Moving.

Moving to needyourgrace.wordpress.com

Deleting this blog in a week, change your bookmarks!

Tombstone in Dickensons yard....coo.

AMHERST, Mass. - For Emily Dickinson, death was never too far from the imagination. The topic fueled her writing, making for some of the most memorable lyrics in American poetry.
Now, death is posing a bit of a puzzle for the caretakers of her homestead.While making improvements to the grounds of the Emily Dickinson Museum on Halloween, workers unearthed the gravestone of one of the poet's relatives.But exactly what Gen. Thomas Gilbert's headstone was doing under 18 inches of dirt in Dickinson's front yard has some experts stumped — especially knowing that his remains are buried in a nearby cemetery with a more ornate grave marker.

"What do you do with a used gravestone?" asked Jane Wald, the museum's executive director. "It might have been used as a step or used to cover a hole in the ground. We don't know exactly why it was placed there."To be sure, more is known about Gilbert than the simple marble slab that bears his name and date of death. An innkeeper, merchant, lawmaker and member of the Massachusetts militia who lived in Greenfield, Gilbert had seven children and outlived his wife. But when he died a pauper in 1841, his youngest daughter, Susan, moved to Amherst to live with an older sister.

That's where she met Dickinson, when both girls were 14. Their lifelong friendship deepened in 1856, when Emily's brother, Austin, married Susan. To entice the newlyweds into staying in Amherst, Austin and Emily's father built them a house next to the Dickinson homestead.

Susan, who long endured taunts and barbs from Amherst residents who considered her father to be a drunk because he owned a tavern, may have wanted to put her detractors in place by moving her father's grave from Greenfield to Amherst.

When Gilbert and his wife were reburied close to the Dickinson homestead in West Cemetery, their plot was adorned with a new marker. The gravestone dug up earlier this week was likely the original stone from Gilbert's Greenfield grave, Wald suspects.

"In that regard, it makes sense for this grave marker to be found around here," she said.

The marker was found by workers digging a trench to improve water drainage. When their excavation equipment hit slabs of stone, they started digging by hand.

Chunks of marble — some with letters or numbers carved in them — started surfacing. By the time they were done, 15 pieces were unearthed and arranged like an oversized jigsaw puzzle. A few gaps in the slab remain, but the marker clearly reads "Gen. Tho. Gilbert. Died Dec. 23, 1841." The number 48, his age when he died, rests at the bottom.

Wald guesses the gravestone went underground as one piece, but shattered under pressure of time and landscaping equipment that's been rolling over the homestead grounds during the past few years.

Emily Dickinson, who wrote most of her hundreds of poems about nature, love, life and death in her second-floor bedroom, died in 1886. The last surviving member of the Dickinson family was Austin and Susan's daughter, Martha, who sold the homestead in 1916.

It was purchased in 1965 by Amherst College and opened by the school as a museum in 2003.

Other maintenance and repair work has unearthed pieces of ceramics, a mouth harp, coins and a brick gutter.

"There's always a great deal of potential for archaeological finds at a site like this," Wald said.

History class from (you know where).

Class was great today, until last period. I subbed for an English class and the teacher was really really organized and structured a very good class. They were short on subs so I had to sub a history class 6th period. What a nightmare! These kids would not listen to anything I said at all. then I had some girl start swearing and I said, is that really necessary and she said well I asked you to do something about it but you didn't...I told her no one deserves to be spoken to like that, so at least I had the last word! :) left a note for teacher that her class was OUT of control. there were a few good students who were super sweet to me and did their work. The staff at this particular school were none-to friendly either. I had a substitute badge on all day and I had to keep asking where things were and no one at lunch really spoke to me until a lady asked me who I was in for. I felt so out of place in the teacher's lunch area. :-/ I finished up quickly and went back to my room. It was a decent day other than my last period class.

Blow My Mind

Long over due to update. First a thanks to John Mayer for the recommendation of Josh Rouse and althought I didnt' listen to his Bedroom Confessions, I'm listening to his other albums, and I can see why he enjoys it. It reminds me of his sound and soulful lyrics, i.e. REAL music. I guess I'm an indie girl at heart. Hmm, it would be great if I could find more Christian indie bands.

Lately I've not been in the Word or feeling very Christian. I don't know, maybe I'm just in one of those slumps and satan is trying to pull me down. I don't know but it's not a pleasant feeling. I haven't read my Bible and I haven't been praying. I feel stuck. I don't feel like I'm growing in the Lord. Obviously I can't grow in him if I'm not praying or reading His word but I just feel like something is preventing me from having that desire. Is it selfishness or is it just lazyness? It's not hard to pick up my Bible and read it, but when I pick it up I feel really lost with everything that is there. It's a lot of informatrion to digest.



UPDATE: Muahhaha, my website blog is in the works! Blog!

Manatee Squash.

Ah, thanks for StumbleUpon!

Manatee Squash

Yay, tomorrow is my substitute teacher training! It's about time. But something a bit more important is the following:

Please sign the following
"No Child Soldiers" Declaration

In northern Uganda, more than 25,000 children have been kidnapped and forced to serve as soldiers in a nightmarish civil war that the world has largely ignored. These innocent children are brutalized and mutilated, forced to commit atrocities, and given as sex slaves to military commanders. This targeted abuse of children is unacceptable.

As parents, people of faith, students and youth, we urge all parties involved in this conflict to find a peaceful resolution. We implore the United States government, the United Nations, and the international community to work diligently to bring peace and protection to the children of northern Uganda. All children deserve to have a childhood free from torture and a future free from cruelty.


Please sign it! It's very important to prevent this from happening or at least increase awareness about it. Most people I talk to have no idea what the LRA in Africa is! Which is sad because it is very real. Also for the following :

Speak Out for the Poor and Oppressed

There is no spam or tricks guys, it's from WorldVision, where I sponsor a child. :)

Sneezing!

For some reason I can't stop sneezing. What is it that makes us sneeze? I have lots of questions to ask Heavenly Father when I get to Heaven. I've also slept longer today than I have all week, I woke up at a decent hour 9:45 and then was up and of course layed down and fell back to sleep for about 3 hours again, so it was about 2:00pm when I woke up. I don't know what's the matter with me.

Good news on Wisdom Teeth though. I went to the dentist, Dr. Gift who does oral surgery. He's a nice guy and funny, but not cheesey funny. He said it'd take 45 minutes (wow I said, that quick) and then gave me the basics. Then I asked about my absessed tooth ( root canal) and he said well...I can honestly say that you won't miss it. Do you really want to spend 1,000 for it to be repiared, 500 for the crown, 500 for the visit, etc. I said, no way, let's just yank it. So that's the plan on that end but I'm waiting for my discount to take effect in December.

I've got to take something for my sneezing!


Update: I walked the dogs one at a time because it's easier and as I'm coming back with Ringo I see the evil HOA president walking towards our house and I thought oh no. So I go inside and he walks over to our neighbors ( the old Italians) and I bring Bonnie out and I hear the old man saying : I don't want to be a neighbor but a friend, and I thought to myself " ha, that ship has sailed a LONG time ago." So he's complaining about our tree that's not nearly over his house or in his yard, but it has leaves that come into his 'no-leaf' yard policy. Great news is that, they can't make us cut the tree which makes me feel better (there was a HOA meeting last night, I was going to attend but I knew I'd get upset and it'd just be a mess) but HOA nazi is speaking with Ryan on Saturday. Found out that the board has elections every 2 years and we'd be able to change stuff in January and then the election is I think this January but I could be wrong.


I'm going to a fondu party tonight with my sister-in-law Tara. I hope it's fun. I'm not feeling great today, don't know why either.