Keeping and Caring for Christmas

I took a recent suggestion about displaying nativities in our own yards, instead of worrying about our city and town's being forced to stop the practice, due to offending the outspoken few. Proudly finding many others that did the same.

Keeping up with the demands we put on ourselves at Christmas is challenging to say the least. I figure there are about 100 gifts I have to come up with before the 25th. The goal is to make these gifts look and be awesome, unique and well thought out, but not leave you penniless before the next payday. This takes a great deal of planning, creativity and searching for the perfect present. Attending music and theatrical concerts is achieved by checking the weekly Concert Calendar. Support performances in the community which generate more for years to come. Who doesn't love seeing the Christmas lights and homes with light shows and music that attract all.

Most important is giving to those in need. The Bishop's Christmas room providing toys for girls & boys, was easy to participate in. Take the kids or grandkids along to help pick gifts out. A stop at The Road Home shelter to drop off blankets, brought a desire to give more.

Our generous spirit grows, makes us feel good and blesses all.

Attempting Alto

I'll admit I joined the Temple Volunteer Choir, because they were singing in the Salt Lake Tabernacle for a devotional. It was my ulterior motive to walk where the famous singers and leaders have been. Bragging rights could be used.

The first practice consisted of 2 hours of straight throat abuse singing. It seemed like all the sopranos around me could reach the high notes and spot on pitch. I hoped no one could hear my off key sqawking. All week I considered quitting, but decided to give it another try. That's when I sat on the edge of the sapranos, next to the altos. If the note was to high, I would lean toward my alto friend matching her voice. Jump ship when the going gets tough in the treble cleff.

I contemplated joining the hard to hear lower notes group. There was no way I could miss by sitting in the middle of all those strong voices. Each week after immersing myself in the middle of the Alto section, the notes became easier to hear and hit.

The mind was able to memorize each song and by program night, I was ready to be a true Alto singer. What a fun experience to have had.

Not Just Waiting for Thanksgiving Dinner

Our grandkids arrived from out of state ahead of the storm. We got busy making snowmen and balls. What fun to relax from every day cares and roll up a snowman or two. Finding the rocks for his face was tricky.

It was a smiley kind of day.

First Snow Full of Fractures

A serious winter storm hit last night as we were coming home from a wedding reception. The flakes were big enough to wrap up in by a cozy fire. In the early hours distinct cracking from overburdened branches could be heard.

Our beautiful Imperial Pear tree lined street looked like a tornado went through. Weight from the wet snow on the slow leaf droppers affected one or many of every homeowner's trees. Some split in half and others escaped with only a few downed branches. Although beautiful at first light the damage was sad to see. Our air cooling tree friends took the brunt of the storm, especially the Willows.

High Priest Feast

We had a High Priest Feast at the stakecenter. The cultural hall was filled fuller than our tummies with ten place settings at each table. Ham, funeral potatoes, green beans and more purchased at our nearby grocery store (Do you just love that sunset?) was consumed too quickly. This became my second feast of the week. A former Young Ambassador, Mr. ? Connelly from BYU performed a dozen songs about 'thanks' and gratitude mixing in a little Clair de lune and Dvorjak along the way.

Cuter than usual favors graced the table. We snarfed up a few extra to share with our grandkids for the big Feast Day. The photo of birds on the power lines (The morning rush hour commute was going on below) reminded me of waiting in line for the food and rubbing shoulders with friends to enjoy the season.

Every day brings another reason to be thankful for life and the blessings we enjoy minute by minute.

Bloch is on the Block

Thanksgiving isn't just about food. It's also about doing special things and going to exciting places. Several of us went to the recently opened 'Carl Bloch' art exhibit at the BYU Museum of Art. The LDS Church has accepted and displayed his work for over fifty years.

