The History of Aprons

This is one of those emails that comes along anonymously but has great wisdom and heart. I hope you enjoy it. Let me know if you learn who wrote it!

The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven. It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.

From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids. And when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms.

Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove. Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron. From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls. In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture could be dusted in a matter of minutes. When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that "old-time apron" that served so many purposes.

Tortuga Sea Return (by Marcie Barr)

Well every trip always has that special moment ... there is always a story.... and it just had not arrived yet.

As we stayed at the Tree Tops beach cabanas, we heard about Ernesto, a Mexican man that lives down the beach caretaking a casa for the owner who lives in Rome. He and his wife live in a very small living quarters in the bottom of the house. Jeffrey, the owner of Tree Tops, had been hatching sea turtle eggs from the beach and returning the small turtles to the sea.

Ernesto had arrived on the beach one day with a bucket of turtle eggs to try and sell to Jeffrey and he said he would buy them everyday, and in this way the two became friends. In a small portable plastic pool sea turtles were raised to return them to the sea. Each morning Ernesto would walk at 5AM to get the eggs before the poachers got to them. As friends do, Jeffrey taught Ernesto how to care for the turtles.

Jeffrey, after many years, could no longer give time to the turtles, for it meant changing the pool water with many 5-gallon buckets suspended from his shoulders from a stick. He passed on and entrusted the task to Ernesto and his wife. This man, who once gathered the eggs to sell to feed his family, now brings them to his small turtle care area and nurtures and protects them until it is time for their return to the sea. For this act from the heart they receive no monetary compensation. His family lives on $80 per week.

Well, as the story goes, we received a phone call that turtles were going to be released the day before we were to return to the States. Hurriedly we went down to the beach to the funky blue plastic swimming pool and there were small little sea turtles everywhere swimming around.

We slowly counted them out, as is required by the license Ernesto has, and placed the tiny turtles into buckets. We then walked out to the beach and, standing in the pounding waves, we carefully placed the tiny turtles into the sea and watched them as they eagerly swam out to the open sea saying, I am sure, "Now this is a BIG pool!" The sunset was fire red as the little turtles disappeared into the surf.

It was a magical, experience of a lifetime to enable these small -- someday to be large -- creatures a helping hand into the sea. My heart soared as their little flippers moved so swiftly. What a gift to experience nature at such a level.

The next morning I returned to their humble home and thanked them for their work with the turtles. I told them how important their mission was and I appreciated the fact that they wholeheartedly embraced their choice, their task. I gave them a small amount of money to help with this cause and I was grateful to this man and his wife for contribution to the regeneration of the sea turtle.

Last year they released 20, 000 turtle back to the sea.

My wish is to find these people a Quad that Ernesto could use to search for turtle eggs. My hope is that this would be gifted to them in some way. This is the story of one man's effort to make a difference and it is the story of coming full circle. And so I will search the Internet for turtle foundations and I will share this story hoping it will hit a heart string and by some miracle this man will receive help to continue his cause.


Our lives are really one long story .... and I always love reading the next chapter....

Para Vida

Marcie

In Capable Hands

It seems like folks talk with such discouragement when the topic of the future generation comes up. They criticize their selfish, lazy need to be entertained. They say the youth of today lack sticktoitiveness.

Really.

A friend's daughter asked me to write her a letter of recommendation for her high school English class. As I was preparing the letter and reflecting on her accomplishments to date, it became apparent that Sara's life has not been privileged or struggle-free. She wrestled with ADHD and had great difficulty in school until she matured. Her hard-working single mom couldn't afford the typical perks of teenage life: disposable income, a car to drive, cool vacations. She had an in absentia father.

So for all those Chicken Littles who think the sky is falling, this little exercise left me feeling encouraged about the new generation.

I have known Sara for seventeen years, watching her grow from an inquisitive toddler into the fine woman she is today. She has persistently worked to develop the study habits to succeed in high school. She is curious, intelligent and an independent thinker. Her broad interests include the Japanese culture and language, medicine, music, and dance.

Sara is a leader. It has been a joy watching her challenge herself both in and out of the classroom. Sara naturally gravitates to challenging coursework and excels at things she finds interesting. She is currently taking two AP courses and intends to sit for exams in those areas in the spring.

Socially, Sara has participated in the UOP summer music camp during the summer after 8^th grade, followed by a stint with the Sacramento Junior Symphony for French Horn, followed by teaching herself clarinet so she could be in the high school marching band.

Sara spoke before the Japanese Consulate in San Francisco in 10^th grade, memorizing a speech she wrote and delivered in fluent Japanese. She and her family have hosted two Japanese foreign exchange students and she will participate in the Osaka/Elk Grove Cultural Exchange Program this summer. Sara is taking Spanish this year, in addition to Japanese 4, because she believes a working knowledge of Spanish is particularly helpful in our multi-cultural state.

It’s hard to imagine Sara would be able to maintain a 3.9 grade point average with all of these outside interests, but she does. She also finds time to participate in the Japanese Club (as club President for two years), the Medical Careers Club and the Anime Club (as club President for two years).

Probably her most compelling focus is in the area of medicine. She enthusiastically studies and grasps complex medical terminology and procedures. She has been a volunteer at UC Davis on Thursday nights since April 2006. She is particularly excited to have developed a rapport with the nursing staff that allows her to assist the doctors during her shift. It is her desire to attend the University of California, San Francisco, to study medicine and specialize in trauma surgery.

Is there anybody out there who really thinks she's not going to achieve her goal?

Three Hundred and Sixty Five Days

It's the new year now.

Last year was 'The Year of Change' if you think it's possible to pin a theme on a moving target.

In 2007, I stepped out of the workforce and into a writer's world. I wrote and schemed and reflected every day. I explored the online world as friendships flourished and I discovered writers and other intellectuals traveling their own journeys.

But back on Earth, some family and friends worried and wondered what had become of the practical girl with workaholic tendencies who seemed to have just stopped short. They assumed depression or discouragement was the cause of such idle time. Why wasn't I volunteering or something? Others knew what I knew, that time on a journey is always well spent because time is more of a noun than a verb.

The last year, I traveled to Utah and Colorado and New Mexico to discover unexplored parts of myself. I cast off self-imposed boundaries and flew free, finding courage and insight in places I had to see to believe.

I shrugged off disappointments and patiently waited for God to lead me through helping my mother make her way from life to afterlife. He gave me the amazing gift of being able to throw my whole heart into my mother without her throwing it back. It brought a deeper, abiding love for my Aunt and Uncle, whom I admire and adore.

It brought a friendship with Texas Tim and his spirituality that deepened my faith. It brought Susan's friendship to an entirely new level, one that has enriched my life and challenged me. It brought me the knowledge that Colette's depth of love and friendship is more profound than I could have ever imagined.

It smoothed the transition from daughter to woman with a clearer perspective and balance. And all of these things together opened my whole heart so Randy could become the keeper of my dreams.

There is no doubt 2008 will be the joyous next chapter in the journey of three hundred and sixty five days that changed the course of my life.

Mirror Image

I was looking at pictures recently and thinking about wear and tear. I have been an average, attractive woman most of my life, but I tended my looks because I believed it would make me important and valuable to the man I loved.

When you're young, it's easy to do. With lots of energy and a ready smile, youth naturally showcases high cheekbones and tapered hips. I've loved the process of aging, it's made us all so much more interesting! I didn't ever grieve for my 20s or 30s or 40s because I always felt I gained more than I lost.

Recently, though, I've been discouraged at the overweight, menopause me I see in the mirror. I'm shocked, really, by how amazingly superficial it is to say to myself, that CAN'T be ME, but I do.

The ME I know springs into the day with enthusiasm and health, a young and vibrant and capable ME! And then the mirror reminds me, once again, that no matter how I feel the shell is showing wear.

Holding hands and watching TV, I look into his face and see the love reflected there and have a hunch he has come to know the ME I am inside. Being loved that way makes the rest gratefully easier to bear.