Monday, February 19, 2024

Snowy Lonoke

 Since my last post was all about a snow day in Lonoke when I was a child, I was thrilled when I saw these photos on Facebook of Lonoke recently after a big snow.  They are a snowy walk through my childhood, teen years and into adulthood.

The building where I attended junior and senior high school was torn down but when they built the new school,  they kept the arches that were at the front entrance.
The new school is beautiful and I realize how much a new building was needed.  I have finally come to terms with the need to tear down the very old school and construct a new state of the art building but it still makes me feel sad. 

The Methodist Church that is just across the street from the Presbyterian Church that I attended.
The beautiful Presbyterian Church founded by two sets of my great-great grandparents.
Presbyterian Church stained glass windows
Lonoke County Court House 
Our first home was on the street just behind the courthouse
The walk I described in the previous post was down the street that is just on the other side.
The sidewalks around the various monuments on the courthouse grounds were perfect for bike riding or skating when I was a little girl.  Not with the snow of course!

The football field at Lonoke High School - home of the Jackrabbits
Memories of marching band and so many football games
The Dairy Bar 
A common phrase during my teen years - "Let's go circle the Dairy Bar"
They still have yummy cheese dip! 
The Grumpy Rabbit is a new restaurant that has become quite well known throughout the state.  I read one review that said, "I never thought I would say that I was going to Lonoke for dinner but the meal I had there was excellent."
When I was a child, my mother worked at the Abstract Office that was on the right of the building that houses the Grumpy Rabbit. There were two doors then. One to the right that led to her office and the other to "Helen's Dress Shop".  I remember when I was finally old enough to shop at Helen's. 

The Lonoke Depot and looking down Front Street, the main street in town.
For many years, a train track went right through downtown Lonoke.  
The train track was what put Lonoke on the map more than 100 years ago.
This gas station has been on this corner in Lonoke for as long as I can remember.
It is now owned by a classmate and her husband.
This statue, or one similar to it, has been in a small fountain at one of the large homes in Lonoke for all of my life.
The Lonoke Community Center is a new building that has a swimming pool, community rooms, a gym,  an indoor track and basketball courts.  My mother went here several times a week to do water aerobics and almost every day to walk on the track.  It is a great addition to Lonoke!
This was the office of Dr. B E Holmes, long time physician in Lonoke.  After extensive renovations, it  now is for sale as a home.  
I will always love my home town!






































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Thursday, January 11, 2024

Perfect Love

When we got back from Kenya in October, I discovered that the memory on my computer was so full that I couldn't download my photos so I have been diligently deleting photos that were stored in two places, organizing documents, and putting some downloads in the 'trash'.  One of the documents I found was a talk I gave to the Young Women in our Ward about 10 years ago.  


This week we had a snow day and more snow is expected so it seemed a perfect time to share my thoughts on snow and love!  The photos are not from a snowstorm in Lonoke.  Some are from Providence, Rhode Island and others from Port Deposit, Maryland, both places we lived when my Daddy was in the Navy.

"I love snow!!!  I love the way it looks on the trees and shrubs.  I love the crunchy way it sounds when you walk on it. I love the smell and the feel in the air….I love snowmen!  When my children were little and we lived in Colorado, those snowy days seemed almost magical to me.  Schools would be closed, Dads would be home from work and our neighborhood would become a fairyland of white, glistening snow filled with the excited voices of snowsuit clad children!  In spite of all the damp mittens and coats and boots that littered my laundry room, those days were filled with fun.  Snowmen!  Hot chocolate and toasted cheese!  Snow forts and snowball fights!  I loved it!  I always felt sad when it melted enough that the normal life of school and work started again.

I think my love of snow comes from growing up in Arkansas.  In Lonoke, Arkansas it does occasionally snow.  Lonoke is a small town.
When I was a child, the population was less than 2000. .  Lonoke has no snow removal equipment, no snowplows, people don’t have chains for their cars, and most people have little or no experience driving in snow so when it snows in Lonoke, even an inch or two, the town essentially shuts down.  No one goes to work, no one drives anywhere, school is closed….I remember the excitement of going to bed when it was snowing and wondering all night if it was just a little flurry that wouldn't stick or would it  stick so the next day would be a snow day.  Snow days yippee!!!


Last year I read this in a magazine

 

“Once, after dinner, my father hitched up the horse and took my mother and me for a sleigh ride.  The winter stars were very bright.  The sleigh bells made a lovely sound. I was bundled up to the nose, between my father and my mother, where nothing, not even the cold, could get at me.  The very perfection of happiness. “ from Later Novels and Stories by William Maxwell. 

 

This little paragraph brought back a memory so strong and clear that I could feel the moment in time.  

During one of those rare Lonoke snowstorms when I was probably 8 or 9, my parents and I went for a walk down Court Street towards town. The snow was crisp and crunched under our feet.  It was getting a bit dark so it was late afternoon. I remember that my mother had on the long brownish coat with a hood that I never liked once I was old enough to be concerned about my mother looking “cool” so that I would be “cool”.  That day though I was just thrilled with the snow, with no school plus having Moma and Daddy both home during the day. I’m sure that the snowy roads had closed not only school but all other businesses. I was holding both of their hands and would slide along on the icy roads as we walked.  Sometimes they would lift me up in the air ahead of them.  It was cold but I felt like the man in the preceding  paragraph…..safe “between my father and my mother where nothing, not even the cold could get at me.  The very perfection of happiness.”

