Tag: life

Community

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”

  – Mother Theresa


“Heroes didn’t leap tall buildings or stop bullets with an outstretched hand: they didn’t wear boots and capes. They bled and they bruised, and their superpowers were as simple as listening, or loving. Heroes were ordinary people who knew that even if their own lives were impossibly knotted, they could untangle someone else.  And maybe that one act could lead someone to rescue you right back.”
-Jodi Picoult




“The single greatest lesson the garden teaches is that our relationship
to the planet need not be zero-sum, and that as long as the sun still
shines and people still can plan and plant, think and do, we can, if we
bother to try, find ways to provide for ourselves without diminishing
the world.”
– Michael Pollan



       
*  Blogger is being wonky today with typeface, I apologize for the annoyance. 


 


  My husband and I are just a small part of an incredible group of volunteer citizens who are collectively restoring Parmelee Farm  so that this once dilapidated town owned farm can be a recreational and educational gathering place for generations to come. So many people have shown their generosity with their time and skills, and I can’t describe accurately how wonderful it feels to see all the accomplishments of these good hearted and visionary people, and to contemplate all the possibilities for the future.  No one here is a Rockefeller.  It’s blood, sweat and even some tears that are getting this job done, and a whole lot of heart. 


   Community.. we all need it. If you are able in any way to get out into your own community and give of yourself in any way that feels comfortable to you and your lifestyle, I recommend it highly. You give of yourself a little, and you are paid back in spades, I promise.   In these troubling times, when it is so easy to feel powerless and overwhelmed by all the bad news we are bombarded with daily, the truth is we can indeed be the antidote, each one of us, in little ways, taking small steps.


 

Updates on Parmelee:  Due to a STEAP grant, 

the farmhouse has been restored and is the new home of the Historical Society.

 





What was once a Turkey shed is now being refurbished as a pavilion
for future events for the community – weddings, farmers market, dances, etc.

Many local contractors,generous civic groups and citizens have stepped up to get the job done.

The Little Free Library is a big hit…
..and it all started with the vision of a certain resident, who created the Community Gardens..
still in bloom on this late September afternoon.

 

Many of you, my blog friends, have been giving to your community already in the many different ways that this is accomplished. Some of you have raised foster children and made them your own, some have taken in stray animals that needed your care, some of you have donated your time or money to your own communities – the library, a hospital, the Goodwill Store – …  I could go on and on.  


 

My hat is off to you, my friends. Together we all make a difference, never forget it, and keep on truck’n. 


 

It’s a new day, all.  Make it a good one ~


 

 

 

Here and there

  Did you get a look at that Harvest moon in recent days?… my camera does not do it justice in these pics. The soft lavender of the evening skies over This Old House cast a serene hue…

My sister and I got together to kayak on Friday….
Why haven’t we done this more often?!
 
 She handled Torch,  Mikes big touring kayak, very well. 
 
 On Saturday we arrived at the Guilford Fair to fawn over my little blue ribbon,
only to dive immediately into the totally sinful fair food. 
Ferris wheels are so photogenic, aren’t they? 
Yesterday the guy and I took a quick ride over to Devils Hopyard..
 Below is beautiful stone archway underneath the road that runs through
the park, right next to the falls.
There are two, built before the WW’s. 
Nowadays, the labor would be too expensive to do so. 
It’s a shame, some of what we’ve lost in architecture as the world has become
something different. 
Many lovers initials carved or written on this bench….
 
One of my favorite breakfasts on Sunday morning…
I should make these more often.  My version is Gluten free – they don’t
leave you feeling bloated and too full… it’s a beautiful thing. 
 
A shot of the Ferris wheel last night, still aglow one hour
 after the Fair had closed down for another year. 
I had to pick up my photo entry and the feel of the fairgrounds was so very different than when you are being pushed along the midway with the crowds. The booths and rides were still lit up, the attendants relieved and ready to pack up and go home. The ponies were untacked and loose in their pony ride corral and the food vendors dined together with jovial expressions and laughter you don’t see while their services are in high demand by the people.  
 Did I tell you about my sexy new crock pot?  I’m too lazy to look back over the posts…
Sweet and sour stew recipe HERE

I had no idea….

