Long live the music

It’s 4:30 in the morning and I can’t sleep.

All that keeps running through my head is: it started and ended in music.

There was music in-between too, but I remember the beginning and the ending most of all…especially the ending, which was long after the ending I thought was the ending. Music can be like that sometimes.

Maybe I never would have reached that moment when the tightly wrapped knot I’ve carried so very deep inside finally unrolled and untwisted and simply faded away if it hadn’t been for the music.

Finding that music clip on the net was, if nothing else, cathartic.

The piece is a simple little thing by a couple of “new classical/new age” artists, Eric Tingstad and Nancy Rumbel. They do nice stuff. Look them up—they record for the Narada label.

The work is called “Emerald Pavane”, though it’s really a waltz.

I first heard it working at WFMR in Milwaukee, the classical station there. They had a big stack of Narada albums they were never going to play and the staff got to go through and take some. I grabbed the album “Emerald” and in listening to it found this little tune touched me in that delightful way that seems to give you the flavor of winter apples and cinnamon—sweet but with a little bitter thrown in.

That was years before I met Andi.

She was my unexpected blessing. She was the “heart of my heart”. For a while, she was my wife.

The first time she visited me in Peoria, I played “Emerald Pavane” for her. She loved it, and it became “our song”. I even wrote some words for it, though I never sang them for her.

Look in my eyes
Tell me what do you see?
Can you see burning bright
Love shining forth from me?

Take my hand
and we’ll walk the road
Side by side
through all of life’s joys and pains
Hold my hand
and sing with me
Let our love be our song
Let our song
become a flame
A light that shines on and on
and on…

Whenever things would get tough, Andi or I would pull out this song and play it. It was a connection to promises we’d made, to love we’d felt, to a song that we hoped would be sung for a life time.

It didn’t work out that way.

There’s no sense in laying blame, or recriminations. The bare facts are that we could not live together. We set off all the negative tendencies in each other. So after three years we divorced and went our separate ways. I saw her a couple of times after the divorce then forcibly removed myself from any contact with her.

A couple of years ago Andrea tracked me down through my parents and we had a very nice phone conversation in which she apologized to me, and I apologized to her. It only took 11 years to get there, but if it gave her closure, glory to God for that gift to someone I loved.

It wasn’t my closure though. I thought I’d managed that within a year or so of the divorce. But the music wasn’t done, though it had been silenced for a time.

So I was poking around the internet, looking to see if Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Christmas work “Hodie” had been reissued on CD (it has and I ordered it).

One should never poke around the internet. One can find things that sting.

For some bizarre reason I thought “what was that song I used to like by that guitar and oboe combo?” I couldn’t remember the artists’ names or the title of the tune! I did remember the label was Narada though,so it was off to their website, a look down their artist list and there it was: Eric Tingstad and Nancy Rumbel. Cool!

They have a website too and even better, a complete discography—with samples!

The opening phrases on guitar and mandolin insinuated themselves under the armor of my composure and an ache, terrible yet beautiful, filled my heart. When the oboe came in with the melody, something broke inside. Not in a bad way, but more like a gate that had been holding back a flood simply surrendering to the inevitable and letting the waters flow.

Andi and I danced to this music once. I could see the white living room in Peoria, and Andi’s petite form in my arms. I remembered her warmth and how lovely she felt when we embraced. I remembered the first kiss, which neither of us ever agreed had been initiated by the other, but which was the first bonafide “fireworks” experience for either of us (she was 19 and I was 27 at the time).

I also remembered the screaming and the shouting, the anger, the evil things we said to each other. I remembered my fiery temper and frustration and biting words. I remembered her up-and-down emotions (she told me when we talked two years ago she was finally diagnosed as bipolar, and her meds make all the difference in the world) and her own blazing temper, and how in that regard we were definitely NOT a good match.

All this while “our song” played and tears flowed and my heart ached wth joys gladly remembered, pains unwillingly recalled, and songs never to be sung in duet.

And finally, finally after so long, I sighed and just…let it go.

Sitting here now at Christmastime, with soft music playing (actually it’s the Prego theme, of all things, and a very nice tune indeed even if it was used for a commercial) many of those memories will stay with me always, but they no longer hold any power to hurt. If I saw Andrea tomorrow, I could smile and chat without any qualms or wishes for what we once had or anger for losing what should have been a glorious lifelong symphony. Even the Emerald Pavane now elicits only a bittersweet smile and an appreciation for musical craftsmanship.

