Long Winters Nap

A cold Sunday afternoon calls for keeping warm and taking a long nap on a warm bed. Chris dozed for a while when I went to get groceries, Kelly fell asleep while watching TV, and the cats, of course consider sleep a lifestyle. Beanie couldn't take the light in the bedroom so he covered his eyes while napping. The temperature is 15 degrees and falling, so we'll pile on some extra covers tonight!

Winter Has Arrived

And I am so not happy about it! Though I must say, that we've made it through December and January with relatively little grief, and I really shouldn't complain. We had several inches of snow last weekend - enough to send the Tri-State area into a panic - including schools closing, dire warnings from the weather forecasters, and minor traffic accidents everywhere. Crazy.

We trekked out to West Chester last Sunday to help clear the long driveway at the homestead then bundled up to take a snowy hike out into the fields and woods behind the house. The landscape becomes so gray and brown at this time of the year, it somehow takes the fun out of photography for me. I love my world to be filled with color, so a snowy day isn't my idea of good time for a photo walk. Nonetheless, we found a lot of beauty in the trees, ponds and fields. After about an hour I was ready for the warmth of the house - brrrr.

I guess it's time to start my countdown to Spring again. The first day of Spring is March 20th, so according to my count, that's 51 days to go!

Just a Taste

After work today I met up with Matt and Emily (the betrothed) and Viki, Emily's mother. We had a 1 o'clock appointment at Servatii's Pastry and Deli Shop, to taste wedding cake and look at their designs. And do they ever have choices! Evidently their pastry chef is a Master Pastry something-or-another, having won numerous awards for his cake creations. The manager brought out samples of 4 cakes: chocolate with raspberry filling, spice with cream cheese filling, white cake with strawberry filling, and a yellow lemon cake (my personal favorite). We sampled while flipping through the photo album of cakes ... dozens and dozens of gorgeous cakes, some simple, some elegant, some with fountains and on and on. Matt and Em will be having a smallish wedding with about 100 guests, so the cake pictured above is far too big for what they need, but it is one of the 3 styles that Emily narrowed it down to. The colors would probably be light pink and sage green to match the colors in the flowers and dresses. We were encouraged to make a final decision within the next 2 - 3 weeks as June is a popular month for weddings. This whole wedding thing still hardly seems real....

Air Force Museum

Sunday was much the same kind of day as Saturday was - chilly, rainy, gray. We needed to find an indoor event or place to visit, so we chose the Air Force Museum in Dayton. It turned out to be exactly a one-hour drive from home, so we arrived about 1:45 and stayed until it closed at 5 p.m. It's such an enormous place, and there's so much to see, that we barely made it through all three hangars by closing time. Next time, we need to go in nice weather so we can also tour the outdoor exhibits and planes - we missed that this time around.

The three hangars represent the early years of flight (up to and including WW II); the Korean and Vietnam era; and present day flight, including the space program. I have no idea how many planes are in the buildings all together, but everywhere you look there are planes, planes and more planes; wing to wing, on the floor, and many smaller aircraft suspended from the high ceilings. There were also some special exhibits - an art show, a Bob Hope display, a Holocaust survivors memorial, and a depiction of life during the Cold War. It seemed that, for every display that I stopped to look and and read about, there were 2 or 3 that I missed. Too much information to take in on one visit! We'll definitely go back sooner this time - it's been years since we were there before, and since it's free admission (yes, as in No Charge to get in!) we should go more often.

What did I find most interesting? I love WWI and WWII history, so the first hangar is always my favorite. The planes are smaller, more colorful and tend to feel less intimidating, whereas the aircraft from the 1950's to the present are much more massive, more powerful and somehow more scary to me. The other thoughts that I had: how did they get all these planes into these hangars without crashing into one another?? How did they get the B-52 bomber up on cement blocks, for Pete's sake?? How did they suspend the aircraft from the ceilings? Every once in a while, I had a quick thought along the lines of "what would happen if that plane fell right now?" and I had to quickly stop thinking about it! And I'm always amazed when I think about how those huge bombers and jets are able to get enough airspeed to actually get off the ground! (I know, I'm easily amazed and amused, aren't I?! I hear you.) Oh, and the last thing that was somewhat curious - an Amish family wandering the exhibits, studying the dispays. They looked very out of place against the missiles and the fighter jets in the last hangar.

Good Morning, America!

