Uncle + Lariat + Holstein Bull = Big Trouble

Today's Joy: Facing The Bull.

Well, Reader. It seems my family cannot go even a single weekend without becoming entangled in some kind of bizarre mischief. Fortunately, I had the camera along today and captured photographic proof of the day's surreal adventure.

It started out with the intention of being good neighbors. After a long week of working as superintendents at the Kane County Fair, my family was unwinding while watching Cousin, the farrier & Rodeo-extraordinaire, practice barrel racing at the local saddle club. Suddenly, Cousin looked up and said,"Hey, there's a cow out!"

Sure enough, across the country lane, a black & white Holstein was outside the fence and off for a sunset stroll. Said Holstein's owners were nowhere in sight as the cow meandered down the road toward several open cornfields. Reader, anyone who's ever chased a cow will tell you that it becomes 14 times harder to catch if it decides to take off into a cornfield.

So, we scrambled into action. Uncle jumped into the bed of the truck and pulled his lariat from the tool box while Aunt Chef popped into the driver's seat and hit the gas. (I was sitting in the passenger seat with a good view of all the mayhem about to unfold.) Meanwhile, Mrs. Kravitz, an old family acquaintance, tootled over in her golf cart to cut-off the cow's escape. Just for fun, Cousin & another family friend rode their horses over for back-up.

Mrs. Kravitz & The Bull

Between Aunt Chef's fancy motorized herding moves and Mrs. Kravitz' golf cart, we got the wayward cow back onto his owner's property. Then, Uncle, lariat in hand, jumped out of the truck bed and walked up to the cow. He was about 4 or 5 feet away when Mrs. Kravitz yelled,"It's a bull! It's a bull!"

And yes, Reader, it was a bull. A big bull. With horns. And it had had just about enough of us. The next few minutes were chaos as the bull tried to escape, charging Mrs. Kravitz in her golf cart twice, pawing the ground and moving menacingly toward Uncle, who merely slapped it across the forehead with his lariat. Even Cousin and her horse saw some action when the bull charged them. All the while, Aunt Chef maneuvered the truck to keep the bull cornered.

Eventually, a 90 year-old couple (the farm owners), pulled in. Turns out, the bull belonged to their grandson, who was in Wisconsin for the weekend. Somehow, between all of us, we managed to get the bull back in the barn. Aunt Chef, who pulled the truck up to complete a make-shift corral of people and vehicles, rolled down her window, gave the bull a look and said, "Go into the barn now, Cow." He glowered at her for half a second, then seemed to think better of it and went quietly inside. Uncle shut the door with a sigh of relief and then went to patch up the spot where the bull had escaped. With that, our little round-up adventure was over.

Bull Eyeing the Barn with Uncle in the Rearview.

Just a typical day with my family, Reader. Aunt Chef summed it up best. Once all the commotion was over and we were back at the saddle club, she put her head in her hands and started laughing. "My doctor says I'm supposed to live a stress-free life! How in the world am I supposed to do that? Every day is like this!" She is right, of course. But I wouldn't miss it for the world.

Some of my new notecard designs.

Today's Joy: The Finished Product.
Just finished the last of my new card designs for the show in a couple weeks. Reader, there are 20 in all, plus my original 8 Orchid notecard designs. Add to that the new bookmark designs that will also debut at the show and I'm feeling pretty darn good.

Love, love, LOVE these new cards! I saw the finished product and said a little prayer of thanks to God--they are better than I hoped for! Can think of at least a dozen people I want to send them to--but that would defeat the purpose of selling them, so for now, I will refrain. All in all, I'm feeling well-prepared and excited. After experiencing specialized show markets and the craft fair scene, I'm really interested to try my hand at the art fairs.

Just goes to show, Reader, you never know when that divine creative spark will lead you to something wonderful...

Shot at a Local Nursery

Today's Joy: Firing Up the Creativity.

Couldn't wait to get home tonight, Reader, to see if my packages had arrived. I ordered 20 new notecard designs for my show at the end of the month and am contemplating ordering 8 new bookmark designs as well. Alas, no parcels were waiting when I opened the door. But they will likely be here tomorrow.

In the meantime, I'm getting all creatively inspired this week. Can't wait to unveil my new, wider selection of photo notecards & bookmarks at the Art & Soul On The Fox Fine Art Fair in downtown Elgin, IL on July 31st and August 1st. This will be my first juried art show and I'm so excited to see how it will unfold. While I'm a little nervous about what to expect, I couldn't be happier with the quality of product I'm offering. This is truly a labor of love for me and I only hope that the people purchasing my cards will enjoy them half as much as I enjoyed shooting the photos and creating these gorgeous cards.

