Living as Easter People

"Body of Christ"- My needlefelted picture of a pruned grapevine framed by grape clusters hidden by leaves

 
“Love is not a duty it is our destiny. It is the language that Jesus spoke and we are called to speak it so that we can converse with him. It is the food that they eat in God’s new world, and we must acquire a taste for it here and now. It is the music God has written for all his creatures to sing and we are called to learn it and practice it now.”
- NT Wright, Surprised by Hope (and great book!)

A page from my sketch book drawn over thirty years ago

 
So how can we learn to live as wide-awake people, as Easter people? ... In particular if Lent is a time to give things up, Easter ought to be a time to take things up ... If Calvary means putting to death things in your life that need killing off if you are to flourish as a Christian and as a truly human being, then Easter should mean planting, watering, and training up things in your life (personal and corporate) that ought to be blossoming, filling the garden with color and perfume and in due course bearing fruit”
Ibid

A quick painting I did at a retreat about a decade ago

 
“Jesus is risen, therefore God’s new world has begun. Jesus is risen, therefore Israel and the world have been redeemed. Jesus is risen, therefore his followers have a new job to do. And what is that new job? To bring the life of heaven to birth in actual, physical earthly reality.”
Ibid

Wool seed pod and flower people I put out about the house every Spring - New Life!

Distaff Day

My Spinning Wheel

In days of old, today, which is the day after Epiphany, women returned to their spinning after the holiday season of Christmas. I know of this day because I have a spinning wheel and enjoy spinning yarn from wool. And in this world of spinning, I enjoy the little tidbits of history I learn.

Proverbs 31:19 uses the word distaff: "She stretches out her hands to the distaff, and her hand holds the spindle". It's been written about thru the ages, and Chaucer classed this art among the natural endowments of the fair sex: "Deceit, weeping, spinning, God hath given to women kindly, while they may live". (We've come a long way baby!)

If you wanted clothing to cover yourself, beyond wearing fig leaves or animal skins, a fiber would need to be twisted into a thread. Then it could be crocheted, knit, or woven into a textile material. The twisting of fiber probably was discovered about the same timing as fire, the lever, and then the wheel.

With industrialization we don't have to spin anymore. This puts spinning in the category of 'heirloom art'. Why would anyone want to spin? I like it because it's fun and relaxing. I can even do it while watching movies. Heirloom art brings us into the process of creating. Heirloom by definition means something of value that is passed down through the generations. Not only its beauty but the fact that your hands created it gives it value.

I have demonstrated spinning at the National Western Stock Show in Denver, and other places. It seems men and boys are more fascinated with the process than females, but I think it's because of the workmanship of my spinning wheel - it's beautiful. I had a man watch for a long time and ask me, "How many miles do you figure you're doing with your feet treadling? How many yards of thread in say a minute, or hour? How long would it take you to get enough and make me a sweater?"

People in days of old didn't have many idle moments, and spinning was one of those very necessary jobs. Hand-held distaffs and spindles were the beginning. Leonardo da Vinci probably made the earliest drawings of the spinning wheel's design. The distaff is different from my spinning wheel. It's used primarily for spinning flax, which is a very long fiber. Once the flax plant is soaked and pounded and the fibers teased apart, they can be woven into linen. It's a much more difficult process than making wool or cotton thread, and it's harder on your hands.

In many cultures, a drop-spindle is still the primary tool, even used by kids walking to school. In our early American history, the colonists were required to give England a quota of yarn and woven material. In order to meet that demand, many single women were taken into households to spin - thus the name "spinster".

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Epiphany

My wet felt piece fashioned after Fabriano's Epiphany piece

The 12 Days of Christmas are now over and this day, Epiphany, we remember the wise men of Matthew coming from afar following a star to find a child who they recognize as a king. 

They came bearing gifts very strange and foreign to us. I still love the image in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever of the Herdman's dragging a ham before the manger. That was like the widows two mites to them; or the little drummer boy in the song; or the girl of Mexico bringing all she could find - weeds, which turned red (poinsettias). From Bible studies we've learned that frankincense, gold and myrrh were costly gifts fit for kings (for life and burial!).

The art piece is by Fabriano. I change out art on an easel in my house. I like making friends with art work. Art touches me, often judging me. 

