Roasting Pine Nuts

As I mentioned yesterday, I love araucárias, the Paraná Pines. Last year I saw lots of bags of “pine nuts”, pinhão, for sale, but didn’t really “get” it. Turns out they are from the Pines and they are a somewhat similar to Chestnuts. You cook them (in the pressure cooker) and they have a meaty interior. It might not be everyone’s piece of cake, but me, I am IN LOVE.

Today as we were walking around the property with our neighbor, he began collecting the pine nuts and asked us to help. So we did, although I had no idea what was going on. Not only am I a city kid, but I am not from Brazil. My comfort is that João didn’t know anything about them either. They are distinctive to the mountainous, cooler regions of Brazil. So we collected them and Eliane cooked them in the pressure cooker. The next step was eating them. Yummy. I cannot describe them, for if you have never had a roasted chestnut, you have no idea what they are like.  Too bad for you, for I am sure we will be eating them in heaven.

So now I have a new addiction, that fortunately I will not be able to “feed” in Rio. João says we can throw away some clothes here and fill our car with them to take home. I gather, however, they are only good when they are fresh.

As you can see, where we are staying is really lovely. Look at all the Spanish moss. Isn’t that a sight? This trail is along the creek that runs from our neighbors' house down to ours as well. I feel like I am living in a national park or something.  It is so naturally beautiful here.

We took a run into Curitiba today and visited a winery in the Italian neighborhood of “Saint  Happiness” (Santa Felicidade). We bought some non-alcoholic “hot wine” with cinnamon and cloves  (Quentão) that is to die for. Man, my goal was to lose weight on vacation. I can see those plans going down the drain. Here in a bit, maybe we’ll light the fireplace, heat some of the “Quentão” and enjoy a chunk of cheese. Oh to the good life!

On the Road Again

I know I have abandoned you, but I have been busy and now I am out of town. I was getting ready for our long awaited vacation. I think things have settled down and we really feel like we are on vacation. I don’t really have internet, but sporadically I have been able to access it, so once in a while I can write something on my blog.

When we left town last Friday, I was excited to get to be with Marilene after almost a year of not seeing her. We had two wonderful days together to try and catch up a bit. Fortunately we will also have a little time on the way home. It was good to break up our trip, since it was about 5 hours to her house and about 7 hours for the rest of the trip. We had great weather and road conditions for travel, which was a pleasant surprise.

Although we knew we would be staying at a nice house, we really didn’t expect the paradise we encountered. Our minister of music’s sister arranged the house, as they live right next door. They cleaned and organized the house and even left us with a cake and tea and coffee for our breakfast. 

After living in a high rise in a metropolis, you have no idea how wonderful it is for me to see GREEN, hear birds and just take in the beautiful world God has made.   We are definitely not suffering.  There is a great hammock in our living room and we try to take turns enjoying it and our books.

If you know me, you know I have a little black cloud that follows me around. There has been  a drought here, but on Monday we awoke to rain. It is supposed to rain all week. That’s fine with me. This morning, however, there was sun when I got up and I was able to get out and walk the property for a while, as well as read the Bible by the lake and do some sketching.

It is not as chilly as I expected, so I even shed my jacket and laid on the wall by the lake and just soaked in the nature. If you remember from last year, I just LOVE the Paraná pines (Araucárias) and we have a whole forest of them around us. I am no botanist, but I was  most surprised to see gourds in a tree. I don’t know if they are a fruit of the tree, or is they are parasites, but I had never seen that before. That is the gourd that is used to make the “cuia” that is used to drink “chimarrão” (João’s famous green tea). So I appeal to my scientifically minded friends to tell me. (The photo is to the right). 

At night we sleep to the sound of the frogs (and this morning I even had one to say good morning to me as it hopped around the living room). We hear all the roosters and chickens as well. I have a thing for these free range creatures and keep stopping to watch them. Guess it shows that I am a city girl. I think the coloring of the rooster is just gorgeous and am hoping to draw or paint him. He won’t, however, sit still to pose for me. When he got this close as I was meditating this morning, I had to snap a photo.

As I was up early, I caught the dew, not on the roses but on the lemon tree. I have enough lemons to make some juice. Doesn’t that sound grand?

I think you can see that we are having a great time. Hope you are enjoying life as much as we are these days. Life is VERY good for us.

Getting Older

Yesterday morning when I got up I gave thanks to God that in 1955 that João was born. I thought about calling his parents to thank them. I am so grateful that João was born and came into my life. So although, technically it was his day of celebration, it was also mine.

It was joyful to be able to say to him how happy I am that he is part of my life. I love so many things about him. I love his joy and sense of humor. I love his commitment to sharing the good news of Jesus and shepherding his flock. I admire his intelligence and ability to learn new things. I appreciate this thoughtfulness, tenderness and gratefulness.  I like him and I love him.

So happily we gathered the family together for a birthday dinner. We all enjoyed a nice fondue dinner, with a frozen lemon cheesecake for dessert. A fun time was had by all. And don’t we form a handsome group? I am so glad  we have birthdays as excuses to get together and eat and talk and laugh and look at old photos and remember and say THANK-YOU. Be sure to tell someone you love how they are important to you!

