The Dark Side of the Moon

The Dark Side of the Moon, by Anonymous is a book about the terrible events that occurred when Russia took over Poland and exported to slave labor camps all those people who had ever had anything to do with national Polish loyalty.  It is maybe one of the saddest books I've ever read.  

General Sikorski Monument

Polish general and beloved hero, Wladyslaw Sikorski collected these accounts with the desire to preserve them and share them with the world which needed to know what went on so far away it might as well have been the other side of the moon, shut off from world press and beyond anyone's imagination.  The general died in a mysterious plane crash the soviet pilot managed somehow to survive.  His widow later published  the information he had collected, but did not take any credit, leaving the authorship unknown.  

When the World Seems to be Falling Apart....

....focus on family.

At a party recently, another grandma and I were talking about our favorite subject: our grandchildren, of course. She said she had designated a wall in her home for her grandchildren's art work. Each had a frame and they could replace the picture any time they wanted. What a good idea! I had been taping them to the fridge and my cupboards, but a grandchildren's art "museum" was much more appealing. So that's what I did with my stairwell wall. I only have seven contributions so far, but expect the masterpieces to increase as the grandkids see the opportunity to be featured on Gramma's art wall.

I think the contributions so far are wonderful.

The museum is open for visitors by appointment.

The Blessings of Grandchildren.... By birth and "adoption"

One of my favorite parts of the marriage ceremony is the blessing that you might see "your children and your children's children." Well...we are incredibly blessed to be expecting our 20th grandchild who is due next September. Most of 2011 will be a happy anticipation of that event with all the reports about progress and finding out whether the girls will advance their lead (currently 11-8) or whether the boys will begin to catch up.

The thing that got me thinking about grandchildren (It never takes much) was that, while browsing my bloglist, I was intrigued by "Old Bob's" post title. So I went and read about his "adopted" granddaughter. Actually, he is the adopted grandfather, since Maria initiated the honorary title. If you want to read a heartwarming message for Sunday (always a traditional family day) visit Bob's blog. And a big congratulations, Bob. Instant grandchildren are another blessing from the Lord and you aren't limited to one!

Of This and That

Visiting grandkids is always an adventure. The big adventure of our current visit to Austin is a little girl named Mary Josephine, born last Saturday weighing 7lbs 1 oz. 19 and a quarter inches long. She resembles a little rosebud with plenty of soft light brown hair and big blue eyes. She has a healthy set of lungs which kept Mom and Dad up all night Sunday into Monday, but is now settling into a civilized young lady. It is sweet to see the lineup as older brothers and sisters wait their turn to hold her. Even Andrew, three, talks about "baby sister" with awe.

That's the big excitement, but there are minor adventures. One unexpected one happened in the shower. I guess I'm compulsive, but I tend to clean while I'm in the shower, wiping down all the level places. This shower has a window ledge covered with shampoo and conditioner bottles. I was moving things and wiping when I came upon a little bag of something I thought was potpourri. I picked it up and some spilled out into the shower exploding around my feet. Fortunately I have a strong heart. It was certainly a wake up call to find the little "poppers" (left over from July 4th I presume) in the shower. The humidity hadn't diminished their power and I was surprised nobody banged on the door to see what in the world I was doing in there.

So now I'm on guard. What else is in store for me on this visit? Adventures galore I'm sure. That's the joy of family, especially grandchildren and we are surely blessed with a gaggle of those. Little Mary Josephine is number nineteen. Holding her and marveling at her perfection reminds me of Mother Teresa's comments about children -- "Can there ever be too many flowers?" Certainly not in the grandchild garden. Thank you, Lord, for family.

And one last entry. My husband was rereading To Kill a Mockingbird in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of its publication. And now that he's finished I've picked it up again as well. What a lovely book! Atticus Finch is one of the hero-fathers of American literature. Not big and strong physically like the John Wayne heroes. But a character as strong as the anvil the blacksmith uses to hammer the plow head. Scout, however, is too young to realize what a great man her daddy is. In fact, his lack of accomplishments embarrasses her until she sees the town sheriff pass his rifle to Atticus when their town is threatened by a mad dog. "I can't shoot that well, and you know it," he says. Atticus calmly takes aim, shoots, and the dog drops. Scout is bemused that her father never told them about this secret talent.He should be proud of it, she believes. When she tells the neighbor, Miss Maudie,  the wise lady replies, "People in their right minds never take pride in their talents."

I think this may be my favorite quote in the book. It's food for a meditation on humility.

May you have a day filled with eye (and ear) popping adventures that celebrate life!

Of Dinosaurs, Mocking Birds, and Grandchildren

Why are children so fascinated by dinosaurs? My five-year-old granddaughter brought me a clear plastic ball this morning with a miniature dinosaur inside it and asked me what it was. She wasn't satisfied with "a dinosaur;" she knew that already. She wanted to know what kind of dinosaur it was. That led us to the computer and a website for kids with dozens of dinosaurs of all types: plant eaters, raptors, dinosaurs with birds feet or duck-type bills. I never knew there were so many dinosaurs. We spent an interesting fifteen minutes checking out a few before she decided she had other important business and wandered off.  

