Contributed by Elisabeth Hurley
Pods and Poppies announces its 9th annual Holiday Open House in collaboration with artists Helen Woodmansee, Gretchen Hamlin, and author Elisabeth Hurley. Featured will be holiday wreaths and arrangements by Susan Poppenger of Pods and Poppies, watercolors and cards by Helen, hand-blown glass jewelry by Gretchen, and books by Elisabeth.
The Holiday Open House will be held:
Saturday, November 28th, 11:00am-5:00pm
Pods and Poppies Barn, 2264 Shamrock Road, Skaneateles
Contributed by: Elisabeth Hurley
The magical emergence of spring is delightfully written and illustrated in Digging Spring, a picture book from the author/illustrator team of Elisabeth Hurley of Skaneateles and Erin Sherman of Weedsport, New York. Little Ann is saddened by the lack of time her mother has to spend with her until she discovers the wonders of springtime in her own backyard, making new friends including Grandmother Earth.
The team is particularly delighted with the response the book has received so far. Young children adore it, adults applaud it for its clarity and beauty of language and for its fantastic illustrations. A nine-year old reader said I love that book, and a fourteen-year old called it a wonderful story of spring coming to life.
Contributed by Elisabeth Hurley
Lately we have been bombarded with news regarding voter registration fraud accusations. This is what I have learned:
Federal law requires states to check newly registered citizens against data bases of the Social Security Administration or the motor vehicle bureau. Mismatches are then flagged. Now, for instance, my name could be flagged if I register as Elisabeth Hurley but my motor vehicle registration shows up with my initial “M” for my middle name Maria. If my flagged name would show up on the type of list that was demanded by the Republican Party in Ohio and which that state’s Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner refused to agree to, I could be in trouble when casting my vote. As I see it, that list (with my name included) could be used by a partisan poll worker or supervisor to challenge my vote. With many more people challenged, long lines could result at the polls and many voters might again be discouraged to participate in the election.
Continue reading...Contributed by Elisabeth Hurley
“You kids are amazing. This street has never looked so good. Tell me, how did you get this wonderful idea?”
Four heads looked up and three forefingers pointed at Jim. “It was all his idea, Mr. Goldstein. Jim started the whole thing.”
Jim looked shyly at his neighbor who he knew was teaching eighth grade at the Junior High School across the street. “It’s really very simple, Mr. Goldstein. When Mom and Dad and I came back from Ireland last Easter, I couldn’t forget how clean everything looked there. Just glancing out of my window and seeing how dirty our street was, made me sick to my stomach. Going up to Waverly Hill helped.”
“Is that the place up on Independence Avenue?” Mr. Goldstein asked.
“Yeah, that’s the one. It has such beautiful gardens and a nature trail. Everything is clean and smells so nice. I spent most of my time there after school.”
Continue reading...
I have never understood negative campaigning and why it’s being done. I know, I know, people tell me – and commentators tell us – that voters love it and that it works. Well, what I have seen lately on the news, read in newspapers, and have seen on videos on the Internet makes me more than worried about the path this election is taking.
Today I have watched a video in which a journalist interviewed participants at a McCain/ Palin rally. Supporters were asked if they thought Senator Obama is a terrorist. Some claimed that he is, others said that he could be. One woman, being asked why she thinks Obama is a terrorist, added “it’s in his blood, can’t you see that.”
Why do some supporters of the McCain/Palin ticket believe that Senator Obama is a terrorist? Well, unfortunately they heard from Governor Palin that Obama “pals around with terrorists” while Senator McCain would ask the question “Who is the real Barack Obama?” Both, as we know, referred to Obama’s association with William Ayers who, in the 1960s when Barack Obama was eight years old, was the leader of the radical anti-Vietnam war group “Weather Underground.” The then fugitive leader of this group is now a university professor and a highly respected educational reformer. Some of his projects include Peace School, a small alternative educational program that had its curriculum center on a United Nations theme.
Contributed by Elisabeth Hurley
I recently read Three Cups of Tea, authored by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. I am still awed by this story of a mountain climber and his humanitarian work in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
At the time our country confronted Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq, Greg Mortenson started building schools in Pakistan. Under terrible hardships and with very little money but with firm support of moderate Muslim clerics, he began to undertake one school at a time. Children in mountain hamlets and villages where government schools were not available, for the first time ever, were able to receive a balanced education. It was Mortenson’s goal to provide boys and girls with this balanced instruction in even the poorest areas, therefore making it more difficult for religious fanatics to recruit boys into their “madrassas.” Greg Mortenson continues building schools and holds on to his vision that “once there are pencils, let us use them as peaceful weapons in the war against terrorism.”
The last I checked, Mortenson and his organization, the Central Asia Institute, had built 55 schools serving about 23,000 children, many of whom often go on to higher education and a better life for themselves and their communities. Not only schools are being built though. Women become wage earners through training in vocational centers, help support their family and village life, and become role models for their own daughters and the daughters of others.
Dr. Greg, as Mortenson is affectionately called by the many people he made friends with,
Continue reading...Contributed by Elisabeth Hurley
Overnight rain turning to drizzle
feeling like velvet on my skin.
Fog shrouding me everywhere
with trees and tennis courts sketched,
and the church steeple
is completely hidden from sight.
No wind, not even a gentle breeze.
Seagulls rest quietly on
grassy athletic field
until together they take off into the air,
making flapping and swishing sounds
of silk rubbing against me.
Fog doesn’t lift and stillness disappears.
Runners, walkers, dogs en galore.
Cars driving by, steered by people
rushing to work.
But I feel magic and calm
for hours to come!
-Elisabeth Hurley
September 14, 2008
