August

Okay, so I have promised many posts with heaps of pictures of various projects and gatherings over the past 9 months, but have failed miserably in keeping y'all updated on here. To tell the truth, I'd much rather read about what's going on with others than write what I've been up to. Part of this is because it's less work on my part, and part of it is that I've been ashamed for having posted so little in the past year.

Anyway, today I want to give you guys a good blog post. Pictures. Stories. The whole nine yards. Without further ado, here are the highlights from our month.

The first weekend of the month we spent three days camping with some friends, all of whom are part of our newly formed homeschool group. We had a great time despite a few unforeseen problems, including a huge rainstorm that sent us all running for shelter.

That same weekend was the county fair and I entered six items, five of which placed, and three of which got first place. When Toby and I went to pick up our entries, we also went on a few rides and got root beer floats afterwards. I like having a big brother. :)


Here is a picture of my three clothing items, all of which placed first.


This past Sunday we traveled several hours away to visit with some friends. Their town was having their annual hoedown, so we headed over there and toured the rustic buildings filled with all sorts of cool old tools and everyday items.

There was real, fresh ice cream, so Rae and I just had to have some.

Here is a shot of all the kids together.

From left to right: Jon, Rae, Grace, Noah, Toby, Lynae, and Michael. We all had a great day together and can't wait to get together again.

Other than that, my month has consisted of gardening, math, soapmaking, and lots of coffee.

Bach Flower Remedies

I recently read Bach Flower Remedies by Julian Barnard for the Natural Medicine course I was taking and found it very intriguing. When I said Bach, you probably thought of the great composer Johann Sebastian Bach, but the man I am referring to today is Dr. Edward Bach.

Born in 1886 in England, Dr. Bach studied medicine in London and became a doctor until 1930 when he left his practice in search of a new way of healing. Over the next 6 years, Dr. Bach discovered 38 flower remedies for different emotional imbalances which he believed were the cause of many physical diseases.

His way of discovering the remedies was indeed, very unorthodox as he claimed to have a psychic connection with the plants. When experiencing a negative emotion, he would hold his hand over different plants until he found one that alleviated the condition. He would then study the plant, it's root system, the flowers, the way it grew, it's heartiness, etc., and found incredible parallels between the plant and the people and conditions it was able to treat.

Although his work was controversial, there is over 70 years of evidence that his remedies can, in fact, change a person's behavior and help them become a more balanced person. Someone that is always blaming themselves whether or not they are at fault should take pine. Someone that is easily discouraged should try gentian.

If you would like to find out more about Bach's 38 remedies or are interested in finding out what you could use, check out this website. Also, you might check your local health foods store to see what they offer in the way of Bach flower remedies.

"It is only because we have forsaken Nature's (I say God's) way for man's way that we have suffered, and we have only to return to be released from our trials. In the presence of the way of Nature (again, I believe in God's power, not Nature's) disease has no power; all fear, all depression, all hopelessness can be set aside. There is no disease of itself which is incurable." Dr. Bach

Uncle Tom's Cabin

I recently read Uncle Tom’s Cabin and was asked to write my thoughts on it here. Discussion is welcome.

First of all, I would like to point out that if anyone today tried to get a book like this published today, it would not happen without some serious editing. The author appears to be racist in the extreme, to the point that modern readers cannot help feeling somewhat embarrassed reading her language. From beginning to end the book is riddled with racist descriptions and statements, clearly showing the author's bias. I have listed a handful of examples, and put the racist keywords in bold for you skeptical speed readers.

“For convenience sake, we have said, hitherto, two gentlemen. One of the parties, however… did not seem… to come under the species.”

“…and though the auditors immediately about him were generally of his own colour, it not unfrequently happened that they were fringed pretty deeply with those of fairer complexion…”

“Tom, who had to the full the gentle, domestic heart, which, woe for them! has been the peculiar characteristic of his unhappy race…”

“The African, naturally patient, timid, and unenterprising…”

“…attired in hunting-shirts, and trailing their loose joints over a vast expanse of territory, with the easy lounge peculiar to the race…”

“Tom, who had the soft, irrepressible nature of his kindly race…”

“The negro… has deep in his heart, a passion for all that is splendid, rich, and fanciful… which… draws on them the ridicule of the colder and more correct white race.”

