I should post here.

I'm determined to add to this. It seems like springtime has overtaken me--my time is flung to the four corners of the wind. I'm at Time's mercy these days.
School is almost through. My first year here is almost behind me, but there's much reflection to do...much to think about and reflect upon.
soon.

I just love this picture

My Backyard

Some people are your relatives but others are your ancestors, and you choose the ones you want to have as ancestors. You create yourself out of those values.
--Ralph Ellison

Draw and label your ideal backyard. Explain your selections.
Well, I haven't figured out how to draw on here, so I'll just say that the four main things the backyard of my dreams would include are:
a creek, possibly with a small waterfall
lots of trees (oak, beech, birch, willow, maple...)
a garden of flowers and vegetables and fruits all hodgepodged in together
a swinging platform hanging from one of those trees draped with gauzy curtains, and with a table on it

Okay, so I think number four needs a bit of explanation. A few weeks ago, I was walking around Ansonborough and Matthew pointed out the most fantastic rope swing/treehouse/deck conglomeration I have ever even dreamed of seeing. Two giant ropes slung over a live oak branch, each end knotted and frayed underneath a corner. And from the top, gauzy fabric waved in the breeze, creating "walls" over what looked to be an antique low table. It was something from a child-like yet adult dream.
It looked like this:...but wasn't a bird feeder. How I wish I could show you a picture of it.
How I wish I could go sit there in the afternoons and write and drink coffee and dream.

names

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
--William Shakespeare
Names are important to us. What are some of your favorite (or least favorite) names, and why?
We have the opportunity to be positive or poor representatives of our name(s). Think about it--someone quite a few years ago spent quite a bit of time thinking about what your name should be. It had meaning from the beginning. You are named by your family.
But even before that, you've been marked, named, and claimed by God.
So there's a lot to live up to in our names. And we've all met people who've changed the way we've thought of names--some have new beauty because of the person we've attached to that moniker. Some...well, some names will instead be forever tainted because of the personalities we think of when we hear that named mentioned.
So, for that reason, we'll stick to names I enjoy:

• Ian (I know a young Ian and an old Ian, both are talented, funny, and good looking)
• Sumner (I used to babysit a little boy by this name--Sumner stories are legendary in my world)
• Eleanor (the name of my first car: a red 1961 VW Superbeetle. Yes, my car had a name. Also a good Beatles song.)
• Nola (see below)

My grandmother's name was (is?) Nola Rose, and though I don't have much opinion about the Rose part, I'm partial to Nola. For a long time, I used to confess in a sort of joking manner that "can you believe this? my grandmother's name was Nola!!" But, it's growing on me. You don't hear that name often, and it sounds sweet and soft. And it reminds me of Grandma--the kindest, most generous person I know. We were "birthday twins," and I'll always think of her on August 13th. When I'd hug her (she was shorter than me!), her face felt so soft and cool. She always had the kind of cereal at her house that I was never allowed to eat at home, and she would do anything for anyone in her family, and wouldn't tolerate any badmouthing.
I was a freshman in college when she died, and as I walked into the funeral home in Gallipolis, Ohio, I saw a black and white portrait of her--hair done in finger waves, her face gazing to the right in profile--everyone said we looked just alike.

Isn't it good?

Just a few thoughts.
Riding to school this morning was a hopeful hint at Spring. No scarf, no gloves...just warm, damp, verdant air. What a lovely gift.
We're in writing lab listening to the strings in "Eleanor Rigby." Of course, we had to listen first to "Norwegian Wood," one of my personal Beatles favorites.
It is Beatles weather somehow. Maybe the rain glossed slate sidewalks make me think of London. Maybe there's something innocent, creative, new in the air.

broken bones

"One man's style must not be the rule of another's."

--Jane Austen

Do you copy anyone's personal style? Or, does anyone copy yours? Explain.

Well...my brother Brandon--poor guy--has always put up with my copy-cat ways. The music I listen to, the way I react to shocking things (a strange waaa? sound accompanied by a shoulder shrug and scowl), my penchant for nicknames (he calls me "Lubita." Figure that one out), and my longing for a broken bone wrapped neatly in a plaster cast.

Yes, indeed. When he was 11 or so, Brandon broke his leg at soccer practice. My parent's didn't believe him until the next day, so I marveled as my big brother lay on the downstairs couch groaning in (what I assumed to be) fake agony. My wonder only escalated when he arrived home from the doctor's office with a gorgeous tan full leg cast. (This was before the choose your own color phenomenon. But to me, the cast was a thing of beauty.) After a visit to school, Brandon's cast was a brown and rainbow yearbook of well-wishes. And I got in trouble when I wrote on my arm. No fair!
But it was the attention my brother received for his broken leg that made me want to copy him. I even watched as one day my little Mom (she's 4'11"!) carried him upstairs! I tried to jump off the swing set, but no broken bones. I tried making a cast out of one of Dad's tube socks. Not quite right...it was more of a puppet.
So I did something that I'm not proud of, and that I admit is really gross.
When the day finally came for Brandon's cast to come off, the doctor allowed him to bring home the two halves--like an enormous ugly shell. And I would find them and put them on. And try to walk around the house in a stinky used cast.
Because I wanted to be just like my big brother.

Do people copy my style? Not that I know of, simply because I'm not quite sure what my style is. I try to express my individuality in whatever way I can. I enjoy being creative, and that sometimes comes across in the way I dress and the way I behave.
Except when it comes to broken bones.

Back Again

"The new year begins in a snow-storm of white vows."
--George William Curtis

Do you make New Years resolutions? Why or why not?
Well, I don't really make the typical resolutions, but I do always begin a new year thinking, "this is going to be different" or "I'll be better at..." So I guess I do make resolutions, I just never really share them.
One of my favorite things to do at the beginning of the year is to reflect on the past year's events. And 2007 had lots of those for sure. But I started to type out a month by month list of all of the things I did and I can't remember half of them. Yes, I got engaged, moved, started a new job, got married...and that was all eventful--but what about all of those small moments?
The small things are the fullest somehow. Times of silence, of shared glances, of listening to a song...
So for 2008, I simply want more small moments. No huge events necessary, but full moments of beauty and holiness. And the sense to stop and enjoy them. Not to make my life so full and huge that I don't forget to look up and out and do my best to create a life which honors God above all.
I think I can best do that by creating. A warm, inviting home with great food and laughter and love.