Career Day at Discovery Middle School

Tags

American Dream, Finding Fulfillment

So it’s that time of year again!  Volunteering for Career Day at Discovery Middle School.  This year I was able to have my full gear on as I told the kids about my career.  I didn’t have time last year to find the old metatarsals and greens at the Harn but this year, the 6^th Graders got the full show.

Last year, the kids were so nice, sending along thank you letters that were fantastic.  I had a ball with them and they were full of great questions.  I was a bit nervous I might get letters from the parents as a couple kids asked about death in the steel mills.  I was honest with them and wondered if it might have been too much to share.  But… no parent letters!!  We’ll see how this year pans out in the next few weeks!  I did have one really poor answer at the end of the first class… and a sketchy one in the third class.  One of the kids in the second class is a co-worker’s son so we’ll see what he tells her!!

This year I again did three classrooms and the kids were even more enthusiastic.  We ran to the bell in each class with questions and answers and they were excited to see the crafts I make now that I’m more in charge of my own time.  The crafts did get attention.  I start my talk asking if the kids know what Metallurgical Engineering is and get some interesting speculation.  I had brought one of the succulent arrangements I made Monday with the Crafting Ladies inciting one kid to speculate that Metallurgical Engineering had something to do with plants.  Which is a good use of data… to come to an erroneous conclusion,  😦 but I like his thinking. 🙂 Observation is good!

Then I talk about my path to Engineering from being a kid who loved reading, math and science, to how I ended up as the Quality Manager for a Steel Mill.  I credit Mrs. Moore, my 9^th grade Biology teacher with directing me to a Women in Engineering camp at the University of Dayton my freshman year which gave me exposure to the various types of Engineering from Chemical to Electrical, Civil to Mechanical and Materials Science was presented – we made plastic keychains in an injection mold.  I knew from standing behind a tripod that Civil was not my bag.  So when I ended up graduating early from High School (I was a problem child and my guidance counselor let me know if I skipped taking study halls Junior year, I’d be able to graduate a year early by taking Civics – a Senior class – during summer school), I was offered three options at the University of Cincinnati: [Yeah, Purdue has closed admissions by the time I figured out I was graduating early.]  Engineering Mechanics, Civil Engineering, or Metallurgical Engineering.  I thought Engineering Mechanics sounded a bit esoteric & vague so I told Mr. Murphy, “Whatever that Metallurgical thing is, I’ll try that.”

I ended up doing co-op terms at GE Aircraft Engines while studying at UC and had 27 months of work experience on graduation in areas from Applications to Development to R&D.  [And then the aerospace collapse happened when I graduated in 1991 so I ended up going into steel. Thank goodness I didn’t pursue that idea of transferring to Aerospace Engineering!]  I talk about my first job in the Met Lab and my transition to Technical Service and then to Quality.  Then I give them some facts on Engineering and an example of a typical day for me in my job as the Quality Manager.

I talk about the benefits and downside of my various jobs and then about what I thought I wanted to be when I was younger.  I walk them through how to decide what they will be when they enter the workforce and this is where I got lots of thanks from the kids in their letters thanking me for visiting.  I tell them to read, to explore their passions, to try things and talk with people who do what they think they’d like to do.  I encourage them to job shadow and also to read What Color is Your Parachute.  This book was instrumental to me in making the transition from Mill Met to Tech Service, probably my favorite job of all (with the exception of the 80-90 hour weeks).  I challenge them to “Dare to be YOU!”  I tell them not to think about the money but to do what they love doing.  I tell them the money will follow and, anyway… they can always change their minds later!  Many kids thanked me especially last year for telling them to not think about the money but instead to think about what they like to do.

This year’s kids asked lots of questions about the flexibility of my job, what I liked best, if I ever got hurt on the job, if other people got injured (but we avoided the death part of this line of questioning this year), and if I was proud of the work I’d done.  I really liked that question.  I am very proud of the work I did.  I always worked hard and with integrity, follow-through, and attention to documentation.  And I believe I was respected for my work.  And I have had many tell me how much they missed me after I have left jobs so hopefully others thought I did OK too.  Or maybe they just missed my outspoken attitude!!

I am glad for the path I took as it has allowed me to continue on the path I have now.  But I don’t regret leaving either.  The stress on my body and mind, the long commutes, the frustration being a woman in a very male dominant culture – don’t miss any of that.  And I love selling books!  The work and play and volunteering I do today are much more aligned with my passions.  And I love living here in Alexandria, close to Mom, enjoying life and trying to be healthy.  On that note, I was quite pleasantly surprised – as I worried if my mill greens might be too tight… to find that they were in fact quite too big!  Even the belt I made at Rec Lab was loose on the tightest hole so I had a great feeling about that.

The teachers were appreciative.  Two were repeats from last year and gave me high praise to their classes on introducing me.  Hopefully I wasn’t a disappointment to the kids!  I asked at the end how many kids wanted to be Engineers and there were only 2.  Yeah, total.  One each in the first and second classes.  But when I asked how many had learned a lot about Engineering, more than half of each class raised their hands.  So they are better informed at the least.  Seems like many want to pursue careers in the health fields, policing, art and a few are thinking about teaching. I explained to the second class that ALL of us end up being teachers.  No matter what.  Nurses teach you how to care for your bodies, veterinarians teach us to care for our animals, even factory workers end up teaching the guy who comes in to train on how to run the process.  So learning how to communicate is critical.