“If ever Africa shall show an elevated and cultivated race—and come it must, sometime, her turn to figure in the great drama of human improvement—life will awake there with a gorgeousness and splendour of which our cold western tribes faintly have conceived. In that far-off mystic land of gold, and gems, and spices, and waving palms, and wondrous flowers and miraculous fertility, will awake new forms of art, new styles of splendour; and the negro race, no longer despised or trodden down, will, perhaps, show forth some of the latest and most magnificent revelations of human life. Certainly they will, in their gentleness, their lowly docility of heart, their aptitude to repose on a superior mind and rest on a higher power, their childlike simplicity of affection, and facility of forgiveness. In all these they will exhibit the highest form of the peculiarly Christian life…”

“They stood, the representatives of their races. The Saxon, born of ages of cultivation, command, education, physical and moral eminence; the Afric, born of ages of oppression, submission, ignorance, toil, and vice!”

“… struck at once upon the feelings of a sensitive and impressible race…”

“…of all races of the earth, none have received the Gospel with such eager docility as the African. The principle of reliance and unquestioning faith, which is its foundation is more a native element in this race than any other; and it has often been found among them, that a stray seed of truth, borne on some breeze of accident into hearts the most ignorant, has sprung up into fruit, whose abundance has shamed that of a higher and more skilful creature.”

“…the capabilities of the race, are encouraging in the highest degree… they are remarkably intelligent and quick to learn.”

Never mind that most of these descriptions and statements are either false or offensive. It should not be encouraging or remarkable to see a black person's ability to learn, for example: They are all humans! They are 100% the same as any other person of any skin color, thinking that their intelligence or ability to learn would be any different is racist!

Also, notice how most of these quotes paint all people who happen to have darker skin as gentle, kind, patient, Christian people. One would almost think that being born with darker skin was a ticket into heaven, especially compared to the stereotypical lighter skinned person in the book, who is painted as a spiritually disoriented and mentally unsound brute, as shown in the following quotes:

“And the trader leaned back in his chair… apparently considering himself a second Wilberforce.”

“Mr Wilson’s mind was one of those that may not inaptly be represented by a bale of cotton—downy, soft, benevolently fuzzy, and confused.”

“’It’s undoubtedly the intention of Providence that the African race should be servants—kept in a low condition,’ said… a clergyman…”

“’…and I’m sure they can go to church when they like, though they don’t understand a word of the sermon, more than so many pigs… they are a degraded race, and always will be…’”

The general idea throughout the book is that slaves are inherently Christian and slave owners are inherently heathen.

“’Depend on it, God will bring you into judgement for this.’”

“…injustice is… inherent… in the slave system, it cannot exist without it.”

There were some things the author stated that makes a reader question her faith.

“There is one thing that every individual can do, they can see to it that they feel right.”

Wait... so... huh? I mean, every individual can feel right, I suppose, but I had no idea that was important in the grand scheme of things!

“Rachel never looked so truly and benignly happy as at the head of her table.”

Rachel is a Quaker wife. Her husband is there with them. And yet he is barely mentioned at all. Why isn't he sitting at the head of his table? Why does he take a submissive role in the family leadership? We are supposed to see this family as a sort of ideal, or at least the author wants us to.

Then there is a letter written by a darker skinned man to a friend, which is not only full of racist remarks, but also ironies to modern readers.

“’It is with the oppressed, enslaved African race that I cast my lot…

‘The desire and yearning of my soul is for an African nationality…

‘…On the shores of Africa I see a republic… this republic has at last become an acknowledged nation on the face of the earth…

‘…the African race has peculiarities yet to be unfolded in the light of civilisation and Christianity, if not the same with those of the Anglo-Saxon, may prove to be, morally, of an even higher type.

‘I trust that the development of Africa is to be essentially a Christian one. If not a dominant and commanding race, they are, at least, an affectionate, magnanimous, and forgiving one…

‘I myself, I confess, am feeble for this—full half the blood in my veins is the hot and hasty Saxon…’”

The irony of this whole letter is that it predicts that Africa and its development will be as Christian or more so than American civilization, and have even higher moral standards. What we see in reality is... well, less than their wild predictions.

