Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday, dear OLDER sister,
Happy Birthday to you!!!!!!
With love from your YOUNGER sister ♥
Muahahahahahahahaha...
The Happy Happy Birthday Song by the Arrogant Worms
The Happy Happy Birthday Song by the Arrogant Worms
The campground is pretty much smack dab in the middle of Nova Scotia, on a small lake which is suitable for swimming early in the summer season (before the geese mess it up too much) and for canoeing (although it would help if we actually had a canoe or kayak!) I also hear they shoot off some amazing Canada Day fireworks from a platform out in the middle of the lake, so hoping to check that out next summer.
We were out last night to check out Mark and Valerie's new camper - they recently traded their tent trailer for a big travel trailer with the pop out extension on the side. Yeah, it's a tad bigger than our trailer- just the master bedroom alone is about the size of the Boler! :) (But the upside of our little Boler is that it's portable, so we can travel around for a change of scenery if we want. I might finally get around the beautiful Cabot Trail again! Dave and I camped there on our honeymoon 23 years ago and haven't been back since.)
While at the campground, Valerie and I walked around and looked at all the vacant sites, and at first I decided on this one, on the other side of the road from their site:
But then the guy who owns the campground drove by doing rounds, and stopped to chat. I mentioned that I was hoping to move in across the road from Valerie and he asked "why don't you take the site right beside her?" Well, for one thing, we'd thought it was occupied because there was a lot of debris around that made it look like the occupants were just away temporarily. But apparently no, they have left for good. I also told him that we only have a little Boler so don't need sewage, thinking that maybe he'd rather save that spot for someone who did. He said no matter, perhaps we'd want to trade up soon. I refrained from telling him that in fact, we had just traded up...from a tent! The site right beside Valerie and Mark is not as big or as private as the site across the road, but I think it will be so much fun sharing adjoining sites - I'm really looking forward to being camping neighbours! :)
So here is "our" new campsite (assuming buddy doesn't rent it out before I get around to looking up his number and calling him!)
Our site from another angle (with Val & Mark's massive mansion-on-wheels in the background):
Valerie, beaming with delight in her beautiful new camper :
Dave and Mark getting ready to tuck into supper:
Our daughter M has already declared that she'll be sleeping in K's larger trailer rather than our tiny Boler. As we talked about this, Mark pointed out that Dave and I actually have the better end of the deal because we'll get to sleep in our Boler all alone, whereas he and Valerie will have to put up with the teenagers! (All part of my master plan, my friend...lol)
Now you might wonder how Dave convinced me to go along with this purchase...well, he started threatening to build some kind of camper himself. Suddenly a factory made Boler, no matter how small, seemed like an attractive option! Therefore...
I am grateful that we now own a real camper, albeit tiny, and not a homemade contraption.
I think we'll enjoy camping in our new (old) Boler. It's actually pretty cute, although it would be nice to paint it something more exciting than off white (something less egg-like perhaps?) And if it turns out I hate it, we can always sell it in a year or two for the same or higher price - they are just that much in demand. Seriously, it's like some kind of cult or something...and now we're part it, oh dear!
These campers seem often to be referred to as an "egg on wheels" (you'll understand why after you check out the following photos.) I was just reading an article on the history of the Boler, and it said the creator Ray Olecko "was looking for an unusual name for the trailer, and thinking that it looked a little like a bowler hat, he decided on Boler!" (So Valerie, there is a connection to the hat after all!)
Here are some photos:
We're also talking about getting a seasonal spot at the campground where our friends Mark and Valerie have their camper. That works perfectly for us because the campground is not that far from our house, so won't be a big deal to pop over and fetch it if we decide to take it away for the weekend or whatever. (Dave is labouring under the delusion that we'll be making actual camping trips, which is why he wanted something light enough to tow with our small truck...personally, I'm thinking nearby campground + the company of best friends = duh, why would I want to go camping elsewhere??)
As always, each Friday I invite you to click over to Diana Strinati Baur's blog and check out the other Gratitude Friday Club blogs...
I don't know how one would truly capture such a thought visually, but I was browsing through my photos and stopped at this one, which I took in Newfoundland this past summer, of my friend Valerie and her sister Juanita (aka "J" in my vacation stories):
And I was reminded of something Valerie wrote in one of her recent Thursday Thoughts emails to our congregation:
"...we walk a road that is filled with twists and turns and sometimes difficult blows as well as the moments of joy and celebration. Faith is about not making that walk alone. God comes to us in many ways – the quiet of moment; a beautiful sunset; the changing colours of the fall; a raging storm; or a gentle wind. But more often than not, God comes to us in the presence of another who stands beside us- holding, challenging, loving, listening.
