U is for Understanding

This time of year made the call for my U...for Understanding. It seems like so many of our troubles stem from not understanding--the other guy, the other society, the other point of view etc. We all [in our culture, at least] talk about peace, joy, goodwill and understanding towards all, but it is so much easier done than said! Understanding does not mean agreement, nor even approval. It means just...understanding that the other person might have a different viewpoint, which is as valid to him as mine is to me. The other culture might have a different background, so a different way of interpreting events etc than mine. We can understand that we have differences.

That said, understanding that others have different viewpoints does not make all views equally valid. I can understand that the colorblind man sees the stop sign as grey, but it remains red. Verities do not change because of differences in understanding. I know certain things are true, but if you understand it differently, I do not have to look down on you, nor do I have to accept your understanding as true as mine. I simply have no right to ridicule you or persecute you for your lack of understanding as I do. That is true tolerance. To know what is right, to understand the differences others may have, to accept the people with the incorrect opinions as valid and justified in their opinions without accepting something that is intrincically abhorant as equal in value. The person is equal in value to me or to anyone else, but understanding is rarely equal because we have such divergent backgrounds that while some of us show great understanding, others might not be to our level as yet.

All this rambling can be taken in a religious sense, but not neccessarily so. It could be about politics or even about dog breeding! I think we [people] just need to show more understanding towards others in general.

T is for...

Time to spend as I like--reading, watching TV, visiting friends, sleeping, and a whole host of other things.

Toys to purchase--Christmas presents for family and friends. [Remember, we don't all define toys the same!]

Television to relax by, or to bake by or quilt by or a myriad of other things that occupy hands but leave the mind to wander.

Travel near and far. Not that I'm doing a lot just now, but a girl can dream, can't she?

Tools. I've told my family that I want a drill bit set for Christmas. I'm tired of having to take a trip to the hardware store every time I need a different drill bit!

Want to hear a joke? While set up was madly going on for the Nativity, one man sent his young son over for a hammer from my toolbox. "Be careful not to mess up Brother B's tools," he said.
Ha ha ha. Get it?! Brother B's the first to admit he breaks out in hives at the very idea of entering the hardware store, whereas, it is one of my favorite stopping places in town.

Town. I like mine. I hope we can work it out to stay awhile.

Talk. I like to talk with family and friends, and am grateful for the internet as well as
Telephones which make the communication lines easy to keep open.

Ta- Ta. And I'm going to get this alphabet finished off in a more timely manner now.

S is for Snow

S has to be for Snow. It is 5 Dec and we are getting our first snow of the year. It started during the night, so we awoke to a lovely scene. It is continuing, though expected to stop this afternoon. Because it is the first of the year...it came with accidents, school delays and school cancellations. We have planned to put up our Christmas lights this afternoon, but we may not get it all done in one day--I don't know because part of the drill entails walking out on the roof, and I'm not so sure that I want Richard out there in the snow. We'll see. With the Snow, I feel like Christmas really is coming! Just last night I was putting up jars of tomatoes from our garden--the last ones, picked green, but turned red finally. I still have six or seven pumpkins to put up, so I'll be canning yet awhile. Still Snow makes me feel Christmas-y. OK, I know the Saviour was born in the Spring [hence lambs...] but it certainly puts me into the mood! Now I'm ready to write my Christmas letter, finish my Christmas cards, start baking, decorate the house...of course I have to clean it first after the months of neglect! Keep Snowing!

R is for Rest, Reading and Relaxation.

Yep, R is for Rest, Reading and Relaxation. Post-Pageant I'm due a little R & R & R, I think. My feet hurt so much that I wore slippers to choir practice Sun afternoon. [I couldn't figure out which shoes would hurt the least--and it was time to go!] I don't plan to get out of bed on Mon 'til at least 2:00. If then. With the laundry all caught up by my thoughtful husband, and dinner being provided by a close friend, I am milking Mon for all it is worth!

