What do you think that you will be doing when you are 64? I’ll bet that some folks out there reading this may have started singing the Beatles tune. How about when you are 61?
I so admire people who prove every day just by the example of the life they lead that life is what you make of it. A case in point, Let me tell you about Connie and Bob Muirhead.
I was first introduced to Connie and Bob last year just before the start of New England’s great State Fair, the Eastern States Exposition, aka The Big E. Once I saw their booth however I realized that I had seen them many times before in my previous visits to the fair, which, by the way, those of us local to the area have been known to refer to as the Big Mess because the traffic during those weeks makes it absolutely horrendous to get around if you live in close proximity to the fair grounds.
Connie likes the action, a lull in the crowd leaves her bored. Bob was busy giving a customer rep for American Express the what for because he was not able to take their cards like he was supposed to.
Anyway. Bob and Connie own and operate Connie Crafts and have been a regular vendor at the Big E for 27 years straight. They’re like royalty there. Hugs and hand shakes are frequently exchanged by long time friends, customers, and vendors alike who make sure to stop by, say hello and buy a new Christmas ornament. Connie told me that she is always amazed at how many people recognize her every year; even the attendant who monitors the lady’s bathroom nearest to their booth. Not only does the attendant give her a smile and a hug, she even escorts Connie to one of the stalls and gives the seat a extra wipe to make sure it is clean for her. Now that is service. On one busy night when she did not want to leave Bob alone at the booth she called the Storrowton Tavern restaurant, which is right there on the Exposition grounds, and asked if they could wrap up a meal for her that she would walk over and pick up; the manager did her one better and had it delivered right to her booth; she was amazed that she would receive such service.
This year I met them 3 times, once just after they arrived and were unloading the truck, once during the fair and then again the day after the fair closed as they were breaking the area down and loading up the truck for their next engagement. Though they have a legion of friends and family who will stop by and assist in some of the heavy work, make no mistake about it, both Connie and Bob are fully involved in the whole process; they know where every single thing is and belongs. Bob, a seasoned wood worker, designed and built their display area and though it consists of many components it is quick to set up and break down, which he is closely involved in as well.
The loading and unloading of the truck is closely monitored and choregraphed by Bob; each item placed in almost the same exact place each time, everything fit to stay together and remain firmly in place during the long rides from home and from show to show. And he thinks nothing of it to grab a box, the end of a shelf unit or any other piece of furniture to help carry it to or from the truck.
Connie runs the operation in regards to what is displayed and where items are placed once they are brought off the truck; she has an encyclopedic memory about every little detail; if you have any questions about an item just ask Connie.
Any Ornament you buy at their booth will be personalized free of charge. Bob and Connie do the personalization themselves; with rock steady hands they will print the names or words of your choice in small crisp clear lettering.
Stay still in their booth and you may well get run over; there are no shuffling feet or vacant senile stares here, these folks are spry, sharp as a tack, and rarely stand still for long.
Connie is the little general of the operation, From the moment the door of the truck opens and stuff is being unloaded she is watching everything and making sure things are going smoothly.
She moves with purpose and if you ask her a question she looks you directly in the eye while you’re talking.
Unless she is sitting in the chair to personalize ornaments she can be found stocking or organizing everything in her domain – that is when she is not greeting her long list of fans.
Though the bodies may be wearing, their minds are as sharp as ever. During lunch the other day Connie surprised me when she asked me key questions about my family, job, and other things we had spoke of the year before. Mind you I had only met them at that time and had not spoken to either of them since. But they both remembered the details of what we spoke about.
As you have probably figured out by now, these are not two seniors who just have a little booth to call their own and then have minions running around handling all the work.
After the booth is set up they do have friends who help during various hours throughout the day, but Bob and Connie are there from open to close, every day, for the whole 17 days of the show. Connie told me that they are usually up at about 7am and do not get to bed till midnight or later. It is a tough schedule, but I do not think that she would rather be anywhere else. In fact Connie was asked at the end of this years fair if she was happy to be going home for a bit. “No”, she said flatly, “I want it to go on and on forever”. And you know that she means it; watching her you can tell she really loves what she is doing. She is in her element when it is busy and she is hustling around the booth, answering questions, ringing up orders and taking turns with Bob in the chair to personalize the items their customers have purchased. Some of the people who make purchases are more than customers really, they’re loyal fans who come back year after year to get new items for themselves, their friends, family, even their pets.
