Tag Archives: history

Paris – day one and a trip to the country

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It’s Monday and I am in Amsterdam. We were in France a week ago celebrating the 14th of July Fete National with a flyover in the morning and fireworks in the late evening.

The flyover screams past us marking the first of 39 planes

After the flyover, we  rented a car and drove to the countryside.

Reminiscent of Monet’s haystacks…the countryside was beautiful

When my wife visited my parents in France in ‘97, my father and Juliana rented a car and took us to country. We visited Normandy our first weekend and then they took us to the Champagne region just northeast of Paris. It’s was a short drive of about an hour and half, just past the recently opened EuroDisney.  My dad took us to the Aisle-Marne American Cemetery near Chateau-Thierry.

Fifteen years ago we took dad back. Day 19: Father’s Day comes Early.

Juliana and dad were very much in love. It’s easy to see, looking back as I grieve. She took dad’s death hard and I am not sure she ever got over it. When we released dad’s cremains in 2010, she saved some and kept it close. We discovered it when we packed up their home and sold their house in Oxford, Mississippi a few years ago.

We saved it for the time we would disperse Juliana’s ashes. Last Saturday, we reunited Juliana and dad when we dispersed her cremains according to her wishes in the Mumbles in Wales and we reserved a small portion of Juliana’s cremains to take to where dad was in France.

So Monday morning my wife and I took off. It was a relaxing drive after we escaped the Parisian traffic and my wife remarked that we chose a good day as many people were off the streets because of the holiday.

We exited the highway where Maps told us to and switched to two lane roads through farms and small towns which were the battlefield in World War I. The battle line was very close to the French capital and the French army gave up a stiff fight to stop the advancing German army after the Germans invaded France to begin WWI. The battle lines remained for most of the war from September 1914 until the spring of 1918. The Americans joined the war the year before, but were not prepared to join the fight until 1918.

The first major battles for the American forces were in the region. In the late spring of ‘18 the Germans mounted an offensive which came close to breaking the lines had it not been for the marines and American forces fighting back. It is in this battle that the Germans nicknamed the marines “Devil Dogs” for their ferocity and steadfastness in holding the line and it stuck.

The entrance to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery
The Marine Memorial in Belleau Wood
The woods where we dispersed dad fifteen years before on the edge at the memorial.

My dad served in the Marine Corps for three years – 1953-56. He was fortunate to never see combat and served the entire time stateside.  I believe that is why he wished to have his cremains spread here.

My wife and I walked around and I showed her where I remembered where dad was and then I walked out into the woods and re-united the two. I dropped a pin with my iPhone and shared it with my brothers in hopes that one day one of us or all of us will get back here.

We got in the car and drove to the the cemetery, but our afternoon took a turn when my wife suggested we take a right at the church and we drove down a narrow lane to discover a small American Museum and the Devil Dogs Fountain. Click the link to learn more – Why United States Marines Drink from a Fountain in France.

It was a wonderful side trip.

On the train ride from Paris to Amsterdam I worked on the video below, I think it tells the story well. Please take a moment to watch. Thank you.

I signed the guest register and walked among the headstones. I took four photos of fallen Americans. There are 2,294 more, 250 of them still unknown.

It was peaceful in the country. I believe my dad and Juliana are at peace. I know I am.

My wife and I drove to Chateau-Thierry hoping to find a cafe or restaurant to find a bite to eat but were disappointed to find the town closed for business due to the holiday.

It was a wonderful day and it certainly counted. Today is going to be an amazing day, too. But I have to jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, remembering my parents and all they taught me. 

 What is one thing your parents taught you?

 

Say their names….

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It’s Monday, Nine-eleven.

Every year, I go back to my seventh-grade geography class when I first learned of the horror of that morning. It was son’s first day of school of school and his excitement was dashed when he saw his mother, my wife, standing television set crying as she watched the news unfold that Tuesday morning twenty-two years ago. She comforted him when he asked,

“Why are you crying momma” he asked.

She collected herself and replied,

“It’s just bad news.” She replied.

It was bad news and we have come together and moved forward since that awful day.

a replica of the fifteen star, fifteen stripe flag which flew over Fort McHenry on September 13, 1814.

I am reminded of the names on this day, some two thousand nine hundred seventy-five men, women, and children who perished that morning.

This summer I stumbled across the 9/11 Memorial of Maryland in downtown Baltimore. Earlier in the day I had visited Fort McHenry and seen a replica of the flag which had flown the night the British bombarded the fort. It had fifteen stripes and fifteen stars. The memorial moved me to create a movie of me reading each the victim’s names.