In the end, who knows what these kids will need to be trained to do in another 6-10 years.  Things seem to be changing so fast these days.  I did tell them that they would likely have several jobs, possibly even several types of jobs.  The average time a person stays in a job these days is 4.4 years but 91% of Millennials expect to stay in a job less than 3 years!  It looks like they could be doing quite a lot of different things.  http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeannemeister/2012/08/14/job-hopping-is-the-new-normal-for-millennials-three-ways-to-prevent-a-human-resource-nightmare/#4be4c5c65508

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Reverend Raven Goes Dark

Tags

American Dream, living local, local music

I’m getting back to daily life here in Alexandria.  Back to Cherry Street Books where I can catch up on all the latest book news, back to volunteering with ESL, and back to enjoying my kitties!  Mom & Tom finally made it back over the weekend so home will feel like home again.

Dan suggested a bike ride after work Wednesday so we rode up to Cherry Street Books and I was pumped up (pun intended!) at how fun it was to ride.  So Friday, I rode to work on my bike.  Felt really great to be able to propel myself to work instead of relying on fossil fuels.  I am gonna start doing this more often as it fits in with my… once again… realizing I need to focus on health a bit more than I have been.  I got my blood work done while on my Spring Tour and, while some things were improved, some had deteriorated. Though I had an explanation for my low hemoglobin result and increased white blood cell count, and maybe even my jump in cholesterol, I felt like this was a wake up call.

So I’ve been eating better this week, more veggies and more consciousness.  And I’m looking forward to our Ploughshares CSA baskets starting in the next week or two.  We will be getting lots of good green food to keep us healthy.  I just hope I can find ways to cook the stuff that may be foreign to me.  I’m not sure how this CSA will compare with previous but I plan to cook and enjoy the fresh, organic produce each week.  And Farmer Gary has lots of recipes to help me out in this.  In case you’re interested in trying some of them, here’s a link to my farmer:  http://www.ploughsharefarm.com/  Recipes are in the right column near the bottom of the page.

We wrapped up the week with a visit to Reverend Raven and the Chain-Smokin’ Altar Boys in Forada.  Thought the show started at 7:30 so we were there by 7 at our reserved table (thanks to Deb & Paul!).  Almost every table in the house was reserved.  Some pizza and chips & cheese were enjoyed as we waited and at almost 8 ,the Boys began to play.  Westside Andy was there with his Harp and he reminds me so much of an old buddy at SDI that I had to grab a shot of him to post on FB.  I definitely think he looks like my boy Ronnie “Gaither”.  Sure miss those guys.

Well, they started up and the crowd was primed for the show.  The Rev took a sec to wander the dance floor checking out his crew.  Lookin’ good.

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They were about 4 songs into the set and… poof!  Out went the lights.  But Jody was quick to bring out candles for everyone!

Without juice, The Rev was dead in the water…  We thought we’d have a short delay… but it turned out to be longer than that… it never came back.  Danny called it, noting that there were two flickers and then it was gone, indicating the sub-station had lost power. We’re guessing someone hit a pole as the weather was fine.  In fact, we enjoyed hanging outside chatting up the band and enjoying the evening.  The moon was a bit orange, perhaps commiserating with us with it’s own little brown out.  It was a good time for a photo op with the Reverend outside his darkened venue.

The longer it went on, the more rumor stirred.  Someone noted power was out in Alexandria too.  Oh, no!  This brought on speculation of the end of the world.  What if this was our final juice?  Danny mentioned Lights Out by Ted Koppel, a book that has jumped to the top of my reading list…

It brought thoughts that we might just need to pack up the truck and head to the Harn. I realized how unprepared we are for something of that magnitude.  We’d need to stop for supplies but how much would we really get?  Wouldn’t it be chaos?  I figure we’d have a couple days max before everyone figured out that they are, by and large, fucked.  I mean, they haven’t freaked out about climate change yet, perhaps hope would spring eternal with a major power outage!

It’s just another 15 minutes, people!  No worries, power will be restored!  Our technology will save us!  Just hold on, keep doing what you’re doing and all will be fine.

But, without power, you are pretty limited in this day and age…  No TV, so how will you keep on top of what’s happening with Trump?!?  You’d still have interwebs for a while to look up his latest moves.  Whew!  But what about heating/cooling? How long would you last without these?  In winter we’d hang in there with wood stoves.   Thank goodness it’s cool in the morning but soon, it’s gonna be warming up and we’d really be buggered in the heat without our A/C.  And what about cooking and washing clothes?  This is when it starts to get tricky and we pretty much eat every day so…  Yeah maybe we’d have a day or two at the most before people got desperate in a total blackout.  And the big issue will be the toilets.  Did you know you need electricity to pump the water to your commode?  Yeah, that will get you motivated to find a solution.  It’s definitely something to think about.

So this big question Friday was… Where were you when the lights went out?  Forada, MN enjoying a show with the Rev!!  Not such a bad way to end it.  It was almost two hours post blackout that we finally packed it in for the night.  Yep, hope sprung eternal as we awaited the Rev getting back up on stage.  Thank goodness we had those last two pieces of pizza to nosh as we waited!  (Some folks went home with their made-but-not-baked pies.) The Rev did wander the crowd with Westside Andy doing a few songs through the evening and keeping people hanging in there.  And he even gave our table a personal serenade as we ended the night.

