On Sunday Jan 3, 2010 I sent the following email to my Special Friends list:
A personal update – some have been asking…
Short version:
On Sunday 12/27/09 (a week ago today) evening I developed severe heart burn that turned into an ambulance ride to the Tucson Medical Center emergency room. A cat-scan and chem-stress test ruled out heart problems but they ‘discovered a spot’ on my pancreas.
I came home on Thursday 12/31 with some anti-acid pills and appointment on Monday 1/11/10 for a ‘procedure’ (put a camera down my throat and retrieve a sample of the spot via a needle through the stomach).
Longer Version
Sunday evening my stomach felt like a strong heart burn that Rolaids should cure – but 4 tablets later the pain was still there. My heart rate went to 40, blood pressure to 80/40 and my color was gone! In the ER they gave me 2 nitro pills and my blood pressure and heart rate dropped to the pass-out stage.
They did a cat-scan, chem.-stress test, two MRIs, and daily blood test. The blood test ‘marker’ identified cancer in the body but they could not be sure of the source.
To complete the diagnosis they scheduled me for a biopsy at University Medical Center on Monday Jan 11. Then the UMC will complete the diagnosis and suggest treatment options – if any.
Ray
That man is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. - Jim Elliot
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Wesley's 13th Birthday ... (Click here)
Check out the pictures of Wesley's 13th birthday in Tucson at Granpda and Beeka's house.
Click Wesley's Birthday on the right side under favorites.
Click Wesley's Birthday on the right side under favorites.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Lester Brown
Lester Brown
Founder of Earth Policy Institute
If you know who he is or have read his books you are fortunate.
If you haven’t heard of him then an introduction is in order.
He is the founder of the Earth Policy Institute which is dedicated to building a sustainable future as well as providing a plan of how to get from here to there.
He has written 50 books on state of our world one of which was published in 2006: Plan B 2.0 - Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble.
"Lester Brown tells us how to build a more just world and save the planet from climate change in a practical, straightforward way. We should all heed his advice." –President Bill Clinton http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/PB2/index.htm
Lester Russell Brown (born 1934) is an environmental analyst who has written several books on global environmental issues. He is the founder of the Worldwatch Institute and founder and president of the Earth Policy Institute which is a nonprofit research organization in Washington, D.C.
Though he has written over twenty books, he is best known for Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble. His books have been translated into more than forty languages. The recipient of forty honorary degrees and a MacArthur Fellowship, among numerous other awards, Brown has been described by the Washington Post as "one of the world's most influential thinkers." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_Brown
His current book is: Plan B 3.0 Mobilizing to save Civilization.
Read an interview of Lester Brown from Grist:
http://www.grist.org/news/maindish/2006/03/06/roberts/
Hear two podcast interviews of Lester Brown:
http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=5&prgDate=11-Jan-08
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1700189,00.htm
Monday, January 28, 2008
A Wonderful Lunch
A Wonderful Lunch
1/26/2008
Left to right back row, Donald Mecham, Burnice Mecham, Ray Sammons,
Front row: Janice Mecham, Valora Mecham, Phyllis Sammons
On Saturday the 26th the Mechams drove two hours from Phoenix to Tucson and the six of us sat in the Cracker Barrel for two hours eating lunch and catching up on the past few years and getting to know Janice, Donald’s new wife. This is the first time all six of us have been together. They are fun people.
The two men on the left are Phyllis’s last two uncles: Donald, on the left is six years younger than Burnise in the middle.
Phyllis’s biological mother, Sarah Mecham, died in 1938 when Phyllis was born. Sarah was one of 13 children and these two men are the youngest of the family and the last of the boys. They have one sister still living, Clara 98 years old. Clara was two years older than Sarah who was born in 1911 and they went through nurses training together.
Burnise and Valora live in Preston, ID and they drove down to Gilbert, AZ to visit Donald and his new wife of nine months (his first wife died). Donald and Janice carried on like a couple of teenagers that were just married. They are very young at heart! They have nine grandchildren between them and 24 great grand children. I asked Janice for the birth date of each and admitted she couldn’t do that but it was Burnise that suggested she could have given me any date because I wouldn’t know the difference.
We’ve been honored over the years that Burnise and Valora have gone out of their way to keep track of us and keep us up to date on the Mecham family.
Burnise told us Felix (Phyllis’ father) was his idle. He always wanted to be like Felix and he loved to hear him sing. He also honored Bessie, Phyllis’ step mother, he called her a wonderful woman and we agreed with that.
If all goes as planned Burnise and Valora will come to Cody this summer and spend some time fishing at the Ranch and then if all goes well we will attend the Mecham reunion in Utah in the last.
Burnise told the story (Burinse always has a story) of a man being interviewed by a church official. The clergyman asked, “If you had two ranches would you give one of them to the church?” The man nodded that he would, “If you had two huge homes would you give one of them to the church?” Again he nodded assent, “If you had two Cadillacs would you give one of them to the church?” The man looked and the clergyman and said, “No!” Puzzled the clergyman asked, “Why?” The man looked him in the eye and said, “Because I have two Cadillacs!”
