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 My blog was filled up. I'm too lazy to clean it out. So I started a new one. |
| I once knew a mom who wouldn't let her teenage daughter die her hair orange. She told her she might have a prestigious job someday or want to run for public office. It wouldn't look good if people brought up her orange hair, too many other associations to wild hair color. I thought that was insightful of the mother at that time, but didn't see the great offense in hair color. Since then, men and women of all ages have put unnatural colors in their hair. It's become more acceptable, although not many politicians have had that issue come up. Or college presidents and so forth. Now, however, it is becoming evident that what you do when you are 15 or beyond, may seem annoying or innocuous now, but at some later date, say 30 or 40 years later, may come back to haunt you. Those unchaperoned parties and drinking will have a damaging affect on your life, no matter how many degrees you get, or how much money you make. Something you do in high school or college can make your whole character questionable decades later. Forget making up for it later on. Won't happen. I do hope that parents and teachers everywhere are telling their teens to follow the golden rule and live a sober, upright life now while they are young. Don't put it off. If a mistake is made, don't believe that it is in the past and forgotten. It can resurface. When it does, face up to it immediately. The only hope of survival is to admit the mistake and beg forgiveness. You won't come out unscarred, but it may stop the destruction of your life and family future. Denial of youthful behavior will not help you. Once you've been in denial mode, it is too late to confess and redeem yourself. Any teenager who hopes to have a good job in the future or who plans to pursue a good education needs to live an old-fashioned puritanical life. Alcohol, gambling, and promiscuity still do the same damage they always have. They are only for adults who have no ambition and know they have no possible elevation in life. |
| I'd never heard of her before, but Ruth Woodman became an important author and historian in the 20th century. I discovered her when researching the TV series, Death Valley Days. She was a respected self-taught historian and wrote over 1000 half-hour episodes of one of TV's most highly acclaimed shows. Ruth was a copywriter for a New York ad agency, a wife and mother. Both her parents had been born in the West, but her mother hated it. She coerced her husband to sell his Colorado ranch and move his young wife to the East. Ruth purportedly was raised in England. She was educated at Vassar. One of her ad clients was Pacific Coast Borax, a mining company located in Death Valley, California. (The office was in Kanab, Utah, where some filming took place.) She began writing radio shows for this client. She had gotten many of her western tales from her father, but she had an employee of Borax help her with research, Mr. Washington Cahill. Cahill had an uncle and a step-father who were teamsters (mule handlers and drivers) who had lots of first hand experience with events, people and legends of the Death Valley area. Borax insisted she have some first hand experience with the area and live there briefly every year. So she summered there when school was out. With Cahill's help, she met many people, miners, prospectors, lawmen, farmers, ranchers, and teachers. She amassed a lot of notes, letters, interviews, copies of records, photographs from people willing to share what they knew. The radio show began September 30, 1930 and ran until Sept. 4, 1951. The TV broadcast began in 1952 and ran until 1975, ending about the same time as Gunsmoke, marking the end of an era in TV. They were all true stories, portrayed as accurately as possible. For the first five years of TV, she wrote all the episodes herself. She became the respected, leading historian of that area in her time, an inspiration to all people not just women. If you want to become an expert in something, you can from her example. Her brain child became the "longest running of all scripted syndicated series". There is a set of restored films of the TV series in The Library of Congress, which has determined "the anthology is historically significant to the nation." Some of the stories are low key, limited action, but tell the stories of inventors, women sheriffs, and local ghost stories. Today there is a renewed interest in westerns in general, and her TV series if getting lots of play time. Her papers and most of the scripts are on file at The University of Oregon Libraries. They do tell the building of the nation in little day by day ways, and give us a glance at what life was like from about 1850 to the early 1900's. One copy writer with a dream is educating and entertaining people long after her death. She lived from 1894 to 1970. |
