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All the pictures on this page were taken along the Lake Erie shore in northwestern Ohio.
Lf.: Trumpeter swan in the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge
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Poetical Journal © by Bob Casey
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Mission: To provide poetical and thoughtful comments on life
VOLUME IX – Issue 7: Sunday, August 29, 2010 (108th Issue)
Please visit the web version for this issue and enjoy pictures taken
during a recent visit to the Lake Erie shoreline.
CONTENT
- Welcome & Online Version
- Opening Comments from Bob
- Two Poems: The Scrapbook and The Golden Age
- Support my efforts for this publication by donating or purchasing merchandise
- Vignette: The Secret of Johnson's Island
- Recommendations
- Quotable Quotes
- A Bit of Humor
- Contest Winner
- Contest Winners from the Past
- PJ Forum
- Reminder: If you are filtering...
- PJ Demographics – All 50 states and 72 countries
- PJ Online
- PJ Policies
- Subscription information
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Welcome
I am pleased to have you as a reader. If you enjoy the PJ, please encourage others to subscribe. If your country is not listed in the demographic section at the end, please let me know so I can update the list.
The next issue of the Poetical Journal will be out on Sunday, September 26, 2010.
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Shells found along the shore (Note the thousands of Zebra muscle shells on the sand below – they are a scourge to the Lake ecosystem)
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Opening Comments from Bob
Going to the Lake: As many of you know, I love traveling the world and devouring the experiences it has to offer. However, you do not need to travel to another continent or country to discover beauty and fascinating experiences. Jan's and my recent overnight stay with her sister Marcia and brother-in-law Bruce proved that fact. A mere ninety minutes away from our home is one of nature's great masterpieces, Lake Erie. Marcia and Bruce own a large mobile home near a small beach in Port Clinton, OH. Bruce, who has become an expert in area knowledge, took us to places I have never explored despite my many trips to the lake. This issue focuses on some of those experiences.
Just Returned from the Canadian Rockies: What an adventure I had touring Banff and Jasper Nation Parks! The September and October issues will visually focus on it. If you want to get a jumpstart on the trip, please visit my blog.
Two New Books Out: I am pleased to announce that my work appears in two recently released books, A Slice from the Apple With the Taste of Poetry and Schnormeier Gardens: Peace, Harmony and Serenity.
Mom returned home: Despite all the dire prognostications, Mom returned to her home on August 7th, two months to the day that her stroke occurred. Her spiritual beliefs, her indomitable spirit, the unrelenting love and support of her family, especially my youngest sister Patricia who was with her everyday, and the excellent rehab are some of the key factors leading to her ongoing recovery. Though she has a long ways to go, she smiles being back in her home.
Premium Subscribers: This "pay it forward" membership called "premium subscribers" was implemented two years ago. The first year generated thirty-six members while last year only nine. However, the nine last year did a yeoman's job with a financial impact of $20,400 and 1020+ charitable hours. This year's group has already provided its share of human kindness. If you would like to be a premium subscriber, please click on this link to read more. This will probably be the final year for this category.
Next Month – Canadian Rockies:
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Two Poems this Issue
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The Scrapbook
Thumbing through the book of memories,
....one cannot help
....but sense the love
....inherent within the images.
Families come together
....to celebrate bonds
....that last a lifetime.
Captured moments display
....the passage of a decade–
....children who have become parents,
....grandchildren who have moved
....from helpless infants
....to two-legged dynamos
....requiring ever watchful eyes,
....and the matriarch who has made
....the ultimate journey.
The photos also tell the story of transformation–
....a trailer bearing the stamp of someone else
....evolves overtime
....through sweat and effort
....into a new home
............A place to vacation.
............A place to celebrate life.
Comments: We recently visited Jan's sister Marcia and brother-in-law Bruce at their mobile home along the shore of Lake Erie. During the summer months, they spend quite a bit of time enjoying the lake experience. Their two children and two grandchildren often visit. Before her passing, Jan and Marcia's mother Mabel also spent a number of days enjoying the surroundings. While relaxing Bruce showed me a scrapbook pictorially tracing the past decade as family members visited and as they put their personal stamp on this summer home. Bruce asked me to write something in their cottage guest log. Following a private walk to the beach and journaling time, the above poem was created and now appears in that log.