Monday, April 25, 2005
A Sliver Of Green Soap
Ray Sammons 2005
The last bar of green soap gets smaller with every shower; it’s now down to a thin green sliver.
I’ve always had a fascination about how soap was made. The magic of combining greasy lard with caustic lye and coming out with a product that you rub on your body and clothes is amazing. My grand parents made their own soap, but my parents bought all of their soap.
Therefore, when Steve (our oldest son) and his family started making soap several years ago I was more than interested. One year they brought all the equipment to Tucson and they made a batch of soap; I followed every detail with interest and anticipation.
Before making the soap we bought some white PVC pipe for soap molds; Steve didn’t like square bars of soap. We cut the pipe into short lengths that were the proper depth for bars of soap and we heated some of the pipe in the oven and formed it into oval shapes before cutting it into bar soap sizes.
After all the preparations were finished it was time to make soap. We had the lard, lye, perfumes, palm oil, health aids, and when they asked what color do you want the soap and I immediately said, “Green.” They asked for some green crayons and they shaved them into small pieces, melted them into a liquid and produced green soap. They made a double batch and when the day was done we had 70 bars of green soap spread all over the back patio cooling and hardening; that’s a five year supply of shower soap!
Herb and Doris Goodell were some of my folk’s good friends as I grew up. They lived five miles east of Utica, Montana, our home town, and we lived a mile and a half west. I always looked forward to a visit at Herb and Doris’ house.
Herb and Doris had several big tall pine trees and some big cottonwood trees around their house. We didn’t have any trees around our house; the nearest trees were three miles away, down by the river.
Herb and Doris had electricity in their house and barns and I loved flipping the switches to see the lights go on and off. We didn’t have electricity; we used kerosene lamps in the house and Dad hung the kerosene lantern on a nail as he milked the cows in the barn after dark. I remember walking with my dad when he carried the lantern after dark. Our shadows would move before and behind us as the lantern swung back and forth keeping perfect cadence with our stride.
Herb and Doris had a big two story house and a big barn and several out buildings and they were all painted grey and they were trimmed in white. We had a small two story house and a good sized barn and they had been painted once but that was before my time. Our shop was small but I liked it better than Herb’s. My dad could heat and bend metal, shape horse shoes, fix tractors, and everything. Our shop was fun; Herb’s looked sterile and unused.
Herb and Doris had green grass in their yard and I always liked the click, click, click of the reel lawn mower as I pushed it around their yard. I was too small to mow all of their grass but they let me push it when I came. We didn’t have any grass in our yard, just dirt and a few weeds.
Herb and Doris had running water in their house and barn; turning the faucets and watching the water gush out was a favorite pastime. We had a hand pump over a well across the driveway from our house. When we wanted water we put the water bucket under the pump snout and pumped the handle enough times to fill the bucket and then wagged it back across the driveway to the house and hoisted it up onto the water bucket bench. We drank from the dipper that was always in the water bucket and we also used the dipper to put water in the wash pan, next to the bucket, to wash our hands and face. The white Ivory soap was in a saucer by the wash pan and the community towel hung from a rack above the wash pan, beside the mirror. We poured the used wash water into the waste water pail at the end of the bench; when the pail was full it was taken out and thrown into the yard.
Herb and Doris had a bathroom in their house. We had a path to a two hole out door toilet behind the house where the expired Sears and Roebuck catalogue was put to good use. The toilet was up from the well.
The sink in their indoor bathroom was a light lime green and the bath tub was the same pleasing color. Our bath tub was a galvanized tub that sat in the middle of the kitchen floor on Saturday night and the water was heated on our wood burning kitchen stove. We all took a bath every Saturday night; I was first, my older brother next and dad last. The water was grey and soapy by the time dad got into the tub.
It was a special treat for me to go into Herb and Doris’ bathroom, turn on the electric light, run water into the sink from the faucet, wash my face and hands with their fresh smelling green soap, and dry my hands on their clean green towel.
Fifty years later, when Steve asked me for the color of our home made soap I said, “Green!”
The last bar of green soap gets smaller with every shower; it’s now down to a thin green sliver.
I’ve always had a fascination about how soap was made. The magic of combining greasy lard with caustic lye and coming out with a product that you rub on your body and clothes is amazing. My grand parents made their own soap, but my parents bought all of their soap.
Therefore, when Steve (our oldest son) and his family started making soap several years ago I was more than interested. One year they brought all the equipment to Tucson and they made a batch of soap; I followed every detail with interest and anticipation.
Before making the soap we bought some white PVC pipe for soap molds; Steve didn’t like square bars of soap. We cut the pipe into short lengths that were the proper depth for bars of soap and we heated some of the pipe in the oven and formed it into oval shapes before cutting it into bar soap sizes.
