the game of life

it was a rival game between western oregon and central washington ladies fast pitch softball teams. a graduating senior from western oregon, who had never hit a home run in her career, was up to bat. the score 0 - 0. the small 5'2" senior connected with the ball, hit her first home run and enthusiastically ran towards first base. on the way she stumbled and fell in pain from the result of a torn acl. the umpire let her know that her home run would not count unless she was able to touch each base, without the help of her own team. there was no way she would be able to crawl to each base much less walk or run. disappointment set in, until two members of the opposing team, a four-year starter star player and the shortstop left their positions and ran to the aid of the fallen competitor. gently lifting her in a fireman's chair style they carried her to first, then second, then third, then home, pausing to let the injured players toe gently touch each base. accompanied by a standing ovation the girls giggled as they made their way home. western oregon won the game, central washington won the hearts of all.

my sisters have been gently carrying another sister, who is unable to "run the bases" on her own right now. there are giggles and tears and prayers and gratitude. if i follow these examples perhaps someday, with the help of others, i will successfully make my way home.

hallelujah

ok back to this day in history - april 13, 2008. what a day - sidney poitier won the oscar for lilies of the field, tiger woods won his first masters - at just 21, apollo 13 was forced to return to earth after an oxygen tank explosion - that made a great movie, the first elephant arrived in the united states in 1796 from bengal and the metropolitan museum of art was founded. but perhaps my favorite event 1742 - george frideric handel's oratorio Messiah makes its world-premiere in dublin, ireland.

april is my favorite month of the year! i truly believe it to be a holy month. it is the month Christ was born and the month of resurrection. christopher columbus signed a contract with spain, affording him the opportunity to search for westward passage to asia and thus discovered the new world. paul revere made his legendary ride and the "shot heard round the world" set the american revolution in motion. the start and end of the civil war and the abolition of slavery in the united states occurred this month. earth day was established! the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored and in 1864 the us congress authorized the use of the words "in God we trust" on u. s. coins. may we ever remember and live by those words.

i don't care how poor a man is; if he has family, he's rich *

this is the house that gram built. (early 1950's) located in shelley, idaho on elm street. it had 2 bedrooms, a small bath, a front room and the kitchen in the back. there was an unfinished basement piled high with laundry and a drain full of discarded brussel sprouts. the home housed 9 people and one incredible dog.

these are gram and auntie mae, mid to late 1920's


gram is the little one in the arms of her dad. she'll tell you that she was a daddy's girl, mainly due to the fact that she would rather clean the chicken coop than wash the dishes.


parrish spud harvest 1930's

grandma lizzie and the blackfoot grange kitchen band. i believe we should start a farmington grange kitchen band and cori should be our leader!
i like this one of grandma lizzie holding onto the hands of our very own gram.

and of course ~ the red gingham dress!

* quote by Dan Wilcox and Thad Mumford, "Identity Crisis," M*A*S*H

where's stacy london when you need her!

help. this message is a plea to anyone who might read this boring blog page and who has way more fashion sense than me. (that would be about 99% of the population.) my dilemma? i recently purchased new black pumps. in fact, i bought two different styles and am trying to decide which pair to keep. i proudly tried them on while my 16 year old "niece" was visiting. she told me that pointy toed shoes are ugly and make me look like a witch. ok, so maybe it wasn't just the shoes that made her feel that way, anyway, i was devastated. i like pointed toe witchy shoes. am i really that out of touch? now i really do like the square toed shoe as well and if i get no response from the fashion gurus out there, i just might need to keep both!

update: thanks ladies for the expert advice. i've decided to keep them both and when i feel witchy i shall don my very classy, pretty, pointed shoes. besides i've decided that an almost half centurion should take the fashion opinion of a 16 year old with a large grain of salt!

now and then there's a fool such as i

April 1. This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three hundred and sixty-four. ~Mark Twain

do you ever look at those "this day in history" sites? i suppose the history buff in me encourages a view. today's is just a bit depressing. things like ayatollah khomeini declaring himself the leader of iran, marvin gaye being shot to death by his own father, and major league baseball going on its first strike ever, are or were the newmakers. on the other hand a bit of good news, nunavut became the third independent territory in canada; it is the homeland of canada's inuit! i wonder if manu still speaks inuit?

a natural woman

carole king was a guest on jimmy kimmel live. she started the night making fun of her own songs and singing them as though they were commercial material. my favorite...you make me feel like a ... macsausage! ah carol king! ah endless summer nights spent in ucon, idaho with long walks up the highway to tuckers house for 2 am brownies. we wore hip hugger bell bottom jeans with leather patches, baby doll tops, sandals and long straight hair. i envied my sister cori's long blond strands with no bangs and natural highlights. she was gorgeous and didn't know it. her hair would sway with the wind and she was cool. cousin jane was cool too and i was lucky enough to be the tag along. i believe it was carole king and maybe helen reddy that inspired me to, at age 13, want to burn my size 28aa bra. scandalous! but i was a natural woman and was ready to accept the call. yes at thirteen i was still a tall, extremely skinny, flat chested, forlorn looking woman-child longing to be anything other than what i was. and carole king made me feel good. her throaty voice touched deep into my inner soul. i knew all the words and could sing along and pretend that i too was cool. i suppose a bit of that young girl still lives in me because my cell phone ringtone is none other than ms. king's... you just call out my name. boot cut and bell bottom jeans seem to be back in fashion along with babydoll tops, (although i refuse to even try one of those on) and i still have the same sandals worn in high school. my flat chested 28aa has grown significantly but mainly due to middle age body fat. i no longer wish to be anything other than who or what i am. i am content, i am happy, and i love listening to carole king.