The Power of a Simple Song

The longer I live the more I find
That people seldom take the time
To really get to know a stranger and make him a friend.
But the power of a simple song
Can make everybody feel they belong.
Maybe singin' and playin' can bring us together again.

Music speaks louder than words.
It's the only thing that the whole world listens to.
Music speaks louder than words.
When you sing, people understand.

Sometimes the love that you feel inside
Gets lost between your heart and your mind
And the words don't really say the things you wanted them to.
But then you feel in someone's song
What you'd been trying to say all along
And somehow with the magic of music
The message comes through.

Music speaks louder than words.

(This song was recorded by Peter Paul and Mary in 1983. It's one of my favorites.)

What this world needs is a giant hootenanny.

A Brave and Gentle Warrior

I just finished this unbelievable book. It was written by a woman who at age 15, was one of nine students to integrate Central High School in Little Rock, AK in 1957. I am amazed at the courage and dignity they showed as victims of outrageous harassment by students and adults during that year. They had the courage to lay down their own lives, for a season, for their friends. Even people in their own community didn't understand the desire they had to make a difference for future children. I have a greater appreciation for those who fight for freedom. I couldn't put this book down!

Expecting Twins

I guess I got my musicals crossed. Not Tonight after all, maybe

"Tomorrow, Tomorrow, they'll get here Tomorrow...it's only a day away."

Waiting is a difficult activity for me, whether it's for babies, test results, teenagers to get home, or the more mundane line at the grocery store. I should have a notebook handy for all the stories I've invented while I'm waiting:

"They probably decided to go up the canyon, and while they were playing Frisbee in the dark she fell in the stream, and they couldn't find a ranger, so she's floating down the river with no ID and I'll hear about it on the news, and have to identify her by her dental records."

AND

"Instead of playing basketball at the school like he said, he went deer hunting up the canyon with his friend, and they shot a deer. Since he has a broken arm, it took longer to gut the deer, and drag it to the car than they thought...."

Oh....I didn't invent this one. My 16-year-old son did, while I was busy having a conniption fit over him not coming home at 4:30 like he said, and the fact that it was 9:pm and nobody had a clue of where he was.

One of my standards is:

"They know it will kill me when they tell me the results of that biopsy, so they're waiting until the cancer takes over before they call. By then I'll be in such agony that I'll have guessed anyway, and they won't even have to break the news."

In this case it's just that the babies aren't ready for this world yet. They want a little more preparation time, a little more of their mother's undivided attention, a little more closeness.

I guess I can wait.

Something's Coming!

"Could be!....Who knows?"

There's something due any day;
I will know right away,
Soon as it shows...
I got a feeling there's a miracle due,
Gonna come true....

Somethin's coming, something good,
If I can wait!
Somthing's coming, I don't know when it is,
But it is
Gonna be great!
Around the corner, or whistlin down the river,
Come on, DELIVER...."

"Tonight, tonight, it might begin tonight"

These words are going around in my mind. Something's happening with Heed, and her twins might be on the way! With all the stress tests, ultrasounds and monitoring, it just comes down to Mother Nature.

Heidi's sitting in the hospital, and they are watching her, waiting to see if these babies have decided to come. The babies are each about 4 lbs., floating in their own little world, less than an inch away from all the rest of us, and now everyone is wondering when they are planning to change all our lives. This momentous event is taking place while people decide which route to take home from work, whether they need a jacket, if they ought to buy a bigger box of detergent, or when to schedule their haircut.

Miracles are all around us and we all know it and believe in them. But we're so used to them, we don't realize they are miraculous! Well, "I got a feeling there's a miracle due!"

What's Your Line?

I'm here to interview a few of Travelin Oma's friends! Please choose 5 of these questions and, in a few lines, tell us how you feel.

1. If you found out you had only 6 months to live, what 3 things would you want to do?

2. What are 5 compliments you remember receiving?

3. What is a talent you wish you had developed more fully?

4. What is a book that has influenced the way you think?

5. Who is a person that exemplifies courage to you, and why?

6. What kind of music sings to your soul? How?

7. What did you do this week that made you happy?

8. What experience have you had that scared you into changing a behavior?

9. What are 3 pieces of advice you would give a new bride?

10. Use 5 nouns, 5 verbs, and 5 adjectives to describe yourself.

You are a delightful person! Thank you so much for this interview. I know your responses will make others think, and I hope answering them has given you insight as well.

