Whoa, as much as I like to travel, I’m equally happy when I’m done traveling. I’ve been working so hard lately, and I finally have some breathing space, and now I’m staring at this blank page and blinking cursor, thinking: (Blink.)
How about some pix from the trip?
Here’s a topiary that will be truly impressive once all the plants fill in:
That’s the Atlanta Botanical Garden, which is truly impressive itself. We spent a couple of hours there, and it could have been a couple of days. My eyes were so starved for green, I could have moved in.
Back at J.C. and Sammy’s house, I was confronted with the evidence that John, he don’t throw nothin’ out:
The postmark on that was 1979. Front? Sure:
And to top it all off, he handed me a thumb drive with about 1,000 pictures of us — the four of us, plus Kate, plus a few others — taken over the last 15 years, just in time for graduation-season posting. Won’t the rock ‘n’ roller’s friends get a kick out of this one?
My little girl. All growed up.
Then the long road home. Hello, Cincinnati:
But it’s great to have all this. And now it’s time to go to work. Bloggage tomorrow, I think.
Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on May 5, 2015 at 7:56 am
Baby, did you ever wonder . . .
31 chars
Deborah said on May 5, 2015 at 8:20 am
Off topic, left over from yesterday in Springfield, Brian, did you know this past weekend there they had a big hoopla observing that 150 years ago they had the Lincoln funeral and burial there. People dressed up in period costumes and watched a replica of the train and a carriage follow the same route with a coffin, laid in state at the old capital etc. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-springfield-lincoln-20150502-story.html
434 chars
beb said on May 5, 2015 at 8:23 am
There’s such a Hindu quality to the topiary in your first picture that I’m surprised that some good Christian hasn’t tried to burn it down.
The freak-out in Texas over some military exercises there is just staggering. Why would the federal government want to take over a stretch of land that is already part of the country? We’ve now got both the Pentagon and Walmart denying and such involvement.
There was poll taken recently asking people what were their top concerns for the government. Democrats, located mostly in cities, said their concerns were jobs and wages. Republicans, located mostly in rural areas said their chief concerns was security. AS one blogger noted, the people with the least to fear from crime are the one’s most scared of crime. While the people who a legitimate reason for free crime are more interested in finding work.
And speaking of work… NYTimes reports that the money managers of the top 25 Hedge Funds collected nearly $12 billion in pay in 2014. That’s close to a half-billion apiece and they get to declare that income as “Carried Interest”: meaning they only pay taxes of 15%! And this in a lackluster year for earnings. Nice work if you can get it. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/05/business/dealbook/top-25-hedge-fund-managers-took-bad-14-all-the-way-to-the-bank.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
I got up- early and voted in Michigan’s special election. The no-fingerprints-on-it Republican tax increase. AKA, the road bill. It’s not that I’m opposed to raising taxes to fix roads, but why have a legislature if they won’t make the hard choices we pay them to make?
1733 chars
Connie said on May 5, 2015 at 8:41 am
Exactly Beb. My state rep did a flyer in which he listed the pros and cons of each side and never made a recommendation. Come on buddy, what do you think?
I think I would vote yes if it were all for road money. Unfortunately they are trying to fund everything else as well including old road debt. I’m voting no.
321 chars
elaine said on May 5, 2015 at 8:55 am
That Cincinnati view is the best part of my daily commute.
58 chars
brian stouder said on May 5, 2015 at 9:04 am
Great article, Deborah; loved the reference to a ‘sea’ of cell phones, getting photos of the ceremonies.
I’m not big on the re-enactor crowd*, but the Michael Burlingame address sounds interesting.
Abraham Lincoln is one of those rare personages that, the more you read about him – including critical reviews – the more admirable he becomes.
348 chars
Deborah said on May 5, 2015 at 9:22 am
Brian, I’m not big on the reenactment crowd either but when I was a kid I would have loved it. I went to a movie a few years back, I don’t remember anything about the movie itself but half the audience was decked out in civil war era costumes. I remember trying to visit the ladies room after the movie and there were so many women packed in there with hoop skirts on, it was impossible.
