did you know...

that november is national blog posting month? nablopomo for short. and nablopomo is all about writing one blog post each day in the month of november.

november also happens to be national novel writing month. or, nanowrimo. but we won't go into that. i'm not that ambitious! a 175 page novel (that's 50,000 words) in 30 days...i. don't. think. so. (plus, i have school to do. *grin*)

i do, however, find the idea of posting here for thirty consecutive days somewhat appealing. there's no word minimum on that.

so let's try it, shall we?

how to avoid getting (all the way) sick.

}light a candle.
}knit a few rows of something soft and strong.
}make yourself a cup of tea (lipton, with honey and lemon. try it.)
}read a few chapters of a good book.
}wear the comfiest clothes possible, and exchange them for pajamas early.
}take some deep breaths, and....
}set your alarm to go running in the morning before you turn out the light. sleep well.

*grin.* of course, you could also do all these things just because they're good things to do!

good for a smile.

i was reading through the archives of my journal the other day and came across some quotes from my fall freshman semester of college. these ones from my physics professor still crack me up. dr. ezell was the best physics teacher ever (not to mention the only one i've ever had ;D).

"the internet is like the world's greatest bookstore...after an earthquake."

"it would hurt to get hit by a car going 22 mph - it really hurts to get hit by a planet at 22 mph." -on gravitational force

"if you think education is expensive, try ignorance."

there was also the time, in the spring semester, when dr. ezell was asked how to spell a certain word (i don't remember which one). his reply? "[the first few letters], scribble-scribble, scribble. i love cursive handwriting."

plans.

i love to plan. i always have.

sometimes, i brainstorm complex things that never make it past the development stage (in other words, no one but me ever hears about it). like when i was about thirteen, at a small church that had a potluck every sunday, and i schemed out a plan for dividing up the plentiful babies and toddlers and constructing a "nursery" of sorts to relieve the mothers while they ate. i had grand designs for assigning certain young people to certain children, for collecting (and making) various toys for entertainment. i brewed this scheme for weeks. but i never stirred it into action.

then there are other circumstances where i am much less retiring about things. there's the time when i was somewhere around seven; i announced that it was my doll's birthday and we should have a party. and we did - that very afternoon. i called (neighbor) friends, and they arrived in their party wear. there was a cake, and candles. and presents, even (imagine - on such short notice! the neighbors went the extra mile). we have pictures to prove it.

i still plan things, even today. it just adds that much more fun to the actual doing. sometimes, even, it is enough to have the idea and to develop it; the plan doesn't always have to come into fruition to be enjoyable. but that list of all the cozy and relaxing things to do on vacation - that list and other like planning habits - is just so satisfying.

i'm not the only one. (my plans are nothing compared to His.) "for I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome. then you will call upon Me, and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear and heed you. then you will seek Me, inquire for, and require Me [as a vital necessity] and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will release you from captivity and gather you from all the nations and all the places to which I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I caused you to be carried away captive." -jeremiah 29:11-14,  amp

{fall} on a rainy day.

 

 

 

 

right now.

right now, i'm remembering how much i love wordle.

right now, i can hear the crickets weaving a melody outside my window.

right now, i'm studying the root systems of my bulbs. i'm loving watching them grow. learning from their patterns. the roots reach down so deeply and strongly - they grow so much before we can ever see a swollen bud or even a peek of green. those roots take hold and glean nutrients, fostering the more "beautiful" growth that is yet to come. but the roots are amazing themselves.

right now, i'm feeling my own stable roots.

right now, my breathing is slowing and my eyes are blinking, and i'm getting ready to rest for the night. with the crickets, and the slow and steady roots, and the truth. i'm ready to rest.

right now.

untouched

when all around me
pushes in
demands that i listen
pay attention

when everything crowds
in to drown me

to drown out the peace
flood away the calm

when the voices clamor
and the sights reel before my eyes
when they call to me
to lose myself in them

i remember that my spirit isn't fear
i know that He has come to be my peace
i believe His grace has saved me,
erased every power of the darkness over me

and i rest
amidst the voices and the clamor
i am untouched

i rest in truth

brightening.

above: the tree at approximately 1:19 this afternoon

below: the same tree, 40 minutes later

also? go read this poem outloud. fast. i guarantee it will make you smile.

Taking Time

It's fall break.

I've spent my morning out running errands: shopping to get ready for our camping trip that starts tomorrow! It was so nice to wake up without an alarm, to put on fallish clothes, to go out and breathe the air and to wander down aisles of food with a cup of pumpkin lovliness in my hand, feeling tall and alive ("tall" is not a good description, as I'm not - but it really is what it feels like). It was good to take my time. And what really makes me happy is that I didn't realize that the copy of the book I reserved at the store was the hardback version. It really is lovely - such a pretty shade of green with silver embossed script. I can't wait to read it.

