Sunshine and Mirrors

"Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves." ~James M. Barrie

Sunshine

"Sunshine, sunshine in my soul today." Don't you just love the sunshine songs in the church hymn books? Don't you just love the sunshine, especially in the winter time? 

The change from Daylight Savings Time this week has me noticing how the night comes quicker. Too quick, most people say. I know that we actually have the same amount of daylight today as we did last week. It's only our clocks we have messed with, but somehow when it starts getting dark an hour earlier, according to those turned back clocks, you notice the night coming more. But we do have plenty of sunshine if you can get outside to enjoy it before the daytime slides away. I took the above sunny picture last fall. Plenty of bright sunlight then. 

The Norway town of RJukan

But it's not that way for everybody. Enter this little town in Norway, Rjukan, tucked in between some mountains so that for six months out of the year, the residents have to take a cable car up the mountain to see any sunshine. The town has quite a history. It was established by industrialist Sam Eyde to provide workers for a hydroelectric plant he located at the foot of a nearby waterfall. 

Mirrors to the rescue

Photo by Terje Bendiksby, AP

A hundred years ago, Eyde came up with the plan to put mirrors on top the mountain to reflect sunlight down into the town. He never saw that idea come to fruition, but now it has. On Wednesday, sunlight reflected off three 183-foot mirrors reached the town square and for the first time ever the residents felt the winter sun in the town. The residents cheered, wore sunglasses, played volleyball and some even brought out their lounge chairs to sit and soak up the reflected sunshine. 

A Town with a History

This wasn't the first time this little town made the news. The town was occupied by the Germans during World War II and Hitler was using the factory to try to develop the atomic bomb. Twelve Norwegian saboteurs parachuted into the nearby tundra and survived the freezing temperatures to destroy the factory's "heavy water" plant. Their bravery inspired a Hollywood movie in 1965 and now a TV series is planned. 

The Surprises of Research 

You start out looking for one thing and then oftentimes, you find something even more interesting that you weren't expecting. I'd heard the mirrors reflecting the sunshine down on their town square mentioned on the radio last week, and then I find out the role this little town and its people played in the history of the world. That's the way research is and what makes it fun for the historical writer.   

So the town has known dark days not related to the lack of sunshine, but they've also known dark winter months every year. But now, the sun shines from the mirrors down into their town square. The lady I heard on the radio said the townspeople would be willing to share the spot of sun with one another.

 Some days you just have to create your own sunshine. ~Sam Sundquist

If you want to read more about the little town of Rjukan, here are a couple of links where I found my information.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/10/30/norway-town-sun-stavanger/3313105/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/30/rjukan-norway-sun-mirror_n_4177006.html

Again, thanks to all of you who played my mystery photo game. I have one of my winners, Sharon, but I haven't heard from Mary Preston. Mary, if you read this, please either leave info here on how to contact you or contact me at annhgabhart(at)yahoo(dot)com. If I don't hear from you before Sunday, I'll have to draw a new winner. 

Thanks for reading. Wishing for plenty of sunshine to shine down on you. And me too!  

A Grandmother's Time

A grandmother is a little bit parent, a little bit teacher, and a little bit best friend.  ~Author Unknown

Time - it's been on my mind this week because of Daylight Savings Time. Mom can't adjust to the time change very well because while she's forgotten many things, she hasn't forgotten that meals come at certain daylight times. Manipulating the hands of a clock doesn't change that overnight. And the numbers on a clock mean little to someone who has spent years on a farm ruled by sun time instead of artificially legislated time. My father refused to observe Daylight Savings Time and just did the math when it was necessary to deal with the world.  

Time is also something a grandmother understands well and by the time she has grandchildren, she knows how quickly time slides past. She has walked through the garden of life gathering experience and wisdom. And patience and love. A grandmother is a gift and a joy and for many of her grandchildren, a lesson in fortitude and hard work. Tonight we have a couple of stories that show that. First from R.D.

 
"My grandmaw lived for 98 yrs at the home she went to as a bride at 14. She could outwork most until a few years before she passed away. We all called her Maw. She dipped snuff. Was a tiny little thing. She could tell you about more history in the area than a  book...she would call the area the trail. The Indians would cross that area. Many people found buckets of arrow heads,and artifacts. She picked cotton,had ten children; the youngest (85 now) is still living there and never lived anywhere else. He had 8 kids. Some others had 8-9-10 kids. Some 2. Her only daughter living is 96 and still lives at home with a great mind and still cooks her pintos and fried taters. Maw used to stay with us some growing up. We loved it. She was quarter Indian,and we loved that we were kin to Indians. Maw was so special. We always visited her,(and all our grandparents)but she was the one that I keep in my heart close. She gave me a very ugly whatnot and I’d never been prouder of a gift. It was special to her, thus to me. I miss her."

