REDONDOWRITER'S SACRED ORDINARY

"Lest We Forget" - Still Remembering Pearl Harbor

It seems hard to believe that 75 years have passed since the  Japanese struck Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. I started keeping this blog in 2003 and because our own family suffered losses on that infamous day, I usually post here on Dec. 7.  Bud and Wesley Heidt, twin brothers, close family friends, were killed on the U.S.S. Arizona. Countless others  lost their lives that day. My late sister Donna was engaged to Bud.  I'm the only one left in my family to remember him and his brother personally. 

I wrote my sister Donna's story about Pearl Harbor in my 2004 entry. If you are interested, I elaborated on it in my 2005 entry. We will not forget. 

SoulCollage® Card - Natalie Wood

This is the second of three SoulCollage® cards I recently made. This one is called Natalie Wood and is in the Community suit. 

"I am the one who had crushes on several movie stars as a kid and adolescent and Natalie Wood was one of them. I first started my obsession when I saw her in Miracle on 34th St. I was 9 and she was 8. When I was 13, both she and Tab Hunter, another of my male heart throbs, were in our small town Sunland Tujunga parade and I got both their autographs. She rode in a convertible and was all made up and absolutely adorable. She got out of the car a few times and she was so tiny. I hand’t even started to wear lipstick yet. We followed our celebrities back then in movie magazines long before celebrity media hype was born. I gobbled up each tidbit, new boyfriend, husbands, children, and most fondly remember Rebel Without a Cause (James Dean, another hearthrob), Splendor in the Grass and Westside Story. I am the one who was shocked when she drowned off Catalina Island in 1981 under unusual circumstances. She and Robert Wagner had quarreled, Christopher Walken was aboard, along with the captain. In her autopsy they found excessive alcohol and painkillers and I felt very sad about that. I am the one who still sees Natalie as a beautiful woman, a coquette, mysterious, almost Goddess-like, and eternally young although she would be 77 now."

Sophia the Art Mannikin Welcomes the Autumnal Equinox

Southern California has been blazing hot for weeks, but today the marine layer was in and I slept last night with the curtains closed and without the overhead fan. 

People have their favorite seasons and summer is mine followed by fall. Winter is a hard season for me, even in Southern California, as I am emotionally affected by days without sun. 

This weekend I redressed Sophia the Art Mannikin for the autumnal equinox and since it was really hot that day, she asked to wear her hair shorter. The Salvation Army had a perfect "new/old" dress at half price, so here she is. 

If you didn't know, the autumnal equinox begins in the Northern Hemisphere on September 22, 10:49 A.M. EDT. Here’s more about the first day of fall—the autumnal equinox—plus, facts, folklore, and some fantastic fall photos! (Say that five times fast!) This is from the Old Farmers Almanac.  The Almanac has many, many interesting facts and folklore about this season, so check it out. 

It is the summer's great last heat,
It is the fall's first chill: They meet.
–Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt

Again, in case you didn't know, the word equinox comes from the Latin words for "equal night." The fall and spring equinoxes are the only days of the year in which the sun crosses the celestial equator. 

All I know is that this particular dress is in my own "larger" size and Sophia wears a size 4. The whole back is pinned in to show her svelte curves. But, if it gets hot again, I might ask her if I can borrow it. At my age I rarely wear sleeveless clothing in public, but I sure could wear this dress while writing and creating in my art journals. 

Don't Ask, Don't Tell: We've Come a Long Way

I was very heartened to hear about and then see this story about the tradition of the lottery for the first kiss of a loved one when a ship comes back from sea. We've come a long way, but have a very long way to go.

 

dia de los muertos the art of remembering - Week Three - Mom and Dad's Wedding

I was the fifth child of Allyn Francis Streur and Emily Ann Huxtable Streur. They were married in July, 1919; my mom was 20 and dad was 19 and they were married in my paternal grandparents home in Holland, MI. Dad liked to say, "Our celluloid collars were melting." 

