Patience

I am constantly amazed at the number of renovations I have made on my 40 year old manufactured home. With the latest project I hope I am done for awhile so I can focus on something else. It took the ability to save money and patience to realize that not everything could be done at once. I am very happy with the results. Now if I could just get someone to work on the weeds!

The latest project was replacing the sliding glass door that has needed help since the house settled years ago. It was letting in too much air and didn't close right.

It was replaced by a brand new atrium door that still needs trim and painting, but no more air coming through and it came with a screen door. Now I just have to retrain my animals to have a little patience and wait for me to open it for them!

Are you a hero?

I have known the name of my maternal grandfather for some time. I also knew that he was a soldier who died in 1918, when my mother was ten years old.

Putting two and two together I assumed my grandfather, William Johnston, died in battle somewhere. I was not able to discover where he was buried for some time.

Recently I found out through ancestry.com that he never served in a battle of any kind. He died of the flu on a Washington state Army base. He is buried in Bellingham, Washington.

Of course, he died many years before I was born and I never knew him. The facts are a little disappointing. For some time I really thought he was a war hero. As Memorial Day comes around every year I think of my grandfather.

Although both of my sons have been in the service, one in the Army and the other in the Navy, nobody has lost their life while serving. My oldest son even served in Desert Storm and survived. Memorial Day doesn't apply to him, but Veteran's Day does.

New thought

Necessity is the mother of invention. ~Plato

Sometimes seeing a problem leads one to find a creative solution.

I just found out my children's writing camp has a little snag. It seems that some of the kids who might want to join are signed up for something called, "Fun in the sun". It goes from 10:00-2:00 each day. That's not good, I thought. There is one little 6th grade student that seems to be really interested in writing, but she can't be in two places at the same time. What to do?!

This morning I gave the problem some thought and came up with a solution if she is willing to do her part.

I could give her the writing assignments that the group will be doing and let her do them at home. Why not? She doesn't have to be in the same room to write. if she has other friends with the same problem I could include them in the plan too. The only thing I would need from them is to see what they have written. I have actually been trying to think of a way to encourage kids to write creatively that doesn't require a building. This just might work!

Plato was right, necessity is the mother of invention.

Graduation

With the end of this school year one day away I am thinking about all the students who are deciding what they are going to do with the rest of their lives. It has been 63 years since I stood on that stage and accepted that rolled piece of paper, telling the world that I had completed 12 years of formal education.

I have watched as my three grown children did the same, although not on the same stage. In another year my youngest grandchild will follow in our footsteps.

It is a whole different world than it was in 1956 and today's graduates have many choices, as they step into the world as adults. Some will go on to college and seek a degree. Some will go to trade schools and the like to pursue what they feel they are good at. Some will just plain screw up and waste the rest of their lives.

Whatever happens in the lives of today's graduates, I wish them all well. May they make good choices on their journey's.

And then I wrote

This picture captured my attention yesterday morning. I first shared it on my writing group wall and asked the members to caption it. Only two other people responded. Then I printed it and put it on my vision board. I was thinking that perhaps I could use it for my upcoming children's writing camp. I was curious what they would write about it, as it is something that was not be part of their life experience.  Perhaps that would be too much to ask of them.

This morning it still sits on my vision board. There is something about it that draws my attention. My caption for the picture was, "memories are made of this".

The man seems perfectly at peace, as he sits quietly and listens to the music and smokes his pipe. He is oblivious to the rubble that surrounds him.  Perhaps there is a message here that I am missing.

While I was shopping for groceries this morning something someone said to me, probably ten years ago, popped into my mind and I think it fits this photo. It was, "Somewhere a place for us". I know it came from Westside Story. The movie was about two people who came from different worlds, but found love in the surrounding chaos.

When I look at the picture now I really don't see the destruction. All I see is an old man at peace, listening to music he loves and smoking his pipe.

P.S. Thanks jts, memories are made of this.