Sunday of Holiday Weekend

Decided this morning to visit Fr Clark at his church in Sand Springs.  I have been meaning to go for some time, and this bright holiday weekend seemed like the right time.   Sand Springs is a suburb of Tulsa, which is the second largest city in Oklahoma, and the county of Tulsa is the most densely populated.  For most of the 20th century, the city held the nickname "Oil Capital of the World" and played a major role as one of the most important hubs for the American oil industry.  (I just have to educate you don't I)

 

St Matthews, Sand Springs, is a lovely little church, and beautifully situated overlooking a lake.

 

 

Fr Clark is one of the best preachers I've known because he doesn't stand in a pulpit reading the sermon from a script.   He stands in the nave, and I know he has put a lot of preparatory work into it, but he delivers it effortlessly, as if it is just coming off the top of his head.

 

They are still living in Shawnee because they have not yet found a buyer for their house, but it is an hour and a half drive to Sand Springs, which is a long commute every week.   It took me two hours though because I just potter along while everything whizzes past.  

 

Just after I left home I stopped at a local drug store/pharmacy that has an ATM machine, so I could get a $20 note.   I picked up a paper, and the person behind me said she would pay for my paper because,  "I didn't want to break into a $20 note for a paper".   I thanked her very much, but explained the purpose of the paper was to get change.  I needed it for the tolls on the road,  but wasn't that kind.

 

I hope we never have tolls on our roads because I can't get my head round them.  You don't just hand over money and get tickets at toll booths, you might be given receipts instead, and - most mystifying of all - sometimes they give you money back.  By the time I came away from the last one even the attendant was laughing.     And one attendant was still there on my way home and said "You're Back!!! are you going home"   Between my English accent and my ignorance people remember me.

 

 

I see she is pregnant again, according to the morons.  And "It's Official" - whatever that means.

 And Obama didn't let him die at all, he sent a rescue mission which went to the wrong place, and that was an intelligence failure, not the fault of the President.   I have to say though, I find his presence laughing on the golf course jarring at a time like this.   

 

Holiday Weekend......................

which is just as searingly hot as the rest of the summer.   There is no chance that an August holiday weekend here can be washed out, like it might be at home, like I heard it was last weekend.

 

Monday is Labour Day, one of their big deal holidays, and the  end of summer (at least summer is considered to be over, even if the weather says otherwise) It is a "yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of their country".    It can't be held though on the 1 May when the rest of the world celebrates International Workers' Day,  promoted by the international labour movement, because that  has overtones of socialism (a dirty word here) and worse "communism".

 

May 1 is an ancient European spring holiday - and isn't that when we used to dance round maypoles back in the day?  But I am digressing again.

 

May 1 was chosen as the date for International Workers' Day by the Socialists and Communists to commemorate the Haymarket affair in Chicago that occurred on 4 May 1886.

 

The Haymarket affair is generally considered significant as the origin of international observances for workers on May Day.  Originally it was a peaceful protest - workers were striking for an eight hour day, and an unknown person threw a bomb at police, killing 7, and 4 civilians, and injuring scores of others.         (from Wikipedia)

 

I have just been ploughing through my turning out/spring cleaning today and just beginning to see a little progress.  Kevin came this evening to cut the grass and got it finished just as it got dark.   I was very pleased to see him as he also helped me move two tables,  one out of the computer room on to the front porch, and a heavy coffee table from the living area to the computer room.   Now I can get down to making the computer room look cosy.    Tomorrow. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday 28th

I will just say first of all, regarding yesterday's item about the Texas father who shot the drunken  driver who killed his two sons,  that he has been acquitted.

To put the incident more into context - he, the father, ran out of fuel and his two sons were helping him push the car up the road to their home.  The completely stoned, drunken driver ploughed into them killing the sons.  The father didn't admit to it - or a prison sentence presumably would have been mandatory - he threw the gun away (but I don't believe the police couldn't have found it if they tried hard enough) but the casings were lying around, the holster was in the man's home, and his blood was on the car of the drunken driver.   But the jury found that the case was not proved 'beyond reasonable doubt' and I don't think anybody feels they should have brought in any other verdict.  And I know people can't take the law into their own hands and deliver summary justice, but this is the one case I think which, quite rightly, was an exception.

I was awake early for Kiwanis, our speaker was another member who talked about her recent trip to New York, and Virginia.  It looked very interesting, I'd love to visit Williamsburg.  After Tennessee.  But I can't really see myself visiting Tennessee.

Anyway, after a very late night and early morning, I had an afternoon nap at 11 o'clock.  I missed Communion at Emmanuel and lunch, so this is a very short blog entry.   I will probably be back tomorrow throwing in my two cents worth on ISIS.

Wednesday 27th

Was at the hospital this morning for my chaplaincy round, nearly all the patients though were either asleep or having treatment, so it was a bit of a doddle, I didn't talk to very many, and on both floors there were fewer of them.   Bill had a meeting at noon so I had lunch by myself.

In the afternoon I finished off the mini cupcakes I made yesterday.........

Looking at them I think it might have been better to have got another box of strawberries and cut each one in half.  I think they would have looked prettier.

I thought it was a job best done in Emmanuel's kitchen.  Nancy was preparing the meal by herself as the rest of her team lasagna work late, so I was glad to give her a hand when I'd finished the cakes.  The lasagnas were ready made but she went to quite a lot of trouble to make black bean tacos for the vegans, which were very nice, and a couple of salads.   Then the youngsters came out of school and pitched in.   There are quite a lot come for the meal, about 50, that's how many plates I was told to take out of the cupboard.