As part of Rebecca's dia de los muertos the art of remembering project for the month of October, I wanted to recall an event I did not attend but just loved to hear about. Mom died in 1968 and dad in 1979. This wedding picture hangs on a wall near the foot of my bed, so I see them every day just as you see them here. My parents had a tumultuous marriage, to say the least, but they stayed together and I like to remember them this way. 

My maternal grandmother made my mother's dress and it hangs in my closet. I periodically put it on a mannikin so I can see it's beauty and feel what it might have been like on that long ago sultry Michigan day. We had my parents 50th wedding anniversary at our house in Torrance in 1967. Some of mom and dad's relatives, including my uncle Russ, who was my dad's best man, came from the east for the party. 

Life was very hard for my parents, as it was for so many people who met and married in WW I and then faced into the depression. They had five daughters and I am the "baby," age 74, and my mom always introduced me as "her baby," even when I was a married lady with kids myself. 

This is a SoulCollage® card I made for my parents for the community suit several years back. 

I always put my parents wedding photo on my own ofrenda each year. Though they were of Dutch heritage and to the best of my knowledge never heard of dia de los muertos, this day has become part of my own tradition and I've got lots of my Dutch relatives placed in honor there.  

Now here's a slight change of subject, but in a comment last week on Stephanie's blog, I mentioned a book I recently read that was so relevant to our own celebrations this month, so I want to share it here, too. A few people have e-mailed me to say they have read it, too. It is called The Butterflys Daughter by Mary Alice Monroe, and reading it as I began my own remembering time, it was a very special read. 

Sharing Joy Thursday: Equality for Work and Home

For the past four years I have worked 20 hours per week, 10 months a year at a private school where I worked full-time for 16 years. That means that our awards ceremony last week I got a mention for working there 20 years. I find great joy working! I have the best of all worlds at this point in my life. Many people think I’m crazy to continue working at my age, but those who know me best know that I would probably go bonkers without that structure and without the community the work place provides.  Also, growing up in a poor family (and no, I didn’t have to walk miles to school in the snow), I started working really young because I liked having money. So, I love to work but receiving the monetary reward twice a month is also very gratifying, even though my current paycheck is very modest.

I also enjoy volunteering time in my community so I keep as busy as I want to be. I do not tend to over-schedule myself at this time in my life, and I rarely become extremely anxious because I have too much to do. It helps, I suppose, that I am a single woman, and can make choices independent of a significant other. And my kids are all grown. I am extremely blessed, after some major health scares, to be healthy at this time, as far as I know. (Almost nothing else counts than this actually.)

At Meri’s Musings today she challenges her readers to Share the Joy Thursday: Find it Everywhere.  I realized that my job as a part-time archivist brings me so much pleasure. But, I LOVE having the eight weeks off which begins on June 27.

Herein lies the challenge. I have a time management problem in my home setting. I have many, many interests and I make a list each year about this time for my summer goals and objectives.  They include vacations, of course, art and reading time, family and friend time, activities  time, writing and Internet time. I am not bored, I’m simply a really lousy time manager of my personal time. I need a tangible boss to please, I think.

I need to find as much joy at home being my own boss as I do in the workplace, and I really need structure to do that. God knows how many marketing and action plans I’ve written for the work place, but I’ve never done it for home. I think the time has come.  I ran across Thirteen Timely Tips for More Effective Personal Time Management and I’ve printed that out. I have a stored three-panel presentation board that I think I’ll drag out so I can start to lay out a summer as filled with joy as my work place is filled with.

I've asked for some guidance from several of my spiritual mentors, but it's my long-time personal guide, Amaria, who signed my certificate. I need to be the boss of me at home, but I'll take all the help I can get. 

 

 

 

 

Dottie's Love/Grief Quilt Just for Mary Lou

Last Friday my friend Dottie hosted a small luncheon for a few of her gal pals, including me. Widowed almost 10 years ago, she got a small rescue dog last year named Maxie to keep her company and it has made such a huge difference in how she is feeling lately. There were five of us at the lunch; three women were widowed, I'm divorced, and one woman is still married. Our lives have been changing so much as we grow older but we raised kids together and we forget sometimes that we aren't spring chickens. 

I wrote about my friend Larry dying almost six months ago and his widow is Mary Lou. She and I are going to Israel together next Monday and all of us have witnessed Larry's long illness and her graciousness in caring for him. But, how she misses him. Dottie, who hosted the lunch last Friday, came up with the most perfect love/grief gift I've personally ever seen. On the day of the funeral she asked Mary Lou if she could have several of Larry's old shirts which Mary Lou gave her. Dottie made these pieces into a quilt. Here is Mary Lou in Larry's old chair she watches TV in with Dottie's quilt made out of Larry's shirts on her lap. 

Dottie asked what Larry's favorite color was and Mary Lou said black. The back side of the quilt is black and logos from old tee shirts from Larry's favorite teams and his favorite hometown restaurant in Ohio are stitched on the back. One of the quilt squares even has a pocket in it. 

Dottie, who is a multi-talented seamstress, artist, craftswoman, and miniature maker, is shown here with Maxie. Dottie said she made similar quilts for her own son Jackie, who died more than 25 years ago from spina bifida complications, and for her daughter Patty when Jack, Dottie's husband and Patty's dad, died. She even made a quilt for the Bishop of Chicago. Seems a woman in her church is the Bishop's brother and he frequently receives liturgical stoles for gifts--more than he can ever use. The sister, as a surprise, had Dottie make those stoles into a quilt. 

In 2008 I wrote about Dottie's love of making miniatures which you can read and see photos of at When Life is So Big Sometimes You Have to Make it Small. 

As I've written here before, my own mom was a quilter and I cherish the few that I have--and the one that my niece Rose made me for Christmas which I wrote about in Queen of Procrastination Down to the Wire on Christmas Eve.

When I was writing stories in my years of being a Director of Communications it was the features I liked the best. Can you tell?  

 

Cupidtino: Apple's Beta Dating Site for Mac Enthusiasts

Because I’ve been the newsletter editor of my Macintosh User Group, SBAMUG, the past few years, I read a lot of websites about all things Mac. I especially got a kick out of Cult-of-Mac's Mike Schramm's June 8, 2010 post about a new Mac dating site called Cupidtino.

Schramm said, “Cupidtino, the Mac dating site that we posted about a little while ago, has finally moved into open beta. Now anyone can go on over there, make a profile and start meeting Mac-minded single men or women looking for a partner. Anyone with a Mac, that is -- the site is only accessible via one of Apple's devices, of course. Once you set up a profile, you can add pictures, post about when you "became a Mac," add your list of gadgets, or go looking for the Mac nerd of your dreams. The pickings are pretty slim right now -- I found about 71 lovely ladies in my age range. Search is currently limited by country, as there probably aren't enough people on the service to get any more granular than that.

But the good news is that in my objective single male opinion, there were some good-looking Mac fans to find. If you happen to spot someone you think might be the "one more thing" of your life, you can "Mac her" (tamer than it sounds, basically a "poke"), send a message (free for now, the page says), or find the nearest Apple Store between the two of you, so you can meet up and make eyes at each other over the iPad table.

I don't know if we really need another dating site (unless you think being a Mac fan is a major dealmaker), but it is cute, and given what we know about Mac users, maybe we do really deserve each other. I set up my profile on the site -- if I happen to Command-F the girl of my dreams, I'll let you know."

When I checked out the site, I noted there were no senior folks signed up at Cupidtino. I must admit that I know a couple of older geeks in my club who would be good company for a Mac woman of a certain age. 

Could Mollie Ever Be as Iconic as Rodrigue's Blue Dog?

Have I ever mentioned that I am totally in love with artist George Rodrique’s Blue Dog? I have George’s Blue Dog Christmas book and even a Christmas ornament of Blue Dog. In case you have forgotten or have never been introduced to Blue Dog, here he is from the cover of that book.

 

As I was preparing to take down the Christmas tree, there was the Blue Dog ornament and I gasped. My late dog Cookie looked like Blue Dog (she was an Australian cattle dog mix) and Mollie and Blue Dog have an amazing resemblance as well. Perhaps we subliminally chose each other, Mollie and I, because of my passion for Blue Dog.

George is a phenom, as the kids say. He has galleries in three different locations in the U.S. and an extensive website featuring all kinds of events. To my amazement, tonight in Metairie, LA, the first-ever Blue Dog sculpture will be unveiled.

Did you know that there is a Blue Dog Cafe in Lafayette, and George’s wife Wendy keeps the Musings of the Artist’s Wife blog?

 Going through George’s website today was utter delight and gave me a lot of ideas about the art I could make of Mollie. I love how George's portraits of Blue Dog are imposed against wonderful backgrounds—and I especially like the one with the nude. Wait until you see the silk screen Mardi Gras 2010 prints of Blue Dog on the splash page of George’s website.  

Now here is a head shot of Mollie worked a little in PhotoShop. Does she have potential to be an icon, do you think? 

To Dog or Not to Dog: That is the Question

To Dog or Not to Dog, That is the Question. The saga of when, where and who continues to preoccupy my Christmas mind. I cannot believe the huge void in my life now that Cookie is gone. Dualistically, I can pick up and go for long periods without worrying about a pet at home. Am I ready to adopt? I am still seriously considering fostering a dog for one of the rescue organizations until it finds a home, but what if I fall in love with it? 

I continue to look at rescue sites and at the suggestion of Cathy at Rover Rescue, I went to the Carson Animal Shelter last night to take a look at this guy:

Rover Rescue is debating about rescuing him. He could be a foster dog until he was adopted. The shelter personnel have nick-named him Captain and he is about six years old, a stray male. He was in a kennel run with two other animals about his size (12 pounds?), but Captain was aloof with me, but certainly not with his volunteer Evelyn. 

I spent 1 1/2 hours in the shelter and there were many, many other people there, too--some to adopt, some searching for lost pets, or reporting lost pets. Periodically it seemed like all the dogs began to bark and howl simultaneously--perhaps 75 or more of them? I actually adopted a Shep/Rhodesian Ridgeback mix there many years ago. My eldest son kept her when he moved as she was more than I could handle.  She lived to 14. 

Another rescue, Duchess, a shep mix, turned out to be a fence jumper and I was forever bailing her out of the Hawthorne pound. She lived to about 10.

If you have never visited a shelter or pound, try it sometime. If only they could talk; there are endless stories there of abandonment, abuse, running away, viciousness, economic disasters or death of former owners. It pulls at your heart strings. There are an inordinate amount of chihuahuas and pit bulls, more than any other breeds.

I fell in love with a little spaniel mix female named Amie and actually put my name on a list to possibly rescue her, but I knew almost immediately that I had been too impulsive. (No photo) When I talked to Cathy this morning about Captain, she said they have been keeping an eye on Amie but I guess she has some serious emotional issues. They are very careful who they rescue. 

She did tell me about another dog named Miranda, a Corgi mix, whose photo is up at Rover Rescue's site. Here she is in a thumbnail shot. She weighs 26 pounds. They did rescue her already from the pound and she is apparently being evaluated at a local vet and is available for fostering and/or adoption. She looks a little like Cookie, doesn't she? I'll go to Redondo Beach's Centinela Pet and Feed on Saturday where she will be on display. If she isn't adopted, I may be able to foster her. 

My mind is all over the place. I miss having a dog so much, but I also know having a dog is a huge responsibility which I take very, very seriously. The freedom to travel and just wander for long hours is limited, although Cookie did travel with me sometimes. 

I can hear my late sponsor saying, "The Universe is in divine order," as I try to "push" what is going to happen regarding a dog. I know I have to simply wait and see what transpires. They speak so much these days about setting intention and then letting the Universe do its thing--letting go and letting God. My problem is that I'm sending mixed messages. Ideally I want a female, smallish, around 2-3 years who is friendly, good with kids, and relatively healthy. 

So, I am praying for discernment. Miranda, Captain, Amie--and how many other dogs are out there hoping a person will choose them? Countless, I know. Has it always been like this, or is this a sign of our times?