Opening this story I asked what you thought that you would be doing when you are 61. The reason I asked is because, according to my math, that is about the age Bob was when he and Connie first came to the Big E twenty seven years ago. That’s right, Bob is 88 and Connie is just about to turn 87.
If they are not proof positive that passion is the elixir of life I don’t know what is.
Connie said that she would give me a call next year when they are in town again for the fair. I told her that now that I’ve met them I am counting on seeing them there at the Big E another 50 years. Her bright eyes beamed as she looked up at me with a big smile and said “Okay!”
Connie knows that time is her enemy; she is determined to keep going as long as she can but she knows that it is getting harder on Bob who has had some health issues over the past 6 months and she fears might be ready to stop touring. I know this much though, if it is any way possible, this is a woman who would move heaven and earth for them to be there for 50 more years…..I just hope that I can keep up with them.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Big E, christmas ornaments, connie bob muirhead, connie crafts, crafts, eastern states exposition, old age, senior, state fair | Leave a Comment »
Sorry, do I sound a bit childish? Well I am. In Fact I often tell people, with a touch of pride, that I am Susan’s oldest child.
WDW has always been a delight for us to visit, but there has been, for me, one part that has always left me uncomfortable, and that has been dining there.
Don’t get me wrong, although Disney does have a few less than stellar restaurants, Susan, in her ever diligent research, has always guided us away from those and we have had some of the best food we have ever had. The problem for me though was that I was always in pain afterwords.
This of course was before my issues with Gluten were Identified. But even after that, try as I would to avoid obvious gluten containing foods, something would still cause me discomfort afterwords.
When we found out that Disney takes food allergies very seriously, we made sure to tell the dining reservation folks we spoke with about my problem and a note was made on the reservations when we called to make our dining plans for our trip last June.
My, my, what a difference. I had ZERO issues the entire trip.
When we got to the restaurants we made sure that they knew about my problem, they always did and we could see it mentioned on the slip the host left on the table for the server. The server would take our drink order and then go to the kitchen and get the chef, or, in the case of the new restraunt at the Japan Pavilion at EPCOT , the manager (the chef didn’t speak English I guess). The chef would come to the table and very politely go over the menu, or if it was a buffet take me to the buffet area, and go over every single item explaining why I could or could not have it, or how they could make it special so that I would be able to have it. At one restaurant the Chef pointed out that I could of course have the shrimp, but advised against the cocktail sauce for the simple reason that they did not make it so they could not be 100 percent certain it was gluten free. If there was a safe item on the buffet that was close to something not safe, to avoid any concerns about cross contamination with a spoon, for instance, the chef would offer to bring me a fresh batch of anything I desired – and let me tell you, there was quite a bit they could get for me, special or otherwise, that I could have.
So that I could be certain that the meal presented to me was indeed made special & gluten free the chef themselves brought it out to me; there was no worry that a busy server had grabbed the wrong plate. It was fantastic and I can not thank enough all the Disney staff, especially the chefs, who made certain I did not feel like I was a bother. The Chef at the newly renovated Tuskar house even posed for pictures with some of his staff. When it comes to making you feel welcome few, if any, can match the folks at Disney.
Two things that touched me the most was when the chef in the new reatraunt at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Vacation club came out after wards to not only bring me my dessert but a little mickey pin as well. The second thing was on our last day there when we had breakfast at Boma’s at Animal Kingdom Lodge. The chef brought out for me a breakfast of delicious freshly made gluten free french toast along with a few muffins for the flight home. It brought a tear to my eye.
Well a couple months back I had made plans with our neighbor, Delores, to drive her car down to Florida for her. She had the year before spent the winter down there with a friend, loved it, and bought a little trailer to stay at every winter. She bought a second car up here and wanted to have her old car down there to use. I offered to drive it down for her, Susan, after I told her, thought that it would make a great road trip. Not only we would stop off and see my sister on the way down but – surprise surprise – we could go to WDW a few days before we came back! After that she was off and running making plans.
