Trees

"The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago.

The second best time, is today."

-- Chinese Proverb

Jen Lee on Being the Oldest Child

I give much thanks to author Dr. Brene Brown (she wrote I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST ME (but it isn't) - you may recall that earlier this year, I did a 3-month "read-along" with Brene and I don't know, maybe 200 other individuals ... it was quite an adventure and I sure hope Brene does another web-based READ ALONG in the future, with any and all of her new works.

So today, I re-visited Brene's website ( www.ordinarycourage.com ) to get a bit caught up with what's happening in her world, and I was treated to a very special interview that Brene did with New Yorker JEN LEE ... who is a most gifted storyteller.

You might also recall that at some point or another, I have blogged about Jen Lee's CD; it's called SOLSTICE: Stories of Dark into Light. It's fabulous. So here I am, a fan already of the amazing Jen, and this interview and the VIDEO CLIP that Brene offered up, was a real treat.

See for yourself, but as Brene noted to us on her site ...
Before you start - they cut off the very first line and last line. The first line is, "As an oldest child..." The last line is, "the whole world seems to be made of china, and the people in it of some frail, fragile glass."

http://vimeo.com/5176499

So, what did you think?! I might not be an oldest child, but I am married to an oldest son (with just one older sibling, his sister; and 7 younger sibs that followed) ... so I could totally see the truth in what Jen tells us in this story. It pulled at my heartstrings.

Our stories are POWERFUL, friends, just powerful. What I really liked in the interview that Brene held with Jen was when Jen said that her writing keeps her "true" ... To read the interview, click here to go right to it: http://www.ordinarycourage.com/

-- Davielle

"Adventuring In Home Living"

I am so excited, I can hardly contain my self ... last week, while spending 1/2 a day with my amazing friend Nancy, I came across a book that has me all a-twitter !!! {no, not THAT Twitter, not the social networking Twitter ... the kind of a-twitter that has one's heart pounding and one's knees quaking - THAT kind of being all a-twitter}.

So ... what is this $1 gem that I couldn't go home without?!

ADVENTURING IN HOME LIVING, Book 1 {oh my, does this mean there are MORE such volumes out there for me to find?! be still my heart !!!} -- a textbook by one Hazel M. Hatcher and one Mildred E. Andrews; with charming illustrations by Alice Freeman. You can't believe how incredible this handy dandy textbook was for the students of it's day.

It's day, by the way, was 1954. Yes, it was published by D.C Heath and Company of Boston.

So the premise was this, as their PREFACE so distinctly states it:

"Adventuring in Home Living, Book 1, a basal beginning text for young adolescents in homemaking education, has been developed in terms of three goals which the authors have attempted to achieve -- to write a book that students will enjoy, to exemplify teaching procedures which are educationally sound, and to write at the reading level of young teen agers."

I highly recommend you find a copy of this gem for your very self.

For now, though, I'll include some TEASER PAGES on the matter of ... Pressing. Or, as some of us call it today, Ironing. {Really, if one uses an IRON to get the wrinkles out, then where does "pressing" come in to play?} Anyway ...

I love this book, I love this book !!!

-- Davielle

PLEASE VOTE: Show Us Your America Contest from Aaron Bros.

I have entered the SHOW US YOUR AMERICA contest sponsored by Aaron Brothers, and I sure would appreciate your taking a moment to click on this link, to Image # 1698, titled "And The Runner is OUT at Second" -- which I took of my grandson, Trevor, earlier this year.



(if the photo when you click on the link MATCHES the photo shown herein, then you'll know you're at the right place !!!)


http://showusyouramerica.com/uploads/1698



The more ratings the photo receives, the better my chances of ending up in the TOP TEN. The more STARS you give the photo (if, that is, you find it deserving!), the better off we'll end up, too.

Thank you for your time and your interest ... I love photography, I love baseball, I love America, and most of all ... I love my family !!!



-- Davielle

LET PEOPLE LIVE IN YOUR HEART

Friends,

If you view NOTHING ELSE via YouTube, etc. the rest of this year ... DO visit Patti Digh's blog by clicking on the link I've included, just below, and VIEW ALL FIVE of the most amazing videos I think I've ever seen.

http://www.37days.com/2009/08/let-people-live-in-your-heart.html

They tell the story of a wonderful teacher in Japan, a man who has 4th grade children SHARING THEIR FEELINGS, CARING FOR EACH OTHER, PRACTICING and EXPERIENCING EMPATHY and being LOVING, WARM, OPEN, and HONEST.

This man says, "Let People Live In Your Heart"; he says "When People Really Listen, They Live In Your Heart Forever". Wise words.

And that is just what I gleaned from the first video. There are five.

I believe that you, like me, will be enamored of this concept, dearly wishing it could be so, right here, in wherever your hometown is, wherever your children and your children's children and your neighbor's children ... go to school.

Wouldn't this be a beautiful world if that were so?

-- Davielle