Friday, August 31, 2012

Keen On Keane

 

 
I did a post about the band, Keane, who made a video on the beach at Bexhill in England.  Their new album is "Strangeland" and Richard bought it for me!  Well, for both of us really, but I love it so much, not just a few of the songs are good, I think ALL of them are good, very good.  This song that I have for you here is "Disconnected" and the harmonies are perfect and the arrangement is just so pleasing to the ear.
This seems like real music to me and it is like breathing fresh air.  I love not just the music but the lyrics as well.  I have read that the lead singer, Tom Chaplin, has gone through drug problems and he credits playing golf as having brought him back to his senses, so to speak.  One of those who introduced him to golf was the singer from the 70's, Alice Cooper.  This singer, who is not the first person you would think of to admit this, is a Christian and perhaps, has influenced Tom Chaplin since this album, at times, sounds almost like a hymn.  I heard Tom Chaplin say in one of his recent concerts that this album has sad songs but they are much more "positive" and "redemptive" than any of their other past songs.
There are some catchy tunes out there right now but the lyrics leave something to be desired.  I love melody but I also love words, and when the two are combined in such a way that makes for a perfect union, then that makes me very happy.  If you get a chance to listen to this song, let me know what you think.  And if you like it, I would suggest this CD to you.  It is the best thing that I have heard for years.

Oh, and one more thing!  Last Saturday, when I was cleaning my house, I was listening to a song by Adele  (I think is was "Rolling In The Deep").  I was dancing beside our sliding glass door , and the hummingbird came up to the glass and began "dancing" with me!  My son happened to come in and see this, so he is my witness!  "Dances With Hummingbirds"...that could be my Indian name, I would like that very much.  What would you have as your name?

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Tread Softly

 

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
William Butler Yeats

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

WHO Won the Giveaway?

Instead of announcing the winner to my one year blog's anniversary within a few days, it has turned into one week.  I put all the names into a straw bowl and my son drew forth a name and it is...

Wait, wouldn't you like to see my owl photos first? Sure, you would!  (Go ahead, scroll down and see if you won, but don't forget to come back and look at my owl photos!)
The blogger who won has a wonderful quote from the Book of Isaiah at the top of that blog:

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall. But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar like eagles, they shall run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.


 
 
Can you possibly see how thrilled I was to be holding this owl on my arm?  (Richard took a closer view of the same owl in the first photo.)  It was a large owl but it was so light on my arm, the heavy glove seemed to weigh more.  Guess that is what is meant by as "light as a feather"!  And just to say, I am a lousy actress, you can tell just from my face if I like something or not, I can't hide my emotions! 
 
It's true that I see heart shapes everywhere but this is ridiculous!   This is a barn owl and is very common in many countries of the world.  Look at that face and those feathers!  This owl and the next one that I will show you were in the AWARE Tent.  I have written of AWARE before,  it is right beside where we park when we go on our walks at Arabia Mountain.  AWARE rescues injured animals from the wild, nurses them back to health and then releases them back into the wild after they have recovered.  Those that are not able to be released are used for educational purposes, like this owl above.  This beautiful creature's mate had been killed by a man with a shovel.  Neighbors saw what was going on and prevented this owl's death, but she was wounded and will never fly again.  This saddens me more than I can tell you.   http://awareone.org/  I have given you the link for AWARE if you would like to read more.
See the large talons, and this side view shows the beautiful feathers. 
Wait, until you see this next little fellow...
 
This is an eastern screech owl and is one of the smallest owls in North America. This one had been shot and also could never fly again.
Look how little it is compared to the barn owl! 
 
 
 WHO WHO WHO won the giveaway?  The winner of the $21.00 Amazon gift certificate is...
 
 
 
Connie from Nonnie's Random Thoughts!  Please contact me Connie, so that I may set up this Amazon gift for you!   www.nonniesmemoriesblogspot.com  Congratulations!
 
And a big thank you for all those who left a comment, there were 31 names in the straw bowl and I appreciate you all!
 