Plans changed and Delores was not going to need me to take the car down for her. Sue though had her mind made up; we’re going anyway. So the plans are made, the reservations are made, with a note about gluten, and we cant wait to head down the day after thanksgiving. We still wanted to see my sister in Virginia, so now we will rent a car and drive down stopping at Sharon’s house along the way for a brief visit and a little rest.
Life is Good
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged disney food, gluten, gluten free, gluten free dining, walt disney world | Leave a Comment »
So about a week ago Tim, a young boy & one of our Russian neighbors, came knocking on our door.
He told me, rather matter of factly, that he needed my help building a project out of wood.
He needed my help because he didn’t have any nails, or glue, or tools or even wood.
He explained that his cousin was soon to give birth to a baby girl and he wanted to give her something as a gift.
“Fine,” I said, “what do you have in mind?”
“An airplane,” he told me.
I let that sink in a bit then asked about how big he wanted this airplane to be.
“60 inches”
“That is a pretty big plane. In fact it is about as long as she is tall.” I said, pointing towards Susan.
“Hmmmm,” he thought, “maybe 48 inches.”
“That is about how tall you are, how about 12 inches? I don’t think a baby is really interested in a airplane, but, in case I’m wrong, and considering how little she is going to be, the only thing she is going to do with a 60 or 48 inch airplane is lean against it.”
He did not appear to be fully swayed by my argument but finally, albeit reluctantly, agreed.
“So, what kind of plane are we building?” I asked
“One of those ones with two wings, ya know, one above the other?”
“Ah, a biplane”
“Yes”
He then told me he was going to go home and work out the plans for our project and left to get right to work.
About 20 minutes later he knocked on the door again and showed me his step by step plans.
I thanked him and told him I had some ideas as well, I could not start the project right away, but we were certainly going to get it done this week.
He was a bit disappointed but said okay and left.
About 15 minutes later he was at the door again.
“Did you get a chance to review the plans yet?” he asked with a serious look on his face.
“Uhh, just quickly, but I will study them more in detail later.”
He said okay and left again.
The next evening, at about 6:30, he was at my door again ready to get to work. I explained that I could not get to it today, but I will be ready to start tomorrow. You could plainly see on his face that this disappointed him,
“Why cant you start today?” he asked
“Because I am in the middle of other things.” I replied. His shoulders slumped, and he said “But we’ll be a day behind schedule.”
“Don’t worry, we will be okay. I have some ideas that I think you will like.” He nodded okay and left for home.
At around 2 in the afternoon the next day I rummaged around in the garage for a piece of 8 quarter clear pine I had, some quarter inch plywood and a few scraps of pine and poplar. I squared up a foot long hunk of the 8 quarter, and drew the lines for the shape of the body of the plane.
I cut out the shape on the table saw and then cut out the area where the tail pieces would fit. I cut the rudder and rear wing pieces from the plywood along with the main wings. From a small piece of 3/4 x 1 inch poplar I made the piece that will hold the wheels (the only thing I bought, $1.25 for 4) and from some scrap pine cut out the pieces that would hold and support the two wings as well as the propeller.
I then sanded and shaped the pieces and prepared to glue them together.
It was at about this time that Tim showed up; I heard him knocking on the back door and called him over to the garage.
“You started without me??” he asked.
“Yeah, I had some ideas I wanted to try, I think that you will like them.” I couldn’t tell him that because of his age I did not want him playing with the power tools without his parents around.
I dry fitted all the pieces together and showed him how it was going to look. His disappointment at my not including him from the beginning vanished and he was ready to help me glue it together.
The glue comes in two parts; there is the glue you apply to one piece and then a spray activator you apply to the other. Seeing me blowing the activator dry on the first piece Tim took it upon himself to blow on each other piece I did and then give me the go ahead to fasten the pieces together.
While we were doing the assembly I suggested that perhaps this was not really a toy a girl would appreciate, certainly not an infant, and that maybe he should just go ahead and play with it.
“Yeah, I guess your right.” he replied between blowing on a couple of pieces. “I guess that I could play with it till she gets older”
When it was all assembled it looked like this
Just my guess, but I think that he liked it.
In one of those “Kids say the darndest things” moments, while we were glueing it together, he looks up to me and say’s:
“When I’m older, and your dead, I am going to remember you helping me with this.”
