A Wise Man, Mr. Goethe

The moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Goethe

I stumbled upon the above quote of Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe  many years ago. I believe the year may have been 1989. I taped it to my refrigerator, as I wanted to be reminded daily of its profound message. I then started taking courses to better myself. I bought books, and workbooks on overcoming obstacles, and creating a more fulfilling life for myself and my daughters.

In one class, Taking It To The Limit, taught by Dr. Gwen Roquemore we were instructed to write three goals on a post card, and on the opposite side write our address. One year after that date Dr. Gwen sent them to us. I had achieved every goal.

She taught us some of the principles of creative visualization laid down by the author Shakti Gawain in her book Creative Visualization. We created image books out of photo albums. We were instructed to cut pictures from magazines of people we admired, looks we wanted for ourselves, things we wanted to accomplish, etc. and place them in the book. We were to keep it near by and look through it often. I kept mine on the coffee table for years.

By the year of 1999, I had accomplished nearly all of what I had visualized in that book. I still have a few to go, and have added them to what I now call my bucket list. Such as carve a decoy, learn how to play golf, go on a family sleigh ride through the snow, and look gorgeous in a pair of jeans. The last being less important now than it was in 1986, when I was thirty-five years old and single.

I had written in a journal that I wanted to become a published writer, but I didn't put it in my image book. Writing our goals down is the first step to committing ourselves to accomplish them, and just as Goethe quoted providence does take over and opens up all sorts of unforeseen assistance in accomplishing that goal.


“I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)

Walp's PA Dutch Hot Bacon Dressing

Yields 1 quart

8 slices bacon,
fried crisp
4 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2 heaping tbsp flour


Fry bacon until crisp. Crumble bacon when cooled. set bacon and bacon fat aside. Mix dry ingredients thoroughly, add beaten eggs, beat. Combine sour cream, heavy cream, and vinegar, and heat in double boiler, add egg mixture, bacon fat, and crumbled bacon. Cook and stir until thick and smooth. Server warm over chopped ice berg lettuce, endive, dandelion, or other greens.



My mother who is of PA Dutch heritage, cut the strips of bacon into small pieces before frying, fried, added apple cider vinegar and sugar, made flour water mixture as for gravy, added it to the bacon/vinegar mixture in the pan, stirred until thick. Which was most likely what the real PA Dutch would do. Walps recipe seems more French than PA Dutch.

Assuring The Survival Of Liberty, Honoring All Who Serve

“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty”~ John F. Kennedy

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

— Lt.-Col. John McCrae (1872 - 1918)

"Either war is obsolete, or men are. "Buckminster Fuller

What we now know as Veteran's Day was originally designated a holiday by President Woodrow Wilson to commemorate the signing of the Peace Treaty of WWI on November 11, 1919 and it was called Armistice Day.

Armistice by definition is a temporary suspension of hostilities by agreement of the warring parties; truce.

This day was first known as Veteran's Day on November 8, 1954, and it then became a day to honor all Veterans of All wars.

This year while we honor those who served in our armed forces, let us not forget that war should always be a very last resort in resolving conflict, and that the original purpose was to remember the END of war.

"History teaches that war begins when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap." Ronald Reagan

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron." Dwight D. Eisenhower April 16, 1953

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones. ~ Albert Einstein

We Made It Through The Rain

On Veteran's Day, Wednesday November 11, 1999, my daughter Jamiann and I ventured into New York City on a whim. We truly exercised our faith that day, traveling approximately eighty miles in the pouring down, cold, November rain in hopes of obtaining stand by tickets for the audience of The Rosie O'Donnell show.

The show would air on Friday November 13, 1999, the guests were Matthew Fox, Barry Manilow, and Rosie's longtime friend Jeannie Davis.

My daughter Jamiann who was nineteen at the time, was a die hard Barry Manilow fan since the age of nine when my sister Irene had won tickets on a radio show to be chauffeur/limo driven, complete with long stem roses to the Stabler Arena to see Barry in concert. Irene chose to take Jamiann along with her that night, which led to a fourteen year fantastic journey into the world of the Maniloonies. When Jamiann learned that Barry would be a guest on a taping of the show on Veteran's Day, and that I was going to be off of work that day, a plan was put into action.

