The title of this blog post is kind of a joke, just as it was the first time our local newspaper printed something from me.  A few months ago, they printed a picture I took of some baby doves in our tree in the front of the house, and today I am happy to see they printed my letter in the public forum!  Here is a copy:

Siren Rules Need Clarification
I appreciated your article about the weather sirens
called “Siren Rules Given” that was printed on Tuesday
June 22, but it seems that further clarification is necessary
to ensure the safety of the community. Because the
rules were changed regarding when to activate the sirens
— they are now being activated for severe storms, not
just tornado warnings — what type of warning system
does our town have in the event of an actual tornado?
When did the guidelines change and why were they
changed?
The seemingly constant activation of the sirens lately
(at least 6 times in the past month; with 3 sirens in ONE
day on June 23!) is very scary for my 4 children. Other
local parents are having the same concerns. Today there
was a mild rumble of thunder at my daughter’s T-Ball
game, and at least one little boy began to cry. We can reassure
our children, but it’s concerning that in an actual
tornado emergency that many people might not take it
seriously since the now so-called ‘weather sirens’ are being
activated weekly if not more often — it’s a ‘boy who
cried wolf’ scenario that could lead to a tragic disaster.
I would like to see our city go back to the old guidelines
on the weather sirens — call them tornado sirens
once again and only use them when the threat of tornadic
activity is severe enough that us citizens should be
taking shelter in our basements.

I wrote this letter the other night and sent it in before I learned of what happened to a town in our county.  Edgerton was hit by a microburst and sustained devastating damage to  many trees and a few buildings.  Thankfully, there is only one report of an injury that was not life-threatening.  I hope that people aren’t confused by my letter; clearly the people in Edgerton should have been in their basements on Wednesday night.  Their tornado sirens were warranted (as were ours probably since Edgerton is only about 10 miles away) on Wednesday night, and thankfully the injuries were kept to a minimum thanks to the smart people who took cover.  But we did not go into the basement on Wednesday night.  As I said in the letter, the sirens had gone off 3 times on Wednesday, and the kids panicked each time.  And since the sirens had been going off all month and it had been published in the newspaper that the siren was now for severe thunderstorm warnings, we decided that going down  to the basement added to the drama and aided in keeping the kids alarmed and up late.  After Wednesday’s storm moved through, our town was spared any major damage, but this storm did cause tornadoes to the east in Indiana as well as that dangerous microburst in Edgerton.  Looking back, we probably should have gone to the basement, but we have been desensitized to the seriousness of the siren, and it didn’t seem like a big deal.  Part of the purpose of writing this letter was to vent my frustrations, and I also wrote it partly because I want some answers to the questions I raised.  I was hoping that maybe someone from our local branch of the National Weather Service will reply or perhaps we’ll hear from the fire chief, who was quoted giving the new siren rules in the original newspaper article to which I referred.  If there is any follow-up, I will keep you posted, and in the meantime, we will have to continue to calm the kids any time that now weekly ‘severe weather siren’ gets activated.

On my last phone I could set ringtones for each caller if I wished. I could also download ringtones (usually for some nominal cost, but I never did that). On the new phone I can make my own ringtones. I can record something and set that to be a ringtone. Bits and pieces of MP3 files can become ringtones. The only limitation I can see is my very fertile imagination and the time I would need to spend on each ringtone.

I thought of recording each daughter saying “Hey Dad it’s me.”, but then I remembered that over the phone they all have similar vocal characteristics. I could record myself telling me which daughter is calling, but then anyone within earshot would know which daughter is calling me. Interesting concept, but not enough imagination yet.

I guess I could do my Stitch or Bullwinkle impersonations and make a slightly different message for each daughter. Maybe, maybe???

I could find bits of their favorite songs and set those as ringtones. One daughter is very, very easy to pick — Anything Star Wars or Frogs. I don’t think I’ve heard any phone that rings with a Bullfrog croak. Dogs barking for the young Vet Tech student?
Something that sounds tropical for the daughter in Florida? Or maybe the sound of a zoo, since I hear she has the start of one. And the oldest, hmm?? I will need to think on that one.

I currently have some picked out, so I can recognize some of my callers, but what about friends? Should each friend have their own ringtone? Should I group some friends together? Group my work contacts together? Have some annoying default tone for anyone not on my contact list? The choices seem to be endless, but I will get tired of this soon.

Do you want to have you’re own ringtone. What would it be?

On to another great post!  Thursday afternoon was my first voice lesson in about two and a half years.  I am pleased to say I am very ecstatic about the next coming months!  We began with a review (for me) about breathing, support, the diaphragm, the mask, and other technical terms that we quickly glossed over.  Then, we determined that I have an octave and a half range with the same above that in falsetto which totally surprised the both of us.  Then, it was time to get down to business… FUN TIMES!

