The View from Here

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It occurred to me yesterday that half of what we want from year to year is a waste of time and money. We buy things because everyone else has one, or because we think a thing or a piece of clothing will make us look better, feel better, BE BETTER than we were before, or perhaps better than our friend or neighbor. I was amused recently by a minor debate in the retail fashion industry about whether it improves or diminishes sales to see someone in the dressing room area who looks far better in the same outfit you just tried on. Some managers said it was the “kiss of death” to see some svelte woman prancing around in a dress you just tried on in a size 18. Others said that larger women still typically bought things that looked better on another woman or on a mannequin because they perceive themselves as looking just as good, even though they don’t!  lol

I don’t remember ever hearing so many commercials emphasize replacing a product or service simply because something better is available. I suppose that choice has always been the underlying force in advertising, but my parents, and certainly my grandparents were inclined to wait until something broke or was no longer working efficiently before replacing it. And of course they tried to repair it or have it repaired before replacing it. Have you given any thought recently to how many things can no longer be repaired? There simply aren’t any repairmen or shops that will even look at most of our appliances or technical gadgets. We just go to the store and get another one. And of course the new one is better. Well, sometimes.

For years we used my grandfather’s old refrigerator. It wasn’t the biggest or best, but it worked, and had been working for decades. When we finally replaced it because it didn’t have the storage capacity for our growing needs we gave it to someone who needed it and we bought a “bigger and better” model at a reputable dealer. It lasted half as long as grandfather’s! I’m currently using the third dryer I have owned during the same span of time that my grandmother owned one! Sometimes the latest thing isn’t the greatest.

But still we yearn. Still we want. Still we buy. And we buy when we already HAVE. My mother usually owned two purses- brown and white- and carried them for years. Now it is not uncommon for a woman to own a dozen purses and use them only as long as they are fashionable. Why? Because we have let ourselves believe that we should care about such things. That fashion makes the woman, instead of the other way around.

And I don’t write this to condemn, but merely to explore the whys and wherefores. I too own far more things than I need. I too have to stop and think about why I need to buy more. When I reached for my coffee cup this morning I was conscious of the fact that I have a dozen coffee cups…not because I often have company for breakfast, but because I like to rotate them and drink from whatever cup “strikes my fancy” as Mother was fond of saying.

I suppose there is nothing wrong with buying what strikes our fancy, unless of course we are depriving ourselves or our family of essentials like food and shelter and health care and insurance. Before you scoff, look around at the number of people who have the latest game, phone, television, computer, or other technical marvel. Is it just part of their lifestyle, or did they sacrifice something else in order to have it? I honestly think that what some of our young people are sacrificing is their future financial security. My grandmother always cautioned us to save for a rainy day. I’m not sure what rain had to do with money, but she was a wise woman who didn’t waste time or money on things she didn’t need.

(I suppose I’m in a nostalgic mood. The photo is me with baby Karen, Dad, Gran, and Bigg.)

 

A Day Like No Other

 

We think of our lives as mundane, even boring at times. But change is a part of each and every day, even if we don’t pay attention to the changes. The world will never be the same as it is at this moment. Never. Perhaps that is why there are so many passages in the Bible about living in the moment, not dwelling in the past or borrowing trouble from the future. God knows what we can handle and it usually isn’t much…at least not without His help.

There are people all over the world who are waking up today to problems and losses we can only imagine. They are coping with natural disasters, and disasters of their own making. The changes in their lives are so obvious, so tragic that our hearts are overwhelmed with compassion for them.

And there are also people who are waking up to new joys and experiences that will enlighten and engage them in ways they never dreamed possible. We join them in celebrating their marriage, their first child, their first day of school or a new job. We recognize those “rite of passage” changes that most of us go through.

However, it is often the smallest changes that bring about the greatest transformation in our lives. One decision, one simple “yes” or “no”, one brief encounter with a new person, one trip down a different road, one moment of clarity can turn our lives upside down and lead us on a totally different journey. These are the changes that often go unnoticed until years later when we find ourselves asking how we got to this place, this day, this experience.

As I get older I understand more fully why God admonishes us to live for today. Not only is He telling us to enjoy the time because we might not get another day, but I think He is also telling us to be careful with our thoughts and actions today, because this is the only chance we might get to make the right choice, do the right thing, or be the person we want to be.

Tomorrow will be different from today, or might not come at all, because of what we do today.

Today is a day like no other! Make it a great one!   

(P.S. I am posting this picture today in honor of baby Hope going off to college for her second year!)

Time will tell...

 

I am either an optimist or a fool. Only time will tell. This morning I installed this glorious rain gauge in the yard. Gary bought it on clearance several weeks ago, but I didn’t anticipate that we would need it any time soon. This morning I decided set aside my doubts and boldly place it near the kitchen door where I can see it and hope for rain. And it measures up to seven inches!

I ventured out in the cool breeze to do a little garden cleanup this morning. Yes, read that sentence again. It was cool enough this morning to put on a long-sleeved shirt. Hence my positive outlook with regard to the rain gauge. If the weather is changing enough to drop our temperature to an overnight of 60, then rain can’t be far behind.

I know you are wondering about the fire. It seemed to be out by the time we went to bed, but the fire trucks were out this morning, sirens blaring, at 8:30. I haven’t seen any smoke on the horizon, so I’m not sure what is going on.  I have been disappointed in the coverage of Oklahoma fires by the local news media. Our local firefighters were out there all day yesterday and the majority of the news coverage is still focused on Texas.  Have to depend on neighbors and FB to keep me posted out here.

It is ironic to see the newscasters in the south leaning into the wind and talking about the strength of 40mph winds. Part of the problem with the fire fighting out here is that the wind has been blowing 20-25mph with gusts up to 30mph. We often get prairie winds of 30-40mph. Sometimes it takes two hands to open and close our front door. Once I used the back door because I was afraid to open the front door. The power of the wind rushing in can knock magazines off the coffee table and topple lamps!

The winds should be calmer tomorrow and the temperatures are supposed to stay down. We should get to have our first afternoon recess! The children will be very excited. I told you there were changes ahead!

Hope you are having a great holiday!

Fire

 

I started out early to put together some summer photo albums, and I finished two (see left column). However, I became distracted by two power outages, gusty winds, and now this--a massive fire burning west of us. Believe me, if it gets closer I will be gone to town in a hurry! Everything here can be a memory. I am all in favor of my own personal safety.

Summer's End

 

September first marks the official end of summer for me. And for once the weather forecast is cooperating with highs at 90 and lows at 60 for next week. Not much chance of rain, but I’ll accept the lower temperatures as a promise of better days ahead. I suppose in a few years I might be tempted to remember this summer as the summer of the drought. Or the summer of the hurricanes. Or the summer of record heat and discomfort. But I think I shall choose to remember it as the summer of the painted buntings. Or the summer of the lost cockatiel. Or the summer of sunflowers. Whatever we choose to recall, it is behind us now and I look forward to fall.

 

September brings our annual county teachers’ meeting which I attended this morning. Always a pleasant occasion as we meet to hear a motivational speaker and applaud the teachers and administrators chosen to represent us as the best of the best. Great to see familiar faces from other schools and remember we are all facing the same challenges.

 

I always think of September as “Mother’s month” because it was her birthday month and fall was her favorite time of year. She loved the changes in the weather and the fall colors and the beginning of the holidays. She loved school and crayons and children.

 

September also marks my husband’s birthday. This will be number sixty-eight for him. I suppose that was big number for previous generations, but I can’t really think of either of us as truly old when my eighty-one year old father is still healthy and active. Gary is descended from several ancestors who lived to be 100, so I plan to have him around to nag for quite a few more years. Our fortieth anniversary is on the spring horizon.

September is the month for changes…and I’m ready for some.

Hope you had a great day!

 

Labeling

 

It’s funny how some things stick in your memory like Gorilla Glue, and others vanish before the week is over. My daughter and I were talking about I.Q. and memory and motivation, frequent topics among teachers. All combine to create a good student, but a lack of I. Q. or memory can often be compensated for by motivation and hard work. I’ve seen it happen time and again.

What surprised me about our conversation was my vivid memory of having my own intelligence tested when I was in the fifth grade. I think I’ve mentioned it before in other blogs. It still intrigues me. Why do I remember that event in such detail? Was it the test itself?-I remember being nervous about getting everything correct, and pleased that part of the test required drawing a person, something I could do quite well. The man who administered it?-He was totally bald and his head had an odd red pattern on it and he frequently rubbed his head. The results?- I was “officially smart”, and felt that I no longer had to prove it. The aftermath?- there was a flurry of activity and meetings after my test results came back-discussions about moving me to seventh grade, talk of new challenges, and questions about money for college- heady stuff for a little poor girl.

I guess what made such an impression was that my world was never the same after that. I think our brain must automatically mark those “watershed” moments. Before the test I was a happy, goofy girl who loved to read and draw and play in the fields. After the test I became the “smart girl” who had to be responsible for her brainpower and use it wisely. Unconsciously perhaps, the adults around me began to see me in a different light and I was suddenly “too smart to behave like that” or “too smart to waste time doing THAT”. I was expected to live up to my test results not only in school, but in life. And unfortunately the thing in my life that was suddenly considered a waste of time was drawing.

I think that is what concerns me about a lot of the testing we do now. It’s not the test itself that might be damaging, but the label that comes with the results. Even a good test and good results can change the way we perceive someone and change our ideas about their future. We have to be so careful to make sure testing helps us aid and motivate students to live up to their hopes and dreams, not just our own.

Would I have been happier as an artist? Probably not. But I also spent a lot of time floundering because I didn’t have the skills or motivation to become a doctor or architect or attorney, occupations I knew my parents admired and coveted on my behalf. I think it pleased my mother when I enrolled as an English major and planned to teach high school students before going on to become a college professor. However, I think both of my parents were surprised and even a bit disappointed when I settled for teaching “little kids”, a decision that I personally have never regretted for a moment. A friend laughingly called me “over qualified for the job”, but I don’t feel that way at all. I feel that I need all of my brainpower and life experience and patience to give these kindergartners a good start in life.

I’m doing what I was born to do, I hope you are too!

(That little blond with the headband, close to the flag pole, is me.)