Stars of Washington

WHOEVER WROTE THIS SHOULD STEP FORWARD AND CLAIM IT! THE WORDS ARE POWERFUL:

TWO THOUSAND ONE, NINE ELEVEN (2001-911) Sept 11, 2001

Two thousand one, nine eleven
Three thousand plus arrive in heaven
As they pass through the gate,
Thousands more appear in wait
A bearded man with stovepipe hat
Steps forward saying, "Lets sit, lets chat"

They settle down in seats of clouds
A man named Martin shouts out proud
"I have a dream!" and once he did
The Newcomer said, "Your dream still lives."

Groups of soldiers in blue and gray
Others in khaki, and green then say
"We're from Bull Run, Yorktown, the Maine"
The Newcomer said, "You died not in vain."

From a man on sticks one could hear
"The only thing we have to fear.
The Newcomer said, "We know the rest,

Trust us sir, we've passed that test."

"Courage doesn't hide in caves
You can't bury freedom, in a grave,"
The Newcomers had heard this voice before
A distinct Yankees twang from Hyannisport shores

A silence fell within the mist
Somehow the Newcomer knew that this
Meant time had come for her to say
What was in the hearts of the five thousand plus that day

"Back on Earth, we wrote reports,
Watched our children play in sports
Worked our gardens, sang our songs
Went to church and clipped coupons
We smiled, we laughed, we cried, we fought
Unlike you, great we're not"

The tall man in the stovepipe hat
Stood and said, "Don't talk like that!
Look at your country, look and see
You died for freedom, just like me"

Then, before them all appeared a scene
Of rubbled streets and twisted beams
Death, destruction, smoke and dust
And people working just 'cause they must

Hauling ash, lifting stones,
Knee deep in hell, but not alone
"Look! Blackman, Whiteman, Brownman, Yellowman
Side by side helping their fellow man!"

So said Martin, as he watched the scene
"Even from nightmares, can be born a dream."
Down below three firemen raised
The colors high into ashen haze
The soldiers above had seen it before
On Iwo Jima back in '45

The man on sticks studied everything closely
Then shared his perceptions on what he saw mostly
"I see pain, I see tears,
I see sorrow -- but I don't see fear."

"You left behind husbands and wives
Daughters and sons and so many lives
Are suffering now because of this wrong
But look very closely. You're not really gone.

All of those people, even those who've never met you
All of their lives, they'll never forget you
Don't you see what has happened?
Don't you see what you've done?
You've brought them together, together as one.

With that the man in the stovepipe hat said
"Take my hand," and from there he led
Three thousand plus heroes, Newcomers to heaven
On this day, two thousand one, nine eleven

Author UNKNOWN

September 11, 2006, will soon be approaching. On this day, please wear red, white and blue to work or school to show your support for those who lost their lives on 9~11~01 and to honor the heroes who worked to save them and the families left behind. At noon your time on September 11, 2006, no matter where you are or what you are doing, stop, put your hand on your heart, and say the Pledge of Allegiance out loud or to yourself and say a prayer for our nation.

In addition, for those of us who drive to work, please drive with your headlights on to also give honor and remembrance to those who perished on September 11th.If all of us do this together in every time zone round the world, we will have a powerful chain of thoughts surrounding us. Please keep this going to your friends and family. By September 11, 2006 hopefully enough people will have read this and will join together in unity.

