Five On Friday: Teamwork!

Whether we realize it or not, we need each other!  To grow, to work, or play, we need each other to thrive.  As I thought about my Friday Five this week I was impressed by how my week reflected the teamwork needed for me to live as happily as I do.

 Our household hosted an outdoor wedding last Saturday!  It was beautiful even though the clouds threatened rain and some sprinkles of rain fell on the outdoor reception.

One:  The Ceremony was held outside my room, near our rock clad chimney.  My four oldest granddaughters were flower girls and ring bearers.

Two: The reception was held at the back of our house.  Our dear family friend, Grantie, was the wedding co-ordinator and rallied the troops to help everything come together in a lovely way. My youngest daughter made her first solo wedding cake which was beautiful and tasty! [vanilla with raspberry filling and garnished with fresh cut roses and sparkling rhinestone  like crystals.]

Three:  Everyone in the household has taken part in gardening in some way.  This past week my youngest daughter spied a huge moth out on our front porch and I had fun getting a photo of it. Our first Sweet Pea blossom opened and is very fragrant!  The Hollyhock blossoms are amazing us as they open, the lower blossoms first.

 Four:  Thanks to my good friend, Teresa, I got to see more of Cascade Locks, Oregon, this past week.  We heard the rumble of railroad cars passing by and saw some cars parked on one set of rails.  We enjoyed seeing large stretches of wild Sweet Peas climbing on hillsides, and we saw more sail boats, the paddlewheel cruise ship, the Queen of the West, sailboarders, the Bonneville Dam, the mighty Columbia River, and so much more...then as I drove near home I got another glimpse of Mt. Hood from 302nd Street.

Five: While I was not able to meet Wednesday morning with my stitching friends at church, I did get to crochet a number of rows on the current baby blanket I'm making while I waited at the car dealership for my minivan to have $$$ maintenance. The dealership eventually gave me a ride home and while I was without wheels I enjoyed reading a book written by a retired university Dean in 1944.  Like my wonderful uncle I visited on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, nearly two years ago, the author spent his retirement years on Cape Cod.  His short book is a chatty remembrance of some of those years. It has interesting bits of history and on more than one occasion I found myself laughing out loud as I read.  Even though I moved away from near Boston, Massachusetts when I was nearly five years old, my family has deep New England roots and various family members individually and teamed together, helped me appreciate the life investment of my forebears who made it possible for me to live in the USA. Although the book is written towards the end of World War II and reflects some of the danger of that time, the message of the book for me had more to do with the resilience of man over time...in spite of disasters and discord. Two quotes are memorable to me. First he quoted, "...Glenn Frank once said when he was president of the University of Wisconsin,...Education is endless.  A true education registers men at the cradle and graduates them at the grave." [p.131] Then he concluded that chapter, "We who are in the fullness of life can now begin to fathom the depth of what Robert Browning wrote in his Rabbi Ben Ezra:

     Grow old along with me!
     The best is yet to be,
     The last of life for which the first was made:
     Our times are in His hand
     Who saith, 'A whole I planned,
     Youth shows but half; trust God; nor be afraid'.  [p.136]

Amy, thanks once more for hosting Five on Friday.  I am enjoying participating and getting to know others who are participating as well!

Have you found yourself appreciating teamwork this past week?

xx
Gracie