Happy Halloween

This Halloween, we won't be going to Cheryl's.  Lexie is too old to go out and it is her choice to stay home.  Cheryl and Dave have a blow up ghost in their front yard along with a lot of other decorations.  Their doorbell rings like a haunted house.  She will put speakers on the porch and play spooky music.  Their yard it covered in yellow police tape!  She gives out full size chocolate bars and it's fun to hear the kids when they see what she gives out!   There are a lot of little children in her neighbourhood. 

I have chocolate bars I keep for Lexie after school, so I'll put them in a bowl just in case we get a trick or treater.  As we live in a gated community, I doubt we'll get much action.  This will be our first year of staying home and I do hope we get some children.  Some of our neighbours have decorations on their lawn and I applaud them! 

I'm glad it's not going to rain.  I am sorry for the children in Quebec who are moving Halloween until after the storm.  I am one of the people who hopes they move Halloween to the last Saturday of the month of October. 

Happy Halloween!

South Africa!

I have never travelled to South Africa and I've always wanted to go.  Maritime Travel asked me if I would escort a tour to South Africa!  I was thrilled and am really looking forward to the trip.  The tour operator is Collette Tours, a well known, family run tour company that's been in business for over 100 years! 

This tour is next September.  I plan on breaking up the trip going to Johannesburg.  It's a long flight and stopping somewhere for a couple of days en route will be great!   The two full days in Kruger National Park will be awesome!

On January 15th, Maritime Travel is having a South African presentation.   Two representatives from Collette Tours will be there and one of them has done the tour.  He will bring his pictures and answer any questions.   If you are interested in this presentation, let me know.

Did you know?

1. A Strawberry isn't a Berry but a Banana is.
2. Avocados and Watermelon are Berries, too.
3. Cashews grow on Trees like this:

4. And Brussel Sprouts grow in long stalks like this:

5. Chocolate Milk was invented in Ireland.
6. Ketchup used to be sold as Medicine.
7. Carrots were originally purple.
8. McDonald's sells 75 Hamburgers every second of every day.
9. Yams and sweet Potatoes are not the same thing.
10. Ripe Cranberries will bounce like rubber balls.
11. An average ear of Corn has an even number of rows, usually 16.
12. Betty White is actually older than sliced Bread.
13. Humans share 50% of their DNA with Bananas.
14. Honey never spoils. You can eat 32,000-year-old Honey.
15. Peanuts are not Nuts. They grow in the ground like this, so they are legumes.

16. Vending machines are twice as likely to kill you than a shark is.
17. Coconuts kill more people than Sharks every year. So do Cows.
18. Pound cake got its name from its original recipe, which called for a pound each of Butter, Eggs, Sugar, and Flour.
19. The probability of you drinking a glass of Water that contains a molecule of Water that also passed through a Dinosaur is almost 100%.
20. Honey is made from nectar and Bee vomit.
21. Kiwis grow on Vines:

22. Ginger is the root of a Plant:

23. And Cinnamon is just the inner part of this Tree:

24. And Artichokes are Flowers that are eaten as buds. This is what they look like when flowered:

25. "Spam" is short for spiced Ham. 

26. Popsicles were invented by an 11-year-old in 1905.
27. Apples, like Pears and Plums, belong to the rose family.
28. The official state Vegetable of Oklahoma is the Watermelon.
29. Peas are one the most popular Pizza toppings in Brazil.
30. There are over 7,500 varieties of Apples throughout the World, and it would take you 20 Years to try them all if you had one each day.
31. The twists in Pretzels are made to look like arms crossed in prayer.
32. Canola oil was originally called rapeseed oil, but renamed by the Canadian oil industry in 1978 to avoid negative connotations. "Canola" is short for "Canadian oil."
33. And no matter what colour Fruit Loop you eat, they all taste the same.

Nice weekend with a hectic start

On Friday we had a major wind storm.  Ferries were cancelled and it lasted all day.  Many people lost power but thankfully ours stayed on.  A tree fell on the Skytrain tracks halting service and Stanley Park was closed for safety reasons.  In Vancouver a woman was hit by a fallen tree on a sidewalk and thankfully her screams were heard by a neighbour before she passed out!  He got a jack and raised the tree and was cutting the tree with a saw as Firemen arrived.  He saved her life!  I went for a short walk and on my way home, this was on our next door neighbour's driveway:

The top of the tree broke off.  Luckily no one was walking or parked in the driveway!

