Sometimes Take the Path Less Traveled

 I wrote this while on a Walk and Write with the Central Utah Writing Project about a week and a half ago.  It was a beautiful walk near Bridal Veil Falls with two of my very favorite people.  Writing always fills my cup and this night was no different for me.

    Sometimes you can take the path less traveled.  You can leave parent teacher conferences early to go and do something you are passionate about.  Sometimes you must take a different route because somebody's lack of breaking reaction causes a pile up in the middle of Bull-Cougar Boulevard.  Even a river at times needs to change its run to find the least resistance, I guess we should be wise and learn to do the same.  

    The past year really has been a very long lesson on going with the flow, flying by the seat of my teacher pants, and being flexible.  But within all this change of course, I have gained a different perspective just like having no choice but to walk a different path to the falls tonight helped me to distance myself and back into an even more majestic view of the water cascading through the fall colors and dividing the rock.

    Taking a step back and changing my course made me realize that we can do things differently.  We don't have to play sports everyday in PE class, there is room for midweek meditation. We don't have to rush through every topic in Health, there is room to concentrate on essential ideas and let kids absorb those concepts deeper.

    Diversion from the normal path can often sound and seem like the wrong path but I'm starting to realize(just like my dad taught me long ago) there are many paths to the desired destination.  Some paths just take longer and have different scenery. 

    Sometimes diversion is what we need to gain a better perspective and more wisdom. So, even though I have often felt like there is only one path an one way to do things, I am changing that view just a bit and making room for other thoughts, other feelings, and just space for a general slow down and enjoy the journey mentality. 

    There is room for all ideas, and room for every path!

Write a Postcard, Create a Smile

     I left a Nebraska postcard on my Aunt’s kitchen table today in Green Bay, WI. I’m not sure when I bought it, but I love to write postcard notes and I always have one handy. It’s one of my things. 

     I have a collection of postcards that I keep in a bin in my office. It makes it easy to send a quick note to somebody for a variety of purposes. Postcards are very handy here are five reasons why:

• 1. Postcards are small. There is a very small time commitment to writing one. You must be concise, and don’t need to get all personal and stuff. They are perfect for thank yous. 

• 2. Postcards are cheap to send. The going rate to send a regular letter is currently 55 cents. To send a postcard, only 34 cents: instant money saver. (You could buy a fancy hotdog with the money you save? Ask a politician for fact checks on that.)

• 3. Postcards have cool pictures on them. (See some examples at end of post!). You can send one from a tourist trap or from your hometown and they are still fun to receive.  I guarantee!

• 4.  People have to work to respond to you. You can find out real quick who your real friends are because you can’t fit a return address on a postcard. Your recipient will have to do a little bit of committed work to thank you for your thank you postcard!

• 5. They are fun. You smile your recipient smiles. It truly is a win-win situation! 

     I really haven’t found many cons to postcard writing. Well, maybe one thing, it can cost more for the actual postcard than the postage to send it. I bet you can afford 50 cents though?

     As always, if you would like a postcard from me, feel free to contact me via comments or social media. You never know what you’re gonna get!

Hot, Cruel Summer.

 Writing Wednesday is a place for me to write whatever I want to write.   

    The following is a piece I wrote in my summer writing class last summer.  It kind of goes along with my post from last week as it was also inspired by summer warmth.  As I am typing this, it is about 93 degrees and I have braved the outside warmth a few times today, each time coming into my air conditioned house being grateful for central air.  Yes, I am a spoiled brat.  Enjoy a little piece from the past:

    The girl from Wisconsin isn't made for the heat.  You know, the blazing, I'd rather just jump out of my skin into a pool filled with icy pops and ice cubes kind of heat.  The pops would be so much more tasty but the cubes would offer a bit more wetness with its cold.  And it is always nice to have a grape ice pop on hand when the taste and heat inspires.

    Now, a pool filled with ice cream would be cold, I'll give you that, but it wouldn't be as pleasant.  Being creamed doesn't feel like it would be my life choice.  Now, chilled, yes a lifegoal, sticky and creamy, not so much.

    An ice cold drink is my also help with feeling too hot, but through a straw is best way for an iced drink, in my opinion.  I'm against the too cold embrace of my upper lips on ice as the liquid battles for space into my mouth.  And my drink of choice is definitely going to be the carbonated goodness of soda.

    Now, there's another thing to battle.  Is it soda or pop? I've seen maps showing which states use which label.  I think it is about 50/50.  I used to care about "right" answers but I now find diversity or variety the right answer, although I may be less bugged by soda.

    I think my favorite solution is the way my high school friend's dad would offer me a "soda-pop," with a tiny emphasis on the POP, on warm summer days.  It was endearing the way he would push the sugar filled drinks on us teens.  He was like a cute 60s hair slicked back kind of a drug dealer.

    Now, the only soda term from that map that I do not stand for is Coke. When they say "want a coke?" in the south it doesn't necessarily mean a red can with swirly Coca-Cola embedded on the side.  Nope.  It is like asking: "Want a soda, or want a pop?," but bringing back some milk.  Maybe I prefer Pepsi.  Will I end up eternally thirsty because I didn't want a Coke?

    So, in crazy places where they ask you if you want a Coke, is there a follow up question?  Like "what kind?" Or is it just a lottery style, you get what they give you, or what they have in their fridge?  At least when you say want a soda(or pop)? you know there will definitely be a follow up, usually offering what the options are in the fridge.

    Maybe people in Cokeland only like Coke.  Or maybe they have seen all the cute polar bear advertising and have assumed that Coke just makes everything better and therefore is the only answer.

    Maybe I am not just hot right now, but maybe I am also very thirsty.  I guess those often go hand in hand.

    I don't care what you call it, just get me a drink already.  And make it cold, like my heart, but not as cold as ice.  Please and thank you.

Haiku Obsessed

  Writing Wednesday is a place for me to write whatever I want to write.    

    

    Have you heard of haiku?  Maybe you know it is Japanese in origin, that it has three lines, that each line has a certain number of syllables(5-7-5), and that they it is traditionally about nature. Sure these  poems that originated in the 1600s would seem to be just about painting a picture in one breath about some nature scene, but in reality the new haiku is whatever you want it to be about. 

    I was first introduced to haiku through the Central Utah Writing Project and BYU English Professor, Chris Crowe.  He is a master of the haiku, having written an entire novel in haiku, but his most popular among the CUWPers(those who are members of the Central Utah Writing Project) is his Zombie Haiku. I hope one day he will publish them and all of us can enjoy them.  

    I do not write much zombie haiku but I do love writing haiku because it is short and I can write them even when tending to all of my children's needs, like the million times a day they ask for juice or snacks.  Not that I don't love helping with those needs, it can just sometimes interrupt the writing process.

    Anyway, here are a few of my favorite Haikus that I have written recently.  Feel free to comment by writing your own haiku, I would love to read what you can come up with.

Correlation

With COVID-19

No toilet paper or food

Good! Correlation!

Ruining My Life

Coronavirus

Cancel, cancel everything!

You’re ruining my life.

Always Stealing

Whose honey is this?

Honey Badger never asks;

He’s always stealing.

My Happy Place

Splish Splash splish splash splish

Relaxing moving water

This, my happy place.

Reuben at the Beach

Bucket hat; smooth cast

A checkered, button-up shirt

Reuben at the beach

Zarah at the Beach

Wet seat of her shorts

Pyramids, casting, and songs

Zarah's at the beach

Ellis at the Beach

Piles rocks in carns

Then heaving the at boulders

Ellis at the beach

My Day at the Beach

Mirrored sunglasses

Pen strokes writing poetry

My day at the beach

Cling to Every Moment

Thinking I'll forget

I cling to every moment

Babies do not keep.

Peace in Paradise

Cotton candy clouds

Marinate about palm trees

Peace in Paradise.

Now...seriously....write me some haiku, people!

We are all Poets

Write me some haiku

It is easy if you try

We are all poets

    

The Man. The Myth. The Legend.

     Writing Wednesday is a place for me to write whatever I want to write.  

    There are only a few conversations I have had in my life that I actually remember them word for word.  The following conversation occurred between me and my Father-In-Law, Perry Ficklin, a few years ago, just before BYU was to play Wisconsin in football:

Papa:  Wisconsin is coming to be beat by BYU in a few weeks.

Me: I heard, think you can score me a couple tickets? (He was the king of getting tickets to BYU games.)

Papa:  I could, but not if you are going to cheer for Wisconsin and wear RED!

Me:  Hmm.  What if I wore some blue?

Papa:  It can't just be blue, it has to be the right kind of blue and have BYU written on it.

Me:  If you get me tickets, I will wear something BYU.

Papa:  I guess, but I'm still not happy about it.

On game day, I went to visit him in his usual seat at halftime, wearing my red Wisconsin Football shirt and a newly purchased royal blue BYU hat.

My friend, Kari and I.  Notice the blue and red!

Me: Hey Papa.  Quite a game, huh?

Papa:  You still cheering for that other team?

Me:  Maybe, but I feel bad for your blue team and I do have the BYU hat so I can cheer both ways.

Papa:  I guess that is okay, sweetheart, but that hat isn't too much blue.

Papa in his happy place.  Lavell Edwards Stadium

    Papa passed away on February 11th, just hours after I visited him wearing  a BYU shirt and that same BYU hat.  I whispered in his ear the following as he rested peacefully under a morphine dose:

Me:  Papa, we both know I hate the Cougars, but I, from now on, I will represent them always.  It's okay for you to go Papa, you have taught me so much.  I love you.

    Papa was a true legacy of faithfulness and kindness.  He was a friend to all and will be sorely missed.  He truly was Papa: The Man. The Myth. The Legend.  Which was written on a shirt we gave to him for Fathers' Day a few years back.

    May he always be our angel now and keep us safe.

One Thing You May Not Know About Me...2nd (The Political Crossdressing)Edition.

 Writing Wednesday is a place for me to write whatever I want to write.  

Hi. I stumbled upon this post earlier this week and thought, seeing it is Writing Wednesday time, I would do another similar post.  

And then, I didn't plan the exact subject for this post, and then today our country's capitol is all up in craziness, so I am all sorts of out of sorts.

Image found here: https://fortune.com/2019/10/29/most-popular-halloween-costumes-masks-2019-trump-jfk-celebrities/

    I do not by any means like to be political.  I really just want all the people to shut up and get over everything.  Can we just at least have that? Agree with some, disagree with others and peacefully move on?  In the craziness that is this 100% weird and confusing pandemic life, can we get some peace, some rest.  Can we pull out a white flag and wave it and declare a truce?  That would be nice.

    So, the thing you may not know about me is that I am an unaffiliated voter. See, I used to be ultra Democrat and as the world has kept spinning and in some ways become more and more liberal in so many ways, I got stuck in the middle.  I wouldn't label myself 100% conservative, but compared to the party that I used to affiliate with, I am much more conservative than their platform seems to be of late.

    (This is the judgy paragraph so if you are sensitive to that kind of thing, scroll to the next paragraph!) Because of my experience in the middle, I really have a bad taste in my mouth towards both extremes of our political spectrum.  I think that some people are way out there too liberal, and others are way out there too conservative.  I think it is silly that we get stuck as a label.  We are either a Democrat or a Republican.  And then we sit here and complain about there only being bipartisan politics.  See, we have pigeonholed ourselves into this idea that a two party system is horrible and yet, we cling to one side or the other and have to stay there for some unknown reason.  The problem here is that we don't have a middle ground.  There isn't a "safe space" to agree with some on the left and some on the right. We have to be exactly one or there must be something wrong with us.  Instead of truth, we seek whatever fits our perception and agenda instead of looking at both sides.  We cannot even sit down with relatives and have a human conversation about in and outs, good and bad of both sides.  Nope, it's just me and my people are right; you and your people are wrong. It's just plain asinine. With a polar approach like this we can never work together on solutions.  We cannot hear the good ideas of others because we label all of those people over there on the other side as stupid and having only have bad ideas. 

    I have even been called a "political crossdresser" for pointing out the fact that I don't think you should be able to walk in to vote and just click a box to vote for just one party.  See, again, here is that dangerous space that makes us not be able to think at all.  When I vote, I research each person running.  I get a feel for their ideas and background.  I try to feel in my conscious who would be the best person for the job.  I look past the label of party and look to leadership and character.  I think about what they can bring to the office and what is needed in the open position.  I have voted for almost all parties(except communist and socialist.  I do draw a little line in the sand).  I think being an informed voter is our responsibility rather than being a party voter, so sue me.

    Overall though, I really just want to be a good human.  I want to try to treat people as kind as I am able to treat them.  I am doing my best, and I think we all can do better.   I miss the days when we would just calm down and let the election go when it was over and not cry like little babies.  And if you think I am referring to just this past election you are quite wrong.  Sure, I am tired of this endless banter about corrupt elections(even if I do believe there is lots of fishiness that did happen this past election) but I was also tired of the rants of "Not my president" the last four years.  We, all of us on any side, can and need to do better.  Unite.  Division is the enemy and the enemy is certainly raging. We are Americans, that is the only label I am okay with.  

    Well, so there a little tidbit about me.  (Okay, maybe a little of a rant too, but it was very therapeutic to write it.) Feel free to chime in on the discussion, but remember that there is nobody in all of this who is 100% right 100% of the time.  Humans are humans, people.  

Peace.  Love.  Hamburgers.

Alice out!

Be As Little Children

 

Writing Wednesday is a place for me to write whatever I want to write.  

Pic found HERE

So.  You have seen A Charlie Brown Christmas.  If you haven’t, please go take the next thirty minutes and watch it.  You will not be disappointed.  

In the short animated flick, Charlie picks a tiny scraggly tree. This choice is a little rebellion of all the commercialization of Christmas.

I’m not sure if my mom was making the same protest.  I think I remember her saying a few times that she felt sorry for the trees that didn’t get picked(we usually cut down our own tree at a cut-your-own-tree place).

This tree isn’t as spacious as others my mom picked through the years.  She explained to us that she liked how the space allowed for more room for her ornaments.  True, these trees made for lots of room, as evidenced by the next picture.

Look at all the room for all those ornaments.  In fact, if the tree could bear the weight, you could put small children or small animals as ornaments in that tree. 

Some may gawk at these silly little trees, but they were a family inside joke.  We would often pick on my mom about them and carry on about our silly “Charlie Brown” trees.  To be honest, it wasn’t ever the decorations that made christmas for me.  I don’t remember a whole lot of those ornaments, but I do remember the time we spent around the trunk of those trees and the time we spent together going and picking them out.  I remember how we would wake up early and my parents wouldn't let us go into the living room until a certain time.  I remember how we would first go into the hallway where the stockings were hung on the stairway edge and discover our first surprises.  Funny thing, I don’t remember any of the trinkets except the fact that there was always some sort of yummy chocolate in those stockings.  I remember how my family always would hide my last present, the big one, the one I was waiting for, the only one I really asked for and by the time they showed it to me, I had given up hope to get it. Funnier yet, I don’t remember many of those big presents either. 

You see, Christmas isn’t about how perfectly you decorate, it isn’t about the presents you receive, and it certainly isn’t about a perfect tree. Christmas is about memories, it’s about traditions and it is most certainly about spending time with loved ones.

May we look past all the decor and the pressures to have a perfect holiday and just take in all the magic that is Christmas.

I may or may not have a little bit of my mom’s taste in trees, by the way.

I’ve been calling our tree the “Ghetto Tree” this year.  It is the top of a blue spruce Reuben cut down in our front yard.  I was mildly joking when I said we should use its top for our Christmas tree this year.  Reub thinks it is great and we don’t need to go buy a tree as long as the needles don’t fall out.

Truth is I actually do love it, even if it curves far away from the wall.  I love that it reflects this cool gray color from the blue needles.  I love that it was once a part of our yard.  I love that it was free and that we made most of the decorations on it.  I love that it sits in my home, where we now are creating traditions for our own children.  I love that the magic of Christmas is reliveable as I watch my kids being excited. 

May we all become children again(I’m the littlest one on Santa’s lap).  Search for the light.  Search for the magic.  Search for peace, joy and comfort.  That is the true message of the season. Find the reason for the season!