The Barnegat forest fire, March 20, 2010

My husband and I went down to our local boy scout camp this evening. Many of our friends were involved in a training weekend. the camp should have been teaming with happy, yelling boys and nearly exhausted leaders.

As we drove up the back roads toward the camp we began to smell smoke. That's when my husband told me he had heard that there was a forest fire in the area. The closer we came to the camp the thicker the smoke became. We began to see wild life along the road, all heading away from the thickest smoke. We passed a couple of fire engines but nobody stopped us.

We finally pulled in to the camp parking lot and there was not a car to be seen. That was erie enough. Then we noticed the empty camp sites, with the tents still in them and gear sitting where it had been dropped. The parade field was littered with half build wooden catapults.

We drove past the dining hall and it was dark in the front but the lights were on in the back. As we headed back out we stopped at the camp master's cabin, where the offices are and found the back door wide open, lights on and noone there. Now it was really ooky!

It was obvious that the folks in camp had been ordered to drop and run. But the big question was, if they had to leave so fast that they couldn't even take down their tents, how did they get all the kids out, with their parents not there to pick them up?

It was seriously scary.

We closed the backdoor and got back into the car and headed towards the fire. (I know!)

We stopped at a friend's house that was nearby to make sure he was safe. He said that there had been a mandatory evacutation, but that he and some neighbors had decided to stay put. As I stood there talking to him, a huge herd of deer hurried through his back yard. After making sure that he was OK we got back in our car and went even closer to the fire. We passed several more fire engines with folks standing around and nobody told us to turn around. As we came off the little lane, on to the highway that led back home, off to the right the sky was an incredible shade of vermillion, and right across the road from our car we could see the fire breaks that the firemen had been setting.

It was really cool seeing the fire breaks right in the pines, just before us! But we turned left and headed for home.

Oh my! what an adventure!

Somebody Pinch Me!!

I am a member of the Boy Scouts of America, as a leader. My husband is a scout master. My 21 year old daughter is an assistant scout master and Venture Crew advisor. My son is an Eagle Scout and I'm a crew advisor and committee member. We've been involved in the BSA for 17 years now.

And we've all been trained. And trained.....and trained! The highest level being the Wood Badge Course. There is a real atitude of brotherhood amongst the men and women who have passed through that portal.

Last night was our council's annual Wood Badge Dine In. It's a night to get together and get a little silly. We have dinner, then induct new leaders into the brotherhood through a special ceremony called a "beading". That's when those who have completed the training get their Wood Badge neckerchief, leather waggle and Wood Badge beads.

Afterwards there is an auction to raise funds for a Wood Badge scholarship to help those who want to go through Wood Badge, but can't afford it.

This year I donated a hand painted hiking staff.

The one I painted for myself has my "totem" that is the symbol of the patrol I belong to, which is the bald eagle. I also included my husband's, the buffalo. The inscription I used was from "Taps", Day is done, Gone the sun, God is nigh.

When my staff finally came up, the auctioneer held up my staff and explained that I would hand paint a custom staff for the highest bidder.

My cane won the highest bid last night!! It was purchased for $200.00!! I am beyond excited by this! To be able to add to the scholarship coffers this way and to know that I really do have an artistic idea that others value!

So, today it's off to Lowes to buy a hard wood dowel, one inch thick, and get right to work!

Somebody pinch me!!

Knee deep in poop

Proverbs 14:4

Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty,

but from the strength of the ox comes an abundant harvest.

This scripture hit me right between the eyes!

I try to read the bible every night.

And when I've finished one book and

maybe not sure where I'm supposed to go next,

I'll read Proverbs, starting with

whatever the corresponding date is.

So, on January 14, I read Proverbs 14.

And it was like the skies parted and

the son shine poured forth!

What does Proverbs 14:4 say to me?

A person can live a tidy life, where things stay the same

and nothing is ever hard. But! If you want

to achieve anything worthwhile,

then life is gunna get messy!

Hard work means mess. It means rolling up your sleeves and

getting knee deep in what the ox produces.

If you want to lead a healthy life,

then you have to deal with the poop!

"Hard work never killed anybody." Who said that?

I can't remember, but I know it applies to my life.

And! Not only do we have the benefit of the ox, (all that hard work)

but we have all that lovely poop to spread around and

increase our yield!

So, if I want to succeed, I have to deal with the poop.

Nay! I have to relish the poop!

I'm gunna dig in and increase my yield!

How about you?

www.JudyAGoddard.Etsy.com

www.finishthis.etsy.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Judy-A-Goddard/280088932722?ref=ts

That Darned Global Warming!

Maryland is supposed to get 30 + inches of snow this weekend! They say Washington DC is staged to have the biggest snow fall year in recorded history.

Here in New Jersey, they "say" we "might" get 6 to 12+ inches. But!

