M is for--Missing!

Missing! I had returned to my dorm room (sophomore year) and he was missing! Fuzzy was not in his designated spot propped up on my pillow.  He wasn't accidentally under the covers. He hadn't fallen to the floor. None of the three roommates professed to know where he might be. 

Soon cryptic messages began showing up in my mail cubby. The words were formed from letters torn from magazines and newspapers then glued on plain white paper. I no longer remember how many such notes I received, but it was made clear that Fuzzy was in someone's possession. Then, the message arrived that Fuzzy would be returned safely IF the ransom was paid!

I gladly made a pan of brownies in the small dorm kitchen and took them to the designated location. I didn't see anyone around as I left them at the specified tree by the small lake at the south edge of town. Then, I returned to my room and waited. Memory doesn't let me recall how long or short the wait was, but the culprit did return Fuzzy. I found him squished in my mail cubby, with a piece of athletic tape over his mouth and his arms tied behind his back with a shoelace! I wish I had thought to take a photo, but I just quickly freed him and took him back to my room where he belonged. Whew!

My closest friend lived in a different dorm on campus, and as the story progressed I kept her up to date on what was happening. "You'll never guess what my roommates have done!" "Look at these notes!" "Now they're demanding a ransom!" Well, the joke was on me, because it turns out that SHE and her boyfriend were the ones who had Fuzzy all along!

They married and live many states away now. But whenever we are able to get together it's a pretty sure thing that Fuzzy's adventure will come up for remembrance. They visited a few months ago, and I had a preemptive plate of brownies ready for them, just in case!

L--is for Long Time Coming!

Long ago, as in April of 2006, I decided to start this hodgepodge blog. Looking back on it, I see that my first post had a comment total of one--from a dear friend from high school and college days. We have only been able to see each other a handful of times since college graduation, and she and her husband had only been to our house once. But, last week they made a trip back to Kansas and routed their travels so they could visit overnight! It was SO good to see them and catch up a bit in real time, as opposed to just through social media (though that also has its place.)

What a blessing it is to have friends with shared memories and shared values that time and distance can't separate!

Hopefully our paths will be able to cross again sooner rather than later.

(I plan to share more about the bear in the next post, which hopefully will not be such a long time coming!)

Winter Sunset

Just a sample of one of the beautiful sunsets we've been blessed with lately.  That pink glow stretches w-a-a-a-y around the horizon sometimes, but my camera wouldn't do it justice, so I'll stick with this.

Sharing

Bumblebee and lightning bug sharing the wealth of pollen available from a sunflower. (Photo taken the end of August.)

April Snow! Where Did It Go?

Woke up on April 20, 2021, to several inches of snow that had quietly fallen since midnight.

Here's the same view about eleven hours later!

K--is for Kites

Today is much too windy for flying kites, but thought I might share some kite memories...

It was always fun when Dad would bring home a kite and a roll (spool) of kite string, probably from Shafers' variety store. It arrived as two lightweight joined sticks rolled up with the kite paper, which in my memory was always red. We would carefully unroll the paper, rotate the sticks to form a T, then hook the points of the diamond-shaped paper to the slots in the ends of the sticks. Next we tied a length of kite string to the ends of the shorter cross stick, bowing it up to just the right curve. Another length of string (maybe two feet long?) was tied to the longer stick through a couple of holes poked through the paper a few inches from the top and several inches from the bottom. The roll of kite string was securely tied toward the top of this string. A tail of old nylon stockings attached to the bottom was the finishing touch.

Then, it was time to go to a pasture at the edge of our small town and go fly a kite! If the launch was successful, the kite would soar up and up as the string unrolled in your hand! One had to watch as the string came closer to being completely unrolled, to be sure it was attached to the core of the roll. Otherwise the kite could take off on its own for parts unknown! When it was time to head home, the string was wound back up on the spool. This took considerably more time than letting it out! More than once I may or may not have been late getting home before the six o'clock whistle blew!

At some point we bought kite string winders, but even that took awhile, especially if we had combined more than one spool of string for reaching even higher heights with our simple paper kites.

Now, the kites we take out are most likely to be the two- or even four-lined stunt kites that I previously wrote about on this page. But the fun of those first kites, and the family and friends with whom I made and flew them, remains!

J--is for Joy

It's always a JOY when we're with the grandkids! Here they are at ages 6,5,4,3,2,1,0, 0. I love how their ages line up in order that way! (even though it only does that for approximately a week each year)

I wasn't sure we'd be able to get a photo this year with all the restrictions, etc., but it worked out that we could all meet for a couple of hours earlier this month.

Previously posted ABCs:

Apple, Blog, Cornflakes Candy, Cantata and Christmas, Draw This,  EEEEE, Family, Gum Ball Machine, HIE, Iris

I-is for Iris

Yes, I'm still here, living life with all of its up and downs, ever grateful for the solid rock of Jesus Christ through it all. I don't know how people manage without His strength. I know that some of the stuff we've dealt with since I last posted was only manageable through his grace. I also know that the blessings we've received during this time were also only through his grace!

The "Scribble Picnic" art cooperative I was part of came to an end last year. It did a good job of keeping me posting fairly regularly. Maybe I need to get back to using a theme. Hmm... I started going through the alphabet a few years back. Guess I'll try to continue with that. And who knows--maybe I'll pick up my colored pencils and throw in a scribble now and then!

Here's a bouquet of some of the iris, and a few roses, we gathered from around the yard last evening.

I give B. credit for getting them planted years ago. In fact, it looks like I did a post about all the varieties we had back in 2008. This link will take you there if you're interested in seeing them. Iris from 2008

Previously posted ABCs:

Apple, Blog, Cornflakes Candy, Cantata and Christmas, Draw This,  EEEEE, Family, Gum Ball Machine, HIE

Pieces of my Heart

Earlier this month a new piece of my heart was claimed when Grandchild #6 was born. He and the other five have taken up residence there, but as you can see, there's still plenty of room for more! God has blessed us!

Linking with Scribble Picnic, where this week's theme is Hearts.

Just a Few

I wanted to get a quick sketch done to join in on Scribble Picnic's “A Few of My Favorite Things” theme, especially since I missed the last theme. The key word there is “quick”! 

Of course there are many other things that are also "favorites"–family, chocolate, the sky, fuzzy blankets...–but this is plenty for now! If you're interested, you can click back on these links to previous drawings or posts related to these favorites of mine.

Mail

Cats, cats, cats

Crochet

Music, music

Bible

Basket

See what the favorites of others at the Picnic are by going here.