HAL Sailer

@Quartzsite Cruiser , @ottahand7 (and any other Daily-ites, too): You both mentioned King Ranch Chicken yesterday. I've had it, enjoyed it, but never made it. Googling it turns up more recipes than I care to sort through. Do you have a favorite recipe? -Melisa

Congratulations on the sale of your Ohio house @dfish. Soon we'll be able to call you a Michigander! (Yes, this is a MSU household!) If anyone deserves this break, it's you @kazu! Both are still on my Bucket List. DH's mobility and memory challenges will not allow him to make that arduous of voyage. Maybe, someday, I can. -Melisa

Thanks @rafinmd for continuing DSIL on rotation list. She did have her scans yesterday and the wait for results has begun. My DH had proposed driving down this weekend for a very, very short mid-day visit as we thought we should see her after her scans and before any possible treatment starts as she'll likely need to stay very isolated then. But, even before the scans, DSIL told us she is not feeling well enough for even the shortest of visits and isn't sure when she will. My DH is taking it very hard as they are very close. And, not feeling well enough to see her brother seems very telling to me. For now, we wait and we pray… -Melisa

@dfish Remember what you said earlier today: "It is at times like this that I hear my brother's voice saying, "Turn it over," meaning to your higher power. The Serenity Prayer works for all of us in many situations." 💤Sleep well💤, -Melisa

Be gentle with yourself @kazu. Take the time you need. We Daily-ites will be here whenever you're ready to share. -Melisa

As Roy said, we should remember more than just the horror of that day. In that spirit, I offer what I have previously posted as a reminder of our shared spirit: On 9/11/2001, my DH and I were at IAH boarding a flight for GRR when the first plane hit. Then the second plane. Then the Pentagon. Followed by emergency sirens sounding and announcements telling everyone to evacuate the airport. (And, having grown up with a Strategic Air Command dad, with the Pentagon hit and as the sirens howled I realized that none of what was happening was any accident.) That started two hours sitting on our luggage with hundreds of others in IAH's parking lot, a four-day delay in Houston, and an almost two-day trip home via Amtrak. I will never forget the kindness of strangers: - Nacogdoches, TX where locals stopped our Amtrak chartered bus to give boxed chicken dinners to us mid-trip as we were being bussed from Houston to Longview to catch a northbound train, - Longview, TX where residents brought their patio chairs plus pizza & soda to their town's railroad station (where hundreds waited) as they knew their small train station couldn't seat us nor feed us, - Little Rock, AR where, at 3AM, people lined mile upon mile of the railroad tracks waving American flags and holding signs of encouragement as they'd heard our northbound train would divert eastbound at Chicago toward NYC, - St. Louis, MO where locals brought picnic baskets of sandwiches, fruit, cookies & sodas to the station after learning that trains passing through had extra cars added, were loaded with passengers, and the dining car couldn't feed everyone aboard, and - Chicago, IL -- our new destination with DH's son waiting for us -- but where residents offered free rides to hotels, to the bus station, to other places in the Windy City, and even beyond. We should never forget, but may we also always remember what we can do together… -Melisa

I, too, hope that history is being taught in our schools. But, as a former teacher, I also recognize that it is not the 'woke' who are passing state laws that limit a teacher's ability to teach. -Melisa

Your fortitude through this is amazing! -Melisa

I thought you might enjoy our family's Teddy Bear story: When our mother died at age 97 in 2011, my brother and I found a letter among her things written in 1930 by our father when they were first dating at ages 16 and 20. Dad's letter described the trip he was on taking his only sister and her two year old daughter, Patty, to meet his niece's extended paternal family. In the letter, dad mentioned that Patty's father's family had given her a Teddy Bear with glass eyes that she had immediately named Enid. He went on to tell how Patty wouldn't go anywhere without Enid. And, he also wrote of his concern that Patty would pull out and swallow Enid's straight-pinned glass eyes. Patty is the eldest cousin in our generation and I am the youngest with a twenty-five year age gap. Patty was 83 when we found dad's letter. My brother and I agreed our cousin should have it as the letter was more about Patty's life than ours. When we took it to her and read it in front of her grown children, Patty exclaimed "Enid. Oh, Enid. I never knew that." And one of her daughters added, "Mother still has Enid. We all played with Enid as kids. But Enid's eyes were always kept in the china cabinet because she was sure we'd pull them out and swallow them!" It turned out that Patty had Enid over all those years (and still does at age 94) but until that letter surfaced she had no idea how Enid had come into her life. My brother and I are so glad our father had written about Enid and that our mother had saved dad's letter for 81 years! Enid is now 92. And, she is certain to pass down among Patty's family with her glass eyes likely kept safely away from little fingers...and her heritage known. -Melisa

I was sent this chart showing the sequence of events for the mourning of Queen Elizabeth II. The picture used of HRH is certainly not the most flattering but the chart is a helpful reference. I'm amazed that King Charles III is required to travel to parts of the UK during this period of mourning. Perhaps that's part of his transition from 'son' to 'king'? @grapau27 , can you explain? -Melisa

