If there's no answer, check around back please. : )
backroads
breathing in, breathing out
Sometimes I remind myself, because life begins to hyperventilate. There is so very much that must be done to make these moves happen. Appointments, calls, house showing at a moment's notice, sorting, car sales, paperwork, contracts to sign, things to be faxed, more sorting. And there are still dinners to cook and papers to check and little heads to shampoo and laundry to fold. and. and. and…
When life is moving at a sprint you get winded faster.
I had begun to feel that – winded – but I pressed on, perhaps harder and longer than was prudent. The tank must fill – and so must the lungs. You can't talk and type and call and run without pausing for a breath. Not for long. Not and hope to have anything worth saying, nor to do any of the many things that must be done halfway well.
Some deep breaths were overdue. Fortunately we know where to find them. I round up my men and we head down the back road. These walks have the paradoxical effect of tiring the little ones out while invigorating me. Much better than the other way around things.
We pass the jet-coated stray. We spot a buck in the grain field. We toss daisies at each other and moo at the cows. And we laugh, long and loud.
Deep breath.
This is good.
It isn't a luxury. It is the essence of life itself and life is too short and too uncertain to take it in by frantic gulps and gasps. I am old enough to know this now, but there are seasons I have to live it more conscienciously than others. This is one of them.
Steady on.
Take the back roads instead of the highways. - Minnie Pearl
True Glam
I recently ran across the daughter of a homeschooling friend of mine from many many years ago. She was a young high school student at the time. Now she is a stunning young woman living in NYC and involved in some really amazing projects. I have just read through the teaser issue of the new magazine she is writing for which promises to be 'an antidote to Cosmo.' Heaven knows we could use that. The premiere made the Huffington Post here.
She is part of the Love and Fidelity Network here.
She cowrites a blog called True Glamour and Grace
I am so pleased to have quality, inspiring resources to point my own daughters toward.
Way to go, Ashley!
impulsive and poetical
"They drew a long whistle at the same time when they entered the door together and saw the table draped in snowy white. They weren't used to tablecloths. Before each place she laid a snowy napkin. The young fellows so unused to this custom of civilization were dazzled by the whiteness.
Margaret had also added a touch of refinement in the few green leaves and blossoms she gathered in her morning tour around the house. they were wild blossoms, it's true, and nothing but weeds in the eyes of the men who daily stepped on similar ones without noticing. But here on this snowy linen, in a tiny crystal vase carefully unpacked from Margaret's trunk they took on new beauty.
It was like the girl, impulsive and poetical, that she kept the whole dinner waiting a minute while she found the vase and added the touch of beauty to the already inviting table. Who knew but that the flowers might speak to those men of the God who made them?"
– Because of Stephen, Grace Livingston Hill, 1904
Weekend Photography tips: iphoto
Most images benefit from some post processing. This is especially true of those taken in auto mode. Editing can help to get you closer to what you envisioned than your camera did. It pays to take a little bit of time to get to know the photo editing software you may have already built into your computer. Then you can edit at the same time and place you catalog your pictures.
There are some really good tips for iphoto editing here and here. They cover much of the same ground but usually reading the same things over again with slightly different presentation helps you to really get it. This one explains how to use the red eye and retouch tools. You can find lots of youtube videos if showing works better than telling.
I am including a picture I edited with those tips from several years ago that was shot in auto in the house. First thing I did was to adjust the exposure considerably. Auto shots are notoriously underexposed, especially in the shadows. Check the sliders at the top of the adjustment box. That center slider for levels is your friend <g> Move that to the left and watch things brighten up. Then I increased contrast and sharpness as well – two other things usually a problem in auto.
I corrected the white balance as best I could with the dropper. You may need to try the dropper a few different places to get it right. If you clicked on the white comforter towards the top/left in the image it would over-correct and make the rest of the image yellow for instance.
Anyway, it's a snapshot, but a little brighter and well, snappier. : )
Personally I really dislike the iphoto effects options. The black and white conversion is awful. The sepia is heavy handed. The color fade leaves things looking chilly and anemic. There are so many better effects editors out there these days, I avoid this one.
Irish eyes
Had a wonderful session with our Irish dance instructor last weekend. Sharing some glimpses of her gorgeous family and the birthday bash that followed at a local Irish pub, complete with performances by the studio kids and any willing Irishmen who ever learned to jig. And there were several! There's no party like an Irish party. : )
you can catch all the fun over at the gallery
bloom and grow
I haven't written a particularly thoughtful post in a while. All my energy has been poured into moving and making memories here. But I am thinking still <g> and wanted to share random things.
People ask now and then if I would elaborate on living overseas for extended periods with children. Why? How? There isn't one easy answer. In fact there are a lot of answers. Some of them can be found here here here and here. It is hard to describe a decision that wasn't a decision. I didn't really plan nor have a deep desire to do this (though I am so very glad I did) and I have precious little expectation for the future. No earthly idea what it holds. Seriously.
If there is one thing that has been proven to me time and again it is that I am usually wrong about what I want and what is best. I can't possibly see the whole picture from my vantage point. But God can. And He has put us in places we could not have imagined and provided unforeseen opportunities. Likewise, He has granted me some of my fondest wishes and often those did not end up being good things.
The moral of that story is that happiness is not in getting what you want, but in wanting what you get – whether that uproots you or binds you to one place.
So instead of holding rigidly to what I think I want, I have worked to embrace those 20 seconds of insane courage Benjamin Mee describes. That is what got me on the plane here. That is what is getting me to England. And wherever else life takes us. Just wild trust that God works every bit of it for good. That may be more country hopping. It may be major illness. We have seen both and so have those close to us. Life can change in an instant. There is a good plan at work though. Plan for hope and a future. And I know where I am and what I am to do today. So I am going with that.
Some random linking:
I love this family's house. Period. Love.
I have thought a lot about this article about A Grown Up House since close friends are also relocating this year and we are all at the stage in life where some of our stuff is wearing out and some is just being outgrown. Moving does provide stimulus to reevaluate one's earthly belongings and determine if they still meet a need. Or not.
yes, I like living in Japan – my friend Sue's thoughts on living abroad
with pen and pad
float
Starry Sky Journal 