I can't believe we did this. We set the alarm for 6 a.m. on Saturday to go to a live broadcast of "Good Morning, America" at Jungle Jim's. It was dark, cold and pouring rain as we pulled into the parking lot. There were a lot of other crazy "foodies" there too, some in costumes, some carrying big colorful signs, old and young .... they were packed into the aisles in the Seafood Department. (It couldn't have been Fresh Produce, or the Dairy aisle - foods I don't mind being around ... but seafood?! Ugh. To make matters worse, we ended up standing smack dab next to an enormous tank of live tilapia - big ugly fish, bulging eyes, opening and closing their mouths up against the glass.)

Evidently they chose this part of the store because it has an elevated deck which was perfect for the film crew. They could overlook that entire area and have a perfect view of shoppers jammed in the aisles, as well as the nautical theme of that particular section. We stayed for about half an hour of the GMA show, during which they cut to our location 2 times - we were told when we were "live" so we could yell and wave to America.

We heard from a friend at church that there were photos posted on-line on Jungle Jim's site (www.junglejims.com) - he had seen Chris in a couple of the pictures. And sure enough, there he was, with me peeking out from behind his shoulder! Proof that we were crazy enough to get up at the crack of dawn to be there.

Pool Sharks

One of the most surprising things I've seen in a long time - my mother shooting pool on Christmas Day! We had finished our wonderful dinner and everyone was scattered around the house, doing different things. I realized that I hadn't seen Mom in a while so I went looking for her. Thought maybe she was taking a little nap somewhere - at her age, she does love a good long snooze later in the afternoon. So where did I find here? Downstairs in the family room, taking a lesson from young Abby at the pool table! I'd say they were having quite a good time, with Abby being a patient teacher and Mom being a quick learner. Ages 8 and 84, playing pool. Quite a sight! By all accounts they were pretty evenly matched and a good time was had by both.

A Thought For The New Year

Not a New Years Resolution (I don't do those!), but food for thought. Life really is about people - living with them, working with them, loving them in spite of themselves; and hopefully about understanding them and meeting them where they're at. This is from another blog that I read, authored by Dave Workman at Vineyard Community Church, our church home.

My friend Mark Lutz is a counselor. I'm sure he has great fun trying to figure out what's wrong with me. The other day he gave me a new slant on this idea of being outward-focused. He said, “One of the easiest things for me to do is pass judgment on others. ‘I wonder why that homeless person won't be responsible and get a job.' Or ‘If that person had stayed in school, they could have more opportunities.' Or ‘That ex-con's life is hard because he's getting what he deserves.'

Mark told me that one thing that makes us judge others is our self focus. He said, “I judge other people's actions and assume motives based on what I would have done. For me to end up homeless would mean that I squandered the opportunities and advantages given to me. For me to have ended up in jail would mean that I turned my back on my upbringing in the church. For me to be mentally ill today would mean that I declined God's invitation for growth & healing.”

And then he offered, “But not everyone has had the life I've had. Not everyone has grown up with parents that instilled values in them and took them to church. Some people had much more pain in their lives than I did, making self-medicating behaviors more enticing to them. Some people have organic medical predispositions to things like depression, alcoholism or schizophrenia. The causes for their circumstances are more involved and complex than simply a lack of faith or a matter of choice.”

He added, “As I become more outward-focused I learn that my life is not the standard by which all other lives will be judged. I still believe in personal responsibility. Though we didn't choose all the garbage that got dumped in our yard, it's our responsibility to do something with it. But here's what I've decided: I'm going to be outwardly gracious. And I'm going to take all that energy I'm saving from not judging them and use it to help them stand.”

Wow. I like that…that was a great counseling session for me.

Having A Fit

Kelly and I went to Bridal & Formal this afternoon so she could be measured for a bridesmaid dress - that is, the dress chosen by Emily for her bridesmaids. Yes, as far as we know, the June 2nd wedding of Matt and Emily is still on. Kelly's excited to be included in the wedding party.

After spending 20 minutes in this bridal shop, watching all the hustle and bustle of brides-to-be and their merry friends, I'm convinced that the whole wedding industry is one big racket. These girls and their parents are so geared up for the huge wedding, the great big white dress, the gaggle of bridesmaids .... big money in this business. The focus is in all the wrong places as far as I can see. However,I digress, sorry. Here's the dress Kelly tried on - it's the correct style, but the color will be a light dusty rose rather than this cranberry (?) color.

We've paid for the dress, they'll order it and call when it's in, then we have to take it someplace to be altered. (They order the closest correct size, but they don't have anything to do with alterations.) I somehow have a feeling that this is just the beginning of our contribution to the wedding industry this year!

