Perceptive Prose

It's been nearly 30 years since I was a camp counselor at Luther Point Bible Camp just outside of Grantsburg, Wis., a mere 20 minutes from home.

I was a counselor and a life guard there the summers of 1987 and 1988. Met some amazing people and made some meaningful memories. Just like college friends, I have stayed in touch with a handful of other staffers through the years. (Thanks, in part, to Facebook!)

One of the counselors, Mike, used to post a poem almost daily in the staff lounge. We recently reconnected and he was asking friends to provide three words/phrases and he'd write a poem.Today, he blessed me with some personal prose based on my three: Faith, Journey, Empty Nest.

I want
What is best
For my children.
But when they journey
Fast and far,
Leaving me
In an empty nest,
I want to get in my car,
Travel over the tar,
Through sun and stars
And hold them
One more time.
But
I don't.
Because I learned
To have faith
In their
Intelligence,
Honesty
And wit.
So I don't hover,
Or follow.
But
It's hard to quit
Wanting
To.

How perfectly appropriate! He is still as talented and insightful as ever. I can imagine he is a wonderful pastor and has a special way of connecting with each member of his flock in western Wisconsin.

It inspires me to keep on writing... and to track down the poem he wrote about me 3 decades ago. You know how I never throw anything away. It has to be here somewhere!

Really Chillin' Out

You know you're in Wisconsin when yesterday was practically shorts weather and right now, a nice minus 4-- feeling like 21 below zero.

In other words, I stayed put today.

The cold weather was part of the reason. The cold I am experiencing is another. I feel like I am in one of those commercials where the poor cold sufferer is being chased by a big, ugly mucous monster! Yuck. I am better than when I awoke -- thanks to Sudafed, Emergen-C, hot tea and whatever else I thought to take today. I am hoping it all drains away (like magic in the commercials) so I can sleep well tonight.

Buried deep under the warm covers and laying on the very warm mattress pad. No need to chill out 24/7.

I did chill out / relax today. Did a little housework and some treat-making, but then watched some football, trying to catch highlights of the Vikings game since they were not airing it here.

And the won! Their last game ever at the Metrodome. Glad they went out on a high note.

I have a lot of memories from the Dome, starting with a lot of Twins games in the '80s -- especially on weekends they played at home while I was a camp counselor at Luther Point. We made a lot of trips down to catch a game and wave hello to Kirby Puckett. Fun times. ... And ending with games there throughout Carter's childhood.

Despite this season, I have enjoyed quite a few Vikings games there, too, with friends, hubby and the boys. You can call us wimps for watching football "indoors," but when it's minus 4 degrees (with -21 windchill), I kind of am!

And I am not ashamed. SKOL!

Campin' Carter

Anyone whose daily routine includes tucking a special someone into bed and getting a hug and kiss goodnight -- every night -- knows the reason for my loneliness this week.

Anyone who has ever gone to bed in an old sleeping bag, smelling of bug spray, campfire smoke and sweat -- but with a smile on their face -- knows my feelings are pretty selfish. Camp is awesome and I am so glad Carter is experiencing it!

Still, it's pretty quiet around here.

Going into this week, he was more nervous than I expected. That surprised me. I mean there's a dozen kids from our confirmation class going with, including his best buddy Clayton, so it's not like he's not going to know anyone. Still, he had some concerns about the "unknown" at Imago Dei Village.

I did my best to show him information online and share my own experiences as a young camper and later as a counselor and lifeguard at Luther Point. I didn't want to minimize his concerns but I couldn't help thinking: There's no way you won't have fun! Camp is awesome!

Hopefully I am right. I won't know until I pick him up on Friday.

That's been the hard part for me. Sure, he's only 90 minutes away in Clintonville. And sure, he's been on week-long vacations away from home before. But he's always been able to call every night to say hi and tell us about his day. But a week at camp means roughing it. And for teens these days that means no cell phones. And therefore, no communication with home unless they, gasp, actually write a letter!

For my part -- and this is purely therapeutic for me -- I made sure he got mail every day. I sent a card on Saturday to arrive Monday, one on Monday to arrive Tuesday, etc. Either he feels good about hearing what's happening on the home front .... or he's getting ribbed about being a momma's boy.

I don't care. He IS my boy. But I do hope he is, as they say, a happy camper.

We'll find out in 39 hours. Not that I'm counting.

Friends for Life

It dawned on me recently that I have now lived in Wisconsin Rapids 15 years. Yikes. I'm a lifer!

I started my new job at the newspaper here on Halloween of 1995. Basically, I donated 7 1/2 years there and now 7 1/2 years (and counting, hopefully) at my current job in Iola. That seems like a lifetime when I used to think 4 years was a marathon session at one employer!