Today in history...............

2003		Power blackout affects half-million people in southeast England and halts 60% of London's underground trains.
		In the news.....................

I know all the intellectual arguments about people not taking the law into their own hands, but this man's two sons were killed in front of him by a drunken driver, and he immediately shot the driver. I don't think anybody wants him to go to prison.   Losing two children like that is nightmare enough without spending the rest of his life in prison.  I haven't heard the news yet but hope the jury acquits him.

Last couple of days....

The highlight of yesterday, Monday, was the movie 'The Hundred Foot Walk' which I saw with Pattisue.   It was wonderful, we both enjoyed it very much.   An Indian family in Mumbai had their restaurant fire bombed, the wife was killed and the rest of the family fled to Europe.  Travelling through France in an old mini bus it broke down in a village, and that is where their adventures began (apart from a brief stay in England under the flight path at Heathrow).   The father bought an old run down restaurant opposite a very popular Michelin star restaurant, which served classical French food, and he did it up as an Indian restaurant.   Oh........the nostalgia...........they don't have Indian restaurants here and I came out longing for a chicken korma with side dishes and naan bread.

 

The film is about the ensuing ups and downs, but like these tales do, it all ended happily.

 

Today I have just tidied up round the house and watched television, and there is certainly plenty going on in the news.   I like Obama but in these troubled times I think the US would have been better served with an older, more experienced guy as President.   Someone like John McCain, because Obama knows nothing at all about foreign policy, and he is so detached from reality he really thinks - he has said - that ISIS is not a threat to the US.  Someone surely must have pointed out to him how well organised they are, how well funded - they are getting $1 billion a day in black market oil revenues and donations from sympathetic governments like Qatar - they have stated their intention of taking over in the US and Europe and establishing a global Caliphate.  Hundreds of disaffected young people with western passports are flocking to join their ranks and be radicalised.   And they are only a plane flight away.

 

Well, that's my op ed, as they say.

 

Changing the subject somewhat, but still talking about planes.  There is a new gadget available on airlines.   Well, some airlines.   Or maybe just one or two.  It cost about $25 and attaches to the drop down tray in front of the passenger so that the passenger in front can't recline their seat.

 

 

That has not gone down well.   There was a serious altercation between a passenger who wanted to recline her seat and the one behind with the gadget.  The aggrieved passenger poured a cup of water over the one with the gadget (and who could blame her) the flight was diverted, and they were both thrown off.

 

It was the funeral yesterday of the 19 year old teenager who was shot by a policeman in Missouri.  Thousands turned out.   The nation's chief rabble rouser was holding forth.....

The White House sent three staff members, which is unheard of.   I am just at a total loss to understand how everyone can be rushing to judgement like they are.  We still haven't heard from the police officer, or been told the extent of his injuries.

 

And - don't get me wrong - I deplore the death of this young man cut down at 18 years of age, where he might have put his mistakes behind him, and gone on to live a useful, productive life.   But (and you might have guessed there would be a BUT here) if he had been quietly going about his lawful business instead of involving himself in a strong arm robbery, and arousing police suspicion, he would still be alive today. 

 

This day in history............1979

Mountbatten was killed by the IRA.   And don't we all remember that.    Prince Phillip and Prince Charles were heartbroken.   My heart also went out to the parents of his 14 year old grandson. and another young teenager who were also in the boat.   The Dowager Countess Brabourne died the following day.

 

I hadn't known, or realised it before, but the castle in Sligo where they were staying was always guarded during the month of August while he was there.   But unbelievably the boat was just moored in the harbour without anyone even watching, far less, guarding it.

This evening I made some mini cup cakes, which I will top with whipped cream and a strawberry, for tomorrow night's dessert.

Sunday 24th - C-Nooks and Jim Crow

I didn't do a great deal today.  Went to Emmanuel at 10.30 and  I have just updated my C-Nook.  The newest version has a much longer battery life, which will be useful when travelling.  Its main feature though is the way it is lit, so I will be able to read it a lot easier in bright sunshine.   I think there must be a newer one about to be launched because this was being sold at a bargain price.

 

Anyway, it arrived on Saturday afternoon and had to be charged for four hours, so I couldn't do anything about it until today, so this afternoon I set off for Barnes and Noble in Norman.  Transferring all the data from the old one is far too technologically challenging for me, and the kind lady in B & N did it all in fifteen minutes.

I pulled into a Sonic for a hamburger on the way.......and

I had a cup of tea in Starbucks in the middle of the store, while I made sure before leaving that I was comfortable using it.   I didn't hang about though, I left home at 1 o'clock and was back by 4.30.

 

Theoretically I was home in time for the Sunday evening cookery competitions, however I have not been sleeping well, and combined with - what is to me - a long drive, it all caught up with me.

 

With all the racial tensions going on at the moment in Missouri the phrase 'Jim Crow laws' , referring to the laws and racist attitudes used to oppress blacks in the southern United States is being bandied about a lot. By the way, when 'niggers' became an offensive term they were referred to as 'negroes' but that is no longer pc, they now have to be called 'blacks'   - I tell you, you have to keep up here.