387 chars
Dave said on May 5, 2015 at 10:16 am
In all my many, many trips made to Cincinnati over a thirty year period, I saw that view a lot of times, when we’d venture out. Always loved that view and successfully survived many a trip down what was once called “Death Hill”, before it was all rebuilt and some of the curvature removed.
My brother-in-law was a big re-enactor, so addicted to getting it exactly right, spent a whole lot of his free time doing it, almost to the point of creating financial hardship. OTOH, he was an extra in “Gods and Generals”, and can be picked out in several scenes and was also in publicity material, standing right behind Jeff Daniels.
Not to change the subject but we just spent several days traveling from Florida back to Indiana, including three nights in Knoxville, visiting. My wife, who is content to use the same towel multiple times at home, wants a new towel EVERY DAY. She says she’s paying for it, she doesn’t have to wash it, and she wants a clean, fresh towel. BTW, we stayed in a Country Inns and Suites, a part of the Wyndham chain, and room accommodations were very suitable for us.
1102 chars
Bitter Scribe said on May 5, 2015 at 10:27 am
Nancy, was your first sentence perhaps supposed to read: “…I’m equally happy when I’m done traveling”?
111 chars
nancy said on May 5, 2015 at 10:36 am
Yes. Autocorrect iz dumb.
25 chars
adrianne said on May 5, 2015 at 11:00 am
Welcome back, Nancy! I thought you and your readers would enjoy the latest dispatch on Bikram Choudhury, yogic and serial rapist. One of the joys of my new gig is that I’m NOT writing for a “family newspaper” anymore, so we can let the f-bombs fly when quoting depositions, etc.
Law360, Los Angeles (May 04, 2015, 10:10 PM ET) — Yoga guru Bikram Choudhury and his wife must submit to deposition by the former legal adviser at Choudhury’s yoga college, who alleges she was fired for investigating a trainee’s allegation that Choudhury raped her and for refusing to aid in a coverup, a California judge ruled Monday.
Minakashi Jafa-Bodden alleges that Choudhury hired her as legal adviser to Bikram Yoga College of India LP, where she saw him repeatedly demean and harass women, and fired her when she tried to investigate a rape accusation. Her suit is one of many filed by yoga practitioners and teachers who accuse Choudhury of abusing his position as the leader of a yoga empire to sexually harass and abuse women.
At Monday’s hearing, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mark Mooney rejected Choudhury’s arguments that all the questions he had refused to answer were shielded by attorney-client privilege because they concerned discussions he had with Jafa-Bodden, noting that she served in a business capacity in addition to a legal capacity.
“A lot of these aren’t even communications … they don’t seem to be involving any sort of legal advice,” Judge Mooney said. “He told [Jafa-Bodden] to mind, quote, her own fucking business, I’m not sure that’s attorney-client privilege.”
1618 chars
Bitter Scribe said on May 5, 2015 at 12:19 pm
Looks like Kate has always been a cutie pie.
44 chars
beb said on May 5, 2015 at 12:44 pm
adrianne, your last line gave me a nice chuckle.
48 chars
Sue said on May 5, 2015 at 2:03 pm
beb, re Texas… either let them secede or put them at the top of the list for military cutbacks. Close a few bases, or all of them.
133 chars
Sherri said on May 5, 2015 at 2:12 pm
Sue, that was my response to the Texas nonsense. If they are so concerned about martial law being imposed, then let’s allay those concerns by closing all 15 military bases in Texas.
181 chars
brian stouder said on May 5, 2015 at 3:22 pm
*I forgot to put the asterisk remark at the end of my post responding to Deborah. My beef with re-enactors dates back many years ago. I was walking down the sidewalk in the town of Gettysburg, PA, and some idiot coming the other way leveled his weapon at me. I continued past him, ignoring him altogether….but I was THINKING “you are a ^&@#%*#& idiot, buddy”
And – what Sherri said at 14. Close all the damned bases – and then if they’re ever re-opened, change the names of the ones that honor traitors, like Fort Hood.
