Music pick: Everything I Own by Bread.......gets me every time.

a field of lovely flowers

THE SUMMIT

Lifesong

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“You cannot stay on the summit forever; you have to come down again. So why bother in the first place? Just this: What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one see, one descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen.There is an art of conducting oneself in the lower regions by the memory of what one saw higher up. When one can no longer see, one can at least still know.” -Rene Daumal

Don't you love that 'knowing' and how it helps us climb the path to the next summit. The toil of getting to the summit is worth every effort, and somehow transforms the Vallie's and the hillsides into their own kind of paradise, even if for some seemingly long seasons, they appeared barren desert.

FLYING

Sister Sledge 'We Are Family'

This morning while rounding the bend of 3 miles in a 6 mile run, the song 'We Are Family' came on. I was at the same place mentally, physically, & emotionally I seem to always pass through on my way to some place better. Please tell me you know what this sounds like.
“Is that right?!?!” looking at the stats of my run, “I'm only half done!?? I don’t know, I can’t see, there is sweat in my eyes! Up my nose and yes, finding drainage into my mouth! I could blow a limb….. RIGHT OFF MY BODY!" BUT (and this is an amazing thing for me) I love the challenge! Not for the same old reason, to get skinny, but because (and I really had to think about this), it's because of the misery and then the joy the bitter and then the sweet, the good vs. evil of it all; (at least I think that's what it is). So, from somewhere, ANYWHERE! I’m looking for that “second wind”. Sometimes it comes relatively easy but THAT is the exception to the rule, and happily, the exception to the rule is what I so enjoyed this morning!
The lyrics go like this, "We are family, I got all my sisters with me." So naturally, I start to think about my sisters and sister in laws, and their amazingness (made-up word in solidarity with Melissa) and I thought about all the things I love about each of them.

Everyone knows Lindsey IS the nicest sister, need I say more? Yes, I must. She will laugh at your stupid jokes, love your stupid hair, and your big behind.......she won’t even notice in those way cute jeans. She is a girlfriend to every girl, even to my teenagers, (true of all my sisters). MaRea would give you the shirt off her back, even if she got an amazing deal on it. Her heart is as true as the day is long, making her a closet liberal. I love the way she loves! Angie can relate with old men and little kids without a noticeable gear change. She is bright in all the ways you can think to use that word. Melissa moves through her life like an Olympic speed skater, long, strong & purposeful strides, she really moves! (not just physically), I just love to watch. Nicole has an incredibly tender heart, finding that tenderness makes you the luckiest, because you will never find a more loyal and dear friend. Karen is just 18 month younger than me, but she has always been 2 step ahead of me and it has been a source of frustration all my life, up-n-till now! Not because I'm catching up, I'v given up that lost race. I think, it's because I'v stopped chasing and started watching, and wow what a view! She bounds through life with a butterfly net catching amazing things, how fun is that!!!! You know if you have spent any time with her! Shari, better known as Shar by the luckiest man in the family, has a gift for drawing into her arms anyone who will let her enjoy them, who can resist? not anyone I know. Tera, posted on her blog a beautiful tribute to her mom saying " She has always chosen patience over intolerance, calmness over sass, looks of praise over distance and consistency over swats" end quote. The amazing thing is, those are words I would choose to describe Tera. She has an amazing clarity about where she wants to live her life. Laura; I have a pair of running shoes on the floor in my bathroom, and every time I walk past them, I feel something a kin to how I feel about seeing my scriptures open with a recent OH YA!!!! still lingering there on the pages. I remember the joy of that mornings run, and a certain sister who helped me find the PERFECT running shoes and the attitude that has to go with them, in order to find the joy there in the soles! (This morning; 6 miles in under 60 minutes!!!!)

In my circle of sisters my mom is always there. She flows through all of us in ways I have no words for, and my daughters are turning up there, more and more often, and they are listening and learning from the best!

So, you know the rest of the story, as I start thinking about these amazing people and how blessed I am....... my chest and head rise, my pace picks up and the rhythm of my run changes. My heart wasn't beating just from the demands of my quads, but from something so much more inspired, I wanted so much for them, the best of what they wanted, I prayed with my whole soul for their righteous desires, and that at lest on that day, they would feel the love of God for them. I was working from my core! No....... IT WAS MORE LIKE FLYING!