 

Anyway, in my naïveté I wondered who Jim Crow was and thought I'd look him up, seeing as how you can find out anything now on Google.   And this was what I discovered......

That ‘Jump Jim Crow’ was actually a song performed in the 1830s by a white entertainer, who darkened his face with cork and costumed himself as a plantation slave, he then became nationally famous performing this song in variety theatres.  The spellings and punctuation of the song were all designed to reinforce an ugly racial stereotype.

 

I also discovered this eye opening little piece - at least it was eye opening to me.

The American musical has one shameful chapter in its history – minstrel shows. The most popular musical stage shows of the early and mid 19th Century, minstrelsy embodied racial hatred. Both white and black performers donned blackface, and audiences of all colors loved it. Hateful as their content was, minstrel shows were the first form of musical theatre that was 100% American-born and bred.

Ohhhhhhhhh Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaar............They were popular in the mid 20th century when I was a child.   I LOVED the Black and White Minstrels.   I used to eagerly sit down in front of our 9" television to listen to their catchy little tunes and dances.   I can't for the life of me remember the lyrics, but as a child I knew nothing about the US, the Civil War, and racial tensions so they would have gone over my head anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday 23rd August

The weather is still tediously hot, and likely to be so for the next few days, but at least 'partly cloudy' is better than unrelenting sun beating down.

One advantage though of the hot sunny days is that the evenings are very pleasantly warm, and it is particularly nice when the sun starts to set, and everywhere is bathed in a rosy glow (hark at me and my purple'ish prose).

Last night Pattisue and I went to Sustainable Shawnee's annual dinner - called 'Tapas at Twilight', which means small portions of a lot of dishes provided by local restaurants, and which gave them a bit of publicity.   It was held in the Art Gallery/Museum on  St Gregory's campus,  we sat at a table in the courtyard looking across the grounds of the campus.  It was all very pleasant and I saw lots of people there I knew.

The sun was setting as we left.

I joined Sustainable Shawnee when it first started in Shawnee, but I felt a bit of a hypocrite because it is all about recycling and the environment, and I am just not energetic enough.  Tossing papers into a recycling box is as far as I get.

Today, Saturday, I had lunch with Bruce and Rosalyn at a Chinese buffet, and that was very nice. 

The rest of the day was spent on a needlework project while I watched the latest in the Middle East situation unfolding on television.   Obama is getting a lot of flak for being on holiday and playing golf, and at first I was critical of his critics and thought he  deserves a holiday, but an American journalist publicly having his head cut off is certainly an act of war,  and warranted I thought, his return to the White House. 

Because David Cameron hot footed back to Downing Street from his holiday, he is being held up (at least on the news channel I watch) as a shining example of how to lead a nation in a crisis, ha ha ha.

I later heard tonight that he rushed back when it was revealed that the executioner had a British accent, and efforts were being made to discover his identity - at first I thought that was as pointless an exercise as trying to discover the identities of the pilots who bombed Pearl Harbour - however his identity has been established, and it has been said that MI5 were tracking this guy and his cohorts in London, and it was this news which cut short David Cameron's holiday and brought him rushing back.   So goodness knows what is going on behind the scenes that we know nothing about.

Re-reading yesterday's entry regarding Cecil's Masonic funeral I think I should have been more respectful, so that is the reason I have edited that bit out.

Thursday 21 August

It was pointed out to me, quite rightly, that in yesterday's blog I was confusing the former prime minister of India with Mahatma Gandhi, which is who I was thinking of.   My excuse is that I am old, and easily confused - after all, I am pushing 80.

I certainly had an early start and busy morning.   It was Kiwanis at 8.30, then on to Cecil's funeral at 10.30.  

 

One of our members - whose son went to Cambridge, and now lives in North Wales - went over to Britain where he attended the graduation at Downing College.  Then the family had a holiday visiting north Wales, taking pictures, they also went to Scotland.  The son actually cycled to Edinburgh, and I understand did it in two days.    Said son is an environmental engineer and found a job based in north Wales.   His father has accepted the fact that he won't ever be back to live in Oklahoma, there are just no openings, or ever likely to be,  for environmental engineers here.

 

This isn't the first funeral I have been to here and I can't get  my head round them.  Apart from Episcopalians who don't do this, all of them regardless of denomination, open the casket and the congregation files past to look at the dear departed.  I stayed in my seat for a little while, then got up and slipped out. 

 

Fr Clark and I were rather surprised at the fact that the service was conducted by a die-hard, lifelong Republican (politics gets into everything here) and Cecil was an equally die-hard Democrat.   In the opening address the Republican said that Cecil is now in Heaven where all hell has probably just broken out at the fact that his funeral is being conducted by a Republican.  Everyone laughed and it lightened the atmosphere.  

 

 Last night my neighbour Donna was feeling very down, and although she is not in the habit of doing this, knocked on my door,  I asked her in and sat her down.  It transpired that  two of her cats unfortunately had both died on the same day.   One was very old - I think she was Bubbles' mother - and she just keeled over and died.  Donna knew it was coming because she was nodding her head in a way - I am told - they do when they're near death.

 

The other cat (Bubbles learning disabled sibling, I didn't tell her she'd just lost her mother and her sibling) met a more horrific end.   She was in my garden near the back fence, which is wire but not a close mesh, and one of the pit bulls behind me got its nose through the fence, and dragged the cat through it, effectively killing it in the process.   Goodness knows where I was, but I was out while all this drama was playing out.

