trish hermanson - Home

How Gertie Has Spent Her 108 Years

8/4/2020

Gertie Abkes of Denver turned 108 today and hoped to get 108 cards as a gift. She was born four months after the Titanic sank and has survived two pandemics. During her lifetime, the world has moved from model T’s to Mars rovers, and I asked her what she thought about all the changes.
     “It’s just lifestyle changes,” she told me matter-of-factly over the phone.
     “So what’s the secret of your many years?”
     She chuckled. “I guess God knows what he wants to do with me, and I follow His path. But I’m just an ordinary person.”
     Gertie worked as a nurse. She and Leonard had no children, but were married for six-two years until he died of cancer. She hated to give up her Buick when she quit driving at 100. She watches baseball on Saturdays (she told me the scores ), keeps her apartment clean, and wonders what Trump will do. Ordinary things.
     Gertie reminds me of how unpretentious most of our lives are. Every day we put one foot in front of the other, and all the while God knows what he wants to do with us. For those who follow God’s path like Gertie, Henry Martyn says, “If (God) has work for me to do, I cannot die.” John Piper agrees: “I am immortal until my work is done.”
     So even in my many unspectacular days, my life matters, just as Gertie’s does. That comforts me.
     As for Gertie, word got out about her birthday, and she has received more than 400 cards.
     ***
     Photo: Clermont Park.

Why a Different Point of View Matters

7/31/2020

Meet my neighbor Joe Razes, who’s willing to get up close and personal to catch the best perspective for a photo, even when it means the risk of becoming a floor mat for a stampeding steer. Joe’s audacity pays off. He captured an award-winning portrait of longhorns that displays both their strength and their vulnerability. It turned out they were more frightened of him than he was of them. The only damage Joe incurred during several photo sessions was when a bull named Shoot ’Em Up eyed him, pawed the ground, then lumbered over and nibbled on his fallen hat.
     Which is how our biggest fears are sometimes, aren’t they? From a distance, they stare at us like raging bulls ready to charge. But when we dare to face them and work through them, they aren’t so frightening after all. Sometimes what we need is to view our problems from a different angle.
     So during this time of Covid, what’s the big fear staring you in the eyes?

Joe Razes's award winning photo

Is "Irony" the Opposite of "Wrinkly"?

7/24/2020

Vince Rozmiarek claims “irony” is “the opposite of wrinkly,” and with such wordplay, his humor has circled the globe - that is, for those who believe the world is round. If you don’t, Vince says: “The only thing flat Earthers have to fear is sphere itself.”
     Vince’s punny-ness on a community center sign has brought fame to the Colorado town of Indian Hills (population 1,000). Globe trekkers make pilgrimages to the mountain town to snap selfies there.
     Many of Vince’s posts are about food:
     “Turning vegan would be a big missed steak.”
     “Every food could be a superfood if you put a little cape on it.”
     Or about drink:
     “Be careful tonight — one pour decision may lead to another.”
     “Before the crowbar was invented, crows had to drink at home.”
     Only a few posts are political:
     “If your fridge is running, I’d vote for it.”
     “The problem with political jokes is that they sometimes get elected.”
     Some are philosophical:
     "My intellectual property is in foreclosure.”
     “Ever stop to think and forget to start again?”
     Others are refreshingly practical:
     “Forget world peace. Visualize using your turn signal.”
     For seven years Vince has created a trail of laughter for those driving by. It’s his gift to the world, and wouldn’t it be wonderful if we all learned how to spread around our gifts in a positive way? A family in Canada does this through its music, and I invite you to click here for a happy song from them.

Straddling a Seesaw between Passion and Practicality

7/17/2020

As I finished feeding my granddaughter Eve a bottle, writing thoughts bounced in my head, but Eve just wanted to nap. So for a moment, Eve became my desktop, and we were both happy.
     That’s how life is sometimes - passions in my head while practicality demands my hands. I straddle a seesaw between the wanna do’s and what’s literally in my lap to do. A hiking trail beckons, but so does the laundry.
     In times like this, I remember a French monk who lived nearly four hundred years ago. Brother Lawrence learned that routine kitchen tasks like peeling potatoes could transcend into something higher simply by contemplating that God was with him. This is easier for me to do when I’m engaged in a delightful task like feeding Eve, but it’s a stretch when I’m cleaning a toilet.
     Yet it’s incredible to contemplate that I’m not alone when I carry smelly trash outside or hunch over my desk paying bills. God is with me. Simple acts become holy.
     Singer Peter Mayer captures that revelation in “Holy Now,” which I invite you to listen to here.

Do We Have a Defective Gene in Our Nation's DNA?

7/10/2020

We’re proud of our American heritage of “don’t tread on me,” but has this attitude become a defective gene in our nation’s DNA today?
     What I mean is this: Some nations quickly and easily adapted to wearing masks and social distancing because of their ingrained value of community. But not us. The knee-jerk reaction from some has been “nobody’s gonna tell me what to do. Don’t mess with my rights and my convenience.”
     The result? We have less than five percent of the world’s population, but we’ve suffered a quarter of the COVID-19 cases. Our rugged individualism - what we usually consider a strength - has rendered us selfish - sometimes stupid - as we endanger ourselves and others.
     I’m grateful for our liberties. For the right to practice religion, but what a travesty if I abuse that liberty by gathering at the peril of others. For the right to protest, but what a travesty if I abuse it by destroying property. For the right to free speech, but what a travesty if I abuse it by belittling others.
     Liberty is an upside-down concept: I’m not really free unless I’m willing to set aside my rights for the good of others. Otherwise, I’m in bondage to my freedom.
  Then I may as well sing the refrain from “Me and Bobby McGee”: “Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose.”    Am I willing to bridle my rights for the good of others?
***
     Photo: 2019 winner of Texas Sand Sculpture Festival, text added.