Life Keeps Hopping Along

It's a 1981 Volkswagen Rabbit. It is "Forest Green Metallic". It has 165,000 miles on it, which is actually not bad for this type of car. This is my daughter and son-in-law's "new" car. It also gets over 50 miles to the gallon, running on diesel or bio-diesel. They got a great deal on it and favorite son-in-law even got the seller to throw in a banjo he was putting in his moving sale. A rabbit and a banjo...there's got to be a joke there somewhere!

Notice the lovely terracotta interior, with the faded to purple armrests....

What makes this whole purchase ring with even greater space-time continuum oddness is that this car was manufactured the year I got my driver's license. Which didn't even seem that astounding until they said, "yeah, it's in good shape for a car that's 27 years old." 27 years old?

I still vaguely remember going to get my license. I believe my boyfriend at the time, Eddie Edwards (first name just Eddie, not Edward), drove me to the Secretary of State. He had a Volkswagen Beetle, sky blue, that had holes in the floorboard and no heat. I don't remember what car I took the test in--not his, that's for sure!
I do know my dad pretty quickly found my first car for me, an '83 Ford Escort hatchback, with a manual transmission. I found out that learning to drive a stick was a great skill to have, and even an impressive skill to some guys. I don't remember anything about the test, except the part where you had to park on a hill and turn the tire into the curb so that it wouldn't roll if the brakes failed (do they even do that any more?). I do remember that I passed it the first try, and that I experienced that feeling of exhilaration that comes from stepping up to a new level of freedom, along with the gravity of being entrusted with a new level of responsibility. It was a pretty exciting time, full of wondering where life would end up taking me.

27 years old? They just don't make them like they used to.

Sacramental Summer

Apologizing once again...but summer days are fleeting and I want to spend the time enjoying them. So blogging is being back-burnered a bit and I should think reading blogs should be back-burnered a bit for all of you! Go out and stand in the sunshine or the rain or the lake. Take a deep breath. Breathe out a praise to the Lord who knows we need seasons to come and go and kick us out of the ruts of routine that we tend to stick the plow of our lives in.

"Nature to a saint is sacramental. If we are children of God, we have a tremendous treasure in Nature. In every wind that blows, in every night and day of the year, in every sign of the sky, in every blossoming and in every withering of the earth, there is a real coming of God to us if we will simply use our starved imagination to realize it."
~Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

Go out and feed your imagination.

We don't always have to act like grown ups...

Summer Dreaming

In the shade of this old tree
in the summer of my dreams
By the tall grass by the wild rose
where the trees dance as the wind blows

As the days go oh so slowly
as the sun shines oh so holy
On the good and gracious green
in the summer of my dreams

By the banks of this old stream
in the summer of my dreams
By the deep pool where the fish wait
for the old fool with the wrong bait

There's a field of purple clover
there's a small cloud passing over
And the rain comes washing clean
on the summer of my dreams




See the raindrops on the grass now
just like diamonds lying there
By the old road where I pass now
there's a twilight in the air

And as the sun sets down before me
I see my true love waiting for me
Standing by the back porch screen
in the summer of my dreams

Summer of My Dreams by Kathy Mattea

Maybe it's just the vacation peace still lingering, but this song just seemed so summery, dreamily sweet that I had to share it. Forgive the shmaltz--I will get back to real, deep, and serious writing soon enough.

Just in case you wondered.....

Thanks to my friend Amy for this picture of the house (taken from the lake) in the process of painting. The swatch I posted just didn't do the new color justice. You can see the old color (or really, lack of color) on the back two story section. Thankfully, we are finished with the first coat now. Anyone want to come to a "paint the second coat" party? Pizza's on us!

Oh, Baby! Phantom of the Opera

This video comes courtesy of my favorite son-in-law. This is his boss' son and daughter. It just makes me laugh. You have to watch the very end. It's a classic kid thing.

Things I saw while riding on the back of the motorcycle

We took a ride on the bike up to Milford tonight, ending up having an ice cream from Stucchi's which we ate at the sidewalk seating. I've been commenting to people that one of the great things about riding on the back of the bike is that I can't do anything but ride, observe, and think. You really notice things that you don't see in a car.

Tonight I saw:

>English Oaks Montessori and School of Protocol. Seriously, that is the title. It's sadly too late to send my children here. Or my husband.

>Wizard of Wood. Great name for a woodworking shop.

>A beautiful...black....goat. I tried to find a picture online of one like I saw, but none of the images did it justice. It was at a cider mill barn. You'll just have to trust me on this one.

My July Staycation

So if you read this blog regularly-and somebody must be, since my counter is going up very, very, very slowly--you realize I haven't been writing much since the great long summer solstice day. And that was last month! I wouldn't presume you are missing my writing or have noticed my absence during this brief interlude of warmth we call July in Michigan--but I have made a mental promise to myself to be more disciplined in my writing and frankly, I've been a slacker.

I do have several excuses for my lack of entries:

1. I'm on a 'staycation', which is to say hubby and I have 2 weeks off and are staying at home for the most part. For a hilarious commentary on this great new, soon to be overused made up word, click here (WARNING-there is one offensive swear word in the entry! Please overlook it and laugh anyway!).

2. We have been painting the outside of our house. Please smack me if you ever here me complain that my house is too small. The color is Renwick Golden Oak (bottom right color). My family has called it the following alternative names:
>Honey Mustard
>Inside of a Butterfinger
>Regurgitated Dogfood
>Wet Sand
>Wet Camel
>Goldish color
>Palamino Horse Color
Sherwin Williams won't be hiring them as paint-color-namers any time soon (now there's a cool job!), but we think it looks great, and hallelujah, hubby says we'll just work on the second coat slowly over the rest of the summer. (Side note: We once painted our den/music room a lovely "Sonatina Tan". How's that for good feng shui?)

3. I'm not in my creating phase. I'm beginning to realize that I seem to go through 3 phases in my creativity. I have a consuming phase, where I enjoy a voracious appetite for books, magazines, newspapers, websites and blogs. Anything that reads--I'm on it. Summer is great for this as I have a shorter work week, longer days, more vacation time, and generally just give myself some time to "chill". When I finally have my fill of this gastronomical brain feast, I go into my digesting phase, where it just has to roll around in my brain. It needs time to "crockpot"-- time for the intertwining threads to connect and meet up with my own thoughts and experiences until I can hopefully make some sense of the literal stew. Once this phase is finished, my brain is ready to virtually spew ideas! I find myself unable to fall sleep because suddenly that quote I read days ago has turned itself into an entire witty and unforgettable story which I will not be able to remember the next morning no matter how much coffee I drink. This means I'm ready for the creating phase, where I throw in everything but the kitchen sink and hope it turns out to be something others can slowly savor and enjoy.

So there you have it. A so-so list of excuses. Now sunglasses on, I'm back on 'staycation'.