What Would Jimmy Do?

Tomorrow night (December 12) the last full moon of the decade will appear. It’s hard to believe we’re already entering the next decade, but here we are…

I got to thinking about things that happened in this current decade — it was pretty eventful, but probably falls into the “normal” range as far as decades with significant events go.
Some of the things I remember are….

A major earthquake hit Haiti — if I remember correctly, it killed well over 100,000 people.
There was an explosion of an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico that killed a number of people and spilled oil into the ocean for several months — the BP Oil Spill
One big story was the rescue of 33 miners trapped in a mine in Chile for 68 days
Gabrielle Giffords was shot at a political rally in Arizona
One of the biggest stories of the decade had to be the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.
A Penn State football coach was accused, and convicted, of molesting young boys.
A lot of news was devoted to the attacks on the US compound in Benghazi 
A director of the CiA (Petraeus) resigned after having an affair with his biographer
Lance Armstrong admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs.
Edward Snowden leaked thousands of documents stolen from NSA
Bill Cosby was accused, and convicted, of sexually assaulting women
The Patriots were under scrutiny for “deflate gate.” Tom Brady was actually suspended for a little while
An Olympic medalist lied abut being robbed at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro
The #MeToo movement got started as a result of sexual assault allegation against Harvey Weinstein
Trump’s lawyer paid Stormy Daniels $130.000 to keep quite about an alleged affair
The Senate Intelligence Committee determined that Russia interfered with the 2016 presidential election.
Lots of people, including some “movie stars,” were indicted as part of a massive college admissions scandal
Jeffery Epstein was charged with sex trafficking along with allegations of molesting young girls
The Democrats are preparing to proceed with impeachment charges against the President.

It’s hard to sit down and try to think of all the things that has happened in the world in the last ten years, but without even trying, things pop into my mind that I’d completely forgotten about. I guess it’s good to reflect on the past sometimes, but it’s probably better to just move on and make the best of the future,

I’d be remiss, however, if I didn’t mention the four biggest events of the decade — Emily, Locke, Rory and Ellie. At the start of this decade that’s drawing to a close, we didn’t have any grandchildren…. now we have four!!
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Like some people, I’ve tried to watch some of the congressional hearings the past couple of weeks. What with holiday activities gearing up and all, I’ve just caught bits and pieces of the proceedings. I find them interesting in a depressing sort of way. It’s a shame our country has become so divided in so many areas. 

I’m not sure why, but I seem to notice references to things that have happened in the past and quotations from a number of years ago more than I once did. A lot of them seem to fit our situation, as a nation, today. The other day I ran across a quote in a book that I’m reading and it made me think how appropriate it is today…. Here’s the quote”

“A forest takes a century to grow; it burns down in a night.”

I’m pretty sure the quote wasn’t meant to describe governments or constitutions, but if you’re so inclined, just think about it….
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If you’ve read this blog over the years, you know that I often refer to the readers as “both.” That implies that there are only two people that read the blog. I’m not sure, but that may be fairly accurate — I don’t think the blog would win any popularity contest. But it is always nice to hear from someone that has looked at an entry and taken the time to comment on it….

Today I’m especially pleased — it appears that I have a new youngest reader. Emily Gifford commented in the nicest possible way to an entry on September 3, 2019. You can read what she wrote by going to that entry. 

By the way, the entry she commented on was titled “Still Special.” Her comment certainly proves that point. Thanks Emily — I look forward to your future participation in this blog…. 
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I know I’ve addressed this topic before, but a couple of weeks ago we were in Cleveland and the subject came up again and seemed to generate a bit of interest. The conversation started when I was asked, again, “now what part of West Virginia are you from?” That led to a lengthy discussion about Shepherdstown and the subject of James Rumsey came up… so here’s the background, or at least what I know of it about one of Shepherdstown’s famous residents.

James Rumsey was raised a simple man of simple means without a formal education. He did have a penchant for mechanics and early on drew up plans for various types of machinery. Not much is known about Rumsey, born in 1743, until around 1782 when he was living in Bath, Virginia (now Berkeley Springs, West Virginia.) He probably moved to the area with his family some years before the American Revolution, from Cecil County, Maryland where he had helped run the family water mill at Bohemia Manor. In Bath, he built houses, became a partner in a mercantile business and helped run a boarding house and tavern called the “Sign of the Liberty Pole and Flag.”

