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Nashville Web Design228

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By Stage three, after spending your exorbitant amount of money in pretty internet site designs and different selling methods, internet site holders generally speaking find out they failed to design or make a highly effective webpage for his or her target audience! Usually, internet site holders provides at one usability professional to evaluate prospective concerns additionally found numerous systems! Bringing in search engines selling professional to support search-engine friendly internet designs amptemplates at the beginning of the style period can save a business a lot of money at internet marketing costs.

Don't utilize a lot of fonts through your online store, rather making little changes towards the existing font. This can help you to maintain a feeling of continuity through your build. People indicates you utilize 2 kinds of font at most.

There is actually a popular advertising and marketing preceptthat states which, the consumer forever goes first. This is certainly really accurate at website design. You're investing good money at a web site that is more than just an additional firm card or perhaps brochure. You're based on our site to enhance your company and/or boost your incomes. You need to make sure the Fresno website design solution one employ provides top-quality customer care. They must be readily available to clientele, to manage concerns, get rid of doubts, or simply just you need to be recently there for you.

A service shouldn't reduce their on line presence inside advertising and marketing banners and/or blog posting only isn't guaranteed to allow you to get too far. Powerful networking hardware can be obtained, giving the opportunity to relate genuinely to a big mass of individuals and/or attain special target areas. It might be smart out of a business to utilize these types of hardware to create their internet existence.

Inside Stage 2, the fact of excellent ineffective web site design begins to struck, typically near 3-6 months after the initial publish. A site will most likely an average of shop for declined by many associated with principal directories, never be listed because of the principal search engines, or not have the visitors or business that have been projected on the basis of the various types of selling campaigns put. Typically, that's once companies choose that they can attempt to employ a professional online marketer to advertise the website. Doorway web page companies, one way or another, profile or form, backside their particular unsightly minds. Sorry to say, many webpage proprietors be seduced by the doorway web page company's pitch since the beautifully fashioned web site could not come to be the situation among reduced web site visitors. Yahoo may have declined a site, and/or web site might have been placed in Yahoo and company are not able to realize why they have little information next to their particular company name. In absolutely no way would many advertising agencies or entrance web page companies need determine clients the facts -- these just didn't layout also prepare a successful webpage -- because it will mean getting rid of thousands of pounds in business.Recently, countless testimonials posses occupied the Net. Satisfied consumers boost the benefit of finding site templates through web-site designers. The best reason is it is really not time-consuming. You'll automatically build your site when a couple of hours. As well as the fact that it is really not excessive. That it spares money and time. Which actually awesome double positive aspect. Hence, it is really not surprising that numerous people are hurrying over to this new alternate available to you.Web web sites should always be made with their target audience at heart, not your own personal needs! Tones have actually definition! Certified manufacturers comprehend the mindset concerning color and also the utilization of white room towards preferred project ones image their audience wants towards observe! As an example, do not use the color purple on the best financial place! Comprehending the products/services/information their target audience was trying to find is key to designing and also maintaining a fruitful site! Once you introduction a niche site, it's likely you have which will make an informed estimate about what their target audience needs! Next, apparatus such as place data pc software and also reporting from place queries tell you just what these potential customers are seeking! Nashville Web Design And then contents and also marketing procedures could be modified appropriately! Unless ones high level technology definitely benefits clients, do not use things on your own place! If The undertaking capitalists or possibly CEO's or possibly attorneys like the place, inquire if they're planning to spend thousands or possibly millions of weight to keep your running a business!Take advantage of the best of dynamic website design, helping you to layout, formulate, and maintain exemplary standards-based the web sites! This makes the look to that ecommerce websites uniform better! The entire procedure for website development is within that phased means, thus relieving a chance of every discrepancy whereas creating your site! Piecing together an internet site try a unique mixture of publishing, graphical user interface layout, then technology! You will find reasons for the doing your website design in-house! It is difficult sufficient looking for an internet layout team with one of these skills, aside from finding the skill in-house! Nevertheless web site design, seo then copywriting try a very skilled location! Build is not only that which you witness, it is also that which you think then feeling while you navigate an internet site! Certain, discovering HTML is an essential part to creating an effective webpage.

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Components and Interfaces

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What are Components and Interfaces?

Components and Interfaces define and/or implement small pieces of modular code that can be reused in the codebase.

For example, Necko is the network library which is made up of several components such as HTTP, FTP, and other network protocol definitions and implementations.

  • A component is a small piece of reusable code.
  • It is usually one of several in a module.
  • A module is a binary library that groups components that provide some functionality.

  • A interface defines the communication channels between components.
  • These interfaces are reused to define unique components with the same characteristics and communication channels.

Components and Interfaces in Mozilla

In Mozilla, there are several technologies used that build the codebase. You will find some lower level programming languages such as C/C++ in the core, and may find some higher level programming languages such as Javascript in extensions, components, etc...

These technologies are connected using the XPCOM, XPIDL, etc... With these frameworks, developers can break up software projects into components.

Using XPCOM supports the object oriented approach, allowing code to encapsulate and inherent functionality and characteristics.

XPCOM allows developers to connect their code to the rest of the Mozilla codebase. It is a cross platform technology which allows the code to be:

  • reusable
  • updateable
  • modular

For example, the CookieManager Component can be called from Javascript code

// xpconnect to cookiemanager
// get the cookie manager component in JavaScript
var cookiemanager = Components.classes[";1"].getService();
cookiemanager = cookiemanager.QueryInterface(Components.interfaces.nsICookieManager);
// called as part of a largerDeleteAllCookies() function
function FinalizeCookieDeletions() {
  for (var c=0; c<deletedCookies.length; c++) {
    cookiemanager.remove(deletedCookies[c].host, deletedCookies[c].name, deletedCookies[c].path);
  deletedCookies.length = 0;

These components can be grouped together to become a Module. A component or several components (aka Module) are delivered as binary library. In Windows, libraries are .dll files; whereas, Unix libraries are DSO.

