Early Foliage in Vermont

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listener waves HALLO from Cape Cod.

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Let the Sunshine in...

I took this photo on Saturday at Harvest Market.

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Welcome, Pablo

Mom got a new puppy to raise for Canine Companions for Independence. Ain't he just the fluffiest thing you've ever seen?



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WELCOME AUTUMN!

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Farewell Summer

I took this photo at the Orchard where we took our granddaughter on Sunday to get apples and pumpkins.

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Photo taken by listener on her birthday using her cell phone, of the Burlington Sailing Club's Lightning Races off the Fishing Pier. And yes, that's the same lighthouse in the background that is listener's avatar.

The World Championship Lightning Sailing Races are taking place this week on Lake Champlain, at Malletts Bay, which is where listener and her family sail...! The race happens every two years and last time it was held in Greece. The race comes to North America about once every six years. The last time it was in New England was CT back in 1961...!

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Happy Birthday to your Inner Child,
listener!!

Let 'em eat ice cream!

Mmmm. Who needs cake when there's ice cream?

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Take time to smell the flowers...

Here is listener's granddaughter on her 2nd Birthday today. ♥

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Don't Mess With Me! What?!

Actually, listener's grandcat Emma didn't realise that the green ribbon was still atop her head, or she might have been very embarrassed to know that she sat there for about 20 minutes with a ribbon over her head. So here's a light moment, but don't get complacent because those eyes are glowing. =^. .^= I, listener, feel the same way right now: Don't mess with me. I'm out for a new Governor. Sure hope Howard Dean's old role can be wrested from the Republicans this time!! Yeeeaaaaagggggghhhhhh!


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Do not tempt the bears.

This is what listener's back yard looked like the morning after a bear came by to bust open the bird feeders and clean them out. The bear also broke into three parts a two-day-old squirrel-proof feeder.
So the feeders have been inside for nearly a month. Soon they will go back outside, but only during daylight.

Do not feed the bears.


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LET 'IM EAT CAKE!

♥ HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEMETRIUS!! ♥

(Thank-you Ireland_Nicole!)

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Open Thread

Back to School Homeschool 3 T-Shirt by catofmanyhats
View more September T-Shirts

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Howard Dean endorses Office of the National Nurse!

Nurse Ratched interviewing Howard Dean:

Question: Preventative healthcare is a key component in the healthcare reform debate. What are your thoughts on a proposal that would make the Chief Nurse Officer of the United States Public Health Service the National Nurse? In your opinion, would establishing the Office of the National Nurse have any impact on health promotion or on healthcare reform?

Answer: As a lot of people know, I am a huge supporter of the Office of National Nurse, and since Congress has been slow to act, I am hoping some changes can be made directly by HHS while we await more complete action by Congress.

Complete interview is found here:
http://www.nurseratchedsplace.com/wp-content/uploads/howard-dean1.jpg


NOTE: Nurse Ratched gave permission for this to be posted.


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ALLY'S PARTY

listener's grandniece, Ally Mae, is doing well with her neuroblastoma treatments.
:-) So, yesterday her family gathered to celebrate. :-)
Ally was wearing the sparkly shoes that our own blogger Susan sent to her! ♥
listener was amazed to receive a High-5 from Ally (before Ally had to use Purell, of course).
The family is so deeply grateful for all the support from loved ones and loving strangers!
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3156822&l=9492a1b857&id=637766753

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Benny the Magic Bunny Lives!

Can't sleep...again. Have the song "Benny the Magic Bunny" stuck in my head. It's one of the songs I danced to in the ballet/tap class I took when I was 5. The last time I got one of these songs in my head, it was "All I want is a happy hippopotomus", and I was disappointed not to be able to find it online--although at least I was reassured that I wasn't imagining things, and such a song did exist.

Benny, Rabbit Magician, by contrast, lives on. And groups of little girls are still doing the same dance moves to the song celebrating this trailblazing role model who was an inspiration to lagomorphs everywhere. They didn't have to settle for being merely props in magic acts. They could be the stars, baby!



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Happy birthday, Paul in Illinois

Hope it's a good one!





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Open Thread (with whining)

Featuring some shameless product placement/self-promotion.

Back to school? OH NOES by catofmanyhats
Many tshirt designs available at www.zazzle.com

That's our daughter's store, with items featuring her cat, Stevie. here's the link to our store at Zazzle. It still needs a lot of work, but we're further along with that than we are with E-Shirt, Skreened, and Spreadshirt.

