Friday, September 1, 2023

Editor's Corner



By Mary E. Adair

September 2023

“Focus more on your desire than on your doubt,
and the dream will take care of itself.”

– Mark Twain



Appropriate that we begin this column with the quote from Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain, first because this eZine was begun hopefully as a tribute to your editor's late husband AG Adair, himself a life-long writer and owner-publisher of numerous newspapers, magazines, and articles. It was a dream started over 26 years ago with the help of one of our authors, Mike Craner, who had begun to build webpages and websites, and didn't want mine and AG's magazine "Hobbies, Etc" to end. We had been publishing in newspaper format monthly and mailing to subscribers in 42 of the USA states, including to Hawaii and Alaska, as well as in six other countries So we made January 1998 our 'Goodbye issue' and announced we were going digital, free of subscription cost in February 1998. It was Mike's suggestion to have Pencil Stubs as the name as most hobbies addressed or submitted previously had been from writers. Loved the suggestion and here we are!




The photos above are first, the ID pic used for my column 26 years ago, as it had been the last one AG had taken of me in the summer of 1996 (he passed away in mid October that year.) The second was taken this summer, snapped by my oldest granddaughter Melinda Smith. Neither resemble the me shown in this column's ID pic as yours truly was braving near triple digit weather, plus a network server failure that along with Hurricane Idalia pushing uncommon rainfall into western Texas had this editor concerned if we would make the September issue release on time or not. (No, seriously you won't see me out anywhere looking so frazzled, but worried is mild to my actual feelings then.) Real contrasts, huh?


We welcome a new poetess Kay Forristal, who hails from the same part of the world as the poet John McGrath and Mattie Lennon who does the column "Irish Eyes." She brings us three poems for this month: "He is There," "Fleadh Cheoil," and "Home Blessings." McGrath shows two sonnets, "Foley's Field" and "Covid Sonnet." As you likely know, sonnets must adhere to strict rules, "Each line traditionally consists of 10 syllables — divided into five pairs — with an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable." If you are interested here is the SOURCE.


Walt Perryman has three poems for September with"Lies vs Truth," "A Warning (?)," and "Have A Good Trip." Bruce Clifford sent "Can You Remember Me" and "Remember Who We Are." We chose four of John I. Blair's previously published poems because we miss him and he is working on his health mostly now. They are: "Texas Summer," "Even A Snake Plant Sometimes Blooms," "Some Thoughts Enter My Brain by The Back Door," and "Time to Laugh."


Also seen before from one of my Great Grandsons Christopher Alaniz-Wadford is Special Reprint "9-11 Poem" lest we forget. Bud Lemire's poems this issue are "They All Come Along" and "People Change."


Since we mainly see Lemire's poetry along with illustrations to emphasize, some photos are his own, however he is a prolific photographer with his own Poetry Blog (see his Bio) and our only article demonstrates that talent. Don't fail to browse Mackinac Island Excursion Part One - A Pictorial Review. Next month will continue his trip with visits to the Butterfly House and his search for 'The Secret Garden.'


Mattie Lennon 's "Irish Eyes" is primarily a historical review of instances about Sive the play, or incidents during its numerous performances for many years. Most importantly though, to introduce the recent book by that name compiled by John B. Keane’s daughter Joanna Keane O'Flynn, who deems herself merely a commentator. "Introspective" by Thomas F. O'Neill welcomes September and like the rest of us is amazed how rapidly August disappeared. Judith Kroll tells how she found her voice and why, in her column "On Trek." Pauline Evanosky in her column "Woo Woo," shares her process of becoming a psychic in plain language and steps you can take that will help you.


Rod Cohenour, in his column "Cooking with Rod" authorizes his wife Melinda as Guest Chef for September and she explains the secret to making, storing, and using Sofrito. "Armchair Genealogy," her own column updates and releases some new discoveries while continuing the info on the use of DNA in the pursuit of Crime detection.


Danielle Cote Serar, whose column is "A Mother's Lessons," adds her daughter's entry into Kindergarten as comparison to the many lessons she's learning since becoming a mother. Marilyn Carnell's column "Sifoddling Along" informs us with examples about the architectural innovation, where she dwells, known as "piano windows." 


We continue to bless our good fortune in knowing our co-founder and webmaster, Mike Craner, whose knowledge and expertise keeps Pencil Stubs Online actually online. We place our confidence in him as we have in the past and shall continue doing so.


See you in October!.


Click on author's byline for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
This issue appears in the ezine at www.pencilstubs.com and also in the blog www.pencilstubs.net with the capability of adding comments at the latter.


Armchair Genealogy

 


By Melinda Cohenour

DNA Helps Solve Another Series of Murders


Part 2

I've been following this case since the first news came out in 2010. The discovery of one, then three more sets of remains and the ongoing search. My time as a paralegal for Assistant State Attorney Young Joe Simmons in Ocala Florida had been a very rough training ground for homicide investigation. One of my chores was to assist an FBI homicide cold case investigator review evidence from old (bloody, nauseating, scary, upsetting) cases: rape-murders, arson homicides, hit and run homicides ... You name it. We dug out the paper bags (human remains, bloody items, skulls and other bones, potential genetic materials are never stored in plastic or metal as they deteriorate. They must be stored in paper.) Watching the CSI teams working Rex Heuerman's home, I saw several paper bags being brought out. Will be interesting to later see at trial what they contained.

While I'm discussing evidence and The Search, Why Did They Not Search Those Big Plant Pots Left Standing On The Back Steps??? Tore up the large greenhouse, moved the smaller one, dismantled the deck, dug in the yard ... But left those pots intact. Trophies could be left hiding in plain sight. 

 

Gilgo Beach: Suffolk County Supreme Court Judge
Rules 'Probable Cause' In Heuermann DNA Swab Request

By Eyewitness News
Wednesday, August 9, 2023


SUFFOLK COUNTY, New York (WABC) -- Suffolk County Supreme Court Judge Timothy Mazzei on Wednesday ordered suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann to turn in a DNA swab.


Mazzei ruled "There is probable cause" to believe Rex Heuermann committed at least some of the Gilgo Beach murders "and, therefore, a basis to compel the buccal swab."


The swab is to be taken while Heuermann is in the presence of his attorney, who had opposed it.


The judge said a comparison of the Heuerman's direct DNA sample with the mitochondrial sample from a hair recovered from one of the victims and the DNA found on the pizza crust outside Heuermann's office "will yield probative material evidence, whether it is inculpatory or not."