Carl Bloch (1834-1890), a famous Danish artist is a favorite in this area. He established a name for himself when commissioned to replace paintings of Christ, for the Frederiksborg Palace that had had its artwork destroyed in a fire in the 1870's. He studied art at the Royal Danish Academy of Art, after convincing his prominent parents to allow him pursue his dream. They finally consented, but feared he would die poor.

Looking at these century plus paintings that appear to be freshly finished is amazing. The colors tell stories and share symbolism that is easy for a novice to understand. His pieces of religious work have been featured in magazines and art pieces all over the world.

"Christ Healing at the Pool of Bethesda" was purchased by the Church of Jesus Christ several years ago. All religious and other pieces were appreciated for their beauty and meaning. We loved every minute to be in the presence of such talent as we toured the exhibit.

Seven Signs Thanksgiving is Soon on the Scene

The company 'Turkey Bash' officially starts the seven days of Thanksgiving for me. Everyone brings something adding to the three baked turkeys and trimmings provided by the comapany. Drinks and rolls fill up first on the 'Food list' with this mostly male company. Our employees come from all parts of the globe, making our feast options fairly international. We always have 'flan' and other foreign dishes I can't pronounce or spell.

Heaping plates of both main dish and desserts, eaten slowing over the afternoon expands my torso enough for the need to loosen my pants and bra. I'm satisfied to the point of having to skip dinner, not eating until the next morning.

Oh, the trials of preparing for more feast, is really a hardship. We do our best.

Farewell to Fall

Autumn is breathtaking now and holding out to the bitter cold end. Shops, streets, yards and more are adorned with pleasing feasts of fall. No one can complain there is nothing to see. Just open your eyes and hearts, to God's great gift of color.

Every place you look is a picture waiting to be taken. The camera is never in the right place at the right time nor is the phone. With moments before the chill and rain drive every arrayed leaf from its home, go for a walk. Kick up the leaves, hear them crunch and see them scatter.

Bearing up the Beans

We had green beans coming out of our ears. Therefore, I was forced to blanch and freeze the surplus. Oh, it is wonderful to produce your own food especially when it is healthy. You can just see the Vitamin A & C oozing out of them while cooking and eating plentifully one pan after another. I can't get enough of them.

I planted my excess pole bean seeds in our park strip making a tri-pod with trimmed branches for them to grow up. The thirty inch high tent wasn't enough to support the burgeoning vines. Thanks to a red antherium plan and a sunflower growing nearby the beans adopted them to continue to grow on.

Now my purple people eating monster, green bean person could scare a child on a dark Halloween night. BOO!!

Sight Seeing in Sleepy Hollow

Sleepy Hollow really is a place. It has a quaint graveyard surrounded by a centuries old rock chapel. The story of the 'Headless Horseman' of this 300+ year old town isn't true, although Ichabod Crane could be a distant relative of mine. Our self-guided tour printout showed dozens of graves and mausoleums to visit as we traversed the grounds.

The large hilly cemetery in the center of town boasts many famous people residing there such as Washington Irving (author of the famous story), Franklin Roosevelt, many Revolutionary soldiers and even a possible relative or two.

I admit having to look up on Wikipedia the details surrounding what portends to have happened that lonely night ages ago when a Hessian (German) soldier's head was shot off by a cannon. His ghost haunted the village and may have visited Ichabod, the local school teacher. Whether it's the tiny creek by the cemetery or the great Hudson River nearby, the ghost tried to chase the instructor to or over the river.

Later, it is said, Mr. Crane dressed up like the feared apparition. One night carrying a pumpkin as a head and riding a horse, he intended to win the love of a sweetheart over another suitor. Did he want to scare her into it or show his bravery? I'm not sure if it was successful, but being family and all, he gets my vote.

October is probably this Hudson riverside town's busiest time. Scarecrow classes, cars lining the streets and art exhibits filled the place with a holiday feeling. Decorated to the hilt I couldn't resist snapping photos as we left the not very dozy hamlet.

'Gourd' geous Growth

Take a minute to enjoy
The ‘gourd-geous’ colors of fall.

