Random Acts of Praise

The Opera Company of Philadelphia delights and inspires a mall full of people with this glorious cultural surprise:

I so wish I could be in the middle of one of these.  How lovely would it be if, everywhere we went, people were glorifying God like this.

And He SHALL reign forever and ever!


Amen.


Have you ever done a random act of praise?  What kind of response did you get?

DeAnna Julie Dodson has always been an avid reader and a lover of storytelling, whether on the page, the screen or the stage. This, along with her keen interest in history and her Christian faith, shows in her tales of love, forgiveness and triumph over adversity. She is the author of In Honor Bound, By Love Redeemed and To Grace Surrendered, a trilogy of medieval romances, as well as Letters in the Attic and The Key in the Attic, contemporary mysteries. Her new series of Drew Farthering Mysteries will debut in the Summer of 2013 with Rules of Murder from Bethany House.  A fifth-generation Texan, she makes her home north of Dallas with three spoiled cats.

Noses. Everybody Has One.

by Niki Turner

It's fiction day, and as one of the few remaining unpubs in Inktropolis, I'm going to share yet another of my recent writing-related learning experiences. Why? Because if you're a writer, you'll probably commiserate. If you're a reader, you'll probably get a good chuckle out of it.

I was plugging away at my current manuscript when I realized I needed to provide a good physical description of my hero's nose. Yes, his nose.

My first thought? Aquiline. How many romances have I read in which the hero's nose is described as aquiline? I started to type it... aqui— and was interrupted. (This inner interruption occurs frequently when I pray for God's assistance with my writing endeavors.)

—What exactly is an aquiline nose?
—Um. Er. Straight? A straight nose?

(OK, if you already know the answer, stop laughing at me. At some point in time you, too, had to learn the definition of an aquiline nose.)

Thank goodness for Google. What did we do before Google and Bing and Yahoo and access to the world wide web? (We wasted a lot less time looking at pictures of unattractive cats and indulging our flesh with annoying political/religious arguments, for starters.)

Anyway... I looked up aquiline at dictionary.com and received the following result:

aq·ui·line

adjective

1.

(of the nose) shaped like an eagle's beak; hooked.

2.

of or like the eagle.

Sam the Eagle

Really? That's not at all what I had pictured in my head. 

Worse, I was directed to a slew of sites about nose shapes and what each shape might mean about personality, character traits, and so forth. There are Greek noses, Roman noses, Nubian noses, hawk noses (John Lennon), flat noses, wavy noses (Owen Wilson), Jewish noses, snub noses, small noses, fleshy noses, celestial noses, bulbous noses... and of course, aquiline noses.

My quickie search for the meaning of aquiline stretched into several hours devoted to noses. (Please, tell me this has happened to someone else.) I read an article, Nose Shapes and What They Reveal; a quiz... What Your Nose Says About You; a CBS News report about celebrity noses; and an entire blog devoted to "the art of face reading" which I may actually use in the future. Interesting stuff.

At this point, I was no longer thinking about my hero's undeveloped nose, but my own nose. What kind of nose do I have, and what does it say about me and my potential for future success or failure?

Several hours later, exhausted by all those noses, I came to the conclusion that my hero, Sebastian, has John Lennon's nose. And now, on to the mouth. And the chin. And the eyes. And the eyebrows...

My lessons for the day? 

1. There may be multiple hours tied into that author's description of the hero's nose, so pay more attention next time!

2. Writers (at least this one) are easily distracted by stuff on the Internet. And... ooh, something shiny! 

3. Just because you like the way a word sounds, don't use it unless you know what it actually means!

What research rabbit trails have you been led astray by lately? 

 Niki Turner is a writer, former pastor's wife, mother of four, and grandmother of two. She is a self-confessed failure at coming up with catchy taglines for her writing, her purpose in life, or what she hopes to achieve in the future. Suggestions are welcome.

Snowshoes From Yesteryear to Today

by Anita Mae Draper

Last week was the first of my 2013 historic winter sports posts with Early Snowshoes For Man and Beast. But lest anyone thing snowshoeing is only a winter sport, may I draw your attention to this 1867 print which shows an actual race on turf.

1867 snowshoe race at the Crystal Palace in London,
published by The Illustrated London News.

As noted in the caption above, the print was published along with the race results in The Illustrated London News. Yes, it was a real race and proved to be great entertainment to those gathered to watch. But snowshoeing wasn't that entertaining over on this side of the ocean where it sometimes became the only method of transportation through the deep snow. 

