The Retiring Sort

Travel Theme: The Four Elements

Posted on May 18, 2013 by The Retiring Sort

“The elementary qualities are four, and any four terms can be combined in six couples. Contraries, however, refuse to be coupled: for it is impossible for the same thing to be hot and cold, or moist and dry. Hence it is evident that the ‘couplings’ of the elementary qualities will be four: hot with dry and moist with hot, and again cold with dry and cold with moist. And these four couples have attached themselves to the apparently ‘simple’ bodies (Fire, Air, Water, and Earth) in a manner consonant with theory.” – Aristotle¹

It’s amazing how universal some concepts are. Cultures all around the world have separately developed music and dance, religion and deities, an understanding of minerals and the elements.

The four elements of Earth, Air, Water, and Fire have been a documented part of Western civilization since 350 BC. Ancient Egypt, Babylon, and Buddhists recognized them as well. Native Americans use them. Many of these cultures added fifth elements – variously the sky, void, metal, spirit or soul.

But the four central elements have been a constant. They have beauty we can see and touch. This week’s Travel Theme challenge is to show them in photos. I chose these photos from our trip to Hawaii:

Earth: An open field at Kualoa Ranch (where Jurassic Park was filmed) on the island of Oahu.

Air/Wind: Sailing on air currents over the Pacific Ocean

Water: The surf on Oahu’s North Shore

Fire: Glowing steam from Kilauea’s Halemaumau Crater

Nature is amazing-changing all the time, but defined by four constant elements for millennia.

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¹ from On Generation and Corruption by Aristotle, written 350 B.C.E., Translated by H. H. Joachim

This post was in response to a challenge from Ailsa at WheresMyBackpack. This week’s Travel Theme is The Four Elements. To see her challenge and how other bloggers have responded, click here!

Posted in Photo Challenges | Tagged Air, Earth, Fire, Four Element, photography, photos, Water, Weekly Travel Theme, Wind | 23 Comments

Future Challenge – What’s Your Legacy So Far?

Posted on May 16, 2013 by The Retiring Sort

Challenge #22

I’m pretty much the family archivist for my own family, and for my husband’s. I’m what I (almost kidding) call a digital packrat.

I have three kinds of family tree software and a portable hard drive full of photos, videos, and historical documents (like birth, marriage, and death records.) I have many more photos, videotapes, and pieces of data to archive.

I will leave recipes, memorabilia, and heirlooms when I pass away, but unless I actually write that elusive novel that’s currently in the back of my head and in various written snippets around my den, the family history I’ve amassed will probably be one of the most memorable things I leave behind.

I have done many things in my life so far, but there isn’t much tangible evidence of many those things. I’ve sung in various groups over the years, traveled a bit, played a little golf, served on some committees, and – oh yeah – had a 30+ year career. But it’s my family I’ve most enjoyed and loved, and preserving and sharing those memories will be a fun legacy to leave.

So, here’s your challenge: What’s the most important thing in your curriculum vitae? If you were being profiled on a book jacket, what would it say? Or, what would you want it to say? What’s your legacy so far?

As part of my retirement theme, I offer this weekly Thursday “Future Challenge” to get people of all ages thinking in general about their futures and/or retirement. Each challenge goes with a post of my own on the same general topic. Hopefully we’ll start some interesting discussions!

If you’d like to share what you think, or post on it, that’s great – and I’d love it if you’d share those thoughts in a post or comment (please tag posts TRS Future Challenge and link to this post) so others can also see them.

If you choose not to share them, that’s fine too – but with any luck, you’ll still gain some insight on where you’re headed (or would like to be), and how you can get the most out of your own journey.

For my own take on this week’s challenge, see my post, Sharing My Scots Gaelic Heritage.

Posted in Future Challenges | Tagged family, Legacy, lifestyle, Memories | 12 Comments

Sharing My Scots Gaelic Heritage

Posted on May 16, 2013 by The Retiring Sort

One of my grandsons is a cub scout. His pack is working on a “Heritage” project to earn a belt loop and a pin. The gist is that each scout must learn about where his family came from, choose a part of his heritage (family line), then learn about its culture, language, and family traditions. Contacting family members and doing some research is part of this.

Various family members put their heads and prior research together for him, and he ended up with a reasonably complete family tree going back more than six generations. Pretty cool. Of his sixteen great-great-grandparents, seven were German by birth and one was Dutch. Four were Polish, three were Scots-Irish, and one was Canadian.

Since there are German ancestors in all of his grandparents’ lines, I expected he’d identify most with that heritage. There are lots of fun German holiday traditions, recipes, and stories from just my Dad’s family, and I have some familiarity with the German language (including nursery rhymes, songs, and the necessary vocabulary to complete the requirements), so we had tons of data for him to use.

But that wasn’t his choice.

My grandson actually knew only one of his great-grandparents, and that was my Mom. She was born to Scottish immigrants from Scots-Irish families. It was her story he wanted to follow, her ancestors’ language he wanted to learn about, her traditions he wanted to know. It probably didn’t hurt that they shared left-handedness and a sense of humor.

So, yesterday, we spent all afternoon into the evening, doing the requisite online research, having him interview me, and learning to say some Scottish Gaelic words from an online tool in learngaelic.net’s “20 Words” section. (We giggled a lot at some pronunciations.) He will also make scones with his mom, and has drawn his family tree for the poster he is making (another requirement.)

