The Thimble Book

Our son created an amazing book based on his grandmother's thimble collection. She used to keep detailed notes about each thimble: where it came from, who gave it to her, the significance of the design, etc. The title of the small notebook she kept was "Thimbles I Have Known and Loved." Here are a couple of examples from the book.

You can see more of the book and/or order a copy here.

Central City Opera Weekend 2010 - Recap

Last weekend we saw two operas that couldn't be more different from one another. On Saturday it was Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld, which was a total romp, a farce, in French, opéra bouffe. There was nary a serious moment from beginning to end.


On the other hand, Madama Butterfly, on Sunday, was as intense a performance as we have ever seen. By the end of this sad, tragic story, I would venture to say there was not a dry eye in the house. It was intensely emotional and powerfully performed. We thoroughly enjoyed both productions and highly recommend them.


Here we are, all gathered for breakfast at the Chase Creek Inn Bed & Breakfast. This room is so bright. It is illustrative of the entire B&B, a place full of light and peace and good food, thanks to its proprietors, Karen and Hal.


Opera a la Carte is a lot of fun, and we haven't attended in years. Just before the afternoon opera, some of the performers present three scenes from three different operas at the Williams Stables, just across the street from the Opera House. It's a great way to broaden one's opera experience. In this venue, the actors/singers are right in front of you. It's almost like being on stage with them.

One of the many relaxing features of the Chase Creek Inn B&B is the porch, with its comfortable rocking chairs. Here are Abe and Vickie enjoying the porch.

The view from the Inn's porch.


Bidding adieu to our favorite Bed and Breakfast for another year.

Spain Wins World Cup

Congratulations, Spain!

Central City Opera Weekend 2010

This weekend we embark on our 8th annual Central City Opera Weekend. The picture below comes from their website here. Also, I recently discovered another excellent resource, the Central City Opera Festival Blog: Behind the Curtain.

Along with two other couples, we spend Friday and Saturday night at our favorite Bed & Breakfast, the Chase Creek Inn B&B, nestled just around the corner from the hustle and bustle, the flashing lights and electronic sounds, of Blackhawk's casinos.

We see two of the three operas offered this season by the Central City Opera House Association.

On Saturday, we'll see Orpheus in the Underworld by Offenbach.

And on Sunday, we see Puccini's Madama Butterfly (photo taken from the CCOHA web site).

We relax in the B&B's hot tubs; enjoy the gentle breezes in the rocking chairs on the porch while listening to the babbling brook (Chase Creek) and watching the hummingbirds and chipmunks.

We take walks into town or into the nearby mountainous countryside. Friday night has become the night to walk to the Ameristar casino and enjoy their fine buffet. Coincidentally, the Chase Creek Inn B&B is "an historic structure saved from demolition by the Midcap family. The top of the structure was moved from the current site of the Black Hawk Casino by Hyatt (currently the Ameristar) and placed on a long abandoned mining site."

Then Saturday we reserve a table after the opera in the Teller House's Face Bar for a fine meal provided by the Kevin Taylor Group.

All in all, this is a weekend we look forward to with eager anticipation throughout the year. It is a weekend to relax, to unwind, to enjoy time with friends, and to appreciate marvelous music in the splendor of the majestic Rocky Mountains. Does it get any better than this?

Check out previous weekends here: 2009, 2008, 2007.

Independence Day 2010

"When in the course of human events..."

Seven score and seven years ago, on this date (July 4th), the United States adopted this 35-star flag, having admitted West Virginia as the 35th state. The admittance of West Virginia as a state was the result of its having broken away from Virginia over a little matter known as the Civil War or the War Between the States.

Our nation's 16th president was faced with the prospect of the dividing asunder of the country and a fundamental change in the underlying principles and character of the nation, in fact a dissolution of the Union envisioned by its founders.

Had there been no Lincoln, it's difficult to imagine what this nation would have become, or whether it would even exist today in any form we would recognize as the United States of America

Every year (2009, 2008, 2007) I find myself quoting Lincoln on the 4th of July, and perhaps it's because we find ourselves in similar circumstances today to those in which he found himself. We see our nation being pulled apart and splintered by those who would rule over us, unwilling to derive "their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed" but rather arrogating to themselves dictatorial powers.

"We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights." My Business Law professor had a favorite, trick question. What rights are granted by the U.S. Constiitution?

