by jphilo | Aug 12, 2013 | Family, Reflections on the Past
In last Friday’s post about the felling of a huge sugar maple in our yard, I neglected to mention a major repercussion of the grand tree’s demise.
The Barbie zip line is no more.
Yes, you read that right. The Barbie zip line. Anne’s Barbie zip line, to be exact. Of course, it hasn’t seen much action in the last decade, but in it’s day, my daughter’s rope and clothes hanger contraption provided hours of entertainment.
At the time I wondered why Anne and her friends kept running in and out of the house.
Turns out, the little girls, many of them Anne’s cousins, had taken the screen out of her second floor bedroom window. It was located about six feet below the peak of the highest roof in the above picture. She and her partners in crime creativity would then throw a long rope out the window, and finally run downstairs and outside to tie the end of the rope around the huge trunk of the old sugar maple. Then they would run back upstairs, strap Barbie dolls to metal clothes hangers and send them down the zip line. Once all the Barbie’s had succumbed to gravity’s relentless pull, the girls would clump down the stairs, and run outside to retrieve the Barbies and haul them back upstairs for another ride.
Had I known, I would ended their fun, worried the girls might fall out the window.
But, I didn’t investigate too closely since they happy since they were occupied so I could do my own thing–work on scrapbooks or freeze meals for the start of school. Besides, none of the children fell out the window, and they still giggle and grin when the subject of Barbie zip lines and bungee jumping Barbies (that’s a subject for another post) enters the conversation.
Today, looking out the window at the fallen tree, I’m homesick for the Barbie zip line days.
I miss my summer-tan little girl flashing her self-conscious smile as she runs past me and out the door. I miss her little friends saying, “Hi, Mrs, Philo!” and her cousins yelling, “Aunt Jo, this is so much fun!” as they rush by. I miss Anne’s tissue boxes lined with torn paper used to house her Beanie Babies. I miss her tempera paint all over the bathroom sink.
Those days are long gone, but until Friday the Barbie zip line tree stood tall.
Why, I wonder, as I lean my head against the window and gaze at the fallen memories littering my front yard, do the best things have to end?
by jphilo | Aug 6, 2013 | Family, Top Ten Tuesday
My mother and her 7 sibs were a prolific bunch in their heyday. They and their spouses produced 39 children from the mid 1940s until the early 1970s. This coming Saturday a goodly percentage of the 37 living cousins, their extended families, and a few members of Mom’s greatest generation will gather for a family reunion. Here are the top ten reasons I’m looking forward to the day.
10. We all remember Lawrence Welk differently from the rest of the world. To us, he’s not the maestro of national television’s squeaky cleanest dance band of the 1960s. To us, he’s the leader of a traveling 1930s and 1940s North Dakota band that sometimes played in dance halls around the midwest. They were so wild our parents weren’t allowed to attend their dances for fear of being corrupted.
9. After lunch, we reinact reunions of our childhood. It starts when someone asks for a dime to go swimming. (Yes, way back when pool admission was one thin dime.) Then everyone responds in unison, “Ask in 30 minutes, once your food’s had time to settle.”
8. We share the same memories of Grandma Josie’s kitchen: sugar bread eaten in the backyard on painted aluminum chairs, Grandpa’s pink wintergreen mints and Grandma’s red hot candies hidden in the top shelf of the cupboard by the refrigerator, and oatmeal raisin cookies stored in the hat box in the bottom shelf of the cupboard across from the stove.
7. Everyone shares tips for raising African violets and geraniums.
6. It’s rare to be with so many people who take such pride in the state of their vegetable gardens.
5. We all appreciate the value of fresh tomatoes and kohlrabi.
4. Our reunions are a rare opportunity for math nerds and theater geeks to rub shoulders, because we’ve got plenty of both.
3. Being with my older cousins makes me feel young again.
2. I see the faces of Grandpa Hess, Grandma Josie, and my aunts and uncles in the faces around me.
1. Reunions with my cousins renew the security and sense of belonging I experienced at family gatherings during childhood. Could I ask for anything more?
by jphilo | Aug 5, 2013 | Family
57 is the new 30. I have that on good authority. That is, if you consider Hallmark Cards to be a good authority. Which I certainly do. Because my husband gave me a Hallmark Cardon my 57th birthday a week ago, and it said the following:
Thirty
in great big letters. And I mean great big.
Inside it said:
Thirty is an attitude.
It says you know what
you’re doing and you’ve
got what it takes to get
where you’re going.
Welcome to prime time!
The man of steel added the words “Happy Birthday” and signed his name.
Well, boy howdy, that card made my day! If thirty is an attitude, then here’s my attitude:
57 is the new 30, and I’ve got 30 covered for at least 30 more years.
I didn’t expect any birthday card to top that one. Especially not one from Mom. Mainly because I’m the one who takes her shopping for cards for kids and grandkids. Depending how energetic she feels, which is usually not at all, she puts little or very little thought into choosing meaningful cards. On higher energy days she chooses cards big on puns and cartoon drawings. On low energy days, she grabs any old card and heads to the register. So I really wasn’t expecting much from her card.
Until I opened it and studied the stylized drawing of flowers and a bird, then opened it and read these words:
Daughter…
When you were young,
you’d get a little scuffed up.
And it was hard to let you
experience the parts of life
I wished I could just love away.
But you were even stronger than I knew.
Soon I was kissing fewer boo-boos,
wiping fewer tears.
And before I knew it,
you’d grown a thick layer of
“mama, I’m gonna be fine.”