Upon arriving we parked a few blocks away from Rockefeller Center where the show was taped. We both were in dire need of a restroom, and despite its disgusting condition we had to use the one in the parking garage. In our moment of excitement, coupled with a painfully full bladder, we both forgot our umbrellas in the car. We knew we needed to be in line before 8:00 AM in order to obtain stand by tickets. We did not realize just what odds were against us.

After what seemed like hours of trying to find shelter from the rain under an above ledge just outside of the entrance where the line formed, a young lady dressed in Rosie show garb, came out with a top hat in hand. Inside the hat were numbers to be picked by each group of potential audience members. I allowed Jamiann to reach into the top hat and pick. She picked a low number, I believe it was the number three if my memory serves me right. While we stood there rumors were spreading that they call out higher numbers first, and we started to become discouraged. We were then allowed to file into the building. We took our wet coats off, and used the restroom to try and make ourselves presentable.

It really seemed like hours passed again, and I was silently praying for Jamiann's sake, that we would be chosen. But, I must admit, I too wanted to get the chance to see Rosie in person. I realize since then that Rosie has alienated many, but I still like her. She has done a lot for many who needed help. She has always been down to earth, and forth coming. Perhaps her candid way of expressing her thoughts has earned her a reputation of being a bit too liberal, but much of what she has said is the truth. I do not agree with all of her ideals, but I do agree with her position on peace, adoption, unconditional love, and gun control. She is also a very funny comedian, and excellent actor.

Finally, the young lady from the Rosie show appeared again and called out our number, and we were escorted to an elevator. Suddenly a commotion erupted by a nearby entrance to the lobby, and there approaching us was the legendary comedian Nipsey Russell and his entourage. We stood in line there and also went through a metal detector. Once we entered the elevator, I began to get butterflies in my stomach. We reached the floor of the Rosie studio, we walked down a long hall way with photos of Saturday Night Live Shows on the walls. The excitement of the moment kept building inside me, and when we walked through the studio doors I actually had tears welling up in my eyes. I was not just happy for myself, but thrilled for my daughter that her dream was coming true, and my adventurous nature was instrumental in making it happen.

We were seated in separate rows, and didn't mind, as we just felt so fortunate to get in. We in fact were just filling in empty seats. As Jamiann was positioned in front of me, she was led to a seat near the front on the left side, just behind John McDaniel and his band. I was seated directly behind a roving camera on the ceiling, and practically every time they either cut away or came back from a commercial there I was smiling and waving. On the following Friday when it aired we taped the show. My big moment of television history, being a silly, excited fan in the audience of the Rosie O'Donnell show.

I really did want to see the expression on Jaminann's face when Barry Manilow appeared on the stage. He first came to Rosie's desk to be interviewed. Barry was promoting his Frank Sinatra tribute album, Manilow Sings Sinatra. It was evident that he had a nasty head cold. He asked Rosie to help him sing and they sang Strangers In The Night.


And in the typical Rosie O' Donnell show fashion she shot Koosh Balls into the audience, gave us a snack, and a goodie bag full of nice things, including Old Navy mittens and an ear warming head band, a toddler toy Billy Blaze, a Koosh Ball, a Rosie T shirt, and a Christmas ornament.

She also had a cooking segment where she joined her life long friend Jeannie "Weanie" Davis making a squash recipe for Thanksgiving Dinner, which ended in a food fight.

In between commercials they inserted a pre-taped interview with Matthew Fox who at the time starred in the television show, Party Of Five. Today Matthew is well known as playing Jack on Lost.

We later received tickets by mail a year later to be in the audience of the show with Al Pacino as the guest. After we filed into the audience seats we discovered that Mr. Pacino did not want to be taped in front of a live audience, and instead two shows would be taped to be aired during the holidays. To our amazement and utter joy the guests were Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, James Garner, and even Florence Henderson popped in sweeping the floor as it was "Sweeps Week".

