Unwind Your Life

unwind May 29th, 2009

As you know…I’m on a real writing roll today!  Have been for a few…thus my rotten lack of posting!  However, I came across something a few years ago…an unusual treasure from my childhood!  I remember watching this as a little girl…on TV…probably only a few times!  However, it stuck with me forever and when I saw it available on DVD a couple of years ago…I HAD to have it!  So what if you have to read the subtitles!  I LOVE it!  Originally entitled “Three Nuts for Cinderella,” this Czech version of the story just settled in my young mind!  The DVD title is “Three Wishes for Cinderella” and I adore watching it!

The first video here is a music montage…a summary of the movie!  The second is the ending without the subtitles!  Just for fun…here’s a treasure from my childhood! (If you love it enough…Amazon does have it!)

• A Life Like Anne's , Cherish the Past , Movies and TV , Tradition
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unwind May 19th, 2009

I LOVE old books!  There’s just something about old books…the tattered pages…the vintage illustrations…an inscription penned by a loving hand.  I just love them!

Years ago I began collecting old books.  My mom loved old books, too!  She’s the one who really introduced me to the beauty and wonder of old books.  She used to work in downtown Albuquerque…near the main public library.  The main library had a little used bookstore downstairs.  Run by “Friends of the Library,” the store sold used books that had been donated from estates, etc.  This is where my mom first started finding old books.  Furthermore, this was years ago before all the antique dealers jumped on the “old books” bandwagon, too.  Mom would visit the little bookstore every few days on her lunch hour…searching for treasure in the form of books for my kids, herself, and/or gifts.  Many of the estate-donated books “old books.”  Mom would find real treasure among these older books!  Things like a 1903 copy of “The Merchant of Venice” by Shakespeare, a rare 1940’s edition of Jane Eyre…things like that.  Just wonderful little books that secreted far more interesting tales than the stories printed on their weathered pages.

Anyway, every year, the “Friends of the Library,” held an enormous used book sale…and I do mean ENORMOUS!  It was held at “The Pit,” which is the University of New Mexico basketball arena!  It seats…oh, I think 20,000.  The “Friends of the Library” would line the floor of The Pit, as well as the level walkways, with tables and tables and tables of used books!  A reader’s paradise, let me tell you!  AND there was always a little section of old books.  Off in one corner there would be just a few tables piled with these old books…forgotten treasures that no one appreciated.

Naturally, my mom and I hit the sale every year!  We’d head straight for the old books section and you never saw two more excited or motivated treasure hunters!  Oh, the booty we found!  Books from the 1870’s through the 1880’s were my favorite!  I always found several wonderful little treasures…and here’s the kicker…the books were priced anywhere from .25 cents to $2.00!  It was incredible!  Poetry books are among my favorite and to find an 1880 collection of Tennyson, Woodsworth…or even “Favorite Poets” was just the most wonderful thrill!  Looking back, I can’t believe the stuff we found!  I paid .50 cents for a book of poetry published in 1812…one dollar for an pristine copy of Longfellow’s “Evangeline!”  It was wonderful!  I’ve got a copy of “The Lady of The Lake” that I purchased for one dollar…I saw the same edition in worse shape on e-bay the other day for $269.00!  It was wonderful!  And we didn’t care how much the books were really worth…we just loved them, treasured them…liked to sit around and imagine where they’d been,who had loved them and read them!  It was fantastic!

Well, naturally, the antique dealers began to get wind of the old books at the yearly sale.  I remember one year we went…having arrived pretty early and standing in line for an hour waiting for the doors to open…only to find that the antique dealers were there as well.  They snatched up everything!  Didn’t wait to browse…didn’t care what the titles were…just snatched up all the old books so they could resell them in their stores.  This led to another consequence…that being the “Friends of the Library” realizing how monetarily valuable the old books were…thus, they started pricing the books closer to their true monetary value.  Alas, the fun was gone and Mom and I stopped going to the sale.

