Unusual Animal

Blog Prompt: Today is Penguin Awareness Day. What is the most unusual animal you have ever seen?

I’m not sure I have seen any unusual animals but I remember seeing one animal up close that I didn’t expect to see. We were in Yellowstone National Park and looking for wildlife. We had to drive behind a herd of bison a few times and I did see a grizzly bear while hiking. Of course we didn’t get up close and personal with them though. At one spot, we thought we saw either a moose or an elk in the woods on the right side of the road so my hubby pulled over. We were looking intently into the woods but couldn’t see anything. As I turned to talk to my husband, there was a huge elk sticking his nose into the open driver’s side window. I was speechless and was trying to tell my hubby to turn but couldn’t get anything coherent out of my mouth. Finally he realized I was looking over his shoulder and he turned and about kissed that elk! He yelled and the elk pulled his head out of the window and ran off. We sat there for a while waiting for our hearts to start beating slower!

Original image: 'Cervus canadensis' http://www.flickr.com/photos/14573979@N00/237923233by: Michael Jefferies

Popcorn

Blog Prompt: Today is National Popcorn Day. Do you like or dislike popcorn and why?

I am sitting here eating popcorn as I write this. Yes, I love popcorn but only if it is good and salty. I don’t like kettle corn that tastes sweet and salty though. I have good memories from college of having popcorn parties with my roommate while we watched old Mary Tyler Moore shows. Remember the song “She’s gonna make it after all…”? We thought that was our theme song as we struggled through college. Of course back then we had ice water with our popcorn and now I’m drinking an ice cold beer. But the song still goes through my head at times.

Original image: 'Popcorn' http://www.flickr.com/photos/36045027@N00/2054102958by: Darren Hester

Weekend in Washington

I had a board meeting in Washington DC this weekend; actually it was in Arlington, VA which is right outside DC and DC sounds much more exciting. I had a half day before the meeting started so we rushed into DC on the metro (which luckily is right down the street from our hotel) and did a whirlwind tour of the newly opened American History Museum. I love that museum and am so glad it is open again. Then we went to the Capitol to see them setting up for the inauguration since we won’t be there for it. We also went to the White House to see them setting up for the parade. It was pretty cool to see a moving van at the White House too but I don’t know whether they were moving things in or out. It was pretty exciting to see all the activity and preparations. I’m sorry I won’t be there for all the activities in person but part of me is also glad I won’t be in all the crowds, the cold, the traffic, and the chaos too. Of course, I will watch it all on TV and be much warmer and comfortable at home. You can see my pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23240330@N03/sets/72157612599749501/

My Favorite Childhood Toy

Blog Prompt: Sunday is Winnie the Pooh's Day. Describe your favorite childhood toy.

My favorite toy was my Legos set. It was a red case that looked like a briefcase that was filled with lots of Legos. I could use my imagination to my heart’s content. My favorite thing to do would be pretending to be a secret agent like James Bond and make special spy stuff with the Legos. Some days I would be a teacher and set up the Legos like my classroom. Other days I would make cars out of them and be a racecar driver. I left them behind when I went to college and never saw them again. When my parents moved to FL from NY, they sold or gave away most of my toys.

Original image: 'Lego Porn' http://www.flickr.com/photos/29498428@N00/2314610838by: Eric

My Favorite Hat

Blog Prompt: Today is National Hat Day. Describe your favorite hat.

I don’t wear many hats when I was growing up except on Easter Sunday. I hate having hat hair. You know, when you take your hat off, but it still looks like you have it on because your hair is flat where the hat was. Yet, I have one hat that I like to wear and I think I look good in it. It is my black Furman ball cap. I usually wear my hair in a pony tail and stick it out of the hat. Whenever we travel, it goes with me. When I am cold in the winter, I usually put it on. When we walk and the sun is in my eyes, it is perfect to shield me from the sun. Sometimes I think it makes me look skinnier so when I’m feeling fat, the hat goes on my head.

My Dog the Pirate

Today is Dress Up Your Pet Day. What would you like to see your pet dressed in and if you don't have one, what if you did?

I used to have a chow and I would have loved to see him dressed up as a pirate. I could see him with a black bandanna wrapped around his head and a striped shirt and maybe a little sword around his body. I’m not sure he would have liked having a patch over one eye though. Caesar thought he was human most of the time and thought he should be treated that way. He was good at tiptoeing to things he knew we wouldn’t let him have. Then he would smile at us after he got it. Many times we would have to spell things in front of him because he understood certain words and if he got mad, he would leave a huge pile of poop right in front of the TV. Yes, he would have made a great pirate!

Original image: '0018' http://www.flickr.com/photos/20888197@N00/103031916by: serin onion

It Really Isn't True

Today is National Skeptics Day. What have you heard lately that you know in your heart isn't true?

