It's Hard to be Salt and Light

 I'm not supposed to care -- but I do.  

I grew up less than 20 miles north of the border between Quebec, here in Canada, and northern NY State -- and not all that far from Vermont.  We'd go to Malone for movies that hadn't come to our home town or even to Montreal.  We'd go for shopping.  We'd go to Chateauguay, NY (not to be confused with Chateauguay, Quebec!) for dining.  I think some of my cousins there still do.

My parents -- my mother and my step-father, who married in July 1957 -- procured a lease on a piece of land on a bay in the St. Lawrence River.  They -- with the help of some hired experts and a LOT of friends -- built a cottage there (no basement -- mounted up on cement block underpinnings) -- and we spent summers there as a family.  

Some years we also lived there from Victoria Day Weekend (a week before Memorial Day for y'all in the US) through Thanksgiving (CANADIAN Thanksgiving, y'all -- the 2nd weekend in October).  Our parents figured out a way to get us in to town to go to school until we were back 'home' again and able to get there on foot.

Once we learned to swim, there was an ongoing competition to see who was brave enough to jump into the bay on May Long (or earlier!) and again at Thanksgiving.  Just so  you know.

The farmer who owned the land had many tenants -- including Americans.  There were some from not far away (Chateauguay, NY, etc.) and others from as far away as Michigan.  One cabin/cottage was named "The Detroiter".  I remember meeting the younger generation there -- visiting their grandparents who owned the place. Good kids.

There were French Canadian families who moved there too.  One of them had several sons and Jean, the youngestof 3 boys (as I recall), joined us Anglos and Americans for our regular afternoons of softball on the large green space behind some of our cottages.  We taught him English, and given his good looks, several local gals were rather sweet on him.

As we got older, we stayed out later.  Our parents rigged up lights between our cottage and the next-door neighbour's cottage, so that we could play ping-pong in between the cottages after dark.

Those same neighbours had a shed that they fixed up so we could put a record player (an electronic device on which one could play recorded music at 33 rpm -- revolutions per minute -- or 45 rpm -- get it?!)  The older teens would play DJ (especially my (step)brother, from his wheel chair) and we'd dance on the grass in front of the open door of the shed.

There were corn roasts too -- not every summer, though it felt like that at the time. The men would set up tables and over-head umbrellas (against the sun) and barbecue burgers and weiners.  The women would make all sorts of salads and ensure there was enough buns for the meat, as well as ensuring everyone had enough water/soft drinks (pop or soda for you 'mericans).  And there was watermelon and ice cream to polish it all off.

That was all before...we got older. And 1968 happened, and the War (Viet Nam) and the assassinations (MLK and RFK)...

And we lost our innocence.

My step-father was an Immigration Officer on that border.  His job was to look out for draft dodgers.  I don't think he ever found any, but our arguments were fierce -- he lost 2 fingers on his right hand in WWII and took a bullet through his right arm.  I long ago ceased to be surprised at his outrage -- at his arguing that the Viet Nam war had to be The Right Thing To Do.  But I think, really, he knew it wasn't the same as WWII.

On the other hand...this year, in this time and this place, as Canada's 'mouse' sleeps next to the US 'elephant', trembling lest it roll over on us...

Well...all we can do here is our best.  All we can do is keep those with authoritarian bents, who are being egged on by the infection south of our border -- people like Pierre Poilievre, leader of Canada's Federal Conservative Party; people like Danielle Smith, Premier of Alberta and well-influenced by the Black Hat Movement south in Medicine Hat, infected by the right-wing in Montana; people by the far right premier of Saskatchewan, Scott Moe...

What to do?

• Create beauty every day;
• Love one's neighbour as oneself;
• Give without thought of thanks;
• Feed the hungry;
• Clothe the poor with comforing clothes/blankets/shelter;
• Tell our children (and so many others) we love them;
• Speak truth to power;
• Vote for what is right;
• Highlight corruption;
• Thank God/the Universe/your "higher power" for your life and for your ability to bring light, love and truth to the world.

As Jesus (called the Christ) might have said, "Now, go and do likewise."

Light in the Making

Gentle Readers, 

You may have noticed that effective today, I have changed the heading for my blog.  "Light in the Making" will remain for the foreseeable future.

Darkness has descended over a large portion of North America, as a result of...well...a lot of things -- but mainly, the "what's in it for me?" and "what will this do for me?" approach to life adopted by so many.

I have decided to resist this approach to living my life, and invite all who are willing, to join me.

I have decided that there is not only life in the work of our hands, but also light, so I am going forward with determination that what I create will -- I hope -- support that notion.

My intensions are these:

• To create beauty every day;
• To share that beauty with others here on my blog and in person with those around me;
• To create items not only of beauty but also of warmth and comfort; and
• To share those items with those who may need them the most.

