Lowell, MI- I woke up this morning at 4:30 a.m. shivering with cold. I slept covered by two blankets and it was 13 F outside. I quickly turned on the additional water heating we use on top of our wood stove and propane. It was still cold.
The forecast called for the extreme chill, coming over the North Pole from Russia, but that didn’t make it any easier. Ludek hauls in the wood before he heads off to work. That helps, I don’t have to go out to the shed in that cold.
Luckily, we didn’t cave into the Arrowhead Meadows neighborhood association’s pick of Darin, the snowplow man. Two years ago when we had the polar vortex, the snowplow man plowed, after everybody got home from work including himself.
Although, Darin didn’t plow on weekends, he managed to pound on the door on a Sunday morning to pick up his check. So Ludek finally said, “I’ll do it myself, we got the jeep.” My 1998 Jeep Wrangler, our workhorse came in handy again. Now, I call it the “Blades of Glory.”
I sat by the wood stove in Ludek’s wicker rocking chair to warm up and to clear up the sinus cold that’s been gripping me since last Friday. As I watched the flames I contemplated today’s writing strategy.
“No, I am not going to check my e-mails, because that either makes me angry or puts me behind in writing.
“However, should I or should I not fill out a slip of paper with today’s predictions and seal them into an envelope only to read them tonight?” I asked myself.
Instead, I picked up the phone to check the notifications on Facebook. I kind of knew about the upcoming full moon from friends in Europe, but it was my Arizona friend and owner of Beutiful Body, Mind, Spirit Nan Raden who confirmed with the beautiful pictures of the moon over the majestic saguaro cacti with the following post:
“Full moon in Gemini-on December 14th. This full moon is occurring on the cusp of the Winter Solstice, which is Dec. 21st.
“Gemini rules the mind and is mentally razor-sharp. It is inventive, playful, childlike and communicative. Gemini loves to widen your perspective by integrating information. Mercury, the ruling planet for Gemini, will be going retrograde five days after this Full Moon, right before the Winter Solstice.
“Your thoughts, ideas and how you think about life are going to deepen, while you integrate a new heart-centered awareness.
“This Full Moon in Gemini happens on Dec. 14th at 12:04 a.m. in London, England and in the Americas on Dec. 13th in the late afternoon and evening.”
According to the full post, year 2017 is the Year of Money, Miracles and Manifestation.
“With number 17 activated, you will get a preview of the leadership, abundance and immortality themes that will inspire us all next year.”
And now, Nan asked:
“How are you going to share in a way that allows you to feel happy and empowered?”
The post continued: During this Full Moon thoughts will be transmitted very quickly and effortlessly, so you want to listen in and tune in to new perspectives and your perception about life.
“Have a happy and engaging Gemini Full Moon.”
As I sat by the wood stove, of course I didn’t read the entire post. I just glanced at the beautiful photo that warmed me up. I shared it, and that was it. And I didn’t fill out the prediction slip, because predictions were already piling up in my head.
“Oh, I am going to face another long phone call, and I’ll have to deal with IT stuff. I am not going to finish the story about blogger “Annie.”
For the rest of the morning, I continued to work with my back to the wood stove sitting on the brick ledge; my mind spinning. I did all the social media marketing work, I needed to do for the day.
I took a photo of the wood stove and I posted it enhanced on Instagram with this caption:
“My work station by the wood stove, until May.”
My friend, a Gemini, responded with:
“LOL.”
And after her, many others followed.
I found a way to make a miserable cold wintry morning in West Michigan dissipate in warm thoughts, and I shared them.
And after that I discovered Nan’s Facebook post in its entirety and wrote all 779 words of “In my winter dreams.”
Well. there goes my answer to Nan’s question.
“Thank you, Nan for sharing. Thank you, Full Moon.”
Experience an old-fashioned white Christmas at Fallasburg tonight
By Emma Palova
EW Emma’s Writings
Fallasburg, MI- Come and chat with an old friend tonight during the annual vintage Christmas party. The topic will be “Christmases of the Past” at the historical village of Fallasburg.
