Magnolias

I was holding today open for something that has been delayed.  So I am playing today with my photos. 

Last Spring DER and I spent a lovely day in the arboretum.  I think will publish just some picture posts of the beauty of the day.

Magnolias were among the lovely blooms of the season.

Some of the trees in the park are very old.

 In Full Bloom

gnarly and loaded with moss and lichens

 

 

 

i Spy with my little eye

Ok for years I've taken pictures of delightful little things that I can't get very close too.  Now it is your turn to see if you can find them in the pictures.

Can you find the baby spiders, the bunny rabbit, the eagle, the seagull, or the whales these generally "not very good" pictures?

Now for a really hard one....

Can you see a crab, a barnacle, a snail?  There was a small fish in this tide pool, but I can't see it in the picture.

Recovery

I've spent most of the winter fighting off a sinus infection.  I gave in, got antibiotics, and the follow-up drug that a course of antibiotics always leads me to.... 

I'm feeling better, but realizing that my fitness level suffered a lot this winter.  My first clue was trying to keep up with SDR....  Yeh, I know it is not realistic for a 55 year old to try to keep up with a 22 year old.  He came up for a few days to do some work for me during his period of winter unemployment.  I worked beside him because I had him doing jobs he had never done.   I've slowed down a lot this winter.  I'm older than I thought.

I was grateful to have Seth working for me though.  Church calling changes meant a drastic cut in my free time  and took most of my mind share.  He got done the things I would have wanted to be doing when changes hit. He painted my bedroom, I love fresh paint.  He pressure washed the patio and freed it from it's winter algae.  I love clean concrete.  He pruned the current bush.  I love currant jelly.....  He shredded documents from the last year.... I hate shredding.

David graciously cooked for me for a couple of weeks, so I could just think about all those little details that come with a leadership calling in a ward you barely know after boundary changes.  Not only has my body slowed, but my brain is a little sluggish too.  Trying to keep who is allergic to cats and who can't "do" stairs, and what face goes with what name sorted out is about all I could handle.  One new sister got her hair cut and i didn't know who she was the next week. There were so many who were new to me. Waking up at 3:00 a.m. with ahha moments of understanding was a blessing, but it slowed my motor skills way down. 

 We had almost finished the transition from one computer to the next one when all this hit and the photos are still all on the old computer - well more like I've forgotten how to access them on the new one..... I'll learn again - I hope! I may have forgotten all the new things I have learned.

I finally see my head bobbing to the surface and hopefully will get the picture problem solved in the next few weeks. Then I will be able to show you arboretum pictures from a truly fabulous spring day.  The air was cool, the sun was warm, the camellias and magnolias and cherry trees were blooming. There were no phones  :-)

I felt recovered and myself again.  I'm grateful to DER for suggesting it.  The power of nature and sunshine and a slow walk  luxuriously admiring God's handiwork is amazing.  I feel my mind once again able to solve problems and understand how I can organize my life so that I can get most of what I need to get done accomplished.  I can see my limitations and how to organize to get help from others, without feeling like I'm overburdening them. I should also mention the gift of prayers on my behalf that helped to guide my thoughts to ways or organizing my own life and other things that I would not have have thought of.  I have a plan.    My plan is flexible but focused and came from a source beyond me.  It came in small pieces, but I could feel when it was time for another one to come.  For me, order is a powerful tool.  I have been given the gift to organize  something that at first seemed pretty chaotic. 

  "Come unto me all ye heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me: for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest for your souls.  for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."  Matt 11:28-30

Ahh!

Tuning In and Out

I love it!  I can have a personalized radio station of three or four or five..... don't get me wrong I still love KPLU for the jazz and KUOW for the regionally flavored chat and both for NPR, but I found Pandora Internet Radio.
You can create your stations in two ways that I've tried so far.

The first is to select an artist or a song and they will select music similar in nature to the work you selected.  My first selection was Jane Monheit and I got a nice selection of vocal jazz.  I created a "Bach" station as well.

