November

About a month ago we had a week or so of rain.  In one weekend alone over 14 inches fell at our home.  The upside of all that rain, we’ve had one of the most beautiful fall seasons I can remember.   For about 10 days here our landscape has been breathtaking.  But the thing about fall especially, it reminds you how brief the beauty is.  Our trees are quickly becoming bare.  I love the fall, and in particular November.  It reminds us to remember our loved ones who have passed, and to be thankful for our blessings.  Not to mention, it’s my birthday month.

One of the things I love about living where I do is so much of the history of the place is still here.  I live in a little township, (once the county seat) located at the top of a river bluff overlooking the Marais des Cygnes river.  We own the community church.  It’s the third church to stand on this spot. The first was built around 1869, the current building held its last service in 1985.  In the early days of the town the little house across the street was the hotel and stagecoach stop.  Sadly its days are numbered, as well as the general store building down the street.  I walk nearly every day and those walks are mostly up to the local cemetery and back.  The first person buried there is a young man who came ahead of his family to settle here.  He was so excited when they finally arrived to join him he swam across the river to meet them, caught pneumonia and died.

Last week through our work with the Democrats we had the opportunity to meet a landowner a few miles up the road from us.  The political signs she had standing on her property had been stolen and she was looking for replacements.  During the course of our conversation when we told her where we live it turned out her great, great, great, (not sure how many greats) grandfather was the first white man to settle on our property.  His name was Jacob Fisher and he’s buried up the road.  He came to Kansas as an abolitionist.  Given Kansas’ current political climate, it’s sometimes easy to forget its history as a free state.  She went on to tell us about her other great, great, great, grandfather who owned the general store.  Also, you can go to the local library in town and read on microfiche about her uncle, who was described as the “lad” that rode ahead to warn of Quantrill’s ride before the Lawrence Massacre, just like Paul Revere.  Another interesting tidbit, she told us the location of a tall grave marker in the cemetery that sits cockeyed where they used to hide their “hooch” during the prohibition.  Probably a tall tale but we think we found the grave marker she was talking about.

It’s nice to think about these stories, the people’s lives and the history of this land I live on, especially today, election day.  Our polling place is our community building, Briles Schoolhouse, built in 1868.  Our kids grew up going to 4H meetings there.  This morning I came across a photo taken of a voter entering early this morning to vote.  Last year my husband and I worked the polls.  Tonight I will be working at the courthouse for Edison Research phoning in results from our county for the national networks and CNN.  It’s kind of cool thinking about my being our little corner of the country’s link to the nation on this incredibly important day and night.  Please don’t let your opportunity to have your voice heard slip away.  If you’ve already voted in the landslide of early voting, thank you.  And if you haven’t, please make it a priority today to cast your VOTE!

Birthdays, Books, And Projects: October Yarn Along

Our sixth grandchild, Rowen, turned three years old yesterday.  We had her birthday party on Saturday.  Her mother threw her an amazing unicorn party.  She made unicorn cupcakes, piñata, unicorn poop (marshmallows) for appetizers, unicorn snot (slime with sparkles), she even painted a unicorn selfie spot on the mirror over their mantle, even though my photo of it doesn’t quite give the full effect.  It was all so cute, and Rowen was thrilled.

A few months ago we were in Michael’s when the Halloween decorations first came out.  Rowen picked up a skeleton bride doll and wanted it dearly.  It was totally inappropriate for a three-year-old in regards to safety so her mother asked if I would make her one for her birthday.  I made her out of felt, and then needle felted the face and bones.  I really like the way she turned out and best of all, Rowen loved her.  She also received the dress I was knitting for her and her cousin which I posted about last month.  It’s a little big, but wearable.  And at three that’s probably a good thing.

We kept her and her brother Jools overnight the night before the party.  One of our activities was to make ghost puppets.  It is such an easy project but at 3 and 4 years old it was a little more difficult than I thought it would be for them.  Even so, they enjoyed playing with them. 

