The object of this exercise is to record one significant thought for each letter of the alphabet -- and you can't use words/thoughts someone else has already posted. If you're reading this, I invite you to try it! (Its not as easy as it looks . . . )
A APPLE Seems like a logical word to start with! I used to detest Golden Delicious apples (having grown, picked, sorted, juiced, etc them in the Okanagan), but I bought some the other day, and they tasted pretty darned good (to my surprise). Expensive here in PG, tho. Never thought I'd actually miss walking out the back door to pick one when I felt like it. Writing about Golden Delicious apples makes me think about a traumatic incident in grade one. Right at the beginning of the new school year, we were given mimeographed copies (remember mimeographs? Purple smelly ink -- predated photocopies) of a big letter A and an outline of an apple. We were supposed to practise tracing the letter A and colour the apple. I thought this quite a boring exercise, as I already knew how to write the entire alphabet, plus my full name, and quite a few words, so I poured my creative energies into colouring a perfect Golden Delicious apple. My teacher did not approve! She even held my perfect Golden Delicious apple up for everyone to see, and pointed out that ALL apples were RED. Naturally, I tried to argue that MY apple was a Golden Delicious, but she didn't approve of my argument either!
B BOOKS I definately have too many of them. What a big fat pain moving is going to be. However, that realization will neither diminish the book supply nor my book-buying habits! I've always loved books. My love affair with books began at a young age. I remember the day I got my first library card. The deal at our local library was that as soon as I could write my full name, I could get my very own library card -- which I did on my 4th birthday. I was too short to reach the desk, so my Dad had to hold me up while I signed my name, and my letters were so big that I had to put the last 4 letters of my surname on a second line. I was so thrilled! However, the thrill didn't last long as the first book I wanted to borrow was a nice big art book with pictures of (Michaelangelo, etc) famous art works. The nice librarian tried to explain that I had mistakenly chosen an adult book and that the children's section was OVER THERE, but I wasn't having it. On my fourth birthday, I wanted to become a famous artist myself, and what better way to do it than studying the masters? I have no idea why or how I knew about the old masters at that age, but I did.
C CHURCH Yes, I do go fairly regularly. I still consider myself "religiously-confused" as I can't seem to settle and stay with either the RCs or the Anglicans (after having grown up Pentecostal). I like liturgical services where I know what's going to happen next (as opposed to spontaneous non-liturgical), and both RC and Anglican services provide that. I don't like the subordinate role women are stuck with in the RC Church, and do like the fact that women can be ordained as Anglicans. However, there is something about RC services that feel like home. I am confused.
D DAYLIGHT I really detest getting up and getting on the bus before daylight! I have early am classes this semester -- I normally plan my schedule for mid-day -- so am doing a lot of complaining about "getting up at the crack of stupid"! Or perhaps D is for DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME. In which case, I don't get why we need to mess with our clocks twice annually. Most of the time I DON'T change my watch -- just to be perverse! What the hell? It's the same time anyhow!
E EGGS They are GOOD for you! And they taste good! And they make a quick meal! Mmm eggs. Get cracking! Make mine a cheddar cheese and onion omelette ... Aside from food, this is the time of year that I miss the egg-layers, the chickens. There's simply nothing more miraculous than "cluckers" and "peepers". I used to love watching hens setting on their eggs, and especially loved the final week of the process when the baby chicks started making noises from inside the eggs. And watching them hatch! Oh wow! Anyone who hasn't witnessed that miracle just hasn't lived sufficiently in my opinion!
F FRIED SWEET POTATOES (Forgive me, its lunch time! I've got food on the brain just now ...) I have some leftover baked sweet potatoes in the fridge, so I think I'll slice them and fry them up for supper tonight. Have you ever had sweet potato french fries? YUMMY!
G GARBAGE We make too much of it. I would love to be able to buy more bulk things and less things in individual cello packages. At the same time, I know I would wonder about other people's hygiene if we were able to buy more bulk things. I'm not 100% sure that bulk shopping would work 'cuz somebody would do something icky and disgusting! I get really annoyed when I have to hunt down the scissors to get into a package of something or other. What is with the industrial-strength shrink-wrap stuff they put on vitamin bottles???
H HANDS Hands have been on my mind a lot these past few weeks. Hands are very important to musicians (even amateur musicians like me). I think most musicians would rather lose their legs or their eyesight than their hands. I've long had a major phobia about having my hands hurt. I made the mistake of reading a newspaper report on the Pickton trial one morning which described the crown's opening statements and also described specifically what remains were found of the six missing women the current trial is concerned with. One of the women, Georgina (a friend from the Lower Mainland), was a fine musician. In fact, my current 12-string guitar once belonged to her. I can picture her hands playing that guitar, writing lyrics, doing beadwork, and lifting an eagle feather up in prayer or song. That image was shattered by reading that her hand bones were found in Pickton's pig trough. I'm trying very hard to hang onto pleasant memories and not picture the horror of Georgina's final hours on this earth. And its hard.
