St Andrews Day

A new painted horse has appeared, sponsored by the Sac and Fox Nation.  One or two interesting facts about the Sac and Fox Nation is that in 1983 the Tribal Government established its own system for registering vehicles and issuing license plates for tribal members. The state of Oklahoma sued the tribe but the US Supreme Court ruled in the Tribe's favour on May 17, 1993 (took long enough didn't it) allowing other tribes to follow suit. May 17 is now celebrated by the Sac and Fox Nation as "Victory Day."    They operate twelve smoke shops (tobacconists to you and me, and they are all drive through) and two casinos.  One in Shawnee, and the other in Stroud where their headquarters are.   

Moving on from Sac and Fox.  When I got to the church shortly before 7.30 there were quite a few cars in the parking lot and I was pleased to think that more had decided to join our Daily Office.  I'd forgotten though that Tuesday mornings is the men's breakfast, they meet at 7 and it's very popular.

I went to the gospel singing at the Senior Centre, and gave a little contribution, this short story by an unknown author.

There once was a farmer who grew award-winning corn. Each year he entered his corn in the state fair where it won a blue ribbon. One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors.  "How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?" the reporter asked. "Why sir," said the farmer, "didn't you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn."

He is very much aware of the connectedness of life. His corn cannot improve unless his neighbor's corn also improves. So it is with our lives. Those who choose to live in peace must help their neighbors to live in peace. Those who choose to live well must help others to live well, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others to find happiness, for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all.

The lesson for each of us is this: if we are to grow good corn, we must help our neighbors grow good corn. 

I thought I would like a Christmas tree, then saw these two little guys who were sold, pre-lit and as a pair, going for a special deal, and thought they'd look nice on my porch.

They look quite nice don't they, but I think I need a special deal in poinsettias or something to set them off a bit.  I wish the electric flex was longer so I could space them out a bit.

I am always saying I find it hard sometimes to get my head round the poverty here, but I grew up believing America was a rich country, but 1 in 4 children are hungry, and currently there is a campaign to end childhood hunger in the US, and as it says here there is over half a million people in Oklahoma in food-insecure households.

How Many Football Stadiums Does It Take ...    ... to hold the hungry people of Oklahoma? The answer may surprise you.  David Blatt reports on our blog that if you gathered  all the members of Oklahoma's food-insecure households (roughly 560,000 people), they would fill both Boone Pickens and Gaylord Memorial football stadiums four times over.

Cyber Monday

So called because this is the day everyone goes back to work then shops online for internet bargains.  I am not planning on buying anything at the minute so didn't look, but understand from the news channels that there were bargains online.


I was up early this morning, as I will be every day in Advent - at least it is going to be make me settle down to sleep earlier at night, I don't think the very late nights I have are very good for me anyway.   Tim Sean, the youth minister who is training for the priesthood, suggested that during Advent some might join him in the church at 7.30 to say the Daily Office, which consists of scripture readings, prayers and a psalm.  There were only three of us; me, Sharon and Nancy, but never mind "when two or three are gathered together" that is enough.  I was surprised that no clergy turned up, Fr Clark or the two deacons. I mentioned that in the Church of England it is mandatory for clergy to say the Daily Office, and Tim Sean said he was told at his seminary that he has to do it.


As we are now into the Advent/Christmas season I am taking down the autumn decorations and hope to put up Christmas ones tomorrow.


In the news......well you know the news, The Wikkileaks documents are on the front page of every newspaper in the world, and the news programmes have talked about it endlessly.  The State Dept are working hard on damage limitation, and barn doors are banging shut all over the place.


The other big story is the 19 year old who wanted to detonate a bomb in Portland, Oregon where thousands were gathered to light a Christmas tree, but he was caught in an FBI sting.  He was supplied with a harmless explosive then arrested when he tried to detonate the bomb.  If it had all been real thousands of families with children would have been killed, and it gets me that a defence attorney is going to argue entrapment.  It might not succeed though because he was given a lot of opportunity to back out but kept insisting he wanted to kill lots of families and children.


It has been a bright day, but a bit chilly, in the 50s.  It's lovely driving through town just before it starts to get dark, when the sun begins to go down and the sunshine is reflecting off everything.  I went to Walmart for more wool.  I'd made a cot sized afghan but when I pieced it together the proportions didn't look right, so decided to add more squares and make it bigger.

First Sunday in Advent

The Advent Wreath with the first candle lit.
Got up in time this morning to go to the adult Sunday school, which had the usual good crowd, then to the 10.30 Service.
Picked up a takeout lunch at the Golden Corral then had a nap in the afternoon (I need it, I stay up way too late) then it was time to go to the church for a concert given by the Cathedral choir, which was lovely.

