The "A Story for the Rest of Us" Story

Frank Costanza with his Festivus pole.

It was an ordinary day.  Just a little tired from wrapping all the Christmas gifts today.  Usually do it earlier in the month, after I purchase them, but didn't want to waste my time and wrapping paper this year if I wasn't going to be here.  I thought I should wait at least till 12/22/12, since there was another prediction about the earth imploding or something like that the day before.  Then I read about the people who buried themselves in bunkers underground, just in case.  Did they ever think that if the world would implode it might do it from the inside out.  Probably would have been best to be in a plane or somewhere that you weren't in contact with the earth. Also read that a Chinese inventor built "survival pods" to help him through the mayhem. And fare finder website Skyscanner reports its customers are showing an increasing interest in one-way tickets to "Apocalypse safe havens." Now were in the world would those safe havens be?  Is it just me, or are there others who think that these people are nuts.  Not nice to say on my part, being its the Christmas season and I should show some kindness and compassion for everyone.  And not only that, but today many are celebrating Festivus.  Festivus is a secular holiday celebrated on December 23 as an alternative to participating in the pressures and commercialism of Christmas. Festivus became part of worldwide pop culture after being featured on an episode of the American TV show Seinfeld in 1997.  You have to remember when Frank Costanza started his holiday with the "Airing of Grievances": telling the family all the ways they'd disappointed him over the past year.  Then there was the aluminum pole instead of a tree.  And finally Frank and George had to have the father-son wrestling bout.  I think I may forget Festivus this year.  I'm in no shape to wrestle with my sons.  I'm sure my daughter would probably beat me.  Well, I have to get back to putting the labels on all the gifts I just wrapped.  Just have to hope that I remember who each gift is supposed to go to!  Oh yeah, I'm glad I'm still here to celebrate another Christmas!!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.   

The "Sand Castle Winery" Story

It was an ordinary day.  We just finished off the bottle of Sand Castle Alpine Spice wine that we bought when we visited with our friends Jerry and Just Sue in State College, PA.  The wine had a very different taste to it, but we knew what the taste would be when we bought the bottle at the People's Choice Art Show during the 4th of July week.  Carol and I sampled the wine both warm and cold when we attended the art show.  Found it to be totally different depending on the temperature.  It is a Chardonnay and Riesling with a secret blend of herbs and spices and has a flavor that some of our family members did not enjoy.  The winery where it was made is in Erwinna, PA and is nestled on the banks of the Delaware River in historic Bucks County. The Sand Castle Winery is the purveyor of world class wines with a long and noble heritage.  Sand Castle's founders, Joseph and Paul Maxian, were born and raised in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, a region renowned for wine making before even the Romans ruled the world.  In 1974 the family purchased a hillside property which now covers 72 acres in Bucks County overlooking the Delaware River and the dream of Sand Castle Winery was born. In the early 1980s, construction of the winery building was accomplished and after decades of continuous effort, the Castle was finally completed in 2007.  All of their world renowned wines are made from their own 100% vinifera grapes.  The vinifera grapes are a common European grape cultivated in many varieties and is a chief source of Old World wine. It usually is eaten fresh, processed to make wine, or dried to produce raisins.  And the spices in the wine give it a very unique flavor that is hard to describe.  And ..... I can't find the secret blend of spices listed anywhere online!  I decided to order a few bottles online for the holidays.  Will taste great on cold winter evenings by the fire in it's warm form.  The bottle is a beautiful colbalt-blue color with white screen-printed label on it.  Carol and I hope to visit the winery sometime in the future and do some on-site taste testing of their other offerings.  Check out the photos of the winery which I have taken from their website.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.     