 

Donna called Animal Welfare and made an impassioned plea for them to come and get her cat so she could bury it.

 

Wednesday 20th August

The seasons here have nothing to do with the weather.  The children are back at school, therefore summer is over.   If only.   Do you know, people actually choose to live in places like California and Florida so they can have hot sunshine all the year round!!    Sunshine is overrated if you ask me.  One day last week the weather was lovely;  it was grey, overcast, damp and chilly...like it is at home.  But it didn't last.

With summer over, and children back at school, Emmanuel has returned to its normal routine and a Wednesday night meal.     I made some individual strawberry jellies for dessert.

There is quite a big crowd but there were enough jellies for the young people.  Someone else brought the cheesecake, and some melon.

You may remember a couple or so weeks ago when we had Family Promise guests, Beth organised a pizza and games night and I took ice cream and assorted toppings for an ice cream social.   I was rather touched this evening to receive this little card from the youngsters.

Wasn't that nice.
 

This day in history...

 

1974 Gerald Ford assumes the Office of President after Richard-I-am-not-a-crook-Nixon resigns; Ford names Nelson Rockefeller as VP.

 

Born 1944  Rajiv Gandhi  - I never, at any time, imagined Gandhi could be younger than me.  He looked old when I was a child.   I suppose he was a child too when I was, he just seemed to have been around forever, and always looked old.

 

August 18th

This day in history................

On August 18th 1864, General Sherman succeeded Ulysses Grant as  Commander General of the Union Forces, and proceeded to lead his troops to the capture of the city of Atlanta, and this military success contributed to the re-election of President Abraham Lincoln.   General Sherman accepted the surrender of all the Confederate armies in the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida in April 1865.

 

However, the purpose of throwing out this little tidbit of Civil War history is to introduce you to General William Tecumseh Sherman.    I saw that and thought "goodness he must have been born round here"  so looked him up, but no, he was born in Lancaster, Ohio.   He was given the name Tecumseh because his father "caught a fancy for the great chief of the Shawnees".

 

To briefly explain - The Shawnees, of which Chief Tecumseh was the leader, was a large tribal Confederacy which opposed the United States and became an ally of Britain in the War of 1812.   Chief Tecumseh died in the Battle of the Thames in 1813, which was a decisive US victory in the War of 1812.

 

General Sherman's father was a successful lawyer who sat on the Ohio Supreme Court, and died unexpectedly in 1829, which would make him - would it not -  a contemporary of Chief Tecumseh.   History doesn't seem to tell us whether he just liked the name, or particularly admired him.

This day in 2014, at least to me, has not been very eventful.   Louise told me that Cecil's funeral will be on Thursday in a large Methodist church - the little Methodist chapel of which he was a member would be far too small.   I am even wondering if the main Methodist church, big as it is, will be big enough.  All the Freemasons will be there, and the Veterans, and the hierarchy of Kiwanis, to name a few.   I can see it will be standing room only.

Sunday update

Driving to Emmanuel I felt I really wanted to go to St Mark's Methodist, and give Louise and family my condolences about Cecil.   Went to Emmanuel and asked Fr Bill if someone else would read the prayers.   He was very understanding and someone who knew Cecil (although actually everyone in Shawnee knew him) said she didn't mind.

I haven't done a lot today.  The highlight has been a group call on Skype with Tim and Jeremy and briefly seeing precious grand daughters.    A bit of needlework.   Got back to updating the loose leaf address book, and that has been my day.

I am assuming there are still wars and armed conflicts going on in the world, but all the news here the last few days has been rioting in Missouri.  Perhaps the news anchors are glad of a change.

An 18 year old black teenager was shot by a white police officer.   And all the black pastors and rabble rousers (did you know, by the way, there is now a Martin Luther King III,  it was the first time I've seen him, but I am not sure that he was rabble rousing, I had to leave the room and didn't see him again).    There is however another little black Baptist pastor and civil rights activist,  who inserts himself into every racial conflict and takes the lead in rabble rousing.

But I digress...................

The facts of the incident are still a bit cloudy but what has been established is that said teenager robbed a store.   There is video footage of it, and no one any longer is doubting the veracity of it as the stolen items were on the body of the teenager.    The white policeman was unaware of the robbery when he shot the unarmed teenager - and here the details become a bit uncertain.  It is said that the teenager and his friend were walking down the middle of the road holding up the traffic, which is when the police officer got involved, and it certainly appears that he used unnecessary deadly force.   That is what seems to have been established, everything subsequent to that is speculation.

Harking back to the video footage of the robbery there is loud condemnation by the rabble rousers because it was released, accusing those responsible of assassinating the character of the teenager.  But my view is that the teenager assassinated his own character when he robbed the store.

I am in agreement with the chief rabble rouser when he said he wants Congress to stop programs (sic)  that provide military-style weaponry to police departments.    Coming from a country of police officers who don't routinely even carry hand guns, I have a problem with any weapons they are carrying, military-style or otherwise.

At the moment it is looking that the police officer is in deep trouble for using unnecessary deadly force........ but we shall just have to see how it all plays out.

Sunday morning

I took a call a little while ago from Louise that Cecil has passed away.  It was not unexpected, he took a turn for the worse about a fortnight ago, and has been failing for the last few days.

