ONE BILLION RISING

On April 18, 2016 I checked out of the local library the newest issue of Time Magazine, dated as such.  One of the articles in that issue,

moved me to tears, copious tears.  Not only was I moved to tears, I was moved to do something.  I decided to undertake a 100 Day Project in which I would keep these victims close to my heart, think about them daily, and write a poem, as well.

My daughter Jonel had made a lovely book for me for my birthday, so lovely I was reluctant to write in it.  I thought this a good project for this book.

Each day I wrote something in this book, starting with the opening page above...

and this, page one.  I divided each page into quarters in order to get the 100 I needed.  

The first poem I wrote:

(Day 1)

For Mary

It is a warm, lovely, sun-filled day,

     I hear the birds singing

as I sit here on the deck

     clean and quiet after a bath.

Yet I am deep inside somewhere

     so black and ugly and dirty

I am the weight of the universe.

Here in my unsullied world,

     pencil moving across this page,

I am safe and privileged,

      protected from the ravages of war,

while Mary, far across the seas   

     in South Sudan,

has watched soldiers kill her husband and sons,

     watched as they took her ten year old daughter

and repeatedly raped her…

and Mary watched,

and then Mary watched her die.

Another news item, excellent reporting to be sure,

     yet we read it distantly,

surely with anguish, but momentary

     and soon we get on with our lives,

and Mary is forgotten,

     or lost in our busyness.

Inured, we are inured to such news,

     so common it only pricks us

instead of stabs and bludgeons us

     with its brutality.

We are a people,

     we are a world,

what is done to one

     is done to all.

4/19/16

 ...following is a small selection of poems from throughout the project...

(Day 9)

For the Unnamed Women

I have written eight poems,

     for eight women named,

but what of the masses

     of unnamed women,

women who live in shame

     and sorrow,

women who are shunned

     and still misused?

What of all those women

     in all those countries,

mere objects to be demeaned,

     defiled in ways only

a man could do?

What of those hordes of women

     I have not read about,

the hordes of little girls

     raped and ruined?

What of them,

     I ask myself,

what of them?

4/27/16

    

(Day 53)

Unmentioned Women

All the unmentioned women and girls,

     the unnamed raped,

spirits hovering the newspaper article,

     the article that clearly said,

‘seventeen men, one a ten year old boy,

     executed by pro-government forces,

raped and misused women lumped under

     ‘mistreatment’ and ‘torture’’,

they call out to be named.

We need to make clear

     blatantly public,

the sex crimes perpetrated

     in these war torn countries.

We need to bellow and holler

     these atrocities,

name them clearly,

     take responsibility,

make them our own…

and not add to the crimes

     by omission.

6/10/16

These are from days 65 to 68...

...and the last two poems I wrote.

(Day 99)

A Tiny Stirring

You do not know of this,

     my Hundred Day Journey,

how each and every morning

     I brought you close,

embraced you in my heart,

     held you high in my mind

and wished these acts

     had power, real power

and could have truly reached

    out to you with comfort.

Perhaps somewhere in your misery

     a tiny stirring happened,

perhaps a ripple of my love

     and care and concern

reached out to you with a touch

     that softened,

if only for a moment

     your dire world.

7/26/16

(Day 100)

Carrying You Close

How to pen this last,

     this 100^th poem,

how to end this vigil

     I have kept,

how to do tomorrow

     without sitting down

with you?

This seems difficult,

     perhaps impossible,

surely poignant and sad,

     yet, I know you all

have come to dwell in me

     and altered me in ways

both grave and permanent.

I will not abandon you,

     and pray that carrying you close

has somehow become known to you.

7/27/16

and this is the back cover with a photo of Aryn Baker, the author of the article.

Tomorrow, February 14, 2017 is the day that people all around the world will be coming together in support of violence and rape against women...it is called One Billion Rising....see link below.

The 2017 Campaign - One Billion Rising Revolution

www.onebillionrising.org/about/campaign/

1 in 3 women across the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. That's ONE BILLION WOMEN AND GIRLS. Every February, we rise – in hundreds of ...

Last Saturday this event occurred in La Crosse, WI, as the venue was not available on the 14th.  A large group of women and men and children attended.  

I was asked to read selections from my 100 Day Project, and I was proud to be among the women and men who publicly came together to rally against such violence.

If we all come together, if only in thought and heart, we will make a difference.

BUSHWACKING

There has been little opportunity to ski this year, way too much ice and rain.  However, yesterday, along with Andy and Elsa we set out to 'ski' Hay Valley with Freddie as our guide.

Bushwacking is skiing where there is no trail, and it is my favorite kind of cross-country skiing, but yesterday was really a challenge.  

This is what much of the area we skied looked like.  That turquoise spot back there is Freddie making his way through the brush. 

