Sunday Wrapup 1/16/2011
I stayed home from church today to give myself a chance to recover from the flu-like symptoms I've had for the past few days. (Must lecture students about staying home when they're sick. Forcing themselves to come to school even when they're sick passes the "blessings" along.) One of the complications of staying home was that I was scheduled to teach a Sunday School class.
When I woke at 4:30 and figured out that I was not better than yesterday, but worse, I tried to think who I could call to take my place. Including the other teacher, there are only four class members who are not over 80 or pushing 80. Two of them (and I) would not be there today. The only other young person in the class doesn't have email, so I couldn't help her out by sending her my notes. My sister Linda and sister-in-law Judy both already teach classes. I ended up asking Hilda and happily for me she consented. I hope she could also access Joel's notes--prepared for the mens' class he teaches.
***********************
Shane and Dorcas have arrived safely in Thailand. They had a direct flight from Chicago to Tokyo, with a free upgrade to business class. Working in a travel agency as Dorcas does and having other relatives in the travel industry has its perks. Hans donated this particular roomy travel perk.
***********************
Last Thursday was our principal's 50th birthday. Norma, ever the faithful birthday-rememberer, suggested we do something special. With the help of the Moms in Touch group which meets on Wed. A.M., we decided to have an all-school breakfast, with any interested parents bringing cards and money gifts at lunch time.
I fixed a signup sheet and got students to bring ingredients for creamed eggs with pork over toast, and ready-to-eat fruit platters and coffee cakes and hot drinks. Everyone came early, and Norma directed the decoration of the learning center, while I directed things in the kitchen. Marvin and Lester Yutzy's families brought 50 black helium balloons and some of the students tented Mr. Shrock's desk with streamers fastened at the ceiling.
When Marvin M. called and said he was following Mr. Schrock and he would arrive in about ten minutes, we hurriedly finished up and then turned off the lights and hid on either side of the entry way to the learning center. When he came in the front doors of the school, we chorused out a jubilant "Happy Birthday" and sang a rag tag version of the song--as our students are fond of doing, for some reason. Unflappable as ever, he stood there grinning, holding his brief case and taking in the black balloons on the ceiling of the entry way.
Mr. Schrock had instructed Jean Ann not to make a big deal of his birthday, so she didn't. Fortunately he had not given us similar orders.
We started eating around 8:00 and went a bit past the regular starting time, which we expected would be the case. Everyone was apparently OK with that, and enjoyed the meal. For some of them, it was the first taste of creamed eggs. Others who have eaten it, have never had bacon and sausage included in the mix as we did. I may decide to post the recipe in a separate post.
In the middle of January, we need to take advantage of all the opportunities for festivities that we can manage, and a Jan. 13 birthday is just the ticket.
************************
The snow cover that arrived at the beginning of the week is still mostly intact, although it's looking more ragged by the day. Tomorrow might be its death knell--47 degrees predicted.
************************
We're getting ready to do the third printing of the Ervin and Emma Stutzman life story books. I believe the sales volume exceeds any booklets we have done previously. Having them ready by Christmas helped with this.
Ervin Stutzman called me this morning from Haiti where it was sunny and 70 degrees. The fundraising sale for Haiti is coming up this Saturday in Florida, and he wants extra copies of "the book" to sell or gift at the sale. It looks like another Priority Mail package is called for, given the fact that we're very nearly out of the books he wants until we do another printing.
************************
I am currently enamored with lilacs and have been researching the various kinds. I have seen only white ones and the common lavender ones. Apparently there are seven or eight color categories--purple, violet, blue, pink, magenta, and yellow--besides the lavender and white. In addition, I learned that there are three main types: Hyacinthiflora and Preston hybrids, in addition to Syringa vulgaris--the common lilac. Each of them flowers at a slightly different time with the common lilac in the middle, and the Preston Hybrids the latest.
If anyone locally has unusual lilacs, I would be interested in doing some kind of plant swap for a start of your lilacs.
I hope to start some Snowball bushes also (Viburnum) because they bloom at the same time and go perfectly together in bouquets. (Swapping offer for these applies also.)
