Earring 0036 - Butterflies

If you've been reading my blog, you probably know by know that I like quotes and sayings. These earrings present a good opportunity for butterfly quotes (http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/butterflies)

“She liked being reminded of butterflies. She remembered being six or seven and crying over the fates of the butterflies in her yard after learning that they lived for only a few days. Her mother had comforted her and told her not to be sad for the butterflies, that just because their lives were short didn't mean they were tragic. Watching them flying in the warm sun among the daisies in their garden, her mother had said to her, see, they have a beautiful life. Alice liked remembering that.”
― Lisa Genova, Still Alice

“I think humans might be like butterflies; people die every day without many other people knowing about them, seeing their colors, hearing their stories... and when humans are broken, they're like broken butterfly wings; suddenly there are so many beauties that are seen in different ways, so many thoughts and visions and possibilities that form, which couldn't form when the person wasn't broken! So it is not a very sad thing to be broken, after all! It's during the times of being broken, that you have all the opportunities to become things unforgettable! Just like the broken butterfly wing that I found, which has given me so many thoughts, in so many ways, has shown me so many words, and imaginations! But butterflies need to know, that it doesn't matter at all if the whole world saw their colors or not! But what matters is that they flew, they glided, they hovered, they saw, they felt, and they knew! And they loved the ones whom they flew with! And that is an existence worthwhile!”
― C. JoyBell C.

“Alongside the practical thought something else struggled and, like an escaped butterfly, took wing: the assurance of something wonderful awaiting her. Just around the corner......”
― Norah Lofts

“This flesh in which we live is nothing more than a cocoon, and only when we step out of it do we truly begin to live.”
― Nancy Stephan, The Truth About Butterflies: A Memoir

Mrs. Gerlach taught my English classes in high school. I loved English and couldn't take enough of her subjects. It was sitting in her classroom that I learned to love quotes. Maybe it had something to do with having to learn Shakespeare and understanding what was meant. I don't know but quotes have stuck with me. Maybe someday I'll say something that will be a quote but then again, it doesn't matter because if I look hard enough, the quote has probably already been said.

Earring 0035 - Really, Spring Is Just Around the Corner

These earrings reminded me so much of Easter but I couldn't wait to wear them. All this sun is so wonderful that it called for appropriate earrings. They were fun to wear and made me feel good too. I can just imagine how nice Donna looked in these with her dark hair and dark complexion. Never asked her what her heritage was...now I'll have to find out from my sister-in-law. Sandy has dark hair just like her mom's.

Wait till you see my next earrings. I didn't leave the house so I wore a pair that I probably wouldn't have worn.

Earring 0034 - More time

These earrings reminded me of time for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that they are spheres and remind me of deep space, which I associate with time. The other reason is that these earrings seem to be very special; just like time. Donna must have liked this kind of earring because they come in a variety of colors. These were the first pair of earrings that I picked out to wear but it wasn't the right time to wear them. Even though I really liked them, they match a necklace my sister has so she now has these earrings in her possession.  Donna, you have great taste!

Lately, I have been reading a lot of time travel stories. Always have like the idea of time travel. Probably have already said this, but when I was young, I had a lot of earaches. Those earaches kept me up at night, which also kept mom up. We would watch science fiction shows because that was the time of the night when most sci-fi shows were shown. My favorite were always ones that involved time travel.

Once in a while, I wish that I could time travel and fix some things that I wish would have been different. Then I think, what if I changed something good that wouldn't happen because of what I had changed. For instance, what would have happened if I stayed in college instead of meeting my first husband. Would I still have my son? There's no way that I would ever change having my son and I want him to be just the person he is. So farewell time travel. However, if I could go back and watch things in time as an observer, that would suit my fancy.

"The Time Keeper" by Mitch Albom (http://mitchalbom.com/d/) was one of the books that I finished reading the other day. It sure made me think a lot. It was about the person who learned to count and then went on to discover how to keep track of time. He became Father Time; not a job that I would like. Humans are the only ones to keep track of time. We watch it and sometimes want it to go by fast, other times want it to go slowly. Other times we wish we would just skip part of it and other times we wish we could have a do-over. A couple of quotes I would like to share from the book are the following:

This quote is from a conversation: "There is a reason God limits our days." "Why" "To make each one precious."

