“Solvitur Ambulando” – It is solved by walking, 2019 Labyrinth Walks, The Cathedral of St. Philip-Atlanta GA:
I had a day of errand running in Atlanta today. I headed out from Marietta about noon. First, I got my nails done. While I was in the nail salon, it poured. I’m pretty in pink …
Second, I visited the local Dollar Tree. There I purchased some glass vases and small pebbles for my Christmas paperwhite narcissus flowers which are my first Christmas decoration, my Christmas Eve table decoration and my favorite gift.
Third, I delivered a package to a friend to her mother-in-law‘s house. To get to her house I had to cross the River at Lovett and then back in the neighborhood to the left. This is an area of Atlanta that I have rarely ventured and so I was interested again at the topography, which I love, and, since the brig late afternoon sun was peaking out from the clouds, the drive was magical enhanced with the beautiful very end of fall color, deep reds and bright yellows.
Next, I headed for a labyrinth. The labyrinth at St. Philip’s is my most frequented labyrinth when I’m in Atlanta. And getting to it takes me through one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in the US in my opinion. So I always get the pleasure of driving past old haunts and homes of old friends and family. As I drove to the Cathedral, it became overcast again, but luckily was not raining.
When I got to the labyrinth, since I had Albert, I pulled out my cast-iron iron which I have re-purposed as a dog anchor. It comes in very handy when I am walking labyrinths. Ive tried walking “with” Albert, but that is a major fail. As I walked, Albert looked at me quizzically and tried to drag the anchor around a bit. But then he just patiently watched.
Next up was checking the ginkgo trees at E Rivers Elementary School. I definitely missed it this year. However, the light was coming in and out of the clouds and for a brief moment it highlighted the bed of yellow leaves at their bases.
After leaving there, I headed toward my mom’s. I took the back way (Habersham, Old Ivy, Wieuca to Peachtree), and it was now a perfect late fall afternoon. The leaves played with the afternoon sunlight. And as I rounded a corner and saw the beautiful yellows and reds, I smiled, and as soon as I smiled, the sun went back behind the clouds. Some days are like that.
At Lenbrook, I went up the freight elevator with Albert. He doesn’t like steps, and he really doesn’t like elevators. I had to drag him on elevator. But the visit with my mom and Albert was the highlight of my day … really. .She said, “We got lucky when we got Albert!” WE … I chuckled. Albert is the only dog in my extended family currently. My mom truly views him as her dog, too.
So all in all a great day …
And now a quote … “Light exists as well as shadow. Creation has not only a positive but also a negative side. It belongs to the essence of creaturely nature, and is indeed a mark of its perfection, that it has in fact this negative side. In creation there is not only a Yes but also a No; not only a height but also an abyss; not only clarity but also obscurity; not only growth but also decay; not only opulence but also indigence; not only beauty but also ashes; not only beginning but also end. In the existence of man there are hours, days and years both bright and dark, success and failure, laughter and tears, youth and age, gain and loss, birth and sooner or later its inevitably corollary, death. In all this, creation praises its Creator and Lord even on its shadowy side. For all we can tell, may not His creatures praise Him more mightily in humility than in exaltation, in need than in plenty, in fear than in joy? May not we ourselves praise Him more purely on bad days than on good, more surely in sorrow than in rejoicing, more truly in adversity than in progress? If there may be praise of God from the abyss, night and misfortune… how surprised we shall be, and how ashamed of so much unnecessary disquiet and discontent, once we are brought to realize that all creation both as light and shadow, including our own share in it, was laid on Jesus Christ, and that even though we did not see it, while we were shaking our heads that things were not very different, it sang the praise of God just as it was, and was therefore right and perfect.” – Karl Barth
So the brother is at the beach and I decided to take on Sunday with my mom. Nails, maybe? She vetoed that. But since I had already moved toward our favorite nail spot on Roswell near Mt. Paran, I drove across Mt. Paran to Northside, thinking and talking about families who have lived in that part of town. The Wayts lived there for a bit, and the Blacks forever, and the Everetts on Cave.
At Northside, I turned south and then decided to drive through Westminster. I went in the front gate and out the back. To be honest, the place has changed a great deal and is only barely recognizable as the place where I attended. I guess that’s what happens when you rarely visit.
Once on West Wesley we headed east and then at the last minute I drove down Bohler to Peachtree Battle. I don’t often drive along this stretch Peachtree Battle so I enjoyed this stretch along the creek and between Northside and Habersham. Once we crossed Northside, mom and I reminisced about my E. Rivers elementary friends who lived on PB or nearby … the Burdetts, the Smiths, the Sharps and family friends the Georges. And my favorite house, one I have never been in, which has lots of angles in the roof … it looks like a cottage. Then back by E. Rivers and south on Peachtree.
After crossing over the right, we swing into the shopping center that looks like Buckingham Palace where Aunt Jane’s shop was. So many memories.
Then to Brookwood Hills. Today we enter at Huntington and share stories about our friends on this street … the Wards, the Ingrams, the Fergusons… and the back by 139 …
On Peachtree we head north to Buckhead … checking out the current population … 6,885,071 …
My mom actually lived at the Darlington for a short period before she married. She roomed with a girl she had met at the boarding house behind First Presbyterian. Catherine Smith was her name, one of the few people mom lost track with fairly early in life.
And then back home … Andrews to W Paces to Valley to Habersham to Old Ivy to Wieuca to Peachtree …
Today was a little different. We headed out to Westview Cemetery via I 85, the Connector and I 20. Once in Westview, we drove straight to Daddy’s grave. Although I did not ask her, I wonder if it bothers her to know that this will be her last resting place. For those of you who knew my dad, do you get the epitaph? I remember that the lady who took the order did not get it.
After Westview, we headed downtown and took a spin around the Georgia State Capitol. I enjoyed all the statues including the newest of MLKjr. My great grandfather, grandfather and brother have all served in the Georgia Legislature.
After the capitol, we headed north on Peachtree St. I pointed out Edward’s current office building Suntrust Plaza, and I noted the modern lions on the Marquis Building. I’ve never seen a modern take on classic lions.
And then we drove north. I focused my commentary on the churches along our route, first Central Presbyterian near the Capitol, then First Methodist (Ann DeRosa, were you married here?), St. Luke’s Episcopal Church (so may friends were married here), North Avenue Presbyterian Church (my family’s church and where I was married), First Presbyterian Church (where I attended preschool and where I remember going to Christmas Eve services in high school and College) and the small public library nearby, Peachtree Christian Church (beautiful Tiffany windows), and the Temple. We also talked about the Fox Theater and the Woodruff Arts Center.
Then a drive through Brookwood Hills and of course a viewing of 139 Brighton.
Next we went to Arby’s and “enjoyed” their roast beef sandwiches and a coke float.
