Cooking the NYTimes and Other Assorted Retirement Activities

  Day Five Wrap It Up--But Don't Tie It With a Bow I am terrible at gift wrapping.  Not for lack of trying, mind you.  Each time I set a box onto a sheet of gift wrap, I tell myself, "You've got this.  Make nice, sharp creases and the paper will fall onto itself so it can be folded in triangles across the end."  And it just doesn't work as intended. Therefore, I warmly welcomed the invention of gift bags, because I am pretty good as stuffing the tissue paper on top so the recipient can't immediately ascertain what's in the bag.  Even so, I believe the analogy I wish to use for this final blog is wrapping it all up, as in a gift box, but without a bow. Our final stop of the Justice Journey was the National Civil Rights Museum located at the Lorraine Motel, the site of the assassination of Dr. King, in Memphis.  A number of my fellow pilgrims and shepherds later commented how glad they were this was the final stop of our journey, as it certainly combined...

Day Four            Bravery                       Do you recognize this icon of the civil rights movement? Today we visited the Rosa Parks Museum in Birmingham.  Hers is a story well known, told in many formats and languages.  It memorializes a woman who simply had enough and said, "No."  This was not part of an organized movement, not planned in advance, not encouraged by members of the nascent civil rights movement.  Simply put, Rosa decided to draw her line--this time not in the sand but in the streets of Birmingham for all to see.  "No," said Rosa Parks.  In her autobiography, she wrote, " I was not tired physically… No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”  Could you have been that brave? We also toured the Legacy Museum at Tuskegee University.   The  HeLa Cell   exhibit celebrates the life of the Virginia born Henrietta Lacks, who wa...

  Day Three "I Like Your Shirts" Get in Good Trouble Necessary Trouble That's the quote on our group t-shirt.  It's from the late Rep. John Lewis, one of the original 13 Freedom Riders , as well as being a leader in the March, 1965 marches from Selma to Montgomery.  Perhaps the best known of the three was the first, now referred to as Bloody Sunday, when the marchers were met on the apex of the Edmund Pettus bridge by what Lewis described as a "sea of blue"--Alabama state troopers blocking the path of 600 marchers.  They were forced back with violence.  For more information, see Selma to Montgomery marches or watch the excellent movie Selma  (you can see a trailer on that link). Not John Lewis In Selma, we again experienced the amazingness of living history.  Our group talked with this gentleman, who had been part of the march (not sure which one of the 3, perhaps all 3 for all I know). We were also stopped by another gentleman whose relatives had ta...

  Day Two Four Little Girls Today was a very full day touring through Birmingham, with an amazing tour guide, Donna, who lived in the city during the civil rights movement.  In fact, a number of people at the historic sites, who are now serving as guides, were living history in that they, too, were here in Birmingham.  They know people who attended Bethel Baptist Church, 16th Street Baptist Church, the schools where students walked out to attend the Children's March.  Reverend Wilder, current pastor of Bethel Baptist, met the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, a courageous leader in the movement, a few times.  This was a first for me, visiting historic sites and being toured through them by those who made or witnessed the history.  It was an amazing experience. Repeatedly, tour guides emphasized that the death of the four little girls at 16th Street Baptist Church served as the catalyst for the civil rights movement.  No one expected, they emphasized, no one cou...