Did you miss the Forada Blackout Show?  Don’t worry, you can catch The Rev August 5th at the Maritime Museum Garden Show or at the Bayfront Blues Fest in Duluth August 12th (he’ll be playing Roscoe’s the rest of that weekend). Here’s where you can track him… http://www.bandsintown.com/ReverendRaven/start_tracking?came_from=176

 

Travels in Indiana ~ The Spring 2016 Tour

Tags

Bernie, family

Travels in Indiana

(Celia’s summary of the planned blog: I visited this person, this person and this person and now I’m visiting my son for his graduation. Plus key life lesson of the week. We’ll see if her prediction is correct!)

I feel like I’ve been in limbo for a month.  Since Rec Lab, I’ve been going here and there and the last week and a half has been spent in Indiana.  I left Uncle Cam and Aunt Karen’s in Minneapolis, after a fun night of storytelling, so I could arrive in Indiana on Primary Day in time to celebrate Bernie’s big win!  Almost all the counties went for Bernie.  The weird thing I’m finding here in Indiana is that two things are true:

• If the ticket is Trump/Clinton, Republicans and Democrats alike tell me they will vote Trump.
• If the ticket is Trump/Sanders, Democrats will vote Bernie and Republicans will either vote Bernie or think hard about their decision.

Yet, the Establishment (as “they” are known) continue to support the coronation plan for Hillary.  I think it might backfire on them but we’ll see…

Fun Fact: As I was driving through Milwaukee, I stopped to gas up Smartie (my little car) and caught the attention of the guy on the opposite pump, who just happened to be… David Bowen, local Super Delegate for Bernie!!!  He liked my Bernie shirt. 🙂 I was too slow to think of getting a selfie… but here he is:

Stopped for dinner with Lisa at my favorite NWI restaurant… Five Star Thai.  It’s great food and you should get the pot stickers and house special fried rice if you visit.   http://www.yelp.com/biz/five-star-thai-cuisine-crown-point

Virginia housed me for the first couple nights and it was good to catch up and relax with her and the grandkids, Mariah and Anthony.  We got a chance to play with polymer clay and Mariah is a natural with it. We made some magnets and pens that were super cute.

While there is never enough time, I was happy to catch up and hope it’s not too long until my next visit.  One last photo before I go… in our matching jackets that Jake got us back in 2006 and by VV’s Bernie sign.

I headed south to see The Boy!!  Gave hugs to Celia, Booker & Austin as well and we headed to Taco Rico – best place in Lafayette – for dinner.  Lots of stories to be told… but don’t ask about the Corona poncho story in front of Celia (or Booker for that matter).  Off to Fran and Ed’s for the night next as I had to get Smartie to Indy for service.

The weekend involved playing with clay with Fran – more cute pens, tins, and magnets (see her work below) – and then to Steph and Steve’s for the big move!! Got to see my buddy Rookie and helped watch him while we packed the little house to move to the HUGE house.  I forgot how much energy a baby can require, especially when he’s got molars coming in on all four sides of his mouth… but we survived and got everything moved too.  Little Rookie is amazingly adorable and he is smiley and laughy most of the time.  And I still love him even though I have now had my first cold in almost 2 years.

I had time to get together with my Indy Crafting Ladies and we tried this amazing restaurant called El Sabor Catracho – Fran (not pictured below but present) says this means something like Taste of Honduras.  We decided to get a bunch of different plates and then have everyone try everything!  Super fun.  I recommend the Papusas and the Pastelitos de Carne most especially, but everything was fantastic.  In case you decide to go, either be ready to point to items on the menu or bring along a Spanish speaker as the staff speaks no English.

It was good to touch base with Momma Chris.  She showed me all her latest crafting and we toured her amazing craft room and dining room with all the updates.  She is my hero.  I’m getting closer to being a super crafter like her but it will be a while before I have my organized craft space like she does.  And I have a long way to being as prolific as Chris!

I also stopped at SDI and took time to say hello to old co-workers.  It was so nice to see their smiling faces and catch up with life.  I didn’t have enough time for my buddies at Bar Finishing as I was running late to meet Janette for lunch in Broad Ripple.  This stop involved a visit to Graeter’s Ice Cream which was amazing… Chocolate Coconut Almond Chocolate Chip.  Yum!!

Fran and Ed welcomed me back after the big move for one final night and Dan, Mom & Tom arrived safely Friday evening.  So GOOD to see the hubby!  We were able to visit our favorite restaurant in Noblesville ~ El Palenque… and see our old friends, Alex & Sal

before heading up to see Les, Carol & Leif.  Leif just turned seven so we had presents to deliver!!  (This photo is at The Silver Dipper with the Mini-Monster sundae.)  He loved the books and impressed me with his reading.  After a long week and fighting migraines a bit, I finally got to bed before midnight for a change.  Then we were up for a cold & windy tee ball game for Leif.  Everyone won!!  I forgot how awesome tee ball is with everyone getting a chance to bat, no outs or foul balls, and cheering all around.  So nice to see kids having fun playing without a lot of parents shouting for their child to “kill” the opponents.  It was fun watching the coaches teaching the kids about throwing to first, touching home plate, and how to hold the bat.  Everyone eventually hit the ball as pitched from the coach so we didn’t have to resort to the tee.  And our fans were the best, cheering for both our kids and the others as they made contact with the ball.