The thing is, we spent a lot more time building up our store at CafePress than any of the other print on demand stores. First, the interface seemed a lot more straightforward, and secondly, it seemed possible to make a lot more money there. The recent changes limiting how much we can make on marketplace sales have really hurt our income. We still believe we can make up much of the difference by building up those other stores. But it's tedious work, and takes a lot of time. With the court thing hanging over our heads, it's been even harder to focus on that.

I had some of my best success actually getting some work done when I was away from home and could work on my laptop. I just have the hardest time focussing on anything at home, what with the stuff we have hanging over our heads (the court thing, and the fact that after that's over with, we still need to sort out Son's school situation for this upcoming school year), and both kids being home on break.

Our anniversary is this Saturday. Don't have anything planned yet. Frankly it's hard to feel especially celebratory at the moment. Of course, I'm thankful that we still have each other--for 22 years now.

I need to take off for the other side of town now, to teach an almost 5 hour long class. Thanks for putting up with my venting.


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A Kitten and a computer...

A purrrr-fect combination.

Photo from our friends at The Daily Kitten

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DEAN at DEANFEST 6.0

Larger than life, as usual!
HEY!  On the cover of his new book, he's wearing the whale tie!!


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+Gene Robinson's New York Times Interview

I've been pretty deeply absorbed in issues affecting my immediate family during the recent General Convention of The Episcopal Church, so while I've been happy about some of the developments, I haven't been in much of a writing mode. But yesterday, someone at Street Prophets posted a link to a New York Times interview with Bishop Gene Robinson, apparently the only interview he granted.

Just a small excerpt:

Now that we’ve done the, quote, unthinkable, the church won’t look much different than before. Opponents of marriage equality predict the end of Western civilization as we know it if gay couples are allowed to marry. And then when it comes, there’s no big whoop.

The rest here.

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PROCLAIMING THE GOOD ALLY NEWS!!!

UPDATE!  ALLY'S LEG LESIONS ARE GONE!!!  See details at Baby!

Friday, July 10, 2009 5:51 PM, EDT
We finally got word about Ally's scans around 4:30 today.

Her CT scan was the same (we expected that) and her MIBG scan showed less activity!!!

Back in February when Ally had lesions on her hips she wasn't showing the symptoms they expected. They just assumed at that time that it was neuroblastoma again. Now, they are not 100% sure about that. We are taking next week off of chemo again (good = another week off / bad = the chemo is working, we are worried 3 weeks off might set her back, but have put our trust in the doctors and hope they know what they are doing). On Thursday Ally's case will be discussed at the tumor board, and then next steps will be decided. Most likely another biopsy, which means surgery.

Good news for Ally's Daddy's Birthday today!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Great Aunt listener is laughing and crying at the same time and doesn't even care if it means she's insane! :-D

Thank you all so much for the prayers, vibes and caring!!!  ♥ ALLY LUIA!!! ♥

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Just waiting for word about Ally...

This is listener's cat, Emma, hanging out on the back porch, waiting for word about Ally.
(Well, truth be told, Emma was waiting for Mr. Chippy...who did not come by.)

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500 dogs taken from Texas "puppy mill"--donations needed

Found out about this via Twitter...

More than 500 dogs and puppies have been taken from what officials call a large puppy mill in Montague County .

According to the North Texas Humane Society, more than 50 volunteers worked through the holiday weekend to prepare for the arrival of the animals on Tuesday.

The canines will be temporarily housed at a warehouse donated by Chesapeake Energy.

Other companies have donated services, including connecting plumbing, electricity and air conditioning in the warehouse, officials said.

Additionally, PetSmart donated food and supplies for the animals.

To donate money and for adoption information, contact the Humane Society of North Texas at 817-332-4768 or log onto www.hsnt.org .

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Open Thread

Saw this at Target. It amused me because

1. Bottles and beaks just don't go together
2. Just-hatched baby macaws don't have feathers (click and scroll down to see examples)

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I'm home

Didn't really have time to post anything before leaving for the Ohio Episcopal Celebration at Kenyon, but I was sure I'd be able to get online at some point and check in. I was wrong. Once I arrived on campus, my GPS stopped working, as did my phone service/mobile web. Someone mentioned that I might be able to get a temporary account that would allow me to access the college's wireless web, but that too was wrong. I was then told of three local businesses that had wireless hotspots. I was able to get one of them to work, sort of-kind of. Meaning I could sometimes get access on my Blackberry, but never with my laptop.