I really haven’t heard any rumors or bad things lately but it may be because I am not in the mainstream anymore. We just returned from a lot of traveling so right now it is just my husband and me alone every day other than running errands. But the other night I heard what sounded like a baby crying under my house. Then it stopped. I knew that there was no way there could be a baby under my house so I didn’t think any more about it. Later during the day, I saw 3 cats on my back deck and apparently one of them is in heat and that is who was crying under the house. The cats have gotten cold and are seeking refuge under my house now and they are driving me crazy! But I don’t have the heart to try to drive them out into the cold right now.

The Most Important Man

Blog Prompt: Today is the Feast of Fabulous Wild Men Day. Tell about an important man in your life.

The most important man in my life is my husband. He has been there for me through a lot of rough times and those times could have broke us or made us stronger. We definitely have a much stronger relationship than when we first got married. We really work hard on our marriage because we talk a lot to each other and we really listen to each other. Whenever I have a friend who is going through a difficult relationship, I usually feel very vulnerable and my husband can tell. He asks me who is having a rough time and we talk about why it wouldn’t happen to us. We do everything we can together because we really enjoy being together. After thirty years of togetherness, I really enjoy being with him more every day. He is my best friend and he knows all of my secrets. We have absolutely no secrets from each other and we never lie to each other, no matter what. I look forward to spending the rest of my life with him.

A Comforting Word and Other Thoughts

For those of you who haven’t read my post yesterday, I am in the middle of a conflict with an organization but I’ve come to terms with it. I prayed a lot yesterday for strength and wisdom and peace. By the end of the day, I was feeling calmer and more settled. Conflict always gets my heart beating fast, makes my head ache, and I just plain feel miserable. I have been trying to read my Bible daily but don’t always succeed so yesterday I sat down to read the suggested readings.

The bible spoke directly to what I needed to hear. I read Romans 14 and here are the passages that stood out to me:
“Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God;”
“Then let us no more pass judgment on one another, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.”

I realized that I needed to get past judging and start acting the way that is best. By passing judgment, I was reacting instead of acting. I felt spiteful and mean and wanted to lash out because I was angry. I finally sat down and wrote a letter sharing my feelings in a professional, calm manner which really helped me feel better. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to attend the meeting but I will go to the meeting because that is what I was elected to do and pray that when I’m there, I will have the wisdom to do my job effectively. I can still disagree with them and I have a right to my feelings and even sharing my feelings. But I can’t let my feelings be a “stumbling block” or “hindrance” to others.

I don’t have any special plans this weekend. I will work on my prayer shawl because we have a Loving Threads meeting tomorrow night. I will probably spend a lot of time reading and doing some scrapbook pages. I started a new blog yesterday to post my photo of the day for the year. I found out I can post directly to the blog from Flickr. If you want to look, you can see it at: Loonyhiker’s 2009 Photo A Day

Original image: 'Bible with Cross Shadow' http://www.flickr.com/photos/68278595@N00/337522540by: David Campbell

Something Nice Today

Blog Prompt: Today is Play God Day. Tell about something nice you will do for someone today.

I have to admit that I was selfish today and didn’t do many nice things for anyone. The only thing I can think of is that I cooked tacos for dinner. I’m not a big fan of Mexican food but my husband loves it so I made them for him.

I am in the middle of a conflict with a professional organization and I hate conflict. I have felt depressed and sad all night so much that I had trouble sleeping. When I woke up, it was the first thing on my mind. I have thought about it all day until my brain hurts so much from trying to find a solution. Part of me feels angry about how they are treating me and the other part feels hurt because I have given so much time and energy to this organization and I feel very unappreciated. Finally this afternoon I decided that I wouldn’t think about it the rest of the day. I concentrated on my crocheting and organizing my digital scrapbooking files which helped me feel better. Eventually I will have to deal with this problem because we have a meeting next week. Thanks for listening to me whine!

Original image: '69.365 - TACOS!' http://www.flickr.com/photos/98092274@N00/2897253727by: Shawn McClung

Favorite Dead Singer

Blog Prompt: Happy Birthday Elvis! Who is your favorite singer that is no longer living?

My favorite all time singer is John Denver. When I was a teenager, I loved all of his songs. My prom date even looked like John Denver, played a guitar, and played John Denver songs. I played a guitar too at the time and my world was filled with John Denver songs. When he died, I was so sad. Then when I saw a movie about his life, I was surprised at some of the troubles he had because I always thought he had a perfect romantic life! Isn’t it funny how our idols are so much different in real life compared to our dreams!

Original image: 'No 28: John Denver' http://www.flickr.com/photos/11399912@N00/1118473688by: Bev Sykes

The Oldest Thing

Today is Old Rock Day. What is the oldest thing that you have? Please describe it.

