It Takes a Village...To Host a Celebration

The 2011 annual 4th of July Celebration at Otwell is now in the books. In 1957 the Ruritan Association began in Jefferson Township, and, over the many years, there have been  celebrations hosted as fundraisers for the community.
Otwell's current population is around 400--a tiny town population. However, come the weekend of the 4th of July, that population--Ruritan members, Community Center members, and just plain good-hearted folks--come to the old school grounds and ask where they can best help. They sell hamburgers, ice cream, call Bingo, sell raffle tickets, cook chicken and ribs, bake pies, make slaw and potato salad and baked beans, plan parades, run beauty contests, etc. 
Think about it: this small town, more the size of a quaint village, does a bit of everything. Browse around the website at http://otwelljuly42011.wordpress.com and marvel at all that is done for the entertainment and fun of the surrounding area. It's exhausting just to think about it. Many towns ten times larger couldn't pull this off--but little Otwell does.That's the spirit of volunteerism.
One really neat thing that came from this? There's a huge, new shiny generator sitting on the east side of the Community Center now. That generator was made possible through the generosity of a village--a benevolent population. And now, as a result of that generosity and a lot of hard work, the Community Center is a designated Red Cross Emergency shelter. Big deal? Yep, it is. As a number of us stood in the pole barn where the Young Farmers were selling concessions on Sunday evening and watched a storm tear through the grounds, more than one person felt a little better knowing that there was a shelter at the ready to protect the people attending the celebration. Fortunately, it wasn't needed...but it's there when it is.
And now the cautionary part of my meandering--Otwell is aging. The average age of the volunteers is getting pretty high. They're wonderful people and they're still working diligently, but several of them worried aloud to me that they just can't keep doing this forever. They need help. They need more and more young adults to become involved to assure that the celebration continues. They were all quick to praise every last young person that was helping this year with the chicken and rib cooking, with the events, with every little thing that someone new or younger was helping with to make the three days go smoother. 
I've been treated to a 4th of July celebration for a long as I can remember. It was a very special part of my growing up. Every year, the memories of years come flooding back--and good memories they are. Let's make sure that those little townsfolk running around the grounds get the same chance to have memories and then, through volunteering, make memories for yet the next generation. 
It takes a village to raise a child...it certainly takes a WHOLE village to host a celebration. Be sure to pitch in next year--I guarantee you'll be welcomed with a big smile.
Have a fine day...

Carnivores Can Be Dainty, Too

I attended a little event today on a road trip and it was pleasant enough; the weather was great, the setting very inviting, the chit-chat interesting. There was, however, one perplexing thing that had me thinking all the way home. 
This was an all-female event and, of course, there was good food to accompany this event. There was a nice selection of fresh salads, rice dishes, veggie muffins, veggie/egg casseroles, etc. There was a distinct absence of meat. It was even discussed on and off during the time we sat down to eat.The conversation would drift to other topics and then someone would comment on how good something was and bam...there it was again. The discussion of the absence of meat. "This is an all-girl party" was even voiced, making that a defense for no sight of the first crumb of chicken, turkey, pork, beef, fish...you name it. If it was even considered meat--nada.
When did females get the idea odd idea that we don't need meat? Of course, if an individual--male or female-- doesn't want to be a carnivore, I'm fine with that. Some of the nicest people I know are herbivores. But all of us? Just because of an x chromosome? When did that happen?
I like meat. I have seldom met a cut of meat from any two-legged, four-legged, finned, or feathered being that I couldn't tolerate. Okay; maybe chicken feet, but that falls into a whole different category. But a cheeseburger, a pork cutlet, a piece of salmon or a catfish filet, and any configuration of chicken or turkey (barring the feet once again, thank you) and I'm there. 
Thankfully, I was cruising home after the party through Montgomery and the burgers were frying at the local Stop 'n Sea. When I got home and bit into that loaded cheeseburger, I was one happy, dainty little carnivore.

The Exhaustion That Accompanies Doom-Sayers

I don't know about anyone else, but I've found the past few days to be exhausting. Not because I was getting my house and/or affairs in order for the doom-sayers predictions, but I'm exhausted from realizing just how divided we are any more as humans.