I decided that “Younger Than Springtime” would be good to warm up on.  It would have been if the copy I had was complete.  We got to the last page an discovered that there is something missing.  So I dig and find the book with the song… only to discover that it was in a lower key!  But manageable… only slightly lower.  But I prefer the higher range.  I like to shoot for my POWer notes, but those would come later.

Next, I dug out “This is the Moment.”  Kathrine is unfamiliar with Jekyll and Hyde?!  Blasphemy!  Just don’t listen to the Hoff’s version.  Then, we went to “If I Can’t Love Her” from the stage version of Beauty and the Beast.  The big ballad which closes Act I.  The only suggestion she had for both pieces is to find the soft moments in both pieces.  They are both powerful songs but powerful is not always meant for volume..   Build up to the big moment!  Then you will have them eating out of your hand.  Sounds like homework.  But she said that with a slight polishing they are already prime for performance.  I wanted to do the Beast’s number previously; however, the gig I wanted to sing it for was limited to musicals of the past decade.  So, I sang “Under the Sea.”

It is a good thing I was introduced to Miss Saigon earlier in the week via youtube.  My new coach had me read (sight reading… YUCK!) two duets from the show with her.  Not the character driven pieces I had hoped for but those will come in time.  It has been advised that I check out both the Engineer and Thuy (although Vietnamese I am not but…).  Kathrine mentioned that we should sign up for one of the weekend gigs starting up again in the fall.  I am totally against that idea 😉  HAHAHAHA!  Just need to get some more cool character pieces in with the big dramatic ones.  Several I can think of easily…. maybe go dig an old fossil of 18 years ago.  Go in there and blow everyone’s minds.  Of course, provided that anyone would actually come and see me?!  I’m sure I could get at least 3 people there… and that is a crowd.

Who knows what the next few months will bring?  I just know that the next musical on a nearby stage is not my cup of tea.

I better stop with those two songs.  When I do perform, I don’t want to spoil it all for those three in the audience 😉  Two big, powerful ballads now for a few duets and at least three character pieces.

As I was pulling out my checkbook, my new coach sneered at the picture of the Script Ohio on my first check.  “Since it is money, I guess I can accept it.”  Oh, we’re going to get along REALLY well. At least she is not a BoSox fan… I hope.

I did get to sit in the audience of the City Band Wednesday night.  I wasn’t sure if it was going to be at the bandstand or at its alternate venue.  Before finding that out, I decided to locate the place of my Thursday afternoon voice lesson which was easier to locate than the directions given by my new coach.  I googled the address and it was a breeze to find.  Especially with the number written on the mailbox.  The house was buried by a wooded area but really easy to find.  All I had to do was turn off of U.S. 6 onto County Road 13 and it was .3 miles away.  Then, with plenty of time to spare, I went to Wal Mart and ran into some old friends and saw the truck belonging to another but was not able to find him.  I must have been on the wrong end of Electronics (or he could have been hiding). 😉

After discovering that the concert would be at the ice rink with five minutes to spare, I decided that given the choice, I would have rather directed Stars and Stripes this week as opposed to last (not complaining, just sayin’).  I just think this week’s concert had better music. Many songs I was already familiar with… “12th Street Rag” I had sung in choir and played sometime.  Of course, a different arrangement than I am accustomed to, but I would have enjoyed sitting in the low brass section playing “Selections from Phantom of the Opera” and the title tune from the animated classic turned hit Broadway show “Beauty and the Beast.”

Speaking of Phantom, my brother turned to me and stated that the high school at which he serves as the tech advisor will be performing the musical next year.  I did not believe him until I looked on line and discovered that the rights have just indeed become available from R&H productions for high school and amateur productions.  There had been “test” runs a few years ago overseen by Lord Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group company.  But how did the small school get the rights so quickly?  Hicksville had better “Got Talent” to pull this off.  I imagine that the rights are probably for a tailored production of the musical.

I asked Liz if they were going to come next week for the announced ice cream social “before and during the concert.”  I don’t think she realized where she will be next Wednesday because she didn’t know if they would be or not.  Probably not since they will be at Disney World.  Maybe they could borrow Aladdin’s magic carpet, Carpet. I’d rather be there when it is not so hot!

A fun concert moved to a different venue to be “safe rather than sorry.”