There was a phenomena in the sky with three planets close together: Jupiter, Venus, and Mars. This is why the Magi traveled.The explanation for the Bethlehem Star story I like best describes this planet conjunction. Pisces is associated with the Jewish people in astrology, and within its constellation was a conjunction several times in 7 BCE of Jupiter and Saturn, and then Mars joined them. Saturn was known as representing Mesopotamian deity who protected Israel. And Mars symbolized war.

Christians are afraid of astrology and think it evil. Astronomy and astrology combined are the science of observation and interpretation. In 7 BCE there was no astronomy other than astrology. In Genesis we're told God made the stars for 'signs and seasons'. And here in Matthew God is bringing astrologers into Jesus' story. 

Were there exactly three wise men? We are told of three gifts. The book Ben Hur names three kings and opens with a dramatic description of how they might have met and traveled together to Bethlehem, but there could have been a whole entourage.If you were dramatizing the whole Advent season with nativity figures, your wise men would be off (afar) in a distance in your house progressing to Joseph and Mary - who would in December be progressing by Donkey to Bethlehem. And baby Jesus and the Shepherds wouldn't show up until Christmas Eve or Christmas day? Many, don't do gift giving until this Epiphany day.

What ever came of these strangers in Jesus' story? Jesus began his ministering when he was 30. Were the shepherds and magi still alive? Did they hear of Jesus? In the silence of 30 years, I often wonder if the shepherds thought that night a bizarre event, maybe even embarrassed about their extravagance ... maybe the most passionate thing they ever did in their life. I like to wonder and ponder.

The Epiphany story is a remarkable story of grace. God doesn't need anything from us - he is the Creator of everything. Here God is receiving gifts. The pagan astrologers were not religious insiders. This is a reminder to me that God is at work in the strangest places, and in the people I least expect to respond to him. I want my eyes to be open to the potential and possibilities of God's grace. God's grace is at work far outside the arbitrary boundaries I construct.

Sock Earrings and other Giftings

My hand-knit sock earrings

We like most of our giftings to be handmade. Most of my friends have my sock earrings. I've posted about them before. I started knitting these years ago and every year pull out the pattern, needles and yarns and make more. I am now deplete of my stock and need to make more. Monte just gave my last ones to friends of his. Needles? They are like toothpicks, probably actually thinner! I guess I should offer to make these for anyone wanting to buy some.

Varieties I've tried knitting over the years - sticking moreso with those on the right.

Handwoven dishtowels and Handknit dishcloth.

One of my weaving looms is set up with the same colorings in this picture for dishtowels that match the dishcloths I knit (how-to here). The weave structure is set up for the very absorbant towel on the right. I'll often give a set along with my homemade soap.

This year I've made so much Healthy Cold Cereal via Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist, I'm making up a bunch to jar up with pretty cloth tops and include the recipe.

Monte's made the Grandkids homemade blocks, varying the sizes, including some tree branch pieces. These sets are quite expensive if you were to buy them. They are asking for more, and have specified the sizes they want more of. Our kids often built structures to the ceiling over and over and the grandkids are carrying on the tradition. I've added wooden train tracks and trains to my Grandmother "wood" toy bin. I like building upon quality sets, including Lego, rather than a wide variety of toys. Now that there's girls, I'll be adding some wood furniture and people and animals to this bin. Can't wait to make "handmades" with them too!

Handwoven hot pads

My kids always wove my potholders, but now I have to make my own. They have always been my favorite, preferring their size. Dawson wove so many once that he stitched together for a rug.

Every Fall I used to take the kids to a large craft store and look around for ideas they could work on for giftings. I used to read aloud to them a lot and I always liked them to be busy handcrafting or drawing. I even let them carve in the house!

One of my journals with a felted decor

We also made handmade books for giftings. I'll still occasionally do that for journaling. I used to have the kids tell me their dreams  and write them out myself when they were little. Eventually they wrote their own stories and we'd make books. I used to make my brother and sister handmade books all the time when they were little. Illustrating them too. The Grandparents still have the books they gave them.

Knitted toy for the Grandkids

I like knitting them hats and toys. I have a monkey pattern, boy and girl, along with clothes that I periodically keep adding to. Both the older grandboys have a monkey with pajamas and robe. I need to now make girl monkeys (next year) and more clothes.