There was a Reception afterwards and the hospitality team laid on their usual good spread, then I went home and watched two very good cooking contests on the Food Network.  I also looked at 'Sarah Palin's Alaska'.  Sarah Palin is the most intensely irritating politician, so I have to debate whether I can stand the irritation to see Alaska.  
So that has been my day,

Small Business Saturday

Sandwiched between Black Friday - when the retail stores have their sales, and Cyber Monday - when the online stores have their big bargains, is Small Business Saturday, where everyone is encouraged to support the small businesses in their area.  I was hard pressed to think of a small business to support.  I needed some stationery items but went to Staples.  There is a stationery/gift store on Main Street, but it incorporates a post office and the owner threw me out one day when I was being overly fussy about them putting the correct postage on my packets to England.  If small businesses want to prosper they need to be more courteous to their difficult English customers.


In the news.....The escalating situation in north Korea is the major news  item.  Pundits say it is due to the transition of power in north Korea; the young lad taking over from his father has no experience in anything but needs to consolidate his power base, show some accomplishments, like an ability to extort concessions from the west.  To some extent it was the same scenario when Kim Jong Il took over from his father but in the current situation the provocation is worse, and more frequent, the north Koreans are more paranoid and fractured. It boggles my mind to see where this is going.  If north Korea is attacked millions of refugees will stream over the Chinese border and it will be the biggest humanitarian crisis on the planet, EVER.  If north Korea launches an attack on the south and Japan, destroying those stable world economies.....I forget what they said the consequences would be but in my opinion we would be staring at Armageddon.  I think there must be a lot of talking going on between Washington and China, who is north Korea's only ally.  


My generation will remember Suez and the Bay of Pigs when we thought we were on the point of WWIII, but those incidents and their consequences pale into insignificance compared to this.


Another item of news is the diabetic epidemic in America, it is estimated that by the year 2020 50% of Americans will be diabetic.  The causes are closely linked to obesity - something to do with the pancreas of an obese person not functioning properly in producing insulin - and currently two thirds of Americans are obese.


The other news item are the tunnels being discovered on the US/Mexican border.  The latest is the size of 7 football pitches where tons of marijuana worth $800million was found leading from a kitchen in Tijuana to San Diego, which I think is in California.  The revenue from marijuana goes to fund harder drugs like heroin.


So on this cheerful note, I'll say goodnight.

Black Friday

So called because it is the big sale day of the year.  Like our Boxing Day.  Except that it is more convenient for buying Christmas presents and that is what everyone was doing, going to the stores in the middle of the night.  I wasn't looking for any bargains but had to go to Walmart this afternoon for some wool to finish an afghan.  I looked at their electronics department but I think they must have sold out of bargains when they opened at 5am (Walmart itself is open 24 hours but depts like that close in the evening).   I bought a 4GB memory stick I needed which was $8 + 68 cents state tax (£5.56) I don't know if that was a bargain.  I noted that they were promoting DVD and Disk players with built in wireless LAN (whatever that is) for $69 (£44.26)   A 37" tv was $468 (£300.21) and a 56" $998 (£640).   They advertised them as sale prices.


Most people are still on holiday today, it's a long holiday weekend.  I rang Pattisue to ask if we were expected at the hospital but we weren't.  


It has been bright today but chillier.  When I went out I dug out my tatty, thick wool jacket I bought in the last century (and keep meaning to discard but somehow can never do so) but it wasn't that chilly, I was a bit too warm in it.   I saw the snow and ice you've had in Britain.  It's been like that in Washington state and Montana.

The White House Christmas tree being delivered.  I didn't have the camera handy when Mrs Obama and the girls were receiving it on the White House steps.  Hundreds of people had been invited inside to help decorate it.  The Obamas are very good at opening up the White House to people.  Mrs Obama hosts a party of school children once a month and shows them round.

Thanksgiving Day

The day did not start well.  I fell out of bed (not literally) tottered into the kitchen to put the kettle on and knocked a glass to the floor where Bubbles was having her breakfast, it shattered all round her and sent her scampering off to safety.  It took at least an hour to deal with the situation, first of all sweeping the glass, then vacuuming it up, then scrubbing the floor around the rug so the poor dear cat didn't get any fragments  in her paws.  Then - the hardest part of all - emptying the vacuum cleaner.  At  home they all have bags one takes out, and puts back, oh if only mine were that easy.  But in fact I have to take all the insides apart, trying to memorise how they all go back, and for the engineering challenged like me that's no easy feat.   Then my wheelie bin which I kept illegally at the edge of the road fell over into the road, so I had to lift that up and drag it back to the side of the house.


Had a nice Thanksgiving lunch at Sharon's.  Her son Joe was there with his little lad, and one of her brothers. It is rather like our Christmas dinner with turkey and ham, and dressing (that's American for stuffing but I've always seen it baked in a dish) and a sweet potato casserole with a nice crunchy topping, cranberry sauce and gravy which was good (nothing like the gravy I'm averse to) and a jelly salad, which they always seem to have.


