Teenage Angst

We went hiking with Carlton and Kayla Sunday afternoon at Seidman County Park along Honey Creek. Had a long talk with Kayla. What a mature 15-year old she is! She's very concerned about issues of poverty and justice and world affairs and gets stressed out over such things. She's been involved in a Model United Nations program that has taken her to the University of Michigan and Hope College and given her experience in debate and international negotiations. She's like me-----doesn't like to work in groups. In her case, the group entirely slacked off and she was left with all the work and embarrassment by their poor presentations. She's learning what life is all about.

Kidney Stones and Big Sur

We are now back home with only memories of our wonderful California trip and uneventful round-trip air travel. Our gracious hosts, Erin and Kris, made our stay very comfortable, and my speaking went well despite the fact that I began my first lecture with terrible kidney stone pain. I was given the option of canceling the lecture, but that in my mind is never a viable alternative. And, anyone who has struggled with the pain of kidney stones knows that there is no way to overcome the pain of a stone except by passing it. I took Vicodin, which we got by phoning my doctor in Grand Rapids, but the pain got so bad that I threw up the water I'd been drinking, plus the Vicodin. So I went on stage, knowing that my speaking would help redirect my pain, and about a half hour into the lecture the pain suddenly vanished (the stone apparently having moved from the ureter to the bladder). The students were fantastic, actually almost seeming to enjoy the show. Our last full day, before lecturing again Monday night, was spent exploring Big Sur and Point Lobos State Reserve along the incomparable California coast. Here is John hidden in the shadow on the left looking out on the pounding waves.

Redwood Forests

Today was another incredible day of exploring the Santa Cruz region of northern California.


Friday morning we awakened to the sound of the surf out our open window overlooking Monterey Bay. After a lazy breakfast we headed north to hike through redwood forests mostly alone. We've both visited redwood parks previously, but much more touristy than these state parks are. Last evening we went out to dinner with Kris and Erin who are graciously hosting us this weekend in their wonderful home. I'll be lecturing tomorrow afternoon and Monday night. There is no way to capture redwood trees on our camera so we snapped them looking straight up from within a grove. John insisted on lying on the ground taking one of me looking up; that's why I'm posed at an odd angle. Still another of John crossing a railroad trestle through a redwood forest.

A Beautiful Day on Monterey Bay

Right now I'm looking out my motel window on Monterey Bay in Santa Cruz, California (seventy miles or so south of San Francisco). It's dark but I see the lights from the wharf across the bay reflecting on the water. We left Grand Rapids early this morning and arrived in San Jose early afternoon, rented a car and drove the 25 miles south where we found this wonderful motel with a great room discount and snatched it up. The next three nights we will be hosted by two wonderful women who live in Scotts Valley, and I'll be lecturing on both Sunday and Monday. We snapped some pictures as we were hiking along the bay---lovely flowers, surfers and sunset at the Natural Bridges State Park. Santa Cruz has become our newest favorite American city-----where we'll go to live when we retire!

Michigan's Republican Primary

It is the big day for Romney and Santorum to finally face off in Michigan. Every evening when we return home there are at least a half dozen robo-calls among our messages. What a relief tomorrow will be (Leap Day 2012)! I just noticed this little piece on Romney. I'd seen the quote before, but this time it has a commentary at the end that is just too funny. We all thought George W had issues with word-speak. Now here's Romney following suit. (It is, however, comforting to know that amid all the other problems Michigan is enduring, at least our trees are the right height.)

There’s awkward, and then there’s Mitt Romney. He speaks English fluently. Conversational English?. . .In November, the scope of Mitt Romney’s awkward remarks was wider still, including things like grass color: “Everything seems right here. You know, I come back to Michigan; the trees are the right height. The grass is the right color for this time of year, kind of a brownish-greenish sort of thing. It just feels right."

What? Kind of a brownish-greenish sort of thing? In general, when you find yourself in kind of a brownish-greenish sort of thing, stop walking and clean off your shoe.

Hello, My German Friends!

