After vacation, family visits and just "summer stuff" I am trying to get back into a routine with my posts. As I was thinking the past couple of days about what I wanted to write, as usual it has to be something that just comes natural. When I try hard nothing comes to mind.
I was driving and as I looked at the beautiful sky I smiled, "skybluepink" I say that like it is all one word because that is what my mother would say. I never figured out what color exactly that was but when asked her favorite color she would say "skybluepink" It made me think about how we see things. If I had to guess (which since she is gone I will have to do) I would say she was referring to the times when the sky would have a faded pink color against the blue hue. Beautiful yes ! Would I think to say it was skybluepink? Could I color skybluepink? I can see it in my mind though.
I started thinking about how we see things and as I did I started putting colors with my thoughts. We have all heard someone say they are "feeling blue" or they are so sick they look "green" Have you every seen a sad person look blue, or a sick person look green? How did green get associated with sickness? When I think if green I see rich beautiful grass, when I think of blue I do not think of it being a sad mood but a picture perfect sky with marshmallow clouds.
The more I thought, the more I saw colors. I laugh at something really funny and I think yellow. If I am sad I think gray, if I am feeling nostalgic I see pink, cold I see orange, tired I see black, excited I see red! I have no idea why those colors are associated with those thoughts for me and may not be for others.
I began thinking about the many different colors there are and being a crocheting fool right now I thought about the wool at it's natural state. When spun it is all different yet when dyed it becomes one color, the strands are still themselves but blended into one. You don't really know if you will get the color you want as you don't know how the fibers of the wool will take to the coloring and I thought of all the different strands of color there are.
As I imagined wool being spun and then dyed with a chosen color not knowing exactly what will come out I thought back to my mothers "skybluepink" to her it was a distinctive color that she associated with something that made her feel good. It reminded me of James McBrides book The Color of Water, A Black mans Tribute to his White Mother. In this true story James knew his mother was different and when he often asked her why, she would say I am "light-skinned" Later he wondered if he was different too and he asked his mom if he was black or white and she said "you're a human being, educate yourself or you'll be a nobody! and when James asked what color God was, she said "God is the color of water"
How many different colors do you see in a day? Can you take an ordinary string from your life and turn it into something beautiful by adding color?
Try being a rainbow knowing that the only thing you will find in the pot at the end is what you put into it!
Have a great Monday!
Monday, August 29, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Do it anyway
People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered; Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway. If you are honest and frank people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destry overnight; Build anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway. The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough; Give the workd the best you got anyway. You see in the final analysis it is between you and God; it was never between you and them anyway.
Take a trip with us.
I have returned! Vacation was awesome. We spent 5 days in Ocean Grove New Jersey being beach bums ! We stayed at a beautiful bed and breakfast right on the beach so early morning walks were a must!
Ocean Grove is a quiet, quaint Christian town with so much charm.
Cameron learned to ride the waves on day 2 with his must purchase boogie board. He did not however enjoy day 1 when a wave tumbled him under and he experienced a mouth full of salt water. I made him get back on that horse again as we had 5 days ahead of us. Soon he became a body surfer. He learned to go out beyond the crest where one can easily ride over the wave. By day 4 though he was riding them in and even going under those that proved bigger than he wished to conquer!
We experienced new tastes, good times with friends, and daily trips to the weezer truck for delicious Italian Ice.
We then traveled into New York City for a couple of days what a change in pace! We experienced Ellis Island and stood where many immigrants did as they came into this Country. I imagined, as we traveled over on the Ferry what it must have been like for them when they caught their first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty- she indeed is an impressive lady!
From there we took a train into the city and was immediately thrust into the sights, sounds and smells of New York. Mmmmmm my favorite smell was the nuts being roasted on the street corners. So many sounds that were foreign to our daily lives. The sounds of the train tracks as we make our way from place to place on the subway, to horses hooves (and smells) from the horse drawn taxis, We experienced a Bike taxi in which we all 3 rode in a cart being pulled by a bicycle (for a mere $30 for several blocks).
We heard the sounds of 4 men breaking out into song on the subway (very good by the way) in hopes to pick up a few $'s for their troubles. We saw the sadness of homelessness, next to the abundance of wealth. We saw freedom of religion on a street corner as a man knelt on his prayer rug and prayed. We saw the hustle bustle in Central park, and that over sized disco ball that falls each New Years Eve.
We experienced China town in which very few spoke English as they sold their goods and fresh fish at the markets. We went to Little Italy and ate lunch at an outside cafe where our waiter was a gentleman of 69 (he shared)and a true Italian (came to US in the 60's) If he wasn't so nice I would have been certain he played in a mafia movie- We laughed several times over hearing him say
"Forgit about it".
