Saturday, March 28, 2026

Saturday ["No Kings Protest" (#3)], March 28, 2026 -- over two months since my last post (has IT lifted)


                            U of D green space ... Newark, DE ... No Kings Protest ... thousands came.

                                                   Rep. Frank Burns' favorite poster from the protest. 

On this crystalline, blue, clear day, "No Kings Day", its third iteration after two last year, at some 3,000 locations across the US and the world (at least Canada); the 4th birthday of Michael Monti, the cars parked on Cook Road, the passengers exiting with presents; our Chinese neighbors began planting in the backyard (the flower haven of one Betty Asbell, who to my great upset, we have not stayed in contact as she is in a rest home in Middletown, not far from Lisa and Larry Connor (443-433-8983) with a pile of potting soil on the driveway, Keon's play trucks on the concrete patio in back, he carried a rake toward his father, Alex, who was turning the soil with a spade as mother Sue took photos ... it was such a nice family moment as I took down Peg's laundry from the line, a windy day where we did bedsheets and a load of her stuff, which I brought in too early and had to lay out in Sandra's old room on the wooden rack and on plastic hangars hooked to the door frame to her bedroom, where I made the bed. Earlier, to the sounds of the MET's broadcast of La Traviata (what a tuneful opera by Verdi), I'd made my bed and later dusted my clothes drawer. 

Phillies lost in the 10th inning to the Texas Rangers, 5-4; but the Flyers won their 8th road game in a row, in Detroit, by a 5-3 score. A nailbiter as they were up up 4-0 before the Red Wings scored 3 goals in just over 2 minutes late in the 3rd period. Philly scored an EN goal to seal it. Phewwww!!! Owen Tippett, flying on the ice, scored a hat trick, the third of his career. I got the same mention , "Phew!" from when I completed the  Connections on the NY Times website. Down to my last chance and I saw the connection and got the 3rd row and solved it. Sometimes it just takes time to see and others, it's too tough to answer. 

Brian Price, who worked and retired from SEPTA and who now lives in Portugal, posted on FB from Paris where he's visiting his sister. His photos are b/w and are arresting in their simple beauty and quiet and aloneness. I posted a comment that they reminded be of Eugene Atget.















Brian Price ... Paris, March 2026.



















Eugene Atget ... early 1900s (date ?)

Referring to the capitalized "IT" in the blog post header, I am trying to describe, minimally and with a facile acronym, both a pronoun, mostly, and a noun; but its derivation, its etymology, its root source, for me, is the grinding and dispiriting, to say the least, depression that has locked my being in its grasp for well over a year now. Is "IT" moving onward or am I going to be thrown into the manic phase of a "supposed betterment" and wind up not moving forward at all. Time is of essence. My billion heart beats are heading toward its sunset and I have to stop fucking around and hiding behind self-abuse covering as ephemeral pleasure (sure). 

Well, today we sang together, working on today's hymns which will be sung as choral leaders of the congregation for our visiting minister today at UUSMC, Rev. Lyn Cox (they, them), Central East Region Field Staff, Unitarian Universalist Association. We Will Carry Each Other and Benediction, both in the online UUA hymnal (Sing Out Love). We rehearsed (Peg is a good piano player) on the Kurzweil RG200 electric and she was direct in her quick corrections of my diction and pitch but we sang, some acapella, and it sounded and felt good. Should do it more often and hopefully we shall just prior to her plane travel to the other side of Earth to an island in the Indian Ocean. 

On another neighborly note, walked across the street, hoped not to alarm Kevin who was working on a car to replace a steering strut and another part, an advanced automotive repair job that is right up his alley. Gets his parts from Rock Automotive which sends frig magnets for each purchase. Both, in the garage and kitchen, are covered, he says, with the attractive attachments. He swears by their quality and low cost. 

Well, he is an engineer and so is his son, 31, who just graduated with an electrical engineering degree from UD and now with works with his dad, who guaranteed a job at the facility he works, a place that gets a lot of DOD contracts and desires to hire Americans for their open positions due to the sensitive nature of the work intelligence-wise. I queried him on that statement and he said it honestly. But it is revealing to learn about your neighbors when you take the time to talk and ask a few caring questions about family. 

