January Pictures

January 2nd at the Pancake Farm in Ephrata with the Ludwig's. Click on this picture to get a good look at everyone.

Chanda, Dad and I went to Conowingo Dam in Maryland to see the eagles one freezing cold Sunday. We saw a lot of eagles. Our cameras weren't really up to the job of zooming in on them, but if you click on the picture you may get a better idea of the dam and the eagle flying. There were lots of seagulls and other birds flying around also, especially when they opened the dam gates. They had a siren that went off right before they released water. It was like someone calling out to the birds to "kum essa." My spell check won't tell me how to spell that.

Covered Bridge near Rothsville.

Marion's dried hydrangea wreath.

At Chanda's birthday dinner at Fred and Marion's house we noticed that their jade trees had blossoms on them . And Christmas ornaments!

Mom cross-stitched this sampler for Fred and Marion. It hangs on the wall in their dining room.

One Sunday after the Lion's Club breakfast at the Brickerville Fire Hall we took a drive in the area north of there. On the way across the mountain from Michtner's Distillery to the Pumping Station we saw this Blue Heron.

Chanda presenting Elliott his birthday money. He was 17 on the 17th.

January is over. Time to take down the Christmas decorations and get ready for Groundhog Day, Valentine's Day and Presidents' Birthdays!

On The Streets of Memphis

On my return to Oklahoma City from Nashville and Pennsylvania I decided to stop in Memphis. It was the week of the Martin Luther King birthday and also the day after the inauguration of Barack Obama, so there had been a lot of TV shows and news mentioning Dr. King and the civil rights movement. I stopped at the National Civil Rights Museum and spent a few hours touring it.

I also saw some other places so be sure to scroll down.

The exhibits of the museum tell the story of the struggle for African American civil rights from the arrival of the first Africans in the British colonies in 1619 to the assassination of King in 1968. There are many displays such as the bus Rosa Parks rode on, an actual counter from a drugstore sit-in, part of the bridge from the March to Selma and various other things.

The modern museum with the original motel to the right.

The National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, was built around the former Lorraine Motel at 450 Mulberry Street, where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968.

Martin Luther King, Jesse Jackson, Ralph Abernathy and others were staying in rooms 306 and 307. Room 306 is the one to the left in the picture. There has been a wreath on the railing continuously from that day on. The two cars parked in the front are like the ones they used and had parked there back in 1968. At the end of the museum tour you end up in what was room 307 which now has a viewing window to the inside of the next room with all the room service dishes and everything left as it was that day.

They were gettting ready to go out to dinner before going to another meeting.

Pointing to where the shots came from.

This is the rooming house across the street from where James Earl Ray fired the shoots. He had a room there which is furnished as it looked at the time. You can also see the bathroom where he shot from the window. It is the 3rd window from the left on the top floor (partially hidden by the trees in this picture.)

The door to the hallway that leads to this building has a gate on it with this quotation from the speech he gave the night before he was assassinated.

I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. --Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Mountaintop speech April 3, 1968

And the rest of Memphis...

(not including Graceland...that will be a trip on its own)

This is the front of the FedEx Forum. Notice all the different types of balls lining the sidewalk. There is a soccer ball on the far left, and the usual basketball, baseball, tennis ball, volleyball, but what I was surprised to see was the bobbers! You know for fishing! Click on the picture to get a close up view of those balls. Use your back arrow key to return to this page.

This is one of the places on Beale Street. It is a block that is closed to cars and known for the blues. B.B. King's place is actually around the corner.

This is Main Street with its trolleys. They stop every few blocks and run frequently.



As I was leaving Memphis heading for the I-40 bridge to Arkansas and Oklahoma City I took this picture at Riverside and Beale Street. If you look closely you can see the riverboats, Mud Island and the mighty Mississippi. Mud Island was the scene of some action in the movie, The Firm, starring Tom Cruise.

Nashville Tennessee!!

Hello from Downtown Nashville!!



I am standing next to the Ryman Auditorium, the original home of the Grand Ole Opry.




Before it was used for country music it had been a church.



Across the alley next to the Ryman Auditorium were a lot of bars where they have live music on their stages and where many stars got their starts in Nashville. This is a view of Broadway.



Tootsie's Orchid Lounge.

Legends on the corner.

Big painted guitar of Honky Tonk Heroes.

Elvis must have been visiting from Memphis!

A duet with Elvis!!!!!

Written January 11th but no internet so posted on the 19th

Hello from the Arctic!

I am still in Pennsylvania but ready to head back south. Saturday, January 10th, which is my Aunt Ilene's birthday, was a cold and icy day. Mom and Dad and Mary Alice and Henry and Chanda and I were going to take her out to lunch to some restaurant in Lebanon County but it was cancelled because of the weather. But that evening Jed, Cynthia, Sarah, and Adam Kensinger made it to Penryn for dinner and games with Chanda and me. Notice I said they made it to Penryn. The car didn't make it up Chanda's driveway so they walked the rest of the way. Chanda cooked chicken pot pie from scratch. She made the noodles herself and had a lesson with student participation. She also used her homegrown saffron! I was in charge of the salad. It was also a big hit! For dessert we had a birthday cake for all of us. No candles, no singing just some very good chocolate cake with cherries in it and ice cream on the side. All of us have birthdays in December and January except for Jed whose birthday is in late November.

After dinner we played Scattergories and Apples to Apples. Poor Adam was worn out. He had been to Camp Mac for a Klondike competition with his Boy Scout Troup and they won the trophy this year!! I think it must have been as cold as Alaska!

Just a quick post to add some pictures of the ice and cold weather in Penryn, Pa. This was taken from Chanda's front yard on Newport Road looking west to the crossroads.

Obviously the ice coating the trees.

Welcoming the New Year with Sauerkraut

A quotation from Wikipedia:

Pork and Sauerkraut is an extremely popular meal for New Year's Day in Pennsylvania, an example of the culture left from the Pennsylvania Dutch. It is thought that eating sauerkraut on this day brings good luck.

Chanda cooked some pork and sauerkraut for supper on New Year's Day and invited Mom and Dad and Fred and Marion. Fred and Marion's son, Matt, just got married on New Year's eve and so they were celebrating their first day as in-laws. What a great way to begin the New Year!

More Christmas and Holiday feasting!

So when I left off we were up to Sunday the 28th, the day we had a great turkey dinner at Dennis and Phyllis's house. All of their kids and grandchildren were there, as well as Richard and Jill and Kristina and Uncle Robert and Ella. Representing the Galebach's were Mom, Dad, Chanda, Jess and George and me. We missed Aunt Evelyn. But we had a great dinner and lots of cookies.

The day was all about games...football, skipbo and something electronic.