The way to love someone
is to lightly run your finger over that person's soul
until you find a crack,
and then gently pour your love into that crack.
~Keith Miller

Thursday, February 27, 2014



Saw this on PINTEREST a few days ago - I like it.  It reminds me of some of my old water colors and makes me want to paint for just fun again. I need to paint.

This and this also from Pinterest ...  the Ginko leaves were apparently "pinned" from a flickr photo stream, the blue I'll have to find the source on it  ...
FRED

jeanne opgenhaffen

I think it's time for me to get back in to the clay stuff ... I like working in that medium more then I expected to ... something very soothing about working with clay.  I want to create something similar to the two images ... those are real Ginkgo leaves, I have done a clay pot with Ginkgo as a trial for something bigger.  I think I'll make a bunch of leaves and attach them to a wood backing and create the best little dust, spider web collector ever ... .

I'm just sitting here waiting to hear how it went for my brother at the doctor's office today.  Yesterday he went in to his primary guy ... found out he has less then half the amount of blood in his 6'7" body that he's supposed to have ... and that his body isn't making new blood.  I think blood is manufactured in the bone marrow ... determined not to get on-line and search for all the bad possibilities which may be indicated by that ... too bad there isn't a site to type in the knowns and get the best possible case scenario.  

Well ... it's a lot harder to hold the reins on the emotions when it's my kid brother.  I do great when it's one of my own kids I guess because my calmness wraps around them like a hug.  He called this morning and said not to fret and I was pretty good til just a while ago when I realized silent prayers were running down my cheeks.  Probably some music in the silence is just what's called for.  Ouch.

update at 6 something ... not cancer as was most feared.  Blood transfusion tomorrow then top to bottom peek to find the problem (and fix it).  Most thankful.  I really hope we have a bunch of more "I dare you to ... " whatever ... bunches more to laugh at together.  He really has been the best friend one could do childhood all the way through life with.  Most thankful.

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

collections of big little things


JEEP parts

basic heels 

hotel soaps etc.

amazingly detailed notes (aka trash)
Above snap shots are last four images on my phone today ... they are all the same thing, a little stack of something.

Jeep parts sent as a text message as the Jeep was being towed from the driveway ...  is this the whole thing, or are there other parts around here to send with?  We've been working on the Jeep for three weeks now ... bottom line, it won't start ... maybe a poor connection to the solenoid ... time has become more important then $ on that project.  We box it up and send it to someone who knows better (hope so!).

Two, who almost never wears heels borrowed these for an interview ... she played dress up, when was it? yesterday I think ... now she interviews ... all of her shoes are college kid shoes, she teeters on the edge of grown up.  My shoes returned without a scuff accompanied by the sweetest little thanks Mom note.

A grown up "kid" who is becoming one of "my kids" travels extensively for work and he gave me a ton of high end hotel soaps, shampoos, lotions ... shaving cream, toothpaste, all that kind of stuff as a white elephant type gift, a sweet joke, and I actually really enjoy the stuff.  It's all dumped in a big storage tub which I keep under the bathroom sink, sometimes I get it out, open the product and if it smells just right for now I use it right then.  It's fun to "sniff" through it.  That pic was snapped and sent along with a thank you text (and I really hope he is inclined to batch that little joke up again ... he seems to be staying at nicer places then we tend to!)

