From my Master Gardener Friend

She sent me an email asking

if I needed any firewood because
the tree was hit by lightening.  This gal has an incredible sense of humor because on the subject line of her email, "Need any firewood?"

Only 45 Minutes West of Us

At UU yesterday, I hung around with others and before we knew what was happening, our office manager came to shepherd us to the lower level because of a severe weather alert.  No electricity -- there we sat for about half an hour and then left only to find out how tortured those were a mere 45 minutes East of us in the town of Washington, IL a tad west of Pekin and East Peoria. The area was proclaimed a federal disaster area with as many as 500 homes taken away by a tornado.  Over 80 funnel clouds were observed out here on the Central Illinois Prairie.  Several people were killed. 

Mother Nature Rules

The Lowline

My nephew Jason just sent me this link about how NYC is tackling the creation of an underground park on the east side.  Amazing. 

Majesty in Southwest Utah

We flew to Las Vegas and drove to St. George, a town of 75,000 about 2  hours from Zion and 3 from Bryce.  This is where Brigham Young brought his people, to the land of Zion.  St. George receives on average 7" of rain and yet the deciduous trees were in full fall splendor.  No Ginkgos, though. Palm trees, yes! 

 

Dad at Zion

Me at Zion

    

Us and the Hoodoos at Bryce

Snow Canyon, a State Park with pale gray volcanic rocks

Snow Canyon, not far from St. George where we stayed,
 is filled with volcanic rocks of different colors.

Volunteering at Crossroads Is Like Playing Store! This Is Where Your Gift Gives Twice

Crossroads marks 25 years promoting fair-trade goods

What: Crossroads Global Handcrafts

Where: 428 N. Main St., Bloomington
Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday
Phone: 309-827-0121
On the Web: www.crossroadsfairtrade.com

BLOOMINGTON — After 25 years in downtown Bloomington, Crossroads Global Handcrafts continues to provide an outlet for “fair trade” merchandise with an operation run almost entirely by volunteers.
“I often say we’re selling an idea as much as we’re selling merchandise,” said Charline Watts, one of the founders and co-chair of the board.
The idea they are selling is that people and the environment should be valued, she said.
“Fair trade is an alternative way of doing business that has as its bottom line the value of persons and the commitment to preserving the health of the planet,” Watts said.

Walking the NYC High Line with Laurie

For our 70th birthday in 1970, I wanted to be with my twin brother Jan who resides in Brooklyn Heights in NYC.   I also wanted to visit the Brooklyn Botanic (not botanical) Garden and see Sean Hayes, a theater graduate of ISU, in Promises, Promises, the musical version of the movie,The Apartment featuring the tunes of Burt Bachrach.  Dinner with my twin, then on to the theater.  What a marvelous visit!  Then to my surprise, my twin marched me to the subway not telling me the destination.   Upon leaving the subway, we walked about 5 blocks west, climbed up three flights of stairs and there my heart went thump, thump, thump, for before me were plants, many of the same Ed and I have in our Prairie Garden.  This was my introduction to the NYC High Line.  The first section was completed - I was in a state of awe. "A ribbon of nature atop a true ruin, the whole phenomenon just floating in its own time and space."

Aunt Phyllis, a gourmet cook, invited her son (my nephew) Jason to join us for dinner.  How I love this man!!

Laurie and her Cousin Jase -- they shared an apartment in Austin when Laurie was at UT for her first year of law school. 

Most people know how spiritually attached I am to the NYC High Line, a garden high above the hustle bustle of NYC.  In the 1930's trains that delivered food and mail were at ground level.   But many people were killed because they would not get out of the way of the trains even when the West Side Cowboys upon horseback would ring a bell to warn people of an oncoming train.  To remedy the situation, the tracks were elevated 35' above the streets.  In 1963, due to the trucking industry, the last train delivered a cargo of frozen turkeys.  From 1963 until  the early 1990's the tracks laid in a decrepit state and a group of New Yorkers wanted to demolish the tracks.  But alas!  Another group had another plan -- to create an elevated garden.

Last summer when Laurie and her family were visiting, she said how badly she wanted to walk the High Line with me.   And we did, this first weekend in November. 

Jan Hyde and Dr. Phyllis Hyde's Brooklyn Heights home

Gundula Christiansen and Bernd Ebert

When Laurie was a junior in high school she formed a close friendship with Gundula Christiansen, an exchange student from Germany one year older than Laurie.  They both played violin in the orchestra.  Ed and I adored Gundula as well.   

Gundula loved her host family very much and was in close contact with them through the years.  Her host father, Walt, was near death so Gundula and her husband Bernd decided to visit Walt before he passed.  Truly beautiful.

