The World of Grandpa Don  

Last week, After I "published" these pages to the internet, I saw that there was something wrong with the formatting of the text on this page. I had lost control, probably due to lethargy, What appeared on the web site was not what I saw when I set up the page on my computer. Some spurious formatting had crept into the code even though my web application is supposed to be "what you see is what you get". I will not go into the details of what I think happened only to say that this week I have started with a clean slate for the text part of the page. But then I discovered that I had been wrong. (again) Others reported no problem with the page. It suddenly occurred to me that the problem was in the fact that I had changed my default browser from Internet Explorer to Google Chrome. The problem was in the browser (Chrome) which apparently is not as tolerant of minor code problems as Explorer is. I reset my browser back to IE and the web page looked just like I planed it to look. Well, it is, no doubt, good to get rid of the bad formatting code but it also showed that IE is a superior browser compared to Chrome. I check the page in various browsers before I "publish" it but problems don't always show up unless you actually use different browsers on the internet to look at it.

After lunch last Friday I went to replenish my supply of vittles. There wasn't much I needed so it was a quick trip. I had had a broken sleep the night before and that together with what I thought was a problem with this web page and a problem with my glucose monitoring software was weighing on me. I was tired and in addition I was having a problem with "regularity", ... unusual for me. Some of this may be due to the side effects of new medications as well as the recent radical change in diet. You could say "I was off my feed". The problem with my glucose monitoring software stemmed from the purchase of my new computer. I has no ports other than USB and the glucose meter required a COMM port. The software itself was out of date so I purchased an upgrade along with a USB cable. The cable came with a disk with a new "device driver" but although the installation of it and the new software seemed to go well when I went to download the meter readings to the computer, the program could not "find" the meter. Saturday morning I set out to prepare my confrontation with the company's support people. I double checked everything and then knowing they would need information about my computer and what I had done I went through it all again, taking notes as I progressed.  Then I saw it. The new device driver made a (virtual) connection from the USB ports to a (virtual) COMM 3 port. The program for managing the glucose data was looking for the meter on the COMM 1 port. Of course, it wasn't there. I simply changed the software setting to COMM 3 and PRESTO! problem solved!  I downloaded the latest readings from my glucose meter and brought up a graph of them for the past 90 days, You could see by the shape of the graph exactly when I started using insulin and exactly when I started taking Byetta. By the way, I had a good night's sleep Friday and the "regularity" was no longer a problem so on Saturday I felt GREAT!

Then another "problem" was solved with a phone call from Irene. She had a scheduling problem and wondered if she could delay my next cleaning a week and it would be every other week from then on. Absolutely! That put me back on the old schedule where my cleaning, the recycle pickup and Mikey's grooming appointments were all in the same week, making it very easy to remember my schedule. So, what I perceived as problems on Friday were all gone and then some on Saturday, another example, and reminder, that it doesn't make sense to get down about what you think is happening. It never is as bad as what you think it will be. I  love that song ... "Maybe what's good will get a little bit better and maybe what's bad will get gone".

 

It is the heart which experiences God, and not the reason. ~ Blaise Pascal .

Sunday after Mass I went to my car, retrieved my camera and went to the Chapel. There I took several photos so that I could update the parish website as requested by one of the parishioners. The company with which the parish has been dealing for the design and furnishing of stained glass had assembled samples of their proposed design. They are on moveable stands and had been used as a backdrop for the Christmas display but were deemed too beautiful to be just stored away and have been placed behind the altar in the chapel.  I invite you to see them in the Chapel.  I need to take new photos of the only two window to have been actually installed to date. They are at the shrines of Mary and St. Julie in the church but I need to get there when the church is empty. There is just too much going on there on Sundays, even between masses.

Tom came by Sunday afternoon and He and I, with our libations, enjoyed an afternoon in the comfort of the gazebo of Grandpa's Guardian Angel Garden. It was a delightful visit, with Tom relating some of the happenings in the life of his girls, ... yes they are both doing very well. Caitlin is in love with her school and Kelly is making plans, trying to decide between an education in engineering or architecture. With the changes that are going on, Tom is very busy at his job. I see, in Tom, the knowledge and acceptance of: "What was, WAS. What is, IS. And what will come, depends on the choices made today." I had unexpressed thoughts of going out to dinner with him but he was not dressed for it and had his nephews and other friends coming to his house to watch the Bears' game in the evening.

