SEMPER FI

Eyes fill with tears - as
the flag-covered casket holds
our Vietnam veteran 
   Haiku by Nancy yTe

Arthur Burr Thatcher
26 Sep 1946 - 25 Aug 2012
Son, brother, nephew, cousin, father, friend,
United States Marine
Rest in peace, dear Arthur....

LUCKY CHARMS

How Lucky can a Lucky Charm be?

Call it wishful thinking or plain old superstition but people have been putting faith in tokens and charms since the beginning of time.  A token represents some wish, fact, desire, event or emotion.  It is a symbol of portent, something that tangibly signifies authority, validity, faith or hope.

People invest power in objects used as charms for good luck, success, safety or health.  Whether foolishness or faith, it is empowered by the person and becomes an important reminder of hope and faith.  Thus, people empower themselves with charms.  Those who think they are lucky, tend to be lucky as they find items and win prizes or games of chance.  Lucky people notice lucky things like a coin on the path, beautiful scenery or a winning business deal.  Then, they cheerfuly and gratefully credit their lucky charm for their good fortune.

A person empowers a token, it becomes powerful then returns its power upon request. The lucky charm charm you carry is a constant reminder of your power and confirmation of faith, luck and gratitude.

Over the years, I have carried many charms and tokens - sometimes more than one at a time.  There is a marble at the bottom of my purse to ensure I haven't 'lost all my marbles' - the result of a lecture attended while studying behavioral science many, many years ago, and a reminder to think rationally.  There's a bird feather in my wallet as a reminder of the freedom I enjoy.  And, I carry a coin awarded for community service which reads, "To thine own self be true" as a reminder to live and share a positive lifestyle.

What tokens have you empowered - a wedding ring, lucky coin, four-leaf clover, photograph, souvenir or religious symbol?  To succeed in living life is the goal.  To use charms as reminders is a good thing.  Success can be yours.  So, reach for your lucky charm and watch those good things happen.
~ Nancy yTe~

JULIA CHILD - 100th BIRTHDAY

August 15, 2012.  May we all take one minute to remember my cousin, Julia Child, The French Chef.  She is 100 years old today.

None of us would have known of Julia, except that she appeared on television.  We loved her instantly - in spite of her middle age, plain looks and oddly high-pitched voice that crackled.  We knew nothing of French cooking and she made cooking appear enjoyable.  So, we bought her book, tho only a few of us ever learned to make even one entree from Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  I didn't realize Julia Child was my cousin until I saw her family tree in Noel Riley Fitch's biography, Apetite for Life, pub. 1999.  Julia and I have a mutual great, great, great... grandfather from about 1600 - the era of Mayflower and Plymouth Colony.

Julia's height genetics (she was 6'2") is especially interesting as one of her (not my) great, great... grandfather's is listed as the red-haired Captain Myles Standish, who stood just 5' (an maybe an inch more) and was sarcastically called "Captain Shrimp" while he was responsible for the militia at Plymouth, Massachusetts.  But, everyone was shrimpy short in those days.  It took 200 years and ten generations before Julia's grandfather grew taller than 6'.  Although height was one of Julia's outstanding characteristics, she was the shortest of her siblings.

Did you see the movie "Julia-Julia" with Meryl Streep?  I found the portrayal of both Julia and Paul, her husband, as a loving, supportive couple to be delightful.  People are still asking if she took any military secrets to the grave with her as both she and Paul worked for the OSS (later CIA) during WWII.  As I heard it, she took an oath never to speak of her OSS work - and she never did.

100 hugs and kisses to you, Julia....  HAPPY BIRTHDAY ! ! !
~ nancy yTe~

OPEN THE WINDOW, GEORGE...

...and let the fresh air in...

After a six-week run of temperatures setting new all-time records, 90 degrees feels quite comfortable. There have been few cars on the road as humans dash between air-conditioned home and stores with no dilly-dallying between.  Farm animals stand like statues under shade trees.  Household pets are as quiet and lethargic as their owners.

