Forget Me

Today I was bored. Key word is was. But I'll get back to that. This weekend has been full of friends and family and graduations and all that goes with them. We had a graduation in the family (not mine) so I have been busy cleaning and preparing for over a week. The actual weekend of graduation, I had several parties to attend, so I did plenty of hugging, hand-shaking, and punch-sampling. (That's sampling punch, but I needed it to fit my roll.) I won't relive the gory details (more for my sake than yours) because the basic point is that today, school is out, parties are over, guests are gone, and I had too much energy to stay in the house and watch the wind wreak havoc on our yard. I wanted to be a part of it. So me and Little Bro borrowed a theme from Megamind and my mother's baton and went dandelion hunting.

We used the "Forget-me Stick" to make dandelions our first victims of Sudden-and-Unexpected Amnesia Syndrome. It felt good to go out and goof off like a kid again. (Some of you are wondering if I ever stopped. Be quiet and don't blow my cover, ok? Ok.)

I had to run inside to get my camera...a camera....my sister's.

Rusty waited for me on the front porch!

Bro advances on the dandelions. You can't see the baton, he's twirling it around his wrist.

Bro's knee forgets him.

Bro forgets himself.

"Forget me, Dandelion!" Told you this would be juvenile.

Mid-swing on a dandelion! Ahhh. This was such fun.

Searching for new amnesia victims.

Bro finds a final victim. The fragment of cup on the right is mid-air! Mwahahahaha.

Simple Things

I've come to realize that one of life's simplest gifts paired with one of God's gifts of love is intentionally one of those moments when God is trying to bring to mind 1 Corinthians 2:9 "...what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived - the things God has prepared for those who love him."

This conclusion is based on the as-near-as-you-can-get-to-perfection evening that I am enjoying.

Today, we had ice-cream. The important thing is not that we ate it, but that we had it in our freezer. Tonight I scraped the remainders of the frozen goodness into my mug. The second blessing was that we had instant-shell chocolate topping. We almost never have that - much less with toffee bits in it. I took my frozen goodness topped with milk chocolate and toffee bits outside.

The air was cool and the sun was hanging above the horizon just for me. A single bird outdid himself catering to entertain me. The twilight blended the sharp colors of the Box elders and the pines against the lawn until their colors were sweet harmony, designed for the my delight alone. The sky was a dancing mural of muted but vibrant blue, pink and gold.

Four ducks flew over my head in formation. The tinkle of my spoon against my mug echoed across the road and fairy tinkles laughed back at me from the barn. I bit into my ice-cream and toffee bits melted and exploded with flavor. They tasted like liquid sunshine transformed into rock candy - enough crunchy to add texture; and enough sunshine to leave me smiling and savoring each nibble. I leaned my head back and was greeted - I give my word this is true - by four clouds, two round as eyes, an upright-ish smudge nose, and a crooked mouth turned up in one corner by a grin. It is the most natural smile - and the most supernatural - that I have ever seen.

Was this not a perfect moment?

Timber Wolf Trail

There is a road near our home that I love. The road arcs higher than the fields on its flanks, and its appearance of being a high road is magnified by the enormous ditch on the South edge. The little highland road, as I like to think of it, is surrounded mostly by fields but in one place on the North side there is a charming bit of woods. On ideally common summer days, it's easy enough turn the amassing clouds into white-topped mountains that rise from a distance and display snow-clad slopes above the tree-tops.

Note in passing: The entrance to the road says "Minimum Maintenance Road: Travel At Your Own Risk" and the sign is shot out with bullet holes.

I don't know if it was that or some other reason, many moons ago, my neighbor told us that when she was young (a while back) and spunky (always and forever) her and another named that road Bear-tooth Pass. I grasped at the name and hung on to it. What could be more perfect? Thereafter I would tolerate no other road for my walks. Why should I? Until last summer.

To be perfectly honest, I walked there quite a bit last summer. It wasn't until August that I heard that another of our neighbors had trapped a bear out of those woods. *Gulp* But then it was too late - the bear was already long gone when I heard about it. So I shrugged and kept walking. Until yesterday.

Mom walked there yesterday. What she saw, she kept to herself until evening. A family friend came out and rode his horse down that same road. What he saw, he told none but Mom. I was blissfully ignorant of anything out of the ordinary, until my mom revealed to me what she'd seen: wolf prints.

"So don't walk there anymore, Gianna," was her only overall point. I gasped and grinned simultaneously (it's easier if you don't practice) "Really? Wolf prints! EPIC!!!" "What do you mean? I don't see anything exciting in that." "Mom! It's like, a wolf! That is EPIC!" Needless to say, she didn't see things through the youthfully stupid lenses I wear.

Just FYI, these are almost as large as a man's hand. Not your average doggy.

Maybe a bit menacing even. 

Today I Did

5.1.11 Today I washed my hair and let it dry in front of our fireplace. What a lovely feeling.

4.30.11 Today I went to the Evangelical Covenant Church and helped package rice meals with Kids Against Hunger. It felt wonderful to know that I was helping starving children. By the time we finished, I was regretting that I'd been frustrated with my mom for making me go. I only wish I'd volunteered to go earlier. As a note in passing, to help somebody who can't help me back is one of my New Year's dreams. (Yes, I'm still thinking about them.) Last night I thought this would qualify, but now I'm not sure. Helping to package the food gave me a deeper sense of compassion and a desire to do more. Isn't that a way of helping me back?

4.29.11 Today I studied hard. Aside from the fact that it was studying and it took forever, it felt good. (Astronomy, if you want to know. Mostly about stars: Red Giants, Supergiants, White Dwarfs and all that jazz.)

4.29.11 (Evening) My study was rewarded - I went to a sleepover with some girlfriends and we had a wonderful time playing Kinnect, Bananagrams, and watching a movie. Got to bed at 3-ish. *Blissful sigh*

5.1.11 Today I and my older brother led the High school Sunday school class. We played clips of a speaker talking about using good questions to discern inconsistencies and contradictions in false worldviews. It was a good video, humorous, relevant, profound, and useful. We prayed beforehand that the teaching would impact the class and be meaningful.

4.25.11 Today I was jealous when I found out my friend is going to Alaska played basketball and soccer with some friends. It was a beautiful day, and it felt sooooooo good to be outside. I think the girls team won too. (Just sayin', Friend-in-Alaska.)

5.1.11 Today I received the following email from my dad.

"Hey G babe! This is doting dad! I can't think aof anythibng rlly good to anny U at the momnt except fir realyy bad spelling and hpfully grmmr!"

Uh-huh. I have great parents, just for the record. Life if rough.

He got this back.

"I don't know exactly what or who gave you this mistaken idea, but you seem to think you're hilarious. News flash. You aren't. Read that again. Memorize it.




Are we clear?"
 
But of course, he couldn't let that rest. So I got this back.
 
"Perhaps someday you will rise to my level of humor... until then I suppose I shall have to put up with you as you are, irritating little dolt that you may be."
 
Yeah. Loving, no?
 
I searched him out and pummeled him. As well as I could. Which...wasn't very well, but I tried.

5.1.11 Today I went out to breakfast with my dad. We had a lovely time talking and laughing. Talking about books that I was reading and he wanted to read: laughing (mostly Dad) when we discovered I'd talked right through spilling on my dress pants. FYI: melted cheese doesn't wipe off of dress pants as one might desire. Also: be very careful what you eat and how you eat it if you are going to speak in front of a crowd.