Old Things R New

School Days Again 4

My Take

DiVoran Lites

I waited two full weeks to hear about my acceptance as a certified school volunteer..

Photo by Charles Deluvio 🇵🇭🇨🇦 on Unsplash

At the beginning of the third week, I was thinking I should ask somebody. I called the School Board and they said, “Yep, you’re good to go.” You can go over to the school right now and start.”

I didn’t want to go over there, “right now.” I had no idea where to go or what to do. I wanted to know the next step. I called the school and the woman there connected me to the voice mail of the volunteer coordinator. I left a message, but she never got back to me, I believe it was because they have just made changes in the phone system there.

The next day the School Board left a message on our phone telling me my fingerprints had been rejected and we had to do them over, no expense to me. So I wasn’t good to go after all.

Before that day came, I talked with a friend from our church’s Book Chat. She is a volunteer at the library with the very impressive background of having been a research librarian herself. I asked about her fourth-grade grand-daughter who is brilliant. The last time we talked, the granddaughter was doing virtual school, but it wasn’t right for her she was way ahead. Next,they tried a charter school. The granddaughter got the only slot, and she began to succeed. She loved her teachers and they loved her. My friend, the grandmother, said she had volunteered to work in the media center where her granddaughter attended, but they didn’t need any more help, not even from a certified research librarian.

Today I went back to have my fingerprints done again. When I told the receptionist I was back for the second time she got everybody hustling to tend to me. I’d been told not to use hand sanitizer but to wear lotion on my finger-tips. I had done that, but when I got to the computer every one of my prints were labeled, poor quality again. The finger-print taker said she would send them to the FBI and if they were rejected again, she would ask for a name check. I guess that meant an FBI background check. I was feeling more and more important, not discouraged at all. Hmm, certififed and approved by the FBI. I was coming up in the world.

Photo by Corinne Kutz on Unsplash

Author, Poet and Artist

DiVoran has been writing for most of her life. Her first attempt at a story was when she was seven years old and her mother got a new typewriter. DiVoran got to use it and when her dad saw her writing he asked what she was writing about. DiVoran answered that she was writing the story of her life. Her dad’s only comment was, “Well, it’s going to be a very short story.” After most of a lifetime of writing and helping other writers, DiVoran finally launched her own dream which was to write a novel of her own. She now has her Florida Springs trilogy and her novel, a Christian Western Romance, Go West available on Amazon. When speaking about her road to publication, she gives thanks to the Lord for all the people who helped her grow and learn. She says, “I could never have done it by myself, but when I got going everything fell beautifully into place, and I was glad I had started on my dream.”

Tags: Becoming a volunteer

Comments 1 Comment
Categories DiVoran Lites My Take- Monday
Author divoran09

Fred Remembers~Part 12

11 Nov

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Charles wrote: Late in 1954, I received orders assigning us to Far East Air Forces. So we were being moved to Japan.

We left Tyndall in the winter of 1955, on February 1^st, with the temperature being 28̊. We headed West on U.S. 98 in ground fog. The fog was right at windshield level. We drove across country through Texas – and it took two days to across Texas! [that was before interstate roads] – then across New Mexico and Arizona to Yuma, Arizona.

Charles wrote: On our first day out of Tyndall heading to the west coast, we arrived in Beaumont, Texas in late afternoon. Going through the city, we happened to be the last vehicle in the line to go through a light. Unfortunately, a beer truck following us, also attempted to go through, but went too fast, and when we got into the next block discovered he didn’t have room to stop, so he crashed into our new Buick, bending the trunk lid. Kitty had her sewing machine in the trunk, and she was concerned about that, but more about the children. The driver came to apologize, but Kitty yelled at him, “what are you trying to do….kill my children??” He arranged that very day to have a check cut for repairs for our car, so we continued on out to the west coast.

