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Our Trip to Maui~Part 5

20 Oct

SUNDAY MEMORIES

 Judy Wills

JUDY

                                                    

We had planned for our next adventure to be to drive to see the Haleakalā 1Crater.  It was a long drive, and we stopped several times along the way just to take in the island beauty. We saw lots of sugar cane fields, and a few pineapple fields, as well.

We stopped at the Visitor’s Center at 6500 feet up.  This most unusual Silver Sword plant grew all around that area.  We were told that the Silver Sword plant only grows in that area near the Haleakalā Crater – nowhere else in the entire world!  Gorgeous!

We stopped again on the way up to get some pictures, and were amazed that the ocean color is really as blue as it is in this picture!  Beautiful!2

The summit of Haleakalā Crater is 10,023′ and the air is thin and 3quite cool.  We were glad to have our sweaters and jackets!  Silver Sword plants were quite abundant there.  Inside the pavilion was a legend telling about “The Life of a Volcano.”  Interesting.

We arrived at the summit about 10:00 a.m. – and the FOG rolled in!  We were told we needed to be there for sunrise to see the crater.  Someone should have told us that before, right?  On our way up, we were passed by a man and his sons on their way down.  His comment as he passed us was, “Best view of the clouds you’ve ever seen, right?”  So we had to content ourselves with pictures of fog – and 4postcards of what we would have seen at sunrise.  A very impressive sight, to be sure. Since we are known for being directionally challenged – we totally missed Kula, so we drove on down to Kahului for lunch.  On our way after that, we stopped and took some gorgeous pictures of Molokai in the near distance.  Really a beautiful island.

When we finally drove into Lahaina, we stopped at the Lahaina Cannery Mall, thinking to have a light supper.  But somehow we found that, if you go through the mall, to the other side, and then outside, across the street is a unique outdoor restaurant, called the Aloha Mixed Plate.  Nothing fancy, but the food was delicious!  As a side note – when we returned to the mainland and told Fred’s sister about this little restaurant, she had never heard of or seen it!  Something for them to explore on their next visit to Maui.