Headed up to see Jacqueline and hear all about her week. It’s so good to catch up with old friends!  We dropped by The Boy’s apartment and chatted with him, Celia, and Dan.  Watched a bunch of Overwatch videos, Big Hero 6, and talked about the future.  It will be fun to see how their lives unfold from here.  The big graduation was a success and as Big Tom and I were heading over to Knoy for the Cake and Coffee, we headed through the Mechanical Engineering Building to find bathrooms and who was walking right toward us?

TOM!!  So exciting to see my grad.  We all headed over and it was a joy to hear the positive feedback on Tom from the staff in CGT.  I have high hopes for his future.  We had a lovely time with Celia & Tom’s parents & grandparents that made it to the event.  It was good getting to know everyone a bit better and taking lots of photos of the kids.  A highlight of the day was when Tom honored Papaw Ed with his stole (the gold fabric over wrap on his shoulders above) which is meant to be given to the person who gave tremendous support to the grad.  It was really touching – we were all crying.

And we wrapped up the tour with a visit to Uncle Dick’s for the evening, along with a stop at Jim & Dawn’s for dinner.  Jim has been really progressing with the “white house” converting it from a dilapidated condition to livable space.  Adding a huge amount of windows and removing walls makes it a beautiful open plan which is quite modern.  And it was great to just see everyone and catch up on all the news.

Our final stop was planned in Minnesota on the way home but we didn’t leave early enough to make it for Minerva’s birthday party in Osakis. 😦  I’ll have to give her my present on Thursday when we have ESL training.  I have sure missed meeting with her these weeks I’ve been gone.   I hope to impress her with my story of how I was able to order at El Sabor Catracho. 🙂

It was sure a blast seeing old friends, making new, and helping friends.  I love that I have so many people who will take me in for a night or a week so I can travel in comfort.  We’re definitely glad to be home again with the kitties.  We’ll have another trip down in June for the 100th annual Black Family Reunion.  For now, I’m getting some sleep!!!

Well… Celia was right.  What’s the Life Lesson?  Take time to enjoy your friends and family every chance you get.  Congratulations, Tom & Celia!!

Book Group at Rec Lab 2016

Tags

books

I wasn’t sure how Book Group would unfold having not done it last year as a First Time Labber but having accountability to lead it this year.  The leading of the group was more of a team effort with several members stepping up to guide the discussion or direct the sharing to assure we all had time and we covered as much ground as possible. Some of these ladies were previous Book Group leaders so it was nice to have their input and we had a super time. I just hope I captured all the information as directed! 🙂

We discussed the various Book Clubs to which we belong and how they pick books, with some selecting a year’s worth of reading at a single meeting and some having one member each month make recommendations, which are then reduced down by the group to a top two for voting in the next book.  Some groups meet year-round and some meet with the exception of the summer months.  Some groups select books along a theme.  One member’s club was named, after reading a book based MN Women Writers that led them to take a trip to the Boundary Waters… they are The Book, Paddle, Travel & Adventure Club!  Some clubs have been around for decades while others were newer, like my Non-Fiction Book Club in Alexandria that started in the last six months. Most clubs involve some kind of refreshment from doughnuts and coffee at the library to dinner or wine followed by dessert and coffee at the end, often at a member’s home.

Here are some links for book clubs which were requested by the Group:

• http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides
• http://www.litlovers.com/run-a-book-club/questions-for-fiction
• http://www.ilovelibraries.org/booklovers/bookclub/facilitate-discussion
• http://www.readinggroupguides.com/
• http://www.iowacenterforthebook.org/discussion-groups
• http://www.nationalreadinggroupmonth.com/ggr_selections.html

One participant shared about self-publishing and the books she’s written, one about her appreciation of Abe Books, one about her luck to have landed a job at a book store where she gets to read advance copies of books sent by publishers.  Some of us like Non-Fiction but we agreed pretty universally that Fiction is Fantastic!

I brought quite a list of titles for consideration at the 2016 Rec Lab Book Group, hoping to expose people to both Fiction and Non-Fiction selections I have enjoyed.  And I was glad to receive lots of new ideas to add to my Want-to-Read List from those who joined in the discussions.  Following are the titles we discussed and/or recommended.  Maybe you’ll add a few to your reading stack!

Fiction

Me Before You  and  After You / Jojo Moyes  Two stories of a woman who finds herself as a caretaker for a quadriplegic, who wishes to end his life, and how she manages having fallen in love with him.

Gemini / Carol Cassella  Story of a Jane Doe found nearly dead and the people around her trying to determine her identity.

Leaving Time / Jodi Picoult  Weaving in fascinating details regarding the lives of elephants, this is a tale of a love, motherhood and the complications that accompany both.

Ordinary Grace, Windigo Island and The Devil’s Bed/ William Kent Krueger  Ordinary Grace, his best selling novel, is a wonderful story of boyhood life in the summer of 1963, complicated by several tragic deaths in a small town.  Windigo Island is the latest in the Cork O’Connor mystery series.  The Devil’s Bed, his first novel, is a bloody story set in the White House.

Big Little Lies  and The Husband’s Secret / Liane Moriarty   Always with an underlying lesson, Liane writes quickly read stories of real-life with a focus on understanding how truth changes, depending on your perspective.

The Rosie Project and The Rosie Effect / Graeme Simsion     The stories of how a socially inept professor creates a project to find a wife and (spoiler alert… he finds one), when she turns up pregnant, how he figures out dealing with this new turn of events.  Quite hilarious.

The Flood Girls / Richard Fifield  First novel hits it out of the park with a tale of a women’s softball team made up of rich characters in a small town.  Set in small town Montana, it focuses on the life of their record-keeping young man, Jake, and his new neighbor, Rachel, who has returned to town after leaving it almost a decade earlier in the chaos of her drunken ruin.

