Gleaning Facebook: Carolyn Smyth’s Eagle Project

 Trying out Carolyn Smyth’s Eagle Project benches on the soggy GE Trails.

 First jonquil of 2022 at our place, January 24.

Click here to see my 2021 jonquil post, and it has links to other posts about daffodils -- I've been watching out for the first one ever since my days at McHenry Elementary when I often saw my first of the year around February 1, usually in Mrs. Clara Packer's yard on McHenry Drive.

PTSW: The Luna's Sadness, Impatient Stone

From the Coosa River Basin Initiative Facebook page...

Who can guess the luna’s sadness who

lives so briefly? Who can guess the

impatience of stone longing to be

ground down, to be part again of

something livelier? Who can imagine

in what heaviness the rivers remember

their original clarity?

Strange questions, yet I have spent

worthwhile time with them. And I

suggest them to you also, that your

spirit grow in curiosity, that your

life be richer than it is, that you

bow to the earth as you feel how it

actually is, that we—so clever, and

ambitious, and selfish, and unrestrained—

are only one design of the moving, the

vivacious many.

- Mary Oliver from A Thousand Mornings

A Walk in the Woods with Sheila

 Today Sheila and I drove up to Scenic Road in Armuchee. We parked at the gate to jeep trail that climbs the north end of Lavendar Mountain towards The House of Dreams about four miles along the ridge. We didn't have the time or frankly the energy for an eight mile round trip, though I want to do that one day. Today we just walked for a little over an hour, one mile and a little uphill and then back the same mile and a little downhill. 

It was sort of an anniversary walk, I guess you'd say. 51 years ago today we took a much shorter walk, but one with greater consequence I guess you'd say. That walk was near Holly Creek on the back side of Fort Mountain. You can read about that on this blog.

I wrote about this anniversary a year ago today, and there you can find several links that will give you more information than you likely want about Sheila and me, and the decision we made that day in 1971.

I enjoy the sepia-toned walks of January when the naked trees can't hide the lay of the land.  Here are some pictures from this nice walk. 

Obama on Biden

From Barack Obama's Facebook page...

"In his inaugural address, one year ago today, President Joe Biden committed to “press forward with speed and urgency, for we have much to do in this winter of peril and possibility.” In the year since, he and Vice President Kamala Harris have made significant strides in the face of enormous challenges, bringing us closer to the America we know we can be.
"I knew Joe had the temperament and resilience for this job. For eight years, I witnessed firsthand the empathy and precision he brought to our work repairing the American economy, and one year into his presidency, his administration has led another historic recovery effort.
"Under President Biden’s leadership, our economy set the record for the most jobs added in a single year, with the fastest-ever one-year decline in unemployment in our nation’s history. We’ve rejoined the Paris Agreement and are taking important steps to once again lead the fight against climate change. We’ve built on the Affordable Care Act to expand access to health care. And we’ve passed a crucial infrastructure law to improve our roads and buildings. These are all promising signs that the country is moving in the right direction.
"We’re not where we need to be yet. We still have to secure our democracy, build a more equitable economy that works for all Americans, and take meaningful steps to address the climate crisis. But while it won’t be easy, I still believe we can create a brighter future together — and I look forward to watching the Biden Administration build on this progress in the years ahead."

- President Barack Obama

January 20, 2022

 

Hey, Hey, Hey, Goodbye.

 This reminder of one year ago from Facebook just made me chuckle again. No president meets all of his goals during a single year or even two terms, and definitely not with a tiny margin in the House and a tie in the Senate, but, wow, what a wonderful difference between January 2021 and January 2022. Record-breaking job creation; 200,000,000 vaccinations; VERY low unemployment; improved bridges, roads, and ports; much lower child poverty rates; and much more.

But to be truthful, this silly video expresses the greatest achievement: HWSNBN is no longer sliming our Republic from inside our White House. Our unitary executive is once again knowledgeable, professional, responsive to We the People, patriotic...

...and actually has a sense of humor!

What a year!

It's been hard with only a few seats more than the Trumpists in the House and a tie in the Senate.

BUT what a difference a year has made. We have a professional patriotic responsible executive branch. 