532 chars
Deborah said on May 5, 2015 at 4:02 pm
Brian, good idea to changer he name of Ft. Hood etc http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20130614-jamie-malanowski-why-fort-hood-needs-a-new-name.ece
164 chars
Deborah said on May 5, 2015 at 4:03 pm
Change
6 chars
Deborah said on May 5, 2015 at 4:04 pm
Geez, change the
16 chars
brian stouder said on May 5, 2015 at 4:37 pm
Deborah, excellent article – and Hear, Hear!
44 chars
Deborah said on May 5, 2015 at 8:04 pm
Watching Young Mr. Lincoln on DVD tonight after being in Sprinfield yesterday. Henry Fonda is in it, directed by John Ford.
123 chars
brian stouder said on May 5, 2015 at 10:08 pm
A good movie. I liked Spielberg’s Lincoln, mainly because they treated Mary right. When that movie began, though, I cringed as they opened with a sort of cheesey/cringe-worthy Lincoln-at Gettysburg scene….but then it switched and got much better.
If you ever want to read a strangely compelling Lincoln book, there is one called Herndon’s Informants, a compilation of the testimonies that Billy Herndon collected after the president’s death, including the old-timers back in Indiana where the boy grew into a young man, and on into Illinois as the intelligent young fellow struck out on his own, in Illinois (by Douglas Wilson and Rodney Davis – living institutions from Knox College in Galesburg – which is a very beautiful place to visit, and which has Carl Sandberg connections, too!)
That’s essentially all it is – one recollection after another, from a wide variety of people, who knew they guy at different stages…..tremendous stuff!
If I had one wish: it is said Carl Sandberg assembled a big collection of Lincoln’s jokes, including all the dirty ones – but he destroyed it in defference to the martyred president’s memory. I’d love to read THAT!
1168 chars
beb said on May 5, 2015 at 10:15 pm
Michigan votes rejected Proposal One 4 to 1. This despite there being absolutely no ads opposing the proposal. This was a terrible waste of money since I’m pretty sure everyone involved knew there was never, ever a chance of this bill passing. Time and time again Republicans demonstrate that they don’t know how or care to rule.
329 chars
Deborah said on May 5, 2015 at 10:22 pm
Brian, I’ve been to Knox College in Galesburg. At one point my daughter considered going there and the two of us visited. A lovely campus and they were very nice to us. They let Little Bird sit in on a freshman literature class, which she enjoyed. But in the end she chose a different school.
I thought Henry Fonda did a good job of capturing the mannerisms of Lincoln. But I thought Daniel Day Lewis did a fabulous job in the Spielburg movie.
446 chars
Basset said on May 5, 2015 at 10:27 pm
Watching a baseball game right now, nashville Sounds vs Iowa Cubs in our fancy new downtown ballpark. Sounds have an ambidextrous pitcher, only threw one inning but it was really strange watching him work… Had a 2-sided glove that he’d switch from hand to hand. Basset Jr is home watching the house and missed it.
317 chars
Deborah said on May 5, 2015 at 10:32 pm
One more Springfield story… We were really hungry before we left for the drive back to Chicago so we stopped at a seafood place close to the Interstate. There was a really interesting very large tree in the yard of the restaurant that had a sign below it describing what kind it was etc, at the end of the description it said the tree was more than 250 years old, but the sign itself looked like it might have been around for at least 50 years. All I could think of was that Lincoln himself probably saw that tree in his lifetime too, since it was probably by now 300 years old and probably good sized already when Lincoln would have seen it.
644 chars
brian stouder said on May 6, 2015 at 9:59 am
Back in Galesburg, there’s a marvelous steakhouse downtown, with a name something like “the meatlocker” (or whatever); it used to be a packing house.
They had fresh-baked rolls warming on their salad bar, and the aroma was truly lovely!
239 chars