Then...back to the Nativity--although we had a 3 hr "Strike" to change our building back into a church for Sunday, the coat closet is jammed with over 200 costumes needing sorting, laundering and storing for the year. It will be parceled out to many women at church, we just have to keep track of the costumes. I am currently devising a master index. I will also have a picture in each file showing the complete costume. Other files will be sets, and what materials were used and where those materials are stored. A shot of each "booth" in the marketplace will aid in set-up next year, as well as arranging for replacement of some of the rickety thrown together shelves from last year. A publicity file will show what all was done this year... and we carefully stored the missionary display which was made for this as well. Finally, I will update the cast files.

Then back to R & R & R. I am looking forward to getting our Christmas lights up--we're running late this year--not just my fault, Richard was working when we usually do it anyway...now for some good weather to do it in! It will be fun. [Relaxation] I will get busy on other Christmas activities [Relaxation] but I will be able to stay home mostly, and not have to be on my dead feet so much [Rest]. I will even be able to sleep in, and/or take naps as desired [more Rest!]. Once I am rested enough, I will even be able to read something longer than a post on a blog site--ooh, maybe a book! Wow! We haven't even had Book Club since Oct [and that was a sharing of old favorites] because most of us were too drained to read anything more than a couple pages long!

So, now you all know my priorities...burn myself out, then Relax, Rest and Read. Whoever it is in the family who has us for Christmas [don't be upset, Sariah, I know who we have...] Books...I'd like some new LDS fiction and even nonfiction. Books I'll never probably buy myself, but would enjoy very much. LDS because other stuff I can easily get from the library. My new Year's resolution will be to do more R & R & R. I need some right now!

In case you do not know what I am referring to when I mention: the Pageant, the Nativity, etc. the following is one of the advertisements I sent out to family and friends. It is the most difficult thing I have ever directed...because it is so varied and each detail much be followed. Each "scene" is presented in a very different way, for example: lighting--in the Marketplace is basically the cultural hall lighting, but on the Road to Bethlehem, we employ directional lights that turn on by movement. The Inn is lit by candles and lantern from inside, garden solar lights in the courtyard, and a couple [electric, disguised as not electric] torches. Add a couple strands of decorative lights in the bushes, and we're done. For the shepherd encampment [in addition to the fire pit] where and when the angels appear, we use a conglomerration of lighting trees [in regular life, volleyball poles] and a behemoth sound/lighting platform. We are adding an additional light this year to shine straight up and out of the Herald angel's costume, and a star above his head. Moving back indoors for the Holy Family in their cave, we use the lights in the foyer sparingly, with one focused on the Holy Family, and just enough other light for people to see by. Last year we used just the regular lights in the overflow for the courtyard of the temple, but I'd like to have a spot on Simeon's door. Not yet figured out! In the Temple, we have some ambient lighting from the side sconces, add a spotlight where the major action is, and light from the Menorah. And that's just the lighting!!! Every other aspect of the pageant must be similarly dealt with! I'm so tired! Two weeks to go and still so much to do! Then perhaps I can think R is for something other than rehearsal: here's my "flier"...

Nativity Enactment
"A Prophesy Unfolds"

Presented by
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints
6500 Fox Hill Dr
Canal Winchester, Ohio


FREE ADMISSION
TICKET REQUIRED due to limited group size

Call for FREE TICKETS: 614-837-8207

THURS NOV 29: 7:00, 7:30, 8:00
FRI NOV 30: 6:30, 7:00, 7:30, 8:00, 8:30
SAT DEC 1: 5:30, 6:00, 6:30, 7:00, 7:30

Come enjoy the LIVE NATIVITY plus the Marketplace at Bethlehem, [watch out for the Romans...] at the Inn, and later at the Temple with their Son. View with the shepherds the amazing appearance of angels.
Afterward as you explore the Marketplace, you will be offered free refreshments and the opportunity to visit the creche rooms containing a large collection of Nativity sets from around the world.
Sign Translation for the deaf throughout, Spanish and many other languages available upon request. [European, Asian, and African] If other languages required, please let us know when you order your tickets.