It began and ended in music.

Long live the music.

From C.S. Lewis

Either we are rational spirit obliged for ever to obey the absolute values of the Tao, or else we are mere nature to be kneaded and cut into new shapes for the pleasures of masters who must, by hypothesis, have no motive but their own ‘natural’ impulses. Only the Tao provides a common human law of action which can over-arch rulers and ruled alike. A dogmatic belief in objective value is necessary to the very idea of a rule which is not tyranny or an obedience which is not slavery.

--C.S. Lewis

Thank you to Jacob Aleksandr for this quote from his excellent Orthodox Christian website, "Incendiary". A link in my blogs list coming soon.

QSME Annual Show

Come on, you know it. I know it.

Everybody likes trains--at least the model kind. And this weekend is the annual train show at the Quincy Society of Model Engineers, on the lower level of Good Samaritan Home on Harrison Street.

As usual they have the HO-scale Hannibal Bridge layout by Dave Scharnhorst, this year with the barge running under the bridge (the bridge goes up first, of course, and that stops the trains).

There's the big G scale layout on the floor, very popular with the kids, as well as an old tinplate Lionel/American Flyer setup that you can operate yourself.

Top that off with a small N-scale demonstration loop that shows you how nice these small (half the size of HO) wonders of machinery look and run.

And I haven't even mentioned the "big layout", QSME's huge Chesapeake & Lake Erie railroad.

If you haven't been down to see it, go. It's in the basement at Good Sam, just go in the front door and follow the RR Crossing crossbucks.

They run until 5 p.m. tonight (Saturday 11/11) and then from noon to 5 on Sunday.

Come on, EVERYBODY likes trains!

:)

News story on WTAD

Last week when I got back from vacation, I was reading through the blog of a fellow Quincyan who is concerned about the job we in the local media are doing. That would be ALL THE NEWS THAT FITS OUR BENT, an excellent survey and review of what we media types are doing (or not doing) in the region.

He mentioned a missed story, namely the Better Government Association's study, released in late October, of Freedom of Information Act compliance by Illinois government bodies.

FIND IT HERE: http://www.allthenewsthatfitsourbent.blogspot.com/ and titled "Another missed story", and the BGA study is at http://www.bettergov.org/policy.html .

It was not a pretty picture: 62 percent of agencies contacted with FOIA (pronounced fo-ya) requests either denied the request, failed to respond in the required amount of time (7 business days), or didn't respond AT ALL.

I went to the BGA site, downloaded everything and set to reading.

ATNTFOB was right: it was a missed story and it needed to be reported. While it took me 10 days to talk to all the Adams County agencies involved, as well as the BGA's investigator Dan Sprehe (pronounced spray), the work is now done and, Mary Griffith willing, should air in two parts during the Morning Show news (6-9am) on WTAD, AM 930.

Thursday (11/9) and Friday (11/10) are the expected air dates for the two parts. Thursday will be the background and general results; Friday will look mostly at Adams County with some reportage on other Western Illinois counties. Sometimes I DO so wish I was in the print media so I could delve deeper into these things...Rodney, how about you or Doug pick up on this, or Ed?

I will say that the BGA report is not quite as cut and dried as it seems (and Mr. Sprehe agrees), and that many agencies had some good reasons for their failure. However by all the evidence the BGA did bend over backward to give the benefit of the doubt to the agencies involved, and they did run into some serious resistance (though not, as far as I can tell, in Western Illinois).

I hope you'll give the story a listen. Your comments and thoughts will be welcomed here.

An interesting article

In the tradition of my friend Joe Irvin, here is a thoughtful piece about hypocrisy by religious commentator Terry Mattingly.

(Sorry this isn't a live link but I cannot make heads or tails of blogspot's instructions for adding a link, and doing it the way they say in their "help file" does NOT work, so you'll have to cut and paste, I'm afraid).

http://tmatt.gospelcom.net/column/2006/11/01/

BTW, Dr. Mattingly is, as am I, a convert to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. He writes well, too.

Election Day

This is the day, my friends.

No matter what you may think, no matter how angry or disgusted or tired you got listening and viewing and reading from and about the various candidates, this is the moment when the rubber hits the road.

Today is election day and you NEED to exercise your right to vote.

In the last few weeks I've spent a lot of time listening to the candidates. I've had the opportunity to ask questions and, in a couple of cases, ask some pretty hard ones. I believe I got reasonable answers and I know how I'm going to mark my ballot later today.

