Autumn Leaves

Summer is my favorite time of year—sunny days and the freedom from heavy clothes and boots.  Even though I live in the South, I complain and gripe every year about the arrival of Fall and Winter.  When others get excited about dropping temperatures and say they love the weather, I frown and declare that I want my summer back. I blame my poor attitude on Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) that comes with fewer daylight hours and inclement weather that keeps me housebound. I blame it on autumn memories of loss—hospital vigils and cemeteries. I blame it on cold hands and feet from the dropping temperatures and dry eyes and skin from the furnace heat.  My head tells me the natural cycle of spring, summer, fall, winter are necessary for the earth to function as intended, but my body wants bright sunshine and heat.

Almost seventy Falls and Winters have come and gone in my life, and Lord willing, I hope to enjoy more in the years to come.  Just as the seasons of nature change, so do the seasons of life. It occurs to me that I am in the Fall of my life and I am reminded of the Bible verse from Ecclesiastes 3:1: “For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.”  

It’s way past time for me to discard my gloomy face that shows up around September 21 and embrace the six months until Spring. In many ways these are the best days of my life and I need to look for the positives, instead of the negatives, in the seasons of nature and the seasons of my life. So here goes:

Season of Fall:  Colorful leaves, a cozy fireplace, an electric blanket, hot cider or tea with a piece of sweet potato pie. The end of Daylight Savings Time —less daylight in the evening, but more in the morning— gives me an extra hour of sleep and the motivation to get an earlier start to my day. I also love the emphasis on a bountiful harvest and Thanksgiving.

Season of Life:  More time for writing, more opportunities to share my journey, fewer financial responsibilities, more time for prayer and contemplation, time to enjoy the grandchildren, cooking less, date nights with Charles, and the good health to enjoy these many blessings and opportunities. This Fall will be a time for reflection and rejoicing over every season of life.

The song I think about every October is Autumn Leaves, originally a French tune made popular in America when Johnny Mercer wrote the Lyrics in 1947. This year I am rejoicing in the words from that song: “The falling leaves drift by my window, the autumn leaves of red and gold.”

 

Words & Wings

A book signing event for Frieda and an air show for Charles. Add a beautiful fall weekend and it doesn’t get much better than that.

Frieda promoting
 Born Three Times

FoxTale Book Shoppe in Woodstock, GA hosted an Emerging Author Event in its quaint independent book store. As one of ten authors, I had a few minutes to talk about my book. It was fun to meet the other writers and compare notes about our journeys as authors. Networking always leads to new avenues to promote your work. One author was looking for guests for her upcoming radio show. We exchanged cards and the promise of a future booking. Several folks bought my book and I bought some of theirs. I was amazed by the diversity of writing and the imaginative and creative flair of so many. It would be a big stretch for me to write a colorful, well-illustrated children’s book or create a fictional story about espionage or murder in a small southern town. Those books were on display next to mine offering something for everyone who ventured into the book store. 

Saturday’s air show was unique in so many ways. Through our company’s connections, we received passes to the President’s Club at the Paulding County Air Show. That gave us entrance to a covered tent with many amenities—shade, cold drinks, hors d’oeuvres, and a sit down dinner between the afternoon and evening air shows. The military planes with their death defying maneuvers stole the afternoon show. The aircraft bursting through the clouds faster than the speed of sound and the following roars and booms of the engines shook the earth and made us cover our ears.

Granddaughter Alexa
with astronaut Scott Horowitz

The best part was seeing it all through our granddaughter’s eyes. As a ten year old fourth grader, she’d studied space, the planets, and astronauts in school. She was excited just to see the airplanes, but thrilled beyond words to meet and talk with an astronaut. Scott Horowitz, who has participated in several shuttle and space station missions, took time to talk to her, autograph her program, and posed with her for a picture. The day ended perfectly with a night aerobatic air show. The small planes performed their maneuvers with multicolored flashing lights and painted the sky with smoke trails, visible against the background of an orange and blue sunset. As we headed for our car, a beautiful fireworks display lit up the sky.

The verse penned by poet Robert Browning summed up my feeling after such a perfect weekend: “God’s in His heaven and all is right with the world.”

 

The Catalog Dump

Being sick has its advantages and disadvantages. Mostly disadvantages, but you do have the advantage of extra time on your hands. Other people are not enthusiastic about you coughing and blowing in their presence—so you get to stay home. The main thing to look forward to each day is the mailman’s arrival with the latest load of bills, junk mail, and catalogs—lots and lots of catalogs.

Recently twelve catalogs arrived in one load of mail. My name must be on every mailing list of purveyors of household goods and clothes in the country.  How did I get so fortunate?  I used to get a semi-annual catalog from JC Penney and Sears and that was about it. I really looked forward to the annual Wish Book. I guess that where it all started.  And the internet has only made it worse. Order anything online and everybody sees what a sucker you are for a catalog. 

 Actually I cut my teeth on catalog shopping. When I was growing up our family did not physically shop for anything other than food and drugstore items. Everything else came from the Montgomery Ward catalog.  That catalog was dog eared with all the items on my wish list. Times were much simpler and our finances much leaner so clothes, household goods, and an occasional treat were the only items we ordered.

I sorted through the recent pile of catalogs and found some amusing items that I will never order, but are available for the discerning man or woman who already has everything.

·         Road Mice-a computer mouse shaped like a Mercedes Benz.

      ·         A battery operated spinning spaghetti fork.
      ·         A “life jewel” bracelet that holds your dog’s DNA.
      ·         A remote controlled 6” tarantula.
      ·         The iPAD commode caddy (replaces your basket of bathroom magazines & holds the toilet
             paper roll in one convenient spot).

 What I really need to be able to order from a catalog is the following:

·         A battery operated computer nerd that will be there 24/7/365 to fix all my computer problems.

      ·         The answer man portable device that will teach me all about social media.
      ·         A robot chef to explore my pantry and freezer and tell me what to fix for supper.
      ·         A voice activated closet valet that will transition my closet from summer to winter.
      ·         A pop-up idea box that will generate new ideas for future blog posts.

While my body languishes, the mind is in over drive.  I need a distraction. Home Shopping Network here I come.

The Right (Write) Stuff

Diana Nyad chased her dream until at age sixty-four she swam from the Cuban shore to Key West, Florida. After an amazing fifty-three hours in shark and jellyfish infested waters, she emerged from the water, fulfilling her motto for the year: “Find a Way.” She told a waiting world about the lessons she learned during her life long journey. “One is we should never, ever give up. Two is you’re never too old to chase your dreams. Three, it looks like a solitary sport, but it’s a team.” 

Her experience in the ocean reminds me of the lessons I learned at the Catch the Wave Writers Conference I attended last weekend. The purpose of the event is to enable writers to “Send out a Christian wave upon a secular sea.” The conference wasn’t near the water, but was hidden from the rush of Atlanta traffic at the picturesque Simpsonwood Conference Center in Norcross. I couldn’t wait to get off the busy interstate and walk through the three dimensional doors at the center. The hand carved relief of Jesus was a welcoming site, saying to me: “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

Terry Burns, our keynote speaker, reminded me that the writer’s life is not about selling thousands of books, but about reaching that one person who needs to hear my words. That should be enough motivation to “…never, ever give up.” Rejections by agents and editors come all too often for me —like stinging jellyfish— but that is no reason to quit casting my message into the sea.

Publicist ReAnn Ring taught classes about using social media to promote my writing. She explained that Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Hootesuite are waiting for me to grasp and employ to reach a wider audience. I learned to type on a manual typewriter, but that doesn’t mean I am too old to learn new tricks. It may take me longer than some, but “I can do this.”

It took a team effort for our conference to be a success. Writing has its lonesome moments and sometimes I feel like I am floundering, but it's not a solitary sport. Whenever we gather at a conference, or at our regular Christian Authors Guild meetings, I learn from my fellow writers. It may be during a critique group or around refreshments as we talk about our latest writing exploits. 

If you want to break a world record, swim from Cuba to the US.  If I want to cast a wave upon a secular sea, I must follow the advice of Martin Luther, “… change the world, pick up my pen and write.”

The View From the Valley

My last blog post was about mountaintop experiences and the amazing perspective those God made wonders provide.  What goes up must eventually come down, and so this week I write about the View from the Valley.  While we were in California, we drove through three different valleys, each one picturesque and unique. Quite often my life experiences are similar to what I observed in the valleys while we enjoyed our sightseeing tour.

The Antelope Valley is located on the tip of the Mojave Desert. The antelopes that once inhabited this area of California have long since escaped the encroaching civilization and moved on. The land is dry and parched in the summer months with almost no precipitation and, depending on the winter rainfall, home to an array of poppies in the late spring. The distant San Gabriel and Tehachapi Mountains ring the valley.

Sometimes I can feel I am in a dry, parched land and that better days will never come. Like the Antelope Valley, my mountain tops are far in the distance and seem inaccessible. I long for relief from my life circumstances and wish for the cool refreshing rain of hope to wash over me.   These times are really great opportunities for self-examination. I take comfort and encouragement from the Bible during my valley days. I am reminded of the verse from Psalms 42. “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God…” and I feel refreshed.

Out next Valley experience was in the San Joaquin Valley. This area of California has been called “The food basket of the world.”  Crops of every description grow on the flat land for miles in the distance.  Table grapes, raisins, almonds and walnuts predominate as far as my eye can see.  A saying on one billboard caught my eye—“Food grows where water flows.”

Like these abundant crops, my life grows and flourishes when I allow myself to be nourished. I am reminded of one verse Jesus spoke when He gave what we call The Beatitudes. “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Matthew 5:6 …and I feel restored.

Our final stop was in the Yosemite Valley. The only way to appreciate the beauty of the Yosemite Valley is to look up. Look up at the giant Sequoias; look up at El Capitan and Half Dome and the cathedral spires surrounding the Valley. After being in the parched valley, and the fruitful valley, I long to look up and soak in the magnificent beauty.  “I will lift my eyes to the hills …My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.” Psalms 121 1-2 …and I feel renewed. 

Mountaintop and valley experiences are a part of all our lives, but all are useful in helping us become the persons God wants us to be.

The Hills Are Alive...

…with the whoosh of thousands of wind turbines.  Five thousand power generators have been installed on 50 square miles in beautifully scenic Tehachapi, CA. Each turbine stands higher than the Statue of Liberty and has a blade span of 125 ft. Put 5000 of them together and they become a forest of steel on the desert mountains.  Quite a sight to see.

Our two weeks of flight testing in the Mojave Desert was mostly “hurry up and wait.” Mechanical difficulties grounded the Air Force test plane and gave us plenty of time for sight-seeing.  While we waited for parts to be delivered and installed, we drove to Yosemite National Park. On the way we saw the amazing display of wind farm technology pictured above. This relatively new green energy is not without controversy especially from those who are opposed to the steel monstrosities defacing the view.

The glorious view of Yosemite is protected against any kind of development and economic intrusion. The granite cliffs that we observed from above at Glacier Point and below in Yosemite Valley filled me with awe and wonder at the tremendous forces that created our planet.  The giant Sequoia trees, some of the oldest trees in the world, stood as towering monuments to the beauty of God’s handiwork. Observing the grandeur of Yosemite reminded us of the first verse of “How Great Thou Art”- “O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds, thy hands have made.”

As we drove back from Yosemite, we saw another man made wonder-the Tehachapi Loop.  The spiral tracks allow trains to navigate the steep grade of the Tehachapi Pass.  Opened in 1876 by the Union Pacific Railroad to deliver the abundant produce of the San Joaquin Valley to Los Angeles, this was considered one of the engineering feats of its day.  We were very excited to actually see a freight train navigating the tunnels and passing over itself as it went around the loop. It reminded me of a snake trying to catch its tail.  

Whether it is old technology (trains) or new technology (wind turbines) or God’s creative hand at work, we live in a fascinating world with lots of new things to explore.  I learn something new each day that makes me want to sing,  “How Great Thou Art.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't Buy Green Bananas

My oldest son sent me a list of humorous sayings about growing old.  “I’m retired-I was tired yesterday and I am tired again today.”  “I’m not old, I’m chronologically gifted.” Or my personal favorite: “I’m so old I don’t buy green bananas anymore.” 

High school students were challenged to dress as senior adults.  Of course, they came to school in hospital gowns, on walkers, and in wheelchairs. Unfortunately, for some senior adults with failing health that is the reality. For many with relatively good health the post retirement years can be the best years of all. I like to call those of us who fit that category: Semi-Seniors.

With more people than ever living to see their 90^th birthday, what do we do with the extra 25 years we have been given post retirement?  Some may choose a new hobby or volunteer activity.  Others decide to take a risk and embark on a second career. At age 65, my late bloomer husband, Charles, and I formed our company, Consulting Aviation Services. He patented two inventions to change the flying characteristics of aircraft and during the past ten years, we have been testing those devices in wind tunnels and on various airplanes.  Before the summer is over, we will travel to California to visit the Mojave Desert for an Air Force flight test and back to Maryland for more wind tunnel testing. I often ask myself what else could we be doing with these later years of our lives? 

Aerospace engineering is Charles life’s work.  His story of success and failure and perseverance in spite of challenging circumstances and motivated by his faith in God needs to be told. My interest in writing and his life’s work are about to merge as I start writing his memoir with the working title “Reaching for the Sky.” I will start the first draft of his book in a nice cool hotel room while he is hard at work in the desert heat at the Air Force base. His story will be a good companion to my memoir, “Born Three Times.”

Oliver Wendall Holmes is attributed with the quote: “Most of us go to our grave with our music still inside of us.”  It is a balancing act to grow old gracefully, but not fall into the stereotypes that others—even our own children—ascribe to us.  It is much more difficult to challenge ourselves to take bold steps to make the last years of our lives the most interesting and meaningful of all.