Friday, July 18, 2008

Melancholy


Well, it's that time of year! Time for school to start. I have so many mixed feelings right now. I am super sad that my summer is coming to an end. This summer, in particular, has gone by soooooo fast. I am leaving in the morning for my 'last hurrah' - a trip to Gatlinburg for the weekend with a good friend. When I get back next week, I will have to start going to school and get the room ready.

I can't help but wonder about the (up to) 48 little ones who are eagerly anticipating their upcoming year in kindergarten. I know they are wondering who their teacher will be and what she will be like. I pray that I am a good teacher for them. There are so many firsts that will happen for them this year. I hope that I can provide a warm, loving and nurturing place for them while they are in my care.

2008-2009, here we come!

Sunday, July 13, 2008

BEES!!!


Well, I took Pepper outside today and immediatly felt FIRE on my toe. A bee had slipped into the open toe section on my sandal, got stuck under my toe and - BAM!!!

Steve told me to get online and search for bee sting remedies. I was amazed at what I found. I'm including the link to the site! There is a guy who decided to test all remedies he had heard about - both medical and home remedies. His friend is a beekeeper and he 'helped' him get stung, twice every 4 days until he had tested each remedy. Guess what worked (and I have to say this is what I did and it DID work!)???

http://www.slate.com/id/2088863/

TOOTHPASTE!!! (The best medical remedy was calamine lotion but he said the toothpaste was by far better! It actually tingles and kind of feels like you're scratching it! If you actually DO scratch, it hurts! I'm a happy camper!!)


Friday, July 11, 2008

More on my Dad

My father was born in Hancock County, Kentucky in the town of Hawesville in 1914. He grew up in the age where children were taught great pieces of literature. My dad would quote entire poems from memory, right up until his death on October 11, 1990 at the age of 76. He never forgot. After searching for the source of the quote below, I would imagine that he had learned the entire poem.

At his funeral, we had a number of his favorite poems read. The pastor who presided at his funeral was Dr. Franklin Owen, who was about the same age as my father and who, himself, had recited many of the same poems by memory. When we asked him to recite the poem about "I'd rather sit by the side of the road and be a friend to man", he knew it by memory and recited it right there!

I am about to begin my 26th year of teaching. I am currently teaching kindergarten but have past experience to sixth grade. Children today have no concept of this type of teaching.

I am so fortunate to have lived with this great man who was full of wisdom and wit!!

Thanatopsis

Thanatopsis

By William Cullen Bryant

TO him who in the love of Nature holds
Communion with her visible forms, she speaks
A various language; for his gayer hours
She has a voice of gladness, and a smile
And eloquence of beauty, and she glides
Into his darker musings, with a mild
And healing sympathy, that steals away
Their sharpness, ere he is aware. When thoughts
Of the last bitter hour come like a blight
Over thy spirit, and sad images
Of the stern agony, and shroud, and pall,
And breathless darkness, and the narrow house,
Make thee to shudder and grow sick at heart;—
Go forth, under the open sky, and list
To Nature’s teachings, while from all around—
Earth and her waters, and the depths of air—
Comes a still voice:—

Yet a few days, and thee
The all-beholding sun shall see no more
In all his course; nor yet in the cold ground,
Where thy pale form was laid with many tears,
Nor in the embrace of ocean, shall exist
Thy image. Earth, that nourished thee, shall claim
Thy growth, to be resolved to earth again,
And, lost each human trace, surrendering up
Thine individual being, shalt thou go
To mix forever with the elements,
To be a brother to the insensible rock
And to the sluggish clod, which the rude swain
Turns with his share, and treads upon. The oak
Shall send his roots abroad, and pierce thy mould.

Yet not to thine eternal resting-place
Shalt thou retire alone, nor couldst thou wish
Couch more magnificent. Thou shalt lie down
With patriarchs of the infant world—with kings,
The powerful of the earth—the wise, the good,
Fair forms, and hoary seers of ages past,
All in one mighty sepulchre. The hills
Rock-ribbed and ancient as the sun,—the vales
Stretching in pensive quietness between;
The venerable woods—rivers that move
In majesty, and the complaining brooks
That make the meadows green; and, poured round all,
Old Ocean’s gray and melancholy waste,—
Are but the solemn decorations all
Of the great tomb of man. The golden sun,
The planets, all the infinite host of heaven,
Are shining on the sad abodes of death
Through the still lapse of ages. All that tread
The globe are but a handful to the tribes
That slumber in its bosom.—
Take the wings
Of morning, pierce the Barcan wilderness,
Or lose thyself in the continuous woods
Where rolls the Oregon, and hears no sound,
Save his own dashings—yet the dead are there;
And millions in those solitudes, since first
The flight of years began, have laid them down
In their last sleep—the dead reign there alone.
So shalt thou rest, and what if thou withdraw
In silence from the living, and no friend
Take note of thy departure? All that breathe
Will share thy destiny. The gay will laugh
When thou art gone, the solemn brood of care
Plod on, and each one as before will chase
His favorite phantom; yet all these shall leave
Their mirth and their employments, and shall come
And make their bed with thee. As the long train
Of ages glides away, the sons of men—
The youth in life’s fresh spring, and he who goes
In the full strength of years, matron and maid,
The speechless babe, and the gray-headed man—
Shall one by one be gathered to thy side,
By those, who in their turn shall follow them.

So live, that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan, which moves
To that mysterious realm, where each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death,
Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night,
Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.

Source of Quote

I've already had someone ask about Dad's quote. I had no idea where it came from. He always said, "Those who trod the globe are but a handful of those who slumber in its bosom." Carl F. Lamar version.

