Time flux

Daylight savings is a farse! Complete Flummery!

Today is confusing as I feel every year is around this time. You keep an eye out for the time change, cursing all the while that it is unnecessary to reset your clocks- does it matter if it's by 5 hours or by one? Every year I forget. EVERY year. Some years I'm caught, some not. This time I've been talking to mom over Skype, and for some reason, at least in the U.S. of wacko .A they don't set their clocks back until November.. completely arbitrary. Why. Not that any answer would justify an alteration to the already obsolete, it just ticks me off.

Last night the digital devices decided, well, half of them really, that it was daylight savings time once again. The clocks auto switched by one hour but because of the previous conversation with mom there was great doubt of which clocks were correct. I checked the tv station clock and called it correct.


Like vampires (which is what I was watching before bed last night) Hubs and I awake, dress and leave for work.. noticing something was not quite right as there was too much light! The car clock, train station were saying one thing and the mobile phones and tv were objecting, insisting doubt.

The clock on the front of the train station said 8:50 but I caught the 7:50 train to Odense.. And yes, the computer also says I am on normal time.. I give up. Days like this you just have to ignore. Everyone should renounce being on time for 24 hours. I pity the airports, and I have very little love for them.

Morning landscape in lovely light, blaring through the windows and blinding me with after images of black dots. Down into the tunnel and out the other side, flanked by ocean 10 meters away to the right and a few car lanes on the left. The yellow sun always has a dramatic effect on the blue ocean. Cloudy on this side, hazy and grey. So purple near the horizon where cold rain surely falls and covers a distant island..

Ah the metallic burning smell of brakes.

My Dad

Kirk Madison Hale

Born 1949
First of 11 children (5 brothers, 5 sisters)
His siblings are(in order of appearance): Kirk Madison, Jack, Christopher, George, Joel Craig, Jeanine Marcel, Robin Renee, Vivian Lovelace, Holly Sancerae, Courtessa Ann, and Mathew.

My dad is difficult to write about. It's like reading a historical mystery novel. He is a character that the reader leans in to watch, and watching provokes reaction, and reaction...leads..well it just always leads to something, usually trouble. There is mystery, drama, action, suspense and great dialogue. He gets bored and likes to mess with people.. wake 'em up so to speak. :-) That and he likes to blow things up.
I think Dad is basically neo-traditional. I see him as stoic, intelligent, clever, resourceful, practical, observative- house chores are for women. He doesn't think women should be heard doing anything so unlady-like as burping but it's okay to gun them down in paintball. Go figure. He's cool, loves his Guinness and Irish folk music, builds civil war cannons and is a leading member in the Landis Artillery Battery C.S.A. , a civil war reenactment group. He maintains the cannons and produces the rounds of ammunition, building everything from scratch including smithing his own fittings. This is his greatest and most recent past time obsession. I have to say, he's good at it. Damn good.
He went to Vietnam when he was 18. He worked at the downtown airport as an air traffic controller until his recent retirement. He is also a pilot. A great sport and up for a bit O' challenge and danger. He taught me and my brothers to technical climb from a young age. I think I was 8. Lots of camping trips, lemon heads and liquorice while hiking in the mountains of Colorado. Loved it, want more, am proud to have survived :-).

I Love my Dad. He makes me think and helps me build things.

He can make anything. My childhood was bathed in calamine lotion and healing creams from the fun we had making and testing various rides dad built for us in the back yard (a popular hotbed for poison ivy). We had a zip line, a hand welded sit and push merry-go-round, a tree house and jungle gym. Mini-bikes and Go-carts, hair spray driven tennis ball cannons and paintball kits. So cool- 25 cents for donation to the huge CO2 tank dad bought to refill the air cartridges for our paint guns. He had BOXES of different paint ball rounds manufactured from different places so we could test ourselves which were most accurate. Clever and fun :-)
Here we are (Mom is taking the picture), at Crestview park, the favorite place to test mini bikes, go-carts and model planes. It is the elementary school dad and siblings went to when they were little, and only a short walk from Grandma Hale's.