 Yesterday, Nancy and I planned on walking Crescent Beach.  Our weather hasn't been too co-operative lately and we haven't walked in a while.  It was very cool and sunny.  A gorgeous day for a walk!  There were only a few people out walking.

We were amazed at the number of birds and herons on the beach!

The winds were calm and the view was AWESOME!

This looks like fun!

We were watching two kayaks as they came into shore.
When we got closer, it was Mayor Doug McCallum!

He was out early and it must have been cold on the water!   We took a picture and continued walking.  He's not on my favorite politicians list!

Reverse advent calendar

This is a great idea.  I will get my shopping list going and won't wait until Christmas Eve to donate:

Wexit - Four western provinces breaking away from Canada!?!

I was shocked after our election when a group started up in Alberta want to separate from Canada!  I understand why the people in Alberta are upset but I didn't know why Saskatchewan and Manitoba are so upset.  I read a Facebook post from Cec's cousin and now I understand.  I am hoping our new government will listen to the people of the prairies and unite our country.

Red is our current government, blue and yellow is the opposition.
The "red" Liberals lost the popular vote and won the election!

Cec's cousin grew up on a farm, the second son of a large family.  He went to the University of Regina and in 2001 received a Bachelor of Applied Sciences - Electronic Systems Engineering degree.  He moved to Ottawa and began a career at Nortel Networks.  He was laid off during the recession and moved back to Regina becoming an Environmental Consultant in the oil industry.  During his career he started purchasing farmland.  In 2007 he became a full time farmer.  Here is his Facebook post:

Today I wonder if anyone else has that sinking feeling inside. A deep rooted fear/anxiety that my friends, family, and neighbours are facing even tougher times ahead.  Many people are already out of work and more lost their jobs today, commodity prices are lower due to international trade barriers, local businesses are closing down, and rural crime/theft is on the increase....we are seeing the economic collapse of our prairie provinces.

To top that off we now have to wonder if separation from Canada is the only solution. People that once laughed at the notion are now believing in it and speaking about it. I love Canada as do most Canadians, but where do we draw the line? The West won’t separate because they want to, rather because they have to...to survive...to be heard.  That’s what Quebec did and now they hold the power for all of Canada within one province during a minority government.

All this is happening and our federal government will not talk about it or try to rectify it. They could care less about what’s happening in the West or the unity of this country.  1/3 of Canadians support that sentiment and don’t care that our Prime Minister has spit in the faces of Canadians. He has been found guilty of multiple ethics violations, tried to break the law to buy votes in Quebec all in the name of jobs, wore racist outfits on several occasions, and made Canada a laughing stock internationally.

Now that I have that off my chest, I am going back to work in the field. To get some tough grain harvested before winter sets in. I will take that grain and pay to have it dried down. A price that I have to pay to ensure my crop does not spoil. A price that has climbed dramatically thanks to a carbon tax on fuels all while the price we receive for grain deteriorates even further. Less money in my pocket to spend at local businesses so they can keep their doors open. Thanks for nothing Trudeau.

Sincerely,
A Western Canadian Farmer

We are living proof....

This was sent by a friend.  Although we may not be excited about going old, we can be thankful we lived through these wonderful years.  Reading Janice's blog, she said in Grade 2 she walked to our local library which was over a mile from her home, alone!  I never thought of it, but my mother would have let me do the same thing.  How things have changed!   NO MATTER WHAT OUR KIDS AND THE NEW GENERATION THINK ABOUT US WE ARE AWESOME !!!  Our Lives are LIVING PROOF !!!  > To Those of Us Born  1925 - 1955:       At the end of this email is a quote of the month by Jay Leno. If you don't read anything else, Please read what he said.     ~~~~~~~~~  TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE  1930�s, 40�s, and 50�s !!     First, we survived being born to mothers who may have smoked and/or drank  While they were pregnant.     They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.     Then, after that trauma, we were  put to sleep on our tummies  in baby cribs Covered   with bright colored Lead-based paints.     We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets,  And, when we rode our bikes,  We had baseball caps,  Not helmets, on our heads.        As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes..        Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.     We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.        We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this.        We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter, and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And we weren't overweight. WHY?     Because we were always outside playing...that's why!     We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.  No one was able to reach us all day ...  And, we were OKAY.        We would spend hours building  Our go-carts out of  scraps and then ride them down the hill,  Only to find out We forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned  To Solve the problem.        We did not Have Play Stations, Nintendos and X-boxes. There were  No video games, No 150 channels on cable,  No video movies Or DVDs,  No surround-sound or CDs,   No cell phones,  No personal computers,  No Internet and No chat rooms.        WE HAD FRIENDS  And we went Outside and found them!     We fell out of trees, got cut,  Broke bones and Teeth,  And there were No lawsuits  From those accidents.     We would get Spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping-pong paddles, or just a bare hand, And no one would call child services to report abuse.         We ate worms, And mud pies  Made from dirt, And  The worms did Not live in us forever.       We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, 22 rifles for our 12th, rode horses, made up games with sticks and tennis balls, and    - although we were Told it would happen - we did not put out very many eyes.     We rode bikes Or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just Walked in and talked to them.  Little League had tryouts  And not everyone Made the team.  Those who didn't Had to learn  To deal with Disappointment.     Imagine that!!        The idea of a parent Bailing us out If we broke the law was unheard of ... They actually sided with the law!       These generations have Produced some of the best risk-takers,  Problem solvers, and Inventors ever.     The past 60 to 85 years Have seen an explosion of innovation and new ideas.     We had freedom, Failure, success and responsibility, and we learned How to deal with it all.        If YOU are One of those born  Between 1925-1955, CONGRATULATIONS!     You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good.     While you are at it, forward it to your kids, so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were.     Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it ?  ~~~~~~~  The quote of the month by  Jay Leno:      "With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?"  For those that prefer to think that God is not watching over us... go ahead and delete this..  For the rest of us..... please pass this on.