I needed a 1' binder for notes for what I am most thinking about lately.  I am thinking less about ... uh ... prop governors ... and the specifics of why high wing airplanes tend to pitch up when flaps are added.  On Friday someone called to see if I wanted to "fill in" for him as a parachutist drop pilot ... he was detained in Chicago and couldn't get to his weekend gig.  I like to help a friend out when I can ... people "falling", even the controlled fall, out of airplanes is the single most nightmarish thought of my "pilot" think.  I don't know why.  I mean, drop zones are advertised ... I know that.  I laugh at myself, but I seem to have a minor phobia involving a parachute guy splatting on my plane.  Even seeing it in print causes me to shake my head, no way, even if every one was trying it would be a remarkable feat ... still ... falling people ... creepy.  That gig pays 15 bucks a load ... climb up to 10 thousand agl and call door open.  That's all there is to it I ask ... (turns out that is not all there is to it).  Husband hated the idea (seriously?!? he asked, for 15 bucks and what about insurance ... etc), and because I had already made advance plans to spend the day with him, I had to decline the opportunity to fly the jump plane.  I guess that little stack of seemingly useless notes still kinda pings at me.  I sat outside the grocery store talking with a guy half way across the country and was able to ask intelligent questions about how it's really supposed to go, and I thought I could easily do it just from that conversation ... that's the cool part ... the crazy part is that all the training required to earn a commercial certificate nets one a 15 bucks a load weekend job ... that really stinks.  I have bunches and bunches of containers full of aviation ... my head and my heart hold it close.  It's gotta be worth more the 15 bucks a load ... .

Little containers that we toss things into ... yeah, I've been inadvertently snap shoting them all week ... sweet little tiny things that are big enough.

Yesterday one of the kids was talking to me about an assignment that's, in short, about how do we explain something when the references are missing or lost.  Like ... how do you talk about automobiles to a future driverless society.  I started thinking about how our roads are built on old Indian trails ... or how the Greeks navigated by the stars and the Romans set out distance markers ... go so far on this path till you see the sign  and make a right ... what we know, or think we know is built on something, even forgotten or never known somethings. Because I fly, I know something about navigation ... I know lots of different ways to get from here to there ... and I understand some of the stuff to be mindful of along the way. That's the last picture ... a little stack of loose papers which may represent a thing which has become significant to me ... a tiny thing which is actually a big thing in that it helps me see the significance of guidelines ... or um, Parables ...  laid out by God With Us (there really should be music with those miraculous words!).  A good update for my rickety 'ol nav system.

PS ... (came in today's mail) ...

"A miracle is a visual parable." 
~ anon.  

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

painted for someone else yesterday
birds houses

Monday, February 24, 2014

Parables in the Bible ... a list

par·a·ble

 
noun
1.
a short allegorical story designed to illustrate or teach sometruth, religious principle, or moral lesson.
2.
a statement or comment that conveys a meaning indirectly bythe use of comparison, analogy, or the like.




NumberEventMatthewMarkLukeJohn
1The Growing SeedMark 4:26–29
2The Two DebtorsLuke 7:41–43
3The Lamp under a BushelMatthew 5:14–15Mark 4:21–25Luke 8:16–18
4Parable of the Good SamaritanLuke 10:25–37
5The Friend at NightLuke 11:5–8
6The Rich FoolLuke 12:16–21
7The Wise and the Foolish BuildersMatthew 7:24–27Luke 6:46–49
8New Wine into Old WineskinsMatthew 9:17–17Mark 2:21–22Luke 5:37–39
9Parable of the strong manMatthew 12:29–29Mark 3:27–27Luke 11:21–22
10Parable of the SowerMatthew 13:3–9Mark 4:3–9Luke 8:5–8
11The TaresMatthew 13:24–30
12The Barren Fig TreeLuke 13:6–9
13Parable of the Mustard SeedMatthew 13:31–32Mark 4:30–32Luke 13:18–19
14The LeavenMatthew 13:33–33Luke 13:20–21
15Parable of the PearlMatthew 13:45–46
16Drawing in the NetMatthew 13:47–50
17The Hidden TreasureMatthew 13:44–44
18Counting the CostLuke 14:28–33
19The Lost Sheep frequently calledThe Good ShepherdMatthew 18:10–14Luke 15:4–6
20The Unforgiving ServantMatthew 18:23–35
21The Lost CoinLuke 15:8–9
22Parable of the Prodigal SonLuke 15:11–32
23The Unjust StewardLuke 16:1–13
24Rich man and LazarusLuke 16:19–31
25The Master and ServantLuke 17:7–10
26The Unjust JudgeLuke 18:1–9
27Pharisees and the PublicanLuke 18:10–14
28The Workers in the VineyardMatthew 20:1–16
29The Two SonsMatthew 21:28–32
30The Wicked HusbandmenMatthew 21:33–41Mark 12:1–9Luke 20:9–16
31The Great BanquetMatthew 22:1–14Luke 14:15–24
32The Budding Fig TreeMatthew 24:32–35Mark 13:28–31Luke 21:29–33
33The Faithful ServantMatthew 24:42–51Mark 13:34–37Luke 12:35–48
34The Ten VirginsMatthew 25:1–13
35The Talents or MinasMatthew 25:14–30Luke 19:12–27
36The Sheep and the GoatsMatthew 25:31–46
37Parable of the Wedding FeastLuke 14:7–14

