Branching out!

I started this blog last year because I like to write. I enjoy the creativity and increased brain activity that results from organizing my thoughts and from looking at the world around me as filled with stories - or blogs, in this case.

However, this expression that was initially intended to be devoted primarily to my children, grandchildren, travels, and life in general, has lately evolved into a political forum. And that's decidedly NOT what I want it to be!

On the other hand, I do have strong political opinions and I feel a need - perhaps even a responsibility - to express them. Therefore, I am branching out and invite those of you who are interested to participate in my new blog, From the Left Side of My Brain.

I will still post here, of course; after all, it's my first blog-love and the main focus of my life. But I will keep politics largely out of the picture here and indulge the other parts of my thinking processes.

I hope to see many of you in both places!

Back by popular demand! :-)

It's been a long while, and I appreciate those of you who have asked when I will resume blogging. The answer to your question is, "now!"

When last you saw me, I was heading home from visiting my Illinois family, and you're excused if you thought my plane has been sitting on the tarmac in Minneapolis all month! Truth is, I arrived home safely - and nearly on time - and have just been really busy (with a little "lazy" thrown in for good measure).

I've thought about blogging, and have let several good opportunities pass me by. However, with the state of things in our country, I'm sure I'll have lots to say in the coming weeks and months! And, if the truth be told, I do enjoy writing this blog and staying in touch with the blogging community. Writing has always been a creative - and therapeutic - release for me, but I'll never make it in the Big Time because I simply let too many things get in the way of doing it.

Last week I began Phase II of my life as Granny Nanny. As you know, we had a new little addition to the family over the summer and Ben & Briana are once again honoring me with the joy and responsibility of taking care of Miss Drew during these formative (and fun!) months until she is old enough to broaden her horizons and spend her days with other children on a regular basis.

So on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Drew and I bond, laugh, play, take walks, and just generally have a good time getting to know each other. Our first week was a little bumpy since she was pretty p.o.'d at me for not being her mommy. The bottle of mother's milk was NOT an acceptable subsitute for the original packaging, and she spent two days carefully studying my face so she would know me when I showed up again! It did make all of us laugh because she was so intent and looked so angrily at me every time I tried to feed her. Even when we saw her over the weekend she was quite wary with me. I'm happy to announce that so far today we've had good success, and I am no longer cast in the role of Bad Gran!

At least that's the status this morning; we'll see what the rest of the day brings...

On Thursdays, Addison is home from school, so I watch both kiddos then. Last week was fun. Addison is very good with Drew, and she thinks he's just the best thing ever! She laughs and smiles for him and he's teaching her the States and their capitals. Oh, and that there's a Portland in Maine as well as in Oregon! It should be interesting when she's old enough to start talking!

We've had a camping trip, a couple of barbecues, and, although fall arrives in about 4 hours, we're expecting temperatures in excess of 90 degrees today. It's been just over a year since I started this blog, and it's been an interesting experience so far. I've made lots of friends and have enjoyed reading their blogs. Now that I'm back, I hope you'll all resume reading!

What's in YOUR genes?

I got an email the other day from one of my cousins on my mother's side, commenting on my blog. (I do wish she'd sign in and comment publicly, but I'm glad to hear from her, in whatever manner she chooses!)

(That's me, 3rd from the left in stripes; Nancy is the 3rd woman from the right, behind the young boy.)

Nancy is the youngest child of my mother's middle sister - mom was the oldest - and, growing up we really weren't close, although we did see each other. We didn't live real far away, but Nancy grew up in a small community and we were the Big City family. I have wonderful memories of visiting my aunt and uncle and cousins - they lived on a farm, down a red clay road. I remember loving being out in "the country" and enjoying the freedom from noise and traffic, seeing their critters and spending time together. Sometimes, when I close my eyes, I can still see Aunt Catherine ironing on her mangle iron. We were always warned about being careful not to touch it, but Aunt Catherine could make it sing! (I'm willing to consider that my memories may be colored by time, but don't tell me, please.)