The correct answer, of course, is that the Constitution grants us no rights. Governments do not grant rights. Divine Providence does. The purpose of the Constitution is to prevent government from usurping those rights. Listen to the language of the Bill of Rights. "Congress shall make no law...prohibiting...or abridging..." "the right of the people...shall not be infringed," "no soldier shall...without the consent of the owner," "the right of the people...shall not be violated," "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." The rights exist; the Constitution seeks to prohibit government from preempting them, as it is so often wont to do.




We stand at a crossroads in our nation's history, much like that faced by our 16th president. There are forces at work in our land that would transform the very nature of the United States of America forever. To quote Lincoln, we are now "testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure."

When I enlisted, and reenlisted, and when I was commissioned an officer in the United States Navy, I swore to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic" and to "bear true faith and allegiance to the same." Millions of my fellow Americans took the same oath. It has never been more important that we do just that.

As for me and my household...

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 234th

Central City Opera July Calendar

Madama Butterfly

We'll be in attendance Sunday, the 11th of July.

Encouragement

I was thinking about words the other day (there’s a big surprise!), and the word “encourage” came to mind. It was a startlingly simple revelation yet profound. It was more on the level of “duh” than “aha” or “eureka”!

To me the word encourage always had a connotation of being positive and supportive, building up rather than tearing down, but the root of the word makes it much stronger than that. Encourage breaks down into en- (to put something into) and courage, at the heart of which is the word heart. When we encourage, we put courage into someone. We give them heart!

Courage is certainly expressed in bona fide life-threatening situations, such as wars, emergencies, disasters, etc., but for most of us, courage is needed in much more mundane circumstances in our everyday lives. It takes courage to meet life’s challenges. It takes courage to be one’s self in the face of tremendous pressure to conform. It takes courage to stand for truth and justice. It takes courage to hold unpopular views and take unpopular positions.

The word hearten is a good synonym, and it shows the breadth of meaning in that word—heart. To have heart can be to be brave, courageous. To lose one’s heart to another is to be smitten. To have the heart for something can mean to choose it, to will it. To have one’s heart broken is to be smashed emotionally by someone or something. The heart symbol has lately come to signify the word love, a concept that encompasses will, intellect, and emotion—and takes courage.

Why was I thinking of the word encourage? I think it’s because I was thinking of the encouragers in my life. Our daughter, Bonnie, is an encourager nonpareil. She never leaves a blog entry or a Facebook update uncommented. She answers her myriad of emails, calls regularly to encourage family and friends, speaks health and blessings over those she meets. She even writes actual letters and puts them into the snail mail!

Daughter Ellie is another great encourager. She always has a good word for anyone she interacts with. When we worked together, she gently helped me to be more sensitive in my dealings with others, and she did it in a very nonjudgmental, encouraging way. A pastor’s wife, she speaks and brings the blessings of peace and love to all within her sphere of influence.

Hannah is an encourager par excellence. She loves to tell people how nice they look, how much she likes their hair, and especially what a nice dog they have! As we walk around the neighborhood, she seems to know every dog, and those she doesn’t know soon become her friends. Everyone within hearing range becomes Hannah’s target for attention and encouragement. She loves to love people and to tell them she loves them.

Jimmy encourages his friends and family with his loyalty and friendship, as well as good words. He shares the things he loves with those around him. He takes people on hiking trips and visits to places that are his favorites. His encouragement is often playful, especially with his sisters, cousins, and parents. Yet this kind of joyfulness, playfulness is also important in giving us courage to be who we are, because it shows acceptance of who we are.

My wife is my ultimate encourager, without a doubt. My self-image was tiny and shriveled when we met. Her appreciation and encouragement gave me the courage to believe in myself and blossom to be the person I was meant to be.

The more I write, the more I see how spoiled we’ve been with all the encouragers in our lives. We’ve been surrounded by them. Parents, siblings, cousins, teachers, friends. A quick learner, I was immediately singled out and encouraged in school, and it made all the difference in my academic/intellectual life. Our voices made choir directors encourage us to sing, and that has enriched our lives immensely.

Space and time prevent me from mentioning all the encouragers in our lives, not the least our mentors, Bob and Vicki, pastors, chaplains, brothers and sisters in community in Spain and Italy, Navy leaders, choir directors and members, Japanese friends, language mentors in Yokohama and Boulder, coworkers, bosses, and many, many others.

The more I think of all the encouragement and encouragers in my life, the more thankful I am. This could well have been my annual overflow and outpouring of thanks in celebration of Thanksgiving.