I'm ending this post with the second "And it (the world) never had enough time."

Earring 0033 - Time

Not everything is black and white but it may look like it sometimes

Suppose you only see one earring. Well, you're right on that count. The other earring disappeared. It could have blended so well into my clothes that it became part of them. Either that or it's in one of my pockets on my black and white jacket. Maybe that's a sign I need more color.

Speaking of not everything is black and white, reminds me of what a teacher once told me "there really is not gray in black and white." It's either black or it's white. But then you get an earring like this and you begin to wonder. The paint started coming off the earring and in those spots it's a completely different color. Guess you have to look deeper in order to find the meaning to this.

I used to be a person who felt it was either this way or that way. Now that I'm older plus all of the classes I've been taking over the last five years, I've changed. Our world is colorful for a reason and if you take the time to enjoy the colors, you can see even more colors.

Happy to say that I have a lot of color in my life now and I hope to continually add to it.

Earring 0032 - Life's Ups and Downs Ins and Outs

Life is a lot like these earrings ups and downs and ins and outs. All discombobulated (OMG - got the spelling on that word correct the first time!!!) and yet when you put it all together, it makes sense. It's all a matter of point of view and maybe a twist or two and it comes together as one. Kind of like synergy; you can have so many components that are all different from one another but together is more effective than by the components individually. Boy, isn't that life.

A quote from Frank Nietzsche is "that which does not kill us makes us stronger (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/f/friedrichn101616.html)." There's days when you think that you're going to have a heart attack from so much stress and then hours later, things come together and you can make a change for the positive. Looks like I am going to have to look u a bunch of quotes and use them in my first ex-mother-in-law's honor. After all, she did get me hooked on quotes and their meanings.

This quote is perfect to end the night on. It's by Robert H. Schuller, who I love listening to from his Crystal Cathedral. "Never cut down a tree in wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods. Wait. Be patient. The spring will come. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/down.html."

Photo taken on drive with my sister on May 24, 2009...

Spring is coming - I just know it.

Earring 0031 - Parts Connected Together

Donna, I love these earrings but I did give them to my sister. She will enjoy them for years to come.

These earrings reminded me a lot about life. The circular area at the top represents childhood. We work so hard to become adults to break out of that circle. The next is the big loop. This represents our young adulthood where we sometimes make many mistakes. It's a learning time for us to test the waters and prove our parents wrong (yeah right - that didn't happen!). Then something happens and about 60 when all of your childhood memories start to become vivid again, you make the curve and head right back to your childhood. You're wiser but now you know how to play and hopefully take the time to play.

That's something that I haven't done and I realized this past weekend that I'm probably in the third tri-semester of my life. Not being afraid of death comes in handy. What I'm afraid of is that I will run out of time before I can have fun again. Those two fears are different but still go hand-in-hand. Don't want to live with what ifs and what could have been. One of the things that I would like to have before I die is true love like my two brothers have with their wives. Growing up in my first marriage took a lot out of both my husband and I. We were kids and had a baby and never really got to explore life together. My second husband showed me the world that I would have never explored. I don't regret my time with him because of the wonders that he helped me discover. I also learned from him to pick and chose my battles - that is something that would have been helpful in my first marriage to have applied that to life; we may have still been married. Now I just want time with someone who can respect me for who I am and treat me nice...just like I would do for him. Maybe this just isn't a part of the earrings that I have in my life. You just never know what you will find around the corner...one time with my first mother-in-law, the wizard of all sayings, she said to me those same words and when we turned the corner, there was a horse of another color - it was a pink horse. Don't get me wrong though because I do not want a pink horse!