Jesus Christ told numerous parables as recorded in the New Testament of the Holy Bible. According to the dictionary a parable is a story designed to teach a moral. Ah, but they are so much more. Depending upon the level of understanding a parable can be just a simple story or an elaborate display of God's love for us. As our understanding of God deepens so do new levels of understanding of his parables occur. The following parables are beautiful expressions of God's love for each and every one of us. Many of the parables in the book of Matthew are repeated in slightly different versions and recorded by other disciples - in Mark, Luke or John.
Scroll down to desired verse or parable. Or select from the following books of the bible: Matthew - Mark Luke - John

The Gospel of St. Matthew contains the following parables:
Matthew 7: 24-27
Matthew 13: 3-23
Matthew 13: 24-30
Matthew 13: 31-32
Matthew 13: 33
Matthew 13: 44
Matthew 13: 45-46
Matthew 13: 47-50
Matthew 18: 12-14
Matthew 18: 23-35
Matthew 20: 1-16
Matthew 21: 28-32
Matthew 21: 33-44
Matthew 22: 1-14
Matthew 24: 32
Matthew 25: 1-13
Matthew 25: 14-30
           The Wise and the Foolish Builders 
The Sower
The Tares
The Mustard Seed
The Leaven
The Hidden Treasure
Pearl of Great Price
Drawing in the Net
The Lost Sheep
Unmerciful Servant
Laborers in the Vineyard
The Two sons
The Wicked Husbandman
Marriage of the King's Son
Leafing Fig Tree
The Ten Virgins
Ten Talents
Mark 4: 1-20
Mark 4: 26-29
Mark 4: 30-32
Mark 12: 1-12
Mark 13: 28-29
Mark 13: 34-37
           The Sower
Seed Growing Secretly
The Mustard Seed
The Wicked Husbandman
The Leafing Fig Tree
Man Going On a Far Journey
Luke 7: 41-47
Luke 8: 5-15
Luke 10: 30-37
Luke 11: 5-8
Luke 12: 16-21
Luke 12: 35-40
Luke 13: 6-9
Luke 13:18-19
Luke 13: 20-21
Luke 14: 3-7
Luke 14: 15-24
Luke 15: 8-10
Luke 15: 11-32
Luke 16: 1-9
Luke 16: 19-31
Luke 18: 1-8
Luke 18: 9-14
Luke 19: 11-27
Luke 20: 9-18
           The Two Debtors
The Sower
The Good Samaritan
The Friend at Night
The Rich Fool
Servants Waiting for Their Lord
The Barren Fig Tree
The Mustard Seed
The Leaven
The Lost Sheep
The Great Supper
Lost Money
The Prodigal Son
The Unjust Steward
The Rich Man and the Beggar Lazarus
The Importunate Widow
Pharisee and the Publican
Parable of the Pounds
The Wicked Husbandmen
John 10: 11-18
John 15: 1-5
           Good Shepherd
The Vine

here


"Wishing to be friends is quick work,
 but friendship is a slow ripening fruit. " 
~ Aristotle

Just a few quick notes, busy today, but compelled to begin notes on whatever this cluster of thoughts will be about in a few weeks.  This picture because I think of the intentional action of tossing a coin in to a collection spot, a well ... a little red bucket ... a coin jar, whatever/where ever it might be tossed, as a picture of how a friendship may come to be.  I tossed an intention, like a coin, even a coin as insignificant as a penny may be to me (or as significant as it was to  Another :  

