My walk in the park
Written by jamie on October 19th, 2010Greedy birds
Written by jamie on October 18th, 2010These are pictures I took last week of the bird feeder in our front yard, in approximately 24 hour intervals.
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
I think I may have to cut them off.
We know it’s not the squirrels, because we have one of those fun squirrel proof bird feeders that flings them off when they hang on the perch. So we wonder… what goes on during the day when we’re not home? One big party? My nerdy husband was determined to find out and installed a web cam in one of our windows so we can watch it during the day.
Oh, the excitement of our lives.
Choir life
Written by jamie on October 18th, 2010Last week, I had a post in mind and was eager to start on it the morning after inspiration struck, but then I was distracted by the Chilean mine rescue and soon could think of nothing else. I’m going to revisit that post and hope I can recollect the inspiration I initially had for it.
This summer at my work, we had a beautiful, responsible, very fun high schooler come in who wanted to volunteer. You would have thought she was an employee, for as much time as she spent there. We gave her the task of organizing our two libraries, a task too daunting and time consuming for my boss or I to even consider tackling. She dove in with ease and after weeks of hard work, she had it neatly arranged, purged (I think the world’s entire collection of Harlequin romance novels was stashed in those libraries), and labeled. She was a godsend.
In between the hours spent buried in books, she would take some breaks and hang out in our office. I soon was caught up on her high school world of boys (hard to keep them all straight), fashion (this girl knows how to dress and accessorize. I need her to take me shopping), thoughts of college, and school. I often find teenagers tiring and too self absorbed to spend too much time around them (I must be old. I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be that young), but it was different with her. She was a breath of fresh air. Her energy gave me some energy.
When she started school, we began to see less of her as she focused on her studies. Stupid school. We always lose our best volunteers that way. She came in a couple afternoons a week to help though, and when she came in, she would excitedly tell me about her choir class and what music they were doing. Then she invited me to come to their fall concert, which I promptly put in my calendar. When the time rolled around, I went. And loved it.
When I walked in and sat down, I was almost immediately taken back to my high school days. I am not fond of many of my high school memories, remembering awkward teenage-dom and insecure feelings of trying to fit in. But when I remember choir life, it makes me smile. I remember getting new pieces and diligently trying to learn them. I remember working together with the other 50 voices, trying to blend as one. I remember weird warm ups that soon became routine. I remember being uniquely inspired by music, and although I had no idea at the time, this was the seed that started my love for music and encouraged me to pursue it.
As I watched each choir perform, some on stage and some in the back of the auditorium, I found myself missing those choir pieces. I enjoy singing in a band and trying some new styles of music, but I really do miss that four part harmony. I watched as choirs scurried up the aisles to get in place, some giggling to each other, and I remembered that excitement before performing. Walking back to my car, there was a group of girls falling over each other as they relived memories of the performance. They giggled about some part that they found funny during the performance. I smiled, remembering doing that very same thing some thirteen (yikes) years ago.
I hope to someday join a community choir to be able to sing this music again. Sadly, this time of my life isn’t allowing much flexibility and I know I can’t handle much else in my schedule. Hopefully soon…
Chile miners rescue
Written by jamie on October 13th, 2010I normally don’t watch TV in the morning (with the exception of a few minutes of the Weather Channel), but I’m making an exception this morning. Drew switched on CNN last night so we could see the beginning of the Chilean mine rescue. I unfortunately didn’t keep up to date with this current event. I knew there were miners trapped and were going to be rescued soon, but that was the extent of it. When we turned on the TV, it became more real.
We watched as one brave, crazy man stuffed himself into a shoulder width capsule (escape pod, as one of the commentators called it), and descended into the earth. I can’t even begin to imagine the 15 minute trip into the core of the earth in this tight little thing. I’m not typically claustrophobic, but if I was ever going to be, that would be the time!
I learned all the things I had failed to keep up with about this amazing story. How 33 miners had been trapped in a 500 square foot space for 69 days. How people from all over the world had come to help, including NASA, who was invaluable in their psychological help for the miners. How Germany gave a tough cable that is used on their ski lift for use on the escape pod. How some of the miners had to jog and exercise to be sure they’d fit in the capsule. How they had to have a liquid diet (the kind NASA gives to astronauts) before ascending in the capsule so they wouldn’t feel nauseous. How the Chilean president was right there for the rescue.
There was a camera in the mine, and as the brave rescuer finally arrived, we watched as all the miners embraced him. There was a Chilean flag in the mine, as well as a light, the only source of light they had. Then, the first miner was suited up with extra clothes (the mine was 90 degrees and on the surface it was cold… being winter in Chile) and sunglasses (to help their eyes adjust to the bright lights) and stuffed into the capsule. For a very long 15 minutes, the world watched, the TV commentators talked about anything they could to kill time. The crowd gathered nearby waved flags and sang the national anthem.
I told Drew it was hard to watch. My stomach was in knots. It felt real, but it also kind of felt like a movie. I had to remind myself it wasn’t a movie, and that things could go wrong. This may not be the miraculous recovery we all envision. Drew then told me they are on a 30 second delay feed, just in case something goes wrong, they can cut the feed. Yikes.
Fifteen long minutes later, we were still waiting. I had to pee, but wasn’t going to budge until that miner was safe. Finally, the wheel stopped turning, and the capsule emerged from the ground. The first miner stepped out, looking a bit dazed and confused. His wife and son stood nearby, and the son, who had remained composed while waiting, burst into tears at the first sight of his dad. He embraced them, the crowd cheered, the President beamed; it was a glorious moment.
We didn’t want to turn the TV off. It was awesome. We finally made ourselves turn it off, as it was nearly midnight. We turned it back on this morning and found that nine miners had been freed. Now, as I watch it, 12 have been freed. So far, all has gone perfectly. They showed some old feed from previous miners that had been freed, and one emerged from the capsule and opened a bag and handed out rocks from the mine as souvenirs to the crowd. He held his arms up in victory.
I love stories like this. After so many sad news stories about war and death and rape and murder and drugs and all things sad and overwhelming, it’s wonderful to have an uplifting story with a happy ending. As I watch the miners reunited with family, I tear up.
It also reminds me of how good I have it. These poor men have been stuck in the harshest conditions for three months. I have a hard time sleeping if my memory foam isn’t settled just right. They’ve been sleeping on rock. How spoiled I am.
I’m having a hard time tearing myself away. I’d sit here and watch this all day, if I could.