It's interesting to every now and then check the stats on my blogs. I notice that both yesterday and today I have gotten more than fifty views from Germany. Who are you? I'd be delighted to learn that some of my Stellrecht kin are checking in on me. My late father is Percy. His father Christian Stellrecht emigrated from Germany to Wisconsin (going by way of Iowa, I think) sometime around 1900. I was in Germany several years ago and felt a sense of being and knowing that I have not felt elsewhere. I recently copied into a file the song lyrics for Bobby Helms' 1957 #1 hit "Fraulein." I was a dreamy 12-year-old, and it was my favorite pop song. It begins with the words: "Far across deep blue waters, Lives an old German's daughter, By the banks of the old river Rhine," and ends with "You are my pretty Fraulein." What memories that song carries---a plain ordinary-looking farm girl, dreaming someone will one day claim her as his pretty Fraulein.

Farewell Florida

Our five-day February fling in Florida is coming to a close---must be out of the room by noon. We will make one last stop across the causeway to Sanibel and Captiva islands, visiting the Ding Darling National Wildlife Preserve on the way. Yesterday Kayla and I, with John as chauffeur, enjoyed a shopping spree at the Fort Myers Flea Market. We went our separate ways, with me, as always, making purchases for Carlton Gardens. Here she is in a little dress she purchased for $7. I am now her self-appointed official photographer. What a sweetheart she is! She'll be sixteen in June---with a driver's license.

Fort Myers, Florida

We're enjoying the warm sunshine in Florida, staying at the same place that we've stayed at for more than twenty years, Carlton and Kayla with us as usual, Kayla having flown down so as to miss only one day of school. We're here for 4 days, planning to head out on Monday afternoon. Today we drove across the causeway to Sanibel Island where we did our traditional biking, hiking and picnicking. Here is a picture from out our 2nd-story motel deck just a few minutes ago.

Where is the Birth Certificate?

We’re leaving Macon, Georgia, heading for Florida. Less than a half hour south on Interstate 75, we see a giant billboard: Where is the Birth Certificate? I had my laptop out, so I wrote this little response:

Behold, he came into the world and the world knew him not. Where is your birth certificate, the people demand. And he said unto them Woe unto you. I have no birth certificate. I am not born of a woman. Yea, as Adam and Eve were not born, I am not born. And they said unto him, forsooth. But you are a socialist. You feed the hungry and clothe the poor. He knelt down on the ground and wrote in the sand: Woe, woe, woe unto you---you rich Republicans. And he went across the sea in a boat.

St. Joseph in Macon, Georgia

So we're driving south on Hwy 75 and decide to spend Valentine's night in Macon. I've been working on my book, computer on my lap, all day---working on Joseph (husband of Mary). We get into downtown Macon and what do we see but an incredibly beautiful church: St. Joseph's Catholic Church. The front doors are locked so we slip around to the side and discover that we are in the middle of a Latin Mass, with no way of escape. So we sit through to the end. 

On the way out we inquire about in-town lodging, preferably an old hotel. Turns out the only one is very pricey---well over $200, they say. We stop by just to see what such a fancy place is like. The owner meets us at the door, thinking we are reserved guests. When she realizes we are poor folks coming through from Michigan, she offers us a room for $149. Hey, it's Valentine's Day, so here we are at the 1842 Inn--not the address but the year it was established! We've just enjoyed some wonderful 

hors d'oeuvres and are headed for a walk around town.

Miseries of Writing

Last week I received in the mail a package from Amazon containing a Homedics NMS-350 Shiatsu Neck Massager (complete with vibration and heat) that I had ordered. It cost just under $30, no shipping charge. It helps but doesn’t entirely solve the problem. I have terrible neck pain when I sit at the computer writing for more than fifteen minutes at a time. Since I have an excessively low attention span, I don’t often sit that long unless John is having me enter the corrections he’s made from my printed copy. He does find a lot of errors and I always fear that some he misses will make it through to the published book. I do have an excuse, however. When asked about the errors, I’ll simply say that I ought not be held responsible---that pain leads to carelessness and writing a book is a pain in the neck.

A Treasure of a Mother-in-Law----AND husband!

