Celebrating 08-08-08

Life in My World

Eight is China’s lucky number. They believe it symbolizes wealth and prosperity. They’re celebrating today’s unique calendar date (8-08-08) by hosting and opening their very first Summer Olympic Games at 8:08:08 p.m.

Stacy Julian is celebrating today’s unique calendar date by offering a challenge to

Take 8 pictures that are evidence of your personal creativity. Anything that is flourishing because of your unique blend of spiritual gifts, skills and talent (yes, this includes children) and can be seen as the result of your creative process. Photograph these things today and use this opportunity to realize just what a difference you make. You, like today's date will NEVER happen again.

I’m taking them both up. I plan to watch more of the Olympics this round than ever before. I’m not a big TV watcher, but I’m feeling it my American duty and job as a fellow world citizen to better appreciate the talents of others.

Here is the 8 picture challenge:


Creative problem solving. Every year our garden has gotten away from me in August. Weeds galore. This year we tried something a little different, we put the first three rows into flowers and what a difference that makes. Not having to pick, wash and preserve those first three rows makes more weeding possible. And, the flowers are such a bright spot and invite hummingbirds (verses worms that broccoli invites).

Creative baking. No two loaves of my bread ever look the same. And though this peanut butter looks terribly anemic, I still love it.

Creative influence. Ande posted her very first blog today. Both Cali and Ande are good writers and it is very rewarding to see them record their lives.

Creative nurturing. Over a month ago, Maddie and Pal, my niece and nephew, put a message that said, "HI" in a root beer bottle and sent it floating down the canal to reach the ocean. A few days ago the girls and I saw it stuck in a grate about a mile from the house. Cali retrieved it and I’m sending it to a friend in Hawaii and asking her to stick a message in it and mail it back to them. Maddie and Pal still believe in fairies, so it shouldn’t concern them for a few more years how a bottle with no name or address could find them.

Creative sharing. A neighbor wrote last week and said she would love fresh vegetables the next time I had extra. I put them in a bright gift bag and suddenly they were a pretty bag of beans instead of a bag of beans.


Creative writing. Here is a piece of today’s NJP newsletter “China is home to 1.2 billion people. Last week while we were bicycle riding (I don’t think we qualified to use the Olympic term of cycling because we stopped every few hundred yards to read a sign, get a drink, take a picture or let someone catch up), I took a funny picture of Cali:


When I saw the photo, I thought 'She’s one in a million,' and Abe informed us later that if you’re one in a million that means there are 1,233 people just like you in China. Amazing. "


Creative organizing. The eggs are stored in an old sieve in the fridge instead of a styrofoam carton. It actually came out of desperation not a creative eye, but it works and looks good.



Creative loving. Marriage is a miracle to me; it is so fragile and yet so resilient. We’re headed on an overnight campout in a few minutes and today, I really wanted to nitpick at the mess it would make when Calvin decided to cook quail at the last minute, but I creatively bit my tongue until it passed. And do you know what? He brought corn on the cob home. Creative silence pays. Creative silence pays.

What a great 08-08-08.