TABBIES, TURKEYS, AND SANTA RUNS

The Thanksgiving Day weekend is slipping away, just like the one last, carefully hoarded piece of banana cream pie slipped off its plate and landed, kerplunk, in the garbage while I was searching for a fork!!
Although we received several invitations for dinner at friends' houses, we opted to have a special meal at a nice restaurant. We were, however, feeling a bit nostalgic when the day dawned, so...we sought to have an adventure rather than stay home. Aha...our first adventure was spotting those wild turkeys strolling along the road!! They strutted their stuff for the photo op, knowing full well they were in no danger from us!!
We also spotted this wonderfully huge bird's nest in one of our oak trees. At first, we thought it may have been an old nest that we'd just never noticed, but our resident bird flock flew in and out while we watched!! Beautiful sight. There are families of all types!!

We'd seen on a tv commercial that some stores were open on Thanksgiving Day. Who knew?? We had fun wandering through some of the local stores and buying gifts. We pondered over what to buy for each other and decided that what we really wanted as a gift was a quick trip to Arizona, California, and Utah to play Santa for family members!! I even convinced Dad to brave the Black Friday crowds, so I could get some items at JoAnn's Fabrics!!

We did have a luxurious dinner at the Hood River Inn. In the first picture, you're looking west at the bridge.

Here you're looking east at SDS Lumber and the Bingen Marina.

The Inn was crowded, nicely decorated, but, alas...no leftovers!!

One of my former students sold me a couple of GREAT DEALS at Home Depot. Since I worked so hard to teach many of my special students good work skills, I couldn't resist succumbing to Jesse's pleadings--stocking stuffers and $1 poinsettias.

Now I'm preparing for the Santa Run. We'll contact those of you involved of our itinerary as soon as we know what it is. Lots of fun. I have "stuff" everywhere. Dad started hauling in the Christmas bins. These are but a few.

All is well here. The weather is almost balmy. I noticed in my journal from last year that we had our first snow on November 18, but, there's no snow in sight and none predicted!! We're healthy and happy and THANKFUL. Hope you are too. Love, Mom

"Grace is God's acceptance of me. Faith is my acceptance of God's acceptance of me. Peace is my acceptance of me." Robert Millett

Welcome little Miss Juliana Marie!!

Unlike other mothers/grandmothers/great grandmothers, I am not baking seven pies, cooking a turkey and a ham, and bustling around the kitchen. My children aren't lounging on couches and in front of tvs and basketball hoops. The leaves are all raked, and there's a bite of snow in the air, and the house is quiet except for the occasional snap of the fire and the low hum of a tv news show. Dad and I are alone on this Thanksgiving Eve, so I was feeling a certain hollowness this morning as I contemplated spending Thanksgiving Day at a luxury hotel having a scrumptuous dinner which I didn't cook. Then, the phone rang, and an excited Susan said, "Mom, the baby's come." Oh, the tender mercies of God when He knew how I needed to be reminded that Thanksgiving is not about turkeys and food, company or football games; it's about the giving of thanks!! Our new baby is Miss Juliana Marie Jensen, born November 25 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to a black daddy and white mama who could care less about her!! Miss Juliana Marie--doesn't that stir up your memories of Southern belles!? Miss Juliana Marie is very much wanted by Susan, Eric, two brothers and one sister, and 30+ aunts, uncles, and cousins. By next Tuesday, our little Southern Belle will be an Arizona Razorback with lungs to match.

On another fun "tender mercy" note, I've been trying for several days to get a picture of the flock of wild turkeys who cross and criss cross the road up here. When I have my camera ready, they're nowhere to be seen; when my camera's not in the car, they stroll majestically and slowly across the road in front of the car!! No wonder they're not gracing anyone's dinner table tomorrow!!

My camera has been broken for several years, requiring some well placed rubber bands to hold the plate cover over the batteries and causing constant consternation when the rubber bands slip, the batteries fall out, and I've lost my Kodak moment. I checked out the cost to repair my beloved digital camera and found out that there are no Sony repair shops within 250 miles of White Salmon and a trip to the factory for a repair and cleaning is $121+tax!! When we were in Wal-mart looking at a new camera, our favorite Wal-mart manager, Paolo, took a look at the camera, slightly bent a small piece of plastic , and my broken camera was whole once more!!

Life is such a carousel of wonderful moments to be enjoyed and savored, and brought to our minds again and again at less "wonderful" times. Being reminded so spectacularly by a little brown-eyed girl from the bayou is so fine!! Welcome, Little Darling. Love and Thanks to all of you for being who you are. Still stalking those birds with my "new" camera--Mom

SANTAS AND SACKS

I am often disappointed if someone hasn't updated his blog for a while; yet I can't always seem to get mine done. I love the new sport of "blurfing" which seems to be a constant peek into other people's lives. I'm not sure if we love the peeking because it affirms that our life is just as ordinary and pretty much boring and normal as others, or we like to know that others are just as quirky as we are!! Ah well. It's certainly a timekiller to scroll through blogs.

