Author Archives: IBK

Visiting Home

Nov
02
2012
by IBK | 0 Comments

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You can’t go home again but you can sure visit a place that you came from, finding there a familiarity that you’ve carried with you all of your life, no matter how old you are or how far your journey has taken you away.  The image today is a small car and pedestrian ferry that crosses the Kiel Canal, at Hochdonn, in Northwest Germany near the area where I was born many years ago.  As we approached the ferry recently, to cross over, memories flooded back to a time when my mother would ride her bicycle, with me in a carrier in front, and my brother, six years older, riding his own.  Our journey was from the small village we lived in before we emigrated to America and our destination was to my maternal grandparents home, in Meldorf,  about 15 miles away. I must have been 4 years old.

 

During my recent visit, I attended a Friday morning market in the town square, where fish, and cheese, egg and vegetable vendors of a new generation offered  their wares.  That brought to mind the trips to the market with my grandparents when the fish were so fresh from the local fishermen’s overnight catch, that some still moved in their wooden crates.  The fish was wrapped in newspaper, put in my grandparents market bags, and off we went, on foot to their house, where my grandmother was soon cooking the fresh fish and vegetables for our noon meal.

 

So many years later, I realize that walking to places, buying my food fresh, building relationships with local vendors, being always drawn to and longing for the sea with it’s attendant breezes, smells and sights, is what I keep looking for in the places I have lived, but of course even the place I’ve described  now has supermarkets (albeit smaller) and fresh prawns  from the area are  outsourced to Morocco for cleaning, preserving and sent back to the area for sale.  In my grief, I can at the same time be grateful that I have experienced the gifts of the sea and the fresh offerings of the land and farmyard. Most of all though, my return reminded me that the relationships and love of family and friends can nurture in us a desire to wander.  You can’t go home again, but I can hardly wait for my next visit.

Where in your heart and mind, is your home port?

IBK

 

Posted in Blessings, Seasons Tagged , , , , , |

The Gifts Of The Table

Oct
19
2012
by IBK | 5 Comments

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Picture this: A beautifully appointed table; napkins folded in creative ways; fresh coffee and tea in pots atop a lit warming unit; platters and plates and baskets filled with beautiful torts, cakes,breads and freshly baked hard rolls with oh so soft centers; area butter, soft boiled eggs , honey, local sausages in casings and raw; artisan cheeses, local/regional fresh and smoked fish from the North Sea; and so much more.  I experienced all of this and so many more culinary delights in my two week stay in an area of Southern Ditmarschen County in the Northwest Coastal area in the State Schlewsig Holstein, near the town of Meldorf, Germany, where I was born and lived until emigrating with my family at age 6, and where my mother and father, grandparents, aunt, uncle, cousin also resided in their adult years.  Breakfast and “kaffe trinken” (afternoon coffee) are standard practice.

We came as a family – sons, daughter-in-law,husband – to honor my late mother’s wish to have us spread her ashes on her beloved North Sea.  Along with my hosts later in the trip – dear friends –  adult children of her former best friend, we took an excursion boat on a stormy day at sea and said our final goodbyes. After a couple of days the rest of the family traveled on to other parts of Germany (yes Oktoberfest too) and then returned home.  I was the privileged guest in the home of our friends for the next ten days and that’s where I continued to be nourished by the wonderful food mentioned above. At the table of hospitality, it’s not only the body that is nourished, but through  the gracious gift of love and kindness by the hosts, one’s heart and soul and mind are also touched in profound ways.  “I was hungry, depleted, and you took me in …”  What I thought would be a final trip to my former home, is now a longing to return again to experience the healing of the North Sea air,water, wandering and of course, experiencing the love of God through his children with their unique and wonderful gifting -whether at hearth  or field; by baker, fishmonger,market vendor, hotel or restaurant owner to name just a few.

Oh, today’s image is a picture of all kinds  of  regional North Sea fish specialities prepared by my friend and hostess.  We ate it for supper after a three o’clock “coffee” where we ate two kinds of torts and other delicious things.

I’m looking forward to sharing more with you in the coming weeks.  In the meantime, think about a time when you’ve experienced the gift of hospitality and renewal.  What does that look like for you?

IBK

Posted in Blessings, Hospitality Tagged , , , |

Sep
21
2012
by IBK | 3 Comments

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Nebraska author Willa Cather once said: “Some things you learn in calm, some things in storm…”  The last two weeks I’ve had the privilege and pain to learn in both conditions. In the calm of this week, the storm of vertigo and pulsatile tinnitus have suddenly, after a three month fury,  thankfully blown out to sea. Turns out that it might have been too high a dose of my thyroid medicine which under different conditions was just right. A dear friend’s visit brought delightful hours of conversation and laughter and comfort when recounting incidents of a broken heart.  Finishing a project after weeks of interviews, listening, editing and learning, preparation for sharing, provided a time of calmness tonight, after a  storm of self-doubt, anxiety of wondering  why I had any credentials to do this, and so on.

