A Note from the crew of the Windfall ll...

Two weeks ago Philip and a few friends set out on a wonderful journey. Here is a brief story of their journey.
Sorry there are no pictures...make them in your imagination!

It was a dark and stormy night.

The first mate said to the captain, "Cap, the men need to see you."

"Bring them up then," said the Captain.

The men huddled around the Captain.

He began.

"It was a dark and stormy night.

The first mate said to the Captain, 'Cap, the men need to see you.'

'Bring them up then,' said the Captain.

The men huddled around the Captain.

He began.

'It was a dark and stormy night....

The journey of the Windfall ll in one short blog. The sail was a glorious and brilliant expedition of five men: Philip, Steve, Frank, Captain Rob Temple, and Rob's son Emmet. Each day brought blue skies and different forms of landscapes from small towns to larger cities, from small water crafts to barges. The evening sunsets and night skies were of great beauty and awe-inspiring as they anchored. After dinner and the galley was clean for the night, the crew pulled out their fiddles, penny whistles and harmonicas. Their music and voices also sailed across the sea just as they did a century ago when sailing was an occupation.




Morning coffee and sailing northward before the sun came up was the protocol as Captain Rob was always on the move. A week into the journey they were at the race site and greeted with music on the dock, festivals in the park, and a send off dinner with pirates and oysters.




The day of the sail, dark clouds began to role in and rumors of gale force winds began to swirl about the 45 schooners in the race. It was definitely time to batten down the hatchet and prepare for the 82 miles scheduled for the Windfall ll. As the race began, pouring rain slashed these old schooners with a rain every sailor dreaded since the beginning of time. In an interview with Captain Rob this morning at 0900 he said, "The weather was much worse than expected. The gales in the night exceeded 40 knots and the darkness of the Potomac River made it so much worse." When the darkest of the night came, it was decided that for the safety of the crew and to keep the old schooner intact, sails would come down and a safe harbor would be found for a few hours.




The men waited out the storm and then joined those who were brave enough to continue on down to the finish line. Cheers went up from the crowd as each schooner came into Portsmouth.




Amazingly, not a crew member nor boat went down during the nor' easter than descended upon the men and women.




After a brief conversation with Philip and Rob this morning, all is well...still drying out clothing and re-arranging the galley after the storm's winds tossed about their belongings.




Sunny skies greeted them this morning as they begin their journey home to Ocracoke. Needless to say, these men, these sailors of ours will have stories to tell for years to come about the Great Schooner Race of 2010.
This is Lou Ann sending in the news from The Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race of 2010. All is well.



Haiku for this day...

Rising sun of Autumn

Twirling,swirling scarlet leaves

Where do I fit in?

Let's just walk in the woods.

This week's column!

The Phoenix

I joined the world in watching the rescue of the 33 miners from Chile. I began last night when the rescue began and continued it after school today. I could not even stop watching.

My mind wandered as did everyone's elses as well...the emotions, the physical hardship, the hearts and minds of the world watching and those who worked non-stop to make this happen.

In a trying world, this rescue, this determination, this gift of hope to mankind is exactly what we all need to remember and recognize that we are all in this together.

The spirit of community is alive and well with The Phoenix, rising up from the ashes, as my dad always said.

Farewell tombed mineshaft...may these men live long healthy lives.

The last rose of summer...

Sometimes a garden is just full of surprises. I am a gardener so I know the last blooming flowers...the marigolds that are still blooming and producing scented flowers for my Autumn bouquets as well as the colorful mums.

My herbs are still growing tall with nary a wilt nor a tarnish from the cold nights that now descend upon us each evening.

But the last rose of summer is always a bit of a surprise and filled with the greatest of beauty, more so than in the summer.

So a bit of nostalgia as summer ends and Autumn begins to take over with glistening jewels in the forest and skies of azure.

Take a toast to the last of summer...

A little bit of Thoreau..

With this perfect Autumn weather here in the Midwest, I am enjoying and capturing all the beauty. This week I am leading students on environmental walks through the woods and culminating this with sketching.

We sit on logs or leaf-lined pathways as jewels of scarlet and tangerine leaves tumble down upon us as we write. Today's work brought us patches of sunlight and shadow, the calls of cardinals and crows, and the echoing of a woodpecker probably wondering what we were doing.

The assignment is to look for all the beauty in nature, the small pieces that we miss...the vein of a leaf, the shape of the acorn or the deep purple asters filling our woods these days.

Why do I do this? Oh, it would be nice to bring out some Plein Air painters, but most of all, I want them to appreciate the beauty of this world.

Another woodland walk tomorrow.

Tonight? Line-dancing!

Birthdays from a small town...

Dear Folks,
I love writing my blog and sharing with you stories from my small town. Yesterday was the 30th birthday of my sweet daughter-in-law, Karen. She is a wonderful friend as well, and we had a celebration of her birthday yesterday.
It was to have been at our local park, but the weather turned a bit chilly and damp so the plans were quickly changed. We hosted the party instead at Karen and Aaron's church in the Fireside room, complete with a fire.

