Amy Went To King Arthur Flour and Made Cinnamon Rolls

Yesterday, Amy took the King Arthur Flour cinnamon buns class and I get to enjoy the results. You can see that we have made a lot of progress on them. She made two kinds: Quick Sticky Buns (in back with the pecans) and Ultimate Cinnamon Rolls. The recipes that she brought home are below.

It seems that every cook in Vermont knows how to make cinnamon rolls. In fact, the cooks at school make them (from scratch) every Friday morning. Do you know what it is like to go to work and smell baking bread that sends a cinnmon and yeast aroma throughout the school? Amy's cinnamon rolls almost taste like the ones at school, except there was a hint of maple in them. She says there is no maple but I tasted it. The sticky buns were superb, also.

There were 11 people in her class. A couple of the students were men about my age. Amy says she was the youngest one there. That makes sense to me, because I was trying to schedule a class. They wore big white aprons, measured out their own ingredients and baked in huge ovens as big as refrigerators. There was one huge worktable in the room (I envisioned a big room with many tiny kitchens, like our home economics class in junior high school in the sixties.) There was always something to do, and no time to sit around having a Coke while their buns baked.

Ultimate Cinnamon Rolls

American sticky buns and cinnamon rolls derive from the German kuchen tradition of sweetened yeast breads, though there are British precedents as well. German and Dutch settlers used to serve similar coffee cakes when entertaining neighbors informally, in afternoon-tea fashion, and we think the gooey buns still make a better snack than a breakfast bread, side dish, or dessert.

Ingredients

For the dough
2 teraspoons instant yeast
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) warm water
1/4 cup (2 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (4 ounces) milk
1 egg
3 cups (12 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

For the filling
water to coat
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

For the icing
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 to 5 tablespoons cream

Method

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Prepare the dough by combining the yeast, water, butter, sugar, salt, milk and egg.
• Stir in enough of the flour to create a shaggy mass (lumpy).
• turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead, adding more flour if needed to create soft dough, about seven minutes.
• Lightly oil a medium bowl.
• Transfer the dough to the bowl and turn it to coat the dough with oil
• Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm, draft-free spot until doubled in size, 30 minutes to an hour.
• Roll the dough out on a floured board into a rectangle about 12x14-inches. Brush with water and sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon evenly over the dough, leaving a small border free of filling.
• Roll up the dough from one of the rectangle's longer sides and pinch the seams together well.
• Using floss or a serrated knife, cut off slices about 1-inch wide. Place slices in an i-inch greased pan, placing one slice in the middle and other slices around it.
• Let the rolls rise until they fill the pan generously, about 15 to 20 minutes.
• Bake in a 350°F. oven about 15 to 20 minutes. If rolls get too brown, cover with a piece of tin foil until the end of baking. Do not over bake rolls.
• Remove rolls immediately from pan by inverting onto a plate and then tip over onto another plate to right the rolls.
• To make icing, stir in enough cream into the icing ingredients to create a thick consistency.
• Spread over warm rolls as soon as they are placed on a plate, allowing the frosting to melt.

Quick Sticky Buns

Ingredients:
For the caramel topping
1/2 cup (4 ounces) packed brown sugar
1/4 cup (2 ounces) unsalted butter, diced
1/4 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 cup (3 ounces) pecan pieces, optional

For the dough
3 cups (12 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspooon salt
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) fresh buttermilk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the filling
Water to coat
1/2 cup (4 ounces) packed dark brown sugar

Method:

For the caramel topping

• Melt the butter over medium heat and stir in the brown sugar.
• Stir until the sugar melts.
• Remove from eat and stir in corn syrup and pecans.
• Spray an 8-inch pan with vegetable spray and pour warm topping over the bottom.

For the dough

• Preheat overn to 400°F.
• To make the dough, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl.
• Whisk buttermilk and four tablespoons melted butter in measuring cup or small bowl.
• Add liquid to dry ingredients and stir with a spoon until liquid is absorbed (dough will look very shaggy) (Amy says shaggy means lumpy), about 30 seconds.
• Transfer dough to a floured surface an dknead just until smooth and no longer shaggy.
• Using plenty of flour, roll dough out into a 12x9-inch rectangle.
• Brush dough with water and sprinkle brown sugar over dough, leaving a small border free of filling.
• Roll up from one long side and pinch seams well. Filling may be messy, but that's okay.
• Using floss or a serrated knife (Amy used floss, like real dental floss) cut about 8 rolls (1 to 1 1/2 inches wide) and arrange in the pan on top of the topping, pretty side down.
• Bake until edges are golden brown, 23 to 25 minutes.
• Cool about five minutes before inverting.

