Messages From Those Who've Left Us

Last Sunday I lost a good friend. April died after a two year battle with breast cancer.  Then, on Monday I went to the funeral for the father of a co-worker. During this time, I had what I like to think of as "messages from those who've left us."  Maybe they were just coincidences but the thing is, I notice these kinds of things and I like to think of them as more than just coincidences.

First, on Sunday, right after I learned about April's death, a car passed me and the first three letters of the license plate were APE. This was her nickname. Then, on Monday, sitting in the funeral home, I noticed that the brand name on the thermostat was "AprilAir!"  On Monday, I found three pennies in the work parking lot and one was from 1964, the year we were born.

Finally, on Monday after the funeral, those of us from work that went to the funeral stopped at Cracker Barrel for lunch. Right by the counter was a bin of stuffed Kermit the Frogs. My co-worker's dad's name was Kermit.

There is no reason that either of these people would single me out to send a message to. I think the messages are there. We just have to notice them.

Holy Rollers!

This winter has been terrible. The snow started early and it just keeps coming. January has been the coldest winter on record for 20 years and very long extended periods of cold caused by what they call "the Polar Vortex."  Several days we were below zero and once in my car I saw that it was -13!  It gets to you after awhile and it's hard to see magic or the good in it. However, Mother Nature decided to give us one surprise - Snow Rollers. This is a phenomenon that everyone I know said they have never seen in their multiple decades on this planet! I was fascinated by them! Like giant Amish bails of hay or rolls of toilet paper. What is a Snow Roller? I'm sure this term was heavily Googled since no one had ever heard of them before.  Here is a description:

A snow roller is a rare meteorological phenomenon in which large snowballs are formed naturally as chunks of snow are blown along the ground by wind, picking up material along the way, in much the same way that the large snowballs used in snowmen are made.
Unlike snowballs made by people, snow rollers are typically cylindrical in shape, and are often hollow since the inner layers, which are the first layers to form, are weak and thin compared to the outer layers and can easily be blown away, leaving what looks like a doughnut or Swiss roll. Snow rollers have been seen to grow as large as two feet in diameter.
The following conditions are needed for snow rollers to form:

• The ground must be covered by a layer of ice to which snow will not stick.
• The layer of ice must be covered by wet, loose snow with a temperature near the melting point of ice.
• The wind must be strong enough to move the snow rollers, but not strong enough to blow them apart.
• Alternatively, gravity can move the snow rollers as when a snowball, such as those that will fall from a tree or cliff, lands on a steep hill and begins to roll down the hill.

Because of this last condition, snow rollers are more common in hilly areas. However, the precise nature of the conditions required makes them a very rare phenomenon.

They were everywhere and they were awesome. They provided a little magic during this winter that is getting on everyone's nerves!

Kitty Coincidence

Earlier this year Dwight and I were in Key West where there are a lot of beautiful cats and cats with five toes! We saw this cat on the left and thought it's coloring was beautiful. We really wanted this cat! We said that if we could get a cat like this we'd break down and get a third cat. Flash forward to July 2013. The kids and I are at a farm in Amish country and there is a litter of kittens One gravitated to us and hung out with us for awhile. She was very affectionate and we fell in love with her. Spontaneously we took her home and named her Cleo. She is a great cat. And yes, we now have three cats.  I was just looking at Key West pictures and came across the picture of the cat we liked so much there. The coloring is pretty similar!  This is kind of magical to me -- that we ended up with a version of this cat we liked so much in Key West, that even tempted us to consider a third cat!

Connection: Scotland via Las Vegas

At the beginning of November I went on a vacation to Las Vegas. Dwight had a work conference there. One day while he worked I went on an organized hike in the Red Rock Canyon outside of Las Vegas. I had signed-up for a different tour but it didn't work out so I did this one. I guess it was meant to be so I could make a people-to-people connection! In the hiking group was me and two women from Scotland a little older than me. They were very nice. We got talking and I told them that my friend's daughter, Alli, was going to school in Stirling, Scotland for a semester. It turned out that they were both from Stirling and one of the lady's, Sharon, used to work with international students at the same university that Alli is attending this semester. Sharon gave me her email address and told me to have Alli get in touch with her and she would have her over for a meal. I introduced the two of them through email and left it at that. A few days ago I found out that Sharon had invited Alli and a friend over to her house for tea. She gave her some small gifts and food for the girls' Thanksgiving dinner. She also told them all the things they needed to do while they were in Stirling. From what I hear it was a very nice afternoon!  I was so happy to hear they were able to connect and that I was able to have a part in it. From Columbus and Cincinnati (Alli) to Las Vegas and Stirling, Scotland! The world is small!

The Universe is Always Speaking

A few days ago I saw this quote on Facebook and saved it so I could print it. I keep things like this, that speak to me, pasted in a visual journal type of book. Anyhow, when I went to print it, something happened to our printer that was a mystery even to my techno-geek husband. Neither of us could get the printer to work. A little later, I forgot it wasn't working and out of habit pressed Print to print something else. This time it worked and it started spewing multiple copies of the page with this quote on it. I swear I hadn't set it to print more than one copy originally. It finally stopped printing after about 15 pages. I've printed other things since then. Today, I walked into the office and one copy of this page was sitting in the printer. I haven't printed anything for a day or two so I don't know where it came from or why it printed this same page again. I originally saw this quote during a time a few days ago when I was really discouraged and decided it was time to let go of a few things that meant a lot to me because they just weren't going anywhere, that they were causing more pain than joy. Now this quote is printing over and over. I guess the universe is really trying to get my attention. By the way, if you want a hard copy of this let me know. I've got lots of copies! :)

A Little Christmas Magic

I'm a Grinch. I admit it. I don't really like Christmas. Too much to do, buying for the sake of buying, commercialization, etc. I could just skip it. This year I still feel the same. Today, driving to work, I was really trying to put myself into better spirits. Yesterday had been a terrible day to drive to work. It had snowed and traffic was terrible. It took me an hour to go 5 miles. Today was definitely better. However, I still was feeling the "Christmas funk."  Then, while sitting at an intersection I looked up and there was Santa standing in the median. He was holding a sign that said "Honk for Santa! Sunny 95 (radio station)."  For some reason this put a smile on my face. It's not every day you see Santa in the middle of the road! I found some Christmas tunes on the radio and even sang along! The rest of the day I was in much better spirits.

Later in the day, at home, I finished putting up the Christmas lights on the tree in the front yard but the extension cords weren't working so I decided to leave it until later when Dwight got home. I had to go somewhere about 5:00. As I pulled out of the driveway I noticed that the tree was all lit up. How could this be? It wasn't even hooked up to a cord and plugged in. Then I realized that the sun was setting right behind the tree, catching and illuminating the tiny Christmas lights. It was like magic for a brief couple of seconds. A perfect magical end to the day! I think this Grinch's heart grew three sizes today!

International School

Tonight in my ESL class we took a group picture. Later, when I was looking at it and at all of the different nationalities represented in the group, I kind of got the chills. When I was a kid I used to play a game I called "International School" with all of the dolls my grandma had gotten me during her travels. It was like playing Barbies only with international dolls. I had a school for them and I came up with names and "back stories" that matched their countries. I did all the research in encyclopedias and came up with authentic names and cities they were from based on their country. Weird, I know, but that was me!  Fascinated by all things international. As I looked at the picture of my ESL group I realized that it was kind of like my "International School" come true!