And you were.
And you are.
Happy Birthday
She signed the card “Love, Mom” with handwriting significantly shakier than just a year ago.
Now, here’s the deal.
If she chose the card on a low energy day, I just happened to win the pull-the-card-from-the-closest slot lottery. But if she chose it on a higher energy day, perhaps the sentiments resonated with her and she chose it on person. I choose to believe in the second scenario.
Because I am the woman with the 57-is-the-new-30 attitude.
And women that young still cry when their moms give them a card that touches the heart.
At least, this 30-year-old does.
Photo credit: www.freedigitalphotos.net
by jphilo | Jul 19, 2013 | Family
On late Tuesday morning, I was still at Family Camp in the Idaho mountains, enjoying cool nights, sunny days, and naps in the hammocks on cabin porches and strung from trees in hammock heaven.
Less that 48 hours later, Camp Dorothy began with typical July weather in Iowa: 90+ temps and high humidity which meant the camp director needed iced coffee and the camp’s namesake needed ice cream immediately.
Less than 36 hours after it began, Camp Dorothy will be over. A short stay to be sure, but the schedule has been packed with the following action for the camp’s namesake:
11:00AM–12:00 Noon Iced coffee and ice cream run
12:00–2:00 PM Nap time for campers
2:00–3:30 Crossword puzzles and reading
3:30–4:00 Jeopardy*
4:00–5:00 Puzzles and reading, continued
5:00–6:00 Watched the news
6:00–6:30 Supper and clean up by the camp director and her husband
6:30–7:00 Hot game of Skippo**
7:00–7:30 Big Bang Theory with Bob Newhart as Professor Proton***
7:30–8:30 Watched an episode of Call the Midwife****
8:30 PM–8:15 AM Bedtime
8:30–9:30 Bakery run
9:30–10:30 Naptime*****
10:30–12:00 PM Price is Right and news
12:00–12:30 Lunch
12:30–3:00 Naptime
3:00 Return camp’s namesake to Ankeny for a much needed nap
*Someone chose Jeopardy over Judge Judy. Gasp!
**Someone chose Skippo over Wheel of Fortune. Double gasp!
***Someone kept saying, “You can’t beat Bob Newhart for comedy.” That someone is absolutely correct.
****The camp director thought someone would like since that someone birthed all her babies in the 1950s. Judging from someone’s frequent query, “How much longer do we have to watch?” the camp director was wrong.
*****Only the camp’s namesake used naptime for its appointed purpose. The camp director used that time to blog, balance someone’s checkbook, answer emails, write a little, cook meals, exercise, pack for a weekend with the kids, and make a birthday cake…not necessarily in that order.
by jphilo | Jul 15, 2013 | Family
Yesterday, this view was the backdrop for Sunday morning worship at family camp.
Beautiful guitar music accompanied the singing.
The beautiful guitar was made from wood cut from a tree that grew only yards away from where we gathered to worship.
The only missing link was Hiram, the man who made the guitar, unable to be present because of limited vacation time. But everyone in attendance was thinking of him and grateful for his gift to Shadow Valley Camp, the gift of music to a family who loves to sing.
To learn more about how the guitar was made, the story is online at First You Cut Down a Tree. As wife of the guitar maker I may be biased, but the process is fascinating. So take a look and if you like what you see, leave a comment at either blog or both. Both the guitar maker and his wife would love to hear what you think!
by jphilo | Jul 12, 2013 | Family
Shadow Valley Family Camp’s first official meal was supper last night, July 11. But the carpenters and cooks who make camp a reality were planning construction projects and meals for months before they arrived. Many have been here for a week or more, doing advance work to make the week go smoothly.
For the first time, I arrived two days early and was able to participate in the Shadow Valley grocery shopping spree on Wednesday, July 10. During the spree, the cooks purchase almost everything necessary to feed close to 40 people 3 hearty meals a day for more than a week. Not a task for the faint-hearted. Therefore, the shoppers (see photo above) drive to Panhandler’s Pies Restaurant and Bakery in Sandpoint, Idaho for a hearty breakfast. And, yes, everyone had pie for dessert, which explains the smiles.
Fully fortified and mighty happy, the shoppers climbed into one van and a humongous extended cab pick up and drove to Costco in Coeur d’Alene. On the way Pam, master planner and list creator, read the shopping list categories: dairy, breads, pantry items, condiments, cleaning supplies, and produce.* Each shopper, or pair of shoppers, picked a list, looked it over, and asked questions that came to mind.
At Costco, each grocery guru grabbed a cart and got to work. Each item found was crossed off the list, and eventually the gaggle of gurus met in the front of the store with loaded carts:
In order of appearance: bread, dairy, cleaning supplies, canned and boxed goods, paper products, produce, and condiments.
And here are all the carts lined up at the checkout line:
Next stop was Walmart where we purchased the remaining items on our lists. The carts weren’t quite as full here, but the manager assigned us a lane and closed it down so other shoppers wouldn’t get frustrated by a long wait:
Then, it was back to camp to unload the vehicles,
and put everything away.
That’s not quite everything, but you get the idea.
Once that was done, the men ordered pizza for supper, and the shoppers took a well-deserved break. But first, the cooks set out brats and hot dogs to thaw, along with buns and cans of baked beans for supper on July 11. Yum!
*Many thanks to June who weeks ago not only purchased the items on the meat list, but also did all the advance meat prep, repackaging, labeling, and freezing!