There are two fundamental issues in component and interface-based programming:

  • lifetime (aka object ownership)
  • interface querying (identifing components at run-time).

These issues are addressed by the nsISupports interface that every XPCOM object should implement.

The nsISupports interface is similar to the Object and other run-time interfaces built into Java and .NET.

The following is a simple example of an implemented nsISupports interface for the class Sample.

class Sample: public nsISupports {
  nsrefcnt mRefCnt;
  virtual ~Sample();
  NS_IMETHOD QueryInterface(const nsIID &aIID, void **aResult);
  NS_IMETHOD_(nsrefcnt) AddRef(void);
  NS_IMETHOD_(nsrefcnt) Release(void);

nsISupports interface is explained well here.

Related Links

Links to Newsgroup:

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Lake City First Congregational Church, 1888, Historical Sketch

The Congregational Church in Lake City, Minn., was organized Aug. 8, 1856. It consisted, according to the Record of the Trustees, of ten members—four brethren and six sisters,—one of whom joined by profession. From the church records it would appear that but nine united at the formation of the church; while the recollection of some of the members would make it appear that but six were present on the day, though the letters of others were acted upon then, and they were enrolled.

There was at the time no other church organization in the place. The Presbyterian Church was formed Dec. 31, 1856.

The place then numbered not far from 300 inhabitants.

Rev. Dewitt C. Sterry was chosen Acting Pastor, and labored with the church for ten years. Ai the close of the first, year the church had increased to more than four-fold its original number, and continued to prosper.

The question of a union between this Church and the Presbyterian Church had often been considered informally by the members of both during the years of their co-existence and efforts had been definitely made in that direction on two occasions but without success. In the year 1887 the membership of both Churches having been much depleted by numerous removals from town, the matter was again made a subject of consideration and after the burning of the Presbyterian house of worship, February 1st, 1888, negotiations were begun which resulted in a temporary union for the summer. This was followed by the permanent consolidation of the two Churches, which was finally completed on Sabbath. November 4, 1888, when fifty members of the Presbyterian Church were received into full membership with us, their own organization having been dissolved for that purpose.

The record reads: "This little church * * * worshipped in various halls and rooms for about one year, and until they had so far completed their house of worship as to use that, which was in September, 1857. The Presbyterian Church worshipped with them till the midsummer of 1859. In February, 1857, Abner Dwelle, Esq., presented to the church Lot No. 10 in Block 27, in Lake City, as a church lot. * * * Henry Collins and Eli Van Vliet were chosen Trustees of said church, and were qualified as such. * * * During the summer of 1857 a house of worship, 30x50 feet, was erected, * * * and opened to worship in September same year."

Jan. 5, 1859, it was "voted unanimously to rent the seats * * * for one year from the 1st of March next, and devote the avails thereof to the support of the Pastor."

Jan. 4, 1861, it was ordered that the Trustees "make and execute a mortgage of the church property to the Pastor, to secure him for certain moneys expended by him in purchase of a bell, repairs, etc.—the Trustees to audit his account, and cover the same by mortgage." One year later they took measures to clear off the mortgage, which were successful.

March 14, 1866, it was decided to enlarge the church, and on the 22d the Trustees reported that they had secured a loan of $750, from the "Congregational Church Building Fund" (American Congregational Union), to be paid in installments. With this money the building was turned partly around, repaired, and opened again for worship Sept. 23.

Jan. 4, 1869, by an extra effort, the church cleared off all its indebtedness, amounting to $1,086.57, and was again free and prosperous. The church property (including parsonage—sec below) was valued at $4,000.

In August, 1872, the question of repairing or building a new church came up, and after several meetings it was decided to repair.

In August, 1873, the outside was repainted.

Jan. 5, 1874, the "Envelope System" was adopted for raising the Pastor's salary, instead of renting slips; which is continued, with good satisfaction, to the present time.

In May, 1879. a subscription was started for a new church and the old church was destroyed by fire on Nov. 5, of the same year just after prayer meeting. January, 1880, the subscription was completed, and a building committee appointed. The basement rooms of the new church were occupied in January, 1881, and the audience room above was used in April for the Easter services. The new church was all paid for and dedicated to the worship of God on the 4th of May, 1881.

In April 1860, a parsonage was commenced on "the south half of Lot 7 in Block 49," which had been purchased for that purpose. During that spring the Acting Pastor moved in. The Record shows that about $1,000 had been expended upon the buildings, and that $500 more would have to be expended to complete the house. The debt at this time was about $450, which was paid Jan. 4, 1869.

May, 1878, the parsonage received several much-needed additions, and during the summer of 1877 was repaired inside.

The parsonage was almost entirely destroyed by fire on the first day of May, 1884. The loss on the building being fully covered by insurance, the house was rebuilt the same summer. The church suffered an irreparable loss in this fire by the destruction of all the books of record covering the period of nearly twenty-eight years from the date of the organization. The first edition of this manual preserved many valuable facts which would otherwise have been entirely lost.

1. "Historical Sketch", Historical Manual of the First Congregational Church of Lake City, Minnesota, January, 1889, page 3-7.
See Also
Lake City First Congregational Church 1889 Manual

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'Uncas' (S. Houston Baker) Midseason bloom. Color Class-R4M. ('Cardinal' x 'Lent A. Williamson') x ('Cardinal' x 'Rose Madder').

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Wallows Biography, Facts About The Rock Band
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Given the ever-evolving nature of music, it is surprising that rock bands are determined not to go anywhere. This is one of the bands that has attracted public attention in Wallow in recent years. The band is a Los Angeles-based indie rock band consisting of three members – Braeden Lemasters, Cole Preston, and Dylan Minnette. Since their formation in 2017, Wallows have released an EP called Spring, an album called Nothing Happens and several singles on Atlantic Records, which they signed in 2018.

Before signing a record deal, they independently released four songs in 2017 on Apple Music and Spotify, including Pleaser, which climbed to number two on the Spotify Global Viral 50 charts. They were also headlining a North American tour and performed on May 8, 2018, with James Corden in Pictures of Girls, one of their 2018 singles on The Late Late Show.