And finally, as a fan of all things related to fairies, I personally was offended by the author calling one of the villains a "sooty gnome." But I will adopt the forgiving and gentle characteristics of my African superiors and not hold her accountable for this offense.

The Good Earth

Someone asked me recently if I like reading. I told her that I am not a good reader but if I have time, I do enjoy reading if the book is well written or is about something that interests me. But try and find a book about dragons that is poorly written, I dare you.

A lot of the things Ma has had me read lately I have not enjoyed even though they were well written, because they were about things that nobody enjoys. Things like Russian work camps. Stuff that sends chills up your spine. And so as I picked up The Good Earth, I was cautious and did not expect to enjoy it. But I dove right in anyway.

It didn't take long for me to recognize the story. I had not finished the first chapter before I knew the basic plot. The man gets married, treats his wife like crap, his wife is still loyal, he becomes wealthy and falls in love with a young woman and marries her, the first wife dies, young chick gets the first wife's pearl earrings. You can even ask Lynae if I didn't tell her all those things would happen.

I don't know how long ago it was, but I knew I had seen a movie of this story sometime a very long time ago. I remembered the young man at the beginning of the story was getting married that day, and he was so excited that he was even going to wash his whole body. I think I was eight or possibly younger when I saw it. But I remembered it.

The book is believable, and could very easily be a true story. It is about humans who act and think like humans. Nobody reads it and wishes they had a similar life to any of the characters, but I think everyone sees a little of themselves in it if they are honest.

The first part of the book is enjoyable. The young family is poor and they work very hard, O-lan working in the fields with her husband until she must take a break for a few hours to give birth, and then coming back out to help him for the rest of the day. Wang Lung treats his wife fairly and he trusts her. We also see that he is honest, when even though they haven't eaten meat in months he refuses to eat meat that his son stole.

The high point of the story is brief. Wang Lung acquires a bag of silver and his wife finds a handful of jewels, which allows them to purchase three hundred acres of the finest rice fields and makes them wealthy. But a bad year comes and Wang Lung, having nothing to do but wait, goes into town and spends his time with another woman. Over and over again he tells himself that because he owns so much land and has so much money, it is okay for him to spend time with other women besides his wife, because everyone who has as much land or money as he does so. And then he tells himself that it's okay for him to marry this woman because everyone with as much land or money as he has does so.

That's where the story starts heading to its low point. Wang Lung keeps getting richer and buying things that should make him happy, but they don't help. Anything he buys is like a band aid. He sends his sons to school, but the oldest son skips school and gets into mischief with his cousin, and his youngest son won't be content until he becomes a soldier. His middle son is thrifty and brings him joy, but even he fails his father by the end of the story, ignoring his father's counsel to not sell the land. As he gets older, Wang Lung realizes that everything is backwards. His daughters make him happier than his sons, and of them all the one that brings him the most joy is retarded. The book doesn't really say what the child's problem was, but she is always referred to as the "poor fool" who couldn't speak or understand anything that was happening. The young new wife is constantly demanding things, and by the end of the story he goes out of his way to annoy her.

The story closes with Wang Lung leaving his palace to live in his old earthen hut, and to be near the land where he was born and where he was content with O-lan. "Out of the land we came, and into it we must go," he says, reminding us of Genesis 3:19, "For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."

It must be February again

Wow, am I feeling dark. Of all my outlets, there aren't really any where I'm truly free to express myself. At least that's my current perception. Maybe it's better that way.

February in Minnesota is somewhat like transition in childbirth.

Grace's Blouse

This year, I have been taking a sewing course from one of the ladies in our church for high school. Mom drew up a list of things she wanted me to know how to do by the time the course was over. One of the things Mom wanted me to learn was how to smock. Well, when I first read that, I had no clue what smocking was. Thankfully, my teacher, Mrs. B., knows all about that stuff. That's why Mom wanted her to teach me.
Anyway, Mrs. B. got out some books and found a pattern that included smocking that she thought I might be interested in making. It was for a girls blouse that looked absolutely darling. Right away I could envision Grace skipping around in it on Christmas morning with a big smile on her face because I had made something specially for her. I said sure, and we started cutting out pattern copies and fabric.
Fast forward about a month and a half. Christmas morning. The blouse was finished, wrapped, and waiting under the tree. With my camera on and in hand, I watched as Grace unwrapped it.
Isn't she cute?
Look at those eyes! You think she likes it?! Me too. :)
Here's what the front looks like.


