October 31- Mindful Monday Summary

"For twelve years we MacDonalds have been living on an island in Puget Sound. There is no getting away from it, life on an island is different from life in the St. Francis Hotel, but you can get used to it, can even grow to like it."

Opening lines from "Onions In The Stew" by Betty MacDonald

My Photo Before Dawn

   

 Today is the last day of my 31 Days of Writing in October. The month went much more slowly because each morning was dedicated to paying attention to what I know and want to know about the place I live. As I scroll through the posts I see what we as a family have been doing for 30 years on this island. I see posts about our homes, people we taught, help we received, and the beauty surrounding us. A blessing was cast over us when we decided to make the ferry travel permanent.  

Photo by Kent Phelen

   I hope my writing has improved. If it has it would be because I have faithfully followed three bloggers, who write very well, during their own 31 Days of Writing.
   Let me introduce you to Michelle from Pen and Hive. Her subject this October was 
"You: Sustainable: A Guide to Small Improvements for a Better Life." From her writing I learned to look at my own habits and desired goals. Are they sustainable? Will I be able to continue with them for the next 20 years? My performance needs some tweaking but overall I think I can sustain the life I'm living now for many years to come.

   Lesley from "Life In The Spacious Place", is a favorite blogger friend from Scotland. She chose to share Christian music everyday. Inspirational stories from those songs helped me learn how the composer was inspired. You can see her table of context here.

  Lastly, I followed Annie, from "Sharing Stories Of Life and Faith", through a very interesting discussion of StrengthFinder,a book written by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton, first published in 2001. At the heart of the book is the internet based "Clifton Strengths Finder," an online personal assessment test which will outline the user's strengths. The authors advocate focusing on building strengths rather than focusing on weaknesses. Annie wrote personal stories about recognizing her own strengths and how these strengths influence her family. I found myself looking carefully at my own and feeling grateful that they come naturally to me. Things that come easily are not to be discounted. 

    I wish I could have read more posts by other bloggers. I did stop in, now and then, to read others and cheer for those who finished and for those who started and found it wasn't the right time. In the coming months I will continue writing on Mindful Mondays, where I write about my word Mindful of 2016 and on Fridays with Five Minute Friday, where writers give their full attention to expressing their thoughts based on five minutes. I hope to pop back in with Ann Dee Ellis  as she leaves some prompts on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Through that group I met Dalene, from "The Compulsive Writer", whose prose really fire up my thinking.

   Again, thank-you for reading along my journey. I love this island which I call home. Rest assured I will be leaving pictures and stories for months to come. 

If you missed some posts click here to see the other days of writing.

October 30- Meditation And Prayer

              As the dew from heav'n distilling,

                 Gently on the grass descends
                  And revives it, thus fulfilling
                 What thy providence intends,

Over the last few months meditation has become a daily practice. My Christian worship needed revitalization. Prayers were becoming too rote, church service too tiring, and at the heart of my lack was a reactive mind. How could my Heavenly Father send his dew from heaven when I was not listening with attention? So I turned to meditation experts who knew how the mind works and who can give tools to quiet the reactive mind. Here is a inner script of my reactive mind:

I'm going to meditate for 15 minutes. In and out, my breath seems jagged. Wish I had more stomach muscles so that I could feel them engage when I hold my breath. Hold my breath? Why am I holding my breath? Oh yeah, extend your breath by slightly holding at the inhale and the exhale. My foot feels jammed into the floor. I should put a blanket on my mat to make it softer. Knees are tight but not bad. Ahh, my knees, when will I get a doctor's opinion about whether they are shot? I hate doctors. No time to start that process. I'm holding my breath again. Long exhale.........I should scan my shoulders. Are they tight? Tiny twinge in my neck. That is where I hold all my tension. I'll put my shoulders back and sit up straighter. That feels good. Has it been 15 minutes yet? Peeking at the clock......What, only three minutes have passed. I think I may found the secret to stopping time. Meditation!

