March and April, 2002
Muse editors: Bob and Nancy Murdock, Baltimore, MD.
Email: murmuse@erols.com.
CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE:
*ALL KINDS OF GOOD NEWS (Sally Bacon)
*IN MEMORIAM (Nancy A. Murdock)
*PATRIOTS WIN SUPER BOWL GAME (Bob Murdock)
*FEBRUARY IN LOVE (Derek Revilock-Frost)
*A VALENTINE OF LOVE (Gene Murdock)
*BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION (Natalie Murdock)
*JANUARY 24 UPDATE (Christie Murdock)
*UPDATE FROM LA MIRADA (Ian Murdock)
*REPORT FROM HUDSON, MA (Doug Howlett the Elder)
*OLYMPICS ON OUR OWN (Nancy A. Murdock)
*AROUND THE NET (Bob Murdock)
*WHAT'S NEW IN LYNXLAND (Darrel Murdock)
*ANOTHER DECADE BIRTHDAY (Nancy A. Murdock)
*ROBINS AND BLUEBIRDS (Dotty Salminen)
*A VISIT WITH AUNT LOIS (Claudia Lindsey)
*MY FATHER IN WWI (Nancy A. Murdock)
|
ALL KINDS OF GOOD NEWS
Sally Bacon
Eric has started house-hunting! He is now the Director of Recreation for
the Town of Chili, NY, (near Rochester) and is ready to put down roots. We
expect there may be a wedding in his near future also!
Rebecca and Keith are expecting our second grandchild sometime this fall!
Samantha is now almost 20 months old and is a little darling! She is starting to talk and wants to know what everything
is -- so inquisitive! Rebecca works two days a week as a physical therapist,
but in her spare time she has been making a quilt! It is beautiful; it is
almost done.
Ernie has been approved for a ½ year sabbatical for next school year. He
will teach a half day and work on curriculum development for the elementary
science department in his district the other half. It is probably a good
transition to retirement.
I stay busy with my job, my computer and reading. Seeing Rebecca's quilt
makes me want to make another one!
IN MEMORIAM
Lynda Ann Brugge
April 3, 1952 to February 1, 2002
Nancy A. Murdock
Muse reader Lynda Brugge was a good friend and an enthusiastic organizer of good times. She was extremely intelligent and a formidable challenge at a game of Trivial Pursuit, with her steel-trap memory. She could put together a whole segment of a jigsaw puzzle while I was still getting the rest out of the box.
At the celebration of her life, her Maryland friends and colleagues told of many ways in which she had made life more pleasant and more interesting for us. She remembered everything each of us had an interest in and let us know when something related to our pet topics was upcoming. She was a great phone buddy, keeping up regularly with many friends and her extended family, most of whom live in CA.
I met Lynda in 1974 when we were both claims representative trainees for Social Security in Huntington Park, CA. She was more valuable than I, because she was bilingual. In an office with a clientele heavily weighted toward Spanish-speaking, she could interview without tying up a translator. Even though we worked mandatory overtime of 2 hours a day and a minimum of 5 on Saturday, she managed to get us out to do fun stuff. She took Bob and me to a coffee house featuring folk music. She and I went several times to Hermosa Beach where we could browse in a great bookstore, sample foods at a large natural foods store, and buy a little fabric at Rainbow Resources quilt shop. And just as was true later in Baltimore, she was familiar with every restaurant worth a try.
She went on to various other offices, and eventually we lost touch when both of us moved. But then we connected again when I came to Central Office for a one year special assignment. That was 15 years ago, and we have enjoyed many things together in those years. She came to our house for Christmas and celebrated her birthday with us on Easter. She took us out each year for our birthdays. She even took Bob to an Indian restaurant the Thanksgiving I was in Japan!
We shared a love of craft shows and quilt shows. Lynda bought even more quilt fabric than I did, but she was really what she termed a "virtual quilter." She made a few quilt blocks for special gifts made by Sew & Tell, the group she organized over 10 years ago as a lunch meeting of crafting friends. But she never finished a quilt herself. It was enough to collect fabric, organize fabric buying trips with friends, and encourage us all to keep quilting. It was because she kept telling me I needed to be in a quilt guild that I finally connected with Faithful Circle Quilters. By the year 2000, I was the president, and six of us Sew & Tell participants were also FCQ members, including Lynda.