Today I give thanks for those in my life who have revealed to me, again and again, the presence and power of God..."
I remember that when I read her words, I imagined she was speaking of those in her life like her sister J. So I thought what better portrays Buechner's sense of lives that "flow into each other as wave flows into wave" and "where there really is, in just this sense, love" than this beautiful photo? ♥
]]>This morning, in particular, I am incredibly grateful for the rainbow that arched across the sky above my backyard. The graceful curve and brilliant colours brightened my cloudy heart.
I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
~ Genesis 9:13 (NIV)
Leroy bet me I couldn't find a pot of gold at the end, and I told him that was a stupid bet because the rainbow was enough.
~ Rita Mae Brown
Be thou the rainbow in the storms of life. The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, and tints tomorrow with prophetic ray.
~ Lord Byron
What a privilege to be here on the planet to contribute your unique donation to humankind. Each face in the rainbow of colors that populate our world is precious and special.
~ Morris Dees
Walk on a rainbow trail; walk on a trail of song, and all about you will be beauty. There is a way out of every dark mist, over a rainbow trail.
~ Navajo song
As always, each Friday I invite you to click over to Diana Strinati Baur's blog and check out the other Gratitude Friday Club blogs...
Plot summary from wikipedia:
The text consists of only ten sentences. It tells the story of Max, who one evening plays around his home, "making mischief" in a wolf costume. As punishment, his mother sends him to bed without supper. In his room, a mysterious, wild forest and sea grows out of his imagination, and Max sails to the land of the Wild Things. The Wild Things are fearsome-looking monsters, but Max conquers them "by staring into their yellow eyes without blinking once", and he is made "the King of all Wild Things", dancing with the monsters in a "wild rumpus". However, he soon finds himself lonely and homesick, and he returns home to his bedroom, where he finds his supper waiting for him, still hot.
This was one of my favourite books when I was a little girl. I could totally relate to the whole inner wild thing concept. Feeling overwhelmed with emotion, not knowing why or what to do with it, but needing some way to release the pent up energy of it. I delighted in the imagery of the wild rumpus and the roaring beasts who gnashed their terrible teeth, and sighed their terrible sighs. And it made perfect sense that young Max's interlude with the wild things was just a temporary one after which, with no explanation needed, life returns to normal.
]]> Where the Wild Things Are NOT...is in the movie.
Somehow I thought the movie slightly misses the mark. It tries too hard to find the meaning behind Max's temper tantrums, the root of his wild thing. The "Wild Things" are still beasts, but they are too personified. They are too full of melancholy and angst. They are not a place of imagination to escape to, but too obviously a broken family in need of fixing. I know the underlying message of the book is about Max sorting out his feelings but, for me, the movie felt too in-your-face about it. Sometimes bursts of emotion really are just a release of pent up energy...that was how I read the book as a child, and I just found that the analytical approach taken in the movie wasn't really for me. I really enjoyed the movie, don't get me wrong. It made a fun mother-daughter date with Sara! And the costumes and visuals were stunningly bang on, totally captured the feel of the book. It was only the slightly "off" direction of the plot that got in the way for me. So I'm going to ignore the movie's attempt to find meanings and stick to my childhood impressions of the storybook, that Max's tantrum was just one of those days...
Long live Max, the King of the Wild Things! :)
]]>
I think there is much truth in the lyrics to this song...the metaphoric words of the prophets are most often written in places where we forget to look, and whispered in the silences we don't take time to listen to.
This song about the sound of silence kind of ties in with my previous entry, although a different way of listening to the silence. Not listening for your own sake, but listening for others. Listening for the voices of those who have grown silent, weary of having their words fall on deaf ears. Those of us living lives of wealth and privilege do too often bow and pray as lip service only. We go to church on Sunday morning, we hear the words about what we are called to do, but we do not always listen, and certainly we do not always act. In fact, we often simply return to our comfy lives and think no more about the ways in which we might help others, or the ways in which we might change the world. In fairness, it is hard to sustain a belief that one person can make a difference, so we get disheartened and feel helpless and overwhelmed at the size of the problems facing our world.