5

~~~~~More to come~~~~~

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My Parents in a Nutshell

14 Oct

My Take

DiVoran Lites

When they were six years old Ivan and Dora became playmates in their Canon City, Colorado neighborhood. When they were fourteen and their Author, Poet and Artistparents took them to the Fireman’s Ball a spark was struck that would warm them for the rest of their lives.

Three years after graduating from high school they were married in April of 1937 and set up housekeeping in Lovelock, Nevada. Ivan was a meat-cutter at Safeway and Dora worked in the commercial laundry downtown. DiVoran was born in October, 1938.

In April 1939 Dora’s dad died and they moved back to Canon City. There Ivan worked at the gas plant. David was born in June of 1941.

The next move was to Crowley, Colorado. Ivan kept the machinery running at the tomato factory while Dora fed the crew their noon meal for five dollars a week each. They raised chickens and goats to help with milk and eggs.

In 1944 World War II became personal. Ivan joined the infantry that slogged, in mud up to their knees, all over Europe while Dora and the children lived upstairs over Ivan’s parents in their apartment house in Canon City. Dora picked apples and did odd jobs as they came up.

When the war was over and Ivan came home, they bought Min’s Café and moved to Westcliffe, Colorado. After a few years, they purchased the old train station and renovated it. The family moved there and they rented out rooms downstairs. Ivan learned to fly and bought a Piper Cub which crashed on Pike’s Peak one cold winter day. Ivan and friend, Sweak Jeske walked away from the crash, even though Ivan’s heel was broken.

Toward the end of 1951 Ivan and Dora sold the café. For a while Ivan was a molybdenum  miner in Leadville and Dora clerked at Tomsick’s Hardware in Westcliffe.

A break came when Ivan got hired on as a security guard for the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in Los Alamos, New Mexico. At first, Dora worked in a jewelry store, but she soon got on as a bomb sample counter with the AEC.

By 1955 Ivan was promoted to courier, which required a move to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Dora’s job with Sandia Corporation had her shredding secret documents by hand.

By 1960 Ivan’s job took them to Livermore, California. There, Dora got a job with Lawrence Laboratories sorting microfilm.

Both retired from government jobs in 1975. Ivan bought a commercial salmon trawler and they moved to Fort Bragg. Dora kept house, gardened, and raised chickens. She had time to do a bit of beach combing while Ivan was fishing.

When fishing was no longer good, they bought a vacuum cleaner store in Vista, California. But Ivan wanted to try commercial fishing one more time, sold the store and became a lobsterman. When they finally retired they fished every summer at a remote location. For years it was in Washington state, then it was Salton Sea in Colorado, and their last place was Sapinero at Blue Mesa Reservoir in Colorado. They lived long full lives, died peacefully in Vista, and went to Heaven to be with our Lord, where we will most certainly see them again someday.

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Investigating Family Ties~Part 3

7 Oct

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Mother’s other grandmother was Florenda Jane Bingham Bedell Britton. Anyhow, Florenda Jane was born April 6, 1847. When Dora was six years old Author, Poet and Artistand her grandmother came for a visit, she came to Dora’s room every night and they kneeled by the bed and prayed together. That TLC, Mother said, was what helped her want to become a Christian later in life. Florenda Jane belonged to the Church of God Holiness. I assume from the name they were what we now call charismatic. Florenda Jane died December 28, 1936 at eighty-nine years of age. I was born two years after she died. I wish I had known her. We’ll all sit down and have a fine chat in Heaven some day. Please join us when the time is right.

One of my mother’s grandfathers was Ezra Marshall Bedell. He was born in Syracuse New York in 1844. During the Civil War he was taken prisoner for eight years.

This brings us to Mother’s parents, Mabel and Roger Bedell. They lived on an apple ranch just outside town and settled in to raise apples, vegetables, chickens, a few cows, a son, and two daughters. Roger was manager of the Gas Company from 1917 until the town got electricity. They made water gas. The formula came down through the family, but I’m glad I don’t have to make it in order to have lights and cooking fuel. If the light over the dining room table began to dim, it was time for Roger to get the machines going again.

During the Great Depression, relatives who needed a place to stay came and went. My family has a history of feeding other people. I imagine if you investigate, your family does too. In those days, if you had food, you shared it. Now you can share knowledge with your children about their ancestors. It will make them stronger and more self-confident, especially if they hear stories about how their relatives loved and served Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

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National Poetry Day

3 Oct

I heard that today is National Poetry Day and decided that since Old Things R New is blessed with not one but two wonderful poets, I would like to honor them. How do you honor a poet? Well I could try my hand at a poem  but my efforts would fall far short of their skills so I decided to ask them to each honor us with one of their poems~Onisha

Happy Poetry Day

♥OUR POETS ♥

SOMEWHERE

Somewhere there’s a place for me-

A place I have a need to be..

A  new plateau, a goal to meet-

Purpose, direction, without defeat.

Oh, God, give me strength

to greet each day-

with a cheerful countenance-

Don’t let me sway.

Please let me focus

on the issues of life

That bring joy to others,

that relieve their strife.

To have victory over

the enemy called “Fear”-

The energy and stamina to persevere.

And Lord, if any little word of mine

can help another soul-

Help me find that little word

to meet that needed goal.

Louise Gibson

 ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Free Verse Poem

“Get in the box,” I said.

“I don’t fit!” He screamed.

