Hurricane Sandy brings out best in service people

We give thanks to the many out of state electrical crews who came to our area to restore power.

This service truck was just one of several that arrived in our community from Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. 

An uprooted tree had fallen across the street taking down many electrical and cable wires. 

In about two hours, the repair work was finished. 

Electrical crew from J. Ranck at work

Thank you for your assistance. 

Let's never forget the sacrifices of our Veterans

We in Stamford remember those brave soldiers who have given their lives in the cause of liberty and freedom.

Kudos to Harry Bennett Library for its Lecture on American Visionary Artists

Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth (1948)

Kudos to Harry Bennett Library and to Helane Rheingold on a most enlightening program on November 5th that highlighted the paintings of Andrew Wyeth, Edward Hopper and Winslow Homer.

Ms. Rheingold, a docent at the Neuberger Museum of Art and Arts Enrichment Facilitator at the Stamford Public Schools led a lively discussion.

She prefaced her talk by saying she was not planning on lecturing; to the contrary, she expected audience participation because she learns and continues to learn about the painters via our comments and feedback.

She has a facility for getting people to provide feedback and she orchestrated lively discussions about each painting.

She said that the three American artists were unique in that they were everyday people covering everyday objects.

With each painting she inspired the audience to discover minute details that enhanced our understanding of the work.

Thank you Harry Bennett and Ms. Rheingold.

Time to roll up the sleeves

The election is over.

Let's get to work.

It's time for both sides of the aisle to roll up their sleeves and get to work on America's business.

Let's All Work Together

Two stories dominate the airwaves today.

The first is the continuing efforts of all the volunteers, people, corporations, non-profits  and agencies who have provided services, comfort, food, clothing and shelter to those devastated by the hurricane.

The second is the strong turnout at the polls on election day.

In today's presidential election, voters are out early in great numbers; voting lines were particularly long at 6 AM in many districts across the country.

So, we are discovering that both the recovery from the storm disaster and today's election  are forcing people to come together. 

But simply coming together does not mean that we are learning to work together for a common cause.

What is the message from these two events?

We, as a nation of people with strong regional and political differences, must demand from our elected officials of both parties--whoever is elected today-- to bury the hatchets.

 We must demand them to cross the aisles of Congress to reach a consensus of agreement on the important issues that face us: the economy, unemployment, education, health care and the environment. (See my recent blog on reducing the congressional gridlock.)

What can we do ameliorate the recurring weather phenomena?

We must demand that our representatives begin to respect the environment and  global changes in weather patterns-- whether they believe in global warming or not.

We must respect the recommendations of scientists and other experts to curb and ameliorate the causes of the strange repetitive weather phenomena.

There will be much pain in the long run to many fossil fuel companies...

But finding and exploiting renewable energy sources is inevitable.

That is the mandate.

As a strong reminder, there is another storm,-- a northeaster that is on its way-- and coastal communities are being ordered to evacuate.

Wake up, America!