____________________________
The Golden Age
Medicare is now my bane
....for I’ve officially entered
....the realm of golden age.
Despite the passing of hurried decades
....inside the flame burns brightly
....far from ready to fade.
Days are spent doing what I desire
....with traditional work
....but a fading memory.
Some ask,
....“Do you miss it?”
....expecting tales
....of boredom and woe.
I smile and soberly reply,
....“What I’ve done
....is without regret,
....but what will come
....are adventures yet ahead.”
So, smile for me
....as I enter this gilded age–
....a time to slow, to ponder and savor.
For I step not into the autumn of life
....but the eternal spring
....where life blossoms and beauty blooms.
Comments: I have several family members and friends who are reaching the age of sixty-five, an important year in American society. This lighthearted poem was written to provide a different perspective on what aging is about.
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One of the beaches along Lake Erie
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| Very upscale housing built around an old quarry on historic Johnson's Island (former Civil War Confederate internment camp) |
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Museum located at the ranger station of the Ottawa National
Wildlife Refuge (A visitor takes a break in the chair.) |
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| Boardwalk that runs through the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge |
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My Books and Products are now purchasable online.
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My Newest Book: I am pleased to announce that my work appears in recently released books, A Slice from the Apple with the Taste of Poetry.
It is an anthology of poems written by members of the Apple Valley Poets, a very talented group that I helped form almost ten years ago. This book, which contains a wide variety of poetical genres, will appeal to lovers of poetry. The cost is $10 plus shipping. To order, click here. When ordering, please indicate if you want the book signed.
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An Oasis in a Cluttered World, Wisdom from the Journey, and The Wanderer: A Poetical Journey can be purchased from me online. There are other products on the page that offer unique gifts for that special someone or for yourself. Also, my newest book, A Slice from the Apple with the Taste of Poetry, a combined writing effort by the Apple Valley Poets, is available for order there. Enjoy the convenience of shopping online.
If you wish to support the efforts of the Poetical Journal, there is also a donation option.
To view the product page, please click here.
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Marblehead Lighthouse, recently refurbished
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Marblehead Lighthouse
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Sun setting behind the Davis-Bessie cooling tower (about 10 miles away)
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Vignette: The Secret of Johnson's Island
Johnson’s Island, a small Lake Erie island only 300 acres in size about 3 miles from the city of Sandusky, holds a dark secret that even many Ohioans do not know. This island is rich in history though most today think of it as a resort community. Getting to this island takes some local knowledge or a good map or updated GPS. You head down a short road, put $2 in the automated gate, cross the narrow access bridge, and you have arrived.
For the last several decades small, modest resort homes, mostly summer ones, have existed on the island. However, in recent years a development company purchased an old quarry, blasted open one end section that allowed access to the bay, and built multimillion-dollar homes. Now the yachts can park at their owners’ doorsteps. But that is not the secret.
After crossing the bridge, one of the first sites you come upon is a small Confederate cemetery. In 1862 the Union opened a Confederate prison camp here. The government leased 16.5 acres from Leonard B. Johnson for $500 a year. At one time 3,500 Confederate prisoners were housed there. The island was chosen because of the easy access by Union ships via the lake. Over 15,000 men passed through the prison until it closed in 1865. About 200 prisoners perished during interment, some buried in the cemetery mentioned earlier. This fatality number was relatively low for a prison that size. This historical information is not the true secret though it leads us to it.
So, what is the little known Johnson’s Island fact? It is the only Confederate or Union prison where a male soldier gave birth. What? Yes, evidently a female, disguised herself as a male, enlisted in the Confederate States Army, was later captured, and then interred on Johnson’s Island. Local lore is that a Union guard, discovering the ruse, fell in love and ended up impregnating her. Records are sparse as to what happened from there. They don't tell us who this person was or what happened to the child. I suspect there was quite a scandal over the event. But it makes for an interesting story of which few Ohioans are aware.
