A Volunteer's Day

June 21, 2011

Another day, another couple volunteer hours. Two for MNs via Stream watch. Had a great time in the office with Rose, Clementine (her dog) and Becky Minor. After some file work, I got up to go to the bathroom and the door opened. It seemed it was a couple from Oregon looking for information about the Moorman's River which his ancestors had settled with a plantation a couple hundred years ago. . their name was Moorman. (You just can't make this stuff up!!) They are river keepers on the Columbia River where John and I were four years ago. And they had been on 4H Way . . where the camp I work at is. . . so they were happy to get the camp phone number and caretaker's name from me. And they were also happy to learn that there is a wonderful overlook in Shenandoah National Park that looks all down the Moorman River valley. "So, are you going to the Albemarle County Historical Society?"

"That's our next stop. . .do you know where it is?"

"Oh, yes, I spend time there every fall for the Spirit Walk. You want to talk to the librarian, Miss Margeret. She knows where to find everything you need to know. . . .Do you need to speak to the Fluvanna County Historian, too? How do you get there from here? Well, you turn right when you go out the door, .. . ." You get the picture.

"You want to know where Fluvanna, Albemarle and Louisa Counties come together. Let me mark that for you on this Rivanna River Watershed map. You'll need to get off I-64 at this exit, take this road and this road. . . . . " What a hoot!

And after all that fun, I got to use the microscope to look at bugs. It just doesn't get any better than that!!

Unless of course it was this morning at Vacation Bible School. Poor planning! My former students won't believe it, but we ran out of activities to do and the kids got smarmy. So we started making up games. In the middle of the "most sit ups contest" I looked out the door and said, "Quick!! Look religious. . the pastor is coming." He came in and proceeded to do push ups with claps. That's when we decided it was time to go outside and run a "Dress and Strip" relay. The kids had to go one at a time and put on grocery bag boots, a T-shirt, lei and hat, strip it off and run back. I left the pastor to field the parent phone calls. And since there were still five minutes, told them to have a 'screaming meemee fit' which they proceeded to do. . fortunately well away from the church. If you were driving on I-64 and heard screams at 11:45, don't worry. It was us. What a great group of kids! And what great fun. If you're thinking of us, you might say a prayer for them and for the leaders.

So, hope you are having fun today. Someone today told me I needed to write an autobiography. I'm not sure the world is ready for that!!

Signs, wildlife, other politics

It is wonderful to have friends. . . people who care about you and want to help you. I have wonderful friends here at Lake Monticello who would like to see me succeed in the campaign to be on the LMOA Board of Directors. It is a precious thing, and I value each and every one of them.

Several of these wonderful friends have come to me in great concern about my signs. I ordered a 100 of them. . it was almost the same price as ordering 50. . and I confess I have some in my car and far too many in my front yard. These dear friends want me to have my signs at the gates where other candidates have plastered their signs and I have no signs. You need to understand that those of us who live within the gates have to go by those signs either coming or going, and that 80% of the resident population see those signs on a daily basis.

And I have had to thank my dear friends for their concern and inform them that there is a Fluvanna County regulation against having signs in the county right-of-ways. One of my dear friends even went to see the Sherrif's department to determine if this was true. Bless his heart. "Yes, it's true," said the deputy, "but we don't have time to enforce it. No one will charge the candidate or even remove the signs. And your friend may lose the election because of it." Alas for my dear friend, I had to turn down his offer to immediately put one of my signs out there for me. You see, I don't believe that you run for a public office where you commit to following the rules and regulations of the place where you live by disobeying the laws of that place.

But if you feel that way, they protest, why don't you rise up and make that an issue?? Why don't you report those signs, or let the other voters know about it? Why not? And then I tell them, "I stand by my convictions. . . but I don't convict other people with them."

And yesterday, telling this to my friend, I got a hug and a kiss. "And that's why we're voting for you." You know, it doesn't get much better than that. I'd rather be elected for my convictions and my efforts than for how loud I shout, or how angry or malicious I am. If that is the only way to be elected, than I shall serve my community another way.

Yesterday was one of the serving days. I spent the morning at the Tufton Pond by the new handicapped accessible fishing pier helping with the annual kid's fishing day. What fun!! The girls caught more fish than the boys. Little kids who had never held a pole experienced putting their hook in the water and hoping for a bite. And I had the great responsibility of handing out coloring sheets, gummy worms and goldfish crackers. . . and whatever else needed done. Hot, but fun. Fun, that is, until it was discovered that the grip for the hot dogs was not working. Hope I dashed for a new tank of gas, but alas, there were more serious problems and we sent some hot dogs home raw and had a great deal left over. The biggest disappointment of the day. . except for the kids that didn't catch a fish, that is.

