January is ending (yeah!) and the days seem to be getting a little teeny tiny bit longer. Although February is a short month, it's usually the month that seems to drag on for me and I get especially tired of winter. I can't say I have many particular memories about winter storms or such. I think I remember trying to make caves or tunnels in the snow from mounds like these. I do remember taking the toboggan down the big hills at Tri County club. That had to be quite the outing for Dad to undertake! This is taken in 1966 and I think it must be Mary Jane, Paula, Kathy and I (and Longfellow).

Fifty years earlier : here's Nanny Flynn --she looks like she is having a grand time! This is 1916 when she was about 6 years old.

Such is Life

Thinking about Dad today. Today is kind of a nice day but I don't think it was such a nice day six years ago in Walton. I am not sure I remember clearly but I think it was bitter cold and windy. I think it was a Thursday.

This picture says February '68 on the back, making Dad 40 years old. The head is cut off, which makes me think of Mom and her trouble taking pictures and often cutting the heads off. Alas, I think this might have been taken by me as I am pretty sure it's my handwriting on the back. I believe I have improved a bit as a photographer. I don't know what event this might have been for but I am guessing it's his costume for another Barbra Streisand song at one of those variety shows. One legacy of Dad's is that I can never hear Barbra sing without thinking of him and "Sam, You Made the Pants too Long". I also think of Dad when I hear "Impossible Dream".

So many things have changed in these last six years making it seem like such a long time. But six years doesn't seem very long when you are sending your child off to school maybe already in first grade. Or you remember the day she started 7th grade in your building as you watch graduation. Six years seems like the blink of an eye. But as I reflect on Dad's final illness, it seems an entire lifetime ago.

Well, " 'Such is life'" said Hugh". That's from a book Kathy and I both loved. Can't remember what it was right now but we would often say that phrase with a sigh and a nod.

Inauguration Day Jan 20 2009

I hope everyone took the opportunity to witness history today for the inauguration ceremonies. No matter your political view, there can be no question that today will be one of those days you will remember. We were lucky enough to be able to gather all our high school students together in our auditorium to view the broadcast on our big screen and help them understand the history that was being made. I hope Ryan remembers this day--of course, he isn't old enough yet to see it in its historical context but someday he certainly will. His view was more along the lines of "Don't they do this for every inauguration?" Well, yes, but.......

I couldn't help but notice how many times our ancestors came up today both in speech and in imagery. President Obama called upon the efforts our ancestors made to come to this country and to build a life for themselves. Some of those efforts, he noted, were to make this country a better place so that we could get to a point such as we did today.

Honestly, I don't think our ancestors had such broad national goals in mind when they boarded those ships and found their way to other relatives or community members who had immigrated previously. I believe our ancestors were mostly concerned with many of the same things we are thinking about today. We hope the world is better for our children than for us. It's just about that simple. And that's not such a bad national call to attention.

Just my 2 cents on the day for posterity. What are your thoughts?

What's on your plate?

It shouldn't surprise you to learn that I read other bloggers and one of my favorites is called Passing It On by Larry Lehmer. I just happened to stumble across it somehow and his posts very often hit close to home for me, such as a recent posting he calls Your Life as a Plate: Handle with Care. He advises readers to consider their lives being a great deal like a plate--sometimes full, sometimes empty and so on.

Of course, I have to take that analogy a step or two further. Experts caution that one of the reasons we all eat too much and too poorly these days is because our plates have grown by perhaps as much as 25% in size from the plate our parents and grandparents used. This certainly seems to bear out as I compare the relative sizes of my Depression glass collection and our everyday china. I also am somewhat larger than I used to be--I've grown in size physically right along with those plates. I have also grown emotionally and intellectually at least that much--I hope. (I could live without growing sideways though)

Plates are generally held close yet often treated as if easily replaceable. Like our lives. We might admire how pretty they make the table look yet we kind of throw them back in the cupboard without much care or thought. They are just there when we need them the next time. Like our health. If you've ever dumped your food into your lap from a flimsy paper plate, you appreciate the sturdiness of decent china. Like our friendships.

These are pictures of Nanny's china (Winterling Bavaria). I believe it was a wedding gift. I love having this china since it makes me think of Nanny. It's pretty and appeals to my taste for such things. I use it whenever I think of it because I think it's important to bring it out, admire it, talk about it and think of Nanny. Larry Lehmer says "Above all, make certain that your kids and grandkids know and understand your plate’s history. It is your legacy." Indeed, the stories will be my legacy.

So take good care of your plates, big or small; old or new.

