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Janet and the Paint Puddle

7 Jul

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

                                          

Fred and I waited until he graduated from college before we married. We had known each other about three years and engaged for half that time (I invite you to revisit my October 5, 12, 19, 2014 posts on “How We Met”).

As soon as we left the wedding, we headed for Fort Worth, Texas, and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, where Fred was to study for the ministry. While there for four years, I went to work, getting my “PHT” degree – you know – Putting Hubby Through, while Fred achieved his MDiv and MRE (Master of Divinity/Master of Religious Education).

When no ministry openings came available for Fred upon his graduation, and his Draft Board became interested in him, he began checking into the military openings. And so we found ourselves in the United States Air Force.

We spent one year in San Jose, California, while Fred studied Meteorology. We then spent three years in Wiesbaden, Germany. Our next tour was 13 months in northern Maine. And the follow-on tour was in San Antonio, Texas, where Fred was an instructor in the Air Force Officer Training School.

After living in apartments and government housing all that time, we decided it was time to finally own our own home. And we found one that was quite comfortable, and a new construction.

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The entry to the house was divided from the living room by a half-wall, with spindles to the ceiling.

After we had been in the house for several years, we thought of painting that half-wall and entry way, and set about to do it. We laid out a cover for the carpet, just in case. We had a step-stool to get the higher-up areas. We had our rollers, brushes, and paint trays that we kept filled with paint.

Roller
Roller
Brush
Paint tray
Paint

Karen was in school, but Janet was still at home with us. We were busy painting, and had warned Janet to stay either in the living room or her room, but do NOT come in the entry way. However, I frequently found her edging her way around one of the half-walls and into the entry way, rather than going the other way, through the kitchen and family room. And then, as you might surmise, I looked up, saw her squeezing by that half-wall again, and I yelled, “JANET!” Startled, she looked up, whirled around and lost her balance, and SPLAT! landed right in the middle of the “puddle” of paint in the paint tray!

Fred was rather furious, but I picked her up (she was bawling by this time), and took her to the nearest bathroom. While she was in the tub, with me “hosing” her down, the whole thing just tickled my funny bone. I began to giggle – as did she – and we had a great time cleaning up.

She survived the paint – and we survived the painting. And it’s a sweet memory.

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CLOWNING AROUND

28 Jun

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

 Growing up in Albuquerque, my first friend was Shirley. She lived down the street, through the side yard of a house, down the alley, and into her back yard. We were fast friends. I was at her house so often, that her mother had a jar of dill pickles in her refrigerator, just for me.

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We were visiting with Shirley and her husband, Jim, a few years ago, as they live just one-and-one-half hours away from us. At that time, they presented us with a couple of pictures. Shirley said, “that’s you (Judy) and me, but I don’t remember what was going on, or why you are on the ground.”

And instantly, the memory came back. Shirley and I were with a youth group from our church (we were about 16 years old), and we had gone to Glorieta (New Mexico) Conference Center for a retreat. As you can see, I was a bit of a clown back then. Shirley was NOT impressed!

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As for my being on the ground:   Not only was I clowning around, but some of the others were, as well. One of the guys picked me up and slung me over his shoulder. Fun thing to do, huh? Something guys and girls do a lot for fun. Unfortunately, however, my nose met his back with such force that it gave me an instant bloody nose! So there I was, on the ground, swallowing blood and trying to get my nose to stop bleeding!

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Shirley remembered that she had been trying to get the attention of one of the guys – and he happened to be the one who hefted me over his shoulder! She was NOT a happy camper at that point!

But all turned out well….the nose stopped bleeding….the retreat proceeded successfully….and neither Shirley nor I married the guy in question.

But it’s a fun memory of a simpler time.

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Snow

21 Jun

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

Growing up in New Mexico, we had our share of winter snow. As a matter of fact, the mountains just outside the city, to the East, were and still are, some of the best snow skiing in the country.

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It’s one of those “best-kept-secrets.”

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Of course, some winter storms dropped more snowfall than other years (18″ one year in one night), but it seems like we always had snow.