A direct DNA sample could also be entered into statewide and nationwide databases. Mitochondrial DNA is ineligible.

~~~~~~~~~~~


This is HUGE. The mitochondrial sample (obtained from a male hair found adhered to the burlap camouflage material used to bind Megan Waterman and matched to a pizza crust discarded by Heuerman), under prevailing New York law, cannot be entered into statewide or nationwide criminal DNA databases UNTIL THE SUSPECT HAS BEEN TRIED AND CONVICTED.


Information regarding the DNA match to Rex Heuerman was outlined in the Affidavit used to secure a 'no bond' hold to ensure his continued incarceration while awaiting trial. The pertinent language appeared as follows:

"Male Hair Linked to Defendant Heuermann


       "During the initial examination of Ms. Waterman’s skeletal remains and the burlap materials, the Suffolk County Crime Laboratory was also able to recover a male hair from the “bottom of the burlap” used to wrap Ms. Waterman by her killer (hereinafter “MALE HAIR ON WATERMAN”).


       "An initial examination of said hair revealed Caucasian/European characteristics. However, the hair was unsuitable for further DNA analysis at that time by the Suffolk County Crime Laboratory. This hair was subsequently submitted for further DNA analysis and on or about July 31, 2020, Forensic Laboratory #1 was able to generate a DNA profile for the hair recovered on the bottom of the Waterman burlap. Specifically, Forensic Laboratory #1 determined that this hair belonged to a male in mitochondrial haplogroup V7a.


       "Following the discovery of the Chevrolet Avalanche, which was registered to defendant Heuermann, and the investigation of cellular billing records and other items, on or about January 26, 2023, a surveillance team observed and recovered a pizza box thrown by Defendant Rex A. Heuermann into a garbage can located in front of 385 5th Avenue in Manhattan (see below).


Trash can showing pizza box seen being discarded by Heuerman.
Photo taken by a surveillance team member.


Pizza box (seen above) as discarded by Heuerman and collected
by the surveillance team member who took this photo.


       "This pizza box was sent to the Suffolk County Crime Laboratory for analysis, where a swab was taken from the leftover pizza crust. On or about March 23, 2023, the Suffolk County Crime Laboratory sent the swab from the pizza crust abandoned by Defendant Heuermann to Forensic Laboratory #2.


       "On or about April 28, 2023, a detective hand-delivered from Forensic Laboratory #1 a portion of MALE HAIR ON WATERMAN to Forensic Laboratory #2 for testing.


       "On or about June 12, 2023, Forensic Laboratory #2 was able to determine as to the MALE HAIR ON WATERMAN and the swab from the pizza crust, that the “mitochondrial DNA profile(s) are the same,” specifically at a rate that would, as per the EMPOP database, exclude 99.96% of the North American population from the MALE HAIR ON WATERMAN. Based on the foregoing, while 99.96% of the North American population can be excluded from the MALE HAIR ON WATERMAN, it is significant that Defendant Heuermann cannot be excluded from the male hair recovered near the “bottom of the burlap” utilized to restrain and transport Megan Waterman’s naked and deceased body."

~~~~~~~~~~~


Although this mitochondrial DNA match furnished strong evidence of the probability of guilt sufficient to convince the judge to rule in favor of prosecution, granting no bail, it is clear why a motion compelling collection of a buccal swab (cells collected from inside the mouth from cheeks) to provide a full autosomal DNA profile was essential.


One of the first known comparisons has been announced by Las Vegas, Nevada police in the case of a teenage mother, turned prostitute, whose body was discovered the same year Rex Heuerman was seeking to purchase a timeshare condo in that city. Victoria Camara disappeared in 2003, in a timeframe police believe Heuerman may have been in Las Vegas, a city he visited frequently, scoping out a timeshare condo, one of two he ultimately purchased. The first property was bought in 2004. This victim is one of three Las Vegas police are investigating in connection with Heuerman.


       'Property records obtained by 13 Investigates show Heuermann bought a timeshare in 2004 at the Club Wyndham Grand Desert on Harmon Avenue and Koval Lane. He later sold it in 2013.'


Victoria Camara, aged 17 when her strangled, discarded body was found in 2003
.


       'Alleged Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann’s DNA will reportedly be tested against DNA recovered in the case of Victoria Camara, a New Jersey mom who was found murdered in 2003. Rex’s arrest is tied to the ‘Gilgo Four,’ referring to the four women whose bodies were found within days of each other in 2010. The women in question were Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, Amber Lynn Costello, 27, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25.'


       "Victoria Camara, who was 17 when she was killed, resorted to sex work to earn a living for her baby girl and herself. In August 2003, her remains were found in the desert near a haul road in Boulder City. The location is about 26 miles southeast of Las Vegas."

~~~~~~~~~~~


A second potential victim has been reported to police in South Carolina, who disappeared in 2017 under very mysterious circumstances. Julia Ann Bean was last seen by her daughter, Cam, on the night preceding Cam's high school graduation in the company of a man Cam swears is the same man whose photos have been flooding all the news channels - Rex Heuerman. Cam says her mother, in the company of this man, arrived to take Cam to her mani-pedi appointment in preparation for her graduation. Cam says they arrived in the Chevrolet Avalanche pictured in connection with Heuerman's vehicle recently taken under warrant by South Carolina investigators assisting the Suffolk County team gathering evidence in the Gilgo Beach serial murder case. According to Cam, the man bragged about having several properties including beachfront properties where Cam and her graduating friends could celebrate. He was reported by Cam to have said, "I love your mother. I plan to marry her." This was the last sighting of Julia Ann Bean.

Daughter of missing S. Carolina mom believes she was last seen with Gilgo suspect Rex Heuermann

By Olivia Land and Jesse O’Neill
August 23, 2023 | 11:20am


Julia Ann Bean, missing since 2017
.


       The family and friends of a missing South Carolina woman reportedly fear she was last with suspected Long Island serial killer Rex Heuermann — a possibility being investigated by police.


       Julia Ann Bean’s daughter immediately recognized Heuermann, 59, when shown a photo of the suspected killer, who owns a home in the Palmetto State, family friend Heidi Kovas told The US Sun.


       “I have chills … I’ve seen him,” the daughter replied in text messages viewed by the outlet.


       “That was the last man I saw her with personally,” she texted of the night her then- 36-year-old mom went missing in June 2017.


       “She knew him right away,” Kovas also told PIX 11 of Bean’s daughter, who was not identified and did not speak directly to either outlet.


       “She recognized him right away. She said that was the last person she ever saw with her mom.”


       Kovas reported what Bean’s daughter told her to officials late Sunday, according to the reports.


       “I truly believe Rex Heuermann did something to my friend,” she told The US Sun. “I just want to find my friend.”


       Scott Bonner of the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that the report was being investigated.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Gilgo Beach Serial Murder case Updates:


What was planned as your author's opening narrative this month was the surprise headline announcing the identification of Fire Island Jane Doe, aka Jane Doe 7. My coverage of how DNA continues to solve long cold cases and identify victims Jane and John Doe remains ended with the sad notation that four of the Gilgo Beach Murder victims remained unidentified: the transgender Asian male, the victim known as Peaches and her toddler daughter (linked by DNA) and last, but by no means least, Fire Island Jane Doe aka Jane Doe 7. Within days of publication; however, the following news made headlines:

New York authorities identify another Gilgo Beach murder victim. She was previously known as ‘Fire Island Jane Doe’


By Brynn Gingras and Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN
Updated 2:03 PM EDT, Fri August 4, 2023


CNN


Karen Vergata, legs and feet discovered on Fire Island NY in 1996. Skull on Gilgo Beach in 2011.


CNN —


       'Two weeks after announcing the arrest of the suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer, authorities in New York on Friday revealed the identity of a woman whose remains were among those found during the course of the investigation over a decade ago.


       'Karen Vergata, a 34-year-old escort from Manhattan who went missing on Valentine’s Day in 1996, is the murder victim known as “Fire Island Jane Doe,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said at a news conference.


       'Tierney did not link alleged killer Rex Heuermann to Vergata’s death in his announcement. He didn’t comment on any potential suspects either, saying it is a “confidential investigation.”'