Red Hat Halloween Theatre Day!

Yesterday our Red Hat group hosted the Halloween Theatre Day.  We all met at Hollywood 3 Cinema in Surrey.  The owner closes the theatre for us!  We ordered lunch from Fresh Street Market and it never disappoints.  My task was to sell Share 3 tickets, it's like 50/50 but we split the pot into three instead of two.  Because I was so busy selling tickets, I didn't get too many pictures.

The film was Downton Abbey and although I've seen it, I really enjoyed it again.  Everyone comes in costume and there were some great outfits.

We decorated the gum ball machines into ghosts!

Showtime!

Everyone enjoyed the show and we look forward to another theatre day next Halloween!

The honeybees are dying!

I buy local honey.  This article was in the Peace Arch News:

Marlene Fuhramm and her son Antonio Marvuglia

White Rock resident Marlene Fuhrmann’s backyard was buzzing with activity this summer, but two weeks ago an eerie silence left her in tears. Since April, the sounds in Fuhrmann’s lush backyard garden included the low hum of some 20,000 honeybees at work.

The colony, however, started to show signs of distress near the end of September. Within a week, the bees were dead.  Fuhrmann and her son Antonio Marvuglia, both first-time beekeepers, removed thousands of dead bees from the hive, which – located in the 14200-block of North Bluff Road in White Rock – had produced about 150-pounds of honey for the family. Fuhrmann described the loss as devastating.  Unsure of what they did wrong, the amateur beekeepers went online to find some answers.

Many of the honeybees died with their tongues sticking out, which, they read, is a sign of pesticide poisoning. Following the discovery, Fuhrmann wrote a letter-to-the-editor to Peace Arch News, calling on the City of White Rock and City of Surrey to investigate the use of pesticides.

“We went on the internet and we didn’t do anything wrong. It was pesticide that was the clear indication. We read about all of the disease and everything else. When they die with their tongues out, it’s a pesticide application of some sort,” Fuhrmann said. Although the internet research may have pointed to pesticide poisoning, Kwantlen Polytechnic University professor and honeybee researcher Cameron Lait suspected there was more to the story.

After hearing a summary of Fuhrmann’s experience, Lait offered to visit her property and investigate first-hand the cause of the deaths. He said it’s unusual for a colony to collapse at this time of the year, which piqued his interest. Lait and a Peace Arch News reporter visited Fuhrmann’s garden Monday morning. The hives had been cleared of the dead bees, leaving little evidence of what might have gone wrong.

Fortunately, Fuhrmann took several high-quality photographs of the dead honeybees before they were discarded. The images showed the protruding tongues.

Lait inspected the photo and returned it with a number of red circles highlighting little clumps in the background that – to the untrained eye – appeared to be specks of dirt.  The little clumps turned out to be a much more insidious invader.

The photo was evidence of a “staggeringly high” population of Varroa mites. These mites feed on the energy stores of bees and weaken them to the point that they’re lethargic and can no longer feed themselves, even if there is plenty of food available, Lait explained.

