family: 9-11:Years later... - 09/14/08 04:29 AM
 
9-11
You can't really put a period after it.
Who would?
I spent 9-11 this year at a charity golf event, (that blog is coming):
Some good people in hard times trying to help others.  
My head and my heart stumble over the memories of that day trying to write about it.
All those people.
All those families.
All those tears.
Now, years later,
let's share our hope with each other.
For peace.
Steve 
… (1 comments)

family: GRAB YOUR BOOTS AND LEND A HAND: A WEEK IN THE WISCONSIN FLOOD - 06/19/08 07:43 AM
 
Neighbors don't care about floods, they care about their neighbors.
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

East Sherman homeowner waits for the rain to stop:Ft. Atkinson, WI: 061208
 

Volunteers sandbag on East Sherman in Ft. Atkinson, WI:061208
 

Volunteer sandbagging in the rain on East Sherman in Ft. Atkinson, WI:061208

Volunteers sandbag in the rain on East Sherman in Ft. Atkinson, WI:061208

Volunteers sandbag-over 4,000, bags- on East Sherman in Ft. Atkinson, WI:061208

Filling up the sandbags on East Sherman in Ft. Atkinson, WI.

 ...and then you have to go check on your … (37 comments)

family: Níl aon tintéan mar do thintéan féin! -There's no place like home! - 03/17/08 09:36 AM
 
 
(Photo from Google-tradtional Irish cottage)
Céad míle fáilte romhat!
..ma auld sod
(A hundred thousand greetings to you!)
my Old Land
and every Irish soul longs for it when they are alive,
and wants to be buried in it when they pass on.
Me auld athiar was a Trahan, me fathair am O'Connor,
authair to me, a Trahan.
Ma an chlann.
My family. Immigrants like all.
Living first in tenements, following the rails and the mines,
settling down to farm, raising children, rocks and potatoes in the Midwest.
Passing along their love and culture-and some red hair and freckles-
through the generations.
But never forgetting:
Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam-
a country without language, a country without soul.
I hope to visit someday, travel to our home … (2 comments)

family: Did you catch that?... - 02/21/08 10:31 AM
 
 
 
This is where you listen.
You are hear, aren't you?
There is a lot of noise in the world.
About the markets, the politics, the conflicts, our families, health and futures.
...radio, Bluetooth, Blackberry, satellite, GPS, Ipod, Zune, HD, MP3...
Where are you listening?
...over the fence, in the car, across the pillow?
When?
...at night, before breakfast, after lunch, during dinner, at meetings, coffee breaks...
...when someone says thanks, or can you help?
Who we choose to listen to is maybe the most important choice.
It still all comes down to being hear..
Now.
Thanks for listening with your eyes,
Steve
http://obeoman.blogspot.com
 
… (6 comments)

family: One people. One planet. Our home. - 02/20/08 01:11 PM
 
 
 
(Moon at 8:42 CST/shs photo)
 
Totality.
The period of time in an eclipse when the shadow of one planet totally obscures and covers the other.
Tonight it will last about 40-50 minutes
as the Earth and the Moon cross paths.
The eclipse itself will last about three hours.
 
(Moon at 8:58 CST/shs) 
 
The darkest part of the eclipse is also the shortest.
If you look up and out tonight,
remember dreams come
in the deepest part of sleep.
We are all dreaming in the same home.
And our dreams remain long after the shadows pass over us.
Steve
 
(Moon near totality at 9:05 pm/shs)
… (14 comments)

family: What a Realtor isn't.... - 02/13/08 09:07 AM
 
 
 
...a Realtor isn't the person who has all the answers:
-but a Realtor can find them.
-a Realtor isn't the person who left those muddy tracks on your carpet;
a Realtor always has those blue bunny booties for your buyers.
-a Realtor isn't the person you call to fix your home;
a Realtor is the person who can tell how to fix it up a bit.
-a Realtor isn't the person you expect to sit in your vacant home on Sundays after you have already moved;
a Realtor is the person who will go and sit there until it's sold.
-a Realtor isn't the person who normally cleans your home … (12 comments)

family: Philly Gal meets Midwestern Guy and moves HIM to Madison, Wisconsin: A Short Fable - 01/26/08 01:12 PM
Madison, WI Skyline-What a long, strange trip it's been.And it ain't over yet.Our journey continues: Theresa, my wife, got a horrifically great job offer about nine years ago after looking around on the internet.She was due.The offer to become the design and operations manager for a start-up furniture company in Madison, Wi. was the brass ring.We were living in Quakertown, PA, then, about 30 miles from Philly, just far enough to be out of the worst of the traffic and still have easy access to the Eagles, tomato pie, cheesesteaks, Nockamixon state park and Yuengling ale.We were married in a colonial church in Dublin, … (0 comments)

family: Every U-turn teaches a lesson - 01/18/08 03:22 PM
U-turns.Everybody has made one, trying to find their way.In my other life, a LONG time before this one, as a newspaper photographer,U-turns made me a living.When you are so busy pushing forward toward any kind of deadline, you feel like any slowing or backward pull is justdraggingyoudown.Maybe it's the other way, maybe we are all being asked to look at what is behind us.Maybe it's because something is catching up with us, maybe because we need a reminder-maybe because we left or lost something and we need to look for it.Find it.And rejoice.Take another breath, laugh or cry or reach out, … (4 comments)