I took my mom on another of our car rides. We went to visit my parents’ first house. My parents lived in four places in Atlanta: an apartment on the corner of Peachtree and Muscogee, an apartment on Collier near Peachtree, which is now parking lot for Piedmont Hospital, this house on Burke Road, and the house on Brighton Road in Brookwood Hills (40 years).
As I drove through the neighborhood, which I never realized is called Peachtree Park, I was amazed at the current prices of houses that have only marginally been renovated, as well as at the prices of complete tear downs and rebuilds, some in excess of $1 million. I asked mom what they paid for their house in the 1950s; she responded $6000.
Some interesting things about the Peachtree Park neighborhood is a new community garden area as well as a walking trail. I love evolving cities!
When my parents lived there, the neighborhood backed up to what for many years was the largest mall in Atlanta, Lenox Square (which opened while they lived there, about 1960). So growing up in Atlanta, we would always cut through and see the house on the way to the mall. When MARTA was built, the residential street connecting the neighborhood to Lenox Square was closed off. And so we very rarely drove through after that. But still, at least once a year during the holidays, we checked out the house and the live Christmas tree that my parents planted in the front yard commemorating my brother’s first Christmas. Sometime in my 30s, that tree came down.
But other than that, the house looks essentially the same.
“Solvitur Ambulando” – It is solved by walking, 2016 Labyrinth Walks (Walk 8/40), Chartres Silk Scarf “Finger Labyrinth” @ Home – Charlotte:
An interesting “walk” … I saw my scarf from Chartres Cathedral which I wear every once in a while, and I thought it might be fun. So I got out my pictures from Chartres Cathedral. Included in my pictures is a short video I took while walking at Chartres. It was very interesting because I could hear my footsteps in the cathedral.
As I retraced my Chartres walks, I reread the prayer I read as I walked two years ago.
I also read the information signs that I saw at the Cathedral. This one was especially interesting.
A few pictures from August 2014 …
DLT
2.17.16
Justice Antonin Scalia, Foundation for Reformed Theology, Dr. James C. Goodloe, funerals: It will be interesting to learn what is said at Justice Scalia’s funeral in light of this letter. Thanks, Bill Wood for sharing.
Justice Antonin Scalia wrote the following about the funeral of Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr., and even more about the importance of preaching–especially at a funeral!–preaching the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the eternal life which follows from that. ————————————————————————————–
Supreme Court of the United States Washington, D. C. 20543
CHAMBERS OF JUSTICE ANTONIN SCALIA
September 1, 1998
Dr. James C. Goodloe
Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church
1627 Monument Avenue
Richmond, Virginia 23220-2925
Dear Dr. Goodloe:
I looked for you unsuccessfully at the luncheon following the funeral yesterday. I wanted to tell you how reverent and inspiring I found the service that you conducted. In my aging years, I have attended so many funerals of prominent people that I consider myself a connoisseur of the genre. When the deceased and his family are nonbelievers, of course, there is not much to be said except praise for the departed who is no more. But even in Christian services conducted for deceased Christians , I am surprised at how often eulogy is the centerpiece of the service, rather than (as it was in your church) the Resurrection of Christ, and the eternal life which follows from that. I am told that, in Roman Catholic canon law, encomiums at funeral Masses are not permitted—though if that is the rule, I have never seen it observed except in the breach. I have always thought there is much to be said for such a prohibition, not only because it spares from embarrassment or dissembling those of us about whom little good can truthfully be said, but also because, even when the deceased was an admirable person—indeed, especially when the deceased was an admirable person—praise for his virtues can cause us to forget that we are praying for, and giving thanks for, God’s inexplicable mercy to a sinner. (My goodness, that seems more like a Presbyterian thought than a Catholic one!)
Perhaps the clergymen who conduct relatively secular services are moved by a desire not to offend the nonbelievers in attendance—whose numbers tend to increase in proportion to the prominence of the deceased. What a great mistake. Weddings and funerals (but especially funerals) are the principal occasions left in modern America when you can preach the Good News not just to the faithful, but to those who have never really heard it.
Many thanks, Dr. Goodloe, for a service that did honor to Lewis and homage to God. It was a privilege to sit with your congregation. Best regards.
Alexander Hamilton, the looming high court battle: Excellent article.
Of course, anyone familiar with Hamilton’s personal life might find it odd to invoke him as the standard for extracting extreme partisanship from the political process. His temper was legendary, as were his many long-standing political battles. He clashed with political enemies and often with allies, including George Washington, who made him the first secretary of the treasury. He once nearly came to duel James Monroe. And after a lifetime of petty political disagreements, Hamilton squared off with Aaron Burr in New Jersey in 1804 (Hamilton, in the musical, quips: “Everything is legal in New Jersey). Burr’s shot struck Hamilton between the ribs and the bullet lodged in his spine. He died, excruciatingly, over the next 24 hours. But even the hotheaded Hamilton seemed to understand the nobility to which the republic’s structure, the Constitution he helped write, calls public servants in particular. And there seems no way he would countenance bald, preemptive usurpation of the president’s appointive power. Maybe he’d even borrow, with a twist, from an admonishment Washington’s character offers him in the musical: Obstructing is easy, senators. Governing is harder.
Who Are We?, The New York Times: Very, very well said …
I find this election bizarre for many reasons but none more than this: If I were given a blank sheet of paper and told to write down America’s three greatest sources of strength, they would be “a culture of entrepreneurship,” “an ethic of pluralism” and the “quality of our governing institutions.” And yet I look at the campaign so far and I hear leading candidates trashing all of them.
…
America didn’t become the richest country in the world by practicing socialism, or the strongest country by denigrating its governing institutions, or the most talent-filled country by stoking fear of immigrants. It got here via the motto “E Pluribus Unum” — Out of Many, One.
Canadian artist Stephen Lund has found a way to stay active and create delightful illustrations at the same time. In order to make maps that form specific shapes and pictures, the athletic doodler rides his bicycle through the streets of Canada, choosing specific routes. Using the Strava app, he records his travels so you can see what he’s created. The results illustrate everything from pop culture characters to animals. Last year, the intrepid artist traveled 22,300 kilometers (13,857 miles). You can see more maps from those journeys on his website, GPS Doodles.
Atlanta, Restaurants, Culinary Greats, The New York Times: A whole list of restaurants for me to try on my visits home. Anyone care to join me?
