I Have Moved

Welcome to Treasure Hunt.

After being at this location for three years, I’ve moved to a new home.

This blog has a new address. I now have a self-hosted site called Gail B. Hyatt, “because life is a constant treasure hunt.” My new address is GailBHyatt.com.

Come visit me over there, and when you do, it’s very important that you re-subscribe to the blog on that site. The RSS subscriptions that I have from this site will not transfer to the new site.

The box where you can subscribe is in the upper right-hand corner of the Home Page.

Looking forward to connecting with you.

See you at the new place,
Gail

Productivity and Creativity at 30,000 Feet

What does flying in an airplane make possible? I’m about to land in Austin. The flight from Dallas to Austin is just under an hour. In the twenty minutes that we could have our computers out, I wrote this blogpost.

The flight from Nashville to Dallas was about two hours. Just enough time to get some significant work done.

How Do You Know When You’re Grown Up?

As the mother of five daughters, I have had no greater joy than watching my girls grow up into remarkable women. Sure I miss watching them take their first wobbly steps, struggling to master the pedals on a bicycle, and assembling shadow boxes for a 5th grade history project. But watching them grow up and leaving those childhoods behind has been my greatest joy.

Three weeks ago today, Madeline’s (23 year, old daughter #4) boyfriend Shawn was hit by a car while riding his bicycle. It was a hit-and-run accident and he has no memory of it until he woke up in the ambulance. His hip was badly fractured. He had minor spine fractures, numerous cuts and scrapes and a terrible road rash on his hip and leg that was about two feet long.  After being hospitalized following major surgery he came to our home to recover.

Music I Love: Lux Aeterna by Morten Lauridsen

Sunday night. I think it’s my favorite night of the week. Last night Michael and I were sitting in the library. He was working away on his forthcoming book, Platform. He was in the zone. I was catching up on email, blog posts, Facebook, etc. No real agenda. Just reflecting on the past week and planning for the one in front of me.

I love Sunday nights. It’s like a reboot. “Old things are passed away. Behold all things become new.” A brand new week awaits. A week to laugh, to cry, to grow and learn. A week to live.

The past week had been one full of challenges.

5 Steps for Harnessing the Power of Music

I was at a seminar this past weekend where music was used to enhance the different exercises we participated in.

Upbeat, dance music was played while we all entered the room. This got us excited about being there and put us in a real state of expectation about what we were going to learn.

Beautiful, epic, instrumental soundtracks were used as we reflected and wrote thoughts pertaining to our life and our future. Uplifting and positive songs put us in a state of gratitude and plenitude.

I’ve always known it and so have you. Music is power. It influences us all the time. Religious music lifts our hearts to worship. “Emo” music leaves us feeling melancholy and often depressed. Workout music makes us MOVE. Lullabies lull us to sleep.

Music is power.

Good-bye to Nelson

Yesterday, the Hyatt’s had to say “good-bye” to Nelson, our velvety-soft, floppy-lipped, forlorn-looking, co-dependent, devoted companion.

I’m still in shock. My eyes well up with tears at the mention of his name.

Four days ago, he got into some trash and did what English Setters are notorious for doing—he ate it. Quite a bit apparently. It was the second time he’d gotten deathly ill from eating trash.

I Now Present to You, Mr. and Mrs. Michael Hyatt

July 8, 1978. Thirty-three years ago today. 

How to Pack Your Hanging Clothes

Our dear friend, Anne Jackson, moved out yesterday. She’s been staying with us for a couple of months while looking for a place to live in Nashville. While lugging one load after the other to her car, I mentioned to her that I knew of a great way to transfer hanging clothes—especially if they’re going to be packed in a car.

We all know that hauling and transporting piles of hanging clothes is a royal pain. The piles slide every which way and become one big, tangled mess to pick up and sort through. Anne’s plan was to take them all off the hangers, fold them carefully, squeeze them into Space Bags, haul them to the car, into the new house, up the stairs, free them from the bags, unfold them, place them all back on hangers and hang them in the closet. Also a royal pain.

I said, “Stop! I’ve got the solution.” “Fold them in a sheet.”

“A sheet?” she queried.

“Yes, a sheet.”

I explained to her how.

“BRILLIANT! Absolutely BRILLIANT!” she exclaimed once the bundle was secured. “How have I moved 37 times [or however many times it’s been] and never discovered this? You’re a GENIUS!”

Well, I don’t know about that, but here’s how we did it. Six easy steps. Maybe it will make your next move a little easier.

How Many Books Are You Reading?

Last night, as Mike and I were going to bed, I read to him from a book I had just started. It was a book on marriage. It was debunking traditional advice given to people who desire to have a better marriage. Then this morning I read to him something I had read about Nihilism. It interested me because it applied to a problem a friend of ours was struggling with.

He said to me, “I thought you were reading the book about marriage.”

“I am,” I responded, “but I’m also reading about Nihilism.”

Then he thought for a minute. “And weren’t you just talking to me about something you read from A Wrinkle in Time?”

“Yep. I’m reading that too.”

I counted them up and admitted that I was actually reading six books at the moment.

He laughed, because he had five books of his own going at that time.

Do the Climb?—You’ve got to be kidding!

Sometimes we face enormous challenges. The climb is steep. The obstacles immense. We think we can’t continue. But that’s just when it begins to get interesting.

For example, last Sunday, I talked about Doing the WaIk. And that’s just what Mike and I have done almost every day since we’ve been in Colorado. But … I think we may have gotten a little over-confident.