I think the oldest thing that I have is a watch that belonged to my grandfather on my mother’s side. He was 100 years old when he died and that was about 50 years ago. I think the watch was old when he had it but I don’t know where he got it from. I feel it is the one connection I have with him because I don’t remember him at all. I was about a year old when he died. He was about forty years older than my grandmother and they had seven children. After my mother was born in Jacksonville, FL, they moved to Chinatown in NY. My grandmother lived and raised all of the children in the same apartment building until she died. Nobody in my family really talked about my grandfather and I am just finding out information about him and my grandmother as I find old papers in my father’s treasures.

Original image: 'Past Keeper' http://www.flickr.com/photos/50328082@N00/3089078944by: Claire Chang

Organization

Blog Prompt: This month is Get Organized Month. Name 3 things you need to organize and your strategy for doing this.

I have made a list and assigned each day with a chore that I need to do. Then I don’t feel so overwhelmed.
Monday - Dust
Tuesday – Wash bathrooms
Wednesday – Declutter my office
Thursday – File Bills
Friday – vacuum/wash floors

I am also trying to fold clothes within one day of washing them instead of leaving them in the laundry basket. When my husband gets his clean clothes out of the basket, pieces of clean clothes fall all over the place and drive me crazy!

I have got to go through the boxes I brought home from school when I retired ( a year and a half ago). They are still stacked in my formal dining room so you can’t even get in there. First I will clean out my shed and put all of our “yard sale” items there. These are things my husband swears can’t be thrown away. I will move things out of our storage building that we rent to the shed that I hope to sell. Then I will move the things I want to save into the storage building. But first I have to go through the boxes and decide what I want to save and what I want to toss. I will work 30 minutes every day doing this.

Original image: 'Fabric organization' http://www.flickr.com/photos/57552806@N00/2412587004by: Becca

My Favorite Bird

Blog Prompt: Today is National Bird Day. What is your favorite bird and why?

My favorite bird is the Macaw. I always wanted one but never could find one in our price range and now I don’t think you can buy one commercially. I think they look beautiful and impressive. We have been to Parrot Jungle in Miami in the old and new location and the parrots there are awesome. Since Tammy gave some facts about the Bald Eagle, I thought I’d give you some info about macaws.

According to Wikipedia,

“Macaws are native to Mexico, Central America, South America, and formerly the Caribbean.

Macaws, like other parrots, as well as toucans and woodpeckers, are zygodactyl, having their first and fourth toe pointing backwards.

The majority of macaws are now endangered in the wild.

Macaws eat nuts, seeds, fruit, and sometimes insects. They also gnaw and chew on various objects. They show a large amount of intelligence in their behaviour and require constant intellectual stimulation to satisfy their innate curiosity. They often learn tricks easily.

Macaws have been said to live for up to 100 years; however, an average of 50 years is probably more accurate. The larger macaws may live up to 65 years. They are monogamous and mate for life. In captivity unmated macaws will bond primarily with one person – their keeper, and can often be quite affectionate and cuddly. Pet macaws thrive on frequent interaction and attention from their owners, and a lack of this can lead to their mental and physical suffering.”

Original image: 'salisbury zoo macaw' http://www.flickr.com/photos/11254691@N05/3142359136by: eric lynch

Trinity Lutheran Church Celebrates 100 Years

Trinity Lutheran Church will celebrate one hundred years in September of this year. We will have a service on Sunday, September 13 at 3:00 pm at Christ Church Episcopal because the crowd expected is bigger than our church can hold at one time (we actually have three different services each Sunday). After the service, the congregation will gather in Trinity’s Activities Building for a reception, brief program, and an audiovisual presentation. The Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Mark Hanson, will be preaching at this service. Today Pastor Bill Trexler gave the sermon. On March 8, Pastor Ray Mohrmann will be here and on May 3, Pastor Joe Glymph will give the sermon.

As I think of this special year, it brings back memories of how I became a member of this church. I was a student at Furman University in 1977 and a church friend from NY also went to Furman. He told me that a group met each Sunday morning on campus and carpooled to Trinity Lutheran Church. Pastor Bernard Trexler and Pastor Bob Coon were the pastors during that time. Of course I joined the Lutheran Students Assocation (LSA) and continued to attend all four years of college. My first attempt of independence from my parents came when I decided not to go back to NY one summer. Earlier in my junior year, Marilyn Lampley invited Furman students to her home for Sunday lunch after church. I really liked her and that summer asked her if she knew someone who could rent me a room for the summer and she agreed to do that. I had my independence but I still felt safe so my parents were happy for me.

When we decided to get married, Pastor Bob Coon officiated at our wedding at the Furman Bell Tower on June 26, 1982. My husband and two daughters officially joined our church and both girls were also baptized. My daughters attended Sunday School, received Communion, and attended Confirmation classes here.