The instructor also made another roll with a pastry cream filling. I don't have the roll recipe but the cream filling recipe is here:

Pastry Cream

Ingredients:
2 cups (16 ounces) milk
1/2 cup (4 ounces) sugar
6 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) cornstarch
2 whole eggs
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoons (1 ounce) butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

• Place 1 1/2 cups milk and 1/4 cup sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Watch that mixture does not boil over.
• In a bowl, mix together the cornstarch and the remaining sugar. Slowly whisk in the remaining milk. Add the whole eggs and yolk and mix until very smooth.
• Temper the egg mixtures with the boiled milk/sugar and return to the saucepan. Bring back to a boil, constantly whisking to prevent scorching. Remove from the heat.
• Stir the butter and vanilla into the pastry cream, cool it an drefrigerate until needed.
• When ready to use, whisk the pastry cream until creamy. Fold in 1/2 cup whipped cream to make diplomat cream.

Enjoy and let me know how good these are! You can find more King Arthur recipes, ingredients, recipe books and kitchen equipment here. At the same site you can click th EDUCATION tab for classes in Norwich, VT, online classes and national classes.

Technorati tags: King+Arthur+Flour baking+class Pastry+Cream Quick+Sticky+Buns
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Thoughts About My Photographic Life

The Digital Story: "Aperture and Shutter Priority" - Digital Photography Podcast 87

I'm not just catching up on my blogging and cleaning. I've been catching up on my podcasts. I haven't listened to them since the beginning of June and that's a lot of listening to do. This week I heard this podcast from The Digital Story. This podcast finally helped me understand the terms aperture and shutter speed and how they interact. F-stops and ISO are terms that, while I am slowly learning how to use them, I still don't know what they are. Because I am a kinesthetic learner with technological things, I am confident that I will come to understand these things as I do more with my camera settings and see the results.

Derrick Story is a great podcaster because he doesn't assume that you know too much. He adds a lot of details for people like me so that we can figure things out. He also makes me think I can be as good a photographer as he is, which motivates me again and again to try the things he talks about.

I submitted a grab shot and put stuff on TDS Flickr group but there has never been any feedback. (To be fair, I doubt I tagged my stuff correctly, but all these groups and all their tags are overwhelming me.) TDS seems to be a one-man show, so Derrick is doing all this stuff himself, so I'll be patient and try again.

What I really want to try is his Photo Assignment: Derrick choses a subject or technique that he discusses on the podcast and you can submit your photos on Flickr (you have to be a member of the group, which means simply clicking "Join"). The September assignment is "Duotone." I have to listen to the Duotone podcast out of sequence in order to learn about it.

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Drew sent me an invitation to Vazaar.com. At this site, topics are chosen and you can upload one photo a day per topic. You can request that your photos be critiqued. You have to earn points to request critques by commenting and critiquing on the photos of others. I have done this with one photo and used up my free 5 points. I have not yet commented on anybody else's photos because I simply don't have the time. This "points for comments" system guarantees that Vazaar has the traffic for the advertisers. But I have gotten to the point where I have to pick and choose where I go and to whom I listen.

I will continue with Vazaar a bit longer and see if it fits into my life. But I want to focus on Hummie's, Rachel Clark's and Derrick's photography challenges and, very importantly, participate in Drew's New England Photowalking (and his New England Photowalking Flickr group). I know these people and can trust their judgement. They certainly give me enough to do to occupy my time and thoughts.

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In order to get the camera that I used to divide the sections of this post, use the Webdings font on Blogger and type option-m. Play with the Webdings font. You get different little pics depending on whether you use caps, lower case, or option- (alt- in PC). I also used the largest point size possible. I did not try ctrl- key and I didn't use a combination of caps with ctrl, option or the Apple key.

Technorati tags: The+Digital+Story Derrick+Story BenSpark New+England+Photowalking Hummie's+Photography+Challenges Rachel+Clark+Design+Filter+Challenge Vazaar
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London - Our Temporary Playground at ‘Somerset’ Bob’s Place

London - Our Temporary Playground at ‘Somerset’ Bob’s Place
Bob and Marcy spent a couple of wonderful, expensive days in London to see some shows and go shopping. There are photographs of Harrod's, the theater, and the gates at Kensington Palace where people left tributes to Diana (it being the 10th anniversary of her death).

