They're on their way...

My ballerina,

vegetarian activist,

environmentalist,

and violinist,

Audrey, has returned to Duke University to complete her Master's Degree in Environmental Management after working this summer for the City of Austin Urban Forestry Department. I got an email from her last night that she auditioned for, and was accepted by the Duke Medicine Orchestra! She brought her violin with her on her last visit with me this summer, and practiced the piece she was going to use for her audition. So beautiful to my ears. She was a little intimidated by the orchestra, as she feared she might not have the time to practice the difficult pieces she discovered they played. Fear not, my little overachiever. Grandmomma says you will do well as always.

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My opera singer,

folk singer,

actor,

political activist,

and youth counselor,

Cameron has been hired by the Westside Unitarian Church of Fort Worth as Director of Lifespan Education. He will be responsible for both adult's and children's curriculum and programming. He finished his stint at the guest ranch in Colorado where he worked as Children's Youth Director this summer, and starts his new position September 8th. His comment to me was, "It's gonna be a great gig."  His dad, Craig, told me he will be able to pursue his music. He may give voice lessons; and as his college roommate sings in the Fort Worth opera, Cameron may even get a chance to perform. I am absolutely certain that if the church doesn't already know of Cameron's beautiful bass voice, when they discover it, they most certainly will want him to share it with the congregation.

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It seems like yesterday these two grandchildren of mine were born only four months apart. 

They  were adorable as toddlers who loved each other so much. And they still do. Their families raised them with enough love to share with the world. Where have the years gone?

I am full of pride and optimism for our future when I watch them. To everyone's children, may you enjoy...

Peace and love,
Marilyn

LOVE GAIA, OUR MOTHER EARTH

A former classmate sent this remarkable video to me recently. Can you imagine the significance of reducing the plastics that haunt our waterways and landfills all over the planet? And while we are at it, produce another form of renewable energy? The dialogue is in Japanese, so you may wish to turn your audio off and read the text on the screen. However, I found the gentleman's voice very soothing.

We have heard how the carbon emissions coming from our industrialized world are increasing the tear in the ozone layer, causing most of the problems of global warming. There is a compelling report in the online Science Daily website outlining the latest news on the ozone layer and its effects on the planet Ozone Holes News. Our understanding of this is necessary when we decide which candidates we wish to represent us in government - on both the local and national levels. Asking or researching their stance on environmental issues is critical.

We know we exhale carbon dioxide with every breath, and as the world's population continues to grow, along with more industrialization and automobiles, so does the carbon pollution. One of the larger producers of carbon pollutants is the plastic industry. Recently, a CBS news report told how one company is turning carbon emissions into plastic! I was fascinated; so I did some research, and came up with this short video on the subject:

The name of the California-based company is Newlight Technologies. The two young founders of the company worked on this discovery for nearly ten years. There is a good article on them and their company on the USA Today website: Plastic Made from Pollutants.

I think both of these discoveries are profoundly important to saving the planet. Environmentalists should be all over them. We should be supporting this type of research and development posthaste. 

For my religious/spiritual readers, the following statement on stewardship was made by the Roman Catholic Church in 1988:

"The earth and all life on it is a gift from God given us to share and develop, not to dominate and exploit. Our actions have consequences for the rights of others and for the resources of the earth. The goods of the earth and the beauties of nature are to be enjoyed and celebrated as well as consumed. We have the responsibility to create a balanced policy between consumption and conservation. We must consider the welfare of future generations in our planning for and utilization of the earth’s resources."

And from Pope Benedict XVI in 2007:

"Care of water resources and attention to climate change are matters of grave importance for the entire human family."

Common sense tells us we cannot continue destroying all aspects of nature without dire consequences. We only have one planet earth, and I for one am not pleased by the thought that someday our future generations may have to travel to another planet to survive.

Peace and love,

Marilyn

WHEN DID "LIBERAL" BECOME A DIRTY WORD?

                                                                                                                                     

"..Jesus was the ultimate liberal progressive revolutionary of all history. The conservative religious and social structure that He defied hated and crucified Him. They examined His life

(wordpress.com)

and did not like what they saw. He aligned Himself with the poor and the oppressed. He challenged the religious orthodoxy of His day. He advocated pacifism and loving our enemies. He liberated women and minorities from oppression. He healed on the Sabbath and forgave adulterers and prostitutes. He associated with drunks and other social outcasts. He rebuked the religious right of His day because they embraced the letter of the law instead of the Spirit. He loved sinners and called them to Himself. Jesus was the original Liberal. He was a progressive, and He was judged and hated for it. It was the self-righteous religionists that He rebuked and He called them hypocrites.." This is an excerpt from an article on The Christian Left blog written by Gary Vance, (a Christian evangelical minister): Wasn't Jesus A Liberal?

