The New Cessna

Our son and his beautiful bride of over a quarter century came home this past weekend.

The visit was sweet, as it always is. We are enveloped in such love in their presence, it is hard to describe.

Unfortunately, their flight home was so bumpy, his passenger got very sick. Motion sickness is unbelievably debilitating.

Don't Interrupt

There is nothing so satisfying as a great conversation. Some people do it so well. Some folks struggle with it. I, the introvert, couldn't open my mouth for years. But when I finally found that I too, could talk; it is pretty hard to stop.

Someone is selling a book with the points of good conversation:
1. Don't interrupt.
2. Don't advise.
3. Don't one-up.

wikiHow has 12 tips for the art of conversation. The first being Listen. He Who Must Be Obeyed gets very annoyed at me as he thinks I play 20 questions with the people I talk to. It is just that I find others and their interests and activities very interesting.

The other night we had dinner with a favorite couple. I am not certain of their political party affiliation but knowing them well I tip toed into the topic of Obama and his pastor. I had read Salt's link to the Martin Marty article on Wright and listened to Bill Moyers interview with him. I said that I had discovered more than the broadcasters had shared with the world. The only person I annoyed, that I know about, was HWMBO.

The thing about what one person thinks is a great conversation is that one never knows how the rest in the discussion are perceiving it. Therein is the risk.

Opening a Deep Well

The Daily Meditation from the Henri Nouwen book "Bread for the Journey," which the Daily Meditation eLetter is based continues today on the subject of writing.
"Writing is not just jotting down ideas. Often we say: "I don't know what to write. I have no thoughts worth writing down. "but much good writing emerges from the process of writing itself. As we simply sit down in front of a sheet of paper and start to experess in words what is on our minds or in our hearts, new ideas emerge, ideas that can surprise us and lead us to inner places we hardly knew were there.

One of the most satisfying aspects of writing is that it can open in us deep wells of hidden treasures that are beautiful for us as well as for others to see." Henri Nouwen, Meditation for April 28th, 2008.

The writings of Nouwen are soul soothing and peace inducing. Much like those of Hildred, who I have linked as "daybyday" to the right with other blogs of consequence. Such writers are to be treasured and I am thankful for them.

Writing

WRITING TO SAVE THE DAY
(From Henri Nouwen's Daily Meditation for April 27th, 2008) "Writing can be a true spiritual discipline. Writing can help us to concentrate, to get in touch wit the deeper stirrings of our hearts, to clarify our minds, to process confusing emotions, to reflect on our experiences, to give artistic expression to what we are living, and to store significant events in our memories. Writing can be good for others who might read what we write.

Quite often a difficult, painful, or frustrating day can be "redeemed" by writing about it. By writing we claim what we have lived and thus integrate it more fully into our journeys. Writing can become lifesaving for us and sometimes for others too."
Henri Nouwen spent his life helping people respond to the universal “yearning for love, unity, and communion that doesn’t go away”. Is it possible to touch and taste the love of God? How can we live a spiritual life that embraces the pain and suffering of our lives and in the world, and gives us the freedom to love deeply wherever we are?

If this looks familiar, it is perhaps because I used this once before from the Henri Nouwen Web Site.

Termespheres

An Artist at work in Spearfish, SD. This is a pleasant way to watch a man at work.

Reciting Poetry

On the Real Age site today are a few ways to keep ones brain working. One suggestion is to memorize poetry. My mother had done that and was able to recite poems at the drop of a hat or fork, depending upon the situation. The older she got the more she recalled.

How do I remember thee? Let me count the ways . . .

Exercising your brain helps keep it young, and one of the best ways to work your mental muscle is to read, write, and memorize poetry. Studies show that committing your favorite verses to memory not only can preserve mental function, but also improve it.

The ten steps to memorize poetry:

Abundant Days

Yesterday was most pleasant. It began with lunch with former teacher friends; seven of us catching up on the past month. Family events, new baby pictures, city politics, school news. We all worked in Westside High School Library/Media.

