Week, the eighth

Asking for "a picture of your most treasured item" is an impossible request.
The items that I treasure most in this world aren't items at all. Without hesitation, my faith and my family are what I prize above all else, and their value isn't tangible.
Besides, there is nothing on earth that I would not gladly give up, if required by my Sovereign Lord.

Still...this is an exposé, a challenge, of sorts. And so, we take a deep breath and press on.

My most treasured item is such, not because of what it is, but what it represents.
Dorothy Elizebeth Barnett Sheldon, my paternal Grandmother, wore an Opal necklace that my Grandfather had given her. When I was quite young, I made a comment about it to her and she glibly informed me that when she died it would be mine. It was a beautiful thing, so part of me was delighted at the idea. But part of me was repulsed too, and felt guilty at the delight. I was too young to understand all that an heirloom is.
When I was fourteen, Grandma Dorothy passed away, and shortly after that, my Grandfather gave me the necklace. By that time, I was truly able to treasure it for the memories that it held.
No picture can do it justice.

Although that would be enough, that isn't where the story ends.
Seven years later, in the jungle of Venezuela, I read a book by Isobel Kuhn, titled Stones of Fire. Now out of print, it is a missionary story woven throughout with a metaphor comparing the author's life to a gem being worked by a Master Lapidary. The stone is an Opal.

"Do you know that lovely fact about the opal? That in the first place, it is only made of desert dust, sand, and silica, and owes it's beauty and preciousness to a defect. It is a stone with a broken heart. It is full of minute fissures which admit air, and the air refracts the light. Hence it's lovely hues and that sweet lamp of fire that ever burns at it's heart, for the breath of the Lord God is in it.

"You are only conscious of the cracks and desert dust, but so He makes His precious opal. We must be broken in ourselves before we can give back the lovely hues of His light, and the lamp of the temple can burn in us and never go out." ~Ellice Hopkins

And so, quite apart from my doing, I do have an item that represents the two things that are most important to me, and it is treasured indeed.

Week, the seventh

This week's prompt didn't require as much thought as some of the others have (or will). "A picture of a person you'd love to trade places with for a day."

Now, if I wanted to get all altruistic and noble on you, I'd say that I'd love to trade places with my husband for the day--if only so that he could have one day in which he could live without pain. But even if that's true (and it is), it's a bit gushy and doesn't make for a fun blog post.

On the lighthearted side...I'd love to live in this person's shoes:

...but I'm not sure a day would be long enough. How 'bout a month?

Rick Steves "is an American author, historian, and television personality focusing on European travel. He is the host of the public television series Rick Steves' Europe, has a public radio travel show, Travel with Rick Steves, and has authored various location-specific travel guides."*

I don't know anything about his personal life, political leanings, or anything else beyond the show on PBS. So, if you find out he's part of some underworld triad dealing in human trafficking (which seems highly unlikely), I don't want to know about it.
What appeals to me about trading places with him is the opportunity to travel all over the place and see things beyond the typical tourist attractions. Carrying nothing but a backpack.**
We could skip the camera crew. They'd just slow me down.

Don't read too much into my desire to trade places with a Man. Although, being a man would probably make travel easier in certain areas of the world. Mechanically, and otherwise.

Where are we going first?


*Unashamedly ripped straight out of Wikipedia.
**I bought that backpack, and it really is everything they say it is. I'll never lug a suitcase again. That was part of the 12 Things, remember?

Week, the sixth

The prompt for (eh, hem...) last week of the exposé was: "A picture of one of your favorite memories".

My first thought was "Seriously? What if I don't have a favorite memory? What if my favorite memory changes hourly? What if I haven't had my favorite memory yet? Or if I don't happen to have a pictures of it? Like hunting for the spot on the farm where the cat had her kittens....or listening to my Dad read Mrs. PiggleWiggle out loud to us when we were kids...or filling a friend's dorm room with inflatable turtles...or sitting in a boat on a tributary in Venezuela as far from civilization as is possible...or shaking hands with men who are faithful to preaching the Word of God...or holding my daughter for the very first time...or...wait...it says "one of". Never mind.

Here is my "one of":

In June of 2003, we broke ground on the one-and-only house we ever intend to build. We saved quite a bit of money by doing the general contracting ourselves, and learned a lot in the process. We caught mistakes before they cost us, and are living with a few as well. None of it would be possible without the ridiculous generosity of family on both sides.

When the first floor deck was completed, but no walls were framed, I came over to the site and laid on the floor in front of our future fireplace, and watched the sunset.

We cleaned, painted, hauled, and cleaned some more. And on January 27th, 2004, we moved in. And we're still not done. Probably never will be.

But from this house, many of our other favorite memories have been launched.

• Heavy lifting on move-in day sparked some physical difficulties that Chad has been dealing with ever since. This, in turn, has brought about some fun, and some not-so-fun trips to Minnesota. And lots of Grace.
• Family get togethers, holidays, field trips, and vacations all begin and end here.
• This is school, work, and play for us.
• The farm is here.
• This is where the housework gets ignored in favor of the fun stuff.
• The petting zoo is here.
• This is where The Shema of Deuteronomy 6 and Mark 12 take place (hopefully).
• Family is here (and next door...and just down the street...).
• This is our sanctuary, our life, our home away from Home.

It even has a name.
Welcome to Leaning Tree Acres!

Week, the fifth

The exposé prompt for this week is the converse of last week: "A picture of your night". The smarty pants response would have been to put up a rectangle of darkness. It wouldn't ring true, though. So here is a typical Nitrocat night:

Yep.

Week, the fourth

The prompt for week four of the exposé is to post "a picture of your day". Deceptively simple in it's challenge, you could take this as meaning any typical day in the life of you, or this specific day. Since today was a fairly typical day, I could get away with doing both. But that doesn't make it easier. How does one portray an entire day and all of it's myriad choices and activities in a single shot? I'm afraid my attempts are rather blasé. I'll probably come up with a smashing idea when I'm supposed to be sleeping tonight.

The walk through:

• My day starts around 6 ish, sans alarm, when the overactive brain slams into high gear; leaving the body to catch up when it can. Hence the coffee.
• Until around 7:30, the brain is on it's own, and it works on fielding email, snail mail, bills, and sundry paperwork until my body joins it and the children, who are now up, for breakfast.
• Bunnies and schoolwork take up a good portion of the day, and whether I like it or not, the laundry is ever present in the background.
• The brain hits a wall around 3 and nothing gets done at all for awhile, while my body walks around in circles like a zombie until it's time to make supper. (I have already pointed out to the brain that if it would let us sleep a little longer in the morning, or not keep us up all night, this would not happen. It won't listen though.)
• After supper, there's more bunny chores, and last minute housework stuff to do until I fall down in front of a movie--with or without handwork.

What you cannot see in the picture (but it's there, I assure you), is the 9 phone calls that I dealt with, the 16 times that I let the dog out and in, the stolen moments reading until the girls hunted me down, the sandwiches made, the cat hair vacuumed, the drop offs at piano lessons, the gas pumped, and the 37 minutes wasted checking prices on flights to anywhere warmer than here.

What did your day hold?

Week, the third

This week's challenge is sort of a no-brainer, and if you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you can probably guess what my photo will be. The prompt was: A picture of the cast from one of your favorite shows or movies.

See how easy that is?

David Tennant is, by far, my favorite incarnation of Doctor Who. And of course, Rose Tyler, played by Billie Piper, is his best traveling companion.

Let me tell you something about my view of actors and actresses (since this is supposed to be an exposé, after all). While some people get completely caught up in every sordid detail of an actor's private life, I do not. I enjoy them in certain roles, but don't pursue it much farther. I couldn't even tell you if David Tennant is married or not. I like him in his role as Doctor Who, but I don't know much else about him. It is rare that I ever watch or like all of the roles one person will play in their career. I find that if you dig (usually not too far) into the reality behind a character, you are likely to be very disappointed.
So, while I've made a play at David Tennant being my "heartthrob", it's just an act. The truth is, I love the fictional idea of a save-the-world-time-traveler, regardless of who plays the part.

Above is the inside of my Trading Card to End All Trading Cards.

Week, the second

Since I'm a little behind on K's photo challenge, I'm going to have to try to post several this week. This probably won't be the last time I have to play catch up.

The challenge for the second week was to post: A picture of you and the person you have been close with for the longest.

 It might sound like a sappy greeting card, but my Mom is my best friend. Really.
After being away at college, I lived at home for a year so that I could pay off my student loans quickly. I knew it was time to move out when there started to be a little friction between us. It was nothing serious--just two women with different opinions in the same house stuff--but I wanted to protect our relationship.
Over the years since, through good and bad, Mom remains my closest friend. I can talk to her about anything, and we enjoy one another's company. I look just like her too, don't ya think? I am grateful to God for a Mom that I want to spend time with. I know not everyone has a good relationship with their parents.


This photo was taken on our recent tour of the barn quilts in Kankakee County. One of Mom's sisters, my Aunt Jamie, was with us. The photo was graciously taken by the farmer who owns this lovely farm, Mr. Schwark.

Challenged

So, a friend has thrown down the gauntlet, so to speak, and issued a weekly challenge of a very personal nature. I'm not sure if I will participate every week, especially since photography is not my "thing", but I'll give it my best shot. You will probably regret it before I do.

Week, the first: A picture of yourself with 15 facts about yourself.

1. I don't like having my picture taken. Genetics and some physical challenges notwithstanding, I could stand to lose some weight. Photos are a constant reminder. However, I do like this picture. It was taken by our church secretary at an outdoor service. I'm sitting in the sunshine, under my favorite hat, with my two favorite children. DH is standing in the back. What could be better?
2. My Statement of Faith can be summed up in the sentence: Whatever makes God the biggest is what I believe to be true about Him. On the surface, it sounds simplistic, but trust me, it's not. (This really should be #1, but it doesn't have a picture to go with it.)
3. With me, it's all about the next experience. What can I learn, see, do next? It's a little like ADHD in slow motion. While it's good to keep stretching yourself, it can also be expensive.
4. My brain has an aversion to sleep. This might have something to do with #3.
5. "Balance" is a theme that seems to come up over and over again in my life. This also might have something to do with #3.
6. During the college years, I spent a summer in the jungle of Venezuela. This altered my perception of reality permanently. You should try it sometime.
7. My first child was born 16 weeks premature. This also altered my perception of reality permanently. It's not an experience that I would recommend...unless you are prepared to have your perception of Grace altered permanently.
8. I would happily pass over dessert for a good piece of cheese and some crusty bread.
9. We use the words "stuff", "thingy", and "goo" entirely too much in this household.
10. I like being contrary. Oh, you already knew that? But did you know that it's not because I really am contrary? I like to push people (including myself) into being more than just mindless sheep. Question the status quo.
11. I couldn't care less about politics. My hope is in a government that doesn't need my participation.
12. Don't pollute my coffee or chocolate.
13. I like my music loud, energetic, and theologically deep. Is that too much to ask? Often.
14. I am responsible for clipping 420 finger and toenails.
15. I think I was born in the wrong century.