Earring 0030 - Missing Mom

Mom always wore colorful clothes. She would have liked Donna's earrings like these above. Mom never pierced her ears and I never asked her why. She always wore clip earrings. When ear piercing became popular in the 70s but was really made popular because of the movie "Grease" in 1978. I had my ears pierced by the time I was about 14 and had pierced ears well before the movie. I was probably the first person in our school to have pierced ears (rural area). My family was at a friends' home in Minneapolis. I finally was convinced by two young teenagers that I should let them pierce my ears. But by the time I said yes, my parents said it was time to go. As we were descending the stairs with ice cubes on my ears, one of my girlfriends took a needle and pierced my ears. Since then, I've had three more piercings in my ears. It's amazing that I can wear earrings in two of those places because I only wear additional earrings on a rare occasion. My nephew was going to pay to have my tragus pierced this past Christmas but I think I chickened out. The tragus is the triangle-shape part before your ear canal. The only reason I would consider it being done is that it is not an acupuncture point. The ears have many acupuncture points and I'm a firm believer that piercing damages those points. Why damage something when the ears have so much healing potential with acupuncture/acupressure.

Glad that Donna had the foresight to have her ears pierced. Mom was quite a bit older than Donna so I am sure that's why mom didn't have her ears pierced. It just wasn't in style for an older person at that time. Mom didn't become much older otherwise maybe she would have broken down and had her ears pierced.

Earring 0029 - Hearts of Gold Like My Sisters

Blessed I am with one blood sister and two more that you would think we are blood sisters too. The four of us don't do anything together. It's hard enough getting two together! We all share a common bond because we all have the same name (Susie - even though you have a different last name, I bet if I called you by your maiden name, you'd answer but then you're so used to answering to all of the names that I have for you!). It's more to it than just a name. We all have the same values and our children are right under God in our system. Guess I have several million sisters when you think about it in that light.

All four of us have hearts of gold and wear our hearts on our sleeves.

Earring 0028 - The Cat's Out of the Bag

Before I mentioned that I picked out the earrings everyday but I have to be honest with you...my landlord picks out the earrings. Yep, that's right, my landlord's first name is Bobbi and she loves earrings as much as I do. She picks up an earring with her mouth and must like the feel of it. However, as much as she wants me to chose the earring she choose, it usually doesn't happen. But just like everything else, she's my landlord and I have to make sure that I don't upset her or she might kick me out.

Earring 0027 - Black and White

 

 

Black and white, I want my baby back. Love that song. Donna and I like black. I'm fortunate enough to have her earrings. Since I got the earrings, I have not looked at them other than opening up packets in their different drawers. So every day I get something new, not only to look at but to wear too! When I pick out the earrings to wear, it is going much faster. Quickly usually two pair pop out at me saying "Wear me, wear me!!!" and I oblige by picking one of them. Sometimes the earrings pick me before I pick out what I am going to wear as was in the case with these earrings.

 

Earrings can lighten my day in many ways and these were somewhat whimsical. Whimsical is good especially when you work at a cemetery. There are different atmospheres here. Sometimes the family is finally at peace; sometimes they are grateful and happy to share all the good times; sometimes they are sad because they will miss their best friend; sometimes they wish that it was them instead; and sometimes they hope that they will be joining them soon. You never know what the temperature will be until the family comes in unless you know them. Lately, not very many people have come in that I know so that helps me. I still can get emotionally attached rather quickly. My heart breaks with the families and you'd think that it was someone I knew who had passed.

 

When my parents passed, it was pretty tough. When mom died, I lost my best friend. No matter what I did she was always there for me and supported my decision even when she didn't agree. When my dad passed, it wasn't quite as hard because I knew he was ready to meet God and anxious to be with mom. And that is the good side of death...believing in God and life everlasting. For those who don't have faith, you are missing life's greatest comfort. 

Earring 0026 - Family Time

These earrings are like my family. They are simple to understand yet they make a statement. Even though their somewhat plain they are so intricate and the size of the pearl represents the size of their heart...huge. I'm lucky to have the family I have. We all get along even though we have our differences. We look to see the best in each other and we are also very protective of each other. We don't like it when our family is hurt either emotionally or physically.  At those times we get even more protective and try to shelter one another.