Like the lighthouse on Nantucket Island surrounded by a morning fog, we often can’t see clearly what it is that is directly in front of us and instead work so hard to see or engage in activity to clear the fog, often resulting in a stormy tempest in our soul or less dramatic, fatigue.   And then … the fog rolls out to sea without our effort.  We can stop filling in the blanks and things are clearer.

Next week I’ll be traveling to Germany with my family to spread my late mother’s ashes on the North Sea near where she lived before being emigrating to America ; it is also the place where I was born.  In the intervening years since my last visit to our hometown, on the occasion of her 80th birthday, much has been revealed in calm and storm.

I wish you shelter and companions in your calms and storms.

IBK

 

Posted in Courage, Letting Go Tagged , , , |

Waiting

Sep
07
2012
by IBK | 2 Comments

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I’m up late tonight or early,eagerly waiting for the outside temperature to drop by at least 40 degrees from its high of 94 earlier this afternoon.  The windows are open … ahhh here comes the north wind blowing in the cooler air. It’s been a long summer of waiting for the temperatures to drop below 90 during the day  and  then it does.

We spend a lot of time waiting for:  answers, test results, hearing back  so that we can proceed , in line,on hold,apologies,a call,an offer, a loan,an acceptance,a letter,family coming for a visit, traffic, stop lights to change,proposals, news from the front,rides ,resolutions and so on. Some of us wait well, others not so well  and perhaps what waiting generally  implies is that we cannot control the outcome of what we’re waiting for. And then the waiting stops and there are answers, resolutions,  tears, joys, disappointments, anger,babies born,forgiveness given, jobs offered, jobs lost, votes tallied,lives significantly changed and so on.

I was blessed this week by an abundance of “waitings” that offered up hope for the future: a new son born to dear friends, a generous offer to take over a care ministry that I was covering until we found someone; wonderful news from a young man who is healing after months of debilitating cancer treatments and complications; neighbors’ 2  1/2 year old son surgically relieved of his liver tumor; news of progress and healing of a friend’s broken heart, my  own positive results from some medical tests and some rest and renewal  in the mountains courtesy of a generous friend’s invitation over the holiday weekend.

Thankfully, we rarely have to wait alone.

Today’s image is of my host’s dog Tink, who waited patiently in a tree along the trail while we , like paparazzi photographed him from every angle.

IBK

 

Posted in Seasons, Uncategorized Tagged , , , , |

Gratitude

Aug
24
2012
by IBK | 2 Comments

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Sometimes, but not often enough I “get over myself”and just relish the dance in the moment. Last week I joined a photography “Meetup” at the Denver Botanic Garden for a member’s only 7:00 a.m. entry before the general public admission at 9:00.  How delightful to be able to “capture” morning’s soft light offering and it’s cool breeze.  When I put the camera to my eye to frame a shot, all of the tensions of a hundred details attended to in the previous week, float away, and  the music of intentional seeing starts its tune.  Here a color, there a texture, water flowing, interesting patterns, butterflies landing,bees pollinating, reflections on the pond, water lilies opening on their own schedule …. and I’m released from mine.

 

Todays image could be cropped to capture only the most beautiful  strong proud “pick of the litter” (I live in Denver where there are almost as many dogs as flowers … I digress) and that’s where the focus usually is, but if you saw the image in full size you’d see the most beautiful light illuminating the bent stems of the drooping flower.  The flowers are still alive, but just not strong enough to stand upright.  A reminder perhaps that sometimes we have to take a leave of absence  from our, activities, challenges, schedules, burdens, losses, and incessant doings. A  garden to dance in and to wait, watch and listen as one season follows  another, one flower dies another shoots up new life.  Meanwhile the light shines in the darkness and the early morning light.  How divine.

 

IBK

Posted in Aging, Letting Go, Seeing In New Ways Tagged , , , , , , |

Take Me Back

Aug
09
2012
by IBK | 1 Comment

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Hello Dear Readers:

After a two week hiatus or possibly three I’m back at it and delighted to be.  I’ve had visits from friends; our almost 9 year old grand nephew flew in for a visit; and tomorrow our younger son returns to D.C. after a delightful  time with us and other family members.  As grand as it’s been we all are ready to get back to our normal normals.   Watching the olympics and hearing the backstories before the ascent to the medal podium, reminds us again that the steps we take every day are the ones that will come to fruition in some way or other in the next week,month or four years. The time we invest with others, or to learn a new skill or overcome a prejudice or accept a health challenge, etc. does start with just one step.

I remember the exact moment I was finally relieved of the burden of believing that when everything is right and I had  the right tools, and I’d learned enough and I had enough money and …. then I would do x.  Now I know that as I begin somewhere the joy comes from the result of the discipline of using the tools, learning from doing the thing, budgeting money for my choices and by “doing x” I’m actually  able to look back with satisfaction that where I had been was not where I was now.  One of my late mother’s gifts was the phrase: “Every age is interesting and has its own blessings.

As this very active summer begins to wind down and my body is needing to be back in touch with a new normal, I’m reminded of a commercial from my childhood for a bath salt product called © Calgon.  A tired beautiful woman in the city would get into the back of a limousine equipped with a bathtub.  After a long soak (60 second commercial) she would step out of the vehicle dressed in evening clothes and ready for a night on the town with a waiting beau.

The tagline for the commercial: ” Calgon, take me away.”  It was my fantasy for a long time to take a bath in a moving car.  Fortunately, I took up photography a few years ago and can be “taken away” by todays image in Acadia National Park in Maine.  When I need a rest from the busy the sea serves me well.

Thanks for letting me meander and offer two blogs in one.

Joy,

IBK

 

 

 

 

Posted in Aging, Blessings, Insight, Seasons Tagged , , , , , |

Seek and Find

Jul
20
2012
by IBK | 0 Comments

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It has been 4 years this month since I moved to Denver and I sometimes take for granted what I was initially so delighted by.  Upon arriving here I would choose a different  street about every 2 weeks and mine it for treasure … here an Italian bakery; there a meat market , a place to drop off clothes for a non profit organization helping women rebuild their lives; oh, an electrical repair place; a library; a neighborhood nursery and garden center and so on. Once we become familiar with a place (or person), it is so easy to not see the uniqueness that delighted us in the first place.

Today’s image of the downtown Denver skyline was taken  five minutes away from my home in northwest Denver. I’ve been in the building next to where I took the shot and had driven by , but hadn’t seen the walking path where I set up my tripod to take this image.  Had I not signed up with the Front Range Photography “Meetup” group to “do a downtown night shoot”, I wouldn’t have  discovered this treasure.

In the midst of your routines this week, where could you intentionally “seek and find” something you might be taking for granted? Come on now, how about a treasure hunt?

IBK

 

 

Posted in Seeing In New Ways Tagged , , |

Speechless

Jul
05
2012
by IBK | 1 Comment

©IBKinsight2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I want to talk about the recent fires in Colorado and the West, and yet as I try to express myself beyond the daily facts that are released in the news about the fires’ massive destruction, and devastating consequences to its victims, I am speechless.  Perhaps that is why prayer is so profound.  It often comes when we have no way to process what we see or experience.

The image today is not of a blazing fire, smoky skies, or charred trees, but rather a beautiful November sunset in my Northwest Denver neighborhood. Thank God that there are more sunsets than infernos that light up the sky and that rain is predicted for the next few days.

IBK

 

 

Posted in Uncategorized Tagged , , , , , |

A Moment in Time

Jun
21
2012
by IBK | 0 Comments

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A quick blog this week, since I’m on the road again, this time to my former hometown, Lincoln, NE. Today’s image is thousands of miles away in London, England, at Paddington Station. When I arrived by express train from Heathrow Airport the day before this image was taken, there were hundreds of people arriving and departing in this busy station.The next morning however when I went back to capture the beautiful pattern in the curved ceiling, amazingly, the space was deserted for just a few seconds before new masses emerged from arriving trains during morning rush hour

 

I’ll be taking a break next week but will look forward to sharing new images and words on July 5th.

IBK

Posted in Road Trip Tagged , |

An English Farm Garden

Jun
14
2012
by IBK | 1 Comment

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As many of you know I recently took a trip to Northern England for the purpose of hiking the Hadrian’s Wall Path. (See two previous blogs)  One of the unexpected delights was the quality and variety of food we were served at our various overnights along the way.  During our 9 days on the trail we stayed in the city, in a pub, a refurbished blacksmith shop, as well as a farm and an old manor of sorts. The trail is only about 30 miles south  of Scotland, so being that far north, it was light until almost  10:00 p.m. and again at 4:30 a.m. with the birds as my alarm clock.  I struggle to describe the “sounds of silence” and the range of colors in an English countryside in the spring.  So I won’t.

I’ll let you enjoy this image taken at a farm house where we had a delicious Sunday evening meal. I desire to have a garden like this and all that it promises, and yet the rest of the story is that  I was the guest who was blessed by someone else’s work from dawn to late night providing lodging, food and beauty for sight, mind, body and soul.  How divine.  In our noisy, rat race world, you do the same when you open your house and invite someone to sit at your table.

IBK

 

 

Posted in Blessings, Hospitality Tagged , , , |