Family – Page 2 – movingforwardslowly

Happy Birthday! Dad

My dad was born December 30, 1930. He passed away in 2013. I was inspired for several reasons to find the picture of him climbing a palm tree in Hawaii when he was stationed there with the Navy. My brother was born there.

The background picture today on a new family computer was full of needle palms, and I recently purchased a new shower curtain with a palm tree and beach scene. The ponytail palm I purchased within the past 12 months is doing well. In any case, all these connections to palms, and the fact that today was my dad’s birthday, made me remember the picture of him climbing a palm tree. Happy Birthday Dad– you are remembered fondly!

I also added the picture of myself, my dad, and my brother pictured next to the Lincoln bust located at the Gettysburg, PA cemetery. My brother was the family comedian and always had us laughing as we were growing up. My brother and dad were about the same height around 6’1″-6’3″. In this picture my brother looks much taller because (if you notice his feet) he is standing on his toes with his heels resting on the back wall. He is pranking my dad.

Another funny thing I remember fondly about my dad was his sense of fashion. Being a farm boy he was always early to rise in the morning. I have several memories of him getting ready to head out to the hardware store early on a Saturday morning wearing a combination of clashing colors all connected to the red color family. It turns out he was partially color blind, and he could not distinguish the difference between colors in the red, orange and maroon family. When going out to an important event he needed to rely on others to help him coordinate his colors.

Today I found a good graphic which tries to illustrate how different people can perceive or not perceive colors. There are several different types of color blindness, not just the total absence of color. This problem is apparently more common in men than women.

There is much more available information about this topic today than when I was growing up. I did not include it here because it can be easily researched now.

The Mustard Seed as a Simile

I received a mustard seed necklace from my grandmother Florence when I was a young girl. I was reminded of this today when I saw a modern version of it for sale. The mustard seed can hold powerful symbolism depending on one’s faith. Jesus uses the mustard seed to represent how the smallest grain of faith can grow and grow into something big and powerful.

I cannot say that I have always been faithful. However a small seed was planted in me long ago when I was a young girl. It was pushed into the back of my mind as I grew. As an adult and a mother my faith has been remembered and nurtured again. I cannot say that I am the most pious person, however, I have never sought to harm others. I try to live by a creed of kindness, and by acceptance of others different from myself. During the past decade my faith has come to my rescue many times as I struggled with depression and the illness of family.

Seeing the mustard seed necklace recently reminded me how this symbol can be a great gift for someone. It serves as a reminder to them that through faith they can thrive, and become a force for good. Life can be long and tiresome at times, but faith will hold your hand, and God’s love is unconditional.

This is the AI image generator’s version of a mustard seed necklace. It made me laugh, however, I like the idea of showing some growth. The common version is simply a lone seed.

Cornucopia: An Abundance of Goodwill

C – celebrate the season

O – offline with family and friends.

R – remember their names.

N – notice their smiles and listen.

U – understand their point of view.

C – count your blessings.

O – open your heart to theirs.

P – provide comfort when needed.

I – invite compromise when needed.

A – ask for forgiveness if necessary, and say “thank you.”

P.S. — Acrostic poems were practiced in school today.

Celebrating with Bells

Old brass bells found in box of books. Now they hang from the doorknob of a new door.

The holiday decorations in our house are getting sparser as I age, especially since it has always been only me that puts them up and takes them down. The bells help celebrate the “reason for the season”. I put the new keys to the new door on a guardian bell key fob. Keeping with the bell theme, I decided to hang the bells pictured above from the door lever. They make a strong and clear clanging that is musical to my ear.

This new door was one of the upgrades that was researched this summer. Planning ahead is always a good idea. This door is fully accessible and opens out to our deck, patio, and back garden. It replaced an old sliding glass door that was too narrow to be fully accessible.

As I went through the old Christmas decorations picking and choosing a few reminders of the season, I found a garland of tiny gold bells. Hanging them over the new door was my private celebration. The 3 brass bells were found this summer in old box of inherited books. They seem appropriate for Christmas, and I can imagine them being attached to a gift box of books. Giving books for Christmas was something my great aunt Bess liked to do. You cannot take the teacher out of an older retired teacher.

This Thanksgiving season I am grateful for many things. My father’s favorite poem, Desiderata, comes into my mind. He used to have it on a poster in his home office. My favorite lines from this poem are: “You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. You have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.”

My hope during this time of year is that love and faith continues to guide me. And to anyone that might read this post, I hope that you can find peace and joy during this season of Thanksgiving.

Sincerely, Kathy aka Katherine

Remember Your Roots and Vote

Charlotte’s Web

My mother's first name was Charlotte. She was never called by this. She was called June.
It seems as if Charlotte has become a popular name these days.
My sister's name is Diane and my daughter's middle name is Diane.
After finding the book about Diana I have been reading a little bit more about the royals.
Prince William and Princess Kate (Catherine)have a daughter named Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.
Princess Diana's younger brother, Charles Spencer, has a daughter named Charlotte Diana.
Chelsea Clinton's first daughter is named Charlotte.
My name is Katherine, spelled with a K.
The coincidences are weird. I have not decided if it is a good weird or a creepy weird.
It does not really matter because it is what it is, and your perspective depends on your position.

Monarchs in the light. Another picture from the past in Kathy’s garden.

