Name game

4-8-09 filling the void brain

Sorry, not much time to blog this week, I am in Iowa City working. I'm giving some training and attending some educational meetings myself...... Thus I'm filling in with this post..... (Note: I won't have a post tomorrow.... I've decide to take Thursdays off instead of Wednesday)

My friend’s blog a few days ago posted the ABC’s of Life.
(See my right side panel of blog listings: My view from the Mountain on 4-5-09)

I liked this so much that I want to post it here and have everyone spell out your name!

Accept Differences Be Kind Count your Blessings Dream Express Thanks Forgive Give Freely Harm no One Imagine more Jettison Anger Keep Confidences Love Truly Master Something Nurture Hope Open your mind Pack Lightly Quell Rumors Reciprocate Seek Wisdom Touch Hearts Understand Value Truth Win Graciously Xeriscape Yearn for Peace Zealously support a worthy cause.



JUDY = Jettison Anger, Understand, Dream, Yearn for Peace…….
I like that!

PS: I don’t know was “X” is suppose to mean??? I hope your name doesn’t contain an “X”… if you figure it out, let me know!

ADDENDUM to 4-6-09 Monday:
After reading my blog Monday, my Dad phoned me and wanted to add to my knowledge base. Dad was a teacher, thus he explained that on Friday nights he would supplement his/our income by either coaching or officiating football games. Due to this, on Saturday mornings he needed time to recuperate, and thus he had this coffee ritual. I guess I always thought Dad was having fun with his "sports" on Friday nights, I can see now where it was extra work for him.
Next to the "job" of being a mother..... TEACHERS have the most demanding and important "jobs" in the world.... I see that they might need a "break" on the weekends...... but don't forget those MOTHERS.... they need a break once in a while also!

Shopping with Mom

4-7-09 weekend brain

Our weekend trip to my visit my parents was cut short due to the threat of blizzard conditions in northern Iowa on Sunday. We ended up moving our Saturday dinner plans up to Saturday lunch instead, as we were celebrating dad’s birthday with a special meal. Luckily, Mom and I were still able to complete our Saturday morning shopping as planned. My hometown, down from around a population of 12,000 at its peak in the late 60’s, now is only about 8,000 people, but the towns people have fun and creative ideas to entertain as well as trying to keep local business thriving. Saturday was “Chick Fest” day with around 12 businesses participating in sales and a raffle prize card if you visited all 12 shops and got your card stamped at each place.

We didn’t even attempt that, but we did shop at two of my usual stops when I am in town. Lidds Clothing store, run now by a classmate of mine after taking it over from his father’s family and a gift shop called Rustic Corner run by a gal who’s family used to farm with my grandfather.

However, our first stop on Saturday was to the Methodist Church rummage and bake sale. It was crowed with shoppers. The sale had started Friday, but today was $3.00 sack day, so what ever you could fit into a brown paper sack was one low price. Now that I am trying to clean out my house, AND really don’t need anything to speak of….I went into the sale hoping to limit my purchases.

A found a few things I couldn’t resist. This wood stand is a music box, for $2.00, I guess I’ll use as a fruit plate. I only bought it because I love music boxes.

I’m attracted to glass, thus I bought 3 of these rectangle small glass “boxes” for 50 cents each. I figured I can use them to contain my jewelry on my dresser since I need help keeping that more in order. The orange flower pin, $1.00, I was attracted to since it has a retro feel of the 60’s, and it probably did belong to someone in town during the 60’s. I do love to shop for vintage clothing and I do own some fun bright 60’s pieces, one of my favorite which I have had for a number of years is this lime green short jacket I like to wear in the summer with an orange tee-shirt underneath…. So the flower pin will go with this.


My other “had to have” purchase was some peace & love pins (made in China I'm sure).... I will enjoy giving away to friends. I found those at the Rustic Corner gift shop. Oh and yes, I did buy a light weight hoodie and teal colored top for spring at Lidds’ (Columbia brand)…. 20% off.

I also want to report that dad is doing well and hoping for warmer weather soon, so he can get out and walk more. AND YES, we did get blowing snow on Sunday!

PEACE OUT!

Iowa History

4-6-09 equality brain
Greg and I made a trip to northern Iowa, arriving Friday afternoon to visit my folks for the weekend. While watching TV that evening, we heard the NEWS at 10:00 PM. Marriage equality arrived in Iowa! This topic was on my radar, since I have been a member of the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Affirmation Group (GLSA group) at my church since it started about 10 years ago, but I have to admit, I still was a bit shocked at the news and the fact that this was a unanimous decision by the Iowa Supreme Court.

Iowa is an amazing state, just for the fact you never know what can happen here. The world might think we are a bunch of conservative farm folk, and that might be true up to a point, but Iowans are also forward thinking people who believe in equality and fairness.

Why is “marriage” important to gay couples?
Iowa law refers to “marriage” over 500 times and the federal government has listed more than 1,100 benefits it provides to legally married couples- such as: Medical decisions; retirement benefits; taxes; joint insurance policies for home, auto and health; Job benefits and health insurance… just to name a few. How can any US citizen be denied equal rights to those benefits?

I know…. Many people have trouble with the word “marriage”….. they say “equal rights- well maybe OK through Civil Unions…. But not marriage….. marriage is between and man and a women.... the Bible tells me so”. “Next thing you know Bruce will want to marry his cow”…….

OK, I understand how it is to get hung up on a WORD.

When Greg and I got married, I was having trouble getting my brain around the word “WIFE”…. I don’t like the word “wife”. I guess my view point was a wife had to do all the house work. I saw my Mom do all the work to take care of the kids and the house…. Then when I was age 12, she was "liberated" and went to work at the school library….. so now she had TWO jobs…. That didn’t look very liberating to me. On Saturday morning she cleaned and went to the grocery store…… while my Dad got to go out for coffee….. that didn’t seem fair to me….. so I grew up not wanting to be a “wife”.

Greg was sensitive to my uneasiness, and he began to call me his “partner”…. And this made me feel better. I didn’t have a clue on how to be a “good wife”….. but I could understand how to be a “good partner”… and this made me feel equal to him in our relationship. We BOTH go out for coffee Saturday mornings!

I know this was just my problem with a word definition, so I can empathize with those who have a problem with the definition of “marriage”. My reply to that is…. There still can be a distinction between a legal civil marriage and a church/God-union marriage. Churches don’t have to agree to marry gay couples unless they choose.

I think marriage is already a word that has many different nuances. For example there already are such a wide variety of marriages out there in the world: marriage of convenience, married in name only, loveless marriage, open marriage, commuter marriage, sex-less marriage, traditional marriage, May to December marriage, married for money, loving marriage, on again off again marriage, second marriage, third marriage….etc….. you get the picture. Don’t you think we can expand the definition of marriage just a bit more to include “gay marriage” into this evolving culture of ours?...... (remember not that long ago women and black people were thought of as just property with no rights to own land or vote, and Bible scripture supported that too!)

Lastly, a special shout out to my church friend *Ted who’s passion for gay rights is inspirational. I chuckle every time I remember when I made Ted’s jaw drop…. I told him I was a bi-sexual……. Huh? …… “Yes”, I explained, “I love both straight and gay men!”..... Ted got a kick out of that for sure.

A shout to Pastor Kimby for teaching us another way to view the Bible..... and
Also a shout out to my friends David and James who reminded me of the Iowa state motto this weekend in an email…..
OUR LIBERTIES WE PRIZE AND OUR RIGHTS WE WILL MAINTAIN.

That says it all! But if you want to read more- check out this…..

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090403/NEWS/90403010



*Ted is (church going, spiritual, humorous, generous, straight guy, with a lesbian daughter, who happens to be a Republican)

Come creative spirit, come

I’ve pushed you aside
I hope you are still waiting for me.

Come creative spirit, come

Have you been patient with me?
As ordinary life has made its demands on me.

Come creative spirit, come

Is now the right time to plan our tryst,
Can we steal away tonight?

Come creative spirit, come

How I dream of your embrace,
The swirl of energy I feel when you are near.

Come creative spirit, come

Know that I am longing for you,
And in desperation, I will find my way back to you… in time.

Come creative spirit, come.

At last! …. There you are!
Welcome back….. if only for this brief kiss.

-Judy Sebern Beachy 4-2009

Ordinary time

4-3-09 uninspired and "waiting" brain
I'm been feeling stuck in ordinary time. I want to be creative again, but I haven't given myself anytime to get reconnected with that part of myself.

For instance, I don't feel like blogging today. Nothing much to say at this time.... so I'll post some past "art" and hope it reconnects me with my creative spirit soon.


This is a pastel painting I did of a friend, Karin. I've only done a few paintings of people. I don't like drawing people.... it's hard and takes a lot of practice to get people to really look accurate. What inspired me to attempt this drawing was a special moment, and I wanted to capture it for myself.

Greg and I were taking a "winter" get away trip in late January... a few years ago.....something we rarely get to do that time of the year. We went to visit Karin and her husband Mike in Arizona. However, I arrived off the plane SICK! I spent most of the visit in bed with the flu. Just before the trip ended, I did manage to get up from bed for a drive to Jerome, Arizona just north of Phoenix. It's a small mining town of old.... now evolving into an artist community to some degree. The town sits on the side of a small mountain and at the very top of the town, was this old hospital, now converted into a restaurant.

After being sick in bed for 3-4 days and now returning to the living; sitting and relaxing with good friends, enjoying the view out the window, eating some great food..... it was a magical moment for me. I was struck my the sunlight coming in through the window and the impression of Karin gazing out the window.... I insisted that I needed to take a picture of her since it captured perfectly a moment in a poem I had written recently.


"Unordinary Time"

That brief moment of inspiration.
The sky opens up
The light shines in unexpected,
…..Illuminating!

Life is different,
I am different.
Connected to everything,
…..Amazing!

I hear myself exclaim “yes!”
There is great understanding
There is revelation,
…..Wisdom!

Or is it insanity- sheer madness?
Will they laugh at me?
Snicker behind my back,
…..Doubt

The light begins to dim
They see differently than I
They force me back,
…..Down

A return to ordinary time
Me just sitting here drinking coffee,
Wondering where my mind had wandered,
…..Waiting


Judy Sebern Beachy
1-2006

Living in the moment

4-2-09 focusing brain (Happy Birthday Dad and Mil!)

Dark, silent, alone.... my brain began to race..... thinking of all that I needed to do the next day, wondering why I was living this split in two life...... It was in the middle of the night, last week, and I was experiencing one of those nights where my sleep was disrupted. My healing dream state was replaced by worry and an overly active brain. I tried to focus on my breathing and to relax in the moment.

This poem/prayer was sitting on my bed table in the book I have reference before: "100 Graces, mealtime Blessings" by Marcia & Jack Kelly. This was a good reminder for the need to stay focused, present and living in the moment.


I was regretting the past and fearing the future.
Suddenly God was speaking.
My name is I AM

I waited.
God continued,
When you live in the past, with its mistake and regrets,
It is hard.
I am not there.
My name is not I WAS

When you live in the future, with its problems and fears,
It is hard.
I am not there.
My name is not I WILL BE.

When you live in this moment,
It is not hard.
I am here.
My name is I AM

From Helen Mellicost
(on the kitchen wall of the Ranch Guesthouse, St Benedict’s Monastery, Snowmass, Colorado)

A special Wednesday

4-1-09 comic brain

This last weekend, the snow in KC was some of the best snowman making snow that I have seen in a long time! I had built a wonderful one in five sections which stood over 6 foot, but sadly it fell over forwards before I could finish…. So with modification, parts of him became the feet of my 2nd attempt and I created a "sitting man".

Any resemblance to my father is strictly a coincidence. That's a smile without teeth, not a mustache.


“April Fools”!

HEE HEE HEE