Hand-dyed hat, socks, and t-shirt for kids

Men's dyed T-sh

I'm also very set up to dye stuff easily. When my kids were born I often dyed second-hand clothes in darker, brighter colors - all pastel back then, which I hated. Whenever I'm tired of something I'll redye it - like one of my bathrobes has been dyed three times. I'm always now dyeing T-shirts with matching bamboo socks for everyone. One Christmas everyone got dyed canvas aprons. Now my kids have taken off with a technique I taught them - painting or spraying over a stencil dark T-shirts with bleach (outside of coarse - and wash right away so doesn't eat the fiber). In fact, Dawson gets cheap shirts and bleaches a design and a resale shop buys them or gives him store credit. I order my dyes and dyeables from Dharma Trading Company. They have GREAT tutorials and lots of gifting ideas!

My boys with their wives showing us their bleach-dyed t-shirts

Best of all . . . A lot of these doings, meaning "think handmade" is caught moreso than taught! Dawson and Splarah kinda copied (I'll post another post with the picture of mine - it's probably back in the Dec Archives) my 'bean-bag" creche - wanting to make one for her Mom. I LOVE it!!!!!!

Nativity Scene made by my Dawson and Splarah for her mom

My next post will have some felt stuff.


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Combined Blogs

I've not posted on any of my blogs for months. Yes I typed "blogs" - plural. I wrote almost daily for several years at Karey's Contemplations, which was Karey's Overflow originally, at KareySwan.com (which I still want to create a web page for). Karey's Overflow became more textile art oriented, and then I created Karey's Kitchen. But now I want to post whatever ... So I combined all my blogs back into one and renamed and redesigned it (maybe I just like creating blog looks!). So here I am ... and here you are ...

New Blog Banner

I've not posted anything since last April. It got busy around here. We had a wedding in our Aspen Grove - on the edge of the woods on one side, and the meadow and my lower garden on the other side (going to have to post some pictures). Now everyone is married. Now we have four grandchildren: 2 boys and 2 girls - all three and under. I'm still occasionally teaching felting related classes. I want to write two books right away - another cook/ recipes for life book, and Cycle of Celebrations - which I've blogged on.

I'll end on that note.

I will start writing and posting. I have taken pictures of lots of kitchen exploration and homemaking recipes and techniques. I need to describe what "Homemaking Beyond Maintenance" means to me ... but would love to hear what that phrase might mean to you?

I might as well add pics of my other three blog banners I designed, just to have them all displayed in one place ... and they are connected to this blog's title.

Passion

I just finished a felted wool sculpture for a gallery display. I've titled it "Savior Creator". Before Jesus was attached to the backboard frame, Dawson's friend Connor was holding it, hugging Jesus and saying he was cuddly. I got the idea of the mobile extended from the book The Shack, in which Jesus says, "I don't want to be first among a list of values. I want to be at the center of everything. When I live in you, then together we can live through everything that happens to you. Rather than a pyramid, I want to be the center of a mobile where everything in your life--your friends, family, occupation, thoughts, activities--is connected to me but moves with the wind, in and out and back and forth, in an incredible dance of being."

Wire provides the internal structure with foam, wrapped with batting before adding the wool I needled into shape. I had several pictures to look at for the shaping. I looked at Rembrandt's face of Jesus, but people are telling me he resembles Monte. I have looked at Monte daily for thirty five years. In trying to think thru what I wanted hanging from the mobile, creation is where I ended the process. The background in the frame is felt, and various yarns embellished with my needlefelting machine. His outstretched arms are the same width as mine.

I decided to also post a picture I drew in college from my sketch book.

Felting Book Entries

I Googled "needle felting machine" early January and found a felting blog forum. From there I found a call for entries for a book being published on Felting and the deadline was soon looming. So Dawson took photos of some of my favorite pieces (had to first bring them home from where they were on display).

This felted face is my niece Leah. I need to finish her. I don't want to do an entire felted body - thinking I do a metal frame. I'd cover it with a felted dress using my embellishing machine. And I'll hand needle hands to add - hands clapping are so Leah!

Since my blog/website is hosted away from Google's Blogger, I'm not able to keep posting pictures here and will soon have to be moving and reconfiguring everything. I will be writing again. I need an actual website page rather than just a blog, tho I don't want the site to be static. But I don't want to take the time right now to get it done. I'm "working" at my textile art rather than writing. So check in later ...

