My Heroes

Doug watches a show on TV called Heroes. It’s one of those bizarre, way-out-there shows about people with special “abilities.” I never got into it. Doug also watches Smallville, a modern-day tale about Superman in his younger years. Not being a fan of science-fiction or fantasy, I don’t watch that one either. I did watch the old Superman TV shows – who didn’t? Who could resist a guy who could always find a phone booth where he would transform from mild-mannered Clark Kent into a superhero who was faster than a speeding bullet and could leap tall buildings in a single bound? I always thought it was pretty funny that no one recognized him as Clark Kent just because he wore glasses, but I once failed to recognize an old friend after he shaved off his beard, so maybe I would have been just as unobservant as Lois and Olsen. (But then they were reporters, after all.)

In the past few years, there have been more movies made about superheroes than I can count, and for my husband’s sake, I’ve endured many of them, though I drew the line at Transformers. I’ll admit that I even liked Spiderman – that one had a real story – and Iron Man was pretty funny. But I prefer real heroes over fictional ones.

Like Julie. Julie is a fellow church member. Her husband Keith is disabled and spends most of his days in a wheelchair, even though he is about my age. He cannot work and neither can Julie, whose full-time job is taking care of Keith. Needless to say, money is scarce for them. Keith’s last bout in the hospital left him with an extremely weak immune system, so they have been quite isolated the past few months. Their main companions are the cats they love and the alpacas they raise on the little bit of land they own. We were all surprised this past Sunday when Keith came into church with his walker, wearing a mask to avoid catching germs that could be fatal for him. He and Julie came in late and sat in the back. The woman sitting next to me in choir nudged me when she saw them and said, “That is just sad.” But Julie always has a sweet spirit and a genuine smile on her face.

Then there is Henry, another church member, and his wife Linda. Henry lost his first wife to cancer after faithfully caring for her for many years. Later he met and fell in love with Linda, who is about two years older than I am. Shortly before they were to be married, Linda discovered that she also had cancer, and it was bad. Not wanting Henry to go through that again, she lovingly tried to let him “off the hook,” but he would have none of that. They married and have been a sweet and loving couple that always hold hands and exchange loving glances while sitting in church on the pew in front of us. It’s been rough. Linda has been through chemo twice, and now it looks like she won’t win this fight. But Henry is right there by her side, and her faith has been an inspiration to the entire church. We all love them. When Linda lost her hair, all the ladies in the church wore hats one Sunday as a show of support for her.

I have other heroes, like my dear friend Vivian. Vivian is one of the most giving, unselfish people I know. When a single friend of hers adopted a special needs child, Vivian helped raise the boy, babysitting whenever her friend needed a break. She and Ken became his second family. Later, Vivian took her mother-in-law into her home and cared for her until she died of liver cancer. Now she has her own aging mother in her home and keeps her grandchild during the week while her daughter-in-law works. She has done all this willingly and without complaining. She is the best grandma I know.

All caregivers are my heroes. There’s my sister, who took her mother-in-law out of the nursing home she hated, and cared for until the end of her life, even though she was a difficult woman at times. And my cousin's wife Janice, who cares for her mother who has Alzheimer's, her grandchildren, and now her great-grandchildren. And my mother-in-law, who befriended an elderly woman whose children lived in another state and were uninvolved. She visited her in the nursing home faithfully until she died. My friend Charlise took a great-aunt into her home and cared for her many medical needs until the end because there was no one else to do it. Now her husband has taken over the care of their aging pastor who has Alzheimer’s. I’m not sure I could ever be so unselfish as to take on the care of someone I have no familial obligation to!

These people are true heroes. They don’t make blockbuster movies about them. They don’t get much reward in this life, but they have earned a crown in heaven. I only hope that when I find myself in the position of caregiver, which I probably will soon, I can have the same sweet spirit they have all possessed.

Then comes the morning

There’s magic in the morning. When I was a young girl, I would sometimes get down and out over some teenage romance gone sour or Daddy’s strictness, and Mama would always give me the same advice: Go to bed. Things always look better in the morning. And they always did.

I don’t know why it works. Maybe all the anxiety is discharged through my bizarre dreams. Maybe the mind just needs to rest same as the body. Whatever it is, the morning sun is medicine to the soul. Every morning is a gift from God – another day of love and life, a fresh start, a chance to live life better and make better choices than I did the day before. Yesterday’s arguments seem silly, failed diets begin anew. That long-delayed project might actually begin today. Yes, there is excitement with each new day.