~~~~~~~~~~~


With the announced identification of Fire Island Jane Doe aka Jane Doe 7, three sets of remains comprising the ten found on or adjacent to Gilgo Beach are yet to be identified. Most discussions include the skeletal remains of Shannan Gilbert whose 911 call triggered the search that resulted in the discovery of those ten.


As yet to be identified are the mixed race female called "Peaches" (due to the unique tattoo above her left breast clearly visible when her newly dismembered torso was discovered June 28, 1997, in Lakeview, New York, near Hempstead Lake State Park. She had been dismembered, her torso stuffed in a green Rubbermaid storage bin); the toddler whose remains were found near the remains later identified as Valerie Mack (Peaches' skull and teeth were located furthest west of the ten victims from Baby Doe but have since been shown via DNA analysis to be her mother); and the skeletal remains of a young Asian male found dressed in women's clothing determined to have been murdered by blunt force trauma indicative of a 'murderous rage.'


Many long-time researchers of the Gilgo Beach murders opine the identification of Peaches and daughter will be announced soon and has been kept from public scrutiny thus far in furtherance of the investigation.


That leaves the Asian transgender male, the anomaly in this tableau. It is believed this victim was placed on Gilgo Beach five or even ten years prior to discovery. That would place his time of death anywhere from 2001 to 2006.


Difficulties facing investigators include an apparent lack of a missing person report pinpointing a time and place last seen. In your author's opinion, Asian culture itself may contribute to the lack of information. Any trait, occupation, or action thought to bring shame to the family is said to be scrupulously overlooked, even purposefully hidden.


A topic of discussion regarding this young Asian transgender male is the disclosure in the 32-page filing by prosecutors in the Rex Heuerman case seeking the judge's order to hold Heuerman without bail is the list of internet search topics presented. Among numerous repulsive and disgusting searches for violent rape, assault, and torture of (mostly) teen and/or young females specifying 'porn' is the rather intriguing entry: 'Asian twink tied up porn'. Those "in-the-know" say this references a transgender male sex worker.


Much discussion online has been had as to why Heuerman included this peculiar search. Many want clarification as to WHEN this search was made. If tied to a point in time within that 2001-2006 period perhaps Rex was seeking that sex object. If during the body discovery period of 2010-2011 was he trying to decipher why this body was there? Personally, I think he was including that outlier in his attempt to reveal how much investigators knew about his private burial ground.


Still more to be discovered, folks. Tune in for October's Armchair Genealogy column.


Click on the author's byline for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
This issue appears in the ezine at www.pencilstubs.com and also in the blog www.pencilstubs.net with the capability of adding comments at the latter.


Woo Woo

By Pauline Evanosky

Three Things You Can Do to Be a Psychic

I’ve noticed that where I write at Medium.com, there seems to be a lot of attention paid to pieces like this one, where the title is Five Things to Do for A Successful Career or Three Things to Do to Get Your Boyfriend to Like You More. It is a very popular technique of sorts, and I intend to do that here. Interestingly, it was one of the Medium articles that suggested people tend to pay more attention to numbered items if the number is odd rather than even. I know gasoline has always been sold at $4.89 rather than $4.84 a gallon. It’s a rule.


This article is Three Things You Can Do to Be Psychic

    1. Pretend.
    2. Read about and visit some psychics.
    3. Writing. Be ready for psychological growth and healing as you develop as a psychic.


Step One: Pretend


Personally, there are a gazillion things you can do to be psychic, but if I were asked to narrow it down to the most important three, I would say the number one thing you should first do is to pretend you are already a psychic.


It sounds like a cheat, but it is not. It is very important to act like it before you become the real deal. I took a Tony Robbins class on cassette from our library once on how to be the best person you can be. He had a story in it about a guy in prison. This man had been a prisoner for a very long time and was asked the question, “What’s the first thing you’re going to do when you get out?” He answered that he was going to win a golf tournament. They laughed at him, saying, “Have you practiced? You can’t practice golf in prison. You’re crazy.” He just smiled. Eventually, he got released, and he did, in fact, win a golf tournament. They asked him how he did it. He said that he practiced golfing in his head all those years in prison. He would imagine being a great golfer.


The thing is, I no longer believe there is a psychic and a not psychic version of us. I believe we are all psychic from the moment of birth. Probably from before that, but I say that from the moment of birth. What I did was develop that part of myself as an adult. I just started paying attention, and I’ve always believed that if I can do something, so can you because I am no different from anybody else. Yes, you can pull that out of yourself.


Step Two: Read about and visit some psychics.


In order to present yourself as a real psychic, you need to start watching them. And this is the second step where you investigate psychics. It doesn’t matter which ones. What you’ve actually done is put out a desire to the universe that you want to be a psychic, and you want to get a closer look.


You trust in the universe that the psychics you need to learn from will come your way. It’s called the Law of Manifestation. It works with all sorts of things, and becoming a psychic is one of those things.


So, just start paying attention to whichever psychics come to your notice. Many of them have written books, and you can read them. By the way, I did these steps, so I can say from personal experience they work.


