Finding Beauty Amid the Messy

This year seemed complicated in many ways.  Relationships felt muddled.  Health was challenging for a number of family members and even our dog.  Work roles have been changing.  We lost an extended family member to a two year battle with cancer.  Even the car had issues.

But, on the other side of that were opportunities to see and appreciate the true and good.  We enjoyed the beauty of our flower gardens and the bounty of the vegetable one.  I had the opportunity to help my brother-in-law and his mother prepare for his father's funeral where I witnessed many people acknowledging a life well lived.  We enjoyed the music of a world class orchestra.  We discovered new authors and read scores of books.

We spent these last three weeks of this year fighting our own illnesses - the flu/cold/sinus infections/pneumonia.  One night was so bad that a call to EMS was required.  We had oh so many plans for the holidays.  We had wanted to go back to Stan Hwyet to see the decorated property.  I wanted to take my niece shopping for gifts for her parents and I planned on sewing matching "dolly and me" pajamas for one of her Christmas presents.  We planned a trip to the market downtown to get fixings for stuffed cabbage for our holiday dinner.  I wanted to write.

None of that happened.  No sewing.  A pared down dinner.  We were lucky if we left the house to make it to Mass, so seeing the lights was bagged.  Even our decorating around the house was a little less.

Friends remarked this past weekend that perhaps it was a good thing.  We had to take Advent and Christmas quietly, slowly.  We had to decide what was really important.  And, when you do that, you see the beauty as well.  Even if it is just a rainbow through the unwashed crystal!

AMDG

Have a Nice Trip

We decided to have an Independence Day party this year.  And, you know how it it.  There's always one more "project" that will make everything just perfect.  I decided that my never-ending-but-it's-going-to-be-finished-this-summer landscaping project that I thought was done still needed a little something something.

I bought a new clay pot and and bunch of coleus.  Since the the supplies I needed were in the garage, I put the pot together there.  Six plants and a bunch of dirt later, it was looking pretty good.  It just needed some mulch.  I always mulch my outdoor pots as it helps keep them moist.  It also keeps the dirt from splashing out during rainstorms or waterings.

Instead of bringing the mulch to the pot, I decided to carry the pot to the wheelbarrow full of mulch on the other side of the garage.  I had to walk out past the cars and then go back in.  Big mistake.

The garage floor is maybe an inch higher than the driveway, if that.  I've walked in and out of the garage hundreds, if not thousands of times.  I didn't do so well this time.

Have a nice trip!

Do you know how many things you think of in that time between tripping and hitting the ground?  A lot.

I hope this pot doesn't break.

I don't have time to go to the hospital if I get hurt, there's too much to do for the party.

Don't hit your face and break any teeth!  (That's my mom in my head.  She broke her front two teeth as a teenager when she fell roller skating.)

I hope the bruises don't show.  

Ugg, I'm going to have to redo this pot.

Did the plants fall out?

That's the snow blower there, don't land on it and break it.

There were more things I thought of in those two seconds.  Really.

The good news is that I wasn't badly hurt.  I had a few aches and pains and a bruised ego.

The better news is that the pot didn't break!

See you next fall!

AMDG

No Pink for Me

I began writing this last year, but never managed to finish it.  It seems appropriate, still.

-2015-

It seems October has competing colors – orange and black for Halloween and pink for Breast Cancer Awareness month.  To tell you the truth, I’d much rather see the former rather than the latter.

This morning I went for my annual mammogram.  It’s not the most pleasant experience but not the most horrible either.  But, as a woman, it’s just one of those things you put on your to-do list and check it off, hoping that “no news is good news” afterwards.  Last year the initial results were questionable and the events following were trying, to say the least, but in the end all was well.

The technician that performed the  exam was kind and accommodating.  She had seen from my records last year’s results and asked if a marker had been placed at the biopsy site.  Yes, it’s a titanium top hat.  She looked at me oddly.  Well, that what they told me after the procedure. 

I didn’t have time to eat breakfast before the test and was hungry.  I stopped at Panera’s on the way to work.    As I walked through the door I was greeted with bouquets of pink balloons and pictures of ribbon shaped bagels.  I almost walked out. 

-2016-

This year, the amount of "pink" seems to have grown exponentially.  NFL players are wearing pink shoes, sweatbands and towels.  News websites are basking in a new rosy glow.  A local radio station is selling pink rubber ducks.  All sorts of products in the grocery store sport pink labels and pink ribbons. 

 

How many people and corporations are making money off a disease that effects so many people, women and men?  Awareness of this cancer is great, but it has become almost cultish.  It's the politically correct disease to get behind and eradicate. 