Surely nature intended that we would rise with the sun. Now that I’m retired, I have that luxury. The one thing I hated most about working was having to get out of bed while it was still dark outside. It just wasn’t natural. But there was a payoff – when I drove to the end of the road leading out of our subdivision, I often saw the sun rising over the pasture across the road where horses grazed. I turned north, but then quickly turned back to the east and drove to school watching the giant red orb rise over cotton fields and farms. By the time I reached the school, I had prayed for the new day and was ready to face a classroom of energetic teenagers.

People wax over spectacular sunsets, but to me, a sunrise is so much better. Sunsets signal the end – the end of day, the end of life. A sunrise is a newborn baby – a new beginning, filled with hope. And it is beautiful. There could not be a more lovely sight than that of the sun rising over the Atlantic Ocean. I never go to the beach without getting up early one morning and walking down the sandy beach as I watch the firey red orb of the sun emerge from the water and send a stream of colored light across the ripples. It illuminates the low-lying clouds with streaks of orange, red, and gold before it rises above them and transforms into the smaller, much brighter yellow sun that lights the day. It is breath-taking. I think of all the poor, deprived souls who sleep in till noon and never see such beauty.

Yes, there’s magic in the morning.

Another Kitchen Disaster

As you can see from the picture, my bundt cake did not turn out exactly the way I had envisioned it. I was trying my cousin’s Deb’s latest entry to the family newsletter and cookbook, Triple Chocolate Coffee Cake. First, I broke the cardinal rule of cooking – never try a new recipe on company. Actually, I’ve broken that rule numerous times with mixed results. I never learn.

Then I made my next mistake – I changed something in the recipe. In this case, it was the pan I baked it in. The recipe said to pour the batter into two 8X8” square pans. I decided it would make a lovely bundt cake. Hah-ha. I realized that the bundt pan was probably too full, but plowed ahead and plopped it in the oven. Sure enough, the batter rose and spilled over the sides, making a terrible stink throughout the house. But the worse part was, it didn’t get done in the center. I took it out too soon, and you can see the results of an undercooked bundt cake. Doug took one look, laughed, and said I better go to the store and buy a pie.

But you know the old saying – “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” I decided to break my half-baked cake into chunks and put it in one of those 8X8 pans I should have used in the first place. I sprinkled white chocolate chips on top and baked it a little longer. The result I called chocolate cobbler, as it looked similar to the dessert Cracker Barrel serves by that name. It had the texture of lava cake, and was delicious served with ice cream. My company was none the wiser; in fact, they were impressed!

There have been other similar disasters. On the Fourth of July, I wanted to make homemade peach ice cream for Sean and Misty who were up for the holiday. Mama and Daddy were coming for the cookout as well. That morning I was cooking the custard for the ice cream on top of the stove, stirring the milk and sugar. Sean called me from down in the basement to come see something on the computer. The custard seemed far from boiling, so I went down for a quick look. It turned out he wanted me to see a video of the chicken farmer singing on America’s Got Talent. It took a while, and of course, I forgot all about the custard. When I remembered, I turned and ran up the stairs and into the kitchen only to see custard boiling over all across my smooth-topped stove, where it burned into hard lava rock. I threw it out, sent Sean to find more evaporated milk at the store down the road, and started over. The rest of the day was spent scraping lava rock off my stovetop, which, thankfully, was not ruined.

These kind of disasters and the fact that I really don’t like to sew are why I avoid telling people I was a home economics major. People would expect better.

If I Were Perfect

If I were perfect, my day would go something like this: I would rise up early, no later than 7:00 am, well before Doug gets out of bed. I would remember to weigh before doing anything else so my eating would be controlled. I would then start the coffee, take out the dog, and spend some time reading from God’s Word. Next I would hike up and down the steep driveway to jump start my metabolism for the day. By then, Doug would be awake, and we would enjoy a healthy breakfast together. I would then clean up the kitchen, putting away the dishes in the dishwasher, and check the menu to see if I need to take food out of the freezer for supper.

I would start a load of clothes in the washing machine. Next, I would check my email WITHOUT getting on Face Book where I might become engrossed for the next hour. Instead, I would straighten up the house and do any cleaning that needed to be done.

By now, I would be ready to start my project for the day, whether it be painting a picture, writing, or working in the yard. I would alternate and be sure that I worked on each of these projects at least once a week.

After taking time for lunch, I would go up to Mama’s and help her out in whatever manner she needed. Then I would sit down and just visit for a while.

When I got back home, I would spend some time practicing on my fiddle. Then I would run errands if need be, and if not, I would get back to work on the project for that day.

