The Common “Tator”

Since I am not a great poet, and yet have a great appreciation for those who are, I wanted to dedicate this to and share this writing by E.E. Cummings with Sandy — since it prefectly expresses my Love for You !    Thank you for a wonderful 36 years ++ of marriage, love and fun… may we share many decades ahead together…Owen  

I carry Your Heart with me ( I carry it in my Heart ) 

I carry your heart with me (I carry it in my heart) 

I am never without it (anywhere
I go you go, my dear;  and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,  my darling)                               

I fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) I want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

Here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

I carry your heart ( I carry it in my heart )

Following a year of non-Blogging, it is important for me to share a few words about the significance of the date of “August 29th” in my life.

Today, August 29th, 2006, Sandy and I celebrate the 36th Anniversary of our marriage; the event took place at Noon on a Saturday, in New Orleans, during the hottest month of the year in 1970. That takes Faith! Oh how fast those years have passed !! But there is ‘much more’ to the beginning of this marriage story that I need to share; Faith was certainly the basis for our meeing, and our life together… more on that in a few moments.

Also today we are remembering with heavy hearts the indescribable tragedy of August 29th, 2005 and the affect of Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and Louisiana, and especially on “our home town of New Orleans”. Anyone who has not yet been back to the city since Katrina and driven around the neighborhoods, truly has “No Idea” of the massiveness and extent of the devastation. Between mid-September 2005 and late-June 2006 I have spent about 75% of my time in suburban Metairie, LA helping to accomplish getting my Dad and his wife back into their home and a “normal” life again. This was just one, relatively small, residencial restoration project following the flooding resulting from Katrina; and only in a western suburb that had two feet of water for a day or two…

It is was a truly memorable 35th wedding anniverary for Sandy and me last year, on Monday August 29th, 2005, as we sat here in the comfort and safely of Chappell Hill, Texas, with my Dad and his wife as evacuees, and watched TV as the reports of the storm damage in the New Orleans area slowly began to unfold. It was a somber time for us all. As native New Orleanians, it is not possible to express in words what we have experienced and observed regarding the demise of our home city! It will never be “as it was”, but knowing the spirit and determination of New Orleans folks, it will most likely, eventually, be much better!!

As Sandy and I enjoy our 36th anniversay this year, it is with tremendous appreciation for the provisions of God during these happy years of marriage. As mentioned above, Faith in God was a guiding factor in initiating this long and loving marriage, relationship and friendship. It was on a day May 1967 day in a football practive field at Holy Cross School on the corner of “Reynes and Burgundy Streets” in New Orleans, during a religion class ‘one-on-one’ outdoor discussion and prayer session with a close friend, when I extended a prayer to Almighty God to “provide me the proper life mate that would be according to His plans”. It was the first specific prayer on this topic that I had ever prayed, but it was a special time, with a trusted male friend, and I prayed this and “let it go to the hands of Our Lord”… Then I actually forgot for a while that this prayer had been shared with God. This prayer was lifted up at a very simple place, inside a fence near the street corner; that property remains just about the same today, with the exception of extensive Katrina debrie as shown in January 2006 photos.

This is the very first specific prayer that I realize was answered by God in a very clear and precise manner. At the end of September 1967, a good friend arranged a ‘Blind-Date’ for me; this at a time when I had become rather “less than enthusiastic” with dating… On that evening God delivered Sandy into my life; He had permitted me to arrive at a “low ebb of social dating ambivalence”, and then clearly jolted me into attention with His Provision!

What a blessing His answer to this prayer has been. I am a very grateful man that God has, and continues, to be faithful in loving me, and in blessing Sandy and me in our shared married life together!! There are far too many of our shared married life experiences to list or mention here, for which I am humbly grateful to God. He has sustained our marriage, and provided us with joy and strength as and when needed; on a continuous basis. Our three children are now active and contributing adult members of society, thanks to His guidance and Hand. They are a very important part of our legacy, resulting from His hand, in placing us together as a loving married couple! May God bless them fully, and may they listen, trust and obey His guidance daily!!

We look forward to the many happy years ahead in marriage, and are confident that God will provide exciting new experiences, fruitful times, and good friends, as He has in the past 36 years. Having lived in three European countries, and three states, as well as having traveled to very many countries during the international travels and expatriate assignments in our lives, we have been further blessed to see so many beautiful places that are a part of God’s earthly creation. Awesome!

Sandy and I truly celebrate our lives together on this 36th anniversay, and we pray that many other married couples enjoy a Godly anchored marriage filled with joy, love and excitement. I remain extremely grateful to God for answering my specific prayer of May 1967, with the lifemate in Sandy via our blind date about four months later. He delivers in ways much beyond our imaginations — when we seek Him, ask and trust.

His plans are clearly much better than our plans!!