Of course, my smart-alec daughter [who won't be here anyway] asked for translation for...Canadian!

Q is for Quiet

Along about one of the last few days of Sept. my daughter arrived with her two little boys, aged 2 and 7 mo. to stay for a month. It was wonderful having them here--even if I spent over half the time sick. And I got sick as they recovered!

Finally everyone was well, and everyone adjusted. The last week and a half were terrific! I miss them so much!

They left 1 Nov, fairly early in the morning. Suddenly it was quiet...a quiet so loud that it screamed, "QUIET " in our house. Oh there is still noise--from outside, from TV and radio and even the refrigerator hum. But it is so QUIET! I still have not put the toy baskets away in the garage, but there are no musical toys playing.

I like the quiet at the church when I go over by myself and work on costumes [unpacking from last year, ironing, organizing]. I like the quiet as I sleep at night. I like the quiet as the colder temperatures drive us inside more and close our windows. But I miss my daughter's company. And I miss my grandsons playing, talking, and, yes, even crying. [I love cuddling and singing the baby to sleep!]

Yep, Q is for Quiet. Both bad and good.

P is for...Paper!

I'm drowning in it! If it isn't junk mail, then it is mail I must attend to. Where oh where are the cute Halloween cards bought to mail to grandchildren? Purchased ahead of time, and oh so thoughtfully, yet they carelessly ended up with the paper! I have computer paper--blank and used on one side, now "scratch" paper. I have paper of different weights and colors for publicity. I have more paper of more colors and more weights for scrapbooking. Then there are the pictures and the stickers and... and... and... when it comes to scrapbooking paper! Then there are scripts. "sides" [partial scripts for those who are in only one or two scenes] costume charts and pattern papers.

Papers which come home from school occasionally find me.

Then there are magazines [made of--you guessed it Paper! Oh, and books! ]

A number of years ago in our school district in VA it was claimed that we were to become a paperless society. If that is so, why do I need the printer so very much?

Some days I would really like P to be for entirely something else...Pageant [produces copious amounts of paper] Plants [recipes for green tomatoes after the freeze were printed out on --Paper!] planes [one of our family traditions on Thanksgiving was the making of Paper airplanes...] Popsicles [they come in Paper--very sticky...] Pumpkins...had to dig out the James Whitcomb Riley poem: "The frost is on the punkin..."but the poem was on Paper! It is everywhere!

Help! In this brave new world of a paperless society, I'm drowning in... Paper!

O is for Orders

There are a few different kinds of orders I must explain. As a child growing up Catholic, "Holy Orders" meant becoming a priest, as in "receiving Holy Orders" and was one of the seven Sacraments [the only one I never received, I might add [unless you don't count matrimony, as I was not married as a Catholic] and never could. But I had friends and family who did receive Holy Orders. And it made lots of sense to me because I was also an Air Force brat! In the military, Orders refers first to a duty assignment [as in "he received Orders for Canute AFB"]

Then, of course there are the everyday sort of "orders" given by parents or other persons in authority. Obedience to those orders are directly in line with respect for the giver by the receiver. I think that parents must give orders, and children must learn to obey, but all parent's requests should not be couched as orders, for then a child never learns how to decide correctly for himself. Soldiers must obey orders--usually without question, but American soldiers have always held the right to think for themselves, and to disobey a direct order if believed to be a bad order.

As a director, I must give orders at times, [tho I prefer to make requests] as final decisions must be made by someone who is then held accountable for those orders--just like in the military, or the family.

Sometimes it is nice to know that you are not the person responsible for the orders or for the consequences, for they do go hand in hand...[I love seeing school trips--and thinking, ha! I'm not in charge!]

