Westwoods

A common problem at our age is finding out we have gotten a late start on our future. Maybe it's not a late start, maybe it's just how God planned it for us. One night this week, Bruce bounded into the house from his short walk home from the hospital. I could tell he was pumped even after a 12 hour shift.  I was not however, I was exhausted from having spent the day with 15 excited kids sledding, ice sculpting, and making hot chocolate and s'mores. So when Bruce sprinted into the house at ten at night my reaction was to go into my turtle shell mode. "I can't hear you...LALALA" and all that. "Here's how we are going to do the next two years!" This he said with finality and joy.  "Who's we?" was my turtle response. I am not part of we if this was decided while I wore myself out with the school kids and also if it was decided while you were working your shift...  I think these thoughts deep within my shell of safety. ...

Bruce inspired me last week with his views on talent in the arts. Paraphrased, he thinks the art world tends to be filled with ordinary people with over inflated egos. He is especially unimpressed by those who are able to make a lot of money by expressing their ordinary selves, and he claims that these regular people just happened to be in the right place at the right time to get their extra ordinary entrance into the world as "famous". I like that my husband thinks. I also like that he's not afraid to say what he thinks even if not many agree with him. And even if I hear what he says and know what he means, I still wonder...Is that how it is?  Think about this...   Dorothea Lange became famous as a photographer during the Great Depression. Most people have seen the photo of her subject, Florence Owen Thomson. This particular photo smote the nation with compassion for the plight they all mutually felt during that era. I have a hard time seeing that as chance. Fl...

Have you ever watched someone you love go through a wilderness experience of the heart?  Maybe you are the one going through the wilderness. Maybe you feel lost and alone. You have convinced yourself that no one understands your unique situation. I know what its like. I know how it feels to be completely alone in your journey with people on every side telling you how to behave or what you should think. They might even tell you what book you should read to get well. (They assume you are sick if you are wandering.) They really do mean well. They love you and it pains them to see your pain. They want to fix the you that is hurting; they want to help you see a better way, to bring you hope, and to help you out of your obvious darkness.   All they want is to give you guidance. During my times of wandering, it seems that God always takes me back to revisit the Children of Israel. They too wandered. They even had a guide by day and night and they still wandered.  The...

It has been brutally cold. It's also been magically pretty.  In other news... January makes me want to rid my walls of pretties, throw out doodads, organize the silverware drawer, do workout videos, eat salads arrayed in vegetables of names I can't pronounce, and clean behind my stove and fridge. And that is pretty much where it ends. I didn't say I did those things; I just want to do them. For about five minutes I want to and then thankfully someone needs me to find a lost sock or help with homework. I did give in to the urge and put away part of the Christmas decor. Half way through however, I decided it was convenient that my Elk and Deer and Trees are really just winter kinda stuff and they could stay and dwell for the duration. And all that white is definitely Winter huh? I do want to inspire you with the thought that came to me when I went back to the classroom this year.  I knew there was going to be a few changes needing to take place. Pront...

My firstborn and only son, turned 17 this week.  He melted my heart one day last week when I witnessed him helping a costumer at Far North Outfitters where he works most afternoons;  I went in there to buy him a birthday present, instead he gave me one of the proudest moments a mama could ever have.   It was the way he helped Arty.  Arty is an older person of severe mental challenges.  He can hardly form words let alone whole sentences. There is usually liquid dripping from his nostrils and a weeks worth of whiskers on his weathered, bony face.  Arty drives his bike right through traffic in town sure as can be no harm will come his way, neither looking to the right or left or behind. He does not use hand signals so no one knows if it is safe to pass him. Most people don't. Arty was in the store that afternoon looking lost until he saw Laife walk in, then Arty's face lit up like a Christmas tree. He walks toward Laife eagerly saying, "I wa Yu," his t...

We stayed here in this peaceful spot for three nights, two and a half days.  We both say if it had not been for this little cove our trip might not have been the successful bit of vacation we were seeking. Sunsets are never caught in a picture like they are in real life...but these sunsets could not be ignored...we stilled tried to capture all three of them... Sunsets such as these make one renew covenants to God and maybe even your husband or wife... Who could believe there are storms? At this place of Eden, we hiked, paddle boarded, snorkeled, spear fished, collected shells and rocks, and spent long quiet hours soaking up the sun. Morning hike and watching pelicans... As with all of life, there was one thing that made our stay at this lagoon less then perfect.  I really don't even want to mention it but it is reality and we wish to inform anyone interested in taking a similar trip of the facts of the area.  There is trash.  E...