What is it about autumn that makes us think of crafts and homemade things? Craft fairs, magazines, store displays all tell us to be creative and make things for ourselves. I usually succumb to the allure of arts and crafts and home baking, too. At least the fake leaves and cattails and autumn plants don't irritate my hay fever. I've been to several stores for sundry craft supplies, including fall color flowers. I have never had a skill for flower arranging, but that never stopped me. Now I have some fall purple things (they look like fall, not spring or summer) in a new planter on the bookcase. I have leaf garlands around the fireplace and gall figurines on the mantle. It's too early for goblins or turkeys, so fake "natural" things will do. We had a large basket filled with cookbooks. The children and adults here have mishandled the overburdened basket so that the handle and edges are broken. I had hoped to twist the long pieces back together and glue them in place, but they can't be matched properly. So I pressed them together and wrapped with tape for thickness and strength. Then I took some wide olive green webbed ribbon and coiled it tightly around the patched up handle. It looks okay, but it's going to be used for some other purpose with less weight. I need more ribbon to hot glue over the edges. I hate to throw the basket away. It will be used in autumn only from now on. I have some Christmas crafts to make with the kids. I need to get rid of craft tools and kits I know I won't use. Like candle making molds. Latch hook rugs (I tried, it hurts your hands too much). I spent the evening looking at new magazines at crafts I know I won't do, like giant spiders to put on the outside of the house, or weirdly carved pumpkins. I just want to drop everything and get out the sewing machine and the fabric scraps and make useless things. While I'm being creative, I have this urge to make pumpkin bread, zucchini bread, and cinnamon cookies, and soup. If it weren't so late at night, I'd go grab some apple cider and spice it up. Yes, fall is in the air.  |
| I didn't know that such a museum existed. Some friends wanted to go, so I agreed to join them. I found out it's been open less than a year on 4th Street, next to Virginia Avenue in Washington, DC, From the sixth floor you get a great view of the capitol dome. The building is an old business building 12 stories high. In the early 1900's, it was a frefrigerated building with railroad tracks beside it and space inside for rail cars to roll inside the main hall for lading and unloading. The building has been recycled, but was purchased for the museum in 2012. At that point engineers oversaw knocking out six stories, every other floor, to allow fro greater exhibits and special media installation. The first items for exhibit were purchased two years earlier in 2010. The goal is to engage more people with the Bible, to understand its influence in the world, its history, its story and how it has impacted mankind. It does not attempt to preach or proselytize, but welcomes people from all backgrounds to enjoy the exhibits, be entertained, and maybe learn something new. There was a special exhibit just for kids, and it looked wonderful. They can climb, shake, and handle all the colorful displays inside the giant playroom with themes. There are bathrooms on every floor, large walkways, beautiful walls and stairs, and plenty of elevators. Gift shop, restaurant, "Biblical garden" (outdoor eating area with water falls on the 6th floor), and a café, of course. All the paid tours have ear phones that are cleaned after use. The virtual reality tours include goggles cleaned after every use. You don't have to take any guided tours, but I suggest the Orientation tour for $8. It gives you an overall view in an hour and helps you plan what you want to visit more leisurely on your own. There is a major theme to each floor with mini themes for each exhibit or show. One floor is the story floor. There you can visit The Hebrew Bible or Old Testament World. The multi-media is fantastic and keeps you moving from one room to another as the general outline of the Old Testament unfolds all around you. The burning bush you will swear is real. There's thunder and lightning and fog. It's so creative and astounding and exciting to be in the middle of it. Then there's the world of Jesus, a Nazarene village, filled with people going about the daily lives of a poor town in the early first century of Israel. You can talk to the mother working in her kitchen, or the rabbi in the synagogue, visit the winemaker, the carpenter's shop and see his tools, or see the sheep shearer shed. One stone carved room has short films of Jesus telling the parables. I found this actor to be very interesting and sincere. One was titled The Parable of The Lost Son and His Brother (so much better than The Prodigal Son-it ignores the brother, a key player), Also on that floor is The New Testament Exhibit. This one has only one auditorium, so you stay in one place, more people at once. It starts out with the nativity star. You don't even think about the curtain being open only about 8 feet in front of you. But after Jesus ascends, the news starts to spread, and the curtains open the full semi-circle. The screen grows with the curtain opening and the story gets larger. It's also loud and provocative and features key players like Stephen and Paul and John. As John recalls that he was the youngest one in the group around Jesus, and now he's the only one left, he wonders if it will all end with him. Then his face looks like he had an idea and he starts to write, "In the beginning...". Now he wasn't the first one to write, but the point is made, because those witnesses wrote, the story does live on. One floor has special exhibits. One long term temporary exhibit is The Billy Graham exhibit. I could have spent hours there. It was wonderful! Full of more contemporary history. Another floor is devoted to the book itself and its history. This includes many translations, a Gutenberg press with demonstrations (it took 3 years to make 180 copies of the Bible). The Bible is now in over 600 languages, many never written down until someone tried to translate the Bible into that spoken word. The Bible was in Latin only, and most people didn't speak Latin, or read anything. The first man to translate it into English was deemed guilty of heresy