Charles and Kitty with Sally by house on Beacon Beach, Tyndall AFB, Florida

1953 Buick, light green bottom, dark green on top

I think we ended up spending a few days with my Aunt and Uncle and cousins – I think at that time they were in Pasadena, California. We drove up to Danville, California, which is just east of Oakland in the San Francisco Bay area. Dad found a place for us to rent.

I think that, just a few days after we arrived in Danville, Dad decided to trade in his car – the 1953 Buick that was rear-ended – on a 1955 Chevrolet V-8 which was coral and gray. It was an interesting car, and we really enjoyed it.

Emily and Sally by the coral and gray 1955 Chevy

We got in a three-bedroom house in Danville, south of Walnut Creek, California. It was a very affluent area, near Mt. Diablo. Us kids were enrolled in the schools there. I attended San Ramón Valley Union High School. It was a new building. I was quite disappointed to find they didn’t teach any Latin at all, or Algebra 2. They only had Business Math. So I took two hours of study hall. I had to take spelling again, something I hadn’t had to take since the fourth grade! I was not impressed with the California schools. We went to Japan during my second semester of my 10^thgrade. Since I could not take Latin and Algebra 2 while we were in Danville, I had to take them both during summer school in Tokyo.

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

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years

Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing.

Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.

She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins.

She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

Tags: #Veteran, A military man remembers his life.

Comments 1 Comment
Categories Judy Wills-Sunday Memories
Author ludyja

I Need Encouragement

10 Nov

Walking by Faith, Not by Sight

Janet Perez Eckles

Reblogged November 10, 2018

“C’mon, tell them your story,” my friend nudged me.

I smiled but my heart said no.

How could I share my story with these two teenagers who showed up to collect for a camping trip? They had knocked at the door, hoping to get some money and be on their way.

But my friend, who hosted me in her house, insisted. “Come in. Have a seat,” she said to them, “wait till you hear this story.”

I squirmed. This audience of two was not eager to sit through the details of my transition from sighted to blind.

I grinned with an apologetic smile. But, having no choice, I began to relate my journey including God’s redeeming love and spiritual healing.

“She’s crying,” my friend whispered to me when I finished.

For obvious reasons, I had no idea the young girl had only one eye. They stayed and stayed telling us their own story, the trauma they endured brought tears to our eyes.

“God brought us to this house for a reason,” they said. “We know He’s real.”

That night they found hope.

And I found a hint of the power of God when we put aside our resistance to tell what He has done.

And He has done something for all of us, big or small, powerful or light. We all have a detail that shines of His goodness. We all have crossed from some valley to a mountain top. And because He took us through that journey, He says, tell it. Don’t hide it. Show it because “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16).

Opportunities to show His light surround us. They whisper to us. And call us to still believe, still be bold, and still know He goes before us in moments trivial to us, but mighty for Him

From now on, rather than hesitate, these words will echo in me: “I’m coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” (Revelation 22:12-13).

Let’s Pray

Father, remove from me any hesitation to share what You have done for me. Open more doors to tell of Your faithfulness and Your goodness at work. In Jesus’ name, amen.

What part of your story does God want you to share?

Janet

______________________________________

Did you know I wrote a book filled with words of encouragement, uplifting thoughts and illustrations of real-life triumph to empower you? Its title, Trials of Today, Treasures for Tomorrow: Overcoming Adversities in Life. You can get it HERE.

CLICK HERE for a one-minute inspirational video.

Looking for a speaker for your upcoming event? A great speaker makes the difference between a so-so event and one that shines with impact. I invite you to view one of my two-minute videos HERE.

Please share: Feel free to share Janet’s posts with your friends.

Tags: Share your story

Comments 1 Comment
Categories Janet Perez Eckles-Walking by faith, Not by Sight-Saturday
Author Onisha Ellis

Home Front – A Weed Went to War

9 Nov

My blogging muse deserted me this week. I found this blog about milkweed to be fascinating. I am thankful there are bloggers like GPCox keeping our past alive.

Pacific Paratrooper

Late in World War II, the common milkweed was often the only thing that kept a downed aviator or soaking-wet sailor from slipping beneath the waves. The plant’s floss was used as the all-important filler for flotation devices.

