If you have maintained bird feeders, you know what squirrels can do. They are powerful, lithe acrobats, and they can outsmart almost any attempt to deter them. I recognize several individual male gray squirrels in our yard that are strong and agile enough to leap three or four feet from the ground on to the cone-shaped baffles. They shinny up the steel poles, over the tops of the feeders, hang upside down, and gorge themselves.
Westport Presbyterian Church, Kansas City, Missouri
On December 29, 2011, a blazing fire engulfed and destroyed Westport Presbyterian Church. Located in historic Westport—the one-time outfitting station for traders, trappers, and pioneers heading west on the Santa Fe and Oregon trails—the Romanesque Revival church built in 1905 was home to a congregation that had worshipped in the community since 1835.
Buzard Pipe Organ Builders, Champaign, Illinois; Pilgrim Lutheran Church, Carmel, Indiana, Opus 45, 2017; Central United Methodist Church, Fayetteville, Arkansas, Opus 46, 2018–2019
Opus 45
“What have you done here!?,” asked Todd Wilson as he leapt off the organ bench to greet me the day before Opus 45’s dedication. Hoping this was a friendly question, I asked to what exactly he was referring. “This organ just about plays itself!” Yes, it was a very friendly question and a complimentary one—even better.
