QuiSun Log House

     It took quite an effort, but I finally completed a log house for Jacqui and Jacsun. It all began about 2.5 years ago after both Jacqui and I stepped on honey locust thorns in the creek bottom behind my house. Honey locust trees have needle-sharp thorns that grow up to 4 inches in length and can easily pierce the sole of a tennis shoe and can even penetrate a leather boot. I was determined to end that problem and began cutting those noxious trees down, when it donned on me that I could do something constructive with the tree trunks. However, cutting down and trimming off the thorny branches of honey locust trees is not easy; I was stuck repeatedly by thorns but persevered. After ridding the bottom of honey locust trees, I finished the log cabin with walnut trees, of which there are many on the creek bottom. The cabin measures 10 feet long, 8 feet wide, 6.5 feet high outside, and 5.2 feet high inside.

     After completing 10 rounds of logs, I installed a plywood floor and roof for Jacqui and Jacsun to play on. I placed six support posts inside the cabin to support Jacqui and Jacsun’s combined weight. I had a few shingles left over from a roofing project on my house a few years ago, so I used them to cover the seams between plywood sheets. There is about 4-6 inch clearance above the tops of Jacqui and Jacsun’s heads inside the cabin, so they should be able to play in the log house for a couple of years or so before having to bend over.

     I had never taken on such a demanding construction project like this before, and it was kind of fun to work on it and try to figure it out. This whole endeavor does have a precedent though. When I was about 10 years old, Dad encouraged us boys to cut down several small wild cherry trees that had grown up on the hillside near where we used to burn trash. He said that if our cows ate dead wild cherry leaves, it would kill them. I am not sure how many wild cherry trees Joe and Glenn cut down, but I know I cut several and even enlisted the help of my Malaga friends to help me build the little log cabin. We put up about four or five rounds before giving up on the endeavor. It was difficult to get in and play in the log structure because we did not know how to construct a doorway. We dug a hole under one side (somewhat like a groundhog hole) as an entry but it was not an easy entrance or exit. Accordingly, that log cabin project was soon abandoned. Now some 52 years later, I derive some satisfaction in actually completing a log house for my children. 

  

Western Caribbean Carnival Cruise

On June 24, 2018, Jacqui, Jacsun, and I departed Springfield, MO for Houston, TX.  We drove southwest through eastern OK and detoured east of Oklahoma City, stopping to picnic at Chickasaw State Park.  Arrived at Houston at 7:30 and checked into Wyndham Hotel.

June 25: Three of us swam in hotel swimming pool for about 1.5 hours before leaving for Galveston, TX. At 12:30 pm, we arrived at Galveston port and boarded the Carnival ship called Valor. We quickly settled into our state room after which Jacsun and Jacqui swam in various fresh and salt water pools the rest of the evening.

June 26: All day at sea. Jacsun and Jacqui and I swam in various pools and watched the movie Daddy’s Home II. Attended the captain’s dinner in the evening.

June 27: Left the ship and walked a short distance to Cozumel Cruise Excursions to begin our swim at four reefs off the coast of Cozumel. We snorkeled at Planacar Reef, two parts of Columbia Reef, and El Cielo sandbar. We saw a variety of coral fish, a stingray, turtle, starfish, and other sea creatures (this was Jacsun and Jacqui’s favorite day).

June 28: Left the ship and joined our organized tour to Chichen Itza, the famed Mayan city (ca. A.D. 800-1200) on the Yucatan peninsula about 75 miles east of Merida. This, of course, was Jacqui and Jacsun’s first visit to a Mayan site. I last saw Chichen Itza during the summer of 1977, when I was in the Yucatan for a month earning 6 hrs. of credit for an ethnography course at WKU.

Chichen Itza has changed a great deal since 1977 when you just walked onto the site after departing from a bus. A large visitor center has been constructed on site, and there are vendors selling gifts to tourists within the site. Unlike in 1977, people cannot climb the stairs of the various temples. Nevertheless, we had a good time walking around the site, viewing the Temple of Kukulkan (aka El Castillo), the Temple of the Warriors, the Venus Platform, and the Grand Ballcourt.

After leaving Chichen Itza, we drove to a nearby cenote (ponded sinkhole) approximately 80 feet deep were Jacqui and Jacsun swam in the cool fresh water for about 20 minutes. Drove the 1.5 hour trip back to Progresso, Mexico and reboarded the Valor.

June 29: All day at sea. We swam and ate all day. Free food and snacks could be had practically any time of day. We all took advantage of it, especially Jacsun who must have had a total of 25 ice cream cones during the cruise. Not sure about the children, but I gained at least five pounds.

June 30: Arrived at Galveston and departed ship at 8:10 am. By 8:30 am, we had returned to our car and began a 13-hour drive back to Springfield, MO, arriving at about 9:30 pm. 