After Tom left, I decided to go out for a real meal anyway but not wanting to venture far, went to Ashford House. It was empty of customers when I arrived but by the time I left began to fill. I started with a mouth watering cream of chicken soup. Then I decided on their succulent lamb chops and as long as I was treating myself, had French fries with them. I was sparing with my sampling of the fries, concentrating on the chops and vegetables. However, I indulged myself with a serving of vanilla ice cream. I was in heaven! It was a great day.

Monday morning, with trepidation, I tested my glucose, expecting the worse. Glorioskies! It was 133 ... near the top of, but within the "normal" range. I was happy to verify that an occasional treat is not disastrous. "I believe I shall enjoy the Lord's goodness in the land of the living." Psalm 27:13. We find, in the Psalms, evidence that God did not intend this to be a world of doom and gloom. but that life, lived well, can be enjoyed as we prepare for even greater joy in the life to come. There is one cravat ... we must be willing, no, eager to share God's gifts. For life itself is a gift of God.

Along those lines, one of the emails from "Simple Truths" included a link to "The Second Mile". There are things that are demanded of us, things which we are obliged to do. That was, in my earlier, and not too distant days, a big problem for me. Early in my marriage I worked two jobs then later, it was long hours, all to keep up with demands for more money to just keep up, then, get ahead. Anything work related was, in my mind, my responsibility and accepted as that. But if anyone asked me to devote some of "my" time to them or to something other than work (which I loved) was a huge imposition on "My" time, an intrusion into "my" life. After all, "my' work was all for my family wasn't it? (Even though I loved it) Didn't I deserve, nay, wasn't I entitled to "My" time? When I did, reluctantly, give up some of that precious time it was done grudgingly and without joy, to say the least. But, it was I who was suffering for it. My conversion was slow but that is another story. I discovered that when I chose to make the best of it and these extra tasks were performed willingly, they took on a new perspective. I could, and did, learn to enjoy them. Then with this revelation of spirit, I found, like the lad in the story, that when I went the extra mile, the joy was multiplied and the benefits were beyond measure. I found I could be kind and then I could go beyond that and be more kind than I needed to be ... to go the extra mile. At the end of that mile were benefits beyond imagining. All those years I had, in my selfishness, deprived my self of the joy of sharing myself. Glorioskies! Doesn't life teach great lessons!

You may have noticed, above, that my "conversion" took a long time.  Alex Kapocius sent "Maturity". The trick is to gain the benefits of maturity but not loose the wonder and excitement of youth. The vigor of body may gradually fade away but that can be replaced with wisdom and knowledge if we retain the curiosity and thirst for knowledge instilled as a child. A yearning for closeness with God also helps, or maybe, is more important than anything else.

 

Do not inflict your will. Just give love. The soul will take that love and put it where it can best be used. ~ Emmanuel .

A phone called came from my HVAC people on Monday morning. I have an annual contract with them to check my Air Conditioning system every spring and my heating system in the fall. They wanted to schedule my fall check up and had a cancelation in my neighborhood. Could the service man come today?  He arrived while I was munching on my salad for lunch and I brought him down to the basement, leaving him to his tasks. He came up once to reset the thermostat and was finished about the same time as the salad. I have a two stage blower that normally runs at the slower speed but goes to high speed if it is very cold out. All that needs to be checked to see if it is working. I also have the peace of mind that the burners are working properly, there is no corrosion and the carbon dioxide is going up the flue and not into the house.. I am left with a ten point check list and am ready for winter although there is no sign of that now. All this is called preventative maintenance followed by peace of mind. I put a lot of stock into peace of mind.