It was interesting talking to Joe, I was asking about his military service in Alaska, how long did it take to learn Russian to the extent that he could translate their military broadcasts and crack their codes.  He said it was very intensive at the army's language school in Texas.  They had seven hours a day in the classroom, several more hours studying each evening and were regularly tested, if they scored less than 80% in their tests they were demoted to serving in the cafeteria, or on guard duty instead of going on to be translators, so there was a big incentive to keep up.


I got home just as it was getting dark.  I find I am less and less able to drive in the dark.  I can manage the main north/south, east/west routes through town which are lit but unlit roads are a major headache for me.  On the way home I stopped at the hospital with the Bible the patient I saw yesterday requested.


Tomorrow, Black Friday, is the big sales day, but this year for the first time some stores started today.  In the tv commercials some stores have been advertising that they are open from 3 or 4am.  Walmart is selling wearing apparel and toys from midnight, and electronics from 5am.


I forgot to mention yesterday the Christian names of four patients I saw on my chaplaincy round were Lawather; Iola; Fleeta and Wythema.  Do Americans make these up, I ask myself??  I go into the room expecting them to be Indians but they were all as white as I am.  I think I prefer Chicago and Dallas.

WEDNESDAY

It has been a nice day, 76 as I drove through town, but tonight the heavens opened and the rain was torrential, it made so much noise on the roof Bubbles dived under the bed.


I went to the hospital earlier than usual.  Larry had a chapel service today instead of tomorrow, and it was a Communion, which is rare for a Pentecostal minister, they and the Baptists only have Communion once every three months in their churches. He did it very well, there weren't many of us which made it more intimate, and it was a lovely service.  Larry went home afterwards and Pattisue and I had lunch, then went round a floor each.   Afterwards I visited someone in the other hospital across town, he is an Episcopalian from Norman, a few miles away.  He had requested Communion when he was admitted which Fr Clark gave a few days ago.


Afterwards I had some shopping and errands to do at the Mall.  Thought I'd look for something new to wear tomorrow, being Thanksgiving, but I didn't find anything and decided I could put something together from my wardrobe.


Being Thanksgiving tomorrow, the biggest holiday of the year, there weren't any activities at Emmanuel this evening or tomorrow.  David and Janie in Texas invited me for Thanksgiving but I had already accepted Sharon's invitation, so said I will try and see them over the Christmas holiday.

Twenty turkeys are sent to the White House from a farm in California. When they arrive, Obama said, they strut their stuff, the turkey equivalent of Dancing with the Stars, except that the stakes are higher.  18 are eaten and 2 of them are spared, in this case Apple and Cider.  This is Apple in the picture, Cider must be camera shy.  They are sent off to live out their lives in some idyllic place in West Virginia and the unlucky ones are donated to a needy cause for Thanksgiving dinner.
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Aren't his daughters lovely, they are a lovely family.

TUESDAY

There has been a lot going on in the news today, most of which you will have heard on your own news broadcasts.  


It is said that every President dreads the 3am phone call and Obama got his this morning when north Korea attacked the south.  Everyone is saying it is sabre rattling - when the north rattles the sabres they are engaged in talks, and are given concessions, and now they think it is time to bring out the goodies train but there is a school of thought which believes their bluff should now be called.  I think the deterring fact in that is the large number of civilians who live near the border.


Another major story is the discovery of a huge warehouse on the US/Mexican border filled floor to ceiling with millions of dollars of marijuana that had been smuggled in through a tunnel 70 feet high and a quarter of a mile long.  I had a photo of the entrance of the tunnel and the journalist going down it, but have been unable to upload it.  I looked at the Help section of Google and found a lot of complaints about photos not uploading, so hope this problem doesn't last long.    I will come back in the morning and try again, see if the time of day makes any difference.  (Wednesday. It worked this morning)

The War on the Border is heating up.  The border patrols have asked for 2500 military troops to be sent down there, but they are not likely to get them.


Another major story is that the children of illegal aliens are going to be given college benefits in what is called the Dream Act.  Under the Act children should have entered the US before 16, be here for 5 years, and have a high school diploma. That's got the nation shouting the odds.  Those who think it is an amnesty to aliens ('amnesty' is a dirty word to conservative Republicans who think they should all be shipped back never mind the children who have grown up here) And the liberal left wing who say the children came in with their parents, they didn't have a choice and they shouldn't be penalised for their parents' wrong doing in breaking the law.


The weather further north has been very bad, heavy snow and blizzards.  I don't think I could live there. I'd rather be in this warmer climate and take my chance with the occasional tornado.


I picked up my car this afternoon and it seems to be running well.  I offered to pay Terry for all his time and labour taking distributors on and off, making phone calls, driving my car round to see if a yellow light comes on, etc. but he brushed the offer aside.