Let's face it...folks got pretty snarky.

I figured there would be a few out there who, for whatever odd reason, would do some posturing and "in your face" strutting about, making it very clear to all of us folks of faith that we're just this side of not too bright. But wow...really?

As the day went on today, so too did the barbs, the sarcastic remarks, the generally indignant taunts. The scary part, however, to me was how it was beginning to reach a fevered pitch. I did a lot of online work today that had piled up and it got to the point that I just shut everything down...it got that bad. One guy who I generally consider a reliable and thoughtful resource on my Twitter feed went so far as to post "no rapture=God is dead". I've stopped following him...that's just crossing the line in my book.

What has become of us as a learned society? Intelligence doesn't equate hatred and intolerance. Yet this is what happened this past week. We are quick to point out others' intolerance, yet this happens?

My heart goes out in several different directions today. I feel sad for the people who wanted to believe their leader so badly that they forgot a simple tenet of our Christian belief--NO ONE knows when the rapture will occur. Christ himself said He doesn't know. I'm banking that if He doesn't know that a mere mortal for sure won't. And why do we need to know a time? Anyone who dies for whatever reason is "raptured", so to speak. The mortal journey is over...the eternal one begins. I find that incredibly reassuring and exciting.

My heart goes out equally to those who, as a result of being made to think about their mortality, found a great deal of hate in their hearts and lashed out. It got pretty rough out there, folks. Pretty ugly from the mortals. Yikes.

After multiple distractions throughout the day, I decided to put the top down on Miss Priss and just get out and drive a bit. Did me a world of good. Life got back in a welcomed routine. I went and visited my mom and fixed her hair; I went and bought my needed ingredients to prepare the Friday Night Challenge; I drove through the Ireland flats and got inundated with the aroma of turkey manure being spread on the fields. I felt the sun on my face, the wind in my hair. I heard the birds singing their hearts out. And life came back to normal...what a great word.

I'm a firm believer in God and an afterlife; I find it very reassuring and comforting to know that our journey won't just end abruptly once our bodies give out. I like the idea of greater knowledge, understanding, and discovery down the road. It all makes sense to me.

I truly hope that this past week of events will help us all to slow down, enjoy life, and do a little self-examination when it comes to tolerance. We all come into each others' lives with some form of baggage; equally, we all have things that matter greatly to us. How about we start practicing what makes us feel good to preach. Let's just live and love and accept.

Peace be with you.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom

I'll admit it freely. I'm one of the luckiest kids on Earth when it comes to parents. I love them now; I loved them when I was a teenager. I knew they were always in charge, but I also knew they were always in my corner. I felt protected without being smothered; I felt free to be creative and unique while being tethered by a common sense. I felt special while knowing I was not the center of the universe. I was raised like a kid, not a science project. I was allowed to get my clothes dirty, to get scratched up, to get my feelings hurt. I was simply told, as a result, to get cleaned up, that a band-aid would fix the scratch, and to let the hurt go and get back out there and have fun. I carry those same truths with me today. 


When I was little, we were like most people and pretty well scraped by--I just never knew it. When I got older and Dad got a prized job at the mine running Big Kate, we were doing pretty well--I just never knew it. We were just people, plain and simple. A pretty good way to be.


When Dad died a few years back, Mom lost her best friend in the world. It would have been easy for her just to fold up, too. They had been together for over 60 years; suddenly she was alone. But anyone who knows Mom knows that wasn't going to happen. She's a trooper; she doesn't expect life to be easy, and she doesn't want to be pampered. She'd rather laugh than cry, and she's always reminded us that God didn't promise us a bed of roses for a life. All that reality gave us good roots.


On the other hand, no mom is better at helping kids reach for the sky. During our kid-hoods and now as adults, the three of us kids still invent crazy things, try just about anything, and don't get too excited if we really mess things up while learning something new. Things can be neatened up, cleared up, and cleaned up. Experiencing all facets of life can be pretty messy; truly experiencing all those facets can come out looking like a train-wreck. However...once that new skill is learned, that challenge met, or that creation brought to fruition...fantastic.