Blog readers have been pinning stuff to Pinterest from This Old House 2 for a while now … I consider it an honor.  Thanks, Connie, for showing me the link below…

http://www.pinterest.com/source/thisoldhousetoo.blogspot.com/
Todays Words of Wisdom

It’s the little things

   My son went to the Guilford Fair last night with a few of his friends.  I asked him to check the arts tent to see if my photograph had been hung and if it had gotten any placement.   He called home around 10pm to tell me it had won first place. Not only that, many others had submitted four or five photographs each, but my single shot got the blue.

   This is really just a little thing, but I struggle to accurately express the magnitude of how it lit up my world last night, this acknowledgement, this nod to my simple picture, this little blue ribbon.

   What makes it extra special for me is that it’s a photo I took of Eddie and Phils clam rakes in Joshua Cove.  This photo is not typical of what is entered in these competitions… you see a lot of beautiful landscapes, flower arrangements, moon shots, wildlife photography, etc. In comparison this picture is kinda simple… but  drew me in right away when I saw the shot out there on the water,  the industrial strength of their rakes, a basic tool that does a lot of work, and the beauty in  the delicate grooves and the blue, gray and purple hues of the clam shells themselves.  Reminds me of the simple beauty in the story of Eddie and Phil.

  One of my favorite quotes…

“It’s not what you’re looking at that matters.. .it’s what you see”

I hope they still read my blog, because I’d like them to know their kindness that day brought home a blue ribbon from the 154th Guilford Fair and made this woman’s day.

I hate when that happens

  So, yesterday my acid reflux issue kicked it up a notch and I had a lot of chest pain as a result. This is nothing new and I’ve even been to the emergency room in the past thinking I was having a heart attack only to find out I had acid issues. To compound my discomfort, my seasonal allergies where giving me a headache and usually Benadryl gets rid of them, so I popped one.  Enter the palpitations and racing heart, which has not happened before.  *sigh*   I’m one of those super sensitives who reacts to some medications with too much fanfare, physically, more often than not.  Benadryl has always been one of those that gave me relief and no bad side effects until now. 

 Then I took my blood pressure, because… hey,  I haven’t done that in a long time and maybe I should check it.  A few years ago I had become a moderate hypertensive person, and was put on a med to regulate it.  Well the first med swelled my lips, had to stop it.  The second med gave me Renaud’s-like symptoms and I felt tired all the time, but it got my BP to normal numbers.  I lost 20 lbs and exercised a lot and got off the darn pill and for a while, it all held together.  Then I gained 15 back and the exercise was sporadic. 

  So.. that blood pressure check yesterday.  169/104.   Yeah…not good.  I called my GP to make an appointment for SOON so I could talk about getting back on a med because you gotta do what you gotta do.  But.. she didn’t like the combination of symptoms I was having yesterday and said I should go straight to the ER.  

*sigh*  

   I’ve been down that road before and I kinda knew and of course hoped it was not going to be serious, but off  we went, the Mr. driving.  Long story and two hours later,  heart is fine, blood work normal although potassium a little low, acid reflux -what it is –  and blood pressure too high with need of medicating.  I’m back on a new med, Norvasc, and Lord please don’t let there be side effects, because apparently at my age I can’t be jerking around with this any more.  I don’t like to think I have to be on medication, but juggling with your vascular health is not a great idea, so this is one of those things I’m going to have to accept and work with.  I’ve already begun  losing those 15 lbs and have upped the exercise routine, but this time that might not be enough to get off the meds.   Apparently, as you get older, it gets harder to bring those numbers down without meds. 

    So that’s my struggle with blood pressure issues, a deal that’s hard to accept for me because I have lived a healthy, active lifestyle for the most part and have never smoked or been much of a drinker.   As the doctor said, It is what it is.

    The husband, sitting next to me in that little ER room said…”oh, blog moment!” and raised his phone to take a picture as I sat on that gurney half dressed with wires,  an IV and BP cuff attached.  Never ever poke fun at an agitated woman who has direct access to large pointy needles and is not afraid to use them.
  

For Kate

   One of our dear blogging community friends has lost her husband today after their long and valiant fight together against his aggressive form of cancer.  It has been evident to those of us who observed through her blog that her unwavering strength, love and support allowed him a love- filled life and a peaceful winding down and passing.  I’d like to show Kate some support and love here in blog land and my hope is that you will join me in doing so. 

   I’m asking you to find a photo of nature in any form that appeals to you, title your post For Kate, leave her a message on your post if you’d like, or just the photo… and then leave the link to your post in the comments section of her blog.. todays post titled Just Breathe.  link below…

and Kate?.. this one’s for you…

Things that make me go… Hmmm….