Getting traction as a great restaurant city has been harder. It has been tough to compete with neighbors like Charleston, S.C., New Orleans or that sexy food upstart, Nashville. As a national food contender, Atlanta never had the culinary firepower or customer base of New York, Los Angeles or Chicago. Diners made do with a parade of meals at local or national chains, punctuated by the occasional steak in a pretty room. But now, as the nation’s infatuation with Southern food matures and Atlanta’s recession-battered economy recovers, a city that often looked over its shoulder for culinary validation and inspiration is coming into its own. Continue reading the main story RELATED COVERAGE Where to Eat in AtlantaFEB. 16, 2016 Cookbooks: ‘Root to Leaf,’ a Field Guide to VegetablesMARCH 30, 2015 The Chef: Anne Quatrano: Grandma Burned the Beans: A Lucky BreakJULY 12, 2006 Travel Guide: Atlanta for KidsAPRIL 29, 2015 Over the last couple of years, a record number of new and independent restaurants have opened. Especially in the urban core — what people here call intown Atlanta — veteran chefs and newcomers alike have taken advantage of cheap rents and a growing cadre of good line cooks who don’t feel the need to prove themselves in bigger ponds.
Neil Reid, 14 Atlanta architects you should know about, www.myajc.com: I did not know a friend’s childhood home was a Neil Reid! So many fun memories there.
Neel Reid (1885-1926): Reid was the first name in residential architecture in the early 20th century. His early career took him many places, including stints in Atlanta and Europe. After settling in Atlanta in 1909, his firm quickly found its niche in designing mansions in a variety of styles – often taking inspiration from places Reid saw in Europe. His name is practically a brand in Buckhead. Check out: the Shelton-Walden House (pictured); the Muse’s Building; Butler Street YMCA. (Special to the AJC)
A Picture Of Language: The Fading Art Of Diagramming Sentences, grammar, childhood memories, NPR Ed : NPR: I loved doing this in elementary school.
When you think about a sentence, you usually think about words — not lines. But sentence diagramming brings geometry into grammar. If you weren’t taught to diagram a sentence, this might sound a little zany. But the practice has a long — and controversial — history in U.S. schools. And while it was once commonplace, many people today don’t even know what it is. So let’s start with the basics. “It’s a fairly simple idea,” says Kitty Burns Florey, the author of Sister Bernadette’s Barking Dog: The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences. “I like to call it a picture of language. It really does draw a picture of what language looks like.”
Pilgrimage, Devotional: i wrote the devotional for PW at my church. I think it pulls together much of what I experienced in 2014.
What is a Pilgrimage?
Back in 2013 Kirk Hall preached on the Transfiguration. His sermon was entitled, “A Glimpse of Glory.” From that day I was also quite struck by the Affirmation of Faith …
“We believe Christ gives us and demands of us lives in pilgrimage toward God’s kingdom. Like Christ we may enjoy on our journey all that sustains life and makes it pleasant and beautiful. No more than Christ are we spared the darkness, ambiguity, and threat of life in the world. We are in the world, but not of the world. Our confidence and hope for ourselves and other people do not rest in the powers and achievements of this world, but in the coming and hidden presence of God’s kingdom. Christ calls each of us to a life appropriate to that kingdom: to serve as he has served us; to take up our cross, risking the consequences of faithful discipleship; to walk by faith, not by sight, to hope for what we have not seen. (Declaration of Faith, 9.5)” (Source: http://www.firstpres-charlotte.org/bulletins/bulletin.pdf)
So, what is a Pilgrimage?
Our Church is orchestrating a 2016 Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. According to the brochure it is an opportunity whereby “Each traveler will connect to a different facet of the Holy Lands whether it’s the feel of the land, the antiquity of the place or the history come to life. Evenings will include devotions and a time for reflection.” And it is necessary to prepare for the encounter and experience by studying scripture, researching archeology, learning biblical history, and gaining an understanding of all these through a review of contemporary issues.
So how can you experience a life in pilgrimage towards God’s kingdom? Find a practice that promotes your movement toward God. It can be a dedicated Bible study, centered prayer, meditation, or even going on a dedicated travel opportunity such as the Church’s Holy Land Pilgrimage. It does not have to expensive, but it does need to be intentional and dedicated toward gaining a glimpse of God’s glory.
I personally have found pilgrimage through the practice of walking labyrinths. A labyrinth is a uni-circular pathway.
“In some cultures, the circling pathway simulates the movement of planets in the solar system. The spiritual journey is the main focus of the Labyrinth experience. Walking and resting simulate the believer’s movement through life. In Medieval times, Christians who wanted to journey to the Holy Land would approximate that pilgrimage in a local labyrinth walk and with Bible stories as a guide. Some believers pray the labyrinth journey to become clear on the direction for life and walk with a prayer phrase such as the mantra, “Show me the way, I will follow.” This may lead to surrendering and allowing the Spirit to lead the way.” Source: http://rockhilloratory.blogspot.com/2009/04/oratory-labyrinth-prayer-garden.html
For years, my favorite passage has been Psalm 46:10 which states, “Be still and know that I am God.” One interpretation for “be still” is “surrender.”
Pilgrimage is surrendering and that can be done in many ways, but ultimately all pilgrimages lead the believer to know God in all his glory.
As a child I remember my parents would host a small party. Everyone would arrive by 7 and they would have dinner and then they would go to a movie. While they were out, my sister, my brother and I would decorate the house, and then when the adults came back, we would listen to the “adults” cheer in the New Year.
And then there was the year that my dad went down to Rich’s and bought a color tv, our first. There was one condition, it had to be delivered by 5 pm on New Year’s Eve. It was, and we watched the Rose Bowl Parade and whatever bowl game Alabama was playing in “in living color.”
As a high school and college student, I would go downtown in Atlanta to the neon Coke sign which was later moved. I remember one year, we were taking Champagne with us and my mother gave me an antique monogrammed linen Champagne “napkin” which was lost in the celebration My mother was not too pleased with me.
One year I was in Louisville for the New Year, and my always industrious now brother in law Bito and his friends decided they needed some money, so they cooked the traditional NYD southern good luck meal and sold them to family and friends.
In the married but before kids period, John and I were visiting Julie and Doug in Thomasville GA. We were going to stay at the “farm” for the night. Julie’s family’s housekeeper had fixed a picnic dinner. It was one of the best meals I ever ate. I know it included quail. The good life.
And then there was San Francisco … Mike and Diane got married in SF on New Year’s Eve. Black tie, etc. … but Diane had kids from her first marriage so there was this wonderful element of whimsy. She had a balloon artist making balloon hats, etc. Happy Anniversary, Mike and Diane!!
After kids, while my parents were in Pineview, I arrived after driving 16+ hours right before midnight (after being pulled for weaving on the last 12 mile stretch from Hawkinsville … cop told me my old clunker van with Illinois plates was suspicious because of all the drug trade) and put the kids to bed. My mom and I went out and watched one of the most beautiful meteor showers I have ever seen.