Mark 12:41-44

1599 Geneva Bible (GNV)
41 [a]And as Jesus sat over against the treasury, he beheld how the people [b]cast money into the treasury, and many rich men cast in much.
42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a quadrin.
43 Then he called unto him his disciples, and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury.
44 For they all did cast in of their superfluity: but she of her poverty did cast in all that she had, even all her living.
... )
I tossed a good intention towards something.  Another person (or group of people) tossed their  good intentions towards the same something, or close to the same something, and after a bit of tossing a heap of good intentions became a friendship (or at least  something like a friendship).  The actions involved in creating a collection of something "good" created a reservoir of "goodness" which nourished those nearby ... not just the tossers of good intentions, but anyeverybody near by.  
There may have been a few bad pennies tossed in to the wishing well, but in the end they spend as well as the good ones ... the well intentioned intend to purchase good things.
I have a coin jar.  It's a jar like those in the mercado, full of lemonade with a lid to keep the flies at bay ... a treat for the beggar children, also refreshment for the weary.
I really do have a jar like that.  I pick up coins, a penny shining on the street spotted during a stroll, coins spilt in to the couch snatched from the vacuum hose when I clean house, I like finding coins to toss into my jar ... sometimes there is even a wish waiting in there.
I'm not really thinking of a wishing well at all.  I'm thinking about how we spend our tiny tokens, how we may share our wealth (not money, but goodness) and how it comes about that we are nourished, healed even, by tiny things which become bigger in our lives.  
People tend to believe that they are unable to "make a difference" and maybe along that same track, that their stuff, the "bad stuff" in their lives is too messed up, too big a mess, too big for tiny efforts ... and tiny is really all we can see.
I'm thinking about when we need (when I need) something big.  Really big.  The biggest thing I know is God.  And ... God is a lot bigger then I can see.  I'm thinking about how tiny those intentions are ... piled up together and they may become more, even enough.
Finally, someone (the Preacher) has come right out and asked my question, I think it's a lot of peoples question but not everyone's ... I asked my husband and he said he has never asked this question, but I think my heart asks it often enough for several people ... this question(s):
Why is God so frustrating?  Why doesn't He just show Himself?  ... show us how loving, merciful, mighty (all that and more, tons more) He is?  God is mysterious, elusive ( frustratingly so ), confusing, always exceeding my understanding.  
Those are notes from the sermon ... yeah, he asked the questions right out loud ... and you better bet I began to scribble out notes so fast that the pen stuttered ink spots ... notes, as follows:
... it is human nature to sort out CHAOS (there's that word I've been thinking about lately), to solve, understand, organize, to make, arrange, to order good out of what is around us ... to delight in creating (I do love my little projects) ... we are made as learners seeking to bring order ... (even attempting to make sense/order of GOD) ... but God is not tame.  
...the wheels are falling off of our achievements all the time ... we aren't very good at "mastering" our "stuff".  We are made for "relationship" with God, but we can't make sense of the relationship.  
(How many times have I wished He would just show up with skin on and say something clearly ... ? And, how many times have I wished He would tell me how to un-mess my messes ... and how often does my heart longed for a hug and a kiss, a tiny bit of tenderness to soothe the way?)
Here are a couple more of the Preachers statements, these flow from questions voiced by people, long gone, who have their answers now as surely as I will find mine as I decide which questions to quest.
  • I understand therefore I believe.
  • I believe therefore I understand.
Sermon notes continue:  
Our nature to "manage", push buttons, pull levers, it gives us the power and enables puppetry.  That's the first one, I understand therefore I believe.  (I hear people saying they understand God.  I even hear people who understand God so very well that they feel they can speak for Him.)
His nature, working in us, crushes our controlling spirit.  The second statement,  I believe therefore I understand, leads to insight, it is trust that begins to unveil the deep mystery.  The PARABLES crush our controlling spirit ... Sower and word of the seed sown, Isa 6:1-8 ... soil of our heart prepped by the Parables to receive Jesus ... it's a trust thing.
Don't seek understanding.  Seek the Lord.



Thursday, February 20, 2014

more power tools ... so much cooler the hot glue gun!