  Long time blog buddy Deborah got me to thinking the other day… in a polite way she sorta called me out on perhaps my own judgemental behavior in my recent Litchfield County Pizza post. It was intended as a kind of tongue in cheek post, but I may have made an unfair observation regarding the plethora of high end cars and clothing a certain Connecticut Townsfolk arrived in at their local pizza joint while we sat out on the porch of the place, enjoying dinner.  I also noted that even though the interior of the place was stifling hot , they all chose to sit inside to eat their dinner, rather than the much more comfortable porch where we were. I implied  it finally occurred to me that  it might be a snub, because we are of a darker ethnicity in flip flops and t-shirts.  

  Well, in hindsight, wasn’t I judging them just as unfairly as they might or might not have been judging me?  Yes, absolutely.  And lets throw  hypocrisy in there as well-  we drive nice cars/trucks at This Old House, and I do have a linen dress or two hanging in the closet.   And hey, maybe the “inside” people know the waitress personally and didn’t want her to have to step outside the door to take orders, so they were being polite by keeping it all inside.  They are an affluent community, and with affluence usually comes the high end autos and clothes, even at the grocery store and local pizza place.  That’s not a crime against anyone.

 There are several ways to look at any situation, and I like to think I’m one of those who recognizes this. Sometimes I get it wrong.   My example here is just a small  one… but the idea can be applied to so many much more important arenas in life.  Now if only everyone would be open to it. 

 – Just Sayin

…When all is said and done…

 
   Even now I hesitate to write about it… death and dying.  We all do it, totally unavoidable…yet it’s one of the most difficult things to contemplate.   Birth and death are the two experiences we all have in common. How those things unfold and the ways in which we process them are a different story all together.
 
   I’ve often envied those who are strong in their Faith, who believe in the heavens above, the reward after a hard lived life – of existing in peace with their creator and loved ones who have gone before them.  I’m not saying I don’t believe there is any such thing.  What has always been very clear to me, though,  is that I just don’t know the answer to what absolutely is and what might not be. Science makes a heck of a lot of sense. I can’t ignore the proven truths of evolution.   Having been raised a Catholic,  I often found some of what many religions preach as fear based, hypocritical and outdated. I also have a hard time justifying the reasons for so much of the horrible, senseless suffering we all see all over the world if there is a Creator who was so powerful he could have avoided that altogether.  
 
  So it’s honest to admit I turned away from organized religion long ago.  I’ve given my children the education to make that decision for themselves, as I feel it’s their right to do so.  I live my life on good terms with kindness and good will. If I meet a maker someday for judgement, my hope is that I will have lived up to the creators expectations, although I’m no Saint.  
 
  The science of birth and death make sense to me…. but there are  those miracles that make you wonder, not to mention the essence of our being… the Soul, which I have no doubt we all possess.    (ok, some people make me wonder.)    If not for the Soul, we would all just be a unit of working parts, a robot.  What makes a -Soul-… surely not those working parts.  It’s something greater than our current understanding and right there is the wrinkle that scientific explanations cannot iron out.
 
  I recently came across the words of a very wise man, Michael ldvorsky Pupin- a Serbian-American inventor, a great educator, professor
of Columbia University, an applied physicist, an important social figure in
America at his time. He was one of the
great shining stars in the history of American science.
 
  Mr. Pupin had this, and much more,  to say on the subject in a New York Times interview…
 “Science gives us plenty of ground for intelligent hope that our physical life is only a stage in the existence of the soul.  The law of continuity and the general scientific view of the universe tend to strengthen our belief that the soul goes on existing and developing after death.”
 
   Have you ever been asked who you would choose to meet, past or present person in history, if you could choose anyone at all?   Top of my list would be Mr. Pupin. 
 
  
 
 

…so… apparently….

 
 
…my Blogger issues were not the fault of Blogger this time at all.
When I’m wrong, I say it.
 
After screwing around with browser after browser,
(that actually sounds worse than a Miley Cyrus performance)
…then not being able to get on the internet at ALL….
 
I realized we weren’t in Kansas anymore, Toto.
 
So I called the computer guy,
who stopped by and quickly figured out that one
of my hard drives had crashed.
 
While that’s being re-worked,
I’m on the husband’s computer..
MUCH TO HIS CHAGRIN.
 
I move stuff when I sit here at the big important desk, don’t ya know.
Heck, I even breathe on it!
 
So, I’ll be back with places to share and stories to tell…
just not on this computer.
 
Apparently.
:-)