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Diet Journal Entry~1

30 Jun

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Author, Poet and ArtistTorrents of rain, crashings of thunder. Two lamps on in the middle of the day. First day of diet. Feeling hungry, a little headachy from lack of caffeine.

Bill got the infrared grill from the warehouse where we had stored it. Why did we put it away? I don’t know. Last Christmas a grill quit working. There were only two on the shelf at the store. I bought one for Bill, Bill bought one for me, too. Grilling is best because we’re not allowed fats or oils. The melting fat in our bodies will provide all we need, all the calories, nutrients, and fats.

No breakfast, I drank a cup of tea with Stevia. I’m trying to talk myself into loving Stevia. I usually have a cup of strong coffee with lots of agave syrup and creamer, but I refuse to drink coffee without creamer.

We have a, “loading,” period before the diet. We start taking our HCG drops and for two or three days we gorge, eat anything we want. Those are the rules. Don’t ask me why. We kept trying to start the real diet, but pre-gorged for days and then seriously loaded. Last night we went to Kentucky Fried Chicken and had everything fat we could find—fried chicken, biscuits with lots of, “butter,” mac and cheese. At Publix, we got a pint of Ben and Jerry’s chocolate mint ice cream and brought it home. Is B. & J.’s still the fattest ice cream you can buy? The lush food made us drunk with love, drunk with a surfeit of food. We were so happy.

This morning we took our homeopathic remedy. It helps get the fat moving even though we are also on a 500-calorie diet. The remedy helps the dieter not to be too hungry. We’ve been on it several times over the years, and so have four other adult members of our family. All of us have lost weight and none of us has suffered any side effects except having to buy new clothes or have the old ones altered. A doctor developed the diet about fifty years ago. Back then they used real HCG instead of homeopathic and you had to have shots.

We only have two weeks, six days, and eight hours to diet and then we’ll be ready for maintenance. Maintenance is easy and quite pleasant. We’ll have salads with grilled chicken for lunches, plain meat (seasoned, but not sauced), and a fresh vegetable for supper. We’ll munch on two saltines or grissini and have an apple or orange for snacks.

At 5’4”, I weighted 128.5 for so long I thought I could get by with bread, pasta, cake, Lindt dark chocolate truffles, Lay’s Original Potato Chips. No. Pride goeth before a fall.

At my most svelte, friends at the Titusville Art League suggested I get my baggy pants altered. They gave me the name of their tailor. She is from Vietnam and is the old-fashioned kind like the big Silk Shirt 3department stores once hired. In spite of the 139.5 lb on the scale this morning, most of the pants, shorts, blouses still fit. But I do have this pair of white cotton pants that are perfect, and a silk blouse that’s about the prettiest thing I ever saw, that I can’t wear. I’ve displayed them on a door to inspire me.

Last night Bill dreamed he saw two tiny birds in a nest. Was that him and me after our diet? Forty minutes from now, I’ll have a sliced orange and another cup of Lipton tea – with Stevia. The rain is over, but the sky is still dark.

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A Passion for Work

23 Jun

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Author, Poet and ArtistHave you noticed that when you are doing work you enjoy, life can be full of excitement? Do we realize that when we retire to nothing but TV or grousing, life can become deadly dull—literally? Dullness kills, it brings complaining and bitterness.

Yes, I agree that God tells us to focus on Him. God in Christ, Christ in us, the hope of glory. But if you’ll think about it, the Bible, especially the parables of Jesus, are full of stories of people doing practical and artistic things while focusing on God. The first person to praise God in the Old Testament was an artisan. Jesus was as much human as he was divine. He put God’s will first, as we hope always to do, and he spoke of living every day to its fullest. He did the work for which He had an all-consuming passion.

Some people love making bread, making music, or making plans. Do you write, iron, clean engines? No matter what it is, God put it in you to do that thing with all your love, passion, and might. Don’t hold back. Ask Him for help and inspiration and you’ll find your life filled to the brim with joy. And, he can use your joy to lift other’s out of their darkness, too.

Divoran and cat

 

Here’s a Bible paraphrase from Romans 12:6-7, The Message

 

My Beloved Child,

Don’t become so well adjusted to your culture that you fit in without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on Me and you’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what I want from you and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you that is constantly dragging you down to its level of immaturity; I bring the best out of you, and develop well-formed maturity in you.”
 
When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble.