I told Bob in my comment that his trip reminded me of my trips to Washington, DC. It is an expensive, huge city with history everywhere you turn. Bob's description of Harrod's created a dessire in me, of all people, to go shopping. There is also a curious Congestion Charge that Marcy and Bob had to pay because they drove their car into the city: it was £8 a day.

I went to Google search and typed "convert 8 pounds to dollars" and it returned that £8 is $16.1264 U.S. Approximately two U.S. dollars for each pound. Bob lives approximately 140 miles from London and I learned that a "British mile is the same distance as an American mile but a British pint is an imperial pint, 20% larger than an American pint." Here's a country I can deal with easier than my neighboring Canada (which is metric). A shameful confession for a math teacher.

One more thing: Bob always gives a kmz file on his posts for you to download so that you can use your copy of Google Earth to tour these places yourself.

Somerset Bob always writes Google Earth Challenge posts that are so intereseting you want to go visit the places yourself. Go and read!

Technorati tags: Harrod's Kensington+Palace London Google+Earth+Challenge
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Glastonbury - Van Morrison & Corinne Bailey Rae at ‘Somerset’ Bob’s Place

Glastonbury - Van Morrison & Corinne Bailey Rae at ‘Somerset’ Bob’s Place
Another great Google Earth post from Bob. Bob and Marcy went to a concert at the site of an abbey that was built in 1191. New Englanders are proud and boastful of our old dates here. We go back to the seventeenth century and think that's pretty ancient. We got nothing on the United Kingdom.

My father and I read a book that described life in England in the year 1000 AD. I think most people should read it because it is fascinating. So go check out Bob's post on ancient (and modern) England.

Technorati tags: Glastonbury+Abbey Google+Earth+Challenge
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Banwell Bone Cave at ‘Somerset’ Bob’s Place

Banwell Bone Cave at ‘Somerset’ Bob’s Place

In 1824, in Banwell, England, a cave full of prehistoric animal bones was found. Somerset Bob relates the history of this cave from 70,000 years ago until now and takes us on a tour with his camera. I so much enjoyed this post: so many prehistoric animals died in that cave, leaving their bones, that the Bishop of Banwell regarded the cave as proof of Noah's flood. Go to Bob's site and read the rest. Click on his photos and watch the slideshows. The geologic and social history are engrossing! Thank you, Bob for this post.

Technorati tags: Banwell+Bone+Cave Google+Earth+Challenge
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Nice Matters Award (Part 2)

I am so fortunate to have met so many wonderful people while blogging this past year. Three other bloggers have awarded me the Nice Matters Award again: Somerset Bob, Peppylady and Drew at BenSpark. I have accepted it again, not for myself (but it is so nice to be told you are nice), but for the opportunity to pass it on to other nice bloggers who have gone out of their way for me:

Scan Man in India
alisonwonderland in Utah
Mark in the United Kingdom

I know the award is feminine. But Drew has made a masculine version which you two gentlemen may be interested in:

I want to thank these three people for their niceness. Stop by their blogs and check them out!

Technorati tags: Nice+Matters+Award
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Hummie's World: Photography Challenges

Hummie has photography challenges also. I keep meaning to do another one but I haven't because since school started I have not been able to get my life organized. My school life is organized, though!

In order to organize my life, I decided to organize Hummie's challenges here so that they will be at the tip of my fingers:

July  6    Depth of Field Challenge
July 16    Night Shot Challenge
July 21    Blurring Background Challenge
July 26    Shutter Speed Challenge
July 30    Camera Filters Challenge
Aug   5    Light Metering Challenge
Aug   8    ISO Challenge
Aug  15    Light Challenge
Aug  19    Frames Challenge
Aug  27    Lines Challenge
Aug  28    Texture Challenge
Sept  6    Rule of Thirds Challenge

Technorati tags: Hummie's+World Hummie's+Photography+Challenge

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Filter Friday Challenge at Rachel Clark Designs

Rachel Clark Designs for Digital Scrapbooking and more!: Filter Friday Challenge

Not just for digital scrapbooking. I find these blogging challenges very educational because I try things I normally wouldn't try. The first Filter Friday Challenge at Rachel's site was to use the colored pencil filter on Photoshop. Hopefully, GIMP has that. I never would have published a colored penciled photo before this challenge.

What's really neat is that there is no deadline for her challenge!