Last night when we were visiting Mom at the nursing home, I snapped this picture. She and John were enjoying some real hilarity over an article in the Grand Rapids Press---either that or staged to look like they were. Mom is headed for 97, losing short-term memory but not her quips and come-backs. One of her most frequent lines is, I have no complaints. She's always in a good mood and everyone loves her.

First Skiing of the Year

We finally have enough snow to get out skiing---went on a trail just a block away but have to drive 4 miles since it's across the river from our house. Not very many people out today, so we were making our own path part of the time. I go ahead to set the pace and John follows on my nicely groomed trail. What a deal! Snow was hanging from the trees and part of the way is through a deep thicket. We kept remarking about the incredibly beautiful scenery. Here he is just as we are starting out. We finished on a sad note. A woman had lost her dog on the trail and then her daughter had come to help search and got stuck in a deep ditch. We drove along the road bordering the wetland park, hoping to catch sight of the dog---no luck. Nice scenery, though, especially this old falling down house.

Back Home in Michigan

Last Sunday afternoon, after spending a wonderful 2 days with Darlene and Kathy in Denver, we headed for Michigan, driving straight through, arriving home before noon. We had planned to stay on the road Sunday night but a bad weather forecast prodded us on. It was no fun, but we took turns driving and managed to stay awake. It's was a great trip but I always love to come home where I get more writing (and painting) done. Tomorrow we'll stay at the loft (above the barn at Carlton Gardens) overnight with a crackling fire to keep us warm. We don't have much business in the winter months but we both get a lot of work done. Here's a bird house John built yesterday and that I painted this afternoon---made to look kind of like a broken-down shack.

Taos, New Mexico

Here we are in one of our favorite little all-American towns, staying at the historic Taos Inn, listening to some great live music---modern folk with a lot of minor chord changes, a lead vocalist playing guitar, accompanied by a violinist and cellist. We left Big Bend yesterday noon after 3 days of fantastic hiking. Since then have been enjoying the scenery and stopping along the way to buy merchandise for the shop.
Here is a photo of John as we are arriving at the Inn a few hours ago. Below a wonderful house we saw along Route 285 south of Santa Fe.

The Best of Big Bend

We walked out of our room at 8:45 this morning, noting the frost on the windshield of our car as we headed for the trail up and around the mountain, an 11+ mile round trip hike, 8 miles of which, I am convinced, go up. After nearly 4 miles up we reach the meadows---about a mile of smooth hilly terrain. Then we start down and after another mile the real hike up the mountain begins. Every time you think you're on your way down you round a bend and are on your way up again. With my problematic knees I wasn't at all sure that I'd be able to make the hike this year, but 600 mg of Ibuprophen before I started did the trick. On our way up we saw this Mexican Jay. Every time I snapped a picture, he moved closer, finally giving me a nice profile pose. One of the favorite sights of this hike is the boot, as shown in the pic below.  When we got back to the lodge at 2:30 we sat out in the sunshine on our deck until it got so hot we had to go in. The lodge is right below the gigantic rock formation known as Casa Grande. Below is a snap of it as the sun is going down. Also a snap of me with another mountain formation in the background.

Big Bend National Park

We've had two great days of hiking here at Big Bend. Today was cold---a high in the 40s but it was perfect for hiking in the desert. Here John is looking out through the "window" overlooking the high desert below. It's a 5-mile hike that we took late yesterday afternoon--a hike that begins at the lodge where we're staying. Also a picture of me as we entered Cattail Falls this morning.

On the Road

Sunset on entering Fort Stockton, Texas this evening. We're staying at Atrium Inn, an absolutely wonderful place---and a room with a Jacuzzi---all for less than $70. We left Grand Rapids late Thursday afternoon with everything in good order. Carlton is watching over the house and business, while Alex and Rhonda keep the doors open for customers. This is a buying trip for the store, and we've already made some great purchases, including benches and birdhouses. Tomorrow we will be driving into Big Bend National Park on the Rio Grande River on the border of Mexico. We'll be hiking and staying at the Chisos Mountains Lodge for three nights and then driving on to New Mexico for more purchases for the store. Our last stop is Denver where we will be staying with dear friends Darlene and Kathy and going with them to church on Sunday: Columbine United Church where Dr. Steve Poos-Benson waxes eloquently from the pulpit.

