The Great British Baking Show

Have you ever watched the Great British Baking Show? I like watching it because the competitors are not professionals or celebrities; they are people who just love to bake. They come from all walks of life; teachers, lawyers, ministers, homemakers, project managers. The contestants are a range of ages, male and female, of different nationalities and heritage, and live in a variety of communities.

In the show, each participant is given an area in a large tent with everything needed to create delicious baked goods. The stakes are raised with time limits, technical challenges, incomplete recipes, and, of course, the all-important taste test. Sometimes things work out perfectly for the bakers; sometimes, however, it is quite literally a flop. Everyone in the tent is proud of their creations and wants to win. They are competing with one another, yet if a fellow competitor isn't finished and the final seconds are counting down, it's not uncommon for another baker to pitch in to help.  It is endearing and encouraging to watch.

It's easy to get so caught up in our own "stuff" that we overlook opportunities to help and encourage others. Even though we might be under pressure and stressed, I hope that that we would each be willing to stop and help someone else who needs a hand. No matter the other person's occupation, nationality, heritage, gender, or where they live, I hope we will be kind, remembering we are all on this earth together. Whether it's through a TV show, an inspiring story from the news, personal example, or all of these — I also hope we will abundantly share examples of kindness with the young ones in our lives so they, too, will learn to be generous and kind to others.

No more Nandina

Today I removed the Nandina from my garden because I learned that the berries are toxic to many birds. My yard is a certified wildlife backyard habitat and certainly I do not want to harm the wildlife I am welcoming into my yard.

My friend, Debbie Foster, is an expert in many things concerning birds. She owns Parrot Ps and Qs and has the alphabet after her name in what I call, "birdology." (If you need help with anything concerning birds, contact her!) Debbie told me about an article she had read about how the berries from Nandina, also called Heavenly Bamboo, killed a flock of waxwing birds. I researched it on the internet and today the Nandina were removed from my yard.

I can’t say I haven’t enjoyed having the plants in my landscape; they are quite pretty. In the warmer months, they produce cute little white clusters of flowers. Each flower then produces a berry that turns red in the winter. The leaves do not shed, which is also a plus in the Fall when trees are losing their leaves. However, those beautiful berries kill birds.

If I wanted to make a life analogy (excuse me while I clear my throat), what do we keep in our own lives because it looks pretty but really needs to be pulled out by the roots? I have a fellow storytelling friend and I run my stories by her from time to time. She reads them or listens and says, "You need to cut your darlings"! I know what she means. There might be some very unnecessary things in the story that I love, but which just drag it down. That's what happened in my garden — I cut one of my darlings. 

Later on I’ll look at replacing those empty spots in the yard with native plants. But that’s another blog for another day...

All plans subject to change without notice!

My blog has been lost. Darn it!!!

I write my blogs ahead of time. I do my best to stay ahead of the game and most weeks I can do that but not this week, and not next week. I wrote my blogs but they have gone AWOL… absent without leave. When I saw that they were gone, I gasped and then shouted to no one, "NOOOOO!!"

This… was… not… my… plan!!! My plan was to have it all in order, to write something philosophical, to inspire, to speak truth. Oh well, so much for that.

This situation does remind me, however, of a mantra that my father often stated when I was growing up, “All plans subject to change without notice.” Ain’t that the truth? It is a mantra that still rings through my home and my siblings' homes, as well. 

Let’s face it, we all make plans — then sometimes our plans work out and sometimes they just don’t. The key is to change and keep on going. It might seem like everything is falling apart, but really they might be falling into place. Change leads you down a different path, to a new opportunity, often to something bigger and better. But let's be honest, sometimes it just rots, too!! In that case, you take a breath and change again.

Stuff happens. It is what it is. Sometimes it seems the only thing constant is change. So go ahead, make a plan and set priorities — but always keep this in mind as you tackle that to-do list: All Plans Subject to Change Without Notice.