Our roads, bridges, and ports are being upgraded. 

More areas of the country have hi-speed broadband. 

More federal judges have been appointed than in any president's first year since 1961. 

We've moved from 2 million people vaccinated to over 200 million people vaccinated. 

95% of kids are back in school. 

Restaurants are up and running again. 

6,400,000 jobs have been created -- the most in one year EVER! 

The average American is taking home more money every month -- in real dollars, even taking inflation into consideration. 

AND speaking of inflation, just imagine, our current big economic dilemma is that the economy has recovered so much that inflation is now a worry. 

Thank you Mr. President and thank you to the people who came out to the polls in RECORD numbers in 2020 to elect President Biden by millions of votes. And especially to Georgia voters who helped elect the President then came back to the polls to elect TWO brilliant, inspiring, and patriotic Democratic US Senators. 

Now we must do it again. 

We must end the gridlock by electing more Democratic senators

Click on Tom Hanks to see the video.

Gleaning Facebook: 6,400,000 Jobs!

 In my opinion no President has accomplished more in his first year with such a tiny advantage in Congress. Think of what we can do if we replace some of the Republican obstructionists in the Senate and the Republican extremists, like Marjorie Tayor Greene, in the House! Let’s elect a clear majority of practical, patriotic, Democratic Senators and Representatives to Congress this fall.

Balance

Taken from a Facebook meme.

Rights and Responsibilities go together. I am very protective of my rights. BUT I am very cognizant that for every right I also have a responsibility. 

Our very founding sentence (the Preamble) makes plain that liberty and the common good are BOTH key to a functioning republic. In theory the "pure" socialists subvert all rights to the "good of all" and in theory the "pure" capitalists put the individual rights of capital above the good of the whole. BOTH of those extremes result in tyranny. American small-r republicanism balances rights and responsibilities and seeks to ever improve (make perfect) that balance to maximize liberty AND the common good.

So I'm not sure I would word things quite like the Cherokee here, but it sure beats the attitude of those who would allow the paving of our paradise to put up a parking lot for the billionaires shopping center.

I believe with all my heart and mind in the principles a very imperfect Jefferson so eloquently wrote into the first sentence of our declaration and that Gouverneur Morris, also with eloquence, wrote into the first sentence of our Constitution. Everyone, including our posterity have rights to life, liberty, and their own pursuit of happiness and so we have an obligation to pass on those blessings of liberty to the next generation. 

Balance. 

Same with our Senate. Sure give the minority rights to be heard, but don't let them throw monkey wrenches into every damn thing the We the People approve. 

Balance! 

Capital & labor. Profit & common good. Responsibilities & rights. Progress & preservation. 

Balance.

Gleaning Facebook: I Want To Walk You Home

 A fun ASL song from Michael J. Burton's Facebook page today...

I started directing Deaf signing groups in 1971. We performed for churches all over and civic clubs. Later we performed at Six Flags over Georgia and Schools in Chattanooga and Savannah. Our biggest performances were for the Southeastern College Presidents conference in Atlanta and Southern Bell Board in Atlanta. Trying to organize a grand finale in Rome - Jesus Christ Super Star. A long shot but you never know.

- Michael J. Burton

 

37th annual MLK Day March

 

54 Down, 6 To Go

Our recent automobile excursion, to California and back, took us through six of the 12 states I had never visited before...

 

 

 

 .. and that, of course, leaves only six states left that have not had the privilege of my presence. I'd like to fix that. 

The map colors indicate:

Blue: States I had visited before the recent trip

Green: the six states I visited for the first time between November 15, 2021 and January 3, 2022.

White: States yet to visit.

Missouri and Kansas

When they headlined our Big Fibbers Storytelling Festival in 2018 Sherry and Bobby Norfork stayed at our house a week. I doubt seriously that there are another pair of folks in the world with such a huge repertoire of stories between them. What engaging new friends and interesting houseguests they were! We talked a lot about their home state of Missouri, especially the storytelling vents and groups there. And Bobby's talked about his time as a National Park docent at the Gateway Arch. I have had my heart set on a visit there ever since. And as a Mark Twain enthusiast I like to see Hannibal. And as an old social studies teacher theres the Louis and Clark connection and the nearby (across the river in Illinois) Cahokia Mounds. And Kansas is right next door, so maybe we'll make a MO/KS trip one of these days. 

