Brian Collins is my incredibly gifted nephews. Among his other achievements is photography. My brother, David Crook, took Brian to Desert Botanical Garden recently. Just see what he came up with: a Malachite butterfly (I am so envious) and a cactus blossom. Each first photo is Brian's, and I did a little redigitizing in the second in each group. Brian Collins rocks.
This is about our son Thaine Aaron Wood. Thaine is a handsome boy of nine who has Autism. Although he is nonverbal and has his "quirky" moments, he is one of the most loving kids you will ever meet.
Continue reading "Military family seeks autism service dog" »
Another delightful trip to Desert Botanical Garden. I have 100 photos in a gallery but that's awfully long. Still, I have identified everything. Many, many butterfly close-ups and cactus blossoms, along with an occasional frog or flower or dragonfly. Here's a shot of the lovely Buckeye Butterfly taken on May 2. 
More later...
Have you ever ordered something online and been thoroughly delighted with the customer service? I have, and my latest adventure reinforced my enthusiasm about online businesses. Sure, I checked them out first, and The Cat Tree Store seemed ideal for my intensely busy, athletic kitty, L'il Bear and his older brother, Shadow.
I ordered a kitty condo--free shipping--and received it within a week. L'il Bear and I proceeded to put it together. It took some effort, but it was fun, and truly easy to follow the visual instructions. Here are some pictures showing how L'il Bear helped me, and how much he and Shadow enjoy it...
How thrilling to be able to photograph blossoms in my own yard and neighborhood. One of my huge prickly pear cactuses has some stunning yellow blossoms, and my neighbors' red hibiscus is in full and radiant bloom. Couldn't resist.
I recently took this photo of a Julia butterfly on a daffodil at Desert Botanical Garden, and the Arizona Republic published it today in the Arizona Scenic section. However, it didn't seem to display as well as I would have liked. Perhaps too much of the background wasn't focused, but then that's the way it's supposed to be. At any rate, I played around with the photo to see if I could give it a bit more definition. First: the original.
And the touched up photo is here:
What do you think?
Oh my gosh! My daughter-in-law was just here enjoying the sunshine with me. She returned to the Seattle area to kind of bleak weather, but there was a promise of the spring to come.
She and Ron got the barbeque out on their back patio, hoping to put it to good use, but their plans changed today when it began snowing. And then some.
Another time...hope springs eternal in Western Washington!
My Colorado family has a new puppy, Sundance. They lost their beloved Max recently, and while Sundance can never replace Max, he brings joy and delight to Shannon, Jody, and Roger. Here's a picture of the little (?) guy...
How do we describe the life of someone who has just died? I’ve been wrestling with that question since my grandson, John, died in March. He was many things to many people, and if I could say anything profound, it would be that John’s gentle nature, full of warmth and intellect, touched many lives. He will always be a standard bearer for kindness. People from many generations and locations will miss him deeply. He touched our lives.
When I married Jack Vorfeld, John was a little guy. Talk about cute. And even as a child, he got involved in community affairs and received an award for his big heart. I’m going to include a few photos of John as a boy, because that’s when I knew him the best. I’ll follow with his obituary.
Kelly Martin, a geography teacher at North Forsyth High School, is a single mother of two boys and she has boundless energy and a heart for children with disabilities. She originally had the idea of a staff game to raise funds to buy an autism dog for her youngest son, Carter, who has "classic autism" or Kanner's syndrome.
"Through numerous donations," says the North Forsyth County News, "she's already raised the $13,000 plus necessary for her son's dog and training. But the game will go on, so others can be helped." And she's doing this with a broken wrist. Read about Kelly Martin's commitment to the ideals of 4 Paws for Ability by clicking here.
I announced the goals for Carter earlier in my blog. Click here to read the full story.
Note from Judy: 4 Paws for Ability is an amazing nonprofit organization located in Xenia, Ohio. It provides highly trained service dogs in many areas, but does require that approved families raise funds to train the dog. Please consider this child whose life will change significantly upon receiving an assistance dog. Read the testimonials. Reading them could change your life. It changed mine.
L'il Bear, fondly known as Destructo Kitty, spent a few minutes rearranging one of my bookshelves. The photos speak for themselves.
Having a new kitty is a warm and wonderful adventure. It's fun to see the world through L'il Bear's eyes.
Ever since he joined me and Shadow, he's had an eye on two bedroom pull chains...to the overhead fan's light and fan functions. I forgot that when it's time to vacuum the bedroom I always put a little footstool on the bed.
This morning was vacuum the bedroom day, and little Bear 2.0, beta version, had a party.
He totally wrapped one of the chains around the light, and was able to bat the other one to his heart's content.