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged biplane, kit, neighbor, project, wood | Leave a Comment »
Twas the night before Christmas and all about
The Karen’ies were celebrating in our little house
Law Law and Ta Blue,
Eh Law Soe and Hser Tha Blay,
Christine and Sugar Moon. even Moo Gay,
celebrating their first Christmas in the USA
Their stockings were hung on the staircase with care
stuffed with candy canes, toy Rein Deer and iPod Accessories.
Flash Lights, Lip Balm, chocolates and trinkets galore.
But the best gift of all came not from a store.
As we sat down for dinner we took a moment to pray
thanking the Lord above for the love of our new found friends
from half a world away.
What a Blessing, what a treat
Our lives were forever changed that day we stopped to say Hello
to our new neighbors across the street.
This was our neighbors first Christmas in America and it was our pleasure to share it with them.
Sue spoke with the folks at Toys For Tots and they made a special effort to see to it Hser Tha Blay (aka Seth) and Eh Law Soe had presents.
We gave them these presents a day or so before Christmas… which was easier than trying to wrap or hide them all…
You can see they were quite happy with them…
On Christmas Eve we had Law Law and his family over again.
Sugar Moon & , her sister, Christina, came over
as well as their cousin Benny
And Ta Blue’s brother Moo Gay stopped over – a man not afraid to challenge fashion trends.
It was a great night of friendship, dinner and laughter.
Afterward Eh Law Soe went right for the presents under the tree, pointing out each and every one she thought was hers…
But first we opened the stockings.
Both Eh Law Soe and Seth loved the stuffed animals they found in theirs…
And then it was time for the presents!
It was a joyous site to behold; never had they experienced such a thing and it warmed our hearts to be able to be there with them.
December 25 was not only Christmas, but it was Ta Blue’s birthday as well (amazingly Law Law’s birthday is on January 1st).
So after most of the wrapping paper was picked up we went to the kitchen for some cake and cookies.
Here Ta Blue is offering some to our eldest boy Keith
Christmas has long been a difficult time of year for me; too many unpleasant memories, but this year was special, I could not help but be carried away by the fun and excitement our friends were having.
Often we have expectations about the holiday; we have gift wish lists and all that, these folks had no idea what to expect. The smiles on their faces were worth more to us than any material gift and I find myself looking forward al ready to the next Christmas we can spend together.
We have some additional photos here, please feel free to enjoy them as well.
K & S
Posted in burma, mae la | Tagged christmas, mae la, refugee, toys for tots | Leave a Comment »
photo from Feb 25, 2008.
Wow
It has really only been a short time here in the states for our neighbors, but already they have experienced so much with us.
Law Law and Ta Blu Moo (more of a phonetic spelling of their names) came here in Jan 2008 from Thailand where they had lived as refugees for 20 years or so in the camp Mae La.
Their homeland of Karen, Mynanmar (formerly known as Burma), has been in a state of civil war for over 50 years. These gentile folk are people without a country and over the last number of years are being brought to other countries around the world to start a new life.
Here in Western Massachusetts we are seeing quite a few families moving in around us. I guess that it depends on your perspective; but, good or bad, Massachusetts offers some of the best social services for people in their plight in the US and we are seeing some families, already established in other states, coming here to enjoy them. In fact one of our neighbors has a friend coming today from California to relocate here.
My heart goes out to these people; overall they are some of the sweetest folks I have met and very appreciative of the help Sue, myself, and the sponsoring entities are providing them.
Law Law and his family were brought here by the Lutheran Family Services, Sugar Moon from Jewish Family services, and a couple others I have met recently by some arm of the UN.
I think that the biggest obstacle they face presently is language. Ta Blu can speak a little english, and we are getting better at understanding each other. Law Law really has to work on it though. Hopefully he will now be able to; he has befriended a young man, Min Win Aung, who only arrived four days ago. He speaks very good english though. Until now the only person I met who was as good was Sugar Moon.
Sugar Moon.
I have encouraged him to make use of this advantage; one thing we really need here now is people who can speak in both Karen and english.