Since I'm unable to post many pictures here anymore you'll need to check out more of my art at my photoblog ... which I'll be changing to maybe Flicker in the near future.

Studio

Monte built me shelves and a great large desk for my new studio. The room used to be our living room, which we called the "Parlor". It still holds the piano and musical instruments and music paraphernalia. But now I've been able to organize stuff accumulated around the house and garage into a 'home'.

But I've several spaces beyond this room. For now, my batik tools are stored in the laundry room - now named "sitting room". Heather's old bedroom holds a drafting table and lots of colored wool is all over the floor. It's been organized as the paper crafting and mat cutting for framing space. I'm currently working on a large dry-felt, needled wool sculpture. Dawson is going to weld me a stainless sink counter to replace the old sink and wood counter in the greenhouse. Along with a stainless steel table he found at a yard sale, it's my dying and wet-felting space (and still my seed starting and nurturing space).

More photos of my studio are posted on my photoblog.

Tie-Dye & Will

I finally took pictures and downloaded them ... I said in an earlier post that I'd post pictures of recent tie-dye projects. Since I've not tie-dyed since my teen years (that wonderful hippie era!) I read the new info for review and see what's new. Then I practiced. The goal was curtains Sarah bought for their open stairwell tall window, and I didn't want to practice on them!

I bought a soft 100% cotton queen-sized sheet set - a great thing to practice on. Some parts I swirled and rubber-banded. Some parts I pleated and rubber-banded or wrapped with a waxed string. Some parts I just banded in a circle for the typical tie-dye bulls-eyes. What did I learn? You think you've soaked the material (it was already wetted in a soda ash solution) and no white is visible, and you worry that it's all just soaking together and going to be a solid dark mess.

I left the sheets: top, fitted, and pillow cases in separate plastic bags (and did a pair of socks too - ordered these really soft bamboo socks that I think I'm going to get more of) to sit in a warm spot while Monte and me flew down to drive Heather and Will here to Colorado, stopping and visiting some old friends along the way. Once home I rinsed them, unbanding them ... and oh ... so much white! So I retied them and squirted more colors on and let sit 24 hours, then rinsed and washed them. My original trials got covered so I couldn't really see my patterning, but that's okay. They are just sheets and going to be slept on. The picture is them on the guest bed at Travis and Sarah's (her family came to stay over the Thanksgiving holiday).

At Travis and Sarah's we squirted a lot of colors on paper towels and let dry. Travis narrowed the choice down to four colors. We folded the long curtains in thirds and pleated them and tied and rubber-banded them. It's easier to tie up the centers of long things with the waxed string than try and rubber band them. We're working on a large metal sheet I got years ago at an auto supply store - it's what people put in garages under leaky cars. I use it all the time on the kitchen table with my wet felting and anything else messy. Sarah worked on one curtain and me on the other and we had them laying side-by-side and doing the same color squirted between the bindings so the hanging curtains would have the same striping. Sarah left them in their plastic bags in a bucket for a couple days before rinsing and washing. So we all waited anxious - they just looked dark with no color variation when all wet, and no white showing - we really soaked them! Sarah emailed me so excited about how they'd turned out. I didn't see them till Thanksgiving day.

While I'm at it, I'll post a recent picture of Will. Will usually eats his supper just before us in his little green Bumbo chair (it's from South Africa and Dawson wishes he had one!). We leave him up on the table while we eat and have a gay ole time with him! He's our "center piece"!

Felted Picture?

This is the felted picture I'm currently working on. I've had varying visions and working titles for it during the process, but haven't settled on a name yet.

Weaving Potholders

While I await the snow's melting ...

I no longer have kids around to weave me potholders (almost 20 year old Dawson would if I asked him). My favorite over the years are these ones. I could go out and just buy some, but ... So after getting sick of the last dirty orange ones (Dawson one year wove a ton, using up my stash of loops, cuz he wanted to make a rug of them ... so I found it in the shed and have been using the usable ones ... but now they're all gone). I'm weaving my own. It's been fun.

Harrisville Designs has potholder kits and the best cotton loops. Don't buy the kits with nylon loops - useless for hot things, good grief! Harrisville also has the best colored wool for the felting I do.