Wallows Biography

Wallows is a band formed by three childhood friends – Braeden Lemasters, Cole Preston, and Dylan Minnette. The trio began their musical journey as children by forming a music group in a music program in Southern California known as Join the Band. After that, they continued to perform as a group under various brand names.

ALSO READ: Alaina Anderson Bio, Profile and Facts To Know About Derrick Rose Wife

Minnette is the frontman and rhythm guitarist, Preston takes care of the drums and Lemasters plays guitar and also contributes vocals. Before becoming Wallows in 2017, they were known as The Feaver and later performed under the nickname The Narwhals.

Before becoming Wallows in 2010, they performed at a concert for autism awareness called Summer Meltdown and in the same year, they won a Battle of the Bands’ Contest sponsored by 98.7 FM. In 2011 they played on the Vans Warped Tour and have continued to perform at many venues in Los Angeles. One of their early songs, Bleeding Man, was used in the promo for the second season of R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour.

As Wallows in 2017, they released four singles independently this year, including Pleaser, Sun Tan, Uncomfortable, and Pulling Leaves Off Trees on Apple Music and Spotify. Pleaser was released on April 12th and reached number two on the Spotify Global Viral 50 charts and number one on the KROQ Locals Only playlist. Wallows had become a sensation when they signed a record deal.

In November 2017 they announced their first headlining tour through North America, which was to last from January to March 2018. They started the tour on January 24 in San Francisco and made their final tour in March 2018 in South by Southwest. Between tours, they announced that they had signed with Atlantic Records in February. Their first single Picture of Girls was selected by SiriusXM Alt Nation as a “Critical Cut”. This was followed by another single, These Days, which is part of their EP released in March 2018.

Their major label Extended Play (EP) Spring, produced by John Congleton, was released on April 6, 2018. To start the new year 2019, they released the single Are You Bored Yet? with Clairo on February 1, 2019. Their debut album Nothing Happens was released on March 22, 2019, followed by a music video starring Noah Centineo on the same day. Hopefully, more music from Wallows is on its way, and we’ll definitely keep our ears open.

Facts about Wallows Rock Band

Wallows are composed of three members: Dylan Minnette, Braeden Lemasters, and Cole Preston. The trio began making music before puberty and has been in business for more than a decade. Zack Mendenhall played bass as a member of the band when they were still known as The Narwhals.

Dylan Minnette

Wallows – Biography, Facts About The Rock Band
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Minnette (born December 29, 1996) is a singer and rhythm guitarist who plays the keyboard for the group. He is also an actor; he even met his future partner Lemasters for the first time in an acting class when they were 9 years old. Their love for classic rock music brought them together and they shared the dream of one day forming a rock band. Years later Wallows was born.

Minnette is the star of the show 13 Reasons Why (2017), produced by Selena Gomez, Clay Jensen. He has also starred in major films like Prisoners (2013), Goosebumps (2015), and Don’t Breathe (2016).

Braeden Lemasters

Wallows – Biography, Facts About The Rock Band
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Lemasters (born January 27, 1996) is the co-frontman of Wallows. He also plays the lead and bass guitar. In addition, he is known as an actor and dubbing artist for his works in films as well as on television. These include the TNT drama Men Of A Certain Age (2009-2011), A Christmas Story 2 (2012), Betrayal (2013-2014), Totem (2017), and [email protected] (2017-present). For his role as Albert in Men of a Certain Age, he was nominated for a Young Artist Award for the best performance in a television series (comedy or drama).

ALSO READ: Lisa-Storie Avenatti Bio and Facts About Michael Avenatti’s Ex-Wife

Cole Preston

Wallows – Biography, Facts About The Rock Band
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Preston is the drummer of the band and also the background singer. He was born on October 9, 1996, and is also known as the actor for Where the Great Spirits Live (2017).

Wallows have released an EP, Spring (2018), and an album, Nothing Happens in 2019. They have also released other singles both independently and under the Atlantic. Their first single was Pleaser (April 12, 2017), a cheerful lo-fi indie rock anthem produced by Stefan Mac.

Sun Tan was released in May 2017, then Uncomfortable in September and Pulling Leaves Off Trees Off Trees in November. In 2018 they released two more singles Pictures of Girls and These Days, which are part of their EP.

Other singles in their catalog include Horror Movies from the 1980s, part of their EP, and non-album singles: Underground the Streetlights in the Winter Outside Your House and Drunk on Halloween, all in 2018. Are You Bored Yet Yet?, Scrawny and Sidelines were released in 2019 as part of their LP.

Tours and Shows

The band began playing live shows in the Los Angeles area in May 2017, selling out venues as prestigious as The Roxy and the Troubadour. They also performed at the Bowery Ballroom in New York.

In January 2018 they began their headlining tour in San Francisco, which they completed in March. They have also appeared on television shows such as The Late Late Show with James Corden in May 2018 and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon starring in 2019.


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Who is Jessica Betts? Wiki, Bio, Age, Family, Career, Net Worth, Many More Facts You Need To Know

Jessica Betts

Jessica Betts Wiki – Jessica Betts Biography

Jessica Betts is an American inspiring Rock & Soul Singer / Songwriter. On Monday, August 31, comedian and actress Niecy Nash announced on Instagram that the two were celebrating their wedding.
In 2005, he won Road to Stardom and started working as a BET Music Matters artist. The hit song is Catch Me.

Jessica Betts Age

Jessica Betts age unknown will be updated soon.

Jessica Betts Husband Niecy Nash

Niecy Nash announced on Instagram on Monday, August 31, that he tied the knot with singer Jessica Betts. “Miss. Carol Denise Betts 💍 @jessicabettsmusic # LoveWins🌈 📸 @robertector,” Nash, 50, wrote a photo of herself and Betts walking hand in hand in the hallway.

