Apples and Quilts

On Saturday, I needed a few hours of respite to step away and clear my head of all the sadness that has been surrounding me lately. It was a beautiful clear day with a gorgeous blue sky, so I went to Guthrie to the Apples and Quilts Festival.

It's a new festival that debuted this year and I got there on the last day of its five-day run. I had hoped for more, but it was a good beginning. I hope it returns in subsequent years, bigger and better.

Here's what I saw:
Here is the first character of the day. This guy was performing in a children's theater act as part of the festival. Yes, a pirate. A pirate wtihout a parrot. He has a fuzzy ducky instead.

























Right beside him were the next characters... an older couple looking at a large quilt, trying to decide if it was suitable for them. A Red-Hat lady was telling them all about it. Not so sure the man was really into this, but he was being a good sport. I just realized you can't see his wife, behind the quilt.




















Across the street we have the next quilt. The center motif is a cross. Each square contains one of the Beatitudes.


































There were some really interesting quilt patterns displayed on one of the racks in this grouping. I liked these.




















Some traditional, old-fashioned quilts -- flowers and yo-yos (tightly gathered circles that are then sewn together). Notice the basket of apples? That's what makes this the "Apples and Quilts" Festival. Saw lots of quilts... not so many apples. Some of the old Victorian buildings are reflected in the window.




















I don't want to call these folks "characters," because they are the real deal. This is Eddie Two-Clouds, a Mescalero Apache Dancer. He was appearing in full regalia to sign prints of his portrait created by Cherokee artist Mary Beth Nelson.
































This quilt was fascinating. It is called "The Bible Quilt."
Harriet Powers, an African-American farm woman of Clark County, Georgia, created the Bible Quilt, which was first exhibited at the Athens Cotton Fair of 1886. The odd size and horizontal format suggest that it may have been intended as an expression of her deep religious faith rather than a functional bedcover. The eleven unevenly sized squares depict Bible scenes, and is a rare example of original design quilts for the era.
The original Bible Quilt is a national treasure, now owned by the Smithsonian, and is rarely displayed. In about 1994, American quilters were stunned to find that the Smithsonian had made a contract with Asian Pacific to have four of the quilts in their possession replicated in sweat shop factories in the Far East. A group, led by Karey Bresenham of Houston, went to Washington, D.C., to protest to a Congressional Committee. Bresenham and her group were able to prevent further contracts from being made, and suggested
that the quilt be reproduced in the United States by American women. Fabric companies in the United States were also licensed to reproduce the fabrics that were in the original quilt.
This is an authorized, numbered reproduction of the Bible Quilt, on loan from Janis RuBanes’ personal collection.

The first square is the Garden of Eden with the serpant. Second is Eve becoming a mother. Third is the Devil with the Seven Stars.
Fourth (second row) is Cain killing Abel. Next is Cain going to Nod to get him a wife. Next is Jacob and the angel rising and descending on the ladder. Last one on the middle row is the baptism of Christ and the descent of the Holy Spirit as a dove.

Bottom row, left, is the crucifixion Second is Judas Iscariot and the thirty pieces of silver. Third is the Last Supper. Last is the history of the Holy Family.

(see The Bible Quilt for more information.)





























Here's a Victorian-era crazy quilt, created of velvets, silks and other costly fabrics of the day.

























I stopped at Miss Lizzie's Bordello to purchase a few items -- a CD and a 1947 Encyclopedia of Housekeeping. Miss Lizzie's was genuinely a bordello in Oklahoma's Territorial days and did quite the booming business. The girls' bedrooms are now separate consignment gift shops and their names are painted over the doors. It's a great place. There are rumors of secret tunnels and bridges which allowed early politicians to enter and exit discreetly through the Blue Belle Saloon next door.

































And here's the Blue Belle -- silent film actor Tom Mix worked here as a bartender before making his fortunes in Hollywood.



















And here's a nice Victorian lady out for a Saturday stroll. You would not find her working in Miss Lizzie's.































Here's where I had lunch, at Granny Had One. When this restaurant first opened, it was heavily decorated in primitives and antique kitchen gadgets -- basically anything the owners could find that was old. It's now a bit more refined. Lace curtains, the original wood floors, restored tin ceilings. It's a nice place.




















This is the Pollard Theater, a local community playhouse that attracts an audience from across the state. At Christmas, the theater presents "A Territorial Christmas" which is an adaptation of Dickens.




















Time to go home now... it's been a nice day. We'll take a side street so you can see the brick streets. Many of our small towns still have the original brick streets from 100 years ago. I hope we can continue to preserve them -- there's just something special about being on a road that has lasted that long.

























I hope you enjoyed the festival with me!

A bitterly untimely death

My good friend, J.T., who sometimes posts here, lost his nephew in a single-car crash Wednesday night on the Turner Turnpike near Stroud. His car hydroplaned, hit the center wall, flipped over to the westbound lanes and hit a bridge.

Bart was a freshman at the University of Oklahoma who planned to major in journalism, like his uncle (and me). While he was in high school he served as a correspondent for the Tulsa World's Satellite section, geared toward young readers.

He was an exceptionally brilliant young man who was giving back to the community in many meaningful ways.

Please pray for the whole family and all of Bart's friends as they adjust to this tremendous loss.

Pork Tenderloin: How To

I had a request for the "how-to" of the pork tenderloin I posted in my cook-a-thon last Saturday. You know, the wonderful thing about cooking is that recipes are infinitely adaptable to what you have on hand. The recipe I had called for pork broth, which I did not have. So I looked in the fridge, found a half-full bottle of wine, and decided to try that instead. That's how this came about...

My Pork Tenderloin

3 pounds pork tenderloin

1 to 2 cups white wine -- whatever's left in the bottle
(original recipe called for 1 quart reduced pork broth)
1/2 cup brown mustard
1/2 cup yellow mustard
1 1/2 Tablespoons horseradish
1 1/2 Tablespoons ketchup
1 1/2 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 cloves minced garlic

Combine all this (except the tenderloin) in a saucepan. Simmer on low and reduce.
Grill the pork tenderloin -- I recommend low heat on the grill. Turn every 6 minutes to avoid burning -- also think of the tenderloin as having four sides and turn 1/4 turn each time so all sides get equally browned and meat cooks evenly.

After first go-round, brush meat with the sauce. Continue cooking until internal temperature reaches 170 degrees. It takes about an hour. After brushing on the sauce, watch carefully to avoid burning.

Let it set to rest after removing from the grill, to allow the internal juices to redistribute.

This can be served with the following, or whatever side dishes you like:

8 small red potatoes
2 carrots, stripped
1 can pineapple rings

Grill vegetables and pineapple during the last half of the cooking time and serve with the meat.

(This is pretty darn easy stuff but oh man! So worth it!)

Let's not forget to help the rich

I am livid to the point of shaking. Y'all have read about scam web sites claiming "send money! help Katrina's victims!" You've seen the mess made of getting people to safety. And you've seen some stories of families reconnecting, of pets being returned to owners. It's all out there -- the good, the bad and, now, the ugly.

Now comes the time when corporations start trying to capitalize on "Look at us! We're sending help!" Corporations are raising money for disaster relief. Some corporations are earmarking contributions for established emergency relief groups like the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Feed the Children... Groups that know how to get aid and comfort to those who need it, now.

Ah, but there are now those corporate charities that are doing things their own way, and that's not always bad. But sometimes it's not so good, either.

I wound up eyeball-deep in a situation where a particular corporation has established its own "caring network." Every employee is being "encouraged" to donate $100 from their own pockets. Each level of corporate structure is donating 10 percent of its gross receipts for 90 days. They raised $1 million in two days and plan to raise $5 million by the end of the month. They'll do so, easily. This is a particularly well-to-do industry.

So where is that money going? It's going to be sent to their peers who worked in the devastated areas.

"They are not the people unable to get out," I was told. "Most did get out, but their homes may have been destroyed. Because their offices were destroyed they have been unable to continue their livelihood right now."

I was told these folks still have to pay the rent on their offices and their phones and other utilities. Yeah. I believe they had a contract that says they have to give money for a space that doesn't even exist any more. Yeah, sure I do. (Pardon my cynicism. If these people have contracts like that, they aren't good business people.)