************************
One of the Christmas memories the "contingent of marauders" (my six nephews between 7 and 12?--Mom's term for them when she saw them going past the window after dinner, carrying various sorts of weapons) will no doubt carry with them is the fishing trip they took on foot. I still haven't figured out where they went--to a shallow pond, but there's none close by that I know of. They caught 40 small fish barehanded.
When they arrived back at the house, poor Chadwin was having difficulty navigating since he had fallen into the water and his wet clothes had frozen into a hard shell around him. When he had been safely turned over to his mother's care--who hustled him off to the shower--and everyone had warmed up a bit, they went out to check on the fish. Sad day. The cats had discovered them and eaten them all.
*******************
Ten years ago this week Hutchinson, KS made national news because of a series of strange disasters that shook our local shopping town. The first clue that something was amiss was an explosion that burned two downtown businesses and broke windows in 25 other businesses. The fearful fire burned hot and high for a long time, even after the gas lines to the buildings had been turned off. By afternoon someone had figured out that there was gas erupting from an unknown source under one of the buildings. It continued to burn for days.
Shortly afterward, a second explosion occurred in a trailer park on the other side of town. The elderly couple who were awaiting evacuation in their trailer when the explosion occurred under their home both died of burns suffered in the explosion and fire. People were freaked out--not knowing whether any part of town was really safe.
With the help of specialists called in from several other states, someone determined that natural gas had migrated from old salt caverns seven miles west of the city. The caverns had been utilized as storage facilities, and pressurized gas had found a leak in the bore hole to one cavern and then drifted eastward through crevices in the shale layer nearer the surface. With the aid of old city maps, a pattern emerged, and gave direction to the evacuations that were necessary. Wherever an old salt mine shaft was located, the gas surfaced easily and, if there was an ignition source, the gas ignited. So people were evacuated wherever there was a mine shaft close by. Under the first businesses that burned and under the mobile home that exploded were two salt mine shafts.
Sealing the leak in the storage cavern was a long process involving pumping the gas to other storage areas, so that repairs could be done safely. In the meantime, many vent holes were dug all over the city so that the gas could vent harmlessly into the air. In some cases, fires erupted at the vent holes and burned for a long time. A sink hole developed near one of the railroads that passes through the city.
The Hutchinson Mall was closed down and many downtown businesses were closed till safety could be assured. The owner of the trailer court lost much of his retirement investment. Lawsuits followed, and most were eventually overturned or ended up with dramatically reduced awards. The city manager was so traumatized that he took retirement soon after.
Gas storage in underground caverns was apparently virtually unregulated, and, as an outgrowth of Hutchinson's experience, groups from places as far away as England figured out what a reasonable set of regulations might look like.
This moment of fame for Hutchinson came with a lot of pain and loss, but ten years later, both of the destroyed businesses have relocated in new quarters, and the gas company has not filled any new caverns in the area that proved unsafe. If a greater degree of safety can be assured in other areas close to such storage facilities, some small gain came out of this loss.
*********************
I rather enjoyed writing the date on the day earlier this week when the date included five ones--1-11-11. (Small pleasures for simple folks.)
**********************
Last week someone called the school to inquire about the possibility of enrolling his son in our school. He knew almost nothing about our school and it turned out that he really wanted the grade school, but I did a double take when he answered my "May I ask who's calling?" question early in the conversation. He gave me his name--a Christian Hiromi worked with for years at TSW. When I told him I am Hiromi's wife, he was delighted with being able to make this connection.
I couldn't do much other than refer him to others who have the necessary information and authority to decide whether admitting the son would be an option.
The recommendation for our school apparently came from someone from Hutchinson who attended at Pilgrim in the first years the high school was in session.
***********************
Jenni and others are back from the work project in Haiti. Jenni stopped by my room the other day sporting a multitude of tiny braids. I can only imagine the delight the "braider" had with her tightly curled RED hair.
**********************
We still haven't found the heavy-duty three-hole punch that disappeared at school over Christmas vacation. We miss it.
