LIGHT...by Jim Terry

You know I have always wondered what it is about Christmastime that makes it so special…so magical? Is it the hustle and bustle of the shopping frenzy that emanates and now starts with displays being put up around Labor Day? Is it the change of the weather that accomplishes the goal of the traditional Christmas song’s theme, “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas?” Is it the newfound kindness towards mankind and helping each other, which seems to be forgotten for most of the year, which helps make it more special? In Judaism, they may say it is because of their celebration of Hanukkah.  With Christianity, they would easily say that it is because of the obvious…their celebration of the birth of the Savior.  And yes, I think all of these things are important too and is why I wrote them, but there has been and always will be something about the LIGHT that is displayed this time of year that makes it so special.

©Jim Terry Rockefeller Center

I remember as a kid loving to help set up the tree. As most of you know from our previous blogs, Christmastime would start with our yearly trip to the mountains, the weekend of Thanksgiving, to cut down the “perfect” Christmas tree. Once home with our tree, I remember that my Dad would tell us we would first have to “put it in the stand overnight and let the tree warm up.”  I never asked why a tree would have to warm up before we decorated it but the next morning when our home was filled with that wonderful scent of mountain pine air, the concern I had with having to wait to decorate the tree always seemed to miraculously drift away into memories past.

As we started to decorate our tree, I know my favorite lights on our tree were always the old-fashioned bubble lights.   You remember the ones, don’t you? They were the lights that had the small glass tube on top of the light which were filled with different colors of water. Once the liquid warmed up, you would then be able to witness “bubbles” rising to the top of that small tube.

I remember sitting there for hours at times waiting for each individual bubble light to start working.  If they didn’t work, I would make sure to let my Mom or Dad know because I wanted them all to work perfectly because it was the Christmas season.  And once they all started working, I would then just sit there and stare into the tree until the lights became one and formed a blurry lit hue which allowed my mind to wander into wonderful memories of family, of friends, of the magic, that always exists this time of year.  And more often than not, my Mom would find me on the floor in front of the tree after I drifted off into a peaceful night's slumber because of the comfort and warmth I felt from simply staring at the light on our tree and the memories they evoked. When I think of it now, I am actually surprised that something as simple as a “light” would make a young boy like me, who always had to be doing something, calm down and sit there until visions of “sugar-plums danced in my head.”  

In going back to and to answer my own question I posted earlier, I will just say this, "Whether that be a physical display of light on a tree or on a home which evokes memories of harmony and warmth or the light of His goodness that makes people kinder... more charitable...more patient this time of year is really what makes Christmastime so special...so magical for me." 

So while I will only have to dream of a white Christmas this year since I will be spending it in California, I can promise you that there has been and is going to be, more moments for this older child who will be sitting on a couch in front of a tree. And as I once again stare into the light with my Christmas music quietly playing in the background, the scent of pine in the air and the lights slowly combining into that giant lit hue, I may just drift off into a peaceful slumber once again knowing I am blessed, loved and so lucky to have experienced the light! 

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

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P.S. Here is another great example of what light can do. Not sure who wrote it but I thought this analogy was a great example for this time of year and follows with our theme of light.  

“Gracefully broken!! 
I was in Dollar Tree last night, and there was a lady and two kids behind me in a LONG line. One was a big kid, and the other one was a toddler. The bigger one had a pack of glow sticks, and the toddler was screaming for them. The Mom opened the pack and gave him one, which stopped his tears. He walked around with it smiling; but then the bigger boy took it, and the toddler started screaming again. Just as the Mom was about to fuss, the older child bent the glow stick and handed it back to the toddler. As we walked outside at the same time, the toddler noticed that the stick was now glowing; and his brother said, "I had to break it so that you could get the full effect from it."
I almost ran, because l could hear God saying to me, "I had to break you to show you why I created you. You had to go through it so you could fulfill your purpose."
That precious child was happy just swinging that "unbroken" glow stick around in the air, because he didn't understand what it was created to do - which was to "glow".
There are some people who will be content just "being," but some of us that God has chosen... we have to be "broken."
We have to get sick.
We have to lose a job.
We go through a divorce.
We have to bury our spouse, parents, best friend, or our child...
In those moments of desperation, God is breaking us. But... when the breaking is done, then we will be able to see the reason for which we were created and why we are here.
So when you see someone glowing, just know that they have been broken but healed by HIS Grace and Mercy!!!”

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”– Melody Beattie

May your holiday be filled with gratitude, love, happiness and THANKS! Stay tuned in December for a post regarding Christmas.
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"Watch Your Mouth"...by Jim Terry

Ok, what are you going to be for Halloween this year? Over the years, I have been a ghost, a vampire, the Grim Reaper, Cat in the Hat, Frankenstein, a zombie, and the list continues to go on and on. However, as I thought about the many costumes I had over the years, including the ones into my adult years, there is one in particular that stands out in my mind as being my favorite…Sylvester the cat.

I’m sure you all remember, at least those of us that are familiar with the Looney Tunes, that Sylvester was the black and white, tuxedo patterned, cat that was always trying to chase and catch the Tweety Bird. To his dismay, and over the years, he never seemed to catch that little yellow bird. Which, and just to point out, was a really good thing for us kids too! If he had caught the Tweety Bird the cartoon would have then ended…right? 😀  So because of my love for this adorable cartoon character, I asked my Mom that year for a costume that would be fashioned like Sylvester. 

For those of you who don’t know, my mother was not only an excellent writer/author/playwright but also an exceptional seamstress. She had been taught to sew by her mother and then passed that knowledge onto my sisters that wanted to learn how to sew.  I remember the day that my mother and I went to JoAnn Fabrics to get the fabric to create, what was in my mind anyhow, “the best costume ever.”

 

Because of my excitement, I recall asking my poor mother day after day, “When is my costume going to be finished?”  Well with what seemed like an eternity to a child being seven years old at the time and with a lot of patience on my mother’s part, the day of “the reveal” had come.   I remember my first glance at my costume. Never before had I seen a costume so wonderful…so grand…so PERFECT! 

Hallows’ Eve came and what was not part of my strategy for that evening, nor had I even thought of it, was for Mother Nature to throw a wrench into my carefully laid plan to be “the envy of the neighborhood children” by sporting the perfect costume. Have you ever heard the phrase, “If you don’t like the weather, just wait a minute?” Well, that minute, that one that would have made my childhood dreams come true, never came that night. In fact, it was one of the coldest Halloweens ever to grace the southeast Idaho foothills, which also called for “a chance of snow.”

That evening entailed gusty winds that went right through you…sleet that felt as though it would lacerate you at it hit your skin’s surface… And finally snow, which later not only started to fall but also stuck to the ground. The setting that night was much more conducive to a holiday two months away that incorporates Santa and a sleigh not Hallows’ Eve.

For those of you who want to know, we did end up trick-or-treating that night but to my dismay, no one could really see my costume that I was so proud of and would make me the talk of the town. Instead of showing off my Sylvester the Cat costume as I had planned, it was concealed by one of the most pathetic costumes ever.  I was dressed in a head to toe wrap which included a coat, a scarf, a set of gloves and moon boots because of the wrath that Mother Nature created that night. I looked very similar to Randy on the movie Christmas Story, but a bonus for me, I could at least put my arms down! 😂 

A year had passed and in my young heart I apparently really never let go of the anger and disappointment I felt the previous Halloween by not being able to show off my costume. This was evident the following year if anyone was able to witness my reply to my mother when she asked me, “What do you want to be for Halloween this year?”

With a slight hesitation, a mean look on my face and crossing my arms as I began to speak, the following sentence came out of my mouth. “I guess I’ll just be another damn Eskimo!”

Now let’s stop right here for a moment to clarify. Being only seven years old at the time, you have to realize that when I said this there was absolutely no prejudice, bigotry or narrow-mindedness at all towards the Eskimo population with what I said that day. All I knew as a child is that Eskimos had to dress really warm in order to survive in Alaska and in those “cold north areas.” This was simply my perception of what I looked like on the previous Halloween because of the cold weather we had experienced and how I had to dress the year prior. What really should be pointed out is the second to last word that I said that day.  In reference, once again, to the movie Christmas Story, remember when Ralphie was helping his Dad change the tire on the car and the word he said? "D-A-M-N," in our household, might as well have been the “queen mother of dirty words.” 

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As the story goes, you all will be happy to know that I didn’t have to place a bar of soap in my mouth or reveal where I had heard that word before–certainly I couldn’t say I had heard it watching Looney Tunes or drag my best friend down with me and the sinking ship I was in😀–but with the list of chores I was given and the two weeks that I was grounded from seeing my friends or playing the Atari 2600 still “haunts” me to this day.

So on this Halloween make sure to have fun with family and friends, get lots of candy, be safe, learn from my previous mistake (especially if you are young), and make sure that if you do not get your way or things don’t go quite as planned, Please...“WATCH YOUR MOUTH!”

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

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HAPPY LABOR DAY

HAPPY LABOR DAY!!!

"Hoodoo You Know, That Wouldn't Want To Go?...by Jim and Marlene Terry

I was working on a patient just the other day and was taken back when she said, “I am taking my daughter to the mall for some back to school shopping.” 

I had to think for a moment about what she said and then responded, “Is it already that time again?” 

For those of you who are just like me in disbelief that the summer is quickly coming to an end, please check your calendar and catch up as I had to do.  It’s a sad reality that the dog days of summer and our ability to take a vacation are dwindling quickly and will soon be coming to an end. 

As I was thinking about what to write about, I thought what a better opportunity than to write about an idea for one last “hoorah” for a family vacation.  Granted all of our national parks are amazing, but there is one, centrally located in the western states, that should not be missed…Bryce Canyon National Park.

© Jim Terry-If you look close enough, those are people hiking amongst the Hoodoos.

I visited there about five years ago and had sent my mother pictures of my excursion to help her with ideas of what to write about. She, with the natural writing talent she had, articulately encompassed the details of the landscape and the formations of what makes this park so unique. Her article is also one, not to be missed. 

http://marleneterry.blogspot.com/2013/10/hoodoos-of-many-colors.html

So before the summer ends and with one more long holiday weekend coming up the beginning of next month, I wanted to give you one more idea of where you may want to take your travels.  And since I have already been there, know the beauty of the area and how that affected me, I only have one question to ask of you…”Hoodoo you know, that wouldn’t want to go?”

©Jim Terry

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HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!

"Better to die fighting for freedom then be a prisoner all the days of your life."
--Bob Marley

Happy 4th of July!!!

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Sacrifice...by Jim Terry

Just the other day, I was lucky enough to take a long walk after work along the cliffs adjacent to a beautiful beach, designated as a state park, here in California. If one walks to the brink of the cliffs and gazes over the edge, one might notice the beach. The sand is a pale yellow that has been fashioned by the slowing eroding clay-based cliffs just adjacent to the beach that are slowly surrendering to mother nature’s fury.  As you gradually gaze along the horizon, you also will notice the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean. With its never-ending movement and white caps that are formed as the crest of the waves yield to the gravity that pulls it down, one might also witness a few ships coming into and out of port. And if you keep moving your head from left to right, now gazing towards the north, you will once again observe the faint silhouette of land jutting out into the sea all the while hearing the faint cry of seagulls in the distance and feel a gentle breeze that carries the sea mist that caresses your face.  

Photo © Jim Terry

As I finally found that one vacant bench to sit upon, I decided to take a minute to reflect upon and take in my beautiful surroundings. While sitting there and knowing of the upcoming holiday, I couldn’t help but to think of and be grateful for those that I have in my life but also those people I had in my life, which have been great influences.

Of course, one of the first people I thought of was my mother. Vast expanses of an ocean view were always one of her favorite things to experience. As they say about mothers, “A mother is she who can take the place of all others, but whose place no one else can take.” There isn’t a day that doesn’t go by that I still don’t think of my Mom, her kindness, her love and her influence in my life… "thanks, Mom!”

I also thought of several of my ancestors and how they had loved and influenced me. My Grandma Hattie was always fun because when we would stay with her she would transport us into a magical world by telling us stories about leprechauns and fairies. She had a room in her home that was “off limits” because that’s where the “fairies and leprechauns” lived. We could only peer into the room at certain times of day if we wanted to try and catch a glimpse of one.  To this day and because I believe in magic, I still believe that I had the one and only “leprechaun sighting” in my Grandma’s magical room. Oh and JFYI and because I now believe in leprechauns, I am going to totally disregard and discredit the fact that my grandma probably didn't want us in there because she had a lot of nice and breakable things that she didn’t want us kids to break! J

© www.brightersideart.com

In the morning after a good nights rest and if we followed her rules, she would also allow us to experience a small part of our Dutch heritage by making us ebelskivers filled with homemade jam or cinnamon glazed applesauce.  To this day, this still one of my favorite foods and memories I had the privilege of enjoying with my grandmother.

As I sat there, I also thought of my Grandpa Oliverson, Hattie's husband. I never met him because of his passing in 1965 at a young age. He worked for the civil service and was employed at the Toole Army Depot for twenty-four years. I have heard stories about his love of hunting and what a good man he was.  Someday, I will look forward to knowing him even better.

© www.brightersideart.com

I thought of my Grandpa and Grandma Terry and their love of the outdoors and fishing for bass at a place called Hot Creek in Nevada. One of my favorite trips every summer was to go and see them and go fishing with them in the middle of the Nevada desert. I enjoyed my time with them but also because there was a remarkable natural spring that sprang forth out of nowhere that became our swimming hole to escape the heat of the summer’s sun.

I also thought about all of my relatives that have served our country, present and past, and how important their service is to me. My Uncle Paul who served in the Army was always a fun guy to be around. His love and dedication to his family also carried through to his service and commitment to our country which also found him participating in the Vietnam conflict.

My grandmother's pendant.

My great Uncle Joe who served in the Navy during WWII was also a pilot. As the story goes, his plane was in combat and fired upon and hit­–both my uncle and his plane survived. I remember asking my grandmother one day where she got a necklace that I noticed she always wore. The necklace also included a pendant that was in the shape of a white heart.  On the face of the white heart was a hand-painted red rose.  Apparently, my great uncle had this pendant made for my grandmother from a piece of the shrapnel left inside of the fuselage of my uncle’s plane after it was fired upon. As my grandma continued on with her account, I noticed a slight break in her voice and a tear in her eye as she said he told her he made it for her because he wanted it to be a reminder of “his love of family; which could overcome any obstacle.”

As I continued to sit there on that bench and enjoy my surroundings, thoughts of loved ones and story after story filled my mind that afternoon.  As a young boy, I really never understood the Memorial Day holiday and I was always confused when I would see my Grandma cry when we would drive to Mink Creek, Idaho, year after year, to put flowers on my Grandpa’s grave.  Funny how I “get it now.”  It’s the sacrifice of others when acknowledged, that truly makes us better people. And whether that is one witnessing a loving grandmother placing flowers upon her husband’s grave in acknowledgment of the love and provisions he afforded his family or for the dedication or even the death of a serviceman or woman who serves their country, each and every sacrifice is significant. 

So on this MEMORIAL DAY, enjoy your time, be safe, be happy, enjoy your family and friends, remember loved ones lost, be grateful for those that are serving our country and always remember, “Great achievement is born of great SACRIFICE, and is never the result of selfishness." ~Napoleon Hill~

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