I enjoyed the conference, but found it disconcerting to be unable to send a simple text message to my husband. And then there's the fact that I couldn't use the evenings, as I had planned, to prepare for the new quarter of teaching (which starts on Monday). But that plan really hinged on my ability to access the internet.

The upshot of all this is that I came home this evening instead of tomorrow morning, and I have to make up for lost hours of course prep, so I don't have time at the moment to share any details about the conference. But I did want to take this opportunity to say where I went, and how it is that I ended up being largely cut off from outside communication. I'd also like to thank Cat and puddle for making sure people could find the new comment threads when they didn't publish automatically.

Oh, and one more thing...

There's no place like home! ;)

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THIS is the link to today's thread.

THIS is the link to today's thread. . . .

From the White House Photostream

...at flickr. Posting it because I thought it was cool.



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Supporting shopkeepers and designers

About a week ago, I posted an excerpt from a blog post outlining the recent changes at CafePress. Manz left a comment saying "I'll be a very happy lady on the day I hear people say "I love the design by X and bought one through their online shop" over "I love cafepress - just bought one of their t-shirts."

I feel the same way. And, while I don't have a big enough megaphone to do that much to raise awareness, I'm going to do what I can.

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you know that my husband Demetrius created a number of the designs that are available at CafePress. It used to be that, if we were telling someone how to find his designs, we could say, "Go to CafePress.com and search for (insert topic here)." These days, if we were to give those instructions, we'd be shooting ourselves in the foot. Toward the end of 2008, CafePress changed its volume bonus program so that only "shop" sales (as opposed to sales through the "marketplace") counted toward a volume bonus. I think it's called a "shopkeeper incentive program" now--you don't get the bonus unless you're actually the ones bringing in sales CP wouldn't be getting otherwise.

Okay, fair enough. I won't say that I like it, but I can see a certain merit to the argument that if it's CP that is doing the marketing and sales work, we shouldn't get a bonus on top of being able to benefit from more sales there.

But the changes as of June 1 are a lot worse than that. Now, if someone finds one of our designs (while Demetrius created most of them, the one I'll use as an example below is one of mine) through the CP marketplace, we get a flat 10% of the cost of the purchase. We can still set our own markup for shop sales, but we've had all of one shop sale since this new pricing structure took effect. By the way, it is often the case that when you buy the same item as a "shop sale", you actually pay less than you would if you bought through the marketplace. Not always, but at least a fair amount of the time.

Back to Manz's comment, incognita expressed a similar sentiment when she wrote, As many have pointed out – without the designers, CafePress (and every other POD company) would just be selling blank t-shirts.

If you agree, and are willing to go to a bit of extra effort to see that your purchases are benefitting the individuals who created the design you like (and not just the company that has done the best job marketing their blank t-shirts and printing process), I have a couple of suggestions.

First, let's say you do find a design you like via the CafePress marketplace. It used to be that when you found a design via their internal search engine, you would see a link to the shop where you could find more from that designer. Now, there are no longer links to shops in CP search results. The system is set up so that, if you find a design by searching the marketplace, you will be purchasing through the marketplace. This spells a real loss of income for shopkeepers/designers. But (at least, at the time of this writing) there is still a way of finding out who the shopkeeper is.

When I go to CP and type asperger's syndrome into the search, I can see some of Demetrius' designs in the results. Clicking on one, I am taken to a page where I see the following:

Instead of a link to our store, the link is a marketplace search for more designs at our store

http://shop.cafepress.com/?from=aspergersheart

Of course, this could change, but the way things work right now, the part after the = sign tells you what you need to find the shop, because shop urls are always www.cafepress.com/shopname. So, from the example above, you've learned that the shop url is http://www.cafepress.com/aspergersheart

After finding out which shop you want to buy from, I'm guessing you probably want to bookmark that and then clear cookies before going back to make the purchase.

Many shopkeepers and designers sell their designs through more than one Print on Demand company, but of course it wouldn't be cool to say so in your shop. But if you want to find out if a design you like is available elsewhere, you can try a Google products search. I tried one earlier on one of our designs. Since it features her cat, Stevie, my daughter gets 20% of whatever we make on it. It's an agreement we made with her several years ago, and was a steady little flow of pocket money for her for a while for a while.

