Monarchy

"You have a choice. You can live in a country ruled by a monarch. Like Britain. You can choose to live in a Republic. Like the USA. Or you can choose a dictatorship. Then again, maybe you can’t choose that. In fact, you don’t have a whole lot of choice about ANYTHING in a dictatorship.

 If you select the first option, you will be ruled over by someone who inherits the job by accident of birth, and not by any merit of his/her own, and is hugely wealthy and privileged. You are a ‘subject’ of that country. You can’t evict them, (except by revolution), but you do get stability and continuity, and modern monarchs have tended to be politically impartial.

On the other hand, in a Republic, you get to elect your leaders every four or five years, and you are ‘citizens’. Because they are voted in, you can boot them out when they do a lousy job, but they are for ever vying for votes and tend to be populist, short-termers and often contentious. Election bandwagons are also expensive to bankroll.

I know most about the monarchy option, having been a ‘subject’ for some 65 years now. It costs all British tax-payers a whole lot of money to maintain, by means of something called ‘The Civil List’, and we don’t just have to finance the Queen, but an ever-increasing royal family. BUT, we do get a lot back in terms of prestige, tourism opportunities and international diplomacy. And nobody does pomp and ceremony like the Brits.Their powers are limited these days. No-one has their heads chopped off any more. And certain things are definitely expected of them.For instance, this week, when the new Prince was born to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, better known as William and Kate.

When my own three daughters were born, I gave their naming a lot of thought. I wanted names which both I and my husband liked, which would grow up with them, wouldn’t cause them embarrassment, and be as appropriate at aged two as at eighty. They must be unusual but not way-out, and they must have a meaning with some significance. So the eldest was named Frances Helen, meaning ‘free’, (a good thing for a child of God), and ‘bright’.The middle girl, Hilary Anne, meaning ‘cheerful’ and ‘God is gracious’. And the youngest, Alison Ruth, whose name translates as ‘noble’ and ‘friend’. These were all my self-imposed limitations.

But I sensed a real struggle for the young royal pair, when choosing a name for their firstborn son…..and future king. Because some names with a royal pedigree would be acceptable, but many would not. Tradition is EVERYTHING when it comes to the monarchy. So many of us suspected that George would be high on the list of possibles.

It would be unimaginable for the future king to be christened Dwayne or Tyrone or Shane. And it would be frowned on to call a princess Candice, Courtney or Nicolette.Names have to be noble, sensible, with gravitas. And history. Consequently, the pool of suitable names is really quite small: - Henry, William, Charles, John, Philip and of course George, and a few others. On top of that, some of those are already spoken for.

And oddly, the more I mused on it, the more sorry I felt for the royals! Because they don’t just have to please themselves, or their family members, but an entire nation; nay a world! For all their money and privilege, in some ways, they have less freedom than me.

There should be at least three names given to the new child. And each name would be analysed by the pundits, and referenced by them, so that George would hark back to the much-loved father of the Queen, who reluctantly found himself the unlikely monarch following his brother’s abdication.

Alexander may have been a more-or-less free choice and sop to Kate, who maybe felt that her arm had been twisted. Then again, one of the Queen’s names is in fact Alexandra, so it may instead be a tribute to the great-gran. And Louis is undoubtedly after Lord Louis Mountbatten, uncle of Prince Philip and second cousin to the Queen, who was murdered by the IRA.

When he’s old enough to be aware of such things, I just hope he doesn’t grow up a crisis of confidence and think that his parents may have preferred a daughter, or have doubts over his own masculinity, when he realises what his initials spell out!"

penny from across the pond

Workcamp 2013

My sister, Susan, her grandchildren, and I had the opportunity to work this past week with the Baltimore County Christian Workcamp. ( http://volunteer.truist.com/baltimore-county/org/6426989.html) It was special because we were helping to build a ramp, paint a side porch and railings and front porch railings at our cousin, Bernice (Bunny), house.

It was my first time volunteering with this workcamp.  My Sister has done it for the past few years.
This year our cousin, Bunny, was a recipient of the workcamp.  One group put down a new kitchen floor for her.  We were representing my sister's church and were assigned the side porch which was completed rusted and the front porch rails.  Susan's granddaughters were also on the porch project.
A ramp was being constructed so that my cousin would be able to get in and out of her house without struggling to get up her steps.

Our day started at 7 am and ended anywhere from 1 - 5:30 pm.  The last day it was 5:30 pm so that we could complete the ramp.  After we finished our porch duties we pitched in on the ramp project.
You could volunteer to work for whatever time you had available during the week.  My sister worked everyday and worked Tuesday through Friday.  At the end of the work day we were all exhausted but it was a good exhaustion knowing we were helping someone in need.

Throughout the week there were about 20 different volunteers.  There were six young people working with us throughout the week ranging in age from 13 to college.  The oldest person was a gentleman who was 83, Yarb.  He is also know as "The Cross Man".  He makes cross necklaces and gives them to everyone he meets even the people a Home Depot.  After presenting you with a cross he hugs you and says "you have now been Yarbisized."  It was a pleasure working with this very talented gentleman.

