Periodically, I still hear from Tiziana, who lives in Maderno, Italy. I met her through another friend, B. J. Their long-term relationship began on a train in Europe and ended when B. J. wed Veronica. I met Tiziana through B. J. in the mid-1990s while living in Jamestown, PA.
Tiziana visited the small town at least once a year, and B. J. went to her home as well. She was a schoolteacher in Italy, and was a welcome visitor at the Jamestown Family Support Program’s summer children’s activities, as well as a regular guest at the Jamestown Elementary School, which she said “offers a different way to think about (more…)
“Do you have your Christian language yet?” Jill asked, leaning across the pew toward Alice and me.
“No,” I responded.
“Do you want it?” Her eyes gazed intently into mine.
“Not really. Not at this time.”
“You need it,” she insisted.
“There are other issues to be considered.”
“Regardless of he other issues, you cannot let anything (more…)
—written by Monte W. Holland and Carolyn C. Holland
My husband responded to a recent USA Today news article titled “That’s flashy: 100 explosions recorded on the Moon,” written by Tony Phillips, [5/21/08]
“In 1959,” my husband began, “I was required to do a research project in my senior year at Union College (Schenectady, New York) where I majored in physics. My partner was Chuck Bruce, another physics major and an electronics person who had been into ham radio.
“We signed up to work with Professor Curtis Hemenway, in Albany, New York, at Dudley Observatory—which is owned by Union College. Professor Hemenway lived over in a residence attached to the observatory, which he maintained. The observatory also had a bedroom where researchers could sleep when not actively using the observatory.
“The professor’s idea was for us to look for meteors hitting the dark side of the moon. He believed these could be seen if we looked for flashes of infrared light.”
Not so long ago, anyone claiming to see flashes of light on the Moon would be viewed with deep suspicion by professional astronomers. Such reports were filed under “L” … for lunatic. (more…)
There was a soft rap on our guestroom door. I rapped softly back, thinking it was my newly-four-year-old grandson. He had just celebrated his birthday the day before, and we were in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, for the occasion.
However, the rap on the door turned out to be my son, wanting to know if we’d been up and out to the car already that morning.
No, we hadn’t. But I’d left a car door open when packing the car the night before, and thus, the question from Nolan.
We finished packing the car, and left to return to Pennsylvania. It was just before 9:30 a.m., not bad for our plan to leave by nine o’clock. I was waiting to get my java at a food store we were going to shop at on our way when suddenly Monte let out the wildest war whoop I’d ever heard come from his mouth. I caught myself panicking: HEART ATTACK! WHILE HE’S DRIVING (more…)
ECOLOGY FROM ESTONIA TO CHINA
Way back when, people laughed at government funds supporting a science project that measured the amount of methane gas emitted by cows. However, it may not have been such a bad idea in light of the news that (more…)
Throughout the years, after I’d written newspaper articles on historical sites and local people, I was considered a “historian” worthy of learning more about the community history. Thus, I’d be invited to join the local historical and/or genealogical societies.
“No way,” I’d say, with a hint of arrogance. “I’m a New Englander. I have no ties to this area. If I were to join any historical society (more…)
Most women consider starting a business at some time or other. When my husband opted for early retirement from teaching to become a pastor, we moved to Atlanta, Georgia. He became a student instead of the professor, and I seriously considered starting a business.
Owning a business requires certain personal characteristics, prime among these is self-discipline. There is no boss directing you. However, you should realize that being a homemaker requires this same self-starting mechanism.
You will need to have the ability to multitask. Again, being a (more…)
This is installment 5 of the series on Holocaust Survivor Robert Mendler, 82 years old. For previous segments click on THE HOLOCAUST STORY OF A TEENAGE VICTIM (Part 1)
THE HOLOCAUST STORY OF A TEENAGE VICTIM (Part 3)
Mendler’s next assignment, Camp Fluskis Co., was a forced labor camp in the town of Czarny Dunajec, the location of two companies: Poland Mining and Hobag A. G. Wercke, a lumberyard. He alternated working for them, and commuted to the jobs from his hometown.
At Poland Mining he pulled stones from a river.
“We traveled daily from the ghetto to the mines, working from dawn ‘til dusk. We dug stones up with a shovel and (more…)
Their eyes met across the room. He maneuvers slowly through the crowded bar to her side, and offers to buy her a drink. Things appear good.
Suddenly she asks: By the way, what’s your blood type?
Not your standard question, but it is a routine question (more…)
