"A Picture Is A Thousand Words"

But I say pictures are misleading, I think most people would agree. They capture a specific moment, or event in time and that's it. Possibly the best moment of a week. And we cherish those, laughing, grimacing, or crying, zooming in on a few pixels leaving the rest of the image out of focus. 

I know this is true, but I can't help myself. I keep catching glimpses of photos and find myself wishing for those times. Not because I want to relive or live in the past, but because they are proof I did something, that I lived. 

How does one go about living in the present, enjoying the mundane, while processing the past and planning for the future without going crazy? Or at the very least becoming dissatisfied and frustrated, missing out on the rest of the painting? 

Memories......That's a Song Title, Right?

Memorial Day weekend, extended joy, fun, and relaxation. Gotta love the thought. To get into the festivities I decided to kick off my Friday with a tad of light yard work, before packing, watering the garden, pulling a few weeds, playing in the dirt, oh, and of course, hauling rocks. (Dissonance, cue minor chord, or whatever it is).

I didn’t wake up thinking, I feel like moving large rocks today. I didn’t plan it, but when I was outside the impulse imp reared it’s head and said, “Wouldn’t that be cool? And it would use the rocks…”

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but we have a LOT of rocks around the Home Ranch. My Grandma used to collect them. I’m not sure how or why it started, but as she told me “every rock has a face”. A lot of hours were spent finding faces. (Side note: Mom never quite got it; depending on the color she tended to see deserts. No joke, one of my favorite conversations was Grandma Alvernaz trying to show Mom the face and Mom just seeing a piece of cheesecake because of the color). Over time people brought her some real cool looking ones, but most of them are just plain river rocks that we don’t know what to do with.

Friday I was outside, looking at the new flower bed area, (not my doing, I came home and the work was done), trying to figure out the best way to a) contain the dirt from flooding the asphalt again, b) level it off, c) keep the weeds from our budding bed.

And I knew the answer, ROCKS! So without consulting my Aunt, I rashly decided to lay the basis for a retaining wall.

May I just state the obvious, rocks are heavy! Since I’m lacking in upper body strength, (as the nurse said when I got a flu shot, “because you have little arm’s you’ll probably be sore.” WHAT!?! I mean I know but really?) and really didn’t want to bend over all morning and roll heavy objects I needed a creative solution. The wheel burrow was out because, let’s face it, pushing it around with heavy things isn’t much better than carrying them, and then the heaven’s parted and light shown down. Well, not really, but I did get a brilliant plan, my Subaru.

Load the rocks into the back, drive the Sube over to the new location, then drive it back and load up more, comfy seat included. So that’s what I did. (My poor car, it’s been commented on before now that I treat it like a truck…..Don’t worry, she’s had a bath and been vacuumed since). All things considered, it worked great. The only down bit was the lifting rocks part.

Tada, several hours later, a wall is formed. We actually had less big rocks than I thought, which was both a relief and a tad sad, since I’d had visions of Jericho. But considering how things turned out for that city…

Thankfully Aunt Judy did not hate it, in fact she had had a similar idea. What can I say, great minds think alike. Does that mean we have rocks in our heads, prbably, but crazy does love company.  

 As to the rest of my vacation, what can I say, I got sick on day one away from home, and fried my face dozing on my back for two hours, (can you blister a zit?) but it was still fun.  And honestly, what else are vacations for?

At Least it's Clear I Have a Sense of Humor....

I've recently started looking for a second part time job. Lemme just say, pain in la rear.

My resume is out of date, I don't even know where I'm going to put my most recent work, and I'd forgotten about those dumb cover letters that you slave over, trying to remember what the heck was told to you in college. How in blazes do you make your long string of random jobs sound appealing let alone make any sense!?!

I'm afraid my inner imp came out today while I struggled with this. I'm really tempted to send out the following letter.

Dear Blah Blah Blah,

I am applying for the __________ position. As you can see I have a wide variety of skills that do not pertain to anything in particular. Most of my current work experience has been in agriculturally related fields, retail and ministry. Unfortunately my current position has very limited part time hours and I need to find an additional means of income.

I currently am creating and running a Sunday morning children’s program, coordinating the volunteers for that program, assisting to run a children’s mid-week program, as well as participating and hostessing special events. I’m a team player and enjoy working with others, but I can also work independently and get my work done in a timely manner.  

I tend to find solutions outside the box, love opportunities to be creative, occasionally have a brief imp of mischief flash in my eyes.

I have a generally pleasant demeanor, have obtained my four year degree, own my car with a valid driver’s license, have yet to be arrested, given time can eventually learn almost anything and enjoy people most of the time.

Where am I going? Only God knows. Like most misguided fools my age, or a bit younger actually…I am getting a bit up there in age, I still have delusions of doing something meaningful, fun, yet making lots of money.

Oh, and my Mommy says I’m awesome. Please hire.

Thank you for your time

-          Nicole Alvernaz

At least it catches your attention. Think anyone would hire me if I sent out a letter like that? 

" "

"It was the hardest work I'd ever done, and, while it lasted, one could think of nothing else. I said not long before that work and weakness are comforters. But sweat is the kindest creature of the three-far better than philosophy, as a cure for ill thoughts." p 91 

"I ended my first book with the words no answer. I know now, Lord, why you utter no answer. You are yourself the answer. Before your face questions die away. What other answer would suffice? Only words, words; to be led out to battle against other words." p 308 Till We Have Faces by CS Lewis.