Linda Ford

OVERWHELMED BY BEAUTY

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Linda

Have you ever admired and enjoyed something so much you felt overwhelmed by beauty? I have and I thought I’d share a few of them with you.

Sunrises. For some reason I enjoy them more than sunsets. Partially because I have a ten foot living room window that gives me an unobstructed view of the morning sky but also because there is something about greeting a new day in such a fine fashion. The ribbons of colors, the flames flaring across the sky. The golden halo over the nearby town.

Birds. I have feeders outside my office window and enjoy watching them flit about to get seeds and suet. There are actually 3 feeders and yet the birds will squabble about property rights. And who can see a bald eagle and not find yourself stirred by the majesty. I once watched a cardinal sitting on a branch in a muddy yard and I thought what a good lesson it was. The bird didn’t look at the mud and complain but it looked upward and sang.

Flowers. They hide in the grass along the road. They blossom madly along fence lines. They grow in profusion in gardens. But even in situations that are less than ideal, they lift their pretty heads to the sun.

The sea or a lake. The sound of the water lapping at the shore, the whitecaps dancing across the surface. The little flash of turquoise before the water flattens. The way the distance is brought toward me in rolling waves.

The drawings of a child. So simple and yet so innocently revealing. I once saw a wall with framed drawings of children. It was magical.

Sky. It’s many moods from sunny to stormy. I read a beautiful description of the sky in The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt (a book I highly recommend). He wrote, ‘The underside of the clouds have been shredded. They hung in tatters and a grey mist seeped out.’ Isn’t that a word picture that gives you both a visual and a mood?

There’s so many more things. A baby’s smile. An old couple holding hands. The taste of fresh coffee.

The world is full of amazing and awesome things. It’s up to us to notice and appreciate them.

What awesome, amazing things have you noticed lately?

Posted in awesome things, flowers, gratitude, life, mother nature, sky | Leave a comment

DECLUTTERING

Posted on January 7, 2012 by Linda

The urge to purge (my home) hits me occasionally. I don’t know whether to wish it happened more often or less often. I managed to delay sorting and tossing until after the holidays. Maybe it was the gift wrap, the decorations, the packaging, the everything of the season that made me feel like I had to clean out cupboards.

From the blogs I’ve been reading it seems this is the time of year to tackle the job.

http://zenhabits.net/tackle-clutter/ gives many hints and even offers a course. No thanks. I know how to do it. I just have to get at it.

The fly lady http://flylady.net/ suggests starting with a clean, polished sink. Sounds good but I need to get far deeper than that.

I began with my office. Several times I’ve tried to organize my research material, my farm bookkeeping stuff, my stacks of papers, my magazines, etc. I have a small office so if I don’t keep on top of things, the things start to get on top of me. So I sorted and tossed.

Now that I’ve finished I feel like my imagination has room to roam.

I haven’t gone through the whole house yet and I probably won’t because I’ll get busy with something else.

Over the past weeks, I’ve been doing much the same with my writing…sorting and tossing and rearranging. Certain words have to be purged…words that filter like felt, wondered, watched or thought. It’s hard work but when I’m done I feel good. Like the story is cleaner.

Are you starting the new year by organizing your house, or your life? If so, good luck. If not, congratulations on being super organized or super content.

Posted in life, organization, writing | 2 Comments

WELCOME 2012

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Linda

I love new beginnings so I’m always happy to sit down at the start of a new year and consider what I’d like to do in the future. So here is a list for the new year.

THINGS I CONSIDER WORTH PURSUING IN 2012

1. Better health. That means making better eating choices and being more regular about exercise. It sounds so straightforward and easy on the page. I find it a lot harder in practice.

2. A better attitude. I want to be more understanding, more accepting, more forgiving toward others and the things they do that I MIGHT consider silly or even stupid.

3. I want to better observe the things I have to be grateful for. I live in a world blessed with so much and yet I far too often take it for granted.