MUCH better!

Sorry I was grumpy the other day! I thought about erasing my entries, but then the damage is done, as you already read them. After much prayer, I feel much better about EVERYTHING. I so hate feeling “controlled” by circumstance and not by the Holy Spirit.

My house is clean and my clothes are all ironed. Today I worked on packing suitcases for vacation. I have one full of clothes and two others full of books and art supplies. Another one is full of bedding and towels, blankets and the like. In addition I have several miscellaneous bags of “stuff”, as I have to take dishes, pans, lots of things to keep of warm, etc. This year I’ll not pack food, as we’ll have our car and be close to a grocery store. We’ve talked to the friends who arranged the home (they live next door!) and so we know we have a nice fireplace and wood to keep up warm (or at least try). We are hoping there won’t be a serious cold snap, just chilly enough to be fun. We are taking two ceramic space heaters and that should help a lot. We ordered 9 new books from Amazon that arrived last month and I have hardly been able to keep my hands off of them, but they are packed for our reading delight. Today I downloaded 2 audio books to listen to in the car on my mp3 player, as well as 5 old movies. I am slowly working my way through the AFI’s list of the best 100 films, so I’ll be seeing things like Ben Hur (I was too young to see it when it came out), All About Eve, Fantasia, The Thief of Bagdad, etc. Doesn’t that sound like fun? We won’t have internet (argh… a month without internet!!!!!), but I think we will survive. I am making lists of things to get done before leaving, as it is only a week away (yipee!!!!!!!!!!).

Last night I went back to art class and am desperately trying to figure out how I can manage two more classes before vacation… I loved it. I didn’t realize I had missed the company of everyone so much. She started a new phase for us in which we are working toward developing our own style, instead of merely copying what we see. I am so ready for that! It was so much fun. We studied a Cezanne and then had to sketch, as quickly as possible the still life using only a skeleton outline and then fill in with colors the form. I did it quickly, with no attention to detail. I thought it looked really free form, but my teacher says it is still realistic. Oh my, this is going to be harder than I thought, although she did say it was a good first step. Don’t laugh at it. It is what we call a “study” not a finished work. So the next time, I’ll try to do it more abstractly. That’s why I want two more lessons before vacation. I plan on having serious fun painting and drawing. I am taking stacks of paper, supplies and books with exercises on abstract art. I think a month will not be near enough time to do all this fun stuff. Til then, I had best get back to work!

One Almost Dead Cat

I am seriously tempted to wring Mia’s neck. I had just finished this post, when she waltzed across my keyboard and erased the entire thing. How? I have no idea. Where did the draft go? I also don’t know. But here I go again. Like I had nothing better to do today!!!

The title was “It Takes Longer to Live Here”. When I arrived in Brazil 26 years ago, one of the older missionaries (probably younger than I am now *sigh*) warned me that it takes longer to live in Brazil, meaning that the simple things of life are not so simple here. That’s true today, even with so many improvements and “updates”.

I was thinking about this morning as I “piddled” in the kitchen for several hours. First off, I did my Monday laundry, waiting some 30-40 minutes for the machine to fill, meaning it took over one hour for it to finish. When it did finish I had to hang it up. Don’t you love the ingenious system of pulleys that give us room to walk under the clothes? By the way,the object on the right, with the chimney, is my hot water heater. It heats on demand only. I am excited that this week, I should be picking up my used clothes dryer. I hope I can stand the electricity bills for using it!

As the clothes finished, I worked on lunch. I washed the beans and put them on to cook for about an hour. Let’s hear it for my new stainless steel pressure cooker. Isn’t it beautiful? Yes, I do polish it after every use, which is almost on a daily basis.  Once it got on, I cleaned the whole grain red rice and put it on to cook for about an hour. Then I cleaned and chopped the fresh green beans, cleaned the fish and put it to marinade in freshly squeezed lemon juice. While those were going, I could grind my coffee, make my espresso (see the Italian espresso maker on the stove?) and blend my homemade yogurt (made on Saturday) with blueberries and bananas. Then I could sit down for a while until it was time to bake the fish. I know my body thanks me for the healthy food, but I do miss opening a package of frozen veggies or a can of beans…

Tomorrow I will need to market, so I’ll go the fruit/vegetable place for fresh produce, the bakery for bread and a small market for staples. I could go to the big supermarket for everything, but their prices are high, quality low and checkout lines long and slow (like at least 30 minutes).

Am I complaining that it takes longer to do things here? Of course I am. Sorry about that. I have made my choices and I could take short cuts, I know that. Everything we do has a price to be paid. But sometimes I find it tiresome to spend so much time just to do the basics. Enough, enough. I must go iron about a foot of wrinkled clothes. Fun, fun, fun! Gotta love being Suzie Homemaker. In all seriousness, isn’t it wonderful that I get to serve my family in this way? I am privileged!

Still Missed

There are three days of the year when I miss Emily and William. March 9, August 19 and today. You never met them. I was the only one who knew them, but I did love them, even for such a very short time. They were my children. I never got to hold them, and didn’t know their sex, but I had chosen those names for them, so I think of them as Emily and William.  As I wrote some years ago, the burden of their loss has long been lifted from my shoulders, but on the days when they died I always remember. And today. Mother’s day. I miss a hug and a kiss and even miss opening a present. I miss them. I always have and I always will. Sometimes I look at 15 year olds and I imagine how they might have been.