A close-up of the front smocking. Note that I used three different colors; starting with the boldest and ending with the lightest to give the appearance, from far away, that the smocking gradually disappears into the lower front.

The inside of the front smocking. That smocked row at the top helps hold all the pleats in place.

The outside of one of the sleeves. I used the same pattern and colors for the sleeves as with the front.

And the inside of the sleeve. Here I did three rows on the inside because there are no seams to help hold the pleats together. This also gives that smocked area on the sleeve some elasticity.

So what do you think? Does it look daunting to you? Well, stay tuned; I'll be posting about my second smocking project with more pictures and more in-depth descriptions soon. :)

Blessings!
Lynae

Hello again!

It certainly has been a while since I blogged! I must confess, blogging has been on my mind for quite a long time, I just never got up the courage to admit that I should have done it sooner. Until now.

I should have done this sooner.

Fear not though, nothing very bad has happened to make me remember our audience. Obviously, I have not died, and you will be glad (I would think) to know that none of us has suffered some life-altering bad thing. We are all still breathing and doing a dandy job of it, too.

I have been staying fairly busy lately with school, knitting, sewing, and all the other little things that tend to take up time in life. I will, hopefully, post oodles of pictures of my finished sewing projects at a later date.

School is going very well for me. I do believe this is the first year that I have looked forward to doing math. Hopefully I will continue with these good feelings towards my school for several years to come. :D

As I mentioned earlier, I have taken up knitting. One of the ladies from our church, a Mrs. B., had the patience to teach me how to do it, and I am quite grateful for that. I have started a baby blanket that is coming along quite nicely. So nicely, in fact, that I will most likely have it done by the end of next year, which is sooner than I last speculated.

Well, I must be off to make potato soup, so until next time, I leave you with this.



Blessings!
Lynae

A story I heard from Ball

Ball is an older man who lives at the resort. He always has a story to tell. Thought this one was worth sharing, I found it quite interesting.

After the tremendously unpopular Vietnam War, the US government moved a large oriental family into Ball's community. The family was given a house and a vehicle, and the man of the house found a job at the plant where Ball worked. Since he couldn't speak English, the man's son also got a job there to translate for him.

Everybody was sure that the oriental family was Vietnamese, but the government kept saying they were from Cambodia or someplace, and that they were never at all involved in Vietnam.

Well, one of the men who worked at the plant had been in Vietnam and one morning when the oriental man walked in, he shouted something in Vietnamese, and immediately the oriental man hid beneath a bench. I am not sure what the man said in Vietnamese, but from that he could tell that this Vietnamese man had fought on the front line.

Ball has been known to stretch the truth a little, but I thought it was an interesting story regardless.

Soap's up

I just finished listing soaps on Etsy. Go check 'em out! You can find a link on the left side of the blog or on the info tab of my Facebook profile. If you're local, give a holler... I've put some of each aside for my local customers.

Here's what I ended up with:

June Garden
Lilac
Lemon Verbena
Cedar and Spice
Gingivere
All Natural Cooling Mint
Cucumber Melon
Clean and Fresh
Lavender Mist
Woodlands Shaving (vegan)

Enjoy!

Life

Life is much like a large city, there is always something going on, you always have somewhere to be, and every time you look up to see something, you fall behind. That's about how I feel right now.

I feel like I'm standing on a ball, trying to juggle school, housework, family time, a social life, and me time. Every time I stop to do one thing, I fall behind on the others and there's a domino effect; everything tumbles out of order. I lose control and start slipping off my ball. Every time I finish one task, two more have taken it's place. Every once in a while I jump off my ball and curl up under the covers hoping everything else will magically disappear and my life will be perfect, but then someone tells me to wake up and pull my weight, and I'm at it again.