After that I dashed home to change my shirt, nuke my hot dog, and run around looking at the annual garden tour. We have a beautification corps. . all volunteers. . here at the lake that plant and take care of all the gardens at the lake. When you consider the beaches, the golf course, and the other public areas, it covers a lot of territory. They do a great job. I've only been able to help them a few times, but it is phenomenal the time and effort that it put forth. Kudos to them!

In all the candidate things happening, one of the other candidates has established a blog site just for the election. Very interesting. One of the issues we have all been asked about is wildlife. . and they mean the deer kind, not the Saturday night kind. I read the candidate's blog. You should know the other candidate has been chair of the very rancorous at times Wildlife Committee and has taken strong stands pro deer. . . to the point where I have had a couple people express much anger toward the person not only for their stand, but their actions on the committee. I read the blog on wildlife. . basically it never, ever revealed how that candidate would vote if the issue of killing the deer were on the table. It was excellent political evasion.

Wanting people to vote for me for my convictions, not for my ability to dance around an issue or a commitment, here is what I wrote to someone asking me that question: I've taught biology for over 30 years. I believe that predators have a place in nature, and that without any predators here, the deer which are sick, weak or injured endure suffering and spread their ills to other deer because there is no natural thinning of them. Also, the under story of the forest is very stressed and the animals (including some wonderful birds) that depend on those under story plants cannot live here. Vegetation which controls erosion and sediment into our lake is stripped away by the deer, clouding the lake water and increasing the E.coli levels. Therefore, as much as I enjoy watching wildlife, I feel the bow hunting is a win/win/win. The deer win because the weak deer are usually thinned and they all have more food available. The home owners win because the natural under story and other desired plants are saved and hopefully the disease carrying tick population is reduced in a safe way. The hungry win because the venison goes to hungry and homeless folk.

If you are reading my blog because you are trying to decide who to vote for, I ask you to look carefully at all of the candidates. Look at their record of service to the community in a number of ways. Ask if they are a one issue candidate, or if they would be looking out for the community as a whole. Do you want to listen to that person for the next three years? Do you want someone with a record of true commitment?

And last, but not least, I ask you if you have any questions, feel free to call me. I am more than willing to talk to you and answer them. You need to vote your conscience. . as I will.

What have I got to hide?

A friend has made up an email to allow friends to gain more information about the various candidates. Two of the candidates have blogs they have published for the campaign. So. . . to publish my blog address or not to publish my blog address . . that is the question. Whether it is nobler in the mind to hide the address from all but my facebook friends and family, or to share it with all the people deciding on how to vote for the Board of Directors here at Lake Monticello.

I found myself rushing to my blog, and scrolling through all of my entries so far. Whew, you can tell that there wasn't much to do in January and February last year when we had all the snow! All my 2010 entries were in those two months. No, I don't see anything convicting or embarrassing in there. . although I suppose a nasty political pundit can make even the most innocent things into sin and guilt of some sort. And there is certainly plenty to convict me of being a Christian. That's good, because I wouldn't want someone to think otherwise, even though I am definitely a sinner and not always the best witness. I guess it will be okay.

And so. . I take the plunge and I'll share my blog address. I apologize to those of you who have rushed to read it in hopes of finding erudite expoundings on the woes and evils of government here and elsewhere. You will find out more about me and about what I think is important - - namely being the best person I can be and maybe helping others be better as well. But certainly not judging them for doing the best they can with what they have.

As the next week goes on, and the blistering heat keeps us indoors a bit more than we might like, I'll try to spend some time writing about LMOA and what I think is important in governing it.

POLITICS!

I find myself neck deep in politics. I am running for the Board of Directors for the wonderful place where I live: Lake Monticello in Virginia. There are six of us running for three seats. Four of my "opponents" are people that I have volunteered with, cried with, laughed with and generally consider to be my friends. Or at least I used to consider them friends. Alas, the fact that I have tried to be considerate and polite to all, and that I have refused to tie myself to anyone seems to make at least a couple of them angry with me. How can you tie yourself to other candidates when you KNOW that you will not agree with them on everything, and that you intend to vote your conscience based on all the facts you can gather whether you agree with them or not?

I have always been somewhat political. . if that's what you call someone who tries to be nice to everyone. In fact, I find it a challenge to try to get grumps to smile. . it's one of those mental games I love to play. And I confess, it is a fault sometimes, but I do try to find the good in everyone. A friend I asked to endorse me in writing confessed that he would not be voting me because basically, I am too nice. This was based on a concern that I would not be able to make hard decisions that might hurt some feelings. . .or jobs. . of people I respect and love. I told him that I have been making hard decisions and managing a classroom . . and more. . for over thirty years. And I spent some time with him seriously discussing some of his concerns which are also my concerns. I also told him that if I lost his vote for being "too nice", than I counted it a privilege to have that label. And left him with a handshake. . .and his vote.

Right or wrong, I intend to do the best job that I can if elected. And I hope to follow the directions of another friend who said, "Don't change who you are". Because who I am is a sinner loved by Jesus, and because of that love, even when I have to make hard decisions that hurt a few in the short term, I will try to love others well.

So, here's to politics!! And my prayer that after all the fur flies and all the votes are counted, that the right will prevail and bad feelings will be left behind. And that everyone will still be working for the best community we can be.

"Nothing but net"

I'm Grandma this weekend. We got to Greensboro, NC, where my grandchildren live (incidentally with their parents, Paul and Kaylene). We were told to be here by 10 AM which meant leaving home by 6:15 AM. And of course we were here by 9:55!! It was value added hugging time as Brummett was still here to be held. After lunch, he left with his Mommy and Meemaw for the women's retreat Kaylene was speaking at this weekend. Six months, and he is itching to be on the floor and to run and be like his big brother.
And that left us with .... ABRAM!! He is an OUTSTANDING two and a third year old. All the angst his parents had when he was 18 months and not as verbal as the doctor wanted is gone in a profusion of dinosaur names, counting to three, and repeating EVERYTHING that is said to him. I told him he was obstreperous. "Obstreperous," he repeated. I dropped the knife - "Oh, Rats!!" "Oh, Rats!" came the reply. Every once in a while his parents are caught up short by a phrase he is using only to realize they know exactly where he learned it!
The mental wheels in that little mind are always turning. "Read another story!" when it's time to put off bedtime. "I don't want to wear that!" which always brings chuckles in me because he sounds just like his Daddy used to sound. The body stiffening to prevent putting him in the high chair, the gripping of a treasured forbidden items, and the "No, I don't like that!" all bespeak the strong will he got from his Dad and Grandpa. The apple really doesn't fall far from the tree.
I was having a lot of fun with him, and I aimed a piece of paper at the trash can. "Nothing but net!", I exclaimed and then I realized. I'm the grandma. And that's what grandmas are... Nothing but net. Over and over I have prayed with other women who were concerned about their grandsons. I have listened to how they show their love and support for the grandchildren. Nothing but net. No matter what their grandchildren do or how they get in trouble, grandma is always there for them. Nothing but net. Toddlers fall down, and grandparents pick them up. Nothing but net. Parents need extra help or kids need some time away... where do they go? To the net. Parents have to be the tough guys. Parents have to set the limits and grandparents should follow them, but when push comes to shove, it's 'nothing but net'.
I'm so happy to be ... Nothing but net!
I'm so glad to be.... Nothing but net!

Age is a state of mind.....

WOW! I saw a note on someone's face book page..."You have a lot of old people friends." And it was to one of my friends. WHAT?!?!? And then I thought about it. So the premise of today's blog is "Age is a state of mind... And it's not the years, its the fears" (For those of you collecting, as far as I know that is a Swenson original. Alas if it's already claimed.)

Have you ever known a young person that with a good gray wig, spectacles and a cane could pass easily for an "OLD person"? There are some people who are so afraid of energy, or new ideas, or taking a chance that they add years and years to their chronological status by their fears. And there are some more chronologically blessed who give the appearance of many years younger, not because of their cosmetologist or plastic surgeon, but by their energetic and enthusiastic approach to life.

Now I am not promoting disrespect for the safety of your body, but I am promoting real freedom of spirit. I am telling you that it is okay to bounce with the beat of the music; it's fine to give a stranger a grin or a coward a sense of courage; and you will not go to hell by trying out a different way to do something. I am saying that we need to always be trying new things, and let go of the 'safe' to reach out to new knowledge and new loves. I am not saying leave your husband or wife, or try the half pipe. I am saying try some new places, touch the animal being held out to you, be the Santa Claus at the Christmas party, wear the silly hat. Every once in a while yell, "Let's have some fun!!" Then don't be afraid to have it. A good belly laugh massages your liver.. It's good for your health. Train your face into new, happy wrinkles. You needn't look like you are eating pickles all the time to be respected.

(Look for the praying mantis on the hat. She crawled up my arm to the top... they catch more bugs up high, so look for them first on the tops of the bushes.)

And now a word from our sponsors...

So, I've been checking out the ads I let them put on my blog. I was thrilled to see a bunch of Christian ads on one of my early posts. Now if I could just get them to count my hits like I asked. sigh

Sunny day. Hope all you readers are enjoying some sunshine, too.

Ida