Bends and Folds

Sunset, looking south

A week ago at Sunday School, our facilitator handed each of us a white square of paper. Kristen said that the small group lessons we'd been using every week had taken an unexpected departure. While she read the Scripture for the week, along with some supporting materials, we were supposed to follow the instructions she'd copied for each of us and create an origami sea turtle. It was a pattern provided by the World Wildlife Federation.

Origami is a 6th century Japanese art form that transforms paper into shapes. The photo above shows what it was supposed to look like when we got done. Then there were three pages of detailed instructions. The first two pages are shown below:

 

There also was a third page of instructions. I didn't take the time to scan it and include it here because not a single one of us got past Step 5. 

It led to a lot of laughter and camaraderie. But it didn't lead to any marine sea turtles. It also led to me volunteering to find non-origami Sunday School lessons for as long as this particular series lasts. May 4, we were supposed to make a fish. May 11 is supposed to be origami sheep and May 18 is supposed to be an origami dolphin. You get the idea. I'm guessing our success on these creations would have been about the same as the sea turtle.

I've done some thinking about origami (and why we were all so bad at it) since the laughter died and we turned off the light in the Sunday School room for another week. I don't think I have any answers. Some in the class were convinced the instructions weren't definitive enough. Some suggested that a YouTube video with visuals to follow might have helped. Others of us were reminded of our less-than-stellar stint in high school geometry class. Those diagrams were looking just a little too much like geometry, so that self-preservation gene kicks in and you figure you might as well give up now. 

No matter the reason, there were a lot of crumpled pieces of paper on the table by the time we were done. The trash can in the Sunday School room will likely need dumped more quickly than normal after all our "sea turtles" and instructions were deposited there after class.

Springtime blooms and weather prompted more musing. One night not long ago, I went out to look at the sunset sky. While the western sky is usually the main attraction during sunset, that night, it was the south, east and north that provided more drama - more bends and folds (if we're thinking origami). 

Sunset colors looking northeast

From my vantage point, the thunderheads just made for a dramatic sky. I might have been a little envious of the rain that was likely falling under those far-away clouds. But I wasn't sorry to miss the hail that also was part of the evening drama. 

So what does this have to do with origami? I did some Googling and found a devotional by Megan Simons called "The Origami of Life." It said, in part:

Origami, the Japanese art of paper folding, can be incorporated into devotional practices in several ways. One common approach is to associate origami with the concept of transformation, as a simple piece of paper is folded into a more complex and meaningful shape, mirroring the way God shapes and transforms individuals. 

The origins of origami exist within creation itself, where God has planned careful fold patterns for leaves and petals inside of buds. He has created insects whose wings precisely fold and tuck beneath their protective shells. Recently, as I have wrestled through some difficult questions, I have found great comfort in God’s precise planning and careful attention to every aspect of his creation—to the origami of each life. 

Megan Simons

Looking east

When I'm in nature, I'm often struck by how perspective skews our view. That evening of sunset, I had a different perspective than the people who were getting pummeled by hail stones ... or those being blessed with rain. 

It was all in where we were standing. Some of us were in the midst of beauty on the horizon. Others were in the midst of a storm.

We got a little of that beneficial rain last Wednesday. We weren't expecting it, but it left behind about an inch of much-needed moisture.

It will be great for this year's wheat crop and for newly-planted spring crops. 

 

There was even a glimpse of some rainbow colors peaking through the clouds.  

 

Maybe we all gave up a little soon on the origami. (Maybe not. But it's possible.) One of my friends said she was going to take it home and ponder it more to see if she could figure it out. Her husband came back with Sunday with an origami shirt fashioned from a dollar bill. (He watched a YouTube video to do it.)

Another devotional by Rich Forbes shared this prayer at the end:

Father, I am but a crumpled piece of paper in your hand, and at times the suffering I experience is almost too great to bear. Lift me Lord and, with a simple fold, move me past this tribulation; bring me closer to the shape of Christ and reveal more of Him in me each day. Lord God, let your hand hold me until at long last you can place me before you and see me as beautiful and good... made in your image. Holy Father, I realize that I will suffer and face many trials in this life, and I ask that you give me the strength to endure them, and the faith to understand that you will not abandon me to them, or ask me to endure more than I am capable of. Shape me to your liking and take pleasure in your work, and I will seek you always.

 Maybe those crumpled papers weren't so hopeless after all.

Ah Kansas!

Ah Kansas! Even if your vacation budget doesn't allow a trip out of state this year, there are plenty of hidden treasures to explore in the Sunflower State.

Our Discover Kansas event for Master Farmer-Master Farm Homemaker took us to north central Kansas in May. We explored Cloud County the first day and then went to neighboring Republic County the next.

Our first stop in Republic County was the Boyer Museum of Animated Carvings. He may not have "engineer" in his title, but Paul Boyer's ability to put carve figures or combine wire and gears and make them move is amazing.

We didn't get to meet Paul Boyer, but his two daughters, Annie and Candy, manage and operate the museum in Belleville. Paul doesn't make blueprints for his designs. He says if he can see it in his head, he can build it, though he has only an 8th grade education. He made his first carving at age 12. But it wasn't until 1965 that Paul began carving and creating in earnest. At that time, he was in an accident and lost his leg. Then, he contracted Hepatitis C through a blood transfusion.