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Excerpt from Bishop John Shelby Spong's (a retired Bishop of the American Episcopal

(2006)

Church) Manifesto:

.."I do not debate any longer with members of the "Flat Earth Society" either. I do not debate with people who think we should treat epilepsy by casting demons out of the epileptic person; I do not waste time engaging those medical opinions that suggest that bleeding the patient might release the infection. I do not converse with people who think that Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans as punishment for the sin of being the birthplace of Ellen DeGeneres or that the terrorists hit the United Sates on 9/11 because we tolerated homosexual people, abortions, feminism or the American Civil Liberties Union. I am tired of being embarrassed by so much of my church's participation in causes that are quite unworthy of the Christ I serve or the God whose mystery and wonder I appreciate more each day. Indeed I feel the Christian Church should not only apologize, but do public penance for the way we have treated people of color, women, adherents of other religions and those we designated heretics, as well as gay and lesbian people."..

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Some of the words and actions of my fellow Christians make me ashamed. I am not the only one. I hope more of my LIBERAL friends will step up to the ballot box and change the face of this country. We no longer act like a "Nation Under God".

Proud to be called a liberal (I am in good company),

Marilyn

ARE THERE BOOTS ON THE GROUND IN YOUR STATE?

I have always been supportive of law enforcement wherever I've lived. It goes without saying, I am supportive of our military as well. Growing up, I was an Army brat for awhile. For so many years, with a few exceptions, they each had their own place in our society. In very recent times, it seems the lines are blurred. And that can be scary. 

The Cliven Bundy so-called "civil disobedience" standoff in Nevada this past April, and now the Ferguson, Missouri protests and riots, have brought the assault rifles out in great numbers. Scenes from both incidents caused flashbacks in my memories. The armed protesters in Nevada dragged up images of the Ruby Ridge standoff in Idaho in 1992, and the David Koresh Branch Davidian siege in Waco, Texas in 1993. In all of these cases, the civilian combatants were heavily armed.

The riots of the past few days in Ferguson, Missouri have dredged up different memories -- the first images I remembered were of the 1970 Ohio Kent State University shooting of unarmed students who were protesting against the U.S. Cambodia Campaign announced by President Nixon. The Ohio National Guard was called out for that incident. Farther back in my memory were the 1965 Watts "civil rights" riots and again in 1992, the Rodney King Watts riots in Los Angeles. These riots all started as protests by unarmed citizens. 

I certainly agree that our law enforcement must be as well-armed as the criminals they confront. But, honestly, some of the scenes from SWAT team drug busts, where 20 or 30 officers in riot gear descend upon a residence don't make sense to me. Even a hostage situation by a single individual now presents a reason for local police departments to call out the same, heavily armed forces.

I have been appalled at the photos on television and the Internet of what our law enforcement agencies across the country now have at their command, thanks to the government's deep cuts in military spending. As the wars the U.S. has been involved in wind down, and our troops come home, there has been a surplus of arms and equipment. The Pentagon has been able to add dollars to its budget by selling these to municipalities across the country.

Is it any wonder that the sale of assault weapons to individuals has gone up dramatically in this country? Can you imagine being faced with this in the United States? Maybe at the Boston bomb scene, but at an unarmed peaceful protest?

N.C. State Police - 2014

Or this?

Ferguson, Missouri - August 2014

Tiananmen Square - 1989

Pima County, AZ - 2014

Russian Troops in Crimea

Is it any wonder that the conspiracy theorists are going wild and stating that the government will seize all of your guns, and take control of your personal life? Many of them see the military arming of our police forces as a prelude to losing all of their freedoms. Thus, many para-military groups are increasingly being heavily armed as their "defense" against this happening. History is filled with police states and their treatment of civilians.

Nazis Arresting Jews - Warsaw 1943

Peaceful Student Protest - Beijing, China1989

"Hands Up, Don't Shoot" - Ferguson, Missouri - August 2014

There has got to be a better way for law enforcement's handling of volatile situations than calling out what appears to the average citizen as a military group - or army, armed with military tanks and weapons! Training police to have a "warrior mentality" in use of these arms only adds to the fear factor of ordinary citizens. We can look at and learn from the mistakes made by governments in the past and present, that often end with civil war or even worse. It couldn't happen here -- or could it?

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The following brief story was sent to me by an acquaintance who is writing about her husband's experience as a child in Nazi Germany. I have changed his name, and the name of the small village he lived in, as he is truly reluctant to talk about those times.

"Konrad was 13 when World War II ended in May, 1945. Had the war not ended, he would have been sent to the front after his birthday in July.

His family were terrified of Hitler and all that was occurring in Germany. The SS came to his home in the middle of the night and took his father, who was a bookkeeper for a leather factory. He refused to carry a gun so they put him in care of the horses. He was allergic to horses and developed hives almost immediately. The ones in command thought he had some horrible disease and were afraid of him, so they sent him home. He was fortunate that they didn't kill him.

Many of the people in small villages such as Linden where Konrad lived did not know of all the camps and what was taking place there. They never owned a car or a telephone and were pretty isolated in their small village.

The children were required to be in Hitler's Youth and wore uniforms and hob-nailed boots for parades. They were required to memorize many songs declaring Germany the 'Wonderful' and  praising Hitler as the 'Ruler of the World'.