The "And ..... the Winner is ....." Story

It was an ordinary day.  Trying to figure out how my grandson Caden beat me two times in a row at one of the computer games that I play online and am good at winning.  When we bought our iPad we knew it would be used all the time.  I used it when we traveled to Barbados two years ago to post my blog stories.  My wife, Carol, uses it all time to check her email at work as well as our two email accounts we have for ourselves.  When we watch TV and have a question about something on the show that we are watching, Carol grabs the iPad and "Goggles" it to find the answer.  And, naturally we like to play games on it when every we can.  I have a few games that I loaded on the computer that I enjoy from time to time, but there are very few that I am good at.  My favorite is Solitaire and when I turn on the computer I don't stop playing until I have one at least one game of Solitaire.  And, the second game that I thought I was a pro at is called DotsDeluxeF which you have to connect dots in a square formation and if you make the final line to connect the square you get to have the the square filled with the color that you may be for the game.  There are 7 squares across and 7 squares down for a total of 49 squares.  When I play the computer I strive to limit it to less than 10 squares.  Well, Caden wanted to play me a game of it today so I sat next to him and we began.  Now this young man is 7 years old, younger than 9 times my age, but it didn't seem to matter.  He went first and chose the color blue while I was red.  At the end of the game he had whooped me by at least 10.  "You want to play again?" he asked.  Can't lose twice in a row to a 7 year old at a game that I play most every evening.  He beat me even worst in the second game.  How?  I don't know!  I try to reason if I make a line here, what will happen on his next move.  Oh, well.  At least I can beat him in Strike King which is a bowling game and relies on luck rather than brain skill.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Grandson Caden

The "Lancaster's Presidential Romance" Story

James Buchanan

It was an ordinary day.  Recently I wrote a few stories based on the book titled "Orange Street" by Marion Wallace Renninger.  After reading the book that I had given my father back in 1995 for his 75th birthday, I became interested in Orange Street which is located in downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  An extremely informative book about the history of Lancaster as well as our country.  After taking a few walks on East Orange to take photos and read all the wall plaques that are on many of the buildings, I found another interesting story that concerns the church where I have been a member since the 1950s.  St. James Episcopal was founded in 1744 and the churchyard at the rear of the church, located at the corner of West Orange and North Duke Streets, carries a fantastic story in itself.  The history found in this small area under the aging trees behind the church tells a story of the importance of Lancaster in the  development of the United States.  Tombstones carrying names such as Shippen, Ross, Barton, Yeates, Atlee, Slough, and Coleman are found within a stone's throw of Orange Street.  The churchyard also dates to 1744, but the first mention of it in the history of the church is in 1761 when it was recorded that:  "John Harris shall have five shillings for digging every grave."  The oldest tombstone is dated March 4, 1752. Several British soldiers who were housed in a prison in Lancaster during the Revolution are buried in the churchyard.  Almost 500 persons are buried there, but there are only 260 tombstones.  My story today will deal with one tombstone that is inscribed: Anne Caroline Coleman died December 9, 1819 - Aged 23 years.  This simple inscription is extremely hard to decipher on her tombstone, but  explains why President James Buchanan remained a bachelor all his long life.  Mr. Buchanan is probably the most famous citizen of Lancaster and is the only Pennsylvanian to be President of the United States.  In December of 1809, at the age of 18 he moved to Lancaster to begin the practice of law with the Hon. James Hopkins.  He was admitted to practice in 1818.  As a young lawyer in the community he was part of the social set of the day.  Anne Caroline Coleman was the daughter of the wealthiest man in Lancaster, Robert Coleman, who was a member and Vestryman of St. James Church.  Buchanan was a welcome suitor of Anne's hand and eventually their engagement was announced, but in the summer of 1819 the engagement was suddenly broken.  A few months later it was announced that Anne had died from an apparent suicide in Philadelphia where she had gone the day before.  It seems that one day in the late summer of 1819, Buchanan, after returning to Lancaster from a brief visit elsewhere, went to see Anne, but her father wouldn't allow him to see her.  Story goes that Buchanan was involved in a law case in Philadelphia and on his return stopped at the home of William Jenkins to discuss the case.  While there he had an extended conversation with another young girl and somehow the word got back to Anne's father.  That did it for Mr. Buchanan.  Anne became depressed and was said to have hysteria.  After traveling a short time later to Philadelphia with her sister Sarah by stagecoach to shop and see a play, she became ill.  Her sister went to the play with another couple and left Anne at to rest.  Anne died at midnight.  A doctor, Dr. Physick, (I didn't make that name up!) said it was the first time he ever knew hysteria to produce death.  It was found that she was being treated with laudanum for her hysteria and it was stated that "cases of attempted suicide by laudanum were common in Philadelphia at that time."  Did she die from an overdose that was intentional or not?  After Anne's death, the heartbroken James Buchanan wrote a letter to Robert Coleman, but he refused to even open the letter.  In the letter he stated that ...... "happiness has fled me forever."  The grave and tombstone of Anne Coleman is in St. James' churchyard.  But, get this, Robert Coleman did the same to his daughter Sarah.  He forbade her lover, the Rev. William Muhlenberg, the 26-year-old rector of St. James, to ever see her again for some reason.  She also died in Philadelphia at the same age as her sister Anne.  She too is buried in St. James as is her father Robert Coleman and mother Ann.  How about that!  Well, I visited the churchyard to find the graves and took photos to share with you.  Now that's three of the 260 tombstones in the churchyard.  Think I can find anything else as compelling as this story?  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Ann Caroline Coleman

Part of the churchyard at St. James Church

Tombstone directly behind the American Flag is where Robert Coleman is buried.   2nd to the right is where Ann Caroline Coleman was buried.  The one on the far right, which is just partially shown, is where Ann's sister Sarah is buried.