I ICE CREAM Last weekend, I thought I was going to have a yummy treat of ice cream and raspberries. I had simmered some raspberries that were starting to get freezer-burned into a sort-of-syrup. Unfortunately, I also had a jar of homemade strawberry jam in the fridge -- a thoughtful (but unwanted) gift from a neighbour. I don't know what I was thinking about, but I POURED strawberry jam all over my ice cream! And I don't like strawberry jam. It was disgusting. In future, I shall stick to chocolate sauce or hot fudge sauce for my ice cream! (Mmm ... a peanut buster parfait ...)
J JAMMIE DAYS! I love jammie days -- spending the entire day in pyjamas and lounging around the house. Of course, jammie days also require eating breakfast for supper. EGGS! YES!
K The only K word that comes to mind at the moment is KRYPTONITE. Isn't that the stuff that was bad for Superman? Its been a lot of years since I read comic books, but I did read Superman when I was a little kid. (K for Kid -- why didn't I think of that?) My family used to separate me and my cuz Les by giving us each a stack of comic books and sending us to different ends of the house. (We fought a LITTLE BIT when together ... ) Peace would reign for about 3 comic books, and then one of us would yell "I've got more comic books than you've got" and war would resume! I can't really remember a favourite comic book, but I do remember gathering them all up in my little red wagon, selling them to other kids in our rural neighbourhood, and making enough money to buy chocolate bars!
L LENT Its that time again. I may be religiously confused, but this is one church "season" and time of personal sacrifice that actually means a lot to me. Go figure. I find "doing Stations" (Stations of the Cross) particularly profound.
M MEN In general, haven't got a lot of use for them. (I do have a few male friends who are exceptional exceptions, tho -- so don't get your knickers in a knot, Mister A!)
N NYLONS Like men, I haven't got a lot of use for them either! I might suffer stockings occasionally (get that naughty picture of me in a garter belt out of your mind!)
for very special occasions, but pantyhose shall not adorn this body again in this lifetime! They are hot, uncomfortable, unpractical, and uneconomical as far as clothing is concerned. Pantyhose are torture devices invented by men. However, they are good for cutting into pieces to tie up your tomato vines. Also good for storing vegetables in and can be utilized as great soft-sculpture creations (remember kitchen witches?).
O OPRAH I used to enjoy Oprah, but not anymore. There's something really annoying about one person with their own magazine and their own mug on the cover every single month. I mean, seriously -- how do you define vanity?
P PETUNIAS They stink. I mean REALLY stink. I don't like them. I don't care for any highly-scented flowers, unless its jasmine or lavender.
Q QUEEN I'm not a royalist, but when I was a little girl, Queen Elizabeth was relatively new to the throne of England and playing Princess Elizabeth was a jolly good pastime. I had some lace curtains and an old fur critter (fox?) collar for my regal wardrobe. When I was four turning five, a friend of the family stayed with us during the final month of her pregnancy (as she lived more than an hour away from the hospital). She was a school teacher, expecting her fourth child after three boys, and an excellent member of my imaginary royal family. She told me that if her baby turned out to be a little girl, she would name her Elizabeth to remember all the fun we had playing Princess Elizabeth together. And when her daughter was born, she did!
R RINGLETS and RED HAIR. I used to have both. See:
Not the clearest photo, but it was taken about 1956 or so and buried in a suitcase for a couple decades before it was scanned and e-mailed to me. I still remember wearing those bib overalls! The "do" was accomplished by finger-curling my damp hair -- it had so much natural curl, it didn't require pins or rollers. I cursed it all the time I was growing up, but I'm sad to report it is no longer carrot-red and no longer that curly.
S SOCKS AND SHOES Rank right up there with men and pantyhose. My toes are SCREAMING for release after being in socks and snow boots since last October! My Dad used to threaten to paint my toes (not toenails ... TOES)
BRIGHT PURPLE so I'd be too embarrassed to take my shoes off. It wouldn't have worked. I'd go barefoot year round -- or at least in sandals -- if I could! I bought these (below)
last summer in Prince Rupert -- pink CROCS -- and absolutely love LOVE
LOVE them! (The knitting in the photo is a wee little person's pullover sweater with a wave and fish design on it. The rest of that yarn turned into socks.) I think I'll buy another pair this year. Hmm, I wonder what colour I should get?
T TEA Earl Grey, caffeinated, and black, thank you. Seriously, what other kind of tea is there?
U UMBRELLA I used to own one. I think I left it on the Skytrain in Vancouver. Like most of my umbrellas. People don't seem to use brollies when it rains up here in PG. Why is that? My favourite brollie over the years was royal blue with yellow ducklings splashing in the rain on it. I actually managed to keep that one for a couple of years.