We took along Rosie O'Donnell dolls that she autographed for us. I also had the pleasure of occupying her audience one more time with a group of Barry Manilow fans in the fall of 2001.

Here is a link to the day we saw Julie Andrews:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqR2YufBzoM

Ties That Bind

* Please read all the way through as this blog is also a tribute to my family ties that bind...

Crystal Night, Night of the Broken Glass, Kristellnacht, Kristalnacht November 9, 1938

On November 7, 1938, Hirshil Grynzspan, a seventeen-year-old Polish Jew, walked into the German Embassy in Paris and shot the first diplomat he saw. The death of Ernst von Rath, the legation secretary (who was in fact anti-Nazi) was used by the Germans as an excuse to mount a pogrom against the Jews of Germany.

Kristallnacht

A massive, coordinated attack on Jews throughout the German Reich on the night of November 9, 1938, into the next day, has come to be known as Kristallnacht or The Night of Broken Glass.

The attack came after Herschel Grynszpan, a 17 year old Jew living in Paris, shot and killed a member of the German Embassy staff there in retaliation for the poor treatment his father and his family suffered at the hands of the Nazis in Germany.

On October 27, Grynszpan's family and over 15,000 other Jews, originally from Poland, had been expelled from Germany without any warning. They were forcibly transported by train in boxcars then dumped at the Polish border.

For Adolf Hitler and Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, the shooting in Paris provided an opportunity to incite Germans to "rise in bloody vengeance against the Jews."

To read the actual orders to the Gestapo click HERE

Now that you see the history of what had happened on November 9, 1938, I will get to the Title of this blog, Ties That Bind. And further on in this blog you will read about my own connection to November ninth, and Ties That Bind.

An estimated several thousand Jews fled to a predominately Muslim Albania from surrounding countries in Eastern Europe.

All of them were saved. Albania is the only country occupied by the Nazis that had more Jews at the end of the war than at the beginning of the war, which is a reflection of Jews having sought refuge in Albania and survived.

A Muslim Albanian man, Mefail Bicaku and his son Njazi protected six Jewish families for a total of 26 people during the war.

For months, the Bicaku's shared their home and food with the families, the league said.

Later Bicaku was executed by the Communists.

1 Corinthians 2:9

One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: "Teacher, what must I do to receive eternal life?"

Jesus replied, "What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?"

The man answered, "`You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.' And, `Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

"Right!" Jesus told him. "Do this and you will live!"

Romans 12:17-21

"Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable Do your part to live in peace with everyone, as much as possible. Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God. For it is written, 'I will take vengeance; I will repay those who deserve it,' says the Lord. Instead, do what the Scriptures say: 'If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink, and they will be ashamed of what they have done to you'. Don't let evil get the best of you, but conquer evil by doing good."

Matthew 5:5

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

The above Biblical verses were instilled in me by my mother who lived her life in example of each of them. Our family began on November 9, 1940 when Ruth Marie Eck wearing a blue velvet two piece skirt and jacket suit married Walter William Dunwell in Elkton, Maryland.

It wasn't until Dad needed his birth certificate to enter the U.S. Navy a few years later that they discovered Dad's real name was William Walter Dunwell.

Our family had never been well off, and usually struggled to make ends meet, but that never stopped my mother from taking in a homeless acquaintance or a family member in need of loving care. Our door was always open to a neighbor, and whenever anyone did wrong to my mother or our family she immediately forgave them, and continued to welcome them into our home. She never, ever held a grudge against a single soul. Mom often said, "Never allow the sun to set on an argument."She was the glue that held our family together. Our dad was always a provider and innovator, but Mom managed the income, and businesses.

My siblings and I are close knit for the most part. We have had our differences as people usually do, but our mother's ability to show forgiveness to all, and instill it in her children has always come to the rescue of any of our hurt feelings.

Although Mom had taught us right from wrong, and Christian principles and morals, we may have strayed from time to time, but sooner or later realized our folly and made things right.