The top of Ann Caroline Coleman's grave is extremely hard to decipher.

Top of Sarah Coleman's grave.

The "LDub and the Mosquitoes" Story

LDub and the mosquitoes

It was an ordinary day.  And I have these noises in my head.  Not too much different than any other day though, since I have had the noises for years.  Actually they started in the early 70s.  Tough to describe what they sound like, but if I had to put it in writing, I would say that it sounds like a high pitched humming or a really high pitched treble music note that someone is playing on an organ and never takes their finger off the key.  Or maybe like a huge swarm of mosquitoes that are right outside my ear and won't go away.  What I have is called tinnitus.  Tinnitus is a Latin word that means ringing.  Hey, I should know since I took two years of Latin in high school.  Actually hated every minute of it, but it prepared me for my physical condition!  Tinnitus is not a disease, but a condition that can result from a wide range of underlying causes: neurological damage (multiple sclerosis), ear infections, oxidative stress, foreign objects in the ear, nasal allergies that prevent (or induce) fluid drain, wax build-up and exposure to loud sounds.  Ah ha!  That last part is exactly what caused my tinnitus.  And, I know it!!  Matter of fact, back in the early 70s the school nurse where I taught school told me, after an examination one day when I had this humming in my ears all day, that if I didn't quit coaching the high school rifle team, I would go deaf.  Wow, was that a wake-up call!  No more coaching for the guy that brought Manheim Township the only State Championship team in the history of the school.  Bad part of all of this is that I still have the ringing and it's never going to go away.  Sure, I got hearing aides, 3 times, and they are supposed to mask the sound, but they don't.  I even wrote a story about it a few years ago about how nice the hearing aides were.  Didn't last.  As I sit here typing I can hear the LOUD ringing in my ears; the left one is the worst.  A few years ago I started to get headaches on the left side of my head, directly behind my ear.  If I touched my ear or pushed right behind my earlobe with my finger, the pain would become intense.  I swear it has something to do with the tinnitus, since just before the pain becomes intense the noise in my ear gets unbearable.  Only way to make the pain go away is to take some pain tablets and go to sleep.  Just the pain tablets alone do nothing.  My doctor has no clue what is the problem.  There is no cure for tinnitus which is a potentially life-disrupting condition that affects about 10 to 20 percent of people, mostly those over age 65, but also many veterans of the wars our country has gone through.  The bombs and gunfire would be the cause for the veterans tinnitus just as the gunfire was for me.  Some people, especially hearing specialists, claim that there are various treatments for tinnitus, but let me tell you, there isn't.  As I mentioned, I tried hearing aides three times with little or no success.  Yes, I could hear upper-pitched noises better with the hearing aides, but the ringing also became amplified.  Another commonly tried remedy is a so-called masking device or a white-noise machine that introduces natural or artificial sound into the ears in an attempt to suppress the piercing ring.  Eventually the noise of the masker becomes as disruptive or more annoying as the tinnitus.  I recently read about a Dutch treatment that relies on psychological techniques, like eduction and deep relaxation, to deal with the chronic noises that I hear.  Following an educational session about tinnitus and lessons in deep relaxation, I would be gradually exposed to an external source of the very ringing that I hear all the time.  After 10 or so sessions, I am allegedly supposed to become habituated to the noise and no longer will find it threatening.  Hey, bring it on!!  Supposedly my negative reaction to the noise is what creates the daily life impairment and not the noise itself. I am told that I get stressed out and fearful of the noise when I hear it all the time.  Wouldn't you?  Maybe I would be interested in giving it a try sometime to see if it would help.  But you know, I tend to always have a song in my head that I sing along with, if only to myself.  I learned to do that on my own and it does help, but at times the music wakes me up at night.  I know, to you this all sounds stupid, but just be glad that you don't have tinnitus.  It can get so intense that it's all I hear.  So the music just has to get louder and louder to overcome it.   Like being at a never-ending Jimmy Buffett concert.  But then, is that bad?  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  