Anyway, here are the first few results that showed up when I plugged quantum cat t-shirt into Google product search. You can see by the image that these are all the same design, but you can also see that it's available from different companies.

Anyway, if you see a design you like and wonder if it's available through other P.O.D. companies, that's one way you might find out.

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FRIENDSHIP

Yellow roses signify friendship.  I want to take this moment to thank the bloggers here at HEP for your true friendship and loyalty ~ to Howard Dean, to one another, to blogging.  This is where bloggers have remained faithful to the original intent of the Dean Community.  I am grateful. ♥

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Camp Coast Care

We had a visiting priest presiding at church today. I'd forgotten that our rector, along with a group of volunteers from my church, would be in Mississippi this week working with Camp Coast Care. I don't know how many trips there have been before this one, but I know there were a few. Usually it's been our deacon who goes with a group of Ohio State students. Anyway, I think it's cool what they're doing, and wanted to share.




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Weekend Open Thread

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

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Changes at CafePress

I've been meaning to say more about this, but with everything that's been going on around here, I haven't been able to forumulate a post yet. But this excerpt from the blog Eating the Lotus pretty much brings you up to speed regarding the current situation....

Sure, there had been indicators that all was not rosy in the CafePress camp in regards to designers – first they cut our volume bonus (a system that rewarded designers for selling a certain volume of products each month) late last year. Then one of the CafePress founders left the company – never a good sign. And then, in April this year, the news came through that CafePress had finally crossed the line of goodwill with the POD design community and would, as of June 1st, control how much each product would be sold for and how much money designers could make from their work (a questionable 10%) when selling via the CafePress Marketplace.

Essentially, we went from being akin to partners with CafePress, with the freedom to set our own prices and manage our own business in conjunction with the CafePress business model, to being employees who are expected to accept a flat fee for our unique and original work. I know that is not what I signed up for – especially when all the other POD companies continue to allow designers to name our commission for our creative efforts without interference.

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Tetris turns 25

Ah...I wasted many an hour in grad school playing that falling block game.

(Found the picture of the Tetris shelves here.)

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Open Thread

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

You know the meme has been successful when you search for "cheezburger" and Google doesn't even bother to ask, "Did you mean cheeseburger?"

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Godzilla Tree

Just saw a picture of the "Godzilla tree" for the first time today. Got a kick out of it, so thought I'd share.

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Open Thread

Wish I'd had time to do more sightseeing before coming home, but what are you gonna do?

Anyway, here's a picture I took as the plane was about to land in Washington D.C.

Didn't actually spend any time in that city--just long enough to catch a connecting flight. But I got a decent picture, so I thought I'd share.

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Post Towel Day Thoughts

Donna commented,

Guess it's Towel Day. Guess I know what I'll be wearing to work.

Think Howard will wear his towel first?
donna in evanston | 05.26.09 - 9:21 am

I started to respond in the comments, but it got long enough--and link-filled enough, that I decided I should just bump it to the front page.
..............
Towel Day was yesterday, actually
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Towel_Day

But I'm sure it's the thought that counts. ;) As it happens, I went to the gym yesterday, so I was celebrating even though I wasn't aware of it.

This is from an article I just found:

May 25th is a High Holy Day for Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fans: it's Towel Day, the annual celebration of the life and work of the hoopiest frood of all, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy creator Douglas Adams.

There's some delicious irony there, what with the "High Holy Day" reference. Douglas Adams was, by all accounts, rather "devout" in his atheism. I recall reading a story about a man in hospice care who was comforted, as he approached death, that he knew where his towel was. Adams, when he heard about this, was apparently somewhat uncomfortable. I wasn't sure if that was because he was easily embarrassed, or if it was because of his concerns about the negative effects of religion.

But whether or not one believes in a "higher being" of some sort, I think we routinely see plenty of evidence that, as much as we might wish we could, we're not driving this thing. Speaking to an atheist, I would never say "Let go and let God"--in fact, even as a lifelong Christian I've never expecially liked that saying. But I think that there comes a time for most of us that we need to learn to "let go" of our sense of being in complete control of the events in our life.

I've already done half a dozen impossible things before breakfast today, so I will have to come back to these thoughts a little later...

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Feeding the ducklings in Virginia Beach

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The BABY CARDINALS fledged today!! (Day 10, right on schedule!)