We walked many many blocks to get the Nike Town on our first night there for Cameron to get a pair of shoes only to find when we got there at 8:45 they closed at 8. My heart was broken as this was what he planned on doing our whole vacation this is the one place he wanted to go! That is when we swallowed the $30 and took the bike taxi back to Penn Station to catch our subway when we went into Foot action which was right where we started and he found a pair of shoes he loved!
I was truly inspired by our stop at St Pauls next to ground zero. So many memorials and photos and love poured out there still after all these years. We watched them as they worked to rebuild where so many lost their lives.
No trip to NY is complete without a visit to FAO Swartz so we walked in and immediately went to the BIG piano that was used in the movie BIG. Cameron experienced what that was like and then we walked around in awe of all that was there and new that we would need a complete day to see it all. After visiting a few favorite areas and purchasing a couple cool items we left for one last stop the Apple store! Getting Cameron out of an electronics store where you have free range to play with any thing (and everything is live) is like wrestling an alligator with a blindfold on. He played on the ipad with ease of a pro while Mark and I looked at each other and shrugged.
It was time to head back to our hotel so we boarded the metro and said good bye to the Big Apple!
Times Square
Memorial
The Big piano and Mark and Cam with Jack Sparrow made from Legos.
Ocean Grove is a quiet, quaint Christian town with so much charm.
Cameron learned to ride the waves on day 2 with his must purchase boogie board. He did not however enjoy day 1 when a wave tumbled him under and he experienced a mouth full of salt water. I made him get back on that horse again as we had 5 days ahead of us. Soon he became a body surfer. He learned to go out beyond the crest where one can easily ride over the wave. By day 4 though he was riding them in and even going under those that proved bigger than he wished to conquer!
We experienced new tastes, good times with friends, and daily trips to the weezer truck for delicious Italian Ice.
We then traveled into New York City for a couple of days what a change in pace! We experienced Ellis Island and stood where many immigrants did as they came into this Country. I imagined, as we traveled over on the Ferry what it must have been like for them when they caught their first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty- she indeed is an impressive lady!
From there we took a train into the city and was immediately thrust into the sights, sounds and smells of New York. Mmmmmm my favorite smell was the nuts being roasted on the street corners. So many sounds that were foreign to our daily lives. The sounds of the train tracks as we make our way from place to place on the subway, to horses hooves (and smells) from the horse drawn taxis, We experienced a Bike taxi in which we all 3 rode in a cart being pulled by a bicycle (for a mere $30 for several blocks).
We heard the sounds of 4 men breaking out into song on the subway (very good by the way) in hopes to pick up a few $'s for their troubles. We saw the sadness of homelessness, next to the abundance of wealth. We saw freedom of religion on a street corner as a man knelt on his prayer rug and prayed. We saw the hustle bustle in Central park, and that over sized disco ball that falls each New Years Eve.
We experienced China town in which very few spoke English as they sold their goods and fresh fish at the markets. We went to Little Italy and ate lunch at an outside cafe where our waiter was a gentleman of 69 (he shared)and a true Italian (came to US in the 60's) If he wasn't so nice I would have been certain he played in a mafia movie- We laughed several times over hearing him say
"Forgit about it".
We walked many many blocks to get the Nike Town on our first night there for Cameron to get a pair of shoes only to find when we got there at 8:45 they closed at 8. My heart was broken as this was what he planned on doing our whole vacation this is the one place he wanted to go! That is when we swallowed the $30 and took the bike taxi back to Penn Station to catch our subway when we went into Foot action which was right where we started and he found a pair of shoes he loved!
I was truly inspired by our stop at St Pauls next to ground zero. So many memorials and photos and love poured out there still after all these years. We watched them as they worked to rebuild where so many lost their lives.
No trip to NY is complete without a visit to FAO Swartz so we walked in and immediately went to the BIG piano that was used in the movie BIG. Cameron experienced what that was like and then we walked around in awe of all that was there and new that we would need a complete day to see it all. After visiting a few favorite areas and purchasing a couple cool items we left for one last stop the Apple store! Getting Cameron out of an electronics store where you have free range to play with any thing (and everything is live) is like wrestling an alligator with a blindfold on. He played on the ipad with ease of a pro while Mark and I looked at each other and shrugged.
It was time to head back to our hotel so we boarded the metro and said good bye to the Big Apple!
Riding the waves
Evening stroll with my 2 favorite guys
Ferry to Ellis Island
Sleeping quarters at Ellis Island
Lady Liberty
Times Square
Memorial
New York Stock Exchange
The Big piano and Mark and Cam with Jack Sparrow made from Legos.
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Every drop has a purpose