January Thaw

The
sun
shines.



The
snow
melts.




A
breeze
blows.


A
cloud
floats
by.



Winter
breaks
for just
one day.


Yet with this
January Thaw,

there's
hope:









Spring

is

nigh.






Sewing garden rows with great anticipation Along Life's Road.

Penguin Bear

We
got
a
package
in
the
mail...





...filled

with

early

Valentine's

Day

surprises.




To keep her sanity this winter, my sister is also sewing up a storm. Last week she emailed this photo of her sleuth of bears.

Noah has a fetish for stuffed animals. So, this bear picture drew him in, trying to pick out one he liked best. Teasingly, I emailed my sister his dilemma:"But he didn't see one in penguin colors: black with a white oval on its belly and an orange nose."

Imagine our surprise a week later, when she responded in earnest! Inside the box, she enclosed a note: "Something special for Valentine's Day for your house. It was fun making him – #28 Bear..."

The bear

that

Noah hugged and named, "Penguin Bear!"


Here's to the adage: The heart that gives gathers!

Thanks Aunt Tammy and Clara Sue – for breaking up winter's doldrums out-of-the-blue!

Quilting Hope

"So you're not home watching the inauguration?" the fabric clerk asked me last Tuesday afternoon.

I shook my head, "I just got off work and have errands to run after being cooped up in the cold weather. I've got a stack of laundry that's a mile high and a broken iron."


"Today's an historical day," I shrugged. "But, I gave up TV eight years ago." She nodded, "I don't blame you." She moved closer to confide: "They're really building a lot on this one guy."

"I know what you mean," I said. "Say... what's the difference between those two brands of irons you carry.

"I was considering the more expensive one. Is it worth the extra money?"

She shook her head, "They're both good. With the one, you're just paying for the brand name."

After reading all the features on both models, I opted for the less expensive one. On a whim, I browsed through the fabric aisles to see the new selections.

I found one to complement a few lengths that I'd recently bought to cure my mid-winter fever brought on by what my hubby calls 'my creative illness.'

At home Wednesday, I laundered the fabric for shrinkage. In between, chores I watched the featured YouTube video of the day: Obama's inaugural speech.


Later, I opened my new iron and compared it to my old one. Both models were made by the same company. The new one is the first I've ever purchased. The old one, I won as a clothing prize during my 4-H days. I hate giving up – even broken – things. Sometimes just for memory's sake. Then, I recalled our new president's words:


"The time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness."

I had before me FIVE measures –
of quilting fabric.

The inspiration transpired from a bedtime ritual with Noah. For the past month, while my son has snuggled under the covers, I've read aloud pioneer stories from the childhood days of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Turning page after page, Noah and I travel back into the early days of our American history through the eyes of a young girl named Laura. By day, Ma and the girls keep the home and garden while Pa hunts and breaks ground to farm.

As I measured widths and ripped long lengths of fabric to "break ground" for a strip quilt, I thought of another part of our new president's address:

"In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame.


"Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women, obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
"For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life. For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

"Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger, greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction."

As I laid out fabric strips to sew together, I thought of the Ingalls family in the time before they set out West.

By the firelight of their cozy cabin in the Big Woods, Pa told tales and played the fiddle to sing his girls to sleep and entertain Ma as she rocked in her chair sewing on quilts patched together from clothing remnants.

My quilt work continued over the following days. I recalled other parts of our president's address:

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness... We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace."

I ironed out seams and thought of the Ingalls. Upon reading "word from Washington" published in an 1870s newspaper, they attempted to settle in Indian Territory which was believed to be opened soon for settlement.

There the family sought to make peace – with the wild prairie, their neighbors in need, a traveling doctor who treated them for malaria and the natives – one of whom argued fervently with other tribes to spare the presumptive settlers' lives.

Then a new word came from Washington, that the settlers must leave. Not wishing to be ushered out by soldiers, Pa packed up his family. When Ma sighed, "A whole year gone." Pa answered cheerfully, "What's a year amount to? We have all the time there is."

Once again, they traveled by covered wagon through the vastness of the High Prairie where – in every direction – only the wind whipped the tall grasses. Stopping to look, Pa said, "It's a great country. But (it) will be wild... for many a long day."

I thought of the same wildness in my quilt – watching it come together piece by piece. I'm in no hurry to finish. Rather, I'd see it done well. And then some day, when it's ready, I can think back on our 44th president's challenge:

"Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations."

Now that's Quilting Hope.

"What's the Weather...

...like today?" the preschool teacher asked the class? FROSTY!

Consider This:

"Into whom will your love jump when you die?"
or
"How do you spend your kindness?"

I asked myself these questions after reading this article today amidst a world in crisis.

(Click the article for a larger view.)

Released

from prison – or so I felt – as I left home this morning for the first time since the deep freeze set in, followed by a long weekend of nursing a sick teenager back to health, so that we could all return to school today.

Especially in the dead of winter, it is good to ESCAPE – even the comforts of home.

The Joy of Painting

Frigid temperatures (-35ºF/-37ºC) and arctic winds have prompted officials to delay classes twice this week and even cancel school today.


As a result, our Tuesday/Thursday preschool class has had a whole week of unscheduled vacation. The children are restless at their homes. On Wednesday, one mom sent me this email.


"Since there is no preschool tomorrow, (my daughter) has declared that we are playing pretend preschool tomorrow with all her dolls... I get to be LeeAnn and she is going to be Wendy......"


Lucky Mom – gets to play preschool teacher while her daughter acts the teaching assistant. While I can't speak for LeeAnn, I sure am enjoying my time off.

I've made treats for special people – ones I didn't get to before Christmas.

I've worked on email and postal correspondence. And I've posted more blog entries here and on Norway Bound – describing the 12-day Nordic tour I led last August.

A combination – of editing the Norway post called Tora's Gallery as well as missing our creative moment at preschool – inspired today's activity with my three boys. Between breakfast and their literal (dining room) table tennis matches, we hauled out the brushes, paper and paints.

Like our Norwegian relative Tora, the boys enjoy painting and taking lessons. Recently, they've discovered PBS reruns of "The Joy of Painting" and taken tips from the late artist Bob Ross, known for his silly yet inspirational quotes.


Here's how Bob Ross inspired Isaac:

"We love the little reflections in the water."

And our fisherman Aaron:

"This little bush will be our little secret."

Finally our sailor Noah:

"Let's build us
a happy, little cloud
that floats
around the sky."



"Now.
This little cloud
needs a friend."

But their favorite quote of all:

"We don't make mistakes, we just have happy little accidents."

After an hour of brushing water colors and acrylics, the boys all agreed, "Bob Ross is awesome! Painting is SO fun."

Here's to the Joy of Painting during Minnesota's Deep-Freeze Days.

We Are Many Parts...

We

are

all

one

body.





And

the

gifts

we

have,





we

are

given

to

share.







May the Spirit

of Love

make us

one in deed:





one,

the

love

that

we

share,




one,

our

hope

in

despair,





one,

the
cross

that

we
bear.






Sharing
a
favorite
chorus
by
Marty
Haugen

Fish Tales Told Here

Tonight after a day out on the ice, Aaron yarned his tale about the BIG one that didn't get away this morning.

While Dad stepped out of the dark house to gab with a friend, Aaron saw this fish's head appear in the far corner of the ice hole, took aim, threw the spear at an angle and pulled out the lunker that – in this photo – looks comparable to his Great Grandpa Roy's northern pike hanging on our wall.

"My legs were shaking when (out on the lake) Dad took a photo with his cellphone," Aaron said explaining that excitement, not the cold, caused his muscle spasms.

Our 12-year-old bass master is enjoying a new twist to his favorite sport of fishing with THIS – his first speared fish.

The Full Wolf Moon

rose over the woods tonight.

Blustery Blue Day

The

sun

glared

off

the

icy

road



Winter's

wind

whipped

dramatic

drifts



Amidst the arctic elements,
I could almost hear
this road sign shout:



"Turn
back!


Turn
back!"




This
feathery
grass
head

seemed
to echo

more of
the same...



...on

this

Blustery

Blue

Day.



Here's to the Four Seasons Along Life's Road

Bend in the Road

There are times when I am grateful for having to drive into school to pick up my sons from basketball practice.

Tonight, for example, I am able to share the heavenly ribbons viewed from this Bend in the Road.

Opening the Door

I
am
not
one
to
make
New
Year's
resolutions.





Yet
after
delving
deep
into
the
pages
of
this
book,



I
have
resolved
to
spend
less
time
"doing"




and
more
time
on
the
gift
of
"being".



Here's to Opening the Door of love, joy and peace... tangibly and eternally so.

New Year Outlook

S
o
m
e







p
e
o
p
l
e







s
a
y








What

you

do








New


Year's


Day








is

a

mini-

preview







to


what









the


entire


year









will


hold.





If that's the case, we've got a bright year ahead: traveling to new heights, exercising as a family, meeting long-distance friends, gaining confidence and sighting natural phenomenons!

Happy New Year in 2009. (Thanks Mark and Karla for a great day!)