My limited mind

I just got a phone call from some one in Argentina. It seemed like any other call. But it blew to mind to think about her really being in Argentina. That's so far away from here that it seems like another world, another life. The reality of South America has in a way stopped for me because I'm not there anymore. It's hard to fathom that life is going on down there just like it used to. There are so many different realities being lived right now. Billions of people are living on this planet at this exact moment but are having completely different experiences than me. I can't even really grasp the population of the world, let alone the size of the planet. People say that the size of universe is incomprehensible and of course it is. I can't even comprehend the size of this Earth! Contemplating topics like this makes it all the more amazing that God knows each of His children personally and He comprehends all things. I can't even begin to fathom that capacity.

Last day of the month

Another month is over. It will never be June 2010 again after today. Time is such a weird concept. It can feel fast and slow at the same time. I really don't know where this month went. Already July? Unbelievable. But at the same time there were many days this month where the hours dragged on and on until 5 o'clock rolled around. I'm realizing that the older I get the faster time goes. What am I doing with my time? I need to use it wisely. I want to enjoy the now and be happy that it's today.

I'm happy the sun is shining.
I'm happy I have a good job.
I'm happy I know so many wonderful kindred spirits.
I'm happy there are colors.
I'm happy because I laugh a lot.

Literature

I love to read. First of all, words fascinate me. Second of all, I love imagining the stories. One thing I appreciate about the English language is that we have such a rich vocabulary. Books from the late 1800's are actually some of my favorites. It's a feast for the mind. 

One thing I don't like is when books are wordy just for the sake of using big words. I'm reading a book right now that was highly recommended to me, but I'm having a problem with the author's writing style. For example, the following sentence is unnecessarily difficult to understand: "The black colonial-era Morris, flotsam abandoned in 'Pindi by the ebbing tide of the British empire, purled quietly along still-sleeping streets." I'm not even sure what that means! Compare that to a quote from the Scarlet Letter: "Ah, but let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will be always in her heart." (contented sight) Such a beautiful sentence.  

I'm grateful to have books so readily available. I'm grateful to be literate. I love to read.  

I love laughing!!

Seriously?

Would you like to know how much this "Six-panel Mahogany Pet Gate" costs?
$399.
Sick.

To guilt children into eating their vegetables, Moms often pull the "maybe-we-should-send-it-to-the-starving-kids-in-China" card. This is the ultimate (OK, maybe not ultimate, but a pretty decent) example of this concept. Four hundred dollars for a pet gate!?!? I wonder how many meals $400 would be for an Ugandan family or how many immunizations it would provide for a village in Ethiopia. We live in such disgusting excess in this country. But I don't know how to change anything or make a difference really. It's not like I can change our culture.

Then I wonder: If I were rich, would I buy a pet gate like that? Well, no because I don't like dogs. But I would probably buy a stellar recording studio which would be a LOT more than $400. So who am I kidding? I guess the best thing I can do is try to change my own selfishness, keep paying my tithing and try to help people in whatever way I can.....(and discourage them from buying $400 pet gates.)

Thanks to the semi-truck

The sun was out yesterday and I took a walk on my lunch break. Such a pleasure! Being outside is so refreshing, especially after being in the office for a long time. After my lovely stroll and talking to a beloved friend on the phone, my hour was up (not in the metaphorical "I'm-about-to-die" way, but in the "my-lunch-hour-is-up" way). Walking through the parking lot back to the office, I heard a semi-truck with some strange engine problem. It sounded like the truck was about to make the jump to hyper-drive like in Star Trek. I got so excited! That sound sparked my childhood imagination and I started pretending that it really WAS going to jump into hyper-drive.  The remainder of my walk back to the office was filled with space travel, walking through the jungle, climbing Mount Hood and being a piece of floating cotton being blown by the wind. Ha! It was so much fun.

I've been thinking about the imagination a lot because I recently watched Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea (two of my favorite movies). I used to be very imaginative when I was a kid. But that faded away as I got older apparently, which I hadn't even realized. I still consider myself creative. But being creative and being imaginative are like cousins: they're related but have different parents. Yesterday I rediscovered how fun it is to imagine. Of course there's a time and a place for everything, but I found that on a walk is the perfect time to be childly imaginative.

     

The Bowler Hat Guy

Meet the Robinsons is one of my favorite movies: funny, original and good message. The Bowler Hat Guy is my favorite villain in all of moviedom. I love the part when he invents an evil plan to disgrace the Robinson industry forever. His brilliant plan? Standing outside their house yelling, "You stink!" Makes me laugh every time.
 