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____________________________
If you have a guest vignette you would like to submit, please do so. Not only will I enjoy reading it, but if agreeable with you and space permitting, I will print it in a future issue. The vignette should be written in paragraph form and relate a personal story or event. Equally important, it should fit the overall tenor of this newsletter. Ideally, it should not exceed twenty lines. Please send to bob@poeticaljourneys.com. ____________________________
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| This picture and the ones below taken either at the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge or the Magee Marsh |
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Recommendations
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- Jolly Rogers, Port Clinton, OH: This well-known restaurant, famous for its perch and walleye, has been at the same location for decades. Over the years its popularity has grown so that during the summer months expect a line during most of its opening hours. However, don't be put off as the assembly line ordering process moves quickly, with the food also being quickly delivered to your table. If you enjoy lake perch and walleye, this restaurant is the place to go. Also, the homemade onion rings, coleslaw, and waffle style fries add to your scrumptious meal.
- The Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge and Magee Marsh: I have traveled to Lake Erie hundreds of times over many decades. But it took Jan's brother-in-law Bruce to introduce me to these fascinating nature preserves, which exist side by side a few miles west of Port Clinton. Besides the interesting museum located in the ranger station, there are guided walks, nature tour events throughout the years, and opportunities to observe the diverse animal life including a wide variety of bird life. Both locations attract birders from across the state, especially during the spring migration. Be sure to take your binoculars and camera. This relatively undiscovered gem is worth the stop.
- Take a look at the new online book and gift page.
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"There is no such thing as us and them. There is only us." – Dr. Reverend Keith Stuart: Pastor of First Congregational U.C.C., Mt. Vernon, OH.
"Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take nothing you have received...but only what you have given; a full heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice, and courage." – St Francis
"There is a light that shines beyond all things on earth, beyond the highest, the very highest heavens. This is the light that shines in your heart." – Chandogya Upanishad
"Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each. Let them be your only diet drink and botanical medicines." – Henry David Thoreau
A Bit of Humor
A bit of laughter is healthy for the soul.
Poetical Perspective
The poet had been droning on at the party about his various sources of inspiration. “Yes,” he told the young girl, “I’m at present collecting some of my better poems to be published posthumously.”
“Lovely,” said the girl. “I’ll look forward to it.”
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Read in the newsletter, JokeADay.
Contest Winners from the Past
By clicking on this link you can see winners from earlier contests. Anyone who has won a poet print in the past and would like to be pictured on the Grand Winners Page, please send via email a jpg of you holding the print.
Pay It Forward for New 2010
Welcome to our premium subscriber section. There were no new subscribers this month. Here is the link to the 2010 Page.
* Total Charitable Donations: $9,750
* Total Charitable Volunteer Hours: 50+
* Number of Premium Subscribers: 4
PJ Forum
If you have comments, recommendations, or suggestions for the PJ, please email them to bob@poeticaljourneys.com. While I often cannot print all of the comments, I respond to everyone's.
"Good news about your mother Bob, and I can relate totally apropos rehab. I'm facing two operations, a carpal tunnel in my left hand and cataract in my right eye. Ye gods the folly of aging, however, life goes on! . . .as expected Issue 107 was excellent. Thanks for sending." – Jerry from Victoria, Australia (Ed.: Keep hanging in there. Yes, our bodies seem to go through a metamorphosis as we age. We don't always come out looking like butterflies ...:-)
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"Enjoyed reading the PJ! I think the poem Never Satisfied says a lot about our attitude...always looking back or forward, and missing the bright side of now (though sweat running down the face is not one of them so I'll keep looking! ). I loved the pictures, the dinner cruise on the Potomac, and the Woodrow Wilson Bridge (only a good photographer would have searched out and snapped the bridge from that angle!). . ." – G.L. from Cincinnati, OH (Ed. Thanks much G.L. G.L. is a frequent contributor to the PJ.)
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"Although I don't provide a whole lot of input I do enjoy reading all your articles and viewing the beauty of the photographs that you include. Thank you for keeping me on your email list." – Vi from Alberta (Ed. Thank you for your kind comments. I enjoy hearing from subscribers. Vi has entered a number of my calendar contests. Thank you for taking the time to write.)
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"So happy to read your mom is in recovery. That is wonderful news! Will continue to keep her in my prayers. Best wishes to you all." – Freda from Hamilton, ON (Ed. As always, thank you Freda.)