I am grateful for an employer who is engaged in charitable efforts, who offers us opportunities to respond with action. One such opportunity arose last week, when volunteers were requested to participate in the United Way Day of Caring. I, and several others from my department (I work for the provincial government) were allowed time off to volunteer and were assigned to a work team that would be painting sections of a men's shelter owned by the Metropolitan Immigration Settlement Association (MISA). A small act of helping, but every small act is a step in the right direction. Here is the story, and a couple photos of our team.
]]> >>> UnitedWaySNSMR 10/13/2009 1:57 PM >>>Idris's wife passed away when she was 26. 18 months ago he and his young daughter moved to Canada from Kosovo. His daughter is now in grade 1 here in Halifax. Together they reside at MISA House in Fairview, a building which houses single men and in some cases their children.
The SNSMR team supplied a fresh coat of paint throughout their home as well as throughout the hallways of MISA House. Everyone showed great enthusiasm and teamwork and the job was finished with great results.
Thanks to all who helped make this event a success!
It all began with my friend Valerie's weekly email to her church family. (For those who don't already know this, Valerie is the minister at my church, which is how we came to know each other and then grew into being best friends.)
Anyway, her email went like this (with the reminders of upcoming events edited out):
"Good morning
Welcome to those new families joining us this week in Thursday Thoughts! My list keeps growing which is absolutely wonderful! Last night, a friend of mine brought a book by Kahlil Gibran and dropped it off at the office. It was one that I saw at her house and really wanted to read. Gibran might be familiar to many or most of you and, while I knew of him for a long time, I had not really read anything until this past year or so. He has become one of my favourites. Most mornings I begin with a time of reflection and reading and so today I opened up Gibran and began to flip through my eyes fell on the chapter entitled From Beautiful and Rare Sayings – 1923, this is what I read:
“My soul counselled me and charged me to listen for voices that rise neither from the tongue nor the throat. Before that day I heard but dully, and naught save clamour and loud cries came to my ears;
But now I have learned to listen to silence, to hear its choirs singing the songs of the ages, chanting the hymns of space, and disclosing the secrets of eternity”
As I read I was drawn to the line from the psalms that says “Be still and know…” How often we get caught up in the clamour of day to day life and so surrounded by noise that we miss the beauty, wonder and peace that lies just beneath the surface in those moments of deep silence. My prayer for each of you this day is that somewhere in the midst of chaos you will take a moment to breathe deeply and listen to the silence and experience the possibilities that lie there."
Blessings
Valerie
"Wonderful thoughts this week. Love the Gibran quotation, and love your reflections on it. I think I read that same verse when I was in your office the other night. (Glad you like the book...I want it back at some point though...just saying!)
I imagine one of the reasons I love sunsets so much is that they often invoke that "be still" feeling in me...something about gazing into the colours and light and endless depth of the sky carries me to a place of feeling surrounded and filled with something immense and wondrous, that stretches me beyond imagining, calms my soul, makes me feel...I don't know, is hard to describe...whole maybe. I don't know why, but I don't question it! I remember something else Gibran wrote: "In the depth of my soul there is a wordless song..." Maybe what I feel through the sunset is the song of God...
I am grateful for those moments, and for the reminder to embrace them - thanks, my friend :)"
But when I realized I had just written "I am grateful for...", I stopped typing and decided to make this my Friday gratitude entry instead of simply replying to her individually.
So...I am grateful for the moments in which I "breathe deeply and listen to the silence and experience the possibilities that lie there". I hope you all find a moment like that today, in the midst of your own life's chaos.
Here are a few images of my sky, which is to say, the piece of the sky that spreads its glory over my home...
As always, each Friday I invite you to click over to Diana Strinati Baur's blog and check out the other Gratitude Friday Club blogs...
Rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen movies you've seen that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes.
1. Dirty Dancing
2. Princess Bride
3. Mamma Mia
4. Sound of Music
5. Under the Tuscan Sun
6. Highlander
7. An Officer and a Gentleman
8. The Way We Were
9. Fried Green Tomatoes
10. Philadelphia
11. Rocky Horror Picture Show
12. La Bella e Vita (Life is Beautiful)
13. Guys and Dolls
14. Jesus Christ Superstar
15. Brokeback Mountain
Oh just thought of one more movie that will forever stick with me, but not in a good way! I'll leave you with this hint: I hear banjos...
What are YOUR 15 memorable movies?
]]>The dog may be wonderful prose, but only the cat is poetry.