Here are some of the psychics I read about on the road to becoming a psychic myself. Many I read years and years before I ever thought about myself being a psychic. It was where life led me.


I learned about Seth, my guide, from reading the Seth books in high school. Jane Roberts channeled Seth and, with the help of her husband Robert, transcribed those notes and wrote the books. You can still see Jane on YouTube. She and Robert were fascinating people, and I am ever so grateful to also be channeling Seth.


I think of “The Magic of Findhorn” by Paul Hawken. He told the stories of Peter and Eileen Caddy, where back in the early 60s, they found themselves destitute in Scotland. Eileen was a channel, like me, whose guidance told her to plant a garden. Nothing would grow in the spot, and there commenced some arguing, but then they did plant, and what they planted grew. Crazy grew in a place where nothing would grow. This, to me, represents what it is like to be in touch with Nature and the magic of that. This is one of the first books I read.


Read about Rosemary Altea and her guide Proud Eagle. She got to be quite famous and has many books you can read. She taught me how it is to have a friendly and teaching relationship between a person and their spiritual guide.


Read Sylvia Browne. She became famous and ended up creating her own church. I can understand that because many of the established churches don’t allow for expanded conscious communication with Spirit. She was able to look at a person and get a feel for the physical things going on with them. She’d say things like, “Get your thyroid tested.” She grew up psychic, so her experience was different from my own, where I officially became psychic at 31 years old. Actually, years before I was 31, but I didn’t know what was going on at the time. It was only by looking at my own life experiences from the advantage of hindsight that I realized I’d pretty much been psychic all the time.


Read Pat Rodegast and her guide Emmanuel. I think this one, along with Rosemary Altea, might have been two of the channels that most influenced me. I saw how incredibly natural it all is, how kind and how loving a relationship can be with Spirit. vRead James Van Praagh. He, too, is a famous psychic and, like Sylvia Browne, was psychic from an early age. At the time of this writing, James is very much still alive. Read “Messages from Michael” by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. Michael is a group of guides with a complicated, until you understand it, system of levels and over leaves sort of like the enneagram system of personality types employed by lots of companies. I am according to a Michael channel a 7th-level sage old soul. Old souls tend to say, “Whatever” and Mature Souls tend to say, “Do it my way”. It’s just interesting to see how folks stack up.


What goes hand in hand with learning how to become a psychic is developing a deeper spiritual growth. I can recommend a few more books.


One is “A Course in Miracles”. It’s a three-part book, the text, the lessons, and a manual for teachers. I only ever got part way through the lessons, but it was enough to change my mindset enough to allow for channeling to happen.


The other one is “Autobiography of a Yogi.” I read this when I was 16 years old. It was the book that literally fell at my feet in the library. That it was on the lowest shelf and somehow got pushed through just as I walked by was enough to get my attention. Even then, I recognized something was going on, and I realized I needed to read that book. The Yogi (teacher) in question is Parmahansa Yogananda. He taught me compassion.


Another book is “Siddhartha” by Herman Hesse. Written in 1922, this is the story of Buddah’s life.


Many of these books are available online, like “A Course in Miracles.” I have recently begun doing the lessons again and am on the third one as of today. There are only 365 of them, one for every day in the year. This one will really change your life.


I would be remiss if I weren’t to mention Edgar Casey. They called him the sleeping prophet. He would lie down and go into a trance while someone would write down all that he said while he was channeling in a trance. I don’t even know if channeling was a word used when he was alive. He lived from 1887 to 1945. One of his books was in my parent’s collection, and I read it when I was just a little girl. I remember he was a lot like Sylvia Browne, where he would channel medical information that was quite extensive. I wonder now why my parents even had the book. But it was there when I was eight years old.


Don’t feel that you have to read all of these books. Many are available new or secondhand. It would be interesting to see just how many of them you “happen” across on your next trip to a thrift store or to Goodwill. But read at least one.


The other part of getting to know psychics is to visit a few of them. Just to see what they do. You will know if what they say to you is true or not. They are just people. They have absolutely no power to change your life, so you need not be worried about that. Just because they say so doesn’t mean something is actually going to happen. I just want you to see some psychics. Hand over your $10 or $20, or $75 for a reading. Trust in your own intuition that this is the “right” psychic for you to be visiting. Be aware that psychics are human and, as such, have their own filters about how they view reality. Imagine somebody with blue sunshades on and somebody looking at the same scene with rose-colored sunshades on. What they see is the same and yet different. Psychics are like that, just like anybody else on the face of the earth.


For instance, you get a psychic who has an Old Testament sort of worldview. By the way, just take the suggestions from any psychic you go to with a grain of salt, just as you would if you were talking to a friend. My friend Thayer always used to say to me, "Do not let anybody should on you, especially a guide.” It was news to me, but since then, the guides I talk to say things like, “You might consider” instead of “You should.” Or you might get a psychic whose interest is in earth and nature and frame things in terms of nature spirits. The psychic you get might feel easier and want to use the Tarot or the Runes as a tool of divination.


Speaking of which, there are many tools of divination you can use as a psychic. I am more drawn toward the Runes. I’m not sure why but pulling a simple three Rune spread for myself is nice every once in a while. These are just tools that Spirit uses to talk with us. My preference is channeling. I just send out my Spidey senses, and we connect. Actually, I don’t have Spidey senses any more than anybody does, Spider-Man included. It’s just your awareness and consciousness that goes beyond what has been proscribed as what reality really is as defined by people who cannot or won’t.


These days there are lots of places you can go to, most of them online, to take classes to become psychic. My view is that any class would be a first limiting step in learning how to channel because you would be accepting somebody else’s boundaries about what you can and cannot believe. For a better result, take more than one class from totally different teachers. I say for you to trust yourself and just plunge into the water. You are a full-grown adult and know right from wrong. With that in mind, I would say that I trust whatever choices you make.


Step Three: Writing. Be ready for psychological growth and healing as you develop as a psychic.


This brings me to the third step in learning to be psychic. You’ve already done steps one and two, where you allowed yourself to pretend that you are already a psychic and gone and investigated how psychics go about being psychic.


The third step is to start writing. This is your soapbox, where you write about everything that ticks you off, the things that amaze you, the things you are learning, and the things you are unlearning while you develop into a psychic. There will be a lot of emotional growth for you to pass through, and it’s not easy. It is hard, but it is one of the most valuable things you can do for yourself. You don’t have to keep it for posterity. The idea of the act of writing is to puzzle over what you are learning and get it out of you. It can be handwritten or a computerized Word document.