Christmas is only a few weeks away, and Santa's Workshop is open at our house. Aunt Joan came for a visit, and we both began the frenzy that is preparation for Christmas. We talked about the great pleasure there is in anticipating the reaction of the recipients to a gift that we've made personally for them. I think that, unless you're a crafter or sewer, you don't understand that giving a personally handmade gift for someone is a gift with a double benefit--one for the giver and one for the gifted. We're making something for all of the daughters in our lives, and you can see below a picture of two of them. Sometime after Christmas, I'll show what these pieces of material become!! Joan and I loved the challenge of figuring out the material we'd use, the embellishments and gee gaws to adorn them with, and the delicious hours of putting the gifts together. We talked about the recipients--would they cherish our gifts or would they throw them in a drawer out of sight? It doesn't matter, of course, because the two way benefit is that the gifted knows that you cared enough to make something for them, and the giver has had the challenge of the making!! Aunt Joan tried a few times to capture some of the crazy antics of the squirrels, birds, and guinea hens who chitter, chatter, dash, and careen all over the yard every day. By the time, she could get on her shoes, grab her camera, and sneak out to the yard, the Kodak moment was gone. She missed, though, the Saga of the Sack. A few days earlier, the high winds blew a plastic sack high into the trees, where it snagged on a branch!! Oh well, we thought, another wind gust will blow it out of the tree!! No...no wind strong enough came along to catch that one. One day, we watched a squirrel climb everywhere along the branch, but he didn't dislodge the pesky sack either. Two birds spent a time swooping and diving at the sack, although they never once touched it. So, Dad pulled out a ladder and made a few swipes at it with his hand, a broom, and a rake...again to no avail. Finally, the nuisance sack was dislodged when Dad had to cut off the branch!! It seemed a fitting commentary on life...sometimes it's the little, persistent nuisances that seem to get far more attention than they deserve.

Dad's annual leaf-raking ritual netted 50--yes 50--bags full of leaves!! The stack of bags is taller than he is. One or two more rakings should get the job done.

Here's my latest project. I've played Santa in every other way, why not by answering a Christmas letter? I'll share my answer next blog:

All is well here. Grandma is hanging in there but is pretty much confined to home during the winter months, so give her a call when you can!! Love, Mom

"I've learned.... That no matter how serious your life requires you to be, everyone needs a friend to act goofy with."

Memories and Realities

In a recent novel I listened to on tape, one of the characters asks another to search back as far into his mind as he can and describe his earliest memory. So, I've been searching my memories for my earliest recollection. No mean feat given my advancing age. I've come up with a very vivid mind-picture of a scene in the living room of our home when I was two. It was winter in Idaho (??). Joan and I were playing by a stove which gave off lots of heat, and Mother was struggling to crochet something. It's a fleeting memory but vivid.
I've actually heard the story often but not seen the event in my mind. The year was 1943 or 44, war-time. Mother has often told us that she was desperate to make a wonderful Christmas for us that year in spite of the calamaties and stridency of the world, and she had little money. She bought cheap rubber dolls and two balls of crochet yarn, but she couldn't find a crochet hook because all metal had to be donated to the war relief. My father's Aunt Eliza gave her an old, bent crochet hook and taught Mother to crochet. In the picture is that old, bent crochet hook, the doily Mother was working on when she died, and a genuine 40's era glass Alka-seltzer bottle that Mother stored her crochet hooks in all those years. Mother's struggles paid off, and Santa brought us that year, dollies wearing beautiful crocheted dresses. One dress was in shades of variegated lavendar and one in variegated blue, but I don't remember which was which. All of us remember, with great fondness, Mother's many doilies, quilts, afghans, and gifts from the "big store." That seems to be her legacy. I wonder what my legacy will be?? What will my children remember about me??

Dad tells me I need to find a new subject for my picture-taking, but he's always engaged in such fun projects. Right now, he's having to repair the damage caused when some pipes in the upstairs bathroom become old and corroded and leaked into the ceiling of the guest bedroom downstairs!!