We 'skied' much of the two hours through terrain like this.  Andy forging his own way.

Not only was there much brush to navigate, but miles of slick ice where our poles could not get purchase....still it was fun and the glide was smooth.

She always laughed when she fell, which was not all that frequently.  I must say when we started out I presumed that this seven year old would just kind of ski and that we would have to tone down our usual skiing....NO WAY, Elsa is a real skier, and I am not kidding.  I was just blown away by her athletic ability and how she just seemed to know how to maneuver around whatever presented itself.  She in no way held us back, and at times set the pace for all of us.   

Andy, Elsa and I just before we ski the ice.

We even climbed a hill through the woods to reach this vast and beautiful field...Elsa wanted to ski in some open space.  This was beautiful skiing and provided some hills that she very much wanted to ski down.

Preparing to fly down the hill. 

And she did, often in the crouch-sit position.  

It was truly a lovely day. a bit of cold wind, but down in the woods we were protected.  

A day of blessings!!

THERE'S ICE AND THEN THERE'S ICE

Sunday brought us on another stunning hike on the Reserve.  The Ice shows were incredible....

ice falls like those above are abundant...

...as are frozen 'streams' everywhere...

and believe me both Freddie and I cannot appreciate this beauty enough...we love winter hiking and the display nature sets before us...



HOWEVER

the ice show surrounding our house leaves much to be desired, most of all safety...
This is the sidewalk directly out our back door, and it has been like this for days despite constant salting.

This is the walkway directly outside the back door to the right, leading to the driveway...

a view of the driveway leading to my workshop

looking towards Jug Creek Road, and despite our patrol man sanding our driveway often, it is still almost impossible to navigate...

just another view towards my workshop

...again...

Looking towards Jug Creek Road from the deck on my workshop.

And below, the only way I can negotiate the 'paths' to and fro is by putting on these ice studs.

This has been going on for a week now and we have layer upon layer of ice and sand, ice and sand...

Still, it is beautiful.

TODAY

Bitter cold today, I couldn't seem to get warm in the house despite a blanket and kitten on my lap and a heating pad behind my back.  Still, the sun was out and it seemed so beautiful that Freddie and I set out for a hike along the Kickapoo River.

We went in not far from the 'Million Dollar Bride' otherwise know as the Rockton Bridge.

Hiked down to the river and almost immediately upon our descent we were surrounded by the beautiful!!

We walked along massive rock outcroppings below which were 'fields' of ice, which were really smooth and wide enough to skate upon were one so inclined.

Freddie walking along the ice...

The water floes were everywhere, and everywhere astounding.

Nothing to look at that wasn't beautiful...

Bundled up warm and toasty.

The Kickapoo River with open water down the middle.

We didn't hike long, only about an hour and a half, but it was so refreshing, renewing and relaxing.  There is something about this area that soothes the soul, perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the glaciers all those many long years ago, split and went around this area, leaving intact these ancient hills.

I think the Earth's spirit reaches out when we are open and listening.

MEET OSCAR

Ever since June, Iris, Elsa and I have been volunteering every Tuesday at the Vernon County Humane Society.  To say the girls love doing this is a true understatement...it is the highlight of their week.  They are real troupers at it, too, doing lots of loving and grooming and petting of animals, but also cleaning cages, feeding, doing laundry, sweeping, etc.  

There have been several animals that we have fallen in love with, of course, but they especially took to Oscar, a rescue kitten, found at about 3-4 weeks old beside a dumpster, frightened and emaciated.  He has been at the shelter since October.  He is one we feed, play with and love each week.  The girls have been on me to take Oscar home...Nonnie, you need a cat at home.  

Prior to my marriage to Freddie, I always had cats, often more then one at a time.  Freddie, however, has never been involved with household pets, that is until Iris and Elsa took Freddie on as their next project.  They wrote notes to him describing the plus side of having a kitten, brought him books on cats, found lots and lots of silly jokes about cats, among many other ploys to soften him.

I, too, began to push for Oscar.  Finally, though reluctantly, Freddie gave in and now

Oscar lives in our home!

Rightly proud of their endeavor...

...and I, of course, love Oscar, who, I believe loves me back.  He is a sweet, very mellow fellow, now about 4 and a half months old.  He has been with us a week today, and really is calm, sweet, and seemingly very, very good.

We (Freddie also, I think) are happy to have rescued him from life in a small cage, and he is so happy to live on Jug Creek.

On another note, in preparation for Christmas, as I have since our life in South Dakota in the 60's-70's, I made several Christmas Tea Rings to give to family, friends and neighbors.

Tea ring is traditional in our Christmas morning brunch.