They flew into DFW and stayed with Laurie.

After attending Walt's visitation in Goshen, Indiana, they drove here.  Oh how we enjoyed seeing Gundula after 25+ years and meeting her handsome husband.  They were here overnight and left this morning after Ed made his famous waffles which they devoured.  They left this morning to drive to Houston and on to Corpus Christi for a much needed rest.  Then back to Laurie's and home to Germany.  They live way north close to Denmark!

We learned they have traveled all over the world including a lengthy trip to Australia and New Zealand!  

Bernd and Gundula instruct teachers how to work with special needs children.  Gundula was a student in one of Bernd's classes when Gundula was at university so there is a 10 year age difference between the two.

Ugandan Milele Childrens' Choir

This group was in B-N for the week.  I had the honor of attending one of their performances at Westminster Village, a large retirement community.  Having been to Uganda coupled with the support our UU Church is providing to New Life School made their performance particularly significant.  See my post of January 12, 2012.  Their CD and DVD displays their brilliant talent. Some learned the Choirs local performance schedule in order to see them perform a second time!

The picture and the article below appeared on the front page of our newspaper. 

NORMAL — Life looked pretty grim for Eric Jjombwe, 7, of Kampala, Uganda, whose mother was jobless and whose father died of HIV/AIDS. That was before the boy became part of Imani Milele Children, a Christian ministry for orphans that gave him a place to live and an education. The group’s name is Swahili for “believe always” or “faith everlasting.”ow 17, Jjombwe is part of the 25-member Imani Milele Children’s Choir that is on a nine-month tour of the United States to raise money and awareness for the organization. The choir of 10 boys and 15 girls, ages 9 to 17, danced and sang jubilant African songs Wednesday at Olympia High School and Middle School in rural Stanford.

The Rev. Moses Ssemanda Mbuga, 
founder of Imani Milele Children, a ministry in Uganda

“It’s a great experience. I enjoy the roads, the food and the cars,” said Jjombwe, who hopes to be a lawyer someday. “We work a lot and balance school and choir,” said choir member Debbie Opaki, 16, who hopes to be a physician one day. “The best part is to have a chance to go to school and to travel in America.” Opaki, who joined Imani Milele when she was 8 years old, called it “life-changing.”The choir, hosted by Calvary United Methodist Church in Normal, will be in Central Illinois until Saturday, said Jennifer Bauersfeld, a member of the host church. Other performance stops include: the church; The Baby Fold and Parkside Junior High School, both in Normal; Westminster Village in Bloomington; and tonight at Decatur New Vision Church. The children travel with five Ugandan adults, including a teacher who helps them continue their education on the road, said Stephanie Graham, a nurse from Sebastian, Fla., who is traveling with the choir. Her church, Crossroad Christian Fellowship Church in Sebastian is sponsoring the tour, which will run until December.

The choir’s performances raise money for children at education centers in Uganda.
“Our target is $100,000. It’s not easy to get there,” said Sam Straxy, the choir director.
When the current 25 members of the choir return to Uganda, another 25

Hummingbirds

I hope I do not get into trouble for snatching this
hummingbird picture from the Google
website today.  Google's new update is called "hummingbird" and took effect this morning.  Google named it Hummingbird  because it is precise and fast.
The hummingbird has special significance for us because for the past month, they have been taking in nectar from the red blooms of the Pineapple Sage and also from the orange blooms on the 20' high Lion's Ear, native to Africa. They like to feed in the morning and at dinner time in the evening.

Pineapple Sage

Lions Ear

Hummingbirds

By Judy Hines

Written 9-19-13 to be read at Poetry Service at our UU Church

Tiny bodies, a blur of wings motion the air,

Suspended, hovering, touching red and orange flowers

Long beak withdrawing nectar, succulent and sweet nourishment.

Stay aloft a moment more for a photograph

Before slipping out of sight.

The Benjamin Ficus Needed Attention

We knew the tree was outgrowing its container because leaves were turning yellow and falling.   It was re-potted once when we returned from a trip to find a carpet of yellow leaves on the floor.  One of Grandma Mimi's persons who kept her company when she lived with us, read somewhere that wiping a very thin coating of mayonaise on the leaves would provide a shine.  Thus, this is why I thought the leaves fell but this was not the case after I checked with Casey's, my favorite nursery of the many here in town.  By the way, this occurred before I went through the University of Illinois Master Gardener training.  I learned the reason the plant dropped all the leaves was becasue it was root bound and needed a larger pot.  So this time not that many leaves dropped.  We knew what to do. 

This was a difficult job.  At one time Ed said let's get rid of the tree.  No way!