Knowing that something I created is out there spreading joy and warm wishes is such a wonderful thing. I feel so very blessed.

If you'd like more information on my Fresh Lens Photo Notecards, Bookmarks and Portrait options, check out the Fresh Lens Photography Facebook page. Or click on the Fresh Lens Photography link above on the right-hand tool bar. Custom designs and pricing are available.

Today's Joy: A Well-timed Message.
Happy Wednesday evening, Reader. Hope this week has been a positive one. I just got home from the first field trip of my new women's group thru Christ Community Church. We ventured afar to Willowcreek, a mega church in South Barrington, IL, to hear renowned Christian speaker, Rob Bell.

It was a big night of firsts. First ladies' field trip. My first visit to Willowcreek. First time I'd seen (or heard of) Rob Bell. All told, it was a great experience. Fun to spend some time with my fellow group members. And, while his delivery and habit of using live visual aids was a bit unorthodox, I found Rob Bell's sermon quite engaging.

One of the first ideas he put forth to the gianormous and eager congregation was the concept that familiarity--the kind where you know something so well, you can recite it in your sleep--can rob an idea of its vitality. For example, you know a verse or thought or song lyric so well that it no longer carries any real meaning when you hear it. It's a fascinating idea and one I've entertained more than once. I'm reminded of this phenomenon whenever I hear a song now that I loved as a teenager and played over and over endlessly. Hearing it fresh again, after so many years, makes me remember why I loved it in the first place.

Rob used this concept as a spring board to re-examine what Jesus meant in the Bible when he admonishes his followers to "turn the other cheek". To my great relief, he explained that this doesn't mean adopting a doormat-style passivity when others do you wrong. That kind of passive response only makes us feel powerless, angry and, eventually, leads to despair. After an amusing 3-D history lesson on the customs of fair fighting in Jesus' time, Rob instead showed how turning the other cheek was a way of taking the first blow and then re-directing the power of the situation by standing as an equal rather than a victim. (Email me if you want to get into the nitty gritty of this idea.)

Rob also used the examples of giving the shirt off your back when someone takes your coat & walking two miles with a heavy burden when someone tells you that you must walk one. In 1st century culture, taking off your shirt (nakedness) was a social no-no, but the faux pas was on the viewer, or the person who instigated the nakedness, rather than on the person who actually disrobed. The second example involved an old Roman law where people conquered by the empire (and who wasn't in those days?) had to carry a Roman soldier's burden for a mile if he so asked. But, the soldiers were forbidden to make people carry their packs for more than one mile. In both cases, according to Rob, by taking the intended humiliations one step further, Jesus was advocating that people respond to dehumanizing behaviors with behavior that creates a situation where their tormentors find themselves doing things that are socially reprehensible and illegal. It's genius, really.

What a great way to not be passive and full of self-loathing while, at the same time, not giving in to rage and striking out for revenge (which just continues to escalate and never solves anything). Instead, you choose an unorthodox, creative behavior that changes the balance of power and does not rob you of your human dignity. Rob called this "Third Way Thinking".

It blew me away. Can't tell you how many times I've bit my lip and been enraged while in some sticky, uncomfortable, humiliating and sometimes even dehumanizing situation. What a blessing to now have this new option that allows me to protect my heart.

The last point Rob Bell touched on tonight was forgiveness. He's right, forgiveness does stop the circulation of revenge and wrong behavior. But I was relieved to hear him acknowledge that forgiveness also does not condone a hurtful action. It doesn't forget that the trauma took place. Though, it is a different issue than justice. (Chew on that one and let me know what you think.)

Rob said,"Sometimes, forgiveness is allowing someone to feel the consequences of their actions." (Another biggie for you to mull over.)

So, in using your third way thinking to turn the tables in a bad situation, you are still giving the other person an opportunity to realize what they are doing and change their behavior. In doing so, you honor them. What a fascinating idea.

Would love to hear what you think, Reader. If you're so inclined, check out Rob Bell. Idea-junkies will love his wonderfully practical (secretly cerebral) and very funny style.

Today's Joy: Lines Worthy of A Movie.

Worked the early shift, Reader. Now I'm home and watching the sun go down over golden Illinois cornfields. Feels a bit like a scene from a movie, actually. Puts me in a thoughtful mood--wondering what it must have been like to star in an old Hollywood film, with some profound thought on life antzing around the tip of your tongue. Just waiting for the timing to be right so it could leap off and dazzle the audience sitting just out of frame. Drama, eyes welling with emotion, golden age wardrobe and campy romance scene kiss all included.

Alas, I can't think of any silver screen gems to amuse you. And my attempt to strike a Marlene Dietrich pose is failing miserably. So instead, here are some great lines about life that I found at The Quote Garden. Wonder how Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant or Katharine Hepburn would have delivered these...

Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can. ~Danny Kaye

Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told: "I am with you kid. Let's go." ~Maya Angelou

There is a lesson we learn early and harmlessly, or late and traumatically - that there are things we can break that our parents can't fix. ~Robert Brault

Give us Lord, a bit o' sun,

A bit o' work and a bit o' fun;

Give us all in the struggle and sputter

Our daily bread and a bit o' butter. ~ From an inn in Lancaster, England

I have measured out my life with coffee spoons. ~T.S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

God asks no man whether he will accept life. That is not the choice. You must take it. The only question is how. ~Henry Ward Beecher

The true harvest of my daily life is somewhat as intangible and indescribable as the tints of morning or evening. It is a little star dust caught, a segment of the rainbow which I have clutched. ~Henry David Thoreau, Walden

The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware. ~Henry Miller

Living involves tearing up one rough draft after another. ~Author Unknown

Few of us write great novels; all of us live them. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960

My life has a superb cast but I can't figure out the plot. ~Ashleigh Brilliant

Life is a long lesson in humility. ~James M. Barrie

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me." ~Erma Bombeck

Passion Flower Vine on Bird Trellis

Today's Joy: Horticultural Housekeeping.

I thoroughly enjoyed my day off, Reader. After spending a leisurely morning sipping cappuccino and getting caught up with online stuff, I got out my trowel and repotted the last of my new plants. The gorgeous double-ruffled apricot hibiscus tree (a gift from Aunt) is in full bloom (see below) and looks very smart in its new pot. And my much talked-about passion flower, which has finally finished blooming, also has new digs. When I went to unwind its vines from the small bamboo trellis, I found they were already long enough to cover the new, larger trellis I planned to use. Now it looks twice the size it did.

I also fussed a bit with my Boot Garden and circled the house to snap shots of everything newly-opened. It still amazes me how much things change week to week and sometimes even day to day. Below, for your enjoyment, dear Reader, are the best of the shots I took today.

Boot Garden Reloaded

(New additions include Curly Wurly (pink pot on left) & Lime Bicolor Petunias (yellow pot on right.)

Apricot Double-ruffled Hibiscus Blossom

Freshly Potted

Apricot Double-ruffled Hibiscus

Iron Trellis

From the Top

Begonia Basket

Stackable Mini Herb Garden

(Little green shoots on lowest level are baby Basil plants.)

Lily

Herb Garden

Lilies Just Open

Herb Garden

Lily

Passion Flower Repotted

(After unraveling the vines & affixing them to a larger trellis, the plant seemed to double in size.)

Original Photo by Brandon C. Warren

Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.

~ The Queen

Today's Joy: Alice in Wonderland.

Somehow, Reader, I have gotten through life never having read or seen Alice In Wonderland. Yes, really. I know of Lewis Carroll's literary masterpiece and have seen advertisements over the years for the animated Walt Disney version. But for some reason, I've never gotten around to actually reading it or watching the movie.

Curiouser and curiouser! ~ Alice

Now, enter Tim Burton's inspired new 3-D CG take on this 19th century classic. Well, as I'm usually a big Tim Burton fan, and this version stars Johnny Depp (a favorite actor of mine), I should have been breaking down the theatre door to sit in front of the big screen. But I was still a little hesitant. I saw Tim Burton's Charlie & The Chocolate Factory and found it WAY over the top and frankly, disturbing. While I enjoy Tim Burton's imagination and especially his quirky & whimsical (if dark) interpretation of the world, it was pretty disappointing. So I wasn't in a hurry to have my first Alice in Wonderland experience be equally disenchanting.

Tut, tut, child! Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it. ~ The Duchess

Anyway, tonight was our monthly Dinner & A Movie Night at K's house. I always look forward to a great evening of cooking, conversation and watching a recent DVD film on K's Blu-Ray player. This week's featured film was (you guessed it!) Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. So, I took it as a sign and got all cozy on the couch.

Why is a raven like a writing desk? - Mad Hatter

Well, Reader, it was totally worth the wait! The movie was visually stunning. The characters were vibrant & engaging. I was totally engrossed in the story and enjoyed every wonderfully-weird moment. Now I can't wait to read the book. Hurray for literary genius (however late it may come into our lives)!

I quite agree with you. And the moral of that is: Be what you would seem to be, or if you'd like it put more simply: Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise. ~ The Duchess

Quotes courtesy of Buzzle.com.