Happy Birthday Jim!

Happy Birthday, Jim (not Number 5, but Jim the Wiser)!
I love you!

(Don't miss the Thanksgiving post below)

Thanksgiving

This is my first Thanksgiving as a blogger & I've seen that it's customary for many bloggers to list what they're thankful for. On Thanksgiving (last week) I was in a computer-challenged home and couldn't post. Working on the philisophy that one can (and should) be thankful at any time, here's my list. I'm thankful for:
* My husband -- To be married to the same man for 29 years and still love him is a real accomplishment these days!
* My sons -- They're pleasant, intelligent, have integrity and have the character trait I most desired for each of them: a love for and a close walk with the Lord.
* My extended family -- I have a family I'm close to, as well as in-laws I love. I know so many people who dislike, resent and/or war with their inlaws; what a blessing to get an extra family!
* My salvation & the Lord's steadfast love, support & forgiveness.
* My friends -- the church ladies, stitchers, antiquers and gardeners.
* Unimportant things that add a sparkle to life (in no particular order):
Skyline Chili
Books
Chickens (especially my girls)
Turner the dog
Vegetable plants & Perennials
Antique Malls
Music
NPR
London (in fact, the entire UK!)
Art
History
Fountain Coke & brewed Iced Tea
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Beautiful sunny days

If you feel like it, comment with your own list!

Christmas

Christmas is only 39 days away. I know, that seems like alot -- but it's not.

I have always loved Christmas -- from the time I was little all the way into adulthood -- both for spiritual and sentimental reasons. I am so moved by the knowledge that God became flesh and took on all the vulnerability of man. I also really like all things Christmas, and the older (translate: the cheesier), the better.

Cheesy

Today I was showing some people at work a pair of new (old) Paramount electric candles I'd just gotten and one of the Pastors (the youngest one, by the way) walked by and said "cheesy". Yes, they're cheese, but they're great!!

I have boxes and boxes of old 30s, 40s & 50s decorations and always put up 2 trees, though I actually have 4. I usually start decorating on Thanksgiving weekend (it takes a few days) and used to even start my baking in October.

All that is leading up to this: I'm not looking forward to Christmas this year. For the first time I can ever remember, I barely feel like decorating, baking or even (gasp!) listening to a Christmas carol. I don't even care about hearing the King's College Choir "A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols" -- and it's never Christmas season until I hear "Once in Royal David's City"!

This year, my extended family won't all be together at the holidays, even once, for the first time ever. Also, Charlie's moving to Florida a week before Christmas and we'll officially become empty-nesters. Danny's already told us he doubts that he'll come back home this summer. Jim is vague about his Christmas plans, but sounds like he might not be with us on Christmas Eve (a first) and that translates to probably not Christmas morning. It also sounds like he'll be leaving Michigan at about the time the Ohio family gets here. They're coming up, as usual, but in smaller numbers and only staying 2 days. We haven't had a "normal" Columbus family Christmas in a few years, either -- due to freak ice storms and family illness. I feel like this is a watershed year and the holidays (and life) will look different from now on.

Anyway, I'm not looking forward to any of it with enthusiasm. I'm hopeful that as the holidays get closer I will become more excited. I'll probably do all the things and bake the cookies and send the cards, but I have to admit, my heart's not in it. I'm cheerful, aren't I?

Thoughts, anyone? I'd love to hear them. . .

Family Gathering

All of our guys were home last weekend. With our little family scattered across the country (and due to scatter even more in December), having all five of us in the same house for the weekend was is something that I'll never take for granted.

Jim came into town with his new girlfriend, Bethany, to go to game 6 with his dad. Unfortunately, that didn't happen, but it actually gave us more time together. Saturday night's dinner was so enjoyable -- we didn't even have any fights (though there was the occasional discussion)! In a rousing game of Trivial Pursuit after dinner, Bethany and I routed the men -- we even got the final sports question right! The Jims and Charlie couldn't handle defeat and had to switch to Trivial Pursuit 20th Anniversary edition in order to win.

Here's a preview of our Christmas picture:

TIGERS LOSE. . .

The Tigers lost tonight and I'm sad.

But, consider this: they had NO World Series experience and played the team with the second-most World Series wins.

AND they had a record-breaking losing season 3 years ago and are now the second-best team in the country. This has been quite a season!

I'm still proud of them!

Election Day Challenge

I heard on the news that polling places across the country are short of poll workers. Because many poll workers tend to be elderly, many poll workers are frightened by the ever-increasing technological demands of computerized voting machines. I know it sounds like age-bigotry, but it's just the truth.

