Bell Choir- September 2025

First performance of the season for bell choir!

This is just titled "Celebration #2." It's a rousing fanfare-type piece and we used it for the Call to Worship.



The anthem was "Shall We Gather at the River." I think the chimes parts in this one sound really nice.



The day has been a little bit of a ratrace. My alarm didn't go off, and I sure don't know how that happened because I double checked that it was set correctly before I went to sleep. I must have somehow turned it off by fumbling with the phone. So instead of having time to wake up at a speed that suits me and do my morning routine, I had to leap into the shower, collect needed items and dash for the church. Om went too since his church is still doing the "At the Movies" event.

At the Movies today was taken from The Lion King which is not one of my favorite movies. I wanted to see what lessons Pastor Jerry would draw from it. He pointed out that Simba, after he ran from Scar and the Pride, was living in a beautiful valley, and yet it was a prison of lies that was controlling him. It wasn't until he faced the truth and went home that he was able to become the king he was meant to be. (Very simplified version)

The setting for At the Movies! Free popcorn, pop, and candy. Lots of atmosphere. I took my sound-deadening earmuffs that I bought while I was working at the newspaper so that I could tolerate the volume of the live music. It worked.

And we did go to that together in the afternoon. We did a little errand on the way home from the morning service, ate, did a couple of things, and it was time to go back to the movie event. Got home from that, ate again, did a couple more things, and now the day is about over. Whew.

And of course, since I have a new computer, I had to re-purchase the movie editing software. It doesn't cost a lot, but they've changed it again. So I had to figure out how it works, etc, etc. Always something. I did not figure out how to add the title to the front in the first video, and did a poor job on the second one. I'll need to work on this!

See Bell Choir- May 2025

Name a Movie that Changed Your Life

This morning something caught my attention - conversation starter: "Name a movie that changed your life." I had to think about that.

One of the most memorable was the missionary film Through Gates of Splendor. Although it was remade in 1967, the first version came out in 1961 just five years after five missionaries were killed by the Auca indians in Equador.

Of course I had been raised with a succession of missionary speakers who brought slides showing pictures of smiling dark-skinned people. I understood that the message of love and forgiveness had changed them, but it was somehow rather fakey.

But this movie was the real deal. I was in junior high, a time of life when everyone makes some important decisions about the kind of person they are going to be.

Here was real movie footage of naked people (we could hardly believe the church allowed this to be shown, right?) interacting with foreigners for the first time in their lives. It is not a fictionalized account. The camera was recovered and film salvaged from the actual initial encounter.

Here were young husbands and wives with children putting their lives on the line to bring caring and hope to a tribe who had an astronomical murder rate. Other tribes wouldn't even go near them. And the missionaries paid the ultimate price. After the initial friendly contact, the next day the Aucas killed the five men: Jim Eliot, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Roger Youderain and Pete Fleming. This wasn't the kind of happy missionary story we were used to. This was brutal and demanded that I think about what I was going to be willing to do if God asked something like this of me.

Here's the original movie. It was remade in 1967 with some small additions. You can watch it for free (only 35 minutes long). It is age restricted. I'm including a still shot from the film so there is an image in this post.

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Some of you may know the end of the story. Surviving wife Elisabeth Eliot with young daughter Valerie, and Rachel Saint (sister of Nate) went back to the Auca and in just a few months, God changed their entire culture from one of constant murder to caring and helping.

Two more movies were later made with more of the story. They can both be found on YouTube.

One is Beyond the Gates of Splendor, narrated by Nate Saint's son, Steve.

The other is The End of the Spear, also narrated by Steve Saint. The title has a double meaning, as Steve learns the identity of the tribesman who had killed his father. Mincaye demands that Steve spear him to avenge his father, but Steve forgives the man. This is the dramtic "end of the spear," as the solution to disagreement.

Elisabeth Eliot became noted as a Christian author, often taking a hard stance on obedience and morality. I've always thought she had every right in the world to take such a view, having been "tried in the fire" of personal experience, and she found God's strength sufficient. In the cultures of "Prosperity Gospel" and "God wants us to be happy," she was a voice for higher standards.

Name a movie that changed your life.

See The Staircase

The Perils of Pauline and Ray

In honor of Dad's (Ray Leary) 121st birthday, here's a story I've never shared with you before. It needs some buildup.

The silent film series, The Perils of Pauline were mostly filmed in Ithaca, NY. Ithaca was the Hollywood of the silent film era. The gorges, waterfalls, and beautiful Cayuga Lake- all of which I show you pictures of when I go home- created dramatic backdrops for the cliffhanger stories.

Pauline was played by an actress by the name of Pearl White, a native of the Ozarks. The films all had the same plot. Pauline would end up in some sort of mortal peril, and then she would be rescued, usually by a handsome man such as Creighton Hale or Lionel Barrymore. You've probably heard his name at least. Here is Pearl with (maybe) Ted Wharton who with his brother Leo were the big name filmmakers of the era. The 20 Pauline movies were made between 1914 and 1919.

Now we switch to a journalist/ author named Arch Merrill. He lived from 1894-1974. If you are from the Finger Lakes area of New York, you are probably familiar with his books. Some are collections of newspaper columns, others were written as books. They are filled with highly readable tales of the history and culture of the Finger Lakes. Some titles are Slim Fingers Beckon, Tomahawks and Old Lace, The Towpath- you get the idea.

In his book Upstate Echoes, there is a chapter about the era of silent films. He focuses on Pearl White, giving this description. "She wore slacks and smoked cigarettes at a time when women just did not do those things." She drove a canary yellow Stutz Bearcat, usually at breakneck speeds. She was arrested in Trumansburg (a town near my hometown) for speeding, paid the fine and swore at the judge.

In that same book is a story which I will quote:

And there's the tale of the teenaged lad who had long worshiped the actress from afar. One day while standing in his yard, he saw the yellow car stop in front of the house and the angel of his dreams step out. She advanced toward him and the boy blushed and trembled. No doubt the actress, struck by his manly beauty, was going to offer him a ride. Disillusionment was swift and complete when his idol called out: "Little boy, may I use your bathroom?"

Dad always claimed that he was the boy. It's possible. The time frame is correct. The house was on the main highway north from Ithaca and just five miles from Trumansburg. Dad was not given to tall tales or bragging, so it wasn't in his nature to make up stories.

Here is Dad on the porch of the house (with his parents). He looks to me to be 14-16 years old, which puts the years at 1918-1921, but it could have been a year or so earlier. The photo is not dated, and Dad always seemed to look older than his years in every picture I have of him as a child. So this would be about when this episode took place.



Here he is in what I think is 1922. I think this is his high school graduation picture and he would have been almost 18.



At any rate, enjoy the humorous tale. I like to think it was Dad!

Interestingly enough, he died the day before his 71st birthday, or 49 years ago yesterday.

I spent a bunch of time on the computer today and went to the store for supplies. Critter report: We've got ants in the kitchen. I chased a chipmunk out of the house twice today and fixed the loose place on the screen where it was coming in. The woodpeckers are banging on the deck posts, and I'm again fighting the bees.

See The Lake that I Love

The Staircase

  I gave myself another rest day. Of course there are things to do, but nothing super pressing.

I did watch a made-for-TV movie from 1998 that I've always liked. It fictionalizes the story of the staircase at the Sisters of Loretto chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was built in 1880-1881 by a man who appeared rather mysteriously, and left without being paid after it was completed. Barbara Hershey and William Petersen. You can see the entire thing free here. Only warning is the quality of the video is pretty bad. It may be available with better resolution somewhere for a fee.

See The Staircase

I went in search of more info on the true story. I did find it, and it sort of blunts the mystery, but I'm glad to know it anyway. Actually, until the early 2000s no one had any idea of the carpenter. Of course, words like "miracle" and "Saint Joesph" appeared often in the stories. The backstory in the movie is pretty much fabricated, except for the fact that a staircase was not built in the original construction



The second video is Jimmy Akin's Mysterious World which gives a good overview of the myths and what facts have actually been learned. In any case, the staircase itself is still considered a marvel of construction by modern carpenters.

See Sun and Shadows

Oyster? Hedgehog? Angel?

  I thought I was going to pull photos from previous blog posts to really illustrate the answer to this question. However... Although I know I have taken pictures of all of these choices, I apparently haven't put them on the blog. Huh.

OK, so the question is: When you see a stacked off-white pile of fungus growing on a tree, what is it?

The first question to answer is: Does it have gills or teeth on the underside? This one clearly has gills.

That narrows the choices to Oyster Mushroom or Angel Wings. Well, I'm no fungus expert. I asked a friend who is. She says this is oyster because the gills are fairly far apart and the caps are thick. But I should have smelled it. The oyster smells (strongly?) seafoodish. It was too high up for me to smell it, but next time, I'll try.

I did find one picture from 2104 of old, decaying Angel Wings. I always think of them as having thinner, upturned caps, but maybe they don't start out upturned since the pictures in the book I'm using don't really show it that way.



Both of these are edible, and pretty highly favored. I haven't sampled them.

The Hedgehog has teeth (lots of them) and Stacka Hydnum Mushrooms have pores instead of gills. Hedgehogs are pretty spectacular, actually. I know I have at least one picture of a Hedgehog. I might even know where it is.

So far today, I've edited campsites for 6 hours. Might try to do a little more. Minnesota was a mess because I hadn't really settled on a format when I went through it the first time.

The biggest news is that Om and I went to see the movie Sight. Highly recommended. True story, inspiring and touching.

See Sterling Marsh Again

Stop Two- Ken

 Tonight I got to meet a blogger friend in real life. Long ago, Ken ran the Adgitize blogging network in the days when blogging was a big thing. Then, Ken actually hired me to do some work for his network. Blogging faded, and then I also learned that Ken was an author who was working on some Young Adult fantasy books. He then hired me to do editing for him. Early on, I learned that Ken also has done some hiking, and a few years ago, he and his wife Mary went to Spain and walked the Camino de Santiago. So, we also have walking in common, and a shared faith. Today, we took it to the next level- that of real life.

They are graciously hosting me, and fed me a wonderful dinner. This was after Ken and I went and did a hike on the Poplar Creek Trail in the Poplar Creek Forest Preserve which is near their home.

It's not the best season of the year for colorful, enchanting pictures. But here's Poplar Creek.

The subtitle of the past 24 hours is "New Experiences." Ester had been loaned some Anime movies. Neither of us had ever seen even one. I'd read a couple of comic books. So we watched two. They were quite interesting. The first was based on Japanese fantasy that we didn't understand at all. The second story was very dark involving the death of two children from radiation poisoning after the WWII bombings. However, the animation was amazing. Turns out that the word anime isn't any one particular plot genre, but only really refers to the animation style.

This morning, on the way to the Chicago area, I passed what is the largest Camelback Bridge in Michigan. It has three spans and is 270 feet long. It was built in the 1920s, and is now a foot bridge. You may remember that I posted another Camelback Bridge across the Sturgeon River in the UP last winter. I know where there are a couple more of the smaller ones.

Poplar Creek Pathway, Hoffman Estates, IL, 5.5 miles

See First Stop- Ester

The DVD Collection

This post is for those of you who think I work on stuff all the time. Today was very unproductive. I did manage my editing quota this morning, but the truth is that I did not get to sleep until 6 am, and after I woke up at 10 am, I felt like crap for the rest of the day.

I decided to watch a movie, and went to choose one from our collection. Since cleaning up after the January flood, there was no organization to it AT ALL. I decided that was something I had enough motivation and brain power to do. The good news is that I separated them all by category. The bad news is that since we gave away 7 banana boxes full of VHS tapes, we no longer have a lot of movies that I wish we did.

We both really like good movies. Sometimes we even like mediocre movies- depends on the topic.

This was somewhat enlightening, although, remember that we used to have maybe 200 additional films or TV shows on tape. The two largest piles are sci-fi and historical fiction. Classic fantasy was a close third. That pile isn't in the picture. It was already stashed on the shelf. Also, complete sets of the 3 TV series: Perry Mason, Person of Interest, and The Fugitive are not in the stacks. (These are favorites of mine.)

I would have thought thrillers/action dramas would be a bigger pile. Then too, sometimes what we own depends a lot on what's in the discount bins. Anyway, here are the category piles

I organized them, got them back in the shelves.

Then I selected Minority Report and settled in to watch it. Of course, now I'm feeling better, but hopefully I can get to sleep at a more normal time tonight.

See Putter, Putter, Scrape

Episode IX - Is it Really Over?

 
Part of my Christmas was to see The Rise of Skywalker, Star Wars Episode IX.



The last of the triple trilogy. I won't do any spoilers, but is this really the end? Was the ending satisfactory? Well, I won't give anything away, because I'm not sure. Still thinking about that.



I will say that I finally liked Rey. Up until now, she seemed more like a Katniss clone from Hunger Games that accidentally found herself on the Star Wars set. She finally became a character I could appreciate.

You need to understand that I have to be really invested in a movie to see it in the theater any more, because the volume generally hurts my ears.

In other news: I wrote in the morning, and managed a little formatting in the afternoon, but not much.

	See The Last Jedi
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Reading, Writing, Watching, Chilling

 
I seem to increasingly need time that is just quiet and doesn't involve other people. Even other people I like.

Today I finished the book I was reading, The Woman Who Smashed Codes. Excellent read- one of the clandestine parts of World War II that has recently been declassified.

I watched a movie, Seven Alone, made in 1974. It's based on the true story of a family who were traveling the Oregon Trail in 1848. The parents died, leaving the seven children, one an infant. The oldest boy refuses to give up and leads them on westward. It's a little cheesy... being both an older film and probably made for kids. But the story is fascinating since it's true. The boy who leads them was a rebel and troublemaker, but when he was forced to become head of the family as a young teenager, he persevered. The worst part was the film itself was in bad shape before being digitized, and it was hard on the eyes.

In an interesting side note, I kept thinking I recognized the name of the author of the book that tells the story (On to Oregon), which was written by Honore Morrow (1880-1940). Then I though maybe I even remembered why I knew that name. Sure enough, when I looked her up, she wrote many, many books for young readers, mostly based on true stories. I used her book, Splendor of God, in my research about Ann Judson for the chapter 'Nancy,' in my book Would You Dare?

The story of the seven children is based on the personal recollections of Catherine Sager, the third oldest child, and the oldest girl in the family. She related the events directly to Honore Morrow sometime around 1900.

I'm nearly finished with Chapter 11, 'Margit's Nameday,' in The Secret Cellar. Probably will finish it before I go to sleep.

It looks like we have an awful lot of stuff under this tree, especially for a couple of people who have gone very low key on gifts. But there's a box from Steve, more packages from Loretta, gifts from co-workers and friends, and some birthday gifts for Joshua who turned 48 this week.

At any rate, it looks very festive.

Wishing you whatever you need for the holiday- whether it's people time, or chilling time, like me.

	See Restful
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This and That

 
No formatting was accomplished at all today. I was out clearing the driveway before the sun was up.





Work was challenging. There are now two of us wearing wrist braces. This job is hard on the body.



But, after work and a few errands, Om and I went to see Star Wars: The Last Jedi. An excellent addition to the series. This is saying something after sitting through about 10 previews and there wasn't a single one of them that made me the least bit interested in seeing the whole movie.



Locations for filming include Ireland, Iceland, Croatia and Bolivia. Very cool places and magical enough for even Star Wars.

Bed now... Tomorrow is Friday the work, work and work day.

	See Star Wars: The Force Awakens
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Star Wars: The Force Awakens

 
Yes, I'm posting very late (really early the next day) because we just got back from watching Star Wars: Episode VII- The Force Awakens.




I was prepared to be disappointed. But I WAS NOT. This was great stuff if you are a Star Wars Fan. Classic, simple, a twist or two. All the old folks like us at the theater were loving it, but the younger viewers were too. The group behind us clapped and cheered as loud as we did.



I won't give anything away (except to say the plot is not like the authorized books). I'll only say that this movie verifies that the series is as much the Shakespearean story of a family as it is about intergalactic politics.

As always, we stayed through ALL the credits because they show where it was filmed dead last. Remote locations: Ireland and Iceland (for the places that aren't just CGI and Foley screens).

Can't wait for VIII and IX!

	See Star Wars: The Cold Insurgency
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Mickey Matson Comes Home

 
Three years ago, a children's adventure film was made locally, followed by a sequel. You may never have heard of Mickey Matson and the Copperhead Treasure (originally named Mickey Matson and the Copperhead Conspiracy) or Mickey Matson and the Pirate's Code. But, you might have heard of the blockbuster movie "God's Not Dead." Same writer/director, Harold Cronk. He's local too. Graduated from the same high school as my Steve, a year later.

Several local actors had supporting and minor roles in the Mickey Matson films, some of whom are friends of mine. And yet, I'd never seen either film.

This afternoon, both were shown at the beautifully renovated Vogue Theater in Manistee (that's a story in itself for another day)





Following the showings, all those present who were part of the cast or crew came up front and the audience got to ask them questions.



Both are fun movies, excellently done by Cronk's 10 West Studios.

Does it say something about me that the largest pool of my acquaintances who were in the movies played pirates?

The strangest part for me was that I'd never seen a large-screen movie made in places familiar to me. It was weird to see the local college become a secret training camp, the state park a desert in Sudan, a local closed bank the scene of a bank robbery, etc.

There's a possibility that a third movie in the series will be made. That would be fun.

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Philadelphia Flower Show 2105- Inspired by Movies II

 
There were other Philadelphia Flower Show major exhibits I haven't shown you yet that were inspired by movies, without trying to duplicate the set. These three seemed creative.

The Tourism Council of Ireland presented this one with the tagline, "Who needs fifty shades of gray when you can have forty shades of green?"





This display took a completely different tack on "Celebrate the Movies." It was designed by the Camden, New Jersey, Children's Garden. It was called Showtime New Jersey and featured fruits and vegetables that are grown at the Camden garden. The space was decorated with movie memorabilia from New Jersey actors, writers, etc. The fence pickets were painted by children and then decorated with info about such New Jersey people as Bruce Willis, Danny DeVito, Kelly Ripa, and more. After the show the fence was moved to the real garden.



One section was filled with dinosaurs and monsters made of plant materials. By kids, I'm sure. Very fun.



This next one was a beautiful and colorful display of blooming spring bulbs called "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," based on Mary Poppins. This was also an international entry from Jacques Armand International, of Middlesex, UK. They wanted to recreate "the magic of a spring day in an English Park." It was one of the most colorful gardens, and since I love spring bulbs, I liked it a lot.







Taxes are done. Have to work both jobs tomorrow and Friday, so I'm thinking bed really soon.

	See Inspired by Movies- I
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