Hello Dear Family members and Friends, thank you for checking in with us on our blog. Loren and I so appreciate you doing so and/or hearing from you by email or phone when you reach out to us!
We began this week still in the Ohio Amish country – mainly looking around Millersburg, Sugar Creek, and Walnut Creek, which this last one is identical in name to a SF Bay city…
Then, we were off to Canton to see William McKinley’s Presidential Memorial and museum. This was a most special place to me, as I am a distant relative of this President with similar ancestral ties to Scotland. I had not remembered that Theodore Roosevelt had been his VP. I am also related to two other presidents, but this was the first of the three tributes that we plan to see.
We visited the First Ladies National Historic Site here too, which is partially housed in President McKinley’s wife Ida – nee Saxton’s home.
In Canton, I noticed that we were driving on the Lincoln Highway again. We attended a UU Sunday service here, focused on the Summer Solstice, and, I was so touched to see an image that I have seen so many – hundreds? possibly thousands? of times at our home congregation. It piqued my interest to learn more about the artist and the meaning of the broader two images that I found in Canton.
Then, on our way to Cleveland we found another Peter “Wolf” Toth Whispering Giants Trail statue, this one was in Akron.
We enjoyed the Cleveland area for four nights, and attended Bikram Yoga classes at an appealing studio each day. I was able to teach another class – my 112th one since I attended training when we first left home.
Loren and I visited charming Chagrin Falls one evening and had a memorable dinner in the front window table at a small restaurant where the food is so excellent that reservations are recommended any night. We also had nice walks around the town beforehand and afterwards.
One evening we were surprised to discover a home town brew from our own city served here in Ohio. We had never seen it before, and we now can recommend it!
We spent one entire day – on the one day that includes being open in the evening hours – at the Cleveland Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. It was thoroughly entertaining. Highlights include seeing a video about making each of the Beatles’ albums, a 30 minute review of Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, and, a special U2 concert film shown in 3D in one of the theaters of the museum. It was also fun to visit the interactive booths where we could select tunes to listen to from our youth – there were so many bands whose music we remember – The Lovin’ Spoonful, Sly & The Family Stone, Jefferson Airplane, The Byrds, The Young Rascals, Buffalo Springfield, so many more. I enjoyed seeing clips of Diana Ross and The Mamas and The Papas, while Loren was impressed to learn more about Elvis, who was most popular before our time.
We spent the good part of a day then driving toward Lebanon, Pennsylvania to visit a dear friend and her daughter. Can you tell that it would have rained on us off and on? We were once again on the Lincoln Highway memorialized on the side of this big barn,
as we made our way to the remote farm field near Shanksville to pay our respects at the Flight 93 National Memorial, a moving tribute to one of the many heroic sacrifices made on 9/11/01.
It is wonderful now to visit with these dear friends again. I have known my friend since we were 13… I just realized now how – with both my parents gone, she is among the people who I have known for the longest period of time in my life, even longer than my brother! And at 22 years old, her daughter challenges me with her ideas about the world in ways that enrich my own thinking. Thank you two for your love and this special time!
Journey Toward Wholeness 