Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving 2013

Up at 5:30, coffee brews just fine - why wouldn't it? Power company employees ensure that for us. Newspaper already delivered, read by 6:30. Check out weather on TV. Facebook's up & running, thanks to behind-the-screen tech folks. Take a look at my saved shopping cart om Adorama - they've offered a discount for pulling the trigger on LightRoom, I take them up on it. Went for a workout at YouFit, listening to NPR while driving, passed a firestation - on duty as usual.

Then we drive to Honey Lake - plenty of fuel stops open along the way - deputies, FHP on the road. Honey Lake Plantation - dogs walk, we eat, dogs walk again. Lovely place, obvious sincere enthusiasm of service folks. And in a few minutes - FOOTBALL ON TV. All made possible, sometimes we forget, by those men and women of our forces around the world who keep our country safe for democracy and freedom.

To all of you Americans out there - armed forces, newswomen, paper delivery guys, electrical workers, TV station employees, NPR staff, IT workforce, folks running the gym, firefighters, emergency rescue, cops, deputies, patrolmen, truck stop employees, restaurant staff, football refs, stadium workers, cheerleaders, TV cameramen, weather channel gurus, and many many more:

THANK YOU for helping make this the greatest country on the planet. My hat is off. My heart is warm.

Sarah Rhodes Lacher

Sarah Rhodes Lacher of Athens, Georgia, died after a brief illness on July 6, 2013.                            

Mrs. Lacher was born on March 8, 1915, in Lake City, Florida, the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Jesse Ansley Griffin.  After Dr. Griffin’s death in 1921, she and her mother moved to Athens where she attended the Lucy Cobb Institute.  She attended the University of Hawaii for a year and the University of Georgia where she was the first piano student to graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music under the direction of Hugh Hodgson, her long time teacher and mentor.  After graduation, she attended the University of Freiburg in Germany for a year doing post-graduate work, and returned to the University of Georgia to complete her MFA in music.

Mrs. Lacher was preceded in death by her husband, Hermann Lacher from Hofgeismar, Germany, who was an International Exchange Student at the University of Georgia; her mother, Ellen Griffin Rhodes McWhorter; her father, Jesse Ansley Griffin; her adoptive father, Alexander Rhodes; and her step-father Robert Ligon McWhorter.  She is survived by her children, Christopher Lacher (Kathy) of Tallahassee, FL; Ellen Lacher Creagh (Gerard) of Athens, GA; Lisa Lacher Bryan (Stephen) of Walpole, NH and New York, NY; Michael Lacher of Washington, D.C.; grandchildren, Walter Lacher of Denver, CO; Adam Lacher of Denver, CO; Laurel Lacher Milczarek (Michael) of Tucson, AZ; Ellen Bryan of New York, NY; great-grandchildren Austin Lacher of Crawfordville, FL; and Daphne and Mikaela Milczarek of Tucson, AZ.

Mrs. Lacher was a member of Emmanuel Episcopal Church where she directed the Junior Choir for many years and was a founding member of the Emmanuel Episcopal Thrift Shop.  She was also a founding member of the Rabun Gap Nacoochee Guild, a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and the German Club of Athens.  She was well known for her sewing and smocking work and took great pleasure in creating special things for her friends.  She taught piano and was the pianist for the Lucy Lampkin School of Ballet. She worked constantly “behind the scenes” to encourage and promote musical talent and awareness in the community.  A great animal lover, she adopted and raised many pets over the years.  In addition to her personal friends and colleagues, Mrs. Lacher is remembered fondly as a gracious and entertaining hostess by friends of her children, as on many occasions she opened her heart and home to them.  She and her husband enjoyed sponsoring University of Georgia International Exchange Students and entertaining the Navy Supply Corp School International Officers, doing many things to make their experience in this country a memorable one.

A memorial service will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals,  424 E. 92nd St., New York, NY 10128-6804.

On line condolences may be made at www.bernsteinfuneralhome.com

Crossings

Rush hour at the intersection of Capital Circle and Centerville Road in Tallahassee, I'm sitting in G2 in the leftmost Northbound lane of Capital Circle. A family of five - Mom, Dad, 3 little ones - is waiting at the NE corner watching the traffic and waiting for a lull. They look both ways and enter the crosswalk toward the SE corner (crossing Centerville): Parent, children, another parent bringing up the rear. They get to the safety islet, stop and look again, then proceed to cross the right-turn lane from Cap Circle to Centerville eastbound, again staying exactly in the crosswalk. They get across safely, walking steadily and cautiously, watching for danger, finally get to  green grass and head away. Perfectly disciplined, parents and children.

They are Canadian Geese.

Then a little closer to home, a Cooter (turtle) is waiting at the crosswalk heading west across Thomasville Road at Metropolitan. What is she thinking? Even waiting for the "walk" signal, there's not 1 chance in 10 she'll get across all six lanes at this time of day. I think she crossed Thomasville the other way from the bog to lay eggs, early early in the AM, and was headed back home.

I park the truck on the concrete median in Metropolitan, get the turtle (about 7 x 10 inches all pulled in), put her in the back of the truck, and just now released her near Lake Jackson. (Turtles don't mate for life, do they?)

Mo2W Y1 Report

 

Feb 1 2013 
Meals on 2 Wheels has First Birthday



By the Numbers


1: number of years Meals on 2 Wheels has been alive
2: number of wheels on a bicycle
617: number of meals delivered by bicycle
768: miles NOT used by automobiles to deliver meals on wheels (est)
51: gallons of fuel saved (@15 mpg)

This may not seem like much. But add to these numbers the intangibles of good exercise and feelings of accomplishment for the riders, plus good will and appreciation in the client community, and you have a really wonderful experience all around, with no negatives that any of us can think of.

There really isn't much to add now. We have written about how satisfying it is to ride with a purpose above necessity or recreation. And we have proved to be a sustainable asset to the community.

Many thanks to the Meals on 2 Wheels Riders:

Alvin Farrar
Karen Loewen
Marv Rubenstein
Roger Holdener
Mike Redig
Dave Stotts

Keep on Truckin'.

Chris Lacher