We had a fantastic time driving the Ozark Mountain backroads of Missouri and Arkansas. Our destination was the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. It's an incredible place, free of charge, funded by a massive Walmart inheritance.

That pristine setting was balanced by ram-shackle houses along the way that would fit in well on Abrigador Trail.

Looking Back

New Year's Day is a time of reflection for me and I'm always glad to be going into an even year. Odd years have been particularly bad for me, even years good: 1969, my mother was killed in an auto accident; 1974, Carlton was born; 1975 and 1977 very bad years of learning I'd been betrayed; 1978, moving to Grand Rapids and beginning my teaching career; 1982, beginning my wonderful 17-year teaching career at Trinity, flying back and forth to Chicago;  1987, more betrayal; 1996, Kayla was born; 2000, beginning as full-time professor at Calvin Seminary; 2003, the beginning of a firing process by new president and sidekicks; 2004, engaged and married to the man of my dreams. Since then, the years have all been good (though this past year John did endure a painful betrayal). So, my superstitious nature has me headed for a wonderful year.

We've had a great 2011 at Carlton Gardens with people coming in every day raving about how wonderful the place is inside and out. This past week we went to 4 good movies: Sherlock Holmes, Higher Ground, War Horse, and Moneyball; I recommend them all. Here is a snap of us in the middle of a hike last week.

Family Christmas

We hosted an extend-blended family meal on Christmas Eve. Here is John and daughter Laura and below, the whole bunch.

Christmas Past

We made it through another Christmas season which is always hectic with entertaining and get-togethers---and increased business at the shop. Like other retail establishments we did much better this year than last. But the season is not about gifts and retail, or is it?  I've never felt Christmas to be a particularly holy holiday, having not grown up in a religious tradition that emphasized the Advent season. For us, Christmas is surely about singing the old carols and reading the nativity story in Luke. But bottom line it's mostly about family. It was great to be with family and extended family this year and to catch up with folks we hadn't seen for more than a year. With house guests departing yesterday, I'm getting back to my writing and planning for our annual January trip South.

A Night with the Orchestra

Tonight, like every Christmas season, John conducted the orchestra for our big downtown church. It's a volunteer group that comes together to practice a dozen or more  Christmas carols only once, and that just two hours before the service. John and the music director assign parts six weeks ahead of time and send the music out to the players---some fifty of them tonight. They range in quality from middle-schoolers to symphony players, but somehow John brings the best out of them and they end up sounding fantastic. He's a real pro if I say so myself.

The Value of Art

A woman came into the shop the other day, pacing back and forth in front of this painted board that hangs over the fireplace in the barn. She really wanted it, kept talking about it to another woman who was with her. I have no price tag on it and told her it really wasn't for sale. But she kept persisting so finally I told her to name her price and I would tell her whether or not I'd consider it. So after looking around in all the other buildings she came inside with some other little things she wanted to purchase. After I finished waiting on some other customers she told me she had decided she could afford $40.00.  I told her (in a very nice way) that I couldn't let it go for that. Then she came back again yesterday, commenting that she'd sure like to buy it in case I'd changed my mind. I didn't tell her that the wood and paint cost well over $10 and that it took me probably upwards of 30 hours to complete, albeit watching TV at the same time. But at any rate, her offer would have paid me about a dollar an hour for my time. This is what is known by the term starving artist. Someday when I'm world famous, she'll regret she didn't offer more for an early Tucker. Actually, I've had several people tell me that wanted the piece. Maybe I'll stage a bidding war!

My Husband the Artist

Here is John's lastest artistic creation---though it is yet unfinished. The turquoise doors and windows (that don't show their full color in this photo) were just installed today. We worked out the design together and he did all the building and painting. It is located in the center of our back yard at Carlton Gardens, named The Summer House. I consider this work a promotion---step up--- from his 35 years as a professor of music.

