Closing A Chapter.....Turning a Page....

Well somehow we did it.....we just celebrated our FIFTIETH wedding anniversary. It's really hard for me to wrap my brain around that one. I honestly had no conception of what it would mean to shepherd a marriage through so many years. Ups and downs.....mostly good, a little hard.....life lived day by day and year by year.

So here we are.....way back when.....December 29, 1967.....

....and here we are, December 29, 2017.....

If this is a "lesson" of any kind I guess it's that if you keep on keeping-on time goes by and you find love changing but still warm and secure and worth any effort it took to get here. I "found" a good one way back in college....and I'm keeping him!

The Pefect Gift.....

It was a lovely Christmas. We spent the afternoon of December 24th enjoying a movie with our daughter, son-in-law and kids....and then went back to their house for a few games and a delicious fondue dinner. We ended the evening viewing of the ever popular (for most of us!) "A Christmas Story" where we watched Ralphie hatch various plans to get his Red Rider BB Gun from Santa. ("You'll shoot your eye out!")

Christmas morning started at 7:00 a.m. with dogs and adults and teens and pre-teens gathering in the living room next to the tree to pass out gifts, open our stocking stuffers, drink coffee (adults)....exclaim and smile over each new gift.

Dave and I don't really exchange gifts anymore....we happily wrap up pieces of paper that name an upcoming adventure. I opened "Snorkeling in Akumal" and he opened "February in Austin!" We look forward to shortening Wisconsin's winter by escaping for a few weeks.

And I suppose I shouldn't say I had a favorite gift.....but sorry, this year I did. Our two grandsons gave me six small wrapped cylindars. When they gave me the gift I said "Wonderful! I need more Chapstick and I asked Santa for at least 20!" Each tube was individually wrapped in candy-cane red/white stripe paper with the ends twisted shut. I began to unwrap the first only to discover that it was not Chapstick but some wonderful multi-colored thread for my quilting projects! They may have gotten the idea from their mom, I'm not sure, but it was the special kind of thread I almost never buy for myself but love to use!

Six spools!

I honestly got a lump in my throat as I opened tube after tube....and a few goosebumps! Look at those colors!

Creativity.....here I come!

A Colorful, Personal Goodbye......

I won't use any names, because I didn't ask her family for permission. And I won't post this to Facebook so, frankly, very few friends will ever see it.

I went to a memorial gathering yesterday for a friend who died last week. She was a quilter. She was an amazing, creative and accomplished quilter. She had a loving family....daughters and sons-in-law and grandchildren and a husband......all who will miss her very, very much.

I was just a friend.....an occasional friend. I'd see her at guild and once in awhile we'd get together to do something else. But usually it was a once-a-month-friendship. She was a little older than I am, but not much....and such fun to be around. A warm smile, an encompassing hug, an infectious laugh, an enthusiasm for life. She was a wonderful role model.

Walking into the gathering at the funeral home I signed the guest book and then entered the reception room....and my eyes filled. The room was full of the photo groupings that are now almost "required" at any memorial.....but in additiion there were her quilts. Dozens and dozens. They covered the chairs, small ones were displayed on tables, others were on the walls and many covered the pews. There was color everywhere.....bright, beautiful, warm, cheerful color. It was my friend reflected in the beautiful quilts she left behind.

I came home and described the scene to Dave and asked him to please remember it......for future reference if I die first.

She was a beautiful woman.....and this was a beautiful, personal, colorful, warm way to celebrate her life.

New Guy in Town......

I took Fenway out about 6:45 yesterday morning for his pre-breakfast walk. It's a quick and purposeful jog as all he really wants to do is eat!

We turned and walked a short way up the bike path.....it was light outside, but not full sun yet. Suddenly Fenway was growling, the fur on his neck was at full alert. He began pulling at the end of the leash and barking like crazy. I'd been watching my feet in order to avoid any black ice....but I stopped walking to look up.

There was a stranger along the path next to our condo....and Fenway was letting him know, in no uncertain terms that he'd best move along!

My brave protector.

Scratch Your Head.......

A news story surfaced the other day that provided me with another "scratch your head" moment. Reading it I was thinking..."What are they thinking?? Just who is making this new rule? What country is this? Maybe this is fake news."

According to the Washington Post, and other sources, "The Trump administration has prohibited the Center for Disease Control from using the following words/terms: vulnerable, entitlement, diversity, transgender, fetus, evidence-based and science-based in any official documents.....This censorship comes almost a year after barring the EPA from sharing information with the public and having it remove all references to climate change on its website."

????????

The administration offered no explanation.....but put the agency on notice that if these unacceptable words appear in grant requests the documents will have to be re-written or budgets and grants will be affected. Hmmmmm......so let's ignore evidence and science as health care decisions are made. Sounds like a really good idea as far as I'm concerned. Not.

Is our world spinning backward? Is the next edict going to proclaim that the world is flat and everything really was created in seven days???

It's sort of laughable, if it weren't so worrisome. And some of this ridiculousness hits pretty close to home. Our son, Todd, is Natural Resources Director for the Samish Indian Nation. His office is in the administration building out in Anacortes, Washington. I can remember him saying, as he wrote his grant requests for 2017, that he'd been instructed to remove all mention of "climate change" and "global warming" if he wanted the funding for important programs. He had to twist his language and stand on his head to present the facts without referring to the facts.

Again....laughable....if it wasn't so frightening. Want the money? Follow the new rules.

Hello out there.....who are you and who put you in charge? I'll never believe that 45 is coming up with all this stuff on his own......there is a Wizard of Oz hiding behind the screen.

Kindness to Strangers.......