Then I tried the second way of creating a station by selecting a genre that I thought I might want to hear.  I selected New Age.  The first artist the radio played was Enya and I started to relax.  I could use a little spa music once in a while.  Actually I think one of the genres was "spa" - maybe I misread and it was "Ska" - but I'm thinking it was spa.  There were a variety of genres to select from, children's, latin, reggae, R&B, rock with various categories.  I loved that the children's section had sleepytime music and I'm thinking of setting up a little latin station - maybe I'll "Zumba" at home.  While exploring how to explain this, I just created a Brazilian station - love it! The down side - it's not completely commercial free - but then I'm pretty practiced at tuning those out.  If you want to limit the ads more, you can upgrade (which I assume means shell out a little cash.)

Yea, I know Seattle has enough radio stations, but still...  It has been a long time since my brother and I spent a summer filling wastebaskets full of weeds for 10 cents each so that we could purchase a portable transistor radio.(the hemp plants that grew on the ditch bank filled a bucket and pulled easily -the "hemp" was iradicated) None of my Pandora stations sound like what we heard then. The local radio station carried the farm report and was an outlet for the State Agricultural College. Saturday mornings the local station had a call in show - people called about to say whatever was on their mind.  If they were looking for an apartment, or had something to sell, a recipe to share, or a grievance to air - Saturday at 10:00 a.m. was their chance.   We loved the stations from the state capital - more music (the Beatles had only recently had their impact on the music scene) and we felt lucky if we happened upon "Chicken Man!"  Growing up in Kansas you almost always had the radio on - listening to the basketball games or football games or in summer the tornado watches interwoven with baseball games.  We would even hear our Dad on the radio occasionally when University faculty would come on and have a conversation about things of interest in their area of expertise.  For my Father that was Dairy Food Science.  A topic for another day.

The New Year should start Next Week

The New Year should start next week - not last week.  I'm behind.  I'm finally ready to think about goals for the coming year.  I spent this week working on the myriad little things that accumulate when you are ignoring them and enjoying other things like music....

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Mar comes with strings attached and it was good to hear his music again.

Seth also brings strings and keeps our toes tappin'

Nathan brought some of his Sacred Harp Music and we enjoyed using it while we sang Christmas carols.  We added to our LDS hymnal collection with a Methodist hymnal this year which includes some of those lovely French carols that aren't included in our hymnal because of their Catholic oriented message.  Those tunes have such lovely melodies so it was fun to sing them. 

Sally had her first piano time with Uncle Seth.

We played with food - in many forms.... you'll have to settle for pictures of our marzipan food.  The cheese spread with friends was hidden from the camera - but really yummy.  Two of the kid's friends that we love the most came by and visited.  It was fun to see them again. K&M made Finnish pulla bread for us.  Also yummy were Nathan's cranberry gummy candies and the chocolates send by Grandparents.

Empty pop cans became camp stoves.  Pyros live here so ...yes, of course  they were given a test to see if they worked.  The Wii got used and movies got watched.  Walks were taken and Christmas light displays were admired.

.

As Seth said "We need to plan for time when everyone just reads"  Several of us read "The Lost Symbol" - The older boys rummaged around and found books long neglected.  Seth found a collection of letters that DER and I had written long ago when the kids were little and enjoyed the tidbits about the older kids when they were  little - before he was born.  Sally and her mom read "Rain Makes Applesauce"

We had family pictures taken.  The photographer came to the house - I think that actually made it easier.  Well except that we had to do some clean up afterwards.  Mar shaved the day before.  Nate and Seth continued to grow their Christmas beards and are showing their sprouts in the pictures.  Sally charmed the photographer and was perfectly sweet inspite of being tired.

We laughed and played wtih sweet Sal.  The photographer wasn't the only one completely charmed by her.  We all were.

We pet Kangaroos and Wallabyes and fed burros and llamas at the Kangaroo Farm.  Well some of us were brave enough to feed the llamas and some of us weren't.....

They had you put this compressed alfalfa pellet in our mouth and the llamas came to get it.  The zoo is cleaner, but you don't get to feed the animals or hold baby kangaroos at the zoo.  The baby kangas were sweet.