after his death. His bones were dug up and incinerated 30 years after his death. King James approved an English translation 100 years later. That was the first universal Bible of any language. There are pieces of Dead Sea Scrolls, jars where scrolls were installed, and copies of manuscripts. No original manuscripts still exist, but enough evidence exists from sacred and secular sources to suggest the copies were very accurate. Elvis' Bible is there, and so is a rare copy of "The Wicked Bible", one of the few Bibles to have an error. Another floor is dedicated to the impact of the Bible. It points to its influence on medicine, science, civil rights, slavery, politics, immigration, liberty and democracy. It fairly shows how the Bible was used to prove or disprove both sides of issues. The guide told us they had a guest speaker in January, a professor from Harvard, who claimed that history cannot be understood if the Bible is not known. It's a beautiful building. The staff is knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful. They make the exhibits fun and creative. I haven't mentioned all the ones I saw. Someone suggested a thorough visit would require about 7 8-hour days or more. There is a parking garage nearby. If you're in DC, spend an extra day and take it in. |
| Just passing along some info from Martha Stewart: Don't throw away those bras. The bra business is a multi-billion dollar industry each year. Throwing one away is a terrible waste. Most women delay doing so, because they hate shopping for a new one. There is the rising price, plus trying to find the proper fit is difficult and time consuming. Most women don't realize they can't wear the same size forever. Our bodies change due to pregnancy, nursing, dieting, exercising, not exercising, and aging. There's no shame in adjusting downward. Martha lists 5 organizations that can use your old ones, even the unwearable ones. Most people shopping at Good Will and other second hand stores are a little weary of used intimate wear. Desperate women who might not have transportation to go to such places might use one in good shape if they have access. Look up Martha's website or magazine for more details or contact these agencies. Two focus primarily on recycling the materials. The first is Undie Chest which recycles the cloth in both bras and clean panties. The second is called Bra Recycling Agency. It uses them to make carpet cushion and red carpet (like for celebrities). For this one, you have to order a kit and ship the bras. They extract metal and plastic parts and separate the components (lace, elastic, foam, etc.). One that appealed to me is Bras for the Cause Gala. In October they auction off decorated bras. You know something that Madonna or Lady Gaga would wear or that could pass for modern art. You cover it in fabric, upholstery fabric, paper, buttons, sequins, craft items, whatever. Be creative and colorful! You ship it to them. The proceeds of the auction go for research in breast cancer and cervical cancer. Plan one now for next year. Get your artist friends to help. Another is called Support the Girls. Really good ones are used for homeless women. Others are sold for their benefit. The last group is called Free the Girls. A little known fact is that slavery is greater now than it was before the Civil War. It involves mostly women and children. The girls benefiting from this charity are sex slaves, many of whom live right here in this country under our noses. Many do not speak English. Rescuing them has to be a big secret mission involving pastors and state police and others. But what are they being freed to? They need a safe place to live, anonymity, jobs, clothing. They get first choice of the donations, but they are also taught to operate a used clothing store and learn all the aspects of retail. Granted, there are not collection sights in every town. It will cost you to ship your castaways in. That's why getting together with your friends and relatives or club is a good way to save on shipping. You're helping others, and you're saving the landfills, being a good steward of the environment. |
| We have an abundance of books and magazines in our living room and family room, and scattered amounts in other rooms. The babies come to visit and set their hands on all the books, magazines, and newspapers. Their parents seem to think this is okay. When they leave I have a pile of reading materials in the walkways and under the coffee table. On one such recent visit, I picked up a book I could barely recall buying. I rearranged the bookshelves and cleaned up the piles around the room, but decided to read this paperback. Once into it, it seemed faintly familiar, but I couldn't recall the gist of it. I'm halfway through it now, and it is familiar, but I really can't recall what happens next. Either I wasn't impressed, or my mind is finally going. Usually I recall a story once I glance at it, like watching a movie you've seen before. It's all familiar even if you've forgotten some details. This one leaves me out to lunch. It is a quick read, so maybe it just didn't engage me enough. It's got a catchy title: Happy People Read and Drink Coffee. It's not a commentary on life. It's actually the name of a shop in Paris that sells both books and coffee. Little takes place in the shop. The book, written in French and translated into English, uses Ireland for most of the setting. It gives the impression that most people smoke heavily and consume large amounts of alcohol. Rarely does anyone read or drink coffee. Maybe I'll remember it this time, so I won't read it again in a year or two. Or I can donate it to the neighbor "little library". Meanwhile, I'm trying to work on the older children's manners, like staying at the dinner table until they are dismissed. And picking up the toys before they go home. Unfortunately, I leave for handbells practice before they leave, so I'm not there to enforce that. I come in from church and load the dishwasher, wipe the table, and sweep the floor. Then I tackle books and toys, etc. You can see the adults are setting the model here. They are there to visit my father, the old man who can't hear them and doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. He loves books as much as I do. The newspaper collections are his. Only a year and a half before the youngest one is past the worst of it. By then the older ones will be bored with everything here. If I can just keep at it a little longer, we can have our home again. |