South Dakota

I have always wanted to see Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse monument. While I'm at it I'd like to add the Wind Cave National Paek, Jewel Cave National Monument, and Badlands National Park. Maybe the Minuteman National Historic Site would be an interesting, if chilling, place to visit. We could combine a SD trip with an incursion into North Dakota to see at least the southern part of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Maine

I've always wanted to see New England in the fall, and we have my nephew Matthew's family in New Hampshire, so maybe we'll make that trip some year. I'd like to add the martitime provinces of Canada. The Anne of Green Gables book series is one of my favorites and I'd like to see the sights there abouts.

Alaska & Hawaii

We'll there's no pretending these would be our most ambitios trips, but I sure would enjoy seeing both of these. If I get to, I want plenty of time since both encompass huge distances and lots of flora, fauna, geology, and history to see.

Gleaning Facebook: Profile in Courage - Tom Rice

 I do not know much about Rep. Tom Rice of South Carolina, but today he was a profile in courage when he put our republic above his party to set a precedent for American presidents in the future: No one is above the law.

His statement to his colleagues and constituents said:

“Once the violence began, when the Capitol was under siege, when the Capitol Police were being beaten and killed, and when the Vice President and the Congress were being locked down, the President was watching and tweeted about the Vice President’s lack of courage.

“For hours while the riot continued, the President communicated only on Twitter and offered only weak requests for restraint...

“...I have backed this President through thick and thin for four years. I campaigned for him and voted for him twice. But, this utter failure is inexcusable.”

Read the rest of his remarks here: https://www.wbtw.com/.../rep-rice-votes-to-impeach-trump/

Comment

Vincent Mendes

Wow, an old friend of mine is on his staff. I had no idea Rice voted to impeach today (he’s telling the truth when he says he has “backed this president through thick and thin”). I messaged my friend to please thank the representative from a fellow American.

Could I Interest You In a Nice Bowl of Stone Soup?

I was thrilled over two years ago now when the good folks at the Stone Soup Storytelling Festival chose me to be one of the "New Voices" for their 2020 festival in Woodruff, South Carolina. Stone Soup has a reputation as a proving grounds for national storytellers. Several folks who now are a part of the national storytelling circuit count Stone Soup as one of their first "Featured Teller" opportunities. And the way to get to be a "Featured Teller" is to first be a "New Voice" and hope to be chosen as one of the tellers to move on to that next grand level. So, ol' Terrell --- after telling stories to school groups for over fifty years and to small festivals, civic groups, scout groups, tall tale contests, ghost story tours, and more for over thirty years --- was gonna be a "New Voice"!

Then came March 11, 2020 and the call that Covid had struck one of my schools here in Floyd County. I knew then that our own Big Fibbers Storytelling Festival would have to be cancelled, and that it wouldn't be long before I'd hear the same sad news from Woodruff. 

Oh well, maybe next year.

Next year came and the Delta varient was abroad. BUT the great folks at Stone Soup, Karyn Page-Davies and her new assistant Hunter McLeod managed to organize a belated "New Voices" performance, although it had to be done via "Zoom. I had a ball hearing a bunch of great stories and getting to tell a story of my own. 

Where's Waldo, errr, Terrell? Can you find the two pictures of Terrell above. These are Zoom shots of the Liar Contest and the New Voices Performance for the 2021 Stone Soup Storytelling Festival. I'm the one shamelessly mugging for the camera in both shots.

 

I told a short version of my signature story, "The Prowler," that many of you have heard me tell. It was about the terrifying first night Sheila and I spent in our little log cabin in Chubbtown. Our sleep on that moonless night was interrupted by a prowler.

Well folks, I heard from Karyn and Hunter again last week! I have been chosen as a featured teller for the 2022 Stone Soup Storytelling Festival!  

I hope to have an opportunity to tell the full 25 minute version of "The Prowler", and some newer stories. I will be joined by three other much admired featured storytellers, Janel Behm, Laura Deal, and Jessica Robinson. Yay! 

