Snapshots & Whatnot: (lens-worthy) images

Posted on July 24, 2017 by Virginia

SNAPSHOTS: 

Today we’re taking a pictorial safari in Africa…

Pretty pink flamingos in Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

Meandering elephant in Samburu National Reserve, Kenya

“Habari?” (How are things?) Ostrich in Kenya

A pride of lions (parked in front of our land cruiser) in Tarangire, Tanzania

Zigzagged goings-on with a zebra in Lake Manyara, Tanzania

Twigga love in the air (high up) in Tanzania

Two feet away (from me) a reflective leopard in Samburu National Reserve, Kenya

& WHATNOT…

Last week on his late-nite show Tavis Smiley interviewed actress Jada Pinkett Smith, who is also the long-time wife (20 years) of actor Will Smith. One of the reasons I like watching Tavis Smiley, his interviews often go into deep places. When he asked Jada how she & her husband maintain their internal image with all the negative gossip that scuttlebutts around Hollywood, she said,

“You cannot look at your image through the eyes of others, because most of the time it’s a very cracked lens.”  (Jada Pinkett Smith)

Good advice for all of us to start off this new week: to find an internal lens that lifts us from beanhead-induced doldrums that cause us to view ourselves with cracked lenses. Let’s try to see ourselves with the eyes of our hearts? Lenses of love? As beloved sons and daughters of our Heavenly Creator, whether we’re pink, striped, huge, spotted, tall, squat, long-necked or blue.

grace, peace & lens-worthy images

Virginia : )

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Blithering Blues @ THE COMPUTER

Posted on July 20, 2017 by Virginia

A shout out to Tim Haag over @ Word Inventions. His short writers horoscope posts have provided this blogger with (long & loud) moments of hilarity, plus he regularly shares helpful writer tips & links. This one’s for you, Tim!

The following comes from the computer files of an avid mystery reader (who started with Agatha Christie in the 5th grade & never looked back.)

It was a dark and stormy night.

No, really, it was dark. The wind blew all the street lampposts down as storm clouds vented horrendous rain, slashing sleet & hail. Lighting and thunder added boisterous hue.

A perfect night to perpetuate a crime. (A perfect night to hide under covers.)

A perfect night for all that is dark to seep into corners usually emanated by light.

Hold on, what goes seep in the night?

Blithering drivel seeps onto a computer screen from the muddled mind of a mystery writer doubt dazed by indecision.

This word. No, that one. No, not creepy enough.

Selection to perfection parries pressure to master the first page, the grand start: En garde! Where to begin? Again. And, again. Until it’s right (what a fright!)

Digressions aside, back to our setting. Dark, stormy, blithering with overcast aspirations our writer sits before a blank screen with a blank mind, not one tiny snivel of drivel.

No perspiration of inspiration.

Wait. If all the lampposts are down and everything is pitch dark, how can a computer be working?  Off the electrical hook, a happy ending (almost) – back-ups?

No matter, tonight it’s party time with tinned food by flashlight.

‘Til tomorrow, when a new day dawns @ THE COMPUTER.

grace, peace & blithering drivel

Virginia : )

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Snapshots & Whatnot: Forks in the Road

Posted on July 16, 2017 by Virginia

SNAPSHOTS:  Ever get to the place where you need to make a decision about which path to take when facing a fork in the road?

Traipsing along a path in the woods suddenly there’s a fork: which way to find the way back to the main road? (Like this one traversed in Sedona, Arizona years ago.)

Or maybe we take a fork in the road for a respite, to prop our feet up and rest awhile before making momentous decisions. (Last year @ Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada: a marvelous place for respite & restoration.)

Maybe one road will lift us over murky rubble if we choose to walk carefully when bridge planks are rickety. (Like this bridge @ Lake Minnewanka in Banff National Park, Canada.)

Or maybe there’s two ways to get where we’re going? One uphill and the other a slightly easier walk downhill? (Like this choice to reach St. Catherine’s church with tired out knees in Siena, Italy?)