~French Proverb
These wonderful little creatures bring such joy and comfort into our lives (along with furballs and clawed up furniture and constant demands to be let in-and-out and in-and-out!) There is something inexplicably soothing about the presence of a cat. Their individual personalities are a source of amusement (or should I say bemusement?!), wonder and delight.
Cats can work out mathematically the exact place to sit that will cause most inconvenience.
~Pam Brown
Here is our regal Winston, who has laid claim to my pretty butterfly rug:
And when our feline friends lean into our arms and grace us with purring...ah, whose heart is not flooded with warmth and love?
Are we really sure the purring is coming from the kitty and not from our very own hearts?
~Emme Woodhull-Bäche, translated
If purring could be encapsulated, it'd be the most powerful anti-depressant on the pharmaceutical market.
~Alexis F. Hope
If we treated everyone we meet with the same affection we bestow upon our favorite cat, they, too, would purr.
~Martin Buxbaum
If there were to be a universal sound depicting peace, I would surely vote for the purr.
~Barbara L. Diamond
M and our tiny Polly, doing her best impersonation of a scarf:
After scolding one's cat one looks into its face and is seized by the ugly suspicion that it understood every word. And has filed it for reference.
~Charlotte Gray
Cats as a class, have never completely got over the snootiness caused by that fact that in Ancient Egypt they were worshipped as gods.
~P.G. Wodehouse
He liked companionship, but he wouldn't be petted, or fussed over, or sit in anyone's lap a moment; he always extricated himself from such familiarity with dignity and with no show of temper. If there was any petting to be done, however, he chose to do it. Often he would sit looking at me, and then, moved by a delicate affection, come and pull at my coat and sleeve until he could touch my face with his nose, and then go away contented.
~Charles Dudley Warner
If I called her she would pretend not to hear, but would come a few moments later when it could appear that she had thought of doing so first.
~Arthur Weigall
Happy Friday to all my fellow cat lovers (and to everyone else too!)
As always, each Friday I invite you to click over to Diana Strinati Baur's blog. Diana is the founder of the Gratitude Friday Club, and has a list of the club members on her blog...check them out too, your heart will be lifted by the wonderful expressions of gratitude.
Find yourself a cup of tea; the teapot is behind you. Now tell me about hundreds of things.
~ Saki
Well I'm not going to tell you hundreds of things, but I will tell you one story. The story of how my favourite tea came to be called "crappy tea"...
Once upon a time...I was picking up some produce at Avery's Farm Market and I noticed that they carried a few types of Just Us! tea. One in particular, called Organic Lemon & Honey, sounded very tasty, so I picked up a box to try. It was indeed tasty, so the next time I was at Avery's, I picked up a box for my friend Valerie, too.
Sometime later...I was at her house chatting with her husband Mark. (We have a running joke that he's my "real" friend, because of all the times I've ended up visiting him in her absence when she's been called away for some pastoral emergency or another. Valerie once said it was really a friendship test...if I could put up with her goofy husband, I must be a true friend! In truth, I enjoy his company very much and have grown enormously fond of him, especially after we all spent so much time together in Newfoundland.) Anyway this particular day, Mark asked if I wanted coffee or tea or anything. I said a cup of tea would be lovely, and followed him into the kitchen. He said, "do you want regular tea, or [picking up a box from the counter] this crappy tea?" It was, of course, the box of lemon & honey tea that I'd left at their house on a previous visit. I laughed and replied, "Hey, I brought that crappy tea! And yes, I will have a cup of that crappy tea, thank you very much!" So I had a lovely cup of crappy tea, and we carried on with our visit.
Naturally I had to share this story with Valerie when next I saw her and, as I knew she would, she found it just as funny as I did. And so Just Us! Lemon & Honey tea is now, and will forevermore be, referred to as "crappy tea" in our little world. The incident hadn't stuck in Mark's head at all though because a few months later, Valerie and I were talking about having crappy tea and he asked why do we always call it that. "Well (snicker, snicker), you started it", we replied...and reminded him of the story.
Just the other day, I read the back of the box...
...and discovered that, lo these past many months, I've been using an improper technique - gasp - henceforth, I shall stop swishing the teabag about and instead patiently wait for the flavours to unfold as it steeps.
Today, I am grateful for the relaxing warmth of tea, for the many stories shared over cups of tea, (for inside jokes!), and for the wonderful metaphor tea provides for living: that it is best enjoyed when all its delicious flavours and aromas are allowed to unfold and mingle as they will...