My Museum Piece

I've finally made it in the art world! Below is the crazy quilt I painted more than a year ago. It sold, and I lost track of it. I never dreamed that my work would be chosen and that I'd be recognized outside of Michigan. Wonders never cease.

JUST KIDDING!!! I found a site online where people can put their own paintings in a museum. Check it out here. Actually, the piece above did sell--for under $100, no less. Hardly an art-world price (though Van Gogh's paintings initially didn't sell for much either). So, there's still hope.

First Snowfall

How easy it is to forget the beauty of the first snowfall of the year--especially when it's coming down as it is now---huge flakes turning my jacket white before I could snap a picture. This is the back yard of Carlton Gardens.

Ohio Scenic Byway

Here are a couple of photos I took along highway 52 in southern Ohio along the Scenic Byway of the Ohio River. With places like this we never feel far away from home.

November Sunrise on the River

Alpaca Show

John always goes out to the mailbox early on Sunday morning to get the local paper and then comes up to the loft while I'm still in bed and reads headlines and some of the stories aloud to me. This morning, the one that caught my attention was headlined "Cuddly alpaca pack 'em in" that told about the 15th annual festival  just a few miles away at the DeltaPlex. The call of these creatures was just too strong, so we headed off to walk through aisles of alpaca pens rather than walking down the aisle of church to find the right pew. (We're planning to go to the Reformation hymn sing at church tonight, so this turned into a wonderful alternative worship service  by admiring these most delightful creatures.)

What charmers they are. I'm a goat lover from way back, but alpacas now have a place in my heart as well. Turns out that Michigan is leading region for alpaca farms.The show was free, but the items for sale were very pricey. Here I am, pictured above, with a friend I met along the way. This adorable guy didn't even come out of his pen to greet me.

Northern Lights

Tonight John and I went out to sit on our chairs on a little deck that overlooks the river. Everything was normal on this brisk dark night until we saw curtains of light developing in the northern sky. What a show it was. Truly breath-taking. After we came in I went to the local weather blog and already about a dozen people, including our chief meteorologist, had posted about the phenomenon. Right now, there are upwards of a hundred comments, including my own. People have been calling in from all over Michigan and in neighboring states as well.

Life has been incredibly busy lately with my self-imposed daily goal of writing 1000 words.  Some days I struggle to get over 999, but today I managed 1618. Saturday there was an article in the Grand Rapids Press about local women writers---four of us, beginning with me and my church history text.

Earlier this month we took our annual trip to Spooner, Wisconsin. The old farm will forever been in my heart and memories. We had a brunch with brother Jonnie at the picnic area on the bank of the Yellow River. Another highlight was having dinner with my high school band director Don Nelson and his wife Marg---hadn't seen them in many years. What a wonderful reunion. After we left Spooner we headed for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where we hiked in the Porcupine Mountains and Pictured Rock National Lake Shore.  It was a wonderful 5-day get-away.

Naked in Hastings

Not much ever happens in West Michigan, but today this item in the Grand Rapids Press caught my attention. Just this morning I was writing about the Prophet Isaiah who, on orders from God, went naked for three years in order to draw attention to the evil world. Back then, however, law enforcement was a bit more lax.

A Hastings man attracted attention of horn-honking motorists as he disrobed on an afternoon stroll. By the time he got to Hastings Library, he was naked. Police received several calls just before 4 p.m. Monday about a naked man walking on East State Street. “When Hastings police officers arrived, there were several cars behind him honking their horns since he was, indeed, naked,” Police Chief Jerry Sarver said. The explanation: “He told police . . . God wanted us all to be peaceful and that this world was an evil place.” Police arrested the 42-year-old man for indecent exposure.

Writing Mode--writing grind

For the past month I've been averaging more than a thousand words a day---part of the process of fulfilling another book contract. I go into "writing mode" with that kind of daily word count for every book I write and it never gets any easier. Some people set aside 6-8 specified hours a day; I can't do that with my short attention span, but I force myself to write words throughout the day.


