I am a woman who loves beauty and fun. I sail, read, play games, learn instruments (piano, flute, ukulele, tin whistle, Scottish drums, harmonica), hike, sing, Pickleball, explore, and write. My greatest joy is playing or exploring with my five children and husband. My greatest peace is at the piano or sailing. At the center and surrounding it all is my Savior Jesus Christ.
Too long has it been since I sat down and read a book intentionally for more than ten minutes. So this afternoon, I chose to lay across my bed and read for a dedicated thirty minutes. I told my boys it was time for them to read a book too. The rooms grew decently quiet and somewhat still. It was beautiful. The characters brought people into my life from the early 1900s. I walked with adventurers and innovators, youth and mature.
But then a strange thing started to happen. After about twenty minutes, my mind, so eager to invest in this delicious past time, became quite weary. My eyelids began to droop. My friends on the pages were sluggishly trailing behind and disconnecting as I found myself reading the same sentence three times, trying to focus. It would seem that reading actually relaxed me, and here I was now drifting into a very pleasant state of drowsiness. Maybe it was the excessive heat outside (the “real feel” temperature today was 114 degrees!). Maybe it was running around taking my children to all of their camps and activities. Perhaps in reading a book, I slowed down life enough which allowed my mind to tell my body to relax and take a breather, i.e. a nap. Sometimes perhaps to read a book… is to take a nap.
The keen perspective of those who capture incredible photos that secure a moment in time even better than what I remember seeing but somehow encapsulate all that I felt in that moment. It is breathtaking and peaceful, motion and stillness. Click, select, edit, enhance.
I and we have been blessed by the services of some talented photographers. What is it inside the minds of these people that allows them to so gracefully and unobtrusively attend to the four corners of the lens yet draw in a large piece of the world?
Details. Viewing the world from unique angles, upside down, flipped, and rotated. A whir of motion. The second of expression. A fleeting glance. The crinkled nose with almost audible laughter. A tender touch. A well worn hand. Grief unmatched. The silent strength. They span the depth of life with their mirrored lenses, be it film or pixels.
Thank you, photographers, for sharing the world in photos.
It was a hot, drenchingly humid afternoon the day we chose to visit the Gulfarium. I don’t think I have ever been so uncomfortable outside, literally melting inside my clothes. We had already seen a fun, impressive sea lion show. Those guys are super flexible and fun!
The dolphin shows were already finished, but we hoped perhaps the dolphins would still be out swimming, so we followed the Dolphin Encounter/Show signs. As we crested the top of a small incline, soothing melodies greeted our ears. It was like stepping into a different world. Before us five circular pools of water, each at a slightly different height, created the dolphin swimming arena. A row of about ten people leaned against a rail that overlooked the nearest pool in which swam three serene mammals. The bottle nose dolphins seemed in a happy mood, moving constantly, splashing out of the water, and squeaking to the curious onlookers. As we drew near to the water, two more dolphins emerged. Now five playful dolphins glided through the water, rolling and tumbling. They seemed to notice our crew, a couple of them swimming right up to the rail and peering at us with their dark, round eyes. “Hi, baby,” I crooned. She squealed right back to me and pressed up against the glass. Rolling onto her side, she lifted her left flipper and waved at us. We all sounded our surprise and glee, and our gray friend appeared delighted as she rolled into the water and arched out of the water.
One phrase I keep hearing from people here is “seeing dolphins never gets old.” Even the man who runs a Hawaiin food truck right at the the dolphin pools at the Gulfarium proclaimed this conviction. As I plan our next visit to the Gulfarium, I believe seeing these graceful, cheerful mammals will never grow old for me either.
"What's in that box, Mom?" Music, son. You see, back in the day this is how people could listen to music or catch up on world events. Limited selection. Community enjoyment of song. Symbol of fun, source of news Walk to it, Lean on it, Dance away from it. Music in a box.
Laughter with family sends fresh breath to weary hearts. To chuckle with the experienced to giggle with the youth, to lose oneself in the uncontrollable, tear-spilling, doubled-over peels of joyful laughter… is there anything so light and freeing?
Might I recommend a game of Codenames? It is a word game that challenges connections and memory, poker face and wit. Good humor brings it all together with laughter over mess-ups and shocking successes.
It’s the name of a tasty wine we drank with our fancy Fourth of July hot dog meal served with a side of incredibly juicy watermelon. Unshackled… from the chains of British rule when US declared independence in 1776. I am so very grateful for the men and women who sacrificed for the founding of our country.
Unshackled brings with it hope. The chains have been lifted. Freedom waits. Unburdened from the demands from before, set free from a cage. Set free to fly, to explore, to smile and laugh, to work hard for gains, to give with gratitude, and to serve with love. Unshackled from the bondage of sin to choose to serve God and not men.
It is a word that excited me with possibilities. Let us live unshackled, set free. Let freedom ring!
“The more places you call home, the less any single place can define you. You start as a visitor, then you adapt, you blend in, you belong. But every time you leave, you take a piece of that place with you. Over time, your identity becomes fluid, shaped by cultures, not borders, no longer bound to one location, no longer the same person who first left. Home is no longer a place. It’s a mindset.” – post on Sailingelburro on Instagram
This is just beautiful to me! As we move around, I have seen this theory in myself and my family. We strive to be visitors for as short a time as possible and to enter a place of belonging for as long as possible. I’m honestly not sure I can say we ever blend in (haha!), but each place has changed us and become special to us. We bring tangible pieces with us in the forms of souvenirs, stories or people and events, and hearts that are bigger. Identities not defined by boundaries.
On the left is Annapolis, on the right is Hawaii. Across the Pacific Ocean and an entire continent. Different sailing cultures. Consistent love of the water and boats. God’s creation is beautiful.
“He must have taken the view that if you stood still in the fast-changing modern world, you would take root, stagnate, and die inside.” Author David Rooney in his book The Big Hop wrote these words to describe Harry Hawker, a young man who attempted to be one of the first to fly across the Atlantic.
I asked my son a question: Would you describe me as a person who would rather spend all day relaxing watching TV and reading a book or running errands and getting things done? He chose the second option. When asked why, he replied, “Because you are a busy-body.” Haha! I clarified what a busy-body is (a meddling or prying person), and asked if that describes me. “No,” he laughed. “What I meant was that you like to be doing things, to be active. You always seem on the move.”
This is true for me at this point of my life, but I have not always been that way. Life has moved in phases for me. As a child, I enjoyed a quiet, studious phase, playing games with close neighbors, baking cookies, reading books. Then came a busier but still rather home-minded high school phase, enjoying high school activities on campus and football games on the weekends but also soaking up the downtime at home when I studied or relaxed. College became the social but studious phase, filled with many library study hours, swing lessons, Bible studies, adventures with friends, hangouts and study groups. Young professional life was mostly a social phase while also growing on the job. Marriage life brought a dynamic social phase as I learned how to live alongside someone and experience new dynamics in groups. Babies and children became a quieter phase once again, as my energy frequently felt too spent to invest in a lot of social activities. Interestingly, as the children have grown older now, it seems there is another resurgence of studious social phase but with family wrapped in this time as well. Writing this down, the picture created in my mind is a an undulating ocean wave, like the ones in the middle of the ocean that you can see when you fly between the Hawaiin Islands in the Pacific. There are constant crests and troughs but no crashing on the shore.
This passion to remain in constant motion through learning, meeting people, muscle strengthening, can be challenging to fulfill. I envy, at times, people who function at a slower pace because it is easier for them to be satiated. A perpetual yearning to grow is difficult to provide for when we move so often partly because this desire is paired integrally with the urge to be part of people.
However the pattern of movement rolls, the call to remain in motion is strong. Let us continue in motion, fast or relaxed, engaged in this life with which we have been blessed.
It was a July fourth no one expected. Happy campers, sleeping towns. The flood waters came as a surprise in the night. Lives were cut short, beautiful lives beginning to blossom. Experienced lives were ended. The shock, the sorrow, the waiting, the grief, the loss, the utter devastation. My heart aches with my fellow Texans. I am so sorry for your loss.
I wish I could give you a hug, make you a meal, cry with you, help clean up with you. For now, I send you this picture of a Japanese cherry blossom, a symbol of hope and peace. I pray for your families every day and for your communities, for people visiting the area from out of state as well. I know there was at least one little girl at Camp Mystic who was from a different state. I know there are people throughout our country and all over the world who mourn with you.
The state flower of Texas is the bluebonnet, a stately, hearty lupine. Many families in Texas take their yearly photos in the midst of blue swept fields. I did not realize until recently that the bluebonnet stands for bravery and admiration and symbolizes sacrifice, according to some websites. It is a flower that can grow in harsh conditions. May this hearty bravery lead you through these difficult days, Texas. You are not alone.
Leader Will you lead through the fire? What when the fire dies? Who are you leading and do you know your why? Do you promote yourself above others? Or do you look and see others, weaving talents together to yield a cloth of multiplied strength? Deceptive is the idea that the best leader is one most skilled in his craft (be it flying a plane, designing technology, etc). Perhaps leading others is a skill in itself. Look just below the highest performing worker… for the one who watches, observes, encourages, challenges the team to grow. Can an intrinsically skilled leader of people lead in multiple contexts, regardless of his/her specific job training? Leader, lead people and know why you lead.
Life is Sailing 