Todd Beamer, LeRoy Homer, Wanda Anita Greene, and Honor Elizabeth Wayne

I am inspired by the events of that morning and fellow bloggers Beth at I Didn’t have My Glasses and Mary at Wilderness of Words who encouraged me to say their names.

It is Monday, the first day of a new week. It’s raining for the first time in weeks, and it is going to be an amazing day. I know it and I. can feel it, so I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, saying their names, so we never forget.

Is there a name you remember from that day?  

W^2 – anthem (renamed)

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W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, August 9, 2023

It is Wednesday, and I am in Baltimore for another baseball trip. This city and ballpark make 25 of 30. I have one last trip before school starts in less than two weeks.

These baseball trips have been more than baseball. Each stop has been an adventure full of curiosity, history, learning and growth, and excitement. Sometimes it is planned, but most times it simply happens.

the Star-Spangled Banner, Fort McHenry Baltimore, Maryland August 8, 2023 2:14 PM

Yesterday, I arrived my flight from Chicago arrived late morning. I had planned to visit Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine before checking in to my hotel. Fort McHenry guards, or guarded, Baltimore Harbor in 1814 during the War of 1812. The British had planned to invade and take over Baltimore in September 1814. The War of 1812 was started by the fledgling United States who was losing the war to the might British Empire. Only weeks before, in August, the British had routed the Americans in Washington, D. C. and burned the White House.

But the British attack on Baltimore is the unravelling of the British advantage and the strengthening of American resolve. In battle it isn’t always might and strength which decides the outcome of a conflict. Sometimes it’s an idea.

During the British bombardment of Fort McHenry an American, Francis Scott Key, watched the battle from a ship in Baltimore harbor. When morning came, he looked across the harbor to see the fort and he saw the American flag flying through the ‘dawns early light.’ He retreated to his sea cabin and penned a poem which spread like wildfire across the young American nation.

In 1931, the United States adopted this poem as its national anthem. We know the poem as “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight
O’er the ramparts we watch’d were so gallantly streaming?

The poem was four stanzas, and we sing only the first. Last night before the baseball game the crowd rose and sang the song proudly.

Today is going to be an amazing day, it just might be a million and six times better than yesterday although Tuesday night’s ballgame was the best baseball game, I’ve seen this season. Who knows? So, I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Making the days Count, one day at a time, exploring, learning, and being curious.

What adventure are you off to today?

POST PUBLICATION NOTE: I decided to change the post’s name, from O’ say can you see to anthem.

W^2 – bite

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W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, July 19, 2023

It is Wednesday, again. I am in Denver, Colorado for another baseball game. Last night’s game didn’t turn out well for my team, but they play 162 games in a season for a reason.

I arrived yesterday morning and had a full day planned, capped with walking to and from the ballpark.

goofing around at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Denver, Colorado July 18, 2023 10:51 MDT

My plan was to visit the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, lunch with a blogger, then the game. Sometimes things don’t go your way or lot of other people have the same idea. It turned out that I was not the only person who wanted to get a jump start on their day and when I arrived at the car rental facility I was well back in the line. The line moved smoothly and did get my car, but I was more than an hour behind schedule. Continue reading W^2 – bite →

twenty-one years later

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Twenty-one years ago, this morning, I was welcoming my seventh graders into my geography classroom. It was early in the year in the year, and we were building routines and learning. I was learning their names and faces and the lesson for the day was the water cycle.

The water cycle courtesy of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

I don’t remember the first two classes, but I do remember when a counselor came into the classroom towards the end of the second class, about 9:20 AM or so. She waited until the class ended, the third period class had entered, and settled and until after the bell had rung and then she made the announcement that earlier in the morning America had been attacked. Her message was scripted and every classroom in our school go the same message at the same time.

I don’t remember the exact text of the message, but I can close my eyes and go back to room B111 on September 11, 2001 and picture the layout of the room on that morning.

On nine-eleven two thousand one, I was 39 and my students were 12.

This past spring, I began volunteering regularly at Loaves and Fishes on Thursday after school. I had been volunteering on Saturdays since early 2020, but I decided to add a new day. Soon, I had been asked to be the lead volunteer for my part of the operation on Thursday afternoon. Loaves and Fishes is a wonderful place, and I am thankful to be part of an organization that helps people in need, especially when the cost of groceries and gasoline have increased significantly. I have also discovered a community of people who care about others, and I have met several parents of former students who volunteer for the organization. It’s a small world.