And that takes some doing. Everything is different with a kitten in the house.
While the sun peeks through the clouds in the Phoenix area, Seattle is a different story. This morning the skies dropped buckets of snow on Greater Seattle, including my son and daughter-in-law. Here's a shot of their driveway. But that's not a problem when they have a 4WD!
There's one member of the family that loves this weather; she was born to...
What is as cute as a little kitten interacting with another cat? Let me re-phrase that: I love to watch my new kitty, L'il Bear, interacting with the newly senior cat, Shadow.
The little one just worships Shadow. In fact, he is Shadow's shadow...
Less than two weeks after Shadow and I lost our senior cat, Bear, I decided we'd mourned long enough. The house was a bit gloomy. Shadow moped. There's an animal rescue shelter not a mile from where we live, so late on a Saturday afternoon I hopped in the car and headed for the shelter.
I sat and watched cats and kittens, and when I spotted L'il Bear, I knew he was just right for Shadow, who was now the senior cat. The little guy was four months old. At first, Shadow hissed just as I expected...
Happy 2008 to you! On December 31, I was in Mossyrock, Washington with family. My brother, David Crook, took this picture of me in front of a huge tree that presides over Christmas Hills Tree Farm.
When my nephew, John Burton, started his Christmas Tree business, he deliberately left some of the old, large trees on his acreage. The property is fairly quiet right after Christmas, but with trees in various stages of growth, it continues to be a perfect place for wholesalers wanting the finest Noble firs for their customers.
Two weeks after my return from Hawaii, I woke up to discover that my Senior Cat, Bear, was dead. Everyone who owns a pet knows that the pet's life is limited, but of course we don't know how limited. And are we ever reallyprepared?
Bear was a rescue cat. He saw one owner through until his or her death, and Jack and I adopted him in April of 1998. Then he saw Jack through his illness and death. He was always there for Jack. He then discovered Shadow, and was his mentor and big brother for three years.
I took this picture when I was helping an animal rescue put together a newsletter. Bear was up for adoption, and he caught my eye...
Hydrangeas abound on the Big Island. Gorgeous bushes line the driveway of the place I'm staying. The assortment of blossoms you're looking at is at the beginning stages of what will soon be a robust blue color. The inner ivory color is extremely beautiful as well.
When I was growing up in Washington State, our home had two hydrangea bushes: one with blue blossoms, and the other with pink.
Memories!
Today we went on the Holualoa Coffee and Art Stroll, an annual event that showcases many brands of local coffee, plus arts and crafts. While strolling on the grounds of the Holualoa Inn, I spotted this red torch ginger. Enjoy my rendition of this incredible flower!
I'm visiting relatives in Hawaii, and wanted to share a lovely apricot-colored hibiscus with you. There is a huge hibiscus plant behind the house, and I'm enjoying the blossoms tremendously.
One ordinary day, in the peaceful place of my parents' bedroom, I learned how to express my artistic talent in a new and unusual way. I was only four years old, but the lessons I learned that day were the beginning strokes of a masterpiece.
The tools were simple: my canvas was the mahogany headboard of my parents' bed, and my brush was a bobby pin. Since it was the tag-end of the Depression, we couldn't afford much, so whether it was poverty or creativity that determined the choice of media, I'll never know. But I do remember the lovely picture I carved with that bobby pin: a little house surrounded by trees and a garden with a path leading from my mother's side of the bed clear across to my father's...
Janel Weiss Maurer
COMPANION*
1 : one that accompanies another : COMRADE, ASSOCIATE; also : one that keeps company with another
2 obsolete : RASCAL
3 a : one that is closely connected with something similar b : one employed to live with and serve another
4 : a celestial body that appears close to another but that may or may not be associated with it in space
For the last five years or so, Janel Weiss Maurer has been our mother's companion. I took a look at how Merriam-Webster's described companion, and it would be difficult to not include all of the descriptions. Except "rascal," which the dictionary says is obsolete anyway.
Can we say a celestial body? Absolutely. She has been like a bright star in Mom's life, and in our lives. None of Mom's children live in Bellingham, and Janel has been the bright and shining center of her life for the past five years. Janel and her new husband, Dennis, have been instrumental in faithfully helping move Mom and her belongings as she was transferred from institution to institution. They went above and beyond, both in doing this, and in being with Mom…being a loving comfort to her as her world began to unravel.
Let's begin with Janel's comments from a couple of years ago...
Continue reading "Janel Weiss Maurer: Ethel's Shining Star" »
Meet Nellie Simpson, one of my many adorable granddogs. She recently had radical surgery on her knee: Tibial Patellar Leveling Osteotomy, and it is the 24/7 duty of Ron and Kerrie Simpson to ensure that she stays off her feet almost all the time. Yeah right...
