Life on the Emerald Mountain

Ground Hog Day Otherwise known as 'Taking Down Christmas'}

2007-02-04T22:52:00.000-08:00

On Friday (Groundhog Day), I took down our Christmas tree. Now some of you are probably thinking: "How lazy!' or 'Isn't it a little late?' Let me explain, please. Part of the problem is my husband's love of all things Christmas. If he had his way, our tree would stay up until at least June and there would always be Christmas lights in the window, regardless of the season. In deference to his sensibilities, we have part of our Santa collection out all the time, I have agreed to keep the paper snowflakes up in the windows at least until the end of February, and the Christmas village is in the kitchen window all year round. The rest of the stuff had to come down (and here comes my part of the problem).

Putting up Christmas means parties are coming, carols will be sung, cookies will be baked and presents will be opened. Putting up Christmas means reminiscing about past Christmases as each ornament is put on the tree, new decorations are lovingly selected and new arrangements are tried. Putting up Christmas is anticipation and expectation of good things.

Taking down Christmas is much less fun than putting it up. Taking down Christmas is finding the evergreen boughs around the manager scene have spread needles to rooms all over the house and you are never able to sweep them all up. Taking down Christmas means ornaments that won't fit back in the boxes you took them from, missing everyday items you put away temporarily until the season was over, an attic space that has shrunk two sizes since the boxes were taken out in November, and a feeling of emptiness at unadorned rooms. Taking down Christmas is missing those you weren't able to see during the holidays and memories of past hurts. If I take down Christmas during the dark month of January, there is a double load of depression.

So, for me, Ground Hog day is the perfect day to take down Christmas. On the day that we find out (according to a furry rodent) whether spring will be early or late, I choose to put away the best part of winter and begin to look forward to Spring. February is anniversaries, Valentine's day, the first primrose and pansies, with the occasional crocuses. February is trimming my rose bushes to get ready for loads of blooms this summer, clear my garden to winter's debrie and planning my vegetable garden. February is a short sweet preparation for everything that is to come. By taking down Christmas on a day of anticipation, I just move from one celebration to another. Join me....let's make Ground Hog day the official 'Taking Down Christmas Day'. Who knows, we may start a movement!

The Peace Child

2006-12-24T15:49:00.000-08:00

Last week, our small children's department put on a wonderful Christmas pageant, complete with Mary, Joseph, a rather hyperactive angel Gabriel, a grumpy innkeeper, two shepherds, two sheep, a cardboard donkey, a grandmother and her little granddaughter. It was charming to see and hear the wonderful story told by children in words and song, and everyone came away feeling closer to what God had done for us in this miracle. We laughed at the littliest wise man trying to say 'frankensence' and at the smallest sheep's disasterous encounter with the cardboard donkey, but we also had tears in our eyes as one little girl sang 'Silent Night' and as Mary and Joseph sang 'Away in the Manger' with the angel Gabriel. What a blessing! We are fortunate to have had this story told to us over and over each year, but sometimes in the retelling, we lose sight of the miracle that God worked that night long ago.

Recently I finished a book called 'The Peace Child', which recounts the experience of a missionary in Irian Jaya (the former Dutch New Guinea) with the cannabilistic Sawi tribe. This tribe survived only when the various bands had limited contact with each other, since their tradition was to trick, kill and eat their enemies, even within the same tribal territory. When presented with the gospel, they actually admired Judas, since he successfully tricked his friend Jesus before betraying Him. The missionary was in despair and was actually getting ready to move from their area due to their escalating warfare. The tribe, wanting to keep him there, invoked a rare ceremony, called the Peace Child, where a cherished infant from each band was given away to the other band to serve as the link that would stop war. As long as the peace child lived....there was peace between the bands. The missionary, overcome with what he had seen, immediately told them of the Peace Child that God had sent many years before. This Peace Child links all God's children, taking away the need for war and hatred amoung God's children. This Peace Child will never die, but lives today, just like He did in that stable 2000 years ago, to restore us to God. The Sawi tribe was overwhelmed with what they now understood of God's love for them. After a millenium of warfare, hatred, trickery and death, God's light had come into their world. May your hearts this Christmas understand as well what God's Peace Child means for you.
Merry Christmas!

