The Eyes Have It

The gods we worship write

their names on our faces; be

sure of that.  And we will worship

something....That which dominates

our imagination and our thoughts

will determine our life and character.  

Therefore, it behooves us to be careful

 what we are worshipping, for what

we are worshipping we are

becoming.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

The senior minister at our

church first shared this 

quote on a sunny Sunday, 

several weeks ago.

Since that time, I have

cradled these words in

my mind, massaging 

them gently, examining

and re-examining them

and asking myself,

What is written on my

own face?

I'm not talking about

laugh lines or crow's feet,

which tell their own tales,

but of deeper things

that are a reflection of 

what I unwittingly 

exalt, 

daily.

I don't believe that Mr.

Emerson was necessarily

speaking about religion,

but rather, about where 

we place our priorities

and the personal idols that

we elevate above them.

We may all have good

intentions in our hearts,

but do our actions write

that story on our faces,

or do false idols, such as

computer and tv

celebrity gossip

material wants

physical desires

vanity

need for approval

addictions

popularity

sloth

instant gratification,

determine our life 

and character?

As this quote continued

to churn away in my

consciousness, a funny

thing started to happen.

I began suffering from

eye strain.

Which, when you are

an active blogger who

uses a computer, i-pad

or phone screen to work

{and to play} from, 

points seriously to

those items as idols.  I

am guilty of literally

writing them on my face,

as indicated by my

stressed eyes.

This also means that to

satisfy these idols, I have

compromised in other 

areas of my life.

Gulp.

My kids begin their two-

week spring break 

tomorrow, the perfect time

for me to shelve my idols and

to refocus on what I truly

want inscribed on my face....

That I was was fully

present for them.

That love and laughter,

quiet talks and moments

spent together were what

I glorified, not images

on a screen.

In the words of Rabbi

Bradley Shavit Artson,

Worship hope, worship

faith, worship love, worship

justice and then, become

what you worship.  

Become

hope and faith,

love and justice.

I think the eyes have it.

Sending you blessings

over the next two weeks

that the gods who are

most important to you

 shine sweetly from

your dear, dear faces.

See you soon.

xx

Suzanne

Oh Fer Cute

Long ago and far away,

when I was 13 and my

dad's job moved us from

the capitol of Oregon to

the Canadian border of

Northern Minnesota in a 

frosty November, my 

world turned 

upside down.

New {very small} town

New {old} house

New school

New friends

New climate {cold}

New customs

New language

Language, you ask?

No, they didn't speak

French, but there was

a certain dialect that

my whole family

quickly learned.

Hot dish meant

casserole.....

Uff-duh!

was used on particularly

chilly winter mornings.

Aboot for about.

I went out and aboot

in my boat {bohw-t}.

Going with = coming along.

Ya betcha! is

a happy affirmation.

Another phrase we

heard a lot was Oh fer....

Oh fer cute!

Oh fer sweet!

Oh fer fun!

It was all new, eh?

{Okay that one does 

have a distinctly

Canadian influence.}

I loved it all.  The whole

Mayberry-ness of seeing

folks we knew everywhere

 we went, being able to walk

 or bike nearly anywhere, 

the we are in this together 

philosophy of embracing the 

sub-zero temps and long winters;

the kindness with which

my family was welcomed

into the community.

Oh fer nice, it was!

After high school and

college, I lived away from

Minnesota for 15 years,

before my husband's job

brought us back to the

Land of 10,000 Lakes; this

time to the middle of the state.

When house-hunting with

our realtor, I would spot

different houses that I thought

were really sweet and point

them out.  Oh, that one's

a dumpling, she'd agree, 

nodding her head.

She explained that was her

term for small houses with

a lot of character.

Over the years since our

move back, I have collected

my own favorite dumplings

as I drive hither and yon.  

As I admire them, I hear

that familiar refrain pop 

into my mind.....

Oh fer cute!

Not sure why they have street
signs in their yard?

For the last month or so

I've been suffering from

eye strain, which definitely

is not oh fer cute.   Since

the prescription for that is

to minimize computer time

{and to order special glasses}

I took to the road, yesterday,

camera in hand, to resist the

lure of the computer and to

begin capturing some of my 

choice dumplings to share 

with you.

{Can a church be a dumpling?}

The ones you've seen 

in this post are just a few.

Oh fer cute, eh?

And here ya are,

and it's a beautiful day.

~ Marge Gunderson 

From the movie Fargo, which takes

place and was filmed in Minnesota.  

xx

Suzanne

A Smashing Life

Happy Day,

wherever and whenever

you are reading

this!

Thank you for all

of your wonderful

wishes for my daughter's

birthday.  Really and 

truly, they made us both 

smile.

One of the fun gifts

that Elizabeth received

for her 17th was from

my sister-in-law, who

works at a scrapbooking

store called Archiver's.

When she asked me,

Does Elizabeth have a

Smash Book?  I had to

admit that we'd never

heard of it.

Now Wendy {my s-i-l}, is

 a diehard scrapper and

is up on all of the latest

trends in that field.  She

assured me that E. needed

a Smash Book, being an

artsy chick and all : )

She was right.

A Smash Book is, in the

words of it's manufacturer,

K&Company, a place for

 the moments and 

musings that stick.....

Their definition of smash?

The act of sticking your

cool stuff into this 

awesome book.

Unlike modern scrapbooks, 

with memories precisely

placed and embellished, the

Smash Book is meant to

be a hodgepodge of random

bits and pieces that reflect

who you are and what you

are doing, without the

constraints of perfection.

A lot like life.

Because really, behind 

those neatly laid out 

scrapbook pages, such as 

Our Trip to the Zoo 

or 

Off to Disney! 

is the real story.

  

The gum in the hair on the

way.  The bladder infection

the morning you land.  The

one blue and one black shoe

that didn't get noticed when

dressing in the dark!  

Life is messy.

We smash it in.

It's not always cute or

color-coordinated.

What would I smash

into our real stories?

The pretty feather found 

at the zoo and carried like a

prize in a tiny hand the 

whole time; the ticket stubs,

and the cool zebra napkin

from the little cafe.....

And of course, pictures.

Not perfectly posed snaps,

but the ones that captured

those impromptu 

little joys.

And yes, the gum in

his hair.

Even as teenagers, my kids

love to bring out their thick,

heavy scrapbooks, representing

nearly ten years of them,

curated lovingly by me.  I kept

at it from pre-school through

sixth grade for Lizzie and 

through third grade for Will.

Then suddenly, it was

no longer my thing.

And it seemed to be time

for them to figure out

which of the moments

they wanted to stick,

rather than me.

{You can guess how

far they got.}

Right now we are truly 

living a Smash Book life ~

all mixed up and crazy and 

hectic, yet in its own way, as 

beautiful 

as

can

be.

Which is why I think

Wendy hit the mark, when

she just knew Elizabeth

would appreciate this gift.

The start of a E's first Smash page, using
scraps of 17th b-day wrapping paper.

How do you archive 

your own moments 

and musings?

Are you a meticulous curator,

or, like me, a stuffer-into-

folders-for-dealing-with-

it-later type of

curator? 

The vanilla-hazelnut

coffee is on and I

would love to hear

how you make your

own moments

stick : )

Memory is a way of

holding on 

to the things you love, 

the things you are, 

the things you never 

want to lose.

~ Kevin Arnold

xx

Suzanne