In spite of the summerlike weather, there are a few leaves on my maple trees that have turned a bright red. Do the trees know something we don't? I'll bet they do. Putting any bad thoughts aside, I continue to enjoy this late summer gift from mother Nature. It is perfect for reading and relaxing. Mikey tends to do a lot of wandering about the premises. This morning as I sat on the patio, I saw a big rabbit in the garden, just sitting on a stepping stone near the gazebo. Mikey was smelling and watering a potted plant along side the patio and as I quietly tried to get his attention he, imitating the behavior of a small child, pretended not to hear me. Then, knowing the secrete word, I said, "rabbit". My little friend immediately snapped to attention, then started looking about the nearby lawn. I instructed him, "No Mikey, he's by the gazebo" and he turned, saw his foe, and immediately turned into a statue. The big cotton tail observed Mikey simultaneously and froze on the spot. The Mexican standoff endured for at least 5 minutes, each animal convinced that maybe it could not be seen if it didn't move and each waiting for the other to make his move first. Mikey blinked, and took several small slow steps, Mr. rabbit didn't flinch. Mikey repeated with the same results. After about three more tentative advances by the stealthy canine, the furry interloper bolted around to the back of the gazebo and with his first motion, Mikey was on his way going completely around the garden to head him off at the pass. (The grassy are behind the garden) As Mikey rounded the back turn, his foe was off again heading to the shelter of the shed or beyond. My would be hunter either lost sight of him or just gave up and entered the garden from the rear, dutifully watering a couple of plants before returning to the patio to let me know he had rid us of the little pest. Well done, little friend. He deserved a treat but unfortunately I had none to give. Well, at least he had a little adventure in his life. Exhausted from his hunt Mikey settled down under a chair and I went back to my coffee and reflections.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

We send Birthday wishes to my daughter-in-laws this week. Both my son's searched diligently for mates until they found one for each who were born on the same day of the same month (and who's mothers had the same name, Marilyn). So, we wish both Karen and Diane the best that life can offer along with all the good things they seek in life. May they both have many happy birthdays in the years to come. May they also be content in knowing that "what was, was .... what is, is ... and what comes tomorrow depends on the choices they make today. Besides, whatever was the real reason that they married my sons, they are the mothers of five of my wonderful grandchildren.

And ... am I glad I chose to get out of bed this morning ... as if I had a choice. Tuesday was another of this long string of perfect summer days. Cool nights ... warm, sunny days ... little, if any breeze ... the kind of day that makes others seem shabby by comparison. I call them bonus days for we don't deserve them but they come as a promise of heaven, a gift to be savored and enjoyed.

An email came from another Marilyn, my sister. She has come into the possession of a copy of an old newspaper ad for the photography studio of our great grandfather James Harvey Copeland (1835 - 1928)  His life spanned 93 years that was full of advancements in our society. She is going to send a copy of that ad along with additional family information. My grandmother, Marcia Thayer, wife of James Harvey's son, Harvey Louis Copeland, has a family name that goes all the way back to colonial times. Members of the Thayer, Copeland and Packard families had intermarried back in the 1600's and early 1700's. Marilyn has information on the Thayer family and I am interested in delving into this branch of my ancestors.

 

Ultimately, the only power to which man should aspire is that which he exercisers over himself. -- Elie Wiesel [b. 1928] .

Granddaughter, Kelsey Plefka is shown here in her Elmhurst College track uniform. The only problem is that she isn't running. She was found to have stress fractures in both her shins and will need about a year of rest from pounding the track. But she is at every practice and every meet, serving as a student coach at the invitation and insistence of the team's head coach. She is the first freshman to be in that capacity on the team. This weekend she will assist the coach in doing some scouting for the team . In the mean time she is under the care of the team doctor and undergoing rehab exercises. X-rays show no damage and a scheduled bone scan is expected to reveal the extent of the problem. All this and classes too, which she thoroughly enjoys.

It started late Tuesday but Wednesday morning it was quite evident, ... the September air arrived. It came in from the northeast, backing into the area from a Canadian high pleasure system we are told. It was quite evident when I took my coffee out to the patio and I returned to the house to put on a long sleeved shirt. With that, my straw hat and by sitting in the sun it was an otherwise delightful morning.

On another front, I am having some computer problems. It is nothing that effects my productivity but is more of an irritant. One problem is my own doing in that I stupidly deleted some files and can not get them back. The other is a problem with my "Office" programs of which I have been upgrading the original since 2000. Kevin will come by within the next day or so and I am sure will have a resolution. I will probably update to Office 2007.