MONDAY

It has been a lovely warm day, in the 70's, it's a bit disconcerting to think that it is nearly Christmas, and Christmas things have been appearing in the shops for a couple of weeks now, and we are not over Thanksgiving yet.


Anyway I was waiting for a warm day to sweep out and tidy my back porch which I use as an extension of the kitchen, a sort of scullery I suppose.   If I want to sit outside I sit on the front porch and watch the world go by.

I don't know if you remember back in the spring I posted pictures of these canna lilies (or they may be calla lilies) when they were just tiny shoots and this is the size they grow to.  They are dying off now and need cutting down.


I took my car back to Terry today, he told me last week to take it in today because the yellow warning light was on and he was going to get another distributor.  I've lost count of the number of distributors (re-manufactured ones) that have been fitted in the last two or three weeks.


I mentioned to him that yesterday it died on me turning left at a traffic light, and he seemed to take that very seriously, I said it only happened once but he said it shouldn't happen at all,  and this afternoon he rang to say that the supplier is sending a brand new one for the same price. I know a brand new one is $1300, way more than a re-manufactured one,  so I don't know what he did to twist their arm.  Every other motor mechanic would have long since just given up on me and my car by now.  People are so kind to me here - going the extra mile and way beyond - when I put the phone down I just sat and cried, I was so overwhelmed.

I took this photo of Terry's lovely boat.  He goes fishing in it on Lake Eufaula, serious competitive fishing where the prize money is hundreds of dollars.  He said he gives the prize money to his wife, it compensates her for his absences at weekends.

PENTECOST

Last day of the church year, next Sunday is the 1st in Advent.  We had a bit of ceremony, everything was white and gold but we were spared - or perhaps I should say I was spared - the cough inducing incense.

I couldn't sleep last night and then this morning I couldn't wake up, so missed the adult Sunday school and just about got there in time for the 10.30 service.

I went to lunch with Bruce and Rosalyn.  Rosalyn wanted to have a dummy run cooking a vegetable curry in 20 minutes, we had a few stops and starts and re-setting the timer and did it in 30.  This is in preparation for the course she hopes to run at Emmanuel in nutrition, in January.  

In the afternoon there was a concert at Emmanuel given by a Chorale Society in Shawnee, which was very nice.

The programme.   The hospitality group at Emmanuel laid on a little Reception after the concert which the Chorale Group weren't expecting and they were all very grateful.

I e-mailed the person responsible for the tablescapes and suggested she really should photograph them all and write a book on how to do them.  They are always so inspired.   The little gold things are musical instruments.  She has an amazing collection of things like that which she incorporates into her tablescapes.

After the concert I went back again to Bruce and Rosalyn's for some ice cream.  

This is part of a mural in downtown Shawnee, and I wanted to know if it was Chinese and what it said.  I tried e-mailing it to Tim and Marie but the server wouldn't accept it.

FRIDAY/SATURDAY

Friday

Bubbles and Friday (Friday is outside on the balcony of the porch)

As Bubbles was on the edge of the bed I opened the blinds so she could look out and see her sibling Friday who was hanging out on the porch, looking in, so I let them gaze at each other.  Poor Friday, he/she would love to come in and be pampered like Bubbles but I just think vet's bills, cat litter, fancy feasts, and I can feel my heart hardening.   Friday is so called because she was born on a Good Friday. She is learning disabled because she was born dead and Donna - against her better judgement, but her kids were screaming at her to save her - resuscitated her three times.  I don't notice her disability but Donna says she sometimes does weird things.

Today I went to the hospital as usual on a Friday.  Another chaplain who I passed on the way in had been earlier and went round ICU.  There were two attempted suicides in ICU, Oklahoma has a high rate of suicide, and these two youngsters had been detained in a Juvenile Centre, broke into the pharmacy there and took an overdose.  Wouldn't you think there would be better security in their pharmacy?    Anyway, when I got there Pattisue and I went to lunch and then went round the second and third floors.  Her car was having something done to it so I was glad to be able to give her a lift home.

Saturday

Woke up and debated whether to be a slob all day or get dressed and go out to the monthly AARP meeting and lunch.  I decided to be a slob.   I did do some jobs around the house though and started piecing together the latest afghan.   This evening I went to the movies with Sharon at the cinema in the Mall, we enjoyed the film, it was a lighthearted comedy about a newly appointed producer on a low rated, national news programme.  It starred Harrison Ford and Diane Keating, looking a lot older than I remember her.

WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY

Wednesday
After my chaplaincy round at the hospital I took the car to Terry to have the distributor changed (the new one he'd recently fitted had a fault because a yellow warning sign came on, so he sent away for another).   Unfortunately the yellow sign came on straight away when that latest one was fitted, so I think he is a little baffled.  He asked me to take it back on Monday by which time he will have consulted with his brother, the Honda dealer, and done some research.  He is now wondering if there is a fault in the car's computer.