I almost gave up my dream of a big celebration for our 50th anniversary, but Lynda calmly led me through an exercise that helped us decide what was important to us and what we could logically accomplish. For my 65th birthday, which I approached with ambivalence, she took me to a quilt display she had asked to be specially opened for us, a museum show of visionary art, a wonderful vegetarian lunch at the museum, an African American art show, and a high tea to which she invited Bob and about 20 of my friends from work, church, Bible study, and quilting. She also masterminded a "Nancy" quilt for me by Sew & Tell, with dozens of items beginning with the letters of my name.
Lynda's life came to an abrupt end when she was found to have metastasized cancer. We miss her, but we have many wonderful memories of this friend who was like a beloved member of our family. Rest in peace, Lynda. We're still celebrating your remarkable life.
PATRIOTS WIN SUPER BOWL GAME
Bob Murdock
In the NFL Super Bowl game played Feb. 3, 2002 in New Orleans, the New England Patriots stunned the St. Louis Rams 20-17 with a 48-yard last-minute field goal by Adam Vinatieri. Here are some reactions from New England Muse readers:
Email from Viki Blakley, Hubbardston, MA:
Way to
go Patriots!!!!
Sean Howlett, Concord, NH put it this way:
DA PATS WIN DA SUPER BOWL
DA PATS WIN DA SUPER BOWL
DA PATS WIN DA SUPER BOWL
DA PATS WIN DA SUPER BOWL
DA PATS WIN DA SUPER BOWL
DA PATS WIN DA SUPER BOWL
And Randy Salminen, Gardner, MA was stirred to respond with some humor:
A New Englander in Hell
After a couple of days the devil checks in on his
victim to see if he is suffering adequately. The devil
is aghast as he looks at the New Englander happily
swinging his hammer and whistling a happy tune. The
devil walks up to him and says, "I don't understand
this. I've turned the heat way up, it's humid, you're
crushing rocks; why are you so happy?"
The New Englander, smiling big, looks at the devil and
replies, "This is great! It reminds me of August in
New England: Hot, humid, a good place to work. It
reminds me of home. This is fantastic!"
The devil, extremely perplexed, walks away to ponder
the New Englander's remarks. Then he decides to drop
the temperature, and send down driving rain and torrential
wind. Soon, hell is a wet, muddy mess. Walking in mud
up to his knees with dust blowing into his eyes, the
New Englander is happily slogging through the mud
pushing a wheelbarrow full of crushed rocks. Again,
the devil asks how he can be happy in such conditions.
The New Englander replies, "This is great! Just like
April in New England. It reminds me of working out in
the fields with spring planting!" The devil is now
completely baffled.
Angry, and desperate to make hell really hell, he
tries one last ditch effort. He makes the temperature
plummet. Suddenly hell is blanketed in snow and ice.
Confident that this will surely make the New Englander
unhappy, the devil checks in on the New Englander. He
is aghast at what he sees. The New Englander is
dancing, singing, and twirling his sledgehammer as he
cavorts in glee.
"How can you be so happy? Don't you know it's 40
below zero!?" screams the devil.
Jumping up and down, the New Englander throws a
snowball at the devil and yells, "Hell's frozen over!!
This means the Patriots won the Super Bowl!!
FEBRUARY IN LOVE
Derek Revilock-Frost
To Rosalind, from Derek, Valentines 2002
Snuggling in front of the fire at Mimi's house
That's what love in February is all about
Romping about Sturbridge on Washington's Birthday
That's what love in February is all about
Diving into three feet of snow was Lex and Ruth
That's what love in February is all about
Eating maple syrup right off fresh fallen snow
That's what love in February is all about
Hiking up Stone Mountain in 70 degree weather
That's what love in February is all about
Drinking white hot chocolate at Breaking New Grounds
That's what love in February is all about
Waiting for ballerina Jeremy to finish dancing
That's what love in February is all about
Meeting Lex and Kristen for good food in Hong Kong
That's what love in February is all about
February has been full of Love. Rosalind, I love you.