Another New Year’s Eve during that era, I was driving back from Georgia and the weather was very bad. My friends Ruth Ann and Tim demanded that I stop in Louisville for the night. I yielded to their better judgement. We went sledding at midnight and it was glorious. My kids had not been sledding like that in years since snow was iffy in NC and Chicago is basically flat. The next morning we went to Lynn’s Paradise Cafe, a funky Louisville restaurant where folks went in their pajamas on New year’s Day, and Jack, probably 11, asked if he could have lobster with his eggs. Sure … and he loved it!
Other than that I am usually in bed by 11 … watching the tv and keeping an eye out for 3 kids … and that era is almost over.
Happy New Year!
New Year’s good luck foods: I’m cooking black-eyed peas, turnips and ham.
To dig a little deeper, I chose four popular regional American good luck foods of the new year—the pork and sauerkraut of the Midwest, the greens and black-eyed peas of the South, the pickled herring of Scandinavian immigrants, and the lentils of Italian-Americans—on a quest for the facts behind the fortune.
2014-2015 Thomas J. Watson Fellowships, Davidson NC natives: Congratulations to two Davidson natives, neighbors and friends and fellow Watson winners, one from Williams and the other from Wellesley. How extraordinary is that?
CONGRATULATIONS TO ELOISE AND BEATRICE
The winners of the 2014-2015 Thomas J. Watson Fellowships were announced on March 15 and two young ladies who grew up in Davidson were among the recipients. Congratulations to Eloise Andry, daughter of M.C. and Allain Andry and to Beatrice Denham, daughter of Cathy and Scott Denham. To make this award even more meaningful, the Denhams and Andrys are next door neighbors in Davidson and the girls have known each other since birth.
For Eloise, it’s Volcanoes
Eloise Andry is a senior at Williams College and will use her year of study to explore how humans living nearby view and interact with volcanoes. Her winning proposal is entitled Solid as a Rock? Life on a Volcano and will take Eloise to a number of countries including Iceland, Chile, New Zealand, Vanuatu and Indonesia. A member of Phi Beta Kappa at Williams, Eloise is majoring in Chinese and geosciences. Regarding this prestigious award, Eloise remarked, “I am thrilled to have received a Watson Fellowship, and very lucky to have this opportunity to study something I care so much about. As my friends know, I love rocks, but volcanoes are simply the best.”
Albert Einstein, humor, LOL, Special Theory of Relativity :
JUST FOR FUN
The contents of a recent email were too good not to share. It seems that last Thursday, March 20, was the date 98 years ago in 1916 that Albert Einstein published his Theory of General Relativity. He began working on this theory shortly after he published his Special Theory of Relativity in 1905, which is centered on the famous equation E=mc2 (energy equals mass times the speed of light squared) and explains that both time and motion are relative to the observer. To further explain, Einstein humorously noted: “When you are courting a nice girl, an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder, a second seems like an hour. That’s relativity.”
photos, 2014 Winter: I loved this picture from a Facebook friend and her friend’s comment: “Exquisite example of determination and perseverance.” Sad or beautiful??
Athens GA music scene, history: Loved this … I was actually living in Athens in the early to mid 80s.
After a year of living off the land I finally got a job in town, and met the ‘bohemian underground of Athens’, partly fueled by the Art School at the University of Georgia. There was a strong fraternity and sorority element at the school but my new friends ran with the wild crowd! Together, we formed a creative group of people including art students, poets, writers, experimental musicians, storytellers and true eccentrics. We crashed parties for free beer, crashed the Circus, the only disco in town, and danced crazy. When UGA showed Fellini’s films, Jeremy Ayers hosted a Fellini party where blazing cocktails were served and Felliniesque costumes were required.
We had Parties where we would dance to ‘silent music’ at the secret garden on UGA campus – we’d dance in the cemetery and at John Taylor’s house. Once, out in the cow pasture by my house, we listened to an African tribal music tape on loan from the UGA music library. Ricky Wilson placed his boom box in the field where we drew a circle of cows around us who bobbed their heads to the music while we danced. Everything we did was for ‘art’ and for pure amusement, since we had to make our own fun. Everyone was interesting and we all in the ‘deadbeat club’ had time to listen and cherish the moment and each other. Anyone could join in, as long as they were open to all possibilities. The mantra was, ‘everyone is a genius’ ! Or, as Megan Timberlake famously said, ‘Together we’re a genius’ !
This scene was truly the beginning of many imaginative endeavors, including the birth of the B-52s. This creative atmosphere, born in part from the Art School, and UGA f
twitter favorites: It’s fun to see the “spikes” based on the news. the other day, everyone was looking up flotsam. Thanks, Peter Sokolowski, editor in chief of MW.
Girl Scout Cookie Sales, Record Broken, Oklahoma Girl Scout, People.com: When I saw this on twitter, I immediately wondered if she was from Colorado. But no, she’s from Oklahoma. 🙂
An Oklahoma City girl, who says she asks everyone she meets to buy Girl Scout cookies, has broken the organization’s decades-old sales record by a margin about the size of a Thin Mint.
Katie Francis of Oklahoma City sold 18,107 boxes in the seven-week sales period that ended Sunday night. The previous mark was set by Elizabeth Brinton, who sold approximately 18,000 one year in the 1980s.
The sixth-grade student told The Oklahoman newspaper last month that there were only three ingredients needed to rack up large sales: a lot of time, a lot of commitment and asking everyone she met to buy.
Air France said Wednesday that a plane carrying 495 passengers and 22 crew was diverted on its way from Shanghai to Paris after Russia closed part of its airspace because of the launch of a Russian spacecraft to the International Space Station.
The company said flight AF111 was forced to land in Hamburg, Germany, early Wednesday to refuel because the plane had too little fuel to complete the flight following its unexpected detour.
Hamburg Airport confirmed that the Airbus A380 landed shortly after 6 a.m. (0500 GMT) and was able to take off for Paris again after an hour and a half.
In a statement, Air France said the airspace closure was due to a military exercise. Later company spokeswoman Ulli Gendrot said the airspace closure was a result of the launch of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. The Soyuz booster rocket lifted off as scheduled at 3:17 a.m. local time Wednesday (2117 GMT Tuesday) from the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
2014 Wedding Music Trends and Song Lists, 25 Best Shag/Beach Music Songs for your Party: Enjoy!
The All Around Raleigh DJ Company is based in Raleigh, NC and specializes in DJ’ing for weddings, private parties, corporate events, bar mitzvahs, pool parties and any other event where you need great music!