We have in this area a large, for lack of a better word, ‘Russian’ community. These are people who have immigrated here themselves within the last 5 -10 years from the former soviet satellite states like the Ukraine, Romania, Kazakhstan and such. Many whom I spoke with during this period when they were arriving were sponsored by churches, and some of them, now working with these churches, are helping the Karen refugees get settled, and doing a wonderful job. If you can imagine how difficult it is for some of the Karen people to communicate in english, add on the difficulty of trying to do so with people who themselves may have some issues with the language and have a heavy dialect on top of that.
If Min Win Aung can also learn some of the russian language he could corner the market on being a interpreter!
The point I wanted him to understand though was this: it will be very difficult to get a decent job if you can not easily communicate. Law Law, and some of the others, are having this trouble right now. Though the market is a bit tight, there is work out there. However an employer is less likely to give the position to someone they can not easily communicate with. Min understands this and has promised to come by our house to improve his english.
Anyway.
This past weekend we took Law Law, his wife, son and another young man, Sher Boe Dow (pronounced Sha Boo Doe), to see the ocean. Regrettably their daughter Eh Law Soo, was away visiting family and could not join us.
Eh Law Soo
In one of their first visits at our home, while we were looking on a map online going over the different legs of their trip coming here, Ta Blu mentioned that they had never seen the ocean before, and would love to not only see it but swim in it as well. Sue assured her then that she would get the opportunity.
Ta Blu
Saturday, June 21st 2008 was that day. We rented a van and headed down to Rhode Island.
We first went to Brenton Park where we had lunch and Seth (again a phonetic pronunciation, the best I can make right now) got to fly his first kite!
Brenton has a spot right next to the coast where the hobbyists display some really exotic kites
Seth’s kite, featuring the fish Nemo, was a dollar store special but it worked well and he had a blast.
We enjoyed a nice lunch of chicken wrap sandwiches with chips and water,
Afterwards Seth and I went to walk on the rocks, followed shortly by Law Law and Sher Boe Dow.
Seth had a grand time climbing and exploring….
I showed them some of the ocean wildlife I found in the area, including Hermit crabs and Starfish, which they were all amazed with.
After our little bit of exploring came time for our next big adventure and we left Brenton to head for Easton’s Beach.
After we settled our belongings Sue took Seth’s hand and led him down and around a bit as he took his first steps in ocean water, you could tell that he was really enjoying it.
At one point he looked up at Sue as he bent down towards the water, seeking permission to play in the surf. Sue said Sure! Well that was all it took – he let go of her hand and plopped down and splashed around. When he stood up his shirt, now wet, was bothering him and he looked to Sue to help him remove it, which she did, then he decided that pants were too much of a burden as well, quickly wrestled out of them, and plopped back into the water!
He ran around a bit till he looked like a human goose bump and Sue took him in to dry off.
It wasn’t too long though before he was back again
Eventually he did come in to stay and Sue helped him dry and warm up.
During all this Ta Blu, Law Law and Sher Boe Dow were wading a bit in the water. Law Law and Sher Boe Dow never made it past that, claiming to be “too cold” and eventually wandered off. Ta Blu though, after a little bit of hesitation, perhaps because of the enormity of the body of water before her, slowly made her way further in, till, standing in waist high water, she plopped down, and just had a ball after that; it was for her a dream come true.
After a half hour or so she came back to shore & excitedly did her best to express the fun she had, I think that it is rather obvious.
Her boy was now dressed again in dry clothes Sue had the foresight to bring with us, and started on his next ‘first’: building a sandcastle!
After Ta Blu changed into something dry and found that her husband and Sher Boe Dow had returned from where ever they had wandered to after leaving the water. She not only told them about the fun she had had but, I think, was chiding them for chickening out of going in the water…that is just my impression though.
We spent a couple hours at the beach then went looking for something to call dinner. Flo’s Clam Shack had been suggested to us by a co-worker of Sue, it was just a stones throw up the beach, but trying to find parking was so frustrating that we sought out something else. Betty, our GPS, had a listing for a place in town, which, after we arrived, we found was now no longer there. A local suggested The Gas Lamp Grille just a few minutes walk away from where we were so we made our way there. Sue was worried that we would have a long wait because we were a party of 6, but it only took a couple minutes for them to get a pair of tables together. Everyone was pleasant to deal with and I would not mind going there again some time.