En fin, my prayer for all of us, all of you, for everyone is that there should “never be heard a discouraging word.” May we all have put into us the courage, the heart we need to be all we were meant to be and to do all we were meant to do. Be encouraged to encourage, my friends, as you also have been encouraged.

Central City Opera June Calendar

Central City's Opera House, one of our favorite Colorado landmarks. We'll be attending this year's festival the weekend of July 9-11. Can't wait.

ANZAC Day 2010 - Atonement

Approaching our own Memorial Day weekend, I thought it worthwhile to highlight an analogous day set aside by our Allies in Australia and New Zealand. ANZAC Day is observed about a month earlier than Memorial Day in the U.S., and I had every intention of writing something in honor of ANZAC Day this year, but didn't get it done. Instead, I am including a link to a blog post by a friend in Australia at Tessa's Take, featuring the following painting. Check it out here. It's well worth the read.

ANZAC stands for Australia and New Zealand Army Corps.

Previous ANZAC Day posts:

ANZAC Day 2009

Remembering, Reminiscing, Revisiting 2008

ANZAC Day 2008

Wikipedia on ANZAC Day here

Central City Opera May Calendar

This year's offerings at the Central City Opera. Check them out here.

Cottonwood Hot Springs, Buena Vista, Colorado

Momentarily we'll be hitting the road for Buena Vista, Colorado, where we'll be spending two nights and enjoying the therapeutic waters at Cottonwood Hot Springs. You can check out our accommodations here and get more info about the resort here.

There are eight of us sharing a nice cabin (pictures here).

A Favorite Blog

Every now and again, I discover something so good, so moving, I just have to share it. Not too many months ago, I discovered this blog, and I've been addicted ever since.

It's not just the ideas, which are thought-provoking, novel, rich, and profound.

It's not just the raw emotion that sometimes jumps up and grabs you.

It's not just the creative use of words and poetic devices.

It's not just the life-as-lived, human interest, real-people realism.

It's not just the sense of wonder, sometime exhiliration, and frequent yearning.

It's not just the playfulness nor the seriousness nor the profundity.

No, it's all of these things and more, much more.

We briefly met the author at the airport as we were arriving and she was departing. If I had known then what I know now, I would have said, simply, "Kate, I love your blog."

Below I have excerpted small bits of various posts, some of my favorites, but you should really follow the links and read them in their entirety. They are well worth it.

(Click the title of each to read the entire post on Kate's blog.)

break-up, compliments of the letter H
Hold it...enough is enough, Harry! You had my heart, you huckster, and you fed it to the hamster and hid the hull under the Hamilton's house. Maybe I was hypnotized by your heavenly hips and healthy hamstrings, but both hell and high tide have hit and I'm not hearing harmony in your hymns from here on out.

Check out this huge, hearty, heavenly handful of h's here.

How I Make it Through the Night

My mood is pressurized as I walk the hall checking on my patients. We are all passengers tonight, flying through the night, hanging on the silver balance. Hoping to make it home safely to the comfort of our own beds.

A moving account of the overnight duty in a hospital...

Catherine Barkley would've cried too
She sets her bag on the floor and walks closer to her husband's bed, tucking the edges of the blankets deeper under his still body. Once she's satisfied, she walks to the head of the bed, leans in close, and cups his face with her hands. I'm here my darling and you're doing just fine. But these kind nurses must be confused, because they say that you're very cold. But that just can't be, can it? You can't be cold because you are the one who always keeps me warm at night. All these years you kept me warm. Show them how warm and good you are, my love.

Love, medicine, a lifetime of taking orders from his wife? I don't know. But our man got warm and got stable while I bawled into the pile of unneeded blankets.

Man or woman, I dare you to read this post without being moved to tears. Read the rest on the blog.

knowing
Lately, I have been thinking a lot about how much living without going crazy or numb depends on our ability to walk the fine thin tension lines that run through our common experiences, marking out for us what it really means to be human. Individuals have infinite inherent worth yet our single lives are a mere drop in the bucket of human history. All the frailty, gravity, fleetingness held up against the body’s drive to survive, the brain’s ability to compensate, hearts that go on. I know my beginning, my undeserved resurrection, the ending. But it is the moments, days, years between that can drive me to distraction. Say it to yourself, Kate: There are things we can know and things we should not hope to know. Now mean it, believe it. Proclaim it.

This is what I know. Their baby was beautiful and loved by so many people. She looked like her dad. She could not have had a better mother. She changed all of our lives and now we are heartbroken & somehow still grateful. The rest? Why? When and if it will ever make sense? I don’t know.

