Eared Grebes???

Eared grebes

...  eared grebes, fifteen hundred of them,

Found stunned and dying on the solid ground

They thought was water.
...

The sky, you said, was what confused them— 

Something about the clouds, the storm-light— 

That, and their own certainty as they hurtled 
 
Toward what they thought was only temporary Rest.

Next time we stand under the sky,


Hands linked, marveling at the synchronicity

Of flight, you will remind me that it doesn’t always 

End well, that breathtaking consensus. And I will 


Say, the way I always say, that miracles are rooted

In the trivial, that there is always risk in plunging 

Toward the unseen, that after those birds fell


They were carried, one by one and trembling,

To the real water by a hundred clumsy human hands.

—Marilyn Nielson

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I love Nielson's poetry.  Here she gives us an image of birds hurtling towards what they thought was temporary rest, the unseen, but finding out that decision had different consequences than expected. This brought to mind what happens to so many of us in life. We make choices that lead to our being heaped up somewhere, stunned by the experience. 

Then comes the miracle - people come to their rescue. The rescuers had "clumsy, human hands." The rescue wasn't smooth, but it happened. That's the miracle. 

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I've blogged about other Nielson poems here, here, and here. Nielson celebrates her family and nature on her blog. 

image - pixabay

Everything Starts Messy

"Everything starts messy–and stays that way a good long while." So states Amy Makechnie as she talks about "growing" children and likens it to gardening. I think her perspective applies to many parts of our lives. 

Looking back I can recall few times when things weren't "messy." If something in our lives gets to the "just right" stage, it usually doesn't stay that way very long. There's always another challenge, something more to learn, a new goal to reach for. The flowers bloom for only so long before they need to be tended and nourished for the next growth spurt and then blooming season. It's all about cycles and seasons. 

Makechnie then says, "It’s easier not to plant a garden. It’s easier to ignore the kids than pay attention. It’s easier to plug into devices than read a story. But we do hard things because there is something more powerful than [not doing the hard things]: the harvest." What a blessing it is to enjoy the harvest - the results of our efforts and the mess. 

quote & picture

Keepsake - Wire Toy

The toy on the right is from my paternal grandparents' home. It was stored under the window seat with other toys. In the November 1954 picture below you see me getting into the window seat (white blouse on left). Perhaps I was retrieving this toy. Decades later my brother gave me the toy on the left. Thanks Tom!

I did a Google search to figure out what to call this toy. I used search terms like "wire, bendy, toy." Up popped the word "mandala" and pictures of similar items. While looking up definitions of mandala, I discovered I've been missing out on the power of meditating with this toy! I've been using it all wrong - instead of mindlessly creating shapes,I could have been contemplating the universe!

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This picture is full of fun memories. Uncle David is visiting. See him on the left talking with Tom. I'm lifting up the window seat to get at the toys. Grandpa looks tuckered out. Is it from a big dinner or too much going on with too many people? Susan is wearing a wig. I don't remember the wig. She is working the puzzle of the state of Ohio and its counties. That puzzle is still in the family. I vividly remember the globe. The television was in the cabinet on the left. You can see some of Grandma's copper lusterware in the bookcase by the window seat. When you traveled with Grandma, you could count on visiting antique shops to look for these pieces. 

Here and There

From the last few weeks

Fall here is nothing like Ohio - different kinds of trees

But every once in a while we see a beautiful maple tree 

that reminds us of how glorious fall colors can be

Christmas already???!

Pumpkins are more like it!

Michael came to our new place for lunch on our balcony.

We celebrated his birthday with 

Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream, his favorite.

After 4 years of using my jerry-rigged stand-up desk, we sprang for the real thing. This fits on top of my current desk and can easily be raised and lowered so I can alternate between sitting and standing. It's a great way to work and much better for my body than sitting all the time! The "varidesk" weighs about 50 pounds. The box sat in our hall until the missionaries came over to carry it upstairs for me and take it out of the box. 

Our church sponsored a community-wide service day in conjunction with the National Day of Service and Remembrance (of 9/11) There were quite a few projects in the parks around Kirkland. For those who preferred an inside project, there was Days for Girls. We made sustainable feminine hygiene kits. Days for Girls provides education as well as hygiene kits so girls are able to stay in school during their periods. The kits are shipped all over the world to areas where disposable products aren't available and/or aren't affordable. It was like an old-fashioned quilting bee - people talked while we sewed, ironed, cut, strung ribbons, assembled kits, and so forth. 

This is the Joe we know and love - he is a man of extremes. 

When the boys were home we called him "Even-flow Joe."

Top picture - vegetarian dinner at Cafe Happy in downtown Kirkland. 

Bottom - Joe had a craving for a hamburger - not just any hamburger, but a double meat, double cheese, bacon burger from Burgermaster - an old-fashioned-car-hop-eat-in-your-car place. Of course he had to have fries and a milkshake with it!

(Posted with Joe's hearty approval :)

Love

Love & Marriage -  “The love of which the Lord speaks is not only physical attraction, but also faith, confidence, understanding, and partnership. It is devotion and companionship, parenthood, common ideals and standards. It is cleanliness of life and sacrifice and unselfishness." Spencer Kimball

Finding Yourself

"The more we serve our fellowmen in appropriate ways, the more substance there is to our souls. We become more substantive as we serve others--indeed, it's easier to find ourselves because there's so much more of us to find." Spencer W. Kimball

When we hear people talking about finding themselves, they are usually referring to a process that is very "me" centered. Jesus teaches us that we find ourselves by losing ourselves in service to others, in doing what He would do. 

"He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it."  

Matthew 10: 39

This video has a powerful message about how we can be changed through service. It's almost 10 minutes long but it worth watching all the way through. The people in the video are lifted up as they serve Kathy by physically lifting her every day. 

One of the men who serves Kathy makes an interesting observation. "It's interesting, the dichotomy between healing the body and healing the soul. When we heal the body, it's always an inward effort. We're always paying attention to ourselves.When we heal the soul, turning inward doesn't work. And the triage of the soul is found in turning outward to other people. Every time I've gone to Kathy's home and dealt with her, it feels like it heals a part of my soul. ...Really, it's genius how Christ has laid this out for us. As one helps the other, the other helps the other back."

Somehow service does expand our souls and we become more "substantive" in awesome ways. 

You CAN Take It With You!

First there were things we couldn’t bring with us to Kirkland. Now there are things we can’t take with us to our new place in Kirkland.

In all our downsizing over the last four years it’s easy to focus on what we can’t take with us. However, the focus should be on what we can take with us – the tangible items as well as the intangibles. 

As we shed more and more of the stuff that has surrounded us during our mortal journey, we become even more aware of the intangibles that have become part of us and our time here on earth – things that we can take with us no matter the size of our physical home and no matter which side of the veil we're on. 

            Relationship with each other

            Relationships with friends and family

            Relationships with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ 

            Knowledge of earthly and heavenly matters

           You can take it with you!