My sister and I are both A-types.  On this project the two ladies in charge were both A-types but not just A-types they were AAA-types.  Everything had to be discussed and discussed and worked on until everything was perfect.  I think you could call that ramp the "gourmet ramp" of ramps.  They even sanded the edges of the hand rails.  It took all week to build it.
 

On Thursday we were assigned yard clean up for a lady two doors up from my cousins.  We filled 27 contractor size trash bags.  The smile on her face when she came home was worth every aching muscle from cut down small dead trees, trimming bushes and digging out weeds. Even the lady's neighbor came out to thank us for cleaning up the yard.  I am not sure the trash collectors were smiling when they pulled up to her house.




 

Every morning breakfast was provided at one of the participating churches and dinner was provided by various churches at which time work reports were given.  My sister and I attended the dinner on Thursday evening.  On Friday evening there is a slide show all all the work projects, dinner, awards and a communion service.  One of the youngest members of our team was given the Rookie Award, a T-shirt with Rookie 1 on it.

Now I am hooked.  I am looking forward to workcamp 2014.

The Play

All the world is a stage and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts. I believe that Shakespeare was correct. I often wonder which part am I playing. Where is my Academy award? But, there is no confusion for me as to who was the star performer in my house this past week. It all began with a trip to New York City during Spring break in March. My youngest daughter, Keiana expressed to me that she could not wait to go to New York, and so, off we went. I searched and searched for accommodations that would make our trip affordable and memorable at the same time. As I sat at my computer, Expedia, Travolocity, Book It and other sites open, for hours at a time, I watched as rates changed daily. My type “A” personality, making list after list and developing detailed plans for how to make the best itinerary, I finally did it. I found a hotel, “The Paramount, a Broadway like hotel in the heart of Times Square to accommodate our stay. We flew into New Jersey and took an $89.00 cab ride into the heart of NYC! Our location was ideal. We were right smack in the middle of Times Square. Every Broadway show was just inches away from the front door of our hotel. What show would we see, Annie, Wicked, Newsies, or Motown? We had to decide. Fortunately, for us, we had my Uncle, Tour Guide extraordinaire to help us with tickets. We were able to obtain midlevel center seat tickets to Annie. My daughter, Keiana was hooked, she was now, beyond convinced that she was going to live in New York and perform on Broadway. Each day during our stay, we walked on Broadway and reviewed each show. She and I sang every song in Annie, over and over again. We met up with my Uncle and toured more of NYC. We even had a subway adventure. On her journey to become a Broadway star, Keiana knows, that she will have to learn and do other things. She also wants to be a fashion designer, so, we jumped on the subway and ventured to the Fashion Institute. Now, ventured is a word I use loosely. I am not a subway person. As we neared the subway, my uncle described the third rail. He exclaimed, “Be observant of people in subway stations!!” Never, Never, allow anyone to push you and always stay away from the third rail! That third rail he exclaimed will fry you like a piece of bacon! “ Ok, I stated, note to self, stay away. We boarded the subway, we preferred to stand, rather than sit. As we stood, a short, wired young man began running back and forth in our subway car, banging his head on the pole, yelling at the pole. Keiana looked at me and said, “Mommy, do you think he didn’t get into Julliard? Yes, Keiana, that’s probably what happened. I just hoped anxiously that the next stop was ours. Soon, we arrived at our stop. As we exited, we began to smell stale popcorn like smell, but it wasn’t popcorn, it was nastier than that. Then, we heard a sound of running water, but there was no water. And then, there it was, a man, standing in the corner, a stream running down by his feet. Don’t look Keiana, keep moving I said. Oh, the sights and sounds of NYC. I told her, yes, you can live here, but get a driver. We made our way to the Fashion institute, where they had the shoe exhibit. That is where she once again, discovered her love of the shoes with the Red Bottoms, Christian Louboutins! We toured the statue of Liberty, 5th Avenue, The Plaza Hotel, Trump Towers, The Today Show, Rockefeller Center, and more. We have vowed to return many more times. After returning home from NYC, we learned of an opportunity for both Keiana and her sister to audition for a role in the Georgetown Community Theater’s production of Cinderella. One evening, we loaded into our faithful Toyota Sienna and headed for auditions. Big sister decided that this was not an opportunity that she cared to pursue. Well, this made the opportunity even more intriguing for Ms. Keiana. She pursued the roles with vigor. She was cast as a townsperson and an assistant chef in Cinderella. The practices were long and the friendships made were many. A cast of 83 were selected to perform in the local Scott County High School Auditorium to a sold out crowd, during four performances. She was a marvelous townsperson, coming to life on stage, practicing each night from 6-9 and some nights 7-11 P.M. I watched her and filled with pride as any mother would, watching my little girl who had dreamed of performing on Broadway during Spring break, now performing in her first community theater project. There were nights, when she came home and fell asleep in her clothes. But each morning, when I would ask her, do you still enjoy the theater, do you want to continue, she would shake her head yes, and say, mommy, I love it. If all of the world is a stage, Keiana Slaughter owned that stage this weekend in Scott County. She performed her roles with vigor and with great talent. She wasn’t the lead, but she was my lead. She taught me, that we can create our own stage and we can make any role a lead role. I am proud of you Keiana Slaughter. This weekend, you were my leading lady.