I spent the day in bed. I wish it could have been for the purpose of being lazy but it was not. However, despite being in pain I was able to look out my window and watch the clouds roll over the mountains. There is something so amazing about this time of the year. The trees have lost all but a few leaves. Those that still cling to their branches can barely hold on and quiver in the wind. Sometimes I feel like one of those leaves. I am barely hanging on and one more blow of the winds of change will cause me to lose hold and be swept away. As the dark grayish blue clouds rolled over the mountains the sky darkened. Then, suddenly, the sun burst through the clouds and caused the tree I was watching to glow in the sunlight. It turned almost white against the backdrop of the dark clouds. At that moment, all the pain I was in fell away and I sat there in wonder.
Even during times of great pain, be it physical, emotional, or spiritual, God shows us good and beauty. I believe it is in those times that our faith is growing. That beauty, wonder, and good is God at work in our hearts. That realization that there is light even during a time that seems to grow ever darker, allows us to realize that even if we do get swept away in life's wind storms God is always right there with us. In fact, God is the creator of the wind storms. Where ever the winds of change take us, at least we know that God is the one carrying us.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Time is spinning
Today my new-to-me Ashford Traditional double drive spinning wheel came in the mail.
For at least a year now I have been wanting to get a spinning wheel. In the last few months that dream had increased as my knitting and crocheting had increased. The idea of being able to make my own yarn/thread and then make my own clothes from that yarn/thread was very appealing. After some tricky bidding on ebay, I won a beautiful wheel. I am not sure how old it is but to me it is perfect. For the last week, as I waited anxiously for my wheel to arrive, I had dreams of what it would like to actually spin. I dreamed of sitting down and being a natural. Spinning fine wool right away with none of the hiccups that the many spinning books and websites talked about newbies having.
The reality of spinning was not quite like I imagined. I thought the hardest part of spinning was going to be getting the wool to be even as I spun it. And it was hard but that was not the hardest part. No, the hardest part for me was actually getting the wool to go onto the bobbin as I was spinning the wheel. I spent hours today working at getting a few yards of wool on to that bobbin. Surrounding me were the left over attempts of over twisted yarn. The tightly twisted castoffs took on a life of their own as their numbers steadily increased. At the end of the night, when I took off that bobbin of finished single ply yarn I felt very proud of myself. The large pile of curly castoffs that snuggled up against my feet were not something to be ashamed of but lessons to be grateful for. My dreams of being a complete natural spinner, went out the window but the reality was even better. I had to work what I did and will have to keep working at it but I think in the end I will be much happier with the results than I would have been if doing this was easy. Isn't that the way life is? When something comes easy for you, its easy to take it for-granted. When you have to work at something, even just a little bit, whatever that something is, becomes more important, more impressive, more noteworthy, more worthy of respect.
For at least a year now I have been wanting to get a spinning wheel. In the last few months that dream had increased as my knitting and crocheting had increased. The idea of being able to make my own yarn/thread and then make my own clothes from that yarn/thread was very appealing. After some tricky bidding on ebay, I won a beautiful wheel. I am not sure how old it is but to me it is perfect. For the last week, as I waited anxiously for my wheel to arrive, I had dreams of what it would like to actually spin. I dreamed of sitting down and being a natural. Spinning fine wool right away with none of the hiccups that the many spinning books and websites talked about newbies having.
The reality of spinning was not quite like I imagined. I thought the hardest part of spinning was going to be getting the wool to be even as I spun it. And it was hard but that was not the hardest part. No, the hardest part for me was actually getting the wool to go onto the bobbin as I was spinning the wheel. I spent hours today working at getting a few yards of wool on to that bobbin. Surrounding me were the left over attempts of over twisted yarn. The tightly twisted castoffs took on a life of their own as their numbers steadily increased. At the end of the night, when I took off that bobbin of finished single ply yarn I felt very proud of myself. The large pile of curly castoffs that snuggled up against my feet were not something to be ashamed of but lessons to be grateful for. My dreams of being a complete natural spinner, went out the window but the reality was even better. I had to work what I did and will have to keep working at it but I think in the end I will be much happier with the results than I would have been if doing this was easy. Isn't that the way life is? When something comes easy for you, its easy to take it for-granted. When you have to work at something, even just a little bit, whatever that something is, becomes more important, more impressive, more noteworthy, more worthy of respect.
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