It was the last day of school and summer had begun when I walked into the market at Loaves and Fishes for my Thursday afternoon shift.

I saw Michelle and we greeted each other, and she shared a story with me. It went something like this:

Michelle – you teach at Scullen, right?
Me – yes, I do.
Michelle – Do remember Judy? She was the nurse.
Me – Yes, I remember Judy and I remember having her son Joey in class. It’s been a log time.
Michelle – I was at a going away party last weekend for Judy. She’s retired and moving to Wisconsin, and I mentioned I had me you at Loaves and Fishes. She remembered you and we were talking, and Allison overheard us and joined our conversation, do remember her?
Me – yes, I do. I do remember that name – it was our first year at the school and we were all new.
Michelle – well, she remembers you.
Me – WOW. Really? I remember her, too. I hadn’t thought about that name since she was in my class. That’s a long time ago.
Michelle – yes, it was and she does. She told the two of us that every year on 9/11, she remembers being in your class and being scared and that you were calm and reassured her and the class that everything would be okay.
Me – WOW (and at this point I am beginning to tear up)
Michelle – Ally’s married and has two kids and lives in the area.
Me – We all grow up, thank you for telling me this.

That’s how I remember our conversation and it’s stuck with me since.

This summer I started my baseball trip in New York City. The first game was Sunday at Yankee Stadium and after the game I drove to Washington, D. C. for another game. I returned Tuesday for third game and the possibility of visiting the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum. Unfortunately, the museum was closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at the time I was in New York City. But I figured I could at least visit the Memorial before I left for my Philadelphia and game four.

Tuesday night I set alarm for early Wednesday morning, before sunrise. My plan was to walk to the memorial which was less than a mile away from my hotel. It was early morning twilight, and I was surrounded by tall buildings blocking much of the light. New York City was beginning to waken, even though I suspect the city never sleeps, it’s always moving. Cars, buses, and trucks were beginning start the day and few people were walking with me. Some going to work and other heading home.

I passed a church that was refuge on 9/11 and the days after as people sought comfort. Continue reading twenty-one years later →

summer learning

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The sound of rain woke me this morning at 5:35 AM and the thought I’d forgotten to roll up my windows got me out of bed. Any other summer morning, I might have gotten up, gone to the bathroom, and crawled back beneath the covers, but not this morning. I pulled on a pair of shorts, grabbed my car keys, and walked out to my car to confirm that I had forgotten to roll up my windows.

me and the bridge, right out of the car

I not sure the term ‘roll up the windows’ applies any longer. The last car I had that had manual windows was the 1971 VW Beetle or it could have been the 1985 Jetta, but it has been a long time since I have rolled up the window with a hand crank. I did remember to bring the key and I had to start the car before I could get the windows closed. I am glad I woke when I did, it continues to gently rain as I begin to write a couple of hours later.

Maybe next time, I’ll remember to close my windows or at least check them, when I know rain is in the forecast. After all, last night we covered the boats, closed the shack door, and put away summer things in anticipation of the rain this morning. It is something we learned under grandpa years ago. It’s summer learning, but it could be said that ‘some’re learning’ which is how ‘some are learning’ sounds if you aren’t listening to the context.

School restarts for me, a week from tomorrow. I am excited to get back to school and try somethings I learned this summer and continue to practice what I’ve learned about teaching kids in the past twenty-three years. The first three days of school are filled with meetings, time to plan, and time to get the room ready for the kids who join us on Thursday, August 18.

A couple of friends joined us this past Wednesday and as always, we enjoyed their visit. They are the same couple who we vacationed with this past spring in the Keys. They are also the same couple we drove home with after BOTH of our flights home were cancelled on Saturday, April 2. All four of us sharing driving time through Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and southeastern Indiana where their son was able to meet them and take them to their home in southwestern Ohio.

Thursday morning, we decided on a visit to Mackinac. It’s pronounced – mack-in-naw and it is Ojibwa word for ‘turtle’ and refers to the island which dominates the strait between the upper and lower peninsula.

the mighty Mack

We could not have chosen a better day for our trip; clear blue skies with puffy clouds drifting across the horizon and comfortable temperatures.

We arrived at Colonial Michilimackinac Historic State Park and it was good to stretch our legs even after the short drive of 85 miles; nothing like our journey in April when we stopped only to switch drivers, refuel, and….. Continue reading summer learning →

W^2 – Reading FC

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W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, December 8, 2021

Cleaning out an attic and what do I find? A Reading FC mug. Oxford, MS December 3, 2021, 5:59 PM

It’s been almost two years since my stepmother has lived in her home in Oxford, Mississippi and we are (finally) beginning the process of emptying the home, saving the special things, discarding those things that aren’t and finding new homes for many of the things we can’t keep. It’s a process and there’s a lot to go through, but we are making headway.

