Summer is lovely. I took this photo of a bug a few weeks ago, and I wanted to post something so I decided to post this. Isn't it beautiful? Maybe I should say... these bugs. I think there are two bugs here in a compromising position. With the possibility of baby bugs on the way. They look rather jewel-like, don't they?
We just got back from camping. I didn't take my camera because Nicky was taking his brand new cam-corder. Unfortunately he didn't take any photos except one. Also bug related. He also took a little video around the campfire, but he didn't like it so he deleted it. I don't think he's planning on being a director when he grows up.
I don't think spiders are actually bugs. I'm not sure about dragonflies.
There were a few bugs camping. And plenty of bug spray. I found two ticks INSIDE the tent, but none on any of us, thank goodness. And the flys were buzzing our heads but not really biting.
I hate bugs. I think. But you do have to admit that they often look beautiful, and I know that they have a purpose... these two definitely added a little sparkle to life.
There was a book, called Into the Wild, which was recently made into a movie. Of course, my family was really into it, mainly because Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam made the sound track. You might remember that we went into NYC to see it when it first came out. But in addition to the sound track, the story was very appealing to us as well.
It was about this kid, Christopher McCandless. (Did I spell that correctly?) It's a true story. After this kid graduated college, he had enough money and good enough grades to go to Harvard Grad school and make his parents proud. But instead, he ran away from home. He wanted to get away from society and the materialistic culture we live in. At first, he just wandered around as a tramp. Eventually, He decided he wanted to go "into the wild", on a great Alaskan adventure, and live off the fat of the land. Unfortunately, the kid wasn't well prepared or well trained.
He made it to Alaska, where he found an abandoned bus to live in. He kept a journal of sorts, which is how anyone knows anything about him. And it seems, according to the movie, that he found the answers he was looking for -- but it was too late. He couldn't get back out of the wild. When he tried to hike out, the streams he had crossed going in had become raging rivers he couldn't cross. Being unprepared, he hadn't brought a map to find his way to the place he could ford the river. Then, he accidentally ate poison berries. And died. In the bus.
It was a great story.
No, really, it was, because some of the philosophical questions he had raised were answered... at least, they were in the movie. It's lovely how a movie can tie everything together. It was almost like he sacrificed himself to show you the way to a happy life. More or less. And the video was gorgeous, of all the beautiful scenery.
Plus, obviously the sound track was great -- I like it more than Frankie does, because it's more simplified without the whole Pearl Jam band backing Eddie. And actually, Vedder is doing a solo tour, and tickets go on sale tomorrow. So I have my fingers crossed to go.
So. The point to my story is this.
Frank and I went to the Catskills this weekend. We decided to look into buying property, like a summer house or something. (Which we decided against, but that's a whole other story.) But... one of the properties we found was this.
It was so "Into the Wild", I really would like to get it. It even had a spring, and a two-seater out house! Unfortunately, the out house is just up hill, close to the spring. This seems like a really BAD idea to me.
As for the real "Into the Wild" bus, in Alaska, where the kid actually died, it has apparently become quite a tourist attraction. Which is a really bad idea, because it's obviously a dangerous place... it killed McCandless!
Yesterday morning Bill had a major heart attack. I got him right to the hospital. They gave him a clot buster and nitro. It began to ease his pain and to stabilize him. They also said if we were any later he probably would have died.
They sent him by ambulance to another hospital where the cardiac surgeon was. They put a stent in him right away and a machine clamp on one of his artery to help with the blood flow. He will be in the hospital until at least Friday. It was nice to know that the hospital was one of the top 100 in the country in cardiac care.
Despite telling my children they did not have to come out, they both did. I didn't realize how much their support would mean to me. My brother also came, and again it really helped me a lot. I felt so grateful.
I made phone calls to ask for prayer for Bill and for me. The response was overwhelming. People called friends, relatives and many other prayer groups began to pray. I could feel the prayers just as I felt them when I had chemo. It truly is an awesome experience.
I am not worried. Whatever happens I trust it will be what's best. I expect that Bill will recover, but will have to make some changes in his life style.
I called the nurse's station this morning. He's doing well. He didn't get much sleep. I can just imagine. A hospital isn't the easiest place to sleep.
It was a long, difficult, never ending day, but when I think back on it I realize all the things that went right. There are no words to express how grateful I am.
Thank you so much for your prayers and support.
Please pass this on to anyone I didn't send it to. I don't have everyone's address that I'd like to notify.
God is good all the time. All the time God is good.
