Category Archives: Favorite Things

Fond Farewell: Robert Pence

14 Monday Jan 2013

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Friends are relatives you make for yourself.
[Eustache Deschamps]

Robert Pence

I have always known Robert Pence. I’ve counted him as my friend for seventy years. I bid him farewell just before Christmas with the gratitude that I’d had the opportunity to count him as my friend for as long as I did.

When I was a small child, he was enough older that I looked up to him and considered him brilliant. When I first left home to go to college, it eased my homesickness to know he was nearby on the same campus. When we were both in the military, it was a comfort to know that he was stationed just up the coast. When I edited a magazine, he took magnificant photos for the cover. When I needed air in my tires, advice on home repairs, or information about anything, he helped me.

I shared his fascination with antique machinery, railroading, computers and the minutia of history. I admired his talent with composition and attention to detail in his photography. He enlarged my world, helped heal the bruises of life experiences, and shared the depth of his spiritual self. Although we weren’t relatives, one of the greatest complements I ever received was when he introduced me by saying, “This is my sister….”

After all of these years, I still look up to him and think he was brilliant.

Gift of Friendship

10 Friday Feb 2012

Posted by in Favorite Things, Knitting, Thoughts

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Memory is a way of holding on to the things you love,
the things you are, the things you never want to lose.
[Kevin Arnold]

My knitting friend, Gloria Johnson, died yesterday with her cat, Mai Tai, and her husband, Allen, keeping vigil at her side. I met her many years ago at Meg Swansen’s Schoolhouse Press’ Knitting Camp in Wisconsin. She was with a group of knitters from Dayton, Ohio where she lived. Over time, I joined the Dayton Knitting Guild and made such good friends. Gloria edited the DKG newsletter, The Call of the Wool. In the course of time, she and her friend, Patsy McCoy, organized a knitting retreat in New Harmony, Indiana. I’ve attended, been refreshed, and returned home enriched and inspired ever since. We lost Patsy five years ago and Gloria soldiered on with the help of her husband, Allen, ever since in spite of the fact that she has been gravely ill.

We have lost so many knitting friends in the past few years: Joyce, Eunice, Teresa, Patsy, Gloria, and Barb S. among others including Elizabeth and Mama. My idea of heaven is clouds of yarn and the folks I love knitting lace and colorful patterns for the snow and the rainbows.

Now, about the photo. It is a Cocoon and the pattern came from Gloria. Patsy knit one as a sample for New Harmony the last year she was there. I came home, altered the pattern for finer yarn and knit the jacket in the photo. I am sitting here with it on as I write. My two friends gave me the gift of their knowledge, and inspiration. I want to remember them by passing it on to any knitters who might want yet another project. SELECT THIS LINK to download the printable PDF Cocoon pattern.

iBooks Author

20 Friday Jan 2012

Posted by in Favorite Things, Review, Thoughts, Writing

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Without the playing with fantasy
no creative work has ever yet come to birth.
The debt we owe to the play of imagination is incalculable.
[Carl Jung]

I’ve been waiting for this since 1961. Back then I had a summer job through an Indiana University research grant. In the study, one group of children sat in a traditional classroom to learn reading skills. The members of the other group received individual instruction using a mechanical device. The device used scrolled paper to lead the student through practice cycles. I was a machine facilitator. On the bus ride home after each session, I dreamed of a science-fiction device that would replace the clunky machine.

I was a nursing instructor in the early 70s when I took a course about developing self-instructional packages. I even wrote a package that focused upon learning how to compose and evaluate a plan in a variety of settings. Since it was non-linear, I realized I needed to have control over the book design process so I went back to school. I studied graphic design and have focused upon publication design ever since.

When I bought my first personal computer in 1982 (4k and no hard drive or software), I taught myself basic programming so I could compose small learning packages. I recall that my first program had something to do with multiplication tables. When it worked, I thought about the twenty years of baby steps I’d taken toward the kind of learning tool I dreamed about in 1961.

Having spent hours formatting eBooks in the past couple of years, and searching for ways to create interactive, enhanced books without having to learn programming, I told myself that we are getting close. Then I read the news on my iPad last night and saw an article about iBooks Author. I fell asleep and dreamed of the science-fiction device I used to think about riding the bus. In the middle of the night, I awoke and knew I’d not go back to sleep until I fired up my computer and installed iBooks Author.

When I opened this software, I was overwhelmed with gratitude. I am familiar with the interface because it is similar to other Apple applications so I only have to learn some details. Then I’ll kick start my imagination, and I am on my way to doing what I dreamed about 50 years ago.

Lincoln Star Quilt—Finished

22 Thursday Dec 2011

Posted by in Favorite Things, Knitting, Quilting, Thoughts

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I keep my end tables full of
knitting and quilting
so I don’t have to dust them.

I’ve dressed up my bedroom for the holidays. My new quilt (Lincoln Star) is finished so I paired it with new, navy blue flannel sheets. The pillow slips were sewn by Darlene, one of my knitting students. I love the touch of red she added to the cuffs. The small pillows are samples from one of the fall knitting classes that I taught at Sarah Jane’s. They are variations of the heirloom counterpane pattern. The bargello quilt wall hanging above the bed was made by my daughter, Ellen, the lamp was turned from wild cherry wood by my father, and the bedstead was handmade from walnut wood by a gentleman here in Indiana. I cleared my knitting off of the end table to take the photo.

Winter days are very short in northern Indiana so, when it gets dark, my little dog and I curl up in this cozy warmth. He naps while I knit and read. How can I be anything less than happy?