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend / Katarina Bivald  First novel success in the story of a young woman who travels from Sweden to spend some time with her book pen pal only to find her funeral happening the day of her arrival.

George / Alex Gino (Juvenile) Story of a boy who believes he is a girl is a wonderful insight and a well-told way that the adults around her deal with this situation.

A Man Called Ove and Britt-Marie Was Here /Fredrik Backman  Wonderful stories of two quirky individuals and their involvement in community that brings transformation.

Mrs. Sinclair’s Suitcase / Louise Walters  A thirty-four-year-old bibliophile working at a resale bookshop in England finds a letter inside her centenarian grandmother’s battered old suitcase. The name on the suitcase is not her grandmother’s… or is it? Her grandmother Dorothy’s story of life during WWII is told along with Roberta’s for an enjoyable though often dark tale of how life can be, especially within the desperation of war.

The Nightingale / Kristin Hannah A tale of two sisters: the bold Isabelle enjoying life in Paris with their father and older Viann living peacefully in the country with husband Antoine. Their bond is tested when war comes and their father sends Isabelle to help Viann as Antoine marches off to battle.

The Passenger / Lisa Lutz  She’s left her dead husband — and within forty-eight hours Tanya Dubois is a fugitive. It’s almost impossible to live off the grid today, but Tanya-once-Amelia-now-Debra and Blue, a bartender, have the courage, the ingenuity, and the desperation, to try. Hopscotching from city to city, Debra especially is chased by a very dark secret … can she outrun her past?

Walk the Earth a Stranger / Rae Carson  (YA) The first in a trilogy, set during the Gold Rush, of a young girl with the ability to sense gold.

Salt to the Sea / Ruta Sepetys (YA) Told in short glimpse and interwoven chapters written by four young people, this historical fiction tale takes you along the path of German evacuation as the Russians approach to the Wilhelm Gustloff, one of the largest sea losses of all time but subsequently lost to mainstream history.

All the Light We Cannot See / Anthony Doerr Story of WWII told from the perspective of two young people centered around Brittany’s Saint-Malo.  Marie-Laure, blind since six, and Werner, an orphaned boy turned radio whiz kid intertwine to create an intricate story with a satisfying ending decades later.

The Book of Night Women / Marlon James A sweeping, stylish historical novel of Jamaican slavery that can be compared only to Toni Morrison’s “Beloved.”

The Invention of Wings / Sue Monk Kidd The story regales 35 years of the life of Hetty Handful Grimke, a Charleston slave, and Sarah, the daughter of the wealthy Grimke family who inherits her at the age of eleven.

Cutting for Stone /  Abraham  Verghese An enthralling family saga of Africa and America, fathers and sons, doctors and patients, exile and home.

Honolulu / Alan Brennert An irresistible story of a young immigrant bride in a ramshackle town that becomes a great modern city.

The Heretic’s Daughter / Kathleen Kent  Based on her own family’s history, Kent tells the story of Martha Carrier, who was one of the first women to be hanged as a witch in Salem, Massachusetts. In this novel, Kent paints a haunting portrait of one family’s deep and abiding love in the face of fear and persecution.

The Simpering, North Dakota Literary Society / GF Skipworth  Post WWI humorous historical fiction of five women building an empire.

The Gift of Rain / Twan Tan Eng  Depiction of a young man’s perilous journey through the betrayals of war and into manhood.

The Art of Racing in the Rain / Garth Stein Enzo, the unforgettable canine narrator, tells a bittersweet and transformative story of family, love, loyalty, and hope.

Stillwater / Nicole Lea Helget  Fraternal twins, separated at birth, are raised in the same small town, where they struggle for freedom from their families, their destinies, and, sometimes, each other… all with the underground railroad as a haunting presence in their lives.

Cold Mountain / Charles Frazier  Sorely wounded and fatally disillusioned in the fighting at Petersburg, a Confederate soldier named Inman decides to walk back to his home in the Blue Ridge mountains to Ada, the woman he loves. His trek across the disintegrating South brings him into intimate and sometimes lethal converse with slaves and marauders, bounty hunters and witches, both helpful and malign. At the same time, the intrepid Ada is trying to revive her father’s derelict farm and learning to survive in a world where the old certainties have been swept away.

Her Royal Spyness / Rhys Bowen  Victoria, a penniless member of the extended royal family, must clear her name when an arrogant Frenchman, who wants her family’s estate for himself, winds up dead.

The Signature of All Things / Elizabeth Gilbert  Follows the Whittaker family through the 18th and 19th centuries and focuses on Alma, a daughter who inherits her father’s money and his mind.  Though a botanist focused on the science of evolution, she falls in love with a man who takes her into the realm of the spiritual, divine, and magical.

Non-Fiction

Braiding Sweetgrass / Robin Wall Kimmerer  Poetic stories told from the perspective of a Botanist PhD.  You will gain a new insight to nature and the ways of Native people in the northeastern US.  This is not a quick read as you will want to savor each story as it is read.

Between the World and Me / Te-Nehisi Coates  An eloquent letter from a father to his teenage son, this book will give you a glimpse into the world of a black man who lives in the United States but has also traveled abroad, bringing a new understanding to the choices and feelings associated with life as a person of color.

Bettyville / George Hodgeman  Autobiography of George’s move from Manhattan to his hometown of Paris, Missouri to care for his aging mother.