“You must become

Rhythm, rhyme, formal verse.”

“I won’t!”

I picked him up by his scrawny neck,

Stuffed him in and closed the box.

He suffocated, poor little free verse poem.

Rest in peace.

DiVoran Lites

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Feeding the Neighbor’s Cat

30 Sep

My Take

DiVoran Lites

We’re feeding our neighbor’s cats.

They live next to the woods,

Three black cats with yellow eyes,

Now, doesn’t that sound good?

 

The other stays indoors,

A brown Abyssinian girl,

She purrs and rubs against our legs,

And gives her tail a whirl.

We give her little tidbits,

Put treats down in her bowl,

She lies upon on her back,

And takes a little a roll.

 

If we could catch the feral ones,

they’d hiss and scratch and bite.

And when they got a chance

they would run away in fright

 

Too bad they cannot trust us,

Those cats with yellow eyes.

If they were not so terrified,

They’d  get a nice surprise.

 

Author, Poet and Artist

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Investigating Family Ties~Part 2

23 Sep

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Even though I haven’t studied it in depth, I do know that genealogy can be exciting and interesting, especially if you have a passion for history. If it is your own history, you can enjoy it even more.

My Mother’s grandparents lived with Mother’s family in their old age. Mother was named for her grandmother, Dora Bell. One day when we were in that hometown, we went past a small house on the main road where Dora Bell once had her own shop. She sold gifts and items she had designed and crocheted herself. She was very creative and she taught my mother to crochet too. Neither of them ever used a pattern.

For fun, they made tiny dresses, teddies, shawls, coats and hats for Mother’s, “Little Dolls.” She had homemade furniture and other clothes as well. When I was a child, I got to play with the “Little Dolls.” I remember the non-crocheted hats best. They had deep crowns and wide brims and must have been the fashion in the 1900s. I like seeing that type of hat in pictures. I think it’s still my favorite style.

My playing with Mother’s dolls, and the fact that she and her grandmother made the clothes made a wonderful continuity in my life. So did Mother’s story telling. I feel as if I know my great-grandmother, Dora-Bell as well as any other member of the family, though I was only four years old when she died. It gives me a warm feeling of belonging, and I understand characterization mostly because of my mother’s stories.

Dora Bell loved her family deeply. When she grew old and frail she wanted them around her as much as possible. Mother said when she was a teen-ager Dora Bell would get ill whenever Mother went away for a short time. Once when Mother went shopping in the next town, Dora Bell had a heart attack and Mother was convinced it was because she left her. They both survived. Maybe it wasn’t even a heart attack, perhaps it was a panic attack.

In a way, I can understand that and relate to her, but in another way, I can’t. Her first husband left her with two daughters to rear, and that was enough to traumatize anyone. I’ve been to the cemetery where Dora Bell is buried next to her second husband whom everyone dearly loved. Her daughter, my grandmother is there along with my grandfather and my other two grandparents plus some other relatives. My parents are there too. I don’t know, it all just gives me a feeling of belonging that I wouldn’t trade for anything.

So there’s another plus for knowing where you came from and where your ancestors came from too. What do you know about your family history? Does it give you a feeling of belonging too?

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Good News

23 Sep

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Author, Poet and Artist

I like good news better than bad news. My family had a toast, “Health, wealth, and happiness.” Options, solutions, suggestions on those subjects interest me. As a Christian, and a writer, I learn by reading the Bible and other spiritual literature. I learn by journaling, praying, going to church, and most of all by following the leading of the Holy Spirit who brings information into my life in many different ways, mainly by directing me in my reading. Here’s some general knowledge I’ve acquired lately.

  • In about fifteen years, it’s going to become possible to live forever.
  • “The Case for Immortality,” by Holman W. Jenkins, Jr.
  • America could have better schools, if we modeled them after the schools of some foreign countries. “Save Our Schools”
  •  Some doctors are treating their patients without requiring medical insurance. AARP bulletin, September, 2013

Ray Kurzwell, an inventor on a par with Edison, plans to live forever. However, the argument he gets most frequently isn’t, it can’t be done, but it’s this: only the rich will be able to afford the technology. Kurzwell’s, answer? “That’s what they said about cell-phones.”

Our school system seems to be about teaching children to take tests instead of encouraging them to love learning and to think for themselves. In contrast, Finland has the top-rated school system in the world. The secret is in the quality, training, and support of teachers. Although their government does pay for the education of their teachers, it’s not the politicians that are in control of the school system, but the excellent teachers who are earnest about their work, and well paid to boot.

In a growing trend, about 5,000 doctors in twenty-four states do not accept medical insurance. That gives them and their patients a chance at the best, most responsible and most reasonable care possible.

I just have one question. If I opt to live forever instead of living in fear of old age and debility, will I still have all the love, the income, and the health I’ll need to make life worthwhile?. I’m certainly looking forward to Heaven, but I can’t fully, imagine the splendors there. My life here is good, so I may have to make that decision someday. One thing I know: I’d rather imagine living forever, even here on earth, than to live in fear. I don’t want to put off enjoying life for some future time either. Being present in the present just makes everything so much more fun. How do you feel about good news versus bad news? It makes you think, anyhow.