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I was all but surprised to find that Fort Worth, Texas had snow as well! I guess I had always thought of Texas as hot and dry. But there was one winter when we were literally snowed-in for a couple of days. We were in an apartment building, with parking in the back, and we couldn’t get out of the driveway. Yea!!! We couldn’t get to work!

 

 

 

And, of course, when we moved to northern Maine for that one year, we had plenty of snow! More than we ever wanted.

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Karen was not quite four-years-old when we left there, and her impression of snow was that we were snowed in – because she could look out her second-story window, down on the roof of the stoop below and see the snow stacked high.

 

But for the five years we lived in Panama City, Florida, we didn’t have snow. Well, once it snowed about half-an-inch, but that was it. It was funny, actually: I happened to be driving by the elementary school at the time it was snowing, and one child was in the stereotypical stance of standing-spread-eagle, tongue hanging out, trying to catch snowflakes on their tongue! Our girls did a lot of their growing up years there, so they were unaccustomed to snow.

So it was, that when we went to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, they had their first real taste of snow. It happened overnight, and we awoke to snow on the ground. Those of you reading this who are old enough to remember, many years ago Toyota had a little jingle that went: “You asked for it….you got it…..Toyota.” Well, I did a bit of improvising to that jingle, and woke each daughter up singing that tune: “You asked for it…you got it…it snowed last night!” They were up and out of their beds in a flash and dash to the window!

I don’t remember how much they played in it – probably more than I remember. There were other children in our little cul-de-sac, and I’m sure someone had a sled. But after wading through it to school every morning for months, they weren’t so thrilled with it. But that’s part of life, right?

It’s nice to have those kinds of memories, however. Adds a little spice to our life.

 

 

 

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Minute Meditations~9

14 Jun

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy WillsJUDY

                                                 

CONNECTION…

How do you connect with people? If you are in a business, you probably have some sort of “plan” to connect with people who could be your customers. We see ads in the newspaper and on the TV all the time for businesses selling their particular product. We see ads looking for people to work with a specific company, or in a specific position.

I’ve heard of people who attend benefits or parties or some such event just so they can “network” the system, and benefit themselves or their company.

But what is your connection to the one and only true living God? Is it an Easter and Christmas connection? Is it a once-a-month connection? Or is it a genuine, life-sustaining, personal relationship with God?

My brother Bill wrote about this recently. Here are his thoughts:

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Our connection to God is, quite simply, the only way we can live this life with any purpose or satisfaction. It allows us to walk upright without staggering or tripping or falling down. There may be bumps in the road, but if we keep our eyes on that connection to God, He will keep us from falling flat on our faces. He will help us see the direction we need to take – to be His children.

We are blest, indeed.

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Minute Mediations~6

24 May

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

                                              

POWER…

…..What’s your first thought when you hear/see that word? Power: electrical?

A violent electrical storm?
Electrical?
Hydro?
Aircraft taking off or landing?

What about the power of a word? A judge can, with one word, sentence a prisoner to life in prison or the death penalty. That same judge can also, with one word, set a prisoner free.

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What about the power of God? I wrote about my feelings on God’s power in an Easter blog last year: God’s power is so tremendously great that He actually raised Jesus from death back into life! Amazing!! It’s so easy to just say…He arose. But just think of it – He actually rose FROM THE DEAD BACK TO LIFE! That never happened to anyone else, that didn’t physically die again.

I sometimes have a really hard time wrapping my mind around that thought. Raising someone from death to life. I know that many people have been declared clinically “dead” and through CPR or some other method, have been brought “back to life” again. But not after they had been dead for three days, as Christ was! WOW!

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God’s power is unlimited. Have you ever had your electricity go off? Have you ever heard of airplanes crashing because of loss of power? God’s power just doesn’t have that kind of limitation. Well ….because He’s GOD!

My brother, Bill, wrote about the Israelites in Biblical times, who didn’t understand God’s complete power. Here’s what Bill wrote:

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Praise the Lord indeed! God is truly on OUR side. And as Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do ALL things, through Christ, who keeps pouring POWER into me!”

 Woohoo!