In 1784, a pre-presidential George Washington stayed at the inn that Rumsey helped run and hired him to build a house and stable on property that Washington owned in Bath. In his dealings with Washington, Rumsey discussed his idea for a steam-powered engine with him — George was so impressed that he provided him with a Certificate of Commendation and encouraged him to speak with investors about developing the technology. Less than five years later, on December 3, 1787, Rumsey made a very successful public demonstration of his steam-powered boat on the Potomac river in Shepherdstown. The demonstration in Shepherdstown was very impressive, but many/most people questioned the commercial feasibility of the technology of powering boats by steam and investors were hard to come by. Five years after his successful demonstration in the Potomac, Rumsey traveled to England to pitch his idea to a group of investors there. Unfortunately, while in England, he fell ill and died — never realizing his dream of commercial steam boats.

It wasn’t until 1807 (twenty years after Rumsey’s success on the Potomac) that Fulton demonstrated and began operation of the North River Steamboat — a commercial transport ship on the Hudson River.

A Rumseyan Society was formed in Shepherdstown in 1906 and was responsible for building a monument to Rumsey in a park overlooking the Potomac.

A second  Rumseyan Society was formed in Shepherdstown in the 1980s to construct a replica of the successful Rumsey steamboat and celebrate the boat’s bicentennial in 1987. The boat was constructed in the machine and blacksmith shop in the back of O’Hurley’s General Store. The replica is housed in a small building behind the Entler Hotel.

If you visit Shepherdstown, your visit should include a stop at the monument on the banks of the Potomac that memorializes not only Rumsey, but the proper birthplace of the steam boat….
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For sake of completeness, this is a continuation of yesterday’s blog whose topic was — undertaker. During the undertaker discussion, another “funeral” term came up — wake. No one was really sure where the term came from. Here’s what my extensive research revealed…

Apparently, the custom of the wake came about, at least in part, because it was important to ensure that the dead did not wake. The time of watching over the body was insure that the person was, in fact, deceased. The term and custom, still in use today, has basically  been replaced with a time of visitation. Wakes probably had a superstitious origin — the fear of evil spirits hurting or even removing the body. Typically, mourners would keep watch or vigil over the dead until they were buried.

Growing up in Oklahoma, the term wake was never used, but I did learn a bit about Irish wakes along the way… I remember thinking it was more of an Irish thing rather than religious in nature.

In Ireland, the custom of waiting for the person to “wake” soon became a time to celebrate and mourn together. Family and friends would gather in the home to share stories, share food and — most often — drink in excess. The wake became a party. Irish wakes have some interesting traditions…

During Irish wakes the body would never be left unattended just in case the deceased did “wake.”
Usually the wake would begin as soon as the body could be prepared and it would continue until the family left for the funeral service. 
All the clocks in the house would be stopped at the time of death. It was a sign of respect for the deceased.
Often, all mirrors would be turned around or covered.
Candles would be lit and placed around the deceased.
The Rosary would be said at midnight and most visitors would then leave.
Those closest to the family would remain throughout the night.
Professional mourners were often employed to display grief for the deceased.
The more unexpected or tragic the death —the louder the mourning would be.
Games, music and merriment would take place outside of the mourning room where the deceased had been placed.
Food was an important part of the celebration.

Today, a wake, even in Ireland,  is no longer about ensuring that the deceased does not revive, but instead about the healing process for family and friends left behind. Traditional Irish wakes have been replaced with the custom of visitation. Most families no longer display the body in their own homes, but conduct their rituals in funeral homes or churches. 

Many people use the term wake today, but usually they are referring to a visitation period prior to the funeral.
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We had some behind-the-scenes tasks to accomplish prior to a funeral at our church this week. While we were working someone mentioned the word/term undertaker. When I was growing up in Maysville, Oklahoma, the town had one funeral home, and the proprietor was always referred to as the undertaker. I guess I never thought much about it before, but undertaker is a strange word. He is obviously involved with certain “undertakings,” but so is everybody else. I’m not sure, but when I was a kid I probably thought he was called an undertaker because he put or took someone under the ground. 

Undertaker is someone who undertakes a task. Obviously the undertaker we were referring to was someone who undertakes to embalm, beautify, lay out, arrange services for and bury or cremate the dead. Again, I’m not sure why the term came to be applied this one profession and not some other. 

During my extensive research for this blog, I found a blurb from The American Language by Henry L. Mencken stating that during the Civil War, undertakers used to follow the armies like prostitutes, not to pleasure the soldiers but to embalm them. In newspaper ads they called themselves “doctors.”
It may be that acts like these gave the term undertaker a bad name and in 1895, the trade magazine The Embalmers’ Monthly put out a call for a new name for the profession to distance itself from the title undertaker — that term being tarnished over the years for a number of reasons. They initially settled on the term mortician that is derived from the latin word mort- (“death”) + ician.

Today, mortician seems to have become tarnished and pretty much been replaced by funeral director. If you can find a phone book anymore, look in the Yellow Pages and you won’t find any listings under either undertaker or mortician. Everything related to practitioners of this profession is listed under Funeral Directors. Under that heading, some establishments call themselves mortuaries, some are called funeral homes, some memorial parks.

