Today Is Just the Beginning

It's not a perfect time in history, but it is a "turning" point in life. The situation is world-wide and basically, no matter the country, color, age, or lifestyle, we are all facing a very major change - in some ways for the better.
Here in the United States, we did find out that we don't have to "drive" to the corner for the paper, and that our children can walk to events and school. While saving at the pump, we found a healthy excuse to use our feet and find out just how exhilarating walking with our kids can be. They even enjoyed it which was no surprise. Kids are resilient and they appreciate the "time" not the "method" of getting from here to there.
We now find that the metal box holding the morning newspaper just might become a part of past history as newspapers find readership slowing and advertising money fading away. However, meeting the neighbors and "getting the news" from your area is more pleasant, more personal, and gives you a "heads up" to what is going to affect your area. In the process, you begin to bring together friendships and acquaintances that were "missed" as you sped by with your to-do list in hand every morning.
Now we come to stores closing and major chains locking their doors for the last time. This is sad for the workers but this also eliminates the excuse for that "quick" gift or card that you grabbed, probably never reading it, but knowing it was important only in the fact that you sent it. Not so in today's mindset. Everyone has boxes of "supplies" whether they are sewing, scrapbooking, or just plain a little of this or that. It is a perfect setting for meeting with family, friends, or neighbors and "creating" your own invitations, birthday cards, anniversary remembrances, or even "sunshine" tokens, such as Get Well, and "We are here for you" type of cards. When someone has suffered a major mishap or just let the economy and world situation hit them like a brick wall, going to the mail box and finding a "strange" envelope there is a bright beginning to healing. It is, of course, hand made but so creatively done and signed by the neighborhood, your church, or a group of friends that only knew each other by name but never by heart. Now things are different - meeting for coffee is not "gossip" time but a chance to share and find out how a bit of "give and take" will make children's parties a combined effort and really more fun for the kids. It is welcoming the holidays as "home and family" time and making sure that fun, and togetherness are the active ingredients in your festive undertakings.
It is looking around your home, taking note, and realizing that your pillows on the sofa need a bit of refurbishing and curtain tie-backs that are "seasonal" would give your windows a lift. Don't grab your purse with the charge cards in it, that's a big no-no today. Grab your library card and head out to that impressive building with the walls filled with books. Ideas are between two covers, and pages are just waiting to be turned as innovation and creativity practically grab you by the hand and lead you down a path of "I can do this."
Whether your new found excitement is in gardening (to save on food bills), on sewing (even an apron for when you begin baking again) or scrapbooking (making memories that won't be put on a shelf but in a picture frame or card that will not only highlight an event but give it a lasting, pleasant impression), it is time to use your "natural" resources and make-do, make-new, and make-it-better abilities.
No time is better than now to dust off the cobwebs that may have gathered because "convenience" was easier. It never was quite right and you know it. Hand made or better known as heart-made is the mantra for today and it has so many strings attached to it. There are strings of accomplishment, completion, enjoyment, and togetherness. Not bad for getting up in the morning and realizing that life does go forward and so can you. It is seeing the sunshine and ignoring the storm clouds for a bit. It is looking at your hands and realizing that yes, they are the finest tools this old world ever had - and that yes, you can do it, but you need to get started. Something to think about
©Arleen M. Kaptur March, 2009

Gardening - A History of Love and Life

When warm breezes blow and the sun shines on more days than not, it is time to begin the task of preparing and getting a garden together. It might just be a small plot, a container garden on a patio or porch, or several acres if you are so blessed. Whatever the space available, it is one of the most enjoyable, and healthiest pasttimes around. There is actually something "spiritual" about a handful of soil and a seed - each attending to a task of producting fantastic blooms of color and aroma, crisp and tasty vegetables and fruits, and herbs to tantalize and set any dish to higher standards.
Many who garden also enjoy scrapbooking or crafting. These ventures can be joined together and you can have the best of all worlds right there at your fingertips. If you garden with children, then the sense of unity, ancestry, and shared quality time is priceless. Many years ago, I visited a garden that gave me an incentive to try my hand at "naming" the wondrous flowers and succulent vegetables that I grew. While the packages of seeds already come with names, they really had no meaning to me or to anyone I gave the "Grand Tour" of my garden plot to. It just seemed like the perfect melting together of personal history and gardening success. Scrapbooking supplies provide the material for some fantastic yard signs at the end of a row of peas, or green peppers. They also can decorate a rose garden or a planter filled with fragrant flowers and set on a porch just outside the entry way of a house. These "markers" can give a hint of fun and laughter or a sentimental reminder of those we love and cherish. If roses were Grandpa's favorite gardening pursuit, then a small sign highlighting his love of tea roses can give him the honor of having his name on a banner proclaiming to all that he did have a hand in keeping the tradition of sachet scents greeting visitors to his home a while back. So "Grandpa Mike's American Beauty Roses" is a tribute, and one that will bring back fond memories as you work in the garden or just admire the unbelievable floral treasures that are yours in the height of summer. In the vegetable garden, cherry tomatoes are a quick snack and a very tasty treat as you well remember when you visited Aunt Betty's house for a Fourth of July picnic. So a garden sign giving her the "honor" of Aunt Betty's Red Ruby Tomato Gems will make you smile every time you pop one in your mouth delighting in the warmth from the sun and the "splash" of juice and tomato goodness with just one bite. There could be signposts for your best friend who lives miles away (Sherry's Green Goddess Green Peppers) or for a friend who always makes the best pies (Lydia's Azure Blue Blueberries).
This is not only a whole lot of fun, it makes your daily gardening chores a trip into friendship and family. It allows small children to relate to being part of the success and accomplishment of family and friends, who they may never have met, but whose lives they can now touch through something as simple as a garden signpost. A venture like this combines gardening with crafting and scrapbooking and those photographs of your child standing in a patch of Uncle Harvey's Candy Sweet Strawberries is another contribution from the garden.
So using your imagination and creativity just got a bit more "personal" but a whole lot more fun - now that's a harvest of some very good things all put together.
Something to think about
©Arleen M. Kaptur February, 2008