Create some memories forever. Thank a volunteer from the Fallasburg Historical Society. They make things happen your round at the sleepy hamlet northeast of Lowell.
The FHS mission is to preserve Fallasburg history for future generations.
Visit Fallasburg tonight at 6 p.m. for a memorable white Christmas . Experience a white Christmas of the past inside the old 1867 Fallasburg one-r…
Nominate a woman who has inspired you in 2016 or in the past for the IW Inspiring Women series. Make her day shine brighter this holiday season.
The criteria are simple; She makes you and others feel good for no particular reason, at times just because she exists.
Dear friends, I am bringing back the popular IW Inspiring Women series for the winter. The series carries the logo of the enigmatic orchids which come in a thousand of varieties, each bringing joy …
Lowell, MI-This morning, I was fortunate enough to come across the “saidsimply” blog about artistic ventures. And the labyrinth-like colorful painting inspired me to write this epiphany piece.
Short story collection “Glass Flowers” by Emma Palova
The famous tree at Selby garden in Sarasota.
I looked at the photo of the “Sea in Me” painting and the following took place in my head:
This is how I feel about writing when I don’t write for a while; I am lost in a labyrinth of thoughts.
Yesterday, my friend Kitty from the Netherlands really encouraged me. We ran into each other in the snack aisle at the Lowell Meijer store.
I needed to get some yellow lemonade, ribbons and nuts for undisclosed reasons.
We chatted about Christmas and getting old. We both agreed that Christmas is more about getting together with friends and family than about gifts.
“But, we can do that anytime right?” I asked for assurance all frazzled at this time of the year.
“Sure, that’s what it’s all about, we don’t need Christmas for that,” she laughed.
Kitty has re-posted the Christmas bucket list on Facebook with comment:
“My kind of Christmas.”
Here is the Christmas bucket list
1-Be present instead of buy presents
2-Wrap someone in a hug vs. wrap gifts
3-Send love vs. send gifts
4-Donate food vs. shop for food
5-Make memories vs. make cookies
6-Be the light vs. see the lights
“I am already tired of people asking if the shopping is done and if we are ready for Christmas. Flying the coop again,” Kitty commented.
Kitty told me she was leaving for the holidays for a cruise somewhere in the Caribbean. I was jealous.
“Keep writing, Emma,” she smiled and off she walked with her shopping cart that wasn’t fully loaded with goodies.
And I left the store with warmth in my heart, two yellow Fanta lemonades, hecho en Mexico, a yellow ribbon and some trail mix nuts.I was determined to keep on writing.
Thank you, Kitty and the saidsimply blog for all of the above.
Emma
For the simply said blog go to: https://saidsimply.wordpress.com
About the featured tiled photo mosaic:The big photo on the right accompanies post “Secrets, we all have them.”
Small photos on the left from top to bottom:
1-Me at Sea…at the Gulf of Mexico
2-“Glass Flowers” (c) Emma Palova, a manuscript with hand blown pink glass flower from the castel Karlstein in Czech Republic. This was a gift from my daughter Emma.
3-The Wedding Tree at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, FL.
A new acrylic on paper. It has literally been months since I’ve had the paints and brushes out and I must say it was glorious. I could not resist the impulse to let my inner painter come out and play!
I am bringing back the popular IW Inspiring Women series for the winter. The series carries the logo of the enigmatic orchids which come in a thousand of varieties, each bringing joy with her own beauty. Much like the women in this world.
Enigmatic orchids
In this series I bring to you the stories of women who inspire others with their character, actions and the love for what they do. As daughters, mothers, grandmothers and wives, they all make a difference in their own way.
All of them juggle different responsibilities; to themselves, to the families and to the society at large.
Their value is not listed in dollars they bring to the economy, but in their contribution to bettering the lives of other people.