Our parents have since passed on, Dad in August of 1985, and Mom in March of 1992.

Throughout any and all of our family struggles, we have very strong family ties that bind.

Just as that Muslim family in Albania took in twenty-six Jews and protected them during a very dangerous time in history, the ties that bind the human family are strong, and as long as there are people like them, and my dear mother there certainly is a future for UNITY in the world.

Today

This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Wildflowers at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary


Grandson enjoying his day.


Getting soaked and loving it!


A messy face, eating chocolate at Grammy's.


Getting to ride in the caboose.


Meeting your favorite celebrity.

Finding your soul mate.

Creating Holiday Memories

Fulfilling a dream, and inspiring others

Spending time with inspiring people

My sister Ruth Ann
To witness God's miracles

Today (Randy Sparks) Today while the blossoms still cling to the vine I'll taste your strawberries, I'll drink your sweet wine A million tomorrows shall all pass away Ere I forget all the joy that is mine today I'll be a dandy and I'll be a rover You'll know who I am by the song that I sing I'll feast at your table, I'll sleep in your clover Who cares what the morrow shall bring? Today while the blossoms still cling to the vine I'll taste your strawberries, I'll drink your sweet wine I can't be contented with yesterday's glory I can't live on promises winter to spring (winter to spring) Today is my moment and now is my story I'll laugh and I'll cry and I'll sing Today while the blossoms still cling to the vine I'll taste your strawberries, I'll drink your sweet wine A million tomorrows shall all pass away Ere I forget all the joy that is mi-uh-ine today

Priggish

No it is not supposed to be piggish, the word is priggish. The word priggish is a noun meaning a person who displays or demands of others pointlessly precise conformity in a self righteous irritating manner.

In the movie Emily Of New Moon, that was Aunt Elizabeth. In the first few episodes Aunt Elizabeth drew the lot that gave her guardianship of Emily after her father passed on. When she discovered that Emily had her cat with her hidden in the wagon, she threw the cat overboard. The cat somehow found his way to New Moon, Emily found him, and hid him in the attic. Once he was discovered by Aunt Elizabeth she ordered Cousin Jimmy to put him in a sack and throw him in the ocean. Cousin Jimmy didn't tie the sack shut and the cat escaped and all ended well and the cat lived the remainder of its life in the barn. Aunt Elizabeth was a farmer, and to her animals served only a one purpose, and that was to provide food and an income to the family. A pet was considered lavish, and a liability. Aunt Elizabeth controlled all facets of life in her home, even forbidding Emily from writing in a journal, and reading fiction, or poetry.

The timeline of this story written by L.M. Montgomery was the late 1800s, just at the end of the Victorian period. Victorians were very pious and prudish in character, even though they were very lavish in the ornamentation of their homes. This period in philiosphical history came after the Age Of Enlightenment, and then the Napoleonic Age.

During the Age Of Enlightenment there was freedom of thought, and human reasoning, with innovations in political, religious, and educational doctrines. The Napoleonic Age was an age of militarism, prior to that the beginning the Industrial Revolution broke out in Great Britain.

Can you see a pattern here which has been repeated in our own lifetime. I have lived through a time when our country lead the world in industrial production. I have lived through the sixties and the "Dawning Of The Age Of Aquarius" peace, love, and freedom without boundaries. I have lived through a time when we had the strongest military presence in the world.

Which brings me back to the title of this blog, Priggish. I seriously fear that we are heading toward a new era where freedom of thought, and open mindedness will soon be frowned upon. I believe this will happen because of extremism. Extremism is a tendency or disposition to go to extremes, and this word originated in the Victorian era.

Those who lean too far toward open minded concepts instill fear in those who lean too far toward closed minded concepts. Boundaries are necessary, in both the Enlightened mind, and the Victorian mind. Many strides were made in the Age Of Enlightenment, and the largest was the idea of Democracy. I for one would love to see a new era develop, The Unity Age. An Age of concord, harmony, and the ability to live as one while agreeing to disagree with acceptance. It's about time, isn't it?