Parents' night (Wed) for the LSE band went surprisingly well. The music is actually in pretty good shape. The drill has been learned and is now in the polishing stage. There are eight huge frames on the field to help depict the theme of "The Architecture of Life." The frames are 8' x 4' so even Sousaphone players can march through them. The drill often winds through the frames, and the frames are moved around on the field from time to time. Mercifully, the frames were removed when the parents joined their offspring to march the show at the end of rehearsal. The parents actually did quite well and I saw no collisions. Although, I did see a parent of one of the drum majors trip over the ladder. But like a real trooper he got right up as though nothing had happened. This show is going to be gorgeous, especially the ballad, but it's not there yet. But as the old saying goes, "We don't want to peak too soon."
Today is the day I prepare my outdoor plants for their return to the indoor environs. I have a bottle of insecticide soap spray that I will administer today, so I can bring them all back inside tomorrow. I also read online that you should place the potted plants in a tub of warm water for 15 minutes to drive out any insects that might be hiding in the dirt. I only have 6 potted plants that I want to bring in, so it won't take too long. I have a 20-year-old hibiscus that moved with us from Bellevue. It loves the sun, so I let it spend the summers out by the pond. I also have an unwieldy cactus that is even older. They're like pets, I guess. You try to give them what they want. Pita is also fond of the sun. She follows patches of sun all around the house all day, and begs to go out on the porch in the evening to catch the hot setting sun on the deck. I guess I should take a hint from my "pets" and spend more time in the sun myself.
I have two photos to share today. They were both given to me by my mother a few weeks ago. She's been going through old photos and giving some of them to my brothers and me. This first one was taken in 1900. It is my mother's father's family. The young man standing left is my grandfather, Emil, and the young woman standing on the right is his sister, Agnes. Yes, that is the Aunt Agnes after whom I named my GPS. (My GPS received the name "Agnes" while Mom and I were driving to Boulder, Colorado, to visit her sister, Adeline. Mom was telling me stories about Aunt Agnes, and my GPS was giving directions, and I wanted to talk back to my GPS, so I knew I had to give it a name. Aunt Agnes was a rather colorful character, so I decided she would be a perfect traveling companion for us.)
Grandpa Emil, Great-grandpa Jakub, Uncle Hap, Great-grandma Frantiska, Aunt Agnes - 1900
When Mom and I were in the Czech Republic in 2007 we visited the villages in Southern Bohemia where Jakub and Frantiska were born. Their villages (Pristpo and Biskupice) are about 8 miles apart and we had fun conjecturing how they might have met. I think their families came to the US around 1862. On the day that we visited Biskupice, Mom and I arrived just as a village funeral was about to begin. There was a small brass band standing outside the only church in the village playing hymns as the villagers dressed in black and other traditional funeral attire were walking to the church. Biskupice is a very tiny village, so I am sure that everyone knew the deceased. We did not want to invade their privacy, but we did enjoy that precious glimpse of this enduring tradition.
This next photo is of my mother's mother's father, Vaclav. My great-grandfather, Vaclav, is seated in the center front row and his brother, Josef, is standing far left in the back row. They lived in Cleveland, Ohio, and their band had the honor of playing for President James A. Garfield's funeral in 1881.
Great-grandfather Vaclav (center front row) - Cleveland - circa 1880s
President Garfield was assassinated by Charles J. Guiteau on July 2, 1881. The President had been walking through the Sixth Street Station of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad in Washington, D.C. on his way to his alma mater, Williams College, where he was scheduled to deliver a speech. Garfield did not die instantly. He lingered until Sept. 19 and finally died of a massive heart attack or aneurysm, due perhaps to blood poisoning from the lead bullet which the doctors had been unable to remove. Bronchial pneumonia had also set in just before his death. During the eighty days between President Garfield's shooting and death, his only offical act was to sign an extradition paper. Garfield was buried in a mausoleum in Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio.
So now I have priceless photos of both of my mother's grandfathers, one of my great-grandmothers, and my maternal grandfather, Emil, as a young man.
Nostalgically,
Jeannette
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