Seedplanter’s Porch

If you have an elderly friend or family member who has begun using a computer for the first time ever, you’ll appreciate my latest lens. A computer is going to expand their horizons, and along with that expansion comes questions. Lots and lots of questions. Brace yourself.

The Day the Lights Went Out is the true story of my mother’s curiosity and how it got the best of her. In her seventies, she had grown tired and slightly annoyed with all the ads about dot.com this and dot.com that. Every time she switched on the tv or radio, there it was again: Call us, or visit our website at…“  She was determined to find out what the fuss was all about, and what better time? Her birthday was coming up, and she would drop VBHs (Very Big Hints) for a whiz-bang Packard-Bell system like the one she’d seen at Sears.

Visit the lens and discover what happened the day of the big plug-in. It’s enough to make you want to check your fuse box.

New to Squidoo? Make your own lens today!

Want more funny lenses?

Blame it on Squidoo – Never Ever: Things I Won’t Try Before I Die – LOST: A Sock Speaks Out Embarrassing Moments We’d Rather Forget

If you’ve been balking at the idea of keeping a diary or journal, think again. I’ve been at it for 48 years, and I can tell you firsthand that once it becomes a routine, keeping a diary or journal is not a brain drain at all. Besides, you don’t have to write every single day; just whenever you have something worth saying.

Journal or Diary: Tools for Personal Growth is a lens that came about quite suddenly when I ran into a box of old notebooks–personal journals–on my closet shelf. Everyone knows a treasure like that demands an investigation, and an investigation means reading and remembering and reminiscing and shedding a tear or two.

And wondering where the years have gone.

Journals are a slick time tunnel.  Within seconds, I was that young mom writing a sappy poem to my newborn son, begging him to promise me he’d grow up v-e-r-y slowly. Open a different notebook and I’m seeing him off to kindergarten, tucking my toddler daughter in bed for her afternoon nap, then working on my weekly writing assignment.

Blink. Blink. Blink.

My kids are now well into their thirties. Now I journal about grandchildren, home repairs, joint supplements, and flowerbeds. And I make Squidoo lenses about the same things.

In creating this lens about journals and diaries, I discovered how many different types can be found online. I unearthed some real gems on the Web, and think you’ll enjoy exploring them as much as I did. Drop by and add your three cents to my lists, too. There’s something for everybody.

New to Squidoo? Make your own lens today!

Have you joined Tagfoot yet? Why not?

I‘m going to ask you to step away from Twitter, Tagfoot, Facebook, LinkedIn, and the other social networks that have stapled your brain to the Internet. Let’s travel back in time to the days before e-mail, when the arrival of that little postal truck meant more than bills and catalogs.

Do you remember searching through the pile of mail for a letter with a recognizable address, or handwriting you could identify right away? There it was–a friend who hadn’t written in ages. If you were lucky, you might even receive two or three letters in one delivery.

Some people wrote letters on plain lined notebook paper. Others, like my friend Kathy, used crinkly pastel paper with a fancy design running across the top of the page.  My aunt’s letters always smelled like roses. I read my letters slowly, the way I read a good book when I reach the very last chapter.

My newest lens is about communication–how our words can enrich lives and deepen relationships. It’s a tribute to paper letters…nostalgic but not sappy. No Kleenex needed this time.

I hope In Praise of Paper Letters leaves you with warm, sweet memories of people you used to correspond with by postal–a grandparent? best friend? elementary school pen pal?

Who knows, you might even try your hand at writing one–just for the shock effect, of course. I’m thinking along those lines myself. Might write my sister a real letter. She lives twelve miles from me, but it would give her a good laugh, and I know she’d probably save it.  She’s sentimental that way.

New to Squidoo? Make your own lens today!

We’ve all been there, wondering what our next lens topic should be. Yesterday I felt mired in the mundane, feeling like no matter what I wrote about, it would fall flat.

Then my memory bank took over; it’s the storehouse tucked away in the deeper recesses of the brain, the one with the creaky door and ivy growing over the windows? I turned the doorknob on that room when I created Recipes for Life recently, too. (*A big THANKS goes to GrowWear for reviewing it at her Squidoo Lens Review blog. Mimi’s doing a wonderful service for lensmasters…visit her, please!)

The more I pondered, the more it warmed my heart and soul. And I realized all over again what a pure gift it is to be able to think back and recall not only events, but the sensations surrounding them. Do you know what I mean?

Can you imagine, not feeling connected to the past? Not being able to remember family events, family stories, and faces of loved ones you treasure?

Through the years, I’ve felt a certain void when it comes to the topic of grandparents. My dad lost his father at a young age, so of course I never knew him.  My mom’s father died when I was 19. I miss him a lot. As for grandmothers, my dad’s mother died of cancer before my parents ever met. So I had one grandma, made some sweet early memories with her, then lost her when I was four. She had a sudden heart attack and my days of visiting Grandma ended, just like that.

Maybe that’s why A Quilt Story leapt out at me, begging to be told. I had planned to share the story someday. For the past four years it has been nagging at me, but it was too painful to write about until now.

If I had a simple recipe for this lens, it would be this:

Take 1 musty old trunk, stashed in a corner of a damp garage.  Add to it a surprising discovery that might never have taken place, had 24 hours passed. Blend with a secret question my mother whispered to me during a visit several months later. Sift in measured portions of love, loss, and rekindled joy. Mix well.

Curious? I hope so.

Visit A Quilt Story: Voices from the Great Depression.  If you anticipate that this will be “just another sweet quilting story,” you might be disappointed. This one runs a bit deeper than that.

Please let me know how it affects you. I’m interested in hearing.

New to Squidoo? Make your own lens today!

*Image by -Chad Johnson via Flickr

Last week I published a new lens, Recipes for Life. The idea came to me as I was cleaning my kitchen. (I’ve learned through the years as a writer that  there’ a connection between mindless activities and creativity, at least for me.) I was thinking about the people who have influenced my life, and felt a wellspring of gratitude for the imprint they’ve left.

Although my Intro to the lens began with a reference to my mom’s old pink recipe box, my thoughts wandered to “recipes” for life; our approach to life as we each uniquely know it.  For me, a joyous life has meant finding the difference between happiness and contentment.

What about you? What would it take to make you truly happy?  Have you found that perfect pace of life that satisfies?

Is your family spending half its time rushing here and there to keep up with must-do activities? Does fun mean having to spend money, or have you come up with other ways to enjoy life? In today’s tightened economy, we’re all looking for less expensive entertainment.  Share your ideas in my “Freebie Fun for the Whole Family” Plexo. Let others benefit from your experience.

Relax

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Have a great weekend, all…