Proverbs 4:12

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Roots

16 Jun

My Take

DiVoran Lites 

 

Author, Poet and ArtistOne day I was wandering in the cleared area behind our house and I came upon a miniature liquor bottle. I have a penchant for bottles, so I picked it up, washed it out, and stuffed a small spider plant into it. The spider plant then proceeded to grow roots. I have a penchant for roots.

Yesterday I had breakfast with a friend who is a professional photographer. We like to talk about our gardens and share cuttings and clippings. I gave her some purple heart.

She gave me some plants, too. When I looked in the succulent’s bag, I saw a long root. “I’m into roots, right now,” I said pulling out a beautiful aloe plant.

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Then she asked the big question. “Why?”

I’m still not sure I can answer it, but I have a book, Finding What You Didn’t Lose, by John Fox CPT. In a chapter called, “Leaving the Roots on Your Writing: Revealing Yourself in Your Poetry.” Fox says, “When I lead workshops and people share their spontaneous poems, one of the first qualities people recognize in the atmosphere of the place…is that there is a deepened level of genuine intimacy. People begin to leave “roots” and “dirt” on their words. This intimacy is first self-honest, which then extends into the group experience.”

As I understand it, roots are the opposite of pretension. Pretension is like a plastic string—it doesn’t grow anything new or nourishing while a root does.

My mother always said, “Make yourself the best you can, and then be yourself.” I was still working on the first part, but I began to see that it was time to bring the second part into play. It seems that one way to start living with the roots is to quit trying so hard. So what if I drop the g’s off words when I get excited? So what if I wear my shorts and no lipstick to Wal-Mart? So what if I ask dumb questions or snort when I laugh? At least I’m laughing. I will soldier on as if it were none of my business what THEY THINK. Like Popeye, I yam what I yam. Ain’t we all?

 

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Behold How Good and Pleasant

9 Jun

My Take

DiVoran Lites

On my way home from my walk I met one of the neighbors, Chuck, who had helped another neighbor remove the tree that fell on our house during Hurricane Charlie. Chuck was walking very slowly

Author, Poet and Artistallowing his ancient dog to saunter and sniff all he wanted. We spoke as we passed. When I got to the curve in the trail where I leave it, I stopped to make a note of something. There I heard a forlorn meowing from the bushes. It had to be a lost domestic cat. It was. Chuck’s cat big male tiger kitty.

“Your cat is here.” I yelled. He started back and I went back on the trail to meet him. He wasn’t going anywhere and I was on my way home so we turned around and sauntered back toward the neighborhood. The cat came out and twined around Chuck’s ankles.

“He follows us out here, but he doesn’t like to go too far.” Chuck said. We started slowly making our way back into the neighborhood. I told him I’d been walking past his house since his kids were small. The first time I ever saw them they had run out of the house with no clothes on—just little kids being free and happy. Chuck now had all the time in the world to talk to me. His major kid rearing days were about over. They’re off to college next year. He and his wife have been excellent parents. I’ve heard swimming parties from behind their privacy fence, I’ve seen the family coming home from camping, and watched as boy scouts gathered for projects.

When we got to Chuck’s house right off the trail. I said goodbye and Chuck took his dog over to greet a weenie dog they knew and his master.

I felt so blessed to walk with him, pet the cat, greet the dog, and hear about the kids. How wonderful to have watched a family rear good, happy kids who will become ordinary fine Americans and hopefully rear theirs kids the same. How great that this young man, who probably is quite busy during the week, had all the time in the world for an old dog, an old lady, and a cat who clearly adores him.

Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in one neighborhood where people get along and kids can grow up in safety and in love. Paraphrase of Psalm 133.1

 

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Big Savings at the Discount Club

2 Jun

My Take

DiVoran Lites

 

Author, Poet and ArtistYesterday I went to a discount club for some cat litter. My alternative health provider said they had good, natural litter there. When I walked into the vast, cold warehouse-type store, which was loaded with luxuries any housewife would admire, I was told I could buy something without having a membership.

We’d had memberships in such clubs for years. It was supposed to be more economical. When we remodeled our garage into a workroom, we lined the walls with cupboards so we’d have room to store the large packages you usually get at those places. We never went into one, even just to look, without dropping a few Cs. And oh, it was all so economical.