The "A Little Nipley!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  That is until the sun went down and the air stated to chill.  Not only outside, but inside the house.  "Are you cold?" I asked my wife.  She has a large orange cat strung across her lap so she doesn't feel the cold as I do.  Seems that the thermostat was set to 70 degrees, but it was much colder inside the house than that.  So, I started to mess around with the settings on the thermostat thinking it may be set wrong.  Temperature was 64 degrees inside so something was wrong.  I tried everything I could think of to make the gas furnace start, but nothing worked.  A trip to the basement was necessary to see what may be the problem.  I opened the full-panel wooden hinged doors to reveal the gas furnace and looked at it as if I could will it to work.  I actually had no idea what I was doing and since there is gas involved, I didn't try to do anything except walk over to the electrical board to see if the breaker may be off.  Yep, that was the problem!  So I flipped the breaker, headed back upstairs and tried again.  Nothing happened so I headed back down the basement and checked the breaker again.  Breaker off again.  It was supposed to get down into the lower 30s that tonight so I started to panic.  By now it was 10:30 PM so I can't call my cousin Susan's husband who works at the heating place that installed my gas furnace.  May be in bed and I hate it when someone calls me with a problem late at night.  Ruins my entire next day, so it does.  So I dug out the phone book and found the number of the heating place and placed a call.  Jeff answered and asked me for some information as to what I may have already tried.  After reviewing what I did he asked me to remove the front of the thermostat and replace the batteries.  Did that, but still was cold.  Then he had me turn the fan onto the "On" setting rather than the "Auto" setting, go back down the stairs and flip the breaker and come back upstairs and turn the temperature higher.  Did that and the unit came on for 30 seconds and shut down.  He told me it may be the fan unit.  Could I wait until tomorrow or would I rather him come tonight.  I asked him how cold he thought it may get by tomorrow morning and he responded with, "Maybe 50 degrees."  He told me it would cost $200 an hour for him to come right then, but if I could wait until working hours it would be considerably less.  Asked Carol and she said she would throw another blanket on the bed.  Next morning at 6:30 Carol woke me and told me that something was beeping.  Time to get up anyway I thought.  We have two CO2 detectors, but both were functioning correctly.  I checked the smoke detector in the garage.  Now I should tell you at this time that I can't hear the high pitched squeal of any detector unless I am next to it.  As I headed back in from garage the phone rang.  Security company called to tell me that the second floor glass break detector battery was low.  Wow, it just amazes me that they can tell that a battery on a wireless item on my second floor which is over 5 miles from their place is low.  That is what Carol heard.  Luckily I had purchased extra batteries the last time that happened so I replaced them and recalled the company to report what I had done.   OK, by noon today Jeff arrived.  Really pleasant and personable guy who tried to explain everything to me as he was working.  I know workers hate when someone looks over their shoulder, but I was interested to see what he was doing in case it happened again.  Well, we found that my breaker in the power panel was to blame so within half an hour he was back on the road again.  For me, I guess the moral of this story is never try to mess with anything that is connected to natural gas and if service is needed, try to wait until working hours.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Walking with the Bones" Story

