The Magic of Being a Child

I love watching my children discover the magic of the world around them. This past weekend the El Cajon Library sponsored a local Magician, Michael E. Johnson, for a magic show. Michael was truly a great entertainer, who handle the kids wonderfully, and added a touch of that subtle adult humor to keep us all laughing and entertained. My daughter Katie was selected for one of his routines and I so wish I had my camcorder to capture the amazement on her face when one foam rabbit turned into many.

As adults we understand the concept of mis-direction but the kid in me wanted to ignore and look on in wonder and amazement, just like my daughter. Too often life has a way of desensitizing our view and not letting us see the wonder of God that surrounds us in our everyday life. I hope I can continue an attitude of wonder and amazement, even when life seems to get the best of me.

Living Life Today with an Old World Feel

This Picture is a current photo of the home I grew up in and the home my parents still live in!

I love going back home to rural Maine. Growing up in a small community was one of the better things that happened to me. Every time I fly back home and make the drive from the airport to my hometown I feel like I am traveling through a portal to another world. My parents home is one of the oldest in the town and was built in the mid 1800s, yes I said the mid 1800s. This makes the home more than 150 years old. Walking into the big old barn it is quickly evident that this barn's timbers were hewn by hand. Looking even closer you can see the notches and wooden pegs that hold the main timbers in place.

This picture was taken with a digital camera in full color, even though it might not look like it. Take a look at the fence posts and you will see the yellow insulators. It just happened to be an extremely overcast, gray, snowy day and with the added look of the weather beaten cedar shingles than you get the illusion of a lack of color.

Here are a couple of facts about my life growing up on this farm:

1. All wood heat - we cut and split 10-15 cord of firewood every year
2. My Mom baked everything we ate on a wood stove, yes I said wood.
   
3. We grew all our own vegetables.
4. We raised all of our own livestock, including cows (milked by hand), chickens, pigs, steers, ducks, turkeys, etc...
5. In the early days running water was a hand pump on the end of a big slate sink in the kitchen. Dad did put a pump in and plumping. The slate sink is still there today.
   
6. Spring fed well water that comes out so cool that it forms condensation on the outside of your glass.
7. All of our equipment for working the land (plows, harrows, mowing machines [for haying] rakes [for raking the hay], tethers, were horse drawn. My Dad modified the tongues to be pulled by a tractor while either me or my brother rode on the equipment to operate it.
8. My Mom either canned or froze all of the fall harvest, which was harvested by hand.
9. We had an apple orchard and Mom always made the best apple sauce and a variety of other apple products.
10. My Mom did all of her wash in ringer/washer, hand rinsing in a washtub, and hang drying.
11. During the cold months we pee'd in a chamber pot, all other times potty time was in the outhouse. The outhouse is still actively used today - oh, and it is a double seater.
12. Baths were in a galvanized washtub, placed in front of the cook stove, youngest to oldest, so it seemed I always had 'gray' water by the time it was my turn.
13. We had our own Mapple Sugar bush and made homemade maple syrup every year.
14. Rock walls separates the fields.
15. Homemade pizza night and Mom's McDonald's nights were my favorite.
16. As a teenager it was an hour drive to the nearest movie theater (A two-plex).
17. In the fall for fun we would take apples from the orchard and put them across the road and wait for a car to come by to 'splat' them.
18. Berry picking (blue berries, raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries) was tedious as we only had the wild kind and wild blue berries/strawberries are small.
19. Ice skating was on a beaver bog, that is still there today.
20. We never had a neighbor complain about us making too much noise because we never had any neighbors close enough to hear us.