As always, each Friday I invite you to click over to Diana Strinati Baur's blog, where you will find links to the other Gratitude Friday Club. Let your heart be warmed and lifted as their stories of gratitude unfold...
The ABCs of me:
Available or single?
Sorry to break your heart but neither - I'm already taken ;)
Best Friend?
Well if you have to ask...welcome to my blog, stranger!
(Feel free to poke around, you won't have to look back very far to find the answer.)
Cake or Pie?
Pie, methinks...in fact, I might put in an order for birthday pie this year (although the past cakish creations of my sister have been divine, for sure!!)
Drink of choice?
Crappy tea!! (Ok I confess, my first choice is really boring old water, but crappy tea's good too.)
Essential item for every day use?
My glasses...or maybe my toothbrush, 'cause who wants to go around with morning breath all day?
Favorite color?
Yellow.
Google?
...is a search engine? Not sure what else to say about it...
Hometown?
...has changed several times over the years. Currently it is where I now live.
Indulgences?
Oh where to start...wine, ice cream, chocolate, spending too much time on my blog ;)
January or February?
February, because both my daughters, Sara and M, were born in February, and so was my best friend.
Kids and their names?
Two daughters. Yes, they both have names...real ones too, not just "whatchamacaller" and "youthere"
Life is incomplete without…?
Love...and chocolate
Marriage date?
August 8
Number of siblings?
One older sister with whom I grew up, plus three much younger brothers and one younger sister from my father's second marriage.
Oranges or apples?
...are not the same. Oh was I supposed to choose which I prefer? Apples, I guess, but both are tasty.
Phobias and fears?
Maggots...shudder.
Quote for the day?
"Little children, headache; big children, heartache"
~ Italian Proverb (so the internet tells me, which means it must be true.)
Reason to smile?
Because my heart is full of joy ♥
Season?
They're all wonderful for different reasons, although my relationship with winter is a bit strained bytimes.
Tag 3 people?
Nah, I'll pass...if anyone else wants to make up their own responses, go for it!
Unknown fact about me?
Unknown to you, and fairly new to me: I have ADD/ADHD, according to Sara's psychiatrist. (This explains many things!)
Vegetable you hate?
I honestly cannot think of one (yes, I even like brussel sprouts and turnip)
Worst habit?
Whatever do you mean? I have no bad habits, clearly you must have me confused with someone else...
Xrays you’ve had?
Hmm, do mammograms count? If so, half a dozen or thereabouts...if not, just one that I recall.
Your fave food?
Is ice cream considered a *food*??
Zodiac sign?
Aries
]]>
Millions and millions of years would still not give me half enough time to describe that tiny instant of all eternity when you put your arms around me and I put my arms around you.
~ Jacques Prévert
Everybody needs a hug. It changes your metabolism.
~ Leo Buscaglia
I will not play tug o' war.
I'd rather play hug o' war.
Where everyone hugs instead of tugs,
Where everyone giggles and rolls on the rug,
Where everyone kisses, and everyone grins,
And everyone cuddles, and everyone wins.
~ Shel Silverstein
If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give.
~ George MacDonald
Good news!! We can cast the gift of a loving thought - with a hug. :) Here are a few hugs I found in my photo albums...
As always, each Friday I invite you to click over to Diana Strinati Baur's blog. Diana is the founder of the Gratitude Friday Club, and has a list of the club members on her blog...check them out too, your heart will be lifted by the wonderful expressions of gratitude.
I encountered Jesse Cook's music maybe ten years ago. Dave came home with a couple of his CDs one day, borrowed from a coworker. The coworker had been playing them and Dave immediately thought that I would like the music. He knows me well, my hubby does! I loved the dynamics, the amazing rhythms of this guitar and accompanying percussion. Dave and I have seen since Jesse (as if I'm on a first name basis, eh?! lol) live at the Rebecca Cohn auditorium in Halifax and I am just blown away by his talent. Seems like his fingers should go up in smoke, they are flying so fast over the guitar strings sometimes. His music fills and expands my soul, I get breathless with joy and awe and astonishment listening to the oh so alive classical/rumba/flamenco sound!! His CDs are a staple in my kitchen, excellent cooking tunes!
[Edited to add: Just found out his upcoming tour includes a performance in Halifax on April 12, 2010 (tickets to that show would make a most excellent Christmas or birthday present ;) ... just saying ...]
Here is a sampling of his music (yay for youtube!):
And this final video is the first of Jesse Cook's songs that I fell in love with, and one of the few of his that has vocals.: