Sepia Saturday 2/27

This is my second in the Sepia Saturday series.


Peter Handlan MacVeigh, born in 1897, was the grandson of Peter Patrick MacVeigh who came to America during the great potato famine. My grandfather was a standout football player at Lindsley Academy, winning a scholarship to WVU, but the Great War broke out, and he enlisted. He was quite the rascal, running poker tables and convincing new recruits that they were required to turn in their civilian clothes, which he sold to soldiers going on leave. He got caught, busted to private and spent the remainder of his service as a ship's cook patrolling the Alaska/Russian border.

After the war, he married a volatile woman who threatened suicide constantly and one day succeeded. A widower, he met Emily Ransom, who was divorcing her first husband intending to marry her divorce lawyer. He was smitten, pursued her and they married 1929. Peter and Emily had a daughter, Judy in 1932, and a son, my father, Peter Ransom MacVeigh, 1934.





My Dad was a cutie. I'd love to tell you that his childhood was magical, and he managed to see it that way, but it wasn't. I'd love to tell you that Peter and Emily lived happily ever after, and to the casual observer it would appear so. But their marriage was tumultuous - Peter was a highly functional alcoholic in his youth, the life of every party, a kind soul who gave away every cent he ever earned. He was a brilliant businessman, who earned a great deal of money selling coal slag and lumber. He bought a farm, grew a bumper crop of tomatoes just as WWII came to a close and the bottom dropped out of the market, so he burned the tomatoes in the field, rather than lose money harvesting. He named the farm Waterloo. In the course of their marriage, Emily took the children and her father and left him; he chased her across the country, to get her and the children back. When he found her, she tried to shoot him, there was a trial, and although the charges were dropped, Emily lost custody and they divorced. But Emily was the love of Peter's life and Emily wanted her children back, and somehow, they remarried, this time for good. By the time I came along, they were this happy couple sitting on the porch steps.


If only the pictures could talk.

A disparaging rant about today's health care summit

I couldn't watch it live, but I read the synopsis, which was annoying enough, due to all the attitudes and arguing and sound and fury signifying absolutely nothing. Link below. But first, CNN's Broken Government Series contains some shocking revelations about the current state of disrepair in our democracy. A majority of Americans feel democracy is broken. No wonder. Watch the video and let your blood pressure soar.

Isn't it ironic that politicians are voting for or supporting legislation in committee then filibustering it on the Senate floor? Republicans even filibustered deficit reduction reform. Seriously. Since Obama took office, Republicans have filibustered 80 percent of major proposed legislation. The spin is anything to keep Obama from a political victory, no matter what the issue. From a historical occurence of one filibuster a decade to almost 80 percent this year, it makes no sense at all. No matter what political party you favor, this is wrong. For the record, I don't favor either, as I tend toward libertarian and disgusted these days. And I don't care who started it anymore. It's just a travesty, a sad colossal social failure.

I've listened to regular people debate how much blame to assign to Obama for the current state of the economy and lack of progress in the past year, and I've have to point out which year the economy crashed and ask what they would have him do. The Senate is sitting on 290 pieces of legislation passed in the house. 290. The list includes healthcare reform; climate change; food safety; financial aid for the U.S. Postal Service; a job security act for wounded veterans; a Civil War battlefield preservation act; vision care for children; the naming of a federal courthouse in Iowa after former Rep. Jim Leach (R-Iowa); a National Historic Park named for President Jimmy Carter; a bill to improve absentee ballot voting; a bill to improve cybersecurity; and the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

Some crucial, some not so much. I think this would be a great time to table the historic renaming function of government and focus on big things. But. Progress can't happen if our branches of government are in gridlock and engaged in tribal political feuds. I don't know anymore. Nothing is easy and nothing is making sense. I just don't know.

CNN's Health Care summit synopsis includes this quotable from VP Joe Biden:

He also says after being in Washington for 37 years, he's "reluctant ... to tell people what the American people think."

"I think it requires a little bit of humility to be able to know what the American people think, and I don't. I can't swear I do. I know what I think. I think I know what they think, but I'm not sure what they think," he says.


What do you think? Hell I just hope people are thinking in the first place.

Sepia Saturday

Jenny and Emily Ransom, circa 1912, Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania

They lived in amazing and trying times, as did all who came before them. Their great-grandfather rode covered wagons from Connecticut to the Pennsylvania frontier in 1773, descended from an indentured servant who came to the colonies in 1634. The Ransom family built forts, cabins and hacked farms and mills from the wilderness, fighting Indians, Pennites and British along the way. The sisters grew up a few miles from the town of Ransom, named for their great-great grandfather who perished in the Wyoming Pennsylvania massacre of 1778.


Jenny and Emily Ransom, date unknown, Atlantic City NJ

Together, they made their way east, looking for adventure, opportunity and love. During Prohibition, Jenny and Emily danced in a speak-easy. Raided one night, they were loaded into the paddy wagon filled with patrons and employees and hauled to the police station. Luckily, the police chief was a patron of their establishment, so he let Jenny and Emily dance the Charleston on his desk, entertaining everyone until bail was posted.

Jenny and Emily were the best kind of friends sisters can be. Jenny died of a heart attack at 50 leaving Emily sisterless for 20 years.

I have collected many facts about my grandmother Emily: she was taught to read the newspaper by 4, graduated high school at 16, worked as a Rosie Riveter building the Doolittle bombers, was a master bridge player, an excellent seamstress and an avid reader, always ready for adventure.

I knew Emily Ransom as my Grandma, with a twinkle in her blue eyes, urging me to see what I could of the world, and never settle for less. Life is short, she would say, so live it! I never knew any of her stories until well after she was gone. What I wouldn't give to talk to her now, to ask endless questions. I would most like to tell her that her great grandaughter proudly carries her name, her sharp wit, her quick laugh and that same twinkle in her sparkly blue eyes.

This post inspired by Sepia Saturday, a wonderful blogspot that encourages us to dig through our photo albums and share, and links to everyone participating each week. Check it out, maybe even participate. I didn't find it until week 12 and theres much to explore there.

Saturday Science

This video from the American Museum of Natural History is truly awesome.



Thanks to the NASA picture a day (APOD) website for sharing it with me. Their images are amazing, and I can lose hours marveling at pictures from earth and in space:



I'm so enamored with NASA's Earth Observatory site that I get email updates from them. Anything noteworthy happening on planet earth is usually uplinked from satellite data within hours. These are amazing times, my friends. Here are a few of my recent favorites:
The most recent east coast snowstorm.

The Gulf of Mexico

Waters off the Bahamas

Lovely, yes?

Good Things

Thanks to Bethany over at Bloom, I'm having a grateful moment here in the frigid midwest. She reminded me of the new bulbs I planted that will bloom in a few months. Here are a few of my favorites from last Spring:






In less than 2 months, they will be back, this time with new tulips and alliums!

Here's another good thing, in a sideways and silly kind of way. Yesterday morning we had a rare earthquake in IL and I live 8 miles from the epicenter. Nothing cracked, nothing broken, just a few of my tinies fell off their shelves and luckily none broken. I've been collecting these since I was about 7 years old. They are my version of treasure:


See the tiny clay critters on the right? The horse and vulture both fell off the shelf but did not break. Those I bought in high school about a million years ago. I always thought I'd get crafty and make such things, but have not yet.

But feeling the earth move beneath you - it's mighty humbling and makes for some serious gratitude. Especially when it sounds like an explosion or bomb happening out your window. I live in a lucky time and place, and I am grateful.

Here's something that's good for me, but sucks for people I love. I'm not here:


Kinda funny, except they got an unprecedented 22 inches of rain last year following the worst drought in ages the year before that, with just under 9 inches. The weather is wreaking havoc on my homeland. Southern or slower Delaware doesn't get much snow, so they weren't prepared to handle the almost 2 feet they got, let alone the 2 inches of sleet on top of that. The news is awful, roofs are collapsing all over the place: Walmarts, Big Lots, churches, schools and over 50 chicken houses so far. Growing chickens is the economic mainstay in the area, besides farming. It is devastating. But my family is safe, and warm, and their roofs are holding, and the weather is letting up, thankfully, so they can begin to dig out.

So hooray for good things, and especially for sunshine and blue skies.



OK, one more good thing. Music. Music!! I'm not named Melody for nothing. I'm happy my music player at the bottom of this page pops out and can hang out with me all morning. Go ahead, help yourself. The little square on the top right pops it out so you can listen too, there's something in there for everyone. I've been enjoying the heck out of some other bloggers' music. Future post fodder.

Sunday Sunset 1/30/2010

It started like any ordinary sunset, but very quickly became extraordinary.