 
 

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Indian Givers And Redbud Trees

 
 Richard and I went to a Wildlife Festival yesterday in Rockdale County.  There was a demonstration by Native Americans (Cherokees and Creeks in this area) and it was fascinating.  There are two books that I would recommend to you and they are "Indian Givers" by Jack Weatherford and "Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee" by Dee Brown.  Both are excellent.  I read them years ago but still remember them with great fondness.  This first photo with the arrowheads and stones caught my eye and I snapped this photo. Just since I have been home and have been looking at it all, I see that those are feathers that have been arranged so artistically in the middle.  What hoofed creature's leg is that to the right, is it a deer?  What was that used for, I wonder?  Could it have been used as a hoe?
 This is a demonstration of the fire used for cooking food and for drinking water.   The fire is reduced to the white hot ashes and then food is placed into the ashes. Those are red potatoes at the front of the fire.  Later, they put corn (still in its husk) on there and yellow squash sliced in half placed upon the hot stones.  The Native Americans would also take a squash gourd and clean it very well and then would use that to collect water from the streams.  They would then take the very hot stones from the fire and place them into the gourd filled with water and would thereby purify the water.  And that is a deerskin on the left and that is where we Americans get our other name for a dollar, a buck!
This photo shows the hollowed out gourd and the stones to the left.  I love the scuppernongs (like muscadines, only green)  in the handmade basket and the yellow squash are to the upper right.  I asked about the lichen and below that, the husk from corn.  Lichen can be eaten!  I was assured that it does not taste that good but that if it is cleaned it is perfectly edible and could sustain you if you needed food in the wild.  The cornhusk was used by Native Americans  as a diuretic, it was soaked in water and they would drink the cornhusky water.  Not sure, what kind of nuts they have here.  You could bet that my Dad would know! (And please, do NOT go into the wild and eat something on my say-so! I am from small-town Georgia and am just passing along to you what was shown to me at this festival.  I promise you that all the country knowledge that my Dad might have in common with Native Americans is his knowledge alone, and not mine!)
 
GB just asked me about the pink trees that I was posing beside in my one year blog anniversary post.  They are Eastern Redbud trees and they are native to this area.  They are the very first trees to bloom and they are always a very welcome sight.  The blooms from an Eastern Redbud tree were also eaten by the Native Americans and that makes total sense to me since they bloom in mid March and would be one of the few blooming plants at that time of year.
 
Beautiful owls from the Wildlife Festival...from AWARE and also, from a Bird of Prey Show...but that will have to be for another post.    Just you wait, you will be amazed by their beauty.

Friday, August 24, 2012

Unconscious Came A Beauty

                        Unconscious                             
                  came a beauty to my                       
               wrist                                                  
              and stopped my pencil,                       
         merged its shadow profile with                 
      my hand's ghost                                          
   on the page:                                                   
   Red Spotted Purple or else Mourning              
Cloak,                                                               
paired thin-as-paper wings, near black,              
were edged on the seam side poppy orange, 
      as were its spots.                                                       
 I sat arrested, for its soot-haired
body's worm
shone in the sun.
It bent its tongue long as
a leg
black on my skin
and clung without my
feeling,
while its tomb-stained
duplicate parts of
a window opened.
And then I
moved.                May Swenson

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Please Prove You're Not A Robot or OLD

Do you have word verification on your blog?  I don't but I know many that do and I understand the reasons behind it but I must say that some of the words that you must type are so difficult to see!  Now, there is a movie that looks pretty good to me and I wonder if it will be as good as it seems from the trailer?  The name of the movie is "Robot & Frank" and I haven't had much luck with movies lately but I live in hope!
Speaking of hope, did you leave a comment on my last post for my one year blog's anniversary?   If not, go back and do so now, I hope to have the MOST comments on that one post as I ever have had!
 

Can't leave you without a few photos!  I took the church sign photo waiting at a stop sign this summer when it was so hot and we needed rain so badly.  I love reading the messages on church signs! The second photo is of Richard holding a tiny kitten, it was taken a few years ago at my sister's house. And I just remembered another church sign, took this one waiting at a red light!

Have a nice day!   (And I hope that robot from this new movie doesn't make me think of HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey.  "Hello, Dave",  oooh... thinking of that voice just creeps me out!)

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

My One Year Blog Anniversary With Giveaway!



