Gleaning Facebook: Better Angels

Hallelujah!

It is time for our better angels to prevail. We must restore the soul of our republic.

 I am in tears. I am so thankful that this day has come. Hope and history rhyme today.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Madam Vice President Elect Kamala Harris!

Elected with the largest vote in history!

We the people have turned out 160 million strong to make our voices heard. And we have elected a wonderful American woman, an American of color, an American of immigrant roots!

I watch and think of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Sojourner Truth and Eleanor Roosevelt and Rosa Parks and Lillian Wilkerson Shaw and Ieula Ann Dick Baird and Ruth Baird Shaw and Sheila Matthews Shaw, but especially Brannon Ruth Shaw Carlin and Liilian Matthews Shaw and Clementine Georgia Carlin and Ruth Irmgard Carlin. The glass ceiling is broken!

And she knows, understands, and comfortably and correctly uses the proper second person plural pronoun: "Y'all".

Comments:

Cece Baker: It happened!  I've never been prouder to be an American!

John Countryman: Thank you, Seamus Heaney.

Terrell:  

“History says don’t hope

On this side of the grave.

But then, once in a lifetime

The longed for tidal wave

Of justice can rise up

And hope and history rhyme."

- I've been lucky enough to hear rhymes before: 1976 & 2008 come to mind,  , but never has the alternative been such a dreadful one.

John: The quote is from his play "The Cure At Troy." I gave a talk about the play at a conference with Seamus the Famous himself in attendance. He praised my take on the script and because it was his first real foray in dramatic writing was grateful for the attention,. This was shortly after it had first been produced and the script had first been published. How little did he know how far-reaching the hope nand history sentiment would travel. It was my privilege to know him as a friend and share roast pig and Guinness with him at Irish Studies conferences and to enjoy his craic!. And to hear him read his poetry in person with his marvelous north of Ireland accent was a always a treat.

Terrell: Wow! Well, I knew of your interest in Irish theater but, wow!

Jaki Day: Celebration in TN

Julie Hatfield Burton: I’m very happy!!!!! What a nail bitingly week!! I’m so relieved!!! 

Judy Borgo: Yes! Yes! Yes!

Jim Curry: Georgia needs to do what Kentucky could not do. NEUTER MOSCOW MITCH! Electing TWO Democratic Senators will do it!

Comments on a Joe Biden "Thank You" video I shared:

Jim Curry: The American people have done what complicit Republican Senators would not do. Now, it’s time for Georgia to do what Kentucky would not do. NEUTER MITCH MCCONNELL. Electing two Georgia senators in January will do it! HELP NEEDED!

Jeri Carter: I thought I was tapped out on political contributions from what I already gave this year--but I dug deep and came up with a little more, because supporting Fair Fight and supporting Georgia in electing *both* Warnock and Ossoff is so much more important than take-out (we can have a few pintos and cornbread meals) or new shoes or whatever else I might have spent our small discretionary money on.

A few of the comments on a comic post I shared that got deleted:

Melissa Pyle Hamilton: I would love to see Trump and all members of his criminal enterprise taken to prison in the Biden Bus

Terrell: Nope. I want them taken in the regular old paddy wagon. I want them to have the best legal assistance they can get. I want them tried by absolutely impartial procecutors and judges. I want a jury of ordinary Americans to hear all the evidence. Then I want them convicted and jailed for the term that any other American would get for the same crimes. In other words I want them to experience the wonderful American system of justice just as they SHOULD have applied it to others.

Melissa: Great point.

Terrell: BTW we're celebrating at 5:30 downtown... did you get the word? Come on. Hawthorn Suites patio. Spread the word.

Whit Perry: True swamp draining. And Trump will soon be wearing orange, if he doesn’t flee and go Dancing With The Tsars!

Comments: 

Tracy S Lawler: (70% of Floyd County voted for Trump)

Terrell: BUT we upped our % AND our Floyd County vote is more than the difference in the statewide vote so way to go Floyd!

Dan Bolton: But the 30% might help Biden win the state
Tracy: Of course, Dan!
Taryn Janelle: And yet GA still went Blue.
Tracy: Yes, Taryn. Every little bit helps. (I am on the humane Blue Team, by the way.)
Peggy Davis: Amazing. Tears of joy.
Tracy: The GA counts grew overnight to 10,000-ish lead for Biden.

Angela Greear: I have been HAPPY DANCING all day

Laura Lagow Leathrum: Our daughter is a student at the University of Delaware. She and her friends are in Wilmington tonight!

Pam Allen Albert:

Oh My! I LOLed at this one -- another hilarious button from the great Herb Shemwell (can be ordered, I think, from Sunflower Buttons on Facebook.)

Gleaning Facebook: Lake Sturgeon are Coming Back!

 News of the Day from the DNR:

Fisheries Biologists collected two lake sturgeon from the Etowah River last week.

One of the sturgeons was 41 inches long and had previously been captured and tagged by University of Georgia personnel back in 2005 when the fish was only 17 inches long.

After weighing and measuring each, both sturgeons were released back into the river.