1. Carolina Girls – General Johnson
2. With this Ring – Platters
3. I Love Beach Music – Embers
4. My Girl – Temptations
5. Sixty Minute Man – Billy Ward
6. Under the Boardwalk – Drifters
7. Miss Grace – Tymes
8. Summertime is Calling Me – Catalinas
9. Myrtle Beach Days – Fantastic Shakers
10. What You Do To Me – Embers
11. Shama Lama Ding Dong – Otis Day and the Knights
12. 39-21-46 – Showmen
13. Some Kind of Wonderful – The Band of Oz
14. Stay – Maurice Williams
15. Cool Me Out – LaMont Dozier
16. Lady Soul – Temptations
17. Dancin’, Shaggin’ on the Boulevard – Alabama
18. Ocean Boulevard – Band of Oz
19. My Guy – Mary Wells
20. You’re More Than a Number in My Little Red Book – Drifters
Dr. Skoot Dimon, RIP, Atlanta, Brookwood Hills: Dr. Dimon was one of the characters in my wonderful childhood in Brookwood Hills. Condolences to his wonderful wife and great family. He made life better for those in his sphere and his healing gift as an orthopedic surgeon blessed many including blessing my father with years of horrible but pain-free golf.
“Skoot Dimon was a world-class orthopedic surgeon, and as fine and loving a person as I have ever known. Those of us fortunate enough to have lived close to him have seen man at his best.” (Mike Brumby, son-in-law)
Claire Johnson, 50, and Mark Gaffey, 51, said it was their guide dogs who fell in love first.
Claire and Mark first met when they brought their dogs to a training class. Their two Labrador Retrievers, Venice and Rodd, got along famously. The trainers commented that the two dogs were besotted with one another. “The trainers said that they were the love and romance of the course, and they brought us together, said Mark.
Claire and Mark discovered they lived only a mile and a half from one another and after their course ended they arranged to meet for coffee. As their coffee dates grew longer and longer, the pair fell in love.
…
“Now we joke that with every guide dog you get a free wife. I love Claire’s personality and her laugh is infectious. We’ve never had an argument, we just seem to click.”
photos, childrens bedrooms: wonderful photos! You will have to look. I loved them!
Millions of people from around the world are currently experiencing very different childhoods. Some are living in abject poverty, lacking basic food and sanitation, while others are more fortunate by being born in a country where those things are guaranteed and usually taken for granted.
When photographer James Mollison was asked to come up with an idea for engaging with children’s rights, he found himself thinking of his bedroom: how significant it was during his childhood, and how it reflected what he had and who he was.
And with that, he made it his mission to create Where Children Sleep – a collection of stories about children from around the world, told through portraits and pictures of their bedrooms.
via ▶ TOO MANY ZOOZ rocks Union Square. – YouTube.
Too Many Zooz, an instrumental group known for playing in New York City’s Union Square subway station, has come out from underground to share their music with the rest of the world.
The above video of the subway performers, which was uploaded to YouTube in January, already has more than 630,000 hits.
White House, Atlanta: I ventured out for my favorite diner for breakfast … the White House. My brother eats here so frequently that they bring him his hot tea as he sits down. The waitress recognized my mom. As we left, she said, “goodbye, mamma.” She loved that!
MLB, Atlanta, Turner Field, urban development: Years ago I read an editorial that asserted that a city was only a real city if it had both an AL and a NL team (i.e., Chicago and New York). Well, this is indeed interesting, but problematic.
If one man gets his way, Turner Field won’t get razed in 2017 after the Atlanta Braves move up to its new Cobb County stadium. Instead, a brand new baseball team – known as, wait for it … the Atlanta Surge – would replace the longtime professional baseball club at the Ted.
The idea for the Surge comes from veteran Atlanta ad exec Mike McDonald, a self-proclaimed lifelong baseball fan, who wants to bring a second Major League Baseball team to metro Atlanta. And he wants the Surge’s slogan to be the following: “Let’s Turner Lemon into Lemonade!”
The AJC’s Tim Tucker, who first reported on the proposal last night, writes from behind the AJC’s paywall:
He has presented the idea to some local politicos and business folks. He has talked to lawyers about how to challenge MLB. He even wrote a letter to the Tampa Bay Rays, asking if they’d be interested in relocating. The Rays haven’t responded and McDonald has decided he’d prefer the fresh start of an expansion team.
[…]
McDonald already has a name in mind for the AL team he seeks: the Atlanta Surge, drawn from the city motto Resurgens (Latin for rising again). He envisions the city and county receiving an equity stake in the team in return for use of the venue, and an investor group operating the team with him. He says MLB should waive an expansion fee as a way to settle the damages of the Braves leaving the city limits.
He expects people to “take shots” at his plan and says that is fine.
McDonald believes that Atlanta and Fulton County are “owed” a team for their longstanding financial and emotional investments into the Braves’ franchise. But it’s unlikely the region will land another ball club. There’s not enough demand, according to one expert. Plus, the Braves have exclusive rights from MLB for all home games played in most of the metro region – which could be problematic.
The Atlanta Braves declined to comment on the prospects of the Surge. But at least Fulton County Commissioner Robb Pitts said the proposal was “a magnificent idea.” That’s a start!
Is History Repeating Itself?, medium, media, clipping services, Time, Buzzfeed, humble beginnings: People often ask me about my blog and I quip, “I clip.” I really use my site for a filing cabinet. I call it a “clipping service” because i remember seeing a picture of the POTUS being given a file of newspaper clippings everyday. I had no idea that this was the term used to describe the humble beginnings of such media giants as Time and Buzzfeed.
Time began as a clipping service in a small office. A group of writers subscribed to a dozen newspapers and summarized the most important stories, rewriting the news in a more digestible format.
BuzzFeed also started as a clipping service in a small office seven years ago. Instead of subscribing to newspapers, we surfed the web (and used technology) to find the most interesting stories and summarized them into a more digestible format. (You can ask Peggy or Scott how it worked in those early days!)
Of course, both Time magazine and BuzzFeed evolved from our respective early days to become much more ambitious. As Time and BuzzFeed emerged from our respective youths, we both expanded into original reporting, commissioned longform features, and built teams of foreign correspondents. In our case, it only took a few years to go from summarizing web trends in our little Chinatown office to reporting from Syria and the Ukraine with local security, body armor, helmets, and satellite phones. And both Time and BuzzFeed grew by creating irresistible lists such as Time’s “100 Most Influential People” and BuzzFeed’s “42 People You Won’t Believe Actually Exist.”
The big breakthrough for Time Inc., the company, came 13 years after the launch of Time, when printing press technology advanced to enable the launch of Life, the pioneering magazine filled with vivid pictures of people and events. It figured out how to cover cheap paper with a glossy coating, making a mass-produced photo magazine economical for the first time and creating a smash hit that enabled aggressive investment in print journalism at Time and photojournalism at Life.