The cool part has been working with some of the neatest people I'll ever know. The best part is that some of them have become lifelong friends!

Amazingly -- and I'll have to thank Facebook for some of this -- I am in still touch with my first editor ever (from the college newspaper), a couple of counselors from my Luther Point Bible Camp counseling days, a team of awesome Resident Assistants from Angell Hall, some wonderful girlfriends from the Marinette & Menominee newspapers, quite a few daily-grinders from the Trib and, last but not least, some incredibly talented people who have moved on from my current place of employment (not always by their choice).

When I think about every time I changed a job and looked forward to the new one, I was never really going to miss the old "job" itself, but the people. The ones who you bonded with -- sometimes all hours of the day and night -- and became like family (even those Packer fans).

This month as we lead up to Thanksgiving, I am taking time daily to think of something I am thankful for. Sure, I love my house and "new" car and Minnesota Twins purse, but they don't hold a candle to the people who have touched my life -- including those who saw me laugh, cry, run, stumble, "steam" and celebrate at work over the years.

Thanks for being there then -- and now!

Definitely TGIF

This week feels like it was a month long -- not even counting today, which must have been 2 weeks on its own. Ah well, that's called getting back to work and trying to swim back to the surface! So, so glad it's Friday!

After work we picked Carter up from the sitter's, where he was enjoying scooting around on their go-cart. No, we are not breaking down and buying him one. He may be spoiled, but not that spoiled. Yet.

He had soccer practice tonight. So Daddy volunteered to mow the front lawn if I took him. Fair trade to me. I had to go to the bookstore anyway to find a New York Times. There was a full-page ad in there today for the Amazon Kindle. The book featured on the Kindle was written by a longtime friend of mine --we're talking back in the '80s when we were Bible camp counselors together. I'm very excited for her and this great exposure she'll be getting for the book, which is just one in her series of 4 books. So cool for a girl from Luck to make it BIG.

Got home in time for Carter to finish mowing while Daddy disappeared. Seriously, I have no idea where he is. I figure if there was an emergency somewhere, I'd have heard by now. So it must be something to do with Friday night and Bud Light. Just a hunch.

I spent my evening going through old picture CDs to email some photos of Carter at school functions over the years. They are putting together some memory DVDs and a book, I believe, for 6th-grade graduation. I just look at that cute little boy and wonder where the time has gone!


Here Carter is with a different redhead -- his classmate Alec -- in first grade. He's so embarrassed I was even looking at these pictures. Doesn't he realize he was adorable? I mean, he still is.

But then, aren't we all?

25 Random Things...

There's a "chain list" going around on Facebook (social network Web site) now where members write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits or goals about you. It's not hard to think of 25 things. It's hard to stop at 25. I still have so much more randomness to share!

Anyway, here is the list I shared. I might have to do one called "Another 25 random things..." at some point.

1. I am afraid of heights, rodents and large insects. I get nervous around big dogs, too.

2. I have a twin sister who has always been half a head taller than me.

3. I used to hate coffee but then some genius invented the flavored stuff. I still need to add milk or cream, though.

4. I could probably live without caffeine but am not willing to try -- yet.

5. I never knew how much a person could love until I became a mom. My baby is 10 and is the center of my universe.

6. If I could live on three foods, they would be ice cream, popcorn and just about anything mint.

7. I have probably been on a diet of some kind (or needed to be on one) since I was 16.

8. I am a huge fan of the Minnesota Twins and have seen them play in the Dome dozens of times. I'm looking forward to the outdoors experience in a year.

9. I was a camp counselor and lifeguard for two of the best summer ever at Luther Point Bible Camp.

10. I love writing. My first "published work" was an essay I entered in the county fair in 4th grade. They gave me a blue ribbon after I convinced them it was my original work -- not copied. I don't remember much about it except it was called "Life." Pretty deep for a 9-year-old. I now blog daily and try to keep it "On the Light Side."

11. I love the sun.

12. Every year I spend a "Wild Women's Weekend" with my 6 sisters somewhere in Wisconsin or Minnesota (and this past year at my sister's in Texas). It's a great time to reconnect and relax.

13. I have one brother. Everyone feels sorry for him, growing up with 7 sisters. I think he turned out alright. In fact, better than alright. I admire his faith, determination and creativity.

14. I never considered myself a potty mouth ... until I tried golf.

15. I love the '80s.

16. I used to have an evil cat named Rastro who soured me on the whole cat thing. Now we have a princess feline named Sylvester and she has changed my mind.

17. As a journalist, I have met a handful of celebrities from Al Gore to Thomas Kinkaide (lighthouse painter). My favorites were Erik Estrada and Henry Winkler because they give good hugs.