My mom's cookie jar

It was an ordinary day.  Carol and I are going for a walk around the neighborhood.  Our neighborhood, if we take the long way around, is approximately 2 1/2 miles of walking and generally takes about an hour to cover the walk.  Quite a bit of up and down walking with a trek through the Overlook Park which borders our property.  I say an hour, but it can take much longer if all the neighborhood dogs are in their yards.  Before we leave our garage I grab a big handful of bones that we keep in a ceramic jar that belonged to my mom.  Neat jar, shaped like a dog.  We first encounter our next door neighbor's dog Brody who is a rescue dog and a mixed breed.  Fun dog who knows when we are coming and keeps a close eye on us as we approach.  He is so gentle when he takes the bone from us.  He then drops it to the ground before he picks it up again and starts to eat it.  When I mow the grass every week he is usually patiently waiting at the property line for his bone.  Across the street from Brody live two small dogs with big barks.  Minnie, the poodle is black and white, and Maggie who is a Lhasa Apso mix and is somewhat bigger in size than Minnie.  Minnie is light brown in color with a dark brown face who was a rescue dog and is afraid of most everyone.  When we first encountered her, she came right over to Carol who looked like a friendly face.  Further up the street live Caden and Guiness who are very large and friendly dogs.  They see us as we approach and run to the border of their yard.  Caden is the noisy one, while Guiness rarely barks.  Carol and I share the chore of feeding the bones to them.  After receiving the bones they both continue to sniff our pockets for more bones.  At the far corner of our street lives Chloe who is a black and white Husky mix.  She is the most patient of all the neighborhood dogs. She sits motionless, looking at you and waiting for you to walk over and offer her a bone.  The final two dogs on our street are Golden Retrievers, one adult and one youngster.  The younger one, Emmie, who hasn't learned proper bone manners yet, tends to jump all over you.  Camden is very laid back and gentle and waits his turn.  As we turn and head for the park we sometimes are greeted by other dogs who must smell the remnants of the bones.  Days that we are smart we bring extra bones with us on our journey.  A walk around the neighborhood wouldn't be complete without a few dogs to greet us on our walk.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  PS - My name is Courtney and I'm typing this story for my Tampah. 

Gentle Brody taking his bone

Minnie, on the left, and Maggie getting their bones

Guiness, on the left, and Caden

Chloe waits patiently for her bone

Carol feeding Emmie and Camden

The "The Cover's of Life" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Cleaning the drawers of my old worn wooden desk with the glass top that I have had in my office on Harrington Drive since I brought it home after retiring from teaching and asking my principal if I would be allowed to keep my desk.  He did have to correct me and remind me that it had once been used by Mr. George Ehemann who had hired me to be a teacher at Manheim Township High School and gave it to me after he retired from teaching in my 6th year at the school.  Anyway, he said I could have it, "but just don't let anyone see you take it out of the building."  No Problem!  The desk is made of oak with three drawers running down the right side that have mortise and tenon joints and one long drawer where the chair fits under it.  Oh yeah, there is an oak board that can be pulled out and used to write on should the entire top of the desk be covered with debris.  And, I must admit, I use that board quite frequently.  Well, as I cleaned out the three side drawers, I found two really neat magazines hidden under just about everything.  One was an October 1998 issue of Vette Magazine that featured a photo of me with my '87 Vette and a story titled "Me and My Vette."  Pretty neat so I bought a few extra copies and this must be the last one that I have left.  The other magazine was the 60th Anniversary copy of Life Magazine.  Has to be a collector's item and maybe someday I'll put it on EBay and see what it will bring.  Anyway, I went through the magazine and found that they had printed every cover in this issue that they had ever printed.  2,128 covers had been printed since the inception of the magazine on November 23, 1936.  Had the familiar red rectangular block in the upper left hand corner.  Price of the magazine: 10 Cents.  Life was a month old when Britain's archbishop overstepped the red border on the bottom of the magazine.  That red border was deleted only once in the next 25 years (12/27/37), otherwise it remained sacrosanct.  After a few years they could probably could delete the word LIFE from the red block and people would still know what magazine they were viewing.  Each one of the forty 9"x11" pages in the rear of the magazine featured a year's covers on it.  I naturally drifted toward the year I was born and checked out all the covers to see what had happened during that year.  Really brought back memories for me.  I'd love to be able to post whatever year you wanted me to, but that's not going to happen, so I'll give you a chance to see what life and history was like in my birth year, 1944.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  PS - Remember you can click on the image to enlarge it.  

The "Cat & Dance Routine" Story

Annoyed Creamsicle waits as Carol writes her scores

It was an ordinary day.  Getting ready for the finals of "Dancing with the Stars" (DWTS) on TV.  Carol and I got hooked on the show when it first came on the air in 2005.  She enjoyed the dancing and I really enjoyed the girl's costumes. Yeah, I enjoyed the dancing also.  Well, Carol really gets into the show and even keeps her score sheet for each dancer.  When the contestant dances and is judged, she writes the scores on her tablet and takes it to work to compare her thoughts on the dancers with her friend Sue who is equally absorbed in the show.  You want to know what any contestant on the show had in week 6 of their year's show, call and Carol will find it for you.  This year she had an added twist or maybe I should say added nuisance to contend with when jotting her scores down on her tablet.  Seems our outside cat, Creamsicle, who has adopted us as mom and dad likes to sit on Carol's lap every evening.  Not sure he enjoys the show, but he seems to get annoyed when she has to remove her hand from under his chin to jot the scores on her pad.  The finals of this year's edition of DWTS ended a couple of weeks ago with Melissa Rycroft, who was considered a star since she was on ABC's Bachelor program, and Tony Dovolani  winning the cherished "Mirror Ball."  Actually I enjoyed the show this year and cheered for the winners, because Tony is the nicest person as well as fantastic professional dancer.  As for Creamsicle, well he has another half year before the next edition of DWTS returns.  I'm sure his chin will be scratched open by then.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "To Take .... or Not To Take" Story