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Minute Meditations~3

3 May

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

                                                    

TRUST…..

What does that word mean to you? The New World dictionary defines trust as: firm belief or confidence in the honesty, integrity, reliability, justice, etc. of another person or thing. A secondary definition is: confident expectation. How does that fit your definition?

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Have you ever trusted someone with a “secret” only to have that secret spread around and get out of control? How did that make you feel? Did you feel like you could “trust” that person with anything personal again? Most likely not.

My brother, Bill, wrote his thoughts on this:

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Minute Meditations~2

26 Apr

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

                     

What is happiness? Or better yet…..what is your IDEA of what happiness is? Is it just a state of mind? Is our happiness determined by our circumstances?

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A pastor said once, that when we are God’s child, happiness is what resides in our hearts and minds always, and that joy or sorrow can’t really touch it; that the circumstances where we find ourselves do NOT determine whether we are happy or not….we have God’s abiding happiness within us.

Joy
Sorrow

 

Filling our hearts with God’s love gives us permanent happiness, that allows us to be happy, or content, in whatever situations we find ourselves.

My brother, Bill, wrote about this very thing. These are his thoughts:

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Can we see just how God wants us to look to Him for our happiness? No matter what happens, with God in our hearts, we can depend upon Him to give us the answers we seek to ALL our earthly problems. He is true and faithful to His word.

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Keukenhof Gardens, Holland~Part 2

5 Apr

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

 

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Last time, I wrote about the Keukenhof Gardens, in Lisse, Holland. We so thoroughly enjoyed our visits there, and want to share this beautiful place with everyone we know.

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Here is some history about the tulips we found interesting from the Fluwell website:

“during World War 2, people ate tulip bulbs. The only reason for this was hunger. The Netherlands suffered a great famine in the winter of 1944-1945. Eating tulip bulbs is not something our ancestors did for fun, they did it because there was nothing else to eat.

 Many Dutchmen of certain age remember the famine and the tulip bulbs they ate. In our theme park Tulpenland, we have a lot of customers that share their memories with us. They sometimes still find it difficult to see tulip bulbs back, although they know that we use them only for flowers, not for food. Hunger is a deep emotion that is not easily forgotten.

 The Dutch famine was the result of the lost Battle of Arnhem (1944), when allied forces failed to liberate the northern provinces of the country. The northern provinces became isolated from the liberated parts of Europe. Food stocks ran out, as did fuel stocks. Then a harsh winter began. Thousands of Dutch citizens starved or froze to death.

 Due to the war situation, tulip growers had not planted tulip bulbs that year; so great amounts of tulip bulbs were stocked on farms throughout the country. During the famine authorities decided to use these stocks as food for the starving populations. The old, dry tulip bulbs were sold in grocery stores, and newspapers published recipes with tulips. The tulip bulbs were nutritious and relatively easy to cook, so that less fuel was needed.

 The tulip bulbs that people ate in the Second World War cannot be compared with modern day, fresh tulip bulbs. The war bulbs were old and dry and did not taste like fresh tulips. A fresh tulip bulb has a sweet, milky flavor that is actually not very bad. The tulip bulbs that were eaten during the war had a very bitter and dry taste instead.

 Eating tulip bulbs is not as bad as it sounds like, as long as you eat fresh tulips that were not sprayed. Unfortunately, such bulbs were not available during the last winter of WW2. It is important that this sad history is not forgotten. Dutch children are still raised with the words: you are not hungry, you only have appetite (Je hebt geen honger, je hebt trek). Real hunger makes you eat everything you can get, even old, dry tulip bulbs, as they were eaten during the Dutch famine.”

 

Amazing!

Just a side note here – there is a wonderful place to visit outside The Hague, called Madurodam. It is a miniature city, built to scale. It includes the normal things you would find in a city – churches, office buildings, and even Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, with working airplanes. It’s a fun thing to see during the day, but miniature lights come on at night, and it’s quite the fairyland.

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The family of Old Things R New wishes each of our visitors a blessed Easter. He is risen!