Out in snowshoes, 1871, Courtesy of the
Encyclopedia of French Cultural Heritage

According to the Encyclopedia of French Cultural Heritage "The first inhabitants of New France had to borrow snowshoes from the Amerindians to get around on foot when snow lay thick on the ground. These snowshoes were made from sinew (leather thongs) knotted and braided on a wooden hoop ... The troops of Canadian and native militiamen led by the brothers Le Moyne (Jacques Le Moyne de Sainte-Hélène and Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville), to name one example, crossed considerable distances in snowshoes to strike British villages and outposts from New England to Newfoundland in the 1690s."  

However, it wasn't long before North Americans saw the recreational value of the snowshoes and formed a club.  

Montreal Snowshoe Club on Mount Royal, Montreal, QC, 1884, 

Courtesy of the McCord Museum 

The Victorian Age emphasized a sound mind as well as a sound body and encouraged physical training for men and women.  Snowshoes clubs allowed participants to enjoy the sport together, often ending the time with a cup of hot cocoa.

J. Beattie's snowshoeing group, Montreal, QC, 1869-70, 
Courtesy of the McCord Museum

Inevitably, racing provided a goal as well as entertainment. Who can turn away from a rousing snowshoe hurdle race? It reminds me of the sport of steeplechase. 

Hurdle race on snowshoes, Montreal, QC, 1892, 

Courtesy of the McCord Museum

Does that look as dangerous to you as it does to me? So much for extreme sports being a product of the 20th and 21st centuries. 

Snowshoeing isn't limited to adult men and women. Anyone who can move their legs can walk and/or run on snowshoes. 

Harold Hammond, High Park, February 1910, 

M. O. Hammond, Archives of Ontario

Snowshoes are round, oblong, pointed, long, and short. I used to think they were different depending on who made them, but I've since learned that it also depends on what type of snow you'll be travelling on.

Traditional snowshoes
Courtesy of wikipedia

Atlas racer snowshoes
Courtesy of wikipedia

Courtesy of wikipedia

According to Wikipedia:

"Snowshoes today are divided into three types:

- aerobic/running (small and light; not intended for backcountry use);

- recreational (a bit larger; meant for use in gentle-to moderate walks of 3–5 miles (4.8–8.0 km)); and

- mountaineering (the largest, meant for serious hill-climbing, long-distance trips and off-trail use)."

And of course, two people alone, not having to worry about anyone hearing their tentative words of love ... snow crunching beneath their feet ... cheeks and noses tingling from cold, but adding to the awareness of being with that special person ... how positively romantic.

Couple snowshoeing, 1907,

John Boyd, Courtesy of the Archives of Ontario

There are several YouTube videos out there that show you how to snowshoe, and all the preparation including buying the right kind and how to fall so you can get up again, etc. And although all those videos show you how to move with snowshoes on, they have what I call a big yawnability factor - they were boring. Not only that, but most of my images were from Canada - you know, the foreign frozen north country - So I've chosen a video that was filmed right in the state of New York and is called,

 ARE's Brave the Blizzard Snowshoe Race. 

So, are you game? Which type of snowshoes would you buy if you had the chance and the time?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anita Mae Draper is retired from the Canadian Armed Forces and lives on the prairie of southeast Saskatchewan, Canada with her hubby of 30 plus years and 2 of their 4 kids. She writes stories set on the prairies of Saskatchewan, North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming. Anita Mae has semi-finaled in the Historical Romance category of the ACFW's 2011 Genesis contest and finaled in the Inspirational category of the 2011 Daphne du Maurier, the 2011 Fool for Love, the 2011 Duel on the Delta and 2009 Linda Howard Award of Excellence contests. Anita Mae is represented by Mary Keeley of Books and Such Literary Agency. You can find Anita at http://www.anitamaedraper.com/

Hypothesis: Unless June Cleaver Rescues Me, I’ll be Melting Down by February

by Susanne Dietze

I am so not joking with that title. Gah, January is Science Fair Month.

Everybody’s kids have school projects, right? And there are three types of parents: those who don’t help kids with their projects, those that do help, and those who HELP, if you know what I mean. Most of us won’t admit to being the parent who pebble-tech’d a display board for our kids’ second-grade dolphin report (it wasn’t me, honest!) but we’re nevertheless involved, happy to lend some guidance while our kids put in the work. 

You know, just like the Cleavers would, if the Beaver had Science Fair.

"Beaver, I think you've got the right idea with your hypothesis, research, and plan. Let me know when you boys are done with your science fair projects, and I'll bring you cookies."

Ha. Double ha. Experience has taught me Science Fair is a parent family project if I ever saw one. If I could write our district’s Science Fair Guidelines to be an accurate representation of what Science Fair requires, they’d read like this:

1. Parents Families should begin scouring the internet months in advance to research an age-appropriate project—the more “life or death” the application of the project, the better.
2. Budget for the necessary materials. This learning experience could cost you as much as an Xbox.
3. Study Pottery Barn catalogs for ideas for decorating the Display Board.
4. Pick a day when the whole family is well-rested and fed so they have plenty of stamina and grace to execute the experiment, ‘cuz honey, you’re gonna need it.