At work I was in the warehouse-part of the building and someone had tuned the radio to a talk show. Not my favorite thing in the first place. The employee was still working out there so I didn't want to be rude and change the station. It was this ridiculous political radical going on and on about how horrible Obama is. Don't get me wrong I'm definitely not an Obama fan (at all) but this guy was pretty pathetic. He didn't have any good arguments, he kept repeating himself and he was so fired up he couldn't even talk straight. It reminded me of the Bowler Hat Guy yelling "You stink!" If you're going to host a talk show, you should at least be sensible, professional and educated.

"Keep moving forward."

An Interesting Father's Day

I was never very close to my Dad's parents. It feels more natural to call them my dad's parents than to call them my grandparents. All my life they lived 15 minutes away but I only saw them a couple of times a year at best. Now it's been years since they both passed away. Through stories from my dad I've come to know them better and love them for doing their best in life.

After both of them were gone, their house was sold along with the 2-ish acres it sat on. Because of such-and-such a city ordinance, the land had to be sold in pieces to be developed with cookie-cutter houses. The woods would be cut down and the house destroyed. After the downturn in the housing market, the plans were never carried out. The woods and the house went untouched.

Yesterday, I went for a drive with my dad. He asked me if we could go by the old house. As we came up over the hill. it was a shocking sight. I hadn't been there in years and didn't know that all around their property, what used to be woods, was a new subdivision. But the most shocking of all was that the house was destroyed. Bull-dozed. Demolished. Only part of the foundation was there, along with a pile of bricks and the skeleton of the fireplace. I stood in what used to be the family room and thought about my childhood memories of the place. Even though my grandparents hadn't always shown it, I knew they loved me.

I stayed in the car as my dad got out to pick up a few bricks to bring home. I watched him as he sifted through the wreckage of the house he had lived in during all his growing up years. His dad had built the house and no one else had ever lived in it. I started to cry as I watched him slowly pacing around the rubbish piles, trying to decide which bricks to take.

How do you choose which brick to take? How do you choose what to take and what to leave behind?

I stared at the tree that used to have a swing. I stared at where the dog used to be tied up, the dog that absolutely terrified me. Change is a strange thing. To see everything so drastically different was shocking. Life is constantly changing. I want to live life to the fullest. A log of times people look forward to "when I'm finally done with school" or "when I'm finally married" or "when I'm finally retired." If we live with this mindset we miss all the todays in which we could have been perfectly content with just a little change of attitude. We miss all the todays that we can never get back. I want to love my life TODAY because I'll never have another day exactly like it.

Today I'm grateful for the piece of brick that I chose to take home from my grandparent's house and the leaf I taped into my journal from a plant my grandmother planted. 

The Recital

I enjoyed my little sister's piano recital for many reasons. Just looking at the program was entertaining. Boys were playing songs like "Masked Bandito" and "Raging Storm". Girls were playing "Tiny Lullaby" and "The Jelly Bean Song". The stark difference between boys and girls is always comical to me.

A piano and violin duet started off the evening. The stage was lit, casting a shadow of the violinist on the wall. From the angle where I was sitting I couldn't see her move with the music much. But then I noticed her shadow. It was like watching her spirit play the violin. She swayed gracefully and passionately while playing a beautiful melody. I had never really taken the time to notice the artistry of people's shadows. It was quite stunning.

Ziploc Bags

I was in the warehouse all alone at work. My happiness tank was running low and I tried to think why. I realized I hadn't smiled at anyone all day. I knew all the employees were sequestered away in their offices. So I smiled at the Ziploc Bag I was holding in my hand. It may sound ridiculous but it made me feel happier. Smiling is good for the soul...even if you just smile at an inanimate object. Now I really like Ziploc Bags.

Explanation

Everyone knows that the phrase usually says "stop and smell the roses." I don't have anything against roses; my middle name is even Rose. But what about lilacs? They smell just as good and are just as beautiful. This blog is a place for me to talk about little life lessons I learn everyday. The simple things. Not the cliche things like roses. But the lilac type things. Things I wouldn't have learned if I hadn't stopped to think. And really, what's life worth if I don't stop to think about the things I'm learning? Simplicity is beautiful and refreshing to me. Simple lessons from everyday experiences can still be really profound. So, thus starts the blog inspired by my sister.