Friday, January 23, 2009
IVORY ON THE PROMISE OF RENEWAL
At 53 years of age, I have never beforehand born personal witness to a political Woodstock on the scale we all experienced in Washington with the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States.
The historical significance of the elevation of an African-American junior US Senator from Illinois to the White House as our president can never be underestimated.
My fervent hope is for the success of his Administration, which success will only improve the lives of millions of Americans and our fellow humans across the globe.
My sole worry is that expectations raised by the brilliant campaign he ran and the promises made were hopefully not so lofty -though inspirational- that failure to achieve the each and every objective in his campaign manifesto will be taken by the shrill opposition as a failure of the entire manifesto despite whatever beneficial successes are achieved by this most promising change in administration.
The thanks of the Ivory contingent, a.k.a. the Ryder family, to the Williams family for permitting us to join with them in this historic outing can never be said enough.
The dream is alive, hope springs eternal, and again on 20 January, 2009, Washington DC was once again that shining city on the hill, where the promise of the future burns bright as a guiding light forward to better days for one and for all. God Bless America!
The historical significance of the elevation of an African-American junior US Senator from Illinois to the White House as our president can never be underestimated.
My fervent hope is for the success of his Administration, which success will only improve the lives of millions of Americans and our fellow humans across the globe.
My sole worry is that expectations raised by the brilliant campaign he ran and the promises made were hopefully not so lofty -though inspirational- that failure to achieve the each and every objective in his campaign manifesto will be taken by the shrill opposition as a failure of the entire manifesto despite whatever beneficial successes are achieved by this most promising change in administration.
The thanks of the Ivory contingent, a.k.a. the Ryder family, to the Williams family for permitting us to join with them in this historic outing can never be said enough.
The dream is alive, hope springs eternal, and again on 20 January, 2009, Washington DC was once again that shining city on the hill, where the promise of the future burns bright as a guiding light forward to better days for one and for all. God Bless America!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Outdoor Living
Before coming down to Maryland in the RV, I looked at all the information available on the camp's website. They advertised wonderful amenities such as the playground, the center with a cafe, lounge and big-screen TV, and the bath house. Because our RV was winterized we would have no running water. The weather was far too cold to keep water lines from freezing. When I called ahead, the camp personnel told me that we only had to let them know our RV was winterized and they would place us as close to the bath house as possible. And that's exactly what they did.
We finished checking in, drove to our site, parked our mobile hotel and checked everything out. We had electricity, we had free Wi-Fi, and we even had cable! If we weren't winterized, there was the water hook up available. And unlike "RV" (the movie with Robin Williams which we all watched our first night at camp), we even had a sewage hook up right at our site! Camper heaven!! The bath house was located just a quick walk (or run) away. The facilities were clean and that was a major plus based on the fact that this campsite had a lot of RVs of all sizes parked in it and we had no idea of how many of the occupants would actually have to use the facilities.
Getting organized, we figured out that it would be best to get clothes out the night before so they weren't freezing cold the next morning. We also filled the refrigerator and cabinets with some of the tons of food we brought with us, set up the coffee pot and tea kettle, put the frozen dinners in the freezer and stored the rest of the items in the cooler which we kept outside. We stored the juices and drinking water in the shower stall. Then we got our sleeping spots arranged. Joyce and Woody took the upper compartment over the driver's seat, Kim and the twins took the sofa bed, Barbara Anne and Casandra took the dinette area which converted into the double bed, and Frank and I took the back bedroom.
After dinner and a movie, it was time to get ready for showers and bed. That's when the reality
really hit. I would have to go outside to do this! It was my "Little House on the Prairie" moment. I now understood what it was like to not have indoor plumbing. Okay!! Gather up the toiletries, the towel and washcloth, the shower shoes and cap. Don't forget your pjs! Now put on your hat and coat and take that walk. Okay!!