Oh, me too! A sudoku paperback in every room, a phone app, and the first thing I turn to in our daily newspaper! -Melisa

BBC ONE has now suspended all regular scheduled programming to dedicate all reporting to the Queen. Also, THE SUN is reporting that BBC "...Presenter Huw Edwards is dressed in a dark suit, white shirt and black tie, in line with the BBC's dress code for when a member of the royal family dies as a mark of respect." 🙏-Melisa

Me, too. I was six-months when she was coronated in June 1953. With the reports that her family is all headed to her bedside in Scotland, her condition must be very concerning. 🙏Prayers for the Queen, her family, and the British Commonwealth.🙏 -Melisa

@Seasick Sailor Add my prayers for Allen to all the rest. May his medical team find answers and may the two of you be supported by love and care. -Melisa

I'm late to the Fleet/Daily and haven't caught up on today's posts. But, before today gets away from all of us, I will post our pictures from Mayotte. (And, then go back and catch up...) On November 15, 1996, DH and I tendered from the Orient Line's Marco Polo to Dzaoudzi, Mayotte. There we went as far as the gate post of the French Foreign Legion detachment. Two legionaires agreed to pose while a third took this (heads semi-cut off) picture. From Dzaoudzi, DH and I independently boarded the local ferry to Mamoudzou, Mayotte. The Salama Djema (technically a passenger/landing craft) was almost brand new having been built in 1995. But, looking back, I shudder to think about how overloaded and overcrowded it was as we pulled away. Two people who missed the ferry. Our roundtrip Dzaoudzi to Mamoudzou paid in French francs was less than $1USD. In Mamoudzou, we walked the extremely colorful market. I remember it as one of the most diverse marketplaces I've ever been in with many languages spoken. -Melisa

@Quartzsite Cruiser 💒Happy 55th Anniversary!💒

These are just some of vegetables we picked last week at Our Neighbors' Garden for Food Rescue who delivers our harvest to local food banks and meal sites. Yesterday, we picked another 230 lbs of produce. I love volunteering at Our Neighbors' Garden! Today, looking out on West Grand Traverse Bay, I can see Ponant's LeDumont D'Uerville currently on a 7-day Great Lakes Cruise from Toronto and stopping here on its way to Milwaukee. And, tonight, we will definitely be wearing the Green & White as DH's alma mater, Michigan State, opens its season against Western Michigan. Go Green! Go White! -Melisa

@luvteaching Add my wish to those of the other Daily-ites that your friend, Wayne, has a peaceful transition and that his wife, Karen, be surrounded by love, care, and prayer. -Melisa

That sounds like a wonderful way to celebrate your special day. 🎂Happy Birthday 🎂! Enjoy! -Melisa

@rafinmd Roy, Thanks for elevating my DSIL on the Care list. We have just learned that the full body PET scan and brain MRI tests to determine how far her melanoma has spread will both be done Sept 13. Since nothing more will be known or decided till mid-Sept, perhaps Ardis should move back to the rotation? The care and prayer are appreciated, -Melisa

Susan, we don't know. The medical facilities in her area well north of Detroit are mostly satellites of the major Detroit hospitals, but I have no sense of how they schedule. As of tonight, there are no test dates known. -Melisa

My DSIL (DH's sister) who is on the Daily prayer list rotation is just back from follow-up to last week's cancer surgery. The news from the surgical biopsies is not good, but she has agreed with her doctors to have the needed tests to determine what she is facing. A full body PET scan plus MRI of brain will be done to help determine how far the cancer has spread. So sad. -Melisa

A bit more on Baie-Comeau: I'm just back from morning services where looking at our church's beautiful stained glass jolted a memory. So, I took a second look at my 2010 pictures of Baie-Comeau to see what I had missed.These are of Sainte-Amélie Catholic Church. I had to look up its history. This is from tourismebaiecomeau.com (which has additional and better pictures). The Sainte-Amélie Catholic Church was built in the beginnings of the city between 1937 and 1939 by the architect Gaston Gagnier. Col. Robert R. McCormick, founder of Baie-Comeau, offered the community all the services it needed, including a Catholic place of worship. During its construction, his spouse Amy died. The community, moved by his loss, suggested that the church be named Amélie in her memory. To express his gratitude, Col. McCormick decided to donate a stained glass window “so large and beautiful that it will be worth leaving Montreal just to come and see it in Baie-Comeau.” In the 1940s, Montreal was extremely far from Baie-Comeau! The only way to get there was by small plane or boat. Since then, his goal has been more than achieved, because people come to visit not only from Montreal but also from all over the world to admire this artistic cathedral! The following picture, taken as the Maasdam docked, gives you a sense of Baie-Comeau. The church in the background is not Sainte-Amélie. -Melisa

On October 11, 2010 we were in Baie-Comeau as the Maasdam repositioned to Fort Lauderdale. It was Canadian Thanksgiving and the captain very accurately advised that the town's dockside greeting would not occur and we'd likely find little open in town. I remember going for a short walk. I hope someone has pictures as a quick look at mine found nothing noteworthy. -Melisa