18. I like lighthouses. My teenage stepsons get a kick out of counting how many we have in the house. I don't consider myself obsessed.

19. I have probably tried every craft out there from cross-stitch to ceramics. I'm pretty much a scrapbooker these days with occasional breaks for beading.

20. Growing up in the 1970s, I became a fan of the Purple People Eaters. Although, the Vikings have broken my heart many times since, I just can't jump off that bandwagon.

21. I am not an athlete by any means but I somehow ran 2 5K races in the last few years. I love to play volleyball, too, when anyone's game.

22. I was raised Lutheran, went away from church for awhile in my wild 20s but now have a stronger faith than ever. I am a spiritual being, not just a church-goer.

23. As much as I love to talk, I don't pick up the phone unless I have to. I think I used up all my minutes in the '90s.

24. I live by the motto: "One day at a time." Sometimes, that's one hour at a time...

25. My best friend in the whole wide world is my husband Jim.

Season Opener

Listen. Can you hear it? Somewhere the bats are cracking... The white chalk is forming lines between bases... The popcorn is popping. And hotdogs are turning on a grill. Yup. Baseball season is here.

I enjoy watching baseball -- not as much as football -- but it ranks right up there. I think the difference for me is that on a cold winter's day, there's nothing wrong with curling up in a blanket on the couch to watch 6 hours of football. On a warm summer's night, however, I'd certainly rather be there, at the ballpark, than watching the action from my living room.

In our typical summers of late, we get so wrapped up in our own baseball schedules -- between the 3 boys -- that it just leaves time for little else until about August. However, we usually get to at least one Major League Baseball game a summer. We either travel down to Miller Park when hubby's Cincinnati Reds are playing the Brew Crew. Or we'll catch a game at the Metrodome when my Twins are playing. Sometimes we're lucky enough to do both.

Unlike football, you don't have people disliking or downright despising you for the team you cheer for. Thus, it's a welcome change to put the purple away and not be judged a traitor -- at least for a few months.

Since Jim's team is in the National League, I don't feel a rivalry between us. In fact, I hope the Reds do well for him and have nothing against the Brewers going gangbusters again either. I do have a friendly rivalry with one of the guys at work. We expect his White Sox and my Twins will be battling for 3rd place in the AL Central Division this year behind Detroit and Cleveland. We're much more realistic than optimistic.

I will admit I am not as big a fan as I once was. The summers of 1987 and 1988 were the absolute best. I was a camp counselor at Luther Point Bible Camp near Grantsburg, Wis., and just about every other weekend a bunch of us on staff would head down to a Twins game to see Kirby Puckett, Dan Gladden, Kent Hrbek and the gang. Those were good times.

Nowadays, it is not so geographically convenient. And I've let other priorities sneak in -- kids, job, etc. So I am not the same, immersed fan of those golden days. With trades and free agents, there were so many changes after last season, I was hard pressed to name 5 people on the current roster. Thanks to a "Twins tutorial" in the Sunday paper yesterday, I now know who's on first, what's on second, etc. I also know it's going to be a tough season -- or what we call a "building year."

We'll just have to wait and see how this season shakes out. The Twins start off with the Angels, who consistently knock us out of the playoffs (when we are lucky enough to reach that point at the end of the season). Let's hope we have that problem again.

In the meantime, it's time. Play ball!

It's a Small World

OK, I honestly am not going for a Disney theme this week with "It's a Small World." From what I hear from people who have gone to Disney, the song gets downright annoying after hearing it for the 100th time!

-----

Ever notice how small the world seems these days thanks to the Internet? Information is right at our fingertips -- and so are people!

A strange thing happened a few weeks ago. I was looking up a Web site emailed to me by my sister. To my surprise, it was a site managed by a woman (Julie Bowe) who was a camp counselor with me 20 years ago. Thanks to the "contact me" button, I was able to email her and reconnect.

It was great to see what paths our lives had taken since the carefree days at Luther Point Bible Camp. Coincidentally, we both have followed publishing careers. She was especially pleased to report that her first book, seven years in the making, has been published. Kudos! I am so jealous -- and so proud of her!

In fact, much of her site, www.juliebowe.com, is dedicated to the release of her children's book, "My Last Best Friend." The book is a funny middle-grade novel in which 4th-grader Ida May is determined not to make a new best friend, despite the best efforts of the new girl in the class.

If you happen to live in Northwest Wisconsin, you can meet Julie tonight at 7 p.m. for a reading and book signing at Borders Books & Music, 4030 Commonwealth Ave., Eau Claire.

The book is also available from www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com and wherever fine books are sold.

Best of luck, Julie!

I'm glad it's a small world so we could find each other again. It's also inspiring to see small dreams turning into big realities.