Friday, July 18, 2008

Aloha! I'm setting sail!

As you may know, I’ve been writing several blogs in different topic areas.

http://lava-to-lilikoi.blogspot.com - about my “homesteading” efforts here in Hawai’i

http://talkstory-lucy.blogspot.com - inspirational posts taken from retreats and seminars I’ve given

http://lothlorien-lucy.blogspot.com - memoir-type material about living on my boat and more

I’ve also been posting to two blogs established by my brother at www.inkwatu.com.

http://cooking4only1or2.blogspot.com - ideas for quick and easy cooking when you are a single or double

http://siblingbooks.blogspot.com - reviews from the two of us on books we’ve read

In an effort to combine readers as well as my thoughts, I am taking a brief hiatus from this particular blog. I plan to merge several blogs into one in order to focus more and present you with a better product. Anything new I write will be on http://lava-to-lilikoi.blogspot.com from now on. Please check it out and subscribe! I don’t want to lose my readers.

Thanks for stopping by!

Aloha,

Lucy

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Body Works


Here on the Big Island of Hawai`i, it seems we are having a problem keeping traditional medical doctors. I won’t go into the reasons for that, but it brings a deeper awareness that I need to start taking care of my own body.

Certain diseases and surgical procedures that I may need as I get older will require more of Western medicine, I’m sure. However, in keeping with Da Vinci’s notion of corporalita, I can keep my physical structure as healthy as possible through natural means.

The little book that started me out doing yoga many years ago is Richard Hittleman’s Yoga 28 Day Exercise Plan. My old worn-out copy was published in 1969! It’s simple and the postures are easy to follow.


When I moved onto Lothlorien and stopped doing yoga, I didn’t get back to it when I moved back onto land in 1983. I’m writing this post with the intention of putting myself back on track.

“You are as young as your spine is flexible.” Hittleman quotes this ancient yogic adage. I have certainly been a good example of this, and as I garden (see http://lava-to-lilikoi.blogspot.com) I’m even more aware of my need to return to yoga.

There is another gentle movement that works wonders with our flexibility, balance and serenity. That is Tai Chi Chuan, or more typically called Tai Chi. If you saw the movie “Calendar Girls” (one I highly recommend), then you saw the women doing Tai Chi at the beginning and at the end of the movie.

I started doing Tai Chi with nothing but a book to guide me, and I can’t even remember the name of it. Like most activities that involve movement, however, it’s not easy to follow and get it right.

Years later, I took a few classes with an elderly cardiologist from China who was a guest lecturer at the University of Arizona Medical Center in Tucson. Because of him, my interest developed, but then I moved away.

Now a CD guides me in its calm and flowing way. The beginning of it is beautiful just as a meditation, if nothing else. T’ai Chi for Health, Yang Long Form with Terence Dunn. It is a full 2-hour program that starts with a philosophical and historical intro, then ends with a 15 minute demonstration.


Writing this post has inspired me to devote more time to my health in this way. Turn up your sound, and take a few minutes to watch and meditate with the Tai Chi video.



Wednesday, July 9, 2008

How Stiff Is Your Spine?


This stately bird on a pier on Anna Maria Island in Florida is a perfect example of poise and grace. The pier continues to hold its own through all the hurricanes.

I had been doing yoga for a number of years before I moved onto the boat. Yoga gave me flexibility and inner well-being. But I gave that up when it became impossible to maintain a position, no matter how still the waters were.

Living on Lothlorien became an exercise in constant isometrics. Contracting my muscles became an unconscious act as I tried to maintain balance with a moving deck under my feet. So living aboard and sailing took the place of yoga. The main problem I had was walking on Mother Earth after a few weeks at sea.

One of da Vinci’s principles is that of corporalita. He kept himself in top physical condition and gave much advice on preserving our fitness. Physical activity and health isn’t always as high on my priority list as I would like, but I hope his modeling will assist in my “cultivation of grace, ambidexterity, fitness, and poise.”


According to WebMD.com, an online authority on health, meds, and fitness, da Vinci is responsible for many of the health trends alive today.
http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/da-vinci-health-code

Another way to adhere to the principle of corporalita is through native Hawai`ian alternative healing.
http://www.alternative-hawaii.com/hacul/wellness.htm There are classes available to learn the natural healing plants here on the Big Island.

Many of my friends, including non-Hawai`ians, are studying and using Hooponopono. This is a way of working with families and individuals within families to set things right, not only with each other, but with our ancestors. http://www.ancienthuna.com/ho-oponopono.htm

There are many ways to achieve health and fitness. Learning the ways of the kahuna, opening ourselves to the ways of oriental medicine http://www.qi-journal.com/tcm.asp , living by da Vinci’s rules of health, we can begin to put ourselves right in many ways.