I would start supper on time, and fix plenty enough to take left-overs to Mama and Daddy afterwards. I would clean up the kitchen, then load and start the dishwasher. Then I could sit down at the computer to check email and spend time surfing the Net or playing games on Facebook. I would be sure to touch base with friends and family thru email or the phone. I might watch a little TV with Doug if there is something on I really want to see. I would end the day with time spent reading, and get to bed no later than 11:00. Before I went to bed, though, I would check my planner for the next day and take my vitamins. I would wash my face and take good care of my skin.

That would be a perfect day. It rarely happens - ok, it never happens. I too often sleep till 8 or 8:30. I linger over breakfast and play with Little Bit. I watch GMA, Regis and Kelly, The Doctors, and sometimes The View while I putter around the house. Often there are places we have to go, usually a doctor’s office, and the day is shot. I waste time playing Bejeweled on the computer and often don’t get around to working on any projects. I forget about supper until around 5:00 when I start figuring out what we have to eat. I put clothes in the washer and forget to dry them. Then when I dry them, I forget to take them out until they are all wrinkled. I seldom exercise, and often don’t take time to read my Bible. I watch the same old stories play on FOX over and over only to become worried and anxious about the future. I eat too much. I stay up way too late playing Scrabble on Face Book with my sister, then go to bed with my make-up on.

Paul said it best in the Scriptures: “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep doing.” Thank goodness Paul doesn’t stop there, but tells us that Jesus will rescue us from this body of sin! (Even a fat, out-of-shape body!)

Nagamind Nuisance

The other night I noticed a book that had been sitting on my shelf for well over a year entitled, simply enough, Worry. Since I’ve had plenty to worry about lately (in fact, I’ve never had any trouble finding SOMETHING to worry about) I decided to peruse it. The book is written by a doctor named Edward M. Hallowell, and in it he describes some of the patients he has treated over the years. One was a doctor who had been sued in a frivolous malpractice suit by someone she had considered a friend. She was so traumatized by the event that she lived in fear of being sued again and found it difficult to continue practicing medicine, so she sought the help of Dr. Hallowell – who I keep wanting to call Dr. Halloween. Anyway, he tried some out-of-the-box treatments for her fear. One was to objectify her fear and give it a name. So, she imagined that her fear was a big ugly toad she named Hugo. Whenever she felt her fear coming on, she pictured Hugo hopping up to her, and she would simply shoo him away. Dr. Halloween admits it sounds crazy, but he claims it really helped.

I figure why not give it a try; it can’t hurt anything, and it’s much cheaper than a visit to a psychiatrist. But of course, I can’t just copy what someone else has done; I have to be more creative than that. And besides, I imagine my fears and worries to be much bigger than a little toad. So what animal could I use? Well, around here, people talk about nuisance bears that get into their trash cans and bird feeders. Perfect! From now on, my fears shall take the shape of a big black bear with the catchy name of Nagamind Nuisance. I will picture the large creature lumbering up our driveway towards our house. Now they tell me that the best action to take when you encounter a bear is to wave and make lots of noise to scare it away, so long as it’s not cornered or has a cub. If it’s a mama bear with a cub, the best action is to pray real hard. (Which also helps a WHOLE LOT with my real worries.)

So next time I get worried that Obama is going to bankrupt our economy and leave us without our government pension, I will see old Nagamind Nuisance coming and grab some pots and pans and clang them together real loud and shout, “Get out of here, Nagamind Nuisance!” The poor frightened bear will turn and run away as fast as his furry legs will carry him. No more fear.

So how is it working for me? So far, the idea amuses me enough to dispel my worries fairly well. You will have to ask me later on about its long-term effectiveness.

Sleepless in Hayesville

Well, it’s another sleepless night for me. Here it is at 2:00 a.m. and I haven’t dozed off once, mainly because I couldn’t shut my brain off. I kept thinking about Sean and Misty and their house, and Hayden, and then I worried about Mama and Daddy for a while, and then I thought about my painting, and the whole time Free Bird was playing in my head! After an hour and a half of all that mind chatter, I decided to get up and write. (That’s how I started writing in the first place.) The experts say if you lie in bed awake for longer than an hour – or is it thirty minutes; I’m not sure – you should get up and do something quiet that relaxes you, like read or work crossword puzzles. Writing works, too. Actually, it serves as a kind of brain dump, where I can unload all the pesky worries and thoughts that keep me awake. I also took a sleepy pill that should kick in in about an hour.

Those same experts also tell you that it’s not good to be on the computer or watch TV late at night because it’s too stimulating to the brain. I hope they’re wrong about that, because that’s when my sister and I play long-distance Scrabble on Face book. In fact, we played from 10:00 until I went to bed at 12:30. I squeezed in a few games of Bejeweled while I waited for my turn. (Bejeweled has got to be the world’s most addictive game.) Mary Jane and I love to chat while we play; there’s nothing like good ole Scrabble trash talk! We call each other endearing names like Turkey Butt and sick sadistic sister. Unfortunately, I was getting beat tonight in every game we played.