4. Take more time to stop and enjoy the simple, and not so simple, pleasures of life–a sunset or sunrise, wild flowers hidden in the grass, birds singing, a baby’s tiny fingers, a child’s wide smile.

5. Less complaining. For one thing, it puts me in a bad mood.

It also robs me of the joys and pleasures of each day.

6. Watch for opportunities to encourage, smile, give a hug, say I love you.

Happy New Year to you. May it be blessed with lots of smiles and joys.

Posted in Happy New Year, flowers, gratitude, sky | Comments Off

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Posted on December 23, 2011 by Linda

I have an antique collection of postcards. Most are from 1901-1915, though some are later. They cost 1c to send. Eventually the cost was raised to 2c. I wish I knew how much the cards themselves cost. antique Christmas postcards 005

Some of these postcards were constructed like greeting cards so you could lift the front to read a greeting.

Greetings from far and wide…in this case, California.

A couple were black and white or simply colored.

It’s interesting to see how people kept in touch. Quick cards. I suppose our emails and Facebook greetings would be somewhat similar.

May you enjoy a blessed Christmas and a New Year full of good things.

Posted in Christmas, history, postcards | Comments Off

Christmas memories part 2

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Linda

1. My mother-in-law hosted huge family dinners on Christmas. My husband’s siblings joined us and usually some of my family. We ate huge meals always with pie for dessert. One year my brother, my husband and his brother had a competition to see who could gain the most weight over the meal. (What can I say? They were young and foolish.) We were all amazed at how little difference a big meal actually made. (Even more surprising is how much weight it adds to the body in a day or two.)

2. As our children grew we wanted to make sure they appreciated the true meaning of the season so Christmas Eve was Jesus’ birthday

party. We sang carols. The children acted out the Christmas story as someone read it aloud then we had birthday cake.

3. The years we had all four grandparents with us were far too few and very special. Even when they grew weak and had to be brought to our house in a wheelchair, having them join us made the day warm.

4. The big family gatherings are now at our house and there’s nothing better than sharing the day with our growing family.

5. One very special part of Christmas when I was a young mother was the program at church where the kids performed their little plays, recitations and songs. I loved seeing my kids all dressed up in their finest and smiling from the stage.

6. My grandson, at about age 5, had a little part to recite at kindergarten. His piece was “I’m a little light that burns.” The child next to him said, “I’ll a little light that shines.” Grandson was so upset because he had to burn rather than shine. Lol

Posted in Christmas, family, life, memories | 2 Comments

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN. CHRISTMAS MEMORIES.

Posted on December 10, 2011 by Linda

With Christmas almost here, I thought I’d share some special memories. I hope you’ll feel free to share some of your own.

1. The first Christmas as a new family. My fist born son was almost 9 months old and interested in all the bright lights and cracking paper. We lived in a mobile home. It was small. Very small. There was barely room for a tiny tree in the tiny living area of the place. But we were supremely happy to share the space and our love with our baby.

Now we share first Christmases with new grandchildren. Here’s the first Christmas with one granddaughter.

2. When I was a child my mother strung heavy string across the walls and draped the Christmas cards over it. Sometimes the cards circled the room twice. She greatly enjoyed reading all the greetings from the many friends and family. And I remember how pretty the room was with all those cards on display.

3. I grew up on the bald-headed prairie where cutting down a live tree was a dastardly deed. (I still feel about the same about chopping down trees.) The first time we cut down our own live Christmas tree didn’t occur until we moved away from that area. We took our three youngest children and oldest grandson out, drove west to the river and waded through hip-deep snow to chop down a tree, getting sprinkled with snow from the branches. The tree seemed puny in the woods but was too tall to go into the living room without some trimming.

4. When I was a kid there was a community tradition of a Boxing Day skating party. People came from miles to congregate at a river. We skated, the boys played hockey, boys and girls skated in pairs. Then we went to a house and enjoyed a hot meal and played parlor games.