This is funny but entirely true. How does meditation assist my spiritual life? Here is a example. I saw a picture of my oldest grandson being embraced by his family at the airport as he arrived home after a two year church mission. My daughter lives far away and right now, we are dis-connected, estranged, really. I tight pain seized my heart as I looked at their faces of joy. I felt excluded. Then my mind started down a story path of how I was unlovable to them. I took a deep breath. Then a curiosity opened about how this pain inhabits my body. I asked how it feels and where exactly I feel it. The notion that I was unloveable came into focus. Was that true? It was at this moment that I was able to feel the spirit. He held me gently, but firmly. Love flooded my being. Loving-kindness towards my daughter and her family replaced the old mental story. May they be happy, may they have peace, may they be healthy; these words replaced the thoughts of my ego mind. Yes, the ego mind makes it hard for Heavenly Father to communicate. Truly, he is an enemy to God. 

The twenty minutes of practice in the morning is strengthening my mind, making it more able to listen and perceive things as they really are. 

God's providence is intended to fall upon us as dew, but we must be able to absorb the blessings.

Let thy doctrine, Lord, so gracious,

Thus descending from above,

Blest by thee, prove efficacious

To fulfill thy work of love.

I am writing for 31 days this October about Island Life. Click here to see the other days of writing.

October 29- Our Island Library

I must say I find television very educational. The minute somebody turns it on, I go to the library and read a good book. 

Groucho Marx

Our island library is a most beautiful space. Newly renovated, it has plentiful windows that provide light and warmth. I go there at least once a week and usually I stop and just sit. My heart rate goes down and I bask in the comfort of quiet and non-commercialism.

   When my family was young we loaded everyone up to go explore at the library on Monday nights. Each child migrated to a different section and cozied up to the shelves while stretching out their legs in the aisle. My husband only enjoyed reading books to the children which entertained him, as well. He would peruse the children's section and balance a huge stack all the way home.

     "I assure you that public libraries as we know them today considerably predate the 1950s. In fact, they date back to the nineteenth century--in other words, almost to the dawn of time.
       You may already have run across this while googling ancient history, but I'll tell you anyway: A man named Amit Anu had the title "Tabl Keeper" at the royal library at Ur in roughly 2000 BC. He was the earliest known librarian. No word if he was the first to tell unruly sixth-graders to shush."

                               The Straight Dope

     We, as tax payers, have kept this wonderful institution going. I don't begrudge paying money for this benefit. I even like paying my overdue fines. That amount is so much lower than when we had a full house. Librarians have kept me full of ideas for homeschooling, they pointed out the best read aloud books for my Music and Movement classes, and best, they keep me from buying a constant flow of books I would never read twice. They are an island treasure. I bet you love your public library, too.

I am writing for 31 days this October about Island Life. Click here to see the other days of writing.

October 28- Eating From the Farm

“The soil is the great connector of lives, the source and destination of all. It is the healer and restorer and resurrector, by which disease passes into health, age into youth, death into life. Without proper care for it we can have no community, because without proper care for it we can have no life.” 

Wendell Berry

The farm season is drawing to a close. Dried squash vines lie haphazard in the fields like cords coming from behind computers and monitors. Tomato plants hang in their cages, curled from mildew and early morning frost. Island farms are jewels in the crown of island life. Saturday Market is almost over and many of us are mourning the loss of fresh Swiss chard, kale, and those beautiful salad greens laced with Johnny Jump Up flowers. 

   To raise your own food and then market it to others is a brave endeavor. Your vegetables could rot in the rain, your cow escape and be killed by a car on the highway, or a sudden heat wave could wilt all your lettuce.  But, a farmer meets each challenge with resolve. She will plant again, buy a new cow, make more cheese, and artfully arrange whatever is fresh in the stand. 

My favorite part of going to the farm stand is wondering what is available. To peek into the farm fridge and find not only fresh milk and eggs, but, Fromage made with tiny chives is a delight. Holding a bouquet of curly kale makes me giddy. Knowing my farmers personally is comforting because I trust their claims. If they say they are organic I believe them and see first hand what means they achieve this end.  Eating is important to my family and island life makes us aware of abundance not just quantity.

I am writing for 31 days this October about Island Life. Click here to see the other days of writing.

Welcome FMF friends and thank-you for reading my words.

October 26- An Island Artist

"I paint simple things – the things I see, am attached to and love. Every subject contains an essence that belongs to just that moment. I get to be with that feeling while I translate it into the poetry of paint. As I become more aware, I keep learning that truth is everywhere. Painting is my way to see and tell the truth. I hope that I’ll inspire others to look twice at the beauty of their everyday lives...and to find their own way of expressing that."

