52 Blessings – Translators

Calvin and I were asked to attend church in the Spanish Branch for a few years.  Today was our second Sunday attending there.  Neither one of us speak Spanish, yet, so we listen to a translator through headphones.  We have really enjoyed going, and I appreciate that a translator is willing to make it so that I can understand more than three words a meeting.

Today one speaker seemed to get ahead of the translator and the translator couldn’t catch up.  Finally he muttered something.  I thought he said, “Oh man. ” Calvin thought he said, “Oh damn.”  Either way it was funny enough we both laughed when everyone else knew to be reverent.   

Sometimes we should not sit together.

picture taken at a wedding last night
courtesy of Nicole

52 Blessings - Well, Really 26 Blessings . . . Summer Recap Z - A

When my grandmother was a little girl, her mother handed her a plate with the letters of the alphabet printed around the edges and told her to go outside and memorize them. So my grandma did. First she memorized Z then learned Y, next she moved to X. Around the plate she went until she had memorized the alphabet all the way to A. She was quite proud of herself and went back in the kitchen to tell her mother what she had learned. Her mother was exasperated when she heard Grandma recite the alphabet backwards and sent her back outside telling her, "Turn the plate the other way and learn them again." Grandma used to sing us the alphabet song backwards with as much ease as we did forwards. In honor of Grandma, here is a review of summer’s highlights from Z to A.

Zinnias.

I plant zinnias in the garden every year because they are such a bright spot amongst all the peppers, potato vines, and squash. They also take no effort. You pick them when you want and you leave them on the stem when you don’t want. This year I planted some striped as well as green zinnias with the regular seeds. I’m glad I did, they’re a plus.

One day two friends (both excellent decorators) stopped by and when they saw a bouquet of zinnias in the middle of the kitchen table asked where I got them. It was quite satisfying to say, “Ohhhh, you know, the garden.”

“You want to wash your car?”

I went to the Honda dealership where they have a free car vacuum. I had just finished vacuuming our car when a young man approached me and said, “You want to wash your car?”

I smiled, tilted my head, raised my eyebrows and said, “I already did. Can’t you tell?”

He smiled slowly and said, “I think it could use another one. I’ll get you a token and you can wash it for free.”

I like free vacuums and nice kids very much.


X-country.

Our summer began clear across the country in Maryland.  We flew back to meet Afton and spend time with Michelle and Ty over the Memorial Day holiday.  My favorite part of the whole trip (besides holding Afton) was watching Michelle sing to Afton to calm her down (it usually only took one verse) and Ty being a dad.   Another perk was happy ice at Rita's.   What a great way to kick off the summer.


Week of babysitting.

Levin

Levin was our happy little sidekick for one of the last weeks of summer while Ray and Cali were gone on a business trip.

One afternoon I picked some cucumbers from the garden and put them in the wagon with Levin to haul to the pigs. Like Hansel and Gretel, he dropped them out of the wagon behind us as I pulled him along. When we got to the pig pen and I found them missing we turned around and went back to pick them up. When we got back to the pig pen they were gone again. We were a good team.

It was such a fun week.  Ray met us half way and took us out to dinner when our week was over.  It was so fun to see Levin's reaction to seeing his dad again.

Virtual Reality.

Calvin, Abe

Skyping, texting, e-mailing, talking on the phone to the kids . . . well, in the words of Clint Eastwood, it just makes my day. (I even have a voice message of Abe saved so that I can replay it every now and then and hear his voice, and we were late to church last week because he could skype.)


Unexpected visit from Rachel.

Rachel, me

One of the ways I keep from being sad when Rachel and I part is to focus on the next time we'll see each other.  As long as I know there is something in the future (even if it's a year away), it makes the leaving easier.  It's always been that way, so about a day before it's time I'll say, "Now when will we see each other again?"  And when we don't have any concrete events ahead,  Rachel says something like, "Well, so-and-so might get married" or "Well, maybe there will be a funeral or something."  Sometimes I chime in with, "Or maybe we'll get free tickets somehow."   What a bonus when Rachel came out this summer AND IT WASN'T EVEN ON THE RADAR.  Last March when we parted I said something like, "Well, if Mitt Romney wins we'll hope for cheap tickets and go to the inauguration together."  (Yeah, she's willing to humor me; it beats banking on a funeral.)


Text-a-day.

Michelle texts us a picture of Afton daily. Like Pavlov’s dog, I get incredibly excited when I hear the ding.

Steers.

I’m happy to report the steers have not escaped since the opening debacle. Not once. Every day they come running when they see us walk towards the pasture, never mind I’m going to feed the chickens not visiting them. They hope (kind of like me hoping for free tickets) that I’ll give them another scoop of grain, or corn husks, or an old cob of corn. Every time I see the flies crawling all over them I think how lucky I am to have hands to shoo them away and use a flyswatter.