I’ll be thinking of you
while you’re out having a ball.

The beauty won’t last long
No, not at all.

Go now with your friends, family or just give me a call.

Instead of giving pumpkin cookies to friends and neighbors, I typed up this catchy poem, attached it to a gangly or multi colored parcel and shared with them.

Growing gourds can take over your whole yard but the rewards are worth it. I planted some dried seeds from a bumpy, colorful gourd I bought at the store last year and saved over the winter. In the spring while looking for something, I spied the dried item and decided to throw some in the ground.

I planted some in good soil, others in clay soil and so on in various spots in my yard. They all seemed to grow where they were planted, no matter the amount of water or soil they we in. I netted about 100 gourds from three areas. As you can see in the photo, one plant took over my front flower and bush garden.

Tiny Tot Tests the Waters

Isn't it a joy to watch a baby discover a new challenge? Even though stairs can be fearful for both child and adults, learning to navigate them successfully is a good thing.

Our granddaughter, Emma, is pictured here getting the idea to attempt something new. She then makes a move to climb up a few steps. Finding out they won't buck her off, she keeps climbing then takes off for the unknown.

Let us all have the courage to keep trying until we get it right or are satisfied. One never knows what the results will be unless the leap is taken first.

"Push yourself, have ideas & the passion to execute them. There is a whole world that can be experienced allowing you to rise to the top. Talent is a gift, but persistence is its own reward."

Bean There, Missed That

Our bumper crop of pole beans has resulted in an overflow on every shelf in the refrigerator. No one asks, 'What's on the menu?' because they know it is green beans, zucchini, carrots or cucumbers. No complaining here since fresh veggies are in season for maybe ninety days of the year. Some produce is given to neighbors and family with a craving for the home grown.

Daily pickings and double searching to get every last bean in its prime is a must. It's a game of 'Hide and Seek' with some beans seeming invisible amongst the leaves. Others ones shouting, 'pick me first', like we did in school for the afternoon Phys-Ed ball game. If I find them grown to 'huge' portions the next day, I marvel how they could have been missed. Production slows when they are ignored and left on the vine.

It's clearly a game of 'I Spy', then I eat. Yum! Yum!

'73 Transposed Was 37 Years Ago

Yes, 37 years ago in 1973 we were married in the Salt Lake Temple for time and all eternity after a four year courtship. That alone seems like forever, but it really wasn't. We would hear people say they had been married 25 years and think that was more than our lives on earth.

It seems now that 37 years is a very, very long time after some days of trying to be patient with one another. Now I understand why Grandma Schmidt seemed a bit irritated with Grandpa after fifty plus years of marriage. Sometimes you just get in each others way. Here are some recent pictures that show how long enduring to the end really is.

All in all, we still love each other and are willing to hang in there until 2023 at least. Hey, that's fifty years and almost an eternity.

Trampoline, Truely Twenty Five Years of Fun

Christmas 1985 our dear trampoline came to reside with us. Many happy bounces have ensued since the first jump took place in early 1986. Everyone has taken a turn or two hundred on it. Some patrons even had sleep-overs, tumbles, fly-offs and more, fortunately resulting in minor damages.

When the grandkids came to visit this summer, it was the popular hangout. ‘Take turns’ we shouted over and over to them, when the smallest ones couldn’t handle the momentum. Occasionally an adult would climb on, delighting the little ones. Their powerful jumps would send all the rest flying high. ‘Dead Man, Dead Man’ was an oft played game, as each in turn tried to find others to tag out. Neighbors commented hearing happy voices spilling over from our back yard. The grass was greener under the tramp do to the many water games played.

No one knows who has jumped the highest. Jory is probably a contender for first place; although everyone who has bounced skyward via the trampoline, feels they are soaring to heaven. What is it that these round, spring laden contraptions do to us the minute we step onto them? Instant childhood returns as our lungs inhale the fresh rushing air, bringing a smile to our faces.

Here is an invitation: ‘Same time, same place next year to all the bouncing boys and girls.’