However, that did NOT stop me from searching the dark, dusty corners of antique stores for treasure!  Though I’ve never found treasure for the ridiculously low prices the old “Friends of the Library” sales used to offer…I have found a few things to add to my collection.  It’s much harder and I’m much more selective…still, I LOVE old books!  There scattered here and there throughout my house.  At any given time you can easily pick up a book of Tennyson’s work and linger over “The Lady of Shalott,” or leaf through vintage pages of an Alfred Noyes collection and ride away with “The Highwayman.”   Maybe an inscription would catch your eye…“Merry Christmas, 1885,” or “Joe Hennessee, U.S. Military Academy, West Point, 1903,” or (one of my favorites) “As a prize for an essay written on St. Patrick, 1921.”  I just love them!

I realized (while writing this blog) that old books need help in photography well…obviously!  I need to catalog my collection…for myself and my kids!  So I will take the time to take some beautiful photos of them…try to preserve they’re wonder as best I can….for they are beautiful!

So many things of beauty are being lost!  Old books are one of them!  Pick up an old copy of Tennyson somewhere…for just $3.00-$5.00…carefully leaf through the weathered pages…read the penciled notes in the margins written by a student 100 years ago!  It sharpens your perspective and appreciation of the past.  I just LOVE old books!

• A Life Like Anne's , Cherish the Past
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unwind May 4th, 2009

I’ve been a little bogged down this week…12 hour work days…leaving not a lot of time to unwind.  I’ve also been lamenting that fact that I’ve never kept a journal!  How I wish I’d written things down…little experiences, big events, just thoughts and feelings, etc.  Do you ever feel that way?  I’m certain those of you who are fabulous journalers do not…but maybe even you do sometimes.  So…I thought I’d start a little project…just writing snippets!  I mean, snippets are better than nothing, right?  Just little things like…you know…about bees. Remember just laying in the grass as kid…the blue sky over head…the scent of summer…and the soft, low hum a  bee buzzing nearby?  When I was a kid it seemed bees were everywhere!  I wasn’t really fond of bees…one stung me in the middle of my forehead when I was really little and traumatized me for life!  I always found bees somewhat irritating…you know…they’d buzz around and alight on your root bear can at a picnic…just as you were ready to take a sip…even crawl inside it sometimes!  Flowers were always buzzing with bees…which made it hard for me to find the courage to pick them.  However, now that I look back…now that I so very rarely even see a bee anymore…I kind of miss them. I never in my whole life thought that bees would be a thing of the past…but it seems they are.  Seriously…when was the last time you saw one?  My own children don’t even have memories of bees.  Thus, I think I need to write a snippet…so that when my grandchildren read my snippets…bees will be something they miss…even if they’ve never seen them.

My mother was a faithful journaler for many years…and a wonderful writer of snippets!  Here are a few lovely examples…she wrote:

1.  “Thus, at a very impressionable age, I was transported to the vicinity of my beloved Westcliff and Sangre de Cristo Mountains–land of spaciousness, towering mountains, green verdant meadows, pure white diamond-studded snow; crystal clear streams and lakes; crisp, clean, fresh air; lingering twilights; beautiful wildflowers (especially the  blue columbine, my favorite, and Colorado’s state flower); and the ever quivering tall, slender, white-trunked quakies (Aspen).”

And her thoughts of winter:

2.  “Winter was beautiful with snow, ice, and frost.  Clear, crisp nights when, as the sun set, the sky would go through every shade of blue, from pale blue to sky blue to royal blue to dark blue to black blue, with the last rays of the sun at the sky blue and royal blue states turning the clouds from white to gold to light pink to darker pink to gray.  The stars would appear one by one, silvery, crisp, distinct.  The Milky Way could be seen stretching across the Heavens, and then a crescent or full moon would appear to light up the frost forming in the air and settling on the ground or the frost diamonds resting on the snow of a few days before.”