Unexpected Guests

2006-12-06T10:00:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, there was a mom and two kids who had a lovely home in the country....but who also had an insatiable sense of curiosity. There were tall trees, green grass and all they could ever need at home, but the grass always looked a little greener over the fence. One day, they decided to see if that greener grass really was better. Slipping out of their lovely yard, they took a walk through the woods. The kids didn't like the woods because it was rather dark and they could sense that wild animals like coyotes lurked there. They were relieved when they came to a large, green meadow with lots of room to run. Mom thought to herself that this really did look better than home.

In the middle of the big green meadow was a large, fine home with a broad porch and many flowering plants. Being very polite, the mother went to pay her respects to the people in the house, but didn't meet with the reception she expected! The woman wouldn't let her explore the porch, or sample the beautiful ornamental cabbage growing in the pots. In fact, the woman wouldn't even let them stay on the porch, but rather rudely motioned them to return the meadow. They tried several times to get closer to the house, but the woman insisted that they keep their distance. The pet cats on the place were very friendly (friendlier than the people in the house), so they decided to stay in the field and enjoy the beautiful green grass.

About that time, the man came out of the house. He was dressed in a heavy coat, a warm hat and had a walking stick in his hand. The mother was rather frightened of the stick and tried to keep her distance, even when he kept following them and tried to communicate by waving the stick. Then, a strange thing happened....he began to talk their language. You see, the man is a linquist and besides speaking many human languages.....he could also speak theirs. His accent was strange and the words hard to understand, but they understood that he wanted them to follow him...so they did!

Across the lovely meadow, back through the scary, dark woods, they followed the man until suddenly they saw something familiar...HOME. Strange as it may seem, the place that had seem ordinary now seemed safe and welcoming. They hurried past the man with the stick and ran to their place in their yard. The grass may be greener on the other side of the fence, but there is no place like home.

(I am having trouble uploading the picture - so in case you haven't guessed by now.... three goats came to visit!)

Whiter Than Snow

2006-11-28T17:41:00.000-08:00

We have had our first snow of the season and are enjoying all the beauty of the woods and fields transformed by almost two inches of pure white. I am always amazed how a blanket of snow can turn the drab, bedraggled, and very muddy (we have had 12 inches of rain recently!) woods into a winter wonderland. It looks almost magical and when the sun shone briefly today, everything sparkled.

It reminds me of the verse from Psalms 51:7 that says: "Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow." My life is often drab, bedraggled and very dirty with sin, but God has washed me until I sparkle like the snow in my woods today. He is truly an awesome and wonderful God!

The Optimist Gardener - An Update

2006-10-24T15:09:00.000-07:00

I probably should have called this the 'Forgetful Gardener', because after I planted the total of 300 bulbs mentioned previously....I got a surprise. The 250 bulbs that I ordered last spring (and forgot about) arrived last week and also needed to be planted. So, for those of you who care, here is the list:
180 Daffodils
100 Tulips
100 Crocuses
80 Hyacinths
50 Mountain Bells
25 Dutch Irises

Okay, so that only adds up to 535....but each one was planted by my own two hands. Now, if the deer and the squirrels and the moles and the rabbits and the gophers (plus the cats) will just not dig up or eat up all my hard work.....next spring should be pretty spectacular. I will keep you all posted!

The Optimist Gardener

2006-10-11T18:13:00.000-07:00

Gardeners are optimists. We believe that there will come a spring, even when the weather right now is turning cold and rainy. We believe that something brown and rather ugly will become something beautiful and inspiring. We believe that a sore back, tired feet and aching muscles will translate into a beautiful vista from our front porch.

