Candlemas

Pentel

Just bought this Pentel mechanical pencil. Crucially, it fits my choir folder. Choir members are forever marking up their music. First test will be later today for for both a performance and rehearsal.

Brake Light

>

A friend was kind enough to point out how one of the brake lights on my car was not working. So I spent part of yesterday afternoon hunting down a replacement bulb and fixing it. All of which made me wonder how long that bulb had lasted. The car itself is some fifteen years old. And I can't remember ever replacing but maybe one bulb on this car since. That's an amazing performance record, don't you think? 

Anyway, I came away from yesterday's fix with an even deeper appreciation for at least some of our technological advances. My hat's off to those engineers who worked on these parts!

Amaryllis

I suppose many of us have enjoyed these lovely flowers. This one was resting on my breakfast table this morning.

What to Call It?

Well, . . . I started out last night with the idea of preparing my go-to black beans and rice. I sliced and diced my onion all the while wondering what I could do to maybe vary the fare a little. That's when I came across a recipe for something called Middle Eastern Rice with Black Beans and Chickpeas. Not surprisingly, therefore, what I came up with then was a mix of both, leaving me with the perplexing problem of what to call it. :-)

William & Mary

Always interested in what people are saying about my town's namesake. Kiste's account was first published in 2003. I probably wouldn't have come across it had my local library not placed it on its recommended reading table. Curious how much influence these two had upon communities so far removed from their homelands.

3rd Sunday after the Epiphany

Sweet Potato & Ground Beef Chili

 

Okay, switching to a completely different subject, I tried cooking up a recipe I found recommended either through the Washington Post (a subscription I may not renew after this past year's row) or the New York Times. In any case, it turned out great! Used red pepper flakes instead of cayenne pepper (I think I must be allergic to the latter), and substituted Legendary Brown Ale for Modelo Negra. 

Citizenship

I was fortunate to have been born in the U.S. Had I been born a month later, I would have been born in the Philippines. Which would have been fine. Maybe then I wouldn't have struggled so hard to learn Spanish. :-) Later, my family moved to England. 

So while I can legitimately claim birthright citizenship in the U. S., the fact remains that I have more often seen myself in much broader terms as a citizen of the world.  Indeed, one of the first hymns I remember learning as a child is "This is My Song, O God of All the Nations" with words by Lloyd Stone and set to a tune composed by Jan Sibelius. 

This is my song, O God of all the nations,

A song of peace for lands afar and mine.

This is my home, the country where my heart is,

Here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine.

But other hearts in other lands are beating,

With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine. 

So when I am asked where I am from, I will most often reply by saying something like, "Well, I was born in California" but then quickly follow that up by explaining to folks how I didn't actually grow up there and that I'm actually "from" many places, so as to maybe forestall any awkward conversations about a place in the states that I actually know very little about.

All of which is to say that I think we sometimes place too much emphasis upon where people are from rather than to recognize how we are all actually citizens of a much wider world and--this is important!--to act accordingly. Perhaps then, maybe, just maybe, we would be in a better position from which to tackle the really great issues affecting all of us, namely climate change, disease, poverty, and so forth.

Hope

"Be Merciful"

Yesterday's event in Washington, D.C. reminded me of this image I captured in front of St. John's Episcopal Church back in 2017. It was at yesterday's service that Rev. Budde reminded Trump of his obligation to "be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land."

Women's March

Eight years ago today, I participated in and photographed what was then considered one of the largest, if not the largest, demonstrations in U. S. history, the Women's March on Washington.

Back to the Future

 

 A photo I took in Washington, D.C. at an anti-Trump demonstration shortly after his first inauguration.

2nd Sunday after the Epiphany

Petitions

Lots of folks turned out this morning to sign petitions for Democratic candidates running for various local and statewide offices this year, including Abigail Spanberger who is running for governor of Virginia. Gaining enough signatures to get your name on the ballot is step number one. 

According to the Legislative Information System:  The minimum number of signatures of qualified voters required for candidate petitions shall be as follows:

1. For a candidate for the United States Senate, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or Attorney General, 10,000 signatures, including the signatures of at least 400 qualified voters from each congressional district in the Commonwealth;

2. For a candidate for the United States House of Representatives, 1,000 signatures;

3. For a candidate for the Senate of Virginia, 250 signatures;

4. For a candidate for the House of Delegates or for a constitutional office, 125 signatures;

5. For a candidate for membership on the governing body or elected school board of any county or city, 125 signatures; or if from an election district not at large containing 1,000 or fewer registered voters, 50 signatures;

6. For a candidate for membership on the governing body or elected school board of any town that has more than 3,500 registered voters, 125 signatures; or if from a ward or other district not at large, 25 signatures;

7. For a candidate for membership on the governing body or elected school board of any town that has at least 1,500 but not more than 3,500 registered voters, 50 signatures; or if from a ward or other district not at large, 25 signatures;

8. For a candidate for membership on the governing body or elected school board of any town that has fewer than 1,500 registered voters, no petition shall be required;

