Achieving Clarity

Things My Father Taught Me

Posted on June 17, 2013 by may

toddler

I went looking for a photo of my dad yesterday. Instead I found this shot of me when I was about three years old. Looking into this face I was struck once again with the awesome responsibility parents are given. Vulnerable little human beings are completely at our mercy for better or for worse. They believe us absolutely and trust us without question wether or not we deserve it.

I am grateful to have had a dad who gave me much.

He taught me it is who I am, not what I have that matters.

He told me I could do anything.

That family is important.

That hard work is its own reward.

That laughter is the best medicine.

The right to vote is not to be taken for granted.

There is no limit to where books can take you.

That humble beginnings are no excuse.

That when a father truly loves the mother of his children, it is a gift to those children.

He showed me that a father’s love is unconditional.

There was so much that the little girl in the picture had yet to learn. She had no idea how lucky she was to have her dad there to teach her.

Happy Fathers Day to my Dad who would have turned 100 years old on May 6th of this year. A wiser man I never knew.

Posted in Just thinking | 2 Comments

I’m So Over Martha Stewart

Posted on June 11, 2013 by may

A few months ago my daughter tossed an issue of Martha Stewart on the table announcing she was pretty well done with Martha. Did you see that party for a one-year-old she asked? It was true, the party held all the appeal for a one-year-old as a seminar on mutual funds. I chuckled and dismissed any thought of Martha or her grandkids.

Recently, I picked up another issue of Living. A shot of Martha holding a bouquet of freshly-scrubbed organically-orangey carrots and wearing a bemused smile graced one page. Less prominently displayed in the background of another shot, a man is bent over plants diligently working with his hands.

The text of the article expounds on Martha’s greenhouse, a year round garden paradise. The article prefers the word glasshouse as presumably the word greenhouse is too common. Warmed by a furnace in the winter and cooled by fans in the summer, Martha’s glasshouse boasts specially formulated soil the depths of which approximate a basement. The garden beds are delineated by granite curbing that once served as grape stakes in China.

And that is when I hit the wall. Seriously, Martha. Our family had a signal as the kids went through their most dramatic years to alert them when they were getting too full of themselves or acting just plain annoying. The phrase, “That is the kind of thing that will get you beat up in the locker room.” was enough to get them to check themselves. These types of articles are out of step with America. In a country where many are struggling to scratch out their own little plot of land for their family to live, having certified 6.5 PH balanced soil seems an impractical dream.

So, get real, Martha. Its a good thing. And by the way, writing about dinner and cocktails in NYC for a one-year-old or granite imported from China to hold dirt in place, these are the kinds of things that will get you beat up in a locker room. And you might not want to get too casual about strolling through that glasshouse either.

Posted in A Rant | Tagged A Rant | 8 Comments

Clouds

Posted on June 10, 2013 by may

Reason #1 why I will never live anywhere on the planet other than Kansas: Clouds.

(These photos were all taken from a vehicle moving down I-35 at close to 80 mph as my daughter drove us home from another Oklahoma City get-away. They reminded me of summer days in the 1960s, spread out in the grass searching the sky for answers to my questions.)

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Some may think time spent with your head in the clouds is wasted, but looking back I don’t regret a single second I have spent that way. Imaginations are grown in the clouds. Your own inhibitions are the only limit in what you might encounter there.

clouds in a kansas sky

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It is hard not to think of heaven when you look at a sky like this. I often wondered if the clouds were merely a gossamer veil that separated us from those who had gone before, dipping closer some days and becoming completely unseen on those days when the sky was a solid blue expanse.

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Looking at the dense clouds I considered they might actually contain a host of angels within their puffy bounds. Perhaps those angels were specially needed by someone here on earth so the angels traveled as close as they were allowed, hoping the person would feel their presence. As my child eyes traced the undulating fluffy edges of these clouds, I would not have been surprised to see an angel’s eyes peering back at mine.

clouds in a kansas sky

A cloud filled summer sky is theater, the battle of light verses darkness continually playing. It seems to me that light always wins in the end. And the beauty of cloud theater is that one can see in it exactly what one needs to see.