Romantic.

The night before school started Calvin went in with me to set up the classroom. While I was running around organizing things, he wrote this message on the back whiteboard then pulled the top whiteboard over it so I wouldn’t see it until during class. The kids collectively sighed when I pulled the board back.

And then, one night while we were camping my feet hurt. Really hurt. They felt like I was walking barefoot on marbles even when I wasn’t walking at all. They were dusty and dirty, too. Calvin was sitting on my cot and offered to rub them. Whoa. He’s never offered that even when they are fresh out of the shower. He sat and rubbed them over and over. 

I fairly swooned.

Quiet.

Calvin, Levin  (kind of reminds me of that scene Michelangelo painted)

Sometimes I have wished that our lives were broken down in living-quadrants so that we could experience lots of different ways of life. 

The hustle of working in a big city sounds appealing. Temporarily. 

The sturdy life of a pioneer woman is enticing. Temporarily.

Traveling as a statesman sounds stimulating. Temporarily. 

But life as I live it is good too.  It's a simple life. A life where I wake up just before the sun does and might not see or talk to another soul until Calvin comes back home from work.  It's a life where we water the lawn with a hose and feed apples that drop to the pigs. It's a life where the little things are big things and the big things are little things.  It's a quiet life.  It's a good life and, since most of us don't have living-quadrants, I'm glad a simple life is the one we chose.  

Pigs.

Summer must be over for the pigs are nearly ready to butcher. They have gotten fat off of milk, corn, and mutant garden vegetables. If they are what they eat, then their meat will have a hint of cucumber, squash, melons, and apples. 

 

On-line classes.

I've spent a lot of time in the computer chair this summer counting syllables, practicing meters and poetic feet, creating iambic tetrameters and trochaic trimeters.

But mostly all I came up with were works like this:

Her hair like fur
Her feet like paws
For sure, for sure
That’d be my ma.

I think my teacher hoped for greater things.

News.

We enjoyed watching bits of the Olympics and the National Republican Convention this summer. While I enjoyed the keynote addresses of Mitt and Ann Romney very much, my favorite visual was when the Romney and Ryan families joined the candidates on stage after the speeches. One little boy looked a wee bit stage struck when he saw all the people, and then a single balloon caught his eye and he forgot all about the people and chased it. It was an innocent gesture in a million dollar gala affair. And then one of the little granddaughters wrapped her arms around her Grandma Romney’s legs, just like little children do, tucking the dress between Ann's legs.  I've never seen better reality TV.

Memories.

One of my summer goals was to record several memories in our family books. This summer Cali, my niece Haley, and I spent four days scrapbooking with friends and I got a lot done on that goal.

Ty made this job even more fun because he wrote down several memories a few years ago,  so all I had to do was find a picture to go with them.  (I'm excited to share this simple scrapbooking idea in a few months when it is more complete.)

Lightning storms.

This summer we got more lightening storms than normal.  Since our house wasn't in danger and we had no crops to lose, Calvin and I rocked carefree on the patio and listened to the thunder and watched the rain and hail.

Kids.

Afton and Ty at a Page Family Reunion

The kids had busy summers as well.  Ray and Cali continued to make home and yard improvements.  Grace ran an a 1/2 marathon and Abe and Grace celebrated their third anniversary in a deployment (that makes two of three they've had to celebrate individually).  Ty and Michelle traveled North, South, and West to be with friends and family.  Joe and Ande traveled hither and yon to the four corners of the earth for fun and business.  Hearing about their work and life experiences is like living them.  I love hearing about life in their worlds.  

Jubilee.    

me, Afton

Leviticus 25:10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.

My birthday was definitely a summer’s highlight. All those years of family scripture study at the breakfast table paid off.  The kids followed Moses’ law to the letter and certainly hallowed my fiftieth year and even returned to our family. What a grand, grand, grand time.  I'm still humbled and so very happy that they did that for me.

Insanity.

Ty, me, Rachel, Ande, Calvin

Friends, that is more than glistening on our arms and faces. That is sweat: s.m.e.l.l.y. s.w.e.a.t.

One evening, early in the summer, Calvin said, "Jane, I need to talk to you about something serious, really serious."

His tone made everything get squished and hot inside. I braced for the worst and he said, "I went ahead and bought that Insanity workout system off Ebay and I'm going to need your help to be able to do it."

My mind mimicked a heart-beat, "Ugga. Whew. Ugga. Whew. Ugga. Whew."

"Ugga, this sounds terrible."