'Twas not quite the night before Christmas.....but there were a lot of my friends gathering at our condo. It's fun to have people over when the Santas are on display, the "electric" fire is in the fireplace, snacks are on the table and wrapped gifts are piling up.


It was a fun few hours spent with friends who live in the building, friends from quilt guild, some from Ozaukee County Newcomers Club, and more "others" I've made over the years in the Milwaukee area.

Dave and I have been having an annual open house for years.....but this year we couldn't find a weekend night that would work. So I planned a "Ladies Only" party. And each year we've asked that guests bring a donation for our local food pantry instead of any kind of hostess gift. We have all we could every want or need!

This season brings out the best in people....their most generous spirits look for ways to connect with others and make a difference in big and small ways.

So my friends came....bearing gifts....and I thank them all for their kind contributions. We don't know who will benefit but I will take the donations to our food pantry on Tuesday morning....and strangers will have a happier holiday season because of my friends.

And as the traditional Christmas poem says...."A Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"

One of Three......

Dave grew up in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts. His parents bought a lot and built a Cape Cod home in a new development and Dave moved there as a toddler. There weren't many other homes completed so his family watched as one lot after another sold and homes went up to create a neighborhood.  However, as little David grew up there weren't a lot of kids to play with....yet.

Then one day, as my mother-in-law told the story, a moving truck pulled up to the completed house two doors down....followed by a family car. She watched out the window and crossed her fingers...maybe the newcomers would have a pre-school son that could play with her young boy. The car stopped, the parents got out followed by two girls....and then three boys that appeared to be about the same age as David. Wow! What luck!

So.....she sent Dave out to make new friends....and according to my husband, the triplets promptly "beat him up". And that was the basis of a fast friendship that lasted through grade school, middle school and high school. As Dave often told me....if anything went wrong in the neighborhood everyone knew it was either his fault....or the triplets. (And they were usually correct.)

The friendships grew more distant during college....but all of the triplets were groomsmen in our wedding, December 29, 1967. The photo below shows the beaming groom in the center....his younger brother, Bill, on the left, another very good friend, Gary, on the right....and the triplets surrounding Dave. David, Robert and Ken. My Dave has his left arm around Robert's shoulder. I won't begin to talk about the history of this friendship.....just too many fun memories.

We had a sad email this morning. Robert died over the weekend. How can that be possible? Look at that young, smiling face....his whole adult life just around the corner. And here we are fifty years later and one of the triplets is gone.

We hadn't seen him in years.....but there is still an ache. Tears from both of us this morning.....a hug and a quick remembering. The earth shifts just a little bit....and memories come back. I have a few....Dave has thousands......

Pink Sky.....

It's cold in Wisconsin now.....and we've had some cloudy days. I'm not usually up early enough to see the sunrise come up in the east over Lake Michigan....and the sunset to the west is blocked by the bluff behind our condo.

But we've had some amazing sunsets the past few days! Lucky me - driving home from the city at just the right time yesterday. I pulled over and took a few photos with my phone. No filters, no manipulating of the images.....but these are pretty good.

When we lived aboard our sailboat we had a saying...."Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky at morning, sailers take warning." So.....this was a delight.....

What Do You Do.....

What do you do when you can't do anything?

I have a friend and she has cancer. I can't say she is a close friend.....but she is a quilting buddy. I met her several years ago and enjoyed being with her once a month at our guild. She invited me to join a smaller group just to keep the creative juices flowing....and that continued for about a year. She and I gave presentations at two area guilds talking about how we use our photographs as inspiration. I used an easy method....she was much more creative and detailed. I attended a little workshop at her home to try her method and made this quilted wall hanging....

Her plan involved taking one of Dave's photos as my inspiration and then cutting lots of tiny pieces, layering them and fusing them to the background to re-create the image. It took hours!  I did finish it and have it hanging in our bedroom. I do like it. I think of my friend each time I walk into the room.....but I will never use her method ever again.

I much prefer my method where you print the photo out on fabric and slap it on top of the little quilt. Faster and much easier!













But I started this blog with a question and my thoughts keep wandering. It's just that I
think of her every time I see my wall hanging. She inspired me.....she even challenged me at one fun lunch when we "dared" to talk politics! She always greeted me at guild meetings with a huge smile and a big hug.

And I just wish there was something I could do. I know she has a very supportive family and many long-time close friends who spend time with her and hold her up these days. And I don't know how much time she has....but she is dying. Could be months, could be weeks....could be days. Could be she is "waiting" for after Christmas.

I worked for two hospices.....so I have some familiarity with death and with how families and friends handle loss. You'd think this wouldn't be so hard for "expert" me. But it is. What do you do when you can't do anything?

I send cards.....lots and lots of cards filled with air hugs......I hope she feels them.

Slight Alterations.....

Dave has been making a gingerbread house in December for years! It started when we lived in Delaware and he actually baked his own gingerbread and cut it to fit. He did that until the year that he tried to put it together and the gingerbread wasn't quite "done" and the whole house collapsed. I came home to a disaster of a kitchen....and sounds of sawing in the cellar.

He created a "gingerbread" house made out of plywood. Once he finished decorating it you couldn't tell the difference. So we kept it and used it year after year until we moved on the boat. Sort of cheating, I know, but it was a fun decoration each year.

Since we moved back to Wisconsin we've had two nearby grandsons to help with this....and so now, he purchases a ready-made house at the store and he and the grandsons have fun putting on the sweet stuff. As they grow up they still seem to enjoy it and I know Dave does! The house lives with the grandsons until New Year's Day when the boys get to smash it with a hammer and eat whatever they want.

Looking back through the photographs I see how the boys have changed.....and this year's "house" was designed to be a dog house. So a slight alteration in the theme.....but it's still a fun Woodard tradition.