A big buggy rolled across the parking lot toward my car, so after I had parked I grabbed it and pushed it into the store. When I got to the pet aisle, I realized I wasn’t going to be able to get down a box of litter. They were slightly above my head and weighed twenty-five pounds. So I waved at a big, strong-looking associate. But before I could catch his eye, I realized that unless I could convince him to go home with me, I’d have to wrestle the box into the trunk of the car and somehow get it into the house. I decided to think it though, and make other arrangements. So there I was with my buggy and half an hour before I had to be at my daughter’s work place to go to lunch. It was enough time to walk a mile, the weather was growing warmer outside and by afternoon would be hot, so I started up and down the aisles.

Was I tempted by anything as walked at a moderate pace through the store? Oh, yes. But the only thing I paused long enough to pick up and think about was a book. However I had just discarded eight books in a row that I’d bought used, because I didn’t like them. It would be foolish to pay $9.99, and find myself once again giving up on the book. I laid it down and continued on my way.

Why was I not tempted to buy anything else? I think it was because Bill and I have made some progress in simplifying our daily life. We know what we like to eat and what’s good for us. Two people don’t consume much. Everything costs so much, but thank God, we can get what we need. And I’d already filled up all my cupboards with art supplies.

I’ve been trying for decades (with not much success) to follow the wonderful precepts in Quaker, Richard J. Foster’s book, Freedom of Simplicity: Finding Harmony in a Complex World. The book shows how living more simply not only allows us to enjoy less stress and more leisure, but also contributes to the health of our bodies and souls.

While I was walking around the store, I passed a woman with eight children accompanying her. I figured they were all hers because their sizes ranged from a couple of teen-aged girls walking beside her, to a toddler in the cart. The three small boys bringing up the rear, were, of course, having a good time of their own. I admire a woman who can handle that many children all at once. It was apparent that the discount club was a good place for her to shop, because her family would always need a great deal of food and other things.

When it was time to leave, the buggy was still empty, but I had something to take away. I had gained an exercise time and recognized once again how blessed our country is to have stores of plenty. Also I had a new self-respect for not lingering long enough to find a temptation I couldn’t resist. I rolled the buggy up to the man who stood checking tickets against purchases and asked where I should put it. He was a bit confused, so I just parked it next to an empty behind him.

Even though life still seems complicated and full of decisions and choices, I may be making progress toward simplicity after all. Is this something you desire as well?

 

 

 

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After Easter “The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men gang aft agley”

26 May

My Take

DiVoran Lites

DiVoran and David Bowers

DiVoran and David Bowers

My brother and I on Easter circa 1949. Mother made the dark blue and white dotted Swiss dress for me. David wore that sweater all winter for several winters. This story isn’t about us; it’s about this past Easter many years later.

 

Do you like routines and schedules? I like them so much I plan carefully so that they won’t go agley, as Robert Burns, the Scottish poet, put it: “The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men gang aft agley.” (“To a Mouse”)

People in our church want me, as the children’s Sunday school teacher to put on an Easter egg hunt every year. So I bought the eggs last year. We already had the baskets to gather them into. I got the candy in the last weeks before Easter, but had to go back for more. I spent an hour or two putting candy in the eggs.

The plan was to go out on the playground during adult Sunday school and “hide” the eggs, but when we left the house, a misty rain was falling onto the windshield of the car and my plans began  to go agley so I asked Bill to be praying about what I should do. He surprised me by praying that the rain would stop in time for the hunt. But, still, when could I hide the eggs?

In the middle of praise team practice, I recalled that I hadn’t brought my camera. I didn’t want to miss taking pictures of the beautiful children in their Easter finery, so I asked Bill to go home and get it. I could hide eggs while he was gone.

It had stopped raining by the time praise team practice was over, but three feisty boys were using the playground and I didn’t want to make them go inside. I decided I’d just let them and the two girls who had arrived hide the eggs with me.

The girls and I walked out and I started to get the eggs out of the trunk of the car, but guess where the car was? It was with Bill going home to get the camera. The girls and I went back inside. Church started. We’d have to make do with the kids hiding the eggs during the time they were supposed to be hunting for them. Finally, it was time. By now, we had five girls and three boys. It seemed everyone was having a good time except for Trivona. She’s being reared by an aunt who loves her and who is a capable and efficient person.

“Why do we have to hide our own eggs,” Trivona asked.

“It’s fun, isn’t it?” I asked hopefully.

“The Easter egg hunt we went to yesterday was more fun—the children didn’t have to hide their own eggs,” she answered.

“It’s a long story.” I patted her head patronizingly.

She looked up at me with interest in her big brown eyes.

“You don’t want to hear the story do you?”