Sue started us off by ordering a plate of nachos with chili, kind of a taco salad, we also ordered hamburgers all around, although Sue’s was a turkey burger, I had a cup of their clam chowder as well.
Seth dreaming about his first hamburger?
The taco salad arrived and every one had some.
We all enjoyed it quite a bit. and it didn’t last too long.
Then came the burgers.
This was their first hamburger and they looked at it, and me, a bit puzzled about how to proceed eating them. The burgers arrived in a open faced fashion and I demonstrated with mine how to close the sandwich and eat it. While Sue was showing Seth he kept flipping the top of the bun off; he would eat a piece of bacon, Sue would put the top back on, he would flip it of again and eat another piece of bacon. After doing this repeatedly till he had picked off and ate all the bacon on his he spared no time and dug right in!
He has a fascinating way of eating: first stuff in everything you can, then worry about chewing….
I finished mine, Seth much of his, Ta Blu polished off hers, Sue didn’t finish the turkey burger only because she didn’t care for it, I tasted it and it was not anything great; the meat was bland and they seemed to try and make up for it with a sauce that was a bit much for her. We frequently have turkey burgers at home, special flavor blends that she either buys or I make, so she has a high standard for them. The regular Angus beef burgers were tasty though as was the chowder.
But, again, the two other guys just could not keep up, a bit of a disappointment from a macho standpoint, if you ask me<g>.
They, with the excuse of having stuffed themselves with the taco salad, only put a dent in their meal and participated in another ‘first’: the great American custom called The Doggy Bag.
After dinner we started back to the car to go home. However, while passing her booth, a woman convinced us to take a little harbor cruise on a boat called “The Amazing Grace”. It was a pleasant little trip talking about the buildings, boats, and history around the Nantucket harbor. They had never been on any boat like this so we thought that they would have fun, which they did.
Sher Boe Dow
The ride was about a hour, but it wasn’t too long before his heavy eyelids won the battle and Seth drifted off into dreamland…..
It had been a big day for him full of great adventures that I hope he always will remember… I know that I will.
After the harbor cruise we continued back to the van to began the trek home.
Their minds still full of all they had experienced, there was a little chatter between Law Law, Ta Blu and Sher Boe Dow at first, but little by little they drifted off to sleep. Seth, who woke up while we were fastening him to the car seat held out the longest of the four of them, but soon they had all, including Sue, drifted off. Dreaming, I imagine, of magical kites & the great big ocean, tamed at last.
I shall forever be grateful that I could be there with them, and hope to help more of their dreams come true.
More photos of our neighbors can be found HERE
Posted in burma, mae la | Tagged burma, dream, karen, kite, mae la, mae la camp, mynanmar, nantucket, refugee, rhode island, swim, thailand | 2 Comments »
How do they know???
The past few weeks I have found myself living a way, I think, most people would love to live.
For the first time in 20+ years I find myself unemployed, and I am not really concerned by it: God, The Universe, will provide.
I have been busy though. Last year Sue began to grow some stuff in pots; her first effort in Organic Gardening. She had mixed results: the three potted Tomatoes did fabulous, we had a great head of Broccoli, some nice Basil and one nice Pepper! We won’t talk about the cabbage.
For this year I told her that I would make up some raised planter beds for her to use. I had some 5/4 cedar pieces form years back and made 3 nice boxes with them:
(Click here for full size image)
Well, Sue and our Burmese neighbors, planted a whole lot more in them little boxes than I expected, plus she brought back some plants from the farm we own shares at – more containers would have to be made. I should point out that Sue practice what she calls “Chaos Gardening”: throw some seed here, some seed there, if it grows great, if not, oh well. Garden aficionados please note: this can make weeding a bit difficult: in the early stages of growth you really do not know what is a flower and what isn’t!
I am a bit more anal about the process. I am by no means a seasoned expert gardener, but if I see something struggling to survive I just gotta do my best to encourage it on. A little while back while pulling some stuff from our compost pile I found that something had sprouted. I have no idea what it is, but I put it in a pot and water it with everything else. My mother-in-law, a expert gardener of many years, and who keeps here beautiful gardens free of anything other than what she wants growing there (she even sifts the dirt to make sure it meets her approval!) does cast a curious if not suspicious eye on my “if it’s green it grows” philosophy. It is a good thing that I am her favorite (read:only) son-in-law.
