Family - Military - Joe

A number of people in our family have served in the military. 

THANK YOU for your service. 

Joe Todd - Military Service

I had completed one year of college: one semester at U of Dayton and 2 quarters at Ohio State. I found out that  my college draft deferment was tenuous as the Champaign Country Draft Board had run out of eligible men to draft (or, so they said) so they were going to begin drafting college deferred men. Since I was not a long term resident of Urbana, I figured my time was up. I had had enough of the Army type experience at Howe Military School so I considered the Air Force, Coast Guard, and the Navy. I talked to the Coast Guard closest recruiting center in Cleveland, Oh on the phone – they were not very encouraging. My dad had always talked up the Navy, I met a Navy guy home on leave in Urbana – the Navy it was.

U.S. Navy 10/13/53 -  off to Bainbridge, MD bootcamp – Yeoman school in late winter of 1953 (at Bainbridge); 1st assignment to Torpedo School in Newport, Rhode Island as Yeoman in  late Spring of 1954 with rank of Seaman; obtained rank of Yeoman  3rd class petty officer;

 Recruited by U.S. Naval Security Group and had to extend my enlistment by one year; departed Newport, R.I. as Communication Technician 3rd Class; arrived in Kodiak, AL on Thanksgiving Day 1955 – had a turkey sandwich on the way up. Served the Armed Forces Courier Service in a vault in the air base hanger.  

Departed for U.S. Naval Security headquarters on Nebraska Ave., Washington, D.C. on Election Day November 1956. Spent several days in Seattle, and reported into Washington, D.C. in December.

Became a Communications Technician 2nd class petty officer (CT2). Resided in the Hawthorne Hotel; Many civilians worked at Nebraska Ave; a number of whom had been discharged from the Navy – rank had almost nothing to do with your assignment.  Was discharged on August (18th I believe) 1958 – five years. Resumed my college education at Ohio State University. 

photo - Joe thinks this might be his high school senior photo, 1952

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More on Bainbridge here and here

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1/1/2018 corrected date

Family - Center Of Our Lives

“In a world of turmoil and uncertainty, it is more important than ever to make our families the center of our lives and the top of our priorities. 

Families lie at the center of our Heavenly Father’s plan. … build a gospel-centered home, a safe harbor from the storms of the adversary.” 

L. Tom Perry counsels us to enjoy “the light and truth of the gospel in our homes” and to make our homes “places of refuge from the world.”      L. Tom Perry

Tulips - RoozenGaarde

To celebrate Joe and his birthday, we drove about an hour north of here to enjoy the tulip fields. 

The Roozen family grows tulips on more than 1,200 acres in the Skagit Valley. The family first began raising tulips in Holland in the mid-1700s. William Roozen emigrated from Holland in 1947 with years of experience in the bulb industry. William's and Helen's children and grandchildren now run the family tulip business. source

RoozenGaarde has a display garden that is amazing with many varieties of tulips and colors that are awesome! According to their website, RoozenGaarde is the "biggest bulb grower" in the United States. 

snow-covered Mount Baker in the distance

Click on a picture to see larger sizes

bloom where you are planted

even if it's up in a tree!

See more tulips here

Read about last year's visit to the tulip fields here

Tulips in Tulip Town

We celebrated Joe's birthday in Tulip Town, about an hour north of where we live.

Brothers Henry and John Deboede immigrated from Holland in 1948. Over the years they started various nursery and tulip businesses in the Skagit Valley in Washington. Their brother Anthony immigrated from Holland to Canada and then to Skagit Valley in 1957. Anthony established Tulip Town about 20 years ago.  History of Tulip Town

Read the story of the windmill here

Acres and acres of color

Click on images to see a larger photo

snow covered Mount Baker in distance

indoor displays showcased many varieties of tulips & 

featured murals with scenes from Holland

Read more about Joe and his birthday here

Read about last year's trip to the tulip fields here

Mistakes & Opportunities

"Mistakes are the portals of discovery." 

— James Joyce

So true. This quote made me think of Thomas Edison's comments about persevering and learning from things that didn't go the way we planned or wanted. 

“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is to try just one more time.” ― Thomas A. Edison

“I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” ― Thomas A. Edison

“Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” ― Thomas A. Edison

So - going with advice from Winston Churchill

 "Never, never, never give up." 

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I'll soon be 67. In all these years I have made many mistakes and many things have not gone the way I expected or planned. Hopefully I have learned from these experiences and have even gained a bit of wisdom along the way. My intention is to use that wisdom to guide the rest of my journey here on earth. It will be a bonus if some of what I have learned benefits others. 

Book - The Lost Symbol

I am a Dan Brown fan. I recognize he has a formula - short chapters, lots of action (people running all over creation to prevent some sort of disaster), sermonizing about whatever topic is part of the book’s theme. Then there's the matter of the accuracy of his "facts." But even with all this, I do enjoy his books. His themes interest me. I like codes and mysteries. I like books with characters who are widely read and help me learn something new. 

Recently I reread "The Lost Symbol." The review below indicates its villain was the "most terrifying to date." Not long after finishing the book, I saw a man whose shaved head was totally covered with tattoos, just like the book's villain. I was curious as to whether or not he had a blank spot at the top of his head - waiting for the lost word to be filled in.

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"Famed Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon answers an unexpected summons to appear at the U.S. Capitol Building. His planned lecture is interrupted when a disturbing object—artfully encoded with five symbols—is discovered in the building. 