It has been one whole year since I started this blog!  Thank you, Meike, I honestly doubt that I would have done this had you not suggested it !  Tempus Fugit! (I only know that bit of Latin because that was the name of our yearbook from Rockdale County High School.)   In fact, I know very little and I suppose anyone who reads my blog can figure that out, but it hasn't stopped me from writing this blog.  And I still have a lot I want to write about, so keep checking in! Thanks to all who have signed up over there on the side as one of my followers or friends, as I like to think of you all.

Wait, didn't I say something up there about a giveaway?  YES!  Since today is the 21st of August, why not have a gift certificate for Amazon for $21.00?    That is in US Dollars, if anyone wins this in another country, I will figure the exchange rate out and it will be the equivalent!  What do you say?  Leave me a comment on here and I will put all the names in a hat and will draw the winner in a few days.  Now, I hope you like the video of the Muppets  that I have on here for you.  I was thinking of how little that I know and it made me think of this joke.  One thing you need to know about me, if I think a joke is funny, it will always be funny to me.  Always!
                                                               
Here we are, Richard and I, on top of Stone Mountain, smiling at you.
(And I am so sneaky, standing on a rock to make myself as tall as Richard!)

Thank you all for reading Georgia Girl With An English Heart!
 
UPDATE:  The Winner of the $21.00 Amazon Gift Card is Connie from Nonnie's Random Thoughts! Congratulations!  And a big thank you to all who left comments on here.  This was fun,  I hope to do another one soon!

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Kreativ Blogger Award

Goodness, time gets away from me.  Debra from www.shewhoseeks.blogspot.com  gave me a Kreativ Blogger Award at the end of July.  Sorry it takes me so long to get my thoughts together!  Thank you very much, Debra, I am pleased that you thought of me, since I am not especially creative but I will accept the award anyway.  (Insert sheepish grin here.)

 I looked this up since I wondered at the spelling of "Kreativ".  It was started by a woman from Norway and her name is Hulda and I found her blog: www.huldals.blogspot.com  It is in Norwegian but there is a button to the side that translates it into different languages.  Didn't you fall in love with Norway during the 1994 Winter Olympics?  I did. I had already thought it was wonderful from reading books by Roald Dahl.  Although he was born in Wales and brought up in England, his parents were from Norway and he spent his summers there.  He wrote about this in his book: "Boy, Tales of Childhood".  Now, he wrote some very popular books but did you know that he also had a great deal to do with the recovery of his wife, Patricia Neal, after she had had a stroke?  In fact, many of the methods that he devised are in use to this day.  He was quite the character and he had many tragedies and triumphs. Here is a link to a very long article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/biographyandmemoirreviews/7930233/Roald-Dahls-darkest-hour.html

Goodness me again,  but I had to mention the woman who started this and also a few words about Norway and why I know anything at all about it!  When Hulda from Norway started this award it really looked like this:

But then, someone along the way, changed it to look like this:

By accepting the award, you are asked to do the following:
1)  Thank the person who has nominated you.
2) Post a photo of the Award (and I have given you two!)
3) Share a few things about yourself, some say 4, some say 7.  I say do what you feel.
4) Choose 4 (or 7) bloggers and inform them they have been awarded the Kreativ Blogger Award.

There, I think that I have everything there for you and here are my bloggers for the Award:

1.  Silke at www.silkepowers.blogspot.com  Her blogname is Metamorphosis and she is a fantastic ARTIST and just such a creative soul that it is a joy to read her blog.
2. Kate from www.grannytaughtmetocrochet.blogspot.co.uk    Kate lives in England and she crochets beautifully besides having wonderful photography on her blog. Don't miss her post from Aug. 5th when she was at the Olympics!  If you read it, you will feel as if you were there!
3.  Mimi from www.messymimismeanderings.blogspot.com    Mimi is a lot like me,  she writes about many things on her blog and I always like to read what she has to say! 
4. Martha from www.plowingthroughlife.blogspot.com Martha is from Canada and is a great writer, photographer, gardener and gentle observer of mankind.

There, if any of you don't "do" awards on your blog, that is perfectly fine with me.  Just to say I love all of your blogs and thought of you.  And I have two other awards also!  YAY!  So, I will accept those and pass those along too, so if you didn't get this award, look out for my future posts!

