In Memoriam: Betty Mason Arthurs

Posted on March 5, 2022 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck
Betty Mason Arthurs

I met Betty Arthurs around 1990 at the Tempe Christian Writers Club. A friendly extrovert, she encouraged the writers by pointing out the excellent passages in their writing and making helpful suggestions for improvements.

Another member of TCWC invited several members to form a smaller, more focused critique group. We called ourselves Tuesday’s Children, because we met every Tuesday morning–for almost thirty years.

In 2015 we started this blog, Doing Life Together. Betty was one of the founding members.

She was a registered nurse with a degree from Roberts Wesleyan College. She was forced to retire early because of rheumatoid arthritis, but that didn’t stop her from being a wonderful wife and devoted mother of two children. She wrote freelance articles and was working on a novel based loosely on her adventures in nursing school. She loved to laugh and pull practical jokes.

Betty passed away on January 22, 2022 after a long illness. Today her friends and family celebrated her life with a lunch at their church.

To continue remembering Betty, I’ve compiled some of her most popular posts on Doing Life Together:

Posted in Aging, Death and Dying, Family Life, Family Stories, Marriage, married 50 years, Remembering, Writing | Tagged | 7 Comments

new shoes

Posted on March 1, 2022 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck 
don’t take us out of the box
we’re happy here, brand new
as perfect as we’ll ever be
don’t violate us with your stinky feet
 
don’t destroy our perfect twinness
we are each other’s ideal partner
if you put mileage on us
we’ll wear out, no longer new
no more new shoe fragrance
 
this is war
we will fight you
we’ll pinch you and blister you
but treat us gently and we’ll hug you
we’ll give you height
we’ll let you dance
or we’ll trip you up
you’ll never know which
until it happens
 
better yet, leave us in the box
put us on the top shelf of the closet
forget about us
let us rest in our perfection forever

©ARHuelsenbeck

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o spirit of rhyme and rhythm

Posted on February 25, 2022 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck 
amuse me, muse
now tickle my imagination
with whistles of whimsy and whit
make the words flow from my pen
and paint pictures with their cadences
I am merely the stenographer who
captures the images and
mounts them on the page
 
you gave me this gift, this curse
now have your way with me
make me fertile with verse
don’t sit me here with an idle pen
and ideas that drift away like smoke
 
what do you have for me today
what little bit of cleverness
what wordplay what syllabic art
what chorus of rhyme and rhythm
what little ditty will you hum to me today

©ARHuelsenbeck

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two halves make the whole

Posted on February 22, 2022 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck 
the practical woman in me
does the right thing
the expected thing
follows the rules
chooses a theme
devises a plan and then works according to plan
makes well-thought-out decisions
strives toward perfection
 
the emotional one in me
turns her back on caution
leaps forward with abandon
smells the roses
flings the paint
experiments to see what will happen
dances to the music no one else hears
feels the pain the joy the beauty
cries until she laughs
 
these unmatched twins
whimsical / intellectual
have equal merit in my self
they spar with each other
and embrace one another
shake hands smirk wink
walk a mile together
and only occasionally
push the other away

©ARHuelsenbeck

Posted in Poetry | Tagged | 2 Comments

Review of Draw Your Day by Samantha Dion Baker

Posted on February 18, 2022 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

I love to look at art journals. For example, I love the blog Sketch Away, by Suhita Shirodkar, in which she records her days. I dream of being outside, pulling out my sketchbook, and drawing what I experience.

But I have no idea how to get started.

I don’t remember how I found out about Draw Your Day: An Inspiring Guide to Keeping a Sketch Journal by Samantha Dion Baker, but I immediately ordered it.

It is, of course, illustrated with pages from Dion Baker’s own journals. I love her style.

She tells a little about her own life, and how she first started journaling, and how over time the artwork disappeared from her journals. She missed the drawing, and needed to purposely reinstate it into her life.

I really appreciate her discussion of tools. She explains the numbering system for pencils, which I really never understood before. She recommends certain brands of art supplies, some pricey and some not, and explains the reasons behind her choices.

But most of all, she explains how to make a sketch journal a part of your daily routine. She suggests multiple ways to use one, and leaves it up to you to come up with your best way to adopt the sketchbook habit. I love this book, and I can’t wait to make sketching a daily part of my life.

You can look at Samantha Dion Baker’s artwork on her Instagram page.

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In the Meme Time: Dare to be Vulnerable

Posted on February 15, 2022 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck
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A Few Things I Know For Sure

Posted on February 11, 2022 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

I watched this TED talk by Anne Lamott.

And I thought, I could write an article like that. But what do I know about life?

It turns out I know four things for sure.

  1. God loves you. God loves me. God is love. God is good. Even when it doesn’t seem like it. Even when life sucks. God is the epitome of good. If you’re having a rough time, He’s crying with you. He’s right here, ready for you to lean on Him. He might not remove you from the situation you’re in, but He will walk through it with you. When we reach out to others in love, we reflect the God who created us in His image.
  2. The government can’t save us. I am hoping with all my heart that the current administration in the United States will make our country into a more egalitarian society. Our government could be doing a much better job. But it will never do the best job. However, individuals—you and me—can do much to make things better and more positive. When this pandemic first started, people went out of their way to help their neighbors. I feel like that’s lessened somewhat as the disease has continued to drag on. It’s up to us to identify what is needed in our communities, and then pitch in to get it done. Our small individual acts add up to a huge impact.
  3. Things are not as good as they look. Years ago, we belonged to a small church. I loved that congregation. Those people looked like they had it all together. But the thing about small churches is you eventually know everybody’s business. Those people had the same challenges I did. They had skeletons in their closets. They had failed relationships. They had disappointed their parents and their children. They had made huge mistakes. They were looking for ways to put their broken selves back together again. Don’t be deceived—nobody has it easy.
  4. Things are not as bad as they look. Yep, stuff happens and there are long-term implications, but disasters pass. If you’ve done something you’re ashamed of, try to make it right. Apologize. Ask for forgiveness. In time, the situation will lose some of its horror. You can rise above your mistakes; you can even rise above the injustices done to you. Take a deep breath, and take the next step, and the next one, and the next. One day, one hour, one minute at a time.

That’s it. That’s all I know.

Posted in Essay | 1 Comment

In the Meme Time: Climb

Posted on February 8, 2022 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck
Posted in Memes | 1 Comment

Video: Top 20 Acoustic Guitar Intros

Posted on February 4, 2022 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

Listeners of a certain age will recognize all of these.

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i fear the sound

Posted on February 1, 2022 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck 
i fear the sound of splintering wood
barely audible beneath the tempest’s roar
i am the lighthouse keeper
my mission is to save
i stoke a flame behind the lens
when wind and spray and torrents extinguish visibility
my slow rotating beam penetrates the foggy depths of darkness
warning of obstacles stay away stay away
protecting sailors from rocky liquid death
the ship’s wheel spinning in terror
oh let it not be too late
let not the salty water sear the lungs
wasted lives and precious treasures scattered on the ocean floor
 
better when the sea is calm and my light caresses the water’s surface
the ship’s silent passage beneath moonlight and starlight and my light

©ARHuelsenbeck

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