V VIRGINIA I don't know why she comes to mind. Perhaps its looking at that photo of me with ringlets! V. was a neighbour when I was a "wee little girl back on the farm". She was also a redhead -- in fact, her entire family consisted of redheads! I thought they were amazing because their mom let them play all sorts of rough and tumble outdoor games and never harped at them to be careful (in reality, the poor woman just couldn't keep track of them all)! V. and her brothers were allowed to go down to the river, and play on the big sawdust pile (they must have had a sawdust-burning furnace), and build go-karts with real motors to drive around the farm. I wasn't allowed to play with them because they were "too rough". Once, however, I managed to sneak over to V.'s house, and we built a fabulous fort out of canned foods (after peeling off all the labels), then got her little brother to crash it! We have kept in touch sporadically as adults, but I've lost track of V. again. Where are you, V.?
W WINE I do enjoy a good glass of wine with dinner now and then. I've been meaning to hunt down some of the new Nk'Mip Cellars wines
but haven't done so yet. My best friend and I used to play on the hillside where the Nk'Mip Cellars winery is located today, so I figure its bound to be pleasantly nostalgic drinking that wine. I prefer dry-ish wines, such as a nice Pinot Noir, over sweet.
X XRAY Good grief, I can't think of another X word, and I KNOW there are some good ones out there. I know this because my favourite scrabble partners, M. & K., used to use all kinds of great short X words -- and usually won the game as a result! (They always swore those words existed in the SCRABBLE dictionary!) Let's see, the last xray I had was of my broken arm last fall, and the last Scrabble game was also last fall some time. Oh my gosh, could there be a connection???
Y YELLOW I like the colour yellow. I've always coveted yellow kitchens. Yellow in the kitchen makes me happy. I wear yellow, but people tend to ask "aren't you feeling well?" when I do. They don't ask that when I wear pink! I used to like yellow roses, but I've decided I don't like any kind of roses anymore.
Z ZERO An important number. Without it, we'd have to go from 9 to 11, and 19 to 21, and so on! Okay, YOU think of a better way to wrap up this "26 Thoughts" exercise! I DARE YOU!
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On the crafty front,
Gryphon is progressing a bit. I have his head and one front leg done, as well most of his wing and a few leaves around his upper right corner.
Gryphon has pretty much won out over
Tomato this past month. I have seven
aprons all cut out, but haven't sat myself down to do the sewing yet, and my
braided cable, bell-sleeved V-neck cardi is currently buried in a plastic bag in one of the pockets of my back pack. I'm still disgusted with it for having to frog the first attempt. (I'll get over it eventually.) I guess it hasn't been a very crafty month. I've had bronchitis, and found it difficult to concentrate on much of anything when coughing until the eyebrows hurt! Hopefully the month of March will be healthier and happier!
Where did 2007 go? Feels like a good but brief joke ... succinctly told and quickly forgotten (apparently I was laughing about the joke of it all was when this was taken Christmas morning 2006). 
Between handing in that final term paper and Convocation, I started pounding the pavement looking for full-time non-academic (as in "real world") work. And quickly discovered my academic success pretty much counted for SQUAT! My resumee got me lots of interviews, but onced interviewed, I either heard "you don't have any current work experience" ('scuse me, what the hell do you call accomplishing this 4.0 GPA and honour society membership? A vacation???) or "you're SO qualified, you'd intimidate our other employees if we hired you!" (WTF???)
Between handing in that final term paper and Convocation, I started pounding the pavement looking for full-time non-academic (as in "real world") work. And quickly discovered my academic success pretty much counted for SQUAT! My resumee got me lots of interviews, but onced interviewed, I either heard "you don't have any current work experience" ('scuse me, what the hell do you call accomplishing this 4.0 GPA and honour society membership? A vacation???) or "you're SO qualified, you'd intimidate our other employees if we hired you!" (WTF???)
As a result, I encountered Mr Deep Dark Depression. Fortunately, I had some good friends around, and they knew exactly how to cheer me up ... tickets to go see Willie Nelson! (Great concert ... great performer ... what more can I say?) 
Not long after Willie, I found a new job with a local non-profit organization. One of my first duties was organizing a 2-day seniors' info fair. ("Why do something small when you can do it whole hog" should be my motto!) It went really well, and we're planning to do it again in 2008 (altho for one day, not two).
Next, I found myself organizing a concert by the Penticton Tune-Agers. (Great group of seniors ... if they ever do a concert in your part of the world, don't miss out!) Guess I was feeling a little too sure of myself after the success of the info fair, 'cuz I figured filling a small theatre (less than 300 seats) would be a piece of cake. Hah! Did you know PGers do things AT THE LAST MINUTE!?!?!? Three days before said concert, less than 60 tickets had sold, and yours truly figured SOMEONE (as in the ding-a-ling -- moi -- that came up with the whole Tune-Agers concert idea) was about to have some "'splainin' to do" ! Fortunately, we sold 200+ tickets in the final 3 days and the concert went over really well.
However, this little redhaired gal has never been one for New Year's Resolutions (Thanks for the photo, Lester)! Good intentions seldom turn into reality.
Both are worked on 22-count aida cloth, so they're hard on my eyes. When I get tired of gryphon, I work on tomato for a while, and when I get tired of tomato, I work on something else. (What? Isn't that how all crafters do things? Musical projects?)