Saturday, November 7, 2009

Shadow Shot Sunday



Tracy of Hey Harriet brings us Shadow Shots each week from her home in Australia, where the U.S. Sunday falls on Saturday.

I haven't been outside this week to look for shadows. Here are a few I shot a while ago.

Shadows in the water.

A couple of gallon water jugs.


And the shadow of a vase, seen through the kitchen curtain.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Cape May Lighthouse


With all that has been going on in the past few days, I neglected to wish THE CAPE MAY LIGHTHOUSE a very HAPPY 150th BIRTHDAY.

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Thursday, November 5, 2009

Dona Nobis Pacem



For the Future of Our World

The future is, of course, our children, our grandchildren, and all of the children yet to come.

I often wonder about the warmongers - and the tyrants, those who head companies which pollute our land and sea and air for the sake of wealth -
all of those who, in any way, perpetrate the evils of our world. I understand that they are totally self-centered. But does that extend to their progeny? Can they really be completely uncaring about what will be faced by their own children and grandchildren? Or have they convinced themselves that somehow their own will be shielded from the results of what they have created?

Look into the faces of your innocent children. Listen to their sweet voices asking you "Why, Daddy?" "Why, Mommy?" Picture them now, if you dare, transported to the ugly scenes of war. Surely this is not a picture you can bear to entertain for long. Then think seriously of the many wars that continue to tear apart lives in so many parts of our world today. OUR world. Not just "the" world. It is our world. And think, sadly, of other people's children, going through that daily hell.

This is why we pray - Please God - Let there be Peace.

There will be no Peace in Our World until and unless we work to make it so.


My thanks to Karin, who found a beautiful video of the cast of M*A*S*H singing Dona Nobis Pacem, and brought it to our attention. I have just learned that this version of the hymn is no longer available due to a copyright claim . There are many other versions on YouTube. You can find one on my second blog, Video Venue, if you care to hear it.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Just a Couple of Things

First - Congratulations to Lisa! It's her second Blogiversary!

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Next - Note to Paz (because I don't have an email for her.)

Thanks for all your comments on my posts.
For some weird reason, your entire post is off-center on my screen. It shifts all the way to the left, and I am unable to leave comments for you. But I read your posts and love them and your photos. Just so you know.

Ancestors

I was contacted the other day by a cousin - maybe a second or third cousin - I really don't know yet. He is very much into research of his family tree, and had come across my name and email address somehow. I am very interested in this subject myself, but it has been some time since I made much effort in that direction. I had first started it when my husband died, thirty-four years ago, and I was concerned that my youngest child, only six at the time, should not be allowed to grow up without knowing her family history even though most of the older generation had passed on.

I started at that time with my husband's family, collecting as many photographs as I could. We couldn't get very far with his family. He was first generation American, and the aunts and uncles who were left seemed to have no interest in and not much knowledge of past history. We tried contacting sources in Italy, to no avail. Many records had been destroyed by fire or flood.

Then I turned to my own family history. There was quite a bit of information available on my father's side. Many members had attempted to keep records over the years. My only problem was that my memories of stories told when I was a child were often flawed and somewhat confusing. My father was deceased long since, and my mother had become a victim of Alzheimer's. But we did have many photographs.


Two photos that I no longer had were supplied by this cousin's pages. I was delighted to find this one of my grandfather with his nine children. It had been used as a Christmas card at some point. I had seen it before, but no longer had access to it. My father is on the far right, back row. My grandmother was deceased, and my Aunt Frances (standing next to my father) raised the younger ones.




Another that I remembered was this one - badly deteriorated of course, but dear to me. The older boy is my father. The younger, one of my uncles. They are seen during a summer vacation in Cape May Point, NJ, where the family had a summer home. This spot is near my present home. The Cape May Lighthouse can barely be seen way back on the horizon.




My youngest daughter, Kathryn, is also very interested in family history, and was pleased to receive this new information. She also sent me this poem which she found on Writers' Almanac.

ancestors

my ancestors surround me
like walls of a canyon
quiet
stone hard
their ideas drift over me
like breezes at sunset

we gather sticks
and make settlements
what we do is only partly
our own
and partly continuation
down through the chromosomes

my son
my baby sleeps behind me
stirring in the night
for the touch
that lets him continue

he is arranging
in his small form the furniture
and windows of his home

it will be a lot like mine
it will be a lot like theirs



"ancestors" by Harvey Ellis from Sleep Not Sleep.

© Wolf Ridge Press, 2008. Reprinted with permission

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Blogblast for Peace

On Thursday of this week we will find posts from bloggers in dozens of countries worldwide, all titled Dona Nobis Pacem (Grant Us Peace). They will be accompanied by Peace Globes, designed by each blogger.

Please join us if you have not done so already. Encourage Peace in your world, in your country, in your town, in your home, in your heart.

It isn't too late. It's never too late. You will find a peace globe waiting for you HERE.




And please make time to vote today, if you haven't already.