Okay, here are four things about boring old me:

1)  I love pretty clothes but I hate to shop.
2)  I love to eat good food but I hate to cook.
3) I love music but I can't play an instrument.
4)  I can't whistle but I can sing (well, I can carry a tune anyway).

Friday, August 17, 2012

Angelwings and Angel Cake






Richard was pleased to find out that another word for caladiums is "Angelwings".   He grows these from bulbs and they make such a welcome sight for us as we climb our stairs to our home.   The night blooming cereus cactus bloomed this week, and just as the name implies, it only blooms at night, so you must watch it carefully else you will miss the flowering.  It is a source of great happiness when it is time to photograph these flowers.
What is Angel Cake?  And why do we not have this in America? It is a wonderful three color cake which was served to me in England and as I had my tea, I was struck so much by the beauty of the table that I had to photograph it.  Please do not notice that the bottom piece of pink cake is gone...I wonder who might have broken that off and eaten it? Hmmm, I wonder? (Don't worry, you know I went back and finished it!)
I photographed the little fairy in England too and it is meant for the garden but my inlaws like her so much that they have her standing guard over their conservatory.  Isn't she sweet?  She reminds me of the fairy drawings by Mary Cecily Barker whose birthplace was Croydon, England where my husband was also born.

Speaking of angels, this reminds me of a book,  "Angels Without Wings" by Jane Vonnegut Yarmolinsky.  She and her then husband, Kurt Vonnegut, were given custody of the children of Kurt's sister and brother-inlaw who had died of cancer and in a train accident, respectively.  Sounds like fiction, but it is a true story.   If you ever get the chance, it is worth reading.
Also, Meike's Mum from www.librarianwithsecrets.blogspot.com  has written a guest post about angels and if you haven't read her story, then I invite you to do so! 

Hope your guardian angel will look after you today!  I love the line from the movie, "It's A Wonderful Life" when George Bailey says, "You look like the kind of angel I would get."   So funny, and I know just how he feels!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Watch How You Go

Oscar Pistorius, the 'Blade Runner'

Does anyone else feel sad because we have no Olympics to watch this week?   Do you remember when Kirani James changed his runner's tag with Oscar Pistorius, just as a sign of great respect?  Nicknamed "The BladeRunner", he is an inspiration.  Here is the link for Oscar Pistorius if you would like to know more about him:


This song from Keane is called "Watch How You Go" and somehow fits the way that I feel just now. I wish that they could have sung this during the Closing Ceremony, it seems appropriate, almost like a blessing.



Monday, August 13, 2012

Olympics 2012 Closing Ceremony/Waterloo Sunset


What a wonderful Olympics the Summer Games were in London, I was thousands of miles away and I could feel the excitement and JOY.  There are so many things that will stay with me...one of the American runners didn't make it through the semi-finals but he did a couple of back flips anyway and waved to the crowd.  JOY!   Tom Daley, the British diver who won bronze,  jumping into the pool with his mates to celebrate.  JOY!  The American women's relay team who won Gold and were so gracious and beautiful that they looked as if they were in a beauty pageant rather than running a race.
JOY!  The runner from the small island of Granada winning the Gold. JOY!  In the early stages, I read of a woman from...oh dear, I can't remember where she was from or  in what event she was competing, but she was 8 months pregnant and she said that she had two beating hearts and that made her stronger. JOY!
 Loved seeing all the Union Jacks so I thought I would share this one with you which was in the early stages of blooming in late May in England. They are the flower beds that are called the Carpet Gardens along the seafront in Eastbourne.  Richard was so pleased that Great Britain won so many medals.  I read somewhere that they hoped to win 43 and ended up with a total of  65. 
Now, what was I going to talk about?  Oh yeah, the Closing Ceremony!   I loved that it had the opening song as "Because" by the Beatles. You must know that went down well in our household.   It was a FANTASTIC closing ceremony, what a spectacle! Of course, there were some things I didn't like, but I just did something else as those songs were on.    As usual, we Americans had to endure a lot of talking over everything and a lot of ads...to make matters even worse we were informed that we would have the wonderful pleasure of seeing a BRAND NEW comedy with NO ADVERTISING INTERRUPTIONS  right in the MIDDLE of the Closing Ceremony!   (No JOY in this!)  So, of course that means that we had to have some songs cut out that we didn't even get to see.  One of those, that Richard really, really loves is "Waterloo Sunset" by the Kinks.  We only know that it was on there because he read on the internet that was one of those that had been cut.  For all my American friends, who didn't hear it, and for all my friends in the rest of the world to enjoy again, I found it for you...