  It was fun to be together.  The Christmas tree came out a little early and it seemed more spacious with the extra room.  However it took me most of this past week to get things back together.  So not I'm ready for those resolutions - and maybe I'm going to try to make them one month at a time......  This month the goal is to have a better morning routine.  Of course it would help if I weren't waking up at 3 and 4 in the morning with "power surges"  so maybe I'll roll with the punches and not get too excited about the routines.

The Lost Symbol

OK, I may not be reading the "Twilight" books, but I do read Dan Brown.  Quick reads, page turners...
I don't know how accurate Brown's linguistic and symbolic interpretations are but they are what makes the stories enjoyable.  This story starts with a kidnapping and evolves to something more complex.  Of course the perpetrator of this is determined that this is an act of revenge and therefore those who have wronged him must suffer significantly......  The hero and heroine are not sure who to trust as they try to rescue their kidnapped brother and friend.  They are also unaware of the full purpose of the crime which come to light as they interpret situations and clues.

I am fond of character in literature, Mr. Brown doesn't spend much time on character.  But the world could possibly use a few more Peter Solomans.  Peter is the target of revenge.  His sister and friend are trying to find him before the dastardly dude does him in and we discover the nature of their loyalties as they interact.  Peter really has very little plot time, but his is the most fully developed character.  He is admirable in his compassion, generosity, restraint and his cultivation of the greatness in others. 

Recent Reading

I've decided to make a record of my reading.  I know that I like to know what books others find engaging, just in case I every need an idea for a book to read.

I will forewarn you that my reading is rather random.  Our library has this great section the call "Explore More"
"Explore .." is all new books (hence no smoker smell) and they are paper back editions of books that have had good reviews (hence no pulp fiction)  I never know what will be on that shelf, but it is a little bit like browsing a small book store.  Occasionally I find a book not to my taste, inspite of it's initial appeal, but I don't have to keep reading it.

Recently from the "Explore More" collection I read "The Blue Zone" - by Dan Buettner about extreme longevity and the practices that seem to contribute to it.  OK I'm never going to do some of those things - and am not sure that I want to live to be 105, but I am starting to drink more water and eat more nuts and get a little bit more exercise.

The second book from "Explore More" is titled "Islands Apart" by Ken McAlpine.   It is the musing of a man who spent a week camping on each of the channel islands of the coast of California.  Alternating chapters are about trying to find and understand how people find that kind of peace in other places.  He spent time in a monastery, a homeless lunch shelter, a monument to soldiers dying in war,with street performers, and at a preschool.   Some charm to his descriptions of the solitude of the islands and perhaps more insight into how people cope with the conflicts of life in other settings. His concluding sentence is, "the world comes in every hue and we are fortunate to dwell in them all."

I often will find an author that I like and try to read everything the library has that they have written.  I have loved reading Malcom Gladwell, Tracy Kidder, Michael Pollan, Tony Hillerman, Orson Scott Card, Ellis Peters....  Recently David brought home a couple of Card books that we haven't previously read.

"Ender in Exile"  fills in the gaps in the Ender series.  Card has become a better writer over the years.  The characters are better revealed than in the earlier novels.  I love that he has taken a series and retold it from the vantage point of some of the other characters.  Ender is the focal point of this book.  I can't think that there were any great new story lines, just some connections and exposition to exisitng characters.  We see the beginning of the his quest to find a place for the hive.

David also brought home another Card title, "Stonefather."  a charming story set again in a world where people have gifts and talents that are foreign to our world.  A world where your affinity with water or stone rules how and where and with whom you live.  The main character seems to not fit in the world into which he was born and only finds his hidden talent when he leaves home and finds himself in a new setting where his talent comes to light and to good use.  So many of Cards stories are tales of children with impressive talents.  I wonder if he is exploring this theme because of his own development as a writer or recognizes that perhaps all of us have talents, gifts and abilities we do not ever realize we have.  Perhaps there is no "ordinary"

I'd love to hear what you are reading.

Now that I have finished my stack, I can get my library privileges restored and get another load of books.  I wonder what is on the "Explore More" shelves today.