Answer in the comment section, or post on your own blog and let us know when. Then call for volunteers among your own readers, give them 5 questions to answer, and send us a line. The world will be a better place. Thanks.

Good night!

Four Square

I excelled at several 4th grade recess activities. As many of you know, I was the Hopscotch champion. I held the record for consecutive jumps in Double Dutch for 3 weeks, and I was better than most at Jacks. But my favorite game was 4 Square. It wasn't that I could play very well; I had another incentive altogether. The coolest boys played, and if I flirted appropriately, they would lift me out of line. I assumed they liked me. I look back and realize they didn't think I was cute: they just didn't want me to play!

When I was invited to play this game of 4 Square I felt vindicated! Thanks, Kelly!

4 Jobs:
Taught speed reading.
Cleaned my dad's office.
Put drops in people's eyes at Opthamologist's office.
Editor

4 Movies:
Gone With the Wind
Thomas Crown Affair (Steve McQueen version)
Dr. Zhivago
Rear Window

4 Places I've Lived:
SLC, UT
Salzburg, Austria
Provo, UT
York, England

4 TV Shows:
Law and Order (every variety)
Shark
CSI Miami
Frasier reruns

4 Places I've Gone:
Hawaii
Germany
Switzerland
Italy

4 Websites I Visit:
Hardblogger
As Time Goes By
Citizen Jim
Rick Steves

4 Favorite Foods:
Spinach Salad
Popcorn with real butter
Reuben Sandwiches
Half dill pickles

4 Places I'd Rather Be:
Actually, today I sat in a park in San Diego, watching a grandson's baseball game, with an ocean breeze blowing, palm trees swaying, a book in my lap, and a coke in my hand. Pretty much paradise! Give me another 4 days....

Don't Worry...the Ops are in Charge

Oma can't turn on the TV. McKay and Chase race to the rescue.

"Just find me a regular channel...at our house it's channel 2."
Lots of demonstrating and instructions go on, and then it's my turn.

McKay explains, "If you want to go fast through the channels press this. If you want to go slow press this."

I land on Extra and decide to practice. Extra seems to be featuring an episode on porn stars. There are topless girls (covered by their arms and strategic blurriness provided by the censors.)

"Yuck!" yells Chase! "Turn it!" screams McKay! I succeed in finding the volume, and in the rush of things, drop the remote. In a few seconds it's all over but the memory.

Chase is in the throws of a fake nausea attack. McKay glances over at Opa and they make eye contact. McKay smiles...

Quoting the Grandkids

(Uncle Brad had a bad bike accident.)
McKay (9): It's good Brad had his helmet on. He could have had a head injury.
Chase (7): Or death.


(On Hannah, who turned 5 yesterday)
McKay: Hannah's real sensitive about being called names.
Chase: Just younger people are sensitive. It ends when you're 5.
Hannah: I'm 5!
Chase: Oh...it ends when you're 6.


(Chase is getting ready for his baseball game.)
Oma: Chase! Do you have your uniform on yet?
Chase: Can McKay help me get my cup on?
McKay: Chase, you don't need it.
Chase, standing at the top of the stairs, wearing just the cup: Hey, is this right?

(Later, after the game.)
McKay: Chase, I'll race you.
Chase: I can't run. I've got my cup on.


Oma and Opa are tending, and laughing, in San Diego this week.

The Interview

Kenju, over at Imagine What I'm Leaving Out, was interviewed by a blogger buddy and then she asked her readers who wanted to be interviewed. I was all over it! So she sent me my questions today and I'm giving my short answers here. (The questions have been so fun to think about, that over the next few days I'll take them individually and create a unique post for each one.)

So...picture me on The Today Show, dressed and made up in killer style, answering each question with poise, wit and a lot of wisdom. Dream of the day you'll get your chance. It may be sooner than you think!

Lights, camera, ACTION!
(An immaculate, articulate Kenju takes the interviewer's seat.)