She and my dad lived in Reading, England for several years in the late 70s and early 80s. I remember visiting several times and spending Christmas and New Year of 1978 with them. There are lots of memories in this cup.

Like so many things in life, there more to this story. A connection from the late 70s to the present day and possibly well into the future. It’s gonna be a great day, but first I must press publish and get to school. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, digging up the past and illuminating the present.

What is something that you pulled out that brought back a strong memory? Please share.

Days of Summer: Week 6 – fluid

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It’s Wednesday again, somehow that happens with quite a bit of regularity and without prompting. Wednesday follows Tuesday and precedes Thursday, always.

It’s early in the morning and my coffee has yet to take full effect, but it seems as if the past week has been fluid, but when I look back at the daily Instagram photographs, there were distinct events, moments which mattered.

the White Sox were better than my Astros – the score was 10-1. We got clobbered

The back yard is in full bloom. My wife’s planning and hard work are evident. My role is garden assistant and enjoyer. Nature has cooperated by providing ample sunshine and rain.

The backyard birds continue to visit the feeders. and I continue to refill them. The squirrels and bunnies continue to tease and taunt (mostly the squirrels) Fern and Ivy. Continue reading Days of Summer: Week 6 – fluid →

Three things for the FIRST day of summer

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It’s Saturday morning, the first day of summer, and for the moment it’s not raining – though rain is in the forecast. Three things to celebrate.

Saturday morning used to be my ‘go to’ writing time, but for the past year I have been letting it slip by filled with other tasks. I have been occupied with other things and Word Press stopped its Weekly Photo Challenge. I went back in time to check out my last WP Photo Challenge posted exactly a year ago tomorrow. All-time Favorites… a photo challenge.

Motivation
It’s the first day of summer according to meteorologists. Meteorologists, or weathermen, consider summer to be June, July, and August. Of course, some of us believe summer won’t officially start until the solstice, or in my case until school is out. And there are the folks who hold fast to the idea that summer begins with Memorial Day and ends with Labor Day. But however, you define it, it’s summer.

The school year is a little longer this year. We had five days added to our calendar; two days for snow, two days for extreme cold, and another day was added to school calendar for Good Friday – somehow the Good Friday was overlooked when the calendar was adopted last year. Nevertheless, school is out next Friday for me and next Thursday for my eighth graders.

Every year about his time I look back to where I was in August when the school year began and reflect on the successes and failures of the school year. It’s where the blog began and this post marks the first post of my tenth year at MakingtheDaysCount.org.

As I look back at the year of 2019-19 and the 2009-10 – the two years have much in common. I used that first summer of blogging to practice writing and process the previous year. It was an exciting to write and I began to read and explore other blogs. I hope to reignite that writing passion this summer.

In with the new….
But, not out with the old. Nine years ago, we had adopted a puppy. That puppy is now a dog and she is the best dog ever. Ivy has woven herself in to the fabric of our family.

Ivy as a puppy – four months old. June 2010

Two weeks ago, we added Fern.

Continue reading Three things for the FIRST day of summer →

All-time Favorites… a photo challenge.

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I’ve been blogging for eight years now. That’s a long time and much has happened in my life since I sat down to write that very first post the Saturday morning after school let loose in 2010. That happens to all of us.

I’ve been inactive on the blogosphere for quite a while. 64 days… my longest stint of inactivity, ever. I had attempted several Weekly Photo Challenges and I started writing a couple of other posts, but didn’t finish them and when I had time to complete them, they were no longer relevant or the original idea had escaped me. The photo below was a for a post which did not make it……by the way, I love clouds.

thunderstorm clouds over Saginaw, MI as seen from Grayling, MI over 80 miles away. Incredible.

A couple of weeks ago I had lunch with a couple of high school classmates and they asked me about my absence and I explained I had just been busy, very busy. Family, school, and me. Sometimes in a different order. They urged me to write again and I said I would.

So, I was surprised to read that this week’s photo challenge is the last.

Yesterday morning I poured over previous weekly photo challenges going back to the very first post in April 2014. I remember that first photo challenge post well and I recall writing many of the posts and can recall where I was sitting while I worked. Memory is a remarkable gift. Along the way, I’ve met some remarkable bloggers and I began following many new folks seeing new things and new places. I’ll miss that……. Continue reading All-time Favorites… a photo challenge. →