Karen and I went early and decorated the tables with pumpkins and sunflowers and candy corn. It was a pot luck as the tables were full of food by late afternoon. We all had a great time with lots of folks wishing Karen a happy birthday. Kids were everywhere and that always makes for a fun party.

So, to Karen, happy birthday, and I wish you so many more happy ones.
The photos are, of course, from the party from my small town.

This week's column...

The full moon and artistic magic...

The full moon moonlight...



This day is so marvelous in so many ways...the full moon of September, the Autumnal Equinox, and the beauty that surrounds all of us wherever we live.

I have been anticipating this night for a few weeks when I realized what we were in for and that it has not been seen since 1991.

Jupiter will dance under the moon as well during the nighttime hours.

I had no choice but to leave my French doors off of my bedroom wide open last night and let those moonbeams dance all night across my room.

So, Autumn comes with a train of jewels cascading behind her. We are ready for her in the Midwest for the beauty and coolness she brings.

As for this blogger, so many stories have gone untold the past few weeks. My laptop has been at the shop so very few opportunities to write and post photos, but alas, we are back in business.

A toast to the Queen...Autumn.

This week's column about losing a neighborhood and gaining a hospital...

This week's column about the neighborhood in my small town...

The tradition continues...

When my children were young (well, actually all their growing up years), I read to them before they went to bed at night. We started with picture books and then eventually moved to chapter books including poetry at dinner.

We started those years in a small town in Pennsylvania, and eventually moved out to the farm. We spent the first few years in Indiana reading by the light of the kerosene lamps as we were void of electricity. 

Oh the places we roamed with those books. From "The Great Brain" series to the "Little House Books" to "Anne of Green Gables" to Shakespeare.

I think those were the best years of my life reading to my three little boys.

Karen and Aaron live only a block away so once school starts and we get back into a schedule, I like to bike over with a satchel full of books to read them their bedtime stories.

Tonight we explored books by Cynthia Rylant. When it was time for bed, we made a barefoot dash outside to look at the waxing moon and then it was off to bedtime.

I just picked up my books and road my bike back home. What a nice way to end the day.

A celebration of life...

A much needed rain fell from the sky yesterday morning. It was cool and I was tempted to turn on the heat, but am waiting until Halloween for that one.

I didn't wear jeans to the farmer's market, but instead wore dark slacks and a deep purple sweater carrying my old black umbrella. Even with the rain, the folks who run the market were still in good spirits as we filled our bags with tomatoes and beans and the last of the sweet corn and beans. I also purchased honey from my favorite local beekeeper, but kept an eye on the time as I hurried through letting the rain glide off my umbrella.

I put the bags in the car and made my way to the Congregational Church, just a a couple of blocks away in my sweet town. For yesterday was celebration of life for a wonderful woman who has blessed our town for all of her adult life.

Marion Eberhardt was born March 20, 1925 and died this week with her loving husband, Art, by her side.

Marion was one of those folks that I call 'salt.' She and Art met in Petosky, Michigan where she was a biology teacher and he was pursuing his PhD in electrical engineering. They spent their courting days watching sunsets and shooting stars. Art took a teaching job here in Angola at Trine University (then it was Tri-State College) and they immersed themselves in this town.

Marion was a nature lover and taught Art all she knew about the natural world. She was instrumental in preserving Wing Haven and establishing Acres Land Trust here in northern Indiana. She was a camp leader, a Sunday School teacher, a gardener, a singer, a friend, a naturalist all her life.

She leaves woods full of trees that she planted and seeds of nature in all the lives that she touched.

She will be missed in our town, but we are thankful that she and Art blessed us with all those years. Thank you Marion. May you now rest in the nature that you so loved.

If you would like to know more about Acres, please visit this site:
 Acres Land Trust

Notes from the West Coast...

So, the hurricane came and went, and was actually just a windy night and a few branches down on Ocracoke. Nice that things went so well after all that worry.

As the hurricane approached the Island, I was flying to Portland, Oregon to be with Abe, Kristin and the little girls Holly and Brianna. Holly is three and Briana just turned one.

It was a long flight and I kept thinking about the flight to China...never to do again...

We have all talked non-stop and played as well. I brought a barrage of puppets for the girls, some of my best friends and they love them. Maybe they will remember me after this visit.

Late yesterday afternoon we packed up and went to the Pacific Ocean. We had dinner out, then down to the beautiful rugged coastline of the Pacific Northwest. Abe scrounged around for driftwood for a fire while I dug a hole and lined it with rocks. We had hoped to watch the sunset, but it was cool and misty and the fog rolled in. It was spectacular, just breathless.

Today is the the Farmer's Market and then out to the country for wine tasting.
What a great time we are having.