Rachel's other filter challenges:

Sept. 7: Colored pencil filter

Sept. 14: Diffuse glow

Sept. 21: Mezzotint

Sept. 28: Glowing edges

Technorati tags: Friday+Filter+Challenge
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Basset Knitter: Knitting Math Art With Escher Inspired Works

Basset Knitter: Knitting Math Art With Escher Inspired Works

I really enjoyed this post from Paula. Her readers are extending her ideas and seem excited to try the ideas. I commented that I knew of other math stuff she could knit and I finally found it. What's cool is that you can vary not just the yarn and crocheting-type things, but you can vary the math by making n equal any number you like: ". . . an increase is made in every nth stitch, so that the number of stitches from one row to the next is in the constant ratio, n:n+1."

You can also accent the structure of the plane by using contrasting or complementary colors. This sounds like fun and I hope one of Paula's readers, and other knitting and crocheting bloggers, will enjoy it. These planes would make great Christmas gifts. They look like the doilies that women have been crocheting for centuries. If you do this, please let me know!

What's a hyperbolic plane? "A hyperbolic plane is a surface in which the space curves away from itself at every point. Like a Euclidean plane it is open and infinite, but it has a more complex and counterintuitive geometry." This quote is from the article here that has a somewhat accessible discussion of what it is, what it looks like and how it behaves.

Crocheting the Hyperbolic Plane

This site has photos and links to the other people that are crocheting the hyperbolic plane (you didn't think there were any, did you!).

Crocheting the Hyperbolic Plane

Same title, different site. This one has directions for crocheting.

1. Make your beginning chain stitches (Figure 2a). (Topologists may recognize that as the stitches in the Fox-Artin wild arc!) About 20 chain stitches for the beginning will be enough.
2. For the first stitch in each row insert the hook into the 2nd chain from the hook. Take yarn over and pull through chain, leaving 2 loops on hook. Take yarn over and pull through both loops. One single crochet stitch has been completed. (Figure 2b.)
3. For the next N stitches proceed exactly like the first stitch except insert the hook into the next chain (instead of the 2nd).
4. For the (N+1)st stitch proceed as before except insert the hook into the same loop as the N-th stitch.
5. Repeat Steps 3 and 4 until you reach the end of the row.
6. At the end of the row before going to the next row do one extra chain stitch.
7. When you have the model as big as you want, you can stop by just pulling the yarn through the last loop.

Taking Crocheting To A Higher Plane

This site has actual crochet-type directions. It is from Crochet Magazine.

Crocheting the Lorenz Manifold

Make one of these when you tire of making hyperbolic planes.

Technorati tags: knitting crocheting hyperbolic+plane Lorenz+Manifold
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Photowalking with the Dogs

I took a photowalk with the dogs. The domestic and wild animals were very curious to see Scout and Sophie: the horses, other dogs, birds, squirrels, and cats all watched and chatted with their ears up and alert.

There will be no Photo Hunt for me this week. Things have been extremely hectic and I need to catch up with my blogging and cleaning. The weather is going to be lousy so it's the perfect weekend for both, and for reading and resting.

Check back soon, and thank you for watching the slide show of the photo walk.

Technorati tags: photowalk Barton Vermont
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Scrungy's Creator: Cat's on Tuesday: In Search of Pussy Willows

Scrungy's Creator: Cat's on Tuesday: In Search of Pussy Willows

You should go read this beautiful story that captures the loneliness and isolation of widows.

Technorati tags: Scrungy's+Creator short+story In+Search+of+Pussywillows
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The Green Christmas Meme

For this meme, you supply your own photo. This is a photo of my Christmas Pi tree ornament that another teacher gave me two years ago.

Kuanyin at The Art Of Living And Dying tagged me with The Green Christmas Meme.

What is your favorite Christmas gift?
I love homemade gifts: embroidered pillow cases, knit things, baked things. I love gifts that have become a custom like the new slippers and book the girls give me. Music is great. And of course, the greatest gift of all is having the kids here with me (and not fighting!).


What is your best memory of Christmas?
The Christmas before my father died, Andrew and Amelia were here. My father was at a nursing home that is next to the church and I wanted him to go to the Christmas Eve service (which is held at 7 PM). After the nurses dressed my father, my children helped me walk my father to church: over the sidewalk that was thickly coated with ice and up the many stairs. My father sang each hymn and Christmas carol and even held a candle at the end of the service. The kids and I then got him safely back to the nursing home. The congregation helped us too by parting as we left the meeting house, smiling knowingly at us, and giving us even more help down the stairs and over the ice. I will never forget that night. It was the very best gift my children had ever given me.