O Frabjous Day!  Callooh Callay!  The baby Northern Cardinals have fledged away!

Northern cardinals breed between March and September. They usually raise two broods a year, one beginning around March and the second in late May to July. The second nest is often parasitized by brown-headed cowbirds. Nests are built by the female in dense tangles of vines or twigs in shrubs and small trees. The female lays 1 to 5 (usually 3) white to greenish eggs that average about one inch in length and one-half inch in diameter. Incubation begins when the last egg is laid, and is performed solely by the female. The male brings food to the incubating female. The eggs hatch after 11 to 13 days of incubation. The female broods the chicks for the first 2 days. Both parents feed the chicks a diet of insects. Both parents also remove fecal sacs from the nest. The chicks begin leaving the nest 7 to 13 (usually 9 to 10) days after hatching. The parents continue to feed the chicks for 25 to 56 days after they fledge from the nest. After leaving or being driven out of their parents' territory, young birds often join flocks of other juveniles. They may begin breeding the next spring. (Halkin and Linville, 1999)

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These must be the Witchducks...

Vimeo, the video uploader/converter used at Tumblr is being a PITA. Suddenly I have to wait forever to have my video converted--or, I could use their *paid* version and avoid such problems. Fortunately, Demetrius was able to send me a converted version of the video I took with my phone. Hopefully this works.


Just a quick reminder to anyone not knowing the history here. When I first arrived here in Virginia Beach, I was amused to see a street sign for a Witchduck Road. Weeks later, I decide I need to look for a new church, and find one which has a Wednesday evening bible study on Jonah. That sounds interesting to me, so I look up the church address so I can Mapquest it, and, guess what, it turns out it's on North Witchduck Road. I was going to go for the bible study anyway, but I was of course tickled at the coincidence.

Since I spent last weekend at home in Columbus, today was the first time I was actually able to attend a Sunday service at the church. After church, wanting to kill some time because I invariably come back to my hotel room either before or during the time when housekeeping is making the rounds, I decide to do a bit of exploring. I looked at the blinking blue dot on Google Maps (on my phone) that indicated my position, and saw that further north on the road there was a Witchduck Bay.

Well, goodness, I've got to get a picture of Witchduck Bay. Even if it is raining.

I drive a few blocks and see a "No Outlet" sign, so I turn around. And just then I see a "duck crossing" sign. So, I pull over to take a picture of that. (Hey, I gotta have souvenirs when this is all over with!)

And then, the very moment I have pulled over to the side of the road, I see Mama Duck hurrying across the street with her little ones. Now *that's* timing!

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SUPPORT THE KITTIES! (But don't tell them about this nest.)

It's hatching day for the baby Cardinals next door! Our neighbour called over and invited me to slip by and take a quick photo. Apparently, my lens was set for close-up, which is too bad. I was in a hurry to click the photo and leave the area, as the parent bird was in the bush and startled when I arrived. She left the nest (to distract me), so I was able to get a photo. I definitely saw two babies, and there could be a third. Or one may not have hatched yet and be under one of the others. They sure are NEW! They look exhausted from all the effort of busting out of the egg. I hope to try to get another photo on Monday after I'm back from Maine. That may prove more challenging with the parents guarding their brood.


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First they came for Charlie, now they’re coming for the kitties.

On Tuesday Evening the Alachua County Commission will hold a hearing concerning a “special exception permit” for Haven Acres Cat Sanctuary, Inc.

Haven Acres was established in 2003 by three people, including an experienced animal control officer, in an effort to “help the many stray, feral, and unwanted cats in Alachua County”. They purchased over eight acres of agriculturally zoned land in Alachua County. Given the zoning, they are permitted to have an unlimited number of farm animals, such as pigs or goats, but they can only have up to 20 cats without getting a special exception permit.

A group of people from High Springs, which is part of Alachua County have been fighting to prevent the cat sanctuary from getting this special exception permit. I’ve written about it in a post on my own blog, The Cat Farms of Florida. If you are interested in more of the background, please read my post there.

This isn’t the first time I’ve gotten all riled up about actions of ‘elected’ officials in Alachua County. I’m sure many of you remember the adventures of Citizen Grapski.

So, please, spread the word about Haven Acres Cat Sanctuary.

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M A Y ~ Let the planting begin!