Pam Ingalls

Pam Ingalls is an island artist with longevity and substance. Twice a year, at least, I spend time at her gallery show. Her subjects vary from Italian scenes, Central American images, and best, her shows of island residents. She calls herself a Russian Impressionist. I think of her as a magician with light.

Year after year I would buy her postcards, risk saying a few words to her, and take her images etched onto my mind. About fifteen years ago, while at her showing, my husband mentioned that I taught piano. She exclaimed that she had a dream of taking piano lessons. A plan was hatched. I would teach her piano and she would give me a painting. Her moderate sized pieces were then $1200. That meant a year of lessons. 

Week after week I sat beside her and guided her through scales, chords, and pieces that I hoped captured her interest. With long fingers, sometimes dotted with paint, I encouraged her to be patient as muscles and tendons moved new ways. She was very humble to try a new pursuit. It didn't come easily. I learned that she was a very hard worker. For thirty years she had supported herself as an artist. Her life was simple but at the same time very adventuresome. Our lessons had sporadic gaps when she was off in Italy painting with students. For all the romance surrounded the profession of artist I found Pam to be grounded and kind. 

   

    You may be wondering what painting I acquired in exchange for the lessons. She could have given me anything from her studio but she chose to paint something new, just for me. Taking pictures around my home, she settled on my teaching corner. We brought out a cello my husband was restoring and when my daughter told her that the cello was named Pete, she named the painting, Pete At The Piano.

Pam is just one of many island artists I know and appreciate. I shared her story because she sowed a seed within me to try painting myself. My home has more paintings which I received in trade for piano lessons. This one started a collection. Each piece of art has a personal story and I so admire the artists whose work is on my walls. 

You can find out more about Pam Ingalls here. Tomorrow I tell about how I braved the world of paint, canvas, and brushes.

I am writing for 31 days this October about Island Life. Click here to see the other days of writing.

October 25- Our Island Artist Community

"The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider's web." 

Pablo Picasso

    We are an artist community. Right on the bank building, artist William Forrester painted the history of our island. Depicted are our first settlers who landed on our shores, then the farmers who civilized the forests, and also those that founded the first bank, the mural was funded by the bank, after all.

 
 

 

 Not to be forgotten are the many musicians, who are always present at community gatherings, who are lined up in the painting like music notes on a staff. The mural is an example of the presence of the artist here. Walking down the street galleries show dressed up canvases much like window displays in the city. Musicians play in restaurants every weekend.

   Knowing local artists has slowly dispelled the mystique surrounding the artist way. They are not magic, peculiar, or blessed by heaven in some way. They have surrendered to the call to take pencils, paint, paper, and reorganize the tools into expressions of deep feeling. Their inner light shines more brightly when they play their violin, guitar, or whale on a piano. I don't run in their circles, but, yet I do. I am on the fringe. The tipping point to owning my desires came when I first gave piano lessons to an artist in exchange for a painting. Tomorrow I will write about our collaboration.

 

I am writing for 31 days this October about Island Life. Click here to see the other days of writing.

October 22- Guest Blogger Andrew

  

Today my son, Andrew, is writing as a guest
blogger. His visits to the island are frequent and so appreciated.                        

 Island Dying  

When I die, I want to be buried on the island. I want some part of me to be permanently attached to this place. Something more substantial, more material, more earthy, than a number on a census report, or a name in the high school yearbook.  

So much of my time now I spend doing things in the air. Sharing documents in the cloud. Sending messages that destroy themselves in ten seconds. Taking pictures that will never be printed.  

My memories of growing up on the island are as crisp and fresh as a newspaper just off the press. But the places that support those memories are falling down and disappearing. Burton Elementary, located over a bridge with mudflats so thick and brown they looked like pudding to my second grade eyes, was turned into a skateboard park. Vashon Elementary, along the main road, was torn down over a decade ago. When it was vacant but still standing, my friends and I broke into the gym and played basketball under barely glowing emergency lights. There's a soccer field there now, where children play who have no idea on what they stand. The high school, which had gotten a shiny new copper roof during the time I was there, has been completely replaced. 

Will my memories become as elusive and insubstantial as a Tweet, or Snapchat? Will the walls that support them stay standing? What will stop them from running downhill like a rainwater through the pines, out past the mudflats and beyond?

                                          Andrew is a teacher, administrator, and often a stay at home Dad. His writing is fresh and insightful.

I am writing for 31 days this October about Island Life. Click here to see the other days of writing.