My grandmother was a Packard!   No, silly, ... she wasn't a car. She wasn't even related to the family that built the cars ... at least we don't think she was. But, thanks to some sleuthing by Peggy Cecora, we have a very probable continuous line of Packard's from Woodbridge, [parish], Suffolk, England in 1410 to grandma Clara Florence Packard (1882 - 1957). There is a sketchy period between about 1800 and 1850 that requires more documentation when (we believe) the family lived in Hebron Maine. (Originally part of Massachusetts). I found the address of a member of the Packard family who lives there now and have written to him to see if he can provide documentation and additional information. In the mean time I have updated the page to include what we do know as well as our supositions. See Packard Page .

While working on that, I referred to my book, Mayflower Families, and  found that there were even more instances of intermarriage in the families of Alden, Copeland, Packard and Thayer. These families, it seems, were meant to be joined and I guess that have been selected to do it again. I added a new page to the family section to record it all. See The Mingling of Family Lines .

Saturday morning Anne Marie came over and planted the new Arkansas Blue Stars and the Frikarts Asters. There were three of each and they replaced six of the Almost Wild Roses that were either dead or doing poorly. One rose was in fair condition and was left in place ... on probation. The new plants will take root over the fall and winter and grow to 24" - 36" next year. Thanks Anne Marie.

Fr. Steve's homily on Sunday was one of those that struck a cord. The gist of it is that we don't go to mass to get faith, we already have that or we wouldn't be there. We don't get "more" faith either, we already have all we need. But we go to cultivate our faith and make it grow so we can not only use it, but share it with others.. A different slant on things! It made me think. Going to church is like reading the paper or a magazine. Not every article interests us but we buy it in the hope of finding a few that do. Too many people expect to be entertained continuously at church and complain when it doesn't happen. They don't realize that they are part of the cast and must do their part by participating. That makes the time go by all too quickly and every once in a while a gem of faith will become visible in the process. Each time, something will be relevant to some of the congregation, as each one has different needs. Just as the articles in a magazine will appeal to different people depending on their individual interests and needs.

Speaking of cars ... and we were when we started this page, ... my cousin, Gay, sent some photos entitled When Autos Were Art . These were the cars that Clara Florence Packard (photo at right) would have known during her life in an era when cars were automobiles ... and they, like the people who rode in them, had style, individuality and character, They had "Class!". Even the term "Automobile" had character. People named their autos and took pride in them. Enjoy the photos and try not to drool all over your keyboard. Carriages became cars. When horseless carriages evolved through automobiles, then autos, to cars, many of their owners had to reinvent their character. And so, I Invite you to view What We Drove (in the 50's & 60's) also sent by my cousin. Thanks Gay.

Flashback! ...
Saturday was Homecoming at Andrew HS. We have a couple photos of Kelsey and her friends. (Talk about CLASS!) Where are the boys? Well, ... we all know that the boys aren't the important ones.

Not many people sign my guestbook but I have had to make a change in the way it functions. Due to the number of postings which are actually advertisements, pushing commercial web sites, I have disabled the automatic posting of all entries. From now on, I will be notified when someone has signed the book and I will need to approve it before it is posted. That will spare viewers any drivel from these inconsiderate clods. It is too bad that this is necessary. I would prefer to be able to trust everyone, but ...

Biscus came into the house Tuesday. I use a two wheeled truck to move him in. He is on a rug, surrounded by a couple of chairs laying on there sides. When he is outside, Mikey generally greets him with the hind leg salute and we would like to avoid that in the house. He is too heavy for me to lift to his usual place on a low table and we will need to wait for help to get him there. We enjoyed the last of the long series of "Gazebo Days" and can look forward to a series of cool days and much cooler nights. My tropical hibiscus would not survive that. But, I enjoyed several hours in the garden albeit a bit windy.

Wednesday morning was cool and cloudy and Mikey left me to sleep until 7:45. I had work to do on the parish web site. Liz was out of town so I did her portion of the update as well as mine. I also spent some time on the phone wit Rich Thayer. He is a fellow parishioner and choir member at St. Julie and I had sent him an email about my grandmother on my father's side, Jennie Thayer. We know of no obvious connection but exchanged a bit of information that I will follow up on to see if we are related. Jennie's life was tragically short, having died just eleven days after the birth of my father in May of 1900. She is pictured at the left.