Thursday, January 8, 2026 ... Peg's made pancakes (wonderful smell), Schumann's Cello Concerto on the iPhone

Robert Schumann never heard his cello concerto composed in 1850 and it languished for 50 years before a young Pablo Casals championed it and played it often during his long career. The YouTube is a link to a recording of Casals with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra. 

I'm now "clipped and shorn" after a visit to Great Clips at Limestone Crossing, next to the dermatologist office where Katherin (spelling on the receipt), born in Salisbury, Md, whose been in Delaware for the last 6 years, cut my hair. She likes to use scissors to do a haircut (does a better job than clippers, a more natural look) and she did a nice job ($21 plus $4 dollar tip). 


Main Street, Salisbury, MD, in the 1930s.

 

Thursday, January 8, 2026

Wednesday, January 7, 2026 ... A new year where my first resolution is to arrest the plummet of spirit and life

Belarus 













The system of legal war began to end after World War I, when, in 1928, states renounced the act of war in the signing of the 
Kellogg-Briand Pact. It was signed five days after the birth of my father in The Hague, Netherlands to one Hendrika Verhaaf. 

lodgment -- 
Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, defended the attack as a means of assuring “that foreign countries don’t have a lodgment inside our hemisphere.” https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/07/opinion/trump-venezuela-america-first.html 

Nick called last night, did not hear the call (was listening to the Flyers game, a priority for selfish self, but he had bad news) and I didn't call him back till early this afternoon from the bathroom. Cleo had a lot of fluid removed from her chest and the x-ray showed a mass. She's feeling fine and he took her home but the prognosis is not good. Cleo is about 6 years old. Nick was upset. She's his family and like Lexi he became truly bonded to her. He puts his heart and soul into his pets and that says so much about his love for family, whether human or canine. 

Peg auditioned this early evening for Coro Allegro. She was asked to sound out a rhythm, then do some sight singing and then sing a nice little melody. She'll learn in a couple of day whether she's made it into the group. 

We took down the Xmas decorations today. Wrapping the ornaments in paper and storing all the red ribbons in one box. The tree was folded, placed in plastic sheeting pieces and then stuffed in the cylindrical box, aged and worn, then the handles were looped with string and tied around the box with a slip knot. Stored it upright downstairs in the corner next to the large-breasted woman painting in the basement. 




  1. 1.
    literary
    a place in which a person or thing is located, deposited, or lodged.
    "they found a lodgment for the hook in the crumbling parapet"
  2. 2.
    the depositing of money in a particular bank, account, etc.
  3. 3.
    Military
    a temporary defensive work made on a captured part of an enemy's fortifications to secure a position and provide protection.
Origin

Friday, August 1, 2025

Wednesday, 30 July 2025 ... a start to observing a day lived and experienced

He sat with his fellow patients, quietly and placidly with a blank stare, at the mall on a trip. The group was eating and their caregivers were up and providing help to those who were in need, mostly to go to the bathroom. They didn't talk but were intent and seemingly enjoying themselves. 

Peg and I ate our Thai meals, she fish and mine chicken. Large portions that we worked through diligently and progressively. I helped out with her large portion after finishing mine. 

Later we walked over the Barnes & Noble and sat in the magazine section. Peg, as is her passion, sought out the woodworking publications and selected four of them for a total cost over $30. But she showed me some of the creations that were shown, pictures of the pieces and the plans of how to do it. They really are amazingly detailed, step-by-step instructions on how to make these projects. She's always thinking of her grandkids and what she can make for them with her fine jigsaw with its slim blade. 

We got our walking in on a hot day where we turned on the AC in the house (set a degree lower than normal for Peg at 77 degrees) throughout the mall. 