He's Back

I was just scrolling through my Christmas pictures, sort of re-living the festivities of Christmas Day, deciding which pictures should stay, which I should delete. As I was doing some editing I came to this photo of my Mom, taken at the homestead in Liberty Twp. And there he was again. If you look closely at this picture, you'll see that strange guy in the background, this time (obviously) trying to disguise himself with a feeble looking beard. WHAT IN THE WORLD?? How is this guy slipping in and out of our family events, with nobody noticing him? He was back in the shadows, hoping not to be seen, I guess. And he wasn't there when we had dinner a bit later, otherwise we'd have noticed him for certain. He must have left the house sometime between gift-opening and dinnertime.

Ma, have you counted all your silver and checked your good jewelry since Christmas Day? This creep might have made off with some of your good stuff when we weren't paying attention. And maybe consider changing the code on your security system? I have a feeling this guy knows all the tricks. Keep on the lookout - he may show up unexpectedly any time.

Best Buddies

I mentioned that we'd bought a big new comfortable dog bed, mostly for our queen doggie, Tandie to rest her old bones. As you can see, the bed is being well used by Baby Kitty and Beanie. (I woke them up, can you tell by the way they're glaring at me?)

Downtown

I've never been a big fan of downtown Cincinnati, or downtown anywhere, actually. But when we decided to hit the sights before Christmas, I really had fun. We walked our legs off for 2 1/2 hours on a chilly Sunday afternoon. There were families taking in the Christmas displays, overly-enthused Bengals fans walking to the stadium, and all sorts of crazy people trying to ice skate on Fountain Square. We saw the annual train display, fancy store windows, horse drawn carriages and the fountain (without water, at this point). Downtown Cincinnati takes on a whole new perspective when seen from the observation deck of Carew Tower! The ice skaters looked like little ants, and I loved seeing all the old German rowhouses from above. Lots of interesting old buildings with wonderful architectural detail, old Rookwood tile, carved stone. The world is certainly a different place when you have a camera in hand!

These were just a few of my favorites. As you can imagine, we took dozens of pictures between the two of us. And yes, I would be willing to go downtown again on another photo walk, it wasn't so bad after all!

New Years Day

New Years Day dawned gray, windy and chilly. Evidently Old Man Winter has come to Cincinnati! We got out of the house by mid-morning and had a quick breakfast, stopped at the Post Office and headed down to Union Terminal (a.k.a. Cincinnati Museum Center). Union Terminal is home to several organizations: The Cincinnati History Museum, the Childrens Museum, the Museum of Natural History and Science, and the OmniMax Theater. There are also frequent special exhibits to visit, and if you're ever going somewhere via Amtrak, this is the place to catch your train. Union Terminal was built in 1931 and has enormous mosaic murals depicting life in the Ohio River Valley, from frontier times to the early 1900's. Countless visitors have passed through the terminal with its huge rotunda, travelling by rail in the days before air travel was the norm.

We've been wanting to see the Titanic Artifacts exhibit, and we'd also heard about the new movie showing at the OmniMax, "Hurricane on the Bayou." We bought our tickets for both and went downstairs to find the Titanic exhibit. The lady at the entrance gave us lengthy dire instructions about not touching the glass cases ("shrieking alarms"), no cameras (smiled politely while we stashed them away in our backpack); and for heaven's sake, no gum, drinks, food or cell phones. The exhibit was good - very factual, everything labelled and explained, really bringing the passengers and the experience to life. As we moved from room to room studying the exhibit, one thought impressed me over and over: so many of the passengers never intended to be on that ocean liner; there was a big coal strike at the time that caused many of the other Trans-Atlantic liners to cancel their crossings. Many of those who died had not been on that trip by choice, but by default. I was also struck by the big differences between First and Second Class vs. Third Class. So many of the Third Class passengers never had a chance to survive....

The movie was not quite what we expected. The footage of the bayous and people were wonderful, and the music was great but we hadn't anticipated the environmental message that was the real theme of the movie. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for saving coastal wetlands in Louisiana. But somehow, "man" can never do the right thing with our natural resources ... Anyhow, it's always a treat to go to an IMAX movie even though I get sooo dizzy as soon as I walk in. I had to fight the urge to close my eyes much of the time.

We're looking forward to many more short trips this year - Chris' co-worker gave him a book called "Ohio Oddities" as a Christmas gift so we'll use that to find some out-of-the-way fun places on the weekends.