"Whew, this serious talk was a breeze."

" Ugga, I dread this.  Who knew jogging sounded so good."

"Whew, I'm so glad he really wants to improve his blood sugars."

For the last three months we have jumped and thudded in our family room five or six days a week. Calvin is bound and determined to earn that Insanity t-shirt.  

Homegrown.

I haven’t talked to anybody that has had a good tomato year. It makes those few that are finally ripe taste even better. But where the tomatoes have lacked, the berries have not. It’s been a bumper year for raspberries and blackberries. 

It is easy to eat green – most everything just minutes old – this time of year.   It's hard to beat summer foods.  

George Washington.

I read some great books this summer, one was Being George Washington.  I admire President Washington for many of his character traits

Self-discipline

God-fearing

Strong sense of duty

Humble

Courageous

Unique ability to rally and enthuse people

A peacemaker

Other things I learned 

• George Washington had a penchant for ice cream. He spent the modern equivalency of $5,000 on ice cream one summer. Now that's passion.

• You've heard how many of the revolutionary soldiers didn’t have shoes (especially during the winter at Valley Forge) and left trails of blood-prints in the snow, but even those who did have boots wore boots that were universal – made for the right or the left foot. Sometimes my pampered self wonders at my ignorance.

• George Washington suffered many illnesses through his childhood and young adulthood. Those diseases prepared him to be a commander as they not only gave him empathy and compassion for his men, but they also gave him immunity so that he could freely interact with them.  God moves in a mysterious way.

Family.

Levin, Cali

We are so lucky to have the Folletts and Joe and Ande relatively near.  Tomorrow we are meeting up with them to go to the Ellensburg fair and rodeo to close out the summer.  (I'll update this portion with another picture and recap tomorrow.)

Encampment.

Junior and Calvin

"Catch the Vision" Aaronic Priesthood Encampment 2012.  

The camp used over 30,000 gallons of water that first day for dust control and we cooked nearly 1000 pounds of meat during the week.  It was a week of quantity.

Days off.

Much as I am grateful for a good, purposeful job I love being home day after day after day in the summer.  

Cupcakes.

Ande

When I was a student at BYU-Hawaii, Mom sent me a box of 144 Idaho Spud candy bars (give or take a dozen).  Do you remember how hungry you were as a freshman?  I do.  I was very hungry, all the time.  I shared the Idaho Spuds, but I think they're an acquired taste for they weren't that popular.  At first I told myself no more than one candy bar a day.  Then I upped it to two.  Finally I said positively, absolutely, no more than seven a day.

When my sister Chris comes to visit she still brings me a brown bag of Idaho Spuds.

Last summer Ande found a recipe for Idaho Spud Cupcakes and made them for my birthday.  Last week I requested she make them again.    The batch made 24, so I suggested we give a few away as there were only three of us.  She said, "Mom, that's only eight a piece."  Oh.  Point taken.  I shared three of them - Calvin's.

The recipe comes from the Your Cup of Cake blog.  Here is the frosting recipe:

Marshmallow Topping:

1 jar mashmallow cream

½ cup butter

1 ¾ cup powdered sugar

4 ounces cream cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

Cream the  ingredients together well and pipe onto cupcakes.  Roll in toasted coconut.

They really are good.  And just like I associate caramel with Fall apples, turtles with Christmas, and wienerlangders with Valentine's Day, now Idaho Spud Cupcakes go with summer.

Brats.

Grace, Calvin

Leavenworth is 100 miles from here and is a Disneyland version of a Bavarian village.  They have wonderful brats and street musicians dressed in short-overalls playing horns and accordions.

Grace and Calvin both love gas station hot-dogs.  They will even call each other on the phone and report when they find a good one.  I'm a fair-weather hot-dog fan, but I have had two memorable ones:  one was in Washington D.C. three years ago and one was in Leavenworth this summer.

Annie Get Your Gun.

me, Grace

Leavenworth also has three outdoor theaters.  For several years I have wanted to go to Leavenworth to a play.  Finally, this year Calvin, Grace, and I went.  We saw Annie Get Your Gun and it was very entertaining, and while I hate one-upping in real life, my favorite scene was when Annie and Bart sang “I can better than you.”

What a great summer.

Tuesday - A Winner

Yesterday my little friend down the road said, "Neighbor Jane! Neighbor Jane! I have a joke for you."

He is five, the knock-knock age.  But this was no knock-knock joke.

"Oh good!  Tell me."

He said, "What did the pig say on a sunny day?"

I thought for a minute, tapped my lips, and finally said, "I give up."

He said, "I'm bacon out here" and laughed and laughed, then said,  "Neighbor Jane I have another one for you."

"Ready."