Betts also congratulated the union and wrote “I have a complete wife 👽💍 @ niecynash1 #Bettsofbothworlds #LoveWins”.
This is the first time Niecy, a supporter of the LGBTQ community, shared that she was romantically linked to Jessica. The Star of Claws was smiling as the two of them walked across a white floor, holding the hand of his new wife while holding up the bouquet of pink roses with one hand.

View this post on Instagram

Mrs. Carol Denise Betts 💍 @jessicabettsmusic #LoveWins🌈 📸 @robertector

A post shared by Niecy Nash (@niecynash1) on

The couple married at an open-air ceremony, saying “I will do it” under a tree decorated with flowers. Nash also shared Betts’ song “Catch Me” on his Instagram Story, and then watched a photo of the couple standing side by side.

Nash wrote “#PlotTwist” on the photo with a rainbow emoji.

The wedding and Nash’s decision to go public came about a year after he filed for divorce from his wife Jay Tucker in December 2019. In documents obtained by PEOPLE, Nash listed the couple’s separation date as June 1, 2019, three days. after eight years of wedding anniversaries.

Niecy Nash was Previously married to Jay Tucker

Niecy was previously married to Jay Tucker in 2011, and Bett surprisingly sang at the wedding. Later, in December 2019, they filed for divorce from Jay and completed their divorce in March 2020.The two reportedly had difficulties in their marriage, which began due to Nash’s full body cosmetic surgery makeup and ‘extreme career ambitions’. living in different cities.

Niecey got his home in Bell Canyon, CA and 2016 Tesla on the property settlement. He was also supposed to hire the production company Chocolate Chick. Her ex-husband, on the other hand, received the 2011 Ford F-150 truck and a $ 184,820 payment from his ex-wife. Nash was also previously married to Don Nash from 1994 to 2007.

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  1. These are morels, probably one of the Black Morels that grow in mulch. They should be good to eat if the area hasn't been sprayed with pesticides or is near an older house that used lead-base paints.
  2. The timing at the coast normally depends on accumulated degree-days of heat. I look for morels based on degree-day calculations, and it works quite well. However, morels will not come up if there isn't enough rainfall; and I think that this year's April dry spell has delayed their appearance. My early morel spots should have started producing by now, but I haven't even looked for them yet. I expect some to start showing up in about a week, now that we're getting some rain. Compared to the US PNW, BC is obviously farther north and cooler; so, mushrooms should appear later here, dependi
  3. If you read about growing button mushrooms commercially, you'll find that they harvest them by twisting the whole mushroom out of the grow bed. This presumably reduces the potential for disease from rotting stem butts. The same should apply to wild harvesting.
  4. Winter or Yellowfoot Chanterelles (Craterellus tubaeformis), are my favorite mushrooms during the short days of winter, primarily because they are the only abundant edible species at this time of year. They usually last until a blast of Arctic air freezes the ground. During one year, long ago, I picked them as late as April; but that was an exceptional year. These mushrooms are similar in taste to Chanterelles and can be used the same way, but they also dry and reconstitute very well. They are rather small but occur in large clusters that can be picked a handful at a time. An effective wa
  5. These look like Fall Oysters, Panellus serotinus, an edible but mediocre-tasting mushroom that is pretty common in the Pacific Northwest. Some people like them, but I only tried them once and didn't like the flavor.
  6. Welcome to the forums. We will try to help, but our knowledge of Indonesian mushrooms is limited.
  7. I don't know what these are, but they do not look like Yellowfoot Chanterelles, Craterellus tubaeformis. They appear to have true gills, not the false gills of Chanterelles. They also do not seem to have funnel-shaped caps opening into a hollow stem. I harvest many of the western version of C. tubaeformis every late fall and winter, and these mushrooms just don't have the right appearance.
  8. If the milk is orange or red, it's probably Lactarius deliciosis or L. rubrilacteus. I often see L. deliciosis along trails in southwest BC.
  9. The next to last photo above shows netting on the upper part of the stalk when you zoom in.
  10. They look like Pluteus cervinus (Deer/Fawn Mushroom) to me, but the name may have changed recently. If it is, the gills should turn pink with age; and the spore print should be pinkish. These are common in the Pacific Northwest in the fall.
  11. Were they loose on the ground or attached to something in the ground? They look like immature truffles. If that's the case, they could have been dug up by some rodent and then rejected. Immature truffles don't have much of their characteristic odors.
  12. That is a name that I've never heard, but I assume that you are referring to Russula xerampelina or shrimp Russula. That is what it looks like; but, in my experience, young, fresh specimens never smell like shrimp or some other seafood. The only ones that smelled fishy to me were actually rotting. If your specimen has a very hard stalk (compared to other common Russulas), yellowish spore print, and mild raw taste, I think that it would be safe to sample a small amount of the cooked product to see if you're stomach tolerates it and if you like the taste.
  13. At least the second photo shows something that resembles a mushroom, with a stem, cap, and ridges that came from distorted gills. That one is more typical of Lobster Mushrooms.
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The Capsicums

The Capsicums

Cayenne pepper has been an integral part of my medicine cabinet for fifty years.  It’s always been referred to as The Master Herb, and I confer.  Upon discovery of its benefits, I avoided more than one perilous trip to a medical office, especially for sinus, ear, and throat issues, frequent complaints in my youth. Doctors are not above The Harvey Weinstein Syndrome, especially then, and trust in their profession became hard-earned.  But their prurience drove me to a body of knowledge in self-care, and an eventual healing practice.

For emergencies in travels, a bit of cayenne is worth the space it t consumes in a curated-down-to-the-ounce suitcase.  Traveling in the former Yugoslavia, early nineties, my friend and I met a local writer along our unplanned route, and before we gave it much thought, we were sitting on the deck of a freighter, traveling to the pastel island of Cres in the Istrian Sea.  After checking into an austere room in someone’s house, I changed into my swimsuit and jumped in the water.  Within seconds, a blast of wind circled my head and resulted in an earache and a raw throat.

Our new friend possessed a natural ability in languages, and eventually understood I was asking for cayenne for a concoction.  After going into a number of grocery stores on my behalf, he said, “We don’t use cayenne in this country.”

