Flight 93

Like most people, I have a clear memory of September 11, 2001.  It was so frightening to know our country was under attack.  So many heroes that day - from the firefighters and policemen in New York to the passengers on Flight 93.

When I discovered that the Flight 93 memorial was not very far from Mary's house, I knew that we had to go visit that sacred ground.

"A common field one day.  A field of honor forever."

Here's the quick recap of that September morning.

"September 11, 2001, morning: Four commercial airliners are hijacked by al Qaeda terrorists in a planned attack against the United States.  Two are flown into the World Trade Center's twin towers in New York City.  A third is flown into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia.  A fourth plane, United Flight 93, a Boeing 757 bound for San Francisco, California from Newark, New Jersey, is delayed 25 minutes before takeoff.  

After 46 minutes when over eastern Ohio, hijackers in first class attack at 9:28 am, incapacitating the captain and first officer.  Hijackers turn Flight 93 southeast, headed for Washington DC, most likely to attack the US Capitol.

Just before 10 am. the plane is seen flying low and erratically over southwestern Pennsylvania.  At 10:03 it crashes, upside-down at 563 miles per hour into this Somerset County field.  There were no survivors.  All 33 passengers, seven crew members and four hijackers are killed."

There are no photos permitted in the visitor's center.  The artifacts, multi-media and interactive exhibits recount the story.  It was chilling to listen to the news reports coming in from that morning.  First curiosity that a plane had somehow crashed into the World Trade Center then as a 2nd plane hits, the realization that this was a coordinated attack.

In one of the interactive exhibit we could listen to the voice mail messages left by passengers for their families.  The first passenger sounded nervous as she talked to her family.  In the last and final message, the terror and resolution in the voice is clear.  The passengers knew about the other planes and were united in their resolve to prevent another attack.  Many of them had guessed that Washington DC was the intended target of their plane.

A struggle in the cockpit between passengers and hijackers led to the crash and prevented more destruction. 

They were heroes who gave their lives to save others.

I love that this woman's unborn baby was also acknowledged. 

Wall of heroes

Each passengers' name is etched here

The crash site is directly in front of George and Jackson.

It is the final resting place of each of these heroes.

Here is a quick recap of the flight.

Besides the Visitor's Center and the Memorial Plaza, there is also a "Tower of Voices", which is a 93 feet tall musical instrument holding 40 wind chimes, representing the 40 passengers and crew members.

It's a living memorial in sound to remember the 40 passengers.

Unfortunately the wind wasn't blowing the day we were there but you could listen to a recording.

I am glad we made the effort to be here and remember.

Crystal Grotto

Mark and Mary know all the most interesting places to visit.  As I have said many times, if your daughter lives on the other side of the country, then it is wonderful that she lives in a area with an unending list of things to see and do.

Crystal Grotto near Bonesboro, Maryland is billed as the 'most naturally kept cave in the world.' First opened in 1922, it has more natural phenomenon per square foot than any cave known to man.  

The crystals formed by calcium carbonate are six sided.  At the rate of one cubic inch every 100-150 years, trillions of these crystals add up to create a whole range of delicate formations. 

Those are some seriously old stalactites. 

Funny how being in a cave caused me to remember learning about caves in elementary school.  You can remember stalactites because they 'hang tight' from the top of the cave and stalagmites grow from the floor and you 'might' trip on them.

Jackson really enjoyed using the 'gem mill' to sift sand and look for gems.

The gems he found were all treasures!

We loved spending the day exploring with this cute family! 

Washington DC

After Arkansas, George and I flew to Washington DC and spent a wonderful 10 days with Mary, Mark and Jackson in Harper's Ferry.  

On our first full day there, we drove into the city where we hoped to see the cherry blossoms in all of their glory around the tidal basin.  An unseasonable warm spring meant an very early peak bloom time but we did manage to see a few.

Even without the abundance of blossoms I saw last year, it was still fun to walk around the monuments.

A special favorite is the FDR memorial.

I love that they included his faithful dog, 

Mary in the soup line.

Jackson and the radio.  

My mother told me about listening to radio programs when she was a girl.  The whole family sat and listened together and when her grandfather, S E Webster, was tired of listening, he turned it off.  Didn't matter who else was still interested in the program.  

Jackson loves waterfalls.

A quick visit with Thomas Jefferson.

Jackson loved watching the fishermen.

A girl and her Dad!

First time visiting the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

Very impressive!

A highlight of the day was our visit to Ben's Chili Bowl, which has been operating on U street since 1958.

Jackson was a little tired.

Mary enjoyed her meal.

I sat in President Obama's favorite seat.  It seems that he was a regular.

The chili was great but my favorite was the banana pudding.

At $10.99 it had better be good and it is.

As good as my grandma used to make!

I did make two 'meals' out of it.

Jackson's favorite thing was the bear out front.  

Because of limited parking, we walked more than a mile to get there. I loved the neighborhood around U street.  There are lots of townhouses with little postage stamp sized yards.  Another area of DC that would be a fun place to live!

Eclipse in Frederick, Maryland

Mary and Mark didn't get the show of a total eclipse but I really do love this photo that Mark took of what they did see.  It was cloudy there but the clouds do make for an interesting photo.

Mary reported that they did let out preschool early so  the kids could watch it. Most of the moms and kids stayed at the nearby park to experience it but the 5 year olds were much more interested in playing that watching an eclipse.

Seems about right!

Johnny says that in Boise, you couldn't really tell that anything happened.