I’ve started knitting for Christmas, but it’s currently hard for me to be enthused about it.  I could say the same thing about the book I’m reading.  I had been on the hold list for Bob Woodward’s book at the library since it came out.  Now that I’m into it, I have to continually remind myself that what I’m reading is not fiction.  Maybe one of the reasons it’s bothering me so much is that we’re less than two weeks out from the midterms and I’m so desperate for change that I don’t need to be reminded of even more reasons to be so.  Never the less, I’ll persist!

The other book is another I had waited a long time for from the library.  The Lost Words by Robert MacFarlane is a gorgeous book.  It’s a children’s book, but I really can’t see any of my eight grandchildren engaging with it.  But for anyone who enjoys poetry and beautiful watercolors, it’s magic.

After the sleepover, then the party on Saturday afternoon and into the wee morning hours on Sunday, and then another twelve hours on Sunday, we printed, cut, bundled and delivered to volunteers ready to address and sign 3000 postcards we are sending out to unaffiliated voters.  We are working hard on our final push to get out the vote.  I hope we will be rewarded for all of our hard work these last months on Election Day.

P.S.  A few weeks ago I came across yet another abandoned sofa dumped on the side of the road.  I had to include it here since my blog holds my collection of photos of other abandoned sofas.  Is this a just a rural Kansas thing or do other states have this problem???

September Yarn Along

I didn’t post an August Yarn Along.  Which is a bit ironic because besides my immediate family, (husband, children, and grandchildren), reading was about the only thing that brought me any peace. August was an emotional month dealing with the problems of both my mother and my husband’s mother, problems that so many seniors face today.  September has always been a month for changes and new beginnings and this month has brought us a new normal I’m learning to adjust to.  And sometimes reading and working a puzzle can help an overloaded, emotional brain. 

For the September Yarn Along I just finished knitting two dresses, one for Rowen and one for Sophie. The pattern is River Dress.  It’s a fun, quick pattern, and best of all, it’s free.  But it only fits size two.  As for books, I just finished reading White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism.  There is so much to learn from this book, the most important in my view is that no matter how progressive we believe ourselves to be, “it is impossible to completely escape having developed problematic racial assumptions and behaviors.”  To say it was an eye-opening read is a vast understatement.  I can’t recommend this book enough.  I then moved on to the State of Wonder by Ann Patchett.  It’s been on my “to read” list for some time and I’m halfway through it.  I hate to think it, but once I’m finished reading it I can’t imagine having time to read much more of anything else until after Christmas because the full press of gift making will begin.

I’m always sad to say goodbye to the summer and watch the kids go back to school. It always takes me a week or two to change my mindset and adjust.  Now that fall is officially here there’s so much to do!  This month we’re not only busy with our grandchildren’s activities, (cheerleading, and football and soccer games) we are also helping to take care of two of our grandchildren while their parents are out of the country.  But this September is different because we are also busy with our commitments as chairs of our local Democratic party.  With only a little over a month until the midterm elections, we’ve been out canvassing door to door nearly every evening and weekend, passing out literature, putting up yard signs, and getting people interested in going out to vote.  We’re also passing out pens we made ourselves.  We wanted to order promotional pens but the best deal we could find was .22 cents apiece for 1000 pens.  The problem was they wanted $100 to ship them!  So we watched a youtube and made our own. 

Going out and talking to people really has been a wonderful experience for me.  It’s so gratifying to feel like you’re making a difference.  If in November my desired outcome doesn't come to be, at least I know I did everything I could to create change in my little corner of the world.

#16

 

Our youngest grandchild, Sophie's second birthday book.  I finished this one in the car on the way to the birthday party.  That's happened only one other time. I have to admit I was in such a time crunch, (literally sewing every spare moment) it was hard for me to spend much time thinking about this being my final book.  What started as a first-year memento for our first grandchild has morphed into a family birthday tradition, each grandchild receiving one for their first and second birthday.

They started with children's poems and song lyrics but with the need to make each one individual, we started using modern music as inspiration.  And that is where Paul stepped in to help.  He is very good at creating his own lyrics to popular songs.

For Sophie's final book we used the song Home by Edward Sharpe.  It was performed by Sophie's aunt and uncle at her parents' wedding, which is such a wonderful memory for us all.  Except for Sophie of course.  :)