I have a challenge to offer to all the Young Republicans (notice -- Jim the Wiser --that, in the interest of impartiality, I placed them first), Young Democrats, Young Libertarians, Young Centrists (if such people exist) and readers of MoveOn.org. If you truly value the freedoms our country offers and care about fair elections, please take a day off of school or work to become a poll worker! You won't make much, but you'll be aiding your country. You are much more capable of managing the voting machines than a technotard septuagenarian or octogenarian.

I also have a challenge to employers nationwide: give your employees the day off, with pay, if they choose to be poll workers!

I know it's fashionable to be cynical about our country and its freedoms and that patriotism seems to be the cloak of old people with magnetic ribbons on their car trunks and plastic American flags flapping from their back windows, but there are still some great things about America and one of them is the peaceful transfer of power every 2-4 years.

Voting is not only a right, it's a privilege -- and we should all (individuals and employers alike) be willing invest in it. Stop complaining about the system and start being part of the solution!

Happy Mole Day!

Today is (or was, until 6:02 pm) National Mole Day -- how did you celebrate? While not as much fun as National Talk Like a Pirate Day, National Mole Day recognizes the importance of moles, which provide better life through chemistry.

Not being scientifically minded, I was previously unaware of moles' existence (until today) and am still unable to comprehend their importance now. I am, however, relieved to know that someone understands moles. (Jim, maybe you can explain them to me sometime).

TIGERS!

I haven't posted in a LONG time -- I just haven't had anything to say. I've been in what has become an annual state, the autumnal doldrums. I used to like autumn more than any time of year -- the crisp chill, clear blue skies and great leaf colors. Now, though, I just associate it with things dying, cold weather and the ever-faster passage of time. But, here's the good news. . .

Last night, I got to be at a really great game. The Tigers shut out the stinking New York Yankees! Yes, I know that the Tigers clinched the division title today and, yes, I know that this was the day to be at Comerica, but last night was awesome! The atmosphere at the ballpark was electric -- one of the players said that, even though there were 43,000+ fans there, it felt like 100,000 to them on the field. Kenny Rogers pitched one his best games ever and it was just a great game to watch. AND there was a fight right in front of us and 4 NY fans had to be escorted out (one of them in a headlock). Ah, baseball at its finest!

I could have gone today, too, but I couldn't take the tension two days in a row. Hopefully, I'll get to go to one of the ALCS games. It's wonderful to be a Tigers fan right now. From Opening Day (which I was fortunate enough to attend), when we couldn't believe they had won, to the clincher today, this season has been quite an adventure! No one is laughing at the Tigers now!

I know there have been lots of exclamation points in this post, but that's how I feel -- I LOVE BASEBALL!

News Stories

I heard two interesting stories on the news this morning.

A Russian mathematician, Grigory Perelman, has won the Fields award for solving a mathematical problem that has baffled great minds for over 100 years. The award carries a $1,000,000 prize, but Perelman didn't go to Canada to receive it. He's reclusive and apparently was tracked down by the press in St. Petersburg, where he lives with his mother and declined an interview, saying that nothing he had to say would be of interest to anyone.

The math problem, the Poincare Conjecture, was raised in 1904 and deals with the theoretical shifting of lines to a point on non-spherical shapes (like one with a hole, such as a doughnut) -- fourth dimension stuff. The mathematician I heard interviewed said that only about 20 people in the world understands Perelman's solution and he and his team had written an explanation of it that was over 400 pages long! He raised the point that the solution shows how much is to be gained by long periods of quiet thought.

The next story I heard was about the Pakistan's forfeited test match against England in cricket. The honor of the Indian sub-continent is at stake here, as the Pakistanis were accused of tampering with the ball (a great offense) by the Australian umpire. As a result of the furor over this, India and Pakistan -- long-time enemies -- are now united against what they believe is prejudice against the Asian world on the part of the umpire, who has the unfortunate name of Hair. Though Americans won't even notice it, this is a major scandal in the cricket world and will matter to a lot of people around the world.

With the world seemingly on the brink of blowing up (reminding me of the "Eve of Destruction" of my younger days), I really enjoy these stories. I often get so disturbed by the wars and rumors of wars, that I don't want to hear, see or read the news. Stories like these, though remind me that the Lord has given us an interesting and complex world, and I need to see that some people are putting their minds and energy toward something other than figuring out how to kill the 'other guy' -- even if that something else is conflict on the cricket crease.