Yesterday, Saturday, was a busy day.  I wanted some threads from Hobby Lobby but didn't have the time or inclination to go along Highway 9 to Norman, so went instead to Midwest City, which is half an hour.   I didn't even browse in there very much.   I stopped at a bakery too because there isn't a decent one in Shawnee.

Yesterday evening Bruce and Rosalyn invited me to watch a DVD at their home of  'Driving Miss Daisy', which I enjoyed very much.  I had wanted to see it when it was released, but somehow missed it, so was very pleased to have the opportunity to catch up with it.

Am off to Emmanuel shortly to read the prayers this morning at the 10.30.   I might be back later if I have done anything exciting today.

Last couple of days

I had a hard time Thursday morning getting my head round the fact that I didn't have to turn out early for the donuts.  There are five Thursdays in July, then last week I was at the Ageing Conference. 

 

Our Kiwani speakers were a lovely couple of Native Americans, who live in California but are visiting the area.   She is from the Tsimshian tribe whose ancestral home is in British Columbia in Canada, but was born and raised in Alaska where the Tsimshians have a settlement on Annette Island.  He was from Texas but relocated to Alaska where they met and married.  I don't think he was originally Native American.  We were given slips of paper and asked to guess their combined ages because they look younger than they are.   I thought as their friend was making such a big deal of it they must be in their 90s (I was extremely jealous of her thick black hair without a thread of grey in it) but they were in their 70s.  I was way out.

 

They are members of the B'hai Faith, a 19th century religion which is all about peace and love and the spiritual union of  humankind, and were introduced by one of our members who is also a Ba'hai (I thought Native Americans had their own religion).   Anyway, they were very interesting and I saw them again in the evening at the Library where they gave a fuller, more detailed presentation.

 

Had to go on to Walmart where I saw this rubbish.

Yes, the morons have definitely had a shift in editorial staff who don't know we have already been to this rodeo. How do they think Charles can give up the throne when he hasn't yet succeeded to it.  Their stupidity stretches credulity. And what is wrong with the Queen's lower tooth? Has she been falling on her porch?

This is the Queen looking 'frail and sad' in Crathie Church, where 'prayers for said for her'. Someone tell these morons that in EVERY church, on EVERY Sunday, prayers are said for the monarch.

I got to looking inside while I was standing in the checkout line, but I didn't get to read where the wicked stepmother is being banished to.

 

Anyway, back to Shawnee and reality.

This is the Native American couple in the Library.  She put on her regalia and did a Peace Dance while he beat the drum.

Round the edge of the drum is the symbol of every major religion.

 

And the rest.................

Ours isn't the only government which wastes its taxpayers money.

 

There was an altercation on this airline because a jumped-up economy class passenger had the temerity to think she could use the first class loo.  The flight attendant - who I think should have handled this a lot better and defused the situation - banged the door on the passenger's shoulder.  So the airline is being sued for the shoulder, and the 'humiliation' she suffered.  I hope the flight attendant is sacked.   Apparently since 9/11 the scum in economy class are no longer allowed to venture into the first class section, because it brings them near to the pilot and the cockpit, and they could be a terrorist threat.   But what's stopping the terrorists  buying first class seats, near the cockpit??

 

Got to get on with my day, get to the hospital for my chaplaincy round.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday 12th August

Was running round town this morning doing my errands, one of which was to get Terry to put some Freon in the car's air conditioning, which hasn't been very cold.  It doesn't matter all that much running round in Shawnee but I am thinking of taking one or two trips before the days start closing in too much.   There are quite a lot of places I'd like to see, but won't get to anything like all of them.

 

This day in history......   August 12 1964.  Charlie Wilson, one of the Great Train Robbers was sprung from Winson Green Prison (a maximum security prison, how did they do it, one wonders suspiciously)

 

Who in my generation remembers the Great Train Robbery?    I'd venture to say "everyone".   It was the biggest heist of its time, and they got just over £2.5m.   Obviously, relative to my income, that is a lot of money, and it was considered an enormous amount then, but today it doesn't seem that much.   The robbery took place on 8 August 1963 when 15 masked men attacked the Glasgow to London Royal Mail train near Buckinghamshire.

 

And don't we all remember Ronnie Biggs, even if we have forgotten the rest of the gang.  On the night of the robbery Biggs was a passenger in the stand-by getaway car, and didn't get to see the haul until they were all assembled at the hideout, at Leatherslade farm. And I remember reading they were playing monopoly with real money.   Biggs's share was £147,000  - it hardly seems worth it - especially as someone was supposed to burn down the farm but screwed up, so the police got fingerprints, three weeks later he was arrested with 11 other members of the gang, and they got sentences of 30 years.

 

He served 15 months before escaping from Wandsworth Prison in 1965, scaling the wall with a rope ladder and dropping onto a waiting removal van.  (I remember all that)  He went first to Brussels by boat, then to Paris where his wife joined him, and he got new identity papers and underwent plastic surgery (which took £44,000 of his £147,000, surely he could have disguised himself for a lot less than that, and just as effectively).  They lived for a while in Australia but then the law caught up with him - led by Slipper of the Yard, and don't we all remember him, one of the most famous and decorated Metropolitan Police officers - and leaving the family behind he fled first to Panama, then on to Brazil, which didn't have an Extradition Treaty with Britain, so he was safe, and to make sure he stayed safe from arrest when the extradition treaty was ratified, he had a son from a Brazilian woman, which ensured he could stay in Brazil, because Brazilian law did not allow the parent of a Brazilian child to be extradited.