The shower was good. Water was hot (and even hotter when someone flushed!). Wished Ihad remembered to pack a bath mat (am I spoiled or what?). Okay!! First mistake! When you turned off the water, you were instantly met with the cool-to-cold breeze that came through the doors at either end of the bath house and/or the windows which somehow seemed to always be open. You'd better dry off quickly and get dressed quickly, too! If not, you were going to catch one heck of a cold!!
When you stepped out you found that, generally, anyone else in the bath house (especially first-time RV-ers) was thinking the same thing. "What the heck was I thinking? I'm a modern woman who's used to modern things, especially indoor plumbing!!" I got back to the RV and was extremely grateful for the warmth not only of family and friends, but for the heat that was blowing out of the vents!
Everyone climbed into their sleeping bags and then into their beds (Frank and I were the only ones who didn't have sleeping bags - something else to add to the list for the next time(?), and rested from our first day's labor.
It was a good day.
We finished checking in, drove to our site, parked our mobile hotel and checked everything out. We had electricity, we had free Wi-Fi, and we even had cable! If we weren't winterized, there was the water hook up available. And unlike "RV" (the movie with Robin Williams which we all watched our first night at camp), we even had a sewage hook up right at our site! Camper heaven!! The bath house was located just a quick walk (or run) away. The facilities were clean and that was a major plus based on the fact that this campsite had a lot of RVs of all sizes parked in it and we had no idea of how many of the occupants would actually have to use the facilities.
Getting organized, we figured out that it would be best to get clothes out the night before so they weren't freezing cold the next morning. We also filled the refrigerator and cabinets with some of the tons of food we brought with us, set up the coffee pot and tea kettle, put the frozen dinners in the freezer and stored the rest of the items in the cooler which we kept outside. We stored the juices and drinking water in the shower stall. Then we got our sleeping spots arranged. Joyce and Woody took the upper compartment over the driver's seat, Kim and the twins took the sofa bed, Barbara Anne and Casandra took the dinette area which converted into the double bed, and Frank and I took the back bedroom.After dinner and a movie, it was time to get ready for showers and bed. That's when the reality
really hit. I would have to go outside to do this! It was my "Little House on the Prairie" moment. I now understood what it was like to not have indoor plumbing. Okay!! Gather up the toiletries, the towel and washcloth, the shower shoes and cap. Don't forget your pjs! Now put on your hat and coat and take that walk. Okay!!The shower was good. Water was hot (and even hotter when someone flushed!). Wished Ihad remembered to pack a bath mat (am I spoiled or what?). Okay!! First mistake! When you turned off the water, you were instantly met with the cool-to-cold breeze that came through the doors at either end of the bath house and/or the windows which somehow seemed to always be open. You'd better dry off quickly and get dressed quickly, too! If not, you were going to catch one heck of a cold!!
When you stepped out you found that, generally, anyone else in the bath house (especially first-time RV-ers) was thinking the same thing. "What the heck was I thinking? I'm a modern woman who's used to modern things, especially indoor plumbing!!" I got back to the RV and was extremely grateful for the warmth not only of family and friends, but for the heat that was blowing out of the vents!
Everyone climbed into their sleeping bags and then into their beds (Frank and I were the only ones who didn't have sleeping bags - something else to add to the list for the next time(?), and rested from our first day's labor.
It was a good day.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
The Journey Begins
If you had asked me last year at this time if I would ever consider driving and staying in a rented RV with 5 members of my family and 3 friends, I would have told you absolutely not! If you had asked me if I believed an African American man would be elected President of the United States in my lifetime, I would have told you absolutely not! Well, here I am sitting in an RV park with 5 members of my family and 3 friends, waiting to witness the inauguration of the first African American man to be elected President of the United States. I am in awe!
Early Saturday morning, in the freezing cold, my husband, daughters, grandsons, friends and their daughter, loaded our gear into a 32-ft. rented RV. Newsday thought our story to be newsworthy and sent a photographer to capture the moment on film as we prepared to take off. We headed on down the road to College Park, MD. We were filled with the firm determination to witness this most historic event. It was beyond exciting. There were times when, in thinking about the whole situation, I could barely catch my breath.
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