Ryan Christmas Celebration

Thank you Judy and Patrick for hosting the Christmas celebration this year. We had lots of fun (except for the ride home!). It was great to have Kathy there in spirit and trash (Texas Trash was a big hit) and good to talk to her. We are sorry Taylor wasn't feeling well but we were glad to get caught up with Amanda and Heather (Jim wants more pie!) Chris and Lori were very generous to everyone even if the bowling game wasn't "their game" that day.

Nothing is better than children for Christmas so watching Aiden, Breyen and Delany enjoy the festivities added a whole bunch to the day--thanks Jess and Sean for coming over in the middle of a really busy day for you guys. And I really want to thank Paula for the cream puffs and a little reminder of desserts past--they were GREAT! Mom would have been proud. And I love my necklace--it was thoughtful of you to bring some along. The personalized popcorn bags are a terrific idea--thank you, Matthew--I think we will be needing them this week.

Congratulations to bowling champ Ryan. We owe Matthew on the bet that Ryan would win!

We're Getting There

Our new GPS is a little too ambitious for my taste. We took her out on her first ride yesterday for a trip to Jim's Aunt Josie in Pennsylvania. "American Female" (we haven't named her yet) mapped the trip down and back pretty well for us but I have to admit I'm not ready to give up Google maps for travel advice. What I noticed especially was the very optimistic travel timeline she offered for this 180 mile trip. Her expected arrival at our destination predicted a very quick trip and apparently supposed we'd have the pedal to the medal for the full 180 miles not slowing down one bit for slower traffic, stop signs or police cars. It was kind of nice to see that ETA be a nice reasonable 3 hours on the nose.

Almost immediately, she began to add time to the trip, such as when we stopped at the base of the driveway to make the turn into the road. Plus 5 minutes. Since Colesville Road isn't flat as Kansas, plus another 5 minutes on the first ascent. And so on. Never mind getting gas, food or stuck behind someone going 60 in a 55.

Even as we got really close to Aunt Josie's house, American Female kept adding a minute here and a minute there. How does the math work that the closer you get, the further away the ETA becomes? It was like a never ending trip--we were never going to actually reach the ETA as it kept adding time to itself. We'd been watching too much Twilight Zone over the New Year's marathon. I was honestly wondering if we'd ever actually get there even though we drove pretty steadily and I was fairly certain Josie's house wasn't inching its way away from us. It was too weird watching the GPS instead of the road.

That ever-advancing goal or destination is another trick my doctor plays on me. Last fall, he decided he wasn't happy with the blood pressure reading taken at 3 PM the first Friday of school. I was joyous that it was low enough to keep me out of the hospital. He decided it was time to take further measures "for my benefit". Understand this was not a horrible reading--around 140/88. Not good but not all THAT bad.

Time for Pat to get some enforced exercise. Walk 3-4 times a week for 30 minutes. Yeah yeah yeah. So I did. Not happily. Not willingly. Not surprisingly, it made no real difference in my blood pressure, which under more normal circumstances is around 132/82 or so. I pretty much stopped when the weather turned and as I realized these walks that were supposed to be relaxing were mostly just pissing me off. Another chore on the list put there by someone else taking up time I should be doing something else. How good could that be for my blood pressure and overall health?

Back to this doctor this week. Blood pressure about 132/82 after almost 10 days of vacation. Go figure. But, guess what? Not good enough. He's moves the target again, just like American Female. Further away. If walks aren't working for me, I should find exercise that is relaxing and focuses on ME. I'm already laughing on the inside as he is carefully encouraging me to make a suggestion that fits this definition. Relaxing exercise just doesn't happen for me.

So he suggests YOGA. Now I can barely contain my guffaws. Me and YOGA! Relaxing exercise to get to an EBP (estimated blood pressure) that he's just going to keep moving out of my reach. I have accepted borderline hypertension. I consider it a legacy from Mom that I can almost live with and manage. Way too ambitious. Yes, I am fatalistic about my blood pressure given my genetics. YOGA. Honestly. Don't put that picture in your head because it won't go away, trust me.

But as I reflect on 2008 and look ahead to 2009 it reminds me of my family history research. Every time I find new stuff, such as I did with Aunt Josie yesterday and I think it puts the goals within reach--I find it only makes for more questions. Puts the goal just one more step further away. The information leads to more questions, more stuff to find. Which I love. I don't mind that ever advancing goal so I guess it's YOGA for the soul. That ETA to "finish" just keeps moving away from me a little at a time but we'll get to the destination anyhow. OMMMMMM. Happy New Year.