When I woke at 4:30 and figured out that I was not better than yesterday, but worse, I tried to think who I could call to take my place. Including the other teacher, there are only four class members who are not over 80 or pushing 80. Two of them (and I) would not be there today. The only other young person in the class doesn't have email, so I couldn't help her out by sending her my notes. My sister Linda and sister-in-law Judy both already teach classes. I ended up asking Hilda and happily for me she consented. I hope she could also access Joel's notes--prepared for the mens' class he teaches.
***********************
Shane and Dorcas have arrived safely in Thailand. They had a direct flight from Chicago to Tokyo, with a free upgrade to business class. Working in a travel agency as Dorcas does and having other relatives in the travel industry has its perks. Hans donated this particular roomy travel perk.
***********************
Last Thursday was our principal's 50th birthday. Norma, ever the faithful birthday-rememberer, suggested we do something special. With the help of the Moms in Touch group which meets on Wed. A.M., we decided to have an all-school breakfast, with any interested parents bringing cards and money gifts at lunch time.
I fixed a signup sheet and got students to bring ingredients for creamed eggs with pork over toast, and ready-to-eat fruit platters and coffee cakes and hot drinks. Everyone came early, and Norma directed the decoration of the learning center, while I directed things in the kitchen. Marvin and Lester Yutzy's families brought 50 black helium balloons and some of the students tented Mr. Shrock's desk with streamers fastened at the ceiling.
When Marvin M. called and said he was following Mr. Schrock and he would arrive in about ten minutes, we hurriedly finished up and then turned off the lights and hid on either side of the entry way to the learning center. When he came in the front doors of the school, we chorused out a jubilant "Happy Birthday" and sang a rag tag version of the song--as our students are fond of doing, for some reason. Unflappable as ever, he stood there grinning, holding his brief case and taking in the black balloons on the ceiling of the entry way.
Mr. Schrock had instructed Jean Ann not to make a big deal of his birthday, so she didn't. Fortunately he had not given us similar orders.
We started eating around 8:00 and went a bit past the regular starting time, which we expected would be the case. Everyone was apparently OK with that, and enjoyed the meal. For some of them, it was the first taste of creamed eggs. Others who have eaten it, have never had bacon and sausage included in the mix as we did. I may decide to post the recipe in a separate post.
In the middle of January, we need to take advantage of all the opportunities for festivities that we can manage, and a Jan. 13 birthday is just the ticket.
************************
The snow cover that arrived at the beginning of the week is still mostly intact, although it's looking more ragged by the day. Tomorrow might be its death knell--47 degrees predicted.
************************
We're getting ready to do the third printing of the Ervin and Emma Stutzman life story books. I believe the sales volume exceeds any booklets we have done previously. Having them ready by Christmas helped with this.
Ervin Stutzman called me this morning from Haiti where it was sunny and 70 degrees. The fundraising sale for Haiti is coming up this Saturday in Florida, and he wants extra copies of "the book" to sell or gift at the sale. It looks like another Priority Mail package is called for, given the fact that we're very nearly out of the books he wants until we do another printing.
************************
I am currently enamored with lilacs and have been researching the various kinds. I have seen only white ones and the common lavender ones. Apparently there are seven or eight color categories--purple, violet, blue, pink, magenta, and yellow--besides the lavender and white. In addition, I learned that there are three main types: Hyacinthiflora and Preston hybrids, in addition to Syringa vulgaris--the common lilac. Each of them flowers at a slightly different time with the common lilac in the middle, and the Preston Hybrids the latest.
If anyone locally has unusual lilacs, I would be interested in doing some kind of plant swap for a start of your lilacs.
I hope to start some Snowball bushes also (Viburnum) because they bloom at the same time and go perfectly together in bouquets. (Swapping offer for these applies also.)
************************
One of the Christmas memories the "contingent of marauders" (my six nephews between 7 and 12?--Mom's term for them when she saw them going past the window after dinner, carrying various sorts of weapons) will no doubt carry with them is the fishing trip they took on foot. I still haven't figured out where they went--to a shallow pond, but there's none close by that I know of. They caught 40 small fish barehanded.