Depending upon where you live do you have a hot or cold Christmas?
Oh it's cold all right! Very, very cold.

Would you prefer to try the opposite weather at least just once?
No. Heat makes me ill and it wouldn't be right.

What do you prefer in a tree? Fake or real?
My tree has to be real.

What is your favorite carol?
Silent Night.

What is your favorite Christmas dinner?
Whatever makes the people I love happy. I am even happier if I can easily cook the things they want.

Do you wear a Santa hat at Christmas?
Oh no!

Have you ever seen Santa delivering gifts?
I have not seen him but I have heard him nearly every year.

I'm tagging:

Drew at BenSpark because he will be having his first Christmas with his upcoming baby this year!
Robyn at Kat's Cradle because I want to learn about Christmas in Australia.
Dorothy at Scrungy and Friends because I do!

Merry Christmas!

Technorati tags: Green+Christmas+Meme

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80 Online Image Tools and Resources

80 Online Image Tools and Resources — webmeba.com

A great reference for those times that you want play with photographs.

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Tree Climbing in New England

Virtual Soft: New England Tree Climbing Association LLC

The "fastest growing outdoor sport today"?
I admire people who can do stuff like this. I never will but Wingnut wants to after he rode the zipper this summer.

What does LLC mean anyhow?

Technorati tags: tree+climbing New+England
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Beth & Cory's Mom: Smile Award

Beth & Cory's Mom: Smile Award

Anna at Beth & Cory's Mom gave me Smile Award. This award was created by Bridget at ". . .And Miles To Go Before We Sleep . . ." I am honored that Anna awarded this to me and pleased that I have made her smile. She enjoys the photo of Buddy in my Flickr favorited photos. He is hanging in the toilet. It has been one of my most popular Flickr photos and my first photo that made Explore.

So many many bloggers have made me smile for different reasons. The blogs below will actually make you laugh, which has been rare in my life lately. Go visit them and guffaw:

Sanity, Interrupted . . .
Stephen the Dog
The Frog Blog

Technorati tags: Smile+Award
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Our School Psychologist

David J. Lawson, 59, of Coaticook, Quebec, and Danville, Vt., died unexpectedly Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2007, at North Country Hospital in Newport.

Lacking family connections, he developed a brother-sister relationship with both Robin Rothman of Danville and Celine Dudemaine of Ayers Cliff, P.Q. David was a psychotherapist with Northeast Kingdom Human Services in both St. Johnsbury and Newport. Recently he had been working with troubled children in northern schools like . . . .

David wrote poetry and read omnivorously. He fended for himself starting early in his life and was somewhat of a rolling stone, deciding on a career in psychology. He put himself through all his education up through obtaining his master's in psychology and social work.

David came from a military family. As a boy he lived in North Carolina, Texas and Massachusetts, and later again in Massachusetts, Colorado, and the Albany N.Y. area. He worked a variety of jobs beginning in his teens: He ran errands, operated the telegraph, cleaned houses, managed a bar and even an art gallery. While working on his master's, he oversaw a psychiatric nursing home.

David began working with Northeast Kingdom Human Services in the mid-1980s. He tended bar a few nights a week at the Rabbit Hill Inn. His main enthusiasms were reading, studying French, which he taught himself, and talking to people wherever he went. David was particularly interested in religion and spirituality and read extensively on those subjects. He adopted Judaism as the religion most compatible with his beliefs and origins.

He practiced his French in Quebec. He became enchanted with the culture and moved to Coaticook about five years ago and was working on obtaining permanent Canadian residency.

Graveside services will be held Monday, Sept. 10, at 11 a.m. at the Danville Green Cemetery on Brainerd Street. Rabbi Tobie Wiseman of Montpelier will officiate. Anyone wishing to attend is welcome.

Contributions marked in David Lawson's memory may be directed to Northeast Kingdom Human Services, P.O. Box 368, St. Johnsbury VT 05819.

Sayles Funeral Home is assisting with arrangements.

The Caledonian-Record is a daily newspaper serving Northern Vermont and Northern New Hampshire. Visit our website updated daily at www.caledonianrecord.com


Note from the WebMaster: We request that you maintain proper credit to the Caledonian-Record Online News and to the author of the article. If you post this news article on your website we also request that you include a link to our website, which can be accomplished by using the following code:

The Caledonian-Record News 1997 - 2007 · St. Johnsbury, Vermont
http://www.caledonianrecord.com

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New Anna Photo from Aaron

Only photos of Anna lately. That is because for too long I didn't get any photos of her and now I am getting them more regularly. I am thrilled about that. This is Aaron's latest portrait of Anna. I don't understand how he learned to take a photograph like this but I am grateful that he can. Please click to view it large in a new window.