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Keukenhof Gardens, Holland

29 Mar

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills   

JUDY                                                

 

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I hope you are enjoying my postings about flowers as much as I am enjoying writing about them. Although my “green thumb” is as purple as can be, i.e. I can’t grow ANYTHING – I thoroughly enjoy flowers. We’ve been to many “gardens” in our lifetime, but I think the most magnificent is the Keukenhof Gardens by Lisse in Holland (pronounced koy’-ken-hōf). We’ve been fortunate to have been stationed in Germany for a total of six years, and have made the Holland trip quite a few times.

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One of the first times we visited Keukenhof was in April of 1968. Spring had not yet fully arrived in Holland, and we were treated to winds and bare trees. However, the landscaping of the gardens was still beautiful.

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And when we returned later, when Spring was in full swing, we were amazed to see how the landscape had just exploded with flowers.

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There were blankets of flowers.

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And when we climbed up into one of the many windmills there, we could look out and see fields and fields of tulips. Beautiful!

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Even though there weren’t many flowers outside around the grounds, there were tulips in abundance in the hothouses. We’ve been told there are about 700 different varieties of tulips there.

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I was fascinated to see some that were absolutely black – named “Black Beauty.”

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Another time we visited, we saw more black tulips called “The Ace of Spades.”

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We were amazed to see all the different colors and styles of tulips – lots of hybrid work going on there. Although tulips are the main flower, there are many others there, as well. There were blankets of hyacinths. I saw my first Amaryllis, and was amazed at the size of it.

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The next year, 1969, we visited again, but in May, when my Mother came to visit us. Not only were the gardens in full swing, the flowers were just everywhere

 

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Not only in the ground, but in planters, as well.

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Just about everywhere flowers could be – they were there. You can see the difference in the trees and the tulips and other flowers from the early Spring of our 1968 visit. We thoroughly enjoyed both visits.

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We visited again in March of 1981, with our two daughters, during their Spring Break. The weather was rather chilly, windy, and brisk. We were in jackets at the time. Once again, Spring had yet to arrive, and nature was still rather bleak. We had been wandering around the area and thought we would freeze if we went to the gardens, but really had no choice – it was then or never. Much to our surprise – inside the garden, with all the trees, the wind didn’t reach us very much, and we were quite comfortable.

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~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~

 

 

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Forsythia

22 Mar

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

                                                   

 

 

 

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Last time, I wrote about the beautiful Texas Bluebonnets. Today I want to write about Forsythia. Never heard of it? It’s a lovely Springtime-flowering bush. It can be a bit “straggly” (like a “bad hair day”) or it can be thick like a hedge – depends on how it is planted and cared-for. From what I gleaned from some Google sites, many prefer the casual look, rather than manicured. It’s a personal taste.

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There was this lovely unkempt bush that grew under the window of my parent’s bedroom in Albuquerque. It was always a favorite of mine to see it popping out in Spring. Here are a few shots of it in full growth. Not quite as straggly as I remember, but still not a severely shaped shrub, either.

Also from some of the Google sites, I learned that it is a member of the olive family. I never would have guessed that!   I also learned that it is named after English horticulturist William Forsythe. I don’t know whether or not he actually did the hybrid work, but it bears his name, in any case.

While we lived in Virginia, in Springtime, when all the flowers and wild flowers were just beginning to bud, there was a hedge along a county road that was just a riot of those beautiful golden yellow forsythia blossoms. We took some pictures of it, and as you can see, even though the rest of nature is still caught in the clutches of winter and bleak, God’s promise of Spring bursts forth with the forsythia just over-flowing with color. We loved to see it every Springtime, and looked for it.

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I was so amused, some years ago, to see a joke in a Reader’s Digest. Seems this gentleman was on an elevator, on his way to his office one fine Spring day, when a young lady stepped onto the elevator with some sprigs of forsythia in her hand. Trying to be polite, and make conversation, he asked her, “Are those forsythia?” Her surprised reply was, “No they are for Cynthia!”

Here are a few more pictures we took, as well as what I gleaned from some websites. Such a beautiful bush. As you can see, they can be rather large, if left to grow uninhibited. But the shrubs are beautiful, no matter what.

 

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