Lifestyle of Learning 2017 Edition: Volume Four

January 22 - 28

Maceo rehearsed Beauty and the Beast Jr. (9.75 hours).

Bishop made another barbecue sauce.

Bishop learned all the secrets to making Dad's fried chicken and he fried some up for our dinner.

Christian played D and D with his friends.

We stayed abreast of all the football happenings - Falcons/Patriots Super Bowl.

I am researching Route 66 as I hope to plan some adventures for the family to have this year.  Look at this cool list of attractions that I found and this is of particular interest to me, as well.

Maceo rehearsed Seussical with his school touring company (6 1/2).
Maceo lifted weights at the gym (3 1/2).
Maceo had vocal instruction.
Bishop went to his culinary internship where he made a vegetarian chili for a catering job.  He brought some home and it was very yummy although quite different than what we typically make.  Bishop's chili got rave reviews from the guests at the catering job.
Maceo auditioned for a production of Jesus Christ Superstar.  The dance call was very rigorous.

Bishop and I worked at the food pantry for four hours.

We had a bit of an adventure on our street.  OK, we didn't actually have the "adventure"  we merely experienced the aftermath.  I am really not sure how the driver managed to drive up onto a parked car but he did.

Maceo went to troupe and teen players.
Maceo is reading The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway.
I finished reading Tarzan.
Maceo attended a dance masterclass with the cast of the national tour of Cinderella.
Maceo went to callbacks for Jesus Christ Superstar!!!
Bishop went to science group where he studied Mars and even made an edible Mars rover.

Bishop went to pottery lessons.  He glazed his wheel thrown/hand built creation.
Christian taught me quite a bit about reading hangul.

Maceo had a special rehearsal with one of the producers of Youthfest to help prepare him for the show.
Maceo attended preprofessional training acting and vocal production.
Bishop attended youth group and hung out with his friends.
Maceo watched the movie 20th Century Women at our independent theatre.
Christian had Maceo and Bishop play football with his friends.

Bishop, Herb and I went to dinner with some friends at Nakato's then Bishop and I went to hang out with those friends.  I played a lot of Bananagrams and he did a lot of I-don't-know-what (What can I say?  I was busy winning bananagrams!!!)
I enjoyed the sunshine one day and walked around a city garden enjoying the winter scene.

Ahhh,  it's a good life!

A Touching Little Trip

On Sunday, May 22, 2011 a massive EF5-rated multiple-vortex tornado ripped its way through Joplin, Missouri.  At one point in time it measured a mile wide.  Overall, the tornado killed 161 people and injured about 1150 people.  About 8000 buildings were destroyed for an estimated 2.8 billion dollars of property damages.  It is the seventh deadliest tornado in American history and the mostly costly.

It was heart wrenching and continues to live in the collective consciousness of those in the area, even those of us who live an hour away.

The tornado destroyed the homes, park and hospital in the area that is now Cunningham and Mercy parks.  I made a little trip to these parks yesterday and was deeply touched by the experience.  The Cunningham Park is a great family-friendly park with a moving memorial to the victims and survivors of the tornado. 

The steel frames of the memorial are outlines, so to speak, of the houses that were there prior to the storm.

Within the frames of the houses lies a water feature (although there was no water running in it at this present moment) and a butterfly garden (although there were no butterflies at this present time, as well; I will have to go back in the spring or summer).

This sign overlooks the victim's memorial and in the distance you can see the chapel that has been built on the former site of the St. John's hospital.

This memorial included mosaics made from items found within the wreckage.

And includes tributes to the volunteers that helped in the aftermath.

The butterfly has special significance as multiple children reported having a butterfly come to their rescue.

The steel band is a tribute to the "miracle of the human spirit."

I find this photo to be particularly poignant as the ring encircles the image of the chapel in the background.

I went across to the street to Mercy park to take a look at the chapel.

Beautiful!

Again,the butterfly was featured prominently.

"We are Joplin."

I also enjoyed the natural offerings...

...and even the less natural offerings.

Truly, a memorable little trip - touching!


P.S.  If you want to read a little more about the tornado here are several online sources that I found to be interesting.  This one is a blog entry about the park.  This one shows one of the houses that is memorialized with the steel frames.  And, this one shares a recollection of what happened inside the hospital during and just after the tornado hit it.