Everyday Deathday/Birthday

‎"I never am really satisfied that I understand anything; because, understand it well as I may, my comprehension can only be an infinitesimal fraction of all I want to understand about the many connections & relations which occur to me, how the matter in question was first thought of or arrived at, etc., etc."

Mathematician Ada Lovelace, who d. 27 Nov 1852

So, I'd write more, wax on, elaborate upon the life, extraordinary times and works of this remarkable lady, but there is much to be done before I set off driving to Waynesville, MO tomorrow morning, some 200 miles from here, to talk to classrooms full of children there [the BEST part of my job].

If you're reading this maybe I'm amazed AND I direct you to this link re: Ada Lovelace Day.

What's more, I point out to you that today marks n Ada's deathday AND the anniversary of the birth, in 1834, of the exceedingly beautiful British actress, diarist, and influential abolitionist, once she got an eyeful of life on her husband's Georgia plantation.

"I have sometimes been haunted with the idea that it was an imperative duty, knowing what I know, and having seen what I have seen, to do all that lies in my power to show the dangers and the evils of this frightful institution."

Fanny Kemble Butler

One More Thing About Mary

Didn't mean to publish yet! Had me an oh-no moment. I wanted to say to whomever happens to come across this post, try to look past the grainy black & white, Civil War-era photo in my previous post re: Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, who'd have turned 179 years old today if she hadn't died back in 1919 - not long after the close of WWI, just a few weeks after Teddy Roosevelt died, by the way], the somber, poignant expression and note how pretty "Dr. Mary" was. But the larger pic posted here definitely does. These smaller images of Dr. Walker, Dress Reformer, taken later on in her long life, shows how bold and courageous she was, going about in her 19th century world, in trousers. When asked about them - even arrested for wearing them- Dr. Walker would boldly reply: "These are not men's clothes - they are MY clothes!"

And Another

"Oh, they’d heard whispers of such things, but they’d never EVER seen it! Not in clear, summer daylight on a public street! Scandalous!

Positively sinful! Illegal! Outrageous!

“That’s that Miss Walker.”

“Didn’t I read about her in the newspaper?”

“I hear she met with President Lincoln himself!”

“She gave a lecture over at the town hall.”

“What’s that fancy medal on her coat?”

“Why, that’s the Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration a man can get.”

“But isn’t she a woman?”

“I’m afraid so,” his mother replied.

“But she’s wearing PANTS!”

From a book I wrote about Dr. Walker, but am not allowed to illustrate, which hurts my feelings. I'm told that it will be published sometime in 2013, which goes a long way towards cheering me up, but not entirely. Still, no big deal and not worth a backward glance when compared to what that lady put up with.

It was on this day in 1832 that the fearless Dr. Mary Edwards Walker was born up in Oswego, NY.

A Long Gone Voice

"The difference between the men and the boys in politics is, and always has been, that the boys want to be something, while the men want to do something.”

the great Eric Sevareid, who'd be 99 today if he wasn't already dead.

This link will take you to his farewell from the CBS Evening News. Jeepers, that was 34 years ago. Really, I loved listening to his take on things, his way of using the language, his calm, measured voice.

Speaking of cherished voices, I woke up to Scott Simon interviewing Doris Day on NPR this morning. Oh baybee.

"As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do." Andrew Carnegie

So, for one thing, I revised my Thanksgiving Carol, fine-tuned it & added a verse. For another, I spent a large bit of time, shopping and cooking for my family [made 'em sing my song w/ me], hollowing out pie pumpkins & stuffing them, roasting them. Oh baybee: try this recipe. For yet another, the indominatable Carry A. Nation was born on this day in 1846, on Andrew Carnegie's 11th birthday.

My Thanksgiving Song

Here's a song I wrote for you all to sing when you all get 'round the table next Thursday, to the tune of We Gather Together:

Thank you for turkey and plenty of stuffing

Of giblets, chopped onion and bread, sage, and thyme

And mashed potatoes, marshmallows, sweet potatoes

Hot gravy and carrots and corn and green beans.

Thank you for hot buttered rolls, jam, and jelly

Glass dishes of celery and pickles and beets.

We all will make merry with sauces of cranberry

And if there’s still room, we will have pumpkin pie.

Thank you for friends and our family here gathered

For all of our blessings, protection divine

For these years of living we all are thanks-giving

For whipped cream and hot coffee and cold pumpkin pie.

Tippecanoe

"Let us form one body, one heart, & defend to the last warrior our country, our homes, our liberty, & the graves of our fathers." Tecumseh

And many more such graves there would be after the battle that took place two hundred years ago today in what is now the state of Indiana. I'd wax on about what happened at Tippecanoe, how the bloody incident contributed to Presidency of General William Henry Harrison, albeit not its brevity; how it all might have turned out very, very differently, had not the great Tecumseh been away that day from Prophet's Town.

‎"Fallen leaves lying on the grass in the November sun bring more happiness than the daffodils."

Cyril Connolly

And I have a yard full of them. Only last night they were trampled upon by princesses and ninja warriors.