Monday, April 14, 2025

Becoming a reading icon for children ... Pete the Cat; Read Aloud Delaware event in Wilmington this late afternoon

Tuesday, 18 July 2023 

Should check my calendar on my iPhone more carefully as I assumed that my volunteer time for the pre-K class at the daycare on S. Chapel Street was for 10:30. It was not and Ms. Lula, who celebrated a birthday yesterday, expected me at 9:30 for the 7 children she leads, two of whom were missing today. So, getting there at 10:40 due to construction delays around Newark gave me only a short time to read. One, a boy, was cut short and another I promised to start with next week. I will not be late next Tuesday, 7/25. Elizabeth, a rising 4th grader, acted as the class assistant. She knows all the times and served as a gatekeeper when I asked for the next student to be read to. 



Cut the lawn, did some trimming and blowing, my hands are grass-strewn and my white socks dirtied (wearing my hiking boots, bought down at the Delaware shore at an outlet with Peg when we went camping and kayaking while mom was in in-hospital hospice care for a few days ... 2015?). The Asbells were on their front porch and Dwayne was watching as a lawn service employee cut his yard with a riding lawnmower. It was an historic and yes, painful, moment to see him relying on a service that he has done all his adult life ... cutting and taken care of his yard. 

*********************

Wednesday ... 7/26/23 ... So, WTH, why can I not write in this online blog at least for a few minutes of the day and then share it with those close to me. Yesterday was a transformative day for me and Elizabeth, 10, the rising 4th grader in the pre-K class at the Christian Daycare I read for on Tuesday mornings; and later a phone call to Nick who received the birthday card and check today. He was truly appreciative as it came at a needy time financially. Back to pre-K with the announcement from this engaging young lady that she could not read chapter books. Here I am reading "Trucks" and "Spot Goes To The Beach" to these 4 and 5 years olds and she can't read. We'll have to remediate that I told her and promised to read a chapter book next week (8/1) to her. Already have "Stuart Little" in the car and ordered a paperback from Amazon for her to have. 

It's a gorgeous Wednesday morning and within the hour I'll be back on the trails (rode last night until light feel on the unseen roots and depressions before Smith Mill Road ascent) with Maryann set to arrive from NJ at 9:45 at WCP. 



What a ride with the girl from NJ this Wednesday morning that extended into the afternoon as we road trails, the Pomeroy, the reservoir, Redd Park and the asphalt downhill to the intersection of Polly Drummond and Paper Mill Rds. Over 20 miles (my Strava gave out as always but I did register mileage of over 13 at one point at the turnaround where with Maryann's tough ascent of a hill beyond the house remains in Pennsylvania that I'd always walked in the past ... she inspired me to reach the top). 


Monday, January 1, 2024

Last day of the year service and Kwanzaa lesson at UUSMC ... led by Anna Hull and festival teachers Gladys Smith and Michael Slater

 December 31, 2023

Well, here we go again. Another year closes shop, a new one beckons and like the deranged person repeating a failed path, many times over, I once again hope to make a positive change(s) in my life as I seek physical and spiritual wholeness.  


Gladys Smith and Michael Slater 
helped out UUSMC attendees with the 
history and meaning of Kwanzaa as she lit
all 7 candles representing the days of the festival. 

Seeds for the New Year was the title of today's service, the last day of 2023, and Anna Hull gave the homily and it connected directly to the padded insert like papyrus that I thought might be the writing pad for our resolutions for 2024, but no, they contained within their fibers, seeds of meadow wildflowers that when buried and then covered with soil will, with patience, sprout in the weeks ahead. It's something you can take to the bank when Professor Hull, who teaches biology and environmental science at Lincoln University, one of the first predominantly African-American schools in the United States. 








Monday, October 10, 2022

Micro elements of our existence ... from 1/137 to quantum dynamics to crith or the weight of a liter of hydrogen


Judy Burns blows out the candles after Associates' rehearsal at Rachael Vernooy's home on Monday, 3 October 2022. Judy turned 80 years of age. 


 Back to Brilliant.org to learn about the basics of physics and mathematics, the foundations of our world. I've lost mine lately and I'm entering a dangerous phase where I need to make a turnaround. In a few minutes I'll drive to the Delaware State Police station new Glasgow to get fingerprinted for Read Aloud Delaware (for free) and request a criminal background clearance for Kelly Services/Education ($65 charge). I'm anxious and yes, even scared for I've felt let down by my former "colleagues" in the school system after my abrupt firing  by ESS over an email where I was hoping to have some honest dialogue about student behavior. It turned out horribly wrong and I have yet to recover. Not doing myself any favors by my destructive behavior and escapist activities. Why is it that nurturing your spirit with knowledge and exploration is such anathema when it is all restorative?