At times,  on Mother’s Day,  I feel like Hannah when her husband asked: “Aren’t I better than 10 sons?”. Silly question. Who would even be crazy enough to trade one for another? Apples and oranges! But that is the kind of feeble attempt that so many people make. I accept people’s good will with their good intents. I don’t ask for sympathy, though, just an acceptance of the fact that my children are missed by me. That I miss being loved in that kind of way. Lots of women do. We go on with our lives. We are happy and content. But trust me, Mother’s Day is never totally easy for us.

As Romans tells us, I rejoice with those who rejoice. I am joyful to have a WONDERFUL mother. I am happy for all the Mother’s who celebrate with their family. I even held a newborn today and had a “happy dance” with the Mother, as she celebrates her very first mother’s day! My heart overflows for her happiness.

I guess, however, we all have a harder time weeping with those who weep and we want to offer lots of consolation and make it all fine. I understand that. I know I have lots of spiritual children. I know I have been blessed in a million ways. I love my life. I AM happy. I don’t need to be made to feel better. I just need people to understand that I am not angry. I am not bitter. I am not regretful. I am not even hurt. I just have this sadness for having missed out on being a Mother. I need the freedom to say that. If you want to weep with me, you can, but please don’t take away my right to mourn my loss. Today, once again, I trust my children to the hands of my Heavenly Father. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

"Red sun at night, sailor’s delight” or so goes the old saying. Tomorrow promises to be gorgeous, but today was a wonderful day as well. I love this time of year when it is sunny and neither too hot nor cold.

I am happy to report that the family life conference ended well last night and Pr. Irland returned home this morning. I had a lot to do getting the house ready to receive my 9 students, and making lunch, especially since it was a very late night last night. I confess, I was tired this morning, and wasn’t sure I could get everything done. João was at church at a wonderful worship service commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Military Police of Rio. I had forgotten how much I depend on his help to get things done.

Nevertheless, everything was ready on time and surprisingly the kids enjoyed the food, right down to the cole slaw and baked beans. They even ate pickles. I think it was a very special treat, as they aren’t allowed soft drinks, sweets, or chocolates except on special occasions. I love young people, so I really enjoyed their company and getting to know them as “people” not just students.

It was their “final” exam, as they told stories from Jesus’ life and led in discussions. I was so pleased to see their progress since the beginning of the semester. As they commented on how they had learned to really “look” into God’s word and begin to interpret it on their own, I was overjoyed to see this class was not in vain and their lives had been touched. João even stuck around to hear their stories and commented that this group will definitely be contributing positively to the Kingdom of God. The guys really gravitated to João and seem to hang onto everything he had to say. I gave the girls a copy of my new book and the guys a copy of João’s book. It was a wonderful afternoon!

The living room needs another cleaning and the sink has lots of dirty dishes. The washing machine is full of dirty sheets and tableclothes and I have another dentist appointment to fill a cavity, so my week is ending with a big bang of WORK! I hope tomorrow, our day off, will be a little relaxing and I can get back to my routine of exercise and healthy eating (I don’t think sloppy joes and baked beans and chocolate cake qualifies on that score). See ya around…

Just a hello

Thought I’d just check in a say a little hello and let you know all is okay. We are staying busy with the family life conference that is going well at church. The attendance is pretty good and everyone seems to really enjoy Pr. Irland’s sermons.

Around our house it’s been interesting as we have been without electricity off and on since Sunday. We had a generator truck out front, but it was not always reliable. That’s when it’s not fun living on the 16th floor. The electricity finally got back to normal today, for which I am grateful. I’m not sure which is worse – climbing up the stairs which is tiring and going down them that just kills my legs. We also had a pipes burst down the street and there was no water for a while, although our building brought in water trucks to supply us.

Before the conference got started, I was able to finish my 3rd painting of the tulips, this time in acrylics, with an effort made to do a less realistic work, more of an impressionistic style. So now you know it’s not out of “focus”, but a “looser” style of painting. It was actually fun and went quickly. Surprisingly, however, it made me nervous to try something different. Once I took the plunge, I found it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. I want to do one or two more interpretations of the tulips, but I am not sure what I want to do. A pastel in negative colors? A super, super realistic colored pencil? Won’t it be fun when I finish them all and frame them all together?

Labor Day

Yes, yes, I know in the US and Canada it is Mayday (and I wouldn’t mind dancing around a maypole and giving away mayday baskets, but I don’t think that is done anymore),  but it is a real holiday here in Brazil. Yes, yes, I know we had two holidays last week, but today is labor day here. Consequently, we are off work. I am not sure if we are celebrating that we work, or that we don’t have to work, but actually makes little difference to me since this is our day off anyway.

Still, I decided to enjoy the day, despite what appears to be a cold or allergies (who knows, as I always have something like this in May). This morning I made a brunch, as I seemed to be the only one who didn’t sleep seriously late (if you don’t consider 8:00 late) and had some time. I didn’t do anything fancy, but the family enjoyed the fried eggs and waffles (with ricotta cheese, chocolate spread, strawberry jam, and ham paté). I enjoyed the chlorophyll juice (made from wheat grass, cucumbers, spinach, squash and apples) and homemade raspberry yoghurt (can you believe I found fresh raspberries here???) .