The schedule doesn't mean we don't have fun. The other night we were out biking, hiking and kayaking and about 10 days ago got away for two nights (computer in tow). We went north along Michigan's beautiful shoreline and stayed near Petosky in Bayview, an educational community owned by the Methodist church, founded in the late nineteenth century. The beautiful Victorian homes are part of the draw.  We stayed "on campus" at the old Terrace Inn shown above. Below is an old Victorian house.

Summer's over and I feel a sense of sadness--more than that, heaviness of heart. Not because of the passing of the season. I love autumn, and everything is going almost too well for John and me, the writing and the business. But just this week I've learned of very unfortunate situations among friends and family, three former students among them, dear ones, whose lives are messed up and relationships are in deep trouble. Only weeks ago I was feeling on top the world---no longer.

7 Incredible Years!

Today was our 7th wedding anniversary. We celebrated by biking south into Grand Rapids and then on to trails that took us through parks and wonderful woodlands--some 35 miles in all. West Michigan is very biking-friendly.

Yesterday, who should come into Carlton Gardens---on his bike no less---than Dr. Jim De Jong, the president of Calvin Seminary who hired me. He had opposed the the decision by new administration led by Neal Plantinga to give me the boot, but there was nothing he could do about it.  He told me that the faculty was very excited now to be getting a new president---that the school has been dropping in enrollment for the past 5 years. I take no credit for that but my tenure there ended exactly 5 years ago this week.

Old Michigan Barns

John has incredible patience with me when I plead with him to turn around for a picture. Here are a couple of old barns I spotted while we were driving through the country roads of Michigan.

Carlton Gardens--A Travel Destination!

Last month Michael Snell and his partner Derrick Sorles from Chicago stopped by the Gardens and found it to be an absolutely enchanting place. They are travel writers and they promised to feature our wonderful spot in one of their online publications. Here it is. What nice publicity--and free of charge. 

Sunset on the River

We face the east when looking out at the River so we have spectacular sunrises. But our sunsets reflecting from the west are also wonderful. Here you see our glider adirondack chairs on the dock with a concrete angel in foreground looking out on God's beauty. 

A Rumor in the Making

Yesterday while at the Gardens I fell (upstairs in a closet) and got a bloody lip (on a cement block, no less-----don't even ask). (It's not nearly as believable a story as years ago when I was there working up on a step ladder, ran to get the phone, came back, moved the ladder and got hit in the lip with a falling hammer I'd left on top of the ladder.) 


So we go to church this morning-----me with my swollen bloodied lip. We're walking out after the service and there's a wonderful breeze so I suggest to John that we take a stroll up to Cathedral Square; my feet are hurting by the time we get to the end of the Square, so John offers to go back, get the car and pick me up. I sit down on a ledge near some wonderful giant pots of flowers to wait when it starts sprinkling. So I cross over Division Ave. to wait under the canopy of a vacant store-front (where on weekdays prostitutes ply their trade). Wouldn't you know, before John can return, members from church (one an elder) in two different vehicles drive by and ask me, with my swollen lip, if I need help. Hey, that's how rumors get started.

HEAT WAVE

The political heat wave in Washington over the debt crisis is matched only by the hot temps across the Midwest and South. This morning John and I got up early before the heat got the best of us and ventured out for a little biathlon. We put our bikes in the back of our car and drove to a park down river where we left the car. We biked for an hour and ended up back home. Then we took the kayaks down river to where the car was parked and drove back home----a wonderful time in the cool of the day.

My baby---my church history text---(with perhaps the longest gestation period in the history of publishing) was born this week. I cradled it in my arms out of sheer joy. The back of the book lists RuthTucker.com (which I have just launched) as my main blog, though this will remain my blog for personal updates.

The heat index in Grand Rapids today was 107 degrees......... so we find out this morning that we need a new well and will have no water until that job is done, hopefully by the end of the day tomorrow. It's nice to be able to take showers in the midst of a heat wave, but we make do-----with the mighty Grand River running less than 30 feet from our door. It's a clean river so tonight we put on our swim suits, crawled over the rocks into the current and took our baths the way people have done since the beginning of time.