My mantra will be this: "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness will not overcome it" -- a paraphrase of John 1:5.

I hope you will find your own light, and let it shine in the darkness around you, wherever you are.

Choices

I have to keep reminding myself that I'm not 25 -- or 35 -- or 45 -- or even 55 any more!

This week has been full indeed: full of extra work hours to fill in for a sick colleague.  While this gave me extra knitting time (a bit, anyway), it wreaked havoc with my studio time, my computer time (SAQA business and such), my participation in my online class -- Dyeing for Quiltmakers with EB via The Academy of Quilting -- and even my sleep.  Yesterday I was so tired that I sent an e-mail (photo attachment, short note, innocuous) to my boss that was supposed to go to my friend P in Montreal!

LIFE -- ya gotta love it!

I had to re-think my priorities.  I managed to get the laundry done Friday (washed while I was at work; dried when I got home) but dishes and dust bunnies were threatening to take over my kitchen, so...I buckled down and did my dishes (no dishwasher; old pipes, no room) and swept the kitchen (I hate doing this and always leave it till I can't stand it any more).

Then I had to decide what needed to be taken care of first in the sewdio.  My sewing machine was still set up for artwork -- YLI silk thread on top and Superior's Bottom Line in the bobbin -- so I set to and finished my 15 x 15 piece...except to hand-sew the binding and attach the label and sleeve. Below is a detail of the layered, quilted mono-printing, complete with 'snow' (spatter paint).  You'll have to wait till month-end for the full "reveal".  :-)

Quilted mono-print;
organza laid over commercial fabric,
spattered paint

After that I finished up the second mini that I got out of the samples for the above piece:

January Surprise II (C) 2016
Quilted mono-print on organza,
commercial cotton, paint

I've enjoyed these so much that I'm down to the last bits of the background fabric.  Blessedly I still had some selvedge, so was able to look it up -- and found the line is carried by my fave LQS, Caroline's Homespun Seasons, in nearby Stettler.  If she still has this in stock, I'm going to get some more!

It took two episodes of Bonnie's Quilt Cam for all of this, and I needed a break...so I went out before the sunshine disappeared and shovelled the walks and my driveway.  It felt so good to be in the fresh air and moving around that way!  We'd had a fresh dusting of snow on Friday and overnight.  How I wish my camera could catch the sparkle of the sun on that powder!

Back inside -- and next up: the "refugee quilts".  What was going on there?

I'd finished the third one Wednesday and set out batting and backing possibilities for #4 ("Off the Rails").  Navy poly-cotton for the backing (donated)...long enough but not wide enough...so I cut it up and pieced it.  The batting piece (also donated)?  The perfect length but too narrow by less than an inch on either side.  I was darned if I was going to trim the borders of the quilt so...dug out a pre-cut pack of Quilter's Dream and cut the size I needed.  Now spray-basted, it's ready to quilt...as soon as I decide what thread to use.  I have some navy for the back but...for the front?  With those colours, maybe white will do!

By this time it was evening and I was pretty much at the end of my energy.  Time for a light supper...an audio book and some knitting.

Nine hours of sleep followed -- and the spring has returned to my step; I'm ready to go again...with a new set of priorities.

Today is Sunday -- which means church...followed by a visit to my colleague in hospital.  By the time I get home it will be late afternoon...and MOB has been neglected, so there will be 'stitch-along-to-the-audio-book' again.

I'll be working in The Shop at least half of tomorrow...and all of Tuesday...and maybe some of Wednesday...and all of Thursday...so I can see that Dyeing for Quiltmakers will continue to go on without me...

That's Life!

I'm linking this up to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday, where this week she too is talking about Time Management...and her hopes for her schedule in this new year.  Good luck with that, Nina Marie! :-)

'Enough!' and...

a new word for 2012.

Just over a year ago, I'd begun to let go of my former life, to release my hold on the past.  I entered 2011 with a new word, one in which I lacked confidence but which I knew that I had to believe, in order to finish the letting go: enough.  

• I'd had enough;
• I have enough; and most importantly,
• I am enough.

It took me over eight months to believe this -- to turn that last corner on the past fifteen years, to find the door at the end of that seemingly-endless tunnel, to open it, and to step out into the light.  

The turning point came sometime just before my 59th birthday.  As Joyce Meyer would say, I finally got a 'suddenly'.  Suddenly, I knew that I knew that I knew that 'enough' was true -- that I still had a life, and it was up to me to live it.

And so, gentle readers, I give you my word for 2012:  LIFE!

"This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.  Now choose life, so that you and your children may live."

- Deuteronomy 30:19 (NIV) (emphasis mine)