Saturday, July 2, 2022

Fifth Grade Virtual Field Trip: Ecosystem Exploration

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80eakJGlaPs

A virtual fifth-grade field trip with Walking Mountains Science Center in Colorado! Ecosystem Exploration- Take a virtual hike with our educators through different ecosystems at the Walking Mountains Science Center Tang Campus. What do you see? Use your observation skills to find and discover.


24 May 2022 ... my goodness, it's been a LONG time since I made a post, but here I go once more, it needs to be more regular

 



The scythe was a bit rusty but Peg sharpened it quickly and it made quick work of flora in the back corner of the yard where we planted a Columbine. 


My Facebook post comments: "Before you start, “Here’s Peg’s lesser half posting on FB while she does the work of scything a corner plot in the backyard”. Well, I’ll have you know I finished the hole (at her request as she'd started it) for the Columbine and filled it with soil (mostly) some of which invaded the inside of my knee pad. Now that's true sacrifice 😁."


This is a good start. I can't comment on it all, there are trillions of neutrinos and you can't count them all, so are the experiences in a day. In its ultimate, a writer can turn it into a work of art for the ages, Ulysses.


Citing the positive, no matter how miniscule, to build back my spirit. This should not be a temporary fix. My

 30 June 2022, a beautiful Thursday in the Pike Creek Valley of New Castle County, Delaware on 15 Cook Road in Deacons Walk ... 

A list of those positive accomplishments, no matter how slight, that have made this day a step forward rather than back toward a sense of despair. 

  1. Took tool sample to UPS for next day delivery for colon check. 
  2. Used clasping tool to pick up Dutch tile behind the bookcase at the front window in the living room.
  3. Getting set to do the lawn and plan to weed trim also (with Peg's assistance to start it).
  4. Help Peg to get the chainsaw to start after its inability last evening in the meadow where I learned  about some of the invasive plants and did some pulling up of some with Jamie Kegerise's expertise. 



Monday, January 14, 2019

1l14l19: Family resolution, hearing and not speaking, listening, caring, empathy expressed, understanding engendered ... love shared

                                                    Fox Den Road snowfall ... 1/14/19

It always helps to share one's feelings. As tough as that can be, the alternative, silence and growing misunderstanding, is unhealthy and just sows distrust and dislike, even among family members, perhaps even more so.

Tonight, we shared in a phone conversation as I walked the snow streets around Deacons Walk with Dancer on leash. I've said something that I've not accounted for and words, certainly written words, on the eternal digital highway, remain and cause pain. I apologized and searched for those words, was unsuccessful but have learned a lesson. Life is precious and sensitive and you may think you're in the right but you can't be objective about your actions and you must be accountable. How to step away and view your response dispassionately, third-personly is a skill that is currently beyond me but I will work to achieve it in some measure.

May 30, 2018 ... Lindsay's 28th birthday, she's celebrating in the Vey's hometown of Chattanooga as I write this post ...


Taken a few days after her 27th birthday, Lindsay & Alex, wed by Rev. Jim Glander shared a humorous moment during their ceremony. Everyone shared, including Corinne Semonti, her Maid-of-Honor, in the laugh as the bride and minister slapped five. 

As so many of my post entries begin, this has been a long interval before writing and there have been many lost opportunities to express my memories of days, now lost to my memory until initiated by events that reawaken those experiences.

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

26 July 2017 ... almost a crisp, chill morning for late July ... high of 79 today, in the 60s at present ... sleeping weather

When, when will I begin to write each day and at least capture one interaction that sets the day alight with discovery.


Just back from some work at the home on Pickwick. The carpet is up in my room, the library and it's sectioned, rolled, and tied into sections by the garbage/recycling/organics cans out the back door.(Words added on Lindsay's 28th birthday, 5/30/2018, a recollection) ... The floor is clear, the hospital bed removed and life moving forward. The pulsing of the oxygenator, gone, and the quiet resolve of my mother, secure in her world of pain and enclosure, a room without a view and now there is silence and the world moves on. 

