Before...

What is your best guess as to this critter's identity?

Some clues:

• Just over an inch long
• found in the soil while planting flowers in Northern Illinois
• 3 pairs of legs
• one very cool "foot" on last segment that it uses to propel itself
• eats slugs and snails (so it went back into the garden)

After photo will be posted in a month or so. Stay tuned.

Conundrum

"Somewhere in the world there is an epigram for every dilemma."~Hendrik Willem Van Loon

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!