This is the daffodil my 20 month old granddaughter brought me for Mother's Day. ♥

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Jonah and the big fish

Attended the first week of a bible study series entitled Jonah, Refracted this week. The woman leading the class showed us some different illustrations of the Jonah story. Some of the art was very old whereas other versions, like the one seen here, were contemporary.

Something about the face on that fish amuses me, so I wanted to post it. It was a fun group, and there was lots of commentary about the different portrayals of Jonah. In response to this particular image, people were remarking on the look of terror that is captured on his face. Such an emotion is, of course, appropriate to the situation.



I was thinking of that when I saw this illustration on the airplane's safety instructions. This woman looks remarkably serene and unruffled. It doesn't even look like her hair is wet.

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This is a photo of a Cardinal's nest!  I took the photo on Sunday, May 3rd, after my next door neighbour called and invited me to do so.  The nest is in a juniper bush right beside her front door. To take the picture, I poked the camera lens into the bush and clicked.  It just took a few seconds and we didn't overly disturb the nest or the parents.  I may see if we can get a photo later on of the babies, the same way.

HAPPY SPRING!  Happy week before Mother's Day!  ♥


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DemocracyFest Scholarship Program (Apply or Contribute)

One of the founding goals of DemocracyFest is to produce an event that is affordable for all liberal/progressive activists to participate in. That is why we are probably one the most neurotic Board of Directors out there when it comes to being fiscally conservative with our budget and keeping our ticket prices as low as possible (about 1/4 the cost of attending similar political conferences).

DemocracyFest is a political festival for liberal/progressive activists which features trainings, speakers and entertainment; teaching people how to make a difference and have fun doing it! Prior DemocracyFests have been held in Massachusetts, Texas, California, New Hampshire and Virginia. Over 4,000 activists have been trained to help on campaigns and make a difference in their communities. The 6th Annual DemocracyFest will be held July 17th-19th in Burlington, VT. Full event tickets are only $55 and can be purchased here:

http://www.DemocracyFest.net

However, we realize that no matter how low we can keep our ticket prices, there will always be activists out there who really want to attend, but do not have the financial resources to afford any ticket cost, and that is why we have the DemocracyFest Scholarship Program. If you are in need of a scholarship, please apply here:

Apply For A Scholarship

DemocracyFest is very proud to say that we have never turned down a scholarship applicant who wants to attend, but can not afford to do so. Making DemocracyFest accessible to activists from all economic standings in life is so important to us that members of our all-volunteer Board of Directors have even used our own personal money to fund these scholarships when necessary. But none of us are rich (far from it!) and we can't afford to pay for every scholarship applicant ourselves. Can you help? Our direct cost for each scholarship attendee is $100 (includes 2 meals and a shared hotel room). You can contribute $100 to sponsor a scholarship applicant here:

Sponsor A Scholarship

Thank you for supporting DemocracyFest and our Scholarship Program!

David, Denise, Ellen, Jessica, Laurie and Quintus
The DemocracyFest Team
http://www.DemocracyFest.net

Open Thread

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESSICA!!!

Happy Arbor Day

Trees are our friends. This Arbor Day, show that you care:

• Take an ent to lunch.


• Plant a tree.


• hug a tree.


• Save a tree; use e-mail

This message has been brought to you by the National Confederation of Ent Moots.

Visit The Arbor Day Foundation for more suggestions on how to observe this day.

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Happy Earth Day, Mom!

The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.

He said to his friend, "If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower as a signal light,--
One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arm."

Then he said "Good-night!" and with muffled oar
Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore,
Just as the moon rose over the bay,
Where swinging wide at her moorings lay
The Somerset, British man-of-war;
A phantom ship, with each mast and spar
Across the moon like a prison bar,
And a huge black hulk, that was magnified
By its own reflection in the tide.

Meanwhile, his friend through alley and street
Wanders and watches, with eager ears,
Till in the silence around him he hears
The muster of men at the barrack door,
The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet,
And the measured tread of the grenadiers,
Marching down to their boats on the shore.

Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church,
By the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread,
To the belfry chamber overhead,
And startled the pigeons from their perch
On the sombre rafters, that round him made
Masses and moving shapes of shade,--
By the trembling ladder, steep and tall,
To the highest window in the wall,
Where he paused to listen and look down
A moment on the roofs of the town
And the moonlight flowing over all.

Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead,
In their night encampment on the hill,
Wrapped in silence so deep and still
That he could hear, like a sentinel's tread,
The watchful night-wind, as it went
Creeping along from tent to tent,
And seeming to whisper, "All is well!"
A moment only he feels the spell
Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread
Of the lonely belfry and the dead;
For suddenly all his thoughts are bent
On a shadowy something far away,
Where the river widens to meet the bay,--
A line of black that bends and floats
On the rising tide like a bridge of boats.

Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride,
Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride
On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere.
Now he patted his horse's side,
Now he gazed at the landscape far and near,
Then, impetuous, stamped the earth,
And turned and tightened his saddle girth;
But mostly he watched with eager search
The belfry tower of the Old North Church,
As it rose above the graves on the hill,
Lonely and spectral and sombre and still.
And lo! as he looks, on the belfry's height
A glimmer, and then a gleam of light!
He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns,
But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight
A second lamp in the belfry burns.

A hurry of hoofs in a village street,
A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark,
And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark
Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet;
That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light,
The fate of a nation was riding that night;
And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight,
Kindled the land into flame with its heat.
He has left the village and mounted the steep,
And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep,
Is the Mystic, meeting the ocean tides;
And under the alders that skirt its edge,
Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge,
Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides.

It was twelve by the village clock
When he crossed the bridge into Medford town.
He heard the crowing of the cock,
And the barking of the farmer's dog,
And felt the damp of the river fog,
That rises after the sun goes down.

It was one by the village clock,
When he galloped into Lexington.
He saw the gilded weathercock
Swim in the moonlight as he passed,
And the meeting-house windows, black and bare,
Gaze at him with a spectral glare,
As if they already stood aghast
At the bloody work they would look upon.

It was two by the village clock,
When he came to the bridge in Concord town.
He heard the bleating of the flock,
And the twitter of birds among the trees,
And felt the breath of the morning breeze
Blowing over the meadow brown.
And one was safe and asleep in his bed
Who at the bridge would be first to fall,
Who that day would be lying dead,
Pierced by a British musket ball.

You know the rest. In the books you have read
How the British Regulars fired and fled,---
How the farmers gave them ball for ball,
From behind each fence and farmyard wall,
Chasing the redcoats down the lane,
Then crossing the fields to emerge again
Under the trees at the turn of the road,
And only pausing to fire and load.

So through the night rode Paul Revere;
And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm,---
A cry of defiance, and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo for evermore!
For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,
Through all our history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,
And the midnight message of Paul Revere.

Another Day, Another Kitten

Kittens are good for you. Remember to check The Daily Kitten regularly. You'll be glad you did.

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Spring, Spring, Spring

Two Eagle Chicks

Due to technical problems, there is no live eaglecam this season. You can, however, view pics in the 2008 Gallary.

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Google Mapping

Amazing to think that I will be leaving for a month long project in Virginia Beach in just under a week. As some of you know, my project in Columbus lasted longer than expected, so I haven't had much time to start planning for such an extended period of time away from home. But pictured in this post is the one thing I have done--I've started to find some of my points of interest on Google Maps.

And now off to bed, as I still need to go in to work tomorrow morning.


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HAPPY EASTER! HAPPY SPRING! HAPPY PASSOVER!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/holidays-and-parties/show-stopping-easter-desserts/pictures/index.html
A YUMMY BLESSING ON EVERY ONE OF YA!   ♥
I am actually making this cake for the family for Easter Day!!
It's all cooked and ready to be assembled.
I even found the exact same cookie cutter to make the bunnies with! (Wilton)





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Spring

It hasn't felt much like spring lately, especially with actual snow falling from the sky. The good news is that, at least around these parts, it is supposed to get warmer in the next couple days.

Anyway, I thought this was interesting...apparently on Thursday, the sun will wear a cloud as a hat.

That's gonna be freaking awesome!


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Another open thread

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Oh no! Whatever you do, don't blink! (Doctor Who reference.)

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Open Thread

New thread, with a helpful reminder that, if you must slip and fall down, you should try to slip and fall down carefully.

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Happy Monday, everyone!

I'm on my lunch break, and decided to post a new thread. From my laptop, in my car. Because I can.

And since I had to arrive over 20 minutes early for work just to get a decent spot, you can bet I'm not willing to lose this spot by driving off site for lunch.

My current project is really really boring. By mid-morning I was feeling almost comatose. So if you post fun links or stories for my after work amusement, I will love you for it!

Gotta run...




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