Reflections on New Year's Eve - NYC and Carlisle, Indiana

New Year's Eve celebrations began at Times Square in NYC as early as 1904. In 1907 the 'ball drop' was added. That first New Year's Eve Ball was an iron and wood sphere, 5-feet in diameter lit with 100 hundred lightbulbs. 

The Ball has been lowered each year since 1907 except during 1942 and 1943 when the ceremony was suspended during World War II.

The original Ball was replaced in 1920 by a 400-pound one made of wrought iron. Then in 1955 the iron Ball was abandoned for an aluminum one weighing 150 pounds. Several upgrades to the Ball were made in the 1980s and 1990s.

Then, for the 2000 celebration the New Year's Eve Ball was completely redesigned by Waterford Crystal and Philips Lighting for a spectacular beginning of the a new millennium.

Read more about the Ball at: http://timessquareball.net/new-years-eve-ball-history/  

poem by G.W.Clayton from Moth at the Window

Times Square 1907
Image courtesy of millehomme.blogspot.com

Write a Book

So you want to write a book. Every book starts with the first sentence. If you cannot think of the first sentence then start with the second sentence. The point is to just get your ideas on paper. You can review it all later, but to starting can be a battle. 

In “Bird by Bird” author Anne Lamott advises just putting your words on paper.

“Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft. I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won't have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren't even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they're doing it.” 
― Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Just start. Start writing. Start your journal. Start the blog. Write every day. Try to write at the same time each day. If you are a deadline person, give yourself one.  Write about anything. Write about a person you know well. Write about a childhood memory. Write.                          

Carlisle Indiana - What it was When

It is hard to know what Carlisle was like when G.W. Clayton was a young man. Certainly it was a vibrant community in those days with morning and evening posts, trains traversing the tracks and businesses florishing in downtown.

I remember Robert's Garage, the Rexall drugstore and Dr. Cox 's Barbed Wire Linament. Here are some photos from Carlisle Indiana Heritage on Facebook.
Perhaps you can share what you remember as well.

Queen Victoria's Wedding Bonnet

Imagine my delight when I discovered a framed photo of Queen Victoria's wedding bonnet in a box of old photos rescued from my mother's house.

Front Side

Reverse Side

It might have been Cyrinthia's (G.W. Clayton's wife) but more than likely it had been her mother's, Mollie Laughead Jones, born in 1856.

Queen Victoria was born May 24, 1819 and died January 22, 1901. She ruled Great Britain for 63 years (the second longest than any other British monarch and second longest female monarch in history (Queen Elizabeth II is currently the longest serving monarch to date).

The "Victorian era" of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign (1837 to 1901). Late Victorian attitudes focused on highly morale behavior and straitlaced language.  During the Victorian era the population of England and Wales doubled, however Ireland's population decreased significantly due to the Great Famine. At the same time about 15 million emigrants left the United Kingdom from the U.S., Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

Adapt and Evolve

'In life we cannot avoid change. We cannot avoid loss. Freedom and happiness are found in the flexibility and ease with which we move through change.'

-Buddha

I recently received a letter from an old coolege friend. He wrote of the devastating heartache he felt after divorce and the the untimely death of his second wife. He was pulled out of the depths of depression by a colleague who told him to choose life or death. He chose life and began to exercise, hike and cycle.

Grover Clayton wrote of his despair after Cyrthia died. I believe Lucy and Jean gave him hope and helped him survive and be open to change and a new unexpected love.

The happiest 96 year-old is my former neighbor, Jane, who continues to adapt and thrive and be optimistic even after the death of her spouse, a cross-country move and several health issues.

Evolution comes from adaptation, so adapt and evolve. Recreate yourself if you need to!

"Autumn Stillness" from Moth at the Window

Working on a New Manuscript

I am working on a new manuscript.

It will be based on letters written to my mother in the early 1940's while she was in graduate school.

Poem "Autumn Stillness" by G.W. Clayton - circa 1939