The big breakthrough for BuzzFeed also came after our early clipping service days when smartphones became social and could display vivid pictures and video for the first time. Suddenly our lists, quizzes, and videos could be seen and shared by an audience of billions of connected readers right from their phones. Social and mobile converged, becoming the primary form of distribution for our content. The leverage provided by this massive reach is why we can make aggressive investments in journalism and entertainment. (We are still in the midst of this shift, with mobile, social, and global distribution accelerating faster than ever).
kith/kin, firsts, Atlanta history, 1939 ‘Gone With The Wind’ cast party, On The Market – Curbed Atlanta, Buckhead – Atlanta, irony, Peachtree Heights: I attended my first cocktail party as an adult (i.e. as an invitee, not an appendage to my parents) at this beautiful and elegant home. I was 17 and the host was a college freshman that I was friends with in high school. I remember walking in and thinking that this was what it was like to be an adult. There is a great deal of irony in that. But it was great fun to look at the inside photos and relive a moment of my young adulthood. And I never knew that I was in the venue of the 1939 ‘Gone With The Wind’ cast party. Beautiful and elegant home … great memories. And another thing … I don’t remember knowing that this “neighborhood” was called Peachtree Heights.
Spending $3.25 million in Buckhead would afford you the opportunity to buy this Habersham Road manse, host a kegger and announce to guests, “This is where the 1939 ‘Gone With The Wind’ cast party happened, y’all!” That’s all well and good. But first you’d have to come to terms with the décor, which is fitting for a historic Cooper and Cooper property but is decidedly grandma chic. We haven’t seen this much floral furniture since The Couch-Swing House, another Peachtree Heights estate. Plusses include the mesmerizing spiral staircase and enchanting floral gardens. The home should appeal to well-to-do socialites with AARP Magazine subscriptions, and if history’s any indication, this pad is primed to party.
Davidson Basketball, March Madness 2014, the kenpom.com blog: Let the wild rumpus start!
The Wildcats provided another good example of how confidence derived from scheduling seems to largely be a myth. They went 4-10 in non-conference play, partly due to games against the likes of Duke, Virginia, and Wichita State, and entered the conference schedule on a five-game losing streak. They proceeded to win 15 of 16 conference games, leading the conference in both offensive and defensive efficiency. Just one of those wins was by single-digits and the loss was by two in overtime. In a normal season, this would have been the most dominant performance by a team relative to its league.
Davidson’s only conference loss was to Elon, who was voted the preseason pick to win the league by the SoCon’s head coaches. I think this was in the same way that Charles Barkley was voted MVP in 1993. People were tired of Davidson winning the conference even though they still figured to be the best team. Elon didn’t do poorly, mind you. But an 11-5 record looks disappointing in comparison to the 13-5 record they had two seasons ago.
Eureka! Plans For Olympia ‘To Match Historical Precedent’?!?, Historic Possibilities – Curbed Atlanta, art deco Walgreens, Coca Cola sign, Atlanta downtown: I like it!
Surely it’s a mirage, but at first glance, renderings for a proposed revamp of the Olympia Building downtown appear to contain the phrase “To Match Historical Precedent.” Not just once, but with several aspects of the project. In Atlanta. Seriously. A company called CSH-23 Peachtree LLC scooped up the struggling Olympia for $2.2 million last fall, and renderings dated from January suggest the 1930s building could be slated for a Walgreens Pharmacy. The pharmacy’s name would be etched in art deco lettering on a “new black aluminum canopy marquee to match historical precedent,” the plans suggest. New second-floor windows and a tenant blade sign on the side of the building would also reflect the 1930s aesthetic. Could obeying the historical precedent help to set a new precedent for the future?
blame game, Atlanta Snow Storm, POLITICO Magazine: Interesting history and interesting perspective.
What happened in Atlanta this week is not a matter of Southerners blindsided by unpredictable weather. More than any event I’ve witnessed in two decades of living in and writing about this city, this snowstorm underscores the horrible history of suburban sprawl in the United States and the bad political decisions that drive it. It tells us something not just about what’s wrong with one city in America today but what can happen when disaster strikes many places across the country. As with famines in foreign lands, it’s important to understand: It’s not an act of nature or God—this fiasco is manmade from start to finish. But to truly get what’s wrong with Atlanta today, you have to look at these four factors, decades in the making.
…
4. Metro voters rejected transit relief in a 2012 referendum.
In a rare showing of regional allegiance, local leaders supported a referendum on a special tax for transportation improvement, known as T-SPLOST, in July 2012. But voters, suspicious of the government’s ability to carry out the plans, rejected T-SPLOST resoundingly.
Christopher Leinberger of the Brookings Institution, who has studied Atlanta congestion and development for three decades, wrote in his 2013 report “The Walk-Up Wake-Up Call: Atlanta”:
“Given that Atlanta’s primary reason for economic success over the past 175 years has been as the transportation hub of the Southeast U.S., this lack of investment is disappointing. It is as if the reason for the region’s very existence, transportation, has been forgotten. The overwhelming loss of the July 2012 transportation ballot measure is just the latest example of turning a blind eye to the reason for Atlanta’s economic success.”
And that brings us back to Atlanta’s present snowbound state. There was no coordination around school closings, because there are more than two-dozen city and county school systems in “Atlanta.” There was little coordination between highway clearance and service to city streets because “Atlanta” is comprised of dozens of municipalities connected by state and federal highway systems. In one of the most surreal episodes today, Charley English, the head of the Georgia Emergency Management Association, asserted that gridlock wasn’t severe around 3 and 4 p.m. Tuesday, never mind that traffic maps glared red and motorists had already been sitting on freeways for hours at that time. Mayor Reed claimed that the city had done its part getting motorists out of downtown Atlanta, and that getting them the rest of the way home was up to the state. Gov. Nathan Deal, who outrageously called the storm “unexpected,” never mind weather reports warning of the snowfall, at his morning press conference of the relief that will come with a thaw. An act of God might have triggered the fiasco, but wishing for another one to bring it to an end is hardly leadership.
As a Walking Dead fan, I appreciate all those jokes on social media, but as an Atlantan, I’m concerned that this storm revealed just how unprepared we are in case of real disaster. If Atlanta, the region, wants to get serious about public safety, its mayors, county officials, and state officials will need to start practicing regionalism instead of paying lip service to it. And whether threatened by a dangerous pandemic, a major catastrophe, or just two inches of snow, we need to have ways to get around—and out of—the city other than by car.
Reflections, TSPLOST, House Majority Leader Edward Lindsey: As I said, this is personal. Even though I have spent my adult life away from Atlanta and Georgia, I will always call it home. Even more so I have “skin in the game.” My brother is an elected official from Atlanta. I immediately researched his position on the failed TSPLOST referenced above. I knew Edward to have a regional view about Atlanta and this post confirms it. Proud that he is on the side of solving problems.
Must keep focus on fixing traffic congestion
By Edward Lindsey
Many of us supported the T-SPLOST, but tens of thousands more opposed it. Nevertheless, our transportation problems have not and will not magically disappear, and most people on both sides of the July 31 vote understand this reality and the seriousness of the crisis we face.
