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Three minutes on a battlefield long ago...
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom— and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. Tags: civil war, gettsyburg address, lincoln
Current Location: office
Current Mood:  contemplative
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By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian ArmyIn Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Thank you.
For my Dad (USMC 1943-1946 PTO, Okinawa) and all others who served, or have friends or family who served, or now serve in the military.
Tags: armistice day, semper fi, veterans day
Current Location: office
Current Mood: pensive
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In Oak Park, the end of the Farmer's Market means that Winter's coming. rrrrgh. Oh, well, we have a fridge downstars full of apples, both for eating and cooking. We're lucky enough to have some vendors at the market who have lots of heirloom apple trees, or some of the new experimental varieties. We got some apples this year that were only identified by a code number, and they wanted to see what folks thought of them. Most of the orchards that come to the market have the usual apples you see in the Midwest, but these guys have things like Lustre Ellstar -A european apple that starts out sweet and then goes very TART! oooo. Snow (Fameous) A very old French apple from the 1600's Both parents of the Honeycrisp, and of course LOTS of them Old Red Delicious Cox Orange Pippin -we hadn't tried this one until Minnehaha K commented about them. Mutsu -Japanese cross of an Golden Delicious and a Japanese apple Enterprise Empire Rome Beauty And lots others.... yum! I think we've got about 25 different kinds of apples in our old Philco refrigerator in the basement -the'll last till at least the first of the year, maybe more if we're good about getting the 'one bad apple' out of the fridge before it ruins the other ones. After these are gone, the store bought apples -even if they're reasonably local, are just not right. Tags: apples, fall, farmer's market
Current Location: home
Current Mood:  chipper
Current Music: JS Bach Toccata and Fugue in D Major
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Remember one of my last posts about selling the church? Well, we had a meeting last night. It's worse. According to the Synod lawyer we have no choice but to sell to the 2nd offer, which is not the Thai congregation. We'd pretty much been told that we had no choice. According to other lawyers, this is not true. We could sell to anyone that we decided... So. I think the lawyers are gonna have to fight. And, I looked up the other organization Legally, means nothing to St. Pauls.They have a valid offer with sufficient $$ to putchase the property. Might be fun when this gets to the village. They're an Islamic Shia group with the headquarters of the orginization in Iran. Can't wait to see how this plays out in a small town (suburb) (Forest Park),,,, yes that Forest Park... west of Chicago which is NO where as multi-cultural as Oak Park. So, we had to send a counter offer to the TCC more than the 2nd offer, which is a chunk of money. And by a chunk of $$ i mean about $450K or so. This is not good, and the TCC is having a collective heart attack. The TCC lawyer is going to talk to the St. Paul's council and see what's up. I am not happy. the President of the council is really pushing this. I and a number of other members of the council feel that she's got a bug in her bonnet against the TCC. She's being about as un-Christian as I've ever seen anyone do. I have yet to find any way to remove an officer of the congregation. The Pastor may need to do it, and I don't think she will. I am going to go in this week and look at the minutes of the meetings that I missed. The bylaws of the church say there must be between 9-15 members of the council... We've had 9 forever. One resigned earlier this year. We have 8 now officially. We evidently have had enough council members to make a quorum, (5) but not 9 official members. I don't know if this helps or not, because the decision to sell the church building was done after the counciil shrunk to 8. I intend to resign my position(s) as VP of the council and the council itself after this plays out, unless I find out that resigning the council will throw the proverbial monkey wrench into this process and piss of our President. I know, it may be the classic futile gesture... I'm working on a resgination letter that will say more than 'i quit'. I'm pretty good at letters like this, if I say so myself. this crap is against everything I feel we should be doing with another congregation in Christ. It's really frustrating. Tags: building sale, church council
Current Location: home
Current Mood:  depressed
Current Music: Magical Mystery tour
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My parents were married 61 years ago today. Amazingly, all the wedding party minus 1 made it to 50. Almost all the men in the party fought in WWII before Mom and Dad were married. Unfortunately, that's not true for the 60 or 61st. The last few years haven't been the most optimal -my Mom has been in a nursing home, and Dad is pretty frail (he still has his marbles, though). Michelle and I are working on 25, and sometimes wonder whether folks in our generation will get to events like 50 or 60 or 61. "for better or worse, in sickness and in health, till death do you part".................. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad... Tags: 61, anniversary, nursing home, palm coast, parents
Current Location: da office
Current Mood: contemplative
Current Music: Bach Brandenburg's -the even ones
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