Category Archives: Things to ponder….

People, events or things that cause one to stop and think.

Watching History Being Made…

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…while memories from my childhood came flooding back.

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Yesterday’s day was full. While in Glenwood Springs we went to the pedestrian bridge to view the demolition progress of the main street bridge.

Upon arriving at the site, fragrance in the air drove my memories. I detected a mixture of huge equipment exhaust and oil; broken cement; dirt and hot metal smells. It reminded me of my father. He spent his life doing road construction work. My dad smelled like this when he came home. He’d take us on weekend drives to see his work. Those sites were always close to completion, had minimal equipment there, no workers and not yet opened for public use.

So, though I could say he did road construction work, I knew little about how he spent his days, or what that work entailed. He didn’t talk about it much and when he did, it always sounded like ‘just a job’ and effortless.

After his death I learned more about what he did. He was in management for the company he worked for; they created a special position for him. Because they wanted him in management, and he wanted to still drive the big equipment the company created a new status allowing both sides to gain what they wanted.

People approached me at his visitation and spoke at length and with great respect for what they learned from him. Former co-workers remembered him as a man of his word. Men talked about some of the larger projects where they had worked with him. I saw a few pictures of him on ‘big equipment’ and he was always smiling.

Great as it was to learn those things, yesterday’s glimpse into the bridge demolition opened his world more. Amazed, I watched this huge equipment maneuver heavy pieces of demolished steel, and load it onto a semi trailer. The big claw making tiny movements, shifted the heavy load to just the right place on the truck. The obvious uncertainty of how these large pieces of mangled steel would be transported away, meant there were additional people and pieces of equipment at the ready, to ensure the work gets done.

I’m sure we’ll return to the site. History is being made in Glenwood. The old Grand Avenue Bridge is being replaced. Who knows that my thoughts will be on a subsequent visit?

 

Work alone, but not really alone…

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Because we write alone, learning to share one’s work is a big step. Taking the risk, has big payoffs.
This was last night’s Carbondale Writer’s Group. Each one of us has a totally different writing style. One never knows who will be there. I find the encouragement, support and energy of the Carbondale Writer’s Group to be a huge blessing.20170814_200314

Summer in the Mountains

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Each of the seasons in the mountains offers something special.

Summer always seems to be so short. This year it finds us enjoying outside meals, some fresh veggies, explosion of color from flowers blooming and sharing some time with family.

Hope you’ll share some of your summer memories.

LIFE — on Pause!

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Friends have asked, “How’s recovery going?”

It’s been a humbling experience.

Think about your daily life. Then consider needing someone to help you do everything!

The question, how’s recovery going, is thought provoking.

Recovery happens one day at a time.

We celebrate small accomplishments and victories. Small events make up life.

How’s one to thank the many friends who stopped by to visit; who gifted me with flowers; who brought or sent food to the house to simplify meal preparation; the people who prayed for me regularly and sent short notes of encouragement?

Early on, I sensed my focus needed to be on getting better. I wasn’t interested in many aspects of my life. Leaving home was exhausting. It took much effort to get ready to go to doc visits or PT, do the program, and return home. After arriving home, I’d collapse in a comfortable location.

For me, time stopped. We returned from vacation, and I had plans to market my book. I’ve put those plans on hold.

This week recovery turned a corner. I want to take part in my regular activities again. I still have to pace myself as I tire after being out. I’m told, rest is crucial to healing, and that’s the top priority. So the focuses of my life are PT, both appointments and exercises at home; a few activities; a few interests; and using wisdom to know I need to stop.

Soon I hope to hit the RESET button.

 

In Only a Moment…

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Flowers

Things can change.

 

I experienced one of those moments on January 18th, when I slipped and fell while shopping and broke, not one arm – but both of my arms. With one elbow broken and the other shoulder fractured life slowed.

I have time to reflect on the blessings surrounding me. Beauty encircles me and resides within each of us. Family, friends and my beloved hubby are needed to help me achieve nearly everything.

God heals in many ways. Healing is a daily transformation that happens one step at a time. I’m confident His healing power is at work in my body.

 

Review & Looking forward to 2017

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I reviewed my 2016 writing goals and set goals for 2017. I enjoyed some victories and accomplishments last year. My first novella – Dream Glasses is available as a Kindle Book. I’m still working on the print version.

I met three other woman dedicated to their writing. Their friendship and support as we met together has blessed me. It is my hope we will continue to meet together.

This last year’s writing experiences taught me some things.

I recognize I had too many divergent goals, which caused me to loose focus and sometimes I did nothing. This translated to tasks not accomplished.

2017 goals are not so broad and open-ended. I have specific goals related to specific writing projects.

I found my ‘writing location’ within the house where I can sit and write. Later in the year, I wrote more regularly.

I analyzed what worked with writing Dream Glasses and what things slowed me down. I’ve learned much about formatting, styles, sections and images.

I transitioned my writing to Scrivener to allow me to keep all related writing, research, and character lists related to a piece in one place, while fully expecting the final work may still take place in MS WORD.

I’m excited about what 2017 brings.

I expect the print version of Dream Glasses to be available soon. (For those of you following this blog site, last year I thought the name of my book would be The Madeleine. That changed to Dream Glasses.)

I’ve started working on the sequel. No name yet.

I’ve got more research ahead of me to make the story locations as real as Paris has been to my readers.

I’m working on a collection of short stories and still working on a children’s book.

Have you set your writing goals for the new year? …and are you willing to share them?

 

FOUND…

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I’ve been on a quest.

After moving to Colorado, Tom purchased the book, “They Came From Missouri “ for me. The book is about the people who settled the area where we live.

I never got very far in the book because the second family listed was Edward Stauffacher, whose parents were from Canton Glarus, Switzerland; originally settling in Green County, Wisconsin. Edward was born outside Monroe, married and moved west. He set up an early cheese factory and a post office here called Catherine Store. There’s a road called Catherine Store Road. They lived here for a number of years and moved to California to escape winter.

My mother was a Stauffacher and there seemed to be too many similarities.

  • From the same area of Switzerland.
  • Settling in the same area in the U.S.
  • …and now me, living in the same area here.
  • Could this have been a distant relative?

I found it interesting to think a distant relative of mine also found this area so captivating they wanted to make it home.

I’ve mused the thoughts many times.

I’ve gathered information.

This week I was able to put all the pieces together.

My grandfather was removed by six generations from the link – but it was there.

Dietrich Stauffacher
Born: 10-21-1677   Died: 3-7-1760

So if you’re thinking about visiting me, and are related through my mother’s side of the family be warned. The Swiss blood may be stronger than you think. And who knows what the effect of that is?

What’s in a name?

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Why Journey to the Heights?

So I share with you the different things this means.

I grew up in the mid-west and lived my life east of the Mississippi River. I spent six years in Germany. Those years were lived at less than 1,000 feet above sea level, sometimes as low as 180 feet above sea level.

My house is at 7,400 feet in the Rocky Mountains. The move was a ‘journey to the heights.’

We live in an area called: Missouri Heights.

My faith expects me to grow and mature, representing the love of God and the life of Christ more and more. For those who personally know me, you recognize some days that is more evident than others. God obviously calls us to a higher level.

For me Journey to the Heights means these things.

I’m blessed with better health living in a higher elevation with a drier climate than any I enjoyed earlier in my lift.

I’m blessed by being surrounded with natural beauty, constantly changing. One can watch the massive skies with the clouds and various colors throughout the day. Stars appear close enough to touch.

I’m blessed to that God put me here, in this location for this time of my life and He is taking me to higher levels in my faith. This is a gift!

And so, I share Journey to the Heights with you!

Sometimes First Impressions are Incorrect…

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We packed up and headed out of Tralee, County KP1030723erry. I’d gotten used to the “green” Ireland offers and had heard so many talk about.
We crested a hill and neither of us could believe what we saw. It did not look like the Ireland we had been introduced to. Our German friends called it a moonscape. I just thought it looked arid and barren.

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A couple days later at a local perfumery (more about the perfumery another day), I learned the area is called the Burren and it offers the most diverse vegetation of anywhere in Ireland. There are only a few Irish plants that don’t grow in this area, and there are many only found here. In fact, there is a wild Irish found nowhere but here.

We walked the Burren and I was amazed. The limestone rocks have many cracks, crannies and holes. They are home to various plant life.

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I understand why so many consider the Burren to be a very special place.

 

 

Eternal Justice

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Disclaimer: I’m sure this topic may elicit some strong feelings from some of you. Please feel free to share your thoughts, but don’t expect any heated debates.

For more than a year, I’ve been reading or studying the issue of women in the church. All the reading and thinking, has left me feeling as if my sense of justice has been violated.

During this study time, I’ve come to recognize the power, or should I say, abuse of power by a few. The Judeo/Christian culture is primarily a patriarchal culture. I accept this as the world I live in. However, when I see how one uses their position of power and/or trust to contrive a message to fit their life view instead of accepting the original text may have been written to challenge or question that very life view, it strikes me as an abuse of power and trust. My sense of justice, or the sense that one should do the right thing because it is the right thing, feels very violated.

While sharing these thoughts with a close friend, she helped me put some perspective on this. She could understand my feelings; but told me when she feels something is unjust, she tries to step back and look at it from the scales of eternal justice. She said those who abused their power and trust, would one day be held accountable. Wow! Those words created a strong visual, and immediately brought to mind James 3:1

Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers,
because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

The good news is the sense of justice being violated was replaced with peace; with the promise and assurance the eternal scales will validate the truth.

Current day teachings associated with this topic should address the failings of those who translated the original manuscripts, or of those who led the early church into placing such emphasis on scriptures designed for a particular location or a particular set of circumstances. Will that happen?

That still leaves the question of, how ‘women in the church’ is to be lived out today?

For those of you who know me, this is a reversal of my former thoughts on the subject. I want to be clear, I believe God intended for women and men to be spiritually active in the church and among others. This change in my thoughts is not a matter of feminism or equal rights. For a woman, or a man to be involved in spiritual leadership, they have to possess the spiritual gifts of the position they are filling. Those gifts are not bestowed because of gender. People (men and women) receive these gifts from a loving God when they are in relationship with Him.