A protruding tongue, Lait said, can also be a sign of starvation. However, he added that Fuhrmann’s bees were not starved.  And the timing was perfect, as Varroa mite populations peak around the same time as Fuhrmann lost her colony.

Typically, Lait said, it isn’t a singular issue that wipes out a colony, but a multitude of problems that stack against the bees’ best interest.  “I really, strongly feel that it was Varroa mite that did you in,” Lait told Fuhrmann while standing over the empty hive. “That was the tipping factor.”  However, Lait told Fuhrmann that the possibility of pesticide poisoning is something that cannot be ignored.

“You’re living in an urban area, people have gardens, they have ornamentals they have pesticides on. People need to be aware of the potential effect it has, not just on honeybees, but on all pollinators.” Testing dead honeybees in a laboratory is the only way to prove poisoning. Lait said he doesn’t recall ever seeing confirmed pesticide poisoning happening in September or October, as that’s not typically when pesticide is used.  However, he has seen the results of pesticide poisoning in agricultural fields, typically when flowers were blooming in late spring or early summer. In those cases, the colony was dead within a day or two after pesticides were sprayed.  Some beekeepers, he added, refuse to pollinate blueberry fields for this reason.  Systemic pesticides are particularly dangerous, he added.

“The problem is when you start dealing with systemic pesticides, because they get up into the plant tissue. It’s not the nectar that carries the poison, it’s actually the pollen,” Lait said, adding that honeybees can forage on plants up to seven kilometres away.

A “very strong advocate” for finding alternatives to pesticide use, Lait said he was unable to confirm a diagnosis for Fuhrmann’s collapsed hive.  To protect honeybees, Fuhrmann said residents can do their part by carefully timing pesticide application, which is one of the most important steps towards harm reduction.  “The rule of thumb is wait until all of the blossoms drop and don’t ever, ever spray anything near a beehive. It’s common sense,” he said.

Lait told Fuhrmann not to be discouraged by the loss of the colony, adding that “it happens to the best of people.”

Asked for his opinion about beekeeping as a hobby, Lait told Peace Arch News he encourages everyone who’s interested to give it a try, but education is paramount.  “The best way to learn is to join a bee club. We’ve got bee clubs all over the place… Before you get your own hives, I recommend going to a bee club and just attending the meetings, talk to beekeepers, learn as much as you can and then, when you’re ready, jump in.”

Lait offered a word of caution when using the internet as a source for beekeeping information.  “The internet has much misleading information and abundant speculative posts, often by non-professionals so we need to be very careful where we source,” Lait wrote in an email.

According to 2016 data from Statistics Canada, there are 2,640 beekeepers in British Columbia. Statistics Canada estimates that up to $5.5 billion in additional crop value is made possible through the pollination provided by beekeepers.

45 Lessons life taught me

This was sent to me and I thought it was worth sharing:

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more.

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short — enjoy it.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Stay true to yourself.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. God can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye, but don't worry, God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful. Clutter weighs you down in many ways.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to be happy. But it’s all up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over-prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative of dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. Accept what you already have, not what you need
42. The best is yet to come...
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

Election Day in Canada

I don't like either leader of the two major parties and hope we get a minority government as that works well for Canadians!

Everyone should get to the polls and vote.  I'm going at 4 PM to the Elections Canada office to count our advance poll with Jessica.  We get training first and then do the tallying! 
On Wednesday, September 11th, our election was called.  It's only been forty days, but feels like two years.  This has been one of the most offensive elections I remember.  I am so fed up with the mud slinging!  After trying to watch the National English Debate, I turned my TV off in disgust.  I made up my mind and haven't changed it.

I'm so sad, our politics has come to this new low.  It was disgusting when the American's did it, and now it's filtering into our country.  Are we not better than this?

At a campaign rally in Richmond Hill, Ont. Saturday night, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer was discussing Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau when the crowd began to chant “lock him up.” Scheer quickly tried to get the crowd to stop, instead using the phrase “vote him out.”

Let's not be divided like the our neighbours to the south and respect everyone's choice.

My parents went to the polls voting for opposite candidates.
They cancelled each others vote and laughed all the way home, but they VOTED!

And for more humour:

In case you don't recognize the visitors, they are the leaders of the five national political parties.
The jokes write themselves!

Tsawwassen Mills Mall

Yesterday with the persistent rain and the huge need for a good walk, we went to Tsawwassen Mills, the large mall in Delta.  It's one of the largest malls in our area and it's easy to get to.  We had a wonderful lunch at Milestones and then headed in the mall.  They have three nice restaurants, Milestones, Montana's and Boston Pizza.  They were all busy.