Meet artist turned hunter Linda Kropf Phillips
By Emma Palova
EW Emma’s Writings
Lowell, MI- I first met artist Linda Kropf Phillips, owner of Natures Serenity, at a little known bazaar in the historic village of Fallasburg two years ago.
She was manning the booth with her brother Jerry Kropf. Most people in the area know the name Kropf, as the well- established owners of the Kropf apple orchards.
“Are you related to the Kropfs?” was one of my questions during a recent interview with Linda.
Artist Linda Kropf Phillips with first sketches.
“Which ones?” she asked.
“The apple farmers?”
“My father was the carpenter in the family,” Linda said.
It was her father Bob Kropf ,who not only inspired Linda, but who also taught her perfection in glass etching of gun cabinets and everything else in business, like reasonable pricing.
“My dad challenged me,” she said. “I worked in his wood shop for 20 years at Murray Lake. He taught me a lot of woodwork. I taught myself glass etching on china and glass cabinets.”
Yes, there was no challenge too big for Linda to handle, whether it was the etching of a standing bear and a partridge flying over his head, or other intrinsic scenes from nature.
Linda Kropf Phllips hunting Up North.
“I found a picture of a standing bear in a magazine,” Linda said.
One of her first drawings was a sketch of the GI Joe doll. Some four decades later, Linda easily found the pencil drawing at the house. And it was not just the doll, but also some sketches of the Beatles.
Linda started drawing when she was 11 years old. Growing up as a 4-H girl and doing rodeo, she loved to draw horses.
She went to the Alton country school from 1964 to 1968 prior to going to the Lowell public schools.
“I rode my horse to school,” she laughed.
But, sometimes it was mom Jan Kropf who played the bus driver loading up the kids in a car and hauling them to school.
Linda Kropf Phillips prefers to hunt with bow & arrow.
Linda graduated from the Lowell High School in 1976, and she received the perfect graduation gift.
It was tuition for one year at the Kendall College of Art & Design in Grand Rapids. She had already taken advanced ceramics and design classes in high school. In sixth grade, Linda also took art classes from local artist Jan Johnson.
Four years ago, Linda started her Natures Serenity line of artwork on slab and drift wood.
“I love being outside, hunting, taking pictures of nature and kayaking,” she said.
While kayaking on the Flat River on the morning the Whites Bridge in Smyrna burnt, Linda found pieces of driftwood and metal from the bridge down the river.
She painted the covered Whites Bridge on a piece of driftwood and hung it on the metal from the bridge. First the driftwood had to dry out and Linda coated it with three to four coats of polyurethane to preserve them.
One of the early trophy deer.
The two pieces sold at the Danish Festival in 2014 in Greenville with half of the proceeds going to the “Rebuild Whites Bridge” organization.
Artist Linda is also an avid hunter, who annually heads out into the woods in the Upper Peninsula with her husband Scott. Naturally, she would not reveal their “sacred hunting grounds” somewhere northwest of Marquette.
Scott has been hunting for the last 45 years, while Linda started hunting 11 years ago. Before that Linda rabbit hunted with her brother. She took her first deer with a gun, when she was three months pregnant in 1986.
For Linda, family always comes first.
Artist Linda Kropf Phillips with family.
“I started going with Scott with my camera and took my artwork with me,” she said. “We go during the gun season hunting for bear, and I bow hunt for deer.”
Naturally, Linda who took up bow hunting three years ago, is inspired by the great outdoors and what it has to offer. Her booth at the Dec. 3 Rogue River Arts Show was an amazing display of nature’s scenes on wood. Everything from deer, fowl, fish, Queen Anne’s lace to footprints captured on a wooden slab. Some of the artwork boasted 3D imagery in detailed foliage and branches during different seasons.
“I like the fall, so bow and arrow wins,” she said. “I feel safer.”
One of her scariest experiences was while hunting on the ground.
“I had a wolf behind sniffing at me,” she said. “I was nervous. I thought it was just a squirrel crinkling again.”