Sometimes I get really into it and can even get ahead in some areas, but usually I am just working at keeping up, and the thought of being ahead is only like a distant boat that I'm not on. Sometimes the stress can get ahold of me and I start making excuses, blaming one thing on another, but really the only way to make it better is to zip it and keep moving on.

As I fumble with all the different parts of my life, I watch other people doing flips and making jokes, never noticing when they land on their heads of start slipping from laughing so hard. All I can see is how well they are doing and wish that I could be like them.

Right now is one of those times. I feel like everyone around me has their life perfectly under control while I'm struggling to stay balanced. Like everyone is completely oblivious to the fear I have of falling behind, and the embarrassment and pain of having everyone stare as I fall and land on my face.

But now I've exhausted all my time on this area of life and must move on to something else before I take a tumble. Until next time, remember, we all take a fall now and then.
Lynae

Mozilla Thunderbird

A year ago today I got Mozilla Thunderbird as my email program and even though I didn't like it an awful lot better than my old program, I knew that today, March 11th, 2010, I would have to make a blog post about this.

In the past 365 days I have received:

9141 emails from Facebook or Twitter

168 personal emails related to trapping

484 personal emails not related to trapping

1929 junk emails, spam, or sensitive information that needed to go down the memory tube...

2969 of those emails were for friend requests confirmed or received

... for a total of 11,722 emails received.

Not to mention the 216 sent.

I wouldn't say Mozilla Thunderbird is any better than any other email program, especially since I can't change the language. Oh well.

It's soapmaking time again!

During the month of March, I plan to make soaps in the following scents:

• Clover & Aloe
• Lilac
• Lemon Verbena
• June Garden
• Gingivere
• Cooling Mint
• Cucumber Melon
• Clean & Fresh
• Lavender Mist
• Woodlands Shaving Soap

I also plan to make a gardener's soap and try a blend of oils that is supposed to work as an insect repellant. I might even make another batch of Cedar and Spice, since that's a favorite.

I will probably offer most or all of the scents for sale in my Etsy shop and locally. Because I'm making so many different types, most batches will be relatively small. Since the cure time is a few weeks, I wanted to get the word out now. If you think you might be interested in buying more than a bar or two of any of the scents listed above, let me know soon so I can adjust the batch size if necessary. If you try it and decide you want more later, I can still go back and make more... just remember it takes a few weeks to cure.

Thanks for helping me support my hobby!

Homekeeper's Journal ~ 2/16

Here’s What’s Happening...

In My Kitchen: Three of the children are cleaning up after a pancake feast. Three carrot cakes are still waiting to be frosted or frozen (maybe both). Later we'll be making meatloaf, potatoes, and asparagus. Yum!

With The Children: The older two are juggling school and additional work responsibilities. Toby is toying with the option of getting his license, and has discovered texting. Jon is looking at the onset of puberty. Mike is outgrowing his clothes. Grace is improving her reading skills... will be in this stage for a while, but it's always exciting!

What I’m Reading: Giants in the Earth, by O.E. Rolvaag. I plan to follow it with the sequel, Peder Victorious.

What I Have Been Learning: Lots of random tidbits! Uh-huh... and my mind is making new connections, too. I just can't put my finger on any of them to share with you.

What I’ve Been Noticing: I tend to think a lot, but not very well.

On The Back Burner of My Mind: Finances. I have a priority list a mile long, and need to make sure it's in order and that I stay on track as our situation changes.

In The Deepest Darkest Recesses: I'm very uncomfortable with several aspects of my life right now, and praying for direction, courage, and strength to press on.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day has never really concerned me. After all, it's all about giving chocolate and red and pink heart-shaped cards to your sweetheart, and since I have never had a sweetheart, it just never really mattered to me. Well, a couple of weeks ago that changed.

Now, before you start thinking that I've gotten a boyfriend and gone all weird and romantic on you, let me explain myself. I love History. I love History so much, that when my Mom asked me to teach my younger siblings World History, I jumped at the chance. Since then, I've been teaching my siblings, and have been learning just as much as they have.

