TBT: LADY LUCK shone upon me in letting me know what unconditional love IS. Seven years ago we went for a Family photo to be taken in the La Crosse Public Library.
I met my Natureman z"l in '02 and our furry Balto z"l after the flooding in Texas when so many dogs lost their homes.
I am so lucky to have had these 2 Baltos in my life. I am so glad we went to take a family pic...
Ridvan is the holiest and most joyous of the Ba' Hai faith as it marks when Baha'u'llah declared his mission as G-d's messenger.
Slides and readings shared the story of beautiful rose gardens and bird song as perhaps Baha'u'llah had seen and heard near Baghdad's Tigiris River and named Ridvan (Paradise). This holiday's first, ninth, and twelfth days are especially holy as believers don't go to work on those days
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There were 6 of us visiting from our international film class. What a treat! I so appreciate being able to spend time enjoying their holiday on the first day of Ridvan.
tUESDAY tUNES made it happen. It's about time. You are the first to know I have a new boyfriend and his name is Marco Ferrero. How can one not fall in love with a guy with this voice? I fell hard.Listen and you'll know why...
Here is a COMPILATION of his, in case you, like me, want more...
It still amazes me that such a large choir in the South has perhaps one member who is not a white man. Little Rock is the capital of Arkansas with a large black population. How are there not black males who'd try out for the choir?
After the concert, I commented on how ironic to have black gospel songs in the program with only one minority member. My friend commented that one of their black choir members had moved, but he was often featured. Whoa!
THIS is 2026 and we are sitting in a program about freedom and the faces definitely don't reflect the country we live in... We can usurp others' music yet truly reflect the political climate of those white, protestant men running the White House... G-d help us.
More performances: Monday the 20th at 7pm
Thursday the 23rd. 7pm
St James United Methodist Church
321 Pleasany Valley Dr.
Little Rock, Ar 72212
Did you know that upon leaving office every President is able to take cuttings from their favorite plant to give to friends.
Now adding green at my address will be one of those many cuttings from President Obama...
(Greenhouse is located off of Markham between War Memorial Stadium & UAMS on 7th & Palm Streets. Signs posted... )
Proceeds go to support Master Garadener projects throughout the city.
TBT: Last year at this time my Wisconsin book club was visiting my new home here in Arkansas. We had a wonderful time making new memories. FYI it's strawberry shortcake time again here...
Last night I joined a ZOOM call with 4 of the Happy Bookers as we discussed our upcoming trip to Croatia. Yes, Croatia.
I am truly blessed...
This transplanted Hungarian-Canadian now Texan biochemist, shared his story with a brief geography and history lesson of Hungary, interspersing his family's and Jewish community's fate as a result of the German and Russian tactics.
One of the occupation tactics was to move all the Jews into a 6 block radius, a Jewish ghetto, to be burned, but this was foiled with the arrival of the Russians.
We listened to what our speaker's Mom lived through as the youngest in her family having to move in and share a 2-bedroom apartment with 17 other family members. Then, when it was time for the family to evacuate and go to the train station where trains awaited to take them to the camps, his Mom, a secretary, ran into an acquaintance who invited her to lunch. This woman, living in the apartment, was the maid of the apartment's owner, a Jewish doctor who had been taken away. She offered false papers to help his Mom escape.
Andras, her 15-year-old son, had been left in an orphanage for a week and his Grandparents got him out. He and another boy contacted scarlet fever and were isolated. Surprisingly, when the soldiers opened the door where the 2 kids were being kept, they didn't go inside not wanting to contact the disease. The boys were left there until they were transported to a military hospital, where they were given 3 hot meals/day. It was such a gift in a dark time. When the Russians were getting closer, the Germans left in a hurry. The 15-year-old boys awoke one morning to an empty hospital. The temps were 20 below, and they headed to the basement of a nearby factory, hiding out there for a bit. They, then found his childhood home's street and his home, where there was no electricity or wood.
The Russians took about 3 weeks to occupy the city in 1945.
Andras and his Mom were reunited.
700,000 Hungarian Jewish lives were taken. Dr. Lacko's family amazingly had a high survival rate of 80% , albeit with some close calls. Dr. Lacko now lives in Dallas, but he immigrated to Canada from Hungary at age 17.