When they arrived back at the house, poor Chadwin was having difficulty navigating since he had fallen into the water and his wet clothes had frozen into a hard shell around him. When he had been safely turned over to his mother's care--who hustled him off to the shower--and everyone had warmed up a bit, they went out to check on the fish. Sad day. The cats had discovered them and eaten them all.
*******************
Ten years ago this week Hutchinson, KS made national news because of a series of strange disasters that shook our local shopping town. The first clue that something was amiss was an explosion that burned two downtown businesses and broke windows in 25 other businesses. The fearful fire burned hot and high for a long time, even after the gas lines to the buildings had been turned off. By afternoon someone had figured out that there was gas erupting from an unknown source under one of the buildings. It continued to burn for days.
Shortly afterward, a second explosion occurred in a trailer park on the other side of town. The elderly couple who were awaiting evacuation in their trailer when the explosion occurred under their home both died of burns suffered in the explosion and fire. People were freaked out--not knowing whether any part of town was really safe.
With the help of specialists called in from several other states, someone determined that natural gas had migrated from old salt caverns seven miles west of the city. The caverns had been utilized as storage facilities, and pressurized gas had found a leak in the bore hole to one cavern and then drifted eastward through crevices in the shale layer nearer the surface. With the aid of old city maps, a pattern emerged, and gave direction to the evacuations that were necessary. Wherever an old salt mine shaft was located, the gas surfaced easily and, if there was an ignition source, the gas ignited. So people were evacuated wherever there was a mine shaft close by. Under the first businesses that burned and under the mobile home that exploded were two salt mine shafts.
Sealing the leak in the storage cavern was a long process involving pumping the gas to other storage areas, so that repairs could be done safely. In the meantime, many vent holes were dug all over the city so that the gas could vent harmlessly into the air. In some cases, fires erupted at the vent holes and burned for a long time. A sink hole developed near one of the railroads that passes through the city.
The Hutchinson Mall was closed down and many downtown businesses were closed till safety could be assured. The owner of the trailer court lost much of his retirement investment. Lawsuits followed, and most were eventually overturned or ended up with dramatically reduced awards. The city manager was so traumatized that he took retirement soon after.
Gas storage in underground caverns was apparently virtually unregulated, and, as an outgrowth of Hutchinson's experience, groups from places as far away as England figured out what a reasonable set of regulations might look like.
This moment of fame for Hutchinson came with a lot of pain and loss, but ten years later, both of the destroyed businesses have relocated in new quarters, and the gas company has not filled any new caverns in the area that proved unsafe. If a greater degree of safety can be assured in other areas close to such storage facilities, some small gain came out of this loss.
*********************
I rather enjoyed writing the date on the day earlier this week when the date included five ones--1-11-11. (Small pleasures for simple folks.)
**********************
Last week someone called the school to inquire about the possibility of enrolling his son in our school. He knew almost nothing about our school and it turned out that he really wanted the grade school, but I did a double take when he answered my "May I ask who's calling?" question early in the conversation. He gave me his name--a Christian Hiromi worked with for years at TSW. When I told him I am Hiromi's wife, he was delighted with being able to make this connection.
I couldn't do much other than refer him to others who have the necessary information and authority to decide whether admitting the son would be an option.
The recommendation for our school apparently came from someone from Hutchinson who attended at Pilgrim in the first years the high school was in session.
***********************
Jenni and others are back from the work project in Haiti. Jenni stopped by my room the other day sporting a multitude of tiny braids. I can only imagine the delight the "braider" had with her tightly curled RED hair.
**********************
We still haven't found the heavy-duty three-hole punch that disappeared at school over Christmas vacation. We miss it.
posted by Mrs. I at
3:40 PM
1 Comments:
I love lilacs,they are probably my favorite flower. When I was growing up, we had a huge lilac bush at the corner of the house. But I can't grow them here at our place because of late frost. I have tried two or three times and none have survived.Then I see every lilac bush in the spring when I am driving down the road!
If we would ever live at a higher elevation I would try it again. I hope you get to grow lots!
By
MaryAnn, at 1/18/2011
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