Tuesday, February 26, 2008

The Trojan Horse of Sorrow....



....Or Being Round in a Flat World.

The Trojan Horse of Sorrow comes into all of our lives....at one time or another. He packs his grayness, his weft and warp of darkness for us all. He invades our spaces, licks up our joy and spits it out. He renders us round in a flat world. Round in a flat world we are helpless to take our direction. We have no rudder. A tiny breeze of discontentment blows and we are off and rolling in a place we neither choose nor recognize. As we roll, we gather dust. We get stuck in corners. We slow down and are debilitated by our inaction and inability to choose.
We pray that someone will lean down and pick us up. Someone will pull us up to safety, to comfort and to that place we always long for..JOY. The place where we feel loved, we have choices and the place where we can say,"GO" to the Trojan Horse Of Sorrow, and to where we are no longer round in a flat world.
I know that it takes more than words to help a friend. I know that words can be powerful.
If you have a friend who needs some words (we all need them) send them.
Send them through email, send them through the written word, send them on the wing, a prayer, a hope, on the wind and through whomever you pray for and love.

(this is for a special person in California..I will never meet her, but her support for me has been wonderful)

Best

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Since The High Hills....

.....refused to move, we drove a mile down the two lane highway to watch the show.

There she was in all of her voluptuous splendor. Slowly, as if made aware of her nakedness and striking beauty, in modesty she began to cover herself.
Veil by veil, minute by minute, she obscured herself from our watching eyes.

Her silent sisters, the stars, began to circle round her in quiet affirmation and support. The darker she rendered herself, the brighter her sisters grew, until the whole night sky was punctured by their beauty.

Then, as if she remembered that she was Queen of the Night, she began shedding each veil, deliberately, but languidly, until she was once again fully naked, triumphant and glorious.

It was a show: A Peep Show, A Strip Tease in reverse and it was magnificent!

(NASA photo)

Friday, February 15, 2008

Oh, Dear God......

...have you heard or seen anything about this? The war crushes all of our hearts, especially those who have been injured and the families that are suffering and in pain. This, I hope, helps to heal them. Take a look. americanheroquilts.com

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Very Vintage....




These are some images that I scanned from an album that my Grandmother Lena created so long ago.


She filled the pages, some thirty odd in number, with cards, poetry and sentiment that was so abundant in the 1880's.


Some of them are advertisements from mercantile establishments in San Francisco and in Honolulu, before Hawaii was a territory.

I keep the album wrapped up and in a drawer. I don't take it out very often as the pages are so brittle.


I'm fortunate to have this and some of the beautiful crocheting that she did. I am able to know her just a little bit through these precious things that were hers.

Wishing all a good weekend...

Best

Monday, February 11, 2008

A Whistle and Pieces of My Heart

For three years I had a little boy in my classes by the name of Rusty; my last year teaching kindergarten and then in the first, second and third grades when I taught in a multi-age classroom. Rusty was born way too early to a young woman who never should have conceived a child, at least not then. Too much alcohol, drugs and no support do not make a good combination nor do they make an auspicious beginning for a new life.
As an infant, Rusty was severely developmentally delayed. We take it for granted that children learn to roll over, sit up, crawl and walk on their own and in their own time. Rusty had to be taught to do all of these things. The insides of both of his arms bore the tracings and needle marks of the wires and tubes that were necessary just to keep this little guy alive.
In kindergarten he would often fall out of his chair and need help in getting back to a sitting position as he truly couldn't tell up from down. He struggled with many tasks, but his battles at school were cheerfully and willingly faced with determination and confidence. He grew, he learned, he flourished and he enriched all of our lives. He loved to declare that he was "amiracle" baby. One word, not two:Amiracle.
Each day he came to school joyfully, his face spread in a wide, goofy grin. He made friends, felt the safety of his surroundings and was unstoppably enthusiastic. He never left willingly; he never went home at the end of the day in hight spirits. He never wanted to leave.
On the last day of school, in the last year that I had Rusty, we were coming back from a swim and picnic at the park. I had been given directions to drop him off at the apartments near the school. He was not to take the bus that day. When I went to say goodbye and to leave him, he started crying and pleading. He did not want to go into that apartment. I did not know what to do. I did not want to leave him. Someone came out to get him and I had to let him go. To console him, I gave him my playground whistle, something he had always wanted and admired.
Rusty's mother moved him out of our school district to a much bigger one south of here. I never saw him again. I've thought of him many, many times over the years. I have been afraid for him: afraid for him to make the move, afraid of what junior high and high school may have been like for him. I have been angry; angry at his mother and angry at myself for my inability to protect him.
I gave Rusty my whistle and through the years, pieces of my heart. I am scared that they were not enough. I want to reach out and know that such a brave person was and is o.k. Experience tells me no. Sadness for such a bright and loving soul tell me these things were poor coinage for someone who needed so much more, much more than a whistle and pieces of my heart.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

First We Had........







........The Brave Little Toaster.







Now we have:The Brave Little Coasters.

These will be wending their way to their new home, ASAP! I've instructed them to fly swiftly with no dilly dally or side trips.





They were great fun to make. I was helped by a great tutorial from Jenny B. at allsorts.
The fabric is Sonnet Collection by April Cornell for Moda.





This was my first swap ever and I really enjoyed it.

I hope that the recipient will enjoy them as much as I did in making them.



Best!

p.s. If you click on the coaster pic. you will get a better idea of how pretty this fabric is.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Snuffle, Snuffle, Drip, Drip.......





sneeze, sneeze, sneeze. Yuk and more yuk.
I've been spending the last few days with my new best friends. It's a friendship I would like to end right now, except for the knitting.

Best