is a scan from a photograph of the Tomb of the Unknowns I took in 1992.  The original photograph is now very washed out, so I converted it to sepia.  It’s not a very good picture, but I wanted to include it in this post for Memorial  Day.

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service.  There are many stories as to the actual beginnings of Decoration Day, but Waterloo, N. Y., was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson.  There is  also evidence that organized women’s groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War.

Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868, by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, and was first observed on May 30th of that same year.  The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873.  By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states, although the South refused to acknowledge the day until after World War I, when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war.

The holiday has changed in many ways over the years.  In 1971 Congress changed the date to the last Monday in May to ensure a three day weekend.  As such, Memorial Day is now celebrated as much for the unofficial  beginning of summer as it is for a day of remembrance.

So I hope you will enjoy any special activities that you have planned for the day.  But I also hope you will take a moment to remember those who sacrificed so much to give us the freedom that we enjoy.

Tags:,
Posted in American Life | 12 Comments »

The Honest Scrap Award

February 12, 2009

hosnet_scrap

Several weeks ago my blogger friend Kathleen honored me with the Honest Scrap award.  It’s taken me longer than it should to respond to her kindness, but here goes:

The first rule is to “list 10 honest things about yourself — make it interesting, even if it means digging deep”.  I’m not sure how interesting this is, but here are my ten.

1)  I grew up on a small farm in northwestern Indiana.  I was in 4-H and one year exhibited a blue-ribbon Jersey heifer at the County Fair.

2) When I was in the third grade I asked Santa Claus to bring me a set of encyclopedias.  He did, and I found the World Book Encyclopedia under the Christmas tree.  I forget how many volumes there were in the set, but I read my way through them.

3) I was one of the first people to drive a Mustang.  When Ford introduced the Mustang I was the representative of the Indiana State High School Press Association representative at the roll-out.  I spent three days in Detroit and got to drive a Mustang on a test track.

4)  I’ve admired Robert E. Lee for about as long as I can remember.  My high school term paper on him was 52 pages long.  Some of my classmates complained about the 12-page length requirement in the assignment.

5) After my freshman year at Manchester College I couldn’t find a summer job, so I went to summer school instead.  I graduated in eleven quarters.

6) I majored in mathematics and taught college-level mathematics for 15 years.  During the summer of 1982 the Dean of the College where I taught asked me to teach a computer science course.  My qualifications?  The junior high school  my son attended had a computer.

7) I resigned my teaching position at Heidelberg College on the day my daughter graduated in order to take a job teaching in China.  I spent a year teaching in Tianjin.

8) During the 30 years I taught in colleges, I commuted to campus by bicycle.

9) Many of my Chinese students collected stamps and they got me started as a stamp collector.  I collect the stamps of China, Hong Kong (several of my students moved there), Great Britain (my daughter studied in London for a semester), and the U.S.

10)  I first saw my beautiful bride because of a snow ‘storm’.  The services at the Episcopal Church in Hendersonville were cancelled on the first Sunday I was in Tennessee with my new job because of a quarter-inch of snow.  So I went to the Methodist Church with my parents, where their new associate pastor, Rev. Betsy, was introduced.  The rest, as they say, is history.

The rules say that I am to select 7 bloggers who I feel embody the spirit of Honest Scrap.  But I’ve gotten to know many more of you than that who are deserving of the award.  So if you would like to be an Honest Scrap honoree, please consider yourself selected.

Tags:, ,
Posted in American Life | 16 Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »