A Poem...

The Old Meeting Hall:
by Dick Warwick

An Old Grange hall stands bereft
In a field of waving wheat
The people all have long since left
Where once with flying feet

They danced the fiddle's lively reels,
And do-si-doed in squares
But television and automobiles
Have ended such affairs

Thee neighbors all came from their farms
For camaraderie
From tiny newborn babes in arms
To the deaf and doddery

And they knew eachother well, with all
their virtues, strengths, and faults;
They'd get together in the hall
For the foxtrot and the waltz

To share their pies and socialize,
Talk of kids and kitchens-
Of critters, crops, and days gone by;
Mark births and deaths and hitchin's.

For we were all one family then,
Though perhaps not blood related-
Yes, I remember way back when
We all cooperated.

We all helped each other in a pinch
Or sometimes just for fun;
If you needed help it was a cinch
Your project would get done.

Though times back then were somewhat lean,
Entertainment- it was free;
When folks would in that hall convene
And friends and neighbors see.

And that old grange all speaks to me
Of things gone quite askew
In our present-day society
With it's hype and ballyhoo.

For now folks travel fast and far,
Meet schedules with precision;
And when they're not out in the car
They're watching television.

The art of actual conversation
Is rather antiquated-
We've lots of information,
But can't communicate it.

Oh sure, we can download it
And shift it place to place;
But there's few who can decode it
Into words of style and grace.

So I miss the meeting hall of old,
And I wish you could have known
How it was to cross the threshold
Of that place, now overgrown.

And dance all night with the neighbor gal
That you'd known since you were small;
Or meet your fated femme fatale,
And in love forever fall.

Now that old building stands forlorn
Yet still foursquare and sound;
Though by the wind and weather worn
It could someday be rebound,

For it hasn't yet been set aflame
Nor from its footings torn,
And it may yet receive acclaim
From dancers yet unborn.

So keep the roof in good repair
And doors and windows sealed;
For the past and future meet right there
In that grange hall in the field.

Stuff...

My family and I just watched the little movie "The Story of Stuff" at the website in the picture above. (If you want your thoughts to be provoked and you have 20 minutes I recommend you watch it too, it was really good.) And it really got me thinking (uh oh, there she goes again :)...So where does all this stuff come from?
Currently I am sitting in a mostly plastic chair, where did the plastic come from, who owned the factory where it was manufactured, who and where are the people who were involved in all the of the different steps involved in the making and getting the chair to me now, where I am sitting in it? I don't know...and part of the problem is, up until this point I didn't care. Just look around you now, do you know where half the things around you came from? Not only that but have we ever thought about all the energy, effort, and people who were behind each little object and possession of ours, all our JUNK??!
With everything we have now coming from big factories or imported from other countries, we have been trained to become so detached and separated from the things we buy and own and where or who they came from. There is no longer a connection between maker and buyer.
And the big corps probably want it to be that way too. Kind of the way they want you to be with God, just enjoy and use and waste all of this creation and beauty that God gave us, but never even stop to think about who it came from and why he gave it to us; it is yours so now you can use and trash it as you wish. What is the most sad thing is that just as we trash nature, we trash the stuff we have, and thereby trashing the effort that went into them. Statistics show that 99% of the stuff we buy is thrown out within the first 6 months of owning it. Not only is that unsustainable physically, it is unsustainable morally. What kind of moral character is being promoted and practiced. I like to say that we are a throw away nation, if something is ugly, if you don't like it or want it, if it is outdated, or old, even if there is a small fixable problem, what do we do... THROW IT AWAY!
I remember reading Farmer Boy, written by Laura Ingalls Wilder, about her husband's childhood. One thing that distinctly popped out in my brain was that each child had ONE, (not 2 not 5 not 10, ) 1 pair of shoes that they wore and used. Then if they were worn or they had grown out of them by the end of the year, the cobbler would stop by their house on his yearly rounds and measure and specially fit a new pair of shoes for the children. In fact he was a family friend and the family always looked forward to his yearly visit, to share meals, tell stories. And sometimes if the parents didn't have enough money, they would trade something they had in exchange for the shoes. Now what kind of a different mindset, what kind of different moral character does that show? The kids knew how to take care of their stuff, they knew where it came from, and saw with their own eyes the effort their cobbler friend put into them. They couldn't or wouldn't trash those shoes. Look at the huge contrast between then and now, that was less than 150 years ago. How could things have changed so much and so drastically?
At times like this I just feel hopeless, I feel like nothing will last and there is nothing we can do to help such a gargantuan problem. Then I have a speck of hope and think that half the work is acknowledging the problem and taking little steps every day to try and fix it. It all starts in the heart with the decision to value the things we have and the effort behind them, and once we have that perspective we can change a whole lot of things. Where there's a will there's a way!

(P.S.) I would love to know what your thoughts are on this, if I am absolutely crazy to you or what. :) More and more things have been sprouting up in my brain as a result of this, I am already formulating a whole new post in my brain, that is kind of an off shoot of this one. So let me know what you think! :)

Wedding, Life, Time... all that good stuff

So this has been life recently...


Brandon and Morielle Danevicius were married on July 6 2008.

Wow that is weird... (I know it has already been almost 2 weeks, but I am still soaking it all up.)
After the wedding I realized how incredibly fast time goes by, and how I have all these memories about Morielle as fresh as the air I breath, but that are all now just the past. So I would like to post this poem that I wrote after the wedding, as I was trying to comprehend time and how it was the my sister is now a married woman.


Blink and it's gone

Just a few minutes ago you were taking your first breath
Everything was new and you couldn't even think of death

You blinked and it was all just the past
Now you are five, walking, talking, and everything happening so fast

Just a moment later you are blowing out ten candles on your birthday cake...
you are two digits now, with both hands counting your age
Blink and you'll see how many years time can take

Years passes by like seconds, and now you're a teen
dreaming about the future, as everyone does at 15

Don't wait another moment to savor every memory
Because then you'll blink and it will all be history

As quick as a breath five more years went by
And now you are walking with your daddy down the aisle
now ready for true love's first kiss
Just blink and you will see how many years you did miss

First five and then five more, and then ten years are gone like a bolt
You're forty now with a trail of kids behind you
your oldest an adult
With just one blink you saw how fast your children grew

Forty more years flew by like forty more seconds
A heart full of memories is all you have left
then when death was approaching and you didn't have long
It was then that you realized that you blinked and it was gone

After one moment you found what you waited your whole life to see
a place that no matter how many blinks
Time would stay still in happy eternity


This is not exactly Morielle's life it was just inspired by her wedding, and my revelation that because every blink means history, I have to savor life and spend it the best I can.

(Check back soon I am now hoping to keep my blog up more dutifully... and maybe if you persuade me I will start Saturday Sketches back up, (not that you want it or anything.) It just helps me to be more regular with my blog... we shall see... actually we shall blink. :)

God bless everyone!

:)

So Long and Farewell to the Lunds and the UP

So this is the end, it is my last day here in the UP with the Lunds...:(


Arm wrestling with the girls, comparing when I first came and they all beat me miserably, and now on the last day, I beat them all once, at least. :)
This is where I was for the last month, and now I have to leave it... :(
GOODBYE to the UP!!!

Well I came and now I am leaving. I learned so much and had tons of fun with these wonderful people. Thanks to God and my parents that they allowed me to come here, and thank you to the wonderful Lunds for having me for so long (and tolerating me.) It was truly amazing!

Cabins, Clothes, and Craziness

So these are a few of the things we were doing the last few days:

Theresa's fern hat...(just for me to look silly :)

Ok, so don't laugh... we were stomping a load of laundry, to save electricity, water and to get the clothes cleaner, (because they have a dysfunctional machine) and for fun, and it was VERY effective.
Don't they look lovely, they tell of hard work and of efficiency. :)

Mixing the cement, clay, and gravel mix, to fill the holes for the foundation.

Filling the hole for the last post... the last of 18 holes. :)

This is the foundation for the future cabin.

Does it look interesting? (Oh I know what you're gonna say, that I am now completely and officially cultured..:) but hey you gotta keep a healthy amount of fun insanity. :)

Prettiness and the Porkies

These are pictures from the Porcupine (mountains as they call them, but bumps as I call them... :)
We went there yesterday, and did a little hiking here and a little trail walking there. It was fun and beautiful, so here are a couple pictures to capture it:

On the way to the Porkies
A creepy, crawly, cool, claustrophobic, cave... :) Just jokin!
Lake of the clouds
More of the bumps :P
This was supposed to be Nonesuch waterfall...it turned out as more of a little trickle
Beautiful rainbow at the end of the day
Prettiness...

Well we did do more than that, but this is all I had. If you want to see more pictures of last week, go to Mary Lund's blog: http://www.homesteadblogger.com/AHomesteadDaughter
Well thats life!

Pealing Logs, Making Baskets, and Spinning Wool with the Lunds

Starting off the week with a beautiful rainbow


Carding and spinning wool (or at least attempting to)

Herding the cows with bikes


Carrying and peeling logs


Making baskets with Annie ( Not too bad for amateurs)


Well this has been life here in the UP with the Lunds... :) Anyone jealous? :P