"What did the hot dog say when he won a game?"

I didn't know the answer to that one either.

"I'm a wiener!  Get it?  He's a wiener."

Well folks, that joke was so very timely, because we have a wiener from the poetry contest.  And it is none other than:

Ande

Sometimes when my eyes are red/

It's because I've been reading a book in bed./

The words aren't sad or the story tick'ling./

It's because my light is flick'ring./

She was quite excited to win.  Thank you for helping to make her dreams come true.

Life in Our World - Very Fine

Levin will tell you all about life in our world this week:

Tuesday

Dear Dad and Mom,

           

I have had a very good day.  I am doing very fine.  I laughed lots and lots and I ran away from Grandma whenever she came to get me.  Especially in the garden.  I hid behind the dill and peppers and found a little green tomato all on my own but she told me I had to spit it out. 

           

She also twirled me around and around in the computer chair.  We both laughed, but we got very dizzy and we couldn’t walk for a little while.  We decided maybe we should only play that game once.

           

Grandma let me sit on the kitchen floor and eat my food off the stool.  I like that, especially the graham crackers. 

           

Grandma took me outside bare naked today.  She thought it might help my rash.  I loved it.  I almost got inflammation from the squash and the bean leaves, but at least my old rash didn’t itch.  It felt very good to air out.

           

I played in the hose again.  It makes me very cold but I still love it.  

I learned how to stick my thumb in the end and spray everyone and everything.  It makes them laugh.  I do it over and over and over until I get cold and then Grandma makes me get in a tub of warm water.

I took one long nap this morning, but then I wasn’t tired this afternoon.  Grandma told me it was okay if I got up after an hour.  Tonight though, I was very tired.  She said I could go to bed at 6:15.  I was happy to.  She woke me up at 7:30 to feed me again but I told her, “Remember I don’t like mashed potatoes with the peels still on” so she gave me a bottle and then I went back to bed.  I was very, very glad.  I get tired playing here.

           

Aunt Ande came today.  I squealed and jumped.  I love her and want to go everywhere with her.  I also like that Chewie keeps Dan busy so he doesn’t follow me everywhere.  I think I can say “dog” now.  At least every time Dan barks I run to the window and say “Da.”  Grandma says close enough.

           

We went on a walk.  I rode in the wagon again.  I never get tired of it.  Ever.  Grandma says me riding in the wagon reminds her of that old ride at Lagoon that clatters and rattles and shakes your brains.  She says it will make me even smarter.  I believe her.

           

Grandpa started the lawn mower tonight and said I could go with him but it scared me so I went back in the house with Grandma and Aunt Ande.

           

I am being a very, very, very good boy. 

           

I like chocolate chips.  I like mixers.

I love you.  I miss you.  This morning I cried for a little while when I woke up because I missed you and wished I could see you.

           

Have fun. 

Love,

Levin 

Wednesday

Dear Dad and Mom,

I am doing very fine.  We had another good day.  I ate a whole bottle of applesauce in two days.    

           

I think I know what kind of car we should get next.  A station-wagon.  I never get tired of riding in the wagon. 

Speaking of red, Grandma puts me in a big red shirt in the mornings. 

First she puts it in the dryer to get it warm so I can drink my bottle and not get goosebumps.  I wear it on our walks, too.  Grandma says it’s so the rust in the wagon won’t ruin my whitie-tighties.

            

Aunt Ande and Grandma and I went to town.  I practiced drinking out of a straw.  I’m good at it now.  Did I use to be good at it?  They still won’t give me pop.  Aunt Ande says it will burn my mouth.

       

I pet the bug in Grandpa’s mustache tonight.

The first time the bug barked I jumped, but then I made a fist and pounded it.  Maybe I killed it.  It never barked again.  But maybe Grandpa just swallowed it when he was laughing.  All that I know is I am braver than the bug.

Grandpa was going to share his chocolate ice cream with me tonight.  He promised.  I got too tired and fell asleep.  Did I tell you how tired I get from playing in the dirt and sun?  Very tired.

I miss you both.  Every night when I go to bed I giggle lots and lots just like when Dad puts me to bed.  It makes Grandma laugh.  She even laughs during my prayers.  I am pretty funny.

I love you.

Levin

Friday

Dear Dad and Mom,

Grandma says that you are missing me.  Please don’t.  Remember I still poop my pants sometimes.  I will still be one when you come home.

I guess it would be okay if you missed me a little bit because I did sleep for 13 hours straight last night.

Grandpa and Grandpa didn’t exercise this morning.  Grandma told Grandpa she can either keep up with me or Shaun T. but not both. 