5. I remember one Christmas when I lived in the city during nurse’s training. I lived in residence as all nursing students did at that time (a thousand years ago). Each floor had a lounge and every year there was a competition to see who could decorate their lounge the best. One year our floor chose to do an-old-fashioned Christmas. We made tree ornaments from old cards. We hung cranberry and popcorn garlands. It was beautiful and we won first prize.

6. For years every year my mother-in-law bought all her grandchildren brand new mittens for Christmas. It sounds so ordinary but we lived on a farm and my kids played outside every day. They built forts, climbed trees, sledded down hills, and skated after shoveling snow off the ice. By the time December rolled around they were anticipating some new mittens.

What memories of the season do you enjoy?

Posted in Christmas, life | 2 Comments

FACT OR FABLE

Posted on December 3, 2011 by Linda

Hot and dry winds descending mountain slopes are found around the world. In Alberta, theses snow-eating winds are known by their American Native name, Chinook. (Pronounced with a ‘sh’ beginning sound.)

Chinook is an Indian word that means, “snow-eater”. The chinook winds can be a nice warming wind bringing instant spring in the middle of winter or a howling destructive windstorm. Chinook winds can raise temperatures by 25 to 35 degrees in minutes, melt snow completely, sandblast cars, collapse buildings and blow trucks off of the road

Over the years, I have heard many stories about how the Chinook came to be named. One nice story is found here. A Yakima Legend It tells of two warring factions–one that blew cold wind and one that blew the warm winds.

Another legend is told in wikipedia explains Chinook. A girl named Chinook Wind married Glacier and moved to his country in the mountains. She missed the warm weather and sent a message to her people. The wind is supposedly her breath as she calls to them.

The winds are especially strong on the open prairie.

As the authors of this excellent poem in a book say, ‘If you’re not from the prairie, you don’t know wind. You can’t know wind.”

We have been experiencing unusually strong Chinooks the past several days. For example, windows have blown out of highrises. wind storm will show you more evidence of the power of the winds.

For awesome footage of an airplane landing in the windstorm watch this clip. aircraft ‘crabs’ while landing at Calgary

One last bit of trivia. During a Chinook, the sky is clear to the west and cloudy everywhere else. We see the mountains clearly. This picture doesn’t show the mountains but it does show a nice arch.

Posted in sky, storm, weather | 4 Comments

ONCE UPON A TIME…

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Linda

There was a furry little hamster named Hammie. Hammie was an adventuresome rodent who loved to travel. Every day he would head out, running as fast as his wee legs would go. Being so small, he knew it would take him a long time to get where he wanted to be. What he didn’t realize was he ran inside a wheel and was going nowhere. (Picture from wikipedia)

I have days like that. I feel like I am racing but getting nowhere. I have chores like that–hamster chores–things that need to be repeated over and over. Like laundry, vacuuming, dishes, meal preparation. Things no one notices UNLESS I don’t do them.

I guess I’m not alone in feeling like Hammie-rushing to go nowhere. I found this article and I include a quote from it. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/management/morning-manager/getting-off-the-hamster-wheel-takes-some-planning/article2231813/

However, he is urging more than planning. For instance, if you feel like you’re a hamster on an endlessly rotating wheel, take some of your planning time to reach out to a mentor who is particularly well organized and chat about how you might improve.

In fact, Google ‘Get off the hamster wheel’ for some interesting reading. And perhaps some weird ideas too.

I can’t delegate most of my hamster chores. I can’t appeal to a mentor. I can a) abandon them but even if no one else notices, I do and it clutters up my head. Or b) accept that some days are hamster-wheel days. Run as fast as I can even though I’m not going anywhere but simply to get done and off the wheel. I choose the second option solely because I feel pounds lighter when those hamster chores are dealt with.

BTW, they’ve devised a toy that actually allows a racing hamster to go somewhere. It’s put out by http://www.firebox.com/product/2204/Hamster-Racer-Set

Cool. Right?