As a felon though he couldn't work, so he used to make money hosting barbeques and telling his story.  He became quite the folk hero, but Jack Mills the train driver who was coshed with a metal bar never fully recovered from his injuries, and a lot of people remembered that.   He died in 1970.

In April 1981, Biggs was kidnapped by a gang of British ex-soldiers. The boat they took him aboard suffered mechanical problems off Barbados, and the stranded kidnappers and Biggs were rescued by the Barbados coastguard and towed into port in Barbados.   The kidnappers hoped to collect a reward from the British police; however, like Brazil, Barbados had no extradition treaty with the United Kingdom and Biggs was sent back to Brazil.

In 2001 Biggs announced to The Sun newspaper that he would be willing to return to the UK and they paid for his return on a private jet.  He said he wanted to walk into a pub in Margate as an Englishman and order a pint of bitter.  I don't know how he thought he was going to do that, he still had 28 years of his 30 year sentence to serve, and was promptly arrested on landing.

In November 2001 he was very ill, and appealed to the Prison Governor for release on compassionate grounds, but Home Office policy is that they can only be released if it is thought they have only three months left to live, and the Governor wasn't buying it.   He was subsequently released in August 2009 and promptly got better.

He eventually died in December 2013 aged 84.      

Phew!  that was longer than I thought it was going to be.

Near the end of the above we had a power failure for a couple of hours, a transformer went down.   My eyes didn't adjust to the dark, or at least they took some time, everything was pitch black and I thought I'd gone blind.  I stumbled out of the computer room, lost my bearings  and walked into a wall, which was a bit painful.   I keep a couple of battery operated lamps on window sills because one never knows here when the power might fail, and I managed to grope my way to one of them.  

 

 

 

Monday 11th August

My afternoon nap yesterday, when I woke up at 9.30 pm, rather upset my sleep pattern, so awoke late this morning and it took me a while to get up and get going.

I didn't do very much until I went out to the movies in the late afternoon with Pattisue to see 'Deep Sea Challenge'.   There are two or three films on at the moment I'd like to see, but she mentioned this one first.  It is hard to describe it, words like 'amazing' and 'incredible' don't really do it justice.  At the beginning of the film there were dives to the wreck of the 'Titanic' and it was amazing to see how well preserved it was.    We also saw the 'Bismarck'.   Then near the end of the film the submersible went down 36,070 feet, the deepest place on earth.  Commercial airlines fly at 35,000 feet. 

 

The creatures floating about down there were extraordinary too, nothing like anything we have seen before.  Pattisue said she would have liked to have seen more of them.   I was overwhelmed with admiration at the technology, the cameras and the devices for collecting rocks and things.  

 

This day in history............11th August 1961.

 

The Berlin Wall started to go up, evolving from a fence of barbed wire to a heavily fortified concrete wall with lookout towers, the purpose of it being to prevent the East Germans from defecting to the West.   It has been said - with all the chaos of illegal immigrants and children streaming across the southern border here with Mexico - that a similar fortified wall should be built down there to keep the immigrants out.

 

There is a lot of heated debate as to whether the immigrants, and particularly the children, should be allowed to come, or be sent back.  There are in the US 3,144 counties and county equivalents (they are called parishes and boroughs in Louisiana and Alaska) and someone calculated that if each county took 22 children, they could be easily absorbed.   Which might be true, but my thought was that the stream of immigrants wouldn't stop after the 22 children per parish were settled, they would still be streaming across.  And what happens then.   But as it is not my tax dollars supporting them, it's not my problem, I'm just commenting.

 

The Berlin Wall came down in 1989.

Weekend 9th/10th August

Sunday morning - was up and about early this morning picking up donuts, and reading at the 8 o'clock.   I didn't however stay for the rest of the service.   One of our members Elizabeth, recently ordained, has taken over the responsibility of two small churches nearby (as 'nearby' as it gets here, ie 17.5 miles) and I went there with Bruce and Rosalyn.  It was lovely seeing her again and meeting members of her congregation.

 

The service was followed by a bring and share lunch, which is why I didn't stay for the service at Emmanuel, I went home to make a rice salad to take.   Also took some little fruit cakes which didn't make it to Kiwanis Bake Sale on Tuesday, they went down better than the salad which was a lot more effort.

 

It is a lovely little church and I took this from the very back so you can see the scale of it.  I don't know how old it is, I didn't think to ask when I was there, and can't find out from the internet.  I was intrigued at the Victorian pews because I did not think it could be that old.    As you probably know, in Britain we had high box pews until the 1860s, when there was a massive re-modernisation of our churches, and they were largely cleared out and replaced with pews like this.  But in new churches now, and in modernised ones, we started bringing in modern seating quite a few years ago.

It was a lovely day.  After I got home and talked to Jeremy I had - what I intended - an afternoon 'nap' but slept soundly until 9.30 this evening. 

Yesterday, Saturday, I had to go out in the morning to pick up my prescription, one is a medication I take every day and I know doesn't cost much; the other was for 9 tablets of Sumatriptin to treat migraine, which is very expensive in Britain without a prescription, I was one of the first to be prescribed it, and my doctor told me then they were £12 each tablet if I were paying for it.   So when I was given the medication and told it was $118 (GULP) I wasn't altogether surprised and took out my debit card.  However, the pharmacist decided to re-check it, and they came down to $19.50.   I know that medications are much more expensive when new because one is paying for the research into it, so this has come down a lot, the research has obviously been paid for by now.