Urban areas – even historically great ones like metro Atlanta – are perpetually either in a period of growth and greater prosperity or steady decline. There is no standing still. We either attack our problems head-on and make a better future for ourselves and our children today, or we sit back and watch our past successes slip away into the history books.
Metro Atlanta commuters have one of the worst commutes in the nation. This translates into more time in our cars and less time for work, home and play. It also wastes on average in fuel for each of us over $900 per year sitting in traffic. Atlanta is ranked 91st out of 100 among major metro regions for access to transit. Major business prospects rank our transportation difficulties as one of their major concerns about relocating here, and our inability to address this problem will only further aggravate their concerns.
Make no mistake, we are not spendthrifts in Georgia. We rank 49th in the nation in overall per capita state spending, and have one of the lowest overall state government tax rates in the country (45th). Over the past four years, we have further reduced our state spending by billions of dollars since the beginning of the Great Recession. These facts demonstrate our fiscal conservatism and are responsible for us having a very rare AAA state bond rating (higher than the federal government’s). Nevertheless, we must understand that while government cannot and should not ever be involved in everything, transportation — along with education and public safety — is an area where government needs to roll up its sleeves and get it right.
Therefore, there is no time to mourn or celebrate about what happened on July 31st regardless of which side you were on. Both sides now need to focus on where we go from here.
Elected officials need to hear from you and other metro residents. So start communicating. Today is for you to talk and for policymakers like me to listen. How do we overcome the extreme mistrust that divides us and come together to fix this traffic noose around our necks?
You and I must answer this question and start moving forward again together. I look forward to your suggestions.
State Rep. Edward Lindsey, R-Atlanta, is Georgia House Majority Whip.
silver linings, Atlanta’s Snowpocalypse 2014, SnowedOutAtlanta: I have friends who live near I75 who opened their homes.
For those stunned by the fact that “two inches of snow shut down Atlanta,” here’s an explanation: Schools and businesses, which normally close at the mere threat of snow, remained open until the first flakes began falling around noon, at which point everything shut down at once. Thousands upon thousands of drivers flooded the highways (Atlanta’s public transit is…inadequate to say the least) at the same time, trying to pick up kids from school or get home from work. The gridlock prevented salt trucks and plows from accessing the roads. The snow turned to ice. Vehicles were unable to get up hills due to the ice. Hundreds of accidents blocked lanes, worsening gridlock. Hours later, cars began running out of gas. It was a horrible ripple effect. These traffic maps, provided by Twitter user @a23kiki23 (Kevin O) show just how quickly things got out of hand. Twitter: @a23kiki23 / Via Twitter: @a23kiki23
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SnowedOutAtlanta
Then something amazing happened… More than 46,900 Atlantans (and counting) joined the Facebook group SnowedOutAtlanta, which was created to provide info and resources to those who needed help. A map was created so that people could add their homes and show where stranded motorists could get shelter and supplies. Via Facebook: 397839673695382
shelter in place, Shelter from the storm, E. Rivers Elementary School, Atlanta, APS: This was my 1-7 school.
Ninety-four students and 31 adults — mostly teachers along with a few bus drivers and parents — hunkered down for the night.
“Our beautiful little snow flurries at 12, 12:30 turned into a fast-moving snow incident and we ended up having a lot of our kids that are bus riders and car riders stuck here at school with us,” he said. “We had a snowcation. A little, mini snow vacation overnight.”
The kids watched “Free Willy” while munching popcorn, ate pizza for dinner in the cafeteria and had a paper airplane-making contest. After breakfast Wednesday morning, they did something Georgia kids don’t usually get to enjoy — a snowball fight.
“One of my students said, ‘Mr. Rogers, it’s like a party.’ Yeah, it’s like a big slumber party,” Rogers, 41, said Wednesday morning as 61 students were still at school.
“We’ve been having a good time,” said an exhausted Rogers, principal of the 670-student school for the last four-and-a-half years.
The kids spent the night on tumbling mats in the gym, using coats and even tablecloths as blankets. “I was using my dress coat,” Rogers said. “We were using anything and everything we can find.”
Lindsay Treharne
“My teachers are the rock stars of this whole event,” said E. Rivers Elementary Principal Matt Rogers, pictured here with teacher Lindsay Treharne, as they both spent the night at school with their students stranded by the snowstorm.
After dinner, the kids finished the movie and most fell asleep by 10 p.m. Rogers said. “By that time, kids were tired and they crashed,” he said.
School officials fielded phone calls from parents all evening, and let kids call home whenever they wanted to.
A few of the youngest students were upset, likely never having spent the night away from home before, Rogers said.
“We probably had about three to four kids that were crying, so we got them up here (in the office), and they talked to their parents,” Rogers said. Some of the kids’ teachers were at school, “so they felt safe.”
“We were hugging a lot of kids and letting them know that this was an adventure they would never forget,” said fifth grade teacher Lindsay Treharne, who manned the phones most of the night.
While the kids managed to get some sleep, most of the teachers and other adults did not.
“My teachers are the rock stars of this whole event,” Rogers said. “They’ve been answering phones. They have been entertaining the kids. They’ve been playing with the kids, putting blankets on the kids.
If I could choose a perfect birthday, it would include any combination of the following: time with or hearing from friends and family, snow, early daffodils outside and perfect timing for my forced paperwhites inside (I also love London for my birthday! :))
I am blessed to have some glorious combination every year, and this year has been no exception. Thank you, family and friends, for making my day perfect!!
So as I went to sleep yesterday, this was my last thought … I can’t wait to check outside tomorrow. It will be magical.
So I had the chance to check at 4:50 am. Thank you Old Dogs! And the report … It was a wee bit icy, actually more ice than snow. So after a few minutes … we all agreed: we would be happier in bed.
A Gift From Above/Wrapped in White, snow day = Sabbath Day, Be Still, washingtonpost.com:
One of the first things I discovered on this snow day!
What a nice way to look at the the world this morning.
Snow days are our Sabbath days. They bring with them a commandment to pause, to curl up by a fire, stay in your pajamas or go outside and catch a snowflake and marvel at its tiny beauty. Or do nothing.
Snow Sabbath days are the kind of days when your mother can actually catch you on your home phone and ask, “Hey, can you talk? What are you doing?”
“And you say, ‘I’m doing nothing’ ” — this time, without exasperation. “How are you, mama? I have nothing to do, so tell me about every single thing that is happening at home.”
And she does.
And you listen as you look out the window and the snow is falling. And you have all the time in the world because the snow has given you permission to have nowhere to go.
Snow days are our Sabbath days. They remind you of the note you came across lying in the snow in Connecticut. The plain paper held down by a single, cold stone beckoned you to go inside the college chapel because, as the note promised, it was the most quiet place in the world. And you went inside because you had a few minutes before you had to rush to catch an airplane. And the silence inside was so thick it commanded you to “Be still.”