By the time we got up from the table and got going on cleaning up it was afternoon. So I decided to work on a Degas drawing I started the other day. Only I changed directions and instead of doing a graphite drawing, decided to take it to charcoal and pastel. I was pleased with the results, especially because the paper didn’t really have enough “tooth” to grip the pastel properly. Nevertheless, the result was pretty nice. I love pastels, but they are so messy that I usually just don’t drag them out. I went for a monochromatic black/white effect. It went pretty quickly and I had fun actually drawing again. The hard thing for me in art is deciding what I really like the best. Drawing? Watercolors? Acrylics? Pastels? Deciding that is one of my goals for this year, but I don’t seem any closer to deciding.

Yesterday I had a great class with the missionaries in training. I have really connected with this group and will miss them, as last week is my last class. I intend to have them over for a cross-cultural lunch next week. Baked beans, sloppy joes, potato salad and cole slaw with chocolate cake. Can’t get much more classically american than that. Can’t wait for them to try the baked beans. (In case you don’t get that, ask any foreigner what they think of putting brown sugar into beans).  I’ll let you know their reactions.

Sunday we start our “Family-life” conference. The pastor who will be preaching (Dr. Irland Azevedo) is staying with us. I am excited about that, as he is an absolute “icon” in Baptist circles, but I have never had much contact with him. What a privilege! I know, then, you’ll understand if I abandon you for a few days. Happy Labor day!

I’m happy, even if no one else is!

Today I was so excited to receive my copies of the book on women in ministry. I wrote two chapters of the book. The title of the book is “Fragility and Strength”. I wrote a chapter on women in the New Testament and also on being married to the pastor. I haven’t had a chance to read the other chapters, but they all look very interesting and I am anxious to have some time to sit down with the book. My name appears, with the other authors, on the back cover. (Good luck finding my name on the back cover, as for some reason they used my maiden name, although inside the book my name is correct) I’ve anticipated it so long, seeing it in print is thrilling. Actually witnessing the fruit of your labor is pretty exciting.

From the reaction I received today, I don’t suppose it will be a best seller! I was so happy when I arrived at church and the books were there. I tried to share with folks and show the book to people. No one cared at all. I couldn’t even get a warm enough reaction from people to even glance at the cover. That was a great disappointment. I guess I am too sensitive, but I was so happy, and no one seemed to care at all about what a big achievement this was for me.  I know people who don’t write, can’t realize what it means to see what you have written in print, but I would have hoped that some one might have shared just a little in my joy. I guess the 20 copies I received will languish away on a shelf somewhere, except for a couple of copies I’ll give to friends. I hope that the book will be a blessing to someone somewhere. Just not in my little corner of the world.

Despite that disappointment, I can’t help but want to do a little happy dance that my work was published. Dance with me…

Loosening UP

One of the criticisms of the method used by Betty Edward (Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain) is that you don’t really learn to draw. You learn to copy. You learn to be a realist. Frankly,that’s what most people want. That is to say, they want to draw objects like they really are. It is a vital and important skill for all artists. It is really cool to be up and drawing stuff in just a couple of weeks with her course. I must say, however, the criticism is legitimate in terms of being able to really create. To have a style. To be able to draw what is in your mind, not just what you see.

To that end, I have acquired a couple of books that work on just that. Learning to be free. To let loose the creativity and make art your own. Being to to develop your own style of interpretation of what you see (in life or in your mind) I confess I don’t know how to just let loose and draw or paint. There is always some tension there, that what I have done isn’t “mine”, isn’t what I really want it to be. So I’ll be doing some abstract exercises and probably some goofy drawings (as in with your eyes closed). I did a watercolor bloom last night and it was fun. I just sort of dropped paint around on my wet page of my notebook. The paint just spread where it wanted, as it wanted and I was free to watch.

No great metaphors here, because I have no desire to just let my life “happen” like that. I don’t believe in such randomness. However, in art, there can be some lovely happy accidents. As I find these, I’ll share some of the happier ones with you. So let’s just loosen up and enjoy the art.

Cornerstone Worship Service

Saturday we had an interesting worship service at our church’s congregation. The congregation, called “Bread and the Word” is up on the “hill” behind the church. (These days they don’t much use the word “favela” anymore, but instead the word “community”). This service was to officially inaugurate the construction of their church building. It will be hard for my American and Canadian friends relate to the construction process in a “community”, but let’s just say it’s a challenge. They were meeting in a house which you can actually see if you look straight up (as I was doing) at the photo on the upper left. The pastor’s office is the open window. We have been able to buy a couple of houses and knock them down to build a 3 story building. It will be used for a worship center, classrooms and offices as well. The congregation is used not only for worship services, but many social programs as well. The pastor (you can see him in the photo to the left) was a raised in a community himself so he can really relate to people to whom he ministers. It is not an easy ministry, as the building is pock marked with bullet holes. There is one right in the pulpit of the church. When we arrived for the open air worship service, there were a couple of guys sitting across the street with AR-15 on their laps. Always interesting! The neat thing is that they put away the rifles and turned off the funk music so we could proceed with the worship service.