Or, maybe paths and choices lie before us, a continued journey of wisdom-seeking trust as we plod our way along the valleys and mountaintops of life. (@ the Grand Canyon, a grand place to contemplate our journeys!)

& WHATNOT…

Last week when my friend Carol-Jo hosted a 4th of July breakfast picnic @ the York River State Park, she shared poetry from our mutually beloved friend, Mel Rosche. Mel led an extraordinary life as an American pilot and P.O.W. during WWII, an engineer @ NASA, and in ministry. Before he passed at the age of 94, Mel had just completed Stephens Ministry training to serve others in the full-care facility where he lived. (You can read a tribute I wrote about Mel by clicking here.)

This week I dusted off Mel’s Quest2, a book he wrote about his journey, and found this poem that inspired my heart (& soul & spirit!)

A FORK IN THE ROAD

Whenever we come,

To a fork in the road,

We must be wise,

To solve the code.

At first we may think,

That our options are two,

But further reflection,

May add a few.

The most obvious set

Of options by far,

Are those which we call:

Either, or.

Look a bit further,

There may be more,

We could select,

Neither, nor.

But searching deeper,

The best choice at hand,

May go by the name of,

 Both, and.

Mel Rosche

Both-and choices in South Africa!

grace, peace & forks (in the road)

Virginia  : )

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a little retro Light (whenever!)

Posted on July 9, 2017 by Virginia

Feeling a little retro yesterday I was grooving to Van Morrison and cleaning the house when an old favorite blared out I hadn’t heard in years. Hitting replay between cleaning passes, ’twas like being reintroduced to an old friend.

Powerful lyrics paired with a catchy melody, “Whenever God Shines His Light On Me” is a duet Van Morrison wrote and performed in 1989 with Cliff Richard (that in itself is a weird pairing, but somehow works for this song.)

“…in deep confusion, in great despair, when I reach out for Him, He is there. When I am as lonely as I can be, I know that God shines His light on me…”

Found this YouTube video of Van Morrison & Cliff Richard singing the song (circa late 1980s?) so have a look & listen (& maybe a wee retro chuckle!)  For friends who get these blog posts in email, for some reason YouTubes don’t show up so you need to click through the title of the post at the top of the page to watch it on the Roses in the Rubble website. (You can skip adverts after 5 seconds, but sometimes they’re interesting.)  🙂

Lord Jesus, please shine Your Light around me, in me, and through me this day.

grace, peace & shining Light

Virginia : )

“When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.” Micah 7:8

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Snapshots & Whatnot(s): FIREWORKS!

Posted on July 7, 2017 by Virginia

WHATNOT…

Our local 4th of July celebrations usually come with fireworks as here in Tidewater Virginia (the state of) folks take history seriously. Yorktown, where British General Cornwallis surrendered (ending the Revolutionary War), is only 20 minutes via automobile from our home. Today I rode my bike (@ 20 minutes of pedaling) to Jamestown Island where the first English settlers landed in 1607. Then there’s our town of Williamsburg that’s full of colonial history and the College of William & Mary, the second oldest institution of higher learning in America founded in 1693 by a royal charter of King William III and Queen Mary II of England.

On Tuesday after a picnic supper my sis, her husband, our uncle, brother & I ventured out with our camp chairs to the Green in front of the Governor’s Palace in Colonial Williamsburg (with thousands of other folks) to enjoy the celebration of our Declaration of Independence.

In case you missed fireworks where you were (& for my overseas buddies who get this in their email inboxes) here’s a taste of what we saw from the perspective of Virginia’s iPhone (not the greatest pics, but you get the idea?)

SNAPSHOTS:

Red…

white…

and blue.

Filling the sky

with bright light…

like shooting stars.

(MORE) WHATNOT:

“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is God’s gift, that’s why we call it the present.”  Joan Rivers

grace, peace & present(s)

Virginia : )

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Fourth of July PATRIOT(S)!!