"Most do not want to relocate at this time because of spouses or other relatives in the area. We have adopted them. We're meeting their immediate needs like replacing their cars if they were destroyed," I was told. "These people are not necessarily destitute, they are just devastated."

Those are second (or third) cars they are talking about replacing, folks. These people had advance notice and were able to pack up their most precious belongings and get out before the hurricane struck. Not one foot in this group touched mud.

Of course they have suffered losses as well. Insured losses. Well insured losses. They are inconvenienced and I'm sure there is a lot of emotional trauma for them as well. I don't doubt that. I wouldn't want to trade places with them. But read on...

"Many of them were able to go stay with relatives or find hotels. We'll pay their hotel bills. They won’t qualify for federal funds like those who were on welfare. These aren't the maids and janitors that you see who couldn't afford to leave. They have a profession. There’s no (business) right now and their market is gone anyway," I was told.

"There’s nothing that will make a person in devastation happier than being handed a $5,000 check."

OK. I'm sure the rich need help too. It may take a few days for them to access their investment portfolios, get into their savings accounts, contact their insurance agents and figure out where they will do business in the future.

But I have a hard time understanding why generous people would be so quick to replace Escalades, BMWs, Lexus SUVs and the like without being a little concerned about helping babies without food or the elderly who were left to die in nursing homes because it was too inconvenient to move them to safety.

Ah, but you see, it's not just financial help, I'm told. We're staying in touch with them to give them emotional support too. We are here to meet their needs, all of them.

I am told.

And now, something completely different

It's time for some fun, non-political blogging! So here's what I've been doing today. I've become one with my grill. I sure wish I could get an outside electric outlet installed so I could use my CookShack smoker. Here's a link to CookShack -- it's a great product made in my hometown, Ponca City, OK. It's a real smoker, using the wood of your choice, but there is an electric element that ignites the wood. I've got the biggest residential model with several shelves inside. It would be so nice to actually use it!!
Anyway, here's some of what I made today. I had a marathon session.

First, there's the pork tenderloin...


And then there's the pork short ribs. Time to add the sauce (from Head Country, also made in Ponca City. Ironically, next to CookShack. Do you think they planned it?



There were also two batches of chicken breasts, using different marinades. One batch was teriyaki with pineapple juice. The other was a Havana garlic and lime marinade. But the chicken was swiped by my friend before I had a chance to take a photo.

Let's see... to take an inventory, I still have some steaks and burgers to do, maybe tomorrow. I'm so glad to have a FoodSaver vacuum sealer system these days. I can parcel out these goods and either refrigerate or freeze them until needed.

Hmmm. I'm hungry. Just realized I haven't eaten all day...

A first step

WASHINGTON - Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown is being relieved of his command of the Bush administration's Hurricane Katrina onsite relief efforts, Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff announced Friday.

He will be replaced by Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad W. Allen, who was overseeing New Orleans relief and rescue efforts, Chertoff said.

Earlier, Brown confirmed the switch. Asked if he was being made a scapegoat for a federal relief effort that has drawn widespread and sharp criticism, Brown told The Associated Press after a long pause: "By the press, yes. By the president, No."

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press.

Make a joyful noise

An acquaintance of mine is the president of the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. He and a good friend of mine are both part of a group of folks who make up a few bands in the state, both country and bluegrass. All the band members are great musicians and even better people.

And here's their latest project to help hurricane evacuees:

Several of the folks who have made it to Camp Gruber, located near Muskogee, OK, are New Orleans musicians. They've lost everything, including their instruments.

My friends knew they had to help, so they are collecting instruments to give to all of the musicians there. Many are jazz musicians, some are Cajun artists. Without their instruments, they do not have their livelihood. Even worse, their spirits are withering.

The band will be getting together Saturday and will take care of transporting the instruments to the camp, so let me put out the word here -- if you have ANY sort of musical instrument you would care to give to these people, please leave me a message here and we'll do what we can to get it into their hands. They'll even take a sousaphone or two if you have some hanging around your garage or somethin'.

I'm personally sending my fiddle. Some would say that in itself is an act of charity, but HEY what do they know?!

Watch Oprah

If you did not see Oprah Winfrey's show today, I implore you to try to watch a late-night rerun if you possibly can. She is reporting from the areas hit by Katrina, starting in New Orleans. This is without a doubt the most unsanitized, clear, honest reporting I have seen on the disaster. You'll see things that will make you sick beyond words, and you won't be able to stop crying.

She continues tomorrow with a report from Mississippi. Tape it if you must. But watch it.

Striking to me was the cry of the people for prayers and ministers and for the songs of the faith. Their faith in God remains strong, and we must support that at every opportunity. Send money, send the items asked for by relief groups, send food and water.

Pray without ceasing.

Let us REMEMBER

In so many ways today's refugees and evacuees from the Gulf area are like the people Moses led out of captivity. They have left facing all manner of harm, trusting that somewhere, somehow there is something better awaiting.

As a people of God, let us not let our brothers and sisters lose hope during this time. We must continue to pray for them, for their spirits to be uplifted, for them not to lose courage or hope. Above all, they must NOT lose hope. We must NOT allow that. Too many already have, with dire results. We surely will hear more desperate stories of suicides and wrongdoing done by those who have lost all vision, courage and hope.

We must raise them up, speak for them to the Father when all they can do is groan. And once they are led out, we must do all we can as a people of faith to restore them.

Politics will take care of itself after Hell has been conquered again. I've previously written, and need to remind myself, that it was only days ago (Aug. 24) that we had a great debate at E.R.'s blog.

Among the things I posted in that debate were these:

Jesus said "forget the damned rules and listen to me. Take care of each other and pay attention to me."

Philippians 2:1-4:
1 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,
2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.
3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

John 15: 12-15
12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
14 You are my friends if you do what I command.
15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other.

Matthew 25:34-46
34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,
36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37 "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

44 "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

45 "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

46 "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."


I needed to be reminded of these things again today.

Now is the time for us, members of the Body of Christ, to stand shoulder-to-shoulder and bring these brothers and sisters out of captivity.

I've made a series of posts today to offer some encouragement and some ways of plugging in. Please look through these -- I've broken them up so they aren't overwhelming. Take this as a call to action, a trumpet blowing.

Love to you all.

Let us SING (all the verses)

I am grateful that my current pastor allows us to sing all the verses of our hymns and not just "Verses 1,2 and 5". It is only by singing the full text of these hymns that we hear the whole story being told. Sometimes, those middle verses that are oft forgotten are the ones that really, really have the impact.

And so it was this morning at my church. Here are the lyrics to the hymns we sang.

***

Lead On, O Cloud of Presence (tune is Lead On, O God Eternal)

Lead on, O cloud of Presence, the exodus is come,
in wilderness and desert our tribe shall make its home.
Our slavery left behind us, new hopes within us grow.
We seek the land of promise where milk and honey flow.

Lead on, O fiery Pillar, we follow yet with fears,
but we shall come rejoicing though joy be born of tears.
We are not lost, though wandering, for by your light we come,
and we are still God's people. The journey is our home.

Lead on O God of freedom, and guide us on our way,
and help us trust the promise through struggle and delay.
We pray our sons and daughters may journey to that land
where justice dwells with mercy, and love is law's demand.

***

Deep in the Shadows of the Past (Tune is "I Feel the Winds of God Today")

Deep in the shadows of the past, far out from settled lands,
some nomads traveled with their God across the desert sands.
The dawning hope of humankind by them was sensed and shown;
a promise calling them ahead, a future yet unknown.

While others bowed to changeless gods they met a mystery,
invisible, without a name: "I AM WHAT I WILL BE";
and by their tents, around the fires, in story, song and law,
they praised, remembered, handed on a past that promised more.

From Exodus to Pentecost the promise changed and grew,
while some, remembering the past, recorded what they knew,
or with their letters and laments, their prophecy and praise
recovered, kindled and expressed new hope for changing days.

For all the writings that survived, for leaders, long ago,
who sifted, copied, and preserved the Bible that we know,
Give thanks and find its story yet our promise, strength and call,
the model of emerging faith, alive with hope for all.