Derek
A VALENTINE OF LOVE
Gene Murdock
My valentine to all of you are these poems on love that were written by members of my family.
[Ed. note: Click here to see the poems in Gene's Gems.]
BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
Natalie Murdock
Saturday morning (Feb. 9) started off with a good muffin breakfast and some singing of
"Happy Birthday" by my parents and Tim. Later on Mer came over and we had
yummy popcorn chicken from KFC (my choice), followed by opening my
presents! Great gifts, I must say.
So then I drove Mer and me to Blockbuster to spend one of my gifts, and it was back to home. Robert
came over with some friends. Then, around 5 or so I picked up a few
friends and met some more at a beautiful restaurant in Brea.
We went to the movies afterwards and saw "The Mothman Prophecies". Very lame
movie. Then to Starbucks to chill for a while before we got picked up
at 11. THEN, we went back to my friend's for a sleepover. So that was
my day in a nutshell.
JANUARY 24 UPDATE
Christie Murdock
Well, last time I wrote you, I was struggling with my school work for some classes and it was the middle of the semester, so I thought I'd give you a little update. Last semester, I took a total of 7 classes and 17 units. My grades were as follows:
Class description (grade, units)
1 FTV-130-05 Intro Visual Storytelling Pr (A-, 3.00)
2 COM-210-02 Theories of Persuasion (A, 3.00)
3 SOC-102-02 Cultural Anthropology (A-, 3.00)
4 TD-138-01 Tap Dance I (A-, 1.00)
5 COM-110-03 Interpersonal Communications (A, 3.00)
6 POSC-301-01 History of Polit Philosophy I (A-, 3.00)
7 FTV-108-02 Performance:radio (Pass, 1.00)
So, the grande total is 4 A-s, 2As, and one Pass. My GPA is 3.813 for this semester. What I found out about that, was that only my grades at Chapman count for the final honour at the school, so I may still be able to Graduate Magna or even Summa Cum Laude. It's not the most important thing in the world, but it would be kind of neat :)
My new semester started on Monday, January 28th. I am taking six academic classes, "Principles of Public Relations, Writing for Public Relations, Desktop Publishing, Internet Communications, Theory/Practice of Journalism, and Shakespeare's Tragedies and Romances." Shakespeare isn't a required class, but I love Shakespeare, some other friends are taking it, and it's a
good way to keep myself in my theatre roots that I miss so much.
If you want to write me while I'm at school, I love to get mail and never do, except for University Bills.
[Ed. note: For Christie's college address, contact us at murmuse@erols.com.]
I am trying to convince my other Grandmother that I can handle being in an apartment with friends, but it seems to no avail. If my address in Orange should change, I'll let you know.
I don't have much other news, except that I have started working out for an hour, daily, and in combination with eating more healthfully have lost a total of 25 pounds since the beginning of last semester. I'm hoping to find a way to keep it going while I'm at school and continue to get myself into better and better shape. I really enjoy the workouts, and am so glad I started.
Well, that seems to be all in my boring life. Mom and Grandma are doing pretty well, but Grandma is working too hard, as always. I am getting my Real Estate license soon so that I can help her out myself. My state exam is scheduled for the end of March.
UPDATE FROM LA MIRADA
Ian Murdock
How's your bum for warts? (That's a colloquial Aussie greeting picked
up from Steve Irwin, the fearless Crocodile Hunter of non-fiction (read:
worthwhile) TV fame.) I/we am/are fine,/fine, knock/knock wood./wood.
(Too oblique? I'll try to tone it down.) Weather here has been superb
for the last few days, nearly 90°. Tim's already in baseball
practice, my main harbinger of Spring since there are few if any robins
about in SoCal.
Boy, I could not have found a better place to work! All my experience
is being put to use; they even let me write the "Purchasing and
Receiving Procedures" manual (sound familiar, Mom?) and call a
managerial meeting to discuss and fine-tune it. The boss even shook my
hand on my way out last night and said, "Thank you for a good job. Keep
it up!" He has also told me that I will soon have a key to the building
as well as access to the strettttttch limo and the Lakers season
tickets! (Aside to 'Androgynous': Yes, I am a hoops fan!) Contrast
all that with my last employer, a self-described anal-retentive, who
once had the audacity to call me "Dumb***" in front of the entire staff,
most of whom he would also badger, berate and belittle as the mood
struck him. I have to laugh, thinking that I put up with him for even a
day, much less fourteen months!