It was an ordinary day.  I saw an article in Budget Travel about the nine travel destinations where it is allegedly forbidden to take photos.  I kind of knew about some of the locations, but others I had no idea you couldn't take photos on location.  The following are some photos of the locations.  Wonder how they got the photos?  Me too. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Hey, it's the Amish in Lancaster County, PA.  The Amish hope that you would respect their privacy. They believe any graven image of them will condemn then to a life in Hell.  Many people do take photos of them, but try not to make it obvious.  If you ask them if you can take a photo, they will always tell you no.  

Rosslyn Chapel - The famous stone carvings depict biblical characters and religious events such as the Nativity.    Photos are banned in this location.

The Valley of the Kings - Located in Egypt, it is the location where royalty was buried between the 16th and 11th centuries B.C.  Camera flashes can damage the artifacts and are thus prohibited.

Lenin's Mausoleum - This location which is the tomb of Lenin frowns on photos out of respect for the dead.

The Golden Gai District, Tokyo - This area was at one time the center for post-war prostitution and is not a popular party destination for visitors and bar hoppers.  Signs along the street proclaim no photos.

Bachkovo Monastery - The frescoes in this building were done on wet plaster and can be damaged very easily by flash photography, therefore it is forbidden.

  

Emirates Palace - This is a modern-day hotel where the subject of the photograph and not the photographer is considered the owner of the image.  People have been jailed for disobeying the signs that are posted.

Library of Congress main reading room - This is located in the Thomas Jefferson Building where photos are not allowed.  My guess is that the flash used by most amateur photogs can damage the delicate gold-leafed details of the ceiling.

Taj Mahal - This work of are in India was built as a mausoleum for the wife of a 17th century emperor.  In order to enter the building you must leave your possessions at the door and collect them later.

The "Sounds of the Holidays" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Sitting in front of my computer singing as loud as I can.  For those of you who know me pretty well know that I may do that for no reason at all, but this time I really do have a reason.  On the screen at Lancaster Online, which is the web site for our local newspaper, is a video entitled "Sounds of the season."  At the local mall, Park City Center, there was what is termed "spontaneous singing" at noon on Saturday, December 8.  At that time everyone burst into the familiar strains of Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" and filled the food court with holiday cheer.  And, LDub wasn't there.  I can't believe I missed another one of the "spontaneous singing" events that are held every Christmas.  So, I'm sitting here in front of my computer singing at the top of my lungs the bass part of Handel's famous work.  Matter of fact Carol and I had a CD playing in the car during our drive home from a visit with family today with the "Hallelujah Chorus" playing.  We may not know all the words and the exact notes for our parts, but that doesn't matter.  We can still sing along and as loud as we want and have a grand old time.  Just have to hope that a car with a siren isn't trying to stop us.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.   PS - check out the "spontaneous singing" at Park City Center.