Remembering a chicken dish from nearby Hungary, I said, “I’ll try paprika.”

Also a member of the capsicum (pepper) family, I later learned paprika has many of the same anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant properties as cayenne.  He went back in the store and came out smiling.  I squeezed the juice of a lemon into a water bottle, put in a pinch of paprika and drank it down, repeating hourly until bedtime.  By the next morning, my fellow travelers no longer peered at me from the front seat of the car as if they were plotting a drive-by/drop-off at the nearest hospital.

This series of shorts is not meant to be an herbal medicine guide, so only a few basics of cayenne’s benefits are addressed above.  But in writing this, I recalled that in addition to lowering blood pressure, it can be mixed with water for an effective bug repellent in vegetable gardens.  And cayenne is used in self-defense in the form of pepper spray.

In all these years, I’ve never carried it in my purse, and now I don’t really need it.  Well, maybe for general safety, but it’s certainly no longer necessary to repel unwanted sexual advances.   Personally, at this stage in life, being referred to by a man as wise, glamorous, intelligent, or strong, are all preferable to the minimizing label of ‘hot.’

7 thoughts on “The Capsicums

  1. I love the inherent properties of healing in herbs and spices. Cayenne, lemon and honey is perhaps the best medicinal compound ever for sore throat, nasal drainage, sinus facial pressure and ear pain. People are much better off with this than some compound of nasty chemicals they can purchase over the counter at the local drug store.

    I think the description of “Hot” applied to feminine beauty is at best, an inept description of the exquisite journey to grace, dignity and the ability of the inner spirit to emerge as a glowing ember that embraces life lessons learned, personal strength gained. There is truly nothing more fabulous than a woman who knows herself and isn’t afraid to remain true to her spirit. I admire you immensely for your journey in this life, always an incredible woman with intense inner and outer beauty.

  2. Loved this Stephanie and I learnt something, as had no idea it could lower blood pressure which I’ve been struggling to do recently. How do you use it?

    • Thank you, Fiona. The best thing is to google cayenne lower blood pressure. It’s usually used with hawthorne for that symptom, but sometimes with other herbs, also in different formulas. Let me know if you find it. Breathing is the best way to lower blood pressure. If you have a gauge, measure it, take off cuff, breathe 10 long slow breaths and measure again. You’ll be amazed.

  3. Just saw this post on Facebook- what a treat to find a new piece of wisdom from you, Stephanie! You have begun a new way of incorporating your personal writing with a healing message, I think it’s terrific!

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Category Archives: Holiday

Up From the Grave He Arose

Low in the grave he lay, Jesus my Savior,

waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!

Vainly they watch his bed, Jesus my Savior,

vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord!

Death cannot keep its prey, Jesus my Savior,

he tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord!

Up from the grave he arose, with a mighty triumph o’er his foes;

he arose a victor from the dark domain,

and he lives forever, with his saints to reign.

He arose! He arose!

Hallelujah! Christ arose!

–words and music by Robert Lowry, 1874

Mission Accomplished! (Good Friday 2021)

“It is finished!” And he bowed his head and released his spirit.

The Gospel of John (19: 30) records these final dying words of Jesus, spoken from the cross. A quick reading might prompt one to hear this utterance as the sad lament of defeated man. Not so fast, though. The Gospel writers Matthew (27:50) and Mark (15:37) don’t report Jesus’s last words. They tell us only that he “shouted out again” or “cried out again in a loud voice” before breathing his last. If we use all three accounts as evidence, what the Son of God likely said was a single word evoking not loss, but satisfactory completion. He spoke in Aramaic, but the original Greek of John’s gospel translates it as “tetelestai.”

This word would have been familiar in several contexts to the people of first-century Palestine. Having completed the last task of the day, a worker might tell his boss, “Tetelestai.” An artist, putting the final touch on a painting, might use the same word. A debt paid in full would be stamped “Tetelestai.” For Jews, the word would have been the Greek equivalent of a familiar Hebrew phrase announced by the High Priest each year on the Day of Atonement. After offering the proper sacrificial animals at the altar of the Holy of Holies at the Temple in Jerusalem, the priest emerged to tell the assembled crowd that God had accepted the sacrifice of the people.*

Jesus’s final cry before dying was therefore no whimper of pained surrender. Instead it was an exclamation of triumph.** The various frames of reference for “tetelestai” mentioned above are all helpful in understanding Jesus’s use of the word and what his death means for us. His earthly work is done, the masterpiece completed, the debt paid, the perfect sacrifice offered and accepted. In other words, “Mission Accomplished!”

Three of the Gospels include an often overlooked, but immensely significant detail that stands as proof of the change ushered in by Christ’s death. According to Mark 15: 38: “And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.” This was the curtain in the Temple of Jerusalem which separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. This sacred space housed the Ark of the Covenant, considered by the Jewish people to be the very throne of God. Only priests could enter the Holy place. The High Priest alone entered into that sanctified inner realm, the Holy of Holies, and then, only once a year, on that holiest of all days, The Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur.

Although sometimes referred to as a veil, the Temple curtain was no delicate, gauzy thing that might have ripped easily in a gusty wind. It was a heavy, brocaded cloth, woven with images of protective angels. Only an intentional act of great force could have caused the Temple curtain to be torn fully asunder. Both Matthew and Mark tell us that it was divided from top to bottom, as though from on high. Human hands had no part in this. This was God’s work.

Having destroyed the barrier to the Holy of Holies, God invites his people to approach him directly. Middlemen are no longer needed. The ultimate gift of atonement invites us to be “at one” with God. Having willingly offered his own life for our sins, Jesus and his father tell us that animal sacrifices are a thing of the past. The perfect Lamb of God has paid our debt in full. We are redeemed. Tetelestai!

This is what Jesus referred to earlier at the Last Supper, when he took the cup and told his disciples, “This is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. “(Matthew 26:28) We, and all generations before and after us, are among the many. It was on this same night that Jesus reduced the entirety of his message to this one essential commandment: “Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.” (John 13: 34) See yesterday’s Maundy Thursday post.