On another no, every Sunday morning I make up a batch of bread dough for our Sunday pizza/movie night.  Recently I saw a photo that looked somewhat like the loaf below and I recreated it.  A braided loaf with pizza sauce, pepperoni and cheese inside...which turned out to be absolutely delicious.

And on to more serious thoughts as Andy awaits his latest body scan on January 5th.  It is two years now since his diagnosis of cancer, two years of medical interventions, scans, radiation, and much, much more.  Andy looks marvelous and feels wonderful as I write this, and we are so grateful for his apparent good health all the while we are praying for good results on the 5th.

Andy is truly up there with the most amazing people I know, way at the top of the list, perhaps he even heads it, although I know he would deny it and be embarrassed by my saying so.  But truly he has led us all through this trying time in the most positive of ways.  He is such a role model for me, and for all as well.  I am so blessed to have this man as my son (in-law), for him to be my daughter's partner in life, and the father of my granddaughters.  May his coming days be filled with good health, blessings and be free from cancer.

I am so grateful to all of you out there who keep Andy in your thoughts and your prayers, I know it matters.

ON THIS MY 75TH BIRTHDAY

I awoke to a cool and foggy morning, though I pray the sun today, this my 75th birthday.  

I pray the sun today not merely to shine upon me, but the world as well.  How we need the sun, its warmth and its glory and its pervasive reach.  I love the sun.

Today I reflect on these many years that are mine, totally unable to relate the number 75 to myself...age and time are such tricksters.  

Blindsided

Right from the start

old age,

patient and knowing,

waited.

Lost in years

of youth and

vigor

I am startled

by this collision

and the truth

of myself.

Yet how blessed am I to have these years, my health, my family and the good earth, itself.  My life overflows with blessings, abounds with blessings, shouts to me each day the thrill of being.

Looking back over my life I cannot tally the blessings that I have nor the joys that have been mine...and those that grace my life today. 

My parents, my siblings, my daughter, my son (in-law) and my granddaughters, my husband adorn my life in ways I cannot describe.  They fill me with so much love and pleasure I sometimes feel that I will burst with it all.

My mother and my siblings...granted several (to put it mildly) years ago.

My mother Sarah

My father, Bart.

My siblings and me a mere three years ago.

My daughter Jonel and husband Andy.

Jonel, Elsa and Iris

My husband Freddie

There is so much that each of these folks have given me...

*my parents: my life and love unbounded

*my siblings: constant love, unending support, and joy and         happiness

*my daughter: so much pride in who she is, how she lives her life, how she parents, and all that she is

*my son (in-law) who, too, has given me so much pride in knowing him, one of the finest men I have ever met

*Iris and Elsa...for these two girls I cannot find the words nor would I have the space to enumerate all that they have added to my life...they are the true light of my later years

*my husband who is my prince charming in so many ways

*and I cannot forget the Earth beneath my feel and all that I have gained, over my years from its power and its spirit

Being of Things

My face, nestled softly in the dense

     moss, deep in the forest,

I could not help myself,

     child of the woods was I,

no different than the trees,

     the moss, the sweet air all around.

Only six, yet I was entered

     by the Being of Things

and ever after knew something

     I could not say.

Whatever God might be,

     I knew in some profound way,

yet all this life of mine,

     I have struggled,

sometimes darkly,

     to make Him more real.

6/22/14

And so I enter this day of my birth with such thankfulness and gratitude, love for all of you, love for this earth, and hopes that we, as a nation, as a world, will unite and grow towards goodness, truth and beauty.

TIME HAS FLOWN

It seems like a long time since I have entered a new post, and this one will be somewhat brief.

I spent several weeks preparing for a dinner for 82 people, for which I made the entire spread.  The dinner was a big success and although I did bring my camera, I failed (being quite busy) to take any photos.  

Here, however is a copy of the menu.

The girls and I continue to volunteer each week at the Humane Society, and they continue to love it devotedly. 

Here the girls are sorting the laundry, organizing the laundry shelves, and emptying out the dryer.

One of their favorite kittens.  There are many, many cats at the Humane Society, and we try to take each one out of their enclosure and play with it and let it run around a bit.  It is not always possible to get to every one of them, however.

A new, very sweet and loving puppy arrived last week, and the girls were so happy that Ruby was still there, despite they would love for her to go to a good home.  (They keep trying to get me to take her home.)  We walked Ruby out doors and then brought her into the playroom where she would venture after a toy but immediately bring it back to one of the girls lap.  This puppy is really beautiful, and we decided that she....

looked very much like Elsa...beautiful dark eyes and dark, dark brows.  Elsa loved that she had a 'twin'.

These girls are truly dedicated to helping out here, and will do any job that needs doing or that is asked of them.  Last week we cleaned, organized and straightened out the very messy garage.  I am so proud of them and their selflessness.