Women Dress as Men to Accomplish Goals

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

WOMEN DRESS AS MEN TO ACCOMPLISH GOALS

QUESTION: What did the following six women have in common?

 Anne Bonney fell in love with a sailor, sailed off, then fell in love with a pirate.

          Deborah Sampson enlisted in the Continental Army in 1781.

Sarah R. Wakeman worked on a coal barg, then joined the Union Army.

          Miranda Stuart Barry graduated from collegeand joined the British army.

Dorothy Tipton was a jazz cat, whowas a night club entertainer.

         Joan of Arc led a French army to victory

Madame Rosalie de Leval purchased a Maine farm, entered its wilderness, and cleared land.

ANSWER: They each

The Thanksgiving 1948 Cornell—Pennsylvania Football Game

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

THE THANKSGIVING 1948

CORNELL—PENNSYLVANIA FOOTBALL GAME

     As a non-football fan I don’t usually pay attention to this sport.

     However, my daughter Sandy and her husband Michael (a HUGE sports fan) brought me the Rankin Field Illustrated book from the 1948 Cornell versus Pennsylvania football game. A pretty big booklet it is.

     My interest in Cornell University is with the founder, Ezra Cornell, who is a descendant of the Thomas and Rebecca Cornell family who lived in New England in the 1600s. You might notice, in my various writings, that I, too, am a descendant of the same 1600s couple. And, as an interesting note, so is Lizzy Borden.’

     Of course, having been a Pennsylvania resident since 1968 I must also take an inteest in the Pennsylvania team. My interest grew after I discovered I, a New Englander, am also a descendent of two 17790 Westmoreland County (Hempfield Township) settlers, the Rughs and the Mechlings.

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     But today is November 24, 2011. sixty-three years after the 1948 football game of which I speak, a game that occurred just before I turned five years old.

     I thumbed through the magazine, the ads catching my eye more than

Weekly Photo Challenge: Wonder

CAROLYN’S DAILY POSTS 2011

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE:  WONDER

The Penobscot Bridge in Maine is a wonder to behold.

     The WordPress weekly photo challenge theme is wonder, a topic wide open. I chose to display my photos of the new bridge on the Penobscot River in Maine, taken in 2008 only a couple of years after the bridge was opened with two forty-story towers, one of which has an observation deck at the top.

 

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     Then my husband pointed out an Internet article on the Millau Viaduct Bridge in France. It connects two limestone plateaus at the ends of the River Tarn’s valley, in the South of France.It was seventeen years in the making—1987 to 2004.

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     Supported by the highest pylons in the world (803 feet high), it is the highest road-bridge deck in Europe (886 feet). At its highest point it is 1,125 feet tall, making it the tallest bridge in the world.*

     This bridge’s seven

An Impromptu Church Test

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

AN IMPROMPTU CHURCH TEST

It was an impromptu, spontaneous test of a local church congregation.

Did they fail?

You decide.

     Our old Dodge Stratus was in its final days. Its illness caused the radiator to heat up to the point we had to pull off the road after about forty minutes of driving. Its symptoms were particularly prominent if we made the red-bird climb up steep hills or stop at traffic lights (or construction sites). That must have been so stressful for the car, because you could hear its water bubbling in the radiator when we paused to let it rest.

     Monte was invited to do a baptism for a family in Washington County—over ninety minutes distance. We expected we would have to baby red-bird, and so we did.

     The ride home was particularly tough for red-bird. It sputtered, its fever raised. It objected to having to work in its ailing condition. We were having a difficult time lowering the temperature of its radiator water.

     At one point when we knew we would have to stop we pulled into a church parking lot. A car followed us in. Monte parked at an end furthest from the church. He opened red-bird’s hood, hoping to bring the vehicle’s fever down more quickly. He sat in the car reading while waiting.

     It was sunset, so I took my camera, exercized my trigger finger, and managed to capture some spectacular pictures before I joined him in the car.

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     Cars drifted into the parking lot. They parked closer to the church building than we were. We noticed people were carrying what looked like pot-luck dinner containers as the crossed the parking lot and entered the church basement.

     Soon, many cars were parked in the lot.

     People glanced over at us. Some were

Will Youth be Collateral Damage in Penn State’s Scandal?

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

WILL SECOND MILE FOUNDATION

YOUTH BE COLLATERAL DAMAGE

IN PENN STATE’S SCANDAL?

      …With the response and action being taken by the funding sources, it appears that the youth being served by the Second Mile agency will become collateral damage…

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     Penn State University is a nationwide community. The events surrounding its recent child sex-abuse scandal, therefore, are affecting and splitting an entire nation.