As part of the service, João preached. In addition, a box of memorabilia was placed in a hole and then we all took turns covering the hole, which is what you see in the video. It was a uplifting and unique ceremony. There were so many people present that there were more folks on the outside than the inside. The whole experience was very interesting so I thought you might enjoy my sharing with you.

Tulips, English and holidays

Yesterday was another holiday here in Rio, if you can believe it. St. George’s Day, as in St. George and the Dragon. It’s not like it’s a day millions celebrate. Only the St. George devotees. I was hoping to enjoy it, but had to teach. Since I am teaching missionaries they want them to learn they can’t always celebrate their holiday Brazilian holidays in other countries. But why did I, the teacher, have to suffer along side them????

I didn’t mind, really, but in compensation, I wanted to enjoy our official day off, Friday. However, I had accepted a very small speaking engagement at the International Christian School here in Rio. It was at 8:30AM, which isn’t bad, except it’s an hour away. My poor sweet (and very patient) hubby had to get up early to drive me over. Me I still haven’t renewed my license and am dragging my feet as long as I can. Who really wants to drive in Rio? I enjoyed getting speak in English, and I usually accept those kind of engagements readily. It is so strange to speak to such a silent group, as the discipline is pretty strict at this school. I am more used to the loose anything goes manner of classes here in Brazil. It was the chapel service for the high school and I tried to keep it short and sweet (12 minutes is a record for me!). I talked about how the movie “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” is a great illustration of Ecclesiastes (Meaningless, meaningless. It is like chasing the wind!). Then I contrasted that with the life of my great heroine, Charlotte Diggs Moon. (For my non Southern Baptist friends, she was a missionary to China from 1873-1912, and our only “almost canonized”  saint!) I think it actually worked as I ended by sharing Philippians 1:21 – “For me to live is Jesus Christ and to die is gain” .

Afterwards, we went to the large nearby mall (Barra Shopping), and enjoyed cappuccino and books! We came home with more books (our personal addiction). This afternoon, I finally finished up my watercolor tulips. You may remember that I did them in graphite (See my April 8th entry) and now have finished them in watercolors, with an acrylic paint background, as I just couldn’t get the watercolor dark enough for the contrast I wanted. Did I show you the original? It’s on the right! (A little humor there!) I still haven’t been able to create the luminosity I would like with watercolors, but in my defense the original is brighter than the picture of it.

That, then, was my Friday. I think I really need to accomplish something serious, so guess I’ll wash the breakfast dishes that are still in the sink. Have a great weekend.

Me, Reading the Wall Street Journal?

I know, the Wall Street Journal isn't exactly my style, but the article "How the E-Book Will Change the Way We Read and Write" really caught my eye. That's because it deals with the "Kindle" by Amazon.  I've been reading about the Kindle and recently saw the Oprah Winfrey program where she gives them away. (We are slow in Brazil to get her shows). I have never been sold on electronic books since I don't really care about reading anything longish on the computer screen. I always print it off. However, everything I read about the Kindle says it really does "work" as a book, with the plus of being able to carry around tons of books all at once. I realize it speaks to my "techie" nature, in that I love the new and innovative. I also know it speaks to the "materialistic" me as it cries out for me to spend $300+. I also realize it's usefulness would be less on Brazil than in the US, as its wireless capacity would not function here and I would have to download the books to my computer. Still I can't help a kind of vague "longing" to check it out. Is it as nice as they say? Do I really want to read books on a "machine"? Wouldn't I miss the smell of a new or old book (very distinctive) or the touch of the pages? Wouldn't I miss being able to flip through the pages anywhere? Wouldn't I miss being able to underline and make notes out to the side (I know you can do that electronically, but trust me I wouldn't)? Wouldn't I miss being able to share my favorite book with friends (I mean, I would loan out a $10 book, but not a $359 Kindle)? Would the kind of books I read even be available? I am not into "best-sellers" at all. 

Still, I am curious about the critter. Is it really the "wave" of the future, or is something "better"coming along? Do I jump on the boat at the beginning (like I did with the internet) or do I wait cautiously (like I did with mp3 players)? 

I think until I can see one, handle one, use one, I won't be getting one. Surely is tempting, however! What do you think?

Speaking of "media", I just couldn't resist embedding the following video about a Kindness Café. It's such a nice story that's it is well worth spreading. Check it out if you like inspirational stories!

A Virtual Sketchbook Attempt

Today is a holiday here in Brazil. Yipee! Therefore, I decided to do something I would enjoy, and since it was pouring down rain all day, I didn’t much want to venture outside. I had visited a website called “Virtual Sketchbook” and was fascinated by the idea. If you click on the link you’ll see what it is, but I’ll give you an idea of what it entails.

The concept of the blog is that every month a photo is submitted and anyone who wants can draw or paint part or all of the picture. Then the results are posted on Flicker and there is a link to each person’s blog who painted the picture. I loved looking at the photos. Then I thought, what the heck? Go for it. It’s not like I’m in the league with anyone else who has submitted their work, but it is a great exercise for me. So today I drew the part of the photo I liked and then painted it with acrylics on paper, since I can’t exactly afford to buy a canvas for all my exercises. It was great fun for a rainy day. It was a real first for me, since it was the first time I’ve tried to paint anything with acrylics all on my own. No step by step, or instructions on how to mix colors. This month I am off my art lessons, since I am busy teaching the class at the seminary. Can you believe that just one year ago I couldn’t draw a thing and now I am painting something that resembles something? I know it’s no great work of art, but it does show I have learned something in a year. The secret is to just keep working and learning, right? If you visit the Sketchbook site, you can see the original photograph and the links to other people’s drawings/paintings on their own blogs. If you just want to see the entire collection all at once, visit the Flicker page. The Flicker page, however, is only available to those who have a Flicker account.If you have a Yahoo account, then the sign in is the same as Yahoo. The entries all have to posted by Saturday, so if you really enjoy looking at them, you’ll want to return to the Flicker page and look at the new entries. Let’s hear it for teaching an old dog new tricks, right?

Guilty as Charged

When I first came to Brazil in 1983, I hated, no that’s just not strong enough, I despised coffee. I think the few times it ever entered my mouth I spewed it out. I courageously would sip slowly on a little cup when I visited folks in my first years in Brazil. I frankly didn’t even know how to make a cup, other than the instant stuff (and who says that is REAL coffee?).

Gradually, as the years passed, I learned to make a cup of coffee, Brazilian style, using a cloth filter. That is a a simple method that makes a decent cup of coffee if you don’t boil the water, just heat it to the right temp. I even got the point I would actually make a cup of coffee, now and then, for myself.

Fast forward some years to Canada, where I discovered that I only really liked Brazilian coffee! I also learned to roast and grind my own coffee. I discovered the use of a French press that makes a mild and mellow coffee and of the Italian coffee pot that makes a very strong cup of coffee. I also learned the art of making frapuccino, which is just cold coffee with milk that is shaken until foamy. The upshot of which was that I began drinking coffee regularly.

If anyone would accuse me of being addicted, I would always say that I just enjoy coffee. It’s a pleasure, but I can take it or leave. That was probably true until the last few years, since returning to Brazil. Here I have finally learned to drink my coffee with no sugar or sweetener, learning to really TASTE the  coffee. No flavors either. I will admit, I don’t much drink coffee outside my own home, since I am extremely picky. Today I decided not to make any coffee. Usually I make a small pot (about 3 very small cups) with milk and drink it while I study my Bible. Well it’s afternoon and I have a roaring headache and can’t keep my eyes open.  So I have just made myself one small cup of coffee and what a delicious treat that was. I am busted. I am really addicted. I am not really happy about that. So do I go cold turkey now, wait for vacation, or accept my addiction?

You SO Have to See This

In case you haven't seen this clip on TV, please watch it here. It is so incredible. I mean here is this ordinary looking 47 year old woman and out comes this voice, a la Paul Potts. I love everyone's reaction, proving once again you just can't judge someone by how they "look" to us. I guess everyone figured someone of her age wasn't entitled to dream. Her choice of song "I Dreamed a Dream" was just perfect in every sense. I just love that she is so "cheeky" to just get in there with kids and show them she too has a dream!  Watch and enjoy.

TRADITION!

As I have mentioned before, I do love the movie Fiddler on the Roof. There is a song called “Tradition” in which the importance of not changing traditions is celebrated, all the while the whole theme of the movie is about how things are changing. Oh the irony of it all.

While I like to tout that I am not a creature of tradition, open to change and not just a product of my culture, it just isn’t (at least entirely) so. Yesterday, as we celebrated Easter, I missed some of my childhood traditions. Happily that didn’t include stuff like Easter egg hunts and chocolate bunnies.

I remembered and missed the anticipation of SPRING – the warmer weather and the flowers and GREEN I always associated with Easter. I can remember freezing to death in my frilly little dress on a chilly, even snowy Easter, but no way I wasn’t wearing my pretty little dress, with patent leather shoes and my cute little hat (and even white gloves although they don’t appear to be in use in this photo). I missed wearing a totally new outfit that no one had ever seen before, as an expression of change/newness (and hopefully not just to show off my new clothes).

I missed the church being packed out and everyone joyful to be there, even “long-lost” families and members. I missed the anticipation of a special cantata or drama as a way of celebrating the joy of the event. I even missed the mournful singing of “Lo in the Grave he Lay”, bursting into the joyful refrain of “Up from the grave he arose!” I missed lots of Easter lillies and special flowers decorating the church, filling my eyes with their beauty to remind me of the beauty of the day.

I confess I even missed a big ham dinner marking the fact that we no longer live under the pact of the Old Testament laws, but are free, really free.

I know all the reasons that Easter is not much celebrated in the evangelical churches of Brazil, but even after all these years I miss the traditions. Tradition! Tradition, tradition.

Mildew and Saddleback

Over the past few days I have been reading some news stories that have disturbed me and I haven’t known exactly what to think. This morning, however, as I was reading Leviticus I had an unusual thought and I am going to try to share my opinion. It may not be correct. I hope it is not judgmental or in a critical spirit. You see, when someone in the evangelical midst becomes famous and succeeds beyond expectation, there are some who wish him “badly”, who root for his fall or failure.