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"I work as receptionist in a large senior care facility. One of the residents is from Trinidad. During the past few days that I worked, she came in her wheelchair near the front desk and sat there all day observing everything that was going on....including the 'drama.' I had noticed in the past that she would do a lot of crossword and word puzzles, but recently she had none of the books. I took one of my magazines to her, and she absolutely devoured it. It really made me feel good just knowing that she was enjoying that magazine and brightening up her lonely world. A small and quiet thing to do, but it made my day to see her so thrilled." – Bobbie from Texas (Ed. Bobbie thank you for sharing your story. She entered last month's contest and won my newest book, A Slice from the Apple With the Taste of Poetry.)
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". . . I watched a bald eagle miss a 'big one' as it did a sudden swoop, talons bared on the lake's surface and came spurting up, feet empty, and pride bruised. Two sets of mama mallards spend their days watching their little ones. Mama #1 has 4 babies that swim in precise formation, two by two directly behind their sibs who are following close behind their mom. Mama #2 has 5 babies who swim in all directions, some dipping their heads into the lake for a tasty leech or bug while their little bottoms point proudly to the sun, while their sibs are exploring the treasures in the lake's weeds. No marching band formation for that little family! I sit on the dock and enjoy the life at the lake while sending grateful messages to the powers that BE. . ." – Steffanie from Vancouver (Ed. I had to share part of Steffanie's email as she recounted her experiences at a favorite lake in British Columbia.)
Reader Demographics
Geographically, subscribers reside in all U.S. states. Subscribers also live in Albania, Argentina, Australia (New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia, & Western Australia), Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, & Quebec), Chile, Croatia, Denmark, Egypt, England, Estonia, Fiji, France, French Polynesia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guyana, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica - W.I., Japan, Kenya, Korea, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad - W.I., Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Vietnam, Wales, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
If your state, province, or country is not mentioned, please let me know.
PJ Online
To read or copy back issues of the PJ, go to.
The next issue will be out on Sunday, September 26, 2010.
Until next time - joy and peace,
Bob
PJ Policies
Guest Poetry: Often readers send me a poem stating they would like it included in the PJ. Many of the poems are well written. Although I enjoy reading them, at this time I do not include guest poetry as part of this newsletter. Instead, I suggest that they submit them for inclusion in the Guest Poet section of my web site. A number have chosen to do so. However, time limitations and quality govern the number that will be accepted. I currently am not accepting poetry from minors.
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Guest Vignettes: On occasion, I publish guest vignettes submitted by one of my readers. If a guest vignette is submitted and selected, the author understands that there is no remuneration provided; the vignette will be included in the e-mailed and web site versions; and will remain posted until I choose to remove it from the site. In all cases, the guest vignette remains the property of the guest author who has given permission for its usage as described in sentences one and two.
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Privacy: I take it very seriously. Your name will never be sold to a third party nor will we disclose at any time your subscription information.
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Unsolicited Mailing: The PJ is never sent unless requested. If you believe you received the PJ unsolicited, please notify me. I will unsubscribe you.
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Reproduction and Forwarding: While the material is copyrighted, you have permission to forward all or part of this newsletter. You may also quote from it. Out of common courtesy (We will forget all the legal jargon and requirements.), I would appreciate at least a mention or a footnote. -- Much appreciated!
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Recommendations: All recommendations are personal ones offered for your information. I receive no remuneration of any kind from the sources or individuals being recommended – other than when I recommend purchasing my books. Actually, many are never aware of their listing. One may ask, "Why do you provide recommendations for specific establishments or locations, especially since many of your readers are worldwide and may never be able to use the information?" The key word is "may." When I travel, I plan much of the itinerary myself. This planning includes reading and listening to recommendations from professional and personal sources. My wish is that any suggestions provided will assist some readers as they make their plans. (Incidentally, I have already received feedback that readers use them.)
Subscription: To unsubscribe click on your individualized unsubscribe e-mail at the end of this newsletter. (Not appropriate for this web page.) Or send a BLANK e-mail (Be sure not to write anything in the subject or body) to
leave-poetjournal@pro.netatlantic.com
Bob Casey
Poetical Journeys
P.O. Box 319
Fredericktown, OH 43019
bob@poeticaljourneys.com
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