I knew our mother was dying, but felt so sad that she had to suffer so much toward the end of her colorful, creative life. Less than two weeks ago I flew to the Pacific Northwest to attend a class reunion, and visit my mother, sister, and son, Ron and daughter-in-law, Kerrie.
When I made the airline reservations, I knew that Mom wasn't doing well, but there was no clue that she would be gone in so short a time. What I consider a miracle is that the last week of her life was spent in an assessment facility in Monroe, just 20 minutes from where Ron and Kerrie live.
They moved her from Bellingham to try to determine what was really wrong with her. They determined that all her "dementia" was the result of excruciating pain resulting from a fall...a fall that gave her a hip/back area fracture.
One little event, and in that split second, all her family and many friends' lives changed radically.
While she was going through so many issues, my three siblings all spent much time with her. Finally it was my turn. Sister Jan drove me to Monroe, where we went to see our mother. She was confused and couldn't articulate much except that she was in pain. Later Ron came and picked me up, and Jan drove to her home in Olympia, intent on finding a skilled nursing facility for Mom...
Three years ago yesterday, my husband, Jack Vorfeld, asked my brother go to Safeway and buy some roses. He did so. Then the two of them came into my home office, where Jack presented me with the roses while David took a picture. It was our 33rd wedding anniversary.
A little over three months later, Jack was dead. What a swift and terrible downward path he took. He fought death with every ounce of his being. In August, he began losing weight and having digestive problems (we thought). Such weight loss, and no answers in spite of many tests. To make a long story short, a different type of symptom finally got us to the ER, where some tests revealed pancreatic cancer.
Continue reading "Jack Vorfeld - Happy Anniversary - July 3, 2004" »
Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center provides therapeutic horseback riding to children and adults with disabilities who live in the Puget Sound area. Classes take place in an environment that emphasizes abilities rather than disabilities.
I heard about this wonderful organization from my daughter-in-law, who is deeply involved in supporting the needs of children with disabilities. She is a role model for me, and one of the world's finest women.
I used to love horseback riding, thanks to my mother's encouragement. Now my daughter has a couple of horses and family and friends enjoy riding them. I know what a bond a person can have with a horse. Mine was with a horse named Dixie.
It's exciting to see organizations like Little Bit helping people in the Pacific Northwest. This is how the Little Bit website describes some of the benefits for children with disabilities:
The horse's soothing rhythm, strength, warmth, and three-dimensional movement pattern provides healthy exercise while improving circulation and muscle tone. The discipline associated with working with horses and the social interactions between peers benefit the mind and spirit while raising self-esteem and increasing self-sufficiency through accomplishment. The unconditional love of the horses is proved to reduce anxiety, encourage interaction and offer a haven where riders can feel a sense of empowerment.
Take a moment to visit the site. See the warmth, the vitality, the kindness displayed by staff and children. Kudos to Little Bit!
Just Judy
Have you noticed how easy it is to stereotype people? We see them everywhere, at every level of most cultures. Far too many people may be most comfortable when they can put others in neat packages. But life isn’t just about comfort: it’s about growing in strength of character, exploring and learning new ideas and skills, and learning how to function as part of at least one community.
After a varied, colorful life, I began working for myself when I was in my fifties, during the massive layoffs that took place in the 1987-1990 window. I followed with a couple of brief jobs, but yearned to go in a new direction. I wanted to write and learn to use a computer. At my last long-term job, the computer setup had been on a par with using rotary telephones…or the ones where you picked up the receiver and heard, “Number please.”
After uploading Emily Burton's artwork, I remembered scanning artwork from two of my grandchildren, Kate and James, who sent me the drawings for Christmas. They live in the Bay Area, and are such vibrant, wonderful children.
Today was a special day, because my niece, Emily Burton, 8, has spent the last five hours with me. She's visiting my brother and sister-in-law, and they graciously gave the two of us some time together. Actually, I must include the cats, Bear and Shadow, because there was a lot of interaction between them and Emily.
Emily lives in Mossyrock, Washington with her parents and nine brothers and sisters. And three dogs: Hershey, Skittles, and Snickers.
We ended up in my office, with Emily drawing a picture of a castle, a princess with a dog on a leash, a treasure chest, and a village house...with a special guardian gate. We did a lot of artistic editing with various software programs and she chose the one you see here to go on my blog. What a delightful evening with a charming young lady...
I have a huge family, some of which is in Mossyrock, Washington. The Burtons. Well, this was a big week for Michelle Burton, my niece, who graduated high school.
This is a picture of my brother, David Crook, with Michelle, who is his granddaughter. Nice, yes?