That is not my case. I have respected Rick Warren’s work, even though I do not agree with his style. I wish him well in his desire to see God’s Kingdom grow, even if I am unsure about his methodology. When, however, I read this interview, I was disturbed. “Saddleback has baptized over 20,000 new believers. We are, without a doubt, the most evangelistic church in America. There are churches that are bigger than Saddleback, but there are no churches that reach more people for Christ than Saddleback. There are no churches that send as many people into the missions field. There's not a church that has sent 8,000 people into the missions field.” (If you want to read the entire interview it can be found at: Christianity Today).

I hope in my heart of hearts, this was not said out of pride, like it sounds. Often we are quoted out of context or when it is written, the words don’t sound the same as when spoken. As, however, I read more on the Saddleback site, I continued to be disturbed by the hype and promotion surrounding the baptisms and the motivation behind the “numbers” game. That bothers me a lot. It seems too much like pharisee’s words and attitudes as he called attention to his “spirituality”. Whatever the reason for the interview, it struck me as a kind of spiritual “mildew”. (See the church's blog for the hype I am referring to).

Ok, I’ll explain. As I read the regulations about the treatment for mildew in Leviticus, I realized how quickly mildew can spread and how important it is to destroy it before it destroys you. The same goes for skin diseases. It is important to separate the infected victim before his diseases spreads to others. In Leviticus, it says a house where mildew cannot be controlled must be torn down.

On the Saddleback site there is a comparison between the church and Pentecost trying to baptize so many at one time. (By the way they baptized 800, not the 3,000 they hoped for). There was a video calling folks to be baptized, because they would gain a picture of themselves with the pastor, a magazine, and in addition they could attend the discipleship class that Pr. Warren would be teaching for the 1st time in 10 years.

I see a problem with Saddleback, if all of this really does reflect pride and a banalization of true discipleship. I do wish Pastor Warren and his church well, and so I would call them to root out the mildew of pride and self-promotion. It’s not like they need to engage in some kind of mea-culpa, but I do think they need to do some serious house cleaning. Yes, they should continue to spread God’s Word to all corners, but do they really need a marketing department to publicize it? Is it important to be able to say that they have done as great a work as Pentecost in baptizing so many? João and I are committed to praying for Pr. Warren. I am sure many wish to see him fall, but we do not, but I am not sure so many are praying for his spiritual life. I pray his house is soon cleaned of all mildew and his life of all skin disease. Join with me in this prayer.

Loopdy Loop

Today I had another deep scale gum treatment and it was as pleasant as I remembered it from the last time (did you note my sarcasm there?). Last week I had smashed up my upper lip and nose on my marble dresser (and nothing was broken thankfully) in the middle of the night, so now I get to have pain in the top and bottom of my mouth. I took something for the pain and have slept some off and on and am feeling slightly loopy. I did, however, work some on my black and white tulip drawing and have pretty well decided to call it quits. I will have my prof take a look-see and correct anything she thinks is major. I like it a lot, but then the important thing is the composition and I stole that from a picture I found on the internet. I don’t know what I did before the internet when I needed to research things.

Speaking of pictures and research, I recently ordered about nine new books from Amazon.com (yeah internet again!) to take on vacation. Yip, the month of May is arriving and around the 20th or so our vacation starts. We are planning on vacationing in Curitiba, about 12 hours south of here. The photo to the left is of the cystal palace in Curitiba. It's a greenhouse. We both have always liked the city and as we begin to think of retiring, we want to explore places where we might like to live. Definitely not Rio de Janeiro! Too many people, too much traffic, too much crime, too much heat and not enough quality of life. Through friends we have found a nice house just outside of Curitiba, where we can read and write and I can paint to my heart’s content. There will be a lot of churches we can visit and even friends to see. Fun, fun, fun vacation is coming!!! I love having some time with my husband just for “me” and being able to just be quiet. I know that’s not most people’s idea of fun, but it is for us.

Well I hope I made sense and tomorrow I don’t have to edit out this entry. Have a good night and I hope tomorrow I can open my mouth and talk and most importantly eat again.

Just for fun

I am going to assume that you, my readers, are, for the most part, not under the age of 20, so perhaps you haven't seen this YouTube Video. The guy in it is just hysterical in his use of "beatboxing". My kids in Canada did beat boxing with such talent. It is making percussions sounds with your mouth or voice. It's surprisingly hard. Anyway, take a break and have a laugh while you watch this video. Just couldn't resist sharing it with you.

Just Stuff

First of all Mia says she wants to say something so here goes her “say-so”:

See how tired I be? I have to be workin’ hard to take care of Mommy while Daddy is away. Is really tiring. I have to sleep on Daddy’s side of the bed so Mommy doesn’t miss him so much. BIG SACRIFICE for me. But I do it for love. I be so glad he come home early tonight instead of tomorrow morning. I think he do it ‘cause he miss me SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much.

So as you read from her, João has been away for a couple of days preaching in Espírito Santo. He left on Friday and is due in this evening. I have missed him, but Mia kept me good company. She has really “stuck” to my side. In addition she has had several litter box accidents, so I suspect that although she is very much my cat she has missed João as much as I have.