You haven't had the opportunity I have though I've tried, through my job, to at least give you a hint of what I have learned so you can make an informed decision. I know that my confreres in the Quincy media have also tried to do that, and I hope you listened at least a little.

But now is the time for your decision.

For two weeks I have collected snippets from candidates and this morning I handed Mary G. a brief story titled "Vote Montage". It was a minute and ten seconds of candidates urging people--not just people in fact, but YOU--to get out and vote.

Of all the "sound bites" in that cart, the first and last were the best.

The first was from Treasurer candidate Alexi Ginaoulias. He said we have an obligation--if we like the way things are going, you must vote to keep things going that way, and if you're disgusted by how things are going, the aame applies.

The last was our own Senator John Sullivan. And he said that this was our time, our place to guide the destiny of our region, our state, and our nation.

So if you haven't yet, go. Step in the booth. Regardless of who you feel led to vote for, do vote.

Your voice, your vote, is a privilege and a responsibility.

Use it.

A long time away...

I've been a long time out of keeping any semblance of regular updates to the blog. Sorry about that. I'm jealous of Rodney Hart and Joe C. who keep their blogs regularly refreshed with new stuff. I have no real excuse--I'm just lazy, I guess.

Anyway, I spent last week in Oshkosh, Wisconsin visiting my brother and his family.

Oshkosh is a very nice community of about 60-thousand people, part of that line of cities from Fond du Lac at the south end of Lake Winnebago up through the big O, Appleton, Kimberly, Kakauna, and on up to Green Bay.

Its biggest claim to fame is the Experimental Aircraft Association Fly-in, an annual get together of all manner of cool aircraft. Of course they have a kick-a$$ museum too, which is open year round.

My point in all this was my visit to the downtown area of Oshkosh. It is in some ways a mirror image of Quincy's central business district.

There has already been some good development and growth in population in the downtown Oshkosh area, but only in the last couple of years have most of the industries that used to line the Fox River been tempted out to the edges of town. The riverfront therefore is even less developed than the Quincy riverfront--I guess the 93 Flood helped kick start some work for us by "natural" urban clearing.

Anyway, while we are ahead of them in that regard, they are miles ahead of Quincy in straightforward development of their downtown--and perhaps there is a lesson for us to learn there. They have large numbers of young, professional types taking apartments in the central city, and while there are still many delightful botique-type shops, the city has managed to get some "anchors" in to help make the area more attractive to residents--something I wish Quincy could manage.

One area we outshine Oshkosh is in historic architecture. We have a committment to saving and using historic buildings in Quincy, something I hope we do not lose.

Of course, Oshkosh *is* part of that long line of small cities, and during my visit I routinely accompanied the family to appointments and activities stretching from just south of Green Bay all the way back to the homestead in Oshkosh and even across to the other side of Lake Winnebago. We have nothing to compare to that population base and the consequent relief for Oshkosh from having to do *everything* to revitalize itself (because other nearby communities are doing some of those things and they don;t need to be duplicated).

Still, we are in a good position here in Quincy, and I hope we continue to push for re-use of our downtown resources and growth of the city through increased economic activity. If Oshkosh can do it (and they haven't done everything we have by any means) so can we.

Now if we could tempt the EAA *here*... :)

Anna Bernice Rosenkoetter

Sometime late Sunday evening or early Monday morning, my grandmother died.

Grandma Adcox was 89, my mom's mother. Grandma Payne died in 2004 (at the age of 95).

I saw Grandma Anna most days because she lived in the Lincoln Douglas Apartments, and the STARadio studios are on the ground floor of the building. I'd seen her just the week before during her more or less daily walk, and kissed her and talked with her for a while before getting back to work.

It's been a tough week. While Mom and my Aunt Betty have been handling the various things that need to be done, I've been continuing to slog away at work until the visitation (tonight) and the funeral (tomorrow--Thursday). Sometimes I just have to stop and put my head down.

Last night I went over to Mom and Dad's and spent some time, just to be with the family for a while.

Mom shared the following with me, from her Aunt Margaret (the wife of Grandma Adcox's brother, Richard, who died earlier this year).

It is a fitting tribute to a woman whom, for the first time, I am seeing was very much what I imagine a saint must be like.

Thank you for these wonderful words, Aunt Margaret. They sum up Grandma Adcox in worthy fashion.