Langdon recognizes in the find an ancient invitation into a lost world of esoteric, potentially dangerous wisdom. When his mentor Peter Solomon—a longstanding Mason and beloved philanthropist—is kidnapped, Langdon realizes that the only way to save Solomon is to accept the mystical invitation and plunge headlong into a clandestine world of Masonic secrets, hidden history, and one inconceivable truth . . . all under the watchful eye of Dan Brown's most terrifying villain to date. Set within the hidden chambers, tunnels, and temples of Washington, D.C., The Lost Symbol is an intelligent, lightning-paced story with surprises at every turn--Brown's most exciting novel yet." summary & image from goodreads.com

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Brown has elements in his book that remind me of themes found in Orson Scott Card's writings. 

Brown addresses the entanglement theory - the idea that all matter is interconnected, "entangled in a single unified mesh ... a kind of universal oneness." (p 71) Orson Scott Card writes about the philotic rays  that connect all of us (Ender series). 

Creating versus tearing down - In "The Lost Symbol" (p 631) Katherine Solomon says -  “There are those who create...and those who tear down. That dynamic has existed for all time.”   This passage made me think about Orson Scott Card’s Tales of Alvin Maker series. In those books he talks about this theme in relation to how various peoples use the land. 

Our divine heritage and unlimited potential - This is a major theme in "The Lost Symbol" and also in a number of Card's books. 

The concept that there are ancient truths that people know, then forget, then rediscover is addressed by both Brown and Scott. 

I think it would be fun to take a Lost Symbol tour of Washington DC. Here's a map of Washington DC with places mentioned in the book.

Click here and here for interesting information about people, places, and events mentioned in the book. 

My Cousin, the Artist

Ruth Holton-Hodson started painting a number of years ago. She's exhibited in several shows and recently sent us an email about her magnolia painting. 

It has been accepted for the on-line juried show 

for associate members of American Women Artists.  

Click here to see all the entries. Ruth's is about half way through.  From Ruth - "Looking at the amazing work I can only conclude that there was some divine intervention through a certain Tim Hodson :)  ... While I'm at it thought you'd like to see the Iris I just finished-had a lot of fun with this one." 

Congratulations to Ruth!

Mother's Day

It's always tricky to come up with an appropriate quote for Mother's Day. 

We listen to what's said and read what's printed on the cards and we often feel like we haven’t quite measured up. We're usually very hard on ourselves, especially around Mother's Day. 

My thoughts this year - It's all about love. It’s where we’re aiming that’s important as well as the direction we’re headed – and what’s in our hearts. 

It’s all about love. It’s all about helping each other in this journey through life – and choosing to continue our lives together on the other side. It’s all about love. 

“We must cherish one another, watch over one another, comfort one another and gain instruction, that we may all sit down in heaven together.” Lucy Mack Smith

Hearthside Cat & Now A Rooster

Not long after we were married in June 1976, we went to Graceland Shopping Center on North High Street in Columbus. Joe spotted this ceramic cat at a sidewalk sale and bought it. Joe liked the “enigmatic” expression on his face and felt the cat was "pondering" him. Joe thought it would make a good inside cat. Orange was an outside cat at the time. 

When my sister was visiting we went to Coupeville on Whidbey Island and wandered into the "Far from Normal"store. Joe spotted this metal rooster and decided it needed to join the cat on our hearth. 

We're not sure how the cat feels about this.

Moved Here "Just" ...

Seems like we have at least one new person in our congregation every Sunday. When I introduce myself, I usually say, "We moved here 'just' ...." and tell when. 

I caught myself saying that recently to a man moving here from Xenia, Ohio. I realized that we've been here two whole years and it probably makes no sense to say "we moved here 'just' two years ago."

This was brought home to me again the same Sunday when I was talking with a woman who had a newborn. I realized that the one month old baby I met her with when we moved to Kirkland is now two years old and a big sister! The little girl looked really "grown up" that day as she talked about her baby sister. 

It didn't seem possible we could have been here long enough for this little girl to grow up so much! It was one of those "time warp" moments. Do those ever happen to you?

Preserving & Sharing Family Memories

This is the 10th year our family has given each other the gift of stories for Christmas. With the 26 stories that were shared this year we now have a total of 204 stories from 41 different people. Three generations on this side of the veil are involved. We've also included stories left behind by people who have passed on to the other side.

 "Family ties are built by memories, and the more memories, the more depth and richness in the family.”*  

Click here for post about stories from 2011.

*Another Country – Navigating the Emotional Terrain of Our Elders” by Mary Pipher

With My Sister - Night on the Water

While my sister was here, we were reminded how much the water is such an integral part of the beauty and life in this part of the country. We ate near the water. We marveled at the beauty of waterfalls and lakes.  We toured Whidbey Island and enjoyed bridges and waterfront towns. We took a boat ride on Lake Washington.

The Kings had us over for dinner one evening. The delightful weather was just right for eating outside. Joe drove back to Kirkland. Michael, the children, Jan, and I rode back via Lake Washington. Joe picked us up at the dock at Marina Park. It was a beautiful evening.

The light reflects off homes in Newport Hills

When the light is just right this hillside looks like a sky full of stars

The setting sun lights up the buildings in downtown Bellevue &

reflects in the water

Mount Rainier made itself visible every day Jan was here 

This doesn't happen very often

It was a wonderful gift to Jan

The bridge in the background is one of two bridges that span Lake Washington

Setting sun with Seattle to the left - beautiful reflections in the lake

Jan & Mount Rainier in the setting sun