***

El Shaddai

El Shaddai, El Shaddai, El Elyon na Adonai;
age to age you're still the same by the power of the name.
El Shadai, El Shaddai, Erkahmka na Adonai;
We will praise and lift you high, El Shaddai.

Translations of the Hebrew:
El Shaddai: God Almighty
El Elyon: The Most High God
na Adonai: O Lord
Erkahmka: We will love you.


***

They'll Know We Are Christians by Our Love
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord,
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord,
And we pray that all unity may one day be restored
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, By our love,
Yes they'll know we are Christians by our love.

We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand,
We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand,
And together we'll spread the news that God is in our land;
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, By our love,
Yes they'll know we are Christians by our love.

We will work with each other, we will work side by side,
We will work with each other, we will work side by side,
And we'll guard each man's dignity and save each man's pride;
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, By our love,
Yes they'll know we are Christians by our love.

All praise to the Father, from whom all things come,
And all praise to Christ Jesus, His only Son,
And all praise to the Spirit who makes us one;
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, By our love,
Yes they'll know we are Christians by our love.

Let us GO

Volunteer are needed to help on a mission team. The Oklahoma Volunteers In Mission will be sending teams in the weeks and months to come. If you feel called to lead or to be a part of a team please contact Debbie Ingraham at 943-9683 or Chad Detwiler at 830-8684 to volunteer.

Websites you may check for updates on United Methodist relief efforts.
Methodist Relief
United Methodist Committee on Relief

Let us GIVE

Other United Methodist Efforts for Relief .....

Oklahoma City University President Tom McDaniel has announced the university
will offer free tuition to any student enrolled at a college or university
affected by the hurricane. Perhaps you or members of your congregation know
families with students who could benefit from this.

The offer by OCU includes --- but is not limited to --- students at the
following New Orleans schools: Dillard University, Loyola University, Our
Lady of Holy Cross College, Southern University at New Orleans, Tulane
University, the University of New Orleans and Xavier University; also,
students at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Miss.
The one semester of free tuition applies to undergraduate, graduate and law
programs. The university has extended its enrollment period by one week.
Students may enroll through Sept. 9.

100% of funds given to UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) go directly to help Katrina survivors.
Please make your check payable to GRACE UMC (6316 N Tulsa Oklahoma City, OK 73112) or any other United Methodist Church and note in the memo line of
your check UMCOR Advance #982523. You may send your check to the church or
place it in the Sunday offering. You may also donate online at
Methodist Relief or by phone at 1(800)554-8583.


At Grace United Methodist Church, we will be accepting flood buckets and health kits.

These can be created and placed in the trophy case hallway. You can follow the below guidelines to create a flood bucket and/or health kit. All of these supplies will be delivered to the UMCOR Sager Brown distribution center in Baldwin, Louisiana.

Flood Bucket
§ 5-gallon bucket with re-sealable lid
§ Bleach
§ 5 scouring pads
§ 7 Sponges
§ 1 scrub brush
§ 18 cleaning towels (reusable wipes)
§ Liquid laundry detergent (two 25 oz. or one 50 oz. bottle)
§ 1 household cleaner, 12-16 oz. bottle
§ Disinfectant dish soap, 16-28 oz. bottle
§ 50 clothes pins
§ Clothes line (two 50 ft. or one 100 ft.)
§ 5 dust masks
§ 2 pair latex gloves
§ 1 pair work gloves
§ 24-bag roll of heavy-duty trash bags, 33-45 gallon (remove roll from box
before placing in bucket)
§ 1 Insect repellant spray, 6-14 oz. can (If aerosol, cans must have
protective caps.)
§ 1 Air freshener, 8 or 9 oz. can (If aerosol, cans must have protective
caps.)
Put all items in the plastic bucket and seal lid. Please ensure that all
cleansing agents are liquids (not powder) and in plastic bottles.

Health Kit
Blankets
Bottled Water
Hand Towels (15" x 25" up to 17" x 27")
Wash Cloths
Combs (large and sturdy, not pocket sized0
Nail files or fingernail clippers (no emery boards or toenail clippers)
Bath-Size bars of soap (3 oz and up)
Toothbrushes (4.5 or larger, expiration date must be 6 months or longer)
Adhesive plastic strip sterile bandages
Laundered twin flat bed sheets and pillowcases
Large plastic container of talcum powder
Large petroleum jelly (vaseline)
Two yards of floral or plain cotton fabric
Household rubber or latex gloves

Many other churches also are accepting supplies. I know Messiah Lutheran Church on Northwest Expressway, St. Luke's United Methodist Church at NW 15 and Robinson and Wesley United Methodist Church on NW 24 and Classen are among the churches collecting supplies.

Feed The Children at NW 3 and Meridian will be accepting donations Monday through Friday.

And as always, financial donations can be made to the American Red Cross, Salvation Army and United Way. If you wish, you may designate your funds specifically for Katrina relief.

Please share other places accepting aid contributions if you wish. But most importantly, please give what you can to help others in this time of terrific need.

Let us PRAY

O God, you divided the waters of chaos at creation.
In Christ you stilled storms, raised the dead,
And vanquished demonic powers.
Tame the earthquake, wind, and fire,
And all the forces that defy control or shock us by their fury.
Help us, in good times and in distress,
To trust your mercy and yield to your power, this day and for ever.
(As printed in the United Methodist Book of Worship #509)

Let us pray for:

Those who are displaced by the storm, and for people who continue to live in
shelters and with friends and family.

Those whose loved ones perished in the storm.

Volunteers from across our land, who make their way to Mississippi, Alabama
and Louisiana.

Those in government: township, village, state, and federal, who must find
ways to help communities rebuild.

And we, who dwell in safety, may our emotion and compassion not be
overwhelmed and may our financial gifts help those who are overcome in need.

Be Prepared

I decided to break this into a separate post. It started out tagged onto the fatigue post below, but it should be set apart.

We can take some steps, regardless of where we live, to make sure that WE personally are prepared for the next disaster. There will be more. They will be where we don't expect, in ways we don't expect. That's what makes them disasters.

Last night the American Red Cross was handing out pamphlets at the game to encourage everyone to review their own situations. Their advice includes five actions for emergency preparedness:

1. Make a plan. Talk with your family and assign responsibilities within your family. Choose two places to meet after a disaster -- right outside your home and outside your neighborhood, in case you can't return home or are asked to evacuate.

2. Build a kit. Enough of these items for three days:
--Water (one gallon per person per day).
--Food (non-perishable, high-protein items, including energy bars, ready-to-eat soup, peanut butter, etc. Select foods that require no refrigeration,preparation or cooking , and little or no water.)

--Flashlight and extra batteries.

--First aid kit and reference guide.

--Medications.

--Battery-operated radio and extra batteries.

--Tools. Include a wrench to turn off gas, a manual can opener, a screwdriver, hammer, pliers, a knife, duct tape, plastic sheeting, garbage bags and ties.

--Clothing. A change of clothing for each person, inlcuding sturdy shoes and gloves.

--Personal items -- eyeglasses, copies of important papers including identification, insurance policies, birth certificates, passports, etc. Comfort items.

--Sanitary supplies -- toilet paper, personal hygiene items, bleach.

--Money. Have cash. ATMS and credit cards won't work when the power is out.

--Contact information. Carry a current list of family phone numbers and e-mail addresses, including someone out of the area who may be easier to reach if local phone lines are out of service.

--Pet supplies.

--A map. Consider marking an evacuation route on it out of your local area.

3. Get trained. Learn simple first-aid techniques including CPR. Contact your local American Red Cross chapter for more information.

4. Volunteer. You can find some way to help. Contact your church, civic group or American Red Cross to find out where and how you can help.

5. Give blood. You can save a life.


I also urge you all to read Frenzied Feline's blog to learn more about preparedness. She knows her stuff on this, folks, and we all need to listen to her advice.

We're in the middle of perhaps the worst disaster ever to hit our country, folks. We are vulnerable now and we need to pull together to overcome. We're also most at risk of being attacked while we're down. I'm not trying to go all doom's day freaky on y'all or anything, just saying let's use our smarts.

Be prepared. We can help lessen the impact of whatever gets thrown our way if we're ready.