Monday, January 2, 2017

22 December 2016, Thursday ... Reemergence: trying to find a mission with small steps, working toward meaning, away from despair

22 December 2016 ... a mostly sunny Thursday morning as OnPoint starts on the iPhone radio NPR app for WBUR in Boston:

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

12 June 2016, Sunday -- Gala Concert of Italian Festival Cultural Event ...




Took photos at the 13th annual Gala Concert in St. Anthony of Padua church sanctuary of the Delaware Youth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Simeone Tartaglione and one of the pieces played after the youth group was by a solo violinist and it touched me because it was a favorite of dad's, a piece foisted on the public by the multi-talented Fritz Kreisler, a recasting of an old masterpiece by Gaetano Pugnani, his Prelude and Allegro in his style:                           

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJUvPa7qC0Y

                       

Saturday, June 11, 2016

11 June 2016, Saturday ... Doug's 58th birthday ... photo shoot of DSO Youth Orchestra at St. Anthony of Padua Church ...



                                                           We were milk drinkers.

Addendum (6/11/16): Coming from Maplecrest on our bikes, Peg and I saw Steve and Annie walking Kirby (Annie's leash) and Harriet (Steve's) at the park in Sheridan Square. They're such dear animals, perfectly named, and the abused one, used as bait (teeth filed down) for a dog fighting ring, Harriet, was quite affectionate and did not growl once. She even rolled over for Peg as she pet her. So nice to run into the two of them with their canine charges on a beautiful summer evening.

It's those lazy, hot, thirst-inducing days again ... "sumer is a cumin" ... and I drink three glasses of ice tea, which really doesn't quench thirst but entices it, at Peg's from a circular glass pitcher with a curved lip; but the day is hot, the interior of the car baking (need a reflector).

Friday, June 10, 2016

10 June 2016 Friday ... Peg's 2nd day on job @ Stacy's ... Patti visits shortly after Famatta comes to care for mom ... bought tail light for Honda ... bent to gather bush clippings


Beer Barrel Polka JibJab sent to Doug, Nick, Lindsay
Norma Clara, Norma Virginia, Peg and Susan, too,
for the first individual's 58th birthday tomorrow.
Went riding with Gordon last night starting about 6:30 from the baseball backstop at the park, whose name always eludes me for some unknown (early dementia perhaps) reason, and we hit the trails as we rode the Judge Morris course, which seemed endless and then through fields of glorious oats, we think (or at least Peg surmised, after I got home and she cooked a great steak dinner on the grill with corn on the cob and brussel sprouts).

9 June 2016, Thursday ... Peg handyman @ Stacy's ... lawn cut w/clippings for backyard ... brushed Dancer (lots of hair) ... birthdays of Eleanor Huether & Jay Gibson

    
She loves to have her belly scratched but dislikes when you pull on her feathers in the rear. That's her sensitive area. And boy did she produce a lot of hair that Peg said the birds would love for nesting material.

Today is the birthday of Peg's daughter Eleanor, who turns 29 today, and who, with her husband Chris, just bought a home in New York near her in-laws, a 4-bedroom place for just over $700K. It is also the birthday of Peg's second, adopted mother, Jay Gibson, who just loved the e-cards that I sent her from JibJab and AmericanGreetings.

Jay Gibson sheds light on her birthday.


Holy Trinity Greek Festival - 41st Anniversary, June 7 - 11, 2016
http://greekfestde.com/


A good time, a filled space where the seating is limited (we sat with young couples to eat our Moussaka and Spinakopita and Dolmades and then left, just as we finished, when another young couple came to join the other three at our table ... we did not have a conversation as many of the young people were invested into their smart phones) ... and then out to the dance area and the infectious Greek music and spirit and the line dancing holding hands or arm and arm. Peg pulled me out and used her international dancing expertise to get me on the right rhythmic path with feet and body movement. All in all, a good time for the evening.