I hope some of my NC/SC/GA friends will make the drive to Woodruff to enjoy the stories in person, but if you can't be sure to keep your eyes on the Stone Soup website or Facebook page and tune in via the internet, wherever you are. Performances will be April 22,23, and 24. Y'all come!

Otis Lavay McCullough

Sheila and I drove to Demorest way up in Northeast Georgia today to attend Lavay's funeral. I was blessed to get to sing for the funeral and the graveside committal service. It was a wonderful day of celebration of Lavay's 93 years of humble service to his family, the community, and the Lord.

Here is a link to the video recording of the service.

The visitation started at two and the funeral at four. It was so good to see and talk with Lavay's children and grandchildren and to meet Robin's mom and brother and to meet a few others who have loved Lavay McCullough. The family had a computerized slide show of photos, as is common these days, with images from all phases of Lavay's life. They also had some individual framed pictures, Lavay and Gladys's wedding album, and a "Shutterbug" book of family pictures they had put togther for Gladys and Lavay several years ago. 

I was particularly interested in these two pictures:

In the wedding album was a picture of the wedding cake and several folks who helped at the wedding. I am not sure who the three girls to the left are, but that's my eldest sister, Janice on the right. I had not remembered that she participated at Lavay and Gladys's wedding. Ain't she pretty!

This is a photo of Lavay (left) and his best friend of his teen years Bill Cummings. They graduated fron Rockmart High School together in 1948, the year after I was born. When I was a leader of the Floyd County Association of Educators and often seved on various county, district and state committees and conventions of teachers I got to know Bill and his wife Jenna Lee. I probably knew them for 25 years before I discovered that Bill had been a close friend as a teen with my first cousin Lavay! Bill taught for 30 years, aws president of the Georgia Association of Educators for two terms, and served in the Georgia House of Representatives for a couple of decades. Matter of fact, the road from Rockmart to Rome is now officially the "Bill Cummings Highway." Bill died in October of 2014 only a few months after Jenna Lee's death. His children and some of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren still live in the Rockmart and Rome areas.

 

Rev. Al Gilbert was a college student when he became the youth minister at Sandersville Baptist Church where Rev. Lavay McCullough was pastor. Al officiated and after his welcome and opening prayer, I sang "How Great Thou Art", Lavay's favorite hymn according to his children. Then each of Lavay's three children spoke about their Daddy and, really, preached a short sermon. After leading us in the chorus, "Sweet Sweet Spirit" Al gave his own sermon. He spoke of what an humble servant leader Lavay was, how quietly studious he was, what a mentor he was.

I have always known that Lavay was a pray-er, but it was interesting to hear of his very dedicated prayer life. He rose every day to read the Bible, have a devotion, and pray for those on his many pages of prayer lists, including all his children and grandchildren by name, and each family of relatives, including the Shaws. This reminded me of the other very organized "pray-er" in my life, my mother -in-law. Sheila and I inherited a box full of notebooks that are filled with Mavis Matthews prayer journals. Lavay prayed with me the last two times I talked with him on the phone, at least. What a solace and strong support he and his prayers were to me and to my mother during her final illness. She loved him like a little brother.

At the very brief committal service in the cemetery only a couple of hundred yards from the chapel, Al spoke again briefly and I sang "Amazing Grace". 

Afterward everyone was invited to the fellowship hall for a dinner of barbecue and all the fixings. It was wonderful to be reacquainted with some of these cousins that we have not visited with in a while and reminisce together about our Baird family relatives, especially Lavay, of course.  We got some pictures, but I'm sorry that I missed Laura's husband Jose and Robin's mom and brother, and Rev. Al Gilbert.

The children of Lavay & Gladys: (l-r) Andy, Belinda, and Laura

The children of Lavay & Gladys: (l-r) Andy, Belinda, and Laura

Andy is the youngest of Lavay's kids. Here he is with his wife,
Robin and their three sons (l-r), Drew. Luke, and Jack.

Laura's four children with their Uncle Andy (l-r) Elizabeth, Clarissa, Joseph, Andy, Isaac.