Q: If money were no object, TravelinOma, what's the first thing you'd buy?
A: I would lease 2 suites in the Meurice Hotel in the Tuileries Quarter of Paris, for a year. It is close to a Metro stop (great connections to everywhere, including train stations), an English bookstore, Angelinas Cafe Shop for the best in hot chocolate anywhere, the Louvre, Tuileries Gardens and awesome strolling and shopping. We would get train passes and travel for 2 weeks at a time to all the Austrian tyrol villages, the Italian lakes, the Swiss Engadine, Bruges, Normandy....everywhere. Then we would return to the suite, restore for a few weeks and be off again.

My extra suite would be in reserve for any family members who wanted to come and join us. They could come as couples, as families (BYONannie), or alone, and travel with us, or set off on their own adventure.

Q: How has your education had an impact on your life? Do you wish you'd studied something else?
A: My education taught me how to think, how to learn, and where to go to find things to study. For those skills it was invaluable. My German Major put me on a path to meet Dee, and that was all- important for the life I have chosen, so I don't regret it at all. It has done me no good in a practical, money making way.

I wish the University system was set up to allow students to design their own curriculum from a variety of subjects. I wasn't exposed to classes that I'd have enjoyed: journalism, advertising, public relations, art design, interior design, etc. There was a very set schedule of classes that were required by undergrads. The classes were huge, and the teachers taught these big classes in a very structured way. I didn't enjoy most of my classes.

Q: If you could have dinner with 2 people, who would you choose to invite? What would you ask them?
A: I would invite Bob Woodward and Dave Letterman. I think they would each have insight and experiences with the people and events I would like to know about. Between them they have probably talked to everyone, and commented on everything that's happened in my adulthood.

I'd ask them their opinions about improving the world, from what history and intelligent people have taught them about human nature.

Q: What one thing would you do differently in your life, if you had the chance to do it over?
A: I wish I had studied harder, and learned things to remember for life, rather than just for the test.

Q: What experience in your life has enriched you the most?
A: Motherhood.

I have gained skills of teaching, organization, psychology, human behavior, health, nursing, planning, cooking, interior design, furniture design, and others too numerous to mention. I have learned to be self-motivated, productive, scheduled and disciplined and still be spontaneous and fun. I can plan for the future and live in the moment at the same time. I have been a COO, a CEO and CFO of a large household, applying for loans, grants, mortgages, acted as bookkeeper and accountant. I can manage contractors, household repairmen, gardeners, and household help. I have learned what is important now, and what can be put off until later.

These are not just "feel good" titles for a woman who stays at home and changes diapers. I saw my role as a mother as a career choice, and I feel confident in these and many other aspects of running a happy, organized home, and raising balanced, productive and kind children.

I feel "I did it all." I just did it all at home, and with my family. I don't regret a minute of the 32 years I was a full-time mother, and I got more than a gold watch on retirement.

Lights dim....interviewer leaves.

Thanks for tuning in!! The special offer is that you, too, can be interviewed!
1. If you want to be interviewed, leave me a comment saying "Interview Me!"
2. I will respond by asking you 10 questions, and you choose to answer 5 of them. I pick the questions. I will email you when I post the questions on my blog.
3. You will leave the answers to your questions in my comments, or tell us to go to your blog where you may decide to post the questions and your answers.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview others (1-5 participants) in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them 5 questions of your choosing, and the interviews go on....

Story Telling

One of my favorite daily reads is The Elderstorytelling Place, a blog featuring stories by Elder Bloggers (those of us over 50.) I'm flattered to be the author of the day!

Exercise Caution

I hate to admit I've sunk so low...I slept with Arthur Itis and Ben Gay. I wouldn't recommend these new guys. They did nothing for me, and I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, in a sticky mess. Plus they smell bad. It was all empty promises with them. I had hoped they could make my body feel those forgotten sensations of painless movement.

My rotator cuff injury (caused not by my wicked serve, but by wielding my mouse wickedly), and my bloggers stiff neck led me to consult my on-line doctor. WebMD recommended the ever popular cure: get more exercise.

So I went down to the pool and found that I was much more agile underwater. I did great leg lifts and knee bends with much more enthusiasm than earlier. Then I soaked close to the jets in the hot tub. That seemed to tighten me up rather than loosen me up. I hobbled home, took a handful of advil and got into bed. I can't tell if the cure is worse than the disease at this point. I also wonder why something so good for me (exercise) makes me feel so bad, and just laying around makes me feel so good. And what is the point? Is there a goal here other than long life? A long life of discomfort doesn't tempt me as much as a short life of ease.

So now I'm looking into a class they offer in our gym. Aging with Aerobics. I think these women were 30 when they started class. I can't wait.

Marathon Woman

Marathons seem to be big in my family. Several of my kids and in law kids have run them or are planning to. Heidi is in the final stages of preparation for a huge marathon.

She is having twins.

She has been in training for a few years.

Her first effort was pretty feeble. She was unknowingly dodging Jac. He was jogging after her, but she didn't seem to notice for a while. She actually invited another girl to go on her first date with Jac, not realizing it was a date. Another time she invited another guy to meet up with them on a date, not realizing it was a date. Then she broke up with another guy while she and Jac were on a date. Finally Jac told her they were dating and she immediately stopped running. Then it was a quick sprint to the finish line. She couldn't have received a better prize.


Heed moved into the fast lane when she had Lucy who is now 3 and 1/2. She then picked up even more speed with Chelsea who is turning 2.



Identical little girls will put her on a new track altogether. She's taking it in stride, but she's looking forward to a second wind! This marathon is a little different. The organizers plan to spring the date on Heidi, sometime between now and the end of May, and surprise her with a 20 yard dash to the starting line. She'll be panting before she even gets there. There might be some pushing and shoving as they jostle into position for their starting positions, and then with a cry of joy, the marathon begins!

Heidi is already a winner. She has been passionate about everything she's done. In 5th grade she was writing letters to the government for better treatment of cows that were raised for their meat. She wouldn't eat beef, and especially veal, in protest of the conditions they lived in prior to their demise. She became a freedom fighter for the separation of Czechoslovakia in the early '80's, writing letters as a 6th grader advocating the Velvet Revolution. She would have fought in it if she wasn't only 12. Her fight for women's rights took guts and skill. Right on the playground she took on The Green Gang, a group denying Heidi's friend the respect she deserved. "Are you friends with that fat girl?" they asked Heed, who stood up proudly, and took the mean 6th grade girls on with her fists. Then they practiced running....fast!

Later Heidi became a photographer and editor for her yearbook, rolling her own film, and developing her pictures in the darkroom. (She's still having a tough time accepting digital cameras as legitimate.) She wore her press pass proudly to every school function, covering sports, assemblies, clubs, classes, etc. while working with the publishers and writers to put it all together, with captions, indexes, and text to bring it all in on time. It was a race to the finish every year.

She had a job at a bakery where she made the bread. Every morning at 4 am she would be there grinding wheat into flour, preparing hundreds of pans, mixing, kneading, baking, and then later slicing, packaging and selling. The bread store was the hang out because they gave warm slices of your choice of bread, with fresh butter and honey, for free. The high school crowd worshipped Heidi because she was so generous. The store had hip music playing and the bakers were all modern day hippies, making their own food and sharing with the masses. After breathing in 3 years worth of flour dust, Heidi developed Baker's Asthma. Flour was coating the inside of her lungs and she was sick for several months until that was out of her system. Endurance and discipline were marathon skills learned there.

In the meantime she was an officer in a sorority. She incorporated her photography career into that, as well as her baking, and became famous for the muffins she brought to her 6am meetings all winter long. Running to and fro was incorporated into her training plan.

Heidi was an on-again-off-again college student, working for tuition a semester ahead, then going full time for a semester or two. She was able to plan and save enough to do a semester in Sienna, Italy and then travel for a few weeks afterward. She's traveled Europe 4 times, having gone to school in England for a year when she was little, as well as taking college classes in Italy. After she got married, both she and Jac finished college and graduated the same day. A fantastic accomplishment. They'd set a pace.