Technorati tags: Aaron+Kotowski

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Worldless Wednesday: The Second Vermont Republic at The Bread & Puppet

A giant puppet promoting the establishment of the
Second Vermont Republic at the Bread & Puppet Museum

All text is from Wikipedia:

Vermont Republic:
"The Vermont Republic was a North American independent republic founded in 1777 and continuing until 1791, when it became Vermont – the fourteenth state of the United States."

Second Vermont Republic:
"Second Vermont Republic (SVR) is a secessionist movement within the U.S. state of Vermont to return the independent status of the Vermont Republic from 1777–91."

Bread and Puppet Theater:
"The Bread and Puppet Theater (often known simply as Bread & Puppet) is a politically radical puppet theater, active since the 1960s, currently based in Glover, Vermont."

Technorati tags: Second+Vermont+Republic, Bread+&+Puppet+Theater, Glover+Vermont, Wordless+Wednesday
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Heads or Tails: September 11: Hartford to Washington DC

I was at school. The girls and I all lived and worked in Hartford, Connecticut. My son, Andrew, lived then (as now) in Washington, DC. He lived within sight of Capitol Hill and worked at a research facility near the Pentagon, taking the Metro to his job every day.

In Hartford, before first period, a teacher came out of his class and told us to turn on the TV because his wife had called. We couldn't get the TV to tune to a station without a metal coat hanger. At the moment we were able to tune a station, the second plane hit the Trade Center. We stood in a circle in awe and fear until I finally realized that somehow the US was at war with somebody.

We were told not to let our students know. All morning, we surreptitiously stole into the room with the TV and shared what we learned with the staff. I heard about the Pentagon attack and panicked. The principal arranged for me to call Andrew but the phone circuits were overloaded and I couldn't get through. I called the girls and told them to try Andrew's cell phone non-stop until they got him. I finally called a friend in Michigan who called Andrew. Somehow, Michigan got the call through and created a conference call for us.

Andrew's supervisor had locked all of his charges in the basement of the building near the Pentagon and they were going to stay there until the Army told them it was safe to leave. I told Andrew to get as much cash from the bank ATM as possible but he had already done that. I told them that we would drive down and get him and bring him home (that proved impossible: the roads from Connecticut to Washington were quickly all closed down).

Andrew was scared. A friend he worked with had seen the Pentagon attack from her car on the Beltway. She was in shock by what she had seen and she (and hundreds of others) had simply abandoned her car on the highway and somehow walked to work where she was locked up with the rest. There was no food except for vending machines. They dismantled the machines in order to eat during the day. Andrew told me that the White House was on fire and related other rumors that were flying throughout the country.

Andrew's supervisor finally let all of the employees out at 10 PM that night. He personally made sure that each person got home safely. The Army was patrolling Washington, huge military helicopters were flying over head and anti-aircraft guns were stationed at most intersections. They stopped to eat on the way home. They had to walk from Arlington to Dupont in the dark, in fear, because the Metro had been shut down. But as soon as Andrew got home, he called. He said he could not sleep all night because of fear and the noise of the military activity all around, including the huge lights used by helicopters to light up the city below.

As if that was not enough trauma, Andrew was affected by the anthrax attacks. His post office was the huge Washington facility that was infected. His mail was confiscated and destroyed. He had to have his mail forwarded to another postal facility. We simply stopped sending him mail for a long time because he refused to collect it for months. He was in fear for weeks that he may have contracted anthrax in mail he had gotten before they knew what was going on.

Andrew and I have talked a few times about what to do "next time." He has an escape route planned and will not cancel his land phone account, which he considered doing at one time because he only uses his cell phone. I reminded him that cell phone service was shut down on that horrid day and that land phones were the only phones working.

I am grateful that this is the only way in which we suffered on that day. I pray that we find a solution to the anger and hatred in this world so that this never happens again here or anywhere else.

Technorati tags: September+11 9/11 Washington+DC Hartford+CT Heads+Or+Tail
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Text Savvy: Three 3s

Text Savvy

Neither of my solutions (my and jonathan's) was submitted by anybody else! I really have to overcome feeling intimidated by these mathematicians because I never submitted our answers. On to the next puzzle:

Your favorite little league baseball team is playing for the championship. The team will play seven games . . .

Technorati tags: Text+Savvy puzzle mathematics probability
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