traveling up and down the blind highway

Fifty two years ago, Apollo 11 landed on the moon with Neal Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landing in the Sea of Tranquility. There they readied themselves for the historic walk on the moon. The famous quote of Neal Armstrong still rings in my ears,”One small step for man, One giant leap for mankind”.

The bar was raised by President Kennedy in 1961 announcing,”Before the end of the decade, we will put men on the moon”. I remember it all, even though I was a young teenager. I did enjoy history, but the reason I remembered this event so vividly was for a different reason.

During this weekend, my oldest brother, Bob, brought his professor friend, Larry Kerry to visit. As we gathered in the t.v. room for the broadcast, Larry became excited to be sharing this moment with so many people, He decided to order pizzeria pizza. He went a bit overboard and ordered 4 large pizzas for 8 people.

Up to that time, I had only had the pizza that my mother made. Because she had such a large family, she was conservative with her toppings. With the “Little Caesar’s Pizza”, I was surprized with the quantity and variety of toppings. Because of the number of Pizzas, we were all able to eat our fill of the pizza pies. As a concession to the special event, we were allowed to eat with our fingers in the t.v. room.

My parents were in the rocker and easy chairs in the corners. Bob and Larry sat on the paino bench and placed their plates on the closed piano key cover.

My three brothers and I were sprawled on the rug in from of the T.V. The taste of real pizza matched with the moon landing has cemented this memory from my teenage years.

We have come a long way since then. Today Jeff Bezos will launch a rocket into space, The second commercial launch with civilians aboard.

NASA continues to launch astronauts and supplies to the international space station and unmanned exploring rockets to Mars and towards Jupiter. We have expanded our knowledge of the solar system around our planet.

So, as I munch on my pizza wedge, I remember the past and look forward to the future in space.

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Space

Spoken reverently,

the final frontier

We raise our eyes,

looking to the stars,

We grasp the possibilities ,

and dream.

carolaspot@aol.com

copyright 7/20/2021

Last Sunday, our priest, Father Len, was talking about downsizing for retirement. He was going through his possessions to give some of them away. Today is National Give away something day. You can go through your closet, tools or books to see if there are gently used items to donate to a resale shop.

If you have old blankets or worn towels, the Humane Shelters will take them to bathe animals and use them to sleep on. Old stuffed toys can be donated after any hard plastic pieces such as eyes and noses have been removed. The toy can be cuddled with by cats and dogs.

If you have household items that you haven’t used in over a year, consider parting with them . They could be used by someone else. The rule of donating is, if you can’t give it to a relative or friend, dispose of it in your junk.

As a visually challenged person, I try to keep unused items to a mimimum. I don’t need to trip over unused clutter.

Another way you can give is with the gift of time or talent. Do you have a friend or neighbor that could use a friendly chat? Call or visit them. Take a food item, either homemade or store bought.

Look over your food storage of boxes and cans. Will you use them before they expire? Donate them to a local food bank. If you can, donate your time to the same food bank.

If you knit or crochet, make baby blankets or hats and booties and donate to a pregnancy resource center or hospital.

Finally, you could donate money. A quote from Hello Dolly,”Money is like manure, it works best when spread around to encourage young things to grow”. Go buy that lemonade from the child next door. Give to a homeless person to buy a meal. Or better yet, buy the meal and give it to them.

What can you do today to help another person and make the world a kinder place.

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Giving

Buy a cup of coffee for the person behind you.

Will you allow the person with several items go first in the store.

Do you need three winter coats?

How many pots and pans does a single person need?

Call a neighbor to chat.

take old blankets and towels to a animal shelter.

Give freely of yourself and your

treasure to others.

Happy Give something away day.

Carolaspot@aol.com

copyright 7/15/2021

The Apostle Islands are a group of 22 islands on the western shore of Lake Superior. The 12 largest Islands were named in honor of the 12 apostles by a French missionary.

Evedince of human habitation has dates to 100 BC. The Ojibwa people had permanent settelments on the islands from 930 CE.

The islands are now part of the National Lake shore park system.

John and I traveled to visit the six light houses on the islands. We took a day tour, traveling by boat between islands.

We were able to visit several of the lighthouses and climb their towers. The park service recruits couples to stay at the keepers homes and inform tourists of the history of each light house.

My personal memories of the visit was to see a garden on sand island that was typical of a garden from the early 1900’s. The keeper had a large family. The evdience of this was the outhouse that had four holes of different sizes.