September 8 ... GL: HV (Hospitality Visit).
September 8 - 17 ... EKS: Spokane County Fair
September 9 ... OES: Reception for Worthy Grand Matron, Joanne Clark, Poulsbo. Time: 2:00 PM.
September 9 ... GL: Regional Meeting, Spokane, 9:00 AM. TU
September 9 ... GL: International Melon Feed, Kettle Falls 6:00 PM, Ladies. TU
September 9 ... AMAR: Group meeting at Wenatchee, luncheon following OV at Wenatchee; 2:00 PM Meeting.
September 10 ... AMAR: GRM/GRP Reception, Holiday Inn, Spokane Airport. Contact Vicki Chamberlain at (509) 926-0568.
September 11 ... GL: Green Lake Lodge, No. 149, 100th Anniversary Re-Constitution, Grand Lodge open 5:30 PM, dinner, Ceremony 7:30 PM Ladies. GM: Tux.
September 12 ... GL: First Lady of Masonry in WA, Diane's Birthday
September 12 ... OES: OV: Pyramid Chapter & Juanita Chapter; Pyramid Masonic Center, 1700 S. 340th, Federal Way. 7:30 PM.
September 13 ... OES: OV: Daylight Chapter; 12:30 PM.
September 13 ... GL: Mark P. Waterman Lodge, NO. 177, Stated Meeting, 7:30 PM. TU
September 14 ... GL: Grand Master Chuck's Birthday!
September 14 ... GL: Kirkland Lodge, No.150, 100th Anniversary Re-Constitution, Grand Lodge open 5:30 PM, dinner, Ceremony 7:30 p.m. Ladies. GM: Tux.
September 14 ... AMAR: OV at Golden Sheaf; meeting at 7:30 PM. Dinner?
September 14 ... EKS: Scottish Rite Meeting (Feast of Tishri), Spokane.
September 15 ... OES; OV: Maple Chapter's 80th Birthday. Castle Rock Center, 126 - 1st Ave. SW, Castle Rock. 7:30 PM.
September 15 ... AMAR: OV at Sunrise, meeting at 7:30 PM (no dinner).
September 16 ... GL: LuzViMinda Lodge, UD, Stated Meeting, 2:00 PM. TU
September 16 ... GL: Supreme Queen at Afifi Temple, Tacoma Elks, 6:00 PM Dinner. GM: Tux.
September 16 ... OES: Reception for WGM of Oregon, Portland.
September 16 ... AMAR: OV at Artemisia, Dinner at 6:00 PM; Meeting at 7:30 PM.
September 17 ... GL: Masonic Golf Invitational, Port Orchard. CTU
September 17 ... AMAR: Wine tasting event at Prosser 'The Barn'. Contact Kim Knutsen at (425) 788-4979. (This is a Grand Court Ways and Means Event).
September 18 ... GL: HV (Hospitality Visit) - 7:30 PM. TU
September 18 ... OES: OV: Southgate Chapter & Delta Chapter; Southgate Masonic Hall, 1004 SW 152nd St. Burien. 7:30 PM.
September 19 ... GL: HV (Hospitality Visit) - 7:30 PM. TU`
September 20-22 ... GL: Grand Lodge of Idaho, TBD.
September 22 ... OES: OV and Homecoming for PGM Ann Gates; Alderwood Chapter; Everett Masonic Center, 234 Olympic Blvd., Everett. 7:30 PM.
September 23 ... OES: Reception for WGP Terry Wiggins, Tacoma. 2:00 PM.
September 23 ... GL: Tyee The Wayfarers Lodge, No.112, Installation, 10:00 AM, Ladies. GM: Tux.
September 23 ... GL: District Meeting, TBD, District 13, 2:00 PM, Ladies. TU.
September 24 ... EKS: Duck Race
September 25 ... OES: OV: Trinity Chapter & Olympia Chapter; Olympia Masonic Center, 521 North ST SE, Tumwater. 7:30 PM.
September 25 ... AMAR: at Burien; dinner at 6:00 PM; Meeting at 7:30 PM.
September 26 ... OES: OV & 100th Birthday, Alpha Chapter, Cle Elum. St. Thomas Masonic Lodge, 301 East First Street, Cle Elum. 7:30 PM.
September 26 ... GL: Finance Committee, Seattle, 1:30 PM. TU
September 27 ... GL: Mt. Baker Lodge, No. 36, Hunter Stew Night, Mt. Vernon. Dinner 6:00 p.m. Meeting 7:30 PM. TU
September 27 ... OES: State Grand Representative Luncheon, Ellensburg. 12 Noon.
September 27 ... OES: Illihee Chapter & Seople Chapter; Toppenish Meridian Lodge, 12 E. 3rd AVE, Toppenish. 7:30 PM.
September 28 ... OES: OV and Homecoming for PGP Brian Gross, Port Orchard Chapter. Masonic Temple, 1025 Sidney Ave, Port Orchard. 7:30 PM.
September 28 - 30 ... AMAR: Idaho Grand Court.
September 29 ... GL: Rededication, Sadie Halstead Elementary School, Newport, open Grand Lodge at noon; ceremony 1:00 PM. TU
September 29 ... GL: District Meeting, District 27, Spokane, 6:00 PM, Ladies. TU
September 30 ... GL: EXCOM, Audubon Park Lodge, No. 272, Spokane, 9:00 a.m. All Deputies, Appointed Officers and Committee Chairmen in Spokane area are invited. TU
September 30 ... OES: Reception for WGP of Oregon; Eugene.
September 30 ... GL: District Meeting, Spokane, District 33, 6:00 PM, Ladies. TU
September 30 ... EKS: WSU Football.

