Sarah Graduates

Here's the deck's eye view of Sarah's graduation party. Well actually it was more than that. When you homeschool you have a lot of room to be creative. So we also had a graduation ceremony for her as well. Here in front of family and friends, she gets to graduate as both the top and bottom of her class.

As I said in some brief remarks, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania requires 180 days of instruction for each student every school year. For Sarah it is more like 365. She is always engaged in the world around her thinking things through critically with an open mind to the possibilities. Seeking truth using the compass of her faith.

Then Becki Toth, one of her mentors, gave a commencement address which was much better than the platitudinous stem-winders at most commencements. Instead of reminding Sarah to be true to herself, (She knows that already) Becki offered a list of situations, some funny, some serious, all meaningful. Then she reminded everyone to encourage Sarah, and remember the day. Yes we will Becki...we will.

Overall however we would not have gotten here had it not been for the dedication, hard work and love of my late wife, Bobbie. She is the one who got this all started and kept with it when things got tough. But then again, in some way I know she enjoyed it as much as we did and perhaps even more so.

Carrie Furnace

This past Wednesday we went on an Enrichment Day field trip to the Carrie Furnace in Braddock, PA on the Monongahela River. This is an historic site associated with the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area. It is just about the last of the  non-operational steel mills left standing in the Pittsburgh area. The smoky city gave way to the medical research/ robotics city. But the US Steel Edgar Thompson works still operates nearby.

This is Carrie Furnace #7. It operated from 1907 until 1978 making iron from ore and moving it via special rail car (lower photo) to nearby mills where the iron was made into various steel alloys.

While the Rivers of Steel group has removed most of the hazards, this is still a generally unimproved area. Most of the tour is outdoors as most of the mill was outdoors or in open sheds like these.

How things change! When we had lunch at the Steak n Shake at the Waterfront Mall, I had to tell John and Janine that their granddad worked at the Homestead Works where the mall now stands.

Here's Janine and friends on the torpedo car that moved the molten iron from the Carrie Furnaces to nearby mills.

Across the Years

We sold the house Bobbie grew up in just yesterday. Here is Bobbie's mother in front of the house on her wedding day. They were about to leave on their honeymoon. At that time ladies traveled in a suit.

Now here's John and Janine in the same spot yesterday morning. My how everything has grown! There may be 59 years between the two photos, but there has always been great love at that little house. I pray that the same love and joy will exist for the new owners.

Mother's Day

This photo is the collage we used at the Caring Place to commemorate my wife Roberta Lubanski Paulson. It reflects her life and personality. Her faith and family was paramount. She enjoyed dancing with a group of women we refer to as the Tiara Ladies. She was the first person in her family to graduate college. This image is part of a commemorative quilt that will be dedicated in early June at the Caring Place building in Warrendale, PA. The Caring Place is a family grief counseling center sponsored by Highmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

This is the first Mother's Day without my wife. We all miss her terribly. But our goal is that all we do would make her proud, with all our love.

Whack a Mole

Here's a real life Whack a Mole from earlier this afternoon. Thankfully there is no Here's Johnny moment. Not sure what I should do about this guy. Right now, I am certainly no alarmed, but my opinion might change.

Cherry Blossom Time

It's cherry blossom time for the wild cherry trees in our yard. I had to take these photos early this morning. It rained for the rest of the day and the blooms are beginning to lose their pedals. As you can see these are not like to miniature cherry trees like those in DC. These grow wild in the easement at the edge of our property line.

Growing in the garden

The daffodils are in full bloom this week in our front garden. This Memorial Day will be 20 years in this house. One of the reasons we bought it was for the perennial garden in the front yard.

The previous owner was a master gardener who laid out a basic design with flowers blooming in rotation until July. Bobbie improved and added to this design, but never moved those heralds of the spring: crocus, daffodils, and hyacinths.

Got some 'splainin to do...

...the local department of Public Works that is. A few weeks ago we got six inches of snow. The snowplow driver was a bit aggressive at the base of our driveway. So much so that a chunk of the asphalt we use as a ramp over the curb ended up 10 feet downrange.

Rest assured I will be paying a visit to the city hall. That is, once I have my local income taxes figured out...

Easter 2013

Here we are this morning right after church for our Easter photo. It was raining, so we took an indoor photo this year.

We all miss Mommie, but Easter reminds us of the hope and promise of resurrection.

Tech Guy

After Aladdin Jr. John helped out by carefully taking down all the sound cords and most of the lighting ones. This is one of his favorite things to do. He is accurate and careful which Dale the head tech guy really likes.

Carpet Character

Here's Janine as the Magic Carpet in the recent Saltworks production of Aladdin Jr.

With her very expressive face she was able to have a lot of fun with the Jasmine and Aladdin characters. In fact at one performance a young boy behind me exclaimed "Wow, here comes that Magic Carpet again!" when Janine made her second entrance.

Proud, as always.

Field Trip

Now that John and Janine are at E-day, Field Trip Fridays now have moved to Thursday. Today we re-upped our membership at the Carnegie Museums. Here's J and J on the steps.

Mixed use re-development

This is the view from the window of the photography studio where Sarah had her headshots taken earlier this month. The studio is located in a redeveloped old warehouse building in the South Side neighborhood of Pittsburgh. It has great light. In fact the photographer use existing light for all of the shots, nary a flash unit in sight. But we were also blessed with a rare clear day with light filtering in from these northwest facing windows.

That's a concrete plant under the Liberty Bridge spanning the Monongahela River and downtown office buildings in the background. It is an interesting place. There are docks on the river shore for unloading barges of aggregates and other raw materials for the plant. Thankfully it was not in operation while we were there.

Fine Photography, lovely subject

This past week we got Sarah's headshot taken. I always love photo shoots, so I tagged along also as interested father. As you can see the results are terrific. This is a low resolution shot with the photographer's watermark across the center.

We are so pleased with the results I wouldn't mind leaving it there to promote her business.

But what else can I say? I am proud of Sarah. Isn't she lovely?

My wife and best friend...

This past August my wife, best friend and mother of our children died suddenly. Roberta Ann Lubanski Paulson was a light and encouragement for us and so many. So much so that at her memorial service the church sanctuary was packed and seats stretched into the hallway, even outdoors.

She was a woman of strong faith in Jesus Christ. She not only knew what she believed but why she believed it. She taught our three children in our home and engaged them passionately in the outside world. She had a sense of curiosity that lead her to read widely and converse freely with well ordered thinking. No one who spoke to her was ever bored. The many shelves of books she leaves behind are her testimony.

She traveled so well, preferring to delve into a town or neighborhood for a few days. She wanted to see the place like the people who lived there, no matter where there might be. The same held true for restaurants. In Toronto's Chinatown she ate the chicken feet. At a Middle Eastern place she would order Kibbee, and on and on. The weekend before she died, the five of us visited my brother and his partner at their house in Santa Fe. She was the driving force behind making that trip happen. I am so thankful we had that wonderful weekend together as a family.

And I could go on and on. Our three children and I miss her terribly. Perhaps her finest tribute is that in the midst of overwhelming grief, our family and friends showed us overwhelming love and support...and they continue to do so.

Bobbie, we are missing you, but with faith in Him, we look to the promise of the new year.