Monthly Archives: February 2008

Lunar Events

Can you remember things by the ‘lunar event’? I was bemoaning yesterday how we had not had one full moon with snow on the ground this year. Yesterday afternoon it started snowing and enough stayed to ‘cover’ the ground, thus illiminating the night with the full moon on it. I remember tobagganing at Minne Estema park under a full moon with snow, and it was fluffy and Ron was steering, sort of. He said too much snow was flying in his face to see where we were going, but we all leaned when he told us to with no mishaps and we went nearly to the river. One time we Dibers traveled from Iowa to PA for Christmas and we flew through the bright night. Last year I sang with Em at a Christmas dinner and then drove through the moonlit night home, about a 45 minute drive. It always feels exciting to me! And then last night there was the lunar eclipse as well, which I stayed up to see a good part of it. ‘They’ said it would be the last one for 10 years!

Reflections on Miss T

Miss Thompson died today. Miss Thompson was a single lady (obviously) who was my 4th and 5th grade teacher.  Mabe I was just an upstart and maybe she wasn’t sharp on tact with us younguns. She was little appreciated at that age. She often quoted us lines from the Bible we wondered where ‘that’ came from! My favorite memories of her class were her teaching us to sew on a treadle sewing machine, how to iron a shirt properly (the same way I still iron a shirt and Marhta Stewart does it the same way), showing us her African violets she kept in her window of her trailer and her description of the Northern Lights concluding with her saying that she’d pray I would see them some day. I have several times and I always remember her saying that. Growing up leaves room for perspective and more common experience such as being in a classroom where you are misunderstood, understanding that Scripture is the Ultimate Word and if you can quote it, you are more well-spoken than sometimes you are given credit for being. Knowing Scripture is also a true comfort and I know that she found it so. I have always thought that one of the blessings I had in my relationship with Miss Thompson was to grow up and come back to Cono to work and be her friend. Whenever I pick chicken bones I remember how I couldn’t be bothered with that when I was cooking a meal for so many people and I would give the bones to her and she would come down with her twinkly grin and show me how much she got off those bones that I ‘couldn’t be bothered with.’ She was in her late 70′s and early 80′s at the time and counted being able to work with her hands a privilege as I would plough things through the food processor. Her father was a ‘greenhouse man’ like my husband and she was tickled when we gave her a clematis named ‘Mrs. Thompson’. One day as she passed my garden she saw my green beans and said, “Melinda! Are those kentucky Wonders?” Now who would know a thing like that?! They were. Her father had grown them. Probably the biggest lesson I learned from Miss T was to ‘Thank the Lord’. Every now and then she would do something I would marvel at and say, “Miss Thompson, you are so clever.” She would reply ,”Thank the Lord, Melinda, thank the Lord.” In my mind I was saying “yeah ,yeah, yeah.” One day I was supposed to take a meal to a sick church member and I completely forgot till late afternoon. But the day before I had roasted  turkey, I had made bread that very day, I had homemade applesauce on my shelf. As I went about collecting things for my meal, I thought, “Thank the Lord, Melinda, thank the Lord.’ I jotted a quick note to my friend who had been His instrument. I was on the path to learning that we are what God makes us, and if there is anything good to be found in us it is because He who began a good work in us will complete it. Miss Thompson was the same age as my grandmother to the month, so I always remembered how old she was. Ninety seven…. and complete.

Sticky notes

I have rediscovered how to use ‘sticky notes’ on my desk top. My son-in-law would be so proud. I have even recorded and detached all the notes I had stuck to my computer. For Your Information, aforesaid son-in-law built our computer for us and put on a Linux program with our permission. The Linux is a little different but far more verstile than Windows in the long run, but sometimes you just have to stick with it and learn. So every now and then I learn a new thing. A secretary at the office of Joel’s place of business has a husband who ‘messes; with computers and Joel suggested to her that he look into Linux. He is having a ball! Isn’t it amazing what sticks!

so I went to Sperlonga’s blog and put this on a sticky note because I can’t find my journal from where I was using it the other day, probably stuck under the sofa! But she had a link to another blog, so the author is actually Noel Piper.

You realize how unfinished your thoughts have been when you try to get them out of your head and into something cogent on paper.

Hurray for sticky notes and getting things out of heads to where we can see them!! A segue to that remark is ” You realize how unfinished the day’s tasks are if you don’t make a list!”

One year I divided my work at home aound my school schedule , and it worked, but I haven’t been able to think that all the way through since then!

gotta run