The thing with learning how to be a psychic is that there also be an underlying sentiment to help other people. Otherwise, why be a psychic? If you are going to be of service to other people, you have to be of service to yourself first. Which, in itself, is a huge commitment. You say to yourself and promise your guides and the universe that you will be the most mentally and psychically healthy individual you can possibly be. Now, you will never be 100% mentally or physically healthy. Nobody is. This is part of our own life paths. There is always something new to learn about yourself. There is always room for improvement. But you can at least try.


I made an actual promise to my guides that I would always try to pay attention and always try to be a better person.


This step will show up regardless of whether you know about it or not. Best to be prepared is what I always say. Learning to be psychic goes hand in hand with you getting better at whatever is ailing you right now. I say that because the deeper you get into this lifelong study of being a better psychic, the more shit, yes, I said shit, comes up from inside your own being. What happens to me, my own signal is two-fold. I get cranky. I am Miss Cranky Pants. I also attract bad drivers. Not so much anymore because I don’t drive the car as much as I used to, but years ago? When I was a relatively new psychic? Yes, they would come out of the woodwork. You will have your own triggers. It’s just the annoying or bad stuff that pops up in your life that is the signal to you that you’ve got something under the surface that wants some attention.


I learned about this once from a friend of mine who was a psychologist. I was rattling on about the crazy drivers who had surrounded me on my way to work that morning. Instead of saying something banal to me like, “You’re just having a bad day,” he asked me what was bothering me. I had never heard of such a thing. By the way, he wrote a couple of books. One of them is titled “Be Your Own Therapist: Whoever You Hire is Just Your Assistant” and “Finding Your Soul In the Spirituality Maze.” He has since passed on, but if you look hard enough into Internet Archives (The Wayback Machine) you can find both books as free-reads.


I learned a technique to use when stuff like that starts happening. It’s a psychological healing technique called Focusing. In fact, the founder of this technique is Eugene Gendlin. The book is called “Focusing.” Basically, you lie down on your bed and ask your body, “What’s wrong?” You drift aimlessly, although aware enough for the “problem” to surface and reveal itself. When it does, instantly, you feel a huge physical relief happen.


The example in the book is a woman who went baloney. Her husband had gone to work, she was left alone in the kitchen, irritable as all get out but not knowing why. She smashed a bunch of plates. She’d recently heard about focusing and lay down on her bed to try to figure out what was wrong. What happened is that she realized she wasn’t getting the support she thought she needed from her husband to go to work and to do new things. As soon as she realized it was the right thing that was bothering her, she let out a huge sigh. Her stomach stopped clenching, and her body relaxed. And all was well. When her husband returned, she talked to him about it, and they resolved their issues. I think it is a good technique. It’s worked for me on many occasions. The signal that you’ve figured out what has been bothering you is the great physical ease you experience in your body.


The writing part of this third step in journals is for your eyes only and to track your emotional healing. Getting your feelings and observations out on paper is so important to the entire process.


So, in review the three steps:

    1. Pretend.
    2. Read about and visit some psychics.
    3. Be ready for psychological growth and healing as you develop as a psychic and write.


These are basic steps. Many more experiences will be involved in this process of you becoming a professed psychic. Because you sent out your wishes to the universe, the universe will provide access to the steps you need. I am a loner. Perhaps you are not and will find groups to interact with as your journey proceeds. I’ve mostly done all of this on my own. When it was time for me to start meeting other psychics, I did and realized just how different we all are.


Trust in the process, and although I won’t guarantee you will win the lottery, you might just find yourself on a terrific adventure.


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Cooking with Rod

 


By Rod Cohenour

This month I'd like to share with you a condiment sensation that my wife has modified to go with just about anything in the world. It is delicious and can enhance the flavor of just about every food to which it's added.


It is a condiment by definition but is so delicious you will find yourself wanting to use it in many ways: as a dip, as a sauce, as an added ingredient to soup or a casserole or even a marinade for meats. Try it, you'll love it!


~Bon appetit!


Caribbean Sofrito by Melinda


(our Guest Chef this month)

Since I choose to blend Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Cubano versions (and a touch of my own innovation) of Sofrito, it is a blend of the original Spanish and the various Caribbean interpretations. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Sofrito, it is a basic flavoring sauce used as a base or as a flavor additive to any number of stews, rice dishes, meats and other spicy Caribbean, Mexican, or Nuevo Mexicano foods.


It can be prepared with all fresh ingredients or with sauteed onions, peppers and other selected veggies. Can use sheet pan and broil the veggies or saute in oil in the skillet to bring out best caramelized flavor. Otherwise is almost like a fresh veggie salsa or pico de Gallo.


All ingredients will be blended together and then placed in freezer appropriate containers (about one cup each) until ready to use. Suggested dishes which benefit from the addition of Sofrito are listed below. Sofrito can be stored in the refrigerator in covered containers for up to 7 days although I recommend 3-4 days, and up to 6 months properly stored in the freezer. Again, I suggest using it sooner to ensure you get the full benefit of its fresh sweet, spicy, smoky flavor.


Ingredients:

  • 2 each large Red, yellow and green Bell Peppers, membranes and seeds removed. Chopped in large pieces
  • 2-3 Large, meaty tomatoes, cut in large chunks
  • 6-8 Cubanelle peppers, rinse and quarter (if unable to find these, substitute 1-2 large Anaheim or Poblano peppers) remove membrane and seeds, chop in large pieces. (If using a substitute, consider adding a touch of cumin or cardamom or other smoky flavored seasoning as Cubanelle Peppers have that sweet, smoky flavor.)
  • 2-3 large White onions, cut in eighths
  • Celery stalks (leaves can be included) de-string and cut in 2-3" pieces
  • 3-4 tomatillos, cut in chunks (optional)
  • 1 Culantro leaf (culantro is the broad leafed cousin to cilantro and has a much stronger taste. Use sparingly or merely add a bit more cilantro).
  • 1 bunch cilantro, remove stems to prevent Sofrito tasting bitter
  • 1 cup vegetable oil (add to blender about 2 Tablespoons at a time)
  • 2-3 cups water, added to blender 1/2 to 3/4 cup at a time to facilitate blending of ingredients
  • 2-3 Tablespoons minced garlic (use less or more to taste)
  • Ground black pepper to taste. You may choose not to add spices, herbs, or seasonings to the Sofrito, opting to add to suit your taste to the dish you choose to enhance with the Sofrito. Suggest using Cumin, Chile powder, ancho pepper seasoning, cayenne or ground Chiles.