Number 4 on the list is especially true, because Science Fair has a way of straining things between everyone, even husbands and wives.

My friend Suzanne (jokingly) says Science Fair actually leads to divorce, but my husband and I insist we won't succumb to frustration caused by our kids’ school projects.

"We never argue about Science Fair!"

We're deluding ourselves, of course. These sorts of big projects, where kids can have grand ideas and grades hinge and time pressures constrain us, have a way of exposing pre-existing fractures in any relationship. Hence Suzanne and her divorce comment. And yes, in our house, we get tired and frustrated when things don't work, which leads to grumbling and--

Anyway....

Later, after we've apologized, we notice how Science Fair has aged us. 

I look in the mirror. Sigh. “Did I have that wrinkle at Christmas?”

Sad, pitying look from my husband. “Let it go, dear."

Science Fair is supposed to bring us together.

"Science Fair last year sure was swell!"

Yet we finally got the clue and accepted a few facts about ourselves. We are not perfect. We all have buttons, we all have weaknesses, and we don't always compose ourselves as righteously as we wish. If we're aware of these potential issues, we can work on them.

"Oh my, this project is a little more stressful than we anticipated! Now we're all grumpy. And I still have to cook a pot roast for dinner!"

We also accepted a few facts about Science Fair. It is not an event a child can do with a parental pat on the back and supervision. And we should just buckle up, because things never go smoothly.

The first year my son did Science Fair, he wanted to do a project on plants. Citing her own opinions on plant projects, the teacher nixed it at the last minute and told him he needed to come up with a new project by the next day. So yeah, it was a cranky night as I helped him pick a new project that required materials we already had at home because we were out of time to buy anything new.

"Gee, Mom. We wanted to do a Science Fair project on flesh-eating bacteria grown in a petri dish. You're so mean for saying no! But of course we respect you and we won't talk back!"

The second year, my son picked a project requiring dirt—something we had in our yard for free! But lo, our loam was not loamy enough, so we had to buy dirt from a bulk yard.

Guess what was lurking around our his dirt experiment! A black widow spider! My kid was bit on the thigh. Cue the stifled scream! Oh, the cost of science fair, to both pocketbook and health (physical for him, mental for me).

"Aww, tetanus shots weren't part of my Science Fair plan of action."

It turned out that both years, my son found Life or Death Applications for his projects (not related to spider bites) and oh goodness, he placed at the school level and moved on to the County competition.

What an honor! We were so proud of him. I went along on each of The Big Days, of course. Looking around the convention center at the other projects made by kids from around the county was fun, exciting, and educational to this Non-Sciency Mom.

It was quite clear, however, that no child arrived on his or her own, and I don’t mean they took the bus.

"These projects are amazing! Say, did your mom pebble-tech your display board?"

Some kids definitely have inquisitive, scientific minds and Science Fair sparks them on to grand thoughts and greater things. That's worth investment, isn't it? Your kid is interested in geology or chemistry, so of course you want to encourage her. Give her the tools and set her free to grow and learn and become.

But of course I can’t help thinking about the way of the world, the competition of it all and whether I help my kids too much or too little compared to everybody else. And maybe I need to stop comparing and trust I'm doing what my kids need so they can learn while feeling supported, guided, and safe.

After all, we all just want our kids to learn something.

"Thanks for your help, Mom. I love you. PS, you're pretty, a fabulous writer, and I love your tuna casserole more than I let on."

And as far as our relationships go in this house, we're more prepared this year. We'll say a prayer that this brings us closer rather than provides an opportunity for discord to grow.

Meanwhile, we forge ahead. Today is Science Fair Experiment Day at my house. Prayers are appreciated as we (er, I mean, our son, with our help) execute the experiments.

Questions for the Day:

What sort of parent are you when it comes to helping? Are you hands-off, a gentle guide, or do you run the show? Do big projects like this bring your family together or initiate arguments?

"Leave it to Beaver" photos from wikipedia.com except final photo, http://timstvshowcase.com/beaver.html

 ***

Susanne Dietze has written love stories since she was in high school, casting her friends in the starring roles. Today, she writes in the hope that her historical romances will encourage and entertain others to the glory of God. Married to a pastor and the mom of two, Susanne loves fancy-schmancy tea parties, travel, and spending time with family and friends. She won first place in the Historical category of the 2011-2012 Phoenix Rattler, and her work has finaled in the Genesis, Gotcha!, and Touched By Love Contests. Susanne is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of The Steve Laube Agency. You can visit her on her website, www.susannedietze.com.