Posted on July 4, 2017 by Virginia

It’s the Fourth of July here in America & I’ve dusted off one of my first posts from the archives six years ago. If rain interrupts your celebrations, consider watching this movie: The Patriot. Still inspiring & a viewing tradition every 4th of July week.

My brother and I saw this movie when it came out in theaters on July 4th, 2000 while on holiday in Prince Edward Island, Canada. Since Canadians ‘confederated’ their way out of British bondage (they’re still on good Commonwealth terms with England), the theater-goers’ reactions were not so favorable given how the British are portrayed in this Revolutionary war epic (burning churches & killing children.) My brother & I, however, cheered on Mel Gibson’s character Benjamin Martin as he morphed from a neutral-sit-on-the-fence-father into THE PATRIOT.

Since then I’ve watched this movie on every 4th of July or close to the date (working overseas it’s not a holiday, so I often celebrated by watching this & eating American Dorito chips when they could be found.) Viewing it many times, each year I’m still inspired by the stay the course theme: through victory, defeat, death and sacrifice against insurmountable odds, patriots like Benjamin Martin prevailed to lead the fledgling colonies into freedom and, eventually, the United States of America.

Heath Ledger (may he R.I.P.) gave an outstanding performance as Gabriel Martin, Benjamin Martin’s oldest son, who enlists early in the Continental army. The story weaves fiction with fact as General Cornwallis takes South Carolina and local militias are called up to fight. Tom Wilkinson plays a convincingly arrogant Cornwallis, while Peter Woodward is great as his always-complimentary sidekick, General O’Hara.  The bad guy award goes to Jason Isaacs who portrays British Col. Tavington, a ruthless Dragoons cavalry officer who employs extremely ungentlemanly tactics.

Some of my favorite lines are from Chris Cooper as Continental Col. Harry Burwell. (After a catastrophic battle: “who’s in charge?” “I am” – pause – “I think.”) After Benjamin suffers incredible loss and wants to leave, Col. Harry challenges him: “You’re wrong Benjamin, you matter to your men, and to others as well. Your victories and… and your losses, are shared by more then you know. Stay with us. Stay the course!”

There’s a love story (two, actually), family values (Benjamin is a widower with seven children), faith (Rene Auberjonois as Pastor Oliver, “sometimes a shepherd has to fight off the wolves”), a wedding, lots of historical settings, and a bit of violence. Rated R (not for children) but this ‘R’ movie (in my humble opinion) has an extremely high inspiration factor.

On this 4th of July, may you STAY THE COURSE wherever you might be. To my fellow & fellowette Americans, may we never forget the sacrifices of those who went before us (including the French who came to our rescue at Yorktown.)

Fort Sumter, Charleston, SC

grace, peace & independence inspiration

Virginia : )

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”    The Declaration of Independence, 1776

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Roses in the Rubble Turns SIX!!

Posted on June 30, 2017 by Virginia

There’s a party going on here @ Roses in the Rubble! Celebrating six years of blogging grooves for Virginia (the person) who ventured out into cyberspace with her first post on 30 June 2011. Additional celebratory woots: today’s outing marks a total of 400 posts here @ Roses in the Rubble!!

Light the candles on those vegan chocolate zucchini cupcakes (tasty & yum!)

Here are a few words from that first post entitled: “Inspiration…”

…TO INSPIRE

to provide the embers of creativity – to educate – to reflect – to ACT

What inspires us??  

Art, beauty, the lives of those who have gone before us…

FAITH…

inspires us to believe, to hope, to act… to do.

For six years Virginia has (sometimes sporadically) shared inspiration from movies, books, music, photography, people, upside down pineapple cakes, snapshots, whatnot, bunny rabbits, Freddy the Frog, and, uh, interesting cosmic entities (Galactic Gourmets et all.)

A wide variety of topics, kinda eclectic, but guess what? That’s made it fun. It’s also been fun connecting up with other bloggers – some of you are still around from when I began and some I miss very much, but it’s inspiring discovering new blogs (& kindred spirits!)