I'm not sure that any of us look very much like each other, although careful inspection would probably reveal facial and other physical similarities. Our mothers "favored" one another, although old age revealed that my mom looked most like their mother, while Aunt Catherine was the image of their dad.

Many years have gone by since I've seen Nancy. The last time I recall clearly was at our granny's funeral in 1968, although I do think we visited once after that. The point is that we still live very different lives: she still lives in a small Southern community, I live in a major metropolitan area in the Northwest. Our religions have always been different, her family following the more conservative beliefs of our granny, and our family being staunch Episcopalians after the manner of our grandfather. According to Nancy's recent email, we also have some divergence of politics, though apparently we're not on opposing sides on everything.

We were raised in a time and place - and by mothers - who taught us that family is important and that others' religion and politics were to be respected and not used as a bludgeon. So although Nancy and I aren't "part" of each other's lives in the traditional sense, we still have that Cousin Connection that has withstood the passage of time.

But Nancy's email opened my eyes to the many ways we are alike, despite our apparent differences. Nancy is - or as she says, "was" - a writer. (I think writers are always writers, we just sometimes don't write!) That gift of writing comes directly from our common grandfather; my sister is similarly gifted, and my mom was prolific in the style of her father. I don't know if Aunt Catherine "wrote," nor do I know about my mom's youngest sister, Aunt Marion. I do know that Aunt Marion's daughter Laurel also writes. My sister's daughter is gifted, as is my oldest son. And one of my most poignant memories surrounding my mother's last illness is that all three of her children were mentally preparing her lengthy obituary even as we were gathering from different parts of the country to be with her. Writers all.

Nancy, who is three years older than I, also loves adventure, collecting "stuff," spoiling her grandchildren, and reading obituaries. Just like me. None of this is learned from each other, obviously, so I can only assume that it is implanted in our DNA as surely as the color of our hair, our eyes, our body types, and our musical abilities. It seems to me that this is a great gift. That, in us, our grandparents and parents live on. Not just in appearances, but in behaviors and talents. That in some small way, John Herbert Peck (1874-1961) and Willie Ola Peck (1887-1968) are still having an influence on the world. That the grandchildren of their grandchildren will carry parts of them forward to blossom in yet another generation.

I love this feeling of connection I have with Nancy, and I'm so thankful that she cared enough to not only read my blog entries, but to write and tell me about our commonalities. Maybe one of these days she'll even comment here. You'll know it's her by the writing style!

Reality check

I'm a member of an internet discussion group called "Episcopal/Anglican/Religion Community." Most of us are either Episcopalians or Anglicans, but not all. However, a lot of our posts/discussions revolve around what's currently happening in the Episcopal Church. You know - ordaining gays, same-sex marriages, defections of various parishes/dioceses - your normal, everyday discussions.

Occasionally we wander off into discussions of politics, other religions (both Christian and non), and current events. We make prayer requests, have a link for daily devotions, and even have a bit of irreverent humor. We Episcopalians are a versatile bunch, you see.

Today an article from The Guardian in the UK was posted entitled Blogging and the Meaning of Life: Does the internet make discussion of things too easy to be worthwhile? It's an interesting premise, and one I've struggled with on a low level from time to time. The author discusses, among other things, how many of us use the internet not only for legitimate research (guilty) but also for information to bolster our own point of view (also guilty). We write blogs or emails or comments to and about people we don't really know (guilty again), and find it easy to be abrasive or judgmental toward people who exist only in our cyber-world (okay, okay, I'm guilty of this, too).

I'm an opinionated person. You've probably already figured this out; especially if you're related to me. And I have a family full of opinionated people (you know who you are!). And often we hold opposing opinions. This doesn't mean we don't care for each other, and - thankfully! - it doesn't mean that we don't get along. What it does mean is that we accept each other's differences of ideas and philosophies without feeling threatened by them. It also means that we listen respectfully to each other, allowing each of us to have our opinions without tearing the fabric of our relationship. We're in this relationship thing for the long haul. I'm very blessed to have a family like this one I find myself in.

My cyber-friends, on the other hand, are people who read and comment on my blog because they are mostly like-minded. This doesn't mean that I don't value their readership or our tenuous connections with each other. One of my dear readers even called me her friend in a comment, and I floated for days on the strength of that remark. (Of course, she also said I was beautiful and that didn't hurt!) But I know that these followers of my blog, however happy I am to have them in my cyber-world, and even though I also follow their blogs, could disappear from my blogosphere as easily, as quickly, as mysteriously as they arrived. My world would be poorer for it, and I would miss them for a while, but someone or something would eventually fill the hole.

I'm writing this to put all of my thoughts into some perspective. In a post prior to our recent election, I made a comment about conservative Christians (actually, I made a couple of comments!) that one of my family members called me on. On re-reading my post, I understood why she felt that I had made a blanket statement, even though when I wrote it I didn't mean it exactly the way it sounded; it was not meant to be derogatory toward all conservative Christians. However, because it was made in a forum that doesn't allow the back-and-forth of a good face-to-face (or even voice-to-voice) conversation, I should have been more careful. No, she's not angry with me. No, we aren't feeling tense about each other. We have that good relationship that I mentioned in paragraph 4 above. But I felt bad that I had caused her to feel I was making a statement about her faith.

So. I am going to try harder to be more thoughtful about my posts. I expect I'll still do research to "prove" my point of view. And I expect I'll still get pissed off and write a diatribe from time to time. But I really am going to try to be more even handed and fair-minded. Because I value all of the people in my life: those of you I know and love as well as those of you who are only connected to me through this mysterious thing called the internet (or smoke-and-mirrors, as I often think of it!). I expect I'll screw up now and then, but I'm going to make the effort and I hope you - ALL of you - will help keep me honest!

Well, it's about time!

Okay, so it's about time I stopped putting this off and got started. I set up this blog way back in July, but kept putting off starting it up. You know how it is - Well, I want to start with something profound but not offputting. Or: I'm going to be out of town and I want to start when I'm going to be here and can develop the habit of blogging. Or: If I were to start today, I'm so pissed off that it would just be a rant.

Then, of all things, I discovered that one of my dear d-i-ls had started a Blogger Blog! And I felt that if I started mine she would feel that I was trying to steal her thunder. Which is stupid for two reasons: 1. She's not that kind of person; 2. We have distinctly different styles and write about different kinds of things. Okay, three reasons: 3. Blogs are personal.

So today, I start. Tomorrow maybe you'll get the rant, but today it's just stuff.

I am a frustrated writer. I've had a few things published. I even got paid for a couple of them, but mostly it's been the occasional Letter to the Editor. I love to voice my opinion (as you'll learn if you read this very often), and I love language. I don't think I'll ever write the Great American Novel, and I don't even think I want to. I'm more of a personal experience/opinion (see what I mean?)/observation type of writer. Along with the occasional spiritual insight.

After my mom died in 1992, I spent the next year or so transcribing her memoirs. Someday I hope to get them in a form that is publishable. I'm now in the process of transcribing my grandfather's memoirs. I've been working on them for about a year and should have them done by 2020. Maybe sooner, but I'm not holding my breath! His memoirs sat in a box for many years, then were donated by my mom (his daughter) to the University of Florida, where they sat in several boxes for a lot more years. A couple of years ago, my cousins went to the University and made copies. They sent them to me (at my request) and I work on them when I'm not traveling, goofing off, reading, watching my grandson, or drinking wine. Now, of course, they'll fall a bit further down the list so I can blog.

In the meantime, this gives me an outlet for my thoughts and ideas, and maybe I'll meet some new people who will inspire me to write more and procrastinate less.

For now, I think I'll take a nap...