Just a Picture

By The Shores of Gitche Gumee…

 

So I looked it up after one of you mentioned these lines…By the shining big sea water…  from the Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

By the shores of Gitche Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water,
Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,
Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.
Dark behind it rose the forest,
Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees,
Rose the firs with cones upon them;
Bright before it beat the water,
Beat the clear and sunny water,
Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water.
There the wrinkled old Nokomis
Nursed the little Hiawatha,
Rocked him in his linden cradle,
Bedded soft in moss and rushes.
Safely bound with reindeer sinews;
Stilled his fretful wail by saying,
"Hush! the Naked Bear will hear thee!"
Lulled him into slumber, singing,
"Ewa-yea! my little owlet!
Who is this, that lights the wigwam?
With his great eyes lights the wigwam?
Ewa-yea! my little owlet!"

 

And this is only a very small portion of the whole story. But yes it is set on the shores of Lake Superior.  I like the repeating of the phrases throughout the poem, the repeating of the phrases to make the meter. :)

Our Lake In Autumn

                         

                                

I spent a couple days by Lake Superior this week. I took a lot of pictures trying to capture a little what the lake is to me. It’s hard to explain what it is that gets my complete attention at any moment or during any activity.  I’d find myself standing in the middle of the room just gazing through the window watching the waves crashing the rocks…just the movement and color, maybe. 

Another part of the fascination is the fact that the lake is too big to just take a canoe and cross.  This lake is for ships (ore boats and grain carriers).  It’s deep and cold and capable of sinking ships in a storm.  That’s a bit intimidating.

So I settle for pictures and gazings and thanking God who created something that helps me think of His greatness and powers. 

The Stove Is In

                   

Maybe some of you have an idea of how impressed and happy and pleased I am with the completion of this project!

Remember those old boards I was playing with last week?  Well here they are installed and making us happy.  Even Elv is convinced.

I’m dreaming of sitting around a snapping fire with the snow and wind howling around the corners of our house. 

More Fall Work

These old weathered boards are going to be on a wall in our house.

I planed and sanded them till they began to be clean, but still quite rustic. 

Most of these have two coats of water-based varnish on them.  And we think they’re beautiful.  I won’t speak for Elv.  He’s happy to let me play and create, but he can’t quite believe I’ll take these terrible boards and make something I want to have in our living room.  Trust me, this’ll be great when we’re done.

They’re going on that wall there behind the chair where the old “window” AC is now.  From floor to ceiling will be our rustic backing for the wood stove that will be there on that hearth where the chair and the stack of chimney boxes are now.

Where do we get this foolish courage…to put old boards and a woodstove in the living room?  I have been cleaning cabins and second homes for a few summers now and observing a few things about these houses.  Rule number one is that anything goes for walls and floors.  Rule number two is that if you can dream it; you can do it.  And the best thing about what I’ve noticed is that it doesn’t have to be expensive to be acceptable and nice.  Maybe that is because it’s just the cabin or the second home or just a lake house.  So be it, our house is just a cabin.

Improvements …

  Fall work has begun here now.  The new ceiling fan in the living room and the new hot water system in the basement are proofs of that.  We have planned how to install a fireplace in the living room.   We didn’t plan for a dead refrigerator.

I am kind of glad now that it’s over that the fridge did die.  It was big and white.  It was too deep and the contents just out of reach, always.  But it’s hard to accept the death of an expensive appliance that isn’t ten years old. So I don’t blame us for taking our time to process the facts before giving up.  Yesterday in Elv’s morning prayer he asked God to guide us and just admitted to God that we’d be just as happy with a good used fridge as the new one we had spotted on the Best Buy website.

One of my friends suggested I look on Craigslist to see if anyone had a used fridge for sale.  In the meantime I’d called both Best Buy stores in our area only to find out that they’d have to order and it would be a week before we could pick it up.  What do you know, someone had a fridge for 75 dollars listed just the day before. 