It seems we have been inundated with storms, storms, and more storms for the beginning weeks of the summer.  Our little area has been relatively lucky… UNTIL Wednesday night.  I was fortunate enough to get off work in time to go the the City Band concert (more in that later).  I got home around 9:15.  I went out to the beauty shop to finish cleaning.  At 9:30, here go the sirens (AGAIN).  Looking out the window, there wasn’t a lot to see at the moment so we decided to step outside and see what we could see.  In the west, we could see the sky lit up up lightning.  However, as our neighbor pointed out, it was eerily silent: no birds, no mosquitos (I noticed that myself).  A half hour later, I felt a rather large raindrop and decided that was enough for me.  Thirty seconds later, the power went out.  So… my brother, his wife, and two kids, my sister and her two little ones, my mother and I all headed to the basement.  Someone failed to get batteries for the flashlights or the radio so Dad was upstairs lighting candles.  The rest of us lit our way into the chamber of secrets armed with cell phone illumination.

Around 11, we headed back upstairs.  The corded phone in the kitchen rang.  A neighbor was just informed that the town hall had been hit.  Dad and a neighbor went up to check it out.  The night was so dark that they could not see any sign of damage.  Our side of town was completely black.

By this time, the excitement was over.  Everyone decided to stay the night and hope that there was no damage in the morning.  It gets hotter than…. upstairs with a fan/air conditioning so I slept on the couch.  About midnight, a car pulls up and someone comes in.  Still not being able to see,  I shouted “Who goes there?”  “It’s me!”  Well… that helps a lot!  It was our oldest sibling who had been out driving, surveying the damage.  And HE had power at his house.  Go figure.

The next morning, I walked around a bit before going to work.  Limbs, branches, trees toppled.  The east wall of the Flea Market wiped out.  VERY noticeable now… the gaping hole in the 120+ year old former town hall.  It really looked like a missile went through it!  Also gone was poor “Clem” the one casualty of the war.  He had been standing guard in front of the building for years whether he was in the courtyard or in the middle of State Route 49.  I am too young to remember his transfer from the road,  One of our fine firemen was injured while he was outside rolling up car windows… nothing life threatening but a broken femur.

At work all day, we joked out the condition of the town hall debate.  For the last few years, the historical society had been wanting to purchase the condemned building, restore the second floor opera house from yesteryear, and create a museum dedicated to the town.  A worthy ambition to be sure. But where was the money for this undertaking to come from?  Well, I guess that debate was settled Wednesday night.

Like many storms, it is just amazing the spottiness of the devastation.  Indiana Street was definitely the hardest hit.  Two blocks north along North Michigan Avenue, I found a small branch lying on the ground.  Family safe… could have been so much worse.

The strange thing the weather “experts” have yet to assess the situation fully and state unequivocally what caused the damage.

Had a bit of nasty weather last night. I really didn’t think much of it at first. Being out in the middle of nowhere, I only hear the storm sirens when I’m outside. When there is thunder and lightning, I’m not outside. But my new phone likes to chirp when there are storm warnings, so I knew about what was happening.

The lightning flashed, the thunder rumbled, the wind was ripping through the trees. The phone chirped. It was an actual tornado warning. I did actually go downstairs to sit out the storm. It was ominous when the wind actually died during the heart of the storm. Seemed surreal. Then the lightning flashed, the thunder rumbled on again. Our lights flickered. The winds died down. All was well in my little corner of the world.

This morning I heard of some storm damage in the area. I haven’t been by any serious damage, but I did have to detour around some downed tree limbs this morning. I always hope people will pass through the storms safely. I haven’t heard any bad news yet. I hope all is ok.

Until the next storm, and in the next storm, stay safe.

This is a strange thing that happened to me; just thought I’d write a little note about it.

I was in my laundry room, folding laundry and humming the song “You Light Up My Life”, which is not a usual song on my playlist –  I probably haven’t heard it in a few years.  So I’m folding laundry, and the final Jeopardy question comes on the tv:

CATEGORY:  Billboard Hot 100
CLUE:  Besides Frank and Nancy Sinatra, they’re the only other father and daughter who each had #1 solo hits.

Got your answer?  Mine was Nat King Cole and his daughter Natalie.  Although wrong, my guess must have been a reasonable one as two of the contestants also incorrectly guessed the Cole’s as their response.  The correct answer, however, was Pat Boone and his daughter Debby –  whose only #1 hit was ironically enough, “You Light Up My Life” – the same song I had inexplicably had in my head just minutes earlier!!

PS – I’ve never really heard of Debby Boone, and I certainly didn’t know who sang “You Light Up My Life”.  For all I knew, it was Lee Ann Rimes, whose version of the song is quite enjoyable.

What is it with me and high tech toys recently? I bought myself a book reader (read the many nook posts.) 😉 and now I have a new ‘smart’ phone.

