Books of Note and People That I Miss

The connection between Books of Note and People That I Miss is that the Ritter's have funded with their wealth,a library in Vermillion, Ohio, where George was born. He took note growing up that Andrew Carneige funded libraries but never put one in Vermillion.   

I just finished re-reading Arthur Gordon's " A Touch of Wonder ". The book was copyrighted in 1974 and it was given to me as a gift in 1991.  Some twenty-two years later, I am still reading it cover-to-cover, although you can read it by chapters in about any order. Yes, it is a book of spiritual inspiration but it's more like sitting on the front porch in a South Carolina beach house listening to a friend of many years telling stories. Gordon grew up in Georgia and that story telling craft  wasn't much different from the South Carolina's way.

My copy is so ear marked and annotated in it's margins that I recognize a particular story by my own markings faster than reading the index. In fact, I have re-indexed it by material. One of my favorite stories is when AG,as a young man, ask Thomas Watson to lunch at the Central Park Zoo. He had no ideal who Watson was but Watson pointed him into the direction of new thinking that: " On the Far Side of Failure ", was success.

While the Bill Gates or Michael Dell's of today are interesting people, the men that I grew up with were the real business tycoons that had learned from  people like Tom Watson, Henry and Edsel Ford, even  R.A. Stranahan,Sr. or Mr.George W. Ritter, Vice President and General Counsel of  the former Willy's Overland Motor Company. Today, we still know that company's product as the "Jeep".  Yes, that Jeep.

George Ritter and his wife Mary, were people that just seem to "stay with you" over the years. What I remember of George and Mary would be strange to some but that  encounter with them is something that I have cherished over the years knowing that a very few people have had the opportunity that
was afforded me by the Ritter's. The time frame as I recall was some time between 1965 and 1972. A few years before, they had built a private mausoleum in Woodlawn Cemetery-- not a mile as the crow flies from that beautiful piece of architecture know as the Headquarters of Willy's Overland. That HQ building has since been imploded to make way for what is now the I-475/ I-75  expressway,although, Chrysler does have a picture from 1948 showing the bottom half of the building with a full lineup of the Jeep products post war era and the grand staircase that marked the entry of the building.

 I was invited to tour the finished mausoleum with it's beautiful stained glass window. The marble was their favorite rose marble because they thought white marble aged dirty. The invitation came following one day when Mary, was trying to describe the rose marble to me and I said to her that I knew what it was because my grandfather (who was two years older than George) had a headstone in rose marble because my grandmother had rejected a white marble for the same reason. Mary smiled widely and didn't say another word. While I was afraid that I had offended her, the call came the following week to tour their mausoleum. The mausoleum is situated on an angle that points directly toward the Willy's Overland Plant from the banks of the stream that flows through the cemetery on the north end of the bridge's bank, almost in a triangle to the R. A. Stranahan mausoleum  and the Edward Drummond Libby mausoleum,guarded by the massive Spitzer mausoleum on the south end of the bridge. To this day, I still think that the Ritter's have the more desirable location for beauty and privacy.

 

A Beautiful Winter's Day

A brown feathered gull

Just a great day

A photographer trying to get closer to a log full of pelicans.

Made my lunch and packed it for a lunch at the lake. Dryfus Club.  It was so peaceful and restful to eat something besides a fast food sandwich. The sun's angle is once again at an angle where the glare on the water can be good and bad. Today, the lake was like a mirror.  After eating and clean up, the next stop was within eye sight from Dryfus,  but it takes a good two miles to get to Sunset Bay.  Once there, both cameras were unpacked and I went to the dock immediately. The birds were being fed by a couple of women. The city advises people not to feed the wildlife but people do anyway. For me, it draws  the ducks,geese, gulls and others away from the pelicans.

Today, I saw more gulls with brown feathers, one with a modeled neck. Last week, my first gull ever with brown feathers was spotted. Now, it seems there are many, many more. Charles Darwin's birthday was yesterday. He would have been going nuts!


 

In Response

The Hand of God

Mariner's at Sea

I Must Release You

 

 

Twenty-seven was to young to die.



For I will not see you grow grey hairs or

Crows feet in the corners of your bright

Eyes.

 

When your sister announced your death,

I cried as a father would, but I knew that

I must release you to go and fulfill your

Better dreams.

 

The canyon of void in my soul is dark and

Empty of your smile,laughs or pondered

Thoughts.

 

So, I released you the day before my

Birthday. I know you are here at times,

For I see whisp of your presence as you

Come and go,checking on me or just to

Be home again. Come and go as you wish

But always know that I loved you so much!