I have since found the original source. It comes from a poem entitled "Thanatopsis"

By William Cullen Bryant

Those who trod the globe . . .



My father loved quotes!!! One of his favorites that was quoted EVERY time we passed a cemetery was, "Those who trod the globe are but a handful to those who slumber in its bosom."

This is the Cap Anderson Cemetery is the final resting place for many of my family and many more friends. I took a few pictures of our family plot to put on my Family Tree Maker family tree. I know this is morbid to some but it's a record of history.



This is the Family Stone. It says Miller-Lamar. My grandparents, my parents and a baby brother that died before I was born are all buried here. There are three more plots left. I hope one will be for me.









My Dad's Namesake




These are views of the Lamar-Kunnecke Vocational School. After my dad left Meade County, he and my mother moved to Lexington, Kentucky where he joined the staff at the University of Kentucky. He worked with Agricultural Extension Agents throughouth the state. He also worked on his Master's and Doctorate. He eventualy went from Ag Education to Vocational Education. He moved to Frankfort to work with the State Department of Education where he served as the Assistant Superintendent of Public Instruction as well as the State Director of Vocational Education. By the time he left Frankfort, he was responsible for placing a minimum of 1 vocational school in each of the 120 counties in Kentucky. He was very proud of this fact! He was instrumental in the formation of this particular school. I believe he was most proud of putting a vocational school in Meade County. They repaid him by naming the school after him. My memories of the dedication day were the band playing Frank Sinatra's "My Way" when he entered the gymnasium! I have never been so proud!

Moving Along



Back in the 30's this was a rooming house. My dad had a room in this house when he first moved to Brandenburg.





This is the building where my parents had their first apartment. They lived upstairs. My mom worked downstairs in the REA office. REA is now RECC. She worked there when they were putting the first electric lines in Meade County. She knew where all the transformers in the county were.







This is what I call 'home' now. Since I have no family there anymore, I spend my time at the home of Virginia and C.K. Miller. Their daughters have been friends since early childhood. Both Virginia and C.K. were friends to my parents for a lifetime. In fact, we are distantly related through Virginia's line (however, we have not yet found the link). Once I was told this (around 12 years old), that's all it took for me to call Betty, Martha, Tommy, Bobby and Kim, my 'cousins'. This house belonged to Virginia's parents. She inherited the house and totally renovated it. I absolutely love the house! It has two staircases!!! A front staircase and a back one that leads to the kitchen! The only thing I miss is the old attic. I can remember going upstairs with Betty and 'exploring' the attic. There were old trunks full of bearskin coats, hats, 20's clothing, pennants, shoes, etc. We spent many hours up there. I often wonder where all that stuff whent after the renovation . . .

The house sits on a hill looking toward the Meade County High School. Behind the house spreads a lovely yard that C.K. spends many hours on. He maintains an immense garden - both floral and vegetable! There used to be a large pond but now is a sloping landscape.

More B-burg


The old courthouse sat at the bottom of the hill, overlooking the Ohio River. The old courthouse was destroyed in the '74 tornado. This is where it stood. The old steps are still there.


Behind the courthouse was the old jail. The jail is still standing and is now the home of Jailhouse Pizza! I haven't been there but it is a must for my next visit!



Here is a view of the Ohio - My favorite place to escape. Once I got my driver's license, I would drive down here and sit and stare. I always found peace! There was almost always a barge going up or down the river. Sure enough, there was one there on Wednesday!!

B-Burg - Around town



This is the hillside where my mother lived as a child. I'm not sure if this is the exact spot but it's close.



This is a view of what is left of the cute little shops on the 'town hill'. This is the road that goes downhill toward the river. Oh, the memories of downtown. This particular picture shows the building that once held the old movie theater.



This is a post by the river.

Here is an historic marker showing news of John Hunt Morgan's crossing of the Mighty Ohio at Brandenburg during the Civil War.

Brandenburg

Ok - didn't mean to post yet! That was a picture of my Grandmother's house. Her name was Nora Pearl Dowell Miller but everyone called her 'Go'. The oldest grandchild couldn't say grandmother and it came out 'go-go'. That's what it was for years, then as we grew and matured, it was shortened to 'Go'. Everyone called her that - friends, neighbors, everyone. The house looks much the same from the front except that it has been painted yellow and brown. It used to be white with green trim. She always had a fence around the yard that kept Buddy and later Sam safely in. There were two large trees on either side of the yard that provided lots of shade. She had a glider that sat under the trees and we would spend hours sitting out there watching the cars pass.

The back of the house had a circular drive that circled around to the garage/basement. There was a concrete wall around the drive, lined with iris. I played for hours on the wall. She also had rows of hollyhocks along the fence. We would make hollyhock dolls from the blooms. She had a glass porch on the back were we spent many hours 'visiting'.

Now the house has an elaborage deck in the back. From the back, it is entirely different but the picture I took is very much the same from the front.

Back to my roots


I recently felt the need to run away - away from pressures, stress, family, life . . . Where did I go? I went back 'home' - Brandenburg, KY. Although I have never actually lived in Brandenburg, I feel a tremendous pull to Brandenburg. I have roots there! My mother's family was from there. My father went to Brandenburg straight out of Western Kentucky University to teach Ag and coach basketball. My grandfather was the County Judge. I spent a lot of time there growing up. Probably a minimum of one weekend per month most of my growing years, most holidays, summers, . . . When I reached high school years, I had many cousins, friends and extended family and would go to spend weeks at a time with my grandmother.

During my recent visit, I toured the town, taking pictures of many 'special' spots. It was melancholy because many spots in my memory were blown away in the 1974 tornado that destroyed most of the town. However, the places remain in my heart!