      Because the charges against Jerry Sandusky involve youth(s) from the Second Mile Foundation that occurred on Penn State’s campus, the organization that serves at-risk youth is caught in the net of allegations surrounding the University’s scandal.

     Sandusky founded the Foundation, which hasn’t been charged with anything, in 1977.*

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     The parties involved in the scandal have expressed that their first concern is (or should be) for the youth, especially those youth who were victims.    

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     Because of the scandal, the Second Mile funding sources and its volunteers are being withdrawn.

     In addition, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett’s earlier approval of a state grant to the Foundation is being debated.*

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     I think that the following questions must be asked and addressed:

• Who is ultimately being punished by these actions?
• Are the supporters of the Foundation more interested in

Action Needed to Schedule a PA. HB 963 Hearing: Adoption

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

ACTION NEEDED TO SCHEDULE A

PENNSYLVANIA HB 963 HEARING: ADOPTION

     Few things are more controversial than the issue of adoptees seeking the identity of their birth parents or birth parents seeking the welfare of the children they released for adoption. And with good reason. Major issues are involved—psychological, emotional, social, medical—and finding, or not finding, bio-relatives can be wither very positive or very negative.

     Both sides of the issue have valid arguments. Adoptees tell of having a part of their being that is missing, and of wanting medical and family information. Bio-parents often released their children under the confines of total privacy.

     However, many adoptees and bio-parents are seeking information, as evidenced by the high number of places they can register, hoping that their “other half” has also registered at the same site.

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     Last January Darlene, a woman outside Chicago, accessed her original birth certificate—her birth and adoption had occurred in an open adoption records state. Her daughter plugged the names into the computer and they immediately discovered my blog site. In this case scenario, the mother’s name was unique—a singular name in the country.

     As it turned out, Darlene was released for adoption by my mother.

     My husband wanted to travel to Chicago for a wrestling match and to see his alma mater campus. We stayed at Darlene’s home for five nights. It was a positive experience for both of us.

     I recognize that many experiences are not positive. However, many adoptees I speak with, who are concerned about finding out negative history, acknowledge that

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Collects Photos & Washington State Makes Banners

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL

FUND COLLECTS PHOTOS & 

WASHINGTON STATE MAKES BANNERS

Visiting the Vietnam Memorial

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is collecting photos for each of the 58,272 men and women listed on The Wall in Washington, D. C.

     “These photos are national treasures—they will help us all connect a face and personal story to the names from communities across America that are etched into that black granite wall…By helping to collect the photos, and donating to the Education Center at The Wall, Americans are helping us all remember these

The Great Blue Norther: 11-11-1911

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

THE GREAT BLUE NORTHER: 11-11-1911

Many people believe that the numerical calendar date can hold special significances, but based on past calendar dates such as October 10, 2010 and November 11, 2011 this is a myth. For numerical significanceof 11-11 click on 11-11-(20)11

Although most of the nothing significant happens, that wasn’t true on November 11, 1911.

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    On 11-11-11, one hundred years ago, weater in Midwest cities dropped sixty-seven degrees between early afternoon and midnight.

     In Springfield, Missouri, it dropped from eighty degrees to thirteen degrees Fahrenheit.* By the morning of November 12, it had dropped even further, to

Rogue Ocean Waves

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

ROGUE OCEAN WAVES

On November 8, 2011, a video was posted of a surfer riding a wave suspected to have had a ninety-foot face. Is this the largest wave ever ridden?*

     As any of you who read my blog know, I am ecstatic during any time I can be at the ocean. That feeling is multiplied when I am on the New England coastline, and is enhanced if I am there when pre- or post-storm weather creates surf at its best.

     I sometimes imagine what it would be like to be on a boat—a large boat, not a sailboat—during a storm. Not a major storm—I’m not brave enough for that—but a storm that gives a feeling of the dangers people used to face while crossing the ocean to reach the North American and South American continents. What would it be like to be at the mercy of waves crashing over the deck, tossing my boat to and fro? Frightful and fantastic!

     Of course, my trigger finger would be

Teenagers Texting While Driving

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

TEENAGERS TEXTING WHILE DRIVING

     Texting is second nature for some teens—part of their being. Getting them to put the phone down while driving is challenging, They might be quick at it but still become distracted drivers when they take their eyes off the road.

     On November 1, 2011, the Pennsylvania Senate voted to make texting while driving illegal, a primary offense punishable by a $50 fine. Legislative leaders expect Gov. Tom Corbett will sign the bill.

     Late that day Knoch High School senior Alexis Summers, 17, was typing a text while driving. She lost control of the vehicle about two miles from her home. She died only hours after the Senate moved to make texting while driving illegal.

     The law might stop some people, but not all, according to one seventeen year old, but others will just try