All I really ever wanted in a phone was the ability to make phone calls. You know, dial the number, the phone rings and someone on the other end picks it up. Then you have a conversation until it is finished. You hang up and that is the end of it until the next call.

My first journey into the cell phone age occurred just a few short years ago. I thought I would get a cell phone for the two oldest daughters at home just in case they needed to get in contact with me. Little did I know that the the oldest of the two already bought a cell phone. So the extra went to the youngest. I thought that at 13 she was a little young to have a phone, but I did not want it to go to waste. I had that 2 year contract and all.

Just a little over 2 years later, my original cell phone would no longer hold a charge. So I went back to get another. I found out that there were no cell phone ‘deals’ on any phones that just made calls. They all had things like cameras, the ability to play music or even download news. Hmm. All I wanted to do was make phone calls. I got an inexpensive phone that did come with a camera, but I don’t think I ever took more than 5 to 10 pictures with it. I did use the phone part.

That brings us to late last week. Again just a little over 2 years have gone by since the last cell phone adventure. Everybody is now carrying around a ‘smart’ phone. These things can take good pictures. You can access your email. You can access the internet. You can even access your blog or other social outlet. There are even games to play on the phone. You might say you are carrying around a little computer that just happens to make phone calls.

Because of some updates to things at work, I was looking at these new smart phones. One of them would allow me to stay connected if I ever had the need. Since I could see a benefit to this, I was casually looking at new smart phones. The cost was a bit much, but I could see myself getting one at some point in the future. No big deal, my phone was working well, and I liked it.

Then came the fateful day that my cell phone died. It would no longer dial numbers. It would no longer turn on or off. It was almost less than a phone. I could still receive calls, and because of the lucky fact that I had the blue tooth turned on, I could make calls using voice commands. But I could see that it was not going to be a good way to go. The voice commands were (and still are) a bit inconvenient at times. Some of my contact names are very similar to others on the list. The voice calling would sometimes miss the actual person I wanted to call. So I took the phone in to see if they could revive it.

To make an already long story shorter, the phone was dead (and it would cost more than a new phone to fix it). I am now the proud or not so proud owner of a new ‘Droid’ phone. It plays games. It accesses my email. It post to my blog (if I had teeny-tiny fingers). It can take pictures. It can load videos. It help me when I’m lost. It can play music. It will even store books. And it even makes phone calls!

I’m not exactly sure about all of the features, but I may get used to them.

Apparently not much happened. I checked on various places that google found and the only reference for that date was that tennis star Arthur Ashe had bypass surgery. I found that Summer Solstice occurred at around 7:00pm Eastern Daylight Savings time. But then I knew that. I’ve known that time for most of these 27 years.

At almost exactly Summer Solstice in the year 1983, I proposed to my future wife. Later on she wondered why I picked that day. It was VERY early in our relationship, and it could have been assumed that this could cause problems. I stated as an absolute fact that the stars were aligned properly. My lovely wife knew, even at that point in our relationship, that I did not mean astrology. I was never a believer in horoscopes of any kind. She looked up what I meant, and found the time of the Solstice.

The timing was a complete coincidence, but it did help me remember that date. It was one anniversary that I could surprise her with. I always remembered to get her a little something special on the first day of Summer.

I remember that day even now. There are many important days that I tend to forget, but this will never be one of them. 27 years and counting. I remember that first day of Summer in 1983…

While everyone else dispersed to the various ballgames for the evening (a niece and a nephew actually played against each other on the t-ball field while another was in a neighboring community), I took my 5 year old niece to Story Hour at the library.  I had taken Syd to the first gathering a few weeks ago and learned that someone needed to stay for the entire hour (of course, this was after I left and came back after the hour).  Tonight, I stayed for the entire hour.

It was a cute hour… thankfully, I knew a few of the parents (one being a church organist I know). This week being dolphin and shark week, we heard true life stories about each of the creatures.  Then the kids sang “If You’re Happy and Ya Know It.”  Then, arts and crafts in which the little ones made tear out sharks.  They took a piece of construction paper and tore their sharks and glued them to another sheet of paper.  No snack… Sydney was slightly miffed about that.

I remember Saturday morning Story Hour at the old library.  I attended (until I was in the third grade) and later was the leader.  The one thing I remember aside from the stories, Farmer in the Dell, London Bridge, and musical chairs was my darling, Susie.  She was the library’s resident mascot.  A rather green, birdlike marionette. Who knows where she is now?  To the great aviary in the sky, one might surmise 😉

But, it was kind of fun to see the little ones hearing the stories (even adding their own commentaries at times) and being creative