We were encouraged to explore the terrain of each island . At one, we decided to take a walk in the drizzle. It was pleasent until, we heard walking nearby on the other side of the bushes. We called out a greeting with no response. Later we found large bear tracks parallel to our path. We hurried to the boat, glad we didn’t have our lunch with us for the bear to smell.

As we traveled we were told that the islands are home to one of the largest populations of black bear in the country. We were wittness to several bears swimming from one island to another. The bears can be found on any of the islands.

After exploring and sightseeing, we waited for the boat to return. Our feet were sore and tired. Deciding to remove our shoes and socks to soak our feet in the lake. In less than a minute, our feet were frozen from the chilly lake water. I wondered how the bears were able to swimm for long treks from island to island?

If you desire to trace the migration of native people from the east, following the waterways, you will be delighted with the history and the different islands that form the archipelago at the weastern shore of Lake Superior.

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Lake Superior

Dark waters,

cold and deep in it’s depths.

Bordered by two countries.

Large waves slap the shores.

Depositing bits of the past on It’s beaches.

Could be a fresh water sea.

Source for Indian lore.

One travels it with apprehension.

The largest of the Great Lakes.

Carolaspot @aol.com

copyright 7-13-2021

I was talking to my brother Bob this week when I realized I hadn’t related a story about my brothers. So here is a true story from my memory archives.

When I was young, I had limited vision. I was fitted with thick glasses to help with my distance sight. My parents were always telling my brothers, “Watch for the girl”, or”Be careful of Carol”. Little did my parents know that they would take this to heart.

One summer day, I was walking home from my friend’s house. The neighborhood bully ran up behind me and pushed me down. My glasses went flying. Being made of glass, they broke. As the bully ran off, I slowly got up and found my broken glasses.

My family wasn’t rich and those glasses cost over $100. As I entered my home, my mom was setting the table for dinner. Dad saw my scrapped knees and the glasses and he asked what happened. “I am going down to talk to Dutch about his son”. “Don’t be too long, it’s close to dinner time” mom said , stating to hand out plates of food . We all waited at the table for Dad to say grace.

In a few minutes, dad stormed into the front door and called to my mother. “Rita, do you know what Dutch said after I explained what his son had done?
He replied,”Boys will be boys”. Dad had a few choice words about Dutch before mom calmed him down ,”The family is waiting for dinner”.

What my parents didn’t know , my older brothers were listening to every word. Nothing was said at the meal but the boys formed a plan.

A couple of days later, the bully was pulling the trash cans out to the curb. My brothers stopped him and demanded an apology. He refused and started back to his home.

I don’t know if was planned but the bully was lifted up and placed upside down in his trash can. Then the brothers scattered.

fifteen minutes later, Dutch came roaring around the corner. He found my dad cutting the grass. “Do you know what your boys did to my son”? He continued, “They put him upside down in the trash can”.” What do you have to say about that”!

Dad calmly listened, when Dutch was finished he commented,”Well, boys will be boys”.

I am sure that my brothers were punished but I was never bothered by that bully again. Thank you Bob, Mike and Craig.

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He terrorized the neighborhood.

picking young kids as easy marks.

He didn’t listen to the rules.

His father was the principal of the school

One day, he picked on the wrong person

She had her own bodyguards.

They took their job seriously. In a trash can, he was placed.

Carolaspot@aol.com

copyright 7/8/2021

No matter how old you are , you are never too old to learn.

In the past week, I have been putting the finishing touches on my first book of poetry. It will be titled, “Seeing by Touch”. I will send the files to be edited and formatted this week.

The problem was I called the book a Chat book. As a person with hearing loss using voiceover to monitor text, I heard a t not a p in the word chapbook. A kind person in the self publishing industry set me straight.

Chapbooks have an interesting history. They were first printed in the late 16th century. They were sold by peddlars known as Chapmen. The term ment tradesmen or a book trader.

The book or pamphlet was a small and had no cover. The length was around 24 pages. Topics in the books were ballots, poems, romantic tales, legends and moral instruction.

The common population was exposed to the printed word with the printing of bibles in the early and middle 16th century. With the rise of literacy, the people wanted books that were entertaining and inexpensive . Printers developed the chapbook form.

I will keep you informed on the progress in this adventure of writing and self-publishing.

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The Bookworm

The book lay at the bottom of the box.

With clothes and food thrown on top.

A chapman was trying to make a sale.

But the older buyer, was hard to please.

The chapman reached deep into his pack,

pulled out the book, without cover or back.

A tuppence is all I ask.

The buyer looked , then started to laugh.

I see there is a reader here before me.

In the binding, a larva was plain to see.

I’ll take the book and have a friend to read with me.

Carol Farnsworth

copyright 7/6/21

carolaspot@aol.com

In 2005, I planned another trip to Hawaii. This time I wanted to visit Molokai and Maui. I researched places to stay on Molokai and found solar tentalows on the beach . Hot water and lights were solar. You had to select the best time to take a shower. You didn’t want to shower the first thing in the morning. Breakfast was self serve in a shelter on the beach. The whole island had a small town feeling. We went to the farmer’s market and met Joan, a transplanted artist from Chicago. She traded portraits for food and supplies. Her husband was a drummer. He worked weekends with bands.

There was a sacred waterfall on the far side of the island. Tour companies charged 100 dollars to go to it. Joan said that her friend husband’s family owned the rights to the path along with several others. He would allow us to take the path to the waterfall for a bag of ice and a couple of gallons of juice. John was doubtful but we met Joan on the road and traveled to her friend’s home.

The husband was hoping to have a couple of hands to help with his taro field. Instead , he asked if his young children could take us to the waterfall. We agreeded and the children disrobed to their birthday suits to visit the falls.I thought,”We’re not in Kansas anymore.”

We tramppled through a jungle with wild papaya trees. Our shoes were orange with the crushed fruit.

We met another group of native Hawaiians walking to the same site. John was worried that we weren’t welcome. When we were close to the waterfall, I saw there were stepping stones to cross the river to continue to the fallls. I decided to stay there and rest. Ruth, Joan and the children went on. After awhile one of the Hawaiian men came back and asked if John would like to see the waterfall. He would stay with me. While we waited, he picked fresh avocados . Peeling them, he offered pieces to me for strength.

This island once housed a leper colony in the 1860’s. It is now run by the park dept . There were still several people living there by choise. Drug therapy have help manage the lepersy and allowed the people to visit other islands. Ruth was too young to visit the colony. The age limit was 15 and older. We were told to lie but didn’t think that was a good idea. Instead we visited a macadamia grove, a coffee farm that had coffee brewing and sampling and a sweet potato farm that produced and sold taro and sweet potato chips.

We traveled by island plane to Maui. We stayed at a beach hotel. This island is knowned for it’s quiet and secluded beaches.

I wanted to see the massive volcano mountain that forms over 75% of the island. We drove to near the peak. Walking down into the cone, we experienced dramatic changes in the temperature. On the top of the cone it rains daily.

In the evening, we chose to go to a luau that was noted for it’s dancers. All three of us dressed native ,Ruth and I in wrap dresses and John in an floral shirt. We were in the line to enter the luau but found we were ushered to a different line . Whether because we were not drinking alcohol or because of my white cane, we had front row seating. The show showcased traditional dances from each island. The island of Molokai dance was preformed by all males. The story of warriors and hunters was easily followed. The dance of fire torches was Maui’s contribution to the show.

I like the contrast of the islands but the best moments were the interactions with Hawaiians as they shared their culture with us.

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The Dance

Drummers kept the beat,

dancers pounded with their feet,

Swaying hips make colorful bands,

But the story is in

the movements of the hands.

Carolaspot@aol.com

copyright 7/1/21

This is how I imagine my Great great grand parents made their way from Scotland to Canada in the early 19th century.

The Crossing

  Robert and his pregnant wife Jane and eight children boarded a schooner to sail to Canada. Leaving the small fishing village, they were to join relatives to farm in Delhi, Canada.

  Scotland’s land was used up and no longer could produce crops to feed a family and pay the taxes. Scots were prohibited from fishing in their own waters. More Scotsmen were turning to the new world for opportunities.

  Robert’s family shared a cabin with another Scottish family. It was crowded and much of the day was spent on deck for fresh air.

  The children played simple games. Sailors would give them small pieces of hemp to practice knots and play cat’s cradle. Jane pulled her homespun wool gray shawl closer against the wind, as she watched the children at play. The girls hung wash on the deck rails to dry .”Keep a sharp eye, lest the wash blow overboard! , their mother ordered. They obeyed and gathered items as they dried.

  The voyage was to take 25 to 30 days. However, the spring sailing ran into storms and fog slowing their progress. The ship landed in Montreal on April, 30th, thirty one days after departing Edinburgh.

  Robert decided to bathe in the St. Lawrence river before appearing to the immigration authorities. He left his wife to pack family goods and children to debark the ship. Robert didn’t return. Jane, fearing the worse and alone in a strange land asked the authorities to search the St. Lawrence river.

  The currents and undertow of this river in the spring, was deceptive to unsuspecting swimmers and bathers. Roberts body washed ashore several miles downstream from the wharf.

  Jane took their small savings to pay for a burial. Then she gathered her family and with a letter from Roberts’s uncle in Canada, she told her children that they would walk to their new home in Delhi, some 400 miles away. It would take most of the spring  and summer. Along the way they slept in barns. Fished the rivers and requested assistance from the small churches they passed. Jane would read a bible verse to her children to begin and end their day. Many times she made up verses to encourage the children to continue. Occasionally, a wagon or cart would stop and give Jane and the younger children a ride. Her two older children had to walk besides the vehicle. The oldest son Walter, when not fishing or hunting for small game would do odd jobs to earn a few coins to feed the family. At age 12, he became the man of the family.

  Finally, in August, their little family arrived at the uncle’s farm in Delhi. Jane went into labor and bore a daughter in the beginning of September.

  Except for Robert , they all survived the trip

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He saved the King

Willian was laboring in a lowland glen.

He stopped to watch Robert Bruce ride by with his friends.

The Prince’s tartan flowed in the breeze.

Enraging a young bull grazing in the trees.

William raced between the man and beast.

He grabbed the horns, crack, the bulls life ceased.

The young prince’s life had been saved.

He knighted William for coming to his aid.

Three bloody bulls are on the crest.

The motto ”He saved the king” says the rest.

Carol Farnsworth

carolaspot@aol.com

copyright 6-29-21

Last Thursday, I wrote about teaching Hawaiian dance. I took 2 trips to Hawaii to immerse myself in the culture ,history and language of Hawaii.

On my first trip we visited the oldest and youngest islands. Kawaii and Hawaii Islands are found on the south and north ends of the Hawaiian archipelago.

Our trip had an auspicious start. Our plane was delayed in Michigan due to an ice storm. We arrived in Los Angeles, with a half hour to get to the flight to Honolulu. My husband, John set off at a run to hold the plane. My ten year old daughter, Ruth and I were left to follow.

Ruth read the signs and led me quickly across the airport. Only when we were in the correct terminal, she became confused. John appeared at the top of a set of stairs. Our gate was upstairs. The door to the plane was open but it closed after we boarded.

We made it but our luggage was delayed until that evening and delivered to our hotel.

The deity of volcanoes and creation of Hawaii is Pele. What better to feel her power than at Volcano National Park near Hilo. We traveled to the park before official opening time. We walked through a lava tube formed centuries before , it had an interesting texture ,not smooth but rough to the touch. Like eskimos with many words to describe types of snow, The Hawaiian language has multiple words for the type, density, weight and flow of lava. The Volcano was active during our visit.

The park was closed for several days due to moving lava. On the last day of our visit, we heard that the park was open. We arrivied to find no parking spaces. We drove to the front of the parked line of cars to find a handicapped spot open. We hung up the handicapped sign and got out. We were allowed to walk to where the lawa was flowing under the crust of the land. The land had a glow with heat and light from the underground lava. We were the last group of people to see this area. Several firemen walked behind us and closed the park after we left the trail.

Because of the larger land mass and heat of the island, rain is frequent and rainbows form frequently. I called this island rainbow island.

Hawaii is known for Kona coffee. We stopped at a sampling store and wandered to the coral jewelry. Ruth stayed in the coffee section. On the drive back to the hotel, Ruth fidgeted and laughed for no reason. I turned and ask,”How many samples of coffee did you have?”. She replied,”O six or seven,” She was buzzed. Ruth has a taste for coffee ever since.

After Hawaii, we traveled to Kawaii. The building code restricts the height of buildings to no taller than the tree tops.. That is about two stories high. Kapata is the largest city on the island. There we saw a Hawaiin dance show with dances to Pele and Hi’laka her sister, she is the deity of flora and mountain rains.

The wilderness on Kawaii is one of the wettest areas in the world. It receives between 198 to 418 inches of rain a year. The trees, drip with vines and climbing flowers. If you go walking in the preserve, be prepared to change your clothes afterward. Rain is a daily occurrence. The lushness of Kawaii and the starkness of lava formed Hawaii ,was a nice contrast.

John and Ruth walked part of the Pali trail on the west side of the island. Here was agriculture of taro fields. This plant is a starch growth simular to potatoes.

Next Thursday, I will report on my second trip to Hawaii.

I wish my sisiter in law, Peggy a Happy Birthday today.Thanks for being a reader of my blog.

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A Lesson In Patience

She wanted to learn to surf.