I thought I'd celebrate my little financial reprieve with a visit to IHOP, thinking I would have a stack of pancakes layered with peaches and cream, or maybe blueberry compote.  However, when I sat down I decided on a breakfast.

 

I don't know how it happened but those two plates in the foreground look as if they are on the table, don't they, but actually they are on the bottom of the menu.  A bit of trick photography I don't think I could do again if I tried.   I did actually have the eggs and bacon and hash browns, and took a couple of blueberry pancakes in a box to-go.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday 8th August (again)

This morning I was writing about yesterday, tonight I am catching up and writing about today.

At the hospital this morning I divided my time between my chaplaincy round and Pattisue who was waiting in the Cancer Centre for a blood test to determine if she needed a transfusion, which she did.

I had a nap in the afternoon and this evening went to a Reception and Talk on the current exhibition at the Museum of Art on St Gregory's campus.

This is something I copied and pasted about the founder of the Museum.

Rev.Gregory Gerrer, a monk of St. Gregory’s Abbey, set out just after the turn of the century to create a museum for all of Oklahoma to enjoy. His tireless efforts are evidenced by the number and kinds of things he collected. Before he was through, he had amassed some 6555 objects that included beautiful paintings and sculpture from the middle ages to early 20th century, artifacts of Western civilization, material examples from cultures around the world, botanical specimens, zoological specimens, mineralogical specimens.

Because the Museum has such a vast collection of art it can only display a very small percentage of it, so curators go through other pieces from the collection and display them in special exhibitions like this.

I wondered if the umbilical cord stayed in the basket, along with all the treasures that were added to it.    yew.

When Fr Gerrer was travelling around exotic fruits like these were unknown in Oklahoma, so the only way he could bring them back to show them, was to paint them.

Don't those peaches look realistic, with the little bit of bruising on them.  And I hadn't appreciated it is a skill to be able to paint different materials, which is what the artist set out to do here.

I took this on my way out..................

as lovely a picture, I thought, as anything inside.

And the sun was setting as I walked to the car...............

It amazes me how the sky can change in literally moments.   And I was lucky to have gone outside in time to catch these.

And I just want to say, Tim, I'm always appreciating the camera you bought me in Oxford which enables me to take these nice pictures.

I stopped at the hospital on my way home, and picked up a little tub of ice cream from the cafeteria for Pattisue, who had just finished her last unit of blood.   She has to wait about an hour before she leaves so they can do a final lab test and make sure she is alright to go.  We talked about the movies on at the moment, there are two or three we'd like to see.

Friday 8th August

Yesterday,Thursday, I was out early to catch the church bus to an Episcopal Church in the City which was leaving at 8.30 for a Conference on Ageing.

 

There were six workshops on offer, of which we had to choose three.  I did the Paperwork of Spiritual Life, which was all about end-of-life issues, funeral planning etc.  I thought I did my funeral planning last week when I saw how meticulously one of our Emmanuel members had planned hers. But there was room for improvement - I hadn't selected the hymns for example.   Do I detect a rolling of eyes from my loved ones?

Then I did 'Using Medication Safely'  given by a pharmacist who said lecturing to people, warning them of the dangers of using medicines careless, is his life's work and passion.

Finally, I was going to do the Alzheimer's one but changed my mind at the last minute and did 'Praying with Photographs' which was very interesting.   The presenter put out a selection of black and white photos and we had to look at them all carefully, then in turn pick out one which speaks to us of God, and tell the group why.
This was the picture I selected -

I see God wherever there is love, because God is Love.  I told the group I learned that in the sermon on the  first Sunday after 9/11.  I added that this was in England, I have no idea what their sermons were about here.   But we were told,  in that sermon, that for all those who were asking where God was on 9/11, He was there with the victims at the Twin Towers.   He was with those who died; those left behind; those risking their lives - like the firemen climbing above the 70th floor who knew they wouldn't make it back down.   He was with me when Roy, then Larry, were dying.   He is everywhere where there is Love.  

Changing gear somewhat.   We had a very nice lunch there, it was catered by a nearby Mediterranean restaurant and consisted of a couple of rice dishes, very tender skewered chicken, hummus, pitta bread, tabouleh. 

On this day in history...........

8th August 1974 -     Richard-I-am-not-a-crook-Nixon resigned following  Watergate rather than wait to be impeached.   And by the way there is scandal going on now, said to be worse than Watergate (and it is not the crime, but the cover-up in these cases, that is so bad)  and there is a big cover up going on involving the IRS and incriminating e-mails which - the American public were led to believe - suddenly disappeared from a crashed hard drive.  But the likes of Steve Jobs were quick to point out that all hard drives can be recovered, so no one was buying that.

8th August 1863 - General Robert E Lee tried to resign after his defeat at the Battle of Gettysburg, but the Confederate President, Jefferson Davis, wasn't buying into that either, and did not want to accept his resignation.   But I suppose push came to shove when the Union soldiers were celebrating their victory.

Wednesday 6th August

Did my hospital chaplaincy round this morning and had lunch with Bill and one of the other chaplains.