Last night I made some orange jellies for dessert after the Wednesday meal, the Indian supermarket had a good deal going on tinned oranges at 2 for a $.  I made them in loaf tins, thinking I would unmould them on to a plate, put a few segments around them, and they would all look very pretty.   But I decided they weren't going to unmould neatly and look pretty, so I tipped them in a bowl and when I got to the church I spooned them out individually into disposable dishes (a bit of a come down from my lofty visions) but I think the children liked them.  I also made a mousse which I did unmould.  It's the simplest dessert ever.  Whip up a tin of very cold (from the fridge) evaporated milk until it's doubled or tripled in volume, then stir it into dissolved jelly.  When I told someone how I made it her voice shot up several octaves "Is that all this is, milk and jelly".


After the meal I went to the second of Fr Clark's classes.  Next week is Thanksgiving so there won't be anything going on.


Thursday
This is the first morning I've had to scrape frost off the car.  I was out early for the donuts.  Instead of a speaker at Kiwanis we had the Liberty Baptist Band, singing and playing some gospel.  It was lovely.

The vocalist in the middle is the Shawnee Fire Chief.  He's been before.   I know who people are but I never expect anyone to know me, or remember my name, so was rather touched when he came and shook hands and said, lovely to see you Valerie.

I wanted a word with Sharon and she was taking her Tai Chi class in the Auditorium.  I don't know why the rest of the class aren't in the picture, they must have wandered off when I wasn't looking, and the only person in the picture looks as if she is doing the Highland fling.


Went to Communion and then seven of us had lunch at a Mexican restaurant we hadn't been to before.   It was very nice.


After I got home I spent the rest of the day finishing a very engrossing book.  Must get down to some domestic chores tomorrow.

MONDAY

Was driving round this morning doing my errands and a yellow engine warning sign came on in the car; I drove it straight to Terry but it is nothing for me to worry about, it's to do with the new distributor they put in; they ordered another part and will let me know when it comes in.  In the meantime I can carry on driving.


I remember, back in the day, when garage mechanics lifted the bonnet of the car and looked at the engine.  This morning I watched Daryl, Terry's sidekick,  sitting in the driver's seat with a computer plugged in.  I'm always taken a bit by surprise at the way technology has overtaken us.


I went to the monthly lunch today with the leadership of Emmanuel. There was seven of us, I think we were all there, Fr Clark, two deacons, the youth minister, retired priest, Elizabeth who does a lot and helps with the youth, and myself, as a hospital chaplain.  It was very nice and I do appreciate Fr Clark including me.  


Do you know......and I saw this on television yesterday.  It has become the fashion here to turn spare bedrooms into bedrooms for pets.  Complete with luxurious pet beds, organisers for their stuff, toy boxes.  One woman with a dog said it was good, when she had visitors, to put the dog in its room to play.


I am not going into the ethics of this, that's a whole can of worms.  But is it what pets want?  I know it wouldn't fly with Bubbles.  She wants to be wherever I am, preferably stretched out watching television and not doing anything, so she can climb on my chest and snuggle in.   And if I have a visitor, or even if just the doorbell goes, she dives in a panic beneath the bed, I certainly can't see myself ushering her into her bedroom to play with her toys.

SUNDAY

Went to the 8 o'clock service at Emmanuel.  Afterwards to the adult Sunday School.  There was some discussion on the fact that recent biblical scholarship has revealed three Pauls.  That is that the letters of Paul were written by three different people.  Seven letters are undisputed - Romans; 1 & 2 Corinthians; Galatians; Phillipians; 1 Thessalonians and Philemon.    Ephesians; Colossians and 2 Thessalonians have no consensus on whether or not they are authentic letters of Paul; the Pastoral Epistles 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus are decidedly iffy.  Fr Clark has been reading a book, The Authentic Letters of Paul and has ordered a copy for the church library, and said he would order more copies when there was a loud clamour to read it.


There was a music event going on at University Baptist during their 10.45 Service and I went on to that, meeting up with Pattisue who is a member.  


Afterwards to Walmart for some wool, and while there I picked up some goats milk.  I think in the past I must have been spotted climbing up the refrigerator shelves to reach it at the top, because it has now been moved to the bottom shelf.   And on my way out I noticed deep fryers for turkeys.  I mentioned the other day that seems to be the 'in' way of cooking them.  They were $45, and the oil for them about $25.


Afterwards took some photos on the way home of autumn in Shawnee.

Yesterday, Saturday, I went down to the Lake which is 10 miles, to see if the car would behave, and it did.  And I took these photos.

FRIDAY

Pattisue picked me up this morning to go to the hospital and we did most of both floors before lunch.  


