I'm Thankful I'm not a Pilgrim

 Thanksgiving is coming.  Turkey, cranberries, stuffing, and pumpkin pie with whipped cream.  My mind goes to food when I think of Thanksgiving.  I rarely think about the Pilgrims.  But, they are the ones that started the tradition.  The pilgrims went through some hard times.  First, surviving the boat ride over the "pond" was no easy feat.  They landed in strange surroundings where the living wasn't easy.  It was hard work to even survive their first winter.   If it hadn't been for the Native Americans, they probably wouldn't have survived.  Yet, there is a comradery that comes from going through a difficult period and sharing the joy that remains. All that to say, I'm thankful I'm not a pilgrim!  I enjoy indoor plumbing and not actually having to kill a turkey before I have to fix it!  Not that I've ever had to fix a turkey.  I have been fortunate, as I am not only directionally challenged, I am culinary challenged as well.  I have made mashed potatoes that looked like glue, broiled brownies for a church dinner and made rhubarb cobbler that made us hurl.  Hmmm….maybe that's why some of my closest friends are the ones that have eaten my cooking…eaten probably isn't the right word.... gagged down would be more like it…but I digress.  If I had been a pilgrim, I would have either gotten lost in the woods or starved trying to boil water for soup.  I'm thankful for the Pilgrims and the tradition of sitting aside a day to be thankful.  But I'm even more so, I'm thankful I wasn't a Pilgrim!!

11-12-13

11-12-13.  I like today's date!  Better than I liked the weather.  It's cold.  It went from nice, cool fall weather to winter.  I heard on the news there where numerous couples getting married today.  They made this a day to remember; a day to celebrate on a unique date.  That, or making it easy on themselves to remember their wedding date.  Years down the road, I wonder how many will be trying to remember if it was 11-12-13 or 12-13-14?

In this season of Thanksgiving, everyday is a day to celebrate.  I don't need a special day to be thankful for the many blessings of life.  Today, I celebrate the beauty of this season.  My picture is of a tree on campus where I work.  I have enjoyed it for a couple of weeks now.  I don't remember seeing so many bright red trees, ever!  I have always wanted to go Vermont to see the colors of autumn.  But I think this year Kansas has such beautiful trees, it would rival any east coast scene!   So, I celebrate 11-12-13 with colors of the season.

Happy Veterans Day!

In Flanders Fields is a poem that was written by a World War I Colonel, a surgeon with Canada's First Brigade Artillery. He was writing of all the soldiers who died on Flanders' battlefield in western Belgium and northern France, marked with white crosses amidst a field of red poppies.


Because of this poem, poppies are a symbolic reminder of our veterans. Lately, I don't need a poppy to remind me of those that serve their country and protect my freedom. All I have to do is watch the news to hear of another fallen soldier coming home. I can't help but think about the poignant movie "Taking Chance". It stars Kevin Bacon and is based on a true story. Lt. Col. Micheal Strobl was a volunteer military escort officer and accompanied the body of 19-year-old Marine Chance Phelps back to his hometown of Dubois, Wyoming. The movies portrays how a KIA is treated with such respect and honor from the beginning of their final journey home to the graveside Taps. I can guarantee you’ll need a box of tissues. There is something so very noble about it all. It reminds me of the Bible verse from John 15:13, Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.

But Veteran’s Day isn’t just for the fallen soldiers, although their sacrifice is sometimes the first thing I think of. It is for the living; those that survived their tour of duty and those currently serving. I don’t think we can say thank you enough to our veterans and our military. I honor their life’s sacrifice but I often overlook their daily sacrifice of service. They put their life on the line everyday, sacrificed time with family and friends; and have given up many important life events. All to serve.

Thank you, to all that have and are serving our country. Thank you is so inadequate, but it is heartfelt.

The Road to…..No Where

The Directionally Challenged Lack an Internal Compass.   That is an actual title of an APA article.  I could have  told the American Psychological Association that without them going to the trouble of doing a study.  Since I have gotten lost going to work when there was a road blocked, I have resorted to an investment in a Garmin.  I have relied on my  Garmin many a time to get me where I want to go and back home again.  Today I set out for Black Hoof Park, which is a not too far away from where I live.  Apparently my Garmin is not at it's best when it's overcast. It loses contact with the satellites above.   I drove around in circles trying to find the park.  It showed up on the Garmin screen, but it never lead me to the right place.  I think if I had heard "Recalculating" one more time, someone would have found a perfectly good Garmin on the side of the road.  I did find a bike/walk path and pulled into it's parking to enter the name of the park in my Garmin one more time.  Relief!  My trusty Garmin had found the location!  The skies must have cleared just for me.   On the screen display was Black Hoof Park, 191 miles away.  In Iowa.  That was a littler further than I had planned to go.  By this time it was late in the afternoon and the sun was about to set, my chance for a lake picture with autumn trees was about to end.  Then I looked up and saw a balloon!  It was beautiful, bright blue with red diamonds and it was floating along not to far away from me.  I took a road that followed the direction it was going.  This was definitely going to make up for the missing park with the beautiful lake.  As I slowed down and entered a parking lot, the balloon became huge.  I was so excited.  Before I could get out of my car, it landed and within minutes had deflated into nothingness.  No balloon.  No picture.   Couldn't they have stayed in the sky one more minutes?!?!?  I felt as deflated as the balloon.



It was a productive day.  I can say we have a stained deck that looks pretty good, some sore muscles and a garage that is a little more organized than it was this morning.  It was a good weekend for getting things done around the house.  Not so much for my picture-a-day goal.  But 365 days will add up to a lot of photos.   Maybe I'll even find that Black Hoof Park close by and get my photo.   Or drive 191 miles to Iowa.

It's Been A Hard Day's Night

It's been a hard day's night
And I've been working like a dog
It's been a hard day's night
I should be sleeping like a log

But, no, I'm blogging!

We stripped the deck today.  It took up most of the day!  While I was at it, I cleaned the windows, too.  It's amazing how dirty a deck can get in just a couple of year's time.  Tomorrow the stain.  And probably the Beatle's refrain!

A Round Tuit

I had plans for these gourds and little pumpkins.  The gourd at the top was going to be a bird.  Can't you see the beak?  Two of the little pumpkins were going to be goblins, with those plastic fangs as teeth.  I have pipe cleaners to make curly hair for one, and a Frankenstein mask for another.  Google eyes and all.  I have my magazines for direction.  I had it all planned out.  Halloween came, Halloween went.  The pumpkins and gourds are as they were the first day I bought them home.

I used to have a wooden round tuit.  I have lost it over the years, so I'm using that as my excuse.  As I thought about my tuit, I looked it up on google.  There is a Facebook page devoted to round tuits.  A Round Tuit webstore selling tee shirts and coins and cups and….the list goes on.  For some reason this brings a sense of relief.  Others obviously have the same problem as I do.  A Facebook friend had a cartoon posted of six types of procrastinators.  She posted the type she was…..I posted back, ummm, I do all six.  That can't be good.  I'll worry about it tomorrow, when I get a round tuit.

Ordinary Discovery

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes."  

Marcel Proust

I drive to work Monday through Friday and usually take the same route everyday.  I pass a small lake that is outlined by homes and a park. There is nothing extraordinary about this lake and I have never really paid much attention to it.  I have noticed when there was a hard rain and it would flow out of it's banks, or if geese had flown in, and where floating along the lake's surface or sunning themselves along it's banks.

As I drove to work today I was thinking if only I lived near the ocean, I could go to the beach. A picture a day would come easy, because I love the ocean.   The ocean speaks to me like nothing else can.  When I'm on a beach I sometimes close my eyes and imagine the voice of the ocean to be that of God's.   For when the waves are small, drifting in and gently out; He speaks softly to me and soothes my soul.  Sometimes the waves crash onto the beach and thunderously rush back to the ocean; just as His voice resonates within me and I am made aware of His majesty.  There is always beauty to be seen in the ocean, and heard.

This morning as I stopped at the intersection that faces the lake, I saw the lake, as if for the first time.  Although it's not the ocean, it has a tranquil beauty all it's own.  The reflection of the cloudy sky and color drenched trees on the lake seemed to beckon me;  and I realized I was seeing it as I had never seen it before.

I stopped tonight on my way home.  It was the first time I have ever pulled into the parking lot and gotten out of my car, just to take in and enjoy the beauty of this lake.  Camera in hand, I approached it's bank and heard a small lapping of the water from the breeze.   Funny how my new camera and a 365 day project has changed my perspective.  I'm seeing things through the lens of a camera and finding beauty I hadn't noticed before.  And the lapping of the water?  I think it was God's way of reminding me He speaks in the ordinary things of life.  I don't need an ocean for inspiration,  I need only to look around me, with new eyes.

 I couldn't decide which one of these I like the best.  The one above is "softer".  The one below I like except for the leaves that are too light.  Still using auto.  Maybe I should have shot a few more angles.