| We accumulate things without even realizing we're doing it. Every month magazines feature articles on "organizing" or de-cluttering. Classes are offered on it. TV shows show professionals going into someone's garage or closet and refining it. The same magazines and TV channels encourage us to buy more stuff. Then there's all the organizing equipment we buy to store our stuff. How does that work out? I have accumulated lidded boxes, baskets, over the door hooks, garment bags, and shoe racks that are crowding me out. Recently I threw away a shoe rack (it folded flat) that I haven't used in 10 years. It just didn't fit, and it wasn't convenient. I've been trying to condense baskets and boxes as I throw things away and make donations, but there are just too many left to be of service. I keep envisioning someone having to go through my house if I die or develop dementia (no one has in my family so far, but I could be the first). The thought is motivational. I know how it was when my younger brother died, and grandparents, and so forth. Others can be pretty crucial, even if they are worse pack rats themselves. My uncle's wife once told me she cleaned house as though she were going to die tonight, and her husband was going to have another woman in the house tomorrow. She applied that to the drawers, the closets, and the refrigerator. Her whole house was like one in a magazine. It's kind of a fatal attitude, but it worked in her home. I, on the other hand, have molds and supplies for making my own candles. I haven't made candles in over 30 years. You'd think I could pass them along. There aren't too many earth mother types around who might like to try making candles that still drip and make messes. You either have to be an artist or an aging hippie. I was the child of people who were raised in the Great Depression and the recovery. They didn't throw anything away. Like my grandparents, they cut the buttons off old clothes to reuse. I have jars of buttons (but I just learned a way to reuse them in crafts, so they're nor going anywhere). I still embroider, crochet and sew, so I want to keep all those supplies, even if I don't use all of them every week. I'm learning to get rid of clothes and jewelry that I haven't used in a while; it's not likely that I'll use them again some day. When Dad isn't looking, I'm beginning to throw away old parts. he can't even remember what they came from but he's convinced as soon as he throws one away, he'll need it. Then there's the miscellaneous screws, picture hangers, tape, batteries strewn all around the house. I did put all his flashlights in one container, except for the one by his bed, and one downstairs. I gathered up all the batteries in the house and put in one container. He seems to like that idea and is willing to play along for now. He likes to have everything conveniently placed, so he doesn't have to look. That's why there are numerous pencil jars in almost every room, as well as scissors, tools, and reading glasses. I've been trying for years to keep the refrigerator organized: dressings all in one place, vegetables only in one drawer, fruit in another, meat and cheese in another. He won't go along with that, so I have to rearrange every day and clean it as I go. Letting go emotionally is difficult. I long ago realized the fear of the future was making me hold onto things. I might be impoverished and need it! Now there's sentimental value to things: it belonged to my brother or my mother or my late uncle gave it to Mom or my husband liked it. I can't do mass changes. I have to go through them item by item and determine if there is any value in keeping it. It doesn't really matter how much it cost 25 years ago, or how much of a sacrifice it was at that time to obtain it. I don't need to fear what might happen if I become homeless or get sick; I'll make do. I am a survivor. I am not destitute. Nothing I have will make a difference in history. Some things are worth keeping in the clutter; some are not. There's a lot to be said for an organized and peaceful life. Orderly surroundings, uncluttered and stress free, can contribute to that. Once I cull through everything and live with it for a while, I'll have to go through it all a second time, and cull out some more. The garage and the shed are my Dad's territory. I'm going to have to do those, too! |