Sometimes I’ve wondered if I should keep this blog rolling, but today I remembered how my Papa painstakingly read all my blogs on his big computer screen with voice-activated software. He may not have ‘got’ some of the quirky ones, but he encouraged me with his enthusiasm to keep trying, to keep writing.

Just like so many of you! Thank you dear readers, fellow bloggers, friends & family for taking time to read, to comment, to encourage, to like, and to follow this blog.

HaPpY BIRTHDAY ROSES IN THE RUBBLE.COM!

grace, peace & celebrations

Virginia : )

Imagine. Create. Inspire.

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Misbegotten (mostly) Vegan Me

Posted on June 27, 2017 by Virginia

(or fall down seven times, get up eight!)

Whether vegan or not, this post is about choices and willpower (or the lack thereof.)

Yes, Virginia was an avid Vegan for three (very long) years. As a long-time vegetarian, my idea of a good day was cheese for breakfast, cheese for lunch & cheese for dinner (with sides of bright veggies, beans & rice.) Ah, the bliss of a good Havarti, flavoring of Feta, heartiness of smoked Gouda (very gooda), meltiness of mozzarella, creaminess of Muenster, effervescence of Edam, giddiness of goat cheese and the heights of my favorite, Halloumi cheese (lightly fried in a little olive oil?)  🙂

sigh.

Cheese is one of the reasons Virginia became Vegan Virginia: it had to be a completely cholesterol free diet or pills every day. Vegan diet won. Doctor acquiesced menacing medicines 6 months later when vegan diet beat health challenge.

saw this last week parked @ our regional library!

Fast forward 3 years later, doctor reassessed situation & ordered eggs back into diet. Not a hard thing to add eggs once a week, but not-so-Vegan Virginia took the liberty of adding a little cheese to the eggs. A little feta here, a little skim mozzarella there, a scoop of real ice cream every now & then?

Could just feel those arteries hardening.

Sooooo, a few weeks ago made choice to get back on the Vegan Wagon.

Here’s the kicker. Last week I drove down to Whole Foods in Newport News (our closest big city) to stock up on vegan soy-free Mayo (there’s a distinct shortage in Williamsburg) & other vegan hard-to-find ingredients.

Dashed in and filled cart, hurrying to beat traffic back but somehow cart ended up near the prepared foods. At Whole Foods there’s lots to choose from in their huge salad-bar islands of goodies (numerous vegan options inclusive.) Kinda crazy how my cart veered over to the counter with their home-made oven-fired pizzas.

I was so hungry. (Skipped lunch to zip down to N. News. Not such a good idea.)

There sat a vegetarian pizza, untouched, right out of the oven. Fresh spinach, basil, tomato slices, feta & ricotta. Hot. Without even blinking (or thinking) I asked for a piece.

oh, oh, oh! Such joy in every tasty delectable bite. Struggling with the guilt thing here, because suddenly my energy spiked & the world seemed like a wonderful place.

Superficial, yes, I know. (But it was amazing pizza!)

It was so good I wanted to go back and get another piece to take home. (Didn’t.)

A wee bit grateful for that small morsel of self-control.

Still, just two weeks in and I blew it. For three years I kept to a strict vegan diet and never blew it, but just two weeks of trying again, splat, pizza did me in.

Fall down seven times, get up eight.

It’s just a diet, but I failed. Maybe my ‘get up and go got up and left’ but now I’ve got to try to move forward, (one tiny cheese-less step at a time.)

Sometimes in life we fall down, splat, flat on our faces and have trouble getting back up again. Failures, disappointments, screw-ups, mistakes, missteps pull us into the mire mucking up our mobility to move forward.

Fall down seven times, get up eight.

Tomorrow is a new day.  To try again. And again. And again.

Looking up, getting up… and never giving up!

Grace, peace & get-up-again-&-againers

(mostly) Vegan Virginia : )

“Good, better, best. Never let it rest. ‘Til your good is better and your better is best.” Saint Jerome

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Amazing Grace (jazzzzingly amazing!)