Sunday morning I preached at our church, for the first time since we have been here. I preached at the church many many years ago, but I don’t think most folks would remember that. Our church is a challenging church for preachers, as not only are our members demanding (and not afraid to criticize or tell you exactly what they think about your message or the way you delivered it), but we also have a huge radio and internet audience. Makes even the most experienced of pastors shiver in their boots. I worked really hard on my message content and practiced a lot, trying to keep the time down, as I tend to like to preach about 45 minutes. I felt like it was pretty simple and maybe not enough content, but since we also had the Lord’s supper, I didn’t want the service to go on forever. Anyway I did manage to keep it down to about 15 minutes (a small miracle for me) and people were nice enough to tell me they liked it (and those who didn’t were nice enough to keep quiet). The funny thing was how surprised everyone was. Being at this church has been a good experience for me as I have learned about being less instead of more, meaning I have been no “shining” star and in the background as much as possible. So when I do something, like teach or preach it is always a surprise to the members that I can! I know so many were praying because I was so at ease. I do love to preach/teach, although I  wouldn’t want to preach twice every Sunday. I am thoroughly enjoying my Bible study group in English on Sunday morning. I have a pretty steady group of 7, but sometimes there are 10 or so. I have a couple of more people who tell me they are going to attend soon.

I am also enjoying my storytelling/oral culture class with missionaries. Last week I told a relatively obscure Bible story 3 times and then they had to retell it then retell again from another point of view. Suddenly they were very into the story and its meaning and we all realized how very effective story telling can be. I intend to do more of that. Sunday night during the children’s message, I told a story from my childhood and you should have seen how the kids had their ears glued to every word. I just have to get better at my expression and work harder at being “good” , not just natural at story telling.

Speaking of stories, I saw an HBO movie this week called “Taking Chance”. You won’t see me do this often, but I highly recommend that you find a way to see this. It is one of the best and most moving stories I have seen in just forever. Whatever you think about the war in Iraq, this story will move you. It is about honor and dignity and caring about life. Now you will cry probably, but they are “redeeming” tears. Do yourself a favor, find it and see it because no matter what you politics, you will be a richer person for having seen this.

So that is my this, that and the other for today.

No April’s Fool

The repercussions from last year were not positive, so this year there will be no April Fool’s joke. I am just finally getting around to adding something to my blog. I have been busy and tired, plus my tendonitis kicked in on my right hand, so I just haven’t felt like writing. I broke down and bought a keyboard and mouse for my laptop and within days I can report that my pain in my hand is gone. I am impressed. I am still not back to drawing, however, but today may be the day, if I can find a couple of hours. I haven’t even gone to class lately, so that lets you know a generalized lethargy has set in. But I am glad we are back and can share a virtual cup of coffee. (By the way, isn’t that a great looking cup of coffee I had with some friends? I just couldn’t resist taking a cell phone photo. It tasted as good as it looked).

One of our big events recently as been shopping for a wedding dress. Although we took lots of photos, you’ll see none here, as that is not MY story to tell. But it has been fun. The selection has been made and the dress ordered. Since it comes from Spain, it will take 6 months and I will pick it up in the US to save more than half the price. That was very much a “girl” event. “No boys allowed”.

I have begun teaching my oral cultures class for the missionary “radicals”. These young people go and live among the culture in places where there are no Christians, in a radical lifestyle to reach the unreached. I have had two classes and tomorrow I begin to really work on the practical part of learning to tell the Bible stories, not analyze/preach. They seem a pretty agreeable group, but still I hope to see more fire from them.

On the art scene, I have been watching the most interesting BBC documentaries on the private lives of masterpieces. I am just mesmerized. It is just so fascinating. If you ever get to see these documentaries, don’t miss them. I am showing you a couple of my current projects, that I hope to get back to and even finish. The Green Lady is in colored pencil and has oh so many details, but is actually fun to work on. It’s a picture my sister asked me to do. I am still struggling to master colored pencils. They are a slow, exacting and unforgiving medium. I have also returned to graphite (pencil) and am working on these tulips, as a part of a series. I am planning to also do two other versions of the tulips. Probably water color and pastel, perhaps acrylic and frame them all together. I have been working quite some time on the graphite version, but it will serve as my study for the others, so it is time well spent.

This weekend, João is leaving me to preach about 10 hours north of here, back in Espírito Santo (Colatina). I was also invited to go, but just couldn’t find the energy or will to travel that far especially by car, although now he is planning on going by bus. I don’t like travelling and my LEAST favorite mode is by car. I would enjoy accompanying him, but I still prefer to stay in my little corner of the world. I was going to attend a conference later this month for pastor’s wives, but also opted out of that as I hated the prospect of bus trip – and having to make a transfer and move about in unknown territory. I am getting old and fearful I suppose. I am certainly not adventuresome anymore. This Sunday morning I will be preaching, for the first time, in our church, so I am studying hard for that. It’s a great responsibility.

So there you have it. A couple of weeks wrapped up in a couple of paragraphs. It’s nice that things are fairly calm and I plan on keeping them that way!