Population 485: Meeting your Neighbors One Siren at a Time and Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs, and Parenting / Michael Perry  Michael is one of my favorite authors and these two are wonderful companions telling the stories of his return to his hometown, New Auburn, Wisconsin, and his move into family life.  He will make you cry with his lyrical prose and then have you laughing out loud with his clever wit.

Pastrix / Nadia Bolz-Weber Nadia tells her story of how she became an ordained minister.  Her humble intimacy embraces you in this irreverent, sometimes offensive and often comical portrayal.

The Four Agreements / Don Miguel Ruiz  A must read if you want to live a peaceful and successful life.  Depicts the four ideas of being impeccable with your word, doing your best, taking nothing personally and never making assumptions.

Being Mortal and The Checklist Manifesto /Atul Gawande  This surgeon’s perspective on health care and how we can do it better will enlighten you with interesting examples and wonderful stories.  Being Mortal is recommended by everyone I know who has read it… and that’s dozens of folks!

This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. Climate Change / Naomi Klein  Powerful indictment of the way our current system of living in the US is in direct opposition to saving our planet.  Includes many stories of those bucking the system to find solutions that may allow for long-term viability.

Biblical Literalism: A Gentile Heresy /John Shelby Spong  This book explains why the bible was never intended to be taken literally.  Wonderful look at the Jewish traditions and celebrations that created The Gospels.

Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America / Linda Tirado  Quick read for anyone not living below the poverty line to comprehend why the poor don’t have nice lawns, clean kids and working vehicles.

Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology / Leah Remini  Story of one woman’s escape from Scientology.

The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir / Kao Kalia Yang  A young Hmong woman tells the true story of her grandmother’s struggles to bring her family out of war-torn Laos to a new homeland in America.

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed / Jared Diamond  A fascinating story that seeks to explain the fates of past societies that collapsed for ecological reasons, combining the most important policy debate of this generation with the romance and mystery of lost worlds.

Albion’s Seed: Four British Folkways in America / David Hackett Fischer   The first volume in a projected cultural history of the United States, from the earliest English settlements to our own time. It is a history of American folkways as they have changed through time, and it argues a thesis about the importance for the United States of having been British in its cultural origins.

Woman of the Boundary Waters: Canoeing, Guiding, Mushing, and Surviving / Justine Kerfoot Amazing story of how a young woman is confronted with learning survival in the frigid north woods.

The End of Your Life Book Club / Will Schwalbe  A young man accompanies his mother, together forming a “book club” as they face her life coming to a close.

Daily Strength for Daily Needs / Mary Tileston  A collection of brief inspirational passages.

The Grace in Aging: Awaken as You Grow Older / Kathleen Dowling Singh   Singh explains how the energy expended denying our inevitable mortality can be better applied to live joyously in the present moment.

Becoming Wise: An Inquiry Into the Mystery and Art of Living / Krista Tippett   Krista distills the insights she has gleaned from luminous characters about the meaning of life in its many dimensions into a coherent narrative journey, over time and from mind to mind, that explores what it means to be human.

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen / Christopher McDougall   A tale of runners from a reclusive Indian tribe living deep in the Copper Canyon of northern Mexico.

A House in the Sky / Amanda Lindhout  Stories of a journalist who spent many adventures prior to being captured in Somalia and held hostage for 460 days.

Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion / Gregory Boyle  A collection presents parables about kinship and the sacredness of life drawn from Boyle’s years working with gangs.

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln / Doris Kearns Goodwin  Now a movie so, you know.

The Book of Forgiving / Desmond & Mpho Tutu  Desmond and his daughter, Mpho, an Anglican priest, lay out the simple but profound truths about the significance of forgiveness, how it works, why everyone needs to know how to grant it and receive it, and why granting forgiveness is the greatest gift we can give to ourselves when we have been wronged.  They explain the four-step process of forgiveness Telling the Story, Naming the Hurt, Granting Forgiveness, and Renewing or Releasing the Relationship as well as offer meditations, exercises, and prayers to guide the reader along the way.

Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics / Daniel James Brown  Tells the story of the University of Washington’s 1936 eight-oar crew and their epic quest for an Olympic gold medal, a team that transformed the sport and grabbed the attention of millions of Americans.

Gift from the Sea / Anne Morrow Lindbergh  Anne shares her meditations on youth and age; love and marriage; peace, solitude and contentment as she set them down during a brief vacation by the sea.

So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed / Jon Ronson  A powerful, funny, unique, and very humane dispatch from the frontline, in the escalating war on human nature and its flaws.

Spiritwalker: Messages from the Future / Hank Wesselman  The astonishing true story of an anthropologist’s quest into a spiritual world of magic, mysticism, and meaning.  A fascinating and suspenseful adventure, an exciting and important archeological discovery, and the story of how a hard-headed scientific-realist stumbled on an important piece of the puzzle of human evolution.

Writers to Enjoy ~ We liked several of their books!

• Thomas Berry
• Marcus J. Borg
• Annie Dillard
• Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Lisa Genova
• Philip Gulley (Especially the Harmony Series)

Don’t know what happened to the rest of the alphabet but maybe this bodes well for me one day being a recommended writer as we made it to the G’s!