All of Lavay's grandchildren (l-r) Clarissa, Joseph, Elizabeth, Isaac, Drew, Luke, Jack.

Andy's wife Robin with Laura and Belinda.

LATER NOTE

February 5, 2022

Today I read the tribute to Lavay that Robin, his daughter in law, wrote in the newsletter that she and Andy send out as a part of their ministry. I wanted to preserve that here for future reference:

----------------

Lavay McCullough

Andy and his two sisters said goodbye to their father one month ago. He died peacefully.  After several months of struggling physically, he was ready to go home. 

I (Robin) find myself often enough reflecting on the early life of my father-in-law, Lavay McCullough. Like most who lived during the Great Depression, his family didn’t have much, materially speaking. 
 

He once told me he never saw or ate an orange until he was ten years old. He carried a pail to school with lunch in it, consisting of a biscuit, a thumb hole in the center and grease/lard poured in the hole. With a smile, he commented that he was better off than his classmate who would bring only one walnut and a hammer. 


Lavay's father tragically died in 1931 when he was two, so he had no memories of his father. Lavay was infected with polio as a toddler and though he recovered, he lived with the consequences of this virus for the rest of his life, walking with a pronounced limp. He didn't let it affect his outlook though. I knew his mother, Louise, in her later years. She commented one time that she never treated Lavay differently because of his seeming disability.   
 

Out of necessity, at a young age, Lavay went to live with his grandmother while his mother resumed working at a cotton mill 80 miles away. He only saw his mother every three weekends. He told Andy he would get dressed up in his best clothes and wait for her to arrive for a weekend visit. He was afraid to get his clothes dirty so he would stand inside with his face pressed against the window waiting for a taxi to bring his mother he so loved.


He was raised not only by his grandmother but all of his extended family up through age 10 until Louise remarried.  Lavay's family was/is a tight family, strong in their faith, hard-working, joyful, and loving. 


This laid the foundation for Lavay’s life well lived… significant and serving many people both inside and outside the congregations he pastored.   


As Andy and I have reflected on his dad’s life, one thing that stands out is his humility. He told Andy it could be difficult while leading church congregations not to let personal pride creep in. I don’t believe he ever succumbed to that temptation.  Andy likes to say that Jesus never got lost in his dad's shadow because it was never about him.  He worked as hard at churches with smaller congregations as he did those with larger ones. He never sought recognition or let his own lips praise him.


He related to and cared for those in humble circumstances, always. 

In his last few years, both in assisted living and hospital stays, he would always take a personal interest in the lives of doctors, nurses, caregivers. He’d ask and remember where they grew up, how many children they had, and if they knew the LORD. 

 

He spent long hours in prayer, studying the bible, and memorizing scripture. In November, while Andy was visiting him in the hospital, Andy offered to read Psalm 23 to him.  No need. He quoted it.  And told Andy he had a sermon worked out to give on this psalm.  (Laura, Andy's sister, shared this sermon at his funeral.)
 

This humble love of the Lord and people were evident in all the stories Andy and his sisters recalled during Lavay’s funeral. All three children spoke; it was a very honoring service.  

 

Pastor Al Gilbert, officiated the funeral and also spoke powerful words about Lavay’s influence in his life. Al, starting at age 18, was a youth pastor and associate pastor under Lavay's leadership for several years. Mentored by Lavay as he was launching out in full-time ministry, Al still carries those practical lessons with him nearly fifty years later. 

 

Otis Lavay McCullough will be remembered for his way with words, his sermons, his interest in others’ lives, his knack for remembering details of peoples’ lives, his humor, his strong prayers, his diligent study and knowledge of the Bible, his humility, his good attitude, and his ability to press on. 

 

Even as we miss him, we are convenient that he is now experiencing no sorrow or pain...  And that he is leaping like a deer. 

~ Robin & Andy

--------------------

Here is the program from Lavay's Funeral.

I sang "How Great Thou Art" for the funeral and "Amazing Grace" at the committal, as I did at Gladys's services in 2010. It probably sounds strange but it was a joy to get to sing these songs for Lavay and just to be a part of this celebration of a good man's life. This is the sweet thank you note that Lavay's son and daughters sent me.