Today's post was going to be about Pearl Jam, since Frank finally gave me back the SD card and I could see the pictures we took at the concert, but as I was posting the pictures my Momma called me and said my Uncle Bill went to the hospital because of heart pains.
So please hold a positive thought/prayer in your head for Uncle Bill today, because we want him to be OK. Ok? Ok... thanks.
Frank had the SD card with all the photos on it from the two Pearl Jam concerts. I finally got hold of it, so here are my top three choices of photos to blog...
Here are my very happy boys. They enjoyed it very much. So did I.
...and I feel fine... (REM is cycling through my head a little bit today.)
I was reading that book my mother recommended to me right before bed last night, the one by Eckhart Tolle, that's an Oprah book, about living a conscious life. A few thoughts were left in my brain for today.
You have to live every moment in the "now", and with one of three attitudes: 1. Acceptance 2. Enjoyment 3. Enthusiasm
-- If you are doing something that you have to do, but don't really enjoy, you should approach it with acceptance, not with anger or bitterness or some other negative emotion.
-- In most everything of your life, you should try to approach things with enjoyment. Even if the task itself isn't completely enjoyable, you can enjoy just "being". For example, it isn't enjoyable to wash dishes, but it is enjoyable to feel the warm water on your hands and listen to music while you wash dishes.
-- In some things, you should have a real enthusiasm, because it produces such an energetic excitement and joy.
But you should try to stay in the "now", because later and before are not real, they are constructs of your mind.
I'm going to try to do that. I don't know how well it will work, but it does make a certain amount of sense.
OK, I've put videos of Pearl Jam on here before, and I know you all don't really care, but I went to the show on Tuesday -- and Frank and Frankie went to the show on Wednesday, also -- and you all have NO IDEA what kind of an experience.
The video doesn't do it much justice, either. I searched the you tube site, and this was one of several good clips. But you just can't get the full effect. The camera has an eye that's too small. The microphone isn't big enough. You can't feel the vibrations.
I'm telling you, it's like a religion. More than a little.
No one around here, of my friends, have any interest in Pearl Jam. No one of the kids friends do either. It almost feels like no one likes them. And yet the concert was sold out within 7 minutes. I know of people who came from Greece and Portugal and Texas to be at this show. When you start to really get into it, you are willing to spend the money to travel purely for the concert.
Every seat was full, and every person in the stadium seemed to know every word to every song. People were singing and dancing. The concrete stadium was actually bouncing, literally. It doesn't usually.
I hated Pearl Jam when I first heard them. They were too hard, and all the words blurred together, I had no idea what they were saying. But after years, I'm converted.
Garden (live) Time: 6:52 Gossard, Ament, Vedder From the single "Dissident" She don't wander in here don't wander in here she She don't wander in here don't wander in here The direction of the eye so misleading The defection of the soul yea nauseously clear I don't question our existence I just question our modern needs don't wander in here she She don't wander in here I will walk with my hands bound I will walk with my face blood I will walk with my shadow flag A-into your garden garden of stone yeah After all is done and we're still alone yea I won't be taken yet I'll go with my hands bound I will walk with my face blood I will walk with my shadow flag Into your garden garden of stone-ah yeah I don't show I don't share I don't need yeah What you have to give yeah ah Oooh I will walk with my hands bound I will walk with my face blood I will walk with my shadow flag Into your garden garden oh I will walk with my hands bound I will walk into your garden garden of stone yea I don't show I don't care I don't need yeah no need to live me to live me to live Ha --------------------- I still don't know exactly what he's saying, but the feeling comes through.
We went to the Woodbridge Farmer's Market today with the Boy Scout troop. It was partially a fundraiser -- we sold drinks, $1 for a bottle of water or iced tea or a can of coke or diet coke.
The other part was a conservation project. A business had donated a bunch of white pine seedlings to the troop, thinking we could possibly use them. We used some. But there were a LOT of little trees. So we gave them out.
It was a lovely day, and we did really well. Most of the trees went to good homes. I hope they survive.
Today is the launch of a new website GotCrowd. <-- Click here to get there, and take a look around! It's a great idea (I'm sorry I didn't think of it myself!) and I hope they do really well with it.
Basically, it's a social networking site for artistic people who would like to find an audience. I've got a page there, as "Susyluwho", and I've posted a few photos and paintings. Pretty soon I'm gonna post a few tattoo designs as well, and maybe a poem or two one of these days. Take a look, sign up for a page, and request me as a friend! There are categories for arts, music, sports, writing, and stuff like that.
I have to give the owners a lot of kudos for getting something like this going. I wouldn't even know where to begin.
I took pictures of a bunch of things while I was waiting for the guys on the 50 mile bike trip. I didn't have a theme going, but I realize now that a theme developed. It's childhood flowers. This one is my favorite.
So, spur of the moment on Friday night, we realized that this would be a good weekend to try to get the 50 mile bike trip finished. For those of you who remember, Frankie has completed his Boy Scout eagle project. The only thing left to complete before he does a board of review is the Cycling merit badge.
Most Boy Scouts in our troop -- well, I should say all Boy Scouts in our troop -- get the swimming merit badge at camp. You can get swimming, or cycling, or hiking. But you have to get one of the three.
Swimming is easy for most but was very difficult for Frankie, because of his health problems. Cycling seemed like a more possible option. But the 50 mile trip was hanging over his head for ages. It had to be done within a limited amount of time.
So Friday evening, he met with the Cycling Merit Badge counselor. Then, he planned his trip, and then he went out with his friends for the evening.
We woke up early Saturday morning. Frank and Thor were the team, and I was the chase car.
This was in Lambertville, NJ. I had more trouble parking the car close to the trail and I had to walk with the lunch stuff, but at least there was a little bench there! Up to this point, everyone was going strong. I think it got progressively harder from this point on... but the last 10 miles was the hardest of all.
This was the halfway point. It was an exercise course just past Washington Crossing State Park. Frankie took the camera this far on the bike, because I didn't make it there. I sat and waited at Washington Crossing, with my book and a pitcher of iced tea.
This is my father... the greatest guy you'll ever meet. In fact, plenty of people have told me that he is one of the nicest people they have ever met, and even my in-laws think he could almost be a saint. So it's not just me saying so.
I always thought of him as Daddy when I was a little girl, but now that he has grandsons, he goes by "Pop" more often. He was a great daddy when I was growing up. He was very quiet and laid back, and he really didn't lecture as much as explain things to you. He gave very sensible guidance, even when I didn't want to hear it, and he was probably always right.
He is very philosophical, even though he might not think of himself in this way. He always accepts reality, but he is usually positive. He forgives easily and then forgets, and he always tries to look on the bright side. And one of my own personal favorites -- "If it's your time, it's your time." I really don't ever remember him complaining about anything, ever. Not because everything was always perfect -- but only because he was always on such an even keel.
I remember him trying to teach me how to catch. I was a clutz. I remember him teaching me how to drive. I can imagine how scary THAT was! He worked as much as he could, but usually started in the early morning hours so that he would be home in the evenings with us. He always made sure we had a vacation to look forward to, and he loves to travel. He learned how to golf, and he taught the grandkids. He taught me how to read when I was little, and even though I don't remember him reading much when I was a kid, now that he's retired, he really enjoys it. Like his own father before him, now that he's retired he is all about the grandchildren, which in his case means three boys. He is a great role model for them. And also like his father, he enjoys "puttering around the garden." His yard is always a work of art in progress.
When my kids were little, he thought nothing of driving the hour and a half to my house, picking up the kids, then driving the hour and a half back to his house -- keeping the kids all weekend -- and then driving them home again on Sunday, three more hours in the car. They loved to go to his house. He paid all kinds of attention to them, playing catch and basketball, riding bicycles, and just hanging out. He always has a good idea of something interesting to do.
There are so many good things to say that it's hard to say them all. But anyway, he's a great daddy, and I love him very much. Happy Fathers Day!
"Seeing beauty in a flower could awaken humans, however briefly, to the beauty that is an essential part of their innermost being, their true nature. The first recognition of beauty was one of the most significant events in the evolution of human consciousness. The feelings of joy and love are intrinsically connected to the recognition. Without our fully realizing it, flowers would become for us an expression in form of that which is most high, most sacred, and ultimately formless within ourselves. Flowers, more fleeting, more ethereal, and more delicate than the plants out of which they emerged, would become like messengers from another realm, like a bridge between the world of physical forms and the formless. ... Using the word "enlightenment" in a wider sense than the conventionally accepted one, we could look upon flowers as the enlightenment of plants." -- from A NEW EARTH: Awakening to our Life's Purpose, by Eckhart Tolle. Copyright September 2006.
I love iced tea in the summer, and hot tea in the winter. Don't you?
I took this photo to help the painting I have in progress. I can see the colors and lines better on the computer. I can see what I want to do differently, and how I want to fix the painting. Of course, it still won't look exactly like the photo. It's more the "idea" than the reality that I'm looking for. But this definitely helps!
