George Beverly Shea Is Honored

George Beverly Shea recently accepted a Lifetime Achievement award, at age 102.

His name may not be familiar, unless you're a fan of Christian music. Or follow Billy Graham's evangelistic work. ('Bev' has been a staff member with Graham since 1947.) What caught my ear, though, was his incredible range -- a deep baritone, he had one of the richest voices in the business. (Only Tennessee Ernie Ford could give him any competition.) He recalled, in a 2007 interview:

"One morning, there was a rap on my office door. I looked out and there was a tall young man with blond hair and we shook hands. He was 21 and I was 31. It was Billy Graham and he had traveled in from Wheaton College on a train just to say 'hello.' He said he listened to my morning hymn show called 'Hymns From The Chapel.' That's how we first got acquainted. I came into this work with Mr. Graham in 1947 after we had exchanged letters and talked on the phone. He said he wanted me to be his gospel singer. I thanked him but told him the only gospel singers I've ever heard about would sing a verse or two and stop and talk a while. 'Would I have to do that?' I asked him. He chuckled and said, 'I hope not.' With that, I said, 'Well, I'd like to come with you.' That was in November of 1947 and I've been with him ever since."


Sunday mornings, while we were getting ready for church, the Mama would often put on a George Beverly Shea record. I grew up to the smell of tube cinnamon rolls in the air, and the strains of "I'll Meet You in the Morning" or "The Love of God Is Greater Far:"

He was especially known for his rendition of "How Great Thou Art," though I prefer "I'd Rather Have Jesus," a song he helped write.

Learn more about George Beverly Shea here. An amazing man.Oh...and he's now 104.

Quilt con Winning Quilts

A brand-new quilt conference has started up in Austin, Texas: Quilt.con. This show has some elements of art quilts, some of simple scrappy quilting -- and a whole lot of Pinterest influence.


Some of the winning quilts are here, including the Viewer's Choice:

Overgrown by Alison Glass - quilted by Lisa Cipes

One of the winners in the Minimalist Design category:

2 + 2 by Collen Wooton. Gee, I like this piece.

And a beauty from the Use of Negative Space category:

Broken Diamonds by Kati Spencer

Some traditional influences, sure, but there's a refreshing clean look and line to these pieces. Beautiful.

For more on the show, including Quilt.con's sponsor, the Modern Quilt Guild, go here.

Flu

Monday afternoon, I started to feel strange -- was it just tiredness, from schlepping the girlies home, and getting Dad's Third Birthday Supper ready?
     Maybe it was the upcoming storm. (Yes, we got another -- only 6" or so this time.)
  
Nope -- it was flu.

I spent yesterday feeling miserable, bundling up some business stuff and watching the snow come down.  Have Gun Will Travel was playing pretty much all afternoon. (Paladin just knows how to comfort. What a guy -- and some of the quirkier episodes are written by Gene Roddenberry of Star Trek fame.) How many Sixties tv shows can hold their own, after decades have passed? Not many -- but this is one.

After a long rest this morning, I feel some better. The fever and general achiness are down, but not gone yet. More snow clouds loom on the horizon. What's next? Maybe chicken soup...and more Paladin.

Yup, We've Got Snow!

The First American Black Slave Owner...Was Black Himself!

I'd read before that in the early days of Jamestown, black slaves were brought in and sold...

According to Charles C. Mann, the author of 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created, they continued to be used partly because of their heritage: thanks to their origin (mostly Africa), they were largely resistant to malaria -- one of the early colonists' great banes. (Not to mention mosquitoes. It's a fine book, by the way, like its predecessor, 1491 -- you should read it.)


I also knew that many of the first 'slaves' were actually indentured servants -- people who sold their time and effort for up to 7 years, in order to pay for their passage to the New World. Not only did individuals pledge themselves for this; they also indentured their families. And once they were freed, those people were given land, which they could use for their own. More family members, more land.
    (My own ancestor, Isaac Cumings, got to America this way, via the Sally Ann -- one of the ships which came not long after the Mayflower.)

Indentured servants came in all sorts of colors, white, black and 'yellow' (mulatto) alike. The first black 'slave' was actually an indentured servant whose master claimed he'd given his services for life. The master went to court to argue it...and won.

That master was black. Yes, the first American slaveowner was the same color as the man he enslaved. 

Makes you realize that people are people, the world around.

Read the full story here, thanks to Ben Kinchlow. 

Yes, We're Here (Under This Snowdrift)

We haven't had a good old-fashioned blizzard for months. Oops, scratch that -- it's coming down in droves. The wind's picked up. Snowplow hasn't been through all day. Church got cancelled -- only the second time in decades that it's happened.

One foot of snow...and still going on.

Luckily, the power's still on. The chickens are snug in their coop. (They even produced 6 eggs today.) The puppies and we are fine.

It will stop eventually...right?

Wishing for Color...

Four inches of snow last night. Not enough to call school and keep the Brick home, snug in bed.

Just enough to please the dogs and bemuse our Georgia 'daughter,' Olivia, who's been staying here the past week. (I met her folks while teaching for the Georgia quilt guild last fall, and we became friends.) Olivia and I will go have sushi tonight with Daughter #1 -- then she (Olivia) heads south to the Springs and the Olympics training center. She'll be trying out for the Olympics volleyball team.

The chickens are fine, but crabby -- they're molting right now, so feathers are strewn more across the nests. They have three to choose from, but still insist on laying in the exact same nestbox. Sometimes there are three chickens in there, sitting on top of each other. One has gone "broody," and hangs out there for hours, trying to hatch eggs. (Ahem, lady. We have no rooster. Your hard work will not matter. Besides, I pulled the eggs out from underneath you some time back.)  Egg production's down because of molting. I have to be careful of our egg consumption, so our customers get the eggs they ordered.

I have plenty of work to do, but would really prefer to doodle around and look out the window instead. The dogs stay as close to to the heaters and fireplaces as they dare. (So do I, book and hot mug of tea in hand.)

Wishing for color...

Wishing for spring.