Lesson 892: Joy and Pain

 Every Friday evening,

I sit down with my camera,

my computer,

and my favorite drink.

Tonight it's a mini can of Coke.

As I flip through the photos,

keep my favorites,

delete the bad ones,

and sharpen up my very favorites

to save in the blogosphere.

Then I like to find the commonality

as I work for a title.

What is the thin,

red

thread

that weaves the week together.

Kind of like this Chinese proverb,

but with events,

not people.

                                                                        This week came easy:

Joy and Pain.

Nearly every event fit into one category 

or the other,

with not much in between.

We'll start with a joy,

and it's a big one.

We celebrated this Legal Adult's birthday

two days early,

making this Future Math Major

17.994520548

years old at the time of the cake cutting.

On Sam's real birthday 

he was in Myrtle Beach, SC

playing his first game of the season.

Sam's joyous entry into the world

was definitely my most painful

labor and delivery.

Grandma found herself in the throes of horrific pain.

She has returned home

from her hospitalization

and is recovering well.

Our family had a painful loss this week.

We are reeling from the unexpected passing

of Dear Aunt Joby.

How she will be missed!

This is a snippet from her obituary.

Her favorite quote was from Madeleine L’Engle. “We do not draw people to Christ by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it.”

She lived every day as a true testament to her faith.

Aunt Joby had tons of hobbies.

She was a great storyteller

and always had an anecdote to add to any conversation.

She came to my book club that is not a book club

as often as she could.

Her last recommendations to read

were:

and these by Abraham Verghese.

A beautiful example of Joy and Pain

standing side by side in the real world

comes from this week's Survivor episode.

Eva, a contestant,

has Autism,

unbeknownst to many of the other players.

This is the challenge that brought about

an episode of extreme emotional dysregulation.

CLICK HERE

She was helped through it

from a competitor.

This is what people with autism

need when their emotions become so severe

they cannot gather themselves back together

without help.

Here is the kind intervention.

CLICK HERE

Joy and pain all rolled together in one.

And that,

Dear Readers,

has been my week.

Eloise is extremely low on sleep,

so I'll be hiding out at the Lamp Post

most of the weekend.

4 hours one night

Followed the next night with 

a little over an hour.

I could use a little emotional regulation myself!

Enjoy the weekend readers.

Eloise

Lesson 891: Bench Hole

 Hello, Readers.

Eloise spies some spring skies!

(and so does this guy,

from atop his Firman Road telephone pole)

Heavy clouds

have moved in,

bearing cold rain 

over the lake.

I love a good, open-sky shot.

Even if it is 

over the Walmart parking lot.

And this neat capture

is from atop the Foxwood subdivision.

Some of the Lamp Posters

left the 'burbs 

last weekend

and headed south.

It was Maple Syrup weekend,

and we made a stop at 
Yeany's in Marienville.

We got a tour of their operation

and a pancake breakfast!

We retuned to the cabin to walk off

the carbs.

The colors of spring were 

starting to emerge.

Green

Purple

Orange

There are always stories

when it comes to camp.

Eloise is a storyteller,

so you are getting the story of

Bench Hole tonight.

Hang a right out of the cabin

and follow the path 

straight into the 

Allegheny National Forest.

Walk about a football field down the horse trail

and you'll come 

to this pretty creek bend.

Just around that bend

you'll find a bench,

right there in the middle 

of the 

Allegheny National Forest.

It's a very unlikely spot for a bench!

Here is the story:

For years and years,

across from our cabin,

a red bench sat at the edge of Spring Creek

on the property of Bert and Cheryl Nemcik,

now deceased,

but very much alive

in spirit and in the legends 

of storytelling.

Hundreds of people

rested and reflected

on that red bench on the water's edge.

In the Big Snow of 2017,

there was subsequently 

the Big Melt of 2018. 

The fast flowing waters 

of the fast-melt

uprooted the red bench.

It wound its way downstream,

and landed upright

perfectly in this spot,

as if angels themselves

delivered it there

for fishermen to sit on.

Since then,

the fisherman have referred to the spot

as Bench Hole.

Fast forward a few years,

and the conglomerate from

East Southwoods Lane

missed their bench and wanted it back.

After an afternoon of imbibing,

a girl gang at the neighboring camp

decided to bring the bench back.

They made the trek,

chanting 

Bench, bench, bench!

Swam across the stream

and brought it back to its original home.

Unbeknownst to anyone,

an old, local fisherman witnessed the event.

In a casual conversation about fishing,

the old man told the story to a family friend

who loves nothing more 

than to spend a Saturday afternoon.

fishing that hole.

The old man relayed his version of the story

to our friend

"...they was chanting Bench, bench, bench!

And it was a bunch of women!"

The old fisherman marveled at the girls' brute strength,

but lamented his resting spot.

It was not two weeks later

that Eloise had a second bench flown in

to the spot the fishermen love to sit.

This time,

not on the wings of angels,

but the wings of butterflies.

Enjoy your peace,

fishermen.

Eloise

Lesson 890: Change

 Hello, Readers.
Eloise here, on the lookout for spring.

We feel the change coming.

At the start of the week,

Hazel sniffed her way through the snow

to find it.

With the melting snow,

Penny took all opportunities

to dig up everything she buried in the yard

over the long winter.

Ice along the lakeshore was still there

protecting the beaches

last Sunday.

The ice dunes are really pretty.

But the blue skies signaled

 a change was coming.

We moved the feral cat houses 

out from underneath their winter wind

barricade.

Natalie and I moved her seeds out into the direct sun.

Look at all the kinds she is starting

through winter sowing.

We will move them into the greenhouse 

after they start to grow.

Bouquets available upon request!

Then, midweek,

the change came.

Erieites know that blue skies in March aren't permanent,

but we sure enjoyed looking for signs of spring

beneath the bright sunshine.

The neighbor kids' laughter drifted through the vineyard.

How I love to see families engaged in outdoor play.

I watched this robin add to her nest.

The time change brings us to darker mornings again,

but I do find time to catch the sunrise most days.

Now at age 54,

it's funny to hear the same old argument

year after year.

Do we need daylight savings time?

The Questies have been making change this week.

For the local Teacher Readers,

you will appreciate this teaching mishap.

I frequently use the IU5 Lending Library 

instructional materials.

I borrowed the Time and Money bin for March.

The materials come neatly packaged,

and are well cared for and accounted for.

Teachers with even the most careful word choice

give an unclear direction,

waiting and ready 

for misinterpretation by children.

The students mixed all the money from 15 individual packets

TOGETHER.

Rather than berate myself for an unclear direction,

or scold them for not thinking through the task,

we made it a learning challenge.

We counted ALL the money.

It was one of the best lessons we ever had.

I actually stepped outside of the classroom

and left them in there

to decide how best to tackle the task.

It was quite funny 

watching them through the door window

argue about how to do it.

So far,

every class from 2nd through 6th grade

divided themselves into boy groups and girl groups.

They assigned tasks,

and created data charts on the board

or in google sheets.

One boy seemed to be doing nothing,

circling the classroom on the fringes.

I inquired as to what his role was.

"Policeman,"

he said.

"I'm making sure no one steals."

I guess that is a sign of the times

when governmental leaders 

assume all workers are lazy

and thieves of the system.

Here was one total:

As day changed into night on Thursday,

we prepared for the lunar eclipse 

and Blood Moon,

under very rare clear nighttime skies.

I feared I would not wake for it at 2:30 am,

so I took these shots at moonrise.

I still woke up anyway to watch it.

We could see the eclipse over the Six Mile Cellars barn.

The sky wasn't bright enough for me to capture 

any shots with clarity.

Instead I'll share this one over Erie,

taken by local photographer,

Mike Conway.

I didn't want to miss the event,

and neither did my 80 year old parents.

We were all up 

peeking out the windows 

at the moon!

Nature's wonders 

should always require one to take pause

an appreciate this world we live in.

There are other pauses 

Eloise clearly does not appreciate.

In November,

I urged Readers to not to label themselves

as Blue or Red.

Instead, 

I asked citizens with a brain

and a degree of sanity

to Be the White

See that post HERE

Maybe in November 

you thought of my suggestion 

of being the white between the stripes

that holds the country together--

as frosting.

A good layer of sweetness could 

balance out the bitterness.

Now.

Think cement.

Harden up and don't budge.

Resist, 

React,

and

Respond to make your voice heard.

                            

Whenever I am upset by news out of Washington

I have a strategy that works for me.

I run into the safety of my hobbies!

They always change my thinking patterns.

Most often

you will find me amongst my plants,

rearranging my home for the millionth time,

or between the pages of a book..

Another mood-changer-for-the-better--

a favorite of mine

is to watch anything from this creator:

https://weratedogs.com/ CLICK HERE for website

This is my favorite YouTube to turn to

when I need a change to positive energy.

It always makes me laugh.

It's an overview of all the dogs of 2024

that were featured.

BEST of 2024 dogs

I follow on TikTok and YouTube.

He is famous for the line

The dogs were good again this week.....

And the

Tell your dog I said hi   merch.

And for another uplifting activity

for the local Readers,

it is the Maple Taste and Tour weekend.

If you want to take a ride

and change that taste in your mouth

from bitter

to sweet,

here are some locations

for the fun.

https://pamaple.org/taste-tours/

Locals, Hurry Hill Maple Farms

in Edinboro is by far the best!

https://hurryhillfarm.org/

Find some happy this weekend!

Eloise