In one of the speeches, the words from "God Save The Queen" came to the speaker's aid , when he declared the Olympic Games in London to be Happy and Glorious!   Hope all will remember these games with JOY!

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Guest Post From My Son/ Summer of '66

I have been trying to get my husband to write a guest post on my blog and he keeps promising me that he will, but in the meantime... here is a guest post from our son, Christopher!  Take it away, son... Good Day. Son, shine!

Hello All!

I hope that this short post will live up to the beautiful and varied topics that my mother covers.

As you well know by now, my mother loves music deeply and instilled this same deep passion in me as a boy. At the age of eight, I discovered the music of The Beatles (or at least that's the first time I remember truly listening to them). My parents bought me most of their CDs as well as a small boombox-esque stereo to play them on. I listened to them voraciously, imbibing their music much like my peers were gorging themselves on loud, obnoxious cartoons on Nickelodeon.

 I vividly remember listening to A Hard Day's Night with my mom and a friend on the way to a second-grade birthday party. I asked my friend if he had ever heard of The Beatles. He replied: "Yeah, I love them!" He had never discussed this with me before, so I was surprised, but mom kept on driving and I left it at that. When we arrived at the party, the friends who were already there were singing along to The Troggs's classic "Wild Thing," although at the time I didn't know who it was by, and I'm sure the people at the party that day still don't know. After we got the salutations out of the way, I proclaimed that we too had listened to some great music and broke out into "A Hard Day's Night." Silence reigned. My friend who had ridden in the car with me, broke out into laughter: "I don't know who The Beatles are! I've never even heard of them!"

I took this slight with as much good humor as an eight-year-old can and continued to enjoy myself at the party. But I've never forgotten this unimportant incident. Fourteen years have passed since then, but my passion for The Beatles has never waned. While uninitiated people on Twitter responded to Paul McCartney's performance at the 2012 Grammys with disdain and ignorance, "Who's the old guy, #imanidiotandidontknowgoodmusicwhenihearit, etc," I blatantly trumpet my love for The Beatles and try to convert the ignorant to their cause of beauty, love, and transcendence. I rediscovered them fully and completely in high school, just when I needed cultural guidance (which was thin on the ground at school, although rife at home), and my love for them has never abated. No band will ever stumble upon the perfect equation of timing, talent, charisma, and intelligence that The Beatles did.

In terms of The Beatles timing, my mother and many of you, her readers, could probably say more about the importance of The Beatles in America in the 60s. I wish I could say more, but I cannot. Because of this, I will discuss something that I do have knowledge of: their music, and specifically the avalanche of great music that was written and released during the summer of 1966.

Revolver, to me, is the greatest Beatles album. Each song flows together seamlessly and features the sharpest production, instrumentation, and arrangement ever seen on any album, ever (at this point). All of the songs were written in 1966, and some of them were written in the "particularly glorious summer of '66" (Macdonald). One of these songs was "Good Day Sunshine," a beautifully breezy number which features an inspired yet understated vocal from Paul (the most musically gifted Beatle), a woozy, honky-tonkish piano solo from the Fifth Beatle (in my opinion), their producer George Martin, and smooth, pleasant lyrics: "I'm in love and it's a sunny day." This song typifies much of The Beatles's appeal. Ian Macdonald, in his extensive and thoroughly fascinating "Revolution In The Head," agrees saying: " 'Good Day Sunshine' displays The Beatles at their effortless best."