Well that “crinkling squirrel” turned out to be a 157 pound black bear. But, these adventures do not prevent Linda from going “Up North” to hunt in the “sacred land.”
Deer art by Jerry Kropf.
“We stay in a camper, 10 days at a time depending on the weather,” she said. “Sometimes it’s two hours to the closest processor.”
And back home in Lowell, the dinner always features some wild game, whether deer, bear, fish or fowl in the form of burger, roast or steaks.
“We have deer all the time,” Linda said.
Most recently, based on popular demand from the less macho side of the population, Linda added to her wildlife art portfolio paintings of chickadees and cardinals.
“It runs the gamut from deer, moose, bass and I added flowers, “she said.
Natures Serenity artwork is available at Bodacious in Rockford and at Pinky’s Place Antique & Artisan Market in Grand Rapids.
Her busy art show season starts in July with the Fourth of July Artist Show in the UP, Lake Odessa Arts in the Park on Aug. 5th, Danish Festival on Aug. 19th & Aug. 20th and Rockford on Sept. 10th
The last show of the season is always the Rogue River Arts & Artisan Show on the first Saturday in December at the Lowell High School.
Nominate a woman who has in any way inspired you this year or in the past. In the IW women’s series, I have featured artists like Kathleen Mooney, entrepreneur Station Salon’s owner Nancy DeBoer, hiker Gail “Chosen” Lowe who has hiked all five national trails in the USA, Lowell Area Chamber director Liz Baker, former Lowell city clerk Betty Morlock, trail developer Carolyn Kane, founder of SowHope Mary Dailey Brown and many others.
E-mail Emma via the contact page or on Facebook at emmapalova@Facebook.com
The Linzer desserts are a staple in Czech Christmas baking for its versatility and simplicity. Not only are they delicious, but you can utilize any of your preserves to “glue” them together.
And they make the house smell beautiful because of the vanilla in them. I plan on making a lot of these using different cut out forms for fun with my girl, Josephine Marie Palova. Kids love them too.
You can even just have them plain, and they last for a long time.
Stay tuned for stories about Czech Christmas traditions including baking and cooking.
I love this time of the year filled with anticipation of things to come and the new year 2017.
Citrus, spice and everything nice is all you need at Christmas! Almond shortbread infused with orange zest and cinnamon, put together with a heavenly tart raspberry preserve and dusted with icing sugar make for a perfect combination of flavours for the Christmas edition of these Linzer cookies. These are an adaptation of Linzertorte, a traditional Austrian dessert and one of my absolute favourites. You can experiment with the flavours in the shortbread or use different fruit preserves and you’ll end up with different combinations every time. Let’s say these are my go-to batch of cookies to bake in times of need. Let the festive baking begin!
PREPARATION TIME : 2 hours
INGREDIENTS (makes approx. 24 cookies)
1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large egg yolks
1 cup almond flour (Note: Personally, I prefer using 1/2 cup store-bought almond flour and…
Your homily about the St. Patrick’s parish couple who found out last Monday they were chosen to be parents for a baby girl, after years of trying to adopt a child, brought tears to my eyes.
Like you, I cried. I will always cry whenever this story of adoption enters my mind.
I cried tears of joy for the couple whom I have known for a long time.
I cried tears of belief that there is hope no matter what, as long as we believe. Even the tiniest grain of belief matters.
I cried tears of gratitude for my own children and for all parents who seek adoption.
Thank you for the beautiful story on this second Sunday of Advent, which means hope.
May the story of the parish couple inspire others never to lose hope.
Hope is love in disguise.
Emma
About the featured photo: The wreath in the middle with four candles, of two which are lit, signify the second Sunday of Advent. It expresses our hope.