In the meantime, check out one of these books.



Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Boat Tag


Many of my sailing stories are of events that happened to us at the Isthmus of Catalina Island off the California coast. This particular story, however, took place in the anchorage outside of Avalon.

One lazy afternoon, most people on the hook were relaxing in the sun, napping or reading. The owner of one small sailboat (about 18’) had evidently dropped anchor and taken off for the shore without waiting to see if his anchor had set. Later, I envisioned the anchor dangling straight down into the deep water without touching bottom.

Anchoring is an amusing topic for another post, so I won’t get into that at the moment.

This little boat was drifting between all the rest of the big “girls,” and each time she bumped against the hull of someone else’s boat, they would just give it a gentle shove to send it on its way. Pretty soon, a little breeze would blow it toward another boat, only to be sent off in yet another direction. I watched until I got bored with it all, and decided to nap.

This particular story probably comes under da Vinci’s “Sfumato” heading http://lothlorien-lucy.blogspot.com/2008/06/overview-of-davincian-principles.html because all of us pushing that little boat away were fairly ambiguous about what to do with her. She’d been a nuisance but no one knew who she belonged to or what to do with her, and I suspect that most of us really didn’t want to be bothered with it.

I’m not sure how much later I woke up, but in the meantime, evidently someone had called the Harbor Police to come take care of the little boat, and he was towing her down the coastline out of everyone’s way. At one point, he casually glanced back to make sure she was following adequately.

We watched as he quickly cut the motor of his own boat, took off his jacket, balled it up and flung it down. I think it’s probably a good thing none of us could hear what he was saying.

The object of his frustration was trailing behind him. It seemed that in the process of drifting from one boat to the next and being sent on its way, the little boat’s anchor had gathered up the rodes of several other anchors and was pulling them off their own secure anchorage. A trail of about six boats were being towed, one right after the other.

The guy got on his radio to call for assistance. I wanted to watch it all get untangled, but I never did get to find out what finally happened. Several of us were heading into shore for dinner, and the main topic of conversation was that little boat. We could just imagine the owner coming back out on the bum boat at the end of his day, scratching his head and wondering if his boat had sailed off without him - especially if he’d been drinking. What a shock that would have been!

We wondered if all the other boats received the same free trip down the coastline to be re-anchored. I wonder what those owners thought when they found their boat missing. If that had happened at the Isthmus, everyone would have known what was going on, but at Avalon there were too many boaters and very few people shared stories with others. If anyone was there and knows the end of this story, I’d love to hear it.

I was very happy my own rode wasn’t one that she picked up.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Flooding - Then and Now


There are many events in our memory that recede with time. Trying to bring back those memories is not always successful. Reading about the flooding along the Mighty Mississippi River this past week has brought back some of those memories for me.

In January 1937, there was a major flood in the Ohio River Valley, which has since been described as the deepest Ohio River flood on record. http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lmk/?n=flood_3

I was twenty-eight months old at the time, and my family lived in Mound City, Illinois, where the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers came together. The estimated population in 2003 was 673. Here are old photos of that flood. These pictures show people trying to move about on boats. http://www.enquirer.com/flood_of_97/history4.html.

I was told that when Daddy came to take us out of the parsonage in a small row boat, Mother grabbed three things: her violin, a Monopoly game, and me. Her violin was precious because it was a rare instrument and Mother was an excellent violinist; the Monopoly game (new to that generation) was a borrowed item and she needed to return it at all costs; and I suppose she saved me because I was her child. We were taken to higher ground to wait until the waters subsided enough for us to return.

My father had gone to help out on the levees, and according to Mother, the only way she knew he was still alive was through occasional radio reports of a great rescue miracle performed by the town’s “young Methodist minister.” Her tales about the flood may have been histrionic, but I suspect they may have contained an element of truth.

I scanned this picture of my father from a fragment of an old photo that was made during his time of working on the levees.

I was in fourth or fifth grade when I read in our geography book about how the terrain of Southern Illinois had been drastically altered because of the 1937 flood. Years later, when my youth group from another church attended a function in that flooded out little church, the water line was still visible about twenty feet high on the still unpainted walls.

Almost up to the moment I left for college, women would come up to me and say, “I made little dresses for the Methodist preacher’s daughter and you must be her!”
http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/investigations/es1308/es1308page07.cfm

I pray for the many people who are trying to survive mentally and physically in the flooding today.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Overview of DaVincian Principles


In the process of trying to organize my thoughts for this blog, I went to something that has been floating around in my head for years. In early May of this year, I briefly discussed one of my favorite books, How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci, by Michael Gelb http://lothlorien-lucy.blogspot.com/2008/05/davinci-and-camels.html. I want to keep this book in mind as I continue to write for Lothlorien.

This week, I am giving you an overview of da Vinci’s seven principles, as organized and identified by Gelb. I have created three other categories in order to cover some of the areas I want to discuss on these posts. First, here are the ones from Gelb’s book.

Curiositià – I explained this in the above link so I won’t go into it again, except to suggest that you think about doing one of Gelb’s exercises. Sit down and as quickly as you can (in one sitting), write out 100 questions of things you are curious about. It’s not as easy as it sounds.

Dimonstrazione – After graduation, I talked briefly about this principal http://lothlorien-lucy.blogspot.com/2008/05/back-to-davinci_21.html Here, Gelb suggests you let thoughts flow on the question “What would I do differently if I had no fear of making mistakes?” That one isn’t easy, either.

Now we get into some of the principals I haven’t touched on yet, but will in the future.

Sensazione – Sharpening my senses requires a conscious decision. I love to smell a fresh pot of tea, touch a luxurious orchid, hear a roaring surf, taste a new herb or spice, see color and movement. Gelb writes of Da Vinci’s “continual refinement of the senses, especially sight, as the means to enliven experience.” There are many topics I can discuss under this principal.

Sfumato - This word literally means “going up in smoke.” To the best of my ability, I have sought to follow da Vinci in his “willingness to embrace ambiguity, paradox, and uncertainty...”, to become “more at home with the unknown, to make friends with paradox.” Ambiguity is where many of us have difficulty.

Arte/Scienza - Music and other arts provide nourishment for my emotional and spiritual life, yet I am drawn to new technology of the 21st Century. Da Vinci is my role model for maintaining that delicate balance between imagination and logic as I seek to develop both sides of my brain, for what he calls ‘Whole-brain’ thinking.

Corporalita - Health and physical activity isn’t always as high on my priority list as I would like, but I hope Da Vinci’s modeling will assist in my “cultivation of grace, ambidexterity, fitness, and poise.”

Connessione - When I write, or read favorite authors, or explore other cultures and sub-cultures, there is a “recognition of and appreciation for the interconnectedness of all things and phenomena. Systems thinking. Ties everything together.”

Here are the three categories I created, using the Italian words to stay in the mind-set of da Vinci.

Famiglia - Family includes my biological family, my extended family, genealogy and the infamous Kaimana Kat. More recently, my family has expanded to include six beautiful hens – three Araucana and three Rhode Island Reds.

Geographia - I have lived in a variety of geographical locations, visited in many others, and hope to visit in those I’ve never seen except in my dreams. This section will include past, present, and future.

Proprio – This grouping is for odds and ends of personal “stuff” that doesn’t seem to fit under any particular heading.

I will continue to organize this blog in my mind (as many of us bloggers do), but at this point, I think I will try to do something from one of the principals or categories for each post. That may change – but hey, I’m a woman, right? I’m allowed!

Next week – Sensazione!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

No Hardtack For Us!


I had a wicked time trying to cook a meal on the little two-burner propane stove the first few times. By the time I moved off the boat and into a house five years later, I could cook a full Thanksgiving dinner on the tiny stove – turkey, pumpkin pie, and all the trimmings.

There was a small oven on the stove, and I had this fantasy that people would be lured by the smell of baking bread as we sailed along. Probably no one else could smell it, but it was enough to tantalize myself and whatever crew was sailing with me at the time.

My recipe was simple – a no-knead whole wheat bread. Put 7 ½ cups of whole wheat flour in a large bowl and set it in a very low oven for about 20 minutes. Dissolve 6 teaspoons dry yeast in 1 cup lukewarm water and add 1 tablespoon honey. Mix 4 tablespoons molasses with 1 cup warm water. Combine yeast and molasses mixtures and add with 2 tablespoons salt to the warm flour. Add enough water to make a sticky dough, approximately 2 cups.

I usually get 2 large loaves out of this, or you can get 3 small loaves. Butter your pans and turn the dough into the pans. No need to knead the dough. Let it rise for an hour and preheat oven to 450 F. Bake about 50 minutes or until crust is brown. I let it stand in the oven for a bit after I turn off the oven. You are supposed to let it cool before you eat it, but I’ve never been able to do that!

I marked it in my cookbook that I fixed this for the first time on July 25, 1980 out of Avalon. Mark turned 21 years old the next day, so we celebrated that night.

Split pea soup with smoky pork became a tradition on all our homeward bound trips after a week or more at sea. It’s a good thing stoves on a sailboat are gimbaled so that they remain steady and the soup doesn’t slop out when we are heeled over on a good run.

I like to use bacon ends and scraps. Brown these in a pan, then add chopped onion and slivers of carrot and cook slightly. Add a package of split peas and water. Add seasonings. I put in pepper, oregano, marjoram, bay leaf, or whatever I have on hand. Simmer until peas and veggies are cooked, but I like to leave the peas slightly lumpy for a hearty soup. It thickens as it stands, but it rarely has time to stand.

A big mug of hot pea soup with freshly baked bread slathered in butter seemed to make it easier to head back home. There was no hardtack for us! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardtack

Monday, June 9, 2008

What is this?


I read Deborah Dera’s http://therhythmofwrite.com/blog/ on a daily basis. As a writer, I like to find tips and ideas from as many reliable sources as possible, and still leave time for my own writing. Her info is always valuable, so I'm following her advice today.

This morning, she wrote “Increasing Your Technorati Authority” by adding your own link to the list. As a fairly new blogger, I’m not exactly sure what she means by this, but I’m game to find out.

My understanding is that in order to take part, you follow a few simple rules:
~ Copy the list below into a blog post of your own.
~ Add your link to the list.
~ Comment on this post so that we can update the list with your link
~ Watch your authority sky-rocket.

I have visited most of the blogs on this list, hoping to increase my own networking ability. Why not join me?

*–Copy Here - Technorati Authority–*
1. Brad Blogging.com - Daily Blog Tips For The Masses
2. Daily Blogging Tips At The Daily Rambler
3. Blog Chews - Blog About Anything
4. Steve v4.6 - Big Made Small
5. GIVEAWAY CITY
6. Indo Contest.com - Find the Latest Contest Here
7. POTPOLITICS-We Smoke the Competition
8. ATA - AskTheAdmin.com
9. Dolly’s Daily Diary
10. The Tech Juice - Tech Tips And More
11. Wendy’s OBA, Blog Tips & Tricks
12. Wendy’s Reel - Fact And Fancy
13. A Grateful Heart
14. 50+Whatever..Just some Ramblings in Life
16. The Blog for DesignCreatology
17. Contest Whiz - The Blog Contest Expert
18. About Blog Contests
19. Esmeraldasblog - Como aumentar la Authority de Technorati
20. Best Widgets for free - Blog Widgets
21. New life by Pitonizza
22. Todo Seiya - Como aumentar la Authority de Technorati
23. Blog for Spanish Readers
24. The Blogger And The Blog
25. Hero Help
26. Makmalcyber
27. Forex Study
28. Techyplus
29. 8
30. Darn Good Reviews
31. Blogger Tips - DotBlogger
32. Lilyruths This and That
33. That Blog 4 Me
34. Pinoytek - Make Money Online and SEO Blog
35. Snigit(blogspot)
36. Snigit(.com)
37. Best Of The Web
38. Swat the Fly
39. Area3000
40. Shut Up And Eat
41. Find Torrent Blog
42. Cebu in the World
43. Web Design
44. Trestin Adventures
45. Ask Trestin
46. Trestin Autobiography
47. Trestin Ideas
48. Trestin Gallery
49. Trestin Games
50.(Impressive Results!) Trestin Hall Of Fame
51. Trestin History
52. Parnell Forever
53. Trestin Political
54. Trestin Spiritual
55. Trestin Sports
56. Trestin Store - Yep, Each One Of These Are Different Blogs.
57. The Ordinary Agung
58. Il blog di Luca Marchi
59. What About Brazil?
60. Shri Rada Blog
61. Hawaiian Travel Blog
62. Hawaii Cruise Superstore
63. GadgetHeat!
64. Over The Sky
65. Yavinator log
66. I Travel to Work do you?
67. The Rhythm of Write
69. Heroscribe
70. Ultimate Credit Online
71. Lucy: Lothlorién
72. Join this list! It’s not too late!

Be sure to leave a comment – and if you like what you’re reading here, please subscribe via RSS or email. You might be interested in my other blogs. Check out the sidebar on the left of this one.

Aloha until next time!

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Livin' the Life!


One summer, I hadn’t gotten paid for about three months. The insurance company that reimbursed us for most of our clients was undergoing a major change in their computer system. None of us in the clinic where I worked were getting paid on a regular basis. My boys and I were hanging on by a thread.

So what does a girl do when the going gets tough? She takes her boat home to spend a week moored at the Isthmus of Catalina Island. With a good book, all her troubles are left behind.

We were really living a good life, in spite of having no money. I had a bag of masa, a hunk of cheddar cheese, a few eggs, and stuff like spices. The boys were fishing and diving for abalone. What else do you really need for food? We had lots of homemade tortillas with melted cheddar and scrambled eggs, along with plenty of fresh fish and abalone. That’s when abalone was still plentiful in California.

Someone taught us how to eat raw abalone. Instead of pounding it like you need to if you cook it, you cut the raw meat into pieces like shoestring potatoes. Dip it into a mix of soy sauce, ginger, and anything else your taste buds desired, and munch! It’s a wonderful treat!!

Once, when folks from our local sail fleet had a cookout, we showed up with fresh sheepshead http://www.landbigfish.com/fish/fish.cfm?ID=26, abalone, and hot tortillas. Everyone else was roasting wieners and opening cans of beans. Even though we didn’t have money for beans or wieners, we ate well – and were the envy of everyone else.

I was kicking back on the boat one day with my book, half asleep in the fresh air and warm sun. My boys, Mark and Erik, had gone ashore to hang out with friends. The dinghy bumped against the fenders on the side of the boat and I knew they were back. The boys scrambled up into the cockpit.

“Hey, Mom!” Mark whispered. “Come below. I want to show you something.”

So we went down below and he pulled a huge roll of money from his pocket, about $50 worth or more - a lot of money in those days, and especially to us.

“It was just there on the ground by the garbage cans,” he said. “Someone must have dropped it out of their pocket when they were dumping trash.”

We talked about what to do, and finally checked with the Harbor Police who said that almost anyone could say they’d lost a bunch of money. So they suggested that we wait a couple days to see if anyone asked them about it and if they didn’t, it was ours to keep. No one ever came forward to ask about money that might have been found. It was enough to get us over a financial hump.

The picture above shows me hanging out on Lothlorien, hooked on a mooring - livin’ the life – livin’ off the sea (and a bag of masa)!

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Lothlorien at the Isthmus


Most of life on Lothlorien was like normal living anywhere. We did laundry, went to work, fixed meals, washed dishes. I qualified for a homeowners exemption and we were even visited by the census taker for the 1980 census.

Erik was a junior in high school at the time. Each morning as we left for school, he and I found more and more interesting things to watch as we walked down the dock toward the car – starfish, tiny black crabs, even a baby octopus. His teachers couldn’t understand why he was always late for class.

Sometimes, on school holidays, when I was able to get away from work, we would go off on a short (and nearby) cruise. One of our favorite places was the Isthmus of Catalina Island, one of the California offshore islands with a fascinating history (http://www.catalina.com/history.html). Sometimes we picked up a mooring at Avalon, but our favorite spot continued to be at the Isthmus.

Now, I say “picked up a mooring” like it was easy. Wrong! It was a steep learning curve, and warrants an entire post on its own. But we had to learn soon enough or bang into some angry boaters!
http://virtualguidebooks.com/SouthCalif/ChannelIslands/TwoHarbors/IsthmusCoveWest.html

The Isthmus was quaint, laid back, neighborly, and generally more fun than Avalon. It was a place where even the local sheriff would hang out and smoke a doobie with us. There was local musical talen and sometimes a group would put on a little outdoor theater in town. Everyone who moored there quickly became friends with both villagers and boaters. http://virtualguidebooks.com/SouthCalif/ChannelIslands/TwoHarbors/DowntownTwoHarbors.html

I was accepted as just another sailor, but it seemed to be an outrage among some of the male boating population that a woman could have purchased a boat that size on her own without winning it in a divorce settlement! I have many stories about that prejudice, and I’ll leave them for another time, but there is one that I’ll never forget.

One year I took off from work, and spent two weeks there with my son Erik and my daughter Inga. While I lazed in the cockpit, they entertained themselves by taking the dinghy back and forth to shore, polishing the hull, catching some rays. A man and his wife with two teenage daughters pulled up and moored beside us. Their girls were sunning in skimpy bikinis for the benefit of my son (who seemed to be oblivious, but maybe wasn’t).

After about a week the man couldn’t stand it any longer and asked me if my husband was coming over for the weekend. I told him I didn’t have a husband and that the boat was mine. He gave a salute with a very sarcastic “Aye, aye, skipper!” and never spoke to us again.

If I didn’t have to go back to work to make mortgage payments on my floating home, I could have stayed right there on Lothlorien at the Isthmus forever!

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Back to DaVinci



In my May 8, 2008 post (http://lothlorien-lucy.blogspot.com/2008/05/davinci-and-camels.html), I started using DaVinci’s principals (as described in Michael J. Gelb’s How To Think Like Leonardo DaVinci) as a general guideline for writing these posts. I began with his principal of “curiositá” (curiosity).

This week, I shift to his principal of Dimostrazione. According to Gelb, Da Vinci was committed to testing his “knowledge through experience, persistence, and a willingness to learn from mistakes.” I spent many years studying and preparing for several careers. The desire to know more and more never seems to end. I continue to study and learn (and make mistakes), rooting any new knowledge into a strong foundation of my old knowledge. So many careers - so little time and energy!
This past Saturday was the graduation ceremony for the community college branch where I teach. What a joy to see my students complete one stage in their education! This is one gratifying career that brings me happiness and hope for the future. Our “parking lot campus” in an abandoned strip mall may be tiny, but the students remain eager to learn. http://hawaii.hawaii.edu/ucwh/


Here you see some of the dignitaries (faculty and staff) in all their academic regalia, although I’m the one with the camera so I am not in this particular picture.

As a college instructor, I pass the torch to others, sharing my experiences, helping students learn how to use their experiences and learn through their own mistakes.

How are you using your life experiences for re-creating your future?

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Talk Story - Interlude



I was born in Granite City, Illinois toward the end of The Great Depression. It is an old industrial town along the Mighty Mississippi across from Saint Louis, Missouri. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granite_City,_Illinois

My father went North from Mississippi to college and my mother went South from Illinois to college. The two met as students at Asbury College in Wilmore, Kentucky. The Myth in which I grew up claims that my father, both of my grandfathers, all my great-grandfathers, and even for a prior generation were Methodist ministers. I have various family artifacts that indicate The Myth is mostly true, although my mother did have the typical Irish propensity for stretching a truth beyond normal limits. While Myth is Truth, greater than truth, it is often factual.

A few years ago, I heard another Myth that may have Truth (or truth) in it. During the Holy Roman Empire, part of the royal line and keepers of the faith were called “margraves.” Because the family name of my great-grandmother was Margrave, it is possible my priestly background goes beyond a few generations of simple Protestant clergy. Since I inherited Mother’s ability to amplify facts, I cherish a fantasy that perchance the long line of my spiritual ancestry goes as far back as the hallowed order of Druids in early Celtic lands. The Myth lives on.




Every family carries traditions of heritage that are merely shady facts, so I will pass on those from my background to my children and let them either sort it out for themselves or add their own embellishments. However that may ultimately play out, there are undeniable details to which I can attest. My father was a Methodist minister, both of my grandfathers were Methodist ministers, and I have evidence of at least two great-grandfathers who were Methodist ministers. There are countless uncles and shirt-tail cousins who were pastors as well – an erudite lineage!

Now, why all this heritage stuff?

All preachers love to tell stories, it seems, and I was no exception. When I was pastoring in Arizona, I was referred to as “StoryTeller Woman” often. Native American StoryTeller dolls represent that tradition. www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/TRAVILAHES/pueblo.html



After many years of travel, I ended up living in Hawai`i, a land of storytelling, more commonly referred to here as “talk story,” which is what locals do at any gathering as a way of truly connecting with others. As a storyteller, I couldn’t stop with writing only one blog, so I have another one you might check out. http://talkstory-lucy.blogspot.com/

Come “talk story” with me!

Thursday, May 8, 2008

DaVinci and Camels


One of my favorite books is How To Think Like Leonardo DaVinci by Michael J. Gelb. (See the Amazon link to the left.) Every second spring semester, I teach a college course called “Psychology and the Expressive Arts.” I use Gelb’s book to help students develop their creativity.

One purpose of this blog is to help me define and embrace variety within DaVinci’s seven principles throughout my whole life. It is in the creative realm where I discover many areas of interest and ability, as I aspire to be a “Renaissance Woman.”
Periodically, I will post something here that relates my everyday life (past, present and future) to one of his seven principles. It will be as much self-assessment as it is a way to share my interests with friends and family.

DaVinci’s first principle was “curiositá.” Gelb defines this as “an insatiably curious approach to life and an unrelenting quest for continuous learning.” My unique way of walking in this world keeps exploration and curiosity at the center of my life.
Riding a camel certainly has been one of my more unique experiences! I’d been riding horses for many years, so I thought a camel would be a cinch, but camels have a nasty disposition! Also, along with their constant complaining, they bend down in stages to let you climb on, which gives you the sensation of being on a very fluky rocking chair (or a slow roller coaster).


I ventured out on the guy in the above picture near the Qumran where ancient scrolls were found http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/deadsea.scrolls.exhibit/Library/library.html. Later, I visited the museum where these scrolls are on exhibit.

One of the exercises in Gelb’s book is to write out 100 questions of things you are curious about. Riding a camel can be marked off my list now.

But I do love being curious!

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Gulf Coast




Traveling along the Mississippi Gulf Coast has been part of my life since birth. We lived in Southern Illinois, but since my father came from “Miss’ippi,” we went down South to visit our relatives fairly often. So many places are no longer there, but they continue to live on in my memory.

Being in a preacher’s family, we didn’t stay in fancy hotels or go out to eat much. We pitched a tent and cooked over a camp stove! In fact, I was an adult with children before I realized that people went anywhere without camping. One of the first purchases I made with my own young family was a heavy green tarp tent from Sears.

My folks camped anywhere that would hold a tent peg. One spot I loved was the Methodist campground across the street from the beach. My younger brother and I learned how to tie old bacon into a crab net and bring up loads of blue crabs off the wooden dock. The last time I traveled in the South, that spot had become a retirement home for Methodist preachers. I’m not sure I could afford to live there now, and I’m a retired Methodist preacher!

Located two miles East of the Biloxi Lighthouse (http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=543), Fisherman’s Wharf was always “the” place to get the best fish and chips on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I have no idea how long it’s been there, but without fail, my folks took us to eat there on every trip. Even by the mid-70s, it was still there, standing alone on a bunch of rickety pilings. In the 90s, I went back and found it almost eaten up by a massive casino next door, but still open.
Unless Katrina flattened it, Fisherman's Wharf was still operating the last I heard. If it is gone, a great landmark and truly terrific eatery has been lost to our next generations. My hunch is that it’s no longer there.

As my own children grew, I took them back to the Mississippi Gulf Coast and told a few stories. For example, their paternal grandfather had been the project engineer for building the seawall. I hope they will take their own children there and introduce them to a culture that is slowly disappearing, and to meet some of their distant kinfolk.

But things change. www.gulfcoastnews.com/gcnkatrinaphotoslandmarks.htm With the ticking clock and Katrina, much of the charm and beauty of the Old South is vanishing – has vanished.

Friday, April 25, 2008

STORMS AT SEA



One morning, while safely tied up in the harbor, my son met me in the galley with his cup of coffee and said, “Did we have a storm at sea last night?” I blushed, and we both laughed. It seems that a “guest” who had spent the night with me on board had gotten a little rambunctious and we rocked the whole boat!

Several months later, my friends Marty and Darline sailed to Catalina with us. They seemed to enjoy themselves that first night, and at breakfast the next morning, I calmly asked, “Was there a storm at sea last night?” She blushed furiously and he laughed at the joke.

The next time they went sailing with us, Darline said, “There won’t be any storms at sea this time. We did that last night!” So it was obvious everyone knew what we were talking about.

Several years ago, that same couple was checking into a hotel in Mexico (I think) for their wedding anniversary. As Marty was signing them in, he fell across the counter with a fatal heart attack. There will be no more “storms at sea” for them, but they remain close in my memories.

They both helped out on the boat more times than I can remember – getting the engine started, hauling in sails, preparing delicious meals, and just generally being there for whatever was needed. I will have more stories about Darline and Marty as time goes on. For now, I send them both my “aloha” wherever they wander. I wish them well.

Mahalo nui loa, Marty – a hui hou!
(Translation from Hawai`ian: Thank you very much, Marty – until we meet again!)

Friday, April 18, 2008

Shakedown Cruise Part 2



The shakedown wasn’t over yet! We felt like the pounding would never stop. Lothlorien would come up over some of the swells and surf down the other side. Sometimes she would come up and pound down on the other side with a huge bang, shuddering the whole boat.

After one of those particularly hard crashes, water started flooding into the cabin until we had several inches of water standing. I really wasn't ready to have my brand new boat sink! I had an image of the entire hull splitting in half beneath us. We started to bail out water, but they had not hooked up the pump, so we had to use an empty coffee can.

We finally got most of it out, so we started trying to figure out what was happening. When the water started coming in again, this time I decided to taste it - it was fresh water! With a little investigation, we found that the hose to the faucet had come off and every time we turned the water on, we were flooding the cabin. It could have been worse, and although it turned out to be a simple problem, with an equally simple solution, it was scary.

Because we decided to motor sail rather than try to sail into that mess, we had lashed the jib down with bungee cords on the bow deck. The jib came loose and started flying all around, going over the side into the water. Once more the boys made their way along the lifelines and were securing the jib. They would go down and green water would wash up over them and the deck. All I could do was watch - and pray, "Dear God, let them come up again!" I don't know if they ever realized how much danger they were in, and of course, there were no safety lines.

After fifteen hours of non-stop pounding, and when we felt we couldn't stand any more, we finally were able to put into Newport Beach. Any one of these incidents could have been total disaster. I could have lost my boys or we could have lost our mast.

During that whole trip, all I thought was, "Peace be still! God, please quiet the storm!" Three days later, we sailed into Oceanside Harbor under fair skies and calm seas to make our home.

This was truly a woman-owned boat, held together with bobby pins and prayer.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Shakedown Cruise Part 1


I have many sea stories to tell, but one of the most memorable is that first shakedown cruise after I picked up my new boat – the Lothlorien.

I bought her in the late 1970s in the middle of winter. My sons and I went to Marina del Rey to bring the boat down to Oceanside Harbor. One of those notoriously wicked winter storms of California came up and aborted several attempts.

At last it seemed everything had finally calmed down. Our weather station predicted smooth seas, two to four foot swells, five to ten knots of wind, almost perfect sailing weather. About three hours into the trip, we ran into an even worse storm. In a phrase most of you know, but that a friend states in a little different way, the ship really hit the sand!

We had gone too far and we were in a position too dangerous to turn around. The wind was coming directly at us and getting stronger. The swells were so high that we would have broached, or rolled, if we had turned broadside to them. We had no choice but to continue on.

It was soon obvious the weather man was not where we were, and he didn't change his report until about twelve hours later. He kept saying it was calm.

This was a bona fide "shakedown cruise." Murphy's law was certainly active that day. Everything that could go wrong, did - and at the worst possible moment. We discovered very quickly that the person who commissioned our boat had forgotten to put in a few cotter pins.

First the turnbuckle on one of the starboard shrouds came loose and started swinging in the air. One of the boys managed to crawl up to it, screw it back on, then secure it with an old bobby pin that I somehow had found in the pocket of my jacket.

Then my son's friend asked what held the boom onto the mast. I said, "That little cotter pin right...there..." Well, that little cotter pin was missing, too, and the boom was starting to work its way off the mast. The boys braced themselves against the wind, wrapped themselves around the mast, and put in another bobby pin.

I was poorly prepared. I had not thought to have a supply of spare cotter pins with me on board. I quickly replaced all the bobby pins with cotter pins when I reached Oceanside Harbor.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Lothlorien


In the late 1970s, when Flower Power and Free Love were languishing, I flirted with trading the equity in my house for equity in a new 37' O’Day sloop-rigged sailboat. Within five months, I became a “live-aboard” with fifteen-year-old Erik, my youngest child. We christened our new home Lothlorien, for the sanctuary in J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy to which the Elf King and Elf Queen transported Frodo and his friends at a critical point in their adventure.

It was within the Lothlorien that all their healing and protection took place, while all the dangers and threats were forced to remain outside its borders. Our Lothlorien was that haven for us, our personal sanctuary of peace, safety, and healing. We needed the storms of life to remain outside. We often invited our friends to savor that sanctuary with us for a day sail, a weekend cruise, or sometimes longer.

Characters who don’t know much about boats always ask, “How many does she sleep?” That’s the wrong question! We sailors usually respond by saying that a sailboat will “drink six, feed four and sleep two.” There may be room enough to sleep an army by spreading people out over decks and into hammocks, but you abandon all carnal comforts in doing so. Naturally, this can depend on just how close you are with the friends you bring along, too. My boat basically was designed to sleep six, but six people really wouldn’t do that if they wanted to remain friends after the cruise was over.

The moldy picture above shows me at the helm of the Lothlorien. Join me as I take you on a cruise through the various harbors and squalls of my life.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

FRESH SPRING HERBS


At the birth of this blog, I offer my own farewell salute to Aloha Airlines. They carried me on many of my travels around the islands of my state and they always were filled with “aloha.” I grieve their loss, and I am ready to welcome their return someday.

MAHALO NUI LOA - ALOHA OE

July 26, 1946 - March 31, 2008

My thoughts today are focused on wandering through my “fresh spring herbs.” Those three words conjure up three paragraphs.

Fresh – Some recipes specifically call for dried herbs, but for many of the dishes, only a sprig that has been picked fresh will suffice. When I make one of my gargantuan salads (they are actually a full meal), I finish it off with a trip to my herb garden. Fresh oregano and basil are essential. I may add others, as my taste buds make their request, but those two are best tossed in fresh rather than dried. You can see other herbs growing here in my natural rock garden, with basil in the foreground.

Spring – Yes, we do have four seasons in Hawai`i! The change is subtle, but residents can feel when the season is changing. The elevation of my home is about 2300 feet, so while I do not get freezing weather, I do get temperatures into the low 50s (and a rare high 40s). When Spring comes, the trade winds feel a little warmer, winter rains seem to slow down, and the ancient genes in our biological clock tells us it’s time to plant. I have packets of basil and cilantro ready to put into a raised bed full of rich soil today.

Herbs – What is the value of any culinary journey without herbs? Try a fresh tomato-and-basil sandwich made with rich homemade whole wheat bread! Pile on the basil leaves (use extra large leaves) with thick slices of tomato. A treat is waiting for you! Herbs are used for more than food, of course. They provide healing, fragrance, teas, and so much more. I tried to find out how many different herbs there are in this world, but got lost in the labyrinth of the world wide web. If anyone knows, please let me know.