Many other classic songs were written during this beautiful summer of '66. The Beatles's main songwriting rivals Keith Richards and Mick Jagger (it was no rivalry really, the four of them got along famously and Mick and Keith knew they were nothing compared to the titanic talents of Lennon and McCartney),  responded darkly to the beauty surrounding them, penning one of their best tunes, "Paint It, Black." Donovan Leitch, who would later teach John, Paul, and George how to play finger style guitar during their sojourn to Marrakesh to study under Maharishi Maresh Yogi, added one of his best known songs to the list, the whimsical "Sunshine Superman." The Kinks, another tremendously talented and trailblazing British Invasion band, chimed in with the unsettling "Sunny Afternoon." The Lovin' Spoonful, the only American band on this list, were so affected by this summer (as many Americans continue to be obsessed by the summer and its possibilities of freedom and release from the humdrum machinations of daily life) that they wrote two songs - one positive "Daydream," and one negative "Summer In The City."

All of these songs are imbued with the sometimes stifling, sometimes beautiful dichotomy of summertime. Growing up in Georgia provided me with both sides of this unforgiving coin - the intense heat was usually coupled with freedom from responsibility (of which there was never much to go around anyways) and idyllic days of playing outside until my shirts were held together by nothing but dirt and sweat.

The constant throughout summertime for me, and for many, is the role music plays. With this summer coming to a close and my final year of college looming large on the horizon, I remember back through my myriad summers and think of all the music and joy that I have had the pleasure to be a part of. Nothing will match the halcyon days of my early youth (which is a shared characteristic for many people, I'm sure), but because of the music of The Beatles and the thrumming energy that summer inspires in everyone, the beauty of an endless summer will forever be in our dreams. Not to mention our "Daydreams."

P.S. - Thank you for reading this and supporting my mother, a more wonderful mom than the world has ever known. She puts a lot of time and feeling into her posts, so keep loving, keep reading, and keep breathing!

Citations from:
Macdonald, Ian. Revolution In The Head. 2008.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

You Gotta See This One!



Okay, I am trying to clean my house today but I remembered a TV commercial during my Olympic viewing last night.  It made me laugh so hard that I just had to share it with you!!  Let me know if you like it as much as I do!     Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and find lots to laugh about...

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Shine On/ Watching The Olympics


"Come on, whoever you are, doing whatever you are doing".

  This is what Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, said when he saw the British Women's double sculls team on TV.  (They ended up winning the Gold Medal).  If you are interested, he writes a column in a London newspaper, the Telegraph at this link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/borisjohnson/

That quote is there for you because that is how I feel when I turn the TV on and watch the Olympics.  Many times, the sport that I am watching is not one that I am that familiar with but that doesn't stop me from cheering for whatever teams or individuals are competing.  It is also the good sportsmanship and graciousness that I admire and appreciate and not just the Gold, Silver or Bronze winners.

It has been wonderful to see all these young, shining hopeful faces competing in these Olympic Games. And to me, London has looked absolutely incredible. What a beautiful city in the world to have them, am I right?  And the views that are shown around Great Britain don't even look real they are so lovely!  Did you see the photo at the end of last week with the moon just behind the Olympic Rings on Tower Bridge? That was just so beautiful to see and if you missed that photo, I have it here for you!

Shine on, young gifted athetes, we bask in your glory and smile at your beauty, much as we do the moon.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Lovely August Weekend



Arabia Mountain  and The Monastery on Saturday (they are very close in distance) and then down to my Dad's on the Sunday.  Watching the Olympics and the Atlanta Braves in between...beautiful weekend!
Look at how big this banana tree has grown this summer.  (Can you see that it has just started to rain?) Do you think that is is possible that this tree might have some real bananas on it?)
Yes!  We have some bananas, we have some bananas today! (To paraphrase an old song!)

My brother told me that this huge blossom comes up on the tree and then the fruit comes up from that, see the bananas above the reddish bloom?  I know nothing about bananas except seeing them in stores...I have never seen them growing!



The rain only lasted for about two minutes and then, bright sunshine!  Can you see the rain dripping off of this beautiful okra blossom?  Isn't it wonderful that this turns into okra? Reach for the sky, okra pods!




Hope you enjoy visiting at my Dad's with fields of peas, wide open skies and blossoming trees!