So, what then is required of us in these days of the New Covenant? It’s simple. Accept the gift that was given to us in love by our brother and savior Jesus. Admit our shortcomings and try to do better. Focus less on ourselves and more on others. Get back to basics: “Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8) Think about that. We have a God who truly desires to walk with us. He wants to walk the road with us, to share in our sufferings as well as in our joys. And if we’re willing to walk with God day by day, in good times and in bad, loving him, loving our neighbor as we love ourselves, we usher in his kingdom here on earth, as it is in heaven.

The Temple curtain has been torn. No barrier remains between us and our loving, faithful God. Tetelestai!

For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8: 38-39)

*Michael Maynard discusses the various meanings of “tetelestai” here: It is Finished. . .The Last Words of Jesus, June 25, 2017.

** See Final Words from the Cross, by Adam Hamilton, pp. 103-104. Our church’s Lenten study (on Zoom) has focused on this insightful book.

Our Time together is short: Here’s What’s Important (Maundy Thursday 2021)

Today is Maundy Thursday, the day in the Christian calendar that commemorates Jesus’s Last Supper. The unusual word “maundy” (not Maunday) comes from mandatum, the Latin for command, because we remember the new commandment that Jesus gave his disciples on his final night with them.  I wrote this post two years ago, but it’s as relevant today as it was then.  Perhaps, more so, during Year II of the covid pandemic.  Why not do our part in changing our troubled world for the better by listening to, and following, Jesus’s valuable life instructions?

On the night of his betrayal and arrest, Jesus gathered with his disciples for one last time to share the Passover meal together. He knew that his life on earth was drawing to a close. He had tried to explain to his dearest friends that he would soon be facing death, and doing so willingly. But the disciples didn’t understand. Probably some of them were expecting to witness a magnificent earthly triumph. Judas, the betrayer, may have been counting on such a victory. None of the disciples, it seems, were expecting their friend, teacher and Messiah to die an ordinary criminal’s death on the cross.

But the group must have been fearful and confused. They were back in crowded, dangerous Jerusalem, where Jesus’s life had been threatened multiple times during clashes with the Jewish religious leaders. And so, on that fateful final night, Jesus had the full and rapt attention of his disciples. He chose his words, and his actions, with care.

According to the Gospel of John (13:1 – 17), after the meal, he did something completely unexpected: he got up from the table and began to wash the feet of his friends. In those days, traveling, for people of ordinary means, meant walking, in sandals, or even barefoot, along dusty, dirty roads, through fields and stretches of sandy wilderness. A servant typically washed the feet of guests as they entered a home. If there were no servants, guests usually washed their own feet from a basin near the door. John the Baptist refers to this practice when asked by Jewish leaders if he is the Messiah. According to John 1:27, he replies, “I baptize with water. Someone greater stands among you, whom you don’t recognize. He comes after me, but I’m not worthy to untie his sandal straps.” The disciples were clearly uncomfortable with their leader and teacher washing their dirty feet. Had foot washing been done upon entering the upper room that night? It’s uncertain. Maybe there had been no basin set up for the purpose until Jesus poured water into one, as mentioned in John 13:5. The Pharisees had criticized Jesus when they noticed that some of his disciples failed to wash their hands before eating (Mark 7: 1-5). Certainly, Jesus’s focus was not on Jewish rituals of purity. External, physical cleanliness was evidently not one of his primary concerns. He may not have been a stickler for foot-washing prior to that last gathering.

The disciple Peter’s reaction supports this (John 13: 6-11). Peter was fiery, passionate and impulsive. Like many of us, he was often a bit dense. He couldn’t stand the idea of Jesus abasing himself to wash his feet. Foot washing was the job of an underling, a slave. Peter jumped up and exclaimed, “You’ll never wash my feet!” When Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me,” Peter was all in. “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!”

Jesus went on to explain his puzzling behavior. “Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. . .Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.” (13:12-15, 17).

Jesus wanted his disciples to understand that he had in mind much more than literal foot washing. Following his example is to mean humbling oneself in order to serve and help others. To further drive home his point, he continued: “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples” (13:34-35).

Jesus had spent three years traveling with this rag-tag group.  They’d heard him teach and preach, seen him heal the sick and cast out demons.  On three separate occasions, he’d even restored the dead to life.  The disciples had been with him as he confronted the Jewish authorities and challenged their interpretation of the Law.  Sometimes his words and actions had been difficult to comprehend.  But on the night before his death, Jesus summed up the essence of his ministry in the simplest of terms:  Serve others.  Love others.  Just as I have served and loved you, so you should love others.

Let’s take this Maundy Thursday message to heart. Let’s heed the wise counsel of our dear brother Jesus. Do our best to follow his example. Try to model his caring, compassionate behavior. We won’t always succeed. Sometimes we’ll backslide and act in ways that are selfish and petty. But let’s persevere. And change the world, little by little, through service and love.

Palm Sunday: Doesn’t everyone love a winner?

On the day that we’ve come to think of as Palm Sunday, Jesus was hailed as a celebrity, a military and political hero-to-be.  As he and his disciples entered  the city of Jerusalem, cheering crowds greeted him with cries of “Hosanna,” which means “Save us.” The news was out: at long last, the King of Israel was here.  He was the chosen one sent by God to restore power to the Jewish nation.  He rode on a donkey to fulfill the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9:  See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey.

It was a time of great rejoicing for the people of Israel.  A new day of freedom and empowerment was dawning, thanks to the advent of the conquering Messiah.  The palm branches they waved were emblems of Israeli nationalism.

In just a few days, though, the tide would turn. The admiring throngs would scatter when it became clear that Jesus was not the kind of king they had desired and expected.  Even his dearest friends would desert him.  He would be betrayed by one of his own, turned over to the Roman authorities and crucified. On Good Friday, it would appear that this man was no winner.

Good Friday, however, is not the end of the story.

This post was first published on April 1, 2012.

