early morning -lake michigan
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“the sun is new each day.”
-heraclitus
Sep26
Author Archives: beth
Sep25
behind and ahead.
happy things left behind after someone’s day at the beach on lake michigan
—
“there are better things ahead than any we leave behind.”
-c.s.lewis
holland, michigan, usa – fall 2021
Sep24
topsy-turvy.
some may never think of this book as great literature
yet it is clearly one of my favorite books to read aloud
while this family is different from most
they accept absolutely everyone without judgement
always making the best of things
and seeing the good in other people
the kinder think back on this
learning to say ‘it’s just topsy-turvy’
when things change, are different than they expected, or don’t go as planned
they just smile and take it all in stride
for this reason i do find it to be pretty great indeed
and i think what a beautiful lesson and way to be.
“all really good picture books are written to be read 500 times.”
-rosemary wellls
Sep23
parking space.
that feeling of joy you get
when you score the perfect parking space
your car just squeezes in
and it’s the last one.
—
“the road to success is dotted with many tempting parking spaces.”
will rogers
Sep22
fall, again.
my favorite season – fall has arrived
—
Fall Song
Another year gone, leaving everywhere
its rich spiced residues: vines, leaves,
the uneaten fruits crumbling damply
in the shadows, unmattering back
from the particular island
of this summer, this NOW, that now is nowhere
except underfoot, moldering
in that black subterranean castle
of unobservable mysteries – roots and sealed seeds
and the wanderings of water. This
I try to remember when time’s measure
painfully chafes, for instance when Autumn
flares out at the last, boisterous and like us longing
to stay – how everything lives, shifting
from one bright vision to another, forever
in these momentary pastures.
~ Mary Oliver ~
—
image credit: Lumber Jane, Madame Cupcake@etsy
Sep21
spy vs. spy.
The FBI’s spy house on Wisconsin Avenue, in Washington, D.C.
This painfully obvious spy house sits right across the street from the Russian Embassy.
Cameras can be seen in the tinted skylights on the roof.
In the midcentury, the house at 2619 Wisconsin Avenue was attractive to all sorts of homebuyers: It had a big front porch, three stories, and was located in a family-friendly, residential neighborhood. Most attractive of all—to the FBI—it sat directly across the street from the Russian Embassy.
In 1977, the Soviet Union Embassy moved into a new building complex. It follows that, in the chaos of constructing the huge building, the FBI and the NSA would set up a secret spying station directly across the street.
According to most accounts, the house’s cover was negligible. The curtains were always drawn and no mail was ever delivered to the house, yet people were frequently seen coming and going. Cameras could be clearly spotted in the windows, filming all those who entered the Russian Embassy across the street. One local even reported seeing a long telescopic lens sticking out from a window late at night. In an attempt to up its anonymity, two FBI agents eventually moved into the house, though no one who knew of the house was fooled. The house’s owner was listed as “FBI” in public records, and its inhabitant’s occupation as “Clerk – really a spy.”
The FBI’s uses for the house may have gone beyond playing paparazzi. Operation MONOPOLY was a secret plan to dig a tunnel beneath the Embassy to record conversations taking place within the building, in the hopes of gleaning secret information. The problem was that the FBI had little knowledge of the Embassy’s layout. The agency hoped the tunnel would run underneath a conference or break room, but it was just as likely to lie beneath a storage closet.
The tunnel-digging was ill-fated from the start. Water regularly leaked into the tunnel, ruining the high-tech listening equipment, which rarely worked underground anyway. Though the FBI acknowledges the existence of the tunnel, they have never revealed which house in the neighborhood they began digging it from. Speculators believe it was either this observation house on Wisconsin Avenue or an abandoned house around the side of the Embassy on Fulton street. The truth may never be known for sure, as the tunnel has been sealed.
—
“it’s the oldest question of all – who can spy on the spies?”
-john le carre – british/irish espionage author
—
image credits: mad magazine, antonio prohias, mental floss,
Sep20
russia!
russian festival day
a little taste of everything
lots and lots of happy dancing
traditions, tea, wine, beer, language, music, religion, art, history
loved experiencing this culture
the people so passionate about it
and all so new to me.
—
“a nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people.”
-mahatma gandhi
Sep19
fury.
back in the 60’s
so excited to begin my modeling hobby
black fury arrived
took out all three of the pieces
two horse halves and a tail
laid them out
along with my airplane glue
after reading the directions
carefully matching the halves
adding the tail
it’s black plastic body
smeared all over with glue
but it was together
i had made it all by myself
gave it one last little squirt of glue
for good luck
which missed and went into my eye
my joy turned to dramatic squealing
zoomed off to the eye doctor
went home and looked at fury
with my one good eye
not sure what went wrong
learning not to add
one more little dab of something
when a project is finished
and began my foray into my new hobby
stamp collecting.
“when things go right it’s hard to figure out why,
but when things go wrong it’s really easy.”
-steven soderbergh
Sep18
toys r (all of) us.
National Toy Hall of Fame Reveals 12 Toy Finalists
Which toys will make it into the National Toy Hall of Fame this November? The Strong’s National Toy Hall of Fame in Rochester, New York, announced the 12 finalists for induction into the hall: American Girl Dolls, Battleship, billiards, Cabbage Patch Kids, Fisher-Price Corn Popper, Mahjong, Masters of the Universe, piñata, Risk, sand, The Settlers of Catan, and toy fire engine.
“These 12 toys represent the wide scope of playthings—from one of the most universal playthings in the world like sand to a game-changing board game like Risk to the popular adult game of billiards,” says Christopher Bensch, vice president for collections. “Whether old or new, for kids or adults, all 12 of these toy finalists greatly influenced the world of play.”
The Hall of Fame receives thousands of nominations annually, and this year, fans may vote for their favorite finalists from September 15 to 22 as part of a “Player’s Choice” ballot at toyhalloffame.org. The three toys that receive the most public votes will be submitted and will join the other top-three submissions by members of the National Selection Advisory Committee. (The public will collectively act as one member of the 23-member committee.) The final 2021 toy inductees, chosen based on the ballots, will be announced by The Strong museum on Thursday, November 4, at 10:30 a.m.)
to cast your vote, visit www.toyhalloffame.org
and may the best toys win!
The museum recognizes toys that have engaged and delighted multiple generations. Criteria for induction include: Icon-status (the toy is widely recognized, respected, and remembered); Longevity (the toy is more than a passing fad and has enjoyed popularity over multiple generations); Discovery (the toy fosters learning, creativity, or discovery through play); and Innovation (the toy profoundly changed play or toy design). Anyone can nominate a toy to the National Toy Hall of Fame. Final selections are made on the advice of historians, educators, and other individuals who exemplify learning, creativity, and discovery through their lives and careers.
To date, 74 toys have been inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame, some of which are: alphabet blocks, Big Wheel, blanket, bubbles, Candy Land, cardboard box, checkers, Crayola Crayons, dollhouse, Easy-Bake Oven, Etch A Sketch, Frisbee, G.I. Joe, Hot Wheels, , jack-in-the-box, jacks, Jenga, jigsaw puzzle, jump rope, kite, LEGO, Lionel Trains, green army men, Magic 8 Ball, Matchbox Cars, Monopoly, Mr. Potato Head, paper airplane, Radio Flyer Wagon, rocking horse, Rubik’s Cube, sidewalk chalk, Silly Putty, Slinky, Star Wars action figures, stick, Super Soaker, swing, teddy bear, Tonka Trucks, Twister View-Master, and Wiffle Ball.
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i’m totally on team ‘sand’
and while pinatas are one of my favorite things in the world
sand is the best toy ever
Sand may be the most universal and oldest toy in the world. Educator Maria Montessori has argued that sand “is only one substance that the modern child is allowed to handle quite freely.” Children recognize sand as a creative material suitable for pouring, scooping, sieving, raking, and measuring. Wet sand is even better, ready for kids to construct, shape, and sculpt. Sand provides unique opportunities for tactical, physical, cooperative, creative, and independent free play.
“to this day, i have the most fond memories of some of my old toys.”
-michael keaton
Sep17
whole picture.
always a good idea to look at things a bit closer
before drawing conclusions
you might learn a lot more
—
“the only people who see the whole picture, he murmured, are the ones who step out of the frame.”
-salman rushdie
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artist credit: scott johnston