The gain was turned up on my hearing aid Tuesday. I will have two more sessions for that before I get to 'normal' hearing in that ear. I love my hearing aid. The new technology tells my Au.D (Doctor of Audiology?) how many hours I have worn it, the noise environment I have been in and automatically adjusts itself for directional input.

If they can put a GPS on an ankle, they could put it in a hearing aid and those elders who wander away from home could be found. Maybe a sweet voice could direct us there through encouragement and 'right and left' or 'north and south,' whichever we grew up with.

He Who Must Be Obeyed took me shopping in the afternoon to take advantage of a good sale. Spring shirts are nice as are two new swim suits. The pool is filling up. About 24 hours ago the hose was turned on and tomorrow some time, it should be full. The weather is cold and we are expecting severe storms during the night. The pool heater will go on a little later on and the outdoor shower will be hooked up.

Today was a joy. The fabric for the couch is in. The yardage for the industrial quilter has been delivered. One side of the seat cushions and the back cushions will be quilted. We have changed the color but the designer's talents will live on with the quilting and the pleating. Conducting personal business is pleasant.

Then there were the phone calls from a son and a high school girl friend. Both bright spots in life that warm my heart. Both will visit this summer with teen aged children.

South Dakota Magazine

This morning the South Dakota Magazine folks have highlighted the birthday of the Norwegian author, Ole E. Rolvaag, born in 1876. I didn't realize that he settled in Union County, where the first Boe family in the US came to claim the first homestead after the Civil War. The Immigrant, Andrew Boe, as a Civil War veteran, was awarded two homesteads as part of his severance package. He filed the second in the Black Hills.

I suppose every immigrant prior to the 1900's has a story that would make a movie today if they just told it. I think their humility, and not seeing themselves as heroes of the greatest magnitude, has kept most of the stories untold and unsung.

"Giant in the Earth." Truer words were never spoken.

Thanks, Bernie Hunhoff, for the sweet article on "My Father the Painter."

It is a Good Day Because

He has the pool repairs complete
The large quartz stones are moved
The yard is raked and ready for Spring
I am working on my book writing project
Old tires will be taken to be recycled
The garbage corral is getting cleaned
The groceries are bought and put away
A sister in law called me yesterday!

High Diddle Diddle, The Cat and the Fiddle

Apr. 20, 6:25 a.m. EDT — Full Pink Moon. The grass pink or wild ground phlox is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring. Other names:Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and among coastal tribes, the Full Fish Moon, when the shad spawn upstream.

Child Moon by Carl Sandburg
The child's wonder
At the old moon
Comes back nightly.
She points her finger
To the far silent yellow thing
Shining through the branches
Filtering on the leaves a golden sand,
Crying with her little tongue, "See the moon!"
And in her bed fading to sleep
With babblings of the moon on her little mouth.

Find Time

As I went through my mother's papers,I found my parents "Small Catechism" 1958 Printing. In my dad's small beautiful handwriting on the front is his name. My mother was the Sunday School Superintendent for a time after I left home and my dad taught a Sunday School class.

Folded inside it was a list written in my mother's handwriting on a sheet of pink stationary. "Find time for these 10 things." The list follows:

Find Time for family, it is the nucleus of our lives.
Find Time for work, it is the back bone of success.
Find time for prayer,it is the source of inner peace and strength.
Find time for laughter, it is a healing balm.
Find time for playing, it is a return to youth.
Find time for helping others, it gives a greater purpose to life.
Find time for love, it is by loving that we are loved.
Find time for thinking, it is a fountain of inspiration.
Find time for dreaming, it is our link with the wonder of the universe.
Find time for planning, it helps us find the time we need for the first nine.

Birthdays Today

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush has quite a birthday present for Pope Benedict XVI: at least 9,000 excited guests gathered on the White House's South Lawn for a 21-gun salute, a famed soprano's rendition of "The Lord's Prayer" and an emotional presidential welcome.