I have seen no attention given to risk factors such as abortion and diet.  Mention those and you are treated like a heretic, particularly by the businesses that have a lot to lose financially if people change.

Cancer is scary.  I get it.  We have it in the family.  It is something my sister and I need to take seriously.  But, there's also diabetes, arthritis and a whole slew of other ailments.  I'd like to see those get equal attention.

Thankfully, November is just a few days away!

AMDG

The Happy Path

A few weeks I took a three day, online class for work.  The subject it covered was an IT documentation process called “Use Cases.”  And, yes, it was as boring as it sounds.

Use Cases detail the sequence of events that a person or system does to effect the desired outcome.   They are most often used in creating or modifying software, but really could be helpful for all sorts of processes.

Think about using an ATM.  Someone, somewhere probably wrote a use case for accessing it:
Customer inserts card
System reads card
System displays PIN prompt
Customer enters PIN
System validates PIN
System displays main menu

During the class the instructor talked about “the happy path”.  These are the steps, when executed, have no flaws or exceptions.  The machine was working properly and able to read the card.  The customer entered their PIN correctly.

For some reason that phrase, the happy path, really annoyed me.

Did I mention that the class was a bit boring?  While I was in this class, I had the Cavs victory parade streaming on my other monitor.  The Goodyear Blimp was there and several times the TV station cut to a view of the crowds from overhead.

One point three million people.  Celebrating.  Happy.

Then I knew what was so annoying about that phrase.

Since when does something go just so, absolutely perfectly?  In my life it doesn’t.  Go back to that ATM.  I’ve dropped the card.  Entered the PIN incorrectly.  Put the card into the machine upside down.  But, in the end, I got my cash.  And that's just a little thing.  What about the bigger ones?

I watched that parade.  There was no flawless path to victory.  LeBron came to Cleveland.  Then he left.  And then he came back.  Last year when the Cavs made it to the playoffs, and ultimately the finals,  injuries – a dislocated shoulder in one player and a busted kneecap in another – hampered their abilities.

It almost looked like this year was going to be a repeat of last when a major player had to sit out of one of the final games due to a concussion.  Not again.  But persistence, hard work and faith in their own abilities paid off.

Northeast Ohio held their collective breath the last two minutes of game seven.  That victory was fifty-two years in the making.

Don’t tell those one point three million people it wasn’t a Happy Path.

AMDG

A Ten Dollar Dream

If you are anything like me, last week you did something you normally don’t do – you bought a lottery ticket.  The chance at one point four billion dollars seemed kind of hard to pass up.

 

I think once the ticket was purchased the day dreaming and planning began.  What to do with all that money?  Perhaps pay off the mortgage or do a little remodeling.  Buy a car or take a trip.  How soon before I would quit my job?  Whom would I tell?  What charities did I want to fund and friends and family would I help?  Decisions, decisions.

 

I read an article in which businessman and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban gave advice to a potential lottery winner.

 

If you weren't happy yesterday, you won't be happy tomorrow.  It's money.  It's not happiness.

 

If you were happy yesterday, you are going to be a lot happier tomorrow.  It's money.  Life gets easier when you don't have to worry about the bills.

 

I splurged and bought five chances.  Ten bucks.  Instead of telling the cashier to give me a winner, which I am sure she hears that one all day, I told her to give me some losers.  And you know what?  She listened.

 

It was fun to think of all the possibilities, even if it was just for a day or two.  And, I’m still as happy as I was before I bought the ticket.  Just ten dollars poorer.

 

 

AMDG

It's a Great Day To Be Alive

This morning didn't start out the best.  Not bad, but not great.  Jack, the wonder dog, was a bit needy and demanded a walk before I left for work.  I was running a bit late so I decided to take the highway instead of the back roads that I normally drive.  Big mistake.  I hit a traffic jam precipitated by some doofusses (or is that 'doofi'?) that had gotten into a wreck.  Yippee.

When I got to work (late) I was met by more neediness in the world of IT.  Again, Yippee.  Everybody wanted something and nothing was working right. 

While I was in a meeting I received a text from a friend.  She was in the area.  Would I like to meet her for lunch?  You didn't have to ask me that twice.

We met at the "brown restaurant in front of Target" - I had no idea of its name and still don't recall it.  Over burgers we chatted about everything, anything, and nothing at all.  It was wonderful. 

It's amazing what a call from a friend can do.  That one text changed the complexion of my day.  To be thought of.  To be listened to.  To share ideas and laughs.  Thanks, T!



As Travis Tritt sings. . . .

And it's a great day to be alive
I know the sun's still shinin' when I close my eyes
There's some hard times in the neighborhood
But why can't every day be just this good?

AMDG

Dollars and Sense

During my lunch break at work yesterday I wrote about half of my Quick Takes.   I started editing them this morning and, when I went to undo a change I made, Blogger ate the post, blanked everything out, and then auto-saved it.   Yikes!   I was a bit upset.

But then, I thought about how my morning went and what I had seen while running errands and thought perhaps I am supposed to be writing about something else.  The Quick Takes Sand Pail Update can wait until next week.


I received an email yesterday from one of my favorite garden centers.  On Saturday only, I could get five herbs for free with the enclosed coupon.  I’m all about free and I also had a five dollar off coupon so I decided to take a drive and check out what they had.   Though most of the herbs were fairly picked over I came away with three new ones and a new cone flower that cost me only three dollars after the discount. 

I needed to pick a few things from the grocery store so I took a slightly different route home.  As I drove down the road I passed a barn I have seen several times before.  The people that live there operate a small business selling farm produce, meat, and landscape services.  None of that is easy work, but it seems to me they are proud of what they do and are making a go of it.

I got my groceries and went out a different exit than I had entered. Sitting near the road was a man holding a sign – homeless – please help.   He was curled up, almost in a ball, with his head buried in his lap. 

Often on my way to and from work I see similar sights.  People with signs frequent the side of the road looking for money.  Most of the time they look well fed, decently clothed and just out and out bored.  There was something about this man that was different. 

I drove down the road and couldn’t get him out of my mind.  I turned around and headed back to him. As I drove back, I saw the local “political commentator’s” latest rant.  This man has a sign in his front yard that he posts frequently changing, often scathing, and usually obtuse views on current events and politics.  I found today’s interesting given the last couple of things I had just seen.

Unfortunately, I took a really lousy picture. What the sign says is Donald Trump is already increasing employment – new jobs for comedians.

I spoke with the man at sitting at the street.  I don't think I have ever seen such despair.  He was gaunt and dirty.  I could see the tear streaks on his face.  I can't continue to live like this, he told me.  He was homeless and needed to get his car repaired and gassed up. 

I gave him what I could.  But it's not enough.  It's never enough. 

I wonder if the political commentator knew of this man sitting just a half mile from his house.  Since he is so willing to mock Donald Trump's ability to create jobs, I imagine he might have a better plan.  No? 

I'm not sure I have a point to all this.  I am just trying to figure out what it means and how I live out my responsibility in caring and helping for others in need.  It's easy to mock what others are doing or not doing, but how do we help?  How do we do our share?

I'm just trying to make sense of it all.


AMDG

Spring Break, Relatively Speaking

 
Once again we headed south to find warmth and sunshine.  The drive down in pouring rain left us wondering if we would find the light we craved, but we knew our destination would provide the warmth.  It was the warmth you find in a relative's welcoming hug and tight embrace and the smile in their eyes when they see you arrive. And, as it was, the sunshine followed soon after.

We spent a few days with my aunt and uncle catching up on family doings and talking politics and news and the state of the world.  We played with the dogs and walked and rested.  I found a new-to-me quilt shop and added to my stash of fabric for my niece's quilt.  We even went for a drive in the Smokey Mountains and visited Cades Cove.  

It may not have been as warm as last year's trip, but it was a whole lot warmer than it was back home - 50s and 60s versus 20s and 30s - and to us that was heaven.  There may have even been fewer flowers in bloom this year versus last year, but, once again, there was much more than was blooming at home.

But we soaked in the vitamin D and breathed in the fragrant and fresh air and reminded ourselves that it was coming.  Soon, relatively soon, this sunshine and warmth would be at home. 

We just need to hold on a little bit longer.  Relatively speaking.


AMDG

Socks – A Sign of Good Things to Come

As I was getting ready for work this morning, I sat down to put on my socks.  Jack got up from where he was laying on the floor watching me.  His tail was wagging so hard his hind quarters were swaying as if he was on a dance floor.  He was doing his happy dance.

Oh, he was happy.  He was excited.  You see, to him, when I put on my socks, it means we are going for a walk.  He is going to get to smell something new and mark trees and mail boxes and fence posts.  Something good was going to happen.

Unfortunately, for both of us, socks today meant I was going to work and not for a walk.  He’ll get his walk when I get home.
 
Lately, my "socks" has been the weather forecast.  Seeing a prediction of fifty rather than fifteen reminds me that Spring is on the way, a very good thing.  The flowers will bloom and the trees will bud and the harsh winter will be only a distant memory.