Posted on June 25, 2017 by Virginia

It’s been an Amazing Grace kind of week, thinking of Mama. This morning it was the first hymn we sang at church. So, here’s a bit of amazing music to uplift your soul today.

A friend recently gifted me with jazz pianist Cyrus Chestnut’s CD, Blessed Quietude. We’ve enjoyed several of his jazz compilations, but this one has been on constant replay. You can feel Cyrus Chestnut’s faith and Gospel roots, especially in his inspiring rendition of Amazing Grace. Here’s a YouTube edition to have a listen…

“I believe the ability to play music is a gift from God and every time I play, I’m thankful.” Cyrus Chestnut.

grace, peace & amazing (jazzed up) grace

Virginia : )

p.s. Since we’re talking Amazing Grace, awhile back I wrote a blog about one of Mama’s favorite movies, Amazing Grace (which is also one of my favorites.) You can read about it by clicking here: Amazing Grace (& the Abolition of the Slave Trade.)

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MAMA, WE MISS YOU!!

Posted on June 22, 2017 by Virginia

Today, 22 June, is the memorial of our precious Mama’s passing. Oh, how we miss her! Our home is filled with remembrances of her, but our hearts continue to overflow with memories and legacies of her love.

Our Mama did not want to go to the hospital during her final illness, so we honored her wishes to be at home. My siblings and I looked after her those last few weeks with our lovely hospice nurse, Eve, regularly checking in on her (and us.)

The last week we kept vigil by Mama’s side through nights and days, singing hymns, sharing, caring, praying. Holding each other’s hands, holding Mama’s hands.

Until she passed, quietly, with all five of us around her bed singing Amazing Grace.

With my brother’s permission, sharing this picture today that represents so much. Dwight’s the youngest & was born with a hole in his heart. Papa said when Mama brought him home from the hospital, she never wanted to put him down. She loved on him (& all of us) so faithfully and so much… and then let us love on her.

Precious Mama, we miss you and love, love, love you so much!

grace, peace & precious mothers

Virginia

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.” Lamentations 3:22

p.s. Here’s a poem I wrote for Mother’s Day years ago while working overseas. Several folks requested a copy after Mama’s Memorial Celebration service (where I read it under sibling pressure that all of us should share something.)

The Mystery of Magnificent Motherhood

From the outside Motherhood doesn’t seem so mysterious, just simply mastering responsibilities and physical tasks. Responsibilities that include raising children to know right and wrong, not to hurt themselves, to study, and to grow from turbulent twos through the terrifying teens into functioning adults. Physical tasks involve delivering babies (washing them, carrying them, helping them walk) cooking, cleaning…

These, admittedly, amount to a great deal of work.

Magnificent Motherhood, however, is a mystery that involves more than just responsibilities and tasks. To understand this mystery, special qualities are required:

Magnificent Motherhood is SACRIFICE.

Selflessly sacrificing (all the time) & the last piece of chocolate cake.

Magnificent Motherhood is JOY.

Joy even when illness strikes, the pots overflow, & we act unruly..

Magnificent Motherhood is BEAUTY.

Beauty seen in us (even with pimples) & nurtured in our surroundings.

Magnificent Motherhood is GENEROSITY.

Generously sharing special gifts, checks, and Mr. Madison’s fudge.

Magnificent Motherhood is MUSIC.

Music composed in a heart overflowing with the joy of Jesus.

Magnificent Motherhood is ACTION.

Hugging us, holding our hands, and helping us through each crisis. 

Magnificent Motherhood is PRAYER.

Unceasing prayer – faithful communion with God (often on our behalf.)

Magnificent Motherhood is FAITHFULNESS.

Faithfulness to God (1st),  and 58 years (!) with the Fabulous Fossil.

Magnificent Motherhood is LOVE.

Love shared from an inner spring that never diminishes…

It’s actually very simple.

The Mystery of Magnificent Motherhood is

MY MOTHER,

Virginia Francis Johnson Woodward

With love  & appreciation from her daughter,

Virginia Lea Woodward

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