It has been reported in the Copeland family that my father sometimes speculated that he was a distant cousin to General Jimmy Doolittle of US Air Force fame, the man who led the first US bombing mission to Japan in 1942.  Alden (Al) Copeland's mother was Jennie Marcia Thayer and his grandmother was Abigail Amelia Doolittle (1851 - 1926). There is a great amount of information available on the internet regarding the Doolittle family line, much of it recorded in the "One World Tree". Since this family Tree is built on the contributions of many amateurs in the field of genealogy it must be carefully scrutinized. In this case it seems to be fairly accurate, after  many duplicate entries and some obviously stupid dates are eliminated. I traced the line back, independently, from both Abigail and Jimmy and found a common ancestor in Abraham Doolittle who was born in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England in 1620. He migrated to Boston around 1640 with his older brother John and later moved to Connecticut where he married Joan Allen (1617-1659) and then Abigail Moss (1642 - 1710)  The One World Tree has some incorrect information regarding Abraham Doolittle wherein he is listed as being born in Connecticut in 1620, obviously wrong since the area at that time was unknown to Europeans. The Mayflower did not bring Pilgrims to New England until late 1620 and they stayed aboard the ship that winter, not setting up homes at Plymouth until Spring of 1621. I found more accurate information about this ancestor at Abraham Doolittle. This is a wonderful description of him and his family. Abraham apparently had 12 children. Abraham Jr. a son of Joan, started the line which continued to my father. Samuel, a son of Abigail, initiated the line that extended to Jimmy Doolittle. And so It would seem that dad was right, they were 8th cousins. The Doolittle line also ties into the Thayer line through our father's mother Jennie Marcia Thayer. Obviously additional pages are coming to the "Family" section of this web site. 

  

Many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head, and knows not that it brings abundance to drive away hunger. ~ Saint Basil .

Thursday morning I learned that one of the members of our Bible Study group had died recently. He was a vibrant man, a recent widower who appeared to be in good health. He was diagnosed with blood cancer, not leukemia, and was gone in a few short weeks. We will miss Marty. 

My computer problems of late last week included the loosing of my volume control from the system tray along with the pop up calculator, often used, and worst of all the game of Solitaire. I had somehow deleted them and could not get them back. Well. I went to my external hard drive and found the files for them after which they were copied back to my "C" drive. All now work fine. I don't know what else I may have deleted but if I run across something that is missing I now know where to find it and how to get it back.

Frank Schober sent "A Janitor's Ten Lessons in Leadership". This is an outstanding story of a real hero, a humble but very wise man. It is also a reminder to us all that that unimposing person we see every day may have qualities and worth which are indeed impressive and admirable. This is why we should give respect to everyone. We do not know their story.

Friday morning was downright cool with overnight temperatures here in the low 50's. I had my coffee and reflections in the living room as the lawn guys did their thing outside. When I blew out my candle, always lit during these time when I am inside, Mikey jumped down from his chair near the window and proceeded to the back door. When I let him out, he looked back with that "Aren't you coming out?" look. So I did, after donning my straw hat and sunglasses, and took a place in a patio chair in the sun. It was glorious with just a hint of breeze to ruffle the high branches just a smidgen but not felt where I reposed. It was quiet and the garden was peaceful, a serene setting to be devoured by the soul. Such is my retirement resort, my private place of peace. I had to say a short prayer of thanks for Mikey for inviting me to share it with him this morning. He often knows what I need better than do I.  The flowers in the pots surrounding the patio are still in bloom and give color to the scene. There are also some flowers in the garden area ... a few day lilies ... and little yellow blossoms on the bush near the gazebo. The decorative grasses, tall and stately are in their glory. Constantly changing with the seasons, an imitation of, no ... the essence of,  life itself. Our lives are always in transition, always being renewed. The past leaves us with memories as well as lessons. It has brought us to where we are. Now, with the faith in life that God gives us, if we choose to hear, we look to the future, with the hope that God gives us, if we choose to listen. We start from this point, so today, we have the only opportunity open to us to choose the right path for our future. "What was, Was. What is, IS. What happens tomorrow depends on what we chose to do today".

For myself ... 

I Am blest I Am  anointed I Am overjoyed