I fell out of the wagon two times this morning.  One time it was my fault because I was trying to touch the dirt as Grandma and Aunt Ande walked and I fell out on the sandy part of the road.  The other time Dan and Chewie got excited and knocked the wagon over.  I cried.  But just enough so that Aunt Ande and Grandma would stop and hug me for a little while then I got back in the wagon and started throwing rocks at the road.

By the way, I really like Dan and Chewie.  Today Chewie followed me all over while I was walking in the grass.  Grandma said something about good dog Carl.  They both lick my face and I laugh and then when I get tired of it I punch them in the nose and they leave me alone for a little bit.  I like dogs.  Remember I can say dog now.

Oh.  I say, “Hot” too.  Grandma said I can’t sit on the cupboard and help her cook supper unless I know what hot is so I learned it fast.  I say, “Hot” when I’m by the stove and start to blow.  Grandma says it’s funny, but then she thinks lots of things I do are funny.  Today when I played outside the house was hot.  I touched it and said “hot” and then touched it again.  I guess I’m getting smart and funny. 

Aunt Ande said to be sure and tell you that I say “Ande” sometimes.  She's right.  I do when I want to make her happy.  Maybe I should work on “Ray” and “Cali” next.

I am still being a very, very good boy.  Grandma says I am independent.  She says she bets that someday I hang a sign on my bedroom door that says, "Mom for Sale, I don't want her anymore" just like Mom did.  She also says I am very curious like Dad, and that it wasn't curiosity that killed the cat but selfishness and conceit.  Grandma says lots of things, but I think what she means is that she likes me being curious and independent and that you will know just what to do with me someday, so I am trying real hard to be like you both.

I love you.  I am doing very fine.

Levin

As you can see, life in our world is very fine.

(P.S.  Today is the last day to vote on the poems.  Thank you for making this fun for our family.)

Thursday Thinking –Morale Boost

 Melancholy.  Nostalgic.  Wistful.  That’s what I get this time of year.  It makes perfect sense why, but not enough sense that I can cure it once and for all.

It was a huge boost of morale when Ande decided to come for the week while Joe is traveling, and Cali and Ray asked if Levin could come for the week while they are on a business trip.  There has been nothing on our agenda but to rest and enjoy life and each other which is a good poultice for melancholy.

Here are two YouTube “Boost of Morale” videos I have enjoyed. 

The first one was made by a West Point buddy of Abe’s.  It has made me laugh more than once, I could learn a thing or two from them.  If anybody has got to be feeling a bit wistful, it’s got to be those soldiers sweating it out away from their families.  

The second one was made by Michelle’s friends (her brother is in it as well) in Colorado.  It was filmed to be shown at girls’ camp.  If I understand it right, they didn’t film it until all the girls had left for camp so that it would be a complete surprise.  How can those girls not feel a huge morale boost from those boys singing over and over to them that they are beautiful just like they are?

Tuesday Tried It - Scrubs

Today Michelle asked me if I had made the sugar-soap scrub on Pinterest yet.

Gardener's Hand Scrub

I had not, so I did.  

Soap and Sugar Scrub on the left
Oil and Sugar Scrub on the right

I hadn't been out in the garden yet when I tried it, so I don't know how the Gardner's Scrub works on beet, tomato, or green stem stains; however it did scrub my hands, rough them up a bit, and dry them out.  

Next I made a batch of olive oil and sugar scrub (2 Tablespoons sugar, 1 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil) to compare the two.  The olive oil and sugar scrub felt infinitely better.

Then I decided to combine the two.  There is a reason that recipe isn't going around Pinterest.

To sum up my observation:  Though it bottles nicely and looks cute with jute, I won't be giving any Gardner's Scrub for Christmas.

Monday Memories - "Sometimes When My Eyes are Red"

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Dear Kids,

            Fact One:  You love me.

            Fact Two:  You are glad I’m getting my degree.

            Fact Three:  You would do anything to help me.

            Fact:  For an English class I have to get people to join me in a poetry slam session.  That means I give you the first line of the poem and you spend five (and only five) minutes and write whatever poem or poem-like words that come to mind and then send it back to me.

            Fact:  I’m asking you to do this because of established facts one, two, and three.  

            Fact:  Your dad says this is stupid and that the grade should be about what I write not about what people in a poetry slam session write.

            Fact:  He’s right.

            Fact:  Regardless of that fact and that he is right, it still remains that a poetry slam session is a portion of my grade.

            Fact:  I would appreciate your help.

            Fact:  The first line of the poem is:

Sometimes when my eyes are red

             Thank you for even considering helping me with this.  

             I love you.

Mom

           

Oh ho. They did not disappoint.  This morning the mailbox was full of poems.

