Monthly Archives: August 2011

August 13, 2011 · 2:57 am

August 2011 movie marathon

Eric and I went to the local Blockbusters early in the week. Amazingly enough, it was still open. We picked up a number of used videos.

We had some challenges – the DVD player downstairs in Cleveland Heights is definitely deceased – it is not pining for fjords or anywhere else – it is definitely an ex-DVD player.

We started trying to watch The King’s Speech. It skipped and finally froze about 40 minutes into the movie. Then we tried Pirates of the Caribbean 2. It too skipped. Shortly after we decided that we now had two DVDs to return, Eric remembered that the problem was most likely with the player. Tricia came downstairs shortly after that and, in response to our whining, said, “Yes, it has been broken for some time. I never use it.”

Eric then brought down his DVD player – which he will take to Bowling Green and the marathon began in earnest.

We doubled back to The King’s Speech  and Pirates 2. True Grit (Coen brothers version) started yesterday, followed by Stalag 17 with The A-Team next in line. Today began with The Visitor. A break followed during which I listened to a rather pathetic effort by the Steelers – they lost their first preseason game – and the score could have been worse. Harry Potter 6  is now being viewed.

An interesting mix of classics, newbies, and fluff along with some incredible performances.

Tomorrow I head to Louisville and will need to take some with me to watch while I hang out at the Shire near the Ohio.

See you along the Trail.

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August 11, 2011 · 5:10 am

Boredom

Nothing captures my interest
as I surf through channels,
more than I can count;
The King’s Speech,
Pirates of the Caribbean,
and other new to me used DVDs sit useless:
the player is dead –
it must be time for bed.

11 August 2011
Cleveland Heights, OH

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August 11, 2011 · 3:13 am

Ribbons proclaim hope on September 11

Today I sent a 9-11 “Ribbon of Hope” to Ground Zero to mark the tenth anniversary of September 11. I used the online option.

To commemorate the anniversary, Prepare New York and partner groups are sponsoring the Ribbons of Hope project. People are invited to bring a ribbon to Battery Park in New York City between the hours of noon on Friday, September 9 and dusk on Sunday, September 11. On the ribbon, write a thought or prayer or hope for the healing of the city and for the whole world. In Battery Park, ribbons of all colors, shapes, sizes and textures will be joined to form a large tapestry symbolic of the marvelous mosaic that is New York.

How can I participate?
Individuals, families, groups and organizations can gather ribbons in neighborhood settings, in clubs and congregations and can then designate a messenger to come to lower Manhattan and afix the ribbons to the tapestry. People of all ages can participate. There is no fixed size or shape or width or length. The diversity of ribbons received is a large part of the point. This walk of healing to downtown Manhattan is symbolic in that it reverses the fear-filled path that so many experienced as they fled Ground Zero a decade ago.

I don’t live in New York, how can I participate?
People from across the country and around the world are invited to also collect ribbons in the weeks leading up to 9/11 and send them to Intersections International. They will be included in the tapestry as well. Send ribbons to:

Intersections International
274 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10001

Be sure they arrive at Intersections by September 7. Include your name and contact information, the name of your organization and any interesting story about making your ribbons that you’d like to share with others.

You can also participate by “sending” ribbons online through Groundswell.

Find additional ideas for observing the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001.

See you along the Trail.

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August 9, 2011 · 3:31 am

An era ends

Friends once commented that I have some amazing pictures of sunrises at Ghost Ranch. I had to correct them.

I have no amazing pictures of Ghost Ranch sunrises – no drab pictures of Ghost Ranch sunrises – I simply have no pictures of any sort of Ghost Ranch sunrises.

I do have a number of pictures of sunsets at Ghost Ranch including this one from the summer of 2008 – some folks may think some of them are nice pictures.

I post this picture today because Eric is on his way home from the ranch. He has completed his fourth year on the College Staff. He and friends drove to Tulsa yesterday; he flies to Cleveland tomorrow.

The summers at the ranch have been times of great joy and a good, good learning experience for him. I was able to get to see him three of the years he was there – actually I was able to be there for two weeks during two of those summers.

However, since he is scheduled to graduate in December, this will be his last summer – at least as a member of the college staff. And that brings some tugging at my heart strings. I am sure I will be back to the ranch – it seems likely that Eric will be back to the ranch – there are possibilities that we may be there together sometime.

But . . . an era has ended . . . life, as life always does, moves on. And as the sun sets on this part of life, I dab a tear, give thanks for what was, cherish the memories, and look forward to what the next sunrise brings (even though it will be well into the sky before this night owl sees it).

See you along the Trail.

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August 9, 2011 · 3:20 am

Ownership

Headed on the road again. This time to Cleveland to hang out with Tricia and Eric. A trip to Louisville may prove necessary to deal with some issues at the Shire near the Ohio – also known as the original Shire. Yet another demonstration that while we may own things, things definitely own us.

See you along the Trail.

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August 8, 2011 · 3:30 am

Hummingbird

 
I took this one at Ghost Ranch a couple years back. It is outside the Agape Center, although there are a number of places at the ranch where one can spot hummingbirds. Amazing creatures.
See you along the Trail. 

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August 6, 2011 · 2:32 am

Firefly in August

Hard it is
to be a saint in the city;
harder still, perhaps,
mid the noise and the bright lights and the traffic,
to be a firefly
that is seen in August.

5 August 2011
Shire on the Hudson

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August 5, 2011 · 1:48 pm

Other choices

Forever he will wonder
how his life might have changed
had he chose to turned back that day and stay –
or if not to stay –
at least to say what was in his heart.

Now, years later,
each night he lies awake,
in the small hours of a morning,
delightful images dance in his mind as he
invents scenarios of what might have been.

Yet in some of those still, small hours,
before he reluctantly surrenders to sleep,
he grudgingly concedes
that greater joy no doubt lies in in his imagination
than would have been realized through other choices.

4-5 August 2011
SW 163 MDW – LGA
Shire on the Hudson

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August 5, 2011 · 1:42 pm

Do you know?

Do you know
what fills my mind,
what shimmers in my heart?

Do you know
what I think,
what I feel?

Do you know
what I bear,
how much I care?

Do my deeds reveal?
Do my actions show?
Do you know?

4 August 2011
SW 163 MDW – LGA

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August 5, 2011 · 1:39 pm

Cracking

Like a green shoot of vine
that wraps around a stone,
clinging patiently until the rock cracks,
there are people who,
seeing something, sensing something in me
beyond my comprehension,
choose the path of relationship,
tenaciously engaging me
until my heart cracks
and they become a part of me
forever.

4 August 2011
SW 163, MDW – LGA
 

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