ANNA BERNICE ROSENKOETTER
Today Anna left the cares - and joys - of this world.

Maggie, her eldest daughter called and said that she passed on while at home, in her
apartment. Instead of putting her in a nursing home they followed her wishes and agreed to let her stay in the apartment that has been her home for a number of years now. Margaret Ann (Maggie), her husband Fr. Payne, and younger daughter, Betty Jean have looked out for Anna and cared for her, doing all the necessary things to make her later years as comfortable and safe as possible for her.

Anna was - is - a Legend in her family. She was wild, wonderful and willful. Now, you might say, SHE DID IT HER WAY. But NO! Anna had a lasso around her. And she was corralled by - what?

Look and see.

She had a heart of pure gold. Anna would have - and did - given you the shirt off her back if she thought you needed it - and would have even gone so far, with a pure heart, as to give you her underwear too if she thought you needed it. She lived, to do good unto others - and it was her pure unadulterated JOY to give to you, what she had to give.

Anna had a gift of love. She was in love with life - with the days - with the very moment existing in her day. She loved her family - though sometimes we all misinterpreted that love. She, at times, expressed that love in ways that we did not see clearly as love. She sometimes chose as friends, husbands, comrades, people that seemed to us to be not worthy of her trust and love. And people often took unfair - or evil - advantage of her Christ loving nature.

Anna was in love with the Lord. Her prayers to the Holy Spirit were mainly, “Thy will be done; forgive us our trespasses as we willingly forgive.” She once expressed to me that she had a - I will call it - revelation from her Lord. One day she had an understanding that, to be forgiven, she had to forgive, without reservation. This seemed to be so freeing to her.

She said that, simply put to me that, she could not hold anything against ANYONE but HAD to (with the trust that she had in God’s word), forgive everything and everyone that came against her. She felt the heavy burden of the trials of this world that came against her many times but THE WORD of God stuck and she had to release it because she knew she had many things that she had to be forgiven of, by others.

This tremendous love that was gifted to Anna was expressed in her giving. She had a talent - gift - for making lovely things with her hands. Many were blessed with these pretty and useful things she made and sacrificially, gave. Her art form, I will call it, is in several different places throughout the world for she gave things to some whose travels took them outside of the U.S.

She had another gift. She could roll off the birthdays of her family and acquaintances that absolutely blew my mind. How could she remember all of these dates. And her family members were, as well as her acquaintances, truly numerous. She made sure that she had birthday AND Christmas gifts for everyone. How she could stretch her meager income so far (even if she might have had some help from others – don’t know if that happened) had to in be the grace of God.

Anna was a champion to her grandchildren. My, how proud of them she was. She loved to tell me of their accomplishments, aspirations and dreams. She always had on hand, pictures that she loved to show with parental pride. She had so much joy in the accomplishments and joys of her children and grandchildren, and THEIR children and THEIR children and so on - and on. Her love for them was a river unending.

Anna’s going on with the Lord, leaves a giant hole in many lives. Her love expressed, her deep caring for her loved ones, will be missed at surprising times and ways, as the days march on, for the rest of us left behind.

We will see her again in the glory that the Lord has in store for her. I can see her with her brother, my husband. What a fellowship they must be having. And with other loved ones that went before her - what a Holy family gathering must be taking place, for we are all CHILDREN OF THE MOST HIGH GOD - PRAISE HIS MOST HOLY AND RIGHTEOUS NAME. AMEN !

I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO MY TURN, COMING TOO, TO GO THROUGH THAT DOOR TO JOIN THEM - TO KNEEL BEFORE THE BLESSED ONE THAT CAME AND GAVE HIS EVERYTHING FOR ME SO THAT I CAN JOIN THEM AND BE A PART OF HIS HEAVENLY FAMILY.
--Margaret Rosenkoetter

Nose to the grindstone...

Greetings all!

Sorry for being away fron the blog for a rather lengthy period. Between work, church, and other obligations, it was the usual problem of 25 hours of stuff to do but only 24 hours in the day.

It's interesting in my work getting to have some lengthy conversations with people running for office. In the last week I had two such and came away fairly impressed with both candidates. They were pretty forthright and I found that even though one is of a somewhat different political persuasion than myself, his views and beliefs appear well-thought out and not just "grafted on" by his association with a politcal party. The other candidate is nearer my own positions, but that person too made a strong impression.

I am grateful for the chance I had to chat with them both, and I hope it helps me to write more helpful stories about them as we get closer to election day--so that you can have a healthy helping of information on which to base your own voting decisions.

----

I spent about 10 hours this weekend with a friend working our way through a simulation (aka wargame aka boardgame) of World War One titled DEATH IN THE TRENCHES. It was educational to say the least.

In addition to throwing in various historical events and having them affect what the two sides could accomplish in any given turn (which were considered to be one quarter of a year), the very mechanics that governed fighting and movement really heightened the "stalemate" sensation that the Great War was noted for (at least on the Western Front).

Basically you knew the standard strength of a division, and you assigned up to 20 divisions to an army. When you tried to take a bit of land you totaled up all the divisions attacking and multiplied by the basic strength. Then you subtracted a percentage for the terrain or for your enemy being in a fortress zone. Finally you looked at your total strength and decided how many dice to roll--you could literally roll as many as you pleased BUT if you rolled a number HIGHER than your strength for that fight you accomplished nothing! I won't say how many times I "threw caution to the wind" in the first couple of turns and ended up getting nowhere except losing a lot of my own divisions (because after all, my foe was defending so it stood to reason I would lose some men).

BTW if you rolled lower than your attack strength, you got that many hits on your foe. You would divide the number of hits by the Fortitude of the army you were fighting--that final number would be how many divisions your enemy would have to remove. Of course as I mentioned, he was defending too, so he did the same procedure and I would be pretty much assured of losing a few divisions as well.

We both ended up by about the middle of 1915 NEVER rolling more dice than would total the strength if we rolled all sixes. Add trenches in the first turn of 1915 and things quickly bogged down.

Though we quit before heading into 1916, I suspect we would have gotten back into massive buckets of dice rolling simply in order to get some real movement in the battle lines--and again, just like what happened in history with generals throwing more and more men into the fight in an attempt to get that always-elusive breakthrough.

I do play games for enjoyment as well as intellectual stimulation, but sometimes the lessons slam home pretty hard.

Very interesting game. Sobering too. The Great War truly changed our world.

---

Finally an invitation.

On Saturday, October 14, St. Raphael Orthodox Mission is having an "Invite a Friend to Vespers" night. We usually have a 45 minute prayer service on Saturday evenings as a preparation for our Sunday service. This time we'll be inviting friends who want to know more about us, or about the Orthodox Church, to stop in. There will be refreshments after and Fr. Thaddeus will be happy to answer any questions.

We start at 5:30. Consider yourself invited by me.

St. Raphael is right next to the Busy Bistro on Hampshire.

Old old old old old old....

I like old things. Antiques, classical music, great art, history, and so forth.

I just don't like getting old myself. Ok, ok does anyone?

Anyway it is now official: I will never see 20 again. Or 30. Or even 40. No, nor 45.

46 just sounds...old.

I don't even bother taking the day off anymore. What's the point? I'd rather go to work and do something constructive.

I would prefer not to repeat my 41st birthday though. I spent that in the hospital, thinking I was having a heart attack. (It wasn't.)

So to all and sundry who may be celebrating today, happy birthday and (as the Orthodox say) Many Years! As for me and my house, we're going to work. :)

PS. Don't forget Arts/Quincy Riverfest on Sunday in Clat Adams Park!

NOW you tell me...

Had I realized how much work it was going to be to have a house-warming party, I'd have said the heck with it and taken a vacation instead.

Even as we speak and I'm about to head to church for Vespers, the floors still aren't mopped.

Oh well, nobody is going to lick the floors anyway.

Check out these pics. First is the way my apartment looked when I first saw it. Second is now.





And since I'm doing this semi-Japanese thing, here is the faux tokonoma:



Yes, the sword is real.

Anyway, party time tonight. Should be fun.

Local football

Truth in blogging: I am not a big football fan. Never have been. But I don't mind following local high school football (college--read pro farm leagues--and pro ball definitely don't do it for me).

So...what is it with Quincy High?

I went to two high schools: Peru, Indiana and Kenosha Tremper, Wisconsin. Peru wasn't good, Tremper was decent.

But QHS, at least in the decade I have lived in Quincy, has been a joke.

What are they lacking? What can they do to actually get competitive?

I was in-house producer for last year's broadcasts on FOX 103.9 (WQCY for those who prefer call letters :) and thus followed the season pretty closely. They came "so close" so many times, but always let it get away.

Any ideas? Any suggestions?

I'd love to see them turn things around and start having winning seasons. I know hw cool it was when I was in high school to be able to strut a bit because your team was winning...

Of course, I was a marching band dweeb...(trombone, for those who want to know).

More Orthodox feasting!

Tonight I'll head to St. Raphael Mission for Great Vespers for the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary.

I like August and September--it's chock full of feast days, from August 6th (the Transfiguration, i.e. when Jesus went up on the mountain and the disciples saw Him with Elijah and Moses), through August 15th (the Dormition of the Virgin Mary--that's the Assumption for you RCs), through September 1st (church New Year), to September 8th (Nativity of the Virgin Mary), to September 14th (the Elevation--or Finding--of the Holy Cross, which occurred when the Emperor Constantine's mother Helena fostered a search in Jerusalem somewhere around 325 A.D.).

Given that we Orthodox spend a huge amount of time each year fasting, so many feast days is quite powerful, emotionally and spiritually. How much fasting? Almost all Wednesdays and Fridays, as well as mid-November to Christmas, 50+ days before Pascha (Easter), up to two weeks before the feast of Saints Peter and Paul on June 29th, and 15 days before the Dormition of the Virgin Mary (mentioned above).

Anyway, this particular feast--the Nativity of the Virgin Mary--is especially dear to me.

It was on this feast day in 1993 that I became part of the Orthodox Christian faith. Almost a "spiritual birthday", if you will.

Needless to say I try to spend some of the day in church, thanking God for His blessings to me, and guiding me to a place where, as the Russian seekers told St. Vladimir in the 10th century, I "know not whether I am in heaven or on earth!"

God bless you on the feast!

An Invitation to Riverfest

Riverfest is coming up Sunday, September 17th!

My employer is sponsoring the music stage again this year, and things will get rolling at noon with....me!

I'll be singing a variety of songs, mostly with guitar (fair warning: I sing better than I play guitar :), in a variety of genre including folk, show tunes, and some stuff I've written myself.

In addition to myself, you'll also hear:

Miss Quincy Lindsay Hess

Little Miss Quincy Nicole Browning

The Bybee Flats

Zane Evans

Sunday, September 17th, Noon to 5 during Riverfest at the STARadio Stage in Clat Adams Park in Quincy.

I hope you can stop by, if not during my segment, then during one of the others--and be sure to visit all the other arts activities and displays.

Midnight Train

Here's a brief story I wrote for an online contest. It required the writer to start with the phrase "a stone-cold night in Memphis". Most of the participants mentioned Elvis. Not me. I had to be different. :) Enjoy!

On a stone cold night in Memphis, I was waitin' by the Illinois Central tracks, looking for a fast ride out of town.

Normally, of an April evening I'd saunter down by the switch shanty and yak for a while with the yard men but just after midnight of April 30, at the turn of the 20th century, the year of our Lord 1900, it was a tad more chilly in town than I cared for. Or hotter, dependin' on your viewpoint.

T'wasn't that I intended to break the window nor went through it thinkin' about the stuff the jeweler had showin' there. But when you're gettin' the stuffin' beat out of you, and your only escape is through a big ol' piece of glass, and when you get through you see lot's of nice sparklies just beggin' you to pick 'em up, well, anyone would surrender to his sinful nature and consider re-distributin' the wealth into his own pocket.

Anyway, the blueboys were on my tail, as were the fellows I'd had my disagreement with in the first place. That's why I was hangin' around the main line and hopin' a fast train would come through right quick.

I couldn't have been there more than five minutes when I heard the engineer whistlin' for the grade crossing about three blocks away, and then he was slowing for the switch.

Yikes! It was the night express to Canton and New Orleans, old number 1!

Well, I'd asked the good lord for a fast train, and I got it. I hauled myself up onto the last passenger car and tugged my coat close around me as I pushed through the vestibule.

Just my luck, there was the conductor, and the look on his face said I better have a fare or I'd be gettin' off just as quick as I'd got on. Lucky for me I had two bits and could pay for a billet as far as Canton.

"Hope we get there in a hurry," I said, real friendly like as the scowling old slug took my money with a prissy two-fingered grab, like it smelled bad or something. Come to think of it, it probably did--I hadn't had a chance to get a bath or a shower for a while.

"Oh it'll be fast enough for you, mister," the conductor said. "We got out of Memphis late, but we also got the best, fastest engineer on the IC pulling the throttle tonight."

"And who is the worthy brother, then," I asked, a mite sarcastic, I suppose.

"Why John Luther Jones, speediest hogger in Mississippi. If Casey Jones ain't fast enough for you, then you're a damn sight too fast for safe living!"

Historical note: On April 30, 1900, John Luther Jones stayed at his post in the cab of his steam locomotive, trying to slow his train before it struck the rear of a freight train standing on the track in front of him. His was the only death in the ensuing crash.

© Copyright 2004 Kevin N. Payne. All rights reserved.

Oops!

I apologize for the "service outage".

Apparently in doing an update on Monday I did something wrong and erased most of the template for my blog.

Lost that update too. Now I have to remember what I wrote.

I'll rebuild my list of links later this evening.

Thanks for the kind comments from so many people. I hope I can be interesting, entertaining, and informative. Just not argumentative (and that's tough for me, believe me).

Happy New Year!

Yesterday was the first day of the Orthodox church year. I bet you missed it too. Ouzo, vodka, all the ethnic accoutrements to celebrations, and you missed it. :)

Here's what's up with that, courtesy of the website of the Orthodox Church in America:

The first day of the Church New Year is also called the beginning of the Indiction. The term Indiction comes from a Latin word meaning, "to impose." It was originally applied to the imposition of taxes in Egypt. The first worldwide Indiction was in 312 when the Emperor Constantine (May 21) saw a miraculous vision of the Cross in the sky. Before the introduction of the Julian calendar, Rome began the New Year on September 1.

According to Holy Tradition, Christ entered the synagogue on September 1 to announce His mission to mankind (Luke 4:16-22). Quoting Isaiah 61:1-2), the Savior proclaimed, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me; because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to proclaim release to captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord…" This scene is depicted in a Vatican manuscript (Vatican, Biblioteca. Cod. Gr. 1613, p.1).

Tradition also says that the Hebrews entered the Promised Land in September.

And this, an icon of Christ teaching the elders in the Temple (though why He has a beard at 12, I do not know--looks more like the Christ teaching the Apostles to me).

Pilgrim's Ramble #1

I was posting a response to a friend who has popped in to check out my blog when I realized that it was growing lengthy, and in fact was good fodder for a Pilgrim's Ramble.

What's a Pilgrim's Ramble?

Opinion and musings on sundry things in the sense of putting together pieces to form coherent, defensible, and intelligent positions. Not really "rambling" at all, but since I've gone with the "pilgrimage", i.e. travel, notion, "ramble" works.

This one, the first, is about being open to exercising your mind, as well as your body.

I've been reading Joe Irvin's blog for some time. Joe always finds interesting articles to post--articles that force me to stop and think and examine my own positions and (let's be honest) pre-conceptions.

I can say without hesitation that there are a number of subjects that Joe and I wouldn't agree on. But I can also say that if he and I sit down to talk about them, it won't be the knockdown, drag-out example of vitriol into which so many internet discussions (flamewars!) seem to devolve these days.

Joe's posts challenge me. They challenge me to get my thoughts and reasoning in order. They challenge me to grow, and that's a very good thing.

It's all too easy to slip into our caves and surround ourselves with nothing but the thoughts, philosophies, and dogmas that make us comfortable and happy and content. It's even possible to grow a little as you expand your knowledge in that atmosphere. But where's the impetus to really accomplish anything? How much temptation is there just to sit and vegetate, foolishly convinced that we have arrived at the place of all answers and all knowledge and we don't need to work at it anymore?

A lot, believe me. With all the reports of physical obesity in the U.S. (and I'm one of 'em, albeit 70+ pounds less than last August, thanks be to God, smarter eating, and more exercise :), we need to not neglect mental obesity.

At Joe's site, even if I don't always agree with the articles posted, I am exercising my mind by receiving--and then pondering rationally--new views and insights. That's good for me even, and maybe especially, when they are not ones I hold myself.

How often we forget that humans grow best when we get adequate exercise--whether physical or mental!

Of course that presents its own problems, such as learning how to control your temper, and how to engage in civil discourse and debate.

I suppose the point is this: there's a time and place for sitting deep in your comfort zone and assimilating more information and thought from those who agree with you. There is also a time and a place to "get into the red zone", struggle with views that challenge your own so you can better understand and defend your own positions--or modify them, if necessary.

Thanks, Joe, and all those who keep me exercised. :)

I think next Ramble we may talk about self-control and dispassion. Good, meaty Orthodox subjects!

I like trees

Yes, it is true.

Those who listen on Saturday mornings when I broadcast the news on WTAD know that producers Bruce or Jim and I usually end up talking briefly about my collection of bonsai, many of which I managed to nurse through last winter only to kill by not properly accomodating this summer's hot weather.

Ah well, one lives and learns or one finds another hobby.

(Wow. Have talked so far about introductions, Russian language and religious culture, Quincy food, and now bonsai. Eclectic, indeed. :)

I bring this up so I can do two things.

One reason is to promote the Springfield Bonsai Society, of which I am a member. It's not a large group but it draws people interested in the tiny trees from across a wide swath of central Illinois.

Check them out here:
http://www.geocities.com/springfieldillinoisbonsai/

The second reason is to post a picture, just to make sure I can.

This is the tree of which I was most proud--the one on which I had done the most work training and nurturing. I hoped to have it repotted in a bonsai pot and ready to display for the first time at next spring's bonsai show in Springfield.

It is a cotoneastor horizontalis.



Alas, it was one of the casualties in the summer heat.

Live and learn.

(Yes, it is poorly Photoshopped to take out the background activity. I'm no graphics wiz, I'm afraid.)

Let's talk food...

I am surprised that Quincy has such a variety of good restaurants, from inexpensive to pricey, from shovel-it-in-home-cooked fare to fancy cuisine, from American standard to ethnic delights.

Some of my favorites:

Busy Bistro--this relatively new place simply has some of the best and most interesting dishes (which Chef Michael calls "New American Cuisine") in the area. Great atmosphere too, with original artwork on the walls (I still want to buy some of those tree watercolors, Kerry!) and much original woodwork from when the place was the Busy Bee store. A little on the upper end of pricing, but not too far out.

Tony's--What can I say? I love the stuffed mushrooms and they make a good pizza (among other things). The decoration is "old attic eclectic" but I can deal with that. Plus it's less than a block from home. :)

Greek to Me--brand new and a worthy replacement for the old Olive and the Gyro House. Gus and his mom have an interesting mix of American and Greek dishes on the menu. Be prepared! There's a LOT of food on those plates! Be sure and order the saganaki. Don't ask why, just do it, and after it's served, yell "opah!"

Let's hear it about other local eateries.

Pravoslavniye

It's a Russian term that means "right belief", and gets translated often as "Orthodoxy". It also has connotations of "true believer" and "faithful". Some define it specifically as "Orthodox Church". None of those are quite sufficient to define the entirety of meaning in the word, but "Orthodoxy" will do in a pinch.

As an American Orthodox Christian, looking at cultures that have been deeply influenced by this rather different version of Christianity (neither Roman Catholic nor Protestant), I have to be willing to accept various customs from ethnic Orthodox since we Americans haven't had enough Orthodox for long enough to have developed our own unique customs. Thus I have used a Russian term to identify my "church culture" if you will.

On the other hand, many of those customs are pretty cool. And the food is often "to die for"--and the Greek stuff is even good for you, mostly.

Now I'm hungry for some baked feta and gyros. Off to Greek to Me (on North 6th Street, for those looking for some good ethnic food, or even plain old American fare) for supper!

I'll muse more about what it means to be "pravoslavniye" later.

KNP

The road goes ever on...

Beginning with a quote from Tolkien. That surely says something about me, though I'm not sure what, exactly.

Hello, and welcome to Quincy Pilgrim, a blog about life, love, faith, fun and any other topic about which I care to comment, especially as it relates to living in Quincy, Illinois.

Subjects will include (and not be limited to) the arts, food, my many and varied interests, Eastern Orthodoxy, and most anything else that takes my fancy. Except, for the most part, politics. That's because I'm involved on reporting on most of the political stories going on in the area, and also because such discussions tend to spiral into the depths with alarming frequency. I'd rather have enjoyable conversations, even if we disagree, without getting personal or nasty.

Therefore, my ground rules for talking back: keep it nice, keep it on topic, and keep it coming. Also, if I choose to delete a post from a reader, I will explain why I did so, both to the poster and to the group as a whole.

I also welcome your suggestions for subjects to discuss.

That's enough of that for now.

Welcome...and if you would care to join me on the pilgrim's road, come along. I don't walk fast so everyone should be able to keep up.

KNP