I guess I've gone full circle in my thinking, for I think that commandments are "Holy Orders." Our Heavenly Father has given us relatively few...but if we follow them, we can reach safety and peace. I always think of the Johnstown Flood of Pennsylvania. I read of a boy whose Prussian Father always gave orders expecting instantaneous obedience. During the flood the two of them were on their roof awaiting rescue. When a boat came, there was room for only one, and the waters were so strong, they could not get very close to the house--nor stay in the area very long. At one point the boy, dimly understanding what was happening, received an order from his father. "Jump" was the order. Without hesitation, the boy followed his father's commamd. and was caught into the rescue boat. I don't recall that the father was saved. But he saved his son, who knew how to take an order. I think of this when I think of the many commandments given us by our Heavely Father. And I ask...Do I close my eyes and jump whenever He commands? I would like to say yes, but it would be a lie. I must learn to trust Him implicitly, close my eyes and jump at His orders. I pray we may all do so. It is hard to always be 100% sure of Holy Orders, but I keep trying.

Wednesday and Thankfulness

1] I've been really sick all week. A lousy way for my daughter and grandsons' visit to begin. But, it could have been so much worse! Lura brought a light case of IT with her. The boys went throught IT quickly. Richard hasn't caught IT, nor has Grandpa. I'm beginning to get over IT. And I am so very very thankful!

2] I love my new chiropracter. His goal is not the normal, "Let's get you off the cane." But rather: "Use the cane, fall over less." Unfortunately, I was not using my cane when I went out to push a solar lamp down into the flower bed. No, I fell--on my lovely [well at least they were]
flowers. But my neighbor heard my cry for help, and came over and helped me up. My back hurts, but it could be from sleeping sitting up just as much as from falling down! But at least I was taken care of!

3] Good friends who share their joys [Sarah had her baby! I just finished talking to her...] and sorrows [The good news is that it probably wasn't a heart attack, but...] and share in mine [my daughter this, my son that, my grandchild this and that!!!]

All in all, life is pretty good where I'm sitting right now!

N is for . . . NUMBERS!

I hate 'em! When I was younger, they would dance all over my page, so I ended up with the neatest arithmetic papers ever--I needed to have a huge margin above , below, and on both sides of each problem! Somehow, I suffered though all the higher math I needed for college. Then when I returned to school after a decade of absence, things had changed...more math [and I thought I had done with it!] Somehow or other, when I took my CBEST [CA teacher's exams] I actually pulled off an "above average"!

I even taught math...first grade level! That is about all I can handle.

But...I love the show Numbers. The mathematical talk and equations confuse me, but I find the whole idea a fascinating one. Guess some of my Dad's love of math rubbed off despite my best efforts to avoid numbers for life!

Time to go count some sheep!

Wed 3 Thankful Things

1] Being able to participate in grandson's school funraiser--even if it is online! [Rachel's candybar was easier & cheaper at church tonight! She just walked around with her bag, looking cute!

2] Additions to the household going smoothly. Yes, we have another cat--two year old and abandonned, Puck. Not the Faery King of Shakespeare, no, she is named for a hockey puck. Oh well. She's only up to almost 5 pounds, and she's getting some meat on her ribs at last.

3] Costumes are coming along--though I feel like I'm dragging and pulling, but the additional marketplace are almost done! My goal was 1 Oct--we'll probably not be quite finished, but awfully close!

M is for...

M is for Miracles. All kinds. There is a song from the musical Flower Drum Song that says it succinctly. My favorite line is about a girl not 2' tall not falling over as she walks.

M is for Musicals. Do you know that you can teach the most wonderful lessons through musicals? [see above] My favorite is the song "You've Got to be Carefully Taught" from South Pacific which explains the phenomena of racial prejudice. Children are NOT born with it, they must be carefully taught, "before they are six, or seven, or eight, to hate all the people their relatives hate..." One can teach lessons of hope, of faith, of charity all through musicals! They are also great for waking up the family on school days. My kids threatened me with death and worse at times, but getting them up with a rousing musical definitely brought a better mood into our home than other methods. [The Music Man starts out with whistles and 76 Trombones; 1776 starts out with a drumroll--my two personal faves]

M is for Monsters at the End of [the] Book, and other great reads for an with children! We sit with another family at church always. They have 4 kids aged 6 to 1; two of them are readers, the other 2 like books. They love to see what "Aunt [Allrie]" has brought each week. Won't it be fun next week when we add two grandsons to the mix?!