Lessons were available.

A young man gave her a board.

She was insturctive to attach a wrist band to her board.

She paddled stood and balanced

first on the beach then in the water.

She paddled out and waited for a wave.

And fell again, again , again.

Finally, She stood and made to the shore.

Too bad, Dad didn’t photograph the moment.

Carolaspot@aol.com

copyright June24,2021

Today, in the northern hemisphere, we mark the day as the start of summer. In ancient times, this was considered mid-summer. The day may not always be the longest for daylight, due to the location of the observer.

The sun is at it’s highest point, about 22 % above the earth.

Looking at my weather, it is not looking like summer. The temperature is in the low 60’s with clouds and showers. The windchimes are dancing with a north west breeze. Not a day to celebrate outdoors.

The 22nd of June is also National rainforest day. In our country, there are two rainforest areas. The coast of Washington State is a temperate rain forest. A rain forest is a forest that receives a large amount of yearly rain. The coastal rain forest usually runs from Northern California to British Colombia. Temperate rain forests are found in Chili, New Zealand and Norway.

The island of Kawaii has the only tropical rainforest in the U.S..

On this day, we are encouraged to raise awareness of the role rainforests play in our ecosystem. Donating to organizations working to prevent rainforest destruction while preserving these areas is up to all of us.

Recently, Brazil has initiated preserving large sections of rainforest in the Amazon area.

What will we as a country choose to do?

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Rainforest

Rain has decreased

Allowing burning to clear land.

Indigenous loss of flora and fauna.

Never to be seen again.

Forlorn tracks of land.

Open to erosion.

Still we can work to safe it.

Real solutions need commitment.

Easy to say, hard to do.

Seeing the devastation

Time to act was yesterday.

Carolaspot@aol.com

copyright June 22, 2021

I was reminded this week, of teaching Hawaiian dance to young girls at a dance studio in my town. I had been one of the adult hawaiian dancers. The hulas we preformed were modern and songs that many mainlanders were familiar with. I started to research the old Hawaiian stories and chants and choreographing trational hand movements to the chants. I also learned the tales behind these songs. I found that I had a talent for this.

The Hawaiian Teacher left the studio to start her own dance school. I was asked if I would teach Hawaiian to adults and children.

I was a teacher but not of dance. In addition, I had limited vision. Could I keep 7 little girls interested and behaving for an hour?

I devised a set plan for each lesson. First Hawaiian greetings, then stretching to Hawaiian music. Finally the new steps and hand movements for the dance song. I learned to watch in the mirror for movements different from the group. I would go from dancer to dancer feeling each girl’s hip movements and hand positions. to be sure they were correct.

At the end of the class, I told an Hawaiian story and sometimes we made a craft. A piece of candy was the last reward for a good lesson.

I had one little girl in the class that didn’t want to be there. She would try to start a fight to get out of class. My daughter, was easily pulled into a fight with her. I knew that Ruth liked the class and Donna Ray did not. So Ruth was sent to the office and Donna had to stay in the class with no reward at the end.

My daughter would be very angry with me but I told her that fighting was wrong and I had to seperate the two offenders. I reminded Ruth that if she could ignore Donna Ray, there would be no fight.

The girls used props in their dance that I ordered from Hawaii. We used feathered gourds called Uli Ulis, Ipues or gourd drums. flags, santa hats and bamboo rhythm sticks.They loved the props and would be reminded they would keep them at the end of the year.

I also disigned the costumes with parts from Hawaii and some parts from local sources. My husband John, learned to take my ideas and sew each costume .

The recital costumes were real grass skirts from the inner bark of a mulberry tree. The tops were pull up tops in a soft or satin cloth from remnants found at the local Walmart.

The costume was completed with flower leis that the girls strung themselves and a flower clipped in their hair.

I told them the story behind each item. The flower worn on the right signaled that the girl was single, worn on the left, she was engaged or married. One of the little girls asked what if they put the flower on the back of their head? I quickly came up with, “Well, that means that you haven’t decided.”

The first photo shows my daughter dressed to dance and all the other grass skirts in the colors of the rainbow with the flowered leis displayed in a circle.

The second photo show the seven girls in their costumes dancing at a luau.

They are all smiling.

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Chorus from “Lord or the Dance”

“Dance, dance, wherever you may be.

I am the Lord of the dance says he.

I will lead you on, wherever you may be.

I will lead you in the dance with me.”

excerpts from the Lord of the Dance, 1997 by

Michael Flatley

carolaspot @aol.com copyright 6-17-2021