Directions:

    1. Wash all fresh ingredients well and dry. Prepare as listed above.
    2. If desired, saute peppers, onions, and celery to caramelize and enhance flavors. This is not an essential step, however. I prefer to saute, but if pressed for time will omit.
    3. Using a blender, add a portion of the oil first as indicated above. Add a portion of each listed vegetable being careful not to over fill. Add a portion of the minced garlic. (NOTE: This recipe will require several repetitive steps, until all the veggies have been fully blended.)
    4. Add only enough water to facilitate processing of the fresh veggies. As the vegetables are reduced in quantity by the process, you can add a balanced selection to the blender and start with a few quick pulses until veggies are being rotated down to the blades. Then you can blend until all are reduced to a texture like a relish (see photo below). Best if not too watery.
    5. Pour up blended Sofrito into a large bowl or other container large enough to contain all the processed ingredients. After all ingredients have been processed and added to this container, stir very well until all have been blended together. This step will ensure all the large batch of Sofrito has the same flavor.
    6. Store in covered containers. Suggest smaller cup or pint containers for freezer. (Some suggest freezing in ice cube trays, then popping the frozen cubes into freezer safe Ziploc bags.)



Frozen Sofrito can keep well up to 6 months if stored in heavy duty freezer safe containers. I suggest using in the next 2-4 months for best flavor.


Keep a couple jars in the fridge for use in the next week or so, if properly stored. Think Mason jars with lids.




Both pics are of Sofrito, as color changes according to which Ingredients are chosen.


Suggested uses:

  • Add a cup of Sofrito to Pollo Guisado or Carne Guisado
  • Add to Cuban Black Beans
  • Use to flavor steamed rice, adding after steaming liquid has been absorbed
  • Add a cup to Arroz con Pollo
  • Use as a sauce, heated (do not scorch) for chicken or beef prepared for any Southwest or Mexican dish
  • Use as a sauce in combination with green or red sauced Chile Enchiladas
  • Use over Burritos
  • Add to flavor Chicken Fajitas
  • Mix a little with Salsa Roja and serve as a dip
  • Add to a batch of Queso


You get the idea. Experiment. Add to various dishes that would be enhanced by the fresh, mildly spicy flavors imparted by Sofrito. They don't have to be classic Mexican dishes. Try adding to a Southwest Beef Stew for instance.


Enjoy!!


Watch for "Cooking with Rod" in October!


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Sifoddling Along

 


By Marilyn Carnell

Architectural Quirks

Below is a photo of piano windows in the rental house we lived in for the first year we lived in Minnesota from 2011 to 2012. The other photo is an outside shot of another house. It was the first time I was aware of such an architectural feature and once I noticed them; I found they were quite popular in Hopkins, our new hometown. I have seen more than 20 in a casual drive around the city. Although they are in many homes, I have been told it is not a good idea to place a piano next to an outside wall. I suppose they didn’t know that at the time.




Housing developments in this small city of about 19,000 people came in bursts. In the late 1800s, Czechoslovakian farmers who raised raspberries commercially built large homes. After World War II they converted the farms to “starter homes”. (See following examples.)



Our house is one of the few built later (1967). Today all the home-building sites have been sold so most residents live in apartments and condos. The existing houses have been extensively remodeled and updated, but the unusual architectural features have been retained.



Once derided as a community of “cars and bars” due to the plethora of car dealerships and drinking spots, Hopkins is now a desirable place to live as it is one of the more affordable communities in the metro Minneapolis area.



I do not have piano windows in this house, but it shares another common feature in Hopkins houses. My son and his family live in a house built after World War II. Both of our houses have central halls with a built-in linen closet and drawers next to a laundry chute to the basement. Mine has one addition—a pull-out folding shelf. I added the barely-seen little white labels to remind me what goes where.




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Introspective


By Thomas F. O'Neill

 

Where has the summer gone?


September should focus on finishing those uncompleted tasks rectifying and improving your current situation because we all need self-improvement. So, find some uninterrupted time to search within, look at who you are now, take note of what still needs healing, and most of all, find forgiveness in your heart for yourself and others.


We should also take time to put ourselves in another person’s shoes rather than being overly judgmental. In doing so, you will relinquish your selfishness and move closer to recognizing the universal love that encompasses us and everything around us. Self-tune yourself to the world and usher in love and healing. This is the core meaning of the number nine, and September is the ninth month of the year, symbolizing a spiritual awakening, enlightenment, and the fulfillment of our divine purpose. September also marks the end of a cycle and the beginning of a new one.


Let your September revolve around service, responsibility, and self-sacrifice. We will now witness our summer fade and autumn begin, a cycle of life and death in nature. So, let us encourage one another to let go of the old and welcome in the new, both in our external environment and within ourselves.


September comes from the Latin root septem-, meaning “seven,” because, in the original Roman republican calendar, September was the seventh month of the year rather than the ninth. The Roman calendar was only ten months long and included the following months: Martius, Aprilis, Maius, Junius, Quintilis, Sextilis, September, October, November, and December ....... ✌

Always with love,
Thomas F O'Neill

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On Trek

 

By Judith Kroll

I Have a Voice

For years my voice has been muffled. Home, school, religion, marriage, etc all kept me in my place.


When I made up my mind to speak my language, my heart, my soul, it ruffled some feathers, but so be it.


I wasn't mean, but I wanted my thoughts to be expressed.


I remember when my kids were little and when they went to bed we would all hear each other's prayers. Except mine.


I was a woman and was not allowed to pray in front of a man. In this case my now Ex. It was the rules of the cult.


I would listen to each child cite what they thought about their day, and who they were sending love to, etc.


I sat one day contemplating how sad, they never get to hear my feelings, my thoughts, how I matter too.


When my husband wasn't there, I could pray with them, and share that intimate feeling of connection with all.


Now if someone asks me for my opinion, I will give it. Kindly and with love, I will share my thoughts. Sometimes with a dash of humor as well.


We all matter. The stars in the sky matter. They shine on us every day and night, letting us know how important they are to the earth, the environment, and to each of us individually as to how little we are in the universe, but that we still matter


By loving ourselves the love we have within us, is shared, and if each of us can learn to speak our truths of goodness, how much love can be spread throughout the globe. Not just verbally, but also in our actions.


We respect each other, and respect all animals on the earth, and the water supply and the trees, and each other. We have a voice, use it joyfully and with love.
Judith 8-24-23


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Irish Eyes


By Mattie Lennon

Fear Of Big Words And
Love Of The Words Of John B.

“Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking.” (I had to throw that in.)

