Today we went into New York City. We visited the Sept 11 Memorial on the site of the Twin Towers. The 2 towers have been replaced by a single tower on a vacant part of the site. The actual sites of the twin towers have now been made into a memorial - 2 square voids with water cascading down the walls then dropping into a smaller square in the middle. The walls are inscribed with the names of those who died in the attack, including a large number of police, firefighters and emergency workers.

One WTC

September 11 Memorial

St Paul's Chapel nearby was used by emergency workers to rest and recuperate during the rescue attempt and people came with photos of missing persons and placed these on an altar. SOme of these are not shown in this memorial inside the chapel

Memorial Table inside St Paul's Chapel

We then walked uptown, via Washington Square where we sat and listened to a busker playing a grand piano for a while, then up Broadway to 34th St and Penn Station to catch the train back to Long Island.

Flatiron Building

The day finished with a BBQ dinner at the local Beach Club followed by fireworks, both on the beach and in the surrounding towns across the bay. These went on for 45 minutes or more.

Beach Club, Nissequogue, Long Island

Yesterday we caught the train to New York where we were met by Raewynne Whiteley, a woman who studied at Ridley at the same time as Chris. She took us to her country house in Kent, Connecticut about 2 and a half hours drive north of NYC. Kent is a pretty town with lots of sculptures in the streets and beautiful New England Architecture.
Once the sun had gone down we had the pleasure of standing outside watching the fireflies flit around the garden (No photos as they are only alight for a second or two at a time.).
Today is July 4th so lots of places are closed for the holiday but we went whitewater rafting instead. It wasn't very white, mind you. It was also raining thanks to Hurricane Arthur but we figured we'd be wet anyway.
The weather has turned overnight from 35C with 75% humidity to 19C and rain.  Just like Melbourne did I hear you say?

Today we decided to visit the Smithsonian Institution. It consists of several museums, gardens and art galleries. Chris visited the Air & Space Museum while Di decided to stick to art.
The Air & Space Museum is dedicated to the history of flight from the first attempts at flight in hot air balloons to space exploration.

Bleriot Monoplane

Wright Bros Airplane

Spirit of St Louis - Lindbergh

Ford AT5 Trimotor

Lunar Lander

The African Art Gallery featured a display of women's fabrics which Di particularly loved.

African Fabrics

Sculpture in Sculpture Garden - Typewriter Eraser

Yesterday was spent travelling from Tucson to Washington.
Today we caught the train to the city centre for some sightseeing, visiting the popular sights.
The White House is well protected by a high fence and countless guards, police, secret service, etc.so we could only see it from a distance.

The Washington Memorial is nearly 170m tall, towering over the mound on which it;s set.

The Vietnam Memorial is a series of black Granite plaques set into the ground with the names of the soldiers who served during the conflict. The wall tapers in a curve from 20cm to 3.1m at the centre then back to 20cm at the end. 

The Lincoln memorial is described as a temple enshrining the memory of Abraham Lincoln forever. At the two ends of the memorial are his 2 inauguration speeches, the first being his Gettysburg Address, the second largely commenting on the unfinished task of the war with the south to remove slavery from the country

 The Korean way memorial is set with soldiers marching through a garden.

 Next to is is a pool with the message: Freedom is not Free.

Today we visited Tombstone - lots of excitement for any old Western Fans (Old Westerns, not fans)! Tombstone is a real town in southwest Arizona, Establised 1879 and still going. It's most famous for the gunfight at the OK Corral on Oct 26 1881, between outlaws (otherwise known as cowboys in those days) Billy Claiborne, Ike and Billy Clanton, and Tom and Frank McLaury, and town Marshal Virgil Earp and his brothers Morgan and Wyatt, aided by Doc Holliday Billy Clanton and Tom and Frank died and are buried in Boot Hill, no preserved as a national monument.
Boot hill has lots of graves fro mteh early 1880s as well as a few from later times.
The town has a population of around 1500 and the old part of town has been preserved as a tourist attraction. On Sunday afternoon the locals dress up as cowboys and parade around the town with their boots and jeans and broad brimmed hats and six guns on their hips. We ate lunch at the Crystal Palace Saloon which hasn't changed much except it was a lot quieter and much more respectable than it would have been in Wyatt Earp's time.

I think the Jewish memorial was a later addition

The grave of the three outlaws killed by the Earp brothers

Some grave stones express a sense of humour as well as sadness

Crystal Palace Saloon

Tombstone is a dangerous place. I was picked up by vigilantes who mistook me for a horse thief and decided to hang me. They even wrote my death certificate! But we bribed them to let me go. It was all in a good cause. They're a charitable group raising money for scholarships for kids.

Today we're in Tucson, staying with our friends the Bromiels. They have a lovely home nestled under the Santa Catalina mountains, with a pool and lots of wildlife that visits the garden to escape the heat. Today we explored the wonders of the shopping malls! We saw too many bargains to fit in our bags though.

Wild rabbits

Quail

Quail

Catalinas

Not much to report today. It was a case of driving back to Pittsburgh airport for one more lonely overnight stay (violins please!) before flying out to Tucson tomorrow to meet Di (balloons and trumpets!). I drove back through beautiful woodland lined roads, in an area known as the Laurel Highlands. Beautiful and green at this time of the year. I stopped at the Keystone State Park for lunch. It's set around a lake with a sandy beach - though fairly coarse sand - what we'd call brickie's sand, though even browner than that.

Last night the ARDF representatives were invited to dinner at the home of Archbishop Robert Duncan, the now-retired Primate of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). ACNA formed following the decision of the Episcopal Church to consecrate an active homosexual bishop in 2003 and the ongoing determination of Episcopalians to follow a strong theologically liberal agenda. It was formally created in April 2009.
The Archbishop's home is on a beautiful piece of land near Donegal Lake just out of LaTrobe Pennsylvania

Evening mist hanging in the valleys

A small gathering in the Archbishops front yard on a pleasant summer evening (once the torrential rain stopped!)

Today I attended the opening day of the ACNA National Assembly, held at St Vincent's College, La Trobe, a college and Roman Catholic seminary.
ACNA is made up of both High and Low church parishes so the opening communion service in the college Basilica was very formal with sung liturgy.
The keynote speaker was Eric Metaxas, author of Biographies of Bonhoeffer and Wilberforce as well as being a writer for VeggieTales!

Well, we're off on Long Service Leave for the second time. Di couldn't leave with me as school won't finish for her until Thursday and I had to be at the ARDF Global Trustees meeting on Tuesday. we'll meet in Tucson on Friday














 
 The Trustees come from USA, Canada, Australia, Chile, Malaysia, Egypt, Sudan, Rwanda and Burma














The main business of the meeting was to approve a range of aid projects propoaed by Anglican CHurches and Dioceses and to ratify the Agreement to create the Anglican Relief and Development Council. This agreement was signed by the representatives of USA, Canada and Australia, the three funding bodies.

 

Baroness Caroline Cox, a member of the UK House of Lords and Honorary Chair presented an interesting report on the situation in Sudan where the Islamist government is putting enormous pressure on non Muslim groups.

She also talked about the approach of ARDF in these terms:

• It seeks to work though local church as partners because:
• this maintains the dignity of the locals
• it avoids upsetting the local economy
• it avids aid dependency
• it gives a sense of accomplishment
• it supports "Mustard Seed" partners - who are then able to help others.