The View from Here

6lbs. the hard way...

I’ve lost six pounds this past week. Actually I lost six pounds this weekend. I had a colonoscopy yesterday and as those of you who have already had that test know, it involves a few days of preparation.  A liquid diet melts the pounds right off! It also makes you realize how little we actually need to survive, and how much most of us exceed that need. And of course my days of restriction coincided with a couple of news reports about hunger in America, a report on obesity, and a couple of daytime talk shows about the adverse affects of fat on your organs. Okay, okay, I can take a hint!! This is a great jumpstart for my diet…less for me, more for others, healthy days ahead.

And speaking of health…if you are over forty you should talk to your doctor about getting a colonoscopy and any other health screening you need. My friends and family members are dropping like flies lately and I don’t like it one bit! It is a terrible thing to hear that a friend has a type of cancer that can’t be cured. It is worse to hear that a person under thirty has died from it. Don’t be squeamish or reluctant about anything that might prolong your health and life. Nuff said.

I’m taking my healthy self back to school today! Ready to tackle the next few weeks of reading, writing, and holiday fun! I love Christmas! And yes, I use that word. While we celebrate all holidays and I teach my students about Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and half a dozen other winter holidays, I do not shy away from greeting people with Merry Christmas or letting anyone know what I celebrate. I figure I have as much right to my beliefs as anyone else. I’m not preaching to anyone, just not hiding. There is a difference!

Finished one of my major projects over the weekend. I created a desk calendar from some of my favorite photos. As you might imagine, picking out a few favorites from the thousands I have taken is quite a feat! I’ll bet you don’t know anyone else who has over a hundred dragonfly photos! Three hundred raccoon photos. Two thousand flower photos. Yes, I know I need to delete a few before my computer crashes! Anyway, I now have a little calendar completed, and I’m pleased with it.

I might be adding a new category to my photo files…fox. We have had a beauty visiting for the last two nights. He/she arrives about half an hour before the raccoons and is very, very wary. Eats a bite and looks up, eats a bite and looks up…and when the first raccoon rustles the bushes the fox runs off in a blur! I’m not sure I’ve ever seen another animal move so fast. I’m going to try putting a little dog food directly under the security light tonight and see if I can get a photo. Yes, from the window…I’m not crazy!

Today is the last day of November. Make it a great one!

Mind Control

My vacation time is drawing to a close and I feel like there are a dozen things I should have done.

The month is nearly over and I feel like there are a dozen things I should have done.

The year is winding down and I feel like there are a dozen things I should have done.

I always have so many ideas and projects and lists and plans floating around in my brain! My imagination has been my gift and my curse since I was a small child. I endured hours and hours of tedious farm work by creating stories and pictures and future plans in my mind. I would take a premise like “I have a private zoo.” and then create it in my mind in excruciating detail. Or I would envision what I would do if I became a doctor, architect, or fashion designer. Another of my favorite pastimes was imagining how I would spend $1,000- a sum almost too large to even fathom! I tied grape vines and chopped cotton and picked peaches with my hands, but my mind was elsewhere.

I still have more ideas and plans each day than I can possibly act upon. On the one hand, I am never bored or at a loss for something to do. But on the other hand, I am never quite satisfied that I have accomplished as much as I could. I suppose what saves my sanity and my self-image is the realization that time is an arbitrary constraint created by man. Our days and weeks and months and years are measured and packaged in portions that reasonably suit society’s needs, but time is not something that is ever exact. Each day is seconds longer or shorter than the previous one. And each day is simply another day, regardless of what we choose to call it.

The line between November and December is a line drawn by us, and I have to remind myself that deadlines and timetables and goals are manmade and can be adjusted or changed just as easily as they were created! There is no reason for me to be disappointed about some of the “deadlines” I’ve missed this month because they were simply created by my mind in order to keep me focused. Some of my projects may actually turn out better if I complete them next year! And deadlines set by others are still within my control; it is still up to me to decide what I want to do.

So…I can settle for the satisfaction of making progress, continuing on, and doing what I can each day and still feel good about it. Now if I could just keep my mind from thinking up more things for me to do!

To Have or Not to Have

I hope that you were as embarrassed and appalled as I was yesterday by the news reports of the crowds shopping on Black Friday. Honestly? This is what we have become? This is the example we want to set for our children? This is the image we want broadcast to the world on YouTube?

Proverbs 20:11 says “Even a child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right.” I didn’t see much yesterday that was pure or right. I saw a lot of greed and selfishness and violence. I witnessed people pushing and shoving and yelling for the right to buy a bigger television or a more entertaining game at a lower price than they might pay tomorrow. Of course now they have “bragging rights” and will not only have a television with a screen ten inches bigger than their old one, but will tell everyone within earshot how little they paid for it. I’m sure if things didn’t turn out well for them on BF they would still find a bargain somewhere that was worth boasting about. Ironic that Proverbs 20:14 says “It’s no good, it’s no good!” says the buyer; then off he goes and boasts about his purchase.” I guess the nature of man never really changes. It isn’t just the item that brings pleasure, but the hunt, and the story of acquiring it.

I always have mixed emotions about the holidays in general. I grew up painfully poor and often benefited from the generosity of others. I know people can be kind and good. I know there are caring souls who are right now gathering donations and giving gifts and serving meals for the less fortunate. I know many people who shopped yesterday did it for others or to save a few bucks for something else.  But I still question the wisdom of taking part in an artificial situation created by retailers to help them “set the tone” for holiday shopping. If yesterday’s events were any indication, the tone set was a desperate one.

We all have too much. I will be the first to admit my own greed. I try to live a simple life and not acquire too many useless things. But I have things I don’t really need. I collect things that simply bring me joy. I want things that will make my life easier. I am human! I think the way to balance that and stay within God’s teaching is to also give back, to also take care of others with the same care and concern that we have for our own wants and needs. It can’t just be about me, me, me.

I know that every aspect of the holidays can be filled with anguish and call for some serious decisions. Money, jobs, family relationships, gifts, and even food cause conflicts during this stressful time. I know everyone is trying to do more and pay less. I know everyone is concerned about pleasing their families. Let’s just make sure we do it with dignity. Let’s do it in a way that we won’t regret after we take down the tree.

Sad that the next story on the national news was about a family living in the back of a moving van.

 

'Tis the Season

I love red and green and shiny things.

I love twinkling lights.

I love the smell of pine trees.

I love listening to Christmas music.

I love sending and receiving Christmas cards.

I love watching “Miracle on 34^th Street” and “It’s a Wonderful Life”.

I love, love, love looking at Christmas ornaments. I’ve already purchased three new ones.

I love buying gifts for others. Almost finished!

I love the news stories that are positive, inspiring, and uplifting. I try to ignore the ones about greed and selfishness.

I love reading letters to Santa, especially the old ones from the Caddo newspapers.

I love hearing about my students’ hopes and wishes for the holidays.

I love remembering Christmas celebrations from the past…

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Ducks on the Pond

Oh, what a glorious difference five inches of rain makes! The ducks have been gathering on the pond and I’m so pleased to see the difference in the water level. I know we need lots more rain and I know that the pond will hold much more water, but it seems like a good start.

These photos are not clear. That is not an excuse, just a reminder that I only have a 200mm lens and need at least 500. I’m saving my pennies for 800. I need a better lens for pond photos…or a duck blind…or perhaps a really good costume. Ducks and other waterfowl are quite skittish and don’t believe that my intentions are quite harmless.

I also need to study my bird guide more carefully. I find ducks more confusing than birds, perhaps because I am viewing them from a greater distance. I know there have been at least four different ducks, two shore birds, and the heron here in the last three days. I think the ducks have been bufflehead, merganser, canvas back, and ring necked, but I could be wrong. Earlier we have had scaups and mallards. Most of the time I send photos to people who know ducks and they identify them for me.

Watching ducks is not an activity that I would have sought out on my own, nor one I could do in many other locations. It is just a gift from God that brings added peace to this stage of my life. It brings back happy memories of walks in the park with my parents and grandparents. It brings back memories of time spent on the ranch with our ducks and geese. It brings back memories of fishing on the river with my dad. Watching the ducks on the pond is calming and soothing and at times even mesmerizing. They are so graceful and appealing.

I hope that the added rainfall is equally beneficial to the two wildlife preserves we frequent and that we will be able to visit them soon. And I hope there is a body of water somewhere near you, so you can watch a few ducks.

From Drought to Deluge...

I am thrilled to report that we drove home from Texas yesterday afternoon in a downpour. Our area, south to north, received from four to six inches of rain! Of course there are some negative aspects of getting that much rain in a short period of time, but still a blessing. The pond’s water level is already visibly higher this morning.

We had an enjoyable visit to Greenville, Texas yesterday. I lived there for several months in 2000 when I taught at nearby Quinlan. If I had also been active in genealogy at the time I would not have needed yesterday’s visit to the library! But I don’t regret the trip at all. Gary and I had a good time, as always, chatting in the car, seeing the sights, and having a great lunch at a local Italian restaurant. Gary entertained himself in the library for nearly three hours while I researched the Banta, Cooper, and Lynch families who migrated on to Caddo.

Henry Banta, my great-great grandfather, was the first tax assessor of Hunt County, Texas. He also served a term as sheriff before becoming a Baptist minister. His wife Susan Winniford had flaming red hair and was from Indiana. They were married in Greenville in 1849. Their son Calvin Wheeler Banta, and his wife Mary Lettie Coker, were the parents of my grandmother, Della Mae Banta, who married John Lester Springer. I didn’t find a lot of new information about Henry, but did read his “oath of office” from 1846, as well as several land and tax transactions. Located a listing for a photo of him which appeared in the May 9, 1950 issue of the Greenville Morning Herald, and of course that particular issue is missing from the library’s microfilm!! I will try a few other newspaper archives.  Found some new names on the tax rolls. Read a story in “A History of Hunt County”, Master’s Thesis of Margaret Horne, about Captain William Banta witnessing the first hanging in Hunt County, and of course the newspaper issue corroborating it is also missing from the microfilm. More research to do…

Off to town with hubby…more later.

 

Not Just Turkey and Dressing

I know that this will not be a pleasant week for everyone. We put a lot of emphasis on family and friends and food and fellowship, but everyone is not looking forward to spending time with loved ones…some because their loved ones are not so much loved as tolerated, and some because their loved ones are no longer here. Mom has been gone for twelve years, yet Thanksgiving is still a comforting reminder of all the good times spent with her and painful reminder that those times are gone forever.

This week will find many people out traveling, shopping, and seeking entertainment. There will be long lines, short tempers, and exhausted bodies everywhere. Some folks are off work, but many will work more hours this week than they really need or desire. My own husband will be at work bright and early Friday morning for the “big sale”.

This week is a financial burden for people who can barely afford to feed their families each week and now feel obligated to have some sort of celebration. Many will eat at shelters or churches or other public gatherings. Others will be the recipients of donations from community organizations.

Many people are isolated and alone. Some will make the effort to gather with others on Thursday. Some will go unnoticed by their neighbors and even some of their friends. We tend to assume that people have plans, but sometimes we need to actually ask. No one needs to eat alone on Thanksgiving unless that is truly their desire.

I think the best plan for all of us this week is to get plenty of sleep, be tolerant of each other, be kind, be understanding, be patient….and be thankful.  

Living in a small world...

Well, our Thanksgiving luncheon was enjoyable. Everything seemed to go smoothly and we had a good turnout of parents and grandparents. The children enjoyed the extra food and were excited about our guests.  Many went home with their parents afterwards, but most of mine stayed so I let them join the class next door in watching Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving. Then we had recess, cleaned our room in preparation for the break, and I took them to the library for their rotation class. I came back to my room….and that’s when everything changed.

Grabbed a tissue off my desk and blew my nose, gently, as I’ve done a dozen times this windy week. However, this time my nose started bleeding and wouldn’t stop. The secretary called the nurse and she took my blood pressure. Not good….180/104. Gary was called and took me to the clinic. An hour and a half later I left with my nose packed…again. Hated it last year, still hate it! At least my BP dropped and I was able to get some rest last night. Back to the doctor later today.

This morning as I reflected on the incident I was reminded of how much I love my job, the people I work with, and the small community I call home. It was calming and reassuring to know that our staff cares about me and that our nurse knew exactly what to do. My colleagues instantly took over my afternoon duties.  My students were taken care of before I even thought to request assistance. When I got to the clinic the receptionist addressed me by my first name and asked what was wrong. It is such a comfort to live and work with friends and family, not strangers. One of the many perks of living in a small world.

Money...again

I was “talkin’ to the tv” last night. My son used to remind me that when I do that I sound insane, but hey, I don’t care anymore! When some fool goes on the national news to try to justify a huge bonus for a business executive of a company WE, the taxpayers, bailed out of financial ruin, I tend lose my sanity!!  

We talk a lot in this country about economic problems. And during this time of the year it is easy to look around and see people in need. But I don’t think we spend enough time looking at people in greed. There is enough money in this country to do anything, ANYTHING, we need to do or want to do. However, much of the money is in the wrong hands. Much of it is spent on nonsense. Much of it is spent to impress others. Much of it is spent to satisfy egos. Much of it is just simply wasted….

We all waste a little money. We all buy a few things we shouldn’t. We all indulge in things that make us feel better…

But when you see excessive spending and wastefulness on such a grand scale, it’s disgusting and disturbing.