Weekly Photo Challenge: Sun

Last night, I took this as the sun was settting. Other than the utility pole, the only structure that can be seen in the distance is a sprinkler system used for irrigating crops.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Journey

This photo was one I took on my way out to my cousin Alphonse’s place. The road to get there isn’t the best, but the tree he’s grown in his organic potato field is pretty to look at.

Swimming with Dragonflies

Great news! After being so bummed out about killing the baby dragonflies that I mistakenly thought were leeches, I jumped in the pool this morning and found new baby dragonflies. Hooray! There are hundreds and I’ve seen at least three adults hovering around the pool.

It’s a small thing, but provides for unique conversation fodder. Here’s an example:

“Whelp, what did you get done so far today?” My neighbor called to me from over the fence.

“Oh, I swam with a bunch of baby dragonflies. How about you?”

He had taken his motorcyle for a spin. Less fun than swimming with baby dragonflies, I think.

Also, the arrival of new babies gives me a precious teaching opportunity with the kids.

“We can take some of these in the house and watch them grow,” I said to the eldest. “We can learn all about them then you can write a science report.”

He was eager to catch a few and bring them in the house, however I didn’t see a lot of enthusiasm over the writing of a science report option.

Lastly, I thought Swimming with Dragonflies would make a great book title. It’s rare I have a title without a plot sketched first. I should probably go float around on the inner tube, stare at the sky, and try to throw a story for this title together.

Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mom’s. I hope everyone enjoyed the day.

I took the day off. I still did the basics like cook and do dishes, but the rest of the time I spent doing nothing. The kids are fighting Spring allergies and hay fever from the horrible dust storms we’ve been having. Between their coughing and sneezing they made me cards and picked me a little bouquet of flowers. I thought it was very sweet.

These are the kind of days I want to last forever.

The Wedding

People were asking me about the wedding and if I planned to watch it. I hadn’t planned to watch it although I remember well the last wedding of the groom’s parents.

When I awoke at some crazy hour while it was still dark, I turned on the news and saw the wedding beginning. I didn’t want to watch it, but I was drawn in. For me it wasn’t so much the beautiful carriages or the hats, it was the true dignity of it all.

The wedding set my day off to a great start. Now I am off to ponder dignity for a while.

All We Need Is Food

My grandparents were young adults during America’s Great Depression. They taught me invaluable lessons and I’m grateful they shared their knowledge with me. For them the time of the Great Depression was severely oppressive. They fought for their very survival for years.

When I left home I had called my grandfather over my troubles. I was concerned about my bills because I was struggling to pay them on minimum wage. He laughed and said, “All you have to have is food.” To an extent he was correct.

Most of what my grandparents taught me centered around hard work, taking care of what you had, and food. Sometimes I felt like they went a little too far on the whole deal. Washing plastic straws and re-using sandwich bags were a couple of examples.

My grandparents always had pie for breakfast. As a kid I thought that was great. My grandmother could make a pie from just about anything and it would still taste amazing. She made vinegar pie and a cracker pie that tasted just like apple pie.

Another thing she taught me was to switch the plates and dishes used. She said people got bored with the same ones and if they were tired of eating the same types of food, a different dish would help with the boredom. It seems minor, but I’ve found it is true.

When I hear stories about people giving up on their lives over losing their money or their jobs, I feel badly. Lately, there are suicides in our local area. The sadness can be felt through the entire community. I recently read a news article about a family so stressed over finances, their children were failing in school.  The news doesn’t always give the entire picture so I don’t form an opinion over that family’s particular situation.

I won’t deny that I wish to be comfortable and I would like to be more so. My grandfather’s message contradicts the one I grew up hearing during the Ronald Reagan era. That is, we can everything we want, then we can have more. The contradiction does stress me out sometimes. But what trumps everything is I want to enjoy my children as they grow up. And, we’ll eat today. That’s all we really need to do today.

My Dad Shot the TV

My dad shot our television when I was around the age of three or four. I have no recollection of the event, but apparently he came home from work one night, and was disgusted by what was on–what that might have been in the early 1970s is hard for me to guess. Before sitting down to eat his supper, he took the tv out behind the shed and shot it. We never had a tv again.

Before anyone has a fit over a man shooting a tv, it should be remembered that this event took place in a different time and my dad as a young man was of the mentality that if something such as a coyote or a television was worrying his home or livestock, he’d shoot it.

I was mad we didn’t have a tv as a kid. Everybody would come to school talking about their favorite shows. The only reason I know where I was when J.R. got shot or when Luke and Laura got married is because the other kids ditched me to watch the shows. I sat alone in home ec class on Luke and Laura’s big day. All of my classmates had skipped.

After leaving home, I was glad my dad shot the tv when I was young. My housemates would get mad when I talked during tv shows. It’s taken me over twenty years not to, but I’d still rather talk with people I’m with than watch television with them. Growing up, my family spent the evenings talking or reading because we didn’t have a tv.

With my own kids I was careful to not let them watch tv prior to the age of two as the pediatricians recommend. Over time I’ve found they want to watch tv endlessly. Even if I come up with an exciting activity I hear, “But my favorite show is coming on.”

There are other problems with this tv. I won’t take it outside and shoot it, but I am so very close to killing it.

What Do You Think of Elephants?

(Image – wikpeadia)   There was a time when I heard people say they refused to talk about politics or religion I thought that was a strange idea. In my mind people discussed topics in order to learn. In recent years, I’ve found it isn’t necessarily so. Although there is an appropriate time and place to discuss certain topics, it does seem some people wish to engage just so they can start a fight. No matter what they will not listen to any attempts at unity, not even a simple idea that, hey we are all human here.

A friend of mine gave me some advice about mean, instigating people pretending to engage when their real intention is to create a division. Just respond in a rather blank manner, “So, what do you think of elephants?” Incredibly, it does work. Nearly everyone thinks something about elephants. Personally, I think we could learn a lot from the elephants. That’s what I think of elephants.

On Creating Moral Art

Carrie Nation image from wikipaedia

In the world of fiction, I have always found works that lack morality to be disturbing. In recent years, there seems to be a plethora of fiction that shuns basic truths. Remarkably, many of these books are quite popular. In defining the morality that is needed in good fiction, I turn to author John Gardner. In his book, On Moral Fiction, Gardner wrote that moral fiction ”attempts to test human values, not for the purpose of preaching or peddling a particular ideology, but in a truly honest and open-minded effort to find out which best promotes human fulfillment.”

As a writer, I have a somewhat lofty goal of making the world a better place one story at a time. I believe that most artists do come to this realization as they work. We want our work to serve a larger good. John Gardner gave some excellent guiding principles on moral fiction. I also found an interview in which he gives his experience and thoughts. It is worth a read. http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/3394/the-art-of-fiction-no-73-john-gardner

Do It Anyway

Years ago, I came across “Do It Anyway,” as found on a wall in the former residence of Mother Teresa of Calcutta.  There are other versions of this piece, but I like this one.

Do It Anyway

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.  Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.  Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.  Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.  Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.  Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.  Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten.  Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.  Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God.  It was never between you and them anyway.