inauguration day

Inauguration day dawns. Shades of blue, brown, white and green preside over a hushed butterfly garden. The butterflies are gone.

school building

Here's a scan of an offset of a photo. Don't try that at home. A request for the original file is in the works. In the meantime I had to show this pic. That's Dorcas, second from left facing camera, at the Dec. 2 ribbon cutting at the dedication of the new Rutt Academic Center at Lancaster Mennonite School.

not fighting commies in 59

Not fighting but inviting. In the depth of the Cold War, this was pretty bold. This comes from the back page of today's New Era, a newspaper in Lancaster, Pa. Maurice was my uncle. The image at right is generic online to represent the era.

50 years ago...

CHURCH INVITE: Deputy Premier Anastas Mikoyan of the Soviet Union declined an invitation to attend services at the Chestnut Street Mennonite Church in Lancaster. The Soviet embassy said Mikoyan, who was visiting Washington, D.C., was simply too busy to accept the invitation, which had been issued by the Rev. Maurice Lehman, a former pastor of the church. “I believe Mikoyan should be given an opportunity to learn that Christianity is the answer to man’s needs, rather than Communism,” Lehman said. (Jan. 14 and 15, 1959)

2009 comes in cold

As the calendar changed year, Dorcas and I retreated to Grantsville. Here's 2009 blasting its way into view. Grey and wind on January 1. Drifts over the little Casselman brook. The Maryland state flag tugging the pole over the ambulance station.