Today I am going to allow myself to relax on the patio, under the umbrella, with a cup of coffee and the newspaper.  I may even write a letter or snap a few photos.  It is difficult to believe we are now a week into August and this is the first time since mid-June the patio beckons.  Certainly relaxing on the patio has been a morning ritual in years past - when temperatures didn't climb to levels of discomfort until noontime.  Sitting in my own back yard feels like the 'great escape' after being locked up indoors with the air-conditioner running.

2012 has been a record-setting year across the entire United States.  My Arkansas home is right in the middle. Certainly we are accustomed to 100 degree summer tempertures for several days in a row - not several weeks in a row.  Let me remember to be grateful.  I do have A/C.  My mother's knoll-top farm house, just an hour east of my home, was designed to welcome every little breeze but it was just an old 8" one-speed fan that stirred the hot air when there was no brreeze.  Hot was definitely hot!

At last, with a bit of fresh air moving gently and tolerable temperatures, the wilted garden, encouraged by a nice splash from the garden hose, is willing to bloom out for the birds and butterflies and bumblebees that stop to say 'good morning.'

So, OPEN THE WINDOW, George...  real life is still going on out here....    Nancy yTe \

HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW ?

Your mind is a Garden

Your thoughts are the Seeds

You can grow Flowers

Or you can grow Weeds.

~Spice of Life~

This little poem made thoughts pop into my head like champagne bubbles.  Did it tickle your mind, too?

I'm sure the poem means different things to different readers.  I love that it tells us we are unique and different - though the same and how we can think and be productive in so many different ways....

Millions of people plant seeds and grow beautiful flowers.  Certainly my Thatcher family did as they were nurserymen for several generations.  My siblings and children grow beautiful gardens.  I've tried but, it just isn't my cup of tea.  Perhaps I'm the Thatcher who can grow weeds.

The poem, to me (perhaps in self defense) is more about learning, thinking, evaluating, reorganizing and presenting seeds of thought in a different kind of garden.  For many years I labeled my scribbles 'Seeds of Hope.'  Even in writing, however, I have produced more weeds than flowers....

The message reminds me of multi-talented people like my dad, who was not only the typical working man, but an athlete, a gardener and an artist.  During the winter months, he played ping pong in the basement recreation room he designed and built with recessed lighting (years before such rooms and lighting existed elsewhere).  He forced crocus and tulip bulbs to bloom in the coal bin for fresh flowers on Mother's dining room table.  He painted pictures on the cement walls, including one entire wall depicting trees and a stream of water with strategically placed Peter Pan characters.  Not all the figures began as Peter Pan, however.  One resembled the nymph in the White Rock advertisement, the c.1895 drawing of Phyche by artist, Paul Thurmann.  Another was reminiscent of the famous nude painting by Paul Emile Chabas in 1912, entitled "September Morn."  All were clad in Peter Pan costumes for Dad's mural, however.

If seeds are thoughts we grow in our minds, cannot all the seeds become beautiful in some form?  Does music come from seeds of thought - symphonies, ballet, jazz and ballads?  Or, consider recipes as magic seeds transforming pumpkins into pies, grapes into wine or wheat into bread.  

Can seeds of imagination become inventions - like 'the wheel,' cars, airplanes, space ships, typewriters, pianos or iPods?  Familiar structures must have begun as seeds of thought: caves, homes, Sears Tower, Statue of Liberty, Washington Monument and the Vietnam Wall.  Even weeds produce beautiful flowers in spite of themselves, as cow pastures with Texas Bluebells or the white Queen Anne's Lace and bright orange Butterfly Roost gracing highways.

I leave it to you  to interpret this lovely poem to reflect yourself as the gardener in whatever creative and beautiful form you choose.  Whether hybrid or weed, may your seeds grow with love.

Tell me about your garden.  I'd like to know.... 
~ Nancy yTe ~