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Fifty Six Years and Counting

16 Sep

Bill and DiVoran Lites

wedding 2

Bill and DiVoran met in Albuquerque when they were seniors in high school. After graduation, Bill took off for Navy boot camp and DiVoran headed for Beauty School. They grew to know each other through letters while Bill was overseas. In September of 1957,they were married in La Mesa, California. Four months later Bill shipped out to Japan and DiVoran went home to Mother and Dad to finish Beauty School.

After Bill’s Navy tour, they reunited in 1958 in Inglewood California where Bill attended Northrop University. DiVoran went to work for Magic Mirror Beauty Salons as a stylist. They both worked hard, but they had a lot of fun too. They went to the beach, the movies, and the pizza parlor. They watched, “Rawhide,” and, “Wagon Train,” on their small black and white TV as the jets flew over their house every three minutes to land at LAX.

In 1962, God blessed them with an incredible daughter, Renie. In 1964, He sent Billy, a bouncing baby boy-who hasn’t stopped bouncing yet. Renie and Billy helped each other through childhood and teen-hood in Titusville, Florida. Bill worked in the Space Program, while DiVoran’s role was as a happy-to- stay-at-home mom. The family went on many exciting trips. One year they took off one weekend a month to go camping. Life got even richer when Renie married Ron, and Billy married Lisa. Then there were GRANDCHILDREN, Lacey and Jacob. Retirement is great! Bill still has a passionate interest in airplanes, writes blogs, volunteers at Valient Air Command as a guide, and with Car Care where people go to get their cars repaired, paying only for parts. DiVoran blogs, writes novels, journals, and paints. Once a week she teaches a wide range of children in Sunday School which is one of the high points of her week. Bill stands in too, when she needs help. Both thank God for the family and the friends He has given them. Nothing would have been the same without Him or them.

“Grow old along with me!/ The best is yet to be,/ The last of life for which the first was made.” Robert Browning

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Choices

2 Sep

My Take

DiVoran Lites

DiVoran Lites

Doesn’t it drive you nuts when you decide to do something and you get so many choices you can’t make up your mind? For instance we recently changed cable systems and it seems the new one has even more choices of channels than the old one. They are up into the thousands now. I hear you can delete some of the channels and someday I may do so if I ever care enough to bother. I have found, “The Waltons,” and, “Little House on the Prairie,” and those should last me a while.

What about choices on our computers? We can do things one way or maybe we’d rather do them another way. The only trouble is, it seems to me as if sometimes one way works and at other times that way doesn’t work at all. Sound confusing? Think of the state of my poor mind.

Today I was browsing through a magazine that had pictures of several different kinds of artisan salt in it among them: Black, Red, and fleur de sel. By the way, new research is debunking the 100-year-old-idea that salt is supremely bad for everybody. Thank heavens. Anyhow, I might send away for the fleur de sel some day. Here is its description: fleur de sel is the caviar of salt (but honey, I wouldn’t eat caviar if you paid me, oh well, never mind.) It goes on: “made from the delicate crystals that blossom on the surface of crystallizing sea salts; delicate flavor; violet-like aroma: maintains integrity on wet foods. Now that sounds lovely and exotic, doesn’t it?

Don’t get me wrong, I really don’t want fewer choices in the world, I’ll muddle through the way things are. But how about religions? We have the Christic religions. That is an entirely new word for me that means what we once called Christ-centered. Or at least I assume from the context that’s what it means. Then we have Zen Buddhism, Hinduism. Humanism (yes, I do call that a religion), and a whole bunch more and within each they have denominations and branches galore. I’ve read a bit about some of them and I see some good things in some, (some really scary things, too), but the precepts that seem right and good to me are right there in the Christian Bible too. They were probably there first. To be more specific I like the Zen idea of being in the moment, but I know we have lots of scriptures that tell us the same thing. Jesus Himself did only one thing and I know he was paying attention when he did it. What did Jesus do? WDJD? He did whatever He saw His Father in Heaven doing at any given moment. And with this, I come to the crux of my rant. I keep coming back to Jesus every time I see another choice of religious precept. He is the one and only the all-in-all, the master, the bread, the salt. He is everything to me and will be everything to anybody who wants Him even a little bit. Then He and the Holy Spirit within us can help us make our choices, large and small, a very present help in trouble and in daily life. Psalm 46:1

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David Danced Before the Lord, and So Did I

26 Aug

My Take

DiVoran Lites

One Sunday I had the remains of a bad cold that kept me home from church tAuthor, Poet and Artisthe Sunday before. I couldn’t sing without coughing, so I danced–free style–as I used to when I was a child. One of our ladies, a red-hat lady, dances with a banner every Sunday and gives one to all of the children who want one. We even have a one year old, Joy, who is allowed to wander into the open space at the front, so it won’t be long until she’s offered a banner, too.

I had a wonderful time with the music. I wore a white tiered skirt, my favorite top with ruffled cap sleeves, and a pair of large, lightweight Chartreuse shoulder-duster earrings I bought at a neighbor’s garage sale just to help her out. I whirled and waved my banner. I didn’t care if there’s no fool like an old fool because I had such a great time, but today one of our dear pastors told me everyone enjoyed it immensely. He gave me the impression that there might have been something spiritual in it. How wonderful it was to hear that enjoying myself as much as I did could have a good effect on other worshippers too.

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