The instructor suggested we give a prize for the best poem, but that would be like choosing which child I love best.  Not gonna happen.  No sir.  Not gonna happen.  But, I do want to thank them for their enthusiastic and timely responses.  So, would you please vote which child poem you like best?  Below are the anonymous poems with their commentaries.  The vote is open to one and all, participant or not.  Feel free to vote anonymously and stuff the ballot comment box with more than one vote.  A $50 Olive Garden Gift Certificate is at stake.  (Unless Abe wins, in that case we'll send him SPAM and marinara sauce.  It's durable, mail-able, can stand 120+ temperatures . . . and he likes it.  [You can't tell me LDS missions aren't miraculous.])

Poem One.

Sometimes when my eyes are red,
I use it as an excuse to stay in bed.

I tell everyone I'm just not feeling well,
Actually, I am feeling quite swell.

A whole day has gone by and nothing's been done,
I am still in bed and there's no more sun.

I wish I hadn't been so lazy,
A new day begins and I decide to not be so crazy.

I am HORRIBLE at poems... but here you go. I did it because I love you!

Poem Two.
Sometimes when my eyes are red,
It usually means something is in my eye.
It itches and irritates to no end.
When I get it out, I heave a big sigh.

Similar to the sigh I let out,
When I'm done writing a stupid rhyme.
I hate it; it makes me scream and shout.
This is stupid and a waste of time.

Maybe this will score some bonus points for you?

Poem Three.

Sometimes when my eyes are red
My only thoughts are going back to bed
The baby didn't sleep so well, she woke so early I could yell
I'd love to reintroduce the pillow to my head

Sometimes I'm not quite sure what to do
Instead of snoring, I might as well moo
She wakes up crying for mom, not Dick, Harry, or Tom
Oh how I wish that guys had boobs too

I wrote this silly poem in a daze
This early waking better be a short phase
I am so darn tired, this poem's sure not inspired
It deserves no awards nor praise

Poetry slammed. Nailed it.

Love you 

Poem Four.

Sometimes when my eyes are red,

Waking up, I truly dread.

It means I am dozy and wish to stay cozy

In my nice warm bed.

Sometimes when my eyes are green,

With a piercing look some call keen.

I want someone’s something, even if it’s a dumb thing,

Envy can truly be seen.

Sometimes when my eyes are yellow,

I am not a healthy fellow.

Jaundice is there and won’t go anywhere,

Until my liver can mellow.

Sometimes when my eyes are blue,

Oh wait, that’s always true.

I hate writing classes, that search out the masses

To write poems not a few.

Often they start with “Sometimes when my eyes are red…”

  

 I believe good inspiration for poetry comes from reading the work of great artists.  Ever since “Bob, the High Flying Bug” I knew Abe was a great poet.  Michelle impressed me with a rhyming treasure hunt we did for our date on Saturday.  You can probably see some of their influence in my poem.  Abe’s poem inspired the emotion I hoped to express in my own poem.  He filled me with a deep hatred for this assignment that you have been given.  It all came from his powerful last stanza.  I was inspired by Michelle’s rhyming pattern.  It felt like such a perfect fit for the assignment.  I used this rhyming pattern to lull the reader into thinking I’m more of a light-hearted poet similar to Dr. Seuss and then I use my last line (non-rhyming) to convey a strong message as contemporary poets such as Allen Ginsberg do.  Thus, I combined the classics with the modern into a truly dazzling poem.  If only I understood iambic pentameter I could have added a little Shakespearean influence as well.  

Poem Five.

Ode to Late Night Lost

Sometimes when my eyes are red

It says more than I meant to say

Then everyone knows I should've gone to bed

Instead of staying up with Ray

"LOST" should take the blame for this

A new question, and rarely an answer

Will Jack and Kate just finally kiss

Or Rose be cured of cancer

We all were glad when Michael died

And Echo, and fat guy at Black Rock, and Shannon

It was very annoying when John Locke cried?

That's why we also wanted his head to plug a cannon

But then he did die

And became even more annoying

At least that stopped the cry

And replaced it with coy-ing

This spoiler alert comes 6 years late

So maybe it isn't even a spoiler

They're already dead, no fate

Guess who saw that one coming?

Now Ray has to call me "Master of Cinematic Arts" all day

Poem Six.

Sometimes when my eyes are red/

It's because I've been reading a book in bed./

The words aren't sad or the story tick'ling./

It's because my light is flick'ring./

My inspirations are Ogden Nash and Shel Silverstine. I realize mine is short, but it did take five minutes because I kept giggling to myself about it. It's just so stupid. 

There you have it friends.  Please vote. And please, by all means, feel free to add your own "sometimes when my eyes are red" verse in the comments.

