30th Simsbury Fly-in and Car Show

Several years ago, my son, Richard, and I attended the Simsbury Fly-In and Car Show. This year I had to go alone because my son has his own agenda (and is not talking to me-again).

The weather this Sunday (September 20th, 2015) was even more beautiful than the last time: warm and sunny, with not a cloud in sight. This year I parked on the east side of the runway. Walked around looking at the booths first, then the airplanes on display, and then the cars. In between, watched a bunch of take offs and landing. In addition to the RC model airplanes (see picture below) there was a RC model helicopter, a real helicopter (see picture below), and a two plane formation team that did some fly-bys. And of course, food and music.

When I arrived, RC model airplanes were doing acrobatics. Very realistic from afar.

This plane was made up to resemble a WWII P51 Mustang.

Can you spot the helicopter in this picture? It's over the hanger at left.
There was a model RC helicopter doing spectacular stunts but it apparently got
banged up when it landed.

I like shiny aircraft like this. Very retro.

This was parked in a hanger.

This red biplane was selling 20 minute rides. Not sure what he was charging
but his website says $180. Not bad.

This vintage(?) bi-plane trainer was on display outside.

I stayed around until nearly the end when many of the planes lined up
to take off and fly home.

Here is a selfie just as I was leaving.

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Links:

http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2012_09_23_archive.html

http://www.simsburyflyin.com/

http://flybiplane.com

http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2012/09/simsbury-fly-in-and-car-show.html

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Written Sunday 27 September 2015. I also added a post for the 2012 show we attended. Never got around to actually posting that. Better late than never.

Exceptional Women At The Cemetery

Main Entrance to Cedar Hill Cemetery (photo by K. Inboden).

Once again, I visited Cedar Hill Cemetery this morning to attend one their "tours." Today's tour was "Cedar Hill's Exceptional Women." It was led by Women's historian Grace Parks Mitchell. It highlighted the accomplishments of some of Cedar Hill's most notable women including:

• Virginia Thrall Smith
• Isabella Beecher Hooker
• Elizabeth Jarvis Colt
• Anne Tracy Morgan
• Katharine (Kit) Houghton Hepburn (the mother of the famous actress). The actress is also buried in the family plot here.

My  Webster's New World Dictionary (Second College Edition) defines "exceptional" as: not ordinary or average; much above average in quality, ability, etc. There is also a second definition which says "exceptional" is needing special attention or presenting a special problem, as in education, because mentally gifted or, esp., because mentally, physically, or emotionally handicapped. Ironically, in the context of today's tour, in many ways both these definitions are applicable. The tour guide seemed to define "exceptional" in the context of contemporary expectations for women. Many of the accomplishments (see for yourself by following the above links) have to do with promoting birth control and activities that transcended the unique responsibilities that women bear in the family.

It was a beautiful September morning; the slight chill was a bit invigorating. I was surprised that the turnout was pretty sparse despite good publicity: less than a dozen (and mostly regulars). Again, no young people attending. Mostly gray hairs like me but older (I think). The youngest seemed to be the Cemetery Director.

As usual, the tour starts near the flagpole with a brief overview and then we walked to the various graves where a brief biography was reported. The tour lasted from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and ended at the Hepburn plot (see picture below).

Hepburn family plot.

By the end of the tour I had a lot of mixed feelings. Many of the women had struggled against the limitations that society had in place during their time. And yet, despite our so-called progress, society still places all of us in confining categories (race, economic status, sex, age, religion, political affiliation, etc.). In hindsight, these categories are presented as stifling and deliberately and brutally oppressive. However, in their context, such categories are merely a sense of social order for stability.

Many of the women discussed during this tour struggled against the systems in place designed to uphold the role of women as mothers and the heart of the family. During our time, the family has been denigrated and women are being encouraged to be like men. As one who is pro-family as well as pro-woman, I wrestle with the lines that exist and the ones that have been severed. It is somewhat ironic that these thoughts occur in a cemetery.
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Links:
http://www.cedarhillcemetery.org/
http://cedarhillfoundation.org/notable-residents/virginia-thrall-smith
http://cedarhillfoundation.org/notable-residents/isabella-beecher-hooker/
http://cedarhillfoundation.org/notable-residents/elizabeth-colt/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Morgan_(philanthropist)
http://cedarhillfoundation.org/notable-residents/kit-houghton-hepburn/
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Written Sunday 27 September 2015

Many Things Have Happened.

Monday August 31, 2015 "letter" from Fr. Hattie received via email.

Below is my transcription of the letter (shown above) which I received from Fr. Hattie via email on Monday August 31, 2015. It was a nice gift to receive because August 31st is a tough day for me since it is the anniversary of my (failed) marriage. Also, see below for another significance for August 31st.

Anyway, as usual, I have taken the liberty of giving the scan a slight tint to suggest the Aerogram letters that Father used to send when he was overseas. My transcription has also attempted to make up for any typos or light impressions or overstrikes from Father's manual typewriter. As you can see (above), Father literally types his letter and has someone scan it to a JPEG file and email it to me.

Overall, my goals for the transcription are to make it easier for anyone to read the letter but not to compromise the intent and meaning. If I missed something or got it wrong or if there is something you don't understand, please let me know (e.g., post a comment below or email me or call me, etc).

For other letters from Father Hattie to me, as well as information on how to contact Fr. Hattie, see my Fr. Hattie page. It also includes information on how you can donate to help "his" orphans in Nsumba, Uganda.

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My dear Rick:                  Peace of Christ!

     Hope that you have not been bothered by this late reply. But, Sr. Christine is a full-time teacher and is Superior of her community and has to do this work between jobs. In any case, thanks so much for your kind, thoughtful & generous Gift of $XX.00 for my kids, appreciated much more because the number of former donors is decreasing little by little. It is the 'regulars' who keep the orphanage going. The people who have much don't seem to want to give. So, thank God for loyal friends like you.

     During the past 2 weeks many things have happened. I celebrated my 75 years as a Jesuit & 62 years as a priest.[*]  It would seem that I am one of the oldest Members of the Province. The good Lord must have good reasons for allowing me [to] hang in there for so long.

     We had another funeral. This poor priest had been a mere vegetable for the past 16 years...remembered nothing, recognized no one & had to be fed and bathed like a baby. It was a blessing that God finally called him Home. He had only 2 living sisters & no one else.

     I hope that this is not a repetition, but a short while back I had a delightful visit with a young African Jesuit priest whom I had taught in Uganda. You can be sure that I had a 100 questions about Africa & all my friends there.

     I just saw in the newspaper that the President & Vice President of Southern Sudan had signed a Peace agreement after 2 years of war. Poor Sudan (both North & South) haven't known real peace for about 30 years & it has always been about Muslims and Christian[s]. This time the UN & the USA threatened all kinds of sanctions if they did not sign a peace agreement. Let us hope and pray that this one will last. Over the past 30 years, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed & millions displaced. When I was in So. Sudan for 2 years, whenever we left the compound, we never had any certainty of returning. This present war is a war, also, between the two main Tribes for supremacy.  It is a shame, that although Africa is, by far, the richest Continent, it is also the poorest. But, more of that later. Until next time,

Tons of love & gratitude for your latest generous Gift of $XX.00 for my kids.

Fr. Gene, SJ

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Notes:

* See biography of Fr. Hattie. According to the article, he became a member of the Jesuits on August 31, 1940 and ordained a priest on November 21, 1953.
** I don't know exactly what article Fr. Hattie saw about the South Sudan peace agreement, but I found an article from Reuters from August 26th that provides some details. There is a lot of info about the UN in Sudan and the war. I usually like to start at Wikipedia and go from there.
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Links:

http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2011/08/it-was-20-years-ago-today.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerogram
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typewriter
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JPEG
http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/p/letters-from-fr-hattie.html
http://www.visituganda.com/
http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2013/08/father-hattie.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/26/us-southsudan-unrest-president-idUSKCN0QV1MF20150826
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Mission_in_Sudan
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Written Sunday October 25. 2015.