Today, I planted 100 tulip bulbs and tomorrow I hope to plant about the same number of crocuses and of daffodils. Only a gardener ( or parent) spends so much time and effort on something that will only show fruit in the uncertain future.

Dancing with the Stars (Sort of!)

2006-10-07T16:33:00.000-07:00

Art and I have been fascinated with the TV show 'Dancing with the Stars'; rooting for our favorites , booing the judges, and having fun trashing the dancers we think are terrible. Ever since last summer when it started, we have been saying that we were going to learn to do ballroom dancing....how hard could it be?

Of course, two foot surgeries have (conveniently) delayed our entry into the world of waltz and foxtrot, but my full recovery meant that we didn't have any more excuses. So....when the local community education offered ten weeks of lessons for less than $100 total, it was time to put our money where our mouths have been for a year.

So far, we have had two lessons. The picture is of us attempting to waltz.....attempt is literal because we have found that some stereotypes are not true! If blacks have rhythm, then Art's Irish and French blood have blotted out any black rhythm he has!!! As for me...I do okay if I don't have to twirl too much...the knee definately does not like twirling!!! So far, we have learned the rhythms for fox trot, Texas Two-Step, and Swing (all the same rhythm, just different variations); the rhumba rhythm, the waltz basics and some steps for the West Coast swing. We are so confused! Most of the time we can't remember which rhythm goes with which dance name, so we still pretty much make up our own steps.

All I can say is....we will be talking a lot less trash when we watch the professionals and not so professionals on 'Dancing with the Stars'. This stuff is really hard work!

A Few Thoughts on Alaska

2006-08-31T19:53:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, my parents took Art and I on a seven day cruise to Alaska along the Inside Passage. They had never cruised before and none of us had seen Alaska. What a trip! We all slept like babies while the boat gently rocked us to sleep each night, enjoyed exploring the huge ship and all the options for entertainment, plus more food than any four people should ever try to eat. Ashore, there were fabulous mountains, beautiful glaciers, unbelievably blue icebergs, whales, eagles, dolphins, Native Americans, totem poles - just unbelievable.

We saw the site of the trek to the Klondike gold rush in Skagway, visited the Mendenhall glacier in Juneau (that's us across the lake from the glacier), got very close to a glacier in the Tracy Arm fjord, saw Native Americans carving totem poles and danced with them in Ketchikan (the Native Americans, not the totem poles), and saw Victoria, BC by horse drawn wagon. I kept thinking: "'how incredible is our Creator who made sights too fabulous to even describe adequately!" I especially want to thank my folks again for their generosity. We can't say enough good things about the whole experience.

PS> for those of you who wondered....Dad picked blackberries until his fingers and lips were purple and he couldn't eat any more. He had a hard time driving by all the unpicked ones on the way to the airport to fly home, though!

TGS (The Garage Sale) or TG's Revisited

2006-07-31T22:28:00.000-07:00

Those of you who are regular visitors have already heard the saga of TG's (The Garage), which was full of the results of combining two households of 'stuff' and not full of our cars! They had been relegated to the driveway, rain, wind and even occasional snow, instead of the beautiful two car garage with workshop standing so enticing near.

Well, several weeks ago, we decided to do something about this deplorable situation and have that most American of weekend activities: THE GARAGE SALE.

For the uninitiated, a garage sale is where all the stuff you had to have (but now don't) is put out on tables in your garage (hence the name) or yard (weather permitting) and sold for about 10 cents on the dollar. Even with the low, low prices, you can count on most of the people who show up trying to get you to go even lower. It is rather humiliating to have that beautiful set of everyday dishes that you just love (but your husband hates) marked at $8.00 for a full set of 12, but finally selling at $6.00. How revolting!!!!

We, of course, never doing anything half way, had a HUGE garage sale. It took us a week to price things and four days to put everything out. We had everything from lawn tractors, a double hung hollow core door, antique school desk, laminating machine, the previously mentioned dishes (actually 3 sets of dishes), three crock pots, 4 clock radios, and a partridge in a pear tree.....(whoops, wrong song). Instead of the partridge, we had a 1990 Dodge minivan.