Saturday, August 4, 2012

Richard Jewell- Unsung Hero



Anybody remember that the Summer Olympic Games were held in Atlanta in 1996?    It was pretty exciting to have the games held here.  The city was in preparation for years and it was in great hopes that all would go smoothly.  This did not happen because there was a horrific bombing.  On July 27, 1996 in Centennial Olympic Park, Richard Jewell, a security guard, noticed a bag underneath a park bench and was able to alert authorities and get many people moved away.  However, the bag contained a pipe bomb which exploded and two people died and 111 were injured.   Now, at first Richard Jewell was hailed as a hero, but this only lasted a few short days and then, it was reported that he was being treated as a suspect.  The news coverage was relentless, making much of the fact that he was an earnest, quiet young man who lived modestly with his mother.  I found a video of him talking of what he went through and you may see it here...
I have read other bloggers who have written very movingly about  Postman's Park in London which honors Unsung Heroes, people who sacrificed themselves in order to save others.  I could not help but think of Richard Jewell when I read about this park.



He was investigated by the FBI and although he was completely cleared of anything related to the bombing , all of this media attention and speculation was certainly a strain upon him and his health suffered terribly.  He died in August of 2007 at the age of 44.

Above is his obituary from The New York Times in which he is hailed as a hero.  And yet he was and still is a true unsung hero.    I know because I did meet him and I witnessed this. His own lawyer said that many times people would come up to him and ask, "Come on, didn't he really have something to do with the bombing".  I am grateful that I got to shake his hand and to say "sorry" for all that he had gone through.

Friday, August 3, 2012

The DaVinci Hotel/Eastbourne Video


 In Eastbourne, Richard and I stayed at a small hotel, the Da Vinci Hotel, on the seafront on our wedding anniversary, the 4th of June.  Each room in the hotel is dedicated to a certain artist.  June 4th also happened to be the Queen's Jubilee day so they told us there was only one room left.  When we got there, we were pleased that our room had artwork by Gustav Klimt and above the bed, glowing in golden colors, was "The Kiss".  And I loved the bright peacock blue colors in this room as much as I liked the art. You may read more about Gustav Klimt at this link:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Klimt    





 There was a very good book about Gustav Klimt in the room and of course, you know I had to read as much of it as I could.  I like his art and enjoyed this book very much indeed.  There was another book in this room and even though this hotel was opened in 2008, I could tell that not one person  had ever once turned any pages in this book.  I promise you I could tell, the pages had not been touched. What was this unread book?  It was the HOLY BIBLE!    Recently, I heard of another hotel whose owner replaced the Bibles in his 40 room hotel with copies of "Fifty Shades of Grey". http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2012/07/25/hotel-replaces-bible-with-50-shades-grey-420750936/  (The Damson Dene Hotel in the Lake District in England and I have a link to the story about it.)   Well.  
 When he said that no one ever read the Bibles, I couldn't help but think of this lonely Bible in this hotel room.  Now, here is the thing I want to tell you... it was a beautiful version of the Bible, I think it was called English Revised or something like that.  I read the Book of Job, I had to leave this room with the knowledge that someone had read something out of this Good Book.  (God's words to Job: "Where were YOU when I made the Heaven and the Earth, when I said to the sea, this far you may come and no further".    Really awesome to read this when you have the English Channel outside your window!)    Of course, I believe the Bible is more than just a book, it is the Holy Bible and is important to my faith and beliefs.  I appreciate the quality of a well made book, the quality of the paper and the binding, and this one was excellent.  Thank you, Gideons!   I, for one, am grateful to have a Bible in a hotel room. 

Exciting news! At least for us, is that we were able to put one of the videos on Youtube that we made while we were in Eastbourne!  I say "we" but it was really Richard who made this video and I think it is really good, with the seagulls circling lazily overhead as the waves crash against the pebbled shore.  Hope you like it as much as we do! 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNnB_UfrMwU&feature=plcp

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Going For The Gold

















Going for the gold (or yellow).   Hope these yellow photos will make you smile.   Is everyone watching the Olympics?  Are you trying to watch the Olympics and watch the Atlanta Braves at the same time like I am trying to do?  My last two photos are here to represent silver and bronze for you, because let's face it, it would be wonderful to win any of the medals, wouldn't it?