On this first anniversary of Katrina, we continue to pray for all of the people in the Louisiana and Mississippi areas affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Their uncertainty for the future, ongoing pain and discomfort can only be fully grasped by Almighty God Himself! May He continue to provide His peace and His power and love to advance the people in these states in the direction of His purposes and plans, and to the entore USA. Sandy and I are thankful for His Love in our lives, and seek His guidance and power daily to live our lives to the fullest of His Plan for each of us, and for us together!

In Jesus precious and holy name we humbly pray… Amen!

Owen Batt

Tuesday, August 29th, 2006

Curious people with an open-mind can always learn new things; all that is needed is “an attitude seasoned with desire to learn”, and with today’s technology a taste of humility.  Just a couple of weeks ago my Dad ‘began’ using e-mail via Outlook2003 and the internet via Internet Expl;orer. He is now 78 years mature, and still works by choice as an engineer in New Orleans. 

This new venture into “starting to make technology work for him” was not previously limited by a lack of computer access. Dad has had a PC available for his use for years. The trigger that sparked his interest is the availability of information at his fingertips, from engineering matters, receiving family pictures and info via e-mail, and the ability to read our family blogs which are rich in detailed info, photos and perspectives on life; accompanied by some healthy encouragement from me, wife and son during a recent visit to New Orleans and his office. —– Timing truly is important !! ——-

Dad’s venture into walking forward into the use of today’s technology if fueled by his curiousity and an open mind “once something catches his fancy”.  Isn’t this really true for each of us?? An open mind is a wonderful thing; when spiced with curiosity and an interest in what technology can deliver for anyone, the world is then available. At 78 “curiosity doesn’t kill the cat”, it fuels the mind, and now provides my Father the oppprtunity to see the world, as well as find day-to-day information at his convenience, on his timing and at his whim. Convenience redefined for someone who has seen and done so much.  

I spent some time via phone yesterday walking Dad through the ease of using info in an Excel spreadsheet I had shared with him as an e-mail attachment. This may seem like “everyday stuff” to many of us who continue to grow more and more comfortable with available technology.  When someone who has never touched a PC keyboard “chooses to get into it” and use it, the sky is truly the limit. It is truly enjoyable for me to help Dad with his new online technology discoveries.

Ah, if I could now only figure out a way to download that enourmous wealth of engineering and life experience, knowledge and wisdom that resides comfortably in my Dad’s brain, we would truly have a “database” worth referencing!

My great thanks and appreciation to my Father for all he has provided and taught me over the decades. He continues to teach me things today in many ways. I am grateful for inheriting parts of his intellect and curiosity. It is a pleasure and a blessing for me to able to humbly assist him in growing move comfortable with today’s technology and all that is can deliver — gain at his whim.

There is nothing quite like “chillin” at my mother-in-laws in Dubach, Louisiana in the Ruston area of North Louisiana. The pace is slower, which is always beneficial, and the food is delicious and continuous. Irene, aka Mamoo to most of us in ‘da family’, is always either preparing or planning to fix some great dishes. If you are here you will be fed!!

Upon the surprise arrival of Bradley when we showed-up last Monday, Mamoo was enticed to prepare “Fried Pies” with appel filling. These are unique to her, and are unmatched and clearly unsurpassed (For more details and great photos on this “Important Subject” please see www.RattledBaby.com - Bradley’s BLOG).

There is never a dull minute around here as Irene also has many opinions to share on everything from Politics, to family members to international affairs. Shy she is not! Mamoo is more attentive and aware of current news and world events than most people less than half her age. I guess that is part of what keeps her young - a stong mind, openness with her views and a very giving heart. Seems Sandy is very much like her Mom in these and many, many ways and that is a very good thing!

In New Orleans August 5th through 8th to visit with my Dad, Sandy, Bradley and I also had the opportunity to visit with my 98, almost 99, year old paternal Grandmother. Optat Millet Batt will be 99 in November, and has the mind and memory many twenty-somethings wish they could have. What perspective it provides to sit and visit with her. If we could only ‘download’ the experience and wisdom she has gained in her life since 1907 (Please also see ‘Lagniappe’ at www.RattledBaby.com for added details and photos.).

An amazing person! For those of us who are part of her legacy, we hope we’ve inherited her genetics for health and longevity. She has never taken an antibiotic. Again, Amazing!

I have another unanswered question. Since we have arrived in the era of vastly expanded technology where has all the resultant extra leisure time gone? At the on set of this era, we were flooded with promises galore of many added hours of meaningful leisure time that were to result from expanding technology. Who knows where those plentiful promised hours are “hold up” since for most they don’t appear to have arrived?

Additionally, how many are “too connected” and available 24/7 to the touch and whims of those with “expectations”? Some may say that people can work on their PC’s or PDA’s while sitting around the pool, or on a beach, but “leisure” to me means “lounging on the beach” doing very little else.

In case you prefer to response to another unanswered question, What happened to ‘the paperless office’?

One answer I have is that as one “matures” we appear to have many more questions than we have answers. Yes?

Following the step-by-step written guidance from Bradley, I’m entering the new era of BLOGGING ! For me an interesting forum for sharing my writings and views.  An amazing and easy use of technology!