scribbles from the past

It might not qualify as hieroglyphics, but for my money, finding this date scratched in concrete 60 years ago motivated me to photograph it.  January, 1955.  I was in 5th grade.  My father was 45 years old.  We were celebrating the dedication of a new "indoor" outhouse with a real window and double walls and a septic tank style disposal area.  I found this date when we tidied up the shop a week ago.  I had seen it over the years.  As most of his peers, my father exited school after the 8th grade.  So he never "majored" in anything. Yet I knew him as attentive to history and having a kind of reverence for dating things, especially concrete he poured around our house as property improvements.  So, with Father's Day coming up:  thanks, Dad (Lester Lehman, 1910-1981).

Jefferson's mountain

Monticello was a great visit.  Lots of gadgets.  A window into Virginia when it was medieval, run by aristocrats whose wealth was in ownership of huge tracts of land and the people who worked for them.  Tom, I suppose, was not representative of his class, but one of the very few who was "responsible."  How many of his peers just blew their fortunes on themselves?

weekend away II

On Sunday we stopped at the Maryland location of the Chesapeake & Ohio http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesapeake_and_Ohio_Canal_National_Historical_Park%20Canal historic site. The canal was begun in 1828 and ran, when it was completed in 1850, 184.5 miles from Washington DC to Cumberland.

count down at seminary

With only one week to go before the seminary semester is over, Dorcas put the final touches on her timeline of the first 1500 years of Christian history.

local locale: York

Nice thing about York--you can go far back in time, but the drive home is short. Milton and I took a half-day getaway. The first congress hid in York. I guess the official business was conducted in the stately brick, and the unofficial business in the bar across the street. How often do you see a mural about the constitution? The oldest church in York is the Quaker meetinghouse, 1766.

weekend away

Spent two nights at the Casselman, Grantsville, Md. Being listed on the register of historical buildings, its new porch had to be made of all natural wood, including the banister atop. To add to the early American aura, two gas lamps face U. S. Route 40.

1950s salute includes my group

Yesterday the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society celebrated its 50th anniversary with an outside event. Both of my choirs, Foresingers and Table Singers, presented half-hour sets. Alongside the tent was a display of 1950s autos, including an Avanti which I had never seen. Avanti was the top-of-the-line Studebaker sports toy. You see what was so worldly about the world in that Cold War era. You can see why deciding to paint your bumpers black had some traction in those days.

new recorder

Church music requires recording for rehearsal, checking performance, teaching, and composing. Here my new recorder sits on the floor of our house. Floor boards were put in by my Dad as a sub-floor. Woah, more history coming.

I remember a reel to reel tape recorder sitting on that floor, close to the base of the steps, in about the year 1955. My Uncle Titus Sensenig and Aunt Edna had brought it along on one of their visits. Titus loved new gadgets.

Now this new gadget can do a bit more. Maybe I can figure out how to play something on the piano (southeast six feet from this photo) and put it on the blog. The recorder itself is an H2, the item that looks rectangular.

family doctor retires

First you go to Gordonville. Then you wait in line. Then you finally chat with Dr. Rutt, left. At right are his two totally successful births, Sarah and Joel. Back to camera is Dorcas, who really did the heavy lifting in 1981 and 1984. Center is Steph, soaking in the family history.

Dr. Rutt had a solo practice close to Gordonville, specializing in births in the birthing room in his office. With both births, Dorcas and I were able to drive to the office in the wee hours when no one else was there--except for Dr. Rutt, who had given up a night's sleep to usher in the blessed events.