“Yes I do.”

“Oh, well…” I told it all, the rain, the car.“Is that a good story?” I asked when I finished.

“No,” she said.

“Oh, then I’m sorry I told you,” wishing I hadn’t bored her.

“It was a good story,” she said carefully, “but if you plan better next time, the children won’t have to hide their own eggs.”

“Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” James 4:14.

Someday maybe Trivona will read Robert Burns and surely, then, she will understand.

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Time is Going By Fast

19 May

1

My Take

DiVoran Lites

 

I’m surviving Bill’s being gone surprisingly well. I’ve only had a couple of moments of wondering what to do with myself. As you know, I enjoy solitude and I love being at home. I’m getting some blogs done and perhaps a bit of de-cluttering, though that isn’t going as I hoped, but who cares?

2Bill’s having fun too. He calls each night and gives me a report of his day’s doings and plans for the next day. It’s cooler in California than it is here, he layers his long sleeved shirt and his jacket. He’s taking notes for his blogs, so we can look forward to hearing all about his adventures.

Jacob is in Japan. He’s having a good time. He’s sending blogs and Face Book entries, though I’m not sure I’m either catching them all OR replying so that he hears back. His mother says the blogs make her laugh and cry. We may be extraordinarily well disposed toward Jacob, but we think he’s an excellent writer with a gift for humor.

Bill will be home on the 16th. By Thursday he had listened to unabridged books on his car C. D. At this rate the seven he took with him in especially purchased holders won’t last. Maybe he’ll get some music on the radio now that he’s near big cities in California and that will make his CDs last longer. He has developed a fondness for classical music. I’m not surprised, though I know he’ll always love Herb Alpert, Jackie Gleason, and Chet Atkins. He has such a good ear for music that when he started to take violin lessons as a child he could play by ear—that is until he fell out of a tree and broke his wrist. Did he really hate practicing that much?

The time is going by fast. I may “let” him go for this long again, though on the way to the airport I told him I wished he’d cut back to seven days. Neither of us has changed since we were eighteen. I always preferred a book, and he always preferred to be on the move. It’s wonderful that at this time of our lives we can pursue our passions while still having good times when we are together.

3

 

 

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Daily Diary Day Three~Not Really Alone

12 May

My Take

DiVoran Lites

It’s three-thirty in the afternoon. “The Swan,” from, “Carnival of the Animals,” plays on my Pandora streaming radio. Bright pinwheels on the fence send shards of light past the open French Doors into Author, Poet and Artistmy office-family-room-kitchen. Staccato sounds fill the air as a heavy-duty staple-gun blasts into terrazzo floor, pinning down a new carpet in the house across the street, a woodpecker hammers on metal, and a cardinal sings his spring song, tu-tu-tu.

So far, this has been a great day, though when I awoke this morning I felt that I wasn’t going to be able to stand another two weeks of Bill’s absence. I woke up wondering whom I should call. What should I do in order not to be lonely? All my small worries came flooding in like wind and rain from a big storm. Bill has been gone a whole two days in which I have not significantly spoken to anyone except him on the phone–long distance.

I dragged myself from the bed, put on my at-home clothes, fed the cats, made coffee, and sat down for my quiet time. It needed something extra today. Should I write out more scriptures? Vent my worries? Read from, Streams in the Desert, which is my go-to devotional book for hard times? My iPod was near so I connected it to my tiny round speaker and began to feel better the second the music started. I picked up a fun and funny book I have that gives prompts of things to draw and writes and tells about what special month or day I it is. I hadn’t read the two introductory pages to April yet, so I chose that.

I liked a picture of an archway with a blue door, bright flowers, and a dog. Oh well, I’d take the time to draw it, and then get serious with journaling, praying, reading. Watercolor paints and water-soluble

Up Into The Light by Melody Hendrix

Up Into The Light by Melody Hendrix

pastels lay nearby so I chose some. The pens beckoned. Before I knew it, color flooded the paper before me. That painting finished, I began to look into some of my others. This one needed something, that one would be useful for something else. The morning passed in happy contemplation of things I could do with my favorite pastime.

And here is something else—a new thought to me. I don’t have to have one favorite thing, because of course I love painting, writing, being with friends and family, all the movies I like are my favorites, all the books I keep and read are my favorites. My life was expanding and at the same time, I was having a wonderful time.