I've reached fatigue

Maybe it's my age or something, but I've reached the fatigue level on Katrina much sooner than normal. There comes a point in every disaster where I simply have to step away from coverage and debates. I have to get away from thinking about it entirely for a bit.

We all hit that time, I know we do. I remember being shocked at peers who burned out early during the Murrah Federal Building bombing in 1995. Some wanted to close the door on it before the rubble was cleared. I understand a little better now than I did then.

I'm not saying I've turned my back on the suffering or on our necessary response to this. Not at all. Simply saying that I can't stay immersed in the pain 24/7 feeling impotent.

Last night, I even went to a ball game with a group of friends. We went to watch the RedHawks play against Omaha. Our 'Hawks lost, but it was fun. I think the 9,000-plus people there probably shared a common need to set aside a few hours to return to some sense of normalcy. There were moments when I felt guilty for doing so. We don't want to have fun when others are in the midst of devastation.

I wanted to wake up this morning and find that all the help that is needed has found its way to all those who are in need, NOW. I wanted us not to have reasons to feel disappointed that there's been a lack of leadership at many levels. I don't want there to be a reason to place blame.

We don't always get what we want. But sometimes we have to take a step back to make sure we're not just screaming into the winds because of our great personal frustrations at not being able to CHANGE THINGS. It's easy to believe that we could somehow do things better if we were "in charge." And maybe there are better leaders. I think so.

But last night after enjoying the game, and crawling into my own cozy, soft, clean bed, as I was dozing off I realized so much of our (my) rantings have simply served to burn off some of the energy I wish I could apply to end suffering. I can't pluck babies and old people out of New Orleans, as much as I want to. So that adrenaline has to go elsewhere, and it's been channeled into expression. I'm not alone.

Oh how I wish I could do more, but I will do all that I can. Refugees are arriving in my area, and I will donate as many good, usable items as I can. I'll support the United Methodist Committee on Relief. I'll urge others to do all they can do.

I can't donate blood, or I would have already been at the blood bank. I hate that, but I've been permanently deferred after being a 2-gallon donor. If you can give blood, PLEASE do so. PLEASE.

Finally!

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Four days after Hurricane Katrina struck, the National Guard arrived in force Friday with food, water and weapons, churning through the floodwaters in a vast truck convoy with orders to retake the streets and bring relief to the suffering.

"The cavalry is and will continue to arrive," said one general.

The trucks began arriving at the New Orleans Convention Center, where 15,000 to 20,000 hungry and desperate refugees had taken shelter - many of them seething with anger so intense that the place appeared ready to erupt in violence at any moment. For a day or more, corpses lay abandoned outside the building, and many storm refugees complained bitterly that they had been forsaken by the government.

The open-topped trucks carried huge boxes of relief supplies. Soldiers sat in the backs of some of the trucks, their rifles pointing skyward.

The soldiers' arrival-in-force came amid blistering criticism from the mayor and others who said the federal government had bungled the relief effort and let people die in the streets for lack of food, water or medicine.

"The people of our city are holding on by a thread," Mayor Ray Nagin warned in a statement to CNN. "Time has run out. Can we survive another night? And who can we depend on? Only God knows."




And this. Emphasis mine:


MOBILE, Ala. (AP) -- Facing sharp criticism, President Bush opened a tour of the hurricane-battered Gulf Coast on Friday by vowing the government will restore order in lawless New Orleans and saying the $10.5 billion being approved by Congress is just a small downpayment for disaster relief.

"I'm not looking forward to this trip," Bush said as he set out for a firsthand look at the destruction in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi.

"It's as if the entire Gulf Coast were obliterated by the worst kind of weapon you can imagine," the president said.

Bush began the day at the White House where he expressed unhappiness with the efforts so far to provide food and water to hurricane victims and to stop looting and lawlessness in New Orleans. "The results are not acceptable," said Bush, who rarely admits failure.
The president's comments came after New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin lashed out at federal officials, telling a local radio station "they don't have a clue what's going on down here."

Even Republicans were criticizing Bush and his administration for the sluggish relief effort. "I think it puts into question all of the Homeland Security and Northern Command planning for the last four years, because if we can't respond faster than this to an event we saw coming across the Gulf for days, then why do we think we're prepared to respond to a nuclear or biological attack?" said former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

He urged Bush to name former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani as the White House point person for relief efforts. Rep. John Sweeney, R-N.Y., also suggested Giuliani or former Secretary of State Colin Powell or retired Gen. Tommy Franks to take charge of the relief efforts.

Bush got a warm reception in Mobile from Govs. Haley Barbour of Mississippi and Bob Riley of Alabama. Both praised the federal government's response. Still, Barbour said, "We've suffered a grievous blow that we won't recover from for a long while."

Standing with the governors in an airplane hangar, Bush said, "We have a responsibility to clean up this mess."

"What is not working right, we're going to make it right," Bush said. Referring to rampant looting and crime in New Orleans, Bush said, "We are going to restore order in the city of New Orleans."

"The people of this country expect there to be law and order, and we're going to work hard to get it," the president said. "In order to make sure there's less violence, we've got to get food to people."

"We'll get on top of this situation," Bush said, "and we're going to help the people that need help."

Bush was accompanied by Homeland Security Department secretary Michael Chertoff. The department, which oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has been accused of responding sluggishly to the deadly hurricane. On the plane ride to Alabama, Bush was briefed on plans for housing the tens of thousands of people displaced by the hurricane.

"There's a lot of aid surging toward those who've been affected. Millions of gallons of water. Millions of tons of food. We're making progress about pulling people out of the Superdome," the president said.

For the first time, however, he stopped defending his administration's response and criticized it. "A lot of people are working hard to help those who've been affected. The results are not acceptable," he said. "I'm heading down there right now."

God help them!

A disturbing excerpt from the latest AP story out of New Orleans this morning. The scene is unspeakable:


Outside the Convention Center, the sidewalks were packed with people without food, water or medical care, and with no sign of law enforcement. Thousands of storm refugees had been assembling outside for days, waiting for buses that did not come.

At least seven bodies were scattered outside, and hungry, desperate people who were tired of waiting broke through the steel doors to a food service entrance and began pushing out pallets of water and juice and whatever else they could find.

An old man in a chaise lounge lay dead in a grassy median as hungry babies wailed around him. Around the corner, an elderly woman lay dead in her wheelchair, covered up by a blanket, and another body lay beside her wrapped in a sheet.

Read all about it: Unrest intensifies at Superdome Shelter

WHY was that food service entrance locked, when there was water and juice inside? WHY was that not immediately made available?

I fear the situation with the dead will continue to worsen. My heart aches; I cry about this hellish situation, especially at night.

Will it be any better when they move these people to the Astrodome? I don't know, but I pray so.

We must find ways to get water, food, basic sanitation to these people, and get them OUT of these devastated areas. Horrible as it is, they must abandon any sense that New Orleans or these other affected areas are still "home." They are not. Not now. Not for a long time.

It's time to accept that they will have to wander in the wilderness, at least until we can absorb them elsewhere and restore their humanity and dignity. And we MUST. We must save them.

God help them. Please, dear Lord, help them. Help us to help them. Use our hands and feet and make us swift in bringing compassion and aid to these brothers and sisters. We may not be able to save the city, but we can save the people who have "survived."

Beyond human comprehension

The destruction of Hurricane Katrina is so far beyond our human comprehension that there's little any of us could say without sounding trite or stupid. This has to be one of the most devastating events to happen in the U.S. ever.

I can't begin to wrap my brain around it. I wind up thinking of all sorts of things -- things related to different pieces of my own life, which makes for a particularly strange brew of notions and ideas.

I think of the economic devastation and how widespread it is. I think of the enormous cost of rebuilding -- IF residents of those areas choose to rebuild. IF they can. And what if they can't? Those people need to live somewhere, but WHERE? There's not that much surplus real estate anywhere close to where they have been living. So where will they go?

I think of the gargantuan amount of building supplies and all those in the construction trades who will be overwhelmed with this rebuilding effort. Just look for housing prices to skyrocket all over the southern states as supplies become scarce.

And of course there will be the hucksters and con artists and ripoff people who will prey on the victims. They should be hung upside down off a levee somewhere in New Orleans.