I rang Terry from the hospital to see how the car was getting on in its intensive care unit (it was connected to equipment testing it, and when it made a different noise Terry and the other mechanic would race over to it)  Being an intermittent fault it has been difficult for him to diagnose, he has had to keep running it and taking it out to see  exactly happens when it dies, he was also consulting with his brother who is a Honda dealer in OK City.  He didn't want to fit a part and then find it hadn't solved the problem but finally today he fitted a new fuel pump and distributor, and stressed that if the car died I was to go straight back to him.  He is going to keep the old parts for a while and if the new parts haven't fixed the problem he will send them back.  Goodness knows how much time he spent running round in it, but he only charged me for the labour of fitting the fuel pump and distributor.


When I left Seaford I never thought I'd find another garage mechanic who would look after me as well as they did, but I think Terry even surpasses them.


As soon as I left there I went straight to the Mall to sort out my cell phone.   Since Larry died I haven't really needed it, and it lapsed, so I had to have a new Sim card, a new account, a new phone number.  It took forever.  It was daylight when I went into the Mall and pitch dark when I came out.


So all that has been my excitement for the day.  

VETERANS DAY (THURSDAY 11th)

Had to ring Louise and Cecil with my apologies for not being able to pick up the donuts this morning, as I still haven't got my car back.
Sharon takes a Tai Chi class at the Senior Centre at the same time as my Kiwanis group at 8.30 so she gave me a lift there.  I decided I would just hang out there until the Veteran's Day Service, so packed my crocheting and a thermos of milk (for my tea).   Yvonne a Kiwanis friend was also going to the Service, and staying for lunch so I decided  to do so as well.  The food is not wonderful there, but it saved me from cooking.  And Yvonne brought me home afterwards.  It's possible to walk but my ankles were aching for two or three days the last time I did so, and I wondered if it was having to walk over the rough grassy verges, as there aren't any pavements or sidewalks in Shawnee.


The speaker at Kiwanis was the veteran primarily responsible for the Veterans War Memorial in Shawnee, and that was the subject of his talk.


Even though I'm kind of like an outsider, I was glad to be at the Service, paying tribute to US veterans.  I feel the military fighting the War on Terror in Pakistan and Afghanistan deserve our gratitude too.  They - with the Coalition forces of course - are fighting for the safety of all the Free World, not just the US.

These are all members of the Committee who were responsible for the erection of the Veterans War Memorial in Shawnee.  The guy in the middle at the podium is Sharon's son Joe, who is Commander of the American Legion here.  He speaks Russian and served in Alaska monitoring and de-coding Russian broadcasts during the Cold War.


When the US flag is lowered and folded, for example to give to a veteran's widow at his funeral, it is always folded 13 times, and Louise read the significance of each fold.  It was rather emotional for her and her voice cracked, I was inwardly urging her, take a breath, a deep breath and you will regain control.  
I won't list the meanings of each fold, except to say that the on 13th fold the stars are uppermost, reminding them of their nation's motto, 'In God we Trust'.  When the flag is completely folded and tucked in it takes on the appearance of a cocked hat, reminding them of the soldiers who served under General George Washington, and the sailors and marines who served under Captain John Paul Jones.


I took a few snaps around the Senior Centre while I was waiting for the Service to start.

Some Seniors playing dominoes in the dining room.

This is the room used for Kiwanis and gospel singing.  On the left there are sliding doors separating it from the dining room and they can be moved back to create a bigger space, which they do on Tuesdays and Thursdays for example, for country music and some of the seniors dance.

Although it said the Veterans Day Programme was going to be held at the new War Memorial the weather was a bit iffy, which is why it was held inside instead.  The foyer and corridors of the Senior Centre are covered with photos of veterans.  Those who have always lived in Shawnee can walk along and see photos of friends in High School etc.


At the moment (Friday) I'm waiting for Pattisue  to give me a lift to the hospital for our chaplaincy duties.   I hope the car will be ready this afternoon.

Wednesday

Being car-less I asked Pattisue if she'd pick me up to go to the hospital today.  We got there in time to have lunch with Larry and his wife, who was there, then went round the floors.   When I finished I rang Terry to see how he was getting on with my car, he said he was still testing it because he wanted to be absolutely sure, before he fitted a part, that he knew what the problem is.  It wasn't going to be ready today so Pattisue brought me home.


This evening Sharon picked me up to go to Emmanuel this for the Wednesday meal and activities.  She'd made cookies for the evening meal's dessert, I was glad not to have to think of that today.  When we gathered round for the pre-meal blessing I counted 25 children and young people. After the meal they all go off to their different activities, but  I'm really not sure what they all get up to.   Fr Clark started a four week class this evening on the 'Evolution of God', talking about the pre-history period, which was quite well attended.


Observations on the news.....