M is for Moms. Old or young, with many children or just one, actual physical mothers, or "other mothers" who stand in parentis locus both formally and informally. What influence on the next generation! How important to the secure development of each and every child. I've written about "other mothers" before, but I think they do not get enough credit. They may be family friends, they may be aunts, they may be teachers etc., but kids need not only their own Moms but the "Other Mothers" in whom they can confide and from whom they draw strength, and look up to and just generally know the security that they are loved and cared about by more than just their own Moms. "Other Mothers" usually have a different experiential background and can relate to the kids in a way different from their own Moms. And Moms, at least the good ones, love their kids unconditionally, providing a base of support for each and every human being--if all worked right.

M is for lots of really important things...I could go on, but my son wants the computer. M is also for "Mine" a favorite word of any two year old, but I am past that point in life, so I will share. My child deserves his turn.

Enough is Enough

Enough is Enough is the name of a campaign to ask that performers everywhere behave in a respectful manner when speaking of our Savior. Apparantly some actress--whom I understand is pretty well known--but not to me: Kathy Griffith [?] accepted her Emmy with a statement taking the Lord's Name not only in vain, but doing so in the most calculated and offensive way possible. The Miracle Theatre in TN decided they'd had it, so took out a full page ad in USA Today saying so. All they asked was that respect for our God, or at least our beliefs be shown. Any other religious group would not be forced to receive this growing degredation and persecution in America. I agree, so I decided to tell my family and friends about it. For more info, and to sign the petition [they are trying for a million signatures so it will be listened to, just go to their website--scroll past the theatre info [or read it, as did I] and you will find the whole story. www.MiracleTheater.com. And I was going to say M is for miracles! I'm not sure wether or not I will now...but then again...

3 Things yet again!

1] Daughters: one who makes me think about the things for which I am thankful on a regular basis. Thanks for starting this, Sariah!

2] Tomatoes. And Bro. Schultz. He supplies our whole ward with tomato plants for our gardens, then during the season, he brings a couple of big boxes full of tomatoes each week to church. I am busy laying in a years supply. I'll soon be set--I don't know about the rest of the household!

3] Friends. I have friends here. Real friends. Not just see you on Sunday, but call you up and say have you had lunch yet? Want to run to _________ with me? And whom I can call in the same way. You don't really appreciate having friends like that 'til you go a number of years without them! And it is not just one or two--I have lots of friends here--it's so great!

L is for...Light

I really don't appreciate the new OH law which does not yet accept Seminary as school, so until the 20th I have to go with Richard as he cannot drive 'til 6:00am, and Seminary begins at 5:45 am. I have, however always liked the early Light of pre-dawn and the Light of a beautiful sunrise. It makes me feel renewed in a way sleeping in does not.

I love the way a silver lining looks, an edge of Light, caused by clouds and sun lining up just right--and it really does look like the proverbial "silver lining". It tends to make one believe...

I love the look of rays of Light refracted through a cloud--like we see in the movies. Once we saw it from the air in a small plane all around us when I was a kid--a sight I cannot begin to describe accurately. Suffice it to say that it filled me with awe.

The spray of refracted Light that is a rainbow is fun for everyone. You can see them in rain + sun; you can see them in sprinklers. Sometimes we see double rainbows, sometimes just partial rainbows. But the rainbow I remember best was in AZ, as we traveled. It had the most clear, vivid colors--especially purple, that I've ever seen in a rainbow--and Olie [exchange student from Berlin] said he'd never seen a rainbow before!! His first was a real goodie! We have to remember the pollution that Communism had hanging as a pall over East Germany [which surrounded Free West Berlin] while he was growing up. I wonder if he sees rainbows there yet?

