Living Simply
Happy Birthday to me! Beautiful pink roses for my birthday.
Then, as requested, my son made me homemade butternut squash ravioli, salad (bleu cheese, walnuts, pears) and garlic bread.
For dessert we had my favorite — homemade coconut cake.
What a sweet sweet life. Thank you God.
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. Psalm 139:13
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart … Jeremiah 1:5
Time flies. As a little girl I used to want to be “older” so that I could be “free.” Looking back, I was more free as a child — no bills, no housing concerns, no worries about what I said or didn’t say. Being middle aged is not so bad though. It brings maturity (hopefully), added “age wisdom”, marriage, children, grandchildren and friends like no other.
While unpacking from our move to Minnesota, I found an old notebook. In it, I had a list of everyone I knew who had passed away in the last 30 years. Morbid? No, not really. I have kept it so that I would not forget the people who had an impact in my life. Someone suggested I use people’s birthdays instead but I like the “memoriam effect.”
As we get older, we start to wonder what our existence is all about. One day here — one day gone. Will anyone care? Sure, there are the known and unknown influences we’ve had on people. But — after awhile, when the people who know you have passed on — nothing.
Eeeekkkk!
Fortunately for me I believe in an afterlife — a resurrection of the dead and a heaven and Father to go to. Without that — nothing.
One of my favorite songs is from the movie Fiddler On The Roof. It’s called Sunrise Sunset. Take a listen by clicking on the link below. It has always reminded me of getting older.
Any special “getting older” songs you have?
Happy Birthday to me and thank you all for being a part of my life!
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It’s summer — and yet, I’m sitting here thinking about snowflakes during my birthday week. I enjoy snow — each crystal coming down from heaven appears to be so different — just like me.
I am unique. We’re all unique.
Hmmm … getting older makes you think about death. Not all the time. But I start to wonder if I will suffer when I die or if I will go quick. Will I be hit by a car or die of cancer? It seems a little odd to think about it but all of the older people I know have these thoughts. It’s part of the aging process.
My body has slowed some. Going up and down ladders to paint make my muscles sore and I feel like a little old lady hobbling around until the muscles get back to normal.
Ahhh — middle-age. I still feel 18ish and 30 something — at least in my head.
There is only just one of me. Thank God for that.
Another homemade dinner — this time Mediterranean. The meal consisted of:
Yum … with plenty to spare for this weekend.
Birthdays — I tend to reminisce more than usual during times when I am reminded that I am older. I don’t feel like I’m older but I know I am. The calendar, gray hair and the wisdom. Hahahaha
So …
The Camp Fire Girls always had a nice camp that I went to in Westfield, Wisconsin. It was called Camp Tiyalaka. I learned many songs there that I had never heard before. One of these songs is called Scarlet Ribbons. I had always thought it was a camp song but when I googled it, it was actually a popular hit song for Harry Belafonte in the 1950’s.
There is a Wikipedia article on the history of this song.
Click on the youtube link below to hear the song.
I’m not sure why the song keeps popping up in my head. It always takes me back to when I was at Camp Tiyalaka. I don’t have too many memories of being there. Most memories are of the songs I learned.
Music has a big impact on my life as I’m sure it does on other people. It can make me sad, happy, angry — it takes my brain back to memories that I may or may not want to remember.
Scarlett Ribbons — I don’t think I’ll ever forget that song.
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AT&T has a great commercial that exemplifies how I feel about all creeping things. (Click below to view it on Youtube.)
Minnesota may one day cure me of the “creeping things” paranoia. Last evening, before going to bed, we turned on the light to the outside deck. On the outside of the screen were many different types of insects looking at me — none of which I had ever seen before.
I wonder if there is “creeping things” insurance — in case I should die of a heart attack before the cure.
I’ve always wanted to think back and remember having a boyfriend who carved our initials into a tree.
The thought is nice but it’s not reality. I did have a boyfriend who had our initials carved into a locket. I still have the locket. I’m not sure why I’ve kept it all these years as there are many sad memories that go with it. At the time, they didn’t seem sad. One’s perspective as a young person is quite different than as an adult.
A song by Chris Rice called My Tree compares a lover who carves his love’s initials into a tree with the carving that Christ did on His tree – the tree at Calvary. There is no better love than Christ. He doesn’t have an ounce of selfishness in His heart and only wants what’s best for us.
Why is that so hard for us to grasp?
Lyrics to the song My Tree
On a hill far away stands a tall mighty tree
Where a boy and girl used to take turns pushing the tire swing
I remember the pocketknife in hand and her name in my heart
Thinkin’ there ain’t no way for a boy to contain
the love that he feels inside
So I carved her name into my tree
Then I carved a heart around her name
Then I carved an arrow through the heart just to say “I love you”
On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross
the emblem of suffering and shame
I remember the nails through my hands and your name in my heart
How in their wordless way the nails explain
the love that I feel inside
As they carved your name into my tree
Where I wrapped my heart around your name
Then I took your arrow through my heart
Just to say, “I love you”
Just to say, “I love you”
Now I can never forget how much you mean to me
‘Cause I will always remember whenever I see
Where I carved your name into my tree
Where I wrapped my heart around your name
Then I took your arrow through my heart
Just to say, “I love you”
Just to say, “I love you”
I really love you.
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Okay — so now the weather is getting ridiculous. With highs in the 90’s, we have broken the previous dew point record from the 1940’s. It’s a sauna out there. We are hotter than Florida according to my sister who lives there. She’s invited us over to “cool off.” (For a quick definition of the dew point, click here.)
Since we’ve moved to Minnesota, we have had the 5th worst winter and now we’re breaking summer records. I won’t judge Minnesota on one summer — I’ll give it three years. Then — well, if the summers are this bad I may have to go back to Seattle. The winters I don’t mind — even if we do get below zero.
We have had so much rain that my potted outdoor plants have drowned.
Minnesota — shape up or I ship out!
We are officially Minnesotans. Our new, and first ever, Huntington Rebel gas grill has been assembled and is ready for use.
In the grocery line, we saw a man with lots of hamburger buns, chips, etc. Looks like he was ready to grill.
All we need is a more comfortable weather. Although — I think people in Minnesota don’t care what the heat is outdoors — they just like to grill.
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Looking into a clear pond, I see my face — wavy, as ripples of water flow through my reflection. Ahhh — that’s what I look like. The reflection here is similar to a mirror but not quite. I ponder how the waves of life have affected me. Some waves have swept me off my feet and landed me in places that I have not wanted to go. Small or large, the waves of life have had an impact.
As these waves impact me, I have impacted others with the waves I have caused in their lives — for good or bad.
The good and the bad make its rounds in our lives via people who enter and leave. Reflections of our hearts.
As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart. Proverbs 27:19
