It's almost 5:00 p.m. and almost 100 Hershey bars have been distributed to various goblins. Trick or Treating continues until 7:00. Good thing I have to leave for the airport...not enough candy! I have to go to work to save up to finance next Halloween!
My two big pet peeves about trick-or-treating are usually that the children don't say "Trick or Treat" (they just stand there) or "Thank You.". My Halloween grinchness, however, must confess that this year most kids said at least one of the lines.
But there was the....
---ten year old girl who had an I-phone laying on top of the candy in her plastic pumpkin. Something's just not right..............
---the eight year old who asked for a second piece of candy "for her brother who is in the stroller". My guess the second piece is for mom or dad who is pushing the stroller.
---the four year old (!) who asked for a second piece of candy and seemed surprised that I said it was needed for other children
---and the mysterious children ---- at least ten groups of them ---- who rang the bell several times but couldn't wait and disappeared in the ten seconds it took me to get to the door.
Oh, it's embarrassing to be the Halloween grinch!
Sunday, October 31, 2010
48 Down, 2 to Go
About six weeks ago, our 
son David told us that he was giving a paper in Reno and asked if we wanted to travel with him. Now, Reno wasn't the highest thing on our to-see list, but the double bonus of (1) getting to see David make a presentation and (2) getting to check one more state off my list of states I've yet to visit, made us immediately check our frequent flier miles status!We sneaked into the room to see David's presentation and restrained ourselves to not proudly shout out, "That's our son!" and then set about to explore the Reno area for a few days.
While David attended meetings, Ken and I went to Carson City, capital of Nevada and historic town. We took a walking tour of the old houses, but mostly gawked at the beautiful fall tree colors!
We then visited downtown Reno which is really quite attractive. The casinos dominate the skyline, but the Truckee river walk was beautiful and we enjoyed watching kayakeers trying to do roll-overs in the little rapids right downtown.
Our first stop traveling with David was up in the mountains south of Tahoe on the way to Virginia City, site of the Comstock Lode. It was easy to imagine the excitement in this town in the 1850's when the gold and silver were discovered and it was a boom town. Our ride on the Virginia and Truckee RR was fun...but, alas, no gold for us.
After an afternoon of sunshine, our first views of Lake Tahoe were through heavy clouds. The next morning was drizzly but that didn't affect our excitement at Taylor Creek on the southwest edge of Lake Tahoe. We were right on time to see the Kokonee Salmon spawning. In the crystal clear shallow stream we saw 100's of bright red salmon, some dead grey salmon who had finished their life cycle in the same stream where it began several years ago, and even saw some carnivorous ducks! It was truly amazing!
Even more amazing, we were lucky enough to see rainbows in several locations. Each time the sun broke through the drizzly clouds, another rainbow appeared. Spectacular!
As we drove around the west side of the lake on the next day, the weather became rather brutal. The wind storm that was about to cross the whole country was with us all day along with cold, cold rain. Nonetheless, we trucked on to the northwest section of the lake near Donner pass. We spent a lot of time in the museum there - a rather old fashioned museum that made the whole tragedy of the Donner pass crossing seem all the more real. It's impossible to fathom what those early emigrants faced traveling without Thinsulate or fleece, without maps or accurate trails, without food, facing disease and even having babies. Wow! Are we wimps!
After two days in Lake Tahoe area, we drove across the snowy and windy Donner pass to Pyramid Lake which is east of Reno. The Truckee River is the only water that flows out of Lake Tahoe. The Truckee River eventually makes its way to Pyramid Lake. David tells us that this lake is quite lovely in the sunshine, but what we saw was what you see in the last picture. Pyramid Lake is within an Indian reservation and we enjoyed learning about their culture in the little museum at the southern end of the lake.
So, in a very few days we experienced many weather changes, many cultures, many historical events, many natural wonders and, most importantly, spent five days with David. We didn't see any bears - though there were lots of warnings - and we didn't gamble - though there were slot machines EVERYWHERE!
So now I'm hoping David invites us to conferences in Idaho and Hawaii! Then I will have set foot in all 50 states...and had some more cool adventures!