As we were going through the files on my computer and portable hard drive, I was reminded of how much fun genealogy can be. It connects us to the people we love, and to the people they loved, and the people before them. When my first grandchild was born more than sixteen years ago, I realized she would remember me, as I remembered my grandparents – and as my parents remembered theirs. I started asking my folks and my father-in-law about their families.

Many of these people, and other extended family members, had wonderful records – stories in a family Bible, letters and other documents from their youths, to say nothing of the photos, anecdotes and songs they shared with us. They wanted their histories and traditions to be remembered. We uncovered one new item at a time, and now my family tree contains 879 individuals, including the family members of our siblings’ and children’s spouses. I have thousands of images – photos, birth, marriage, and death certificates, and more.

This will be one of the legacies I leave my family someday. I still have so many photos to scan and stories to record. And I will keep finding new information for some time to come. Just yesterday I learned new info about my son-in-law’s ancestors from my grandson.

I don’t know if our little scout will continue his interest in the history of his family once this project is finished, but the information will be waiting for him when he’s ready to share it with his own children and grandchildren. And when he does, I hope he’ll remember me and the fun we had yesterday.

Posted in Family, Ruminations | Tagged Ancestry, family, Family History, Family Tree, Gaelic, Genealogy, lifestyle, Memories, photography, Scotland | 16 Comments

Do You See a Pattern Here?

Posted on May 11, 2013 by The Retiring Sort

Front Porch Snow

“Tears of the Arizona” Pearl Harbor

Skylight, Honolulu Courthouse

Painted Overhead Beams, Summer Palace, Beijing

October Moon through the trees in New England

Paris rooftops from the Eiffel Tower

Dancers – Closing Ceremonies, Beijing Olympics

Shadow of Spring leaves on a Connecticut walking trail

Have you ever stared at something for a long time, and then realized that a pattern has emerged? It often takes quite a while to see a pattern in seemingly random behaviors, events, or images. But if you look, there are patterns everywhere around us.

Waikiki Beach bird prints

I have no idea how many birds walked over this pristine wet sand at the beach, before this pattern emerged.

This design surely wasn’t created intentionally. So when does a set of random things become a pattern? And is the pattern only in the eye of the beholder?

There are so many wonderful patterns in nature – repeating seasons, lovely shapes and sounds, colors and light. And so many patterns emerge in our lives – habits, schedules, even daily conversations.

Look around – which patterns would you like to change, and which do you embrace? I’m going to try to find a new pattern somewhere today… and see where it leads me!

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This post was written in response to the WordPress Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge: Pattern. To learn more about this challenge, and to see other bloggers’ responses, click here.

Posted in Photo Challenges, Ruminations | Tagged patterns, photography, photos, postaday, random events | 34 Comments

Just a Day at the Beach…

Posted on May 10, 2013 by The Retiring Sort

It’s been warming up (although we have frost warnings in our forecast again!), and it’s time to turn our thought to the lovely sounds of sand on surf, or the lapping of water against the side of the kayak.

I love the water, and challenged to think about beaches, here are a few we’ve enjoyed…

“Who invited the pelicans?” Near Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara

Receding tide at Goleta Beach (suburban Santa Barbara), where we took our children regularly when they were little

A lava beach on Oahu

Churning surf on Oahu’s North Shore

The pitter patter of little feet – Waikiki Beach

A stony island beach on the Delaware River

I just don’t think there can really be a bad day at the beach!

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This post was in response to a challenge from Ailsa at WheresMyBackpack. This week’s Travel theme is Beaches. To see her challenge and how other bloggers have responded, click here!

Posted in Photo Challenges | Tagged Beaches, lifestyle, Ocean, photos, Seaside, Weekly Travel Theme | 15 Comments

Future Challenge – Note to Self (Longhand or Keyboard?)

Posted on May 10, 2013 by The Retiring Sort

Challenge #21

It’s been a crazy week – way more things to do than hours to do them in, so I’m a tad late, and maybe that’s a sign that I need to slow down and kick it old school for a few days. I’ve been glued to the computer for too long.

There’s something relaxing for me about unplugging and just reading or writing – physically writing – some notes to myself. A shopping list of ideas or to-dos. Random thoughts. Notes to a few friends who could use a lift. People to pray for. I don’t do that often enough, I think, and I suspect I’m not alone.

How reliant on digital tools are you, for organizing your thoughts and leaving yourself notes? Do you keep a journal? How often do you handwrite a note to a friend or family member?

Here’s your challenge – as you think of things you want to share with others, do you expect to sometimes slow down a bit and actually write those thoughts out, or (like more and more of us) do you think you will rely increasingly on blogging, email, social media, and instant messaging to communicate even your innermost thoughts?

As part of my retirement theme, I offer this weekly Thursday “Future Challenge” to get people of all ages thinking in general about their futures and/or retirement. Each challenge goes with a post of my own on the same general topic. Hopefully we’ll start some interesting discussions!

If you’d like to share what you think, or post on it, that’s great – and I’d love it if you’d share those thoughts in a post or comment (please tag posts TRS Future Challenge and link to this post) so others can also see them.

If you choose not to share them, that’s fine too – but with any luck, you’ll still gain some insight on where you’re headed (or would like to be), and how you can get the most out of your own journey.

For my own take on this week’s challenge, see my post, The Lovely Habit of Writing a Journal or Letter – In Longhand.