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Take the Dare

5/30/2017

Sometimes there is too much to do. This past weekend we worked very hard at yard work, putting in a garden and opening up our 3 season porch for the summer. By the end of the 3 day holiday I think we were glad to get back to work just to get some rest! And now I look at my craft area and my list of projects to complete for my Wistful Grandma inventory and I think "It's going to be impossible to get all this done on time and keep up with my normal life too." But past experience has shown me that many times in my life I have done the impossible. And what does "impossible" mean anyway?

You can't be defeated by a word. What may be impossible today may be possible tomorrow. Although each day has the same amount of minutes the way you organize and use them can have a huge impact on what gets done. Your mind and your will shape how the day goes and what you can accomplish. So chip away at that mountain in front of you. Spit at the wind. Defy the odds. Keep working at it.

There is an excellent quote by Muhammad Ali. He said: "Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing." Impossible can't define you or what you can do. Impossible is not the last word. Impossible should be what keeps us all going. It should be the ultimate motivator. Don't stop for the impossible. Take the dare.

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Diversity

5/27/2017

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I was gazing out the window the other day at my less than perfect front lawn. The dandelions have started changing from their delightful yellow to their seed heads. A sparrow flew onto the lawn and began hungrily snatching off dandelion seeds and eating them. I had never seen a bird eat dandelion seeds before. For many minutes the bird ate the seeds and then flew away to be replaced by another sparrow picking up some dried flower bits probably for nest making. Then a robin came by and began looking for worms. I could have stayed at the window much longer to watch the constant stream of birds in our yard. They come not because we hang out bird feeders but because we allow the plants in our yard to grow a bit wild. We allow diversity in plants, weeds and seeds.

I glanced across the street and saw a disturbing sight. There was the truck for the chemical lawn service once again in our neighborhood. The gloved employee was dragging out a hose to spray another lawn into perfect greenness. My sparrow would never find a feast of dandelion seeds on that lawn. There is no garden debris for nest making in the perfect bark piled around all their trees. And any robin pulling out a worm is going to get some unwanted chemicals in their diet. The gloves on the hose sprayer and the warning signs posted on the lawn after spraying can't be read by the birds.

How in the world did we come to this way of thinking? When did the diversity of nature become so unwanted? Who has decided that a sterile uniform looking yard is pretty? And if you really want to do some scary reading, and I encourage you to do so, start googling the dangers of the chemicals coming out of those lawn care trucks. We need to change our mindset fast. We are poisoning nature and by default ourselves. I don't know if I can change my neighbors minds. But I know I can can take care of the one small spot of the earth I am directly responsible for - my own yard. So yes I am the house with the yard full of dandelions, the tree line with areas of overgrowth and a garden in the front lawn. Call me eccentric and my yard unruly. I call it diversity.

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Sage, One Sheep and a Bee Skep

5/23/2017

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This past weekend I went to a flea market. It is a perfect venue to look for items to use in my crafting. You never know what you will find. Sometimes, like the trio mentioned above, it is items for my Grandma dolls to hold. Sometimes it may be raw materials for projects. Or perhaps just unusual items because they call to me from a box or tabletop. I find great pleasure in strolling around and looking.

I could come to a market like this with a list of things to look for. It would be so logical to set a goal of 5 of this or 6 of that. To be positive that at the end of the day I would have exactly what I set out to obtain would, I suppose, be nice. To empty my bag at home and find exactly what I need would be a pleasant exception to the rule. But, alas, my shopping ends up being much more random. A pleasant mix-up of unrelated items with potential creativity locked inside of them somewhere.

I have learned to embrace the randomness of this creative experience. And as I move into the design and production phase of the year I gather my bits and pieces, lay out my random purchases and keep my eyes open for just one more unique item. I have given up asking why I buy it and what exactly I will use it for and if I really need it. I trust that it will all come together. And I am amazed and pleased when it does. There is a place for my sage, sheep and bee skep. I will let you know when I find them.

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These Hands

5/20/2017

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Recently I spent time with my 3 oldest grandchildren. Grandchildren are one of the joys in my life today. To be a grandparent is to find yourself in a new place. Both your perspective and your role in the dynamic of their development is different. Certainly I spent more intensive time with my own children. I saw their daily development up close and personal. Years of resources were devoted to my children's growing years and in comparison I barely know this next generation. And yet the bond is unmistakeable. So what is it?

In keeping with my blog pictures I thought it would be a good idea to take a picture of our hands together. After all hand pictures are my thing right? Looking at the result here is what I see. These three grandkids are a blended set of siblings as so many are today. Not genetically related they have formed a family because my daughter met a good man and the kids then found each other. I was not present for the birth of all three. I have known the youngest since birth and met the other 2 as young children. But they form a family unit and to me there is no difference. And in my picture all 3 hands look surprisingly similar. Three different ages. Hands that are still so young. Two boys, one girl. But perhaps shared experiences make hands similar? In comparison my hand looks different. From a different family. And of course older, making me realize that those young hands will do things mine never will. They will be able to reach across to generations and times that I will never see.

So it's not just today's bond with these 3 hands that means so much. It is the unseen connection to the future and things unseen. There is the power of love and the gift of time travel in these hands.

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