Sunshine, warm weather, and flowers makes me do my happy dance.  How about you?  What makes you dance?







AMDG

My Next 50 Years

Last week I was talking with a coworker who was celebrating her 29th birthday.  She was already dreading her thirtieth next year.  Why? I asked.  She just shrugged.  I thought my thirties were pretty darn good.  I think that is when I finally got comfortable being me.  I didn't need to change to impress anyone.  I knew who my friends were.  I had fun.  I worked hard.  I met and married my husband.  Life was good and comfortable.

 

My forties seemed difficult.  Health issues, my own and those of family members, became more abundant.  Job situations fluctuated.  I learned who my friends weren't.  We lost family members.  We gained ones as well.  And, guess what?  Life was still good.

 

I'm now looking at this marker of time, a half century.  I know what is important: faith, family and friends.  Whether I have fifty more years, weeks, days or seconds, I want to appreciate it all.  Life is good.

 

I think I’ll take a moment, celebrate my age

The ending of an era and the turning of a page

Now it’s time to focus in on where I go from here

Lord have mercy on my next fifty years

Hey my next fifty years I’m gonna have some fun

Try to forget about all the crazy things I’ve done

Maybe now I’ve conquered all my adolescent fears

And I’ll do it better in my next fifty years
 

My next fifty years I’m gonna settle all the scores

Cry a little less, laugh a little more

Find a world of happiness without the hate and fear

Figure out just what I’m doing here

In my next fifty years
 

Oh my next fifty years, I’m gonna watch my weight

Eat a few more salads and not stay up so late

Drink a little lemonade and not so many beers

Maybe I’ll remember my next fifty years

 

AMDG

That "in between" time

 

It seems we are well ensconced in that in between time.  It's no longer quite summer but it's not yet fall.  Shadows are growing longer and the temperatures fluctuate greatly.  Days in the sixties are followed by those in the nineties.  Flowers of both the summer and fall kinds grow prolifically.  Pumpkins and tomatoes continue to deepen their colors while theirs leaves fade away.  Life slows down but yet it is busy.  It's time to savor the moment without thinking too much into the future or dwelling on the past.

Life is good.

Life is.

AMDG

Saying goodbye to a furry friend

Yesterday Sis called Himself to come watch Sara in the afternoon.  Their dog, Hershey, who for the last three years or so has been 15 years old, had taken a turn for the worse.  It was time to take her to the vet for the final time.

 Sis was Hershey’s third owner.  Apparently the first one abused her.  She was terrified of men, particularly those wearing hats.  The next owners, friends of Sis, took Hershey in, but with small children it just wasn't a good fit.  They asked Sis if she was interested, and the rest, as they say, was history.

With a lot of love, training, patience and time, Hershey became a good dog.  She was super smart and never met a piece of food she didn't like. 

When Sis traveled for work either my parents or Himself and I dog-sat.  It was after doing that a few times I decided I wanted my own dog.  She was Jack’s first doggy friend.  No matter how much bigger than her Jack got, she was always the boss.  They were even blessed together on the Feast of St. Francis.

Hersey was patient when we "decorated" her with Christmas ribbons and bows or tried on her new raincoat.  She didn't think too much of that fashion statement so back to the store it went!

My mom just adored that dog.  When she was sick Hershey often laid nearby keeping her company.  The first time Hershey was in the house after mom died, she trotted to where the hospital bed had been, though she had never been in the house when the bed was there.  She ran in circles and whined.  She apparently sensed something wasn't right.

She protected the new little human that invaded her space when Sara arrived two years ago.  Sara learned quickly that her doggy would scarf down any food she didn't want to eat.  Food often went flying off Sara's highchair for her furry friend!

We often called her the "energizer bunny" since she was always happy to go for a walk.  Even age and health issues didn't slow her down.

Sis and her family are going to miss their Hershey terribly.

I think we will too.  Let's just say I stopped on the way home from work yesterday to get Jack his favorite goose liver and hot dog treats.  Got to spoil him while we have him!

AMDG

The things nightmares are made of

Do you ever have a bad dream that reoccurs often?  It's not so bad as to be a nightmare but it's really, really uncomfortable.

I have one in which I'm trying to leave a downtown urban area and go home.  There are several routes I can take that will get me there in similar amounts of time but one requires getting onto a bridge which is accessed by a very steep on-ramp.  Since this girl does not like high, open structures I try to avoid it.  But, in the dream I accidentally get on that ramp.  Not good!

I used to think it was one of those dreams with deep meaning, something my subconscious was trying to tell me or work out.  Now, not so much.  On my trip for work it came true!  When I drove into Portland to see the roses I had to cross the Willamette River on the Fremont Bridge.