A couple here at the parish, have been trying to adopt a child for four to five years. So many times they would get right to the end and not get chosen. This was very disheartening as you can image. Recently the couple told me they were not going to renew their contract because it was just too difficult. The wife began visiting a very holy woman of the parish who kept telling her, “I am going to pray for a miracle that you get a baby.” Well, that very holy woman died on Thanksgiving Day and we celebrated her funeral mass here on Monday. After the funeral and after the luncheon I went to the rectory when all of a sudden I heard screaming coming from outside the front door of the rectory. This woman, who has been trying…
Lowell, MI – In this busy holiday season I needed author Becky Stuit’s prompt to relax today and over the weekend. I’ve been running myself crazy around in circles or spirals as you will.
“When are you going to get the house ready?” asked my husband Ludek on Tuesday as he was stepping over all sorts of stuff laid out on the floor. That is my typical style of designing, laying out things on the floor, so I can see what I have.
I finally wrapped up client E-newsletters yesterday, with more to go on Monday. I have to do two interviews via Skype, which I am really looking forward to. I want to stream the WordCamp live from Philadelphia, since I couldn’t go. I have two stories to write today.
This week has just taken its toll on me.
I’ve never really been able to take a mental break, as advised by both Becky and my husband Ludek.
On any given night, I wake up around 2 a.m. and immediately think about all my projects from writing to design, to shopping, to living, repainting, redecorating and back to writing. And I forget to sleep.
I almost freaked out when I saw the fires in Tennessee followed by the tornadoes. My parents Ella & Vaclav were on their way to Florida passing by pretty close to all the nature’s fury.
Reading Stuit’s post, I realized I need to live more, believe more and enjoy life more. I am going to enjoy my granddaughter Josephine Marie Palova this weekend as much as I can. First early in the morning I will run to the Rogue River Arts Show at the Lowell High School, so I can get a photo of artist/hunter Linda Kropf Phillips (I am writing a story about her).
Then we will speed to the Horrock’s Christmas farm in Ionia with Josephine, take a horse-drawn wagon ride into the fields, cut a tree, have a hot dog inside, roast some marshmallows , decorate the tree and try to catch up with Santa on the Showboat in Lowell.
Relax, girl. It’s all in good time.
And all along, I am trying to live up to the high demands of my surroundings. These include sometimes counselling, as if I know anything about numerology or reading people’s future.
However, my great colleague and friend Annie Conboy of UK ( I am writing a story about her blogging for the past 382 days) says you can do anything through your intuition.
“Just listen to your Guides.”
Well my “Guides” yesterday told me that someone out there needs my help.
I kind of know who it is. I pulled her out of obscurity from the past last spring using a non-conform technique.
“Please tell me something positive,” she begged this week.
“I always tell you positive things, but you never listen,” I said.
Down the road, when the time is right, I will write about this woman. That is once I can sort everything out and getting a mental break.
Guides, can I do all that?
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Feeling inspired today by the Traveling Nurse’s Haiku on “Magic.”
I might try to write a few of my own Haikus.
I wrote some and illustrated them in the early 2000s and later in 2008. I feel like it’s coming back to me at full force during this busy holiday time.
I actually find reprieve in Haiku writing. Haiku to me is like an island in the midst of the vast ocean of writing.
I need to spend some time on this Haiku island to gain strength to head out back into the ocean of writing.
Sometimes, like most writers and authors, I am intimidated by my upcoming writing. I know the idea has already taken some form in my head, and it is waiting to break out.
Will it be the right time and shape for that idea?
I’ve been carrying all these ideas in me for a long long time.
I’ve also been storing the products of my ideas on the shelves of my book cases for what seems like infinity.
Sometimes, I find old stories all dusty and fading on the yellow paper. Editors demanded hard print copies back then.
As I pick those products back up, I wonder what am I going to do with them this time?
Should I wake them up and bring them to life? Like a sleeping giant or a boring midget?
I have an entire collection “Glass Flowers” (c) Emma Palova that was inspired by an important time in my life.
I am dusting that off and bringing it out into the daylight.
It’s about time for my “Glass Flowers” to be broken into endless pieces.
Copyright (c) 2016 Emma Blogs, LLC. All rights reserved.
PREPARATION TIME : 2 hours
authoremmapalova 