While we were looking at the dinosaurs a mocking bird dropped by on the holly bush outside the window and started eating the small red berries growing on it. I never saw one eat before. They never come to my bird feeder. Sunflower seed must not be on their menu. This little fellow stayed for two or three minutes popping berries and I loved seeing him up close. Mocking birds are a favorite of mine. They are the town crier of the bird world. They fly to a rooftop or a high branch and chortle in all their various calls as if to share all the daily news. They fascinate me. And I love to see them fly with their wonderful white band across their tailfeathers and wings.

My birdfeeders are always filled with a wide assortment of birds. Some are shy like the little brown wren; some are bullies like the blue jay, but all of them are fun to watch and can entertain my grandchildren even longer than the dinosaurs on the computer.

What do you get for your investment in parenthood?

The Price of Children has been circulating the internet. It starts by repeating government estimates for how much it costs to raise a child to age 18 which groups like Planned Parenthood and Zero Population Growth use to scare folks into childlessness. But this post explains exactly what you get for your money beginning with Naming rights. First, middle, and last!, Glimpses of God every day., Giggles under the covers every night., and More love than your heart can hold.

If you're a parent who needs a lift read it. Even if you're going through tough times with your kids, know that the love and commitment you make will bear fruit in the end. Remember the proverb: "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he won't depart from it."

I personally had a great illustration of the return parents receive for all their love and hard work when my oldest posted a mother's day tribute yesterday on her blog. It was worth a million dollars. But the biggest return of all is grandchildren.

About Grandchildren and C.S. Lewis

My favorite companions are my grandchildren (except for my husband, of course.). I don't care what we do together: play dominoes, read stories, jump on the trampoline, throw rocks in the river -- it is all just an excuse to be together. Children fascinate me because they haven't lost the wonder of living. I think part of the reason, as Charles Dickens said, is because they are "so fresh from God."

C.S. Lewis was another lover of children and he understood them very well which I find fascinating because he was a confirmed old bachelor who married a widow late in life, only then, finally becoming the stepfather of two young boys. He had already written his famous Narnia tales and engaged in extensive correspondence with his young fans, a correspondence that showed his absolute respect for them. One of my favorite letters he wrote to Lucy on September 14, 1957. "I am so glad you like the Narnian stories and it was nice of you to write and tell me," he wrote. "Do you know Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. I think you w[oul]d like it....It makes me, I think, more humble than proud to know that Aslan has allowed me to be the means of making Him more real to you. Because He could have used anyone -- as He made a donkey preach a good sermon to Balaam." His humility and sense of humor both shine in the charming picture of himself as a donkey for Jesus!

There is no talking down to Lucy in Lewis' letter. Whether she knows the biblical story of Balaam or not, Lewis gives Lucy enough information to figure out exactly what he is talking about. Children, he said often in his letters, understood the symbolism of Aslan as a Christ figure when adults did not. I can relate to that because when we went to see the movie version of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, we had an amusing exchange with the man selling popcorn. Presumably he had seen the film more than once. "I finally figured it out," he told us proudly. "The professor is the lion." I had to stifle a laugh because I didn't want to offend him. He illustrated Lewis' point so perfectly.

C.S. Lewis must have been childlike in the best sense of the word. He had a real sense of wonder about the world and the One who created it. If you want to get some measure of the man, reading his Letters to Children is a good place to start.

Bear break!

I love living in the country! Ever since we moved to the Shenandoah Valley we've had a continuous source of entertainment in our own yard. Deer wander through our field and nibble off the apple trees next to the house. A doe and her two small spotted fawns are regular visitors. We have an on-going contest with the resident groundhog to see who will get the most tomatoes from the garden. If we could train him to eat whole tomatoes instead of taking bites out of a dozen, we'd be satisfied. The hummingbirds engage in a continuous argument at the feeder over who will eat first. When we trade the hummingbird feeders for birdseed in a few weeks we'll have a wide variety of feathery friends coming to the window. The wildlife can even engage the grandchildren more than a video or computer game!

But yesterday was a real first for us. Our next door neighbor called at lunchtime to say there was a bear in a tree down the street. We hopped in the car along with three visiting grandkids and, sure enough, a few blocks from the town's "business district" was a little bear up a tree right in front of a house, only about fifty feet from the its front door. According to our neighbor a full-grown bear was hit by a car and killed last week and she guessed this might have been her cub. The little one was drawing a crowd and the poor thing looked frightened. Our four-year-old grandson, Ryan, immediately claimed the critter calling him "my bear."

A few minutes after we arrived the police came and shooed everyone off. We asked for St. Francis' intercession on the way home to lead the little beast to safety. Later my husband passed by on the way to an appointment and saw three police cars with officers standing around the tree scratching their heads about the situation. What does one do with an underage bear trespassing in a tree?

Well they must have figured it out because when my husband returned a few hours later the police and the bear were gone. We hope the little one got taken back up into the mountains. He was an adolescent, old enough to be on his own, but he certainly needs to be in a less tense environment.

Which brings me to a good point for Christians. When Jesus told his followers to "flee the city" he probably didn't have our bear in mind - but living in the country is surely a friendlier environment for the human species. If you want proof, talk to my grandchildren.