Friday 31 May 2019

Task

A task takes as long as it takes. 
- proverb

Wednesday 29 May 2019

Confidence

Experience tells you what to do. 
Confidence allows you to do it. 
- proverb

Monday 27 May 2019

Rainbow

The thing to do, it seems to me, is to prepare yourself 
so you can be a rainbow in somebody else’s cloud. 
- Maya Angelou

Friday 24 May 2019

Running

You can outdistance that which is running after you,
 but not what is running inside you. 
- Rwandan proverb

Wednesday 22 May 2019

Right

The right to do something 
doesn't always make it the right thing to do.
 - proverb

Monday 20 May 2019

Change

To change and to change for the better 
are two different things.
 - German proverb

Friday 17 May 2019

May 17, 2019 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

   It’s spring time, and with the sunny days, I know many of us are just itching to get outside to start digging in the dirt and start planting.  There is something so satisfying about seeing new growth appear, and now that the greenhouses are open, we are closer to experiencing that thrill.

   My dad had the most amazing green thumb.  He could, and often would, take a piece of a plant, or even a twig from a tree, and stick it in some dirt and, almost before you knew it, there would be a new plant growing.  Even if, or especially if, that wasn’t the “proper” way to start said plant.

   Growing up there was always a very lush plant or two in the living room that tended to get a little out of control as it grew so well, and would need cut back over and over again.

   Dad also had his own unique way of pruning bushes and trees that often involved taking them almost down to the ground.  Yet, just when you thought he might have killed the shrub, it would come back more lush and green than ever before.  There is a family story that Dad did that with my Gramma’s caragana bush once and she was ready to kick him out of the family for destroying her lovely bush - the bush ended up healthier that it was before. (Besides, caraganas sucker so it is almost impossible to kill them, even if you wanted to)


   While I don't seem to have totally inherited his green thumb, my gift seems to be resuscitating houseplants that are on the verge of dying, there are a few plants that I can start and grow as easily as he did.  

Beth

Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://sites.google.com/site/thechautauqua26/home/May%2017%2C%202019%20Chautauqua.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

Contact The Chautauqua via email: thechautauqua@gmail.com or via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheChautauqua

Wednesday 15 May 2019

Erasers

There aren’t any erasers to undo our past,
 but there are fresh pages to write a new chapter. 
- Humble the Poet

Monday 13 May 2019

Future

Learn from the mistakes of your past, thank them for occurring,
 and then gently push them into the wind, 
and wave as they flutter away.
 No decision is ever absolutely great, or absolutely horrible, 
stop thinking so extreme. Understand your past, 
don’t waste time judging it. Understand your present,
 don’t waste time judging it. 
Use what you learn from these understandings 
to help create the future you want.
 - Humble the Poet

Friday 10 May 2019

Think

Everything I ever feared people would think of me,
 they already have. Yet here I am, still breathing... 
- Humble the Poet

Wednesday 8 May 2019

Simplify

Simplify your loves and explore all the routes that take you there. 
That’s what’s going to make for an awesome story. 
Don’t bind yourself by the expectations of others; 
it’s not their story to write.
 - Humble the Poet

Monday 6 May 2019

Obstacles

Life IS the obstacles...
This life you have isn’t a problem to be solved, 
it’s an experience to be soaked in.
 - Humble the Poet

Friday 3 May 2019

May 3, 2019 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

   When my sister and I were young, our maternal gramma taught us how to cover wire coathangers with braided nylon. Not only was it a great practical project, but it was also a great way to make a little extra cash. We covered hundreds and hundreds of coathangers growing up, and the more we did, the better we got, and the more we tweaked the process to make it easier and quicker.  My record is covering a coathanger - start to finish - in 15 minutes.

   We thought this was something we’d always be able to do, but then it got more challenging to continue.  First, it because harder and harder to find sturdy wire hangers as the ones being made became increasingly flimsier and prone to bending.  Second, the Woolsworth store in Red Deer (anyone remember that store?), where we bought the balls of Nylotex nylon, closed and was replaced by Walmart, which didn’t carry the nylon in their craft section.  Third, I discovered that the company that made the Nylotex balls went out of business and no one was making it any more, which meant that the only way to get any more balls was if you knew someone who had some lying forgotten in their homes.


   I continued to cover coathangers in my 20s, and while I don’t remember covering any coathangers in my 30s, I did pull out all the supplies in my early 40s to see what I had, and was surprised that there was more than I remembered, though still a very limited supply.  Last year I covered 142 coathangers, and have covered 13 so for this year.  But...at the time of this writing I am down to my last two balls of Nylotex, so the end of this particular chapter of my creative life is almost complete. We want things to stay the same, but change always comes.

Beth

Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: 
https://sites.google.com/site/thechautauqua26/home/May%203%2C%202019%20Chautauqua.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

 Contact The Chautauqua via email: thechautauqua@gmail.com or via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheChautauqua

Wednesday 1 May 2019

Skin

Worry about being comfortable in your own skin
 and those who appreciate that will connect with you.
 - Humble the Poet

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