My extensive research uncovered a funeral home called Aftercare. Although I don’t know how they came up with that name, I think it’s kind of interesting. Maybe before too long, Aftercare will replace mortuary, columbarium, funeral parlor and memorial park. And — it’ll be near the front of the Yellow pages, if there’s any of those left…
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It’s been a little busy around here couple of weeks and one noteworthy event got by me without me mentioning it here.

Our number one grandson had a birthday!!
Locke is now five years old. We hope to get to see him soon and celebrate.
Looks like he’s been busy with school work even though he appears to be taking a well deserved break….

Happy Birthday, Locke!!!
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I read something a bit disturbing the other day. Someone did the research and determined that Double Stuf Oreos are only 1.86 times as “stuf’ed” as classic Oreos.

I think this is coming from the top. From the President right on down — the truth doesn’t seem to mean anything anymore. To claim you didn’t say something when you really did, or claim to be rich when you’re not, or honest or great when you’re not is one thing. 
But to publicly lie about the white stuff in Oreos is just too much. Next, I’ll probably find out that Twinkies don’t really last forever….
In spite of this disturbing news, happy Veterans Day to everyone.
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Almost 50 years ago when Claire and I decided to get married, we made a trip to Cleveland so I could meet the family. We weren’t aware of it at the time, but the family had planned a surprise party for us — the party was at Bernie and Ed’s house. So Bernie was one of the first Stracensky’s to welcome me to the family.

Over the years, Bernie and Ed visited us in Virginia more than any of the other family members. They’d come down for just the weekend sometimes and occasionally they stayed longer. I always went through a similar routine with Bernie after they had arrived…. I’d always ask if they had a good trip, and Bernie always said, “Oh, it was very nice.” Then I’d say something like “did you hit any rain?” And Bernie would respond, “I’m really not sure.” This would go on for a little while and I’d always ask if the construction on the Pennsylvania Turnpike was as bad as ever. Again, Bernie’s response was pretty much always, “I’m not really sure.” It turns out that Bernie slept all the way to Virginia. Ed did the driving, and Bernie took a nap! So she never developed the hatred for the Pennsylvania Turnpike most of us did.

They always brought us some good Cleveland bread, because Virginia just didn’t have good bread. And Bernie always brought one or two or three of her world famous nut rolls. Bernie was known for many things, but she might have been most famous for her nut rolls. Ed once told me that he’d heard that Bernie made just about the best nut rolls of anyone. I looked a little puzzled when he told me that, and he explained that he was only allowed to eat the ends of her nut rolls — the good part was always saved for other people. I don’t know if that’s really true or not, but that was Ed’s story, and he stuck to it. 

Bernie was the teacher in the family. Every time I was around her and said or did something kind of stupid, which happened fairly often, Bernie would always say, “Jimmy, when my children (meaning her students) say or do something like that I always tell them….” and it would usually be something like it was inconsiderate or might be offensive to some people, or something like that. Always made me think I should hang my head and say, “yes, Mrs. Hudak.” She never seemed to get too far from her teaching mode…

Life is basically what happens from a time called birth to a time called death. That’s all we get — life itself. There aren’t even any instructions — it’s left up to us to do the living. Like everything else, some of us do a better job than others. I was thinking a few days ago, that Bernie did a pretty good job.
She pursued a noble profession — teaching, and influenced a lot of people over the years. She met, and loved her soul mate for many, many years, raised three pretty great kids in Rusty, Mark and Peggy and had untold friends. She also got to spend a good number of years enjoying her grandchildren. Overall, I’d say she had a good, long life.

The last time we visited with Bernie, near the end, she seemed sad. See, that’s the thing — the truth is, there are no happy endings. Endings are the saddest part. So that leaves us with a happy middle and a very happy start. I think Bernie achieved that. 

We’re all going to be a little sadder around here, but there’s gonna be a big party in Heaven. Bernie and Eddie together again — just like old times. I’d even be willing to bet that Bernie will let Ed have some of the “good part” of her nut rolls this time….
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Kelly and Chris and Emily live in Leesburg — or at least they did until today. In honor of the Nationals World Series victory, Leesburg officially changed the name of the town to Natsburg — through Sunday.

I thought that was a great idea and because of lack of action here in Deerfield Village, I have officially declared the village’s name changed to Nats Village. This will be the official name through Sunday. To carry it a bit further, if you want to visit us or send us mail, our new address is:

The Williamsons
47 Nationals Court
Natstown, West Virginia

To make it easier for you, I kept the Zip Code the same.
So come on over if you want to visit in the village of champions….
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