Over the years I have served in the Nursery, taught first grade Sunday School, organized meals after funerals, and attended Circle meetings. Now I participate in Loving Threads which makes and donates prayers shawls and baby blankets.

Through the years, like most people, I have had my good times and bad times. I am a very private person so I did not share a lot during some rough times, but there were so many people in church who were there for me. They listened if I needed to talk or sometimes they just made me feel loved and valued. Many of them will never know how they helped me through some difficult times but I’m thankful they were there for me. I hope that I can be there too for someone who might need me.

The best part of our church is that I feel welcomed and cared for. Since we travel so much, I am unable to attend regularly but I’m never made to feel guilty about it. The people who are there are so warm and caring. I am glad that I found this church 31 years ago and even though there is a Lutheran church closer to my home, I am not willing to go anywhere else. I guess I feel at home here with my church family.

If you are in Greenville, SC and want to visit, check out the Trinity Lutheran Church website. It gives information about location, times of services, and other information you might find useful. Pastor Susan Crowell is our senior pastor (and she is awesome!) and Pastor David Edenfield (our associate pastor) joined us last year. Maybe I’ll see you there!

My Feelings About Fruitcake

Blog Prompt: Today is Fruitcake Toss Day. Have you ever eaten fruitcake? What are your feelings about it?

I have had fruitcake and truly dislike it but my husband loves it. My mother in law used to make it from scratch each year and my family always looked forward to getting one from her (except me that is). I think fruitcake has many uses but doesn’t include being edible. Here are some suggestions:

1. Replace a missing brick on your house.
2. Serve as part of the foundation when building your house.
3. Can be used as ballast to hold things from blowing away in the wind.
4. Put a lot of them in the back of a pick up truck to help traction on slippery roads.
5. Be used as stepping stones in the garden.
6. Can be used to level an RV when pulling into a campsite.
7. Be used as a weapon to defend yourself against muggers. Place in purse and swing to hit the muggers

Of course these are just examples of the ways a fruitcake can be used. (As I write this and share this with my husband, he is rolling his eyes!) Of course I have heard rumors that they last forever so maybe they can be actually help the environment. We could build houses out of them instead of wood and save the trees.

Original image: 'fruitcake2006-04' http://www.flickr.com/photos/14183017@N00/331565861by: babe_kl

New Years Food

Blog Prompt: It is New Year’s Day. What are some of the special foods that you eat in order to bring in the new year?

The main things that we eat on New Year’s Day are black eyed peas and collard greens. I think the peas symbolize coins and the greens symbolize paper money. I’m not thrilled with eating either one of these but my husband insists that we eat them so it won’t kill me. Of course I would hate for us to lose lots of money and be blamed for it so that is why I eat them.

Original image: 'Soul Food' http://www.flickr.com/photos/69283999@N00/325659988by: Andrew Yang

Charleston 12/29/08

We left my parents home in WPB this morning and headed towards South Carolina. Nancy and Ray (my sister in law and brother in law) planned on camping at James Island County Park and seeing the Festival of Lights so they invited us to visit them. We arrived around 4:30 and had a wonderful lasagna dinner and salad before we rode a bus around the park to see the lights. There are about 3 million lights and many of them were animated. It is impossible to describe how awesome all of this was. My favorite was the Ravenel Bridge/Cooper River Bridge. After the bus ride, we walked around Santa’s Village and enjoyed some of the giant greeting cards done by school kids. There was also a huge sand sculpture of a holiday scene. We tried to take the train ride but it was sold out and we would have had to wait almost 2 hours to get on the next available train so we thought we’d skip it this year. Then we returned to their RV for the night. What a wonderful way to spend the evening! We will head for home in the morning.

Family Time

Blog Prompt: What does your family time consist of?
This one is easy since there is just my hubby and myself at home now to make up my family. We do almost everything together so it includes the following:

*Eating meals together
*Walking 4 miles each day
*Hiking
* Cooking
*Working on laptops
*Watching TV
*Traveling

Original image: 'Softly Whispering I love you...:O))' http://www.flickr.com/photos/66164549@N00/2831868995by: Keven Law

The meaning of Patricia

According to Wikipedia – “Patricia (IPA: /pəˈtrɪʃə/) is a common female given name of Latin origin. It is derived from the Latin word patrician, meaning ‘noble’.”

When I was growing up, I heard that I was supposed to be named Gail but at the last minute, they changed it to Patricia. I was always called Patty growing up unless I was in trouble, and then I became Patricia. I spelled Patty in different ways when I was in school. Some years it was Patty, or Patti, or Pattie. Years ago when I ran for public office (Soil and Water Conservation Commissioner), I went by Pat because it sounded more grown up. Now I can tell who first knew me when by what they call me.