So, with no more cedar, but plenty of free time, some pallets and other hunks of wood around I have made it my mission to rescue what I can. We now have three more planter boxes, each about six feet long, plus there are numerous pots around the yard. I also used some space in the flower garden area for some of the plants Sue brought home: 2 corn, 3 tomatoes and one pepper plant.
The back yard garden as it getting bigger. For the full size image click HERE.
I also moved some of the bean plants and a hot pepper plant to the front of the garage…
(full size HERE)
By far the thing that amazes me the most is how the climbing plants know where to climb.
Last week I moved one of the Morning Glory plants from in front of the house to the front/side garden I created and made a trellis to hang on the fence for it to eventually climb around. Within only a couple of days two of the Black Berry branches which last year had rooted in the ground and grew into bushes in their own right. made a sharp right turn and are heading directly towards the trellis!
(full size HERE)
There is no doubt about it, these guys went from verticle to horizontal and are heading directly for the trellis.
Last night, knowing that the bean plants would soon want to start climbing, I strung some string on the center planter for them to use when they were ready. Overnight three of the plants reached up and started wrapping around the string:
It really amazes me that the plants know, and affirms, to me, that there is a mass consciousness around us that we do not yet fully appreciate.
Posted in Garden | Leave a Comment »
A couple weeks ago a great guy left our world.
Jan Wouter Wildbergh was a mans man. He and my father respected each other deeply and were the strongest most determined men I knew. No challenge they faced was an obstacle; it was an adventure.
Life is full of regrets, and one of mine will always be that I did not get to see more of him over the years; there was a lot of history behind those smiling eyes, and a lot of joy in his presence.
The easy part is going; dying, the hard part is for the rest of us who remain to gather the pieces of our now fractured reality.
His ex-wife Nita. two children; Karin & Mark, and his widow Rose Marie, all the grandchildren & extended family now face a world so alien, so different than the one they were living in only weeks ago. My heart goes out to them and hurts with their sorrow.
My parents are long gone; papa only 6 or 7 years ago, my mom in 1987. Each time, when I stood in their homes afterwards, I felt what I can only describe as a distinct absence of their energy.
When you view the body of one who is deceased you can sense that this form that remains is an empty shell; the life, the spirit, the energy that animated it and made it the person we knew is gone and all that is left behind is their shell.
When you stand in their home; still furnished with what had been their valuables and possessions, there is the same feeling – it is not just quiet…it is empty. It is a emptiness so deep I can only imagine it is because they took with them the energy they had used to create and maintain this world they had shared with us.
A dear friend of mine; now facing her own imminent death once told me that she could feel it whenever I entered the room. I never really understood that till I stood in a room where I could feel my parents energy absent.
I am a great believer in the parallel universe theory in quantum physics. Part of the reason I believe it because despite of physically traumatic event I have experienced I remain relitivly, remarkably, intact. In simple terms; imagine that you come to a fork in the road: you have a choice right or left. No matter which direction you go the other choice will be realized as well – the universe will split and another you will travel down that road and experience life from that perspective until its end.
In some reality my mom is still living; a happier life. As is my father and Wout and myself. The world they live in is to them just as real as this one is to me.
Sometimes I try to yell across that seemingly great divide of space and time; a plea to those other me’s to hug our parents just a little harder; not only so that they will know that they are so special, but because it will hurt so much when that alternate me comes to that point in their future when they are not able to hug them again.
What and why is death? But then again, what and why is life?
I can understand sometimes why some people die; they seem to reach a point where nothing makes sense to them anymore. They no longer can tolerate the way the world is; modern music, films, books, politics, it is so far from what they remember that they no longer feel like they fit in.
Some people live tragic lives and, if this world is a learning place, I wonder if it is for their benefit or ours.
Quantum physics shows us that the image of a solid world is an illusion; if you look down deep enough you find that everything is made out of vibrating energy. Energy we are told can change but not be destroyed. If we, who think ourselves solid are in fact energy which in turn can not be destroyed…where do we go?