So how 'bout those Olympics, huh? I've seen some great drama this time
around - the good kind, that is; not terrorists nor broken kneecaps,
just a lot of fierce and furious but fun and friendly competition, and
just a whiff of juicy scandal avec les judges Françaises. Becky has
been GLUED to the tube just about every night - it's great to see her so
enraptured when she watches the skating competitions! I myself may
never have gotten into the Winter Olympics had you not shoved my little
long-haired hippie carc*** (sic(lol)) down onto the couch in '76 and
patiently explained to me why I should watch men in bulging tights and
frilly shirts glide around to painfully un-rocklike music. Hmm, CTTOI,
I still don't like that part... The women are amazing, though, any way
you look at them! Beck tells me that her favorite is 16-year-old Sarah
Hughes.
Well, that's thirty (thirty minutes of writing for me, thirty
seconds of reading for you)! Time for me to go ponder my forthcoming
webfun page. Health, hugs and happiness to you both, and a shout out to
all Muse readers should you happen to publish this e-letter!
REPORT FROM HUDSON, MA
Doug Howlett the Elder
Not too much going on here. Three weeks ago I took a hard fall on the
ice. I had sanded everywhere, I thought, but must have missed a spot between
our two cars. It had snowed just a dusting -- enough to hide the glare ice
underneath. I was brushing the snow off the back of our car one second, the
next I was looking at the sky. My fat wallet (two one dollar bills and lots
of plastic) protected my hip area. It hurt a lot but since we don't have any
insurance, I didn't have it checked out. Started out with a black and blue in
the shape of my wallet. Before it started disappearing about a week later,
the purple color spread from my waist down to below my knee on my right leg.
My right elbow took a whack too, and was swollen for a while. Probably
didn't help that I went food shopping with Carol and Brittany right after it
happened. Seems okay now, just a few aches here and there.
About two weeks ago we were invited up to John and Cathy's house for
a weekend visit. Polly and Carl and Clyde were there when we arrived, so we
had a nice chat with them too. John had taken a fall also and had problems with
his knee, so we didn't take a walk in his woods like we usually do. It was a
nice relaxing weekend sitting around licking our wounds and enjoying good
food and lots of laughs.
We'll celebrate my birthday (2/26) at son Doug's in Tewksbury on Sat. the 23rd.
I will be eliminating my DPHOWLETT@aol account at the end of Feb. My
new account and email address will be dporterh@aol.com
OLYMPICS ON OUR OWN
Nancy A. Murdock
We've been Olympics watchers for many years, and one of the biggest thrills of our life was actually being present at several events during the summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 1984. But connecting back up with our friend Lynda Brugge here in Baltimore took our Olympics watch to new heights.
First of all, her favorite was the Winter Olympics. I recall watching them way back in Boston in the early 1950s when Tenley Albright, the daughter of a Boston physician, was skating. But after that, it was our love of track and field that drove our interest. With Lynda, however, we were soon caught up in following figure skating. Lynda was familiar with all the top skaters. She knew who had won which events, what their various strengths were, and various stories about their personal lives. She hosted us at an annual professional skating competition and let us know of each TV presentation of a skating competition or show. Calls went back and forth to compare our reactions to the skating and judging. "Whose performance did you think was best?" Lynda might ask.
Lynda died February 1, right before this Olympics. We knew it would be a difficult time for us, but we also knew we needed to watch as usual, even though the phone would not be ringing. The first day we watched, Bob, whose attention span is shorter than mine for these events, watched a few minutes and then got up to leave it for the evening. I told him I really needed him; it isn't nearly as much fun when there's no one to share it with, and I was already missing Lynda's comments. He understood, bless him.
Bob has been faithfully taping the entire NBC reporting of this interesting Olympiad. He checked the listings to be sure of dates and times. We've tried to exercise some discretion in getting to bed at a reasonable time so I don't fall asleep at work, especially after I had just lost two weeks to a virus attack. But it's been so interesting that we keep being drawn to it!