As I started up this ramp it began to feel strangely familiar.

The further I went the more unsettling it became.

I would have driven my rental car right down that middle line if it was possible.

If I could have driven with my eyes closed at this point I would have.

The sweet relief I felt when I reached the other side was tempered by the thought that I would have to repeat the experience to get back to the hotel!

I have decided that I can never live in Portland.


AMDG

The big “but”

Our county fair is this week and I had great hopes of enjoying all its sights and sounds and smells.  Back in May they announced that the headline entertainment was going to be a fairly big name country group.  Since I like much of their music and the tickets were reasonably priced, I decided to go.

It seemed like a good idea at the time. 

But.  There’s always a ‘but’.  But, it wasn't.

When I bought the tickets we didn't have plans for our big family picnic we had this past Saturday.  We didn't know my sister would be having back surgery this last Monday.  And, I didn't know I would be spending the better part of a week on the west coast for work just prior to the big family picnic and Sis’ surgery.

All I wanted to do this week was take it easy, really very easy.  But, I had a ticket and sitting listening to music should be relaxing. 

Getting to the fairgrounds was anything but easy.  When I was just a mile away the traffic came to a screeching halt.  And did not move.  At all.

One hour and fifteen minutes later, after the concert was to start, I finally arrived.  But there was no parking.  None.

The only fair employee to be found was telling the gridlocked, stopped cars that we could go to town to park and walk back.  That would be another half hour consumed just trying to get there.  If I was lucky I might get there an hour into the concert.

But I didn't. 

I went home.  And it was relaxing and calm.

AMDG

In the garden with Mary (part 2)

When I was working on getting the Mary Garden cleaned up, all the thoughts about life and faith seemed so profound.  The longer I am from those couple of days, the less so they seem.  But, I suppose, if I wrote a part 1, I should at least write a part 2.

I can relate so much of what I do and see in the garden to what I should be doing with my faith.  But, obviously, being human, there is always much room for improvement.  These are my reminders.

I need the right tools.

If I work in the garden with just my bare hands, I might make some progress.  I can guarantee you I am going to get dirty.  It's going to be slow going.  And, as I have experienced before, the bugs are going to get me.  Hornets and wasps, oh my! 

Gloves, shovels, clippers and saws make the work so much easier.  Put a little bit of fertilizer and weed killer into the mix and the garden does so much better.

How about some Preen in your faith life? Try this on for size.




Don't give up.

When we visited Williamsburg a number of years ago, we fell in love with the Crepe Myrtle trees that grow so prolifically in the area.  We brought a start from one of the trees there home as a souvenir, but the poor tree didn't survive our climate.  We later found a Crepe Myrtle shrub at a local garden center that was supposed to be more suitable to our zone 6 winters.   Normal zone 6 winters, that is. 

This past winter is one most of us would rather forget.  Unfortunately, we lost some shrubs in the yard due to the horrible cold and harsh winds.  We thought our Crepe Myrtle was one of them and I was ready to take a shovel to it and dig it out.

Much to my surprise and delight, there was some new growth. We trimmed off the dead branches and now have a thriving, albeit shorter, bush.  Sometimes the new growth is just small and hiding, but it is there.



 More of a good thing isn't always better.

When I first put in the Mary Garden, I added a couple of these plants.  At first they were a little slow to grow, but now, they are spreading like crazy.  If I didn't pluck out the new starts, the garden would be filled with nothing but this plant.

I look at this plant like food and drink.  Both are good.  Both are necessary and enjoyable.  But too much of either makes me fat, lazy, a glutton and/or a lush. 

Here's a challenge for you.  I no longer have the tag for this plant and have no idea what it is.  I think the name starts with an "M", but I can't be sure.  Figure out what it is and I'll send you a prize!

Cultivate the good and the beautiful

Two of my favorite plants in this garden are the Lady's Mantle and my John Paul 2 tea rose.  The Lady's Mantle is a fairly easy plant to grow and I have been finding "volunteers" of it not only in this garden but in gardens all over the yard.  There are all sorts of prayers and devotions to her that are easy to find as well.

St. John Paul 2 had a great devotion to Mary.  This rose reminds me of him often as it can sometimes be a bit fragile to grow, but even with the suffering he faced his spirit and love of our Lord and His mother grew.

Protect your faith

The devil is a temptress.  He likes pretty, shiny things to lure us away from what is true and good.  Like the mama deer and her two babies, he will try to nibble away at what we work so hard to grow and nurture. I use deer repellent to protect my roses.  What do I use to protect my soul?

AMDG