I've been asked, so I'll post it here: My main source for felting wool and kits is from Halcyon Yarn. Halcyon sells some of the Harrisville wool and kits, like the potholders, too.

St Patrick's Day

Everyone knows bits of the St Patrick story so I don't want to say much. Of all that's written, my favorites are How the Irish Saved Civilization (I like all of Cahill's books) and The Celtic Way of Evangelism. I came away from having read those books realizing my faith is more Celtic than Roman based. Celtic writings are much like the Hebrew Psalms and very inclusive of the Trinity. (My favorite book for exposure to this is The Celtic Way of Prayer [I like all of DaWaal's books too].)

What's written having overflowed from Patrick (born Succat) was the Celtic based monasteries that were very inclusive of the surrounding community, focusing on relationship and embracing the common people. They loved people into The Kingdom. The Europe they evangelized to life, kinda died again, returning to the Roman cold, exclusive (exclusion) monasteries and nitty-gritty detail focus and rules.

A Palladius or Pallagious was actually the first missionary to Ireland. His name was mentioned in the newest King Arthur movie, and because I know something of him, I made the connection in the movie. He preached that people can take the 1st step to salvation without the grace of God. Augustine took steps against his followers.

St Patrick, with a satchel full of books, including Augustine's writings, like City of God and his Confessions, returned to Ireland with its un-invaded tranquility by the barbarians who were ransacking Rome and all of Europe. Thus literature was preserved until Europe was ready to take them back.

Since it's been written that Patrick used the three-leafed Shamrock to illustrate and talk about the Trinity, when I wanted to make a patchwork table centerpiece, I couldn't find a pattern for three leaves - only four leaves. So I created my own pattern, having to do more hand-stitching. I'm always changing out our table decor for the seasons and celebrations.

Another person remembered on this day in the church calendar is the man who offered his tomb for Jesus to be buried. March 17 is the Feast of Saint Joseph of Arimathea. According to a legend, Joseph was Jesus' wealthy uncle, and after his nephew's (did you ever think of Jesus as a nephew?) Resurrection and Ascension, Joseph accompanied Mary Magdalene to France. Then, alone, he made his way to Britain, bringing with him the chalice drunk from at the Last Supper, which became an ornament of the church he established at Glastonbury, Somerset. And that is how the Holy Grail ended up in England and why King Arthur was so concerned with it!

So from this legend we have so much literature - from the tales of King Arthur (and "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" movie - I'm grinning) and on to the more current The Da Vinci Code (I read that Novel and the book that followed. Good writer of a good story, but remind yourself - it's a novel). I think Dan Brown knew of this legend and extrapolated! All I'll say is, "He's an angry-at-the-church man, and doesn't know his history."

Hasn't Patrick's Breastplate prayer been put to music? Make Irish Soda Bread!

Barbie

Barbie is 50 years old today. My aunt Recie gave me my first Barbie and it was identical to this picture - ponytail and dress. When I had heard awhile back how much that original Barbie was going for, I had to go look for my Barbie case. Yes, I still have it! And I thought I had saved that original head! But no. (That thought makes me think of all the doll heads I have around - all my bodyless felted heads. Am I weird? ....)

I saved a bunch of my Barbie paraphernalia. I had made lots of her clothes. My Grandma had knit a lot of her clothes. I made her a lot of dishes and pots and vases out of clay. I saved all the good CrackerJack prizes - like real books, to adorn her house. I braided her doll house rugs, sewed and wove curtains and pillows. I needlepointed things for her and embroidered. My mom taught a bunch of the neighbor girls to sew making Barbie clothes.

I never gave Heather a Barbie, but actually, Heather wasn't a doll girl. She used to have 'car families' and they'd talk and drive around with each other. (I'd bet you that Heather has the largest matchbox car collection! And she still has a lot of it. I found it when I was organizing her home!) But when we walked down a toy store aisle and little Heather saw "The Hart Family" (Barbie with a family) her eyes grew big and she looked up at me and breathlessly said, "Look Mommy, it's a FAMILY!"

We bought it!

My doll today sits on a shelf in our home on a velvet chair my Grandma made for me from an opened tunafish can.

Art and Body Gifting

I've readied some of my needlefelting to take to church today for hanging. I mentioned before that our church is set up with a professional hanging system for art. We have artists within our community and we change out the art periodically.

