Tag Archives: Something About Nothing

Take a Leap. It’s Leap Year.

Posted on by
Reply

I wonder if kids today have ever played the game of Leapfrog. The dictionary defines Leapfrog as a game in which one player bends down so another player can leap over the back of the first player. The first known use of Leapfrog was in 1599. The name means to go ahead in turn.

I fear it is a game long lost, but when I thought of today and leap year, for some reason I thought of the old game. A simple game. Maybe too simple for today’s youth or maybe it would be an intriguing game if we ever thought to teach them the game. It would create laughter, especially if someone my age would try it.

Today is Feb. 29. Once in four years Feb. 29 appears out of the mist of the calendar, somewhat like Brigadoon does in the musical. So if I had been born in 1952, I would be almost 17 years old today and I would be able to play leapfrog because I would still be young. If I went by the actual leap year age I might think I could play the game but my body may prove to be a little too decrepit to jump over those silly enough to think I could play.

If I wasn’t married and I went by the old folklore tradition in Ireland and Britain, today would be the only day I could ask someone to marry me. And in Finland the old tradition states that if a man refuses the proposal on leap day he must buy the woman fabric for a skirt. In Greece a marriage in leap year was considered unlucky.

Apparently we do have a few traditions in the United States, too. According to Wikipedia, in 1988 Anthony, Texas, declared itself the leap year capitol of the world and it started an international leaping birthday club. Checking the Anthony community website, it is still celebrated in a big way.

I remember Sadie Hawkins day in school. In my high school days women didn’t ask guys out, so the Sadie Hawkins dance was an exception. It was the one dance women asked the guys out. At the time I didn’t realize Feb. 29 was the official day for that.

Yes, life has changed this leap year 2016. Leapfrog is no longer a popular game and the old taboos of women asking men out has gone by the wayside.

In 2016 women are free to ask men for dates and propose marriage to the man in their life on any day of the year. Women no longer have to wait on pins and needles for men to ask them out. Women can take the initiative to ask a man out if they are interested in him. No one will take them to task or tell them they are too brazen making the first move.

I wonder if today’s kids know the traditions of leap year, or if they just let the day pass by thinking it is another day on the calendar. Those born on this day in the leap year might only remember it as having to change their celebration to a non birthday day.

A year is defined as the time it takes to orbit the sun. The earth orbits the sun about 365 1/4 days to make an entire rotation around the sun. By adding an extra day every four years the earth is at the same point of its orbit at the same time of the calendar year after year. Because February is the shortest month, the extra day is added every four years to February. The calendar we use is the Gregorian Calendar. Some leap years are skipped because the earth’s orbit is a little less than the 365 1/4. I am happy there is information on the Internet or I wouldn’t have got that far in my calculations.

So, happy Feb. 29. Happy birthday to those who can actually celebrate on their day. You may want to also teach your kids to play the simple game of Leapfrog. It doesn’t cost anything, doesn’t require any electricity and may make them all laugh, especially if a 17-year-old born in the leap year on Feb. 29, 1952, plays. It will be a game they always remember.

Color Me Crazy!

Posted on by
Reply

imageI am addicted. I am addicted to coloring. My addiction began when I joined my Red Hat group for a coloring evening at a library.

I was hoping for a coloring book for Christmas but our Christmas was late and I couldn’t wait. Shopping in downtown Northfield I met the most amazing artist. Her name is Shona Brooks and she is part owner of the Eclectic Goat.  I love the store but what I didn’t know when I was drooling over the coloring designs was that Shona designed and drew the coloring pages.

I was in awe and of course I had to buy some pages.  Shona is a self taught artist and has her coloring books for sale on Mindware.com along with Etsy and other venues.

I have never been a color in the lines type of person but I try. I bought the poster size and I am currently turning them into placemats for my table for the spring.

Make sure you visit Shona and the store. They have lots of great gifts and crafts. And don’t forget to add her artwork to your coloring list. The Eclectic Goat

image

How Can I Lead A Simple Life?

Posted on by
1

SOMETHING ABOUT NOTHING published in the Albert Lea Tribune and Courier Sentinel week of  January 11, 2016 ©Julie Seedorf

 

As much as I dislike routines, I have one routine in the morning that centers me for the day. I sit down in the quiet of the morning, journal, write in my gratitude journal and take time for inspiration from a book and author who might inspire me to live my life better.

This morning one sentence from Joyce Meyer’s book “Seven Things That Steal Your

Joy,” popped out and hit me straight between the eyes. The sentence was this: “Keep it simple.” Joyce Meyer’s section this day was devoted to having guests over. She described the way we try and make everything so perfect we don’t enjoy the time with our guests. We worry about the state of our house, our food, our appearance and whether we might measure up to our guests standards.

The reason these words stood out to me was because I had those very worries the day before. It is our turn to host our monthly Bible study or book group. We are trying to find a time when it works for all of us to get together. It happens to fall on a day later in the month when I will be out of town for a few days, coming home the very afternoon we are going to entertain the group. I said we would make it work. In the back of my mind I already began to be stressed. I knew I needed to clean before I left, but I also have my shysters who occasionally get into mischief while I am gone, and there is no guarantee I would not have a few remnants from their mischief to clean up when I came home.

Food was another issue. The hosting home provides the main meal and everyone else brings something to add to the meal. All my friends are great cooks and we usually have something delicious, homemade and wonderful. Would I be able to do that in the time I had after I got home? One of my friends offered to bring the main meal, but I felt that wasn’t fair.

Do any of you stress about company? I never used to. The reading in my morning devotion reminded me of our first married years. We started out in a rented house, with secondhand rented furniture, and I decorated using what we had. It was homey and comfy and I loved my home. It felt like home. I didn’t hesitate to invite people over and friends dropped in unannounced. It was a simple time in our lives. We were starting to build a life, and we didn’t have a lot of stuff. Since our friends were in the same position, their houses matched mine.

The years have passed and our lifestyles have changed. Some of our friends are the same friends, and we have met new ones along the way. Our lifestyle change has also included houses. Many of my friends have beautiful new modern houses with manicured yards, and the homes are tastefully decorated. They are beautiful. We always feel welcome in their homes.

I too, have a nice older home. I too try and stay up-to-date with my decorating and make sure it looks great when people are over. Thus, my anxiety when I have company because I want to measure up. I want to make it clear, my friends do not make me feel I have to do this. It has come with the territory of society, growing older, a change of lifestyle and possibly media. And perhaps my own insecurity about the rough edges showing up in my older home.

I have seen the criticism in our newspapers and media judging those whose homes are old and need some repair. But perhaps the people that live in these houses have simply found the secret to contentment because they live life without the trappings we all fall into. I used to feel contentment at living in an old home the first years of my marriage until I believed I needed to keep up with what society bellowed to me. My most comfortable and peaceful place in my life was my grandma’s old house, with the floor furnace, plastic drapes and an old cook stove in the kitchen. It was simplicity.

Joyce Meyer talks about the simplicity of fellowship. How often on the spur of the moment do we invite people over for a BBQ even if all we have is hot dogs and potato chips? How often do we ask people to drop in without calling? Our door used to always be open to drop-ins in our earlier married years. Now, the doorbell is silent unless we invite someone in, and we don’t do that anymore spontaneously because we might not be ready for company.

We have made the simple act of friendship and fellowship complicated. I miss the days when my walls were covered with old signs, and we sat on the floor around an old trunk and sipped coffee or had a drink of wine, and I didn’t care if the bed wasn’t made or there were dishes in the sink. Neither did my company and we enjoyed our conversation and our time together.

I miss the times when we would say, “Stay for supper. I don’t know what we’re having. t might be peanut butter sandwiches.” It didn’t matter, and we had fun anyway. I enjoyed my company without worrying about all the trappings. I have forgotten to keep it simple and because of that my home has become more quiet and silent.

I miss the days when I didn’t care what was on my walls or the condition my furniture was in or the fact that my food was simple. And it is no one’s fault but mine that I bought into the hype. My friends don’t make me feel this way, I take ownership for those feelings.

In my old age I have finally come to realize I feel more comfortable in old homes. I feel more comfortable visiting where a home feels lived in and used. And that statement takes me to having company. I am grateful for my devotion this morning that reminded me of what is important when visiting with friends. From now on out, I am going to keep it simple. Let the dust accumulate while I’m gone, the shysters make their mischief and the food be simple. What is most important is the conversation and sharing that will happen at my table.

Things that I grew up with stay with me. You start a certain way, and then you spend your whole life trying to find a certain simplicity that you had. It’s less about staying in childhood than keeping a certain spirit of seeing things in a different way.