So last night Elv and I drove over to  the boonies near the Michigan border and found an old used side by side that fits our needs perfectly.  It’s tan and brown fitting right into our cabin scheme of things and it’s not too big, and I can see and reach in without bending over with my head cocked just so for  my bi-focals to work.  It’s an answer to prayer!

And we got a nice drive through the wilderness seeing a bear, two coyotes and a few deer.  The sky was a grand show complete with a falling star and moon rise around midnight. 

Cave Time

 

( Thanks, Lance, for this picture of the Split Rock Lighthouse on the North Shore of Lake Superior.)

 

I have been trying to get this post on “paper” now for several days.  With reunion pictures to sort and photo stories to create I have been distracted.

Elv preached Sunday about David…the poet, the shepherd boy, the giant killer,the man who recognized a smart woman when he met one (Abigail), the ‘man after God’s own heart’.  He pointed out lessons from these and other scenes in David’s life. The one that struck a chord with me was when David sought cave time. 

David had been called in to the presence of his father-in-law to play music.  Saul was “troubled” the Bible says.  David played skillfully as usual though, no doubt, somewhat distracted with his eyes on those trembling, bejeweled hands toying with a javelin just across the room there. David certainly had reason for snatching his escape when he heard the twang of the spear leaving the sheath.  The relationship with his wife’s father had not been overly cozy lately… rather touch and go actually.

A quivering javelin in the wall just behind where David had been was all that Saul had for his efforts at unleashing his frustration.  Michal, David’s wife, understood the signs perfectly and ushered her dear poet out of harm’s way.

With this and other stressful adventures; David needed some cave time.  He moved into the depths of Adullam Cave only to be joined by a bunch of losers. I don’t know how he felt about it; but I would have been profoundly annoyed to have my cave time so rudely interrupted.  These guys were not your ordinary adventurers.  To meet their needs, David ended up being a counselor and a financial advisor.  Not my idea of good cave time!  But he seemed to have the wisdom and know-how to turn discontented, distressed and in-debt guys into a productive little band of helpers to him.   As it turned out some of those rascals ended up giving him their lifetime of good work in David’s kingdom.

This is a  whole new angle on cave time for me.  I expect to GET during cave time.  I expect to REST during cave time.  How about you? 

Summer's Almost Over

Summer's at the end: school books are ordered, it's cool outside, the garden is tired and full of surprises, and I'm getting the urge to make firewood.  I promised Elv that if he'd bring home the firewood logs; Brad and I will make it all into stove wood.  I love that work of "splitting and ricking" the winters wood.  It's every bit as fulfilling as creating rows and rows of colorful canned goods on white shelves down in the pantry.

Another good sign of fall is having spent an hour at Menards today with TheDH pricing a new woodstove.  We also bought two, much needed ceiling fans.  I'm getting the urge to clean and decorate anew, especially in the kitchen.

 Geneva created a welcome sign for this house which I am still looking at and enjoying, trying to decide just where it would best fit. It's lovely!  I'll show it to you when I find it's spot.  

And there are plans to install the wood/gas cook stove before too long.  There's talk of a pot rack, and lick and stick stone for behind the stove.  We are still working on just where in the living room the fireplace (stove with a glass door) should be positioned for the best feel and look of cozy and comfortable. 

The black berries are ripe and hanging full on the brambles.  Does anybody want to don denim and come with me to the woods?

Reunion

 We had a great reunion, with everything from tears and laugher to beard contests and water fights.

Our family is spread out all over the US, from South Carolina to Idaho.  

I don't need to tell you how wonderful it is to be able to spend time with those who share your same roots, oddities, and resemblances.  Nor do I need to explain the pleasure of knowing your family loves you in spite of the fact that they know your weaknesses and habits.  It's so encouraging to me to have my siblings tell me how they're overcoming those things by God's grace in their lives. 

    Everyone but Dayton's family, April's family, and Leland and the children came.   

These three girls are a team and could be found at any time together somewhere.  Sam, Maurita, and Amy.  They missed Ericka  who would usually make the fourth.

Evie played soft ball with these children.  She said they were good players.  The children found the older young people and asked them to come and be the audience and cheer for them.

Evie and I had time to catch up, to pray together, and to laugh together.  Thank you, God, for sisters.

The dining hall was noisy with all of us playing games, visiting, and even some singing.

This game was hugely noisy and fun.

                                                Four Generations.

A Week of Events

 

This post will be disconnected, busy, and hardly coherent...just like our days/world/life right now.  I have just spent a week in the company of my two parents traveling to Barb's funeral in Michigan... and back, also having them here at home with us till this morning.  

It's a long 12 hours to Newago, MI!  It's 12 hours if you go over the top of the lake and it's 12 hours if you go through Chicago and around.  So we took the top route along lake Michigan, through the endless forests on a two lane highway for hours and hours.   

Arriving at Dave's we found other Kauffmans gathering to surround the family, to visit, laugh and cry together.  Funerals are sad, no doubt, but they're times of refreshing too, for those who have put their trust in Jesus.   Friends of Dave's family opened their homes to all of the in-gathering Kauffmans.  I stayed in a lovely, gracious home with Galens, Dales,  and my parents. I thoroughly enjoyed the aunts and uncles.  You can learn a lot just listening to the 65-year-olds.

Thank-you Danette, Sharon, Janette,Charlene, Yvonne, Sam, Cynthia,  Violet, and Nadine for the wonderful visiting we enjoyed.  

Mom, Dad, and I came home Saturday back through the woods and along the lake. 

Sunday, Amy was baptized along with three other young ladies.  The singing was rather enthusiastic and the "house was full" at church on Sunday.  My mom and Aunt Pearl thought the singing was too loud, but I heard a few others say that they enjoyed it.  We went to the boat landing where the four girls were immersed/baptized.  It was a beautiful day, perfect for the outward sign of an inward cleansing.

In the meantime behind all these scenes of family and faith is the ongoing struggle that my sister and her husband face.  Behind daily joys and duties we share is the knowledge of a burden to pray and yearn over.  We are all wearing this on our faces just behind the smiles and tears of normal days.  "Grandma seems different, " says Lance, knowing full well why. 

Sunday afternoon and evening our little stone house filled up, as usual, with family, friends, and overnight guests.  Dru had invited two of his friends to stop by to use our home as a bed and breakfast.  They're nice guys, and we enjoyed them.  And Lisl had invited Elv's mom and Aunt Pearl to stay overnight as well.  Dru's friends helped us sing for the old folks.

I must mention that Adam and Sana were bid farewell on Sunday as well.  I took a picture of their car sitting in the church yard Sunday morning.  It was loaded to the gills.  I hope nobody opened either of the back seat doors...it would have been rather difficult to put back!

Monday morning Elv went to work and I started a huge washing.  I had put Dru in charge of making breakfast for our house full. Lisl got up to help him and they served us delicious pancakes and eggs. 

This week we've had very humid warm weather.  The AC runs all day long providing us an oasis in this heat.  Mom and Dad joined our world of work and play till today.  We picked black berries yesterday and Dad helped Dru fix a deck at Clarks.

Next is the family reuinon.

Life Is Short...

  We have been reminded of that again this week.  Aunt Barb went to glory after a short illness with her second bout of cancer.  Elv and I dream of the future like any other couple: being out of debt, going into service for CAM, having a cabin in the woods to come home to, and travel to the places we'd like to see someday.  What a jolt it must be to those couples who must part ways before the dreams come true.  Ray and Elsie had dreams to give up, too.  

I think it's a call to couples to live happy today before the future gets taken away.  Now, while there are bills to pay; we must take time to play, too. I don't want to let our dreams of the future rob us of the joys of today.   Today is good, too.  

And one more thought.  We are becoming today who we are going to be tomorrow.  Am I in my relationship with God and my husband becoming the woman I want to be tomorrow.  Do I think that I can be impatient with Elv today while dreaming of being a gracious wife when I'm sixty.