Our youngest son is celebrating his 45th birthday with us today. Baking a cake seems to be the thing to do, seeing we love to do things the old way.

April 15 Not Just Taxes

Some think of today as synonymous with taxes. It's the birthday of a brilliant man who had a hard time finishing things, Leonardo da Vinci, born in the Republic of Florence (1452). Though he lived for 67 years, only 17 of his paintings are known to exist, and only a few of those were finished to his satisfaction, including The Last Supper and Mona Lisa.

He kept notebooks full of ideas about architecture and technology of all kinds. Even the doodle pictures of parachutes he drew in the margin of his notes turned out to be technically perfect designs. He drew up plans for an assault battleship, a construction crane, a trench-digging machine, a revolving bridge, and a deep-sea diving suit. He made architectural sketches of churches that looked like seashells or blossoming flowers, none of which got built because they were too impractical. Most of his ideas were too ambitious for the tools that existed at the time.

In 1482, Leonardo began a sculpture of a horse. It was extremely difficult to design because the final product would weigh many tons when cast in bronze, and Leonardo wanted the horse to be rearing back on its hind legs. He spent 11 years sketching out the solution to the problem of the horse's balance, but when he tried to cast the horse in bronze, he found that all the bronze in the city had been used to build cannons for an impending war. So the sculpture went unfinished until 1999, when a Japanese-American sculptor used Leonardo's drawings and plans to build the horse. The finished product was 23 feet high, weighed 15 tons, and was perfectly balanced. For the rest of the story see The Writer's Almanac on this day.

Sofa Saga

I sometimes rage at materialistic capitolism, but when combined with comparison shopping it works well for the consumer. We have found fabric, an upholsterer, a quilter, and all of it makes us happy. Our 30 year old couch will be as good as new by the middle of June. How excellent that worries are reduced to mere sofas.

Arm Breaking Sofas

Old people and old furniture are comfortable companions. In the late '70's I worked as a school librarian in a building in which a co-worker was married to a furniture designer for Mastercraft, an Omaha company. During the holidays Mastercraft had a private sale for friends and employees.

The way this went, if you saw something you wanted you pulled the price tag off of it. HWMBO snagged the price label from this couch at first sight. It had been made for an individual in Omaha who decided she didn't want it. She would have paid $1,000, we got it for $300. Now 30 years later I am pushing, as women often will, to have it re-upholstered.

Today we looked at fabric samples and got an estimate from people that have done work for us before. The work was excellent and they would pick up and deliver. The quote was close to $2,000.

Then we went to the famous Nebraska Furniture Mart of Warren Buffett renoun. We looked at pull-out queen sized bed sofas, all under a thousand dollars. I asked to see one pulled out. The sales lady couldn't get it open. She called a fellow over who turned it upside down and gave it a couple of kicks. Her arm was in the mechanism when it flew open and I would n't be surprised if it is broken. I wish I hadn't asked.

I love my old couch. I have never broken anything so much as a fingernail opening it. Maybe I can clean it for a few more years. But new white velveteen fabric would be very nice.

A Good Sabbath ...Saturday

Today was one of those perfect spring days, at the end of which, you enjoy the very thought of the accomplishments, though small, nonetheless rewarding. A son helped me plant a birch clump in a pot, and he helped me rake and bag up the back yard pine needles. He said there is still ice in some places under them. It was pleasant duty and looks nice. It is supposed to rain tonight so perhaps the ferns and hostas will start to show themselves.

Then there is always Saturday evening church services, seeing friends, singing and responding in the liturgy, a thoughtful sermon, familiar hymns, the prayers, the lessons and Gospel. I should have been a Nun. He Who Must Be Obeyed takes our dear elder friend E., in a wheel chair, to the communion rail. Tonight he bumped her into two rows of pews on the way back to our seats.