Sturgeons are a unique group of fish that coexisted with dinosaurs and have changed very little since that time. One lake sturgeon on record lived to be 154 years of age and another tipped the scales at 310 pounds. Both of these records were from northern states in the early 20th century and few, if any, such fish exist today.

LAKE STURGEON CANNOT BE HARVESTED. If you catch a sturgeon, it should be handled gently and released as soon as possible. As part of the sturgeon reintroduction effort in the Coosa River system, we would also like to hear about any sturgeon sightings: https://georgiawildlife.com/lake-sturgeon-reintroduction...

If you catch or otherwise see a lake sturgeon, please report the information to 706-295-6102. Note the date and location of your sighting and photograph the fish if possible.

Gleaning Facebook: PALS & Berry Elementary

I had a great time showing off animals and telling stories for Arrowhead Environmental Education Center at PALS (mothers morning out program at Trinity United Methodist Church) kindergarteners and pre-k kids yesterday. I took along Green, Gray, and Barking Treefrogs and told The Foolish Frog — a silly story written by Pete Seeger that I have been telling for about 60 years!

Then I drove out to Berry Elementary to show a baby alligator to fourth-graders and tell my version of Ed Stivender’s version of David Holt’s version of Joel Chandler Harris’s version of a folk tale about gators.

If you are in Floyd County or any other county in Northwest Georgia and would like to schedule a storytelling/nature lesson or program at your school, club, library, scout troop, civic group or ?? IM me. And if your civic group or school would like to help support this wonderful 28 year institution, please I’d sure like to talk with you.

I saw this interesting artwork in the lobby at Berry Elementary illustrating Rome and its three rivers .

Gleaning Facebook: Some Susannah Pics

 

Our republic is in real danger.

Sports celebration (Yay Braves!) is tempered tonight by the sad news that racism and authoritarianism have won the day in a squeaker in Virginia. This should be a wake up call to those of us who are small-r republicans, who love the principles of the Declaration and the Constitution, who believe We the People must safeguard our republican institutions. The truth is, of course, that complacency and ignorance are enemies of democracy. When prejudice and fear is played upon by sophisticated computerized "social media" we must care enough to work, give, speak out, and VOTE. The two or three percent of Virginians-who-know-better who stayed home have given the Trumpist Lie new life.

Those hot-under-the-collar about "Critical Race Theory" are ignorant of what it is and have fallen into a sad trap. The Trumpists in Virginia won votes of just enough well-meaning ignoramuses to tip the balance.

Democracy is under attack worldwide, and in my seventies I am watching republicanism crumble dramatically in the land I love. I pray I can live long enough to see this repaired. We MUST fight as hard or harder than we did from 2017-2020 to defeat the authoritarians and their enablers in the (so-called) Republican Party.

Every other issue MUST come second to the one primary issue: Save our republic from the Trumpists.

We have one more year of a VERY scant, VERY philosophically diverse, majority in Congress. We must repair and strengthen the republic's institutions first. That is really all we have majority agreement on. Without Sen. Joe Manchin, who at least agrees that Trump is a traitor and that elections should matter, the Trumpists would have a complete veto on legislation. I sincerely wish he were more open to altering the filibuster and passing more of the Build Back Better agenda that the people voted for in 2020, but politics is the art of the possible.

So to the progressive wing of my party:

Yes, speak out for the fullest possible implementation of the 2020 platform,

BUT do NOT let the perfect stand in the way of the good. The Senate is the Senate. A three vote margin in the House is tiny. Don't let America fall into Trumpist hands again just because we cannot have all we want right now.

And quit being a circular firing squad. 

Joe Biden has been a very bold president. He has actually lived up to his promises despite the disappointment of the narrowed majority in the house and the 50-50 split in the senate. No president with such a slim margin has fought so hard for such a transformational set of legislation. It is not President Biden's job right now (nor ours) to go out and publicly scream against those who support democracy but disagree with us on policy. The president DOES speak out on policy BUT his persuasion must be aimed at a very small group, maybe only two senators, who must be negotiated with, not harassed, to find what part of the program they can support. Then we need to take that for 2021, claim victory -- as we very legitimately can -- and work like hell to elect MORE Democratic senators and congressfolk in 2022!

Ulithi

Cpl. Charles Columbus Shaw, USMC on Ulithi atoll.

The location of Ulithi atoll in the Pacific where my Daddy served in 1944/45 as a Marine.

 This post for now is just a storage site for anything I find about Ulithi, the tiny atoll 1700 miles due south of Tokyo where my daddy, Charles Columbus Shaw was stationed during 1944 and 45. The transformation of Ulithi is a fascinating story.

A newsreel video from WWII found on Youtube:

Another with some similar footage called a "secret film":

6 December 1944 A report from Ulithi:

Don't miss this written article about the creation of the Unlithi naval base:

A few of Daddy's pictures some, maybe all, from Ulithi:

S

Kneeling at right end - Cpl. Charles Columbus Shaw, USMC on Ulithi atoll.

Cpl. Charles Columbus Shaw, USMC on Ulithi atoll.

Cpl. Charles Columbus Shaw, USMC on Ulithi atoll.

One of the emblems used for the "Red Mouse Squadron" (from Google)

and the north anchorage of Ulithi atoll, late 1944.

Halloween 2021

We started Halloween with a daybreak walk to Clocktower Hill.

The green-faced princess is in California...

... with her kitty-cat ...

... and pumpkin sisters.

Granny Witch is minding the candy stash...

...at home in Rome, Georgia

.

Halloween Morning on Clocktower Hill

Our iconic city clock was specially lit for Halloween. I took these pics on our before-daylight walk up Clocktower hill this Halloween morning.

 

Gleaning Facebook: Tribefest

 It seemed like all of Floyd County crowded through the upper level of Armuchee's old gym between 10 and 2 today. What fun to get to show off our animals from Arrowhead at Tribefest and to see so many old friends and former students. I love my Armuchee "family". And I am so pleased with our new Arrowhead intern from the Berry College Bonner program, Ali Jakobsen, who was an enormous help on this busy weekend. And after Thea's kindergarten sang for the crowd, she and her mom, Vivian Davis, joined us for the rest of the time. So good to be with them at the Arrowhead booth for this event. Poor Shoestring, the Corn Snake, was her usual imperturbable self as she was held and petted far longer than I should have allowed, to the delight of MANY trick-or-treating kids and their parents.

Gleaning Facebook: Lies & Pies

The old courthouse in Hayesville has been renovated into a museum
and the courtroom itself into an event space.

 I had a great time hearing great stories and music at Lie & Pies in Hayesville, NC last night. There were two great songwriters, a very short written story, and great storytelling from Kanute, Amanda, Tom. Denise, and Melanie. It was a ball getting to tell my tall tale "Yellowtail" to a new audience. The old courtroom floor was spread with tables and was pie and soup and other goodies available on a cool night. Thanks, Kanute Rarey for organizing this event! I cannot believe I did not take a single picture. I was too busy having fun.

Spooky Stories 2021

From Jessica Weaver-Stoll's Facebook page: "Spooky Stories in the garden. Stars of the first story."

I've enjoyed telling some silly "spooky stories" to kids at the Rome-Floyd County Library
during the Halloween season in recent years.
Here's this year's program.

 
 

Songbird Couldn't Wait

 Welcome to our hearts little impatient Songbird. 

I woke up at about four this morning and noticed there was a message from our son-in-law marked 2:17. That woke me up good. Sure enough it was this picture with this message attached:

"Born in Sue's car on the way to the hospital."

We have another beautiful little granddaughter. She was born about 10:45 Pacific time yesterday, October 25, 2021.

I had spoken with Brannon just last night while Clemmie and Ruth joyfully ran around the kitchen and teased me via Facetime. Clemmie even demanded I tell "Ghost With One Black Eye" again, and then demanded that I make her "brave" in the story. 

Princess Clementine is ready for Halloween.

Peanut butter faced Ruth

She had a great time virtually stealing my nose. 

I've got to re-write "Ghost With One Black Eye" to make Clemmie "brave" in her encounter with the ghost.

And while we talked Brannon was dealing with contractions. She thought it might be "false labor"; turned out it wasn't. 

It is hard being a long-distance parent and grandparent. We've had an anxious day as Brannon tried to get some much needed rest between feeding and tending a newborn and putting up with the usual distractions of a hospital stay; she understandably had no time to call Mom and Dad. So we wondered and worried about this new little piece of our heart and her mother 2000 miles away.

Finally this evening another Facetime call and we had a nice long talk with Brannon while she held her new little bundle. There are more details: They almost made it, not to the intended hospital but to a nearer one, as John drove Sue's car and Sue (a wonderful nurse/midwife and dear friend of the Carlins) tended to Brannon in the back seat. But the baby would not wait. John pulled the car off the freeway near the Emerald Drive exit, and our little bright-eyed songbird arrived right there. 

A Facetime screen capture of our little songbird this afternoon.

We think we know what her name will be, but the decision isn't quite final. When I heard what the middle name is likely to be I teared up. You will have to wait a few more hours to learn it. Since her "due-date" had been set at October 31 I had proposed "Morticia". And all day today I have been calling her "Camry" though, in truth, I do not know what make of car Sue drives. Knowing her likely middle name I am nicknaming her "Songbird" for now.

Gleaning Facebook: Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire!

This ol' double Methodist PK (Preacher's Kid) is so proud, despite his Georgian nativity, of his new title as South Carolina's premier liar. My Carolina forebears would share my pride, I'm sure.

Congrats

to Melanie and Denise, two of my favorite fellow storytellers. And I'm thrilled to be scheduled to tell several stories at next years 21st Annual Hagood Mill Storytelling Festival in Pickens, SC.

Gleaning Facebook: Pumpkins!

I wonder how many punkins Sheila and I have passed in these lines over the last three decades. Y'all bring the kids and come enjoy the huge variety of sizes and shapes and colors of punkins, take a few pictures, maybe hear a story, and buy a few punkins to decorate your yard, AND simultaneously support out great youth program at Trinity United Methodist Church.