“Darkness would have set before I got off the bus at night.  I sometimes would walk from the bust stop to home on the snowplowed road with the moonlight glistening on the snow on both sides.  Before I would reach the driveway, I would smell fresh baked bread, the cinnamon of fresh baked sweet rolls, and pinto beans cooking. Ahh!   There’s not a person on earth who ever ate so well on a cold wintry night.”

There is also a paper with just a list of some of my mom’s favorite things:

“Misty days, heavy with clouds…bushel baskets–They remind me of days past when fruits, vegetables, and grains were measured by the bushel, half bushel, or peck. “

Thus, I’m going to start writing snippets…something to help me remember my life, as well as something to pass on to my children!  What do you think?

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unwind April 19th, 2009

Okay! Just thought I’d let you know where I stand on my “Memorize The Lady of Shalott” goal! It’s actually turning out to be not only easier than I thought…but more rewarding! I find that as I lay awake at night, or as I’m driving alone in the car…the poem lingers in my mind…soothes and relaxes me. I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to have “The Lady of Shallot” wafting through your thoughts…instead of all the stress and noise that can often intrude there!

Also, I did want to share a profound discovery with you…on iTunes there’s an album called “Epic Poems”…“The Lady of Shalott” included on it is a beautiful reading! It completely opens your mind to Tennyson’s imagery, etc.! Now…although the man reciting it does a magnificent job…there are a couple of lines missing…so be careful if you decide to use it as one of your memorizing tools!

I’m glad so many of you have added the memorization of “The Lady of Shalott” to your own “Dreams to Do” list! I’m finding it to be just what I needed to refine my life a little! Keep me posted on your progress!

• A Life Like Anne's , Ambiance of Serenity , Cherish the Past
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unwind April 9th, 2009

Old family photos are a source of adventure…a thread connecting us to the past.  Putting aside the importance of preserving the past and our family’s history…just consider the wonder…the hours of mesmerizing story-telling an old photo can evoke…the way sitting with a grandparent and discussing an old photo can change our childrens’ lives…ground them…teach them to appreciate what they have, and to prioritize!  Discussing the past with our children can literally mold their lives, and it’s important to take the time to do that.  My kids all love to talk about ancestors, hear the stories of grandpa’s and great-great grandma’s, etc.  They are instilled with a profound appreciation for the past and the people who lived in it.  They treasure the most interesting items…like an ugly old piggy bank that belonged to their great grandmother when she was a child!  That woman…my grandmother, Zilpha Hutchens, is still living…on July 4th, she’ll be 103, and the last time I talked to her I asked her, “Grandma…what’s one the things your remember as a child?”  She explained that she was getting old and her memory wasn’t what it used to be…but she did remember when she was 6…when her father came in with the newspaper…how sad they all were…how shocked and horrified to hear that the Titanic had sunk and that all those people had died!  The TITANIC!  Can you believe that?  My grandmother clearly described to me the newspaper article her father read aloud to her at age six…concerning the sinking of the Titanic!  I couldn’t believe it!  My kids were amazed!  And it connected them…not only to their great grandmother…but to an historic event that rocked the world!  It was astounding to me and to them!

So let’s take one family photo and I’ll give you a very, very, very brief overview of what one photo can imprint in our minds and hearts!  This is a photo of the Isaac and Mary Wood family!  Isaac and Mary were my great great grandparents on my dad’s side…the little girl standing next to Isaac is Bessie…my great grandmother…my grandma Zilpha Hutchens’ mother…Zilpha…who is now 103!  Think of the stories inspired by this one photo!  Isaac fought in the civil war…with the 66th Ohio…who were at Gettysburg, Antietam…part of Sherman’s March to the Sea.  He was wounded (that’s a story for another time-how he survived is amazing!), and while recovering met Mary Mariah Tenney!  I have a table that was their wedding gift in 1863…it mesmerizes my children to consider where that table has traveled, what it has seen, who sat around it telling stories, etc.  Anyway…see the girl behind Isaac to the right?  This is Nettie…as an adult she became ill and died.  Her mother, Mary, wanted her buried near home, so she hopped in a wagon and drove 70 miles to retrieve her body.  On the way back, Mary heard a group of riders…pulled the wagon off the road and under a bridge in a gully.  The group of riders rode past, and when Mary arrived in the town up ahead she learn the riders had been The Dalton Gang!  The boy to the far right was Ernest (Ern for short).  He was killed by a train…the article in the newspaper (we have the clipping) was very graphic and sad…yet an important piece of the past.  Bessie (again, at Isaac’s knee, and my great grandmother), had a song published.  She played the piano and married a man 20 years her senior.  She had two children…my grandmother, Zilpha (named after her little sister shown here between Isaac and Mary) and my great aunt, Mary.  Zilpha and Mary were 16 years apart.  Here they are when Mary was a baby!  Just imagine…the older girl is the 103 year old lady who can remember the sinking of the Titanic!  It’s awe-inspiring!