First Things First

10 Thursday Nov 2011

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The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.
[Clement C. Moore]

Knitters usually get a jump on the winter holiday season. That’s because it takes awhile to finish knitted projects. This year, I set priorities. The newest child gets a Christmas stocking designed and knit by Grandma, brass tag and jingle bells included. I finished it today. This stocking goes to Malcolm Dean Smith who was born in June. Two years ago I posted photos of two other Christmas stockings at these links: Cole’s stocking (Malcolm’s big brother) and Owain’s stocking (Malcolm’s cousin).

I don’t always meet my self-imposed deadlines. I’m sure it is a joke in my family (the members of which are too kind to mention it to my face) that I’ve often given gifts wrapped with the needles still in live stitches. I did offer to finish it for them although some might tell you that they never saw it again. Now I can check my gift list to see who is next.

The Public Library and Digital Books

08 Saturday Oct 2011

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There is not such a cradle of democracy upon the earth
as the Free Public Library,
this republic of letters,
where neither rank, office, nor wealth
receives the slightest consideration.
[Andrew Carnegie]

The main branch of the Allen County Public Library dominates the the west side of downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana. Every time I drive past it I think, it says a lot for a city when its public library is one of its main features. Now the library offers another feature: downloadable eBooks and audio books.

I’ve mentioned in other posts that I enjoy eBooks, produce eBooks for clients and I am in and ongoing search for eBooks and digital audio books that won’t bust my budget. Last week, I dug out my library card, went to the ACPL website and took the plunge. I downloaded the OverDrive Media Console to my computer, and the OverDrive app to my iPad. Then I logged in with my library card and have been enjoying digital files ever since. I discovered that it was easier for me to manage the audio files in OverDrive rather than iTunes. Also, I hope that the eReader for the books will become more sophisticated over time. It needs a dictionary and more options for configuring type.

The folks at the library were so responsive and helpful that I got started with this adventure with very few problems. I highly recommend it.

The Gentleman from Indiana

05 Monday Sep 2011

Posted by in Favorite Things, Reading, Review, Thoughts, Writing

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Cherish all your happy moments:
they make a fine cushion for old age.
[Booth Tarkington]

I’ve been scouring Project Gutenberg (source of the bookplate above) in my ongoing quest for free (or really inexpensive) eBooks. I’ve rediscovered an old favorite, Booth Tarkington. As a child, I read Tarkington’s Penrod and Penrod and Sam— stories about the adventures of little boys growing up around 1900. This time, I started with Tarkington’s first book, The Gentleman from Indiana. I enjoyed it and have now launched into reading his two Pulitzer Prize winning novels, The Magnificent Ambersons and Alice Adams. I’ll have plenty to read if I simply stick with Hoosier authors. A few of these include:

  • Lloyd C. Douglas, (Magnificent Obsession)
  • Ross Lockridge, Jr (Raintree County)
  • Rex Stout (Nero Wolfe series)
  • Kurt Vonnegut,Jr (Slaughterhouse Five)
  • Jessamyn West (Friendly Persuasion)
  • Lew Wallace (Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ)
  • Gene Stratton-Porter (Girl of the Limberlost)
  • James Whitcomb Riley (children’s poetry)

Eastertide

23 Saturday Apr 2011

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Loveliest of trees, the cherry now    
Is hung with bloom along the bough,    
And stands about the woodland ride    
Wearing white for Eastertide.
[A. E. Houseman]

Another walk in the park was breathtaking on this first really warm day. I took these photos with my iPad2—a new adventure indeed. Here is another site in the park (at five foot-seven inches, I would have to stoop to enter the door):

Replica of Abraham Lincoln's boyhood home.

The rest of the story… I first read this poem when I was twenty, and fifty more springs sounded like a lot. Every year since, I welcomed spring, relished its beauty and remembered this poem by A. E. Houseman. Now that I am close to seventy, I wish I could tell Mr. Houseman that threescore years and ten of appreciating springs absorbs them into a person’s soul so they can be vividly recalled even in the dead of winter. Spring, like love, becomes eternal.

LOVELIEST of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.

Now, of my threescore years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.

And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.

Creation of Beauty

13 Sunday Mar 2011

Posted by in Favorite Things, Other Favorite Sites, Review

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Love of beauty is Taste.
The creation of beauty is Art.
[Ralph Waldo Emerson]

Easter is coming and with it comes warmth, flowers, spring breezes and Easter eggs. I’ve always loved decorated eggs so my loved ones have often given me keepsake eggs. Years ago, one gave me a breathtaking Ukrainian Easter egg. It’s fine craftsmanship and sparkling beauty grabbed my heart. I have been following a blog that I’d like to share with you folks: Eggs by Teresa. The beauty of her art grabs my heart as well.

Resilience

07 Monday Mar 2011

Posted by in Favorite Things, Thoughts

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When we have a clear sense of identity and purpose,
we are more resilient,
because we can hold fast to
our vision of a better future.
[wisdomcommons.org]

A decade ago, I worked for a firm that went out of business. Sandra (above right) had come to work at that firm after giving up a good job at a large company. I asked what she planned to do now that we were out of work and she replied that she thought she’d go to school and study courses to become a pastry chef. Meanwhile, I scrambled to build back my graphic design client base that I’d given up several years before.

Fast forward almost a decade. A darling pastry shop (Vanilla Bean) opened two doors down from the knitting shop (Sarah Jane’s) where I teach classes. Curiosity drew me in and there was Sandra! Not only had she completed school, she and a fellow chef opened a business. That is what I call resilience. What more can I say? (… oh yes. I was instantly addicted to their Italian Ricotta Cookies.)