Holly also had a special grandmother who made it through some hard times. Here are some memories she shares of her grandmother.
 
"My grandmother was a hard working woman who raised 5 children during the depression by herself.  My grandfather passed away when my Dad was only 4 years old. She took in laundry, babysat, and worked however she could in order to provide for herself and the children. I remember her as a happy person who tried to find the good in everything. She knew how to make do with what she had.  I know that she has a beautiful mansion in heaven now!"

The good Lord knew what he was doing when he provided us with grandmothers. Helpers. Teachers. Friends. Dispensers of pure love. 

More grandmother stories are on the way. And if you haven't entered my Scent of Lilacs Giveaway Celebration, you still have time. Just leave a comment here with a way to contact you or send me an e-mail from my website. Great first prize of a Grandmother's Bible. Jocie told a grandmother story on her blog post on her Hollyhill Book that I think you might like. She loved her Mama Mae the way so many of you loved your grandmothers. Please keep sharing your stories. I love hearing them and hope you are enjoying reading those stories I've been able to share forward. 

  Grandmas hold our tiny hands for just a little while, but our hearts forever.  ~Author Unknown

Springing Forward

"An extra yawn one morning in the springtime, an extra snooze one night in the autumn is all that we ask in return for dazzling gifts. We borrow an hour one night in April; we pay it back with golden interest five months later." -Winston Churchill

Did you remember to spring forward this morning and make it to church on time? Most of us at our little church were on time, even me. Most of the folks at my church look at their watches in disbelief and wonder if they are late if I beat them to church on Sunday mornings. I always aim to be on time, but then I'll think I can do one more thing before I leave and the clocks somehow go into double quick time and before I know it, I'm running late. It's a good thing my church family is so tolerant and forgiving.

But I have to admit to doing a little extra yawning this morning the way Winston Churchill said in his quote above and it'll probably be worse tomorrow when I get up to start writing. I'll be nodding at my computer and hoping I can think up the right words in my sleep. My mom and sister and I were talking about what we remembered about Daylight Saving Time around here. Actually when I was a kid we were in the Central Time Zone, but changed to the Eastern Time Zone to keep from going on Daylight Saving Time every summer. That lasted a few years until the powers that be put us back on DST but we stayed in the Eastern Time Zone.

Anyway I decided to do a little history searching to see when DST started. Benjamin Franklin thought it would be a great idea in 1784, but not enough people agreed to get it started then. It wasn't until 1918 that the U.S. first implemented DST to help with energy saving until the end of WW I, but DST proved so unpopular that the order was repealed after 1919. It wasn't until the nation entered the Second World War that Daylight Saving Time was brought back to once again save energy for the war effort. The nation moved the clocks one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time year round from 1942 to 1945. In England they also moved the clocks ahead one hour year round during the war and in the summer they had Double Summer Time when they moved the clocks ahead two hours.

After 1945, states and municipalities were free to observe or not observe DST on whatever schedule they decided to set. This caused so much confusion with train and bus schedules and television and radio program listings that Congress passed the Uniform Time Act of 1966 in an effort to standardize the time throughout the country. Areas of the country were still free to not observe DST if they passed a local ordinance, but if they did decide on DST they had to start it on the last Sunday in April and end it on the last Sunday in October. This stayed the timetable until 1986 when the beginning time was moved to the first Sunday in April. And now it's been moved up another couple of weeks.

So that's a little history of why we have DST. Now the question is do you like it? Are you happy with having that extra yawn in the spring and do you think it does present us with dazzling gifts of more sunshine after our work or school days?

I like it okay once a few days pass and I'm used to the new schedule. And in the summer it's daylight around here until way past nine o'clock. Plenty of time for gardening or walking. Not as much time for sleeping. Of course what I really like is the spring sunshine whatever time it is. And it felt like spring here this weekend - finally. Perhaps too much like it tonight with storm warnings out.

We went to WV to babysit the twins and their big sister Friday. They're growing fast. Already almost sitting up and ready to smile everytime anybody looks at them. Big sisters are all doing well too. One thing sure, there's always a baby to hold right now in that household. I can't even imagine how people manage with triplets or more.

Hope you all had a good Sunday.