(Votes counted until Friday the 24th.)

Life in My World – Political Science, Parks, Pinballs and People, and Purple Pie

Political Science.  I have only the final to take in my political science class.  Argh.  It has been a hard class.  Not good hard either, hard hard.  The text was a tangled mass of verbiage.  Here is a sample:

Augustine’s view of the fallen world is indeed the concrete world of our experience that always falls short of any ideal unity, particularly any ideal political or ethical unity. Plato would respond that this world is only real to the extent that it reflects the unchanging patterns of the higher realm of forms where there is no change or limit. For Augustine, this meant that evil has no essential being. It may exist, but it has no genuine reality or essential nature: it is the absence of form, that is, the absence of good. This view of the negation or darker side of existence is even clearer in Neoplatonic thought. Here, the material world appears as evil. It reveals itself as passion and desire tending inherently toward chaos and corruption, resisting the higher form of spirit that moves in the direction of order and unity. In the moral realm, Kant admits as much when he argues that the very absence of justice and perfect rationality in the moral affairs of this world requires that we believe in a higher realm where perfect judgment is rendered by a perfect judge.  Hegel points out how the existence of such negativity haunts the most carefully worked out philosophies of thinkers who, as we have seen, seek to account for such differences by excluding negativity as merely contingent or illusory. Nevertheless, passion and irrationality, war, violence, confusion, and a swirling void of meaning seem to stand in the margins of the most carefully reasoned systems as if to mock the dream of a rational and just world.  Hegel’s solution to this seemingly insoluble problem is to show how it is both futile and unnecessary to exclude negativity from reason’s calculations, since negativity is actually constituent to— an essential element of—a rational understanding of the metaphysical unity that philosophy had so long desired.

Page after page after page of this with a speed-back assignment at the end where truth looked false and false looked true.  (After spending five hours on one test and being as ignorant as I was before I began it, I prayed, “Thou knowest I need to pass.  Thou knowest these classes are expensive.  Thou knowest I don’t understand.  Thou knowest I have a time frame.  Wilt thou please help me?”  I pushed a button on the computer to continue working on the test and accidentally erased all my answers.  I groaned, “Noooooooooooo …………………”  With so little comprehension and twisted sentences there was no way I could remember what answers to choose again.  It was late at night when this happened, so I doggedly began working through the assignment again.  After forty-five minutes I submitted the test again with a ready-or-not attitude.  I got a B!  I was very excited and wondered if the Lord hadn't said it would be easier to wipe the slate clean and start me over rather than try and inspire corrections to wrong guesses.  I wonder what Aristotle, Locke, Machiavelli, Kant, and Marx have to say about that.) 

I had hoped to learn more from the course, but I am glad for the things I plucked.  Summed up simply:  there have been two basic philosophies of governance through the centuries, either you celebrate the individual or you champion the group.  Those that believe the individual should be acknowledged rely on self-governance, while those who champion the group believe that the rank and file do not have the capability to govern themselves and must be provided and cared for by the few who do have the ability.  There are different arguments within those two reasonings (“the end always justifies the means,” “man is inherently evil,” “man is inherently good,” “ownership of property is the beginning of destruction,” “ownership of property is the key to success,” etc.), but one of those two ideas of governance – protect the individual or protect the group –  settled to the bottom of every philosopher’s pot.     

Parks.  Yesterday I read the letter from a young man who will soon return from the mission field early.  He had some things in his life that needed correcting, so he will return home to make those corrections.  It was an inspiring letter.  A little later in the day I watched this video:

"for a man sometimes, if he is compelled to be humble, seeketh repentance; and now surely, whosoever repenteth shall find mercy; and he that findeth mercy and endureth to the end the same shall be saved." (Alma 32:13)

I’m grateful the Lord has the power and ability to turn our slums into parks and make the ugly things of life into something useful and of great purpose when we turn to Him.  

Pinballs and People.  We had such a great time with the few days Cali and Levin spent here this week.  The fact that people in our families come in all ages, shapes, and sizes make families that much better.  

Recently Ray and Cali went to see Ray’s grandmother in a care center.  For a short time, Ray and Levin were in the foyer of the building while the residents were in the adjoining dining room.  Levin made his way to the door of the dining room and as the people caught sight of him, table by table the room went silent.  The residents smiled at seeing him and watched every move carefully. 

Recently I was visiting with a friend about the decision of moving into assisted living.  She confessed, “One of the reasons I don’t want to go is because there are no young people there, there are just us old people.  I need young people, too.” 