Children have gone back to school so everyone's routine is getting back to normal.  Wednesday nights at Emmanuel for example.   It is Family Promise this week so Beth organised a games night with pizza for the guests.   I took a bit more ice cream, I told her I liked this concept of 'ice cream bistros'.  If we ever had such fun things in Britain they passed me by.

On this day in history...............that is the 6th August.  OK so I am a bit behind myself, trying to catch up, what's new.

Lucille Ball was born in 1911.   Who remembers "I Love Lucy" ????  A famous 1950s tv show said to be the most 'universally beloved' sitcom of all time.  I remember gathering excitedly round our little black and white television, which I think was about 9", to settle down and watch it with my parents.    We thought it was wonderful, and watching a 60" flat screen today, watching far more sophisticated programmes, it stretches credulity to imagine that I ever gave it the time of day, far less thought it was wonderful.

These are a few facts about Lucille Ball - I am going out for the day so am doing this in a bit of a rush.

She was fired from working in an ice cream store because she kept forgetting to put the bananas in banana splits.

She played the part of a slave girl in a film which necessitated her having to shave her eyebrows off, and they never grew back.

She went to Drama School in NY City and was a classmate of Bette Davis, she was sent home (Lucille Ball was) because she was "too shy".

She eloped with Cuban actor Dezi Arnaz in 1940.    In 1948 she starred in a radio comedy "My Favourite Husband"   Then in 1950 (I was 11) CBS offered to turn it into a tv series.


Well, as I said, am going out for the day so going to quickly hit the 'publish' button.

Monday 4th August

This morning I was at the hospital early'ish as Pattisue was going for a blood test, and possibly a transfusion.  However, to her surprise, the hospital didn't think her blood count was low enough for a transfusion, but she is going back on Friday to be tested again.  

 

When her cancer was first diagnosed she was told that there was no cure for it, but the good news was that that type does go into remission, and she is just coming out of her third period of remission.   I think she was feeling a bit unwell, certainly unsteady, but she is so determinedly cheerful it is hard to tell sometimes.   I suggested the movies tonight, and she was up for that.  

 

We went to see 'America', which is a documentary and not like a normal film.  It was interesting and we were both glad we went, but it is a hard film to critique.   And it is not for Democrats, it was written by and for Republicans, but I didn't really appreciate that before seeing the film, and as she is the most die hard Democrat in the local party, I was relieved when she thanked me for suggesting it, and said she was glad she saw it.

 

I suggested this movie rather impulsively, and afterward wondered why I hadn't chosen a more convenient day.   I am right in the middle of my house re-arranging (I'm not exactly moving furniture, just a bookcase here, a chair there) and Mark came and took away the big desk in the computer room so I can now get down to straightening that out.    Also, it is the Bake Sale in the morning, and I'd promised Louise something.   I've got some little fruit cakes underway and will get up early and bake them.    Hopefully.

 

On this day in history.......... (the journalist in me - ha, ha - has just come up with this idea)

 

In 1892 Lizzie Borden - and I assume we have all heard of Lizzie Borden - took an axe and killed her parents.   I never thought there was any doubt about it, and I don't think really there is, the parents bodies were found and she was the only one in the house, with the axe she'd bought the day before. Finger print testing was becoming quite commonplace in Europe but the police here were wary of its reliability, and refused to test for prints on the murder weapon.   

 

And do you know, the jury in 90 minutes acquitted her.   They couldn't believe that such a sweet, Christian lady could do anything so heinous.   The parents were extremely wealthy, so the orphaned heiress, instead of being a convicted murderess, was able to live the life of  Riley for the rest of her days.

 

Saturday morning

What a busy couple of days I have had................

 

Yesterday I went to the funeral of an Emmanuel member.   She didn't have any family or relatives, or if she did they weren't in attendance and Fr Bill didn't mention them.   Emmanuel was in effect, her family.   She had everything meticulously planned down to the last detail.  Not only the funeral service, but the catering menu for the Reception afterwards, which was very nice indeed.   It would have been held in the parish hall but the Israelites were still camped there, so it was held instead at the local restaurant which catered it.

 

It was such a nice restaurant, I don't know why I haven't been before, but will go again. 

 

So now I am going to start planning my own funeral service.   I paid for my cremation after Larry died, but I guess the Funeral Home will give me a refund if I don't die here.   Memo to loved ones.   The reception will be down to you, but there are lots of local restaurants which will cater it in the parish hall.  What will also be down to you is scattering the ashes on Seaford Head. To paraphrase the immortal words of Rupert Brooke, "there will be no corner of a foreign field - not in Oklahoma - that is for ever England.

Memo to my loved ones (I hope you are keeping up with these  memos).  There is a photo on my computer of myself, looking windswept, wearing one of Jeremy's pullovers, which is my favourite photo of myself.  Put that on my 'funeral card'.

 

And this morning I have been to a  historic event.   The first gay wedding at Emmanuel.  Or as near a gay wedding as one can get in this Republican state which has yet to enter the 21st century.

I was a bit surprised at my own wedding when the guests turned up in jeans and tee shirts, but have come to learn that IS the dress code for this part of the world.  Jeans or shorts.  I am convinced that this redneck state is the most 'un-fancy'  in the Union.  I bet people on the east and west coasts wear pretty outfits to weddings and funerals.   At least the couple themselves made an effort.

 

There was a reception in the parish hall but I don't know the couple so I didn't gatecrash it.