26 May 2015, Tuesday ... Mary Ellen Mark dies ... treated mom's hurt arm ... Peg rubs Dancer the right way ... Doug's gift in the mail ...

Mary Ellen Mark, the influential photographer known mostly for her humanist work,
has died. She was 75.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/05/26/409806219/photographer-mary-ellen-mark-dies-at-75

Dancer just loves to roll over and have her stomach scratched. 

23 May 2015 Saturday ... Susan's graduation from seminary, meet the neighbors, silence & together last night

 

Oh, it's been far too long not to have jotted at least a short note to the passage of days, which progress with too quick rapidity, but on this brilliant and actually cool Saturday morning, I write as Susan and family and friends (mom and Nick & Lindsay and other Shuping kin) at the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary of Lenoir-Rhyne University have their graduation ceremony (Susan is on the home page of the school's web site with this cutline description next to her smiling face ... 

"Get to know America's warmest Lutheran seminary — and we're not just talking about the weather.

We are intellectually curious and spiritually courageous, but supporting each other is the glue
that keeps it all together."

I have to be heading off to Peg's for the housewarming at Christine & Tom's new home, near the church. It began at 11 a.m.

Well, on a walk this morning I met and spoke to three people and I don't want to forget names and before I do:

• Rob and his 11-month-old chocolate lab, exuberant and playful, Luna on the hill of Pickwick. He's a truck driver of liquefied sugar and works long hours. He bought the home at 31 and he and his wife want to have a child. I suggest he meet Bill, my neighbor from across the street, who is an immaculate yard keeper and who is a new father with the birth of his 2nd son (first child from his 2nd marriage), Liam Joseph, born in late April (27th, I think). Together now with his wife, Nicole, and their vibrant daughter, his step-daughter, Avah, they make a wonderful family.
• Across the street where all the work is going on, I spoke with Jeff, who grew up in Maplecrest and is moving to Sherwood Park II. The home is owned by a couple who are renovating and have a contract on it. They still have to bring in a lot of topsoil for the backyard and finish cementing the sidewalk. 

                           

Found this photo on the Facebook page for the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary and it shows my ex-wife, Susan Katherine Thisell (on the right), at the school's graduation ceremony. It is a remarkable accomplishment and represents a lifelong goal of hers to be a Lutheran minister
in the ELCA. Congratulations Rev. Thisell.

https://www.facebook.com/LutheranTheologicalSouthernSeminary/photos/pcb.10155595968925646/10155595967775646/?type=1&theater

On a much more mundane and ephemeral front, the Phillies beat the Nationals 8-1 ...

We hiked White Clay Creek (Bryan's Field Trail) in the brilliant afternoon, Smith Mill Road off Paper Mill Road that ends with at the parking lot and a request for a fee payment of $4 and the stub to be placed on the driver side's dashboard, and we got lost. In the process, we walked a good 4-5 miles with Dancer in tow and got tuckered, so did our dog. But the day was beautiful and Peg gave me botanical and ornithology lesson as we walked the trail dug deep by the passage of myriad mountain bikes. 

Phillies break out to back stellar
 Hamels.

Ryan Howard, who hit his 10th homer in the game, congratulates the new Phillies 3rd baseman, 22-year-old Maikel Franco, on his 2nd homer of the year against
Stephen Strasburg, one of the Nationals' aces. 

7 April 2015: Tuesday ... eye appt. w/Dr. Pok ... lunch at Mary's Kountry Kitchen ... weather trim for doghouse ... anchoring of post to hold chain ... bush trimming ... poison ivy cold bath

"The rash that Poison Ivy causes humans is from the sap, which has an oil called "urushoil" in it. Urushoil only comes out of the plant where it is damaged; however, Poison Ivy is very fragile and breaks easily. Wind, animals, or chewing insects can cause urushoil to be released. When urushoil gets on your skin, your skin absorbs it slowly. Your skin will then have a reaction, resulting in a red rash with blisters. If urushoil gets on your dog or clothes, it can later transfer to you! If you burn wood with Poison Ivy vines on it, the smoke will carry the oil to your lungs, and a trip to the hospital will probably be necessary. Not everybody is allergic to Poison Ivy, and some people are more allergic than others. If you know you've been exposed, wash the area with cold water as soon as possible.  Hot water opens your pours so the oil can enter easier."

http://kynaturalinquirer.blogspot.com/2011/05/leaves-of-three.html 

24 March 2015: Tuesday ... Harry Corriher passes away this morning at 10 a.m. ...

Picture posted on Emily's Facebook page ... the Corriher family, an integral role in the young Nyhoff family. We grew up with visits to the farm homes and Uncle Harry was always there in his unique way of sharing love and concern. He and Jane raised an amazing family.

16 March 2015 ... my first entry? of the new year (come on) ... Liz' arrival ... meet the neighbor, Chris, finally ... call U of D parking authority, Wells Fargo debit card ...

So, here goes, after literally months of avoidance, I return to this blog and attempt, the day after, to begin a healthy process of recollection on a single day's activities, to gain some sort of perspective on this all-to-short human life. As I write this on St. Patrick's Day of 2015, a bright overcast day that will rise into the low 60s and as the grass has received a dosed of pre-emergent fertilizer from Nick, who knows Dancer and is greeted by her in the backyard as he takes the machine in rows and my darling

                                                   
                                                              Not Nick, not the front
                                                       yard and not the machine used.

therapy dog is not fearful, only attendant and loving as always, I know that this is a start, like my horoscope spoke of, a way to break out of the morass of inaction (Christine Shaw leads yoga at the YMCA as I type this and I am not there, again, to enjoy her healthy, physical pedagogy and spiritual enlightenment and to tell her how much I enjoyed the Delaware Symphony Concert where her group sang the accompaniment to opera selections ... loved her "Toreador"). 

At long last, I made the trip across the street and introduced myself to the "new" neighbor who moved in at the end of last year, yes, that's right, over 3 months ago. His name is Bill and he is the son of a DHS grad of '75, Cherie (?) Smith, who grew up in Limestone Acres. His wife -- this is 2nd marriage for both of them -- is Nicole and she is due in April with their first child, a boy, but he has a son from his previous marriage, a boy who has cerebral palsy and is wheelchair-bound and will start school next year. The ebullient, singing child in the front yard, on occasion, is Avah, and their loving dog (name I can't recall). She came over and asked to ride her bike around the block. She is forthright, outgoing and just a dear.