Prisms also refract Light, making little rainbows, and it is fun to play with the Light. We have a glass bird feeder hanging on our front porch. It was placed there to draw birds to the front windows for the cats' entertainment...and they do like the birds, but Todd, especially likes the play of the Light as the glass refracts it into the living room. The more birds, the more the Light dances on the ceiling. Now he has discovered that he can make Light dance on the ceiling when he pushes his water dish. The water is acting once again to refract the Light.

In theatre, it is quite simple: The purpose of Light is to make the show visable. But it is usually much, much more. The colors and shadows can affect, even control emotions, without the audience even being aware of the manipulation of their feelings.

We study about the Light of Christ within each of us...that quickening which gives us Life...and we can understand because Light [or the lack thereof] does affect us. Think about it the next time you are at a play, movie or concert. What are they doing with the Light? Speaking generally, Light, like music, plays to the emotions. It affects our attitudes, expectations, and moods.

I will enjoy sleeping in once Richard turns 17 this week, but I will usually then miss out on dawn's early Light. It energizes my whole day when I see it, so, I guess I'll just have to get up--watch the sunrise--and then go back to bed!

K is for ...Kites

As we loaded costumes into the back of my friend's van last Sat to return to our building, she apologized for the lack of room due to the fact that their family went to fly kites the day before...and I recalled a time when, with the single adults, my oldest three kids and I not only flew kites, but made them first! Fortunatly my friend Kent, [kitemaker extrodonaire!]helped a lot--my dexterity leaves something to be desired. The kites did get off the ground, tho they didn't do as well as store bought kites. Good memories.



As a kid, I had a neighbor, Randy, who would fly his kite from the cliff edge of their house. He let it out so far that it seemed to fly miles over the valley before he would reel it in. I loved to watch as I was the Charlie Brown of kite flying in our neighborhood!




Then my mind turned to darker things. Where I taught in Richmond, the science committee sponsored Kite Day each spring. I had a combined 2nd/3rd grade class that first year. My class was the overflow, asnd when I was hired, each second and third grade teacher was asked to choose who they would send on to the new class. [Very unfair to the incoming teacher because you know they did not send their best behaved students...] but one of my little second graders was of particular concern. Because of what he said and drew, I felt that he had been sexually abused [I had previously worked in an area where I received special training in catching these things.] I did not believe it was at home, nor was I sure that it was ongoing. But I was positive that it had occurred. I duly reported to the school counselor, and to my disgust it was dropped. Until kite day.



Because k-2 went out at one time, then 3-5, I sent my 2nd graders out with another class, remaining behind with my third graders. We were working away when a child from that other class came saying I was needed right away!! So out went my third graders and I. The boy I had suspected of having had sexual abuse was now pulling the pants off some of the sweetest and most naive girls in the grade level! Moms had also been called. As we discussed the situation, I learned that my concerns had not been passed on. The counselor just brushed it off because generally our school population knew more about sex than their ages warranted anyway. If the Mom had known, she could have gotten the child in for counseling, and removed him from the day care [an uncle] who was the suspected perpetrator. Those little girls would never have had to suffer such trauma.



So, now when I think about kites, I think of that infamous Kite Day where lives were changed for good and ill. Kite day was totally changed at our school by the next year. So K is not my favorite letter, but it does remind me that we should all be vey careful with our precious children [and grandchildren] and help to keep them safe from predators. My neighbors found me to be a crazy woman, but I would practice with my kids on what to do it someone snatched them--kick and howl like crazy: "This is not my mother! this is not my father!" It can save a child from a kidnapper. [We also have a code word to ride with even someone who is know to them.]



So K is for Kites. . . and Safe Kids. . . and bad Kidnappers/molesters.

Three More Things

1] Talents--mine and others. It was interesting performing in the Relief Society Dinner Theatre this past weekend. I also supplied the costumes from our Nativity Marketplace, with several of us wearing our own costumes. It is nice to be considered a "good" actor--even tho I know that I had to write the first two words of both my paragraphs on my hand!!! I simply could not remember which came when--too similar! The whole program went really well. I heard comments like "Wow! I didn't know Jill could sing like that!" [I did--I sit next to her in choir.] and so on...