My father and mother are both dead now but I still can feel that same safety and peace because I know that I have a Heavenly Father who loves me. The YW theme starts out, “We are daughters of our Heavenly Father who loves us…..”

 

President Uchtdorf spoke of this love so eloquently last conference….I don’t want to paraphrase his words but read them to you….I hope in your minds you can hear the distinctive accented voice of this prophet of God….

 

"Think of the purest, most all-consuming love you can imagine. Now multiply that love by an infinite amount—that is the measure of God’s love for you.

God does not look on the outward appearance. I believe that He doesn’t care one bit if we live in a castle or a cottage, if we are handsome or homely, if we are famous or forgotten. Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God’s love encompasses us completely.

He loves us because He is filled with an infinite measure of holy, pure, and indescribable love. We are important to God not because of our résumé but because we are His children. He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken. God’s love is so great that He loves even the proud, the selfish, the arrogant, and the wicked.

What this means is that, regardless of our current state, there is hope for us. No matter our distress, no matter our sorrow, no matter our mistakes, our infinitely compassionate Heavenly Father desires that we draw near to Him so that He can draw near to us."

 

It is my prayer that each of you young women that I love so much can feel the love of our Heavenly Father ….& that because of that love you feel safe where nothing, not the cold or sadness or depression can get you…..and that you feel the very perfection of happiness."

And today in 2024, that is still my prayer - that we all feel the love of our Heavenly Father and experience a moment of perfect happiness.
 

Wednesday, January 10, 2024

Family Home Evening

Every January, I get the urge to clean out and throw things away.  One of the treasures I unearthed recently was the 'Family Home Evening' chart that George and I used faithfully for many years with our children.  When we had our 'family home evening', one of us chose and led the opening song.  One conducted the meeting, another had a scripture thought, another a lesson.  We always had a game and then a closing prayer. Each week we rotated assignments.

I hope our children remember that we did our best to be consistent in teaching them and enjoying this time together.

Some nights were definitely better than others.

Family Home Evening has been jokingly referred to as 'the only fight that begins and ends with prayer'.  

To quote one of our church authorities about his family's FHE

"We wondered if our efforts were worthwhile. Now and then during scriptures study there were outbursts such as, "He's touching me!" "Make him stop looking at me!" and "Mom he's breathing my air!"  Family prayers were sometimes interrupted with giggling and poking.  And family home evening lessons were not always calm with three active, noisy boys."

I can definitely relate to his family.  It wasn't always a spiritual and reverent experience but I am glad we tried.


It was in 1915 that the leaders of our church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, called on parents to gather their children once each week for a “Home Evening.” Families were to take time to pray and sing together, read the scriptures, teach the gospel to one another, and participate in other activities that would build family unity.

In 1970 President Joseph Fielding Smith joined with his counselors in the First Presidency to designate Monday night as the time for family home evening. Since that announcement, the Church has kept Monday evenings free from Church activities so families can have this time together.

Monday nights never worked for our family as someone almost always had soccer practice so we decided to hold our 'family night' on Sundays. 
And we usually did.

These days, I never hear anyone refer to Family Home Evening.  Instead we are encouraged to use the 'Come Follow Me' program of scripture study to teach our families.
I teach 9 year olds in our Primary organization.  I can attest to the fact that the young families in our ward ARE definitely teaching their children from the scriptures.  The kids in my class know details of the stories and how those stories can influence their lives for good.
I have been very impressed.
 
The 'baby' of our family is now 35.
We haven't had a formal 'family home evening' for many years yet I have kept this chart.
I think I have kept it to remind myself that we did try our best to follow the counsel of our church leaders.
We weren't perfect but we made the effort.
I'm grateful that we did.

And if you are curious, on this particular night according to the chart:
 
George, the muscleman, chose the opening song.
Mary, our butterfly, conducted
Matt, the snowboarder, gave a thought from the scriptures
Scott, our hockey fan back then, taught the lesson
Lonoke Jackrabbit, Marilyn picked a game
Johnny, our goal keeper choose the closing song.




Tuesday, January 9, 2024

January Happenings

 Putting all the Christmas decorations out in December is a LOT more fun than taking them all down in January.  Even though I have donated some decorations, I still have a ridiculous amount.  I can't blame it totally on my mother and her love for Christmas. I definitely take some of the credit or blame depending on how you look at it.  It have 33 boxes of decorations.  And I love every single one of them.
When they were all put away I relaxed with a delicious original Dr. Pepper that John and Monica gave me, put my feet up and enjoyed a bit of TV!
Almost every week since November of 2022, I've gone to the Family Search Center to work on scanning our 30 boxes of slides.  It has been a slow and frustrating process.  If the scanner is cooperating (and it hardly ever is) scanning 50 slides takes a bit more than 2 1/2 hours. The carousels average about 120 photos each.  For most of the year they have had 2 scanners so that made it faster.  

The center director was reluctant to tell me that they were getting a new super fast and efficient scanner.  I am just glad they got it before I was finished. 
It scans a slide every 4 seconds and is super easy to operate. 
That's 900 in a hour...well that isn't exactly right because it takes time to put them in and take them out of the carousel....but even 500 an hour is an amazing improvement!

Finishing my last 8 boxes will be a snap!
Pretty impressive huh?
The forecast keeps calling for snow.
And we have gotten a bit.
Saturday night we had several inches and the sun was shining bright on Sunday morning.
And the sky was so blue.
It was magical with the snow sparkling in the sun.
I love it and as always my mantra is
LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW!






Sunday, December 31, 2023

Fast Away the Old Year Passes


 Won't happen again for another 100 years!  
Only true in the US but still fun to consider!  Everywhere else it is 31/12/23.
 

Happy New Year!




Saturday, December 30, 2023

Nativity Scene Fun

 When I was a little girl our family lived in Sicily while my Daddy served in the US Navy. I know that they didn't have a lot of money but they still bought a beautiful Italian nativity scene.  I loved to play with it when I was a child.  When my mother eventually gave it to me, she said that I was to allow my children to play with it too.  I think I objected some.  She had raised one little girl who was by nature quite gentle.  I was raising 1 gentle little girl but also 3 rambunctious boys. My mother was adamant that she wanted her grandchildren to be able to enjoy the familiar nativity story characters.  

And they did with some notable additions! Some years we had GI Joes attacking the stable or Teen-age Mutant Ninja Turtles sleeping by the manager.  Or He Man - Master of the Universe helping the shepherds. In spite of all that, it survived and now Isabella is playing with it.  She is more of a 'gentle' girl.

For some reason she loves putting baby Jesus on the top of the stable. I think that Mary, Joseph and one Wise Man are praying for his safe return.  Last year she told me a long story about 'mean shepherds' who stole the baby.  I guess they are up to their old tricks this year too.


I love that she gave Joseph and the angel baskets. I assume they contain presents for Jesus.
Or maybe their lunch??? I'm not sure.
Every child who comes to our house is fascinated by the Caganar in my typical Catalan nativity scene or 'pessebre'.  And Isabella is no exception!
She put him front and center while normally he is hidden somewhere in the scene.
In Barcelona the decorations often consist of a large model of the city of Bethlehem, more than just the typical manager scene.  At the Christmas market you can buy not only the traditional figures but Roman soldiers, women spinning or baking bread, men working....I was amazed by the variety.  You can also buy trees and shrubbery made of cork.  Hiding somewhere in each scene you will find the caganar. 
Mine is the traditional Catalan man with the senyera or Catalan flag around his chest and a Catalan shepherd's hat on his head.
And just in case you are unsure what he is doing, this view will leave no doubt.
Why you may ask? I've heard lots of explanations but I like the one my Spanish teacher gave me.
She says that it is to show our common humanity.
It doesn't matter if you are the King of Spain or a beggar on the street, this is a part of your life.
Sort of like the children's book, "Everyone Poops".

You can buy Caganar figures from every walk of life.
Politicians to football stars to cartoon characters!

Even our own politicians aren't spared.
I really wish I had bought one of these.
Leo Messi with his Ballon d'Or or his World Cup trophy
An interesting piece of Catalan culture!

I love mine.  I love the memories of going to the Christmas Market by the cathedral with friends and buying from the same two sweet older ladies, then carrying it all home on the metro.  

This is truly one of my treasures.


And if you are wondering the caganar is hiding behind the haystack!




















Thursday, December 28, 2023

Too Much Pink???

 Mary and Mark are fostering a sweet new baby girl.  Because she is a foster baby, we can't show her face on social media.  You will just have to trust me when I say that she is a cutie!

We won't know for awhile if she will be staying permanently with them but I still decided to get out the box of baby girl clothes that my little Mary once wore. I've been saving them for her. 
They will be in the mail to her tomorrow.

I may have overdone the pink!
But I'm glad I did since I had three boys after Mary!
The white dress on the top was given to me by the Relief Society Presidency in our ward and Mary wore it when she was blessed.
The yellowish sweater was mine!  It's 70 years old and still in good shape.  I wore it and Mary wore it....now this sweet little one can too!  The other sweater, hat and booties were made by friends in our ward.
Such sweet memories of my darling little girl.

It's hard to know exactly what to pray for in cases like this.  Of course, I want Mary and Mark to get to adopt her BUT it seems wrong to hope and pray that the parents don't get off drugs.  I don't feel comfortable with that. I think this is the perfect time to pray, "Thy will be done."
I am glad that Mary and Mark can give this little angel a solid foundation of love.  No matter what happens eventually, right now she is well taken care of and well loved.  

Jackson is enjoying being a 'big brother'.  Mary reports that the baby actually sleeps better than Jackson does.  He has never been a good sleeper....but we love him to pieces anyway!!!