Monster Maze for the kids to walk through and it looked like they were giving away free pumpkins!

A wonderful display right at the entrance!

Halloween costume store.  We enjoyed looking at all the costumes for sale!
They were available from newborn to 3XL!

Lots of decorations.  Right inside Entrance 3!

 When we were walking, we kept seeing kids riding these animals.  You can rent them for $8.00 for a ten minute ride.  One way to keep the kiddies amused.  However, in the store it said maximum weight 300 lbs. so I guess bored adults can ride them too!

 I also spotted many of these rental strollers.  They fit two little ones and had a display the kids were playing with on the front.  I'm not sure if it was games or ?? but all the kids were playing with it!

We always go to Cabelas, the sportsmen's dream store.  Cec looked at fishing tackle and boats.  We need good rain gear.  I did find a nice rain coat, however at $149.00 it's above my budget.  I will go to Walmart and see what I can find!  The quality won't be there, but the price will be right.

While he was shopping at Cabelas, I watched the fish in the huge tank.

With 6,000 parking spots and lots of stores, we enjoyed our afternoon!

Good for Richmond, British Columbia!

I lived in Richmond for 40 years.  The City of Richmond has banned all ads of vaping on city property!  Where is our Federal Government in this?  Six weeks of election promises from political parties and I have heard nothing about banning vaping ads from any of them!   All the promises, most will not be implemented and they say nothing.

When Lexie found out I was working at Salish Secondary for the election, she asked, "do they have anti vaping posters in the bathroom stalls?".  No, they don't but good for her school.  She said a lot of kids vape at school.

When Vaping was first introduced it was to help adults "kick the cigarette habit".  It worked for some, however, they have a whole new market in our children.  It's time our Federal politicians stood up to these companies!

From an article in McLeans:

Soaring teen addiction. Kids on life-support. Weird deaths. Terrifying lung damage. A scramble for data. A criminal investigation. The awful news about vaping just keeps coming.

And all this from the e-cigarettes that, when they were legalized in Canada last year, were pitched as far safer than cigarettes. Instead of inhaling the cancer-causing smoke of burning tobacco, adults would get their nicotine fix by breathing in the aerosol of a flavoured liquid, heated in a stick or pen just enough to become vapour. Vapes were said to be a social good, a powerful tool in the worthy global effort to get people off smoking, and maybe off nicotine, too. What went wrong?

First, the catastrophic health effects of vaping are now becoming frighteningly apparent. Second, it’s become clear that vaping has a devoted, often addicted, youth market.

“For a lot of people, it’s astonishing,” says Elizabeth Saewyc, a professor of nursing at the University of British Columbia and research director of B.C.’s most recent adolescent health survey. “I do think we took our eye off things, because it had been billed as, ‘This is a less harmful approach to help people quit smoking.’”

I watched my mom suffer with COPD for many years.  She was on 24/7 oxygen and struggled to breathe in her last ten years.  In her early life they didn't know the danger of cigarettes.   When the dangers were made public, she was too hooked to quit.  Many people could but she couldn't.  Unfortunately my sister couldn't kick the habit either!  Thank heavens none of the rest of the family smokes or vapes.

The Invisible Mom

Thanks to my cousin Sharon for sending this to me.  As the mother of seven children, I'm sure she enjoyed it!

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way
one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be
taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'

Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping
the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see
me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of
hands, nothing more! Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this??

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock
to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is
the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

Some days I'm a crystal ball; 'Where's my other sock?, Where's my phone?,
What's for dinner?'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes
that studied history, music and literature -but now, they had disappeared
into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's
going, she's gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a
friend from England . She had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she
was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there,
looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to
compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when she
turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you
this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe . I wasn't exactly
sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'With admiration
for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover
what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could
pattern my work:

1) No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record
of their names.

2) These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never
see finished.

3) They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.

4) The passion of their building was fuelled by their faith that the
eyes of God saw everything.

A story of legend in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the
cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird
on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man,
'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that
will be covered by the roof. No one will ever see it'

And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost
as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you. I see the sacrifices you
make every day, even when no one around you does.'

No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've
baked, no Cub Scout meeting, no last minute errand is too small for me to
notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see
right now what it will become.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of
the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work
on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went
so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime
because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's
bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the
morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for 3
hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a
monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there
is anything more to say to his friend, he'd say, 'You're gonna love it
there...'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're
doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel,
not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the
world by the sacrifices of invisible mothers.