I think in an earlier post I mentioned that Autumn has been reluctant to leave; the truth is, I am reluctant for her to leave. This has been one of the most glorious on record for a long time. The two pictures of trees are in the front yard, and I'm standing by the boat launch site at the Bingen Marina. At the moment, high wind and heavy rain are pelting the side of the house, and I can imagine a scene of heavy leaf fall and broken limbs that will greet us at the dawn. Good-bye to Autumn's splendor and hello to cozy evenings by the crackling fire!!
I sometimes think that we now live in a world gone mad!! It seems as though everyone is finding that he can promote his own personal agenda if he speaks in exclamation points and in a loud, strident voice. I feel like TJ does in this picture. I just want to turn off the world, slow all the tumult down a bit, and give us all time to ponder and soften. There is so much beauty and serenity in the world if we could just learn to turn off our own agenda and tune into the needs of others!! Then, we could all speak in soft tones, and TJ wouldn't have to plug his ears. We're well. Grandma's doing okay. We love and pray for each of you. Love, Mom

"When we come to understand not only WHO we are, but who we always have been - and therefore, who we may become - the choice between following Christ or embracing the world is really no choice at all." - Sheri Dew

QUIRKS, AUTUMN'S SPLENDOR, BIRTHDAYS

Yesterday was an historic day--an African American has been elected President of the United States! Not only is he black, he is biracial, a child of a single parent, inexperienced, and controversial. Having lived through the racial tensions of the 60's and in a town dividing the "black" side of town from the "white" with a tunnel, I see this as an affirmation that our world is becoming color blind. I don't agree with Obama's politics; I didn't vote for him, but I see this as a singular moment in history, and I am gratified to witness this time. Let's see if he can keep his promises!!
Autumn is leaving only reluctantly this year. Heavy rains and stormy winds have begun to pelt the Pacific Northwest, but Autumn is having a hard time turning off her spectacular display!! It's as though, in the midst of economic crisis, tensions, war, conflicts, and turmoil, Mother Nature is proudly saying, "Don't despair!! There is beauty, hope, and love. See it here in God's handiwork." The pictures are of Dock Grade, our driveway, a shed near Agate Road in Shelton, and Panther Creek where Dad gets his rock.

November is one of the months of several Kennedy birthdays--Kevin, Jennifer, Toby, TJ, Tobin, and Carter are all November babies. How we love them!!

Aunt Joan (guntersgabbings.blogspot.com) has tagged me for a listing of six quirks about myself. If you read her blog, I can easily just say DITTO to her quirks and be done with it. However, I couldn't resist, and we do have some differences in spite of shared DNA. So, here goes:

1. I must have a project to work on!! When I am traveling, the largest bag I bring is my sewing bag with my current project and an "extra" in case I finish my current project. Right now, I'm working on: a xstitch sampler of the Nauvoo Temple for Aunt Joan, a beading/quilting quilt for Harmony Lynn, some beaded %$#@ for Christmas gifts, and I'm gathering yarn for an elaborate Kennedy family crest xstitched sampler. Plus, there's a wedding invitation begging for a handmade gift, a baby gift needed for a couple we worked with in LaJolla, and a new granddaughter coming some time soon.

2. I have some really gross hinky toenails!! They are the result of fungal infections that have withstood strong medication, removal of the nails, etc., etc. Since I never go barefoot or wear open-toed shoes, no one knows that these little gems are there

3. I am an incurable early morning riser. It began in the early years of child-rearing when I got up at all hours with babies. Once I'd rocked the baby to sleep, I was wide awake, so I began sewing or reading, enjoying a time in the day when I was answerable only to myself until I felt sleepy. Since I'm now retired, I've tried hard to break the habit, but to no avail. Of course, an early, early am arising, requires an afternoon nap--another quirk I've not been able to break!

4. I refuse to go into some of the mini-marts that populate the highways and byways of America to get my soda. I send Dad. Especially in the smaller mini-marts, somewhere in the store, leaning on display cases, perched on cars in the parking lot, or lolling on benches or tables are the "good old boys" of the community. In one mini-mart in White Salmon, it's the former high school athletes who've gone to pot and are reliving their glory days; in the other, it's the hunters and fishermen buying their licenses, reliving the one who got away. I feel like I'm invading sacred territory!!

5. I also refuse to exchange anything!! I think this quirk harks back to the days when one had to carefully explain WHY he was exchanging and beg a clerk to take the item back. More often than not, your reason was not adequate, your begging went unappreciated, no money came back, and you were stuck with your unwanted treasure.

6. Lately, I panic when your dad is gone for any length of time. You would think that since we're retired and spend 24 hours a day together, I might long for some time all to myself. However, when Dad is off getting wood, rocks, or other equally important absences, almost as soon as he's out the door, I begin to count the hours until he returns. We're best friends, lovers, soul mates after all.

Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with." - Mark Twain

Life is beautiful and fun. Hope all is well. Let us hear from you. Love, Mom