OES: Events with Worthy Grand Matron

Death, Where Is Thy Stingray?
Daredevil crocodile hunter Steve Irwin died doing what he loved. Maybe his death wasn't a tragedy but a lesson in how to live.
By Mary Beth Crain

Steve Irwin, the guy who did all those wild and crazy things with crocodiles and lived to tell about it, met an unexpected end yesterday when he was killed by, of all things, a stingray.
Irwin was known for getting up close and personal with all sorts of deadly creatures. His forte, of course, was the croc, but "I've worked with more dangerous snakes than anyone in the world, and I've never been bitten," he often boasted. And then, more humbly, "It's a gift."

And yet, his gift didn't work on the stingray that punctured his heart.

    Irwin's death is a lesson in irony. Irony No. 1: He was filming a documentary entitled "The Ocean's Deadliest," when the ray got him during an off-camera swim. Irony No. 2: The stingray is usually non-aggressive. Irony No. 3: While it's a deadly fish, very few people actually die from its bites. In fact, Irwin was one of only three people in Australia ever to die from a stingray attack.
    Was it God's joke on Steve? Just desserts, for a daredevil life? The stingray's revenge, for annoying the creatures of the sea and poking his nose and camera where they didn't belong? Or was it a fitting end, a mercifully quick conclusion to an exuberant if incautious life, staged and executed by nature?
    Lots of people expected Irwin to meet his end sooner rather than later. Most, myself included, passed him off as a camera-hungry thrill seeker whose egomania was simply astonishing. He'd wrestle a croc while yelling melodramatic observations like, "I'm being whacked around, facing death at every turn.... Bruises, broken bones, you name it, all in the name of crocodile conservation!" Yeah, right, I'd think. All in the name of Steve Irwin, who'll not only do anything to prove his manhood, but actually has the gall to tell you just how brave he is.
    But you know, I don't feel that way anymore. After reading about Irwin, and watching Larry King's 2004 interview with him, which was rebroadcast last night, I have to say that Steve Irwin was a man who lived life to the absolute fullest, and died doing what he loved. Yes, he was crazy, by the average person's standards. Yes, he craved the spotlight. Yes, he tempted the fates. Yes, he was hyper—he'd often been accused of being an adrenaline junkie, and his friend John Stinton, who was with him when he died, admitted that, "One problem Steve had was that he couldn't sit still for five seconds and because the weather was bad today and for the last couple of days, he'd been liked a caged lion because he hadn't really been able to do anything much in the way of filming. So he said, 'Look, I might just go off and shoot some segments,' anything that would keep him moving and his adrenaline going and that's what happened..."
    It seemed, on the surface, to be these silly character flaws, and not the stingray, that got him in the end.
    Yet the truth of the matter, I now believe, is that Irwin was a man of enormous intensity who sincerely believed that "God put me on this earth for a mission, and that mission is wildlife conservation." He was born to his calling; at the age of eight he was already catching crocs, and he took to animals, and danger, "like a fish to water," as he aptly put it. He knew that he was living on a constant precipice, but, as he said, "I have no fear of losing my life," and "Fear helps me from making mistakes—but I make a lot of mistakes."
    Yet Irwin never let fear stand in the way of his love of life. He was out there risking, every day, and learning and growing and, well, living. His death is being called, of course, a tragedy. He was only 44. He was a happy husband and father of two great kids. He was a great conservationist who, had he lived, could have done so much more for wildlife preservation. One of his dreams, for instance, was to use the money he was making from royalties and his famed Australia Zoo to buy large tracts of wilderness land and create wilderness reserves that could never be bought by developers.
    But is his death really all that tragic? I know a lot of people who are so afraid of dying that they end up afraid to live. So afraid of failure that they end up failing to try. It makes you ask the question, what's worse? Living an unlived life, or dying a lived one? We know what Irwin's answer would have been.
    I can't say I'll miss Steve Irwin, because the only time I ever watched him was when I was channel surfing. But I can say that even in death, I envy him. I'm 55, out of shape, diabetic, and afraid of dying. I could get in shape, change my diet and my attitude, and really kick ass and start living, but I haven't. When you think about it, I live in just as big a danger zone as Steve Irwin did. I could use a little more of his hyperactivity, or, if you prefer, boundless enthusiasm. I could use a shot or two of his brazen disregard for fear and disdain for inertia. I'm not saying I need to wrestle crocs or hunt pythons, but I wouldn't mind experiencing life to the fullest instead of waking up every morning afraid to test my blood sugar.
    To me, Steve Irwin's death is a reminder that everybody's life is an enigma, and that we are not here to rate others, only to improve ourselves. I was quick to dismiss Irwin as a numbskull nutcase who got what he deserved—until I looked at myself and realized that I am certainly no paragon of wise living. Something tells me that the ebullient, passionate, adventurous-to-the-end Mr. Irwin was too busy living to pass judgment on how others spent their time. That—and not his risk-taking excesses—could be the real lesson of his death—a lesson we all could learn.