Listening in Color

I really like documentaries, especially those about unique things or trivia. I’ve been watching a series on Netflix and came upon an exceptionally unique individual who caught my attention. His name is Neil Harbisson and he was born with achromatopsis. In simple terms, he was born severely colorblind. He only sees in grayscale. Seriously, it’s like watching the beginning of the Wizard of Oz 24 hours a day. (Yes, the beginning is in black and white. Go back and watch the opening scenes; it becomes color after the tornado.)

Neil wanted to do something about the lack of color in his world, so in 2003 he started working with doctors and a scientist to develop an electronic eye that detects color. It picks up on the light frequency and translates the color into sound. He had this implanted in his brain so he now actually listens to color. The eye looks, to me, like a single antenna coming from the back of his head and bending to his forehead. 

I became so intrigued, I looked him up on the internet and... hey, he did a Ted talk! So, I clicked on it and listened for the length of the talk, 9 minutes and 35 seconds. I was impressed. This man has got a great sense of humor!! I laughed with him all the way through his talk. 

Neil talked about getting dressed in the morning: “I used to dress in a way that looked good, now I dress in a way that sounds good. Today I am dressed in C major.” He made this statement as he drew attention to his yellow pants, blue shirt, and pink jacket. Honestly, I liked the combination.
“Supermarkets are like a night club,” he went on to say. He then continued with telling the audience that he especially enjoys the cleaning supply aisle because of all of the bright colors. 

Because colors show themselves in sounds and notes (music), he now listens to a voice and hears the color of the voice. Neil has become an artist and paints the sounds of the colors he hears. He showed pictures of how voices of different famous people look in color. His artwork is simply lovely. Makes me think about the phrase, ‘Your voice is like music to me ears’ — to him, it really is! 
When he listens to music, he hears it in color. He also said can hear the color of a person’s face and it has changed his perspective of beauty.

This got me wondering, when he describes people does he say something like, ‘His face was a C# but his clothes were a B minor?’ 

As I watched him talk, I was really struck by his presentation of confidence. The third eye he has on his head will certainly grab the attention of all of us. We might take a second or a third look, but when he looks back at us, what color and what notes does he hear? 

When we get to the bottom line, it seems to me everybody has something challenging in their lives. Neil took his challenge and developed an opportunity for himself. Frankly, I decided I am going to listen for the color of my challenges, how about you? 

You can hear Neil (in color) below.

Annoyances and Irritations

My special glasses are always with me. Bikers and Firefighters also use these to protect their eyes.

Life has its annoyances and irritations. I am allergic to dust. It shows up mostly in my eyes and, yes, I do my fair share of sneezing too, but it is really my eyes that suffer the wrath. The fact that I have chronic dry eye doesn’t help either. I have prescription eye drops for the allergy and the dry eye to help with the irritation and I also have some special prescription glasses to help keep out dust and air debris. They do a pretty good job but my eyes still do get irritated. I suppose if I lived in a sterile bubble I would not have to use those eye drops or the glasses, but what fun would that be?

I have a life to live, places I want to go, things I want to do, stories I want to share, puppets I want to build, clothing I want to sew, people I want to visit. I can’t let this allergy or the dry eye stop me, I just use the drops and wear the glasses and keep on going. 

I’ve been clearing out my house, purging and organizing. That really stirs up the dust! My eyes have certainly been suffering. I use artificial tears several times a day to wash out the dust and help to calm my eyes as I spend time in closets and clean under dressers. The progress I have been making in clearing out the old stuff to make room for what I really want is amazing…however, it comes with a cost to me, my eyes are going to get irritated.

Everybody has something that is irritating and annoying. Perhaps that annoyance can be avoided at times but then there are times we all must face that challenge to move forward. I cannot ever completely avoid dust but I can do things to manage its effect on my eyes. It is worth the time, effort, and money it takes to put those drops in my eyes and purchase special glasses so I can explore the world and go forward. There is so much I want to see!!

By the way, just in case you needed someone to tell you this, you’re worth it too!