After all the preparations were finished it was time to make soap. We had the lard, lye, perfumes, palm oil, health aids, and when they asked what color do you want the soap and I immediately said, “Green.” They asked for some green crayons and they shaved them into small pieces, melted them into a liquid and produced green soap. They made a double batch and when the day was done we had 70 bars of green soap spread all over the back patio cooling and hardening; that’s a five year supply of shower soap!
Herb and Doris Goodell were some of my folk’s good friends as I grew up. They lived five miles east of Utica, Montana, our home town, and we lived a mile and a half west. I always looked forward to a visit at Herb and Doris’ house.
Herb and Doris had several big tall pine trees and some big cottonwood trees around their house. We didn’t have any trees around our house; the nearest trees were three miles away, down by the river.
Herb and Doris had electricity in their house and barns and I loved flipping the switches to see the lights go on and off. We didn’t have electricity; we used kerosene lamps in the house and Dad hung the kerosene lantern on a nail as he milked the cows in the barn after dark. I remember walking with my dad when he carried the lantern after dark. Our shadows would move before and behind us as the lantern swung back and forth keeping perfect cadence with our stride.
Herb and Doris had a big two story house and a big barn and several out buildings and they were all painted grey and they were trimmed in white. We had a small two story house and a good sized barn and they had been painted once but that was before my time. Our shop was small but I liked it better than Herb’s. My dad could heat and bend metal, shape horse shoes, fix tractors, and everything. Our shop was fun; Herb’s looked sterile and unused.
Herb and Doris had green grass in their yard and I always liked the click, click, click of the reel lawn mower as I pushed it around their yard. I was too small to mow all of their grass but they let me push it when I came. We didn’t have any grass in our yard, just dirt and a few weeds.
Herb and Doris had running water in their house and barn; turning the faucets and watching the water gush out was a favorite pastime. We had a hand pump over a well across the driveway from our house. When we wanted water we put the water bucket under the pump snout and pumped the handle enough times to fill the bucket and then wagged it back across the driveway to the house and hoisted it up onto the water bucket bench. We drank from the dipper that was always in the water bucket and we also used the dipper to put water in the wash pan, next to the bucket, to wash our hands and face. The white Ivory soap was in a saucer by the wash pan and the community towel hung from a rack above the wash pan, beside the mirror. We poured the used wash water into the waste water pail at the end of the bench; when the pail was full it was taken out and thrown into the yard.
Herb and Doris had a bathroom in their house. We had a path to a two hole out door toilet behind the house where the expired Sears and Roebuck catalogue was put to good use. The toilet was up from the well.
The sink in their indoor bathroom was a light lime green and the bath tub was the same pleasing color. Our bath tub was a galvanized tub that sat in the middle of the kitchen floor on Saturday night and the water was heated on our wood burning kitchen stove. We all took a bath every Saturday night; I was first, my older brother next and dad last. The water was grey and soapy by the time dad got into the tub.
It was a special treat for me to go into Herb and Doris’ bathroom, turn on the electric light, run water into the sink from the faucet, wash my face and hands with their fresh smelling green soap, and dry my hands on their clean green towel.
Fifty years later, when Steve asked me for the color of our home made soap I said, “Green!”
Friday, February 18, 2005
Portion of Wesley for Thursday
"Wherever riches have increased, the essence of religion has decreased in the same proportion. Therefore I do not see how it is possible in the nature of things for any revival of religion to continue long. For religion must necessarily produce both industry and frugality, and these cannot but produce riches.But as riches increase, so will pride, anger, and love of the world in all its branches. How then is it possible that Methodism, that is a religion of the heart, though it flourishes now as the green bay tree, should continue in this state? For the Methodists in every place grow diligent and frugal; consequently, they increase in goods.Hence, they proportionately increase in pride, in anger, in the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the pride of life. So, although the form of religion remains, the spirit is swiftly vanishing away. Is there no way to prevent ... this continual decay of pure religion?" (John Wesley)
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Flying Machine
At the airport where I went for an Powered Parachute ride i saw this flying machine. It's powered by an old gas, one clynder Matag Washing Machine motor; one like my mother used when she upgraded from the hand washer. The smoke proves it is running.
The blue ball just behind the engine is a world globe, used for navigation. On top of the post, above the white flying instruction sheet and check list, is a candle in a small glass jar. The preflight instructions say light the candle before take off; it's the strobe light replacement.
The backseat has a spring for rapid ejection should it become necessary.
The wings are made of burlap stretched over a re-bar frame. It is a new design and not completely tested.
The wheels are from two different bicycles.
Flying Parachute
1-13-05 I actually went for a ride in/on this one. It flies about 30 mph and is a bucket of fun to ride. It will haul 500 pounds of people and takeoff and land in 400 feet. Fun, Fun, FUN!
It can't dive, loop, or spin, the things that get fixed wing pilots in trouble. It has three controls: a throttle, a left pedal, and a right pedal. Push the throttle to go up, push a pedal to turn, and decreas throttle to come down.
As soon as the machine starts moving the chute pops up over head, like pulling a kite string, and with full throttle you are airborne in 200 feet.
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