I have beaten the blues for today. But I have not been alone for one minute. God was with me all along. For this day, He didn’t want me too serious, but uplifted, and encouraged. Not once for the rest of the day did I give a thought as to who I ought to call or what I should do with my time. The day took care of itself. What a wonderful freedom not to have to worry about it anymore.

“I can do all things (or nothing much, if that’s His plan) through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13) and “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

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A Time To Be Alone

5 May

Kitty

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Bill got to the airport by 6:00 a. m. We talked all the way there so the forty-five minute trip went quickly. I have been encouraging his sixteen-day trip because I want him to feel free to do what he wants to do, just as he encourages me. But on the way, I let him know that I wished he wouldn’t go for so long. He said he wouldn’t always; he thought about ten days would be good in future. I think so too, though I must admit I am looking forward to being alone, but not alone during this time.

Being seventy-five and seventy-six, and having been married fifty-six years—being first-born perfectionist, control-freaks requires a lot of discussion, and a great deal of give and take. Brush fires flare, but are soon snuffed out by love and forgiveness. Above all we know how blessed we are to have had each other and our family for all these years without any major disasters. But still…we’re both independent and we both like things to go our way. It’s the little things.

After I got home I spent time with my journal, reheated the coffee I took along, had an egg and toast and went back to bed for an hour. The first thing I did when I got up was to take all Bill’s pills off the dining room table and put them in his room out of my way. I set up my book prop and a couple of books as a reading station for meals, moved the large rug in the studio to a spot I like, and started a new shopping list. Some things I want to buy myself but he’s so efficient at taking the list and going to the store that I find them delivered before I even go out. What I want right now and have been wanting for a long time is a new kitty litter scoop, chosen by me. See what I mean about it being the little things?

I had to laugh when I sat down at the computer. There are a few things that bug Bill no end, so he left me this:

DiVoran—Please use this checklist while I am gone-Thanks.

  1. Lock all doors at bedtime.
  2. Lock all doors when you go for your walk.
  3. Turn off the water after you water your plants &flowers.
  4. Make sure refrigerator door is closed before you go to bed at night.
  5. Take out the trash on Friday mornings-No recycle until I get back.
  6. Turn off coffee-tea makers & cup warmers before bedtime. (I guess that means I’m allowed to forget and leave them on all day.)

Love ya,

Bill

So for two whole weeks now we are free. He will drive, drive, drive in the deserts and mountains of the Southwest and I will write, write, write in my comfortable house that I love.

Ecclesiastes three is a popular chapter and I use it a lot. I believe there is a time for everything. I like it that in our marriage there is a time to be together and a time to be alone. I’m glad also that there is more time together than alone and that we still have each other after all these years.

1 wedding

 

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God’s People

28 Apr

butterfly

My Take

DiVoran Lites

 

We have a Sunday School/Bible Study class we call the LP class. We would say that meant Large Print, but two of us now have the most wonderful lens implants and can see like fighter pilots, so we’ll have to settle for Long Playing as a name. Anyhow, let’s put it this way, all but one of us in on Medicare.

One day, our teacher, and his wife, Noreen were in the drugstore waiting to have a prescription filled and a four-year-old girl came over to Marvin and started chattering away as if he were her beloved Grandpa. Noreen said she reminded them of a perky, Shirley Temple. Of course, they were delighted.

After that, Bob told us that he was in a restaurant one day waiting for a table. He had a seat because he’s handicapped, but there was no place for anyone else to sit, except a tiny spot right next to Bob. A tiny African American girl slid into the spot and snuggled up to Bob, lay her head against him and melded into him the way a trusting child will do. He had never seen her before in his life.

That reminded Marvin of a couple of children in their neighborhood. Marvin likes to sit in his garage with the door open and read. One day he was sitting there with the fresh air coming in and a little girl came down the block, saw him and walked in and laid her head on his knee.

Of course, that story brought on more. Bill and I were at Lake Eola with our son last week and while Bill was waiting for Billy and I to finish taking pictures, he sat down on a low wall and a beautiful black and white, Spaniel puppy came up to the wall and put her paws on it so she could reach him. She wagged her tail and sniffed at him he petted her. Her owner was amazed. She said, “She’s so afraid of people, I can’t believe she approached a perfect stranger. She’s even shy around the family.”

We had a couple more stories and then we went on with our lesson. Marvin had us read out of the scriptures and here’s what Bill read.”

Isaiah 61:9 says, “All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed.” I wonder–is this unexplained trust from children and animals a small example of that acknowledgement?

 

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