Spontaneous sounds of the season at Park City

The "St. James Church Addition" Story

St. James, Duke and Orange

It was an ordinary day.  Bright and sunny with a slight tinge of crisp coolness to the air.  Our fall weather has been slightly above average and today is one of those days, but you can still tell that it is fall.  The long shadows indicate late afternoon as I walk west on East Orange Street in center city Lancaster, PA.  My mission today is to take a few photos of the residences, churches and community buildings along Orange Street for a story I want to write on the book "Orange Street" by Marion Wallace Reninger.  I found the book when I was going through a few final boxes of "stuff" after my mother died a little over a month ago.  Gave the book to my dad for his 75th birthday in 1995.  Neat little book with a bright orange cover that was written about an old street in Lancaster on which many historic and interesting events took place - from before the Revolutionary War up to the present time.  There are a few illustrations, but I want to try to document the information with photographs.  Or, at least, that is my intention.  When I reached the corner of Orange and Duke Street, I thought I would take a look at how the new courtyard of our church, St. James Episcopal, looks with the fountain in place.  Last week they were going to lift it in place with a four-story-tall, telescoping boom on a crane.  the four-and-a-half ton fountain was too much weight and too large to maneuver by hand, so the crane was put into action.  Well, the courtyard looks great.  The pre-cast fountain is the center-piece of the courtyard.  It is part of our $2.1 million construction project that is the first update to the church since 1961.  Funny how I remember, as I stood by the fountain, the 1961 addition of the chapel and cloister like it was yesterday.  Back then I climbed the steps in the bell tower to reach the top and photograph the additions from on high.  That's not going to happen during this trip though.  The new changes include a slate-roofed narthex opening onto the new courtyard, a multi-purpose basement room, a refurbished chapel, and lighting, plumbing and tech upgrades to the 1744 church.  The fountain is a two-piece unit with a two-foot bowl with four spouts that will have water cascading into the pond below.  Pretty neat!  The narthex features four wide, pivoting, floor-to-ceiling glass doors framed by columns and brick arches that match the cloister that was added in '61.  I was alone as I took my photos today of the addition, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself, bringing back those memories from the past.  Must admit that I did it back then with an old film camera as well as a Polaroid Land Camera instead of the DSLR as I am using today.  The whole thing is truly impressive from the fountain to the carved sculptures on the posts of the cloister.  Since I probably will not include any of these photos in my story about Orange Street, I thought I would let you see exactly what has been happening at St. James.  Hope you enjoy and please stop to see it in person.  It is truly a wonderful place.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Steeple and Bell Tower.  I used to climb the wooden stairs in the steeple and take photos from the bell tower.  Not anymore!

Workers installing the fountain. (from the Lancaster Newspaper)

Fountain as it appeared today.

Inside of the Narthex showing the doors that open and swing out.

Cross above the chapel.

Carvings on the posts by the Narthrex and around the cloister.

      

The "The Tradition Continues" Story

It was an ordinary day.  I just placed the angel on top of the tree. Yep, Carol and I just finished putting up our Christmas tree this year.  Actually, she did all the decorating of the tree with the over 100 ornaments and strings of pearls while I just did my traditional topping of the tree with the angel that we purchased for our first Christmas tree together back in 1967.  Over the years we always had "real" trees which I either nailed to the hardwood floor or fastened to the wall with wire because of my phobia that the tree was going to fall down.  That can be traced to my childhood when our Christmas tree fell on me when we lived on North Queen Street in Lancaster in the late 40s.  And the strange thing about it was that I hadn't even touched it.  Not sure my mom and dad believed that, but I was always such a good little boy that they probably did.  Four years ago Carol and I did the unthinkable thing and bought an lighted 8 foot tall artificial tree.  I know, that's not in the spirit of the holiday tradition which dates back to 1510 when the first tree was cut for use in Estonia, but it was getting harder to lift that big tree onto the car and then off again.  And then there are the lights.  They drive me nuts!  This year we found a small section that was unlit ..... so we turned that section toward the windows so it won't be seen.  Our Christmas tree serves two purposes in LDub's house.  The first purpose is the obvious, to celebrate the Christmas season, but the second purpose is to remind us of all our fantastic vacations that we take to the beach.  Probably a third of our ornaments we purchased or were given as gifts that have a beach or nautical theme.  And, you know what is coming, don't you.  Well, enjoy a peak at our tree and the ornaments that decorate it.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Mermaid ornament

This ornament is over 60 years old.  I made it at Sunday School when I was a very young boy.  Carol thinks it may have asbestos in it!

My favorite Santa ornament.  All glass.

This is from Captiva Island in Florida.

A ornament that I broke the corner off of this year.  We hid the corner so you can't see it.

Jimmy Buffett parrot head ornament.

Pretty neat sandals.

This was purchased somewhere along the Chesapeake.

A metal ornament from Jamaica.

More sandals.

This is from St. Barts in the French West Indies.

Ornament from Fort Myers, Florida.

The dancing girls in their bikinis.

We purchased this ornament in St. Thomas, USVI.

Made from the shell of a crab.

Another ornament from the Chesapeake Bay area.

Really beachey!

Our Angel!

Our friend Just Sue got this for Carol in St. Thomas.

Just a neat guy.

This came from Barbados and is made from sand.

Just purchased this a few months ago in Provo, Turks and Caicos.

A sugar mill ornament from St. Croix.

Traveling suitcase.

Pictured here are a turtle and fish.