R.H. "Harry" Lodge, Division Overseer of Oahu Sugar Company, tells his story of December 7, 1941. Lodge was also a brilliant photographer, and many of his works fill the publication Waipahu at War, which he compiled. I have a copy of this wonderful publication.
A Report on the Pearl Harbor Attack on December 7, 1941 as it affected my section of Oahu Sugar Co. Ltd...R.H. Lodge
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor came as a sudden shock to all of us. How the military could have been so unprepared is one of the puzzling aspects that has not yet been solved. Months prior to the attack, the F.B.I., Army and Navy Intelligence had made studies and census of the plantation workers living on the perimeter of Pearl Harbor which was part of the Waipio Peninsula under my supervision. A few of these workers were Japanese, the balance Filipinos. It appeared obvious that the reason for the study was to plan the evacuation of these people in case of attack. Yet the military, particularly the Navy was caught totally unprepared...
Continue reading "A Report on the Pearl Harbor Attack on December 7, 1941" »
Have you ever noticed society's tendency to make fun of people in the public eye who may have some form of what we refer to as a learning disability (LD)? These critiques include the way people speak, pronounce certain words, or respond on an ad lib basis, etc. If the speakers don't follow the "norm," we often see or hear the slightest suggestion of stupidity. Or dullness...
Continue reading "When it's not okay to criticize presentation" »
On April 19, 2007, Mayor Tim Douglas and the Bellingham Arts Commission presented awards honoring people and organizations who have contributed significantly to the arts and cultural environment of Bellingham, Washington.
The newly formed Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest was one of the organizations honored this year and they asked my mother, Ethel Crook (96) to stand because she was the daughter of Sue C. Boynton. This picture shows her at the event. But there's more to the story!
Here’s information about the Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest and Poetry Walk
And here’s a recap of the Bellingham Mayors’ Art Awards
Need good hearing aids for yourself or someone in your family, but don't have the money for them?
There is help! AUDIENT. This marvelous organization charges about 50% of what you would pay most providers, and it offer extremely high quality hearing aids.AUDIENT offers assistance to low-income, hearing-impaired seniors, children, and families who are U.S. residents.
Continue reading "Need Hearing Aids, but Can't Afford Them?" »
Helplines/Hotlines - National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA)
Have you ever witnessed someone taking blatant advantage of a senior citizen? Did you know there are places to call if you have suspicions (or better yet, evidence) of elder abuse? The above link directs you to State Elder Abuse Helplines and Hotlines
If you suspect elder abuse, neglect, or exploitation, call your state's elder abuse hotline or reporting number. Help is available. You'll find a map of each state at this site.
This photo is probably of the plane "Waipahu," the first United Stratocruiser. It was named the Waipahu because the founder of United, a Mr. Patterson, was born and raised in Waipahu, in the same house our family lived in during WWII. We were all invited to the ceremony.
Continue reading "The Waipahu, UAL's first Stratocruiser by Ted Vorfeld" »
When I married Jack Vorfeld of Oahu Sugar Company in 1971, I inherited many treasured memories. In the following years, I interviewed him on many subjects, and when the Web came into being, I began writing and uploading articles for my personal website. I never met Jack's first wife, Maxine Mullin Vorfed; she died two years before I met him, but ...
Continue reading "December 7, 1941 - Timidity Takes A Holiday" »
One of my friends and colleagues, Martha Retallick, of Tucson, Arizona, recently spent an exciting, exhausting week in Mississippi. She returned to Arizona last Sunday, and just sent the following message to her client and colleagues. Thought you might find it interesting. Even gripping.
My computer, which began its life as a very nice clone in 2002, has been giving me problems for about a year.
I recently returned from a wonderful whirlwind trip to Washington and Oregon to visit family, and my sister, Calamity Jan Pierson, took time off to act as my chauffeur. Here’s a photo of Jan with our cousin, George Crook, and his beautiful old restored Dodge. He’s amazing. And delightful. Like all my cousins.
My brother, David Crook, took some incredible sunset shots yesterday using his new Pentax *ist DS camera. He lives in Westbrook Village, and went to the lake to do some shooting. Plus, he sent one of the sunset photos to Channel 5 in Phoenix, and they ran it tonite. Way to go, bro!
What did you do on New Year’s Eve Day? Many people enjoy parties at home or in the community. Some sit around watching chestnuts roasting on an open fire, while others watch fireworks, go snorkeling, or sip eggnog or hot tea while reading a good book or watching a fantastic movie. Not my energetic, outdoor-loving daughter and son-in-law!
My husband, Jack Vorfeld died October 19, 2004 at the age of 92. I recently decided it was time to publish some pages in his memory. Find them at my personal website.