Screeching Halt!

 Don't panic...that is only what it feels like. I came back to Iowa with a long list of things to get done. It looked never-ending to me at the time. It has arrived. This entire week has only one to-do on it, and that's to pick up a med refill at the pharmacy. This too has its adjustments.

This morning I decided my comfy abode needed some cleaning up, so I hit the floor running, went for my morning walk, then came home and cleaned house. Finished by 10:00 AM, then ate breakfast!  

I see a curve ball in there! "Cleaned House." That is a phrase from my childhood or perhaps it is a Midwest term. And it reminds me of another term I heard lately. My sis-in-law Keri told me last week that she and her brother were going to "Put up corn." She was a farm girl, and "putting up corn" was just a fact of life. I thought I knew what she meant.  After all, I had heard the term "Putting up hay". Being a town girl, my understanding was that of a town girl and not as exact as she meant. She was referring to gathering sweet corn and freezing it to last through the winter.  Regional phrases are fun to run across.

Colleen and I walked at Daubendiek's Park down by the Raccoon River.  river.https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/iowa/daubendiek-park-loop

It is a 0.70 walk around the loop. Beautifully taken care of. 

I had not been there for years. It is one more of Jefferson's often overlooked treasures. I took some photos.

We followed this up with a visit to Henderson Park, just a short way south of town on HWY 4, near the golf course. Not a walking course per se, but definitely a sit-and-ponder park. The sound of the river running over the rocks is very soothing.

Pictures at Henderson Park: 

An honest stacking of rocks. Well Done!

Truth?

 While walking this morning, my little sis popped into my mind.  One of her many sayings was "Do you want the truth or a beautiful lie?" She so loved bending the truth to make things more interesting.

A friend

Avalanches! Tornados! Today is one of those days when thoughts of what I want to do keep popping into my head. I am in the midst of a craft project. It is fun, and I feel very good about it. But then I saw this opportunity to read a book by a local author on Kindle, and I thought ‘Oh yes, I want to do that!' And then I thought about my friend who I met in mysterious ways and what I could write about that! If I don’t get it from my head to print, it could easily get lost somewhere between my ears.

How we met. First off, I have known of her nearly my entire life. I knew her name. I knew her sister. And that pretty well sums it up. I found myself sitting in our RV alone and feeling very sorry for myself. Butch and I had started our RVing full-time plan. I was feeling I had been planted somewhere so he could go play golf while I was left to my own plan without a plan. I was in my hometown, where I had not been for 20 years or more. After 20 years, most of the people I used to know have left town or are otherwise occupied. You don’t just pop in on someone you have not seen in nearly forever and say I am here to visit!

And then this friend I did not know as a friend knocked on my door! The other day, we both decided we could not remember how we connected. I gave it some serious thought and remembered. Our husbands were golfing together. At least that's what we surmise.

We had RVing in common. So now, when we came back to Jefferson, I had a connection. We stayed in touch in lots of ways; we walked the bike trail every morning at 7:00 for a few years, we emailed, I blogged, she wrote columns, we would talk on the phone, and 2 hours would pass in a heartbeat. It got to the point we both hesitated to call because we knew it would be lengthy. I think our record is over 3 hours!

What brought all of this to mind happened yesterday. I was doing my early morning walk, and she spotted me while driving by and pulled to the curb. A train was going by, and it was Sunday, so traffic was nonexistent. I am guessing we talked for 15 minutes or more, and then she came to my house, where we continued the conversation.

These kinds of friends are few and far between. I have a few. I think you are very lucky if you have even 1!

And now I can get back to beading!

Pictures

 Trip down memory lane. I think you are all familiar with dragging out the big box of photos taken long, long ago. I have been doing the updated version of that on my computer. I will not bore you with all of my memories, but this one was out of the ordinary.

Butch didn't like asparagus, and no one is surprised by that. He knew I loved it and would bring some to me if the occasion presented itself. When I came upon this photo, I recognised the hands. No label necessary.

Simpler Life

 

Finalized!

 Yesterday it all came together. The house is sold. The money is in the bank. Water and electricity are shut off. Insurance is stopped on the house and property. It feels so good to have it all completed!

My goal has been from the get-go to have my life simplified, and now it is, as much as it possibly can be. Or as much as I want it to be!

Life After Eighty! 

The one aspect that frustrates me the most is not remembering names. I remember my mother-in-law, Marian Brooker, being frustrated when she could not remember names. I always told her to relax, and it would come. But now I am here, and it can be days before those unknown words come to mind, if ever!

Also, I have several thousand things I would like to do or get done, but there are never enough hours in the day. Naptime also gets in the way.

Still, I do not believe I have ever been happier or more grateful than I am right now. One of life's greatest lessons is that you and you alone are responsible for how happy you are. It comes from within. It is a decision you make every day. Butch and I ran across an elderly lady one day who was asked if she was happy. Her reply was, " If I were any happier, I would have to take a pill!" That is where I am each and every day!

Friends, family, travel etc.

 Butch and I traveled in our RV for 10 years. We made friends all over the place! We had friends who knew us most of our lives and those whom we may have known only for a summer. And sometimes it was with the same intensity. On more than one occasion, I wished we could have all of them together at the same time. Of course, that never happened. I still wish it could! Of all those friends and family, I also wished they could all see each other as we saw them! How fun that would be!

Look for the sweetness in this post, not the sour.

 

Currently

 My intention this morning was to catch up on the blog, look through emails, and answer people who have waited on word from me far too long. Well, my intention was good.

For a long time, I have wanted to clean out my email addresses, and of course I picked today to start. After far too long working on it, I changed course. I am up to the ells. I started out at 474 entries, and I am now under 400. Next time I will start backward! Have I inspired you?

Jason and friend Glenn played in a pool tournament on Saturday at Sam's Place in Ames. They both finished somewhere in the middle. Both of them would like to try it again. I am sure they would both do better. Doing anything for the first time is a learning experience. 

When I returned to Iowa last Spring, I was certain I would have lots of spare time. Wrong again! My main goal was to stock up on earrings. I have dabbled a bit. That is a long way from stocking up. I still have hopes, but I have been "home" for nearly 4 months now and still dabbling. Sigh..

When I woke up this morning, the thermometer said 77 degrees! Now I like to walk in the early morning when it is cool, so I scrambled around and went walking my usual route. I do not know how far it is, but it takes me 45 minutes. By my calculations, that's in the neighborhood of 1 3/4th miles. In that calculation were my former routes of 2 miles to the 1-mile marker on the bike trail. 1 mile down, 1 mile back =2 miles. Time-wise, 1 hour. Knowing that was a year ago, I may have slowed a bit. That's my story, and I am sticking to it.

Rambling on... My thoughts are slowly looking to the ride South. I ran across the checklist Jason and I had so we didn't forget last year, and OMG! 

I haven't put it together yet for this year, but it will be much smaller.

Till next time!