| What is it with plumbers? You call them when you have a problem, now. Or remodeling whenever. Getting same day service is non-existent. Allowing for weekends and holidays, it still takes 2 to 4 days before someone will come do an estimate, then schedule service. So you do without a toilet or a kitchen sink until someone can work you in. Let's hope you're not flooding. Moving on. We need a new air-conditioning system with duct work put in. We have to remove our stored items from the attic which is over 100 degrees. Plus the guys aren't going to give their best effort when they're sweating and in a hurry to get down from there. So we're waiting until the temperature drops. At least we have fans down here and window units. Every thing seems to go bad at once. We just replaced the washer when the old one quit. The house is in desperate need of painting, and that will only cost half of what the AC will cost. My yard help isn't coming any more, so the weeds are overtaking the shrubs, the trees, the walkways, the cracks in the patio, and porches. My dad is 90, but he tackled the morning glory creeping up the deck. I thought they were clematis gone wild. I still can't get the software for my printer to work. But that may be more on me than the printer. I've had it too long to take it back. I'm coughing my head off with allergy-hay fever trouble or whatever. I'm falling apart along with the house and the yard. I'm not a victim. That's just life. We take it day by day. When I look back at notes and prayer lists from years ago, I know that all the problems eventually resolve themselves, not necessarily the way I'd like. My husband died from drinking too much. But all the job searches and financial problems worked out at the time. They will now. It's just a needy season. |
| {{size:4}indent}For the first time, I went to Camp Young At Heart for the whole session (3 days). Anyone over 50 is welcome. It's held in my community every year at a very busy church near the shopping mall on the north side of town. The first day has the best turnout each year. Old people get tired and drop out, or like me, last year, other things come up for self or family, and you can't stay all day or don't make it back. Sounds like a snooze fest? Maybe I really am right for it, though Heavens knows I'm not old enough! I work out in the gym at least twice a week, and babysit, etc. The opening is just a sing along and the usual opening remarks. It seemed the most boring, but I wanted to appear fully involved. Actually, I got some great stories from the Oriental preacher. Then we break up for classes and have a bag lunch before the third one. Classes depend on what teachers are available. There was one theology class. In the past they had a professional photographer talk about phone cameras. There is usually an art class, this year was print blocking. I took "Lessons From the Silver Screen", and it was great. A large number of people took it, and we were all opinionated! We watched clips and discussed them. There was Tai Chi, which I found exciting. I can't balance myself to point my toe outward, but maybe if I practiced more. It's good for balance, pain management, and protecting your spine. Advanced students can use it for self defense. It's fascinating to watch. We all enjoyed it, and all but one feeble lady came back the other days. There was a make and take crafts class. This one really made me feel like a kid in summer camp, but I have a new ornament and a red ribbon wreath!. It does feel good to hold something you made with your own hands. I came away with two ideas that I will have to make happen. A movie club instead of a book club would allow us to pick a movie and then discuss it after viewing the whole thing. A small group that remained the same each time could meet in homes. A bigger or open group would have to meet in a church or school. I say no refreshments served. You're on your own, just like at the movies. Not to include children. My second idea was a poetry circle. We start out with the idea of writing poetry, even if you haven't tried since you were a kid, That would mean reviewing the forms and elements of poetry. Folks could take turns presenting a favorite poet and reading to us for discussion. I could start it out, and let a true leader evolve to take over. The goal would be to write a little each meeting. Maybe no great poetry would ever happen, but we'd deepen our appreciation for it. My church would be a great meeting place. We'd invite people from other churches and within our neighborhood. Don't be narrow minded. Stay young forever. Go to camp! |
| Summer colds. Don't you just love them? The heat index is 105. No way can the air conditioner block out that much heat and humidity. It's running all day at full capacity. So my head hurts and my sinuses feel swollen. They're not really stopped up because my nose is running like a faucet. I'm sneezing more than twice what I usually do every day. I'm tired all day and feel inertia. Baby Jack had a runny nose on Sunday and I held him a lot. By Tuesday afternoon, I was a goner. Wednesday night baby Jack came to visit again, but his nose was all cleared up. I was running hot and cold and was miserable. Winter colds are bad enough. I'm sure we are not sicker in the summer. The feelings are just amplified. We live in the space age with new technology and fast communications. Robots can clean, work assembly lines, even drive vehicles. Many miracle medicines have been developed, and some diseases minimized. Yet, still no cure for the common cold or arthritis, which almost everybody gets if they live long enough. No cure or preventative for migraines. New drugs are introduced every year for male virility. But no cure for runny noses and irritated eyes. You can try an antihistamine, but you can't drive or stay alert. Depending on where you live, we're not quite into hay fever season. Beware the grass see blowing in the wind, the goldenrod and other wild flowers. Your cats and dogs can carry the pollen, too. We just have to muddle through, until modern medicine solves the dilemma. |
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