 

 

 

 

Several readers have ask about the poem mentioned in my profile. Above is the poem. It has been published in hardbound and as a beautiful note card  

Texas Sailing

Dropping the Sail

Open Water Headed Inbound

High Up on Winfrey Point Looking Down on the Marinas

Minutes beyond first bell, a loud clap of thunder hit this morning as a squall line moved passed. The sun was out by noon and it was time to get at least some walking in before ending the outing at the grocery.

The temps were in the mid 60s with a breezy southwest wind 10-12 knots. That meant the sailing clubs would be on the lake at White Rock. Beautiful day for a sail.


The shot at Winfrey Point was shot about ten days ago but gives a view looking down over the Marinas  going toward the bike bridge. That day the fog had hung over downtown for most of the day. You can still see the haze in the air.

Perception Is Everything

Perception of U S Marine Corp

Pride

Traveling Corp.

Just when in life, you reach a point where you really don't care what people think, it becomes crystal clear how important perception really plays a part.This point was made  more clear this past week. The example came from the strangest of places with the strangest of  projects. Sometimes it is almost  better to fail than to be seen in the light of  being a "copy cat". There are some who are pulling their hair our by now because of that string of words "better to fail than to be seen". But, of course, they are the very people who miss so much because  common sense is not so common for their world. That doesn't make them ignorant or stupid, but the perception can put the focus in  a different light.

Example 1

There are some interesting people on Twitter. Some, I even follow. A couple of those scholars  sound almost human. Then, I am reminded of an old neighbor who was listed in the "Who's Who" of American Anthropology and was professor in the Anthropology Department of a major University, yet he would come home at night and cut his front lawn by a push-real mower with a taped on flashlight to light his way in the dark of night. The perception was rather odd to many of  his neighbors. The reality of it all was that his brain was working overtime and later on in the semester his published papers would rock the world of Anthropology from those flashlight cuttings. The perception was not the reality and looking back today, I was literally watching thought being generated,then store itself in his grey matter until he released it onto paper.

There is this one account that gives me indulgence because he reminds me of the former neighbor. His perception of me is that I'm odd, I would believe, but as is human nature, that is my perception of how he views me. He is moving up the ladder of academia at another major university. He's blended teaching, family life, writing scholarly articles that are published with being trapped in a world that he thinks he has control over from an academic standpoint to the reality that he too, has reached that point in life with  waining connect to being young and energized with ambition and hopes for the future. My hope is that I live long enough to have him report that he cut his lawn with a flash light taped to the handle of his lawn mower. That's my perception.

Example 2

Never would I draw to conclusion or formed the perception that when Dallas developed, planned and built the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge that the city of Irving would try to copy that with a major bridge building project. People went nuts when Dallas built a $130 million plus cable-stayed bridge over the Trinity River, but really now, Irving building one to identify the City of Irving is a bit much. Hello! You have the Famous Mustangs of Los Colinas, don't you see. You created  Los Colinas. You have Lake Carolyn. You have the canals.You have the gondola boats. You now have your convention center. You have the Orange Line, the Monorail. You have The Four Seasons  at TPC Cottonwood. Carpenter Ranch has been good for Irving.

The perception is that  this blog does not  favor  Irving. This blog has reported several times in the past that Irving is high on my list of places dear to my heart. Across the Carpenter Freeway from Irving's Convention Center at Los Colinas,  is the world headquarters of Exxon Mobil Oil, that is  nestled fairly deep in the woods of their corporate estate and compound.The reality is that this blog  will always be grateful to Exxon Mobil Oil for what they have done in the past, personally.

So, when things seem one way, looking the other way in the opposite direction will usually reset you humanity compass so that you can make adjustments that will align you more to a perception that is in refined focus. Of course, that is only a perception.









 

From Filtration Dock to Winfrey Point

A 1000 miles of wear in under 50 feet.

Never have seen a gull with brown feathers

What better way to enjoy the outdoors.

After running my medical errands this afternoon, it was time to do a little walking, get some fresh air, but the heavy fog over night was still lingering in the mid of afternoon. The air was soupy thick but as any New Yorker will tell ya: "You'll have that from time to time."

Spotted Before Superbowl XLVII

The Famous Tail Number N1DC aka Blue Star Management,aka Mr. Jerry Jones's private plane seen  holding short of Runway 13L at Love Field today just before noon.

 

General Aviation on final approach to 13L

"The Hand of God"

Private Corporate Jet on final to 13R

Sunshine and blue sky with an above average temperatures. Who could ask for anything more? Some of the things  along the way around one half of Bachman Lake.



The cloud image appeared right over the Southwest Airlines Headquarters Maintenance Operations Building. I've seen a lot of cloud formations over the years but never something that could be compared to an Italian painter 500 years ago.