I expect you all saw this on your own televisions.  The incredible disguise a young Chinese man put on when he boarded a plane in Hong Kong to seek asylum in Canada. We weren't told, and I wondered if anyone else was, the effect on the plane.  We were told a passenger on the plane noted the discrepancy between his young hands and his old face and alerted a crew member, but not what followed.   

 An autumn day on South Draper..

Monday/Tuesday

I haven't been writing my blog the last couple of days, I've had problems with my car so haven't been out and about doing much.


I was driving to the Early Learning Centre on Monday to read to the children when it died in front of the biggest, most beautiful house in Shawnee.  A passing motorist stopped to help, then a friend from the church stopped and between them they got the car off the road and pushed it on to the long, sweeping drive of this house.  I'm jumping up and down protesting they can't leave it there.  Mike, my friend said the house belongs to a friend of his and he won't mind.  Anyway, they got the car going and one of them said they'd drive behind me to the Early Learning Centre.   But when I got there I was a bit too agitated to read to the children, and there were quite a few readers there, so I gave my explanations and apologies and managed to drive it to Terry, the friendly mechanic.


It's a problem diagnosing a fault when it is intermittent like that, but Terry drove it around and when it happened to him it gave him a better idea of what he could rule out, and what the possibilities were.  His brother is a Honda dealer in OK City and he rang him for advice, so when I spoke to him yesterday afternoon he seemed to be making some progress.


Pattisue is picking me up this morning to go to the hospital, then hopefully this afternoon the car might be ready.


There isn't a transit system in Shawnee, everyone has to drive everywhere, so it's worrying when there's a problem with the car.  There aren't even any pavements or sidewalks, and it is a sign of these hard economic times that people have been walking to work along the grass verges.  


I'll be back tonight writing up Wednesday.

ALL SAINTS DAY

Which was celebrated at Emmanuel with clouds and clouds of cough inducing incense, marching round and round the church singing a litany to all the saints, Fr Clark was dressed to the nines in his best white and gold vestments, and the kind of hat I've never seen worn anywhere else outside the Vatican, we had the whole nine yards.  But the Service, when we got to it, was lovely, and the music was very uplifting.


There is a film on in the downtown cinema I thought looked good and suggested it to Bruce and Rosalyn this afternoon, it was Jennifer Aniston in The Switch, billed as an 'adult comedy'.  It was very good and they enjoyed it too.   We made quick exits as soon as it finished though, there was a film on at 7 Bruce wanted to see and I wanted to get home for a National Geographic film on migrations which has had a lot of publicity;  animals, birds, butterflies, which was absolutely incredible.


It has been realised here that roasting turkeys in the oven tends to make them dry so the latest craze, in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas, is to deep fry them, in special turkey size deep fryers which cooks a 12lb turkey in 40 minutes.  Has this fad reached you yet?   People on television who have tasted it say it is not at all greasy, the skin is very brown and crispy, and the flesh moist.  It looks very nice, I just wonder  though in these hard economic times how many people can afford the deep fryers for them.  

FRIDAY

Got to the hospital at the same time as Pattisue and we had lunch before doing our chaplaincy rounds, taking a floor each.  There had been quite a lot of patients but they are sent home a lot sooner than they are at home, some of them still look quite ill when they tell me they are waiting for transport home.  I often think that imperfect as our NHS is we have a lot to be thankful for, even if our hospitals don't look like 5 star hotels with a gleaming marble lobby.


I seemed to have a lot of cake making stuff in the larder so in the afternoon made a couple of Wholewheat Guinness Cakes.  Except it wasn't Guinness, I had some other beer languishing on my larder floor someone had given me ages ago.  

This evening the Art Gallery situated on St Gregory's campus  (St Gregory's is the Catholic University in the grounds of the Abbey)  opened a new exhibition with a cheese and wine reception, in conjunction with Family Promise, and the theme of the exhibition was homelessness.  I had an invitation because I'm a Friend of the Gallery but it was free to the public and I asked Pattisue if she'd like to go.

 This little girl had been through the Family Promise programme and painted the picture, which was called 'Life After Family Promise'. I think she was hovering round her picture to get people's reactions.  When I heard her tell someone she'd painted it I asked her to pose beside it.

I think there are as many homeless animals as people in Shawnee.  Although I don't suppose the horses in the top right are homeless.


Election aftermath....I'll keep updating you on this for as long as it entertains me, hopefully it makes you smile as well and think how good our Parliamentary system is.


Oklahoma is even in the election news!!!  Over the Proposition (one of the 11 questions on the ballot paper in addition to the candidates) that Sharia Law should not be allowed in the state, which was carried overwhelmingly.   Those who think it should are going to Appeal.  Muslims make up less than 1% of the population of OK.  I mean - how relevant is that.....?