If you look at the map of the Eastern Seaboard, with all the lovely shades of pink and purple, the deep purple of Maryland is also the deep purple of the New Jersey coastline.

Hmm...

The thing is, I've always been a sucker for weather. I mean, I love storms! I love blizzards! I love Nor' Easters and hurricanes! I love the feeling I get when I know the house is well stocked, so that, if we would should get cut off from the rest of hu

manity, we'll have enough to get us through until we can be dug out, reached by helicopter, rescued by boat.

The only kind of weather that I really can't stand is hot and humid.

My friends all think I'm crazy (But that's beside the point.) They all make awful faces whenever anyone mentions snow. And there I am, waving my fists in the air! Doin' my little happy dance!

So, I've got my knitting, and my paint projects, and my sketch pad and fancy ideas to get down on paper.

I'm set! How about you?

Have You Ever Started Over?

I've been an Etsy seller, now, for almost 2 years. I've had limited success selling handmade items. In the beginning I also sold knitting and crochet supplies in my shop. Last year, at just this time, I opened "finishthis.etsy" for sole purpose of selling supplies and vintage items.

The art that I am producing now is different and I had thought that I would change my banner to relfect these changes. But the more I think about it, the more I am inclined to close the old shop and open up under a new name that better relates to my current items.

I currently have only 39 itmes listed so it would be a minimal cost to move them all over.

So, the questions are:

1. Have you ever closed a shop and opened a new one?

2. How long had your first shop been up and running when you made the change?

3. Did it hurt sales when you first did it? If so, do you feel that you have recovered?

4. What did you do about your previous buyers? How did you inform them?

5. What did you do about all your hearts? Did you inform them that you were moving? Is it even permisable to do so?

6. Over all, do you think it was worth the hassle?

Please write your responses in the comment section and then, if you don't mind, go back to the etsy forum post and let me know you've left a comment.

And thanx for participating. I truly value the opinions and suggestions that come out of these blog posts.

Very Nearly a Nightmare

My hand painted flower cane

I'm working on my computer,editing photos in preparation for listing new items in my Etsy shop. All of a sudden, one of the photos in the folder I'm using disappears! Poof!

"What the heck was that?" I say to myself. Instead of the photo there's an

empty box made up of dotted lines. I double click the dotted line box and nothing happens.

So I stare at the screen, trying to puzzle out what just happened, when all of a sudden three more photos disappear! Poof, poof, poof!

Now my heart is racing and I'm fantically trying to get the photos back and, poof! poof! two more are gone.

It is at this moment that I realize, " I am NOT

dreaming!" So I close the window, figuring that this will stop pics from going.... where?

Every time I open a folder, more and more pics are gone. And now I'm beginning to panic. I shut the program down.

Out comes the address book, open it up to A and dial the number for Apple Computer customer help.

Marvin, (I'm not kidding) helps me salvidge the remaining photos and strongly suggests that I purchase an "exterior hard drive". Obviously, he states, a flash drive will be totally inadiquate to the task

of backing up my photos.

BTW: He had no idea why my photos disappeared

and he doubts I'll ever get them back. 80(

So, here's the questions;

1. Do you back up your files and photos? Or do you always think that you'll get to it, just not right now?

2. If you do back up your files, what do you use, a flash drive? a CD, an exterior hard drive?

3. Why do you use the back up system you've chosen, rather than some other way?

My solution?

I found an empty flash drive, went into my iphoto library and copied every pic. And let me tell you, I have thousands of them! And they all fit. And if I need more space,

I'll get more flash drives!

My Morning, noon and night cane

Do You Have a BFA?

I have a friend, actually, she's my shrink, who has told me that I need to get a bachelor's degree if I expect to make anything happen for myself in the art world.

I have always thought of college as a place to gain the skills to practise the career you have chosen as your life work. And, of course, it is! I have an associates degree in art from my local community college and feel that I gained skills that I have used to help improve my artistic technique.

But she also asserts that going to college is about making connections and using a learning institution as a platform to further my attempts to "break out" in the art world. This is a new idea to me. I have always understood that having a diploma from certain schools add to a person's cache, to make them more appealing to those who may be interested in hiring them.

I would like to know what others think about this. Will you look the questions below and give answers in the comments.

1. Do you feel that having a BA or a BFA makes a difference in your professional life?

2. Do you feel that having your BFA gave you an advantage?

3. Did you use your attendance at your chosen school to make an artistic statement while attending? Were you able to make business connections on campus or through professors and/or staff?

4. Did you consider that to be a reason for attending the college that you chose?

5.What about exposure? Did you exhibit work at your school with the intention of parlaying that into a career? Did it work?

6. Do you feel that your school provided a "platform" for you as a student?

I truly appreciate any insight anyone can give me.

Thanx!