We recently learned about how the Valentine's Day tradition began, and I was surprised when I read it. To explain all this, I'll take you back to ancient Rome around the year 269 A.D. in February. During this time period, Christians were being persecuted for their faith by the Romans, and there was a Christian priest named Valentine who was about to die for his faith. Valentine died on February 14th, the day we know as Valentine's Day.

So what do chocolate and heart-shaped cards have to do with this? Well, the Romans had a holiday known as Lupercalia that they celebrated on February 15th. On this great feast day, young men and women would pair up and spend time together and even exchange gifts. Some of these couples would even marry one another as a result of this courtship.

So what about Cupid? Did he come from this? And how did a martyr and a Roman holiday get put together? Well, Cupid was supposedly the Roman god of love, and if you got shot with one of his arrows, you would fall in love! In 495 A.D. Pope Gelasius decided to replace Lupercalia (February 15th)with the remembering of Saint Valentine (February 14th).

Although it has held the name of the martyr Valentine, we've made Valentine's Day more like Lupercalia. So this Valentine's Day while you're buying chocolates for your honey, or better yet, eating chocolate from your honey, spend a minute and think about Valentine, the priest who died for his Christian faith.

Lynae

Of Mice and Men

I was recently assigned the book Of Mice and Men to read. I had seen the movie when I was a little younger, so I knew the story line, but reading it really made clear the troubles of the Depression.

Of Mice and Men is about two men looking for work together. George is a smart but rather cynical man, and Lennie is a tall, hardworking man with limited mental abilities. Knowing that the Depression was a hard time to get work, I was surprised when I realized how dedicated George was to Lennie. Not only was Lennie someone that George had to supervise all the time, but he was also a threat to every job George could find.

I was even more surprised when I found that the two weren't even related! So here's a man who could be fending for himself that chooses to look after someone who is even less fortunate than he is! That got me thinking about how self centered our culture has become. We've gone from looking after one another to thinking of ourselves first. Nowadays if people were put in that kind of position, many would choose to leave Lennie behind and worry about themselves. After all, they'd reason, they had it hard enough already. Why go and take on an unnecessary burden?

What about you? Would you be willing to take care of someone you aren't even related to? Even if they cost you your job? Why or why not? Just something to think about.

Lynae

Random things that make me happy

1. snuggling with my kids
2. cardinals
3. lilacs
4. the smell of spring
5. the smell of fall
6. the smell of rain
7. the smell of snow
8. silence
9. watching my kids figure something out
10. getting all the bills paid
11. the smell of hot sand and pine trees
12. being home alone
13. the idea of grandchildren
14. back rubs
15. a successful vegetable garden
16. fresh-picked, sun-warmed plums
17. setting off on a road trip
18. a breeze on a hot day
19. pileated woodpeckers
20. nap time

Sharing my work

Whether we got complaints on my last post or it just didn't quite make the cut, I have been mercifully assigned the opportunity to redo this task. I will show my real work this time, instead of just my quotes.

Before I share it with you, I must tell you a little. See, I don't actually write in my journal in the Roman alphabet like typical humanoid beings in America. I use an ancient writing system, and this paragraph successfully explains why while telling a story and capturing the thought process of young Americans these days, in case you hadn't already heard the bad news. Anyway, this alphabet does not have all the same sounds as our beloved Roman alphabet, so I have corrected any misspellings for your sake.

"Why do I use runes within these pages? People stopped using runes a thousand years ago. And why do I still use them? To restore tradition? No, English speaking people are too far gone for that. To hide what I say? No, most of this nonsense I would not be afraid to show the world. What is there to hide? Do I write in another two alphabets to impress people? Miserable folly: it is hardly an accomplishment, and what of it is impressive impresses nobody. Do I do it because it is easy? It is easy now to say such, but there was a time when that was not so. I think that that is my real reason now. When I started I was a silly preteen whose world revolved around being a spy in the war between the sexes, a stupid... conflict twixt misinformed or superstitious children, which relies heavily on the belief in the presence of cooties (an indescribable but undesirable parasite in twentieth century mythology) in the opposing party and its sympathizers. I think my idea was to make my messages more resistant to interception, but I soon realized the whole war was pointless. If the girls had cooties, they were not going to lose them no matter how much information I intercepted. But as I discovered the facts, I kept using Anglo-Saxon runic for secrets. But now I think runic characters are more efficient, and that is why I still use them. It takes fewer characters to write the same word in these runes, except for a few rare situations."

There you have it. Unfortunately, that was about the most profound thing I have written in my journal so far. Let's just say it was slightly embarrassing to put that on the internet.

Sharing my work, er, quotes

I wonder if you would really be interested in reading most of my work. I'm guessing not. I wouldn't be. So I have decided to share with you the product of the bridge between work and play, and that is some of my favorite quotes from books I've read for pleasure. Because half of them are for humor and the other half are for business, and this is supposed to be about work, we will try and stick with the business ones, but you might laugh at some of them anyway. Just don't tell.

"But then there are the other kind, those... who never do good, because they don't know how to and won't listen to any advice... Naughtiness can grow and grow, like a marshweed, until it turns to badness, then if it continues there is only one word for it: evil!" Bella in "Outcast of Redwall"

"You read me like a book. I do have a secret, but trust me, all will be made known to you in the fullness of time." Methuselah in "Redwall"

"Don't be ashamed to weep; 'tis right to grieve. Tears are only water, and flowers, trees, and fruit cannot grow without water. But there must be sunlight also. A wounded heart will heal in time, and when it does, the memory and love of our lost ones is sealed inside to comfort us." Cregga in "Taggerung"

Here I'll cheat a little bit. See, I enjoyed "As You Like It" so much that even though it was for school, I would read it again for pleasure, so I don't mind putting some of its quotes here.

"In respect that it is solitary, I like it very well; but in respect that it is private, it is a very vile life. Now, in respect it is in the fields, it pleaseth me well; but in respect it is not in the court, it is tedious." Touchstone in "As You Like It"

" 'So so' is good, very good, very excellent good, and yet it is not; it is but so so." Touchstone in "As You Like It"

"Then learn this of me: to have, is to have; for it is a figure in rhetoric that drink, being poured out of a cup into a glass, by filling the one doth empty the other; for all your writers do consent that ipse is he: now, you are not ipse, for I am he." Touchstone in "As You Like It"

"Therefore, you clown, abandon,-- which is in the vulgar leave,-- the society,-- which in the boorish is company,-- of this female,-- which in the common is woman; which together is, abandon the society of this female, or, clown, thou perishest; or, to thy better understanding, diest; or, to wit, I kill thee, make thee away, translate thy life into death, thy liberty into bondage: I will deal in poison with thee, or in bastidano, or in steel; I will bandy with thee in faction; I will o'errun thee with policy; I will kill thee a hundred and fifty ways: therefore tremble, and depart." Touchstone in "As You Like It"

"I did dislike the cut of a certain courtier's beard: he sent me word, if I said his beard was not cut well, he was in the mind that it was: this is called the Retort Courteous. If I sent him word again, 'it was not well cut,' he would send me word he would cut it to please himself. If again, 'it was not well cut,' he disabled my judgement: this is called the Reply Churlish. If again, 'it was not well cut,' he would answer, I spake not true: this is called the Reproof Valient. If again, 'it was not well cut,' he would say, I lied: this is called the Countercheck Quarrelsome: and so to the Lie Circumstantial and the Lie Direct." Touchstone in "As You Like It"

"I will name you the degrees. The first, the Retort Courteous; the second, the Quip Modest; the third, the Reply Churlish; the fourth, the Reproof Valient; the fifth, the Countercheck Quarrelsome; the sixth, the Lie with Circumstance; the seventh, the Lie Direct. All of these you may avoid but the Lie Direct; and you may avoid that too, with an If. I knew when seven justices could not take up a quarrel, but when the parties were met themselves, one of them thought but of an If, as in, 'If you said so, then I said so;' and they shook hands and swore brothers. Your If is the only peace-maker; much virtue in If." Touchstone in "As You Like It"

Now on to the LOTR quotes. LOTR geeks, unite and rejoice. Innocent civilians may leave at any time.

