No Title, None, Just Words

I think I see bulimia symptoms in my blogging – nothing, nothing, nothing . . . gorge, then spit out a long post.  Nothing, nothing, nothing . . . gluttony, and a purge of words.

Well.  If I’ve diagnosed it correctly, the only thing to do is to start over slow and steady – skip Monday Memories, Tuesday’s ?, and head straight into the recipes I promised for Wednesday, then close out with Thursday Thinking and Friday’s Life in My World and try to not repeat the pattern next week. 

Homemaking Trivia

• I really like to add cucumbers to lemonade for a refreshing flavor.  It’s delicate, but distinct. 

• Peaches were 50 cents a pound this week.  I’ll bet you can guess what was for breakfast.  I have one child that does not like peaches.  How can that be?  (Of course our children have one mother who doesn’t like garlic, but I know how that can be.)

• We planted some purple beans.  They turn green when you cook them.  It’s cool and disappointing at the same time.

•  I promised dip recipes.  Here is the corn one and here is the dill one. 

• Barbra and I hosted a baby shower for one of the women that we visit teach last night.  We played charades and the women acted out nursery rhymes and song titles.  I don’t know which picture I wish I would have taken most:  Mary-Mary commanding her garden to grow, the cat playing his fiddle, the sheep crawling and bleating, or the dog begging by the empty cupboard.  All I know is I love charades and the women of our relief society.  

Thursday Thinking: 

Calvin and I realize that we won’t always be in close proximity to our kids and their families.  Each family’s career has the potential to take them around the country and over the seas.  Hence, we try to capitalize on our nearness now.    

You'd never guess he could be the cause of sleep deprivation, would you?

 Cali called earlier this week needing some help.  And while I didn’t get a picture of Cali or Ande, I did get a picture of Levin.  I get excited just knowing we'll get to see him.  He's in the stage where he tries to form words but nothing comes out; however, when a sound accidentally escapes he gets so excited and tries to do more.  He's also in the stage that recognizes voices, and smiles at familiar ones.  Calvin and I feel so very lucky we’ve been with him often this summer and seen him grow.

Not only was it fun spending the day with Cali, Ande, and Levin, I discovered that people can’t help but respond to a newborn baby.  Sometimes as you walk down the street (especially in cities) it seems that people are so absorbed in their troubles, or in the troubles of the country and the world, or distrustful, or just absorbed in their own lives that their eyes are downcast, or the looks on their faces harried.  But when there is a newborn amongst people, those frets are temporarily set aside.  It’s like a puppy on a school playground.  While we were in Costco, a dozen strangers came to look and coo at Levin.  (Two different customers used the very same line: “On what aisle can I get me one of those?” I told them back by the diapers.)  It was the same at Home Depot and in the parking lot at Safeway.  Some even offered suggestions as to how to care for him.  A new baby is a reminder of what has been and what can be, and gives hope and encouragement . . . and a desire to connect with others. 

That’s enough philosophizing about that.  I just found it interesting how a new baby can bridge a people gap, and I loved seeing their eyes light up as they talked to him.  


Life in Our World

Today is Clara’s birth day and death day.  It’s been a year, but it seems in so many ways like last month.  Calvin and I went to her grave today and recalled that sacred night.  Clara has taught me that hope and love are stronger than discouragement and fear.  She has taught me how to better mourn with those who mourn.  She has taught me to see the future with more deliberation and clarity.  Truly, she is forever our little girl.

Recently many friends and family have expressed their love and I thought I’d mention two of them in specific:  one friend delivered a cherry tree with the message that this was Clara’s tree and every spring there will be blossoms and sweet cherries to remember her sweet little spirit.  Another friend, and one of the attending nurses to Grace and Clara, took carnations to the cemetery and wrote many sweet thoughts about that night and her hope for the future.  Both of these women have disappointments and struggles in their own lives, it is so Christlike of them to look out for another in the midst of their own pain.

Today and beyond . . .

Tonight Calvin and I have a great date planned; we're going to see 17 Miracles.  Sunday we are going to Seattle for the blessing of Levin, and next week Ray’s brothers and sisters are coming here to play for a few days.  You know as well as I know that I’ll never be able to swallow it all . . . I do hope they'll let me put pictures on the blog.