Being the unique people that we are, we sold more the day before the sale officially opened than the other two days combined!! It helped that we sold the van on Thursday, another $300 of stuff to friends, and then made another $450 the other two days. It was great. I, of course, was resorting to bribery the last few hours to get rid of the mountain of baskets: "Use a basket to shop with and you get it free with any purchase!"

All and all, it went really well.....except some of it is left and now I have to box it up, and give it away so we can get ready for the next garage sale, since we only were able to make room for one car. The other one is sulking in the driveway and we fear mechanical repercussions if it doesn't get shelter soon!

Pretty Feet

2006-07-19T20:07:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking alot about feet the past year. Although the feet in the picture may not look that pretty to you, they look absolutely amazing to me...since they are the result of two surgeries, eleven incisions, three screws, and six removable pins. For about four of the past nine months, my feet looked like something from a Frankenstein movie. I even freaked out our granddaughter who wants to be a vet....pins sticking out the end of a person's toes will do that to some people.

What is amazing is how much better they look and feel than they did before the surgery. My big toes pointed to the outside at about 3 and 10 o'clock, the three toes between my biggest and smallest toes were curled up into claws, unable to straighten out and I could barely walk without my shoes. Even in shoes, I had trouble, since my feet were so wide it was next to impossible to find shoes that fit. My shoe size has shrunk from an 11 WW to a 9-1/2 W. Amazing!

What this whole experience has taught me is this:

1. You don't get very far if your feet hurt.

2. A lot of pain for a short while is worth the price of being able to walk freely again.

3. Pretty is a relative term....I think my feet are beautiful now!

Have a great day and be good to your feet!

M.A.A.

2006-07-11T16:43:00.000-07:00

It is time to confess....yes, I should belong to M.A.A. That stands for Movie Addicts Anonymous. In fact, I am married to a fellow addict. What else would you call people who have seen three first run movies in the last 4 days, have two rental movies to return to the video store by Thursday, and have so many videos and DVDs that we need an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of them?

The problem with being an addict is that it doesn't have to be a good movie to hold our attention. In fact, we seem to be enamoured of really bad movies, since they are so bad they are funny.We belong to the Regal Theatre club, so on Tuesdays we get free popcorn with our movie membership. Today we took our two free movie tickets (earned by attending so many movies last month) and watched that masterpiece of cinematography: NACHO LIBRE. It fits right up there with one of my husband's all time favorites, WHITE PONGO, and will probably make it's way into our video library sometime in the future. For those of you who are uninitiated....WHITE PONGO was made in the 1940's and is every cliche about Africa you can imagine, up to and including a porter named: Mumbo Jumbo. What is really scary is that we have at least 4 more 'D' movies for the same time period and genre that we haven't viewed yet.

Help us!!!! Let us know if you know where the local chapter of M.A.A. meets and we promise to go....right after we watch another video.

Ten Days in Texas

2006-06-28T09:14:00.000-07:00

We recently returned from a family reunion - sort of a rolling visit with parents, siblings, children and grandchildren. Here are a few verbal snapshots of our ten days in Texas:

*The smell of Texas always hits me first - dry and dusty - and reminds me of my childhood visits
*My sister is as funny as ever - why did we fight so much as children? Oh, yeah, it was that bossy older sister, younger sister resisting thing.
*My oldest brother looked good - even if I did make jokes about his birthday. Since he is younger than me, I am allowed.
*It is comforting to know that there is always a domino game or 42 being played somewhere in Texas....even if my husband doesn't get it.
*My kids are still terrific...just older. Not sure what I did right, but I suspect it is an 'in spite of' rather than what I did. God is surely faithful.
*Texas can be really pleasant, especially if you are on a lake and have lots of family to visit with.
*Don't sit on the grass!!!! Chiggers really itch!
*Watching my children's children is exciting and weird at the same time. They are not old enough (or I don't feel old enough) for them to be parents, but they do a terrific job at it.
*Always have enough squirt guns for the whole crew, even if you are not loading them with water. They come in handy when everyone wants to be a cowboy, or spaceman, or generally just to make load shooting noises.
*Teaching someone canasta can be hazardous to your marriage!
*Singing together is fabulous, but watching my father clog dance for his great grandson is mind boggling.
*The swimming pool for our crew is never sedate - instead it is a shark pool, pirate lair, ultimate frisbee/cannonball arena. Hope the other guests at the resort didn't mind.
*Someone always gets sick...not fun for them, but good for grandparents to bond with their children.
*My mantra that you can never have too much food is wrong - you can have too much food.
*Nine children under the age of 8 make a lot of noise!!!!

What a fabulous ten days! We feel really thankful to have had the time to visit, share and generally have fun with everyone. What a great family we have!

War in the country

2006-06-12T21:58:00.000-07:00

Ah, the bucolic countryside, where birdies sing, squirrels scamper happily, bunny rabbits hop along. Sounds a lot like a Disney movie, doesn't it? Well, one thing you learn when you live in the country is that there is a war going on out there!

Take the beautiful birdbath area out in front of our porch. First there are the birds. We have three kinds of finches, grosbeaks, woodpeckers, and doves, who all get along fairly well and will often share a feeder. But then there are the jays and the starlings. The jays (three kinds of them) are the neighborhood bullies. When they are around, no one is allowed to eat from any of the feeders, even the ones ten feet away from where the jay is getting his lunch. The starlings are the invading horde - swooping down, devouring everything in sight and attacking any bird that dares to enter the area. The hummingbirds are the feuding family of the bird world. One hummingbird will perch on my fench where he can see all three feeders and run off any other humming bird who tries to get a drink. However, there is always a sneaky one who will feed while the 'top dog' is running off an intruder.

While the birds are enacting their little war, there are the squirrels. They have an ongoing war with the cats and my husband. You see, they think the bird feeders are their private smorgasbord and they visit regularly. One of our cats takes up residence every morning in an abandoned feeder at the base of the tree, hoping to catch an unsuspecting squirrel on his way down. Art, on the other hand, has a loaded BB gun by the front door. I'll be working in the kitchen and hear him pumping it up frantically. The squirrels are back! He sneakingly opens the front door and through the crack sights on the squirrel gorging himself on the sunflower seeds. Right now the score is Cats: zero, Art: one; Squirrels: 1,000!

The rabbit army has arrived in hordes. I never knew that you could have a herd of rabbits, but we do. The odd thing is that our cats seem to ignore them. I think they have tried to chase them once or twice, but gave up pretty quickly. Two of the cats are at a great disadvantage....they are mainly white and stick out like a sore thumb when trying to sneak up on the rabbits across an open field. The rabbits have brought out someone else, though: a young coyote. There is so much food here that he isn't shy, even in broad day light, about crossing the field by our house. The war is on and he is eating well!

I will leave the tales of the raccoons, peacocks and deer for another day...but just remember this: it may look peaceful on the surface, but it's a war out there!

The Tale of TG's (The Garage)

2006-06-08T07:53:00.000-07:00

I always thought I would get more organized as I got older. You know what I mean: better in control of my life, more focused, seeing the road more clearly. The reality, however, is that my life seems to get more cluttered and disorganized the older I get. I think maybe it is all the stuff!

Since Art and I married a little over a year ago, there has been this huge project looming over me.....TG's. That is our name for our three car garage that is packed to the rafters with all the stuff that we couldn't unpack, fit in the house or figure what to do with after we combined two households. We joke about shopping at 'TG's) before spending money at a real store....but it really isn't a joke. I mean, how can I justify buying a new picture frame, when somewhere in TG's is a box full of picture frames that I was saving for just such an occasion? Unfortunately, that box is buried under a mountain of other things that I really needed at the time (or at least thought I did).