Epiphany 2020

Yesterday, January 6, was the twelfth and final day of Christmas. In the Christian calendar, it’s commemorated as the Feast of the Epiphany, marking the visit of the Magi to honor and worship the baby Jesus. Accordingly, our clothespin nativity now includes three richly dressed figures, accompanied by a fluffy and festively adorned camel. The biblical account reveals little about the identity of these visitors. They’re described as “wise men from the East,” likely astrologers, as they were led by a star to Bethlehem and the home of the holy family (Matthew 2:1-12). Their offerings of gold, frankincense and myrrh attest to their substantial wealth. Because of their Eastern origins, they were probably not Jews. Some sources suggest that they could have been priests of the Zoroastrian religion, widely practiced throughout Persia. Their inclusion in the nativity story serves to demonstrate that the baby Jesus was sent by God to be a savior not only for the Hebrew people, but for all nations. The first to arrive on the scene of the holy birth could not have been more different from the Magi. They were the shepherds, lowly Jewish locals who received a direct invitation from an angel. Thus, the message is clear: the divine child was sent for the good of every one of us. For people of all societal levels, poor and rich, servant and king, near and far. May those of us who profess to be Christians do our best to extend the message of Epiphany, and the message of God’s love, to all our brothers and sisters.

This post was delayed by a day because yesterday I was transfixed, like people the world over, by images of a mob storming our nation’s Capitol. Ironically, this attempt to subvert our democratic process was carried out by supporters directly incited by the “Law and Order” president. A pastor friend of mine has referred to the calamitous events of the day as the “Epiphany Riots.” I join her in hoping that the sight of these disturbing images might prompt at least some Americans toward an epiphany* of their own.

*According to the Mirriam-Webster dictionary, an epiphany is a “usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something.”

Oh, Christmas trees, 2020

This year’s peculiar pandemic Christmas season has been lacking (and lackluster) in too many ways. But it also brought about a return to some activities that I thought might have been largely confined to the past. In an earlier post, I wrote about how my daughter and I, home bound together in the family pod, were inspired to make a new type of Christmas ornament for the first time in years. It wouldn’t be right to consign our Band of Bulbs to a table or shelf. They needed an appropriate home for the holiday, as did our creations from years gone by. They needed a Christmas tree. No. Not just one. If all were to be accommodated, several trees were required. My daughter was adamant about this.

Last year I didn’t find the time or energy to put up the tabletop tree in our playroom. I’ve been known to grumble that this slightly bedraggled tree’s ideal location is a crowded corner of our messy basement. But this tree is particularly dear to my daughter’s heart. It’s the locus for most of the ornaments of her childhood, many of which we made together, such as bread-dough clay snowflakes, stars and candy canes, awkward wrapping paper angels, and little drums of felt and spools. It’s the place for decorations that she bought, with her own money, each December at her elementary school’s holiday book fair. Its base provides the perfect spot for a gathering of stuffed animals consigned to the attic for the rest of the year. It sets the room warmly aglow with its multicolored lights. Once fully decorated, I have to admit that it’s a wonderfully cheery sight. And when positioned in a corner just so, its pronounced slant is barely noticeable.

We hadn’t put up a tree in my mother’s house next door since her relocation to Virginia three years ago. Again, with time on her hands and a general absence of social activities, my daughter took the lead. Nana’s house, she insisted, must have a tree. Wasn’t there one lying forlorn, in pieces, in the basement? It’s been eleven years, when we spent Christmas in Atlanta, since she’d seen the ornaments my parents and I had collected and crafted over the years, the ones I remember so well from my childhood. Even the hand-written, idiosyncratic labels on the boxes bring me smiles and vivid recollections: Handmade Fancy Balls. Santa Makings. Big Red Balls. Angels & Rudolfs. So it was a special pleasure to unpack these vintage treasures again with my daughter, as Mama and I recounted the stories of Christmases past that they prompted.

Even some of the smallest of trees were decked out in lights and baubles this year at my mother’s.

Back at our house, the three skinny alpine trees in the dining room serve as the setting for most of our cork and pinecone people, pasta angels, Cape Cod scallop shell angels, and now our Bulb Buddies.

The big tree in our living room was the last to go up. We decorated it over a period of nearly a week. No ornament, even those that were damaged or funny-looking, was left out this season. Each one found a place on the tree. I bought no new decorations at all this year. None, indeed, were needed.

The boxes of holiday trappings stored at my mother’s house and mine would likely be considered mere clutter by many. But to me, to my daughter, my mother, and to some degree, even to my husband, these battered containers are filled not with stuff, but with happy memories. They spark joy. And joy has been elusive and fleeting throughout 2020. Let’s seize it, and savor it, where, when, and while we’re able.

I wrote about some of the best-loved ornaments on the family Christmas tree of my childhood in several posts from 2015. See:

Childhood Treasures on the Christmas Tree

Vintage Pinecone Elves on Skis

Uncle Edwin’s Silver Stocking

Unsilvered WW II-Era Ornaments on a Kentucky Cedar

Christmas Eve 2020

In the absence of a live nativity at our church this Christmas Eve in the time of Covid, I cannot offer my usual photos of curious onlookers mingling happily with the sweet-tempered camels Samson or Delilah. Or with their other charming cohorts, the brown burro, the velvet-coated humpback ox, the several sheep or goats.

Here instead is this little clothespin nativity that my daughter and I made together many years ago. Simple and humble, made from materials we already had, it seems especially appropriate this Christmas Eve. It points toward what’s important, what’s essential, on this night and every night. The message of Christmas is, in one word, love. Love embodied in a baby. A baby sent by God to grow up and model love not only to his human contemporaries, but to all future generations. The message is so powerful that it remains as vital today as it was 2,000 years ago.

It’s the love that mingles the divine and the human. It’s the love that shines in the darkness. And the darkness, including the darkness of a pandemic, will not overcome it.

For more on the Christmas message of love (and for photos of our live nativity friends), see last year’s post: The Timeless Message of Christmas Eve.