He made the majority of the 65 carvings featured at the museum since that time. His animated, hand-carved figurines include people, animals, farm machinery and other vehicles. He hand paints each figurine. His largest animated sculpture is a lady on a bicycle outside the museum. During the summer, the Boyer Museum is open Wednesdays through Saturdays from 1 to 5 PM and other times by appointment.

Our next stop was the Belleville Highbanks Museum. The highbanks is called the world's fastest half-mile dirt track and is the oldest continuously used dirt track in the U.S. The track was built in 1910 for racing everything from horses to motorcycles.

Photo from the Belleville Highbanks website - Photo credit - Kenneth Naysmith

In the 1930s, a limestone grandstand with banked oval was built at the Republic County Fairgrounds as a Works Progress Administration project.

With the exception of the war years, 1942-45, the track has operated continuously. Every summer, racers from across the nation come to compete at the Belleville Midget Nationals car race. The Belleville Highbanks has launched many racing careers.

Photo by G.T. Miller from the website

Racing names such as Andretti, Unser and Foyt raced there 50 years ago. More recently, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Clint Bowyer have raced on the Kansas track. This year, the 39th Midget Nationals will be on August 5 and 6.

The museum has some of the cars which have made their mark on the highbanks clay track, which has a 23-degree bank is is 80 feet wide.

Our final stop in Republic County was the Pawnee Indian Museum State Historic Site.

The Pawnee were the dominant power on the Central Plains. The Kitkehahki or Republican band of Pawnee settled along the Republican River about 1820.

Trees line the banks of the Republican River today (about at the mid-point in the photo).

The walled Indian community, which had more than 40 large earth lodges, had a winter population of 1,000 Native Americans. By 1830,the village was abandoned and the band of Pawnee moved north, closer to other Pawnee bands.

In 1901 about half of the area of the village was given to the State of Kansas for preservation and portions of the site were excavated by archeologists in the 1940s and 1960. In 1967, a museum building was built around the excavated floor of one of the largest earth lodges.

If you have a day for a short trip, Republic County offers several options for sightseeing. If you combine it with the attractions in Cloud County, it could easily provide a weekend getaway on a tank of gas.

Loving Leftovers

I personally don't mind having leftovers in the fridge. It simplifies the next meal or two. So, I guess I shouldn't mind having leftovers creep into my photo files either.

These were photos I took this spring that didn't make it into a blog post. But I decided they were worth another look anyway, since they provide a snapshot - literally - of what's been going on.

This first one just makes me smile. A cow looked ready to depart the cattle trailer for her summer vacation. "Open the door already!" she appeared to be telling us.

The next two were from the Palmer pasture. I shared photos from the Rattlesnake and the Ninnescah, but, for some reason, these didn't make the cut the first time around.

These ladies sure weren't complaining when we let them out of the trailer. They left their chauffeured ride without a backwards glance.

I always look at this trio of trees just before the pasture gate at the Ninnescah. They never disappoint - no matter the season.

"I think that I shall never see, a poem lovely as a tree." I sang a song based on that Joyce Kilmer poem at one of my first music festivals. I just didn't know how true I would find it throughout my lifetime. I love traveling through this tree-lined canopy on the way to and from the Rattlesnake pasture.

The wild mustard provided a scenic foreground to the pasture fence just south of our house. I'm glad I captured it, since the bright yellow flowers have faded now.

Since I take hundreds of photos, I am sure there are others hiding in plain sight. And that's OK. Sometimes, taking the photos opens my eyes to the beauty and blessings all around me - whether I share them or not. That thought was confirmed by a recent email devotional from Guideposts:

A Time to Act

Become more aware of the blessings that surround you.

 

A Time to Act

Oh, Lord, teach me to remember You in all things, every day of my life.

A Time to Pray

Creator God, thank You for the works of Your hand
that cry out the awesome truth of Your care for me.

God's Parables

Every happening, great and small, 

is a parable whereby God speaks to us, 

and the art of life is to get the message.

 –Malcolm Muggeridge, journalist

There's nothing like a field of sunflowers to turn a gloomy day around.

I wasn't having the best of days. My mood matched my melancholy. I don't like to admit it, but it's true.

And then I saw them: The giant sunflowers along 4th Street Road just west of Hutchinson had bloomed in all their glory. The cloud-filled blue sky provided the perfect contrast to their cheery faces.

I turned down the dirt road and trekked out into the field, even though I had on going-to-town shoes instead of my dirty tennis shoes. I decided I'd beg forgiveness instead of ask permission if the farmer came along and wondered what I was doing.

I was just admiring the view. And I must say, the view lifted my spirits.

Not many farmers grow sunflowers around here. We don't. This summer, I've only seen this one field of sunflowers in the 35-mile trip to Hutchinson.

Sunflowers turn their "faces" to the sun. Since it was nearing evening, the sun wasn't in the right position to take photos of the whole field and get their beautiful "faces." But, on Friday, I had a dental appointment in Hutchinson and allowed a few extra minutes so that I could take photos from the east road. 

But even though I liked seeing all those petals turned my direction, I still kept my eye out for the rebel. I drove slowly down the dirt road, looking for a sunflower turned to the west instead of the east.

And I found it. I also have to admire the one that doesn't always go along with the crowd. 

Yes, God's parables can even be found in a sunflower field, I think.

***

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