The stories that can be told about the one family photo above go on and on and on!  They intrigue me and my children!  They embed an appreciation and love for those who went before us…and they should be cherished AND displayed!

Find a place in your home to display old photos.  This not only pays tribute to the people in them, but it strengthens our memories, and prompts our children to ask questions…thereby preserving the people and the past we love.  Dig a few photos out and spend some time sitting with your kids on the couch and telling them about the people in them who should be admired, reverenced and remembered!  It adds a sense of calm refection to your home…and the lives of those who dwell there!

Tags: Old Photos, The Past

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unwind March 28th, 2009

One thing I love about period books and films…you know Jane Eyre, North and South, Pride and Prejudice, Cranford, Sense and Sensibility, etc…is the vocabulary!  Did you know that we use only one third the vocabulary people used 200 years ago?  It’s true!  AND I think it’s a pity!  How softer conversation would sound…how more interesting would it seem…if once in a while, were incorporated words like…resplendence, solitude, mellifluous, bliss!  If we referred to a party as being “such a sequence of continuous delights,” instead of being just “really fun”.  I wish the world still used that kind of vocabulary!

Of course, I’m as much a product of technology, a fast-paced life-style, and cramming more into the little bit of time allotted me as anyone else.  I mean…as you know…my first exclamatory response to something fun is, “Oh my heck!”  Yet, once in awhile, I like to stop and sigh…say something like, “Hence, it would behoove you to contemplate the circumstances a little longer.” Do you know what I mean?  My boys always get a kick out of my dropping an unusual word here or there.  They’ll say, “Who says that, Mom?” And then they always follow it up with, “I guess you do!” Yet, more often than not, I find that my kids assimilate words here and there into their own vocabulary…based on what they’ve heard me say.  For instance, a few months ago…my boys spent five or ten minutes teasing about using the word “abscond.”  However, I noticed that very word has become a part of their regular vocabulary!  It’s hilarious!

I think our minds need that kind of exercise and reprieve!  That’s why I love Tennyson…and Noyes.  I love the rhythm of their poetry…the imagery their use of word provokes.

I know you know this one…but read it aloud…slowly:

“Willows whiten, aspens quiver…little breezes dusk and shiver…through the wave that runs forever…by the island in the river…”

I LOVE it!  All words we still use…just strung together oh so romantically!

Or from Alfred Noyes…

“The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees…the moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas…”

Beautiful!  And that’s what I thing I long for…romance in language!  Therefore, I encourage both of us to try it…let’s pick a new word…a pretty word…something romantic…and incorporate it into our regular vocabulary.  I think I’ll begin with “serendipity!”  It’s a lovely word…don’t you think?  Let me try it out…(clearing my throat right now)…”My friend Shoshannah owns such a serendipity when it comes to period films and fairy tales!”  (Loosely translated,) “My friend Shoshannah owns such an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident when it comes to period films and fairy tales!”

See what fun that is?  Let me know what you think!  Meanwhile, I’m off on a meandering trip to the mailbox!  After all, a resplendent day like this is too awe-inspiring to waste!

Tags: language, Romance, serendipity

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