We grew up that it was acceptable for a man to give another man a hug. Family reunions always had more hugs than you can imagine. When I got married to my son's father, no one in that family hugged one another. Then I get stuck in the picture and hug everyone. Think I brought a new tradition into that family. I'm one to express my emotions and each my ex's siblings expressed theirs to me too.

Working at the cemetery, you see all kinds of things but what sticks out the most is the families that are fighting. Some have never talked to their siblings for years. We were taught blood is thicker than water and when the going get tough, family is there. In yesterday's news, there was an article about a minister who wasn't the nicest person to many people through condemnation. His family broke apart. Now that he is dying, some of the family that was isolated from him want to bee with him. Other family members aren't allowing this so the isolated family will never be able to tell their father that they loved him even if they didn't agree with him.

Mom told us that life was too short and you never know when your time is coming. I hope that my family can stick together as we are the rest of our lives. Like Donna's earrings, everything on the earring has a place and fits, yet if you lose one, it's just not the same.

Earring 0025

Today, I took the Amtrak back home. What a beautiful day, what a beautiful rider. Saw 38 eagles but only a few of them were in open water near Read's Landing. Donna would have enjoyed the train trip and seeing the eagles. Some of them were pretty close because they were sitting in the trees next to the tracks. Nice ride. Nice weekend. Nice family.

Earring 0024

I have the sense of spring all around me. Traveled to be with my family in the Minneapolis area. Had a good time. Played bingo, went to church, and spent time together eating and reminiscing. After talking with Donna's grandson, Rod, I may change from blogger.com to wordpress.com.

Short blog - that's what happens when you leave town!

Earring - 0023 Steel

It was a mellow day this day working with cemetery files of veterans. These earrings reminded me of times gone by. They remind me of old steel and old lace and definitely of some old woman's pearl earrings. As I go through the veterans' files, I think about their families and I think about my family. Three of my brothers were in the Navy (My other brother wanted to join but it wasn't in his cards), my first husband was in the Navy, my son was almost 20 years in the Army, and one of my nephews was almost 15 years in the Navy, one of my uncles retired from the Air Force after 20+ years and another retired from the Navy after 20+ years. I consider us a military family even though my dad wasn't in the service. He tried but he had bad timing; too young for one war and too old for the other. That didn't stop our family from being patriotic. Donna's husband was in the military too.

Thank you to all the veterans that I know and to all that I don't know. I appreciate the time you have given and the effort since while you were away from your families. 

Since we're working on our Avenue of Flags in the cemetery, I'll probably write more later about veterans.

Earring 0022 A River Runs Through

For some reason, these earrings remind me of a map with a river or creeks running through the area. Some spots have ponded areas, some gather with others to get larger.

Like many fly fishermen in western Montana where the summer days are almost Arctic in length, I often do not start fishing until the cool of the evening. Then in the Arctic half-light of the canyon, all existence fades to a being with my soul and memories and the sounds of the Big Blackfoot River and a four-count rhythm and the hope that a fish will rise. Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of those rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters.

—Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It (1976)

 

 

I'm not haunted by the waters but can relate to the underlying meaning. Guess this is called life and its ups and downs of everyday living. Honestly, I am somewhat haunted by waters now that I think of it.

 

When I was younger, my sister and I were swimming in the Mississippi. We were about ten feet apart. At that age I didn't know how far ten feet apart was but now I can visualize it and now know what ten feet apart means. I had trouble with measuring distance until I worked in turf grass research...with my feet spread, the distance is three feet, which is how far you plant turf grass plantings.  Anyway, Susan was playing closer to shore and she was just about to sit. At that same time, a water moccasin (snake) went past her. She was facing me and didn't see it behind her. What a scare we both had. Even though I couldn't measure, we were taught what snakes were not safe for us to be around. I still hold my breath when I think about what could have happened. Probably not anything would have happened but you never know.

 

The other haunting was when my son, Greg, was about three years old. At that time, I was married to Bruce, Greg's father. Bruce, my oldest brother, his wife, Greg, and I were at my brother's wife's land. My brother and his wife were thinking about building a house on the property. It had a swampy area on the property that they were cleaning up. Oh, you think you know that something happened to Greg in that swampy area...no. Greg was running around without a care in his head. The four of us were taking our sweet time to get down to the swamp. All of a sudden Greg disappeared. There was a well that was partially covered. Greg fell into the well. He didn't know how to swim but God helped him and he didn't even go under. Greg learned how to tread water really fast. Bruce was very fit and trim and extremely agile, and strong at that time of his life. Somehow Bruce scaled the walls down into the well to save Greg. It all happened so fast like seconds. I've always been so grateful that Bruce was able to save Greg. Not that I wouldn't have jumped in there to save him but Bruce was like a flash of lightening and the next thing you know, he and Greg were out of the well. Thank God!

 

I know Donna had her rivers in life too. Here's a photo of the earrings

Earring 0021 - I remember when I turned 21

It was a short night for me last night. Sorry I did not do the blog until today. Pretty busy at the cemetery getting ready for summer. Right now our rush is on our Avenue of Flags. This is new for us so there's lots of details and we want to make sure that nothing is missed. So after being exhausted at work, I was too tired to blog. However, I'm obsessed with the missing airplane that never arrived in China. So last night, I spent three hours on a site looking at satellite photos. I did find two boats in one of the segments but that's not what I was looking for. There was no count of the number of people who are doing this but I know the place that is outsourcing this couldn't keep up with the number of people who volunteered to do it. If nothing is even accomplished, I feel like I'm doing my part looking for the families of those missing. My hope is that the plane was hijacked and is hidden somewhere since cell phones are still operating.

When I turned 21, the legal drinking age was already 18. I had already been to Las Vegas but have not been back since I was 18. That means that I never got to go into a casino in Vegas. Maybe someday I will get to play a slot there. When I was 21, I was so busy with my almost one-year old son who had learned how to run. Think he forgot he was supposed to walk first, instead taking a few steps and learning to walk, he took a few steps and learned to run. He became quite a runner. Before he got his car when he was 18, he ran from one end of town to the other, which was about 7 miles or more one way. He did a lot of track events when he was younger and won a couple of ribbons for his running. Wish I could run but I know I can run in my dreams!

Earring 0020 - To be by the Sea

Winter has been long enough and I would love to be somewhere by the water listening to the waves hit the shore. Just thinking about it relaxes me. These earrings remind me of the shells that we used to find when we were kids. The clams we used to find weren't anything like this but sometimes you could find one with a nice iridescent color on the inside. Wonder how many of those clam beds are alive now.

There used to be button factories along the Mississippi that used the shells to make buttons. Wonder if any of my old buttons came from here. You never know. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife have a piece on Internet on the shells and buttons. Not much information but it is interesting: http://www.fws.gov/midwest/mussel/harvest.html.

Bet Donna looked really nice wearing these earrings between the color of the earrings and her dark-colored hair.

Earring 0019 Simple but Elegant

These are so pretty but even though they are simple they are elegant. Donna could wear these all dressed up or while in jeans. Of course, if you knew Donna, even in jeans she was all dressed up. She was always the one ready to go shopping. Her daughter, my sister-in-law Sandy, and I talked about this a little bit the other day. As we are getting older we know why they were always ready to go. It wasn't about shopping, it was about being with people. You know, you just want to be around people but not necessarily to be friends with them. There's something about smiling at a stranger or saying a kind word to someone in line either behind or in front of you. It might be their only smile of the day or even the only time they had an opportunity to chat.

Have to admit that I give people a lot of opportunity to chat. I may not be one to talk a lot while I'm working, at home with my cat, and I'm definitely not the extrovert at a party. But give me a minute to say hello to someone and the next thing you know, we are having a conversation and I know about their family before we part (they will also know a little about mine too!). I enjoy going to a casino and sitting at a slot machine. Besides that, I enjoy interacting with the people older than me. You can learn a lot about others and yourself at the same time. Met some pretty nice people. May not ever met them ever again but it feels good to make that tiny connection.

Earring 0018 It's Sunday and a Funday

What a great day to wear some earrings that remind me of Mother Earth and being alive. Had such a great day today. It started out having breakfast with my "baby" brother. Roger is the youngest of the my four brothers (he is still older than me). My sister, who is younger than me, said that Roger was the baby of the family for six years before I came along. I probably spoiled a lot of his fun but that's life. Think I make up for it now when we are together. We eat breakfast at our local Hardee's Restaurant on some Sundays. Wasn't going to let the time change get me so I was there pretty early even though Roger probably got there at his usual time. We had a nice visit and we can sure laugh a lot! It would be really nice if my other brothers, sister-in-laws, sister and her boyfriend could join us. It's a nice tradition even if we don't meet every Sunday. Always good to end the meal with a hug.

It's almost time for school's "Spring Break" and I actually have a break from one of my classes. Don't think the one teacher gets that it's a break; we have a mid-term final to take. It's a three-hour long test but I have to write notes for nine chapters. Breezed through the chapters but didn't take notes. Won't repeat that mistake again.

Will probably be on an eagle kick for a while as the eagles migrate through. The earrings I will be wearing have had the tendency to be Spring-orientated. Sounds good to me especially with all of this snow we have. Friday, I heard that there is 42" of ice on Lake Pepin! We have six feet of frost in the ground at the cemetery. Should be interesting this week when things start to thaw. The roads are already bad and when that frost comes out, we'll have to say our prayers to make it through the pot hole season.

Might be changing to WordPress to do the blog. Want all of my earring pictures to stay posted on the blog and haven't figured out how to delete pictures on my phone and keep them on the blog. Very frustrating. It's great that Google is so interactive but sometimes separation is good.

It will be a busy week this week...

Earrings 0017 Black Leather and Silver

These were so pretty but they hurt my ears. Part of my goal is to share the earrings that I won't be wearing after I have worn them at least once. These are now owned by a beautiful young lady with a great sense of style. She has beautiful eyes and accents them with differing shades of eye shadow. She is a student and works full-time too. Such a nice person too! She will definitely get the non-traditional earrings as her part of the inheritance from Donna. I think Donna would like her too.

This young lady works at a fast food restaurant. I go there two times a week. On Tuesdays, they have a Coney special for $1 and on Fridays, a fish sandwich for $2.49. They know my order because I've been going there since they opened a couple of years ago. Even though I don't spend much money there, they treat me like a queen. My sister was so surprised that a person could be treated that kindly at a chain fast food restaurant. The staffs could definitely improve the big chain fast food restaurant here with their customer service skills! Maybe it has something to do with the customer-service orientated fast food restaurant being part of a smaller chain. By the way, if you're wondering, the chain I'm talking about, it's A&W. What a wonderful staff they have!!!

Been a long week so I'm not going to write any story tonight. Tomorrow I have a ton of homework to catch up on. It will be hard not to take off on a road trip to do some eagle watching...but maybe I can take my schoolbook with me and pull over somewhere and read - as long as I don't see any eagle feathers, I should be fine (lol).

Earring 0016 Cute as a button

I'm becoming a fan of button earrings. That's a good thing because Donna has a ton of button-style earrings. There are so many plain ones and I've decided that I'm going to get extra creative over the summer with me. My plan is to take those buttons, along with my oil and acrylic paints, and go to the water's edge and paint. I like to paint sceneries and wild flowers. Probably like painting wild flowers because my sister that is what my sister likes to paint. You never know, maybe the two of us will be painting by the river or lake some day.

These are so cute. At first I thought I was going to have a problem wearing them because they're so big. Donna was a petite woman but she sure wore some big earrings! Now that I'm thinking about Donna, I think I'll have to paint some holiday earrings in her honor. She would have liked that.

Short night because it was a very long day at the cemetery. Here are the earrings:

Earring 0015 Eagles in Spring

It is possibly a far stretch but these earrings, even though they are not feathers,  remind of bald eagle feathers. It's either that or I really want Spring to spring into action.

Have a couple of funny stories about bald eagles. One time Donna, Chuck (Donna's wonderful, fantastic, kindest of kind husband), my sister-in-law, and brother traveled along a local highway along the Mississippi River. I can't remember the details if I followed them in my car or met them and they followed me. It was so long ago but we drove while looking for eagles. Donna and Chuck were so excited to tell me that they saw one eagle. I didn't have the heart to tell them that I had counted over 60 eagles during that drive.

Maybe I've mentioned this before but when we were kids, mom would say "Oh, look at the bird in the tree" as she was pointing to a forest. Well, we actually saw the bird she was referring to. My sister-in-law can't believe that I can see birds the way I do but it's because of our well-trained eyes seeking that bird mom was always pointing to.

The other funny story was about eagle feathers. It's illegal to own eagle feathers except for some Native Americans who can possess them. I do not know the legal description for this so it's just a fact my sister and I cannot have an eagle feather in our possession. Well, between January and April, the eagles migrate through the Mississippi River valley and we've seen as many as 500+ sitting on the ice at Lake Pepin. This one time, there were so many eagles flying and at one little town, there were about 30 of them overhead. Something caught both my sister's and my attention. It was a large feather alongside the road. We pulled over and nonchalantly walked to where the feather laid. Discretely, we picked up the feather and took it to the car making sure that no one saw what we did. We wrapped the feather up in a towel and were so nervous and excited about our treasure.. We swore not to tell a soul because we could be facing jail time if caught with the feather. Smiling ear-to-ear, we got back into the car and continued our eagle watching journey.

We didn't go very far and saw another eagle feather. We looked at each other and decided not to pull over because one feather was already taking a chance. Went a little farther and there were more feathers. By this time we were almost in shock. I was thinking that I had to call someone because something was going on. There were so many feathers. We went a little further. You won't believe what we saw...

Yep, a truck full of turkeys. Probably going to be people's Easter dinner! Then thinking about our special hidden feather, a very yucky feeling came over both my sister and I. We looked at our hands and thought, we touched that dirty bird's feather!!! Gross. Needless to say, the feather did not stay in the vehicle very long. As soon as we got to a gas station, I threw out the towel and both my sister and I washed our hands thoroughly. I even cleaned my steering wheel along with everything else we had touched. Can you tell I don't like the though of touching turkey feathers?

Hope you enjoyed the eagle feather earrings.

Earring 0014 Pearls of Wisdom

Working at a cemetery, you try to find humor in everything you do. Tonight I played with my photos of my earrings and came up with something...

My caption for the above photo would be it's either Julia at night or someone else is out in the cemetery. I know, sick...


Here's the earrings as they really are (even though I did not doctor the above photo - my camera just wasn't cooperating):

Couldn't focus correctly no matter what I tried. I know that the camera has autofocus but it should work even if my eyes are tired. Well, it didn't. These are not in focus. Yes, it is another pearl earring.

Donna had a variety of pearl earrings or should I say pearlized earrings? I can still see my mom wearing her pearl earrings (and necklaces). Don't think that those images of her that I have will fade. You know, they say the older you get, your memories of when you were younger are more vivid than recent memories. I realize how nice it will be to see my mom and dad someday as those memories become more vivid to me. When you can't call home anymore to ask a simple question because those people aren't around anymore, it really hits home. Even though it's been almost 30 years since my mom died, every once in  a while I forget that I can't call her.

Mom and Donna were alike in some ways. They both gave you their opinion (whether you asked for it or not). In retrospect, I should have listened to their opinions. Back then, when you're young, you know what you are doing and it really doesn't matter what mom says, you just have to listen to what she says and do whatever you want. It would have made my life easier if I would have listened to one or the other (Mom or Donna) because they had pearls of wisdom. Please tell me Mom or Donna, what should I do because now I would listen.

Earring 0013 - Heaven's Night

These are not the earrings I wore but the flowers that I received from my son and his family for my birthday. It's so comforting to know that even though there are miles between us and even if we don't talk too frequently, that we are always there for each other. Working at a cemetery, so often I see split families and I feel so bad for them because they are missing out on so much joy and love. Life's too short to carry a grudge or hurt feelings. My mom always said be the first to say you're sorry and never go to bed mad. Well, when I quit saying I was sorry (even if it wasn't my fault), it was the beginning of the ending.

The flowers were supposed to be  surprise but the florist called and wanted to make sure they had the correct location because the bouquet was "birthday" flowers not a "sympathy" basket. We get flowers all of the time for different occasions...especially birthdays and anniversaries. It's the first time that a live person has received flowers at the cemetery in quite a while. Nice change and very appreciated. Rather have them now then when I'm not around.

Aren't these pretty earrings. They reminded me of the sky at night, maybe looking through a telescope. It just seemed like a good day to wear a piece of heaven. Thought of you today Donna!

Earring 0012 - Swans

Okay, here's another pair of earrings I wouldn't wear outside. They're pretty, but they're just not me. The earrings are black buttons each with a pair of white swans with glitter on them. I like birds but the only ones you will find on my earrings are eagles or flamingos.

Donna liked flamingos. Sometimes I wonder if it was because flamingos are pink. She's the one who got me hooked on flamingos and I have a small collection of them left. When Donna passed, her flamingos needed a home. I didn't know they were homeless looking for a place to live. There's always room in my home for another flamingo. Some of the flamingos I now have are breathtaking pieces of art. I really enjoy them. I have them up on a shelf that I can see when I am in my living room. Such a beautiful and graceful bird. When I was in Florida a few years back, I was hoping to see some flamingos in the wild but didn't make it that far south. Maybe some time that will happen.

This weekend I didn't venture out and can feel my writing is somewhat stifled. Need some fresh air and I know that tomorrow morning when I take that first step outside, I know my lungs will be filled with crisp air. BRRRR but at least our air quality is good!

Earring 0011 Pretty in Pink

It's Saturday so it's a day that I could wear a pair of earrings that I typically wouldn't wear. Doing the Spring earring thing again today.

One of the things I learned today is that the images are not stored in the blog. Since I had the earrings posted here, I wasn't going to keep them on my cell phone. My sister checks out the blog every day and told me that all of the photos were gone. What a pain!  Not my sister, the fact that the photos are separate from the text. Will have to figure this one out because I do not want 1,000+ earrings on my phone or on my Google Drive...not even on my computer. Without the pictures of the earrings, the blog wouldn't be the same.

Donna could wear anything and look good. On the other hand, you have me and I cannot wear anything and look good. It was fun to wear these earrings today but no one saw them on me so it was even better.

I'm fortunate and thankful to have the family I have. We all get along and have fun together. Not all families are like that. There has never been a competition to see who has more stuff. For the most part, I think we're all happy with life and happy for each day we wake up. Some days are harder than others but like my nephew says, our hardest days are someone else's best day. Thank God for family.

Intro and the Beginning of the Earring Journal

This blog is being dedicated to Donna B. whose journey ended April 22, 2013. Donna loved clothes, shoes, and jewelry, as her family can attest to. I do not think that I ever saw Donna wear anything twice but she probably did. My blog is going to be about Donna's earrings that I received. When I opened the box, my eyes sparkled because of the gift I received. There has to be at least a thousand earrings of every kind imaginable. Her earrings reflected what I consider to be her favorite color, black and Donna wore a lot of black.

My goal is to wear a different pair of earrings each day and write a little something. That little something could be anything from something of interest of the day, a thought about family including Donna, or a quote. Whatever is written will be inspired by the earrings of the day.

I have to admit there are some earrings that I won't wear. So occasionally, there will be a photo of some earrings at random to show these earrings. My sister is the beneficiary of the hoops which came in both silver and black. Since hoops aren't my style and they are my sister's style, she will get good use out of them.

The journey begins and Donna lives on through us...