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Low Tide

December 8th, 2015

Low Tide

Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.
-Harriet Beecher Stowe

The Bay of Fundy - Low Tide and the Bay of Fundy - High Tide illustrate this wise quotation dramatically.
Photos by Nikolyn McDonald.

The Language of Flowers

December 3rd, 2015

The Language of Flowers

Once I spoke the language of the flowers. . . .
How did it go?
How did it go?”
-Shel Silverstein, Where the Sidewalk Ends

Emerging by Nikolyn McDonald

A Moment

November 28th, 2015

A Moment

“Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory.” -Dr Seuss
Ma and Pa by Nikolyn McDonald

The Three Fs

November 27th, 2015

The Three Fs

The Three F's - Family, Food and Friends

Many of my memories of my own childhood and of the days when our children were young revolve around vacations or a holiday, and it’s no wonder. That’s when far-flung families get together, when “remember the time” is liberally sprinkled through every conversation, when traditions are born – or when they are continued. Even if geographical distance separates us, phones and FaceTime and Facebook and email allow us to reminisce and to share.

My sisters and I live in four different states; while some of our children and grand-children are near, others are not. Yet, in the days leading up to and including Thanksgiving, we all managed to spend time together.

As my sister in New Hampshire wrote, “Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday - the three F's - Family, Friends and Food.” As they prepared a 25 pound turkey, her daughter shared a photo and this thought in Facebook: Thanksgiving 2015 will always be remembered as the year our son weighed the same as the bird! My sister mentioned recipes that she keeps using rather than scan them into the computer. As she said, “Seems like Mom's stuffing recipe would lose something if it was in TIMES NEW ROMAN font.”

My sister in Colorado responded by saying, “I laughed at the thought of Mom's recipes shared over the years. My copy of her stuffing recipe is worn and covered with grease as well, but definitely treasured.”

My sister in New Mexico set tradition aside. Her son is on duty overseas and her daughter and husband timed a vacation so that they could spend the holiday with him. My sister and her husband had dinner with friends – only the second time in 31 years that she has not cooked for thirty! Because of a canceled flight, her kids almost missed their reunion; but thanks to some quick thinking and a long bus ride to catch a different plane, they finally got together – and a new memory that will be shared for years was born.

Our son and his wife entertained friends with a sit-down dinner for 15 and one of my pie recipes that dates back to his childhood. His wife, an excellent cook, would like to experiment and mix it up a bit, but no, they always have to have it and it always has to be made exactly the same way. And now, thanks to her FB share of the recipe, I suspect it’s destined to become part of the traditional menu for many of their friends and family.

As for us, because I took short videos of each step along the way and then made my first “movie” ever by combining them, 2015 will always be remembered as the first year our four-year-old granddaughter helped make the apple pie. She used almost as much flour to roll out the crust as was in the crust itself and took so long to fill the crust that half a cup of syrup formed in the bottom of the bowl of apples. And she will also remember the butter and cinnamon sugar on the left-over crust and will probably make it for her own kids in years to come.

Family, Friends and Food. Yes, memories are made of this.

Breeze by Nikolyn McDonald

Gratitude

November 25th, 2015

Gratitude

"Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude." -A.A. Milne

Echeveria Hearts by Nikolyn McDonald

Wonder and Think

November 21st, 2015

Wonder and Think

“Think and wonder, wonder and think.” Dr Seuss
View from Muley Point 1 by Nikolyn McDonald

Perpetual Thanksgiving

November 19th, 2015

Perpetual Thanksgiving

"I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual."
-Henry David Thoreau
Lone Tree in Winter - Sunset by Nikolyn McDonald

Two

November 18th, 2015

Two

"It's so much more friendly with two.”
-A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

True Love
by Nikolyn McDonald

Wikipedia and Me - November 17, 2015

November 17th, 2015

Because I like to be as accurate, informative, and thorough as possible in my key words and descriptions, I almost always search the internet when I am uploading photos for sale. I never copy and paste what I find. Instead I read as much as possible, jotting down possible key words as I go; then I write my description in my own words, paraphrasing and distilling the most interesting and relevant parts of what I have read into two or three interesting, content-filled sentences.

Even for a simple picture of a flower, I consult more than one source, but the single source I always include if it comes up in my search is Wikipedia. And that is why, when I occasionally see a fund drive solicitation from them, I usually pop off a small donation. So let me tell you about my recent experience.

On November 11, I did a search for something and a “please donate” box popped up. “It’s been awhile,” I thought to myself. So I clicked the Paypal box and sent $10.

Fast forward to this morning. I opened my email shortly after 7:30 a.m. and there was a very nice, informative letter from Wikipedia that began, “A year ago, you gave $10 to keep Wikipedia online and ad-free. We are deeply grateful for this past support, and we need your help again this year. Please renew your donation today.”

It looked as if I could reply to the email, so I sent a message saying I had resubscribed less than a month ago in response to a request at Wikipedia itself. Five minutes later (I kid you not!), I had a personal apology which said, basically, that they try to prevent this from happening and suggested that perhaps I had used a different email address or sent my donation after the filtering scan was run. They offered to update my address if I wanted them to.

By now they had my attention and I was impressed – I always am when I find out there are real people out there. I wrote again, saying I had made my donation on November 11 through Paypal and adding that I was only offering this information in the hopes that it might help them tweak their procedures. It was now 8:15.

When I checked my email again a few hours later, there was one last reply from Michael (by now we were on a first name basis).

He thanked me again for my email and support. He apologized again for the bulk email. And he explained that because I had donated from my home email account last year but made the recent donation through Paypal which is on another email account, there was “an error in how [my] previous donation records . . . were stored in [their] database.” He said they had corrected the records so the error would not recur.

I don’t know about you, but I call this a first class act.

Room at the Top

November 16th, 2015

Room at the Top

There is always room at the top.
-Daniel Webster

Beyond the Room by Nikolyn McDonald

 

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