Dad helped me construct many an art project and encouraged me not to let difficulties detour me from taking on a huge project. Admittedly some got the best of me and lie, to date, unfinished. We all have our weaknesses.

I was never good with the machines either. I'm too aware of my mortality, i.e. nervous. I wanted to be otherwise, seeing the brothers excel with motor vehicles and mechanics but that's how it goes. I wanted to live and keep all my fingers and toes. He could wire electronics, woodwork, explosives, metalwork, build a car, build a house if he wanted. The pitfall to his talent is stubbornness. If he doesn't feel like working on it that day, no matter the urgency, forget it. It's on the list of retirement rules ;-). Requests are taken seemingly at random, much to mothers frustration.
So I present to you, if only the tip of the iceberg, My Dad. My Pops.
Love ya Dad. :-) XOXOXO

My Mom

Jo-Ann Cecilia Hale
Born 1950, second of 5 children. Her siblings are(in order of appearance- i think): Paulette, (Jo-Anne), James, Alby and Lewis.

She is an amazing teacher

bettered only by also being an amazing mom. I love my mom. I could go on for hours about her. I am so proud to to have grown up under her eyes.

She teaches children with learning disabilities and behaviour disorders. She works with a very ethnic group of kids, a wide range of physical and mental challenges that keeps her planning up

to 9 separate lesson plans that she pulls from her huge and ever growing library to cater to these children. She loves teaching. It's the B.S and P.R. that drains her.

She is a great person to learn from, taking me and my brothers to the museums, parks and natural conservation centers when we were growing up. I really could go on for hours. ;-)

So mom is an artist too. Surprise. She majored in Fine Art. Is great in charcoal and acrylic, pencil and oil painting.

Sewing!

I had a life size (5 yr. old) Raggedy Ann doll that was awesome. So awesome I never let her finish the hair. That was the coolest doll.

You should know that my mom is a great sport. She has a good sense of humor and likes to dance, talk and laugh. She is however, a bit quiet on the surface. I love you mom. Don't disown me.

She took ballet for 8 years.

She is a petite woman.

Her father was half French.

She makes lace by hand, canes chairs, weaves baskets, spins her own wool and has too little time for herself.

She loves her children.

I can't wait to see you mom. XOXOXO

Loves

The Church. Take two.

One Sunday, recently, (well, more like, November 17th) we drove up to Silkeborg to visit Søren's mom Dorthe and his best friends Helle and Muhammad who have connections to, seemingly, the entire town and to run a few errands.

This time we got into the church! We were so hungry for photos we went twice. I had to get some inspiring video of the interior as I wanted to share it with y'all that can't be in Denmark for that day.

It was perfect timing that we stepped into the church as the organ player was warming up for a confirmation class. It was early in the day so the light was very balanced- both warm from electric light and brightened from the natural light coming in through the small windows. It was so lovely and personal. It took me by surprise though that the "runway" is an L shape rather than a straight shot. A shorter walk for sure. Dum dum da dum -*hang a ralf!

I could tell that Deege was getting excited (maybe it was anxiety I detected- hard to tell in this situation). He pointed his camera at just about everything in there and when he was satisfied with what he got, he walked up to the spot we would be standing in the not so distant future and turned back to me with a nervous smile. He waited there until I understood he wanted me to join him on The Spot. We stood side by side with our arm around each other and peered over our shoulder at the invisible crowd. It didn't seem so bad. Though I'm sure it will be different on the day when we can see everyone's faces, up close and personal.

It was an enjoyable visit. I think it was the calmest part of our day being in there. See how it looked on that grey day in November. Imagine how beautiful it will be in the beginning of summer!

Hugs and Love from Denmark XOXOXO

*"Hang a Ralf" means to take a right turn. "Hang a Louie" means take a left turn.