"Tell me what you want done, and I will try it, if I have to walk from here to the East of East and fight the wild Were-worms in the Last Desert." Bilbo in "The Hobbit"

"Now it is a strange thing, but things that are good to have and days that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen to; while things that are uncomfortable, palpitating, and even gruesome, may make a good tale, and take a deal of telling anyway." J.R.R. Tolkien in "The Hobbit"

"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve." Bilbo in "The Fellowship of the Ring"

"Why, I feel all thin, sort of stretched, if you know what I mean: like butter that has been scraped over too much bread. That can't be right." Bilbo in "The Fellowship of the Ring"

"The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater." Haldir in "The Fellowship of the Ring"

"Yet you speak the truth, that is plain: the Men of the Mark do not lie, and therefore they are not easily deceived." Eomer in "The Two Towers"

"But there, my friends, songs like trees bear fruit only in their own time and their own way: and sometimes they are withered untimely." Treebeard in "The Two Towers"

"For I was talking aloud to myself. A habit of the old: they choose the wisest person present to speak to; the long explanations needed by the young are wearying." Gandalf in "The Two Towers"

"We boast seldom, and then perform, or die in the attempt." Faramir in "The Two Towers"

"But nay: the praise of the praiseworthy is above all rewards. Yet there was naught in this to praise. I had no lure or desire to do other than I have done." Faramir in "The Two Towers"

"...adventures, as I used to call them. I used to think that they were things the wonderful folk of the stories went out and looked for, because they wanted them, because they were exciting and life was a bit dull, a kind of a sport, as you might say. But that's not the way of it with the tales that really mattered, or the ones that stay in the mind. Folk seem to have been just landed in them, usually -- their paths were led that way, as you put it. But I expect they had lots of chances, like us, of turning back, only they didn't. And if they had, we shouldn't know, because they'd have been forgotten. We hear about those as just went on -- and not all to a good end, mind you; at least not to what folk inside a story and not outside it call a good end." Sam Gamgee in "The Two Towers"

That concludes this blog post. I just finished The Two Towers and plan to read The Return of the King soon, so stay tuned!

Comfort

Comfort could be defined in several different ways. It could be snuggling up on the couch with someone you love and watching a sappy movie. It could be eating that bowl of oh-so-good potato soup. Or it could be sitting in front of the fire watching the flames and getting that really sleepy feeling. Whatever it is, we often think of it as stopping and taking time to enjoy something.

For me, comfort is found in the country(as well as, I admit, in all the things mentioned above). Having lived in the country almost my entire life, I really love the peaceful atmosphere here. Sure, I have work to do, but I can always slip outside and watch the grass dancing in the wind or take a bike ride down a dirt road, or lie down in the snow and look at the stars. Here I am surrounded by God's magnificent creation, and I can truly enjoy it.

On the flip side of that coin, whenever I'm in a city everyone has something to be doing or somewhere they need to be going, and for a while it's fun to be going everywhere and doing whatever is cool, but after a while I feel trapped in a rat race and I long for the comforts of the country lifestyle.

Surely there are comforts of living in a city, but I would prefer watching the deer walk through the orchard over being able to walk to the grocery store or the movie theater.

Comfort

Comfort is a great thing. You know, I actually sometimes cry? (Orange alert, write this down, Toby is a normal mortal person.) It's true. And when I am busy crying, I generally don't want to be bothered. When I'm sad, I'm cranky. It comes with having a great attitude the rest of the time (if I may say so). Comfort is when I fall asleep in the middle of it and waking up to find that the house isn't cold.

Every once in a while I have this itch to read a great book. There are some really great books out there, but you have to actually dig to find them sometimes, which can mean hours spent looking before you find it. Comfort is finding the book and reading it with a cup of cocoa and a bowl of raisins.

Sometimes you don't have to dig to find the great books. Sometimes they come to you. That's when the real comfort starts kicking in, when you can curl up with a great book without having had to look for it for hours.

Comfort is walking around town barefoot looking for agates by the train tracks or in the park.

Southern comfort is the same principle, but it comes with strings attached. You don't get southern comfort in MN. You probably actually can't get it even in Illinois. You really have to be further south to appreciate the southern comfort.