In my earlier post I mentioned the affect of the economy on our home, and Maine, and was delighted to see an opportunity to share on a topic that is somewhat related to both of these things.

My husband has a great interest in the economy because he has experienced unemployment twice after working for 30 years at the same company. He does have a job now that seems to be secure. In this job and in the previous job, he discovered that much of the work that was done by machinists and factory workers was being sent out to other countries because it costs less money. Fellow employees were loosing their jobs.

I see a similar thing when shopping for just about anything…but I’ll focus on clothing right now. Have you read the little tags on the cloths you buy? I don’t know when the last time was that I saw “Made in America” on a clothing label.

I personally don’t know what to do to help change this problem in a big way, but maybe in small ways change can be made, one person and company at a time. Researching what things ARE made in America and buying them is one thing I can do more than I have been.

Now here’s where the “Maine” part comes in – Ramblers Way Farm is a company that makes fine woolen apparel using resources grown and manufactured 100% right here in America. They purchased an old historic building in a small town that was struggling economically. They refurbished the 1792 structure located in Kennebunk, Maine, to it’s original condition. At the same time it had to be modernized so that it met our current environmental standards. This is now their Corporate Office. They have received the Gold Lead Certification level, which is a great honor….plus they can now provide jobs to people in an area that needs them badly.

To me, this is a GREAT example of how companies can help make “Made in America” a more common label seen on products, and at the same time provide much-needed jobs in distressed communities.

I think we may just pass through that way on our vacation mentioned in the post before this and see this place for ourselves. We love history, and what a wonderful example this is of preserving it.

This year, since my husband now has a job, and has not used the 5 days allotted to him for the year…yes, that’s it, just 5 days…for vacation, sickness, personal day, whatever, we hope to get away for a week and go to our favorite destination, Maine. We’re going to have to keep it downright simple, but we enjoy the simple things of life, so that’s fine with us. There’s so much beauty in Maine, and the lobster is wonderful.

We vacationed many times in Blackwoods Campground in Acadia National Park when the children were growing up. We loved vacationing in September before they were school age, and now that they are adults, we are back to vacationing in September.

I’ve probably written a few pages on here before about our vacations, and have elsewhere on the web, here’s a few links for you:

Blackwoods Campground in Bar Harbor Maine (this could use some updateing!)

Lobster Fishing and Feasting

I’ll be back with more a little later today.

I wish I had fond memories of Memphis, Tennessee to tell you about, but visiting Tennessee is a dream of mine…a memory I’d like to make. Some of the nicest people I’ve become acquainted with here on the internet live in Tennessee, and when I make my way down there one day, I can’t imagine not visiting Memphis.

I visited the site at one of the links included on the page and found that you can enter to win a trip package, something I’ll be doing as soon as I’ve finished typing this post.

Then I visited their website, which is what I’d call a “Memphis-savvy travel guide” and looked in the blue box around the middle of the page…under it was a large section of white with nothing written in it….hmmm…kind of a waste of space it seemed UNTIL I picked my interest…music was the first thing that caught my eye…and as soon as I picked it, that blank white area filled in with all kinds of wonderful things related to music…so I went on to pick a few other favorite things, like couple trips as I’d be going with my husband…no children…we’ve raised them…but they do have a family selection. In fact there’s lots of interests to select, you’ll have to give it a try…you can plan a good part of your visit right there.

I love flickr, have some of my own pictures uploaded there, here’s some nice places to see while you’re down there:

This is at the Memphis Botanical Garden…there are lots of beautiful natural things there, but what a cute idea…literal “flower beds”   I love botanical gardens.  You can look at the I Love Memphic photostream in Flickr for many more pictures.

Don’t forget to sign up for the enter to win a trip package…I’m going to right now…win or not, I do hope to visit Tennessee and have some memories to share with you.

As I was sitting here in the living room earlier appreciating the air conditioner in spite of the noise, I remembered our vacations as a child at my grandparents.  I don’t remember them using an air conditioner very much, if at all.  In later years there was one, only one, in a living room window, but it rarely went on.

I remember playing outside, running up the hill to the wooded area of their property picking blueberries, playing bad mitten, washing dishes by hand after dinner…that was our chore as children…my grandparents never had an automatic dishwasher….ever.

As the hot days wore on, we’d do quieter things, and enjoyed a nice dinner together around the table, followed each evening by the reading of a short devotional from “Our Daily Bread”.  Then, as the sun went down, something simple, but magical happened, on went the attic fan, and suddenly, quickly, the air in the house became cool as the heat of the day was pulled out of the house and the cool air was pulled in through the windows….funny the memories that come so unexpectedly…warm memories on a warm day.

I am blessed with a family members that love our Country and have served in the military..including a Father-in-Law who went into Normandy very shortly after D-Day and was honored for it in recent years, a Father who served during the Korean War, a Grandfather who served in the Navy and the Air Force, retiring as an Air Force captain.

These are veterans of the the somewhat distant past, but we have many new Veterans that need assistance, and vehicle donations are a wonderful way to help. Many are wounded, homeless, have families that need support, and with the economy as it is, there is uncertainty as to how easy it will be for them to get jobs.

If you want to know more about this, please click the “donate car” link and see what you can do. The organization is a non-profit, your donation is tax deductible, but best of all, they have been helping feed, cloth and shelter Veterans in need.  Your car doesn’t have to be running, and you can donate other items, like RV’s, boats, etc.

As with all non-profits, do your homework, research the site, and ask questions using the contact information.

This post contains both personal and sponsored information.

Lets face it, many of us may not want to know certain facts about our family’s past…but all of that information can help you know more about yourself, tendencies that may exist in your family, and if you are a person who believes in God’s power to heal (the God of the Bible), it can open the way to pray that God will help you through the things that you learn about yourself and your family.

Most of all, it can be great fun to learn who is part of your family history…like it was for me to learn that Charlotte Bronte is in my family tree…and others.  There’s a tool for working on your family tree in the sidebar, and I am also interesting in looking at some of the new resources on the internet.

May is Personal History Month, learn something about your personal history.