And you did.
And the snow, this snow in Washington, reminds you that we have been too much in a hurry, pulled along by our collars, stressing, trying to make the clock slow down, beat the light, “making more and more money, but not getting any peace,” as a friend’s grandmother in Louisiana said. “More and more money and ain’t getting no peace.”
The snow is a bookmark in a loud world. Ordering respite, quiet, poetry.
kith/kin, coffee, cities, urban planning, via Discovering Urbanism, City: Rediscovering the Center, William Whyte: Great discussion about cities at coffee this morning with wonderful friends. Thanks for the birthday coffee. I think I did read some of his stuff in the 80’s. I would love to have the syllabus for my 1981 economics seminar on urban planning.
Discovering Urbanism: City: Rediscovering the Center
Great discussion about cities at coffee this morning with some very old friends, Davidson friends. Thanks for the birthday coffee. I think I did read some of his stuff in the 80’s. I would love to have the syllabus for my 1981 economics seminar on urban planning.
William Whyte was the foremost empiricist of cities in the 20th century. He sought to turn the planning and design process on its head – to start with detailed observations of how the smallest scale of an urban place is used by people and work outward from there, designing places and writing codes accordingly. City: Rediscovering the Center begins with lessons drawn from sixteen years of meticulously recording plazas, streets, small parks, and marketplaces with time-lapse video and scientifically parsing out the patterns of behavior. Once the basic observations of human nature have been identified, he launches into an evaluation of the health of downtowns in their entirety.
What jumps out right away from Whyte’s study is the attention he pays to the most basic human needs. How does the provision of food impact the life of a place? Where do people use the bathroom? How can one find light on a cool day and shade on a sunny day? In other words, he doesn\’t travel very far up Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which I find to be a refreshingly humble and practical disposition toward the power of physical space in our lives. He never reaches for transcendence by design; that’s reserved for what happens in these places.
This leads to Whyte’s most important insight of all, one that really underscores each chapter of the book, that is: people want to be around other people. We are inherently social beings. As simple as this insight seems, it actually ran head on against the prevailing notion in planning at the time that people want as much space for themselves as possible. Whyte noticed that not only did friends clump together when sitting in a plaza, but even strangers tended to take seats in reasonable proximity to each other rather than evenly disperse themselves throughout the space. Well-used places were safer, both in perception and reality. People who stopped for conversation on sidewalks would typically not step out of the way, preferring to be in the center of movement. Parks and sidewalks that were outsized for their activity tended to swallow up its life and repel visitors. People like to be crowded, but not too much.
southern winter storms, 2 Inches=traffic nightmare, Atlanta, Atlantic Mobile: Amazing events in Atlanta …
How much money do you set aside for snowstorms when they’re as infrequent as they are? Who will run the show—the city, the county, or the state? How will preparedness work? You could train everyone today, and then if the next storm hits in 2020, everyone you’ve trained might have moved on to different jobs, with Atlanta having a new mayor and Georgia having a new governor.
Regionalism here is hard. The population of this state has doubled in the past 40-45 years, and many of the older voters who control it still think of it as the way it was when they were growing up. The urban core of Atlanta is a minority participant in a state government controlled by rural and northern Atlanta exurban interests. The state government gives MARTA (Atlanta’s heavy rail transportation system) no money. There’s tough regional and racial history here which is both shameful and a part of the inheritance we all have by being a part of this region. Demographics are evolving quickly, but government moves more slowly. The city in which I live, Brookhaven, was incorporated in 2012. This is its first-ever snowstorm (again, 2 inches). It’s a fairly affluent, mostly white, urban small city. We were unprepared too.
The issue is that you have three layers of government—city, county, state—and none of them really trust the other. And why should they? Cobb County just “stole the Braves” from the city of Atlanta. Why would Atlanta cede transportation authority to a regional body when its history in dealing with the region/state has been to carve up Atlanta with highways and never embrace its transit system? Why would the region/state want to give more authority to Atlanta when many of the people in the region want nothing to do with the city of Atlanta unless it involves getting to work or a Braves game?
The region tried, in a very tough economy and political year (2012), to pass a comprehensive transportation bill, a T-SPLOST, funded by a sales tax. It wasn’t perfect, but it was an attempt to do something. The Sierra Club opposed it because it didn’t feature enough transit. The NAACP opposed it because it didn’t have enough contracts for minority businesses. The tea party opposed it because it was a tax. That’s politics in the 2010’s. You may snicker, but how good a job has any major city done with big transportation projects over the past 30 years?
Emergency Update: APS will ‘shelter in place’ for the remainder of evening 1/28/14: Just curious: Has this ever happened before?
January 28, 2014 at 11:03 pm Leave a comment
Atlanta Public Schools has called an emergency “shelter in place” for all students and staff who remain in schools due to inclement weather and adverse road conditions. We will continue to transport students who are already enroute on buses, and parents will still be permitted to pick up students. For students who are sheltered in our schools, we will ensure proper security, supervision, and food. District leadership will continue to monitor the weather to provide additional updates as they become available.
The district is contacting all parents of students impacted by this decision.
Solvitur ambulando, The Christian Century: Great article …
It is hard to walk toward some things. We may have dangerous things to face in life: illness, divorce, dementia, death, tragedy of all sorts. We also have wonderful things to face: birth, marriage, graduation, new jobs, new starts. Life after illness; life after divorce. The good news is that we do not walk alone. We have each other: family, friends, coworkers, doctors, therapists, classmates, neighbors. And most of all. we have Jesus—who has already been wherever we are going, and who will walk with us. Solvitur ambulando.
Artist Simon Beck, intricate snow art: It is created by walking … for miles!
It’s possible you’ve never heard of Simon Beck, but after today, you won’t be able to forget him or his wintry works of art. Simon is an artist and is most well-known for making incredibly delicate and detailed art in the snow, just by walking over a fresh snowfall. He literally walks miles in the snow to create these pieces. And the part that blows our minds? He could spend hours upon hours creating one design, just to have it be covered by snowfall or blown away by the next day. But he still makes them.
Simon walks over layers of fresh snow in special shoes to create his mind-boggling art.
Due to inclement weather and heavy traffic on my street, (see photo) I’m closing the studio early and headed downstairs. Please go back home to your families. There’s not enough hot chocolate for everybody.
lavender labyrinth, Mt. Shasta: And I will close with this … one of my favorite birthday greetings! … sending love and lavender from Mt. Shasta …
Driving Mama Lindsay …
I took my mom on another of our car rides. We went to visit my parents’ first house. My parents lived in four places in Atlanta: an apartment on the corner of Peachtree and Muscogee, an apartment on Collier near Peachtree, which is now parking lot for Piedmont Hospital, this house on Burke Road, and the house on Brighton Road in Brookwood Hills (40 years).
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