There's still a lot to do. But with the windows open, the groceries bought, and the mid-day energy dip, I'm still taking my time. I'm admiring the strong roots growing on my bulbs. (Well, one of them. Hopefully the other two soon! I can see the little baby nubs.) I'm taking a break - a real break on my bed, not at my desk. I'm watching the sunshine move across my room.

And I'm writing lists in my head. Of essentials we'll need. Of all the other things we'll bring for "fun" - games, balls, swim suits. Of my things, the books and knitting and journal. And lists of new camping things I want to bring: a candle to light on our table and a mason jar for flowers or leaves. But I'm leaving the lists in my head for the moment. It's good to take my time. It will all get done.

It's so easy for life to get flurried. For the push to always be to be done, the whole list crossed off. Instead of just doing this one thing I have on hand at the moment, and doing it well. I will never be done. There will always be something else! So I'm not aiming for that "doneness" today, but just to be settled and purposeful in the doing. It's something I've been conscious of lately. This quiet focus on the job at hand. Not just during my break from school when the pace can be slower, but also in and among the assignments and projects and business of life in general.

 But it is fall break, after all. So today, I'm taking my time.

seeing

clouds cover the sky
but the light still shines behind them.
small glimpses peek through holes
illuminating the darkness
offering truth - hope - to hold on to.

clouds cover the sky
but i choose to see the light.


"for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. the eye is the lamp of the body. so if your eye is sound, your entire body will be full of light. but if your eye is unsound, your whole body will be full of darkness. if then the very light in you (your conscience) is darkened, how dense is that darkness!" -matthew 6:21-23

what i do on a saturday

i see things. colors. light. beauty. His creation. i see these things even more clearly through the viewfinder of my camera, as i coax it to capture what i see. i also squeal with delight when i load these "captures" onto my computer and see the little circles of light caught in the background - that's bokeh. so cool!

i see while i wait, wait to hop in the car and drive across town to vote. because i vote. and not only do i vote, but i vote early!



i go treasure hunting. because i'm already downtown with my sister, and so we have to stop by the antique/thrift barns - even if we weren't planning on it. :) i do things spur-of-the-moment. it's one of my favorite things to do recently: anything (good) that wasn't on the books.

i find great big original oil painting on canvas. and a spectacular one, to boot. i balk at how big it is, how striking it is, and i leave it all lonely and unloved at the barn. and then i come home and look at my walls and say, "it would work!" and i convince myself that this particular painting really needs a home. it's just too beautiful and full-of-light-and-color to resist. and it's only thirty dollars. i couldn't go out and look for good, original artwork and get such a value. (and, did i mention that it's huge? see those three frames behind it? they weren't too small themselves.)

i put it on my list to go back to the thrift barn. soon.

i enjoy being with my sister. since we're already having so much fun (and since we're on a roll!), we buy lunch at the grocery store. i take my sister, and my lunch, to the (little) lake. and i sit there and enjoy the wind, the sunshine, and the conversation.

i finally christen my picnic quilt. (see the little scrap of it in the picture?)

and, i eat my sandwich too fast for it to show up in a picture. it was close to 2:00 by then. i was hungry. :)

i see the clouds at the lake. and i smile.

then, i bring home the treasure i did rescue from the shop, and i wash it out and give it a temporary job. to make sure it knows it has a home now.

that's just a bit of what i do on "a" saturday.

october, and happy projects

september was a pretty amazing month, full of learning and awareness - largely due to a great project, which i talked about here. and there were (awesome) boating and tubing trips, and there was my big brother coming home, and there were birthdays and wonderful Bible verses and...i could go on and on! but now it's october, and my thirty days of "learning something new" are over - and all that means is that it's time for october and the new things it will bring.

october is here, and will bring it's own joys and lessons. there will be lots of candle burning. there will be a camping trip (next weekend! i'd forgotten...now i get to look forward to it all the more!). and, there will be lots of new projects. (do i ever have a shortage of projects?) i'm not even talking about schoolwork here, although there's plenty of that. (believe me. papers and presentations - and lesson plans! - galore.) but this is my happy place. so, here's some happy projects. :)

there are bulbs sitting in my window. two blue, and one white. they've ony been there a day, but already i can see the roots reaching down into the water. i'm going to love watching these grow.


there are cool embellishments! these were a quick creativity fix. so fun. and i'm sure they will be fun to use, too. (i can see super simple and quick cards in my head.)

and...there is a sock. or, socks - because the one will need a mate. i think socks are the perfect thing to knit on a camping trip (i told you i was looking forward to it. not just knitting. but boating (i.e. - tubing!), and marshmallow roasting, and soaking in the sunshine and fresh air. but, there's also the socks. ;)