Monthly Archives: September 2023

Five Minute Friday Writing Prompt—Opinion

Opinions are like noses, everybody has one.

Hearing this years ago made me laugh. It is true for sure isn’t it? It also makes me think. Just where do my opinions come from? How are they formed? What do they say about me? Can we change them?

I am unapologetically Christian so my opinions are rooted in Scripture: What God tells me about myself, the way I am to view life, how to think, how to treat others, how to live with others in this world, and how much Jesus loves me, to name a few.

How about you? Where do you opinions come from? Good questions to ask ourselves every now and then.

Dearborn, Michigan? Why?

I was asked this question recently when I mentioned to someone about my husbands and my upcoming trip to Dearborn, Michigan.

What in the world is there to see?

I did not know, as I have never been. My boss had visited this summer. She knew we were going to a shooters camp nearby and encouraged us to visit The Henry Ford and The Greenfield Village in Dearborn since we were so close.

Looking through the Henry Ford Official Guidebook was intriguing and informative. This museum and Greenfield Village have a fascinating history. Henry Ford never forgot the values he learned from his youthful, rural farm life. He began collecting items from his childhood history along with items related to his hero, Thomas Edison.

His philosophy of “learning to do by doing” and providing hands-on learning opportunities for students, was the vision for The Edison Institute of Technology. So named in honor of his friend and longtime hero, Thomas Edison. Both the Museum and Village opened to the public in June 1933.

Adding collections to both places until his death in 1947 made his the largest in size and scope of American past. It is known today as the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation.

The front of the large museum is a replica of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall. The perfect front for his museum that too represents American freedom and democracy.

“I’m going to start up a museum and give people a true picture of the development of the country” —Henry Ford

Boy did he! I was excited to go see in person those items I had found in the guidebook. And even though the photography is great in the book it cannot compare to seeing these collections in person.

A full day is not enough time to see and think about these items that made our country, but it is a good start. We never made it to the Greenfield Village as it is closed to public on Monday & Tuesdays.

So, what is there to do in Dearborn, Michigan? I will know how to answer that question next time around.

Alleghany Steam Locomotive 1941. The most photographed item in the museum. Weight: 389 tons!
Quote from A. Lincoln
The very chair Lincoln was shot in.
It is blood-stained…
George Washington’s camp bed.
The bus Rosa Parks was on the day she refused to give up her seat…
Arrow points to seat she was sitting in when she refused to move.
Listening to her describe this event was moving. To be in that same bus was astonishing.
The very limousine President Kennedy was assassinated in.

Seeing these bits of history that hold such stories of our America is profound.

There is something of interest for everyone.
Remember this famous Hudson?
So much on display!

This post cannot even touch what was in that museum. Go visit! You will be glad you did.

The Daily Game of Hide n’ Seek

I play hide n’ seek everyday with Duke. I never thought ‘finding’ a black horse out the field as challenging. Well, I am wrong. Were it not for his white socks he would be nearly impossible to spot.

A close eye is kept on the horses throughout the day. They can get in the most uncanny trouble. A friend once said, “You could put a horse in a padded stall, and he’d still find some way to hurt himself.”

Duke rolled too close to the board fence one pleasant afternoon and caught his hind legs between the bottom and middle boards of the fence. With hammer in hand we were prepared to remove the boards. As we stood by him quietly he got himself out of that mess with only a few scratches, and a small limp.

He disappears then reappears in the field as if by magic. Our two black miniature horses are the same way, but they do not cover as much ground the way Duke does. They tend to stay in much the same grazing space.

The pretty white shining star on his forehead is also a beacon of light in our daily game of hide n’ seek. Last but surly not least, is snow. He is always a dead give away in snow!

Can you find Duke?

He is easier to spot against the skyline.
His white star and three white socks help me find him.
See him?
Can you find him?
His bright white star helps me find him.

He cannot hide when it snows!

The Tennessee Walking horse is a beautiful, well-tempered, smooth riding Gaited horse. He is our senior horse. I still ride him, though not far or long. I would have a whole field of this breed of horse if I could!

See his beautiful white socks and shining star on his noble forehead?