Jack suggested that this Facebook piece written by Tresine on the occasion of my 70th birthday on July 6, 2018, be added to the Ray Round Robin. --Sylvia Tresine wrote: "She moved 8 times before graduating high school; each move papering the walls and hanging curtains by her mother's side, readying the new home for her three younger brothers she helped to raise. Her graduating classmates must've felt vexed @ the valedictorian only there a year. She watched her mother earn a bachelor's degree when women didn't do such things. At 18, she continued the family legacy to become a Hilltopper-- for the first time the world was her oyster. A boy asked her if she wanted a cigarette. Silly boy.... why would she? Nevertheless, he persisted. She fashioned her own clothes, including the stylish slacks her professor told her women shouldn't wear to class in '69. Nevertheless, she persisted. The red-headed boy ushered her to his hometown with a ring on her finger, and they welcomed a curly gingered son. Then ginger twin girls whose impulsive, theatrical, self-indulgent adolescence would bring her to the brink. A French and Library Science double-major, her first profession was her last-- 29 years the Library Media Specialist @ Washington County High School. Even in small town KY, she pushed the envelope. Relentlessly pursued technology and innovation-- cuz the students in Springfield, KY deserved no less. Earned distinction and award in this role-- but at 3:30 each day, her hat changed shape. The shape of sacrifice. Unadulterated compassion. Audacious love. Courageous strength. And through her model and osmosis-- her three children understood kindness wins. The world was much bigger than ourselves. It was our commission to improve the lives of the people we knew. And women. must . persist. I learned early on that working mothers can do it all. Once "all" is defined. We understood the value of understanding the plight of humans beyond those we know. The power of a well-read, discerning, compassionate, critical-thinking woman knows no bounds. Retirement came in '99. Three weddings and five grandchildren would ensue in the next 7 years. Each wedding its own "wedding bible", each grandchild its own handmade wardrobe & quilt-- her enduring presence, no matter the cross-county drives & flights to be @ her daughter's side. No matter the aging mother who required every meal provided and every day attended. Nevertheless, she persisted. Two became five. Became 8 Became 14. At 3:30 in the morning as I cradled my inconsolable first newborn feeling hopeless and confused, our eyes met in the night. Her gaze spoke loudly. You can do this. You will do this. I am here. And we will do this. Her daughters + four granddaughters marched for women @ her side. Her son + grandsons know what a strong, independent woman is. The seamstress in her skips a generation-- but burns in Eloise & Lucy. @ 70, her wisdom is like a good KY bourbon, better with age. I crave it. "Did I do this @ 14?" I ask. "How did you respond when I did this?" I question in bewilderment. "Mama-- how did you love us so well? How did your optimism win over worry? How did your faith in our choices win when we made such impetuous, misguided adolescent choices?" Today. We celebrate her 70 years. Friday, the family she nurtured gathered to honor her. To acknowledge we are are who we are... because of her. Her pleasures are so simple. Her devotion to integrity so deep. Her impact on her world just getting started. Thank you, Mama. For personifying love for the human race. For persisting."

Dear Folks,

Some of you may have heard Carl Zimmer interviewed by Terry Gross on Fresh Air on June 11th. If not, you may want to. Carl Zimmer is a science columnist who has written about genetic sequencing and genetic testing (tracing ancestry). He makes an analogy that the current accuracy of genetic testing is roughly equivalent to telescopes in the 1700s. You could see much better than with the naked eye, but far away objects were still fuzzy and hard to define. The same is probably true with the results provided by commercial genetic testing: the overall results may be accurate, but the smaller ethnic percentages are best guesses with the information at hand. He added that samples submitted for the same individual to different labs yielded different percentages but didn't specify how much variance there was between the labs. Nevertheless, as with any new technology, the process with be fine tuned and refined, resulting in much more accurate ancestry data in the near future.

Love,
Jack

Dear Folks,

It is no longer acceptable for the American people to sit back and allow repeat episodes of mass murder. This is particularly egregious when it comes to mass murder of our children in public schools. The NRA's arrogant power and grip on many politicians may be on the wane. If not, we must force the issue, especially during the upcoming mid-term election. Below are copies of letters that Jacqui, Jacsun, and I wrote to President Trump, our Republican senator, and our Republican representative (our Democrat senator, Clair McCaskill, is already on our side). If Jacqui and Jacsun were on spring break March 24, we definitely would be attending the "March for Our Lives" protest in Washington D. C. Unfortunately, that is not the case; nevertheless, we will be attending a local "March for Our Lives" protest here in Springfield, Missouri the same day.

Love,
Jacqui, Jacsun, and Jack

February 28, 2018

Dear President,

Due to the recent Florida school massacre, I am concerned about my safety in my middle school. It appears to me that you haven’t been doing anything to control gun violence throughout the country. But you must, we all, across the nation, are depending on you! If you pass a law, you will not only be a hero to many students like me, but you will also be a life saver to many students.

Sincerely,

Jacqui T. Ray

February 28, 2018

Mr. President,

My name is Jacsun Ray. I am in the 4^th grade and I’m 9 years old. I am now scared to go to school. I am afraid that a shooter will come kill me or my school mates. I also heard that the teachers will be armed. I don’t think they are there to shoot or kill anyone. They are there to teach children. If you ban assault weapons, except for the military and the police department, you will be a lifesaver. If you don’t, then children in the nation will die.

It appears that you have not done anything. You must do something quickly because children are dying from gun violence. Parents are losing their children from shooters. Children are our future. Save them and you will be a hero. If you don’t, there won’t be any future for many victims. We are depending on you to save students across the nation.

Sincerely,

Jacsun B. Ray

February 28, 2018

Mr. President,

The recent mass murder of students at Stoneman Douglas High School is of grave concern to me. A primary function of the federal government has been and always should the protection of its citizens, especially our children who represent our future. Yet for far too many years now, there has been little or no protection as we have suffered through one school shooting/mass murder after another by individuals with military-style assault weapons. This has to come to an end.

There is a growing movement in this country in support of sensible and meaningful gun control legislation, including the ban of bump stocks, the ban of military-style assault weapons, and the implementation of universal background checks. I hope that you and Congress will lead in this effort. We no longer need prayers; we need courageous leaders who will take immediate and long overdue action. If as in the recent past, politicians submit to the whims of the NRA and do nothing to ban these killing machines, we the people, will rise up and replace those weak politicians with those who will support gun-control legislation in the next two election cycles.

Sincerely,

Jack H. Ray

3321 S. Barrington Ave.

Springfield, MO 65807