Four Great Girl Generations

Most families like to take pictures of their posterity. They help us remember one another and the good times we spend together. It's fun to remember what we looked like at a certain age in our life. How amazing it is to see the resemblances we have with one another and the traits we acquire.

It is especially fun to see four generations showing great-grandparents, grandparents, parents & their child in photos. Here is one of mine showing my eldest daughter with her youngest and only girl, my mother and me.

Parting With My Piles

I must like piles because they are everywhere in the house. Piles of valuable hand-me-downs, abandoned crap, excessive purchases, memorable bric-a-brac and miscellaneous what-nots hang out in most rooms. There either isn't a perfect place or isn't room to fit it in. Maybe it's that I can't decide what to do with each sentimental piece.

Mostly ignored until company is coming, then this unclassified clutter has to be dealt with. Rooms that guests don't enter get piled higher and higher of these so called 'must keeps'. When the offspring come home to visit I'll say the classic, "One of these days, this will get tossed." It never happens.

How to convince myself to let it go. The best cure is to have someone else do the deed, where the attachment doesn't exist. Having friends clean out each others homes might work, but would the relationship endure. Imagine the accusations. "You threw out my special Valentine card from third grade!"

Why not hire a maid service? Is it the money or letting them see you at your worst? Probably both. I could muster the courage to 'Do-it' my self. I dream of the biggest garage sale ever with dollar signs in my eyes. Like that will ever happen, but think of all the money to be made. My biggest fear is that when no one is looking, I would haul half of it back to the house.

Shall my kids conspire while hubby and I go on a weekend getaway? More than a dozen times my siblings and I attempted dumping my own mom's crap, but to no avail. She would drag it out of the trash saying, she needed it.

A clean break is the only way to part with my piles. This is a perilous situation.

Help, I'm Hyper-sensitive

On occasion I go through a hyper-sensitive frame of mind, where absolutely everything bugs me. I can't even stand myself during this period. It’s not easy to reign in these feelings, that cause me to react to common stimuli so negatively. Often, I resort to slamming doors, verbal innuendos and throwing things. Normally, the same irritants are ignored or unseen. You could say my 'annoyance radar' is fairly low most of the time.

When I'm 'hyper-so-sensitive' little scraps of paper/string etc. on the floor, the common counter clutter, a caller that talks slowly on the phone, my mother repeating the same phrase for the fourth time and so on make me crazy. Driving becomes more frustrating, if the car I’m following isn’t going fast enough, its a clunker or an old style, I'll change lanes. I want it out of my sight. My mild mannered hubby can irritate me, if he doesn’t remember to do his chores, forgets to help out more or does some other minor infraction.

What causes this 'Out of my mind' feeling? Stress, temporary depression, lack of or disrupted sleep, trying to do more than is humanly possible. Having guests over also removes the blinders I have of my home's condition. It opens my eyes to every ugly detail, thus become keen to distractions.

It only lasts for a few days. Deep breathing, exercise, sleeping pills and self-talk get me out of this funk. I'm little Miss 'Go With the Flow' the rest of the time, or not! It all depends on the external forces.

Temple in the Tiny @Temple Square

Miniature building representations are becoming very popular. It was just a matter of time until a tiny replica was made of the interior of the Salt Lake Temple. Recently the unveiling of this look-alike structure down to the minutest detail was celebrated. (Notice the unique view of the 'real deal' in the background of the photo.

Opened 360 days of the year and boasting over a million visitors, Temple Square probably has more than a few hundred thousand people wondering what the interior of its gemstone, The Salt Lake Temple, looks like on the inside. Stop by to take a peek at it in the South Visitors Center on Temple Square. It's open until 9pm.

While there, take in a free concert at the Assembly Hall (Saturdays @7:30pm) or the Brigham Young Park (Tues & Fridays @7:30pm). You will put your wonderings to rest after you see the Salt Lake Temple in its tiniest form.