Thanks to all of my Book Group attendees: Gail, June, Doris, Rhoda, Carol, Gretchen, Nick, Luwanna, Annette, Jeane, and anyone else I forgot… I’m thinking there were a couple more but not sure if I just saw them somewhere else during Rec Lab and we talked books or if they were at the workshop… I did a terrible job of writing down names for the second session.  😦

Note: Lots of the summaries were attained at Ingram’s website.

Rec Lab 2016 Part 2

Tags

cooperation, Volunteering

What a week!!  Rec Lab 2016 was as much fun as last year – maybe more.  Where to even begin covering all the creativity, laughs, hugs, projects… well, at the beginning, I guess.

Thursday afternoon Dan & I arrived just in time for me to participate in the Instructors’ Craft Walk. Since many of us are presenting our workshop info for the Rec Lab participants on the Friday morning Craft Walk, this is a chance for us to walk through all the projects together and explain our workshops to each other.  It was neat to see the variety of activities from Making Tamales & Canning Basics, to Polymer Clay & Stained Glass, to Leatherworking & Woodworking, to Coffee & Conversation and Book Group, to Tai Chi Chih & Yoga, to Magic & Jugging, to Creative Writing & Instrument Making, to Blue Jean Weaving & Rec Doodle, to Dancing, Singing, and Nature Walks.  There are always too many options and not enough time to do it all, though some try.  I learned this year to commit to a few tasks and incorporate a few smaller things and I found myself quite happy with the output for 2016.  Dan was only there for the weekend but he made a belt and a stained glass piece while also taking lots of time for walking the grounds and getting some great photos.  Here are a few of my favorites.

When I asked him what he liked best about Rec Lab, he said, “the people”, and he took lots of time to chat with a wide range of the participants.  I would have to agree that, as much as I love the techniques and projects, the people are what make Rec Lab truly wonderful and memorable.

While I didn’t make as many projects as last year, I made a few great things: a belt, some Rec Doodles, many polymer clay pieces, tamales, and a few new friends.

I tried Tai Chi Chih again this year and quickly remembered why I didn’t pursue it last year… it’s really tough on my knees.  I perhaps needed to not push so hard but I decided it was too early in the AM to make it past one time, when I found myself up to midnight-2AM every night.  I would have gotten up for yoga but it wasn’t available in the AM this year instead being a workshop session.  Hopefully that will change next year and I can make more sessions.

My main focus this year was Polymer Clay and I jumped in the first workshop session with gusto.  Instructor Laura Burlis is one of my favorite people at Rec Lab; she is amazingly talented.  This year I believe I finally got into the P/C groove as I made some great canes (rolls of clay that you cut into slices) and finished several fun projects with which I was quite happy.

By the second workshop of Rec Lab, I was again “Pulling a First Year” as I bounced between the Rec Doodle and Blue Jean Weaving workshops, trying to learn both techniques in one session.  It worked! Thank goodness they were next door to each other!  I was able to complete a few Doodles and convince myself that I actually WAS capable of the practice – though I do need LOTS more practice.  And while I didn’t make a rug, I was able to comprehend the teachings that Dianne Rowse shared.  As a 2^nd Year, she’s jumped right into the Rec Lab philosophy of sharing a technique and the rugs everyone made were terrific!

Each year at Rec Lab we have Fireside at the end of the night.  The first one was Rhoda sharing about the history of Rec Lab and it was accompanied by a wonderful video of Mary Lou Woodward playing her harp.

We lost Mary Lou this past year but her spirit lives on at Rec Lab and I was able to share with her daughter Marti what a wonderful impact she had on me during the 2015 Rec Lab.  Marti provided lots of beautiful music again this year as the musical Labbers are known to do.  It was nice to craft in the workshop while hearing lovely songs from up the stairs in Cross Fire.

The second Fireside was me!  I was accompanied by Nick & Dianne Rowse and Jerry Brown who played the Josephine Waltz to open and closed with Ashokan Farewell,both beautifully played.  My talk was on Atul Gawande’s book Being Mortal and its important message of improving the way we deal with agingand the end of life.  I followed up with a visualization I do with the Dying the Talk! class I facilitate for Community Ed where we imagine the last event we experienced around death.  It’s a quiet process of looking again at the experience we had and thinking about the good and not so good of it.  Many people thanked me as they found it to be a profound experience while a few expressed that they were unable to stay.  Death is difficult so I understand not being ready to walk through such a practice, depending on where you are with life & death.  But it was touching to know that one of the first people to come up to me had just lost a family member just weeks before and she processed through it so beautifully.  Some told me it brought them peace or a new perspective and I was glad that we had done it early in the week to give people time to process and share the meditation in a safe place surrounded by friends.  I was honored to listen as people shared their stories with me throughout the week.  And I was grateful that several asked me to include the meditation in the Notebook.

The 2016 Notebook (Paula DeReamer)

What’s the Notebook?  Every year, Rec Lab is documented with all the instructors providing handouts/info for reference once Lab is over.  It is also full of photos and documentation of some of the special events.  One downside is that, because it is provided during the Closing Show, nothing from that show is included.  And it’s the highlight of the week… but we’ll get to it in a moment.

The other Firesides were also terrific.  Lutz Jackel shared about his musical instruments, art and home in Germany noting how Rec Lab has transformed his life.  Jane & Hsien Hsin Chang shared about dealing with Dementia.  June Anderson talked about her books on ghosts and the Creative Writing participants shared some excellent work.  Lots of focus on the theme of Transformation.