And what about the looters? Tough call, that one. I can understand those who are looting to survive, but God help those who are stealing non-essentials -- like big-screen TVs and jewelry. God help them, indeed. Especially law enforcement personnel who have joined the looters.

Looters are trying to break into a children's hospital in north New Orleans. Those poor children who are trapped there as patients -- God be with them and protect them. Keep them safe and help them not be scared. The hospital is not a good place for children, ever, but throw in Katrina, and then people trying to break into the hospital -- families must simply be terrified. I cannot imagine it and it breaks my heart.

Same with those trapped in the Super Dome. Imagine being trapped in that facility with thousands of other refugees with no food, no water, no toilet facilities, not being allowed to leave -- and then the roof starts to fail in places. Oh.My.God.

Then my brain takes a left turn. Everyone knows about the cemeteries in New Orleans, being above ground. Well, many of those have been destroyed as well, count on it. And that means long-dead residents have returned to be tortured by the flooding as well. Not just tortured, but adding to the torture. Current residents will have to deal with the nightmare of re-interring unknown bodies from unknown places.

And speaking of death and funerals and cemeteries and burials -- what will the victims of this hurricane do with their dead? I'm sorry, I do know this is a topic that can disturb all of us, but it's a matter of fact there right now. No funeral homes. No cemeteries. No way to put the dead to rest. I believe we may see a situation like the 1918 influenza pandemic where public health laws stepped in and prohibited funerals to try to control the spread of the disease. Either those bodies will have to be shipped out of the area (and how will that happen?) or there will be many more cremations than usual. That will be a morbid story, but one that will be hard to turn away from, as it comes time to deal with the facts of the situation. This will make the grieving all the harder for those who have lost everything.

How can we respond? So far, help has been weak and ineffective. It is hard to ramp up a massive response to something like this. And of all times, this is when we all want IMMEDIATE help to show up and make it all better. We see those brave helicopter and boat crews rescuing people from rooftops and taking them to bridges -- but what kind of rescue is that? They'll be trapped for up to a week. Don't you just want to wiggle your nose and see these people all in safe shelters, with clean beds, a soup kitchen and a place to take a shower and use the bathroom? And don't you just yearn to take a hammer and join a Habitat for Humanity crew to start raising houses for the kids to call home again?

Sadly, that won't be happening this afternoon. Or this week. And the misery will be hard to endure for those trapped there, and for us who can only sit and watch and want to help.

We can send food and water and clothing through various resources. Most of the churches have systems in place to funnel disaster help. Feed the Children surely will be sending trailers full of help. But we can't send "place." We can't send real estate or housing or plumbing, or even sunshine. We can't open the doors of the Super Dome and let the kids run outside to play.

What can we do? We can pray. And be ready to step up when we do know how else we can help.

Coolio! Another quiz!

Spotted this one at E.R.'s blog and thought it looked fun enough to steal. Interesting notion, linking personality with location. Why not give it a try yourself? Oh great. I just noticed they want to send me to NOLA -- are they trying to kill me??

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Your personality type is SLUAI

You are social, moody, unstructured, accommodating, and intellectual, and may prefer a city which matches those traits.

The largest representation of your personality type can be found in the these U.S. cities: New Orleans, Albuquerque/Santa Fe, Greensboro, Memphis, Providence, Washington DC, Pittsburgh, Orlando, Salt Lake City, Portland/Salem, St. Louis and these international countries/regions Puerto Rico, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Turkey, Ireland, Ukraine, England, South Africa, Greece, Wales, Brazil, Switzerland, South Korea

What Places In The World Match Your Personality?
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Here's what it says about my SLUAI personality type:

easily confused, often late, rarely prepared, passionate about bettering the world's condition, easily distracted, wild and crazy, longs for a stabilizing relationship, prone to addiction, often rushed, show off, prone to worry, frequently loses things, does not accomplish work on time, acts without thinking, not good at sports, easily hurt, scatter-brained, very curious, spontaneous, not too hard working, aware of how the color and lighting of a room affects their mood, believes in a supernatural source of peace and love, can be talked into doing silly things, unpredictable, asks many questions, interested in others, upset by the misfortunes of strangers, believes in the importance of art, prefers have many different interests to just one, does not often know why they do things, moody, likes to be the center of attention, swayed by emotions, focuses on fantasies more than reality, acts without planning, becomes overwhelmed by events, able to disregard the rules, not good at saving money, eager to soothe hurt feelings, afraid of doing the wrong thing, can become aggressive when they feel hurt.

Oh my! This is a little close to home!!

Interesting things I've learned this week

I think it's important to learn something new every day, if possible. This week I've learned some odd things. What have you learned? Here are some of my lessons.

1. If you have an old wooden picnic table in your back yard, it may seem sensible to turn the benches up on top of the table when you're mowing. However, this is not a good plan for long-term storage, especially when it rains most of a month in Oklahoma. I learned that it can be difficult to remove a bench after a six-foot-long fungus fuses the bench to the table. EWWWW! I've never seen anything like it.

2. Sometimes friends ask strange questions. One friend's question to me (left on my answering machine) was this: How can I get rid of the stickiness on my plastic food storage containers? Maybe I should explain that all of her kitchen items have been boxed up since she moved to a nearby town more than a year and a half ago. She has no kitchen -- didn't get around to having anything installed in the space before she moved. Meanwhile, the house has been stacked full of boxes all this time. I'm not quite sure why she has now unpacked the plastic containers. I suggested that she might just want to get a few new Gladware containers since plastic deteriorates over time.

3. I can squander a lot of time, sometimes. I had a good bit of time free this afternoon and had every intention of using it in Domestic Divatude. I got started by doing a load of laundry and a load of dishes. There's more of each to do and I hope to lather, rinse and repeat at least once more tonight with all the household appliances. I had such dreams of vacuuming most of the house and scrubbing the floors in the bath and kitchen. I'm not quite sure what happened to evaporate the plan. Does that happen to anyone else? Time just goes POOF!

4. E-bayers are interesting. A good friend of mine posted a couple of quirky questions on one of my items to be funny. Nice thing is he also bid on it. So I enjoyed a laugh as well as a sale. Later this evening I got an e-mail from another potential customer (cough) asking why my prices are 50 percent above retail. Say what??? They are not. Oh well. I guess if you don't like the price, you don't have to bid. If you want the item I have for sale, decide if you want to pay the price. If you don't, maybe you'll find it for sale less somewhere else. I know it took me a couple of sales to learn to take into account all the e-Bay fees and such, so I actually LOST money on a couple of things. Who can afford to do that? Not I.

5. CarbWatch ice cream at Braum's is mighty tasty, but it is not always our friend. 'Nuff said. Splenda and I do not get along. I had such hopes that I could enjoy an occasional treat from there, but I will have to do something different.

6. Listening to bluegrass music in an amphitheater is a great way to spend a Sunday evening. The Bonham Revue, a top-notch bluegrass group, played at the Mitch Park Activities Center amphitheater in Edmond last night. The bass player is a friend of mine and several of my buddies like to see them whenever they perform close to Oklahoma City. The guys are from all over the state -- Muskogee, Okarche, Oklahoma City. And they usually play venues equally scattered. Check out their schedule on their web site, The Bonham Revue. These guys are all also in a country music band called City Moon. There's a link to the City Moon schedule on the web site as well. They'll be playing at the Cleveland County Fair Sept. 10, and then at the International Bluegrass Festival in Guthrie in October. Don't miss them! Guthrie is perhaps one of the finest Bluegrass Festivals in the world, so if you like the music, you have to be there. This will be the 9th year. It truly is a "star studded" event. Suzy Bogguss is the headline act this year. Check out the web site: Oklahoma International Bluegrass Festival. If you like the music of the people, it is more than worth the drive to Guthrie to hear it.

Well, I know I learned more than this so far this week, but this is about all I can think of at the moment. ... remember, fungus will fuse picnic benches to tables, sometimes you need to toss plastic containers, and bluegrass is good music.

See y'all later -- gotta do the Mt. Washmore laundry flip-flop dance now!