MY BIG FAT REDNECK THANKSGIVING music pick; Sweet Home Alabama

REDNECK: refers to a stereotype of usually rural, Caucasian (ie white) people of lower socioeconomic status in the United States and Canada, OR as Jeff Foxworthy puts it "redneck is a glorious lack of sophistication!" and I would add; Ever ready with an inexpensive and creative solution, all be it a lazy one.

Redneck Mailbox..... Redneck Counterweight

Redneck Swing.....Redneck Satellite System

I got to wondering if we “The Thatcher Clan” are a bunch of rednecks, when we spent our Thanksgiving, shootin skeet, riding motor bikes, eatin at bufFETS, and hearing conversation like this one between the younins and Grandpa;

"While ears need to be cleaned regularly, this is a job that should be done in private using one's own truck keys, or preferably one's own pen. (NOTE: Pen and or keys, must also be cleaned regularly, because ear wax buildup can short circuit both devices.)"

I really started to wonder if it were true, when Shari told me the story of Lukes' broken elbow. She said; "Luke fell into an empty swimming pool and that’s how he broke his elbow, Mark called 911. The 911 operator told Mark that she would send someone out right away. "Where are you" asked the operator. Mark replied, "At the end of Eucalyptus Drive." The operator asked, "Can you spell that for me?" There was a long pause and finally Mark said, "How 'bout if I drive him over to Oak Street, and you pick him up there?"

So I got on line and took a lil test; here are the results;

You know your a redneck if your Christmas ornaments are made out of spent shot-gun shells...... (I have noticed they are RED and GREEN, and seeins how we spent most of black Friday shootin, we may want to check Mark and Sharis' Christmas tree for signs of redneck behavior.)

Your hairdo has ever been ruined by a ceiling fan or flight through a blow up gantlet. refer to photo. (OK I have some great photos Mark sent me from our time in Palm Springs, but this Hillbilly, Redneck can't get them to upload. I'll keep trying they are really funny.)

You know if you’re a redneck if you have ever used the force in conjunction with Thanksgiving. You have ever used a lightsaber to intimidate other grown men and or entertain your wife and children. Again I have photos.

You know your a redneck when your husband's last words were "Hey ya'll, look what I can do!"

Your front porch collapses and kills more than three dogs. no photographic evidence on this one.

OK so there is some evidence that we are......REDNECKS, but I'm not giving up on the illusive sophistication until I see Dave and Mark have mounted a gun rack to their motorcycles! Those yahoo's more than likely have one in their garage, they just haven't figured out how to get it to stay.

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE JAZZ GAME. Music Pick; The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Two Beautifully Set Ying and Yangs

If you have never felt the desire to lead an orchestra, music may not be your thing, but if you have, you may well relate with Rachel, especially if have stood in front of the fountain at the gateway, and watched the sounds being produced, not only crescendo with emotion but with geysers of water synchronized to to rise and fall in a magnificent display of a kind of 'water ballet'.

You can probable imagine then, Rachel's arms beginning to find expression, at first in small movements, meant mostly for herself, then as the music gains in confidence so does Rachel and before you know it, everyone else does too, Rachel's leading the orchestra... in a black tie and tales. The conductor is so pleased with her performance she even allows herself a beautiful and gracious bow to the audience (now numbering about 15 people), they all loved the performance and clap with rapture, Rachel's enjoyment swells, as she takes another bow, "thank-you thank-you" she says, all to the great dismay of her older sister Allyse.
If even the idea of openly expressing this desire bring to you some discomfort AND EMBARRASSMENT, you relate with Allyse. As this spectacle begins to capture the attention of REAL PEOPLE, of course, Rachel could not have been more pleased, BUT, Allyse.....well, she would have forked over all her money from the tooth fair, birthdays, and begged for quarters, for a MEGA PHONE directly wired to Rachel's ears. "HEY, CRAZY GIRL WITH A PRETEND ORCHESTRA, YOU ARE EMBARRASSING!" To her credit, she kept her thoughts mostly to herself and did what any older sister would do in her place. She moved to a safe unassuming position, next to her Dad, and with a raised eye brow, whispered through the applause, ..............."I think she's been watching too much Conference!"

CAN'T SLEEP.......music pick: One-- Country

CAN'T SLEEP!
I am seeking some kind of resolution to my worries, worries I want desperately, at 2 am to put to bed. Maybe blogging can help.
THE IDEA:
Our Founding Fathers desired a government that would be FOR the people and BY the people. I believe these men to have been inspired of God in the foundation of our nation. The principles they espoused have made the United States a beacon of hope, and a tower of strength, and oh, so very prosperous for over 200 years
FIGURING.....
I figure the problems of our day are the same as any other time in history. If we boil them down, pride and selfishness rule the roost of our social ills, and have for every other pride cycle in human history, both personal and societal.
MY QUESTION:
That is why I find myself awake. None of this (the current state of our nation) is new, and if we believe the constitution to be an inspired document, and the men who framed it to be behind the thoughts and experiences that helped produced such genius, why are we as a nation moving away from and not towards these principles of truth?
MY WORRY:
Why are we as a nation so willing to abandon the wisdom of our Founding Fathers, for that of our own? Our wisdom is uselessly closer to tyranny, poverty, and oppression, than we have been in over 200 years, and yet so far from the recollection of the same, that it appears we do not know how to avoid it. We say “those who are unwilling to learn from history are doomed to repeat it”.
A POSSIBLE CONCLUSION:
Disregard the past &.... find better social engineering? It makes no sense.

I guess you have to ask, "Who do you trust?" The men who lived in tyranny & oppression and ate it's fruits, and then fought with, their all to correct it, and did so with great success, or this generation of politicians, we are crying out to, for more ethics, & integrity, less self serving & more moral fiber.

Now, does not seem the time to change "UP?"
A POSSIBLE SOLUTION:
Study....
NEXT BIG QUESTION:
Who of our current choices for President of the United States is most closely aligned with the founding fathers? ( I know, and I feel your pain). Maybe this will help.

SAMUEL ADAMS:

"The utopian schemes of leveling [redistribution of the wealth], and a community of goods [central ownership of all the means of production and distribution], are as visionary and impracticable as those which vest all property in the Crown. [These ideas] are arbitrary, despotic, and in our government, unconstitutional."
THOMAS JEFFERSON
“To take from one, because it is thought his own industry and that of his fathers have acquired to much, in order to spare(give) to others, who or whose fathers have not exercised equal industry and skill,is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association; the guaranty to everyone the free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it.”
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
“Property is the fruit of labor. Property is desirable. It is a positive good in the world. That some should be rich is to show that others may become rich and hence is just an encouragement to industry and enterprise. Let not he who is houseless pull down the house of another, but let him labor diligently and build one for himself and this by example, assuring that his own shall be safe from violence.”
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
“When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.”

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I hear The American Dream resonating in these quotes!

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FINAL THOUGHT:
JAMES MADISON

“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.”
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I think in the end this is the thought that will help me sleep tonight. Experience has a way of eventually teaching all her students, even if there are some intent on avoiding such knowledge. Let the learning begin.

SOME TIMES LIFE FEELS LIKE A GAME SHOW

Music Selection; Spanish Flea

October 10, 2008; I have to get this blog done before the world comes to an end!

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Today it felt a bit like it was my turn to step onto the stage and see what's behind Door#1 .........

It was Laurens' 14th Birthday.OK so it is Laurens Birthday, not Allyse's but she is really ticked off we are not celebrating something for her!

Ryland (Laurens Biggest Fan) spent the day with her,getting a make over, going to lunch with her and her friend, and making home-made root beer for a "Lauren Party".

THE ROOT BEER!

Behind Door #2.......... Was A first Date.

Do your remember your first date? Maybe you would if you had a picture of it.

Maybe it would really make you mad...... beyond words even, if your Dad & Mom insisted on a photo. But you would for sure remember the date, right? (I had to blog for posterity)! Jake didn't seem to mind. They went rock climbing and it sounds like it went good. Much better than my first date.

I well remember sitting through the longest Aggie basket ball game of all time, with nothing to say, and then forgetting how to swallow soda, I coughed uncontorable, gasping for air & caused a bit of a scene. I appologized and never dated again. An "edit" button on the lifetime replay would be a nice feature. First dates, what do ya think?

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Here is one last shot of Lauren and her "make over". If you look closely you can see Allyse......still 'ticked off ' there in the background.

Family, isn't it great, there is always a new milestone for marking.