Thanks to Mom and Dad, we have common sense roots, we have dreams that never end, and we truly know love. 


Mom is 83 and has never been more beautiful. I'm blessed to have her as my mom and honored to have her as my friend.


Love ya, Mom.

Plan B

A fairly good idea I've had in the works for awhile now got a few holes shot into it earlier today. Over the past several years, I've learned to not only to accept that things normally don't work in their first draft, but I've more or less learned to expect it. Writing goes through a series of drafts--why shouldn't life?


Time for Plan B.


People have all kinds of reasons for seeing that things just won't work; this is an inherited skill that we humans have honed over thousands of years. We're pretty good at it. However, there are some of us out there that are either too stubborn or too caught up in the "what if" to stop at the first juncture.


We have a Plan B.


Plan B is a lifesaver; it keeps the world moving forward. It doesn't allow for stagnation or, worse yet, losing progress earlier made.


Interestingly, when I returned to my computer and the Twitter feed, a TED talk appeared. TED talks are amongst my favorite things. They're intelligent, forward thinking, and those giving the talks have a Plan B. This particular talk was entitled, "The Antidote to Apathy". I stopped and listened; it was 18 minutes of pure gold. If you'd like to listen and be encouraged and inspired, it's at http://on.ted.com/96iN 

Life will hand us roadblocks...we can survive and thrive in spite of them...with a Plan B.

Layers of Life

Happily, I am able to head back to the deck to do some meandering today. Specifically, I headed to the hammock on the patio by my office to do some thinking. While taking in all the silence of humans and cacophony of nature, I heard one of my favorite sounds. There was a bird nearby by that was performing in its best voice, which is always enjoyable. But what really set it off was that great sound of a bird back in the woods, singing its heart out as well, but adding that element of a slight echo that filled the surrounding area in the woods. You know that sound? Listen for it the next time you're close to a woods. Fantastic. Nature's sound system. 


It's that layering effect that makes everything in life a little sweeter, a little softer, a little easier on the ears and eyes. It puts our lives into stereo. The aesthetic touch that makes a human a little more human.


I've been a parrothead for many year; for those of you who aren't familiar with that odd fellowship, it's the folks who enjoy Jimmy Buffett's songs and stories. I have very few collections since I'm not much on keeping on one subject, but I have amassed quite a bit of Jimmy's music. He's one of those artists that has created some iconic music throughout the years. However, one of my favorite songs he wrote and performs comes from a less than memorable attempt at a musical. This song speaks of those layers of life in a vernacular I can also easily identify with--cooking: "Layers and layers of spices and flavors are finding their way to my brain." When I first heard those words, it made perfect sense to me. It IS all about the layers.


As a lover of being behind the camera, I look at life in layers. It's the photographers' eye that is always looking for the layers through the lens. It's the layers that bring focus to the subject of the shot. Even the extensive void of white or black as a background creates a layering effect that envelopes a specific focal point.


Our lives are richer when we celebrate all the layers. Don't squander time picking and choosing single events; let it all be a part of the sounds, the smells, the sights.


Have a fine day.

The Hesitancy of Spring

We all reveled in the beauty that was spring at its finest early last week. Daffodils, hyacinths, forsythia, and crocus practically sprung from the ground and scented its surroundings with a fragrance that is unique to this time of year. There was some heat in the sun, and we all reacted accordingly like cats in a sunbeam--we stretched, we smiled, we purred with happiness.


Then came last weekend and reality of how spring can be so hesitant in its ownership of this time of the year. The wind blew, the temperature dropped, the snow fell and covered all the wondrous signs of spring. The green grass became once again a lawn of white; the flowers became white misshapen piles of snow. Our moods went from lightness and warmth and airiness to darkness and chills and the urge to hibernate came once again. 


Ah, the hesitancy of spring; it peeks through and gives us hope, only to shy away once again at the first inkling of the forces of winter wanting one more day in the spotlight.  Just when we think that spring has regained a foothold over its old nemesis, it disappears and the cold wind, the cold rain, and the dampened spirits return.


Keep the faith, dear friends--every day that takes us one day further into the season of spring brings the promise that the warmth will stay, the trees will leaf out, and our spirits will soar once again.