A tragic report

News reported in my church newsletter, received today. Background information -- my church has had periodic Taize services over the past few years. Taize services are entered into in silence and consist of cooperative corporate worship. Leadership is shared among all the participants. There is a printed order of worship with the prayers and music. Whoever is led to read the prayers, for instance, does so without direction or prompting. The music is similar to Gregorian chants -- simple melodies which are repeated as prayers. In the Taize service, the songs are repeated until. Until the congregation feels a sense of completion and the song ends because the prayer is completed.
The services are held in candlelight -- there is an overwhelming sense of peace in a Taize service, unlike any "normal" worship service I've been in. Because silence is urged on entry into the sanctuary, people remain focused on God rather than on catching up on the latest gossip with someone down the pew. It is a very monastic sort of worship.

Here is more about Taize, along with the tragedy:


(Article by Associate Pastor Debbie Ingraham)

Tragedy in Taizé: During the evening
prayer on Tuesday 16 August, in the midst
of the crowd surrounding the community in
the Church of Reconciliation, a woman -
probably mentally disturbed - struck Brother
Roger violently with knife blows. He died a
few moments later.
When I read the email that delivered the
above message, I was dumbstruck. How
could such violence erupt in such a place of
peace and against such a man of peace?
Brother Roger was the founder of the Taizé
community that began in France and is now
an international community.
In 1940, at the age of 25, Brother Roger
went to France in response to a long-felt
calling to begin a community where reconciliation
between Christians would be lived
out in daily life: a community where “kindness
of heart would be a matter of practical
experience, and where love would be at the
heart of all things.” He wanted this community
to be present in the midst of the suffering
of the time, so he made his home in
the small village of Taizé, just a few miles
from the demarcation line which cut France
in two during the first years of the war.
There he was able to hide refugees (Jews
in particular), who had fled the occupied
zone in the knowledge that they could find
refuge in his house. Today, throughout the
world, Taizé’s name evokes peace, reconciliation,
communion and the ardent expectation
of a springtime of the Church: “When
the Church listens, heals, reconciles, then
she becomes what she is in her most radiant
aspect: a crystal-clear reflection of a
love.” (Brother Roger)
This past summer, between graduation
and coming here to Grace UMC, I
went on a pilgrimage to Taizé. I went with
the expectation of spiritual renewal, but what
I received was a clarification of my call—
and my responsibility. This can best be expressed
by describing a few minutes of one
hot summer evening. In Taizé, all work is
shared. This particular evening, another
visitor from the States and I were assigned
to do dinner dishes with another
team. As usual, work was always done
to the accompaniment of singing. We
mostly sang songs from the Taizé
songbook, but the leader of this work
group turned to us, and in his broken English
asked us to sing an “American”
song. We looked at each other, trying to
decide what to sing. Well, the group decided
for us. They started singing—in
English, with harmony—“God Bless
America.” What made this so startlingly
poignant was that this particular work
group was made up of one German, two
French and five Russians. They knew my
song in my language. We then sang “This
Land is Your Land” and concluded with
John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country
Road.”
That evening exemplified
Brother Roger’s purpose and became my
mission. There, at Taizé, former enemies
sang together in peace and harmony, with
gusto and love. In the chapel, where
Brother Roger was so brutally murdered,
I had sat and prayed with French, Germans,
Russians, British, and Japanese.
There were no boundaries; there were
no divisions. Here, at home, we too need
to find a way to erase the boundaries that
divide us from the community and world
in which we live. Here, as in Taizé, we
can work toward making the church “a
crystal-clear reflection” of God’s love.
So let it be.
Debbie

And now, may I ask for your prayers that the Taize community continue, and for Brother Roger. And for the woman at the root of this.

Now they've got me riled

Y'all know how often I refer you over to E.R.'s blog for political and other controversial discussions. Well, now he's gone and done it and I've jumped in with both feet on the topic: Jesus is a liberal. Discuss.

Head over there to see the discussion and throw in your own two-cents' worth. I've certainly tossed in my coins.

And while we're talking matters of religion, I would solicit your prayers for my congregation, which is going through a major upheaval at the moment which could split the local church. There are a lot of hurting people right now dealing with a lot of frustration about the dirction of the church and its ministries. Please pray for God's will to be done and for this upset to propel us forward in the way He would have us serve Him.

Harry Potter Personality Quiz by Pirate Monkeys Inc.

I guess this means something if you know about Harry Potter characters -- I don't, I admit it. Yes, this is true, I have not read any of the Harry Potter books nor seen a movie or nuthin'. That's kind of like saying one has never read Winnie the Pooh, I believe.

Anyway, as to the abbreviated Meyers-Briggs type test, there are my results. To those who have seen my house, yes, I know it does not qualify for the "liking things neat and orderly" part. It may appear to be a laughable statement, applied to me, but the truth is, I DO like things neat and orderly, especially in a working environment. Just consider me a work in progress, OK? Thanks.

I picked this quiz up over at E.R.'s place, where there is great uproar over Pat Robertson's newest stupid statement advocating assassination of the Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez. Not cool. Not one bit cool in any way, shape or form. Robertson should be ashamed! But then, he has so much to be ashamed about with so many of the statements he has made while claiming to be a man of God.

So there you go ... a little fun, a little political comment.

I'm about worn down to my socks from an evening of cooking for a sick friend. I don't mind doing it one bit, but it sure does feel good to sit down after spending hours at the stove and in the kitchen washing and preparing fruits and veggies for easy snacking. So there you go, (again) ... a little practical apron evangelism at work. Good nutrition leads to good health, something I am also trying to practice on my own behalf now.

And a good health report woot for me: I talked to my doctor this afternoon to get the results of my recent blood sugar test. The number is still too high at 162, but the trend is good. The two previous tests were 174 and 205. I hope to be able to report a near-normal level at the next test in three months.

So concludes today's roundup report. Live long and prosper!

Here's a fine Freedom Poodle

This is a photo of my dearly departed Fefe, the world's finest Freedom Poodle (see E.R.'s site where he disparages the breed. If only he knew what mighty dogs they are.)

Fefe had an interesting life story. I came to share my home with her on Oct. 5, 1985. A secretary in my office had found her in the median of Interstate 40 during morning rush hour traffic and had stopped to rescue her. The girl was 19 at the time, with a 2-year-old son. They lived in an apartment that didn't allow pets, so for a few days Fefe was living hidden in a closet being fed bologna. She weighed three pounds when I agreed to keep her ... "until we can find her a permanent home." Yeah, I fell hook, line and sinker.

When I took her in for her first vet visit, he warned me not to get overly attached because she was probably more than five years old and had lived a rough life as a street dog. She had ear mites and some other little pests that were quickly banished, then she started gaining a little weight after I started her on a good, regular diet. For most of our time together she was about 8 to 9 pounds.

We had several health scares over the years with unusual problems -- bladder stones, which required surgery, her spaying and then later another surgery to remove those stinky, awful anal glands (sorry to upset any delicate readers).

She spent most of her years on a prescription diet that I bought by the case from the vet's office, to prevent the stones from recurring. When I got her, she had a cataract in her left eye which later became worse, and over time formed another in her right eye. We made a visit to the veterinary hospital at Oklahoma State University where she was examined by a canine ophthalmologist. (Yes, I really, really DID take my dear dog for an eye exam. And she did OK until she was asked to read the third line. She missed several of the letters; I think it was because she couldn't read.) Anyway, the vet told me that at that time her cataracts were not well formed enough to be removed. The little dog did so well getting around there really was never any reason for me to pursue it further.

We lived in several places while we were together, and she was always able to find her way around once she could determine where key pieces of furniture were located. I finally broke down and bought this house in order to give her a permanent home for the rest of her days. It also is a one-story home which made life much easier than the second-story apartment we lived in previously.

Fefe surprised me early on with the way she was tuned in to me. The first night she earned a permanent place in my heart by resting on my lap while I was sitting in my chair. She was just like a cuddly heating pad that I fell in love with.

One trick she surprised me with was her house training. When I left her alone all day for the first time, I didn't know what to expect in the way of accidents. Well, my beautiful, smart best pet in the whole world had it all figured out. She figured if I went in the bathroom, so would she. And lo and behold, her solution was to jump into the bathtub when she needed to GO. Of all the places she could have picked, MY smart dog picked the one place in the house that was the easiest to clean! HOORAY!