So glad we were able to go to Arkansas to get the full experience.

The Great American Eclipse

Spending time with family and friends was icing on the cake but the real purpose of our visit to Arkansas in April was so that we could be in an area of totality for the April 8th eclipse.  The next one visible in the USA will be in 2044 and since we will be 90 and 92 then, we decided this year was the right time.  Neither of us were in the area of totality in 2017 and even though it was amazing to be in a 90% eclipse, everyone told us that being in the totality was a different experience.  In fact someone named Annie Dillard said, "Seeing a partial eclipse bears the same relation to seeing a total eclipse as kissing a man does to marrying him.

Lucky for us, Lonoke was just barely outside the area of totality so getting to a place where it would be total was easy.

George and I studied the maps and decided that we would drive north towards Heber Springs and look for a safe place, away from the main road.  

And we found it! Dekalb Road near Tumbling Shoals, Arkansas. 

We drove down a little country road and pulled off at a wide entrance to someone's farm.  We didn't block the gate or the road so we figured that we were in a good spot.

There wasn't a cloud in the sky. In fact it was hot!  Now it was just get comfy and wait for the celestial show.

I noticed a man drive slowly by us and then come back and stop.  I thought for sure that he was going to tell us that we had to move but no, just the opposite.  He invited us to come down to his house where he was going to throw a few hot dogs on the grill.  I love Arkansas people and really wish we had taken him up on the kind offer.

We had plenty of time to relax and practice using the filters on our phones.

This is how the sun looked at first.

Then the magic started happening.  Slowly, slowly the moon made its journey.

Gradually blocking out more and more of the light.

Instead of midday light, it seemed like early evening.

The actual time was 1:53 p.m.

And finally totality!

The 'Ring of Fire'

The temperature dropped dramatically.

Automatic outside lights at a nearby house went on

In 2017, in Utah the birds quit singing, but not here in north Arkansas.

However, the nearby cows quit mooing.

The 'star' to the lower right of the moon/sun is actually the planet Venus.

It was a moment I won't ever forget. 

One friend told me that his chickens went into their coop.

Another reported that her horses left the pasture and went into the barn and got in their stalls.

Where we were, the 'totality' lasted over 4 minutes.

And you could take off the protective glasses for this part.

Finally the 'show' was over and the moon moved on.

We had a front row seat to the "Great American Eclipse of 2024!

I read this on-line about why people are so enchanted by a total eclipse 

"A eclipse is a chance to be reminded of our place in the solar system and the cosmos - something that, no matter how stark our differences, we still share."

For me it was also a moment to be in awe of a Heavenly Father who worked it all out just right.

Lyrics to a favorite song came to my mind.

It passeth all my understanding

How it all worked out just right

The distance that we live from the sun

The stars that shine at night.

We may prove that it was just an accident

But how did it begin?

It passeth all my understanding.

Family = Home

 I so enjoyed our days in Lonoke getting to visit with people I love; people who have been a part of my life for so many years.

First day we were there we met a group of my Lonoke Class of 1971 friends at the Grumpy Rabbit.

How I love these dear friends who I have known literally all my life!

Danny Chivers, Me, Barbara and Jim Fitzhugh, Barbara Jones Chivers, Ross Moore, Karen Lewis Mashing, Pam Cordell Landis, Amos Pack, Mike Pack, Shelia Childress Johnson, Elaine McElyea Anderson, Carolyn O'Bannon, Kirt Fort, Ronnie and Sherry Wallace, George

I don't think I've ever had a personalized menu before.

Also met some new 'cousins' that have joined the family in the last few years.

Mary, wearing the red dress, who is the wife of my 1st cousin twice removed, Logan Dewitt and Logan's sister Ashlynn .  

Darling girls!

George and I drove 2 hours down to Monticello, Arkansas to visit my 1st cousin once removed, Amanda McGraw's family.  

1st cousin twice removed, Tabor's wife Hannah had become my Facebook friend and I really wanted to meet her and see their cute little baby Tatum John.

Well worth the drive through the delta!

My cousin Amanda, her husband John David, son Tabor, wife Hannah holding TJ, and daughter Kelsey.

I loved meeting these new cousins....however many times they are removed! If you are keeping count, Tabor John is my 1st cousin  3 times removed.

Poignant meeting with the husband of my cousin Joy, who passed away two years ago, as Charlie has stage 4 pancreatic cancer and isn't doing well at all.  I remember Charlie when I was just a little girl since he and Joy dated for many years.  The thought of loosing him is painful.

With his two daughters Amanda and Leigh Ann and Leigh's husband Mark.

On a happier note - my youngest 1st cousin Robin Moore Lewis has two new grand-babies that are just darling.  She retired from teaching after a long, illustrious career and is a full time care taking grandma.  Lucky her!  And lucky babies!

I am sorry I haven't gotten to meet her son and daughter in-law but maybe next time. And I'd love to see her daughter Scarlett....

Robin holding Graham and her son, Mitch holding his son,Caden.

George and I also had a great dinner with my Depriest cousins but I forgot to take a photo of the whole group.  Janie's son, Tommy, and daughter in law, Anne, have restored one of my favorite Lonoke houses.  My Grandma Boyle lived next door and I always thought it was just a beautiful house.  They have made it a show piece with beautiful woodwork and lovely arches! I totally love it!

Ronnie and Janie Depriest Raper, Tommy and Ann Swint

I am truly blessed with the best cousins!