We recently made a trip to the town I grew up in to visit a friend at a location I vaguely remembered. We moved away from there when I was 15, so I'd never driven around there myself. We figured the Google Maps directions Hubs wrote out and our recently-handed-down Garmin, combined with my generally good sense of direction and vague recollections of the area, should suffice to get us there. Our particular Garmin model doesn’t tell which street to turn on, just “in point 2 miles, turn right.”... then, “Turn right.” (Of course, this command often comes just after it's too late to actually make that turn.) And the map on it doesn’t give a good overview, so I find it hard to really trust it. (Ok, I may have control issues too, but that's another post!) I ...
Category Archives: Mary
Trapped by my own grip
This is a bug house. It's meant for young explorers to place their backyard prey into without suffocating them like our generation did when we simply put the bugs into a glass jar with some bits of grass and a couple holes poked in the lid. A couple of summers ago I discovered a new use for it. Actually, my 2 year old son discovered it--it can also function as toddler trap. I entered into the scenario when I heard one of those screeches usually reserved for an episode of sibling rivalry. I came around the corner to serve as referee and found my son with his hand in the bug hut, stomping his feet and shaking it. I got him to stop flinging it around long enough to see the problem; he thought it looked ...
Bloom Where You’re NOT Planted
Is it possible to blossom when you’ve been planted in a situation without the things that nourish your soul? When deprived of some of your own basic ‘nutrients’ do you have what it takes to display God’s handiwork in your life anyway?
Last fall these bulbs were sitting perilously close to the surface, in danger of becoming a mid-winter snack for the fat, scavenging squirrels that have the run of the neighborhood.
I lifted them from their precarious spot, and stuck them on the shelf, intending to bury them deeper in a more advantageous location. But as the weather turned and I stopped going out back, they sat forgotten…
Right of Way
There's a little town next door to ours that lays claim to "the highest per capita income" in the state. Now I'm not really sure of that statistic--I can think of a few other places with just as few "shoddy" neighborhoods and just as many chic inhabitants--but that's what they believe of themselves to some extent. We like visiting the downtown area because there are cute shops and wide, tree-lined walks with lots of street-side dining. It's a relaxing place to spend an afternoon or get an ice cream after dinner. One aspect I am less impressed with though, is the driving. Twice in one day I drove through a particular intersection that I've learned to watch very carefully. It's a 4-way stop, but you'd never know it. There seems to be a "law of the land" that supercedes state driving regulations and somehow authorizes the person with the fanciest vehicle to ...
A Northern Exposure Life
Our house here is situated on the lot so the front of the house faces east and the rear (where the kitchen and family room are) faces west. I miss the wonderful southern exposure of our home in Portland; the main areas of the house were bright all the time, which was important to me when half the days were gray! When we bought this house long-distance (after spending maybe 10 minutes in it) I thought the east/west thing would work out ok here though because there is so much more sunlight to begin with. What I didn’t take into account is between the porch overhang in the front and the patio in the back, there isn’t all that much natural light inside for most of the day. So here I am in a “sun-drenched” locale, with the lights on from breakfast to bedtime! Even more strange though, is that the two ...
Imperfectly Real
The center stone of my wedding set has a 'feather.' That’s a rather romantic name for what amounts to a chunk of diamond missing where one facet should be. I don’t know if the feather was always there—the set belonged to my husband’s mother before me. The jeweler called about it when we left it to be sized. He put the diamond under his loupe and made a diagram of all the imperfections that make this stone unique. Someone else may have a ring that looks like mine, but like snowflakes and fingerprints, no two diamonds are exactly alike. I know what distinguishes mine from others. In a diamond, the nature and quantity of inclusions can diminish the value of a stone, but in our modern age of lab-created colored gems, expert Walter Schumann explains, “Inclusions are common. They are not indicators of lower quality, but show the difference between a natural ...
“I Know That”
I hear that often from my 4 year old. If, in the course of a conversation, I happen to share a tidbit of knowledge that he's heard before, I get a teen-sounding, eye-rolling, "I KNOW that!" Frankly, after the first time (where it was surprising and amusing), I find it more than a little annoying. They say we're most annoyed by traits in others that we also possess. I'm sure that over the course of my life various people have considered me a 'know-it-all.' They might not have said it out loud, but considering my own motives at various times, it must have been thought. From childhood, I felt the only thing I had going for me was being smart. My sister was the cute, funny one. I was scrawny and plain and boring. I had no athletic ability nor other interests that made me interesting. But I knew stuff. Lots of ...
Just Don’t Fall
This morning I shared the waiting room with a chatty elderly couple. I politely pretended not to hear their conversation, but soon it became more than time-passing rambling. "Everything would be different if he hadn't fallen," she said. Her husband nodded in silent agreement. "And Eleanor. If only she hadn't tried to put on her pants standing on one leg." The conversation continued, listing the various people she could name who would still be in good health (or still be around at all) if they hadn't fallen. "Even just a little fall. That's the key to everything. Just don't fall." As a relatively healthy, flexible, young-ish woman, the conversation was intially simply an education in geriatric concerns. But that last sentence really struck me. "Just don't fall." It really is the key to everything. In a spiritual sense too. How many people can you think of (perhaps looking no further than the mirror) ...
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Genny Heikka
Managing EditorGenny started her career life thinking that the business world was where she wanted to be. But after her daughter was born and she began reading books to her, she realized that what she really wanted to do was be a writer...