One of my pieces I'm taking I call either "Community" or "Jesus' Body". Scripture refers to those of us who love God and believe in Jesus, as family, parts of His body. I value that our church values the differing gifts within our body and desires to let these differing gifts be used within our community. So often in churches we only see the giftings of teaching and music, and then of course the helping, serving, administration, encouraging ... are ongoing.

I have a grapevine in my greenhouse. I've posted pictures of it. This last year was the most productive year of all, with clusters hanging at our head level all over. All it takes is basically doing nothing! Yes, I still nurture it with fertilizing and watering, and I do need to cut it back as it tries to take up more of the space than I desire. But I used to prune it back very severely, because I had a book ... I found out that table grapes are not to be pruned like wine grapes.

In fact, the severity of pruning wine grapes looks familiar ... It is the center frame of my picture. All around are the three-dimensional vine, grape clusters, and leaves. In a small group, we had drawn grape vines. Ellen had lots of hidden grape clusters saying that she needed community to help her see her fruit. I have gone through very barren times where I've felt my fruit gobbled up, and if I'm not regularly nourished from the source I will remain fruitless. This piece is a Spring, Easter, seasonal hanging.

My other art piece is made up of three. Because they were inspired from the same time frame of reading and journalling, I just hung them on the same backing. The top I call "Starburst". God said, "Let there be light". Walking in His Truth, His light, I don't fear walking out into the world with it's varying culture. I walk, bringing gleanings back to the light before venturing out again on another ray of light.

The middle piece I call "Crucible". I looked the word up and it's origin means "lamp on a crucifix". To me this means, that in all life brings my way, that in all my choices, if I filter them thru the truth of the cross ... It's a God-consciousness in all I do in my every ordinary days (Extra- ordinary!).

The bottom piece I call "Longings". Henri Nouwen had written, "Longings are doorways thru which we come to God and thru which God comes to us". I've pictured my heart with layers like an onion, restricting and fighting the real me, the God-created-me, in being revealed. If my desire is to live out of my center, I don't have to focus on removing the layers, but focus on having more desires/longings, which would mean more doorways of God and me connecting!

Does this make sense?

Presidents Day etc

"For God so loVed the world,
That He gAve
His onLy
BegottEn
SoN
ThaT Whosoever
Believeth In Him
Should Not perish,
But have Everlasting life."
John 3:16

I've been cleaning up my computer and found the above ... and since we're still close to Valentine Day, I thought I'd post it.

Some years from Abe to George's birthdays in February I put a little log cabin on the kitchen table. The red, white, and blue runner, I wove. I was just thinking how log cabins still have an appeal today. Monte always talks about building a small one someday. We visited one in Wisconsin last fall and couldn't get over the size of the logs!

Here's a quote from Abraham Lincoln ...

“Neither [side] anticipated that the cause of the conflict [i.e., slavery] might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces; but let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. ’Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh! If we shall suppose that American Slavery is one of those offences which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offence came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a Living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope—fervently do we pray—that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bondman’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.”

God is not at a nation's beck and call, but the nation at His. God transcends our humanity's limited vision.

Colorado Mountains

I've returned home to mountainous Colorado. Did you know Colorado has almost 60 peaks over fourteen thousand feet? They are called 14ers and people climb them, checking them off their list. Colorado is also the source for four of North America's major rivers. Monte and me have often spoken about watershed life decisions and nearby here we can straddle the Continental Divide and raindrops or snow melt can end up in either the Pacific or Atlantic Oceans - quite the watershed!

I returned home to other mountains too: mountains of laundry and mountains of mail! Since yesterday was Valentines Day, as I attacked the mountain of mail, I thought of Monte and ripped out words and pictures that reminded me of him.

Remember the Velveteen House III post I did the night before I left for Texas? All the bedding of the four couples who slept here were piled in the laundry room this month I've been gone. So I tackled that mountain, washing the sheets first, before moving to the piles of clothes.

Monte cooked me salmon for our Valentine supper and had bought roses and goodies. He loved the collage I made for him.

Simeon the Stylite

When I speak on the Calendar, I love to mention Simeon Stylite, who died on this day in 459. He was the most notorious of the popular pillar-sitting anchorites.