We’ve loved hiking while here in the Rockies. So Tuesday we decided to do a climb. Not a climb as in rock-climbing, but a climb as in climbing up and over miles of rocks.

We had heard of two beautiful lakes on top of our mountain. The hike was only supposed to take an hour and half one way. We were up for it.

We started out on our beautiful forest trail.

We crossed over one bridge. (This is usually where our daily hikes have stopped—about 30 minutes up.) The little foot bridge would take us to places we’d never been before.

Do The Walk

(All photos for this post were taken on my iPhone.)

Let’s admit it. When it comes to doing things that you know are good for you, you can act like a little child. There are those times when you just don’t want to. Inwardly you feel like a rebellious little brat who just refuses. “You can’t make me.” “You’re not the boss of me.”

Or you’re like a whiney, pouty little kid. “I don’t feel like it.” “I can’t.” “Just leave me alone.”

Or there are those times when you are too cool and too smart to do it. “That’s okay. You go ahead.” “I’m fine.” “I’ve already tried that.”

There’s a little kid inside of each of us. Keeping us from getting what we truly want.

Invasion of the Cicadas 2011

(Pictures for this post were taken on my iPhone)

Now I’m starting to really get freaked out. It has started. The invasion of the Cicadas is here and there’s no stopping them!

For a small moment, I thought our yard would would escape the invasion. When we purchased our home six years ago, we literally stripped all the old grass and topsoil and replaced them with several inches of fresh dirt and sod. Almost all the landscaping is new. So, I naively assumed that whatever little thirteen-year-old creatures existed below the surface had been dug up and carried away. Not so.

The Bishop of London’s Address at the 2011 Royal Wedding

The wedding was glorious, understated, elegant, and honorable.

(You can access the official program HERE. All things related to the wedding, videos, photographs, etc., can all be found HERE.)

The two highlights for me were:

Pilgrimage to a Monastery

A few weeks ago, I traveled with seven women from my church to Safford, Arizona, 165 miles southeast of Phoenix. There we visited St. Paisius Serbian Orthodox Monastery (a women’s monastery).

I had never been to a monastery, and was so nervous about going.

Circus Weekend Part 2: The Circus

Last November PBS began airing a documentary series called Circus. (Check it out!) I fell in love with it as soon as I watched the trailer.  After I finished the six hours, I immediately looked to see if the Big Apple Circus would be coming ANYwhere in the Southeast. I would love nothing more than to take the grandkids to see it. But no such luck. Apparently The Big Apple Circus doesn’t venture this far south.

So I began to search for another circus that would be coming our area and realized that I would have to settle for the next best thing, The Greatest Show on Earth.

Circus Weekend Part 1: Pre-Circus

Well, Michael and I have joined the circus. Well, almost. For the past two weekends, we’ve been at the circus. The Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus to be exact. Here’s the story:

And yes, that’s me.

Ever since I bought a copy of Toby Tyler and showed it to the grandkids, I knew I wanted to take them to a Circus.

Who’s Coming to Blissdom?

Tomorrow the Blissdom Conference begins. I’ll be going for the first time. And for an extrovert like me, that is really exciting! Remember, for us, strangers are only friends that we haven’t made yet.

But, I’m wondering. Am I really an extrovert—like I used to be? Because I’m feeling a little scared about Blissdom.

It’s my understanding that Blissdom is a conference primarily for women bloggers and writers. (I’m am a TOTAL wanna-be when it comes to this camp.)

Making Memories

Uncle Loren has come to visit. And one thing we can count on when he comes are fun times. He’s the best about taking time to see his nieces and nephews, and not just seeing them, but making memories with them. I try very hard to capture these memories with photos because they are too precious to forget.

Here are some of the things that Loren does to make sure that his simple visits will last for a lifetime.

1. Capture them in pictures.
(Sometimes you have to let your ego go. Loren won’t think this is a very flattering picture of himself. He’s a very good looking guy. But it does show the lengths he’ll go to to capture a moment.):

Come on Nelson, say "Cheese!"

Wishing You a HAPPY New Year … And Me Too

I know I’m four days late, but I’m saying it anyway. “Happy New Year.” And I mean it. HAPPY New Year. Not happy like “I’m-happy-because-I’m-getting-everything-I-want” happy.” But “happy-because-I’m-at-peace” happy. This is what I wish for you.

I was thinking that happiness is really a state of being at peace, a state of contentment. When we “lose our peace” we can’t be happy. But “keeping our peace” equals true happiness and can be had anywhere, in any situation.

It happens in the heart.

Saying Goodbye … With Anticipation

I hate good-byes. And this week I’m having to say “Good-bye” to Christmas (January 7th, the day after Epiphany, is when I put away my decorations). Christmas is over. Waaaaaeh—I just tried spelling it this way for the first time. Does it sound more whiney than “Waaaaaa?”

Anyway, this week I’ll be be putting away all the Christmas decorations. Taking them down always makes me a little sad. It’s like stuffing a bobbing, jack-in-the-box clown back into its box and pressing on the lid. I feel rather cruel putting him back into his box, but I LOVE it when I start twisting the handle. I love the anticipation—knowing that he’s going to pop out any second and make me smile … again.

These make me smile:

Most of my ornaments are red and gold. Those, nestled in the fir’s greenery, are the perfect combination as far as I’m concerned. Radiant.