When he was 10 the German army sent trucks throughout rural Germany picking up undernourished children and took them to farms to 'fatten' and strengthen them, as they would be needed at the front in the future. He was there 6 months and gained approximately 20 pounds. He felt guilty because there was so much food on the farm and he knew his family didn't have enough in their village.

Konrad has many stories to tell, but only to a small group of family members. We have been so blessed not to have had to go through a war on our soil."

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Let us pray for not only peaceful resolutions to the world's crises, but also to the troubling problems being witnessed in the United States of America.

Peace and Love,

Marilyn

DOESN'T EVERYONE LOVE GRANDCHILDREN?

Summer is well under way. Indeed, for a lot of kids it's almost over! My grandchildren have been super busy this summer. The oldest, Cameron and Audrey, have worked most of the summer.

Cameron has been working at the Bar Lazy J Guest Ranch in Colorado as head youth counselor, with music and entertainment duties at night. You can tell by the photos that the kids love him. 

He recently wrote the following:

"All is well here on the ranch. Riding horses and getting out in the mountains quite a bit. It's absolutely gorgeous, but it's also one of the most exhausting jobs I've ever worked! I'm missing Texas and ready to get home. Hope you are well. I will be seeing you in September!"

Audrey's mom Carajean wrote me back in April that Audrey is thinking of staying a  year in Chapel Hill to attend NCSU and get another master's degree in environmental planning (I believe that is what she calls it).  She has been working on her Master's in Environmental Management at Duke University (see Is It In The Genes?) This summer she has enjoyed working for the City of Austin Urban Forestry Department days, and taking in the many events going on around the city in the evenings. In one of her visits with me, she showed me a paper she wrote for one of her courses at Duke this past year. It is "An analysis of the relationship between land surface temperatures and land use/cover over time in Travis County, Texas".  This is complete with tables and graphs that make it discernible to even this aging brain! The Forestry Department asked her to consider publishing it, but Audrey said she doesn't feel it is ready for publication. She returns to Duke to finish work on her first Master's Degree after an upcoming camping trip to Devil's River with her mom and two of their good friends from Amarillo. She's such an excellent photographer, I'm looking forward to some great pictures!

She's made many new friends, as well as touching base with old friends from Amarillo. I got to meet a couple of the new ones at our recent gathering at the lake.

(Audrey with new friends Emily and Ryan)

Youngest grandchildren, Travis and Kelly, have also had some great fun this summer. Baseball season seemed to go on and on (to me, that is). Unfortunately, Travis had to miss some of it due to a torn achilles heel tendon. It healed nicely and he got to go to a church camp in Colorado. He also got to play in a PGA Junior Golf Tournament last month. He is a good young golfer that we expect to go places in the future!

The whole family returned yesterday from the Gulf Coast -- their second trip there this summer. I'm sorry they didn't bring home a bunch of fish, but dad Matthew sent some cute photos. They spent one day on a deep sea fishing boat.

Miss Kelly has already started her cheerleading classes getting ready for football season! I cannot believe they start so young these days! By the time she gets to middle school or high school, she'll be a pro - ready for the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders!
Tanner was going to a tennis clinic at UT when the family was here for the recent gathering at Lake Austin. He did manage to get in some water fun though. He's been a regular competitor in tournaments in Texas, going to one each month. In the spring, his mom wrote the following (she knows how this grandmommy likes to beam at her grandchildren's accomplishments):

"Thought you might be interested to know that Tanner came in 2nd in State at last weekend's TAPPS (Texas Academy of Parochial and Private Schools) Tennis Tournament in Waco.  He won the semi-finals to last year's state champ, a senior, twice his weight.  However, he lost the finals to another freshman, same size.  They will probably be playing yearly throughout high school."   

Tanner keeps playing and getting better. He turns sixteen next week, and will then be just another one of my grandkids to worry about! He's getting his driver's license!  

Ashlyn leaves for her first year of college at Oklahoma State University in a couple of weeks. She will arrive in time for sorority bid day. Whichever one she joins will be lucky to have her. Besides being smart and talented, she's our social butterfly!

Granddaughter Hannah will be visiting this month with her dad, Craig. I know she will be excited as school draws near. She will be a freshman at Booker T. Washington Performing Arts High School. I don't have a photo of her from this summer, but will take some when they visit. In the meantime, Craig loves playing "step-granddad" to little Paisley.

Some of you know that last December the number of my grandchildren grew by two. I am now "surrogate grandmother" to Bruce and Annie, who live with Carajean and Branch in Amarillo. I will write about them in a future blog, as we are just getting to know each other. I met them for the first time this summer since they were 3 and 4 years of age.

Until next time, hug your own children and grandchildren. They are our future!

Peace and love,

Marilyn

P.S.
I read where Bill Murray will be the voice for the bear in the new Disney version of The Jungle Book due out next year! I think it is such a happy reminder to all of us that "The Bare Necessities" are all that's really needed to be happy! Here's the 1967 version with Phil Harris singing the song: