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Our Daily Thread 4-21-14

Good Morning!

Today’s header photo is from Cheryl.

On this day in 1649 the Maryland Toleration Act was passed, allowing all freedom of worship.  

In 1789 John Adams was sworn in as the first U.S. Vice President. 

In 1836 General Sam Houston defeated Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto. This battle decided the independence of Texas. 

In 1918 German fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen, “The Red Baron,” was shot down and killed during World War I.  

And in 1959 the largest fish ever hooked by a rod and reel was caught by Alf Dean. It was a 16-foot, 10-inch white shark that weighed 2,664 pounds. 

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Quote of the Day

“Children are not casual guests in our home. They have been loaned to us temporarily for the purpose of loving them and instilling a foundation of values on which their future lives will be built.”

James Dobson

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Today is Randall Thompson’s birthday.

Today is also Clara Ward’s birthday.

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Anyone have a QoD?

43 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 4-21-14”

  4. Cranes? Third because I slept for something like 5 hours yesterday afternoon. 😉 Gonna try going back to bed for a little while now since it’s 4 a.m. and if I stay up until it’s time to go to work I’ll run completely out of steam by 3 p.m. or thereabouts. Ugh.

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  5. The header photo was a dam in Alabama on our recent trip. The original photo had five species of bird, but the pelican was too close to the right edge and didn’t survive the cropping. But there are still four species: on the rocks are great blue herons (with breeding plumage) and great egrets; if you look closely, behind the herons at the right are two dark things in the water, which are the heads and necks of swimming anhingas (the photo uncropped had more and clearer images of this species), and in the air at the upper right is a gull. We also saw terns and at least one coot, and some other birds that were too far away for a positive identification but were not any of those other species. Hundreds of birds in all, all competing with the fishermen for fish. (There were quite a few fishermen too.) The tower that can barely be seen at the left edge had many dozens of birds on it, anhingas and herons and a few other birds I don’t know. And herons and gulls and terns were flying everywhere, and pelicans swam to the left of the tower. It was really an amazing scene.

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  6. All those birds! Hitchcock fodder. Were they loud? I have never seen the different ones together like that. I do remeber seeing a gathering of pelicans at a particular location around Hilton Head.

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  7. Morning all. Such a nice quiet Monday. Easter Monday is a national holiday here and it was quite restful. Made bagels and went to school to make sure that all is ready plus continue to work on some longterm projects. Enjoy your Monday.

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  12. It was a quiet morning with the dogs. I read and drank coffee. I am at work now, facing the week. I have a Vestry meeting tonight and am recycling leftover brisket from Thursday night into BBQ for our dinner before the meeting. Tomorrow night I will have Bible study then I will be finished with being Mrs. Anglican Church Lady. It is a scary place for me to be. I once was Mrs. Episcopal Church Lady and my life fell apart. I slipped up Thursday and told the associate priest what all I used to do. His ears perked up and his eyes got brighter—I am or used to be certified to teach Disciple Bible Study. I had to tell him I was quite happy being on the learning end not the teaching end.

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  13. Janice, we were actually quite a ways from the birds (I have a very long zoom lens–the photo would have been better with a tripod), so I didn’t notice a lot of noise. Gulls screaming periodically, I think. And we had a mockingbird near us that was singing, so I got some photos of him too. My husband had heard about mockingbirds but had never been so close to one that was singing, and his comment was, “He really does sing through the whole hymnal, doesn’t he?”

    I had wanted a good photo of a great blue heron flying, and was thrilled to be standing next to a river with up to a dozen herons in the air at any one time. So I got some shots of individual birds and others of a whole lot of birds, and in 20 minutes I shot more than 200 photos. (Most of them mediocre, but some really fun ones.)

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  15. yup, it is what I do here and I don’t mind spending my Saturdays at school. In fact, I appreciate school breaks to have more time to prepare. I also never mind if someone sees me in the store and wants to talk about their child, it is what I do. But, I do a two year term and then spend six months at home on furlough.

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  16. So there really is something we can call “an old coot”. I just thought it was a made-up word we used. And if the male tern behaves himself and finds an equally well behaved female, we can say “One good tern deserves another!”

    Okay, I’m finished for a while. (But I am not Finnish.)

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  17. OK, my new gravatar is another photo I took that day. I like this one, and so did my nephews. It’s a flying great blue heron, but from an angle that makes it look like it should be in the sky above a dinosaur or two.

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  19. I cropped in a little closer and reposted. But it’s still pretty tiny. if you want to see the picture better, click on my name. (It’s cropped from a larger photo with two birds in it, and doesn’t have the greatest detail, but it has a definite Pterodactyl feel to it.)

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  23. It still looks like a pterodactyl to me.

    I don’t believe I’ve ever sought a bird to photograph, but I enjoy listening to them calling this morning. 🙂

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  25. I don’t think I can quite remember seeing the end of schoolwork in six weeks. The closest we have come was when the fourth child decided to finish up and go off to college at sixteen. He had been in Greece long enough to see some stuff and did not know anybody but me and his life was standing still. So he finished and left. We then had a break from school, but I don’t think it was six weeks away. Then eleven more came and I see no break in the foreseeable future that would look anything like the summer break people talk about.

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  40. MiM- Just what is a “heroin”? Is it a typo? Are you suggesting I’m on a drug? Or are you complimenting the females as heroines for obliging this half-crazy high school teacher?

    No, I didn’t get any funny eggs yesterday. I have a day off from school because of the holiday, and I’m just saying what I would to my students, just like every day. It keeps them on their toes trying to outsmart me. They try, but fail. All-in-all, they either groan or laugh, just like you guys and gals do.

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