Anyway, when encountering a big word while reading aloud I’m always afraid that I will pronounce it wrong. That fear is classed as a social phobia. And I only discovered recently that there is a word for the fear of big words. Here it is;
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia

Try pronouncing that one.


Speaking of words. There are very few people on this green and misty island who haven’t seen “Sive” by John B. Keane. A rural drama about a young and beautiful girl who lives with her uncle Mike, his wife Mena and his mother Nanna. And there is hardly a parish hall on this island where it hasn’t been staged. But where did it all start?


One night, sixty four years ago, 30 year old John B. went, with his wife Mary, to the Listowel Drama Group’s production of All Souls Night by Joseph Tomelty. On the way home he said to Mary, “I could write as good a play as that.” On arriving home he reached for his favourite Biro. By 6.30 next morning, as dawn was breaking over Gurtenard wood and footfall was starting in Market Street, he had completed Scene One of Sive. A fortnight later he had finished the first draft, he showed it to a few close friends and, as if with one voice, they told him that it wouldn’t work. He was given different reasons by different people; the names of the characters were ridiculous. The theme was outgrown. The language was too flowery. He re-wrote it and submitted it to the Abbey Theatre. The script was returned to him without any comment.


It was first staged by the Listowel Drama Group in Walshe’s Ballroom, Listowel on February 02nd 1959. They later put it on in the Abbey Theatre for one week. (When the Abbey Company eventually produced the play in 1985 it ran to packed houses for 42 weeks.) John B. said,” They got the harshness, the bitterness, the poverty of the period . . . At long last a few elderly and semi-elderly playwrights are getting *Cothrom na Feinne “). There was an Off-Broadway production but John B. was probably more impressed when the Listowel Drama Group won the All- Ireland Drama Final in Athlone with it.


Listowel people who visited Leinster House as the guests of Dan Moloney TD after their victory in Athlone in 1959


When the group was touring north Kerry with the play the playwright was playing Carthalawn, the singing tinker. He gave an unforgettable performance in Ballylongford. One unscripted scene drew mixed reactions from the audience. As the slender John B. was about to leave the stage at the end of Act two, gently singing what should have been the curtain-line, “And they laid her dead, to bury in the clay,” there was a wardrobe malfunction. His borrowed trousers, which were several sizes too big for him, headed towards Australia. Despite frantic, whispered, instructions to “get off ye eejit” he stood his ground. Most actors have adlibbed at times but this was different. Without missing a beat John B. composed an additional verse to the theme song, in seconds, and sang it with his trousers around his ankles before his exeunt stage left. Do you know how many times Sive has been staged? Neither do I but in 2018, the year that that he was nominated for Kerry Person of the Year, John B’s son Billy, put out a call on RTE radio asking any actress, amateur or professional, who played Sive at any time in the previous fifty-nine years to make contact.


The search resulted in an assembly of 50 “Sives” in the Gaiety Theatre on Sunday 11th February 2018. They ranged in ages from . . . Well! This national gathering of Sives met each other over a cup of tea in the John B. Bar and had a group photograph taken on the Gaiety stage. The group included Margaret Ward who played Sive in that very first production


I have read the script of Sive many times; both the three act version and the later two act version. I have now just finished one with a difference. Sive is published by Mercier Press with introduction and commentary by John B’s daughter Joanna. The word “commentary” doesn’t fully describe her input. She expands on the description of every character which is given in the stage directions and analyses each of those multi-layered characters who show every emotion to which human beings are heir. It is as if every one of them has the benefit of a psychoanalyst’s report. She explains in detail the imagery and language which was still alive in North Kerry when the play was written and set, quoting her father who said, “The North Kerry dialect was the love-child of two languages –Elizabethan English and Bardic Irish.” He said much the same to me when I interviewed him for a radio programme the year before he died when he was in constant pain. He told me that he certainly would not have been a writer if he hadn’t been introduced to the people in “the land of Dan Paddy Andy” as a ten year old in 1938. “I was introduced to new people and a new language.”


While he admitted that people are entitled to talk anyway the like, (he supported the Language Freedom Movement, when it was founded in 1966) he went on to say that in his time with the people of the Stacks Mountains, “I never in all my years – even now- heard the four letter word used. Although he was always a champion of free speech, (he backed the Language Freedom Movement when it was founded in 1966)he went on to say, ” . . . I think it sounds wrong . . .People who have God-given speech and literacy that they can’t think of something better than that “F” word.”


Joanna points out her father’s fairness when she says that he, .” . . .does not overtly condemn the Catholic Church in the play but rather subtly brings to light the dominant, controlling influence this powerful bastion brought to bear on Irish life at the time.” It couldn’t have been put better. I have yet to meet a person with a more balanced view of the Catholic Church in Ireland, than the late John B.


Earlier this year Joanna ,who is an English teacher and was four times Chairperson of Listowel Writers’ Week was dismissed along with her fellow veteran members when the voluntary committee was “unceremoniously disbanded without explanation” on foot of a consultant’s report which recommended restructuring . The “restructuring” took place and resulted in a 2023 festival which wasn’t a patch on any of the 51 Writers Week festivals which went before it and a lot of bad feeling in Kerry and beyond.


“The rapturous rat-a-tat-tat of his typewriter will stay with me forever,” Joanna says. It is not the only thing that stayed with her. His influence had the same effect on her as the people of Stacks Mountain had on him. It made a wordsmith of her .This publication is described as “suitable for both Senior and Junior cycle classes” but I believe that no actor, director or producer involved in a future production of Sive should stage it without reading this revealing work.


See you in October.


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A Mother's Lessons


By Danielle Cote Serar

This Too Shall Pass

To say the last month and a half has been challenging would be an understatement and if I’m being fully honest with myself, I can say that 2023 has been a doozy for sure. Just to give an example, in the span of less than one month, I visited urgent care/same-day walk-in clinics 5 times, 3 of those in one week, personally had three major falls thanks to my two-year-old subconsciously trying to take me out, my 2-year-old son suffered a severe 2nd degree burns on both hands and forearms from a freak accident at the park, and we have had a debilitating cold from hell for probably the entire months of July and August making the rounds in our house. Not to mention, two vacations, school starting, and adjusting to life with a kindergartner and a not old enough for school unhappy toddler that he can’t go. And that was all in one month.


When I met my husband, his life up until that point had been pretty uneventful and if I am being fully forthright, predictable. But when we met, he was going through a contentious divorce in 2008, a year that I think most will agree left everyone in a void of unpredictability. “I just want normal” is a phrase that my husband would whine frequently, lamenting the days of routine and familiarity. But for me, that seemed so foreign.