This thing ... I don't even know what it is called ... scratches the grout out from between floor tiles.  Well, it does all sorts of cool stuff, but it's set up for grout removal right now.  That is my next big indoor project ... re-do the grout in the kitchen and breakfast area.  I didn't know that you are supposed to reapply a protective finish to the grout to keep it looking lovely.  My grout, I should say the kitchen floor grout, but it really just seems to be my grout is yuck.  Kinda excited/kinda dreading that project ... I tell myself I will love it when it is completed ... I'm worried that the vibration will mess with my wrist and elbow (because I am so dainty and getting old ... lol).
Gosh, I love Spring! I think I have three doors left from last year's door re-do ... and I have a neat plan for inside the kitchen cabinets (I think it's neat, we will see), the two grey chairs will be finished shortly - I ran out of fabric so that's a little speed bump (love the air compressor's tools ... so much fun to shoot brads).  My projects are winding down ... one chest of drawers in the garage waiting for warmer weather to finish it up.
The job I took on for flight instructing people in their light sport is at a stand still right now ... their airplane deal hasn't been what they expected and they are headed to court to get it straightened out (it seems).  I don't want to commit to other students while this thing gets sorted out ... may take a while. I'm trying to decided on whether or not to make time for the glider rating this spring ... I don't want to get over scheduled.  Only thing worse would be under scheduled!  In the meanwhile, Sammy enjoys the long walks and I do too ... how can I forget how much I love just walking my dog?

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

what I "fixed" this morning


plain ole deviled eggs with red onion. bacon, and cilantro


crazy delicious nutella/banana bread






Tuesday, February 18, 2014

The helical model - our Galaxy is a vortex ... part 2



found here with some other interesting ideas

http://www.djsadhu.com

blue and green ... and I smelled "Spring" today!


Snapped yesterday during a long walk with Sammy ... big blue sky with icey clouds moving fast enough to make the ground spin ... I love that, when you can see the currents above.  Contrails laid down as crisp and clean as a juicy apple danced away quickly joining the flow ... it was as though the plane had never been there  ... I love to watch their lines dissipate ... or linger ... I love to watch their lines and never think of where they may be going, only that they were here as their lines are there and they contributed something in their passing to that ever evoling blue.  A poet observed the world as green, and on my walk abouts I see green unfurling so sweetly birthing the other colors of Spring ... again stuff (it repeats for emphasis like other very important things) ... as a familiar melody all the bits of creation sing ... a canon of life present and eternal.  Green ... life as I may expect it ... and then the ever-changing, never the same, blue always present over head ... another element to enjoy and be instructed by, it encases, nourishing the green (and yeah, I know the green touches and tends to the blue it can reach, the air is very clean here in the forest where I live).
All that musing to say ... as we walk, Sammy and I, he sniffs about at the ground absorbing info beyond my interest (messages encoded in urine I disdain) and pauses patiently while I try to capture a picture of the joy a tiny  (it's tiny up there in the flight levels where I see it and much bigger, more significant as a construct then it could possibly be on the ground (I think that, accepting that I will never see it on the ground)) airplane awakens in its wake ... white dispersing with/into/enhancing the other white, swirling in patterns too large for my eyes to see from the ground.  The jet stream is moving North as it tends to do when the ground remembers green.

nationalgeographic.com-solar-system/irion  ---> excerpt :

"When most of us were growing up, the solar system seemed reliable and well behaved. “There were nine planets orbiting in well-determined orbits like clockwork, forever,” says Renu Malhotra of the University of Arizona. “Forever in the past, and forever in the future.” 
...
Newton himself knew that reality was messier. The planets, he recognized, must also interact with one another.
... "
Hal Levison's talks  (for leisurely looking later)

 Chaos ... interesting word, I think it is a convenient label for what is not understood.  We sure do like to organize "things".  Maybe it is "flow" which is so very difficult to understand ... maybe we just need a different view whereby to see bigger and smaller better, more clearly.

(In other news this week ... full strength Vit. D milk no longer in time out.)

Time for the dog to swirl me around as we walk.

~PINTEREST image