“30 second Pitch”

Happy Saturday Morning – To all the mom’s, wishing you a very Happy Mother’s Day weekend.

Marcia received a Christmas gifted Bird Feeder from Kirstin, a clear plastic one I affixed on the bedroom window near some shrubs. Loaded it with Black-Oil Sunflower Seeds and, for two months, NOTHING!

This week when Marcia lifted her head off the pillow, there in the feeder, was a Cardinal. Since then, I too have seen the bird. SUCCESS!

Yesterday, as the morning coffee was still percolating was when I opened my mobile to check for any texts – family on the west coast tends to forget the 3-hour time shift – that was when I spotted a minutes old text from Jason here in town. And so it was that I learned that Cathy’s mom, Carolyn, had passed away during the early morning hours.

We were aware that her illness had no cure and her life on earth would end in a few short months. Carolyn, always the strong manager had said, ‘enough is enough’ and succumbed peacefully with family at her side. May her soul rest in peace.

With Cathy, Jason, Dinah, and Jim our arms Marcia and I embrace you, and strive to give comfort during the days ahead.

Pre the Civil War – Every so often I’ve strived to use these Ramblings to give you a bit of our local history, usually history not that common. This is one of those weeks.

Prior to the War between the States Cincinnati was the furthest southern and western major city. Cincinnati was Union and a bridge away it was Confederate territory. Although as the war loomed, both sides had contingencies loyal to their opposition, the net result was that this town became a major player in the Underground Railroad.

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s father was an abolitionist, and the young Harriet would sit on the stairs in the evening listening in as her father held ‘meetings’. This listening in led to her eventually writing the book every school child is expected to read; Uncle Tom’s Cabin. By the way, her house is just under a mile from where we live. Also, locally there are homes still occupied with basement ‘escape tunnels’ once built to allow unseen exit and start runaway slaves on their journey north.

Effects from the Civil War – I mentioned why this city was important during the war. Coupled with the Ohio River, several railroads and the Erie Canal made it a huge prize for both sides. These railroads feed the city; the place became a hub. For old-time railroad aficionados these included the Little Miami Railroad, Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton (CH&D), Ohio & Mississippi Railway, and the Marietta & Cincinnati (M&C) Railroad.

All this made sense to create a military recruiting, training, and medical post – thus Camp Dennison was born a little north-east of the city on open land. The camp’s medical section started with over 200 beds by using converted barracks. By 1862 it had grown to about 2,400 beds making it one of the largest Union hospitals treating civilians, wounded and injured soldiers, and even some Confederates.

From this beginning it is easily seen that the town became a medical hub with the effects still visible today. With numbers of medical folk settling here permanently, medical and even mortuary science schools quickly followed. Historically we can point back to that early start and today, depending on whether specialized care facilities such as a major eye surgery facility are included, there are approximately 25 to 35 hospitals and major medical centers. Personally, I’ve spent a number of hours at the CEI (the Cincinnati Eye Institute) and had major work done there. The local Cincinnati Children’s Hospital is rated number 1 in the nation and among the world’s best.

At our nearby Spring Grove Cemetery there exists a section dedicated to casualties from the Civil war. A number of these passed at Camp Dennison. These burials accelerated Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum into the stunning place it is today.

30-second pitch – Grand daughter Vai will graduate from Highschool in a few days. Her school, Clark, is a public Montessori specific school. As part of their graduation regimen, aside from the standard work completion and tests, they each have to prepare, and present, a senior project of their choice. A little over 90 graduates, a little over 90 projects. Think of a topic and it was probably presented.

So, the complete piece was written and handed to the teacher. A one-page visual describing in detail with drawings/text/ photographs the specific project was then printed in color on a 3-feet by 3-feet paper.

Now, here is where it got interesting. Thursday at 6:30 parents, siblings, friends, teachers and students all assembled on the school’s soccer pitch. On the pitch’s surrounding fencing each of the 3X3 papers was hung and each graduating student positioned themselves by their project. People walked around, looked, read what interested them and asked questions and a description – the 30-second sales pitch.

Vai told us later that she gave over 15 of these small talks. Her topic centered around the fact that ever-expanding tourism was detrimental to Hawaii – primarily in cost of property to the local native peoples, a looming freshwater shortage, and loss of natural vegetation and wildlife.

I loved the concept, loved the effort put in by the students, and loved the manner of presentation!

Kudos to Clark Montessori Highschool graduating Students and the Staff.

This week’s Interlude – I know, this music is best suited for a cold, snowy, winter ‘s afternoon or evening with a fireplace crackling as there being nothing better when reading a favorite book in such a setting. ‘Nothing’ plus a wonderfully pure voice and accompanying music as background. This mostly Folk, this singer fits that bill with her “pure and sultry” vocals, all without any of today’s devices and auto-tune.
The singer’s name and song title are found below. Complete songs can be found on Spotify and others.

Enjoy!

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

For over a decade it is that Amazon and its Prime delivery division have created an expectation that should we want most anything it can be delivered to your home by the next (or often the same) day. But for the better part of the previous century, it was Sears (and the ubiquitous Sears Catalog) which was the common ‘go to’ shopping experience. These are some of the stranger items found in the Catalog. Is this list correct?

1. Medical Electric Belts
2. Tombstones
3. Bees
4. Kit Houses
5. Worm Syrup
6. Asbestos Baking Sheets
7. Heroin
8. Vapor Cabinets
9. Apples

Last week Bonus Points answer – #1
Hope Sandoval vocalist, songwriter – Bavarian Fruit Bread: Around My Smile