brr

It. is. cold.

It is currently 5°F/-15°C and with the windchill it is -7°F/-22°C.

YIKES!

Since I work from home, cold weather isn't normally too big of a deal. I just don't go outside. Nancy works part time, though. I was outside this morning before it warmed up to 5° trying to coax our truck into starting then removing several inches of snow from last night.

At least there's no humidity to cut right into my soul will the death of winter.

I have a few updates from the past several weeks. First of all, I'd like to announce the official launch of lyndaabromeit.com. Lynda is a fellow artist at CoCoA, and we've been working on her site for a few weeks now. I designed and built it, as well as shooting photos of all the artwork -- something that was WAY more challenging than one might imagine. In the end, I am very happy with how the site came out. I hope to work with more Fort Collins area artists in the coming year.

I have also been staying very busy with work from Studio North. They have been making use of my services for programming and animation. It's been a real blessing given the time of year and a few rough months. Thanks SN!

Several weeks ago Nancy and I flew to Milwaukee for the annual Studio North holiday party. Before folks who live there feel bad that we didn't say hi, it was a very fast trip and we knew we would not be able to visit much, although we were able to catch a few friends while we were there. The holiday party has been a highlight of the year for the past several years for Nancy and I. When Doug (shown here dressed as Ozzie for the party) told me I was invited I was so happy that I could have kissed him. Fortunately, Doug let me know by email and lives 1000 miles away, so we managed to avoid any embarassing apologies.

Nancy and I had a great time. We both felt like regular jet-setters being able to fly out and back for the weekend. It was great to be able to see friends from the Studio -- many of whom I continue to work with on a regular basis -- in person. Thanks to SN for inviting us and for throwing another outstanding party, and thanks to Nancy's folks for watching Emma and Corben so we could go for the weekend.

The only other major thing in my life that has been changing is CoCoA -- the artist cooperative I belong to. The director, Rachel was needing to make some changes in her life and consequently CoCoA was facing an uncertain future. As a result, many folks have come forward to make sure that CoCoA stays put. In the process, it looks like I may end up on the Board of Directors, at least for a while. I'm a little uneasy about some of the prospects of this, but definitely want to help and ensure that CoCoA does well.

That's about it for now. I hope that you have a Merry Christmas and that you are touched by God's love for you this season.

rolling with it

Lately it seems like a number of folks that I talk to are becoming disillusioned with life. I think I (and these folks I know) am at the stage of life when reality has really set in, and Jack Nicholson's voice echoes in my mind "what if this is as good as it gets?"

I have realized that at every stage of life, there is a whole new set of problems just waiting to be discovered. This is a universal truth -- at least in this universe. Both of you reading this now are saying to yourselves "yeah, that's pretty much a given." But there's more to it.

You see, when I am tight for money, I tell myself "well things are tough now, but when I get some money it will be better." When I was too young to participate in certain activities that seemed like such great remedies for my woes, I was sure that once I became "of age" that things would be better. When I was single, it was getting married. When the honeymoon was over it became getting a career and buying a house. When I had a mortgage and my job was consuming my life it was self-employment.

I was talking to someone I know who is 20 or so years older than me, and she was describing some of her loneliness, and as she walked through what she anticipated the next stage of her journey to be, she wasn't sure what her "next thing" would be, which was disconcerting to her. I shared with her what I had been thinking in terms of problems and all that, and then said "It's just life." She nodded her head and smiled and said "It's just life -- it helps just to say it."

Today I heard from a friend from High School who has had a pretty tough year. She described her current situation and some of the challenges, but her last line was "but, I am rolling with it."

As I get a little older, I've tried to stop thinking of the other side of the fence and it's greener vegetation. I think what has been helping Nancy and I lately has not been all the planning and fretting, but learning to deal with life as it comes. When times are good, we rejoice and thank God for the sunshine. When times are not so good, we remember the sunshine and God's goodness.

The one "next thing" that I do long for and don't have to fear disappointment is an eternity in Heaven. All the tears are gone, no more disappointment, being reunited with my Creator without my sin-scarred husk. Being fully joined in real, authentic, transparent, fearless, loving unity with those who call God "Father." That's what I can close my eyes and imagine when the day is dreary and the load is not light.

wanting to be known

I just had a moment of strong nostalgia. I found myself looking at a photo, then closing my eyes and remembering the feelings and surroundings from when that photo was taken.

Handwriting, the way someone moves or smiles or laughs, a word that used to be a nickname -- so many little things can take my mind to times and places in my past. I feel glad, then I miss the person, or time of life, or who I was then.

I think nostalgia is one of the times when our deep longing to be known by and connected with others comes to the surface.

The reality in this case is that if I am really honest with myself, things weren't that great then, I just want to remember them being great. I wasn't a better person. People didn't really know me. I was starting to reach out for the first time, though. It was special for that reason, and that can be enough.

I think of other times in my life when things were truly great. I was loved and known and included and needed. Those times just make me glad. There is no sense of loss or past, the people who knew me still know me and love me. I can't touch them and hear their affirming words every day now, but there is all of eternity for that, and I am even more glad. These memories just make me want to find more people that I can know and grow to love.

The most significant thing I've discovered in my life is the amazing beauty of being a part of a group of people that knows me and loves ms. I believe with all my heart that this is what every person longs for and really needs to find fulfillment -- to know and to be known. And I am certain that the only way to find that is to find God, and to allow Him to place us in a community of other messed up people that has been redeemed from being alone. Christ came not to condemn and isolate but to redeem, restore and unite people to Himself and to each other -- to find us. This is the good news.

You are loved and known, and if you don't know it the only thing you're missing is to be found by God.

My prayer and hope for you this season and throughout the year is that you know the joy of being found by God.

the hat that says "Hello"

The Hat That Says "Hello"
Originally uploaded by John Daharsh.

Last winter Nancy bought me this black leather hat at an after-Christmas sale. I like it, and wear it a lot in cold weather.

The reason that I'm writing about it is that it has an unusual effect on people -- specifically women. I would not write about this, except that the effect is so pronounced I feel that it merits commentary.

We moved back to Colorado from Kenosha, Wisconsin. When we lived in Kenosha, I was communting to North Chicago, IL. Every morning I would stop at the PDQ gas station to get a cup of their great coffee. I did this for almost a year, and never once did anyone say hi or hello unless I engaged them for some reason or other.

That changed dramatically after I started wearing this hat. Every morning for the first week after I started wearing it, at least one woman that I had never spoken to came up to me, said hi and commented that they liked my hat.

This went on with amazing regularity. If I was by myself in public, wearing my hat, inevitably a woman that I had never met would come up and say hi.

I had forgotten about this happening until the past few weeks when I started wearing the hat again. It seems that this effect was not limited to the midwest. I now live in Fort Collins, Colorado, and once again women are saying hi and commenting on my hat.

One other interesting note is that no man has ever commented on my hat in public.

I have no great need to meet women, beyond my normal enjoyment of meeting new people. I am very happily married to the most wonderful woman there is. But it's become almost funny how this hat on my head seems to make introductions for me.

So all you single guys out there trying to find a good way to start a conversation with a woman take note. I can't assure you that you'll have the same results that I have, maybe you need a different style of hat, or another accessory of some sort, but it seems I may be onto something.

I'd love to hear any comments or ideas on why folks think this happens.