Now if I could invent something or someway to make my hamster-wheel days actually take me somewhere!

Posted in life, the writing life | 2 Comments

FIRST FRIDAY AND WHAT I LEARNED

Posted on November 19, 2011 by Linda

First Friday in Pueblo, CO where my daughter and her family lives features an art walk. Art galleries are open and demonstrations given. We went to several. (I was almost freaked out by the art that featured skeletons in various poses. My imagination is far too vivid for that sort of detail. Was the body murdered, molested, buried alive? Shudder)

The best part of the evening was the Raku pottery firing.

Raku pottery is created with a specific ceramic firing process that uses both fire and smoke to create unique patterns and designs. With raku pottery, the piece is first bisque fired. Then, it is glazed and undergoes a raku firing process. The raku firing process requires a special raku kiln that is fueled by propane and reaches temperatures of about 1800°F (about 982°C).
In order to complete the firing process, the raku pottery must remain in the kiln for approximately 30 minutes. The raku pottery is then removed from the kiln using specially designed raku tongs. While the raku pottery piece is still hot and glowing, it is placed inside a metal can full of combustible materials. The heat emitted from the raku pottery causes these materials to catch on fire.
After the materials inside the metal can catch on fire, a lid is placed over the can and the raku pottery is sealed inside. The raku pottery is capable of withstanding these high temperatures and the fire within the can because it is made from a special type of clay that is capable of withstanding thermal shock. Traditional pottery clays, on the other hand, would crack from the drastic temperature changes raku pottery undergoes. (from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-raku-pottery.htm)

For $10 we bought any sort of figurine we desired and then applied 3 coats of glaze. We worked outdoors in a friendly, picnic type atmosphere.

The pieces were then fired in outdoor propane-powered kilns. We went away and left them for 30-45 minutes.

When the top was removed, the pieces glowed like live coals. Beautiful.

The red-hot pieces were immediately put into a container of combustible material. They used shredded newspaper but some stunning results were achieved by using pine needles.

That container was covered tightly to use up all the oxygen. They covered the lid with a wet blanket to keep the smoke down.

And then half an hour later or so, everyone gathered around as the lid was removed and the pieces removed and stuck into cold water to cool them. Everyone wanted to see how the glaze had turned out. I have to confess I had a few minutes of envy at some of the pieces.

But our pieces aren’t so bad either. It was the first time I’d done it but I can see why some of the people at the pottery place came back month after month to experiment. It could become addictive.

Raku-yaki (??)(raku ware) is a type of Japanese pottery that is traditionally used in the Japanese tea ceremony, most often in the form of tea bowls. It is traditionally characterized by hand molded, rather than turned, clay, which results in each piece being “one-of-a-kind”; fairly porous vessels, which result from low firing temperatures; lead glazes; and the removal of pieces from the kiln while still glowing hot.

Raku means “enjoyment” or “ease” and is derived from Jurakudai, the name of a palace, in Kyoto, that was built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537–1598), who was the leading warrior statesman of the time. (From wikipedia.)

This may be something you’ve done before but if you haven’t, I encourage you to do so if you ever get a chance because, as the quote above says, it brings ease and enjoyment.

Posted in Colorado, raku, research | 2 Comments

CAVE OF THE WINDS-COLORADO

Posted on November 12, 2011 by Linda

Cave of the Winds has been a tourist attraction for 130 years. You’ll likely need to click on the picture to the left to see the building that houses the entrance to the caves.

Of course, it wasn’t always so modern. The picture to the right shows an earlier entrance. It was a long, arduous climb.

I couldn’t find information as to how large the caves are…perhaps because there is ongoing exploration, but a map on the wall gave the impression it was massive.

We took the lantern tour. At one spot the guide has us extinguish our lights. It was very DARK. A couple of teenaged girls almost freaked out. Having listened to the guide tell numerous ghost stories likely didn’t help their fear level.