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Around the House Family Rambling Thoughts

Hurricane Day Two

By Friday (Sept. 14) the storm was moving slowly on to shore. The eye would pass over Wilmington and move south of us. The wind shifted to the east and a few more trees fell, but for the most part it was just heavy rain now. So far our house had been spared.

House During the Hurricane
View of the house during day two of the hurricane.

Unfortunately later that afternoon the rain had soften the ground enough that when a big gust came through it knocked over our willow tree in the back yard.

Willow Tree
Our favorite willow tree was knocked over by the Hurricane
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Rambling Thoughts

The Leaning Tree of Campbell Street

A pine tree in our neighbor’s yard has been leaning at a precarious angle for many years. With the storm coming in from the east (and winds from the north), we figured it was very likely that the tree would finally fall. I took a “before” picture in case that happened.

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Rambling Thoughts

Pork and Beans

The family is at a lake-side childrens camp this weekend. I’m one of the cooks, and getting started with traditional southern camp food.

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Rambling Thoughts

Goodbye Escape

This December my Ford Escape finally got to the point where it was time to replace it. It had broken down one Sunday morning on the way to church and it was going to be expensive to fix.

A few weeks later it was hauled away.

It was a great vehicle and lasted well. I think we had put about 205,000 miles on it.

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Rambling Thoughts

Dance Recital Location

Dance Recital Location

The girls had the final dance recital for the year at the Brunswick Community College campus.

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Rambling Thoughts

Virgina Sunset

Virgina Sunset

Evening in Williamsburg.

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Rambling Thoughts

School Outside

The weather was just perfect for doing science out side. Everything was done under the watchful eye of the substitute teacher. She kept everything under control with a twitch of her tail!

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The Cat is Watching
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Rambling Thoughts Travel

Sunday in Philly

This morning I went to Tenth Presbyterian church for the 9:00 worship service. I enjoyed it a lot, though singing every song to the accompaniment of an organ would take some getting used to.

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On the way back I walked through Philadelphia City Hall. It’s unlike any city hall I’ve seen before. Not only is it a historic building, it’s really neat to walk though. The central courtyard gathers a lot of interest when it’s open, I can understand why.

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The rest of the morning was taken up with sessions at the Ellucian conference. The co-owner of Life is Good t-shirt company was the motivational speaker this time. I didn’t know what to expect, but he did a good job. I like his point about having a “get to” attitude rather than “have to” when thinking about the demands of every day life. Some people don’t “get to” walk, for example.

This afternoon I took a walk down to 20th street to take some pictures of the SEPTA metro line coming into the city center. On the way I stopped to take a picture of a Jewish memorial.

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The railroad was busy. Three or four trains passed by as I walked down the sidewalk. This one was coming out from underground.

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As it went over the river bridge, another one, going faster, overtook it and they headed together to the next station.

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From my spot on the bridge I had a good view back into downtown. I don’t know what all the buildings are, but some have a unique look.

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When I reached the river, another train passed by, heading to the tunnel. After taking this shot I realized it was time to turn back if I was going to make my Skype date tonight.

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You can see more photos on flickr.

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Rambling Thoughts

French Parenting

I was reading a blog (kisrael.com) last week and came across a link to a Wall Street Journal article on parenting. Titled Why French Parents are Superior, it actually hits on good parenting in general. It seems the French have not completely lost their understanding of what is good parenting unlike most parents in the USA.

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Around the House Rambling Thoughts

Forest Fire

This summer started with a forest fire near our area. The blaze in the Holly Shelter Game Land area was started recently from a lightning strike and has been burning mostly uncontrolled until this past weekend. On the way home today I noticed that the smoke plume had become very pronounced instead of just looking like just a haze covering the land. I grabbed the camera and headed back out on my bike to take a few pictures.

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Holly Shelter Fire

What looks like a cloud is actually the smoke from the fire. I’m wondering if it was caused by a particular wind pattern, or if it’s something from what the firefighters are doing.

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Closer View of the Smoke