Monday, October 11, 2010
Change
Sometimes change is scary, but yesterday was full of good changes.
Our guest preacher yesterday is a unique campus pastor. A Lutheran pastor, called by both the Lutheran and Episcopal churches, she has a potential "congregation"of 50,000 young people attending the several universities in Chicago's revitalized and bustling south loop. Thirty years ago she couldn't have been a pastor, ten years ago the Lutherans and Episcopalians couldn't have issued a joint call, and even more recently we haven't always been attuned to the need to meet college students in unusual situations. This pastor doesn't have a church building, but she is building faith in new and unique ways. What wonderful change.
After church I took my mother for our annual drive to see the changing fall colors and we were treated to magnificent sights - all within ten miles of where she lives!
After a break with the reduced and revamped Sunday comics section - not a good change - we were off to a benefit for the community "soup" kitchen where I often volunteer. This event was held at a private club on the 80th floor of the AON (formerly Standard Oil) building that looks over Millenium P
ark and the lake. Obviously, the views were unbelievable!
In my youth, the Prudential building, which is right next door to the AON center, was the tallest building in the city. Today it is dwarfed by its neighbor. In actuality, most of what is visible in these photos is changed from 50 years ago - Millenium park was an ugly parking lot. The Art Institute didn't have its magnificent new modern wing. No Pritzker pavilion for concerts. No high-rises in the south loop, no museum campus. Good changes!
The benefit's theme was the name change from "Good News Community Kitchen" to "A Just Harvest" reflecting their change from simply providing meals to advocating for justice in community housing and social needs. In the spirit of this wonderful organization that provides a hot dinner 365 days a year to up to 200 people in the Rodgers Park community, the facility was donated by the private club, the chicken and scallops were provided at cost by local vendors, the attendees came from the 30+ churches and organizations that provide and serve the daily meals, and the program was short and to the point! That's what a benefit should be. The increased need for "A Just Harvest's" community work is a sad change, but its work for food and justice is the change that is needed.
Now if we only could return to when the Sunday comics were eight pages long and funny, yesterday's changes would all be perfect!
Our guest preacher yesterday is a unique campus pastor. A Lutheran pastor, called by both the Lutheran and Episcopal churches, she has a potential "congregation"of 50,000 young people attending the several universities in Chicago's revitalized and bustling south loop. Thirty years ago she couldn't have been a pastor, ten years ago the Lutherans and Episcopalians couldn't have issued a joint call, and even more recently we haven't always been attuned to the need to meet college students in unusual situations. This pastor doesn't have a church building, but she is building faith in new and unique ways. What wonderful change.
After church I took my mother for our annual drive to see the changing fall colors and we were treated to magnificent sights - all within ten miles of where she lives!
After a break with the reduced and revamped Sunday comics section - not a good change - we were off to a benefit for the community "soup" kitchen where I often volunteer. This event was held at a private club on the 80th floor of the AON (formerly Standard Oil) building that looks over Millenium P
ark and the lake. Obviously, the views were unbelievable!
In my youth, the Prudential building, which is right next door to the AON center, was the tallest building in the city. Today it is dwarfed by its neighbor. In actuality, most of what is visible in these photos is changed from 50 years ago - Millenium park was an ugly parking lot. The Art Institute didn't have its magnificent new modern wing. No Pritzker pavilion for concerts. No high-rises in the south loop, no museum campus. Good changes!
The benefit's theme was the name change from "Good News Community Kitchen" to "A Just Harvest" reflecting their change from simply providing meals to advocating for justice in community housing and social needs. In the spirit of this wonderful organization that provides a hot dinner 365 days a year to up to 200 people in the Rodgers Park community, the facility was donated by the private club, the chicken and scallops were provided at cost by local vendors, the attendees came from the 30+ churches and organizations that provide and serve the daily meals, and the program was short and to the point! That's what a benefit should be. The increased need for "A Just Harvest's" community work is a sad change, but its work for food and justice is the change that is needed.
Now if we only could return to when the Sunday comics were eight pages long and funny, yesterday's changes would all be perfect!
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