I was thinking about the cloud that was separating us from the complete radiance of the light behind it when I noticed an opening in that darkness. The opening is heart shaped and it allows the light to shine right through it.

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Darkness is defeated by light, and light is transmitted through love. This is what I learned from the clouds this summer day. But what do I know, I have my head in the clouds.

Posted in Reasons I Will Always Be a Kansan | Tagged Reasons I Will Always Be a Kansan | 8 Comments

Quilt Top Wall Art

Posted on June 6, 2013 by may

I have been so sick the past several days fighting some strange cold/flu/pink eye/migraine-y sickness. I got nothing new accomplished so I thought I would dust off an older project: my super-cheap-and-easy-fabric-stiffener-quilt-top-wall-art.

My friend Jennie Atwood, author of Sew Vintage, introduced me to the idea of saturating vintage fabrics and/or garments in liquid starch, shaping them and allowing them to dry. The result is like sculpture in fabric and is reversible by simply laundering the item.

I had an antique quilt top I picked up for a song at flea market. Ideally, I would love to learn quilting and finish this piece as an actual quilt. Realistically, that wasn’t happening any time in the foreseeable future. The sculpture fabric idea was a manageable project for getting the quilt top out of the drawer and onto my wall where I could enjoy it.

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How to: Working either in a tub or a sink pour starch over clean fabric. (Craft stores sell fabric stiffeners which would work fine as well, but would make this project infinitely more expensive. I used the big bottle of blue fabric starch that is sold in the laundry section of the grocery.)

Dip the fabric up and down in the starch to distribute it throughout the fabric. Once the fabric is well soaked in liquid laundry starch gently squeeze out the excess. Don’t twist the fabric, you’ll have better results running your hand across the fabric like a squeegee.

Place the garment on a flat, clean covered surface where it can remain for at least 24 hrs. undisturbed. Plump the item allowing creases and folds as you like. I supported the fabric’s high spots from the back by placing crumpled dry cleaning bags beneath the quilt top. Be sure to turn the bags inside out so that no dye from any advertising fades onto your fabric.

Because the quilt top had unfinished edges, I rolled them under on all four sides to give the piece a more finished look.

Once you like the look of how you have placed and plumped the item, allow it to dry for at least one day. You will be able to tell by touch when the item is completely dry. Before displaying the item remove any plastic you have used to support it during drying.

I hung the quilt from a dowel when dry. The fabrics were delicate so I decided not to sew a channel across the quilt. I really do hope to quilt it one day and didn’t want to have to rip out that channel from fragile fabric. Instead I was able to sew four old-fashioned curtain rings onto the back of the quilt top-one at each end and the other two closer to the middle of the piece. The dowel simply slides through the curtain rings and hangs from a cup hook I put in the window frames at either end of it.

To me this is a perfect example of why you shouldn’t wait until you can have things perfect before moving forward on a project. Someday I hope this will be quilted and happily tossed across the sofa in my family room, but I am well aware that I may never get it done. Meanwhile, I love seeing it everyday in my bedroom and am glad I liberated it from the dresser drawer.

Posted in Wm. Morris Project | Tagged This, Wm. Morris Project | 7 Comments

June Roses in Rain

Posted on June 5, 2013 by may

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It seems like June arrives each year just as I am completely spent from the demands of May. It is ushered in on the cool front of a shower. The sun is not far behind, but it is a gentle sun that brings cheer without the withering heat that will arrive later in the summer.

Refreshing drops of rain fall from the sky, restoring all that is parched and encouraging us to let go of what no longer serves useful. That which falls away leaves a beautiful reminder of all the goodness life has offered us.

June is the mentor of months, that older woman friend who shares wisdom without judgement. Her gentle touch both soothes the ragged edges of your soul and girds your strength before sending you out in the world to face the realities presented throughout the other months.

Welcome, June, I am so glad to see you.