I thought about both of these scenarios when I took Levin outside one morning.  He bounced from place to place like a little steel ball in a pinball machine.  First he helped while I pulled weeds from the strawberry bed.   Next he went to the flowerpots, never quite trusting that he had permission to dig in them.  Next he went to the flatbed trailer parked in the driveway and patted his hands on the wooden slats in a drumming pattern.  When he caught his reflection in the car door, he went to see it and while he was there he looked underneath the car to see what was there.  Then he went back to the flowerpots, then back to the trailer.  When a bucket caught his eye, he toddled to it and tried to carry it across the grass.  He stumbled on it several times before he deserted it and then saw grapes hanging from the vines.  He reached up to pick a few and then went back to the trailer to pound on it.  Watching him bounce from discovery to discovery was so satisfying and entertaining.  I need young people, too.

Purple Pie.  Last night for a date, I made a blackberry pie and ice cream to eat while we watched Sherlock Holmes II.  I didn’t have any tapioca so I added flour to the pie instead.  Because we ate the pie warm, and the filling hadn't had time to set, some of the filling oozed out into the place where we took our pieces.  This morning I scooped out the oozed filling and made blackberry syrup for our pancakes from it.  It was great!  Especially because I had made some coconut syrup as well so we mixed the two together.  I'm not a great recycler, but I am good at repurposing.   

Thursday Thinking - Zing

It's been pretty hard not to think about the Ellsworth family's experience:

Come What May

thank you google images

Amazing, isn't it?

Monday Memories on Tuesday - Corn Fed

We stopped to get layer mash at the feed store this afternoon.  It had jumped $5 a bag.  The feed man said that with the drought in the Midwest corn is now going for $300 a ton.  

You know what that means?  

a.  Our chickens are going to have to learn to eat dog food.

b.  Levin and I are worth our weight in gold. 

c.  Pharaoh's dream has a sequel.  

d.  All of the above.

Levin and Cali are spending the week here while Ray is traveling.
It was my pleasure to introduce Levin to corn on the cob.  

I shared this memory in a newsletter once before:

A few years ago Cali and I sat on the patio swing husking sweet corn. As she pulled the husks back she said, “Oh, I so hope I find a caterpillar in one of the ears.” I laughed and reminded her of the year she ruined hundreds of ears of corn in our garden as she walked down the rows pulling the husks back collecting caterpillars. She remembered her collection well.

Corn is a multifunctional vegetable and next to potatoes, my favorite. Calvin says it’s a phenomenon to watch me eat it as he’s never seen anyone eat it as fast and intently. I have tried to explain that growing up with twelve family members at the table there was bound to only be so many good ears in the bowl and if you wanted more than one, you had to hurry and finish your cob before anyone else. It was survival of the fittest.

One August, Calvin’s folks were visiting from Arizona. My mother-in-law got out of the car with a sack of fresh corn on the cob, the first of the season. Seeing it, I panicked. I didn’t want her to know that I have even less control with corn than potatoes (she’s dismayed at the number of potatoes I can eat). I knew the easiest thing would be to not eat any corn that night, for eating none is easier than one. However, not eating corn ran the risk of offending her; my in-laws were justifiably proud of their garden and to refuse their corn would have been worse than eating too much of it.

As we sat down to eat supper, I thought. “Go easy on the potatoes. Eat slow because you can only have one ear of corn. Eat real slow; put the cob down every two bites and eat something else. Eat slow.” 

We passed the food, first the meatloaf, then the potatoes, followed by the rolls, and finally, the corn. I shouldn’t have worried, I was in control. I ate just like I’d told myself and stopped at one ear.

Ty was sitting across the table from me that night, next to Grandma. As the meal neared its end, he looked across the table at me and said, “What’s the matter mom? How come you didn’t eat corn tonight like you usually do?”

Before I could give him the look, he turned to his grandma and boasted, “You should see my mom really eat corn. She can eat more corn faster than anyone we know.” Calvin only made it worse.  He goading the rest of the kids into telling Grandma how I really eat corn. My family was so proud of their corn-fed momma. My mother-in-law was not impressed.

Corn season reminds me of when I was young. It meant the arrival of Aunt Cleo. She was an unsainted saint, for she arrived late in the summer for a week—just in time to help mom freeze over four hundred cups of corn. The “little kids” were sent to the cornfield with gunny sacks to pick while Aunt Cleo and mom cleared the cupboards and started the water to boil. Once our gunny sacks were full we took them home, shucked the ears, and carried the golden corn into mom, Aunt Cleo, and the “big kids” where they began blanching, cooling, cutting, and bagging the corn. It was a big job, but we ate it all winter long.  

What with all those memories is it any wonder I love corn?

Grandpa thought it best if he taught Levin how to eat corn properly.
I'll give him speed lessons another day.