That's just a taste of the entire piece. Check out the rest here.

Ash Wednesday

T. S. Eliot wrote a poem called Ash Wednesday and in it is a line I go back to again and again when I don't know how else to pray. Teach us to care and not to care. Teach us to sit still. Only a handful of words and yet they are strong and broad enough to hold all my questions & inadequacies. I need to be taught to care for my neighbor better - how to love that woman, how to love Tim, how to love people who hurt me. How to love like Christ, because of Christ's love for me. I need to stop caring about the things that don't matter, the voices who really won't have a say in the final count. Thank God for these 40 days to learn to sit still, to turn, to listen, to change. Thank God that His grace is not limited by merit, time nor space.
This is a Lenten meditation in which she uses the words of the following confession, breaking it up and interspersing it with life experiences. You really must read it to fully appreciate it. It can be found in its entirety here.

Most merciful God,

we confess that we have sinned against you

in thought, word, and deed

by what we have done

and by what we have left undone.

We have not loved you with our whole heart;

we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.

We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.

For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,

have mercy on us and forgive us,

that we may delight in your will,

and walk in your ways,

to the glory of your Name. Amen.

Proposal
Please remind me that clouds

are a shaky foundation, of the danger of

drowning in a pool of my own whimsy

This is a larger composition. I just love the imagery here.

answer & some sentences
I was born in this small, scrubby town in the part of Washington that is never green. The air is very dry, the river is very wide, the sky is very big, and everything else comes in shades of very brown. The county fair is still a big deal. There are no good restaurants or traffic jams.

"There are no good restaurants or traffic jams." Brilliant.

absit iniuria verbis
Nursing school has made my hands useful and I am thankful for this. In college, I hopped around between disciplines, trying to find the right balance of poetic & practical, a way to meld an inclination toward language with a compulsion to make a tangible difference. Chemistry was too academic, English too indulgent, so I settled on politics and its implicit room for negotiation. After college, I slowly drifted back towards words, burying myself in paper. I could look beyond my computer screen and see how the sentences might rise off the page, walk up the Hill, and maybe someday change things for someone somewhere. It never seemed immediate enough, though, and left me fidgety and empty handed at the end of the day.

When you don't know what to say

how to string the words together

and then match them up

with your own roiled thoughts

if too much time has passed, sorry

sticks in your throat, or the nervous

syllables shrink and retreat

back down to the safety of your belly

sometimes it's best, the only

way really, to go with that

tried and true old standby

hello
As an inveterate lover of words and a sometime Latin scholar, the title alone of this post was guaranteed to get my attention. It's well worth reading in its fullness.

I know this now

Real things are not always simple.

Simple things are rarely easy.

Easy things are never real.

Poem #3

Tick tock

goes the clock

and here

I sit

with writers'

block

life, homonymically

WE are paired first by our eyes.

Buy me a pear, say aye.

You say bye and I am pared.

no doubt
Do you doubt that I love the things you think are funny?

Or that I think the things you love are funny?

Or that I doubt your love for funny things and thinking?

Or that I love your doubt and think you're funny?

No doubt, I love you and think most things are funny.

Love and Doubt...what funny things to think about.

Funny things indeed and wondrous and inspiring and beautiful.

Check it out.

Just do it!

You'll love it.

I Could be Wrong...

but I don't think so!

Apologies about the formatting. I tried to approximate the original formatting, since that is part of the beauty of the composition. Blogger didn't cooperate, despite my best efforts. As I have often stated, it is WYSINNWYG (what you see is not necessarily what you get)!!

Happy Birthday, Bonnie!

Our daughter, Bonnie, marks another milestone today. Living at the Antipodes, she is thousands of miles away from us, so we cannot wish her a happy birthday in person.

So it has become somewhat of a tradition to wish her a happy birthday in cyberspace by posting pictures of birthdays past. Here she is on our first tour in Spain, where she was born. The rug was a birthday gift that she still has.

We think this was her 7th birthday. It's in Maryland at our Severn house before moving on base Fort Meade. Her birthday was on Easter that year, and our neighbor made a cake in the shape of a cross because of the holiday.

This was Spain, our second tour. Likely Bonnie's 11th birthday, seen here with friends and her sister, Hannah.

Spain at the end of our second tour, just before we left for Canada.

Now her world travels have taken her to Australia. We love you, Bon. Happy Birthday, and in honor of the country of your birth we say...

Previous birthday posts:

2007, 2008, 2009