With Time at Home, a return to Christmas crafting

During my daughter’s younger years, she and I continued the tradition of making Christmas ornaments that my mother and I had begun in my childhood. (See Working Like Elves, and Next-Generation Elves, both from December 2011.) It’s been quite a while since D and I have created a new ornament, but with the unusual circumstances of this holiday season, the conditions were conducive for at-home crafting again.

In a long-forgotten handmade box among the Christmas decorations at my mother’s house, we found brightly colored vintage bulbs and various other odds and ends. Amidst the jumble were toothpick and pipe-cleaner arms from two of our past creations, the pinecone and cork people.

Cork and pinecone people, among pasta angels and Cape Cod shell angels.

My daughter and I had the same idea at once: Christmas bulb beings. Equipped with a newly uncovered box of miscellaneous ornament makings from Mama’s basement, we spent several happy hours, much as in Yuletide days of yore, working together at the playroom table. (We spent additional time attempting to remove Superglue from our fingers.)

Our new group of Christmas characters includes several with wooden beads for heads, like these red and green twins in acorn caps and sparkly pipe-cleaner scarves. . .

. . .and this royal-looking girl with gold accessories.

There is one apple-headed figure. My daughter enjoys the surrealist touch.

A pom-pom headed boy in a straw hat carries two miniature Christmas ornaments.

A cowboy in a black hat holds a lasso. There’s room in our bulb bunch for all types.

We made a few angels with wings of silk flower petals or glitter-covered card stock.

The bulb beings appear to be settling in well with their fellow ornaments. They owe their existence to the pandemic. Another Covid silver lining. The biggest, for me, of course, is having our daughter here for an extended stay. May you and your family find special blessings during this most peculiar holiday season.

Deck the Tree stump (2013) + Update (2020)

In 2013 I wrote a post about decorating the tree stump at the edge of our front yard with a Christmas wreath. In the course of seven years, the stump has changed substantially, as most of us have. I didn’t hang the wreath the past two years, but this year it seemed fitting to do so. The original post appears immediately below, followed by the current update.

Deck the Tree Stump (2013)

This December, we hung a big wreath on the craggy silver maple stump in front of our house.  It seemed like an interesting, if unexpected, spot for a wreath.  And by decorating the tree, we could send a message to those who might see it as a business opportunity, as well as to those who think the stump is unsightly and wonder why we leave it standing.  The wreath says, We love this old tree trunk, and we’re letting nature take its course.

Then I thought a little more about it, and the pairing struck me as even more appropriate in its juxtaposition of life and death.  The stump is the opposite of the traditional evergreen Christmas tree.  Firs and spruces, retaining the appearance of vitality through the winter, get the privilege of being cut down, hauled into our homes, strung with lights and ornaments, and left to wither and die.  It’s tough work, being a symbol.  Our maple, though, would be in no such danger.  If intact, it would be gray-brown and leafless by now, like its neighbors in our yard.  But of course, it’s a stump, a snag, and already dead.  Yet it harbors vast, unseen colonies of creatures that go about the business of breaking down lifeless material.  It won’t be long before nature’s course is run.  The stump may not be here next year; its center is soft.  All the more reason to decorate it this year.

My husband and daughter hung the wreath one weekend afternoon, as I was napping, trying to get over a persistent cold.  When I trudged out to the road to see their handiwork, a new insight hit me.

I like to think that God works with us for good, despite ourselves, despite our selfish intentions and our vanity.  I initially wanted to decorate the tree because I thought it would look pretty, if a bit odd.  In truth, it was a way of declaring a certain pride in being different, in having the ability to see beauty where others see ugliness.

But once up, the wreath reminded me of a greater truth, of the essence of my Christian faith.  Out of death comes new, transformed life. How better to say it than in the words of John 3: 16:

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

And then the snow settled beautifully on the wreath and the tree, on the green and the gray, on the quick and the dead, like a blessing from above.

Update: The Remains of the Stump (2020)

The stump lasted far longer than I expected. But nature, human error, and cars have taken their toll. It’s in a vulnerable spot, close to the narrow road, on a particularly sharp turn that’s proven problematic for drivers time and time again. Several years ago one May morning we were awakened around dawn by a policeman at our door. He asked if that was our vehicle outside. “What vehicle?,” I heard my husband ask in a confused tone, after he’d finally made his way downstairs to the door.

“The one in the tree.”

And sure enough, it appeared that a dark minivan had merged with the tree. While most of the stump remained, it must have been considerably weakened, as its decline soon accelerated.

Two summers ago while we were away on vacation, a little red Honda found its way quite forcefully into the stump, demolishing half of it. The section that remained no longer looked much like a tree, or even a stump. When that final piece gradually eased to the ground one day this fall, we barely noticed. Why not, one might ask, remove it, at this point? One answer is that, even as a pile of debris, it serves as a barrier for future wayward vehicles.

Last week, returning from a walk with the dog, I surveyed the battered remains of the once mighty silver maple. It, with five others, was planted the same year that our house was built, in 1920. (See The Silver Maples Say Welcome Home, April 2012.) Several large patches of ruffled pale green lichen had sprouted from the decaying wood. Even in its final stages, the tree continues to serve as evidence of the circle of life. (See Underfoot, and Easily Overlooked. . . October 18, 2013.) I thought of the big wreath hanging neglected behind the hockey nets in the garage. Why not, during this Covid Christmas season, decorate the vestiges of the tree as it’s in the process of transformation? The wreath on the ruins is, to me, a reminder that hope does indeed remain. We can have hope in human ingenuity and resilience during the darkest of times, proof of which is offered by, among other achievements, the development of highly effective Covid vaccines in record time. We can have hope in a divine and loving parent, who created not only maple tree and lichen, but also each one of us human children, unique in our blend of talents, strengths, weaknesses and inconsistencies. We were created for a life that increases in abundance as we love one another and rejoice in our differences. We were created for an abundant life that transcends the boundaries of this flawed and fantastic earthly realm.

. . .and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out on us through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.

–Romans 5:5


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