Life for me had been a constant cycle of ups and downs, prosperity and poverty, and not just a financial sense, though that too was a factor in my world. My mother used to call it the wheel of life. Sometimes we would be traveling the upward spin of the wheel where things were good, smooth sailing, and prosperous in all areas of life, and then others we were traveling on the downward spin of life where the things that were challenging or went wrong outweighed the number of those going well. This was so true in my life from birth that I never questioned that anything else could be… that there was another “normal”. In fact, I believed fully that everyone experienced the wheel of life. And in truth, we do. See sometimes the wheel spins slower or faster than others, but the wheel does turn for everyone. My husband had been experiencing a slower turn of the wheel, and in hindsight, while the downward turn definitely sped up for him in 2008, the wheel had been turning down for some time… just slowly. But it was turning.


I can remember growing up watching my mom worry her way through the downward cycle, even though she knew it was a phase. I understood the worry she had. The irony was that she had taught me to find comfort in the wheel of life because this too shall pass. It’s a phrase she would say to me often. One I was recently reminded of and one that brings me solace and contentment when faced with periods of “ok God, what next”. Because I know, no matter how challenging, how scary, how upending the period in life is, this too shall pass. There will be an end.


Equally, in times of upward turn of the wheel, it helps me appreciate the joys and the highs more. It gives me remembrance of how fleeting this time can be, that it won’t last and I should soak up every moment I have of it. Because this too shall pass. In turn, it also helps soften the blow of going into the downward shift. I know it’s going to come at some point, it always does and I equally know it won’t last. And it’s in knowing that this too shall pass, that this is just the cycle of life, that most of the time when faced with the next fall or latest urgent care trip, that I can in good humor, shrug it off, smile, joke and remain calm through the storm.


The photo is my daughter on her first day of Kindergarten… a day and a period that I know shall pass all too quickly.


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Mackinac Island Excursion-Part One


By Bud Lemire

Mackinac Island Excursion


Part One - A Pictorial Review

I was with the Senior Companion Program & Foster Grandparents Program. I am a Volunteer with the Senior Companion Program. These are people who Volunteer to visit with older people in the Nursing Homes, Assisted Living Homes, and Private Homes (their own homes). The Foster Grandparents sit with Classrooms and help out with the kids there. During COVID-19, for 3 years I took time away and stayed at home writing letters. But for about a month now, I have been back out there again.


Both programs are through AmeriCorps, so they can work together. They are given grants and can spend a certain amount to pay their Volunteers. That money has to be used before a certain time period. When they have a deadline, they use it for the benefit of the Volunteers, and so an event such as a trip comes out of it.

Here is a pictorial description of one such excursion.

Mackinac Island, Segment #1: On The Way
The Senior Companions and Foster Grandparents went on a trip to Mackinac Island. Everyone boarded the bus at Menominee, Escanaba, Rapid River, and Manistique. It was a three-hour ride to St. Ignace, but we visited with those nearby and sort of relaxed. It wasn't a sunny day, but then again we knew what the weather was going to be like. Many of us were thinking of the things we would do, once we got there and were on our own. I had a Mackinac Island Bucket List and was hoping everything would work out for that. We arrived at St. Ignace and not long after that, we boarded the Sheplers Ferry to Mackinac Island. It was a bit foggy and hard to see in the distance, but the trip went well. (For larger pic view, click Blue Captions.)


Pic 1. Gathering to wait for Ship.

Pic 2. Boarding Ship with Sheplers Line.

Pic 3. The Round Island Lighthouse.


Pic 4. The LaSalle.

Pic 5. Lighthouse at shoreline.

Pic 6. Buildings now in sight..


Pic 7. More building come in view.

Pic 8. Getting closer to shore.

Pic 9. Miss Mary..


Mackinac Island, Segment #2: The Arrival
After arriving on the Island and getting our luggage, we split up, and those staying at the Lilac Tree Inn, went there to bring their luggage. Those staying at the Chippewa, went there to bring their luggage. Then we all met up at Mary's Bistro Draught House for lunch. I had the Whitefish And Chips and they sure give you a lot of Fish. It came with fries and coleslaw, but I passed on the coleslaw.


Pic 10. Picking up luggage.

Pic 11. Heading out for Lodging..

Pic 12. One of the Inns.


Pic 13. Time to eat.

Pic 14. Fish and chips.

Pic 15. Other diners.


Pic 16. Everyone's relaxing.

Pic 17. Seeing some smiles.

Pic 18. Pleasant time.


Pic 19. We have ordered.

Pic 20. Rest and anticipate dinner.

Pic 21. Comfortable seats.


Pic 22. The Special Appetizer.

Pic 23. Just being patient. .

Pic 24. Happy to be here.


Pic 25. Making new friends.

Pic 26. Pause for photo.

Pic 27. Dinnertime.


Mackinac Island, Segment #3: The Carriage Ride
After lunch some of the Senior Companions & Foster Grandparents took a Carriage Ride around the Island.


Pic 28. Carriage pic 1

Pic 29. Carriage pic 2.

Pic 30. Carriage pic 3.


Pic 28. Carriage pic 4.

Pic 29. Carriage pic 5.

Pic 30. Carriage pic 6.


Mackinac Island, Segment #4: The Bicycle Rental
Due to my bladder problem, I decided a two hour carriage ride would be too long for me. So I decided to rent a bike and ride around the island to see the places I wanted to. I've never rented a bike before and the first place I went to, you had to use a Credit Card, and it was more complicated than that. I decided to check out another Bicycle Rental place, as they were lined along main street. I went to The Mackinac Island Bike Shop located at 7421 Main Street. They had a bike, a basket on the bike, and a lock (the other place didn't give you a lock). But with this shop, they asked for your Credit Card or Drivers License. I asked the other shop, why they don't give out locks, and what if the bike was stolen.


Okay, I know it wouldn't be taken off the Island, but I prefer a lock. Now this Bike Shop keeps your license/credit card until you return with the bike, and give it back to you. I was a bit leery about them keeping my Drivers License. Then again, I thought, okay, I know where they are and can come back and give them a hard time.



Pic 31. First Bike Shop.

Pic 32. Second Bike Shop.


It was Mackinac Island, and I was new to how they do things there. I got an orange bike, and the seat was lowered to fit me. I found out it didn't ride as good as my own bike back home, but it got me around. I kept shifting gears.

Author: Bud Lemire - Sr Companion
>


To Be Continued with Macinac Island sights in October.


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