Memorial Day 2008

Flanders Fields

John McCrae 1915

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In Flanders field the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly.

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved, and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields

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Brothers, you are not forgotten....

Tom D. (Feb 5, 1990, F-111, UK)

Scott D. (Nov 30, 1992, B-1, Texas)

Eric H. (Feb 3, 1991, B-52, Indian Ocean)

Jon O. (Feb 3, 1991, B-52, Indian Ocean)

Jorge A. (Feb 3, 1991, B-52, Indian Ocean)

Dixon W. (Jan 31, 1991, AC-130, Kuwait)
Nick S. (Sep 20, 1992, T-37, Mississippi)

Ken R. (Sep 20, 1992, T-37, Mississippi)

Big Gorilla

"Say Bananas"

I had the pleasure of taking Madison to her softball game this morning. After the game we stopped by a local nursery/landscaping company near Tiger Point Park. When you pass this business on Hwy 98 you can't help but notice the large gorilla waving at you. So what else do you do with a large concrete gorilla but take your picture with it! Madison is the one wearing the blue visor.

The God said.....

Then God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yeilding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them, after their kind, and it was so;

The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yeilding seeds after their kind , and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind, and God saw that it was good."

Genesis 1:11-12

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"God creates. Man makes."

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I was struck by the thought above recently. Don't know if I am fully convinced yet but it is an interesting idea. For all the accomplishments attributed to humans man has never really created anything. We put together, we take apart, we rearrange, we reorder, we sort, we count, we learn, but man doesn't really create anything. Man makes things.

Create, verb, To cause to come into being as something unique that would not naturally evolve or that is not made by ordinary processes.

Make, verb, to bring into existence by shaping or changing material, combining parts, etc.

Mothers Day 2008

"A mother holds her children's hands for awhile....their hearts forever." - Unknown

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May 11th, 2008

What's in a Name?

"The map is not the territory. The word is not the thing."

-Alfred Korzybski

Magnolia grandiflora L

The image of the Magnolia flower above was taken a few days ago in my backyard. I have always liked the look of the Magnolia and I started wondering about its name. Magnolia is kind of odd so where did it come from. A quick lookup on Wikipedia brought me an entry for the Magnolia and an explanation concerning the origin of the name. In a nut shell there was a French botanist Pierra Magnol (1638-1715) who developed the idea of plant familes and natural classification to the field of botany. Another French bontanist Charles Plumier (1646-1704) named a flowering tree from the island of Martinique the genus name of Magnolia and the rest is history.

It is interesting while reading the entries for both Magnol & Plumier to see the influence and impact of Christianity through the traditions of Catholicism and Protestantism on their lives. It is also a reminder of how tightly woven together the State, the Church and the study of Science were at this time.