Cleaning the Attic

Yesterday, the weather was cool and rainy, so we decided to clean out the attic. We're planning to have our first-ever barn sale (a rural garage sale) and want to get rid of as much as possible. We've lived here in Michigan 12 years -- longer than we've ever lived anywhere as a family -- and have accumulated alot of stuff, since some of us are packrats. In amongst the trophies, baseball cards, bowling balls, baby furniture, legos and action figures, there were many boxes labeled "Jim's Room" which he packed down to the walls the week before he went to college.

No, Jim, we didn't find your glove, but we did find this!

While it feels quite virtuous to throw things out, give things away and generally lighten our load, it also is a little sad to realize that so much of this is family history that, quite possibly, no one cares about but me.

Thanks for visiting!

Jim tagged me...

Jim tagged me with this meme about books, so here goes. . .

1. One book that changed your life: Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey, because it started my years of reading mysteries, which allow me to escape reality and in which good always triumphs over evil. It also turned me into a lifelong (in spirit) member of the Fellowship of the White Boar (those who believe in the innocence of Richard III) and love of British history. For a serious book, I’d have to choose the book of Job and, in correlation, the semester I spent studying it under Rabbi Victor Reichert, who was an amazing man. It opened up the world of the mystery of God to me and helped me understand that I don’t understand.

2. One book you have read more than once: Lord of the Rings -- (does that actually count as 3 books (it shouldn’t)? There are many books I’ve read multiple times, but that one and Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers are the ones I’ve read the most.

3. One book you would want on a desert island: I can’t choose just one. I’d want Lord of the Rings, The Complete Dorothy L. Sayers (including her non-fiction offerings), and the Bible. Unlike Jim, I haven’t memorized most of the Bible, so I’d need to have the real thing.

4. One book that made you laugh: Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris. This book also made me cry, answering number 7.

5. One book you wish you had written: That’s a hard question, since I’ve never thought about writing a book. I think To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. It always amazes me that she so eloquently evokes the sweetness of childhood summers and the evil of bigotry at the same time.

6. One book you wish had never had been written: I can’t answer this one. I suppose, like Jim, I feel I should say Mein Kampf or The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, but I agree with him that the concepts hateful books don’t begin the hate and silencing them wouldn’t stop it. Besides, if Hitler had been silenced, then who would Simon look like?

7. One book that made you cry: I cry at everything! The first book I cried at was Charlotte’s Web (in third grade), when Charlotte died alone. The last book I cried at was Delights and Shadows.

8. One book you are currently reading: Actually, there are 2: The Saddlemaker’s Wife by Earlene Fowler and Delights and Shadows by Ted Kooser.

9. One book you have been meaning to read: I've been meaning to read a few theology books that Jim has given me, but the one on top of the pile is Kingdom Ethics. I also have Flu (about the influenza pandemic of 1918) by Gina Kolata, which I’m about 2/3 through, but keep putting down. I find that we talk theology so much at work that when I get to read at home, I always pick up fiction.

10. One book you wish everyone would read, and why: Again, I can’t name just one – there are SO MANY. I think everyone should read Leaves of Grass, because it's complex and beautifully written and the Bible, because it could change the readers' lives and is also complex and beautifully written.

I can't tag 5 people with blogs, because I don't know 5 people with blogs who haven't already been tagged.
I will tag Christy, though, Tom (through her blog), Jim the Wiser, Don and Cindy (also through Christy's blog or mine -- Don, email your answers and Cindy's to Christy or me and we'll post them).

Happy Birthday Charlie!

24 years ago today!!

AND Happy 103rd birthday, Aunt Norma!!!!!!!!!

Auction!

I went to my first auction today and I can't wait to go to another one -- it was so much fun!! I got a $5 box of baby stuff for Christy's business (The Vintage Stork), an old child's tea set in its original box, 2 50s aqua-painted metal lawn chairs and 2 outdoor umbrellas (for $2 -- can you believe it?). The hardest part was remembering which specific box lot I wanted to bid on and then being in the right place at the right time. Since they had 3 auctioneers working at once, choices had to be made. My favorite part was a big barn full of junk -- old wicker, lots of old sleds & garden stuff and old tools. Unfortunately, I'd run out of money by then and I just kept hearing Jim's voice in my head saying, "What are you going to do with that?" or even worse, "You crossed the line with this one!"

Now I see where all the antique dealers get their stuff, though -- I wish I could just go to auctions all the time and start my own business. But since we can't afford the lean times of being an antique dealer, I'll just have to be content with eBay. And, speaking of "crossing the line", does anyone want to buy a 10' by 9' cemetery gate? It's going cheap!!!

Charlie's Second 15 Minutes of Fame

So, Andy Warhol said, "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." Charlie has achieved his twice!

He was featured in a newspaper article at Calvin two years ago and now, he's made the cover of the Livingston Press & Argus.