2] Birthdays! Even tho I missed getting Parker's box mailed on time, at least he's too young to care, and it will be there early for Aiden! Richard will soon turn 17 and I won't have to go to Seminary any more [OH law does not allow for a 16 yr old to drive before 6:00am and Seminary starts at 5:45.] Plus...my next birthday means Sr. Citizen discounts at many places. Yay!

3] Sleep and quiet days. I've been extra busy of late, with my regular committments, plus the RS play, plus gearing up for pageant, plus helping a friend with a particularly hard move, plus helping a neighbor with some issues, etc. So today, after seminary, I came home and returned to bed for several hours. I did work on pageant stuff most of the afternoon, but it was paperwork--calm and quiet. My migraine is all but gone and my eyes are functioning again. I love sleep!

J is for... Jars

The rows of tomatoes in canning jars. Little tiny jars for little tiny babies. Fancy Jars in fancy shapes for perfumes or oils. Jars of plain glass. Jars of blue glass. Jars that are really brown bottles. Jars on a window sill filled with water, but each jar containing a different mixture of food coloring makes a rainbow come in the window. Jars...of creams both as lotions and for eating. Jars with salsas and jars with basalmic oils. Glass jars, clay jars, marble jars. Jars...1" tall in a row on a 3" shelf. Jars 1' tall on a fire place, filled with cat tails and rushes. Jars of paperclips. Jars of coins. Jars...an amazing word for a wide range of similar yet, amazingly different items.

Three Things

1. Experience done with. I'm grateful to have gone though having had a child with Thrush so that when I am asked about its symptoms I can recognize it--but not have to deal with it any more myself. Time for someone else to benefit from my experience.

2. Parades: I love a parade and though our community is small, and the parade was not the fanciest ever, it was a fun time for one and all!

3. Keys--since I have to go to Seminary at 5:45 with Richard until he turns 17, I'm glad I have keys that enable me to work on Pageant stuff by going upstairs as needed, getting into the library as needed, or just taking a nap. I will ride my bike home, but have to wait until it is a] light out, and b] rush hour is over. Then I can cross Hwy 33!

I is for...ice

This one took me awhile to figure out, but I is for Ice. Ice on the water. Ice for skating, ice for cream, ice for drinks...just ice.

I appreciate ice in the summertime, or on a warm/hot day like today. Sitting in the sun for 2 hours watching our town's Labor Day Parade made me grateful for the ice in the drinks tub--I didn't care so much about cold drinks as sucking on ice putting ice down backs [and fronts] and just generally cooling off with ice!

As a hockey Mom, I am intimately familiar with ice rinks. I love them in the summer when I really want to cool off! In the winter they're OK, because they are pretty much the same temperature as in the summer--and so familiar.

I remember ice skating on Lake Indiana as a young child. My Aunt & Uncle lived on the lake. I learned to skate there--withh every dog on the lake following my Cousin D around--and she was my skating teacher! I think now that that is the perfect way for a hockey player to learn--not that I ever played hockey! But I thought I did. Remember...this was on an open lake--no boards. My job was to chase after and retrieve wild pucks. Of course the game had gone on with another puck, but I saved quite a few in my day.

I also went ice skating on the Elkhart [IN] River. A particular section was cordoned off and cleared for safe skating. You know how you carry skates--laces tied together and skates draped over the shoulder. Once I returned home with just one ice skate! Now that takes true talent.

Then we moved to California and my ice skating days were over. In vain each year I would watch for a pool to freeze over. Even a large puddle...but, no, it was not to be. So ice became most useful for crunching, for shaving and adding syrups: the 7-11 Slurpee, and home made ones. Shaved ice also made great ice cones in the summer.

So Ice went from a winter joy to a summer treat.

I still like to crunch on ice and hang out at ice arenas, though my puck chasing days are long over. I'm thirsty--guess it is time for that perennial favorite: ice water.