A major focus of the week is our Discussion which was led this year by Dasha Kelly, an author and speaker from Milwaukee, WI.  Her husband, Kima Hamilton, was an integral part of the presentations and I was overwhelmed by the work they both did in bringing us interactive creativity by reading her work (Almost Crimson) and giving Rec Labbers a chance to react to it, teaching us about how we use words, walking us through looking at personal needs for change, helping us to evaluate racism, and knowledge to allow logic to evaluate our writing only after creativity has played its role.  Her wonderful lessons, full of tools and ideas, gave us all much to contemplate during the week.  I had a pivotal moment that gave me pause to consider a lifetime of experience and how I will move forward following this new comprehension.  Truly a beautiful transformative experience for me.

Mardi Gras night was our celebration evening and it was full of hilarious games.  Krista Hegland and Karen Jacobson really made the event rock.  Our team struggled with a couple of the events but we had a fantastic time playing!  Almost as much fun as the games was the diversity of creative costumes.

I had good attendance for my Saturday Book Group and even more people came for the Tuesday meeting.  We learned about a flurry of wonderful books.  [For those interested in books, you will find a listing of the books we discussed in next week’s blog.]  And I had a few show up for the workshop on How You Want to be Remembered.  While this was not truly a review of Obits/Epitaphs/Funeral Plans/Legacy Letters as planned, I believe if we did this as a 2-part workshop, it could be.  As it was, it became very much a typical Dying to Talk! session.  I enjoyed learning from everyone sharing their experiences and I hope others found it to be worth their time.

Another aspect of Rec Lab is the Auction.  Lots of participants bring items to auction.  Sometimes these are purchased items, sometimes things we’re ready to let go to another, some bring arts & crafts they’ve created and the most coveted things are often the homemade candies. We ended up spending a bit more than expected but we went home with lots of great items, including some of the homemade caramels!

There is Folk Dancing every evening at Rec Lab and, while I’m not a big participator in this, I did attend the Chair Dancing evening.  And, since we had a new instructor for dance this year, we chose this night of dancing as the one to use for the Closing Program.  More on that in a moment…

I spent most of my free time in Polymer Clay, but I found a free workshop period to spend with Danny making Tamales as BJ Hall shared her cooking skills with the group.  As an experienced restaurant owner, she not only gave us detailed instructions but she also spiced the session with her sarcastic wit. Making tamales is a lot of work but a simple process.  We made about 10 dozen in a little over an hour (the meat was already cooked).  I think it’s something we can do at home but it would be a major project… and certainly not as much fun without a gang of people.

Partway through the week, and after Dan had left, I had a minor medical issue with this growth I’ve been dealing with on my right shoulder.  I had showered being careful to not
get the bandage wet which was a mistake as it stuck to the wound causing it to break open when I tried to re-bandage it.  I tracked down one of the medically trained Rec Labbers and she was able to patch me up.  Unfortunately, the medical supplies were limited but an eye patch and some colorful duct tape gave my treatment the Rec Lab touch it needed.  I joked that my Psyche Nurse gave me a Psychedelic Bandage.  [Update – I’m having the alien removed today, before I head for Indiana.]

Closing Night is always a celebration of the week with a spoofing of some of the new instructors.  This year’s show was MC’d by Tina Rohde and Colleen Shaskin with lots of interweaving of Laura Burlis and it was fantastically hilarious!  The story was of a Mardi Gras float being built and it was made on a frame of Metal Clay painted with Rosemaling (both new classes this year). The entertainment for the float included the outdoor game of Wüdd (spoofing Krista’s Outdoor Games), presented by Sherry Bruckner as “quick, fun & easy” and played by the Florells (Paul and Judy playing as John and Sarah).  Sarah shared with me afterward that she’d been looking for her Capri pants and couldn’t find them.  When Judy jumped up to play Wüdd, Sarah was thinking, “Hey, that’s my headband.  Wait, that’s my shirt.  Those are my Capris!!”  Judy was totally decked out as Sarah and she and Paul impersonated the kids with flair ~ it was a total laugh riot.  Danny said he was out walking the day they played the game and it took forever.  They asked him to play but he declined, seeing the endlessness of the game.  The spoof wound through the show with the Florells coming up three times to show the game as taking from afternoon, through dinner and into total darkness. Krista was laughing out loud with the roast of her event.

Jenifer Burlis-Freilich and I demonstrated the Chair Dancing (taught by Caron Grantz Keljik) where we spoofed her single-armed instruction by presenting our instructor, Laura Burlis, with both hands tied up at opposite shoulders.  We did an outrageous stretch of the practice by having me lie on the floor under Jenny’s chair for a portion of the dance… a great place for “seniors to take a nap as needed during class”. 🙂 And we left the stage dancing with our Chair Dancing partners… our actual chairs.  So much fun!

The only group to get not one but TWO standing ovations was a duo with 180 years of experience.  Yes, 180.  One is 89 and the other 91 and combined, they made quite the pair, and definitely the best of the pre-parade entertainment!  Ladies and gentlemen… Rod Gist & Galen Cain.

Closing night always ends with an announcement of the new Boss (President of the Board) who will lead the development for the next Rec Lab and this year it will be June Fettig.  Newly elected Board members this year are Kathy Tapper (1-year term for Tea Time) and, for the 3-year terms: Sarah Florell, Colleen Shaskin, Laura Burlis and ME!  Should be a great team and I’m excited about what we’ll be doing.

Only 51 weeks to go until next year!  As a member of the Board, I’m sure those weeks will go faster than I will believe.

See y’all next year!