It all started when he wrote a letter to the editor asking the citizens of our area to petition White Castle to open a restaurant here. The editor, immediately recognizing Charlie's interesting personality and witty writing style, had one of the reporters do an interview with him, which was published today. Front page, good picture -- way to go Charlie!!!

I wish he'd asked for a Skyline, though. That's something I could really get into!!! Sliders are fine, but coneys and 3-ways are the perfect food!

Happy Birthday Christy!

Happy Birthday to the daughter of my heart!

I remember:
ET's grave in our backyard in New Jersey
Bigmouth Singers

Green hair dye & yellow Docs

"You'll always have music!"

Being the keeper of the toupe tape
Lots of long talks

I love being your auntie!

Another Way to Waste Time

As if I didn't have enough ways to waste time on the computer -- Snood, Solitaire & surfing -- I've now gotten hooked on Sudoku! Hmmm - they all begin with S... There could be a pattern there, but I don't have time to look for it. I've got to get back to Sudoku.

Thanks for visiting!

Chimney Swifts

We have a nest of Chimney Swifts in our chimney. It's surprising how loud the babies are -- I guess the sound is amplified by the chimney. 2 weeks ago, 2 of the babies fell down into the fireplace, along with most of the nest and a dead Mourning Dove. I haven't yet figured out how the dove enters into it all, since I don't think they're aggressive birds. We were having a storm, though, and I wonder if the dove got blown into the chimney, got killed and took out the nest on its way down. At any rate, we put the babies in a box overnight and Danny took them to the nature center's infirmary the next day, where they joined MANY other baby swifts in a cage -- all being fed and watered until they fledged.

One baby is still in the nest and and still making plenty of noise! If you want to see what the nest and babies look like, this is a good site. One family of swifts can eat 12,000 insects A DAY, so if I can figure out how to keep the chimney and fireplace from being covered in bird poo, I'll let them nest there every year. Now I have to figure out how to get Jim to go along with THAT scheme!

To Go Boldly

In October, the remains of Jimmy Doohan (Star Trek's Scotty) will be sent into space -- with those of 100 other people (how weird is that!) -- for a brief trip. Then later in the year, his ashes will join Gene Rodenberry's as more space junk -- which ultimately will fall back to earth. Just think, you could be lucky enough to have what's left of Scotty land in your back yard (or slam through your roof) -- assuming the capsule doesn't disintegrate on re-entry)! It makes me think of the days when my sister wouldn't let my nephew play outside because she was sure Skylab was going to land on him.

Have a safe trip, Scotty!

Happy Birthday Danny!

Twenty years ago today . . .

The Garden

I haven't updated in a long time because I've been so busy working at the church and working outside. So I've decided that I'd write about what's been taking all my time -- the garden!

I doubt that anyone cares about this, but to my mind, it's just as interesting as the political points of view posted on thousands of other blogs. Here it is:

We moved into this house 12 years ago (this Labor Day) and the only color outside came from 5 geranium plants the previous owners put in because they were having a wedding at their house! We added a 50 x 50 garden the next summer and only figured out how to deer-proof it last year (hence, the 8 foot fence). This year, it's probably the best it's ever been.

In the foreground is one of the two strawberry pyramids. Also, on the right are 2 gates with pickling cucumbers on them. To the left are peppers (red, green and yellow bells) and behind the ladder are broccoli. The ladder is there on purpose -- soon the "Baby Boo" (tiny white pumpkins) and "Jack Be Little" (tiny orange pumpkins) will be climbing on it. The airy plants at the back left are asparagus (which we're now finished cutting and are letting grow to put strength back to the plants) and the tomatoes -- romas, cherry and slicing tomatoes -- are next to those.

Here you can see the "Sugar Baby" watermelons and "Blue Lake" bush beans. All along the back are raspberries -- which are REALLY coming in right now.

Raspberries on the canes

Raspberries in the bucket -- we've picked at least
10 times this much already

Turner eating Raspberries off the bushes.
Who knew he'd have a sweet tooth -- he "picks"
from the outside while we pick from
the inside!!

A "Sugar Baby" pumpkin, still small

Growing things and playing in the dirt is one of the great pleasures of life. It's also very therapeutic -- whether listening to the weekend shows on NPR or working in silence and thinking things through. I often think about the nature of sin as I weed -- the little bit of weed shows above ground, but there's usually a big root system under ground where it spreads. You never can get rid of all of it, either.

Then, when the work is done, I like to just sit and look at the fruits (literally) of my labors! It's one of the few places where I put aside restlessness and follow the command to "Be Still"!

Thanks for visiting the garden!