Thursday morning I brought Mikey to Touch of Class for his bi-weekly grooming. I had a few minuets and sitting down in the living room it occurred to me that I should be able to lift Biscus the 18" necessary to have him settled into his winter quarters. Knowing that you should not lift with your back and that my legs and knees would not do the job, it was up to my arms. I positioned myself so that I would not need to turn more than a couple degrees while bearing the weight, and lifted him on to the low table. No problem! He then got a long drink of water laced with plant food and looks quite happy about the whole thing.

After Bible study, I checked my email and soon got the call that Mikey was ready to come home. So I was off in the car again. On the way home the "Low Tire Pressure" light came on and sure enough, the right front was low. I had a quick lunch and went off to the local tire shop to have it checked out. A few weeks ago, my son Dan had mentioned that my front tires were well worn and that I should replace them. The service manager informed me that I had a large screw imbedded in the tire and also that the front tires were due for replacement. Selection was made and I was soon on my way home with good rubber for the coming winter. In addition, they found that one of the rear tires was a bit low and for no additional charge repaired a rim leak.

The outcome of my trip to the dentist was not as productive. He recommended some extensive repairs. I need a crown replaced on a lower tooth. The big problem on the upper jaw would entail either a permanent 9 tooth bridge along with the preparation work which would cost in the neighborhood of $10,000. An alternative would be a removable denture which would cost about $1,600. I am not excited about taking a bunch of my teeth out every night and putting up with dentures. On the other hand, I could go the expensive way and I could leave instructions that when the time comes I be laid in the coffin with a big smile on my face to show my beautiful teeth. (Maybe not!) A decision will need to be made.

Another decision will not be as difficult. I track all my finances using Microsoft Money. It recently started refusing to open. A fix was found on the internet but it has several options and is quite involved. There has been a upgrade to the program available for several months that I have been delaying to implement. Now is the time. That, I believe will be the project for today after this weeks Current Events update is completed.

Friday morning ... and it is in the 40's ... but calm. The lawn guys will be coming today so I put on a light jacket and a hat and scoured the yard for gold, the gold left by Mikey. My intention was to come in and have my visit with God and Anne but it was so pleasant and quiet that I just sat down in the sun next to the patio table. Delicious! I didn't have my little prayer book, my book of reflections or my coffee but I could not disrupt the moment by getting up for them and instead started my morning reflections without them. At the end of my usual prayers, when I ask God to help us to be good stewards of the gifts he has given us I realized that the problem with my teeth is due to the failure on my part to do just that. Our body and all it's components are a gift from God. I have not given my teeth the daily care they need and there have been long stretches between visits to the dentist. I am now faced with the results of my failure to maintain them. But that is only one symptom of  the problem. It extends to my general health which is in trouble because I have neglected to be a good caretaker of what God has given for my lifetime on earth. I often say "If I knew I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself." The fact is that I never really thought about the long term effects of what I ate and how much I ate, or how lazy I had become in refusing to maintain muscle and joints by using them.

We are entrusted with the care of valuable things and many of us are poor stewards of this trust. We mistakenly think (if we do at all) of stewardship in terms of money, but money is only a small part of it. It starts with our own bodies and extends to the resources of the earth, given by God for our use. All these things are given to provide for our needs and we are to take enough to satisfied our legitimate needs, and not greedily taking more than we need. We must also maintain these gifts so that they are available for the future. We should no more pollute the air and water with harmful waste than we should pollute our bodies with harmful food drink or dugs.

We have been given the raw materials and the knowledge to build cities, roads, and wondrous things but our lack of stewardship extends to the failure to maintain them. Bridges fail as do sewers, water pipes and pavements. We are reluctant to spend the money to maintain them. (Who wants to pay more taxes?) We have been given the knowledge to build factories and chemical plants to improve our lives with all manner of goods. (They are called that because they are "good".) But in our shortsightedness or greed we make more than we need and squander our resources, polluting the earth with waste in the process. That is a failure in our stewardship of God's gifts.

I envision God as saying, "I gave them everything they need to make a great life but they are really making a mess of it by not sharing it and not maintaining it."

By the way, I took extra time in brushing my teeth this morning.