There is so much to Heidi, that she has a lot to offer. She loves music, nature, crafts, and people. She hikes, camps, reads, travels. She and Jac recently bought a fixer-upper house and have turned it into a place worthy of a magazine spread. She is compassionate, sensitive, funny, smart and beautiful. This is a marathon...keep going....

Heidi's a Political Science major and has worked on several local campaigns. She knows her stuff, and keeps up to date on issues both local and national. But there's more...

Even with 2 young kids she has taught guitar to neighbors, choir and music to kids, and she's been president of both the Young Women's and Children's organizations in church. She has been the girls camp leader for several summers, contributing her cooking, music, organizing and planning skills, and love for the girls. She's encircled by teenage girls who want to be like her.

I can picture a queue of little girls up in heaven saying "I want Heidi to be my mother..." Sensing the end of the line, a super enthused girl must have jumped on her friend's back and announced they'd come together. They're running at full speed, anxious to catch up with their older sisters.

There will be quite a support team watching this marathon. As long as Heed remembers we have a real stake in the race and our offers of help are sincere, she'll be able to keep her pace up, take necessary breaks, and the race will ultimately be hers. She'll finish with honors. She won't believe the worth of the prize.

There's a line in a song from Annie that applies to Heidi.

"Some women are dripping in diamonds, some women are dripping in pearls
"Lucky me, look at me, look at what I'm dripping in...little girls!"

I am psyched for this Marathon!

Beauty Secret

I was telling my little granddaughters that being beautiful is about more than makeup. I said when they are kind to each other, and show love to each other they are beautiful. Later I wanted them to tell their mothers about this important lesson. It had been totally forgotten by then. When I asked what makes a girl beautiful their answers were "Lipstick." and "Eyebrow pencil so you can see your eyebrow color."

One mom gave a hint. "Why is Oma beautiful, even though she doesn't have any make up on? Three-year-old J knowingly answered, "Because she's dressed modestly."

Tag

I'm it! I got tagged, and so I get to tell 5 things I love, and 5 things I hate. If you want to play, comment or tell us on your blog.

I love:
1. Blue and white dishes.
2. Book stalls in Paris.
3. Maps.
4. Cobblestones.
5. Old Cemeteries.

I hate:
1. Weather men who act like it's my fault it didn't rain.
2. Drivers who zoom up behind me and then ride my tail until I move over.
3. People having loud, long, private conversations on cell phones in public places.
4. Being on hold with obnoxious music, when I really have to talk to them.
5. Parents saying very rude, uncalled for things to their kids in public (or anywhere.)

You're it!

Sisters

In honor of Polly's birthday, I'm sharing some sister quotes. My mother would be proud that I've finally learned to share with Polly without crying, and she doesn't even have to suggest it, oversee it, force it, or calm down a disappointed sister while the bratty one gets her way. We've become what mom always hoped for: Friends.

1. How do people make it through life without a sister?

2. Sisters never quite forgive each other for what happened when they were five.

3. What's the good of news if you haven't a sister to share it with?

4. To the outside world we all grow old. But not to a sister. We know each other as we always were. We know each other's secrets. We share private jokes. We know how to push each other's buttons. We live outside the touch of time.

5. A sister is a friend who continues to be your friend when all your friends get married, move away, when parents die, and children grow up. They know what counts. They can dig through and find just the memory that will warm your heart.

Think of your own sister and remember special times. Anyone who doesn't know how it feels to want to wring her neck at the same moment you love her to pieces, did not have a sister.

Polly has had bad years (she started life bald) good years (she was queen of the parade) talented years (sang in a famous local youth choir) unknown years (singing You are my Sunshine to a baby at 2:am.) She's had her painting years, her leadership years, her caretaker years, supportive years and her grandmother years. Now she's in her challenge years. As always, she'll come out of them with a redecorated house, new hairdo, darling shoes, and a gorgeous garden. Every beautiful garden has to lay fallow for a season to bloom forth even more beautifully in the next season. So Polly, restore your roots until you're ready to bloom into the bouquet you're gathering. I love you, and hope you'll call when you need another load of "crap" piled on the garden of life. I'm full of that, and anxious to pass it on!

Happiness is your Birthday right! Claim it! Love, Marty