The northwest part of the Lower Peninsula, particularly the area around Petoskey, became the country’s picking and processing center for milkweed floss. By the time the war ended, an army of citizens—including schoolchildren—led by a visionary doctor had helped keep America’s servicemen safe from harm.

In the early 20th century, the typical filler for life preservers was a material called “kapok.” A cottony fiber extracted from the pods of the ceiba tree, kapok was cultivated in the rainforests of Asia. America’s primary source for this material was the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia).

Then, in 1937, came Japan’s invasion of China, which initiated World War II in the Pacific.

Enter Dr. Boris…

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Categories Uncategorized
Author Onisha Ellis

The Pinewood Derby Race Car

8 Nov

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

DiVoran and I transferred from Los Angeles, California to Titusville, Florida in 1965, for me to work on the Apollo Moon Landing Program. At the time, our daughter was three and our son was 18 months old. We bought our first new house, and spent months furnishing it the best we could (Can you imagine, our lot had no grass and no trees when we bought that first new house), DiVoran went to work as a hair stylist for a while, and we made some wonderful friends at the local church we joined.

The house was gray with no grass or trees when we bought it!

We stayed really busy the first few years, and the stress of the jobs was getting to us. Friends of ours suggested we join their square-dance club, to help relieve some of the tensions of our daily lives. Not being much of a dancer, I couldn’t see how hours of high-stepping square-dancing would relieve my tensions. But I learned that it was really great therapy, and we liked it. We had some wonderful times dancing with the Titusville Twirlaways square-dance club, at local and state-wide dances over the years.

When our son, Billy, was seven we enrolled him in the local Cub Scout Pack 370 and I became a volunteer Scout Leader. The Boy Scouts of America program is a great learning and character developmentexperience for young boys, and I enjoyed helping as a leader. We had lots of skill and development projects, and Billy and I worked together on most of them.

One of our favorite projects was a Pinewood Derby race car. This involved taking a block of hard-wood, and hand fashioning it (with lots of elbow grease and sandpaper) into a race car. As I remember it, the Cub Scouts were given a certain amount of time to finish their car and have it ready for racing. There were certain rules they had to follow, so there would be no cheating. When race day came, we made a day of it and all the parents were cheering for their son’s car to win, as they raced down an inclined track. After the race, there was a covered dish meal and a good time was had by all.

When Billy was 10, he graduated into the next age group of the Boy Scouts, which was Webelos. I worked with him to earn the many merit badges he needed to move up each step in the Scouting program. Funny thing, while I was working with Billy on his merit badges, DiVoran and I were working on collecting our square-dancing badges for various classes and trips we took to dances around the state.

One of the most fun projects I worked on with Billy, while he was in Webelos, was the building and flying of model rockets. As an engineer, I was challenged to build rockets that would look the best and fly the highest. Billy got caught up with the challenge, and actually designed his own model rocket from scratch. The first flight didn’t go too well, but with just one small modification, it flew great. We bought several kits, and spent many hours putting them together and painting them. Then we had loads of fun flying them at the local school yard.

That’s Billy’s original design on the far left

As a side note, you might be interested to know that those model rockets Billy and I built, when he was in Webelos, have survived to this day. And Billy’s son, Jacob, enjoyed flying them (when he was younger) at the same school yard, all these many years later. To me, it’s a testimony to the shared love, respect, learning ability, and character development, to see generation after generation succeed in life with the help of organizations like the Boy Scouts of America.

—–The End—–

Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 61 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing. He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville. Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.

Bill

One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is: John 10:10

Tags: Boy Scouts, Fatherhood

Comments 1 Comment
Categories Bill Lites A Slice of Life- Wednesday
Author billlites1

A New Way

6 Nov

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Tags: A new way, Hebrews 13:5, Isaiah 42:16

Comments Leave a Comment
Categories DiVoran Lites My Take- Monday
Author divoran09

Home Front recipes from WWII

5 Nov

Pacific Paratrooper

As most of you know, America experienced rationing for the first time in World War II and with the holidays looming in the wings, food seemed to be a logical subject.

Some products that were rationed during World War II were sugar, meat, coffee, typewriters, fuel oil, gasoline, rubber, and automobiles. Each person was issued a book of ration coupons each month. Rationed goods were assigned a price and point value. Families were not restricted to certain quantities of rationed goods. But once their coupons were used up, they could not buy rationed goods until the next month. Families were encouraged to plant victory gardens. These gardens supplied a major part of the vegetable supply during the War.

But one thing most of us can admit, our parents and grandparents ate well. They ate to live – not lived to eat! Here are some of the recipes, given to us…

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Categories Uncategorized
Author Onisha Ellis

School Days 3

5 Nov

My Take

DiVoran Lites

I went to the school board website to fill in an application as a school volunteer. I’m not great at filling out things on the computer, but with a bit of help,I got it done last week. I would have to pay thirty-five dollars for a set of fingerprints and be charged eight dollars a year for the prints to stay on file.

Photo credit Pixabay

Bill drove me to the County School Board building in another town, but before we went, we had lunch at Chick-Fi-l A with our daughter. I love that place. It’s feels like a giant family reunion. We mingle with military people, sports team people, and lots of mothers and a few dads with babies and pre-school children. Children are God’s best work of art. I have to be careful that I don’t just sit and gaze at them.

photo credit Melody Hendrix

I’ve always liked children, that’s the main reason I want to help with reading again. Over the last year,I’ve been a bit slow as I recuperated from an emergency gall-bladder operation. While I was getting back my strength, I felt as if I had no real purpose in life, so as I got well I prayed for God to use me in some way that He knew I could manage.

Since it was around lunchtime when we got to the School Board the tiny security room in the large building was standing room only. Eventually,it was my turn to go in. I had a pink sheet that asked if I had ever been arrested. They wanted to know what, where, when, why, and how. There were strict instructions against lying.

Thank the Lord, I have never been arrested…uh, well but… when I was in high school, I got hauled into the police station for drag-racing at night on our main street. I kind of hated to quit, because I had always won. Maybe I won because of the Green Hornet Hudson my dad let me drive. The other driver, the Lutheran pastor’s son got taken in too. Apparently the police liked him, though. They let us go without calling our parents. I didn’t know until later that Dad had replaced a transmission on the Green Hudson Hornet. Let’s not tell the School Board any of this, okay?

Photo credit commons WikiMedia.org

Back to the fingerprints, which aren’t nearly as exciting as drag racing. (Kids don’t try it at home). The fingerprint space had two big desks in it which meant four people filled the room. Did you know that fingerprinting is now done on a computer? The old way was probably better, but at least I didn’t have ink on my hands. Words come up for each print at the top of the monitor. Mine always said, “Poor Quality.” I figured I had worn off most of my prints like the woman I heard saying hers had been rejected because she was a cook and they had mostly burnt off. Next,I will get an email notice of whether I passed or not.

Author, Poet and Artist

Tags: Signing up to be a school volunteer

Comments 2 Comments
Categories DiVoran Lites My Take- Monday
Author divoran09

Fred Remembers~Part 11

4 Nov

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Back to our stay at Tyndall AFB, Florida.

Photo credit WJHG.com
Credit Google search

We were there from summer of 1951 through the first of February of 1955. I attended 6^thgrade at Cherry Street Elementary School. From there I went to Jenks Junior High School. [It was spelled Jenks when I attended, but now it looks like it is spelled Jinks, don’t know why]

Credit Google Search

Jenks was a new school that year, and had been planned for 750 students. The first day there were 930 students attending. They had to quickly put up portables for some of the classes. I had my health class in one of them. I attended Jenks Junior High School for 7^th,8^th, and 9^thgrades, and one semester of 10^thgrade at Bay High School.