My Married Name in Elements

The heart necklace in my last post was purchased at the Etsy website. I was surprised to find that I still had an account with them from way back in 2015. I had forgotten my password.
I was able to change it so that I can now access it.
I decided I should support the small entrepreneurs that create a variety of things to sell on Etsy.

Since I work in a school, I thought maybe I could find a fun T-shirt to make students think.
I found a vendor located in my state that creates T-shirts using the periodic table of chemical elements.

The T-shirt came today. It is a standard crew neck, so I just pictured the important message on it. It makes me think since I am not trained in chemistry, though I have read a book or two on the subject. I have worked in 8th grade science in the past, so I do know a little about chemistry, at least enough to support the students. I got an A in high school chemistry way back when I was in high school. I took no chemistry classes in college.

The three elements of Potassium, Rhenium, and Indium are useful together only to spell out my last (married) name.
And of course I noticed the numbers, and it made me laugh!

A Surprise Connection Between an Old Slide and My Father’s Name

This is a scan of one of my father’s slide. There was no information with the slide.

This picture was in a slide format found in my father's collection. It was a mystery since it was not labeled.
There were no other slides that seemed related to it. I did not know the location nor the year it was taken. It was mixed in with other old slides. I scanned the slide since the beauty of the location captivated me.

About a month ago I was surprised to see a picture on a co-worker's laptop that looked very similar to this one.
I asked her about it, and she told me that the wallpaper on her laptop changes periodically. I asked her if she knew the location. She said she thought it was Scotland. This information was enough for me to do a search.

As it turns out, there is a Dunnottar Castle located on Scotland's north eastern coast near Stonehaven. The castle is in ruins like the one in my father's picture. I wondered why my father had taken this picture. As it turns out, my father's name, William Keith, is very prominent in this castle's history. The castle is on land that the clan of Keith owned for centuries. Sir William Keith, the 1st Earl Marischal, began constructing this castle at the end of the 14th century.

Keith is the surname of the family that owned this land. Keith is my father's middle name, not his surname, though Keith is what everyone called my father. My father's surname still has a connection to this castle because of the coat of arms of the Earl Marischal.

Pua Lehua

“The lehua is the first tree that springs up from a recent lava flow. It’s for that reason, when we speak in Hawaiian and we speak of people who are skilled, strong, and beloved, they’re often referred to as pua lehua, or lehua flowers. They like the lehua, have a kind of resilience, a strength and a grace about them.”

written by : Kalena Silva, University of Hawaii Hilo Professor of Hawaiian History

I have been on a part-time web quest of Hawaiian botanical plants this week. It all started when I read in the news that May 1st was Lei Day. This is a Hawaiian cultural event. I had heard of lei before, though I never knew they had their own day.

When I first looked up the word "lei" in my dictionary (to see if it had a plural form) I discovered the word "lehua".
Subsequently, I learned about the Ohi'a lehua tree (scientific name: Metrosideros polymorpha.) What struck me with resonance was the fact that it is a species of flowering evergreen tree in the Myrtle family (Myrtaceae).

This reminded me of the Myrtles in my own family. Since Mother's Day is coming up in the middle of this month, I decided to revisit and honor my mother and her mother, Myrtle, and a surrogate mother of sorts, Great Aunt Bess. In honor of Lei Day, I belatedly show them wearing their lei during their visit to my mother living in Hawaii at the time. (mid- 1950's)

My mother is in the middle, and to her right is her aunt Bess, and to her left is her mother, Myrtle. All of these were strong and resilient women. All three worked hard throughout their lives. They all had grace and gave generously of themselves. Bess taught me to read, using phonics, during the summer before I entered 1st grade. She never married, and was a school teacher her whole adult life until she retired. My mother taught me many things, and thanks to these 3 women I had no college loans to pay off. My grandmother, Myrtle, made many clothes for my sister and I. She made sure we had nice looking clothes to wear when we were children. In my mind, all three of these women should be called ‘pua lehua”.

A Sunday Drive in Rhode Island

A Sunday Drive in Newport, Rhode Island. The year was 1964, give or take a year.

When I look at old pictures of my dad from when I was young, I always think he looks like Satya Nadella,CEO of Microsoft. I guess it is probably just the bald head and glasses. My dad did eventually lose all the hair on top.
He still had hair on the sides up until his death. He never shaved his head. I have a T-shirt with advice from an eagle. One of the things it states is: Bald is Beautiful. Baldness is a male trait that ran through my family, so I have to agree.
One question I never asked and now wish that I did is why did they always cut my sister's hair short, and mine was kept long most of the time. I did get a chin length bob before we moved to the Philippines. It would have been the year after we left Rhode Island. My dad was studying at the Navy War College during our time there.

Since we were all dressed up it must have been a Sunday. We always went to church and then often we went out to dinner since our extended family was all living in the mid-west. We often would take a Sunday drive after we ate. Here we ended up at the beach for a photo session. This tradition went mostly by the way-side after a few years. When we went to church in Virginia we would often go to the Hot Shoppes cafeteria in Tyson's Corner mall. Boy has that mall changed over the years. Today it is much larger than it was when we frequented the cafeteria.

I know I was going to stop reminiscing about my life growing up, but every time I see Satya Nadella in the news, I am reminded of my dad and his old pictures. I wonder if others might see the resemblance.