During my mother's final days in the nursing home, I took Fefe to see her one last time. They spent a long, long time cuddled up together. Fefe just naturally knew exactly what Mom needed, which was a good, gentle cuddle. I wish I had a photo of that visit because I'll never forget it in my mind's eye, the two of them just lying together in that bed, breathing together in unison, speaking an unspoken love between them. It was a wonderful gift for my mom. The next day, she had no memory of it, but I know somewhere in her heart the love was still with her.

Fefe saw me through many, many tough days in our life together. I think it would have been nearly impossible to deal with some things without her on my lap.

I had her with me until the Saturday after Thanksgiving 2000 -- 15 years together. Not bad for a dog who wasn't expected to be around too long in 1985. She was the oldest patient in my vet's practice when we had to tell her goodbye, and I think it hurt the vet and his staff almost as much as it did me when we had that final visit. Of all the pains that life can bring, saying goodbye to a much-loved pet is one of the worst.

If you think a "Freedom Poodle" is a wimpy little dust mop, then tell me how that little animal still has the power to make me cry after almost five years. I never saw it coming.

Do you like my virtual puppy?

Have you seen my Sweet Puppy Girl over in the left column? She's a great pet. No buying food, no paying for vaccines or medical care, no poop to clean up! The Perfect Pet!

Have you played with her? She will do tricks. All you have to do is click on the biscuits, then click high enough to make Sweet Puppy Girl jump up and grab it. She'll even bark for you to say thank you!

(She's OK, honest, but I've been having a POWERFUL desire to get another pet. I must resist...)

Happy Bloggyversary to me!

I missed posting about it yesterday (must have been in mourning for Elvis, still) but it was my Blogging anniversary. Yep, it's be a whole year of fun and nonsense!

It's funny to think about a year passing, isn't it? The whole concept of blogging still has some novelty to it, so in one respect this has been but a fleeting moment. Then I look at the range of things I've written about in that time, and I have a hard time believing I've packed all of that into just one year.

Add to that the truth that life is about much more than what shows up on the computer screen, and it's even more mind-boggling.

The best part about this year has been the interactions with other people -- my bloggy buddies who routinely share with one another, and those that stop by once, or on rare occasion. Y'all are great!

Once in a blue moon I'll get an e-mail from a reader who has gone through the archives and writes about something I posted months ago. Sometimes I have to go back and re-read my posts to have a clue. But that's one of the things that makes this fun!

Basically, I'm writing my diary and leaving it wide open on the table for anyone to come by and read. Sometimes I leave myself open to torment from nosy little brothers; other times I'm honored that someone makes the effort to read what I've written and then leaves a thoughtful comment. (I much prefer the latter, by the way!)

We'll just have to hang on and see what the next year brings. I hope each of you enjoys your blog writing as much as I do! If you don't, then one of us is doing something wrong, and I hope it's not me.

My predictions: I'll still refrain from most political discussion on general principles. I learned in kindergarten that politics can lead to fighting and meanness, and that's not what my blog is about. I do sometimes read and comment on other friends' political discussions, but I'll be one of the first out the door when things turn ugly. Life is too short.

I'd rather give you my recipes for a great pork roast with cherry sauce (complete with pictures of Gumby's able assistance.) My inner soul is more of an apron evangelist. If there are issues, let's sit down at dinner together and see how we can solve problems. Let's enjoy one another. And let's not worry too much about counting the calories, because that takes the fun out of it too! (I'm working on it.)

I guess what I'm saying is you'll probably get more of the same from me over the next year because this is who I am. Will I change? Probably. Maybe next year at this time I'll sit down and take a look back over the year to see what's different. Maybe.

It's so tasty, too!

I really think E.R. is trying to tell us something. So I prescribe...
VITAMEATAVEGAMIN!

"Hello Friends, I'm your Vitameatavegamin girl. Are your tired? Run down? Listless? Do you poop out at parties? Are you unpopular? The answer to all of your problems is in this little bottle. Vitameatavegamin. Yes, Vitameatavegamin contains vitamins, meat, vegetables, and minerals. Yes, with Vitameatavegamin you can spoon your way to health. All you do is take a big tablespoonful after every meal. It's so tasty, too. Tastes just like candy. So why don't you join the thousands of happy peppy people and get a great big bottle of Vitameatavegamin tomorrow. That's Vitameatavegamin."

Did I miss "National Get OLD Day?"

I haven't posted in a few days, mostly because I've been a bit busy caretaking some friends and trying to keep things going to make a few dollars here and there.

Somehow I must have missed the announcement of the new national holiday -- we'll call it "Geezer Day" for Hallmark's benefit. They'll have cards hot off the presses before you know it. Seems like suddenly everyone I know is cratering!

Poor ol' E.R. is suffering from an assortment of maladies including Empty Nest, Rot-Toe Spider Bite, and General Old Man Syndrome, I believe. (I haven't seen the exact medical diagnoses but I think this is what he's got.) Bring him some Jell-O to hide his Geritol in and he should be better soon.

Friend Ken finally seems to be improving with his cellulitis, although it will be a while before he is back to his old, old self. He has improved since he's been home with his weiner dog snoozing on his lap on the couch.

I've been most concerned about a friend who truly is old -- he's in his 80s. Jim and his wife have been married for 62 years and I love them both to pieces. I think it was Sept. 11, 1974, when Jim had an industrial accident and was crushed at work. It was a miracle he survived at that time and that he's managed to live as long as he has. And he's not ready to give up now, even though he was in the hospital last week. They've bumped up his oxygen setting to help him breathe better. He's home now so I expect I'll see him at church next Sunday. Now his wife has walking pneumonia!

I do believe I'll go take a nap now. I hear it keeps you young.

Woodn't you like to know?

Q: How do you know when a tree is happy?

A: When it's smiling, of course! No, this isn't one of mine after today's cleanup. It's a photo I took that goes with one of my favorite recent stories. This link will only be good for a couple of days. Normally I wouldn't reveal my work identity here, but hey, this was fun and I just think you might like seeing it while you can. I hope the link works. Welcome to Landwich!

Running with scissors (and other evil deeds)

It's been a bit of a tough day, all around.

It started for me at 7 a.m. with a call from my tree service (Blanchard's Tree Service of Oklahoma City. I highly recommend this company if you need tree work done.) Anyway, I knew that I'd be getting a followup call to do some work at my house. I just didn't realize he would call me at 7 a.m. the day he wanted to do the work. He picked the right day, though, since I didn't have any outside appointments scheduled today.

I pulled on some clothes, brushed my teeth, washed my face and looked in the mirror. I screamed. Then I brushed my hair. Went back to my room to pull up the covers (more to kill the thought of crawling back in than to be a testament to housekeeping.)
Barely tossed the pillows back in place when I heard a knock at the front door. THEY WERE HERE already! It couldn't have been 15 minutes from the phone call to their arrival!

This was a hefty work day, prompted by the fact that access to my driveway was becoming hindered by the Bradford pear tree in the front yard. It was bad enough that the pizza delivery guy said he wasn't coming back until I got it cut. So what choice did I have?

In the front yard the crew (Jess Blanchard and three of his grandchildren) took a chainsaw to the Bradford and raised the canopy. He is an artist and preserved the shape and wonder of my favorite tree in the world. Now I can love it without bashing my head while mowing the yard! Who knew? Love doesn't always have to hurt! He also did a makeover on the sugar maple standing at the other edge of my plot of dirt, raising it off the roof, removing dead branches and making my postman happy by clearing the path to the next house.

Had the work stopped here, I would have been happy enough. But I bit the bullet and had the back yard worked over as well. I think I had 6, maybe 7 (maybe more) trees removed completely and several others pruned back where they should be.

MAN! I can't believe how much real estate I gained! I'll try to post some photos later this week when I have time to do all the voodoo.

Anyway, the moral of this part of the story is that sharp objects, like chain saws and limb loppers, in the hands of experts, can be a very, very good thing. My home feels lighter and airier. I have room on my patio now for a small table and chairs. And the majorly hefty bill for Blanchard's is much less than the cost of a visit to the emergency room, had I tried this myself. And I kept all my own personal limbs while the trees lost some of theirs.

Speaking of emergency rooms ...