Credit Google Search

We lived in the house at 107 Cove Lane, as I recall, until sometime in 1954. Then, because of Dad’s job, they wanted him to live on the base.

Charles wrote: …Tyndall became for me the longest assignment in the Air Force. I was the senior chaplain at Tyndall during the period 1951-1955 and, as such, the Base Chaplain.

Chapel, Tyndall AFB, Florida

So we ended up getting quarters on the base, out on what they called Beacon Beach. It was an old, old , fairly small house, right on the beach, maybe 50 or so yards from the actual Gulf of Mexico. There was some protection there, because out about a mile or so there was a sand bar. I remember that Mom and Dad and the girls lived in the house, as it was just a two-bedroom house. And out in a separate building – a detached building or shed – which had two fairly small bedrooms and one really tiny bathroom. That’s where Larry and I lived. I had one end of the building, which was away from the door and it kind of slopped down a bit, but it was big enough for a bed and a small chest of drawers. Between my room and Larry’s room was a small bath with a shower. Larry’s room was just barely big enough to have a bed in it. He also had the door that went out.

One of the interesting things about living out there by the beach was that, out in the water there was a lot of grass growing, about 8″ or 10″ tall grass. I would wade out about waist deep and, if you were careful, either with bare feet, or preferably with some old sneakers, you could step on scallops. So I could go out there and in maybe an hour or so could pick up a whole bucket full of scallops, probably 3″-3½” in diameter. I would take them back to the beach where I had a hose, away from the house, and we could clean out the scallops right there, take out the muscle of the scallop, put them in a separate bowl, take them back in the house, and we would have fresh scallops for supper. If we got tired of scallops, we could wade out with a spin-casting reel and catch Spanish Mackerel

Atlantic Spanish Mackerel – Credit Google Search and Wikipedia

and occasionally King Mackerel with a spinner.

King Mackerel – Credit Google Search

Once in a while we would even get a Flounder, if we let the bait fall to the bottom. So we enjoyed that.

Flounder – Credit Google Search and Diane Rome Peebles

It was probably a four or five mile trip from the house back to the main part of the base. We rode the bus in to the schools. We enjoyed our stay out there at Beacon Beach.

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

Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing.

Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins.

She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

Tags: A military man remembers his life.

Comments 2 Comments
Categories Onisha Ellis On the Porch- Thursday
Author ludyja

When life seems empty

3 Nov

Walking by Faith, Not by Sight

Janet Perez Eckles

Reblogged November 3, 2018

As the airplane landed during my last trip, I got a little sad. The lady who sat beside me during the three-hour flight became my friend. We talked and shared and laughed. We exchanged business cards and pledged to keep in touch.

Hey, that’s my bag!

The plane landed. Passengers filed out and stopped only to grab their luggage from the overhead compartment.

Suddenly, my new friend jumped to her feet, “Hey that’s my bag!”

She dashed down the aisle after the innocent thief. I assume she caught up and claimed her suitcase.

We’ve all done the same. Unexpectedly, something or someone takes something we value, something that belonged to us, something that leaves us lost without it.

And when we’re left helpless, empty of what was essential to us, we want to either scream with pain, fade into sorrow or turn to anger. Often, it’s all three.

There’s good news.

The good news is that God knows our helpless feeling. He sees our loneliness. And He watches the emptiness that fills our nights.

That’s why, in Psalm 103, He provides that which nothing or no one can take away:

No one can rob our hope for healing if we remember all God’s benefits-and He who forgives all our sins and heals all our diseases,

No one can rob our path to triumph because He redeems our life from the pit and crowns us with love and compassion.

Nothing can snatch our expectation for good things because He satisfies our desires with good things so that our youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

No one can steal our strength when facing attacks because the LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.

Nothing can take God’s love from us because the LORD is compassionate and gracious; slow to anger, abounding in love.

Nothing can remove His forgiving nature because He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever.

Nothing can take His comfort from us because He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him.

No one can take away the cleansing of our soul because as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.