Further. If everything is energy, vibrating at different rates then there are no real boundaries between me and this chair I am sitting on or the keyboard under my fingers. If you look at a digital image of your hand on your computer, and you keep zooming in the image, eventually the hand is no longer recognizable as the pixels become larger- you cant even tell where the last pixel that made up your hand ends and the first pixel that makes up the space around it begins. Such is the fabric of our reality – there is no separation. Are our spirits concentrated globs of energy inhabiting even more concentrated globs of energy we call a body?
With the fabric of space being merely a vast field of energy, and linear time being an illusion as well…everything that ever was and will be is always around us.
I envision the “Big Bang” as being Gods urge to know itself; a great big “what if?” reaching out in every conceivable direction.
And I have a theory. As each “what if” in which we inhabit comes to its conclusion then the “I” we were in that reality or universe releases its hold on that reality and then both returns to the One God source as well as the rest of the expressions of itself in their respected realities. I say ‘both’ because, again, there is no separation, only energy. To the person in those realities there is no recognition of such; they are immediatly involved in the alternate reality closeest to the one they just left and never even realize that there was a shift; they’ll thank their lucky stars that they escaped, or maybe experience a reeality where they have more physical limitations, but never knowing that some other expression of themselves has come to its end.
I have broken my neck, had over a dozen pneumonias, been in some horrendous automobile accidents, even damn near eviscerated my self a couple years back in a accident at work. Despite some aches and scars I am fully intact…but did all my alternate selves fair as well? I believe that in a number of those alternate realities those expressions drew to a close and, for however long as I am ‘here’ there may well be others that will end as well.
Eventually there will be only one expression of ‘me’ remaining. That one will have the accumulated experiences of all the alternate me’s that were created and, as well, all the knowledge they gathered. This last remaining me will understand that there is no death because dying implies separation, removing itself from all that is, and that can not happen.
Perhaps the realization will come to that me one morning at dawn; sitting on a favorite rock by a quiet lake. As the sun breaks over the horizon, and understanding breaks through the last barrier of his mind, I can see him standing with a smile, reaching out his arms to embrace the light…and letting go of everything he thought he had to hold on to.
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August 25, 2007
The other evening I made my first visit to a Apple store. My visit was not for exploring all new and exciting Apple things; rather to try and find some help for a suddenly dead iPod. It was a 30 gb model and I do not think that it was even a third full.
I spoke with 3 people before I was able to meet one of their “Genius” crew; all were professional, and courteous. The member of the staff who assisted was a very nice lady by the name of Beth.
I explained to Beth that up until a few days ago the iPod had worked fine. It was well taken care of, never dropped and always protected in its case. I had attached it to my computer the other night to charge it up, iTunes said that there was a problem and that the unit would have to be restored. I attempted to do so but was then told that it could not complete the restore process, that I should contact Apple. So, there I was sitting before her.
Beth connected the iPod to one of their computers and met with the same results. My i-P-o-d was D-O-A.
Beth informed me that she could sell me an identical unit for $135.00 or, if I wanted something else, she could give me 10% off that item if I recycled my old one.
I then explained to Beth that this was not my first iPod; my wife and I have both had iPods that failed before -my wife had 2 fail actually, this one was almost exactly 1 year and one month old and now it had failed so my confidence in the product was not that strong. I pointed out that I have a Cowon A2 I use at work – not an ideal environment – that works like a charm and yet this one, which is never abused, fails. I told her that I would have to think about it and asked her to just give me mine back.
Beth nodded, understanding my point, and typed away on her laptop. She then said, very quietly (I had to ask her to repeat it) that she could give me a – I believe the term was – ‘customer satisfaction replacement’. A bit suspicious I asked what that involved. She stated that it would only be some paperwork on her part. I was a bit stunned by that one and just said okay.
The whole point to my ramblings above is this: although I made no mention of it in the store – it is fair to say that had I walked out of there with my dead iPod I would almost certainly not have been back. Since I left with a new, probably refurbished unit, my faith in iPods is not restored, but I feel better about Apple in general.
It is a smart move on Apples part. With the onslaught of personal media devices on the market I know I would have found something in short order to replace the dead unit. I understand their trying to sell me a unit first; they’ve got to pay the bills just like the rest of us. In the end they came through for their customer – a smart business move considering that only people with iPods are going to buy from iTunes!
So, thank you Beth and thank you Apple.
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