9. For a candidate for director of a soil and water conservation district created pursuant to Article 3 (§ 10.1-506 et seq.) of Chapter 5 of Title 10.1, 25 signatures; and

10. For any other candidate, 50 signatures.

False Votes

Thomas Jefferson "sketched a scenario to James Madison whereby a future president, having been defeated for reelection, refused to accept the outcome and civil war threatened, 'If once elected, and at a second or third election outvoted by one or two votes, he will pretend false votes, foul play, hold possession of the reins of government, be supported by the states voting for him, especially if they are the central ones lying in a compact body themselves and separating their opponents: and they will be aided by one nation of Europe, while the majority are aided by another.' The solution would be to restrict the president to a single term (a stricture Jefferson would ignore in 1804 when he ran for a second presidential term)." Cogliano, A Revolutionary Friendship, p. 203

Beyond the Wall

Spotted this book on the library shelf yesterday and immediately knew I had to check it out. Having traveled through East Germany (aka GDR) in the 70s, I was curious to read Hoyer's take on those days.

Fountain vs. Gel

Gosh! I'm forever going back and forth on this. Which do I prefer, the the gel or fountain pen? Can't make up my mind. On the one hand, I like how the gel pen doesn't bleed through the page like the fountain pen. On the other hand, I really like how smoothly and easily the fountain pen nib glides across the page. 

So ,once again, I dragged out both pens and put them to the test. Can you guess which of the lines above were written with the gel pen and which were written with the fountain pen? Does it make any difference?

Executive Power

Something to think about. According to Cogliano, the Virginia's 1776 constitution sought to "diffuse and limit executive power." To wit:

"The governor would work with an eight-man Council of State, whose members served at the pleasure of the assembly. The Constitution vested executive power in the council rather than the governor, who could not call out the militia, make appointments, or grant pardons without consulting the council. The governor and council should exercise the military authority through a Board of War appointed by the House of Delegates." 

Movin’ On

The last of the ornaments that I photographed before packing them away for the year. And with it, I think I’m about ready to move on. Lots happening this month and next, as I’m preparing to go on tour with a choir that will be singing in various places in England. Lots of music to learn and memorize. 

Then, of course, there are all the matters that have to be attended to when traveling overseas . . . uhm, like visas. A new law came into effect January 7 this year, I understand, that now makes it mandatory for Americans traveling to England to obtain visas. So . . . I spent a good part of this past Thursday going through the application process—successfully, I might add. Tricky, though, involving downloading and working with an app. 

Heart

Pondering this morning the full implications of this simple ornament.

Odds & Ends

Decorations down and safely packed away. Just a few odds and ends left. Interesting phrase, that. According to the Free Dictionary, it refers to:

"Fragments and remnants; a miscellaneous collection. This term may have originated as odd ends, meaning short leftovers from bolts of cloth. It was transferred to miscellany of other kinds by the mid-sixteenth century, and by the mid-eighteenth century it had become the modern cliché."

Time

Well, it's time. My neighbors, I noticed, took all their decorations down after the turn of the year, whereas I kept them up through Epiphany. Today, though, they're all coming down, slowly but surely, and being packed away for another year. But I've photographed a few of them to share and enjoy for just a wee bit longer. 

Magnolia Leaves

Amazing how lovely a simple basket of magnolia leaves can be.

Phone Box?

I don't know if this is actually the case or not, but a visitor to the historic building where I volunteer thought this might be an old telephone box like the one she had in her late 19th century home. Oddly enough, if that is the case, it still serves that purpose, as there is a security phone inside that is used to make contact with various people. The visitor also remembered a fold-down seat that was part of the setup in her home.

Twelfth Night

Well, I do hope you all have a wonderful--and SAFE--Twelfth Night.

Hydroelectricity or Recreation?

Bill, yesterday, asked why the hydroelectric plant on Belle Isle was abandoned. Here's Wikipedia's scoop on the matter as well as another excellent question to ponder:

"Silt in river water wore down turbine blades, bearings and bushings. Logs and debris damaged the entrance gates of the mill race and mud had to be cleaned up after floods. Power production varied with river flow and was always low in summer.

In the mid 1950’s the price of oil was so low that petroleum products became the fuel of choice (local gasoline was .25 a gallon). Had anyone foreseen the great increase in costs after the Arab Oil Embargo in 1967, this plant might have remained competitive. Question: would power production have been as valuable as the recreational benefits we now have from a free flowing river?"

Hydroelectric Plant

The remains of a now abandoned hydroelectric plant in Belle Isle.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, friends! Hope you had a restful night :-) and aren't too tired to make a new beginning. I'm starting this new year of photographs with this one taken last Friday along the James River's famed "fall line."  According to Wikipedia:

"The fall line marks the geologic boundary of hard metamorphosed terrain—the product of the Taconic orogeny—and the sandy, relatively flat alluvial plain of the upper continental shelf, formed of unconsolidated Cretaceous and Cenozoic sediments. Examples of Fall Zone features include the Potomac River's Little Falls and the rapids in Richmond, Virginia, where the James River falls across a series of rapids down to its own tidal estuary."