The clutter in TG's often mirrors the clutter in my mind. Just like I need to clean out my pile of stuff in the garage before I can move forward with renovating and planning my future physically, I find that I need to get rid of the clutter of past stuff, before I can move forward and grow in the future. Maybe that is why Jesus said in Matt. 6:19 - 21: "Don't store up for yourselves treasures (stuff) on earth, ...but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,...For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

May you have a day that is full in treasure (stuff) in the right place!

Bad Hair Day

2006-06-02T17:46:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had one of those moments that you wish you could recall? Have you ever had one of those decisions you wish you could do over? Have you ever said to yourself.....What was I thinking!!??

I broke my cardinal rule of haircuts today: NEVER GET A CHEAP HAIRCUT!! In my zeal to save money on gas and on the haircut, I went to our local walk-in cheapie salon, even though every time I have gotten a haircut in a place like that in the past....It has been a disaster. Basically, I am an optimistic person. That is the only way to explain my belief that 30 years of experience is wrong and this time the stylist will listen to me.

So, what happened? The stylist looked at the picture I brought of what I wanted (yes, I even had visual aids!), looked me in the eye when she said she understood; and proceeded to give me a haircut (in her words ) that 'is a little shorter' than I wanted. A little shorter?? Marines have more hair on the back of their neck than I do. It may have something to do with the fact that she was talking on the phone while using clippers on my neckline. Possibly, she was distracted by the other customer for whom she was instructing her colleague on the correct cut. Maybe she is just blind and failed to notice that the picture I showed her had HAIR!!!!! Fortunately I had worn a hat to cover the mess that my hair was when I walked in.....So I had something to cover the mess when I walked out.

Anyway, after my sweet husband dealt with the female meltdown over the mess (he had told me not to get it cut too short - boy, was he prophetic!), he made me promise to quit trying to save money on haircuts and to go to the 'good' place across town.

I will close with the following trite bit of wisdom: YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR - ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO HAIRCUTS.

Life on the Emerald Mountain

2006-06-02T08:20:00.000-07:00

Life on the Emerald Mountain - I could have used the words: moldy, mossy, slimy, drippy, squishy or any other word that indicates wet and green, but 'Emerald' sounds so much better. Here, not just trees are green, but roofs, sidewalks, tree trunks, rocks, anything that is left outside for long. Why do you think it is called the Evergreen State? Believe me, it isn't for the type of tree....not matter what they tell you! I live on the wet side of the Cascade mountains, which means if the sun shines....everything and everyone stops for a 'sun break'. You know those of us from the Northwest by our obsession with catching every last ray of sun. You also know us by our willingness to do anything in the rain: camping, boating, hiking, biking, shopping, golf, or just a gentle stroll. What's a little rain? Just liquid sunshine.

Don't get me wrong....I am not really complaining about all the rain. It means we truly do have emerald lawns, huge roses, rhodedendrans, azaleas, daffodils......you get the picture. Actually, I think if you put a dead stick in the ground here, it would sprout and have flowers within a week. Even I, with my very brown thumb, can grow just about anything....as long as I let God do the watering! Give me a houseplant and I will kill it with kindness within a month.

We also have lots of wildlife out here in the wilds (well, sort of wilds) of the foothills. Besides the four cats who are supposed to be hunting the moles and rabbits, we have seen raccoons, possums, bobcats, lynx, cougars, loads of deer, a brown bear, peacocks (obviously imported) and the assorted livestock of our neighbors. One night at 2 am, we were visited by the neighbor's bull who loved birdseed. After he destroyed our bird feeders, the neighbor decided to turn him into steaks and ribs. That will teach him to feed outside of his species!

Generally speaking....life is great here on Emerald Mountain. I don't think there is anywhere that is prettier and all the rain means lots of rainbows. There is a sermon in that statement...but I will spare the reader for now. May you have lots of sunbreaks in the days ahead!