The son of a shepherd, he was moved by hearing the Beatitudes. Wanting to be 'pure of heart' he tried living in monasteries, but they all kicked him out for his extremism in self-mortifications. So in his naivete, he literally did what he could to get closer to God.

This is a piece of early church history. Christians were persecuted and martyred, but when Constantine made the empire 'Christian' in the early 300's, the pagans were persecuted. Seeking safety they went to churches bringing their paganism with them.

Serious Christians, frustrated with the watered down churches were asking, "How now to be holy?" Thus the serge of monasteries, and desert fathers. Outside of Antioch were many 'pillar saints'. People would pack lunches and for entertainment go listen to a pillar saint preach - they were tourist attractions.

I wonder if these pillar saints could read and if they knew much of scripture. What would they preach about? Since Simeon had 'separated' himself at age 13, when did he mingle with people to be able to truly know much of life, or have personal experience stuff to preach from. Pillar saints had converts: locals, Armenians, Persians, and Arabs. Simeon had followers - disciples, who in choosing to live close, ended up building a monastery.

Simeon started out on a 10-foot-high pillar. For the last 37 years of his life he lived on a series of ever higher pillars. His final earthly home was a 6-foot-square platform on a 60-foot-high pillar!!! Now set your imagination to work: no roof or walls ... did he cut his hair? how did he sleep? how did he eat? what about excrement? Lightening strikes were prevalent. Maybe a sign of divine displeasure?

Lord Alfred Tennyson wrote a long poem entitled "St Simeon Stylites". Here's a link if you care to read it.
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A year ago when I posted about Simeon, the picture I used was one I drew and had in my "Cycle of Celebrations" powerpoint presentation. Well ... My one present I got for Christmas was an Intuos Pen Tablet. So the above picture is my first attempt at playing with my new art toy. I put the scanned drawing into Photoshop and literally 'painted' over the sketch. Oh how fun!!!! I didn't want to stop (Dawson helped me with some pointers since he had a Photoshop class last year in college). But I just scratched the surface (still don't know how to erase) in all the potential of what it can do. Monte's graphic artist for his geology posters (they are works of art!) uses this tool. She told me to just play, she can't learn from books. But I'm taking my Photoshop Classroom in a Book with me to Texas, when I go in a week to stay with Heather ... waiting on that baby.

Velveteen House II

When there's a holiday, school break time, I am reminded of my original Velveteen House post, click here. Why? Though Dawson is still living at home while going to college, it's during these break times that our home gets more worn with wear. Like with the dialogue in the Velveteen Rabbit classic book, "by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby."

Dawson, Splarah and Conner, are currently eating jalepeno grilled cheese panini sandwiches and tomato soup they just made for themselves for lunch. They are sanding Dawson's new desk he's making in his bedroom. (He just painted his floor red, "to coordinate with the red in my ceiling!", which is red sponged over black, which him and Gary did probably a year ago, needing to re-drywall it.

Yesterday morning, walking into the kitchen, Dawson was making pancakes. Since I go into a nutrition talk when they bring home Bisquick, he was being witty, saying he was making them from scratch ... "I've already been out this morning gathering whole grains to grind, and squeezing chickens for eggs" ... Cute! ... I have to smile.

I never know who's sleeping here. Splarah and Lizzy have often been in the guest room and it's been a mix from Conner, Aaron, Caleb to Nick lately, sleeping scattered about (since Dawson's room is disastrously torn apart, with most everything in Heather's old room or the storage room next to Monte's office).

Young people were at the kitchen table drinking sparkling apple cider from goblets, and playing card games, when Monte and me got home from a party. We didn't know they'd be there since they were ice skating for New Year's Eve at Evergreen Lake. But since they were going skiing for the next two days, they decided to sleep here and leave from here.

And now that Dawson is learning to weld and forge metal, people want to participate and experience it too. So young people are wanting to hang out and play. 

House guests come and go. Like yesterday, a young couple we'd not seen for awhile were here for a bit. Everyone loves the well worn wood floor in our great room and don't think we should refinish it. Some people don't come out of the guest bathroom for awhile, cuz they're either reading or writing more graffiti on our chalkboard paint wall.

Ministering seems to come our way. This season of Monte's and my life is full of visiting young people and scientists wanting to hang out here. More memories for the walls of this Velveteen House to bounce off - memories full of stories. Like a plaque in our house says, "Home is where your story begins."