Pattisue told me of a bizarre Proposition they had in Texas once when she lived there and people were fighting for equal rights for women in the 60s.  Apparently if a man found another man in bed with his wife he could shoot to kill.  So in the interests of equality they gave women the same right.

THURSDAY

I was about early this morning.  After my little break from doing it I went to Tecumseh to pick up the donuts.  People ask why I go because there are donut shops in Shawnee but these are donated to Kiwanis.

The Senior Centre was looking very festive for the coming Thanksgiving holiday.

Americans really do have an artistic talent for things like this.
Our Kiwanis speaker this morning was very interesting, she was a librarian who was talking about banned books.  This is an example of the children's banned books.

Little House on the Prairie was banned for being offensive to Native Americans.  Ma was always saying "the only good Indian is a dead Indian".  And the book with the penguins takes place in New York Zoo.  All the male and female penguins were going off to mate, and two male penguins were walking along together and spotted an abandoned penguin's egg, so they hatched it out and raised the baby penguin.  Together.  Down here in the Bible Belt there is a lot in that to object to - homosexuality, anti family values, sexism.........  


I didn't really go to bed last night, I was pottering on the computer. I sent my solicitor in England an e-mail and she asked if I was having a late night, or an early morning.    After Kiwanis I slept soundly for a couple of hours then went to Emmanuel for Communion, then five of us had lunch at Jimmy's Egg.  It was all very nice, and all being Democrats there was much hand wringing and gnashing of teeth over the election results.  The fact that the Democrats have lost control of the House, and are barely hanging on in the Senate.  And for someone like me, coming from a socialist country, I fit in with them.  And regardless of any personal political opinions one might hold at home the fact that - with the rest of Europe -  we have health care and social security makes us a socialist nation, in line with the Democrats.  


This evening I went out with Sharon to another cookery class at Tecumseh.   We were learning about, and making dishes using chicken and turkey.  There were 14 of us in 7 teams, the instructor hands out a different recipe to each team and Sharon and I made Chicken Cacciatore.  A chicken dish cooked with tomatoes and mushrooms, flavourings, and with cheese melted over the top, sprinkled with basil.  Then when it is all cooked we sit down to eat a little bit of each dish.   The instructor puts a lot of work into the organising of it, setting up the individual work stations for each team, etc.   All the meals were very good, we were saying in the car coming home that it is better than a restaurant, being all fresh and home cooked.

WEDNESDAY

My legs and ankles are aching today.  I forgot to mention yesterday that after I'd taken the car in and Terry dropped me off at home, I walked to the gospel singing at the Senior Centre.  I think I need to do it more often, I was out of breath too when I got there.   I got a ride back.


When I got to the hospital there was a note on the board from Larry saying he had been called out to a death in the night.  Pattisue asked me before I left home to ring her when I got there, let her know the situation, but I couldn't get through to her on the hospital phone.  But it was alright, I did one floor, then had lunch, then went back and did the other. Larry seemed to have done ICU in the morning before he left.


When I got home I had a nap.  All the election watching was catching up on me.   I went to Emmanuel for the midweek meal, and took some brownies I'd bought at the Kiwanis bake sale on Tuesday, and some grapes.   There are a lot of children and young people there on Wednesday evenings and it is really for them we do the dessert.   Sharon wasn't there this evening, she was helping an elderly friend.


Election aftermath.....
I was intrigued by the fact that in Missouri yesterday they were voting on animal rights so I looked it up today online.  There was a proposition to ban cock fighting, bear wrestling, and other kinds of animal fighting (with exceptions for rodeos.  Of course. This wouldn't be the Midwest without rodeos) And when did we ban cock fighting in Britain?  I didn't know they were so behind the times here.  The big issue though was making puppy mills illegal, and adopting new rules for dog-breeders, capping the number of dogs used for breeding purposes, requiring resting periods between breeding.  Limiting dog-breeders to fifty dogs, and - get this - requiring them to feed those animals daily and regularly (!!)  The vote was close 51.5% for and 48.5% against.  So only half the voters of Missouri support animal rights.


Meg Whitman, the former boss of e-bay, put $140m of her own money into her campaign for Governor of California, and lost. Someone worked it out at $5 a vote.  Goodness knows why she wanted the job, California is $138billion in debt.


And the Senator for Alaska?  I think the Presidential Election will be over before they have worked that out.  The Write-In Candidate (ie one goes to the voting booth and handwrites the name of the candidate one's voting for) got 81,800 votes, and every one of those votes has to be counted, with lawyers in attendance, particularly scrutinising the spelling of the names. The Republican candidate was defeated in the Primaries by a Tea Party candidate, but she thought the seat was historically hers and wasn't giving it up, so announced she would be a Write In candidate (the last time this was done, anywhere, was in 1954).  Then to muddy the waters more than 160 other people decided to be Write-In candidates.  Don't you just love our Parliamentary system................