-- A big boo-boo bandaid to E.R. who is suffering with an apparent spider bite on his tootsie. He's missed a couple of days of work, which is a sure indicator that this is major damage to his physique. Here's hoping he's feeling well enough to return to work soon. E.R. is still recovering from a previous injury to a finger which got in the way of some pruners.

The moral of this part of the story is that sharp objects, like pruners, in the hands of homeowners, can be a very, very bad thing.

-- Prayers requested for my partner in knife sales, Ken. Monday I was at the knife shop, picking up some stock, when a couple of huge knives fell from the doors of the cabinet (they are displayed on large magnetic strips on the fronts of the cabinets.) Anyway, Ken was cut badly on the hands when these knives fell. And I was in the blood spatter zone. We got him bandaged and he continued working (such a man thing to do). Later Monday night he started feeling ill and finally went to a doctor Tuesday. Doctor put it bluntly, telling him to "get his ass to the emergency room." He has a severe infection of the leg (cellulitis). We do not know if it's related to the cuts on his hands, but that is my hunch. I asked him if he mentioned it to the doctors or nurses and he hadn't even thought about it. In fact, he had forgotten about the knife cuts. I made him promise to tell the caretakers about his injuries, at least so they will check them out to make sure he doesn't also have a raging infection in his fingers. And I tattled to the nurses' station, just to make sure someone checks him out. He's on IV antibiotics and is very, very sick with a fever of 103.

The moral of this part of the story is that sharp objects, like large knives, in the hands of experts, can be a very, very bad thing.

That's all the injuries I have to report tonight.

My first e-Bay auction ends tonight. Looks like I've got 6 out of 9 knives sold, which is a very nice thing in my book, for the first run. I've learned a few things, but isn't that how it should be? I will do better in the future!

I tell you whut, I'm not touching any knives tonight. It'll be tomorrow before I even think about getting them ready to ship to the buyers. First I have a date with a sharp needle for a blood glucose check at the doctor's office in the morning. Let's hope it's nothing worth writing about!

This date in history

In 1790, the Columbia returned to Boston Harbor after a three-year voyage, becoming the first ship to carry the American flag around the world.

On Aug. 9, 1945, three days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, the United States exploded a nuclear device over Nagasaki, killing an estimated 74,000 people.

In 1854, Henry David Thoreau published "Walden," which described his experiences while living near Walden Pond in Massachusetts.

In 1902, Edward VII was crowned king of England following the death of his mother, Queen Victoria.

In 1965, Singapore proclaimed its independence from the Malaysian Federation.

In 1969, actress Sharon Tate and four other people were found brutally murdered in Tate's Los Angeles home; cult leader Charles Manson and a group of his disciples were later convicted of the crime.

In 1974, President Nixon's resignation took effect. Vice President Gerald R. Ford became the nation's 38th chief executive.

One year ago: Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols, addressing a court for the first time, asked victims of the blast for forgiveness as a judge sentenced him to 161 consecutive life sentences.

Interesting. I've been spammed!

This was a first for me. Someone posted a comment to my "prayers for the people" post below inviting me to call their long-distance number and buy a diploma.

Yep, folks, it looks like spam has reached blogland. We've gotten it in our e-mails for years, even in instant messages. But this was my very first blog-o-spam.

I'm not sure if or how we can fight this kind of intrusion. I'm just glad we've gone this long without it bothering us before!

Prayers of the People

Sometimes I get a nice, hard smack to remind me about the reality of life. And if I ever recognize that I need a nice, hard smack, I always know I will find one at Skyline Urban Ministry in Oklahoma City.

This is a ministry I was heavily involved with some years back. I attended the Saturday night services at NW 8 and Lee (next to St. Anthony Hospital). I'd help prepare meals to serve to the street people who make up the congregation. We would sing and pray and listen to a sermon by the director of the agency, who is an ordained United Methodist minister.

There's another branch at 500 SE 15 called McKee Center which serves the poor senior citizens in the near southeast area of the city, as well as children. I would participate in the Sunday service there, for a while playing the piano for the service which started after my own home church service ended on Sundays. There was a communal lunch after that service as well.

I worked with Skyline in many different ways, even serving briefly on the board of directors. We finally parted ways after a couple of events which are no longer so important. The ministry continues and is growing and thriving under new leadership now, a true blessing of God.

Skyline touches countless lives in countless ways, as do all of the inner city missions of other churches. It is a huge mission field, and it's proof that we don't always have to cross a border on a map to find those who need to hear the Word and be fed, spiritually or physically.

Today I want to let you know and see for yourself the prayers of the people who attend Skyline. So I invite you to spend a few minutes here, reading and praying for their needs, spoken and unspoken: Prayers of the People of Skyline

If you would like to know more about all of the ministries of this outreach, check out Skyline's full site: Skyline Urban Ministry.

Right now, McKee Center is preparing for the 2005 Clothes for Kids ministry, in which each child who comes through the door gets new clothes, shoes and school supplies. More than 1,000 kids a year come through the door seeking help to start out with the basics, just to make it possible to walk through the school doors.

I don't know if you've ever been poor, but I have. But I consider my childhood wealthy by comparison because I had hand-me-down clothes from family friends and cousins. Without that family support, I well may have been in the same situation as the children who depend on Skyline and the supporting churches who make the ministry possible.

So in your own way, as your are called and led, I urge you to feed the people, pray with them, remember them. And know that we could be them, very, very easily.

Ta-Da!

I'm now open for business on e-Bay, selling knives. I've posted the first nine items I have for sale, with many, many more to be added over time. I've even gotten my first bid already! Woot!

If you're curious or looking for high-quality knives for your kitchen, check out my listings. I'm using the seller name OKSharpGirl. Here's a link: OKSharpGirl items for sale.

I'll be adding several different lines, as well as additional products in the Forschner line. Some will be collectible knives and pocket knives. There are some beauties that you'll see posted soon. I'll let you know as I add lines to my listings.

Thank you for your support! If you have any questions about anything, or if you're looking for a particular type of knife, just let me know and I'll do my best to find you what you may be seeking.

(End commercial announcement.)

An embarrassing broadcasting incident

Local newscaster Linda Cavanaugh should be proud of herself on one hand while being mightily embarrassed on the other hand.

Tonight during the 6 p.m. newscast she was reporting the story of a poor Tulsa child who died from a rare disease contracted while swimming in a lake.

She attributed the unfortunate tragedy to ...

"a deadly orgasm."

Even while catching her error and correcting it, she managed to maintain her composure and not fall into a paroxysm of laughter or tears.

When Gumby Goes Bad

At Toad's request (see comments in next post down), I present a behind-the-scenes look at Gumby's hidden shame. Like so many celebrities, he does sometimes fall short of the mark.
(Mega apologies to Maresy and to all the Gumby family)


I started getting my dinner ready this evening and invited Gumby to break bread with me. He was a charming companion -- at first.


I went back to the kitchen to attend to the cooking. Little did I know what was happening at the table.


It seems Gumby noticed my glass of wine, and came up with a sneaky plan to take a nip.


Somehow he managed to engineer a spiral staircase using some of my spice containers. (*Note to self... after examining the expiration dates on the staircase, it's time to buy new spices.)


Hmmm.... Something is afoot! Gumby is climbing his staircase!


"Ta-da! I have reached the zenith!" he cries out!


"Oops! Now my engineering fails me! The straw is too long!"


"Hey! I have an idea," he says.


"Yes!" he exclaimed. "I can simply propel myself head-first into the wine glass! Cool!"


"Oh yeah! This works great!"


"Ahhhhh." That must have been good, right Gumby?


















"Oh yeah! That was GREAT!"



















"Where's the stairs?"
























Wheeeeeeeeee!!




















"Don't worry, I'm fine. Juuuussssss fineee."


"I'll walk home. Yeah, the air will do me goooood."


"See?" he said. "I'm soberly perfect. I can recite this straight line while walking the alphabits."


"EEK! Muggers!!"


*thud*


"Uh-oh. Something has gone TERRIBLY wrong!"


Somehow, I think Gumby may not feel too good tomorrow. Let this be a reminder to all of us to exercise temperance and virtue, and eschew the fermented juice of the grape!