We're probably not alone among Muse readers in becoming acquainted with several sports about which we previously knew little or nothing. How about that Short Track Skating? It looks like a bunch of kids doing an imitation of a caterpillar, but it's fast and dangerous. And snowboarding - I had no idea it even existed! It amused me to hear familiar terms like "quad" and "triple jump" applied to young men in baggy pants zooming around on skateboards with no wheels. And moguls - my knees hurt even remembering those women purposely zigzagging around on those ugly mounds of snow. And I was awed by the ski jumping, which reminds me of an eagle soaring against the bright blue sky. So beautiful!
Lynda would have loved the controversy over the gold medal(s) for the pairs skaters, and she would not have agreed with the Russian official's statement! I don't know how she would have felt about Michelle Kwan's bronze medal, because she didn't agree with me about Tara's win in the last Olympics. But we were absolutely awed by Sarah Hughes's gorgeous performance - and charmed by her innocence and honesty. My faith in the judges was restored when the results were announced. We were clapping and I was yelling and jumping up and down, and it was a real high.
So we're working out ways to enjoy the Winter Olympics on a different scale from when we had a leader and friend to interact with. It's not easy, but our life goes on. And we don't want to miss any opportunities to enjoy life. Our household now consists of two septuagenarians. We're celebrating that gift.
AROUND THE NET
Bob Murdock
Steve Howlett
Thank you for the thoughtful birthday card, it looks just like me - I follow the sun around all day, moving from chair to chair. Have a nice day.
Rob Howlett
I just got informed by AT&T to change my email account to the new name.
Please note my new email as rhowlett@attbi.com
At least it got shorter :-) - [Ed. note: it was rhowlett@mediaone.net]
Sarah Howlett Bergeron
Gary and I are fine, nothing really new ever happens around here.
My nursing classes just started up, and we have an assignment to interview an 'older adult' who likes to reminisce- I immediately thought of Aunt Nancy!
Becky Murdock
Two weeks ago, I was off work for two days after the doctor said I had
bronchitis. Then lo and behold this week, even after taking my
antibiotics I have it again.
I am so sore from coughing that I cringe when I feel it coming on. Last
night Ian peeked in while I was taking a shower to make sure all that
coughing I was doing didn't make me pass out in the shower. That made
me chuckle..(Any excuse to come in while I'm in the shower) Ha! Ha!!
Lori Turner
Even with all the tole painting I do, I just am so ready to start quilting and I am going to check around
here for some classes. I love crafts of all kinds for my spare time.
Once I get settled in Minnesota, Darrel and I need to
plan a trip to come visit you both; then I can see and hear about all your quiting stories and tricks.
LYNXLAND NEWS
Darrel Murdock
Well, this has been the best Jan/Feb for me in several years. I am nicely
settled in at a fun and rather easy job doing 40 hours (2/3 of norm the last
12 years) a week and having 2 whole days off every week! When I was a
teen 40 seemed like a lot, but now it feels like I'm semi-retired.
The weather has been strangely wonderful. Every major storm detoured
north of the Twin Cities, dumping record amounts before and after
Minnesota, and leaving us with almost no snow. I plowed 3 times, all
light. Most of the time we had no ground cover at all, and it rained
several times, too. My lawn, shrubs and perennies have a head start and
I'm psyched!
Things are running wild with my Lynxette, too. We talk twice a day with
the modern-day wonder of cellphone LD minutes, and she's braving the
skies (and the Lynx) March 15 for TC hospitality in a heaping helping.
That reminds me, in the Muse's Features Hot/Cool Sites you can sing
along to TV Theme songs, and even have the correct words =^. .^=
And speaking of sites, I have enjoyed to obsession once again my winter
garden a.k.a. AAALynx's *COOL 101*. My surfin' brother sent a cool set of
online tools, my goilfriend bought me a gigantic html book, and I
stumbled upon Javascript freebs. Oh what fun, now I have little clicky
planets, random tunes, quicker pages and cropped and spiffed pics.
But I am ready for Spring now, biking and hiking, the glory of the
bedded bulbs, the new leaves and lawns, and the leaner look.
[Click here for more articles]