Today was a nice day. I took Mama up to the church to have lunch. The church ladies all bring a sandwich and sit around the table eating and talking on the first Tuesday of every month. It’s just a time of fellowship. This was only the third time I had made it there; something has always interfered with our going. Usually it’s been one of Doug’s eye shots. They’ve all been scheduled on Tuesdays, but we had them moved to Wednesdays, and that’s what we’ll be doing tomorrow.

Mama enjoyed getting out of the house. After I took her home, I went over to Verlee’s studio to paint with her and three other people. Verlee taught two painting classes I went to at the art gallery where I volunteer twice a month. She has an “open studio” every Tuesday from 1-4, and today was the first time I have gone. We sat around chatting and painting while she had this great CD playing with all these songs I grew up with – that’s where Free Bird got stuck in my brain. The neat thing is that it doesn’t cost anything, and we can all give each other advice.

From there I went to the children’s home and helped Isaiah with his math and reading. He is a cute little boy in the first grade. Sometimes he is a holy terror, but today he was sweet and cooperative. I also helped Spring with her math. After staying there for an hour, I returned home and painted some more until I got hungry and heated up the beef stew I had made for company this weekend.

Doug had been at Sean’s since yesterday, helping him put down new floors in their bathrooms. He spent the night at his mom and dad’s and worked with Sean all day today as well. I’m told the house looks really good and can’t wait to see it when everything is done. I did see it the day they closed the loan, but it was very much a construction zone, and there was still much to do. Sean and Misty are so excited about their new home. Well, it’s new to them, and they are making it look like new. I guess they are nesting, getting ready for little Hayden. Just three more months!!! I’ll be a grandmother! I hope she will like to draw and paint so we can do that together. I know I can read to her. I’m very good at reading out loud to children.

Well, it’s been 45 minutes, and the pill hasn’t started working yet. Oh, well. Since I never got around to reading the Sunday paper and it’s still lying in the chair, I might as well do that. Good night!

Celebration

Happy Birthday, America! I know it’s been a rough couple of years, but you’re still the greatest country on earth. I thank God I was born here and nowhere else. I just hope they don’t change you too much; I want to be able to recognize the country I love so dearly.

So it’s early in the morning on the Fourth of July. It’s a beautiful, cool morning here in the mountains of western North Carolina. Everyone else in the house is still asleep. Sean and Misty are down in the basement. So is Dixie, and Little Bit is asleep in his crate.

We have a big day planned to celebrate our country’s 234th birthday. Mama and Daddy will be here at noon for grilled steaks, fresh corn-on-the-cob, salad, rolls, and twice-baked potatoes. Yesterday I bought peaches for homemade ice cream. There are also two ice-cold watermelons in the basement fridge. Misty and I hope to have time to take our floats to the lake and get in the water for a while. Then tonight we will be at the dam watching the fireworks and hearing music.

Of course, we are celebrating much more than our country’s birthday. After Sean and Misty arrived yesterday, Sean handed me a copy of PC magazine and told me there was an article on pg. 34 about what he does at work. I turned to the page and there was a picture of a sonogram – of our first grandchild! I nearly brought the house down! Doug says he needs to check for structural damage after all my yelling and jumping up and down. Misty is two months pregnant and expecting the baby at the end of January.

Naturally, I couldn’t wait to spread the news so I immediately got on Face book and then sent out multiple emails. I called my sisters, and we went up the hill to tell Mama and Daddy they are going to be great-grandparents. When we talked to Cindy, we found out Blake was proposing to his girlfriend that night! So our family gatherings of twelve will soon be fourteen. Blake did propose, and she said yes. Life just keeps bringing new surprises.

Doug just got up, so I’m ready to go get my cup of coffee and bowl of shredded wheat. It’s actually too cool to eat it on the deck! The sun is coming up, though, and it will soon be warm.

One more thing about this day that I have always found quite interesting – Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on the Fourth of July, exactly 50 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Fitting, don’t you think? Have a safe and happy Fourth, everyone, and don’t forget to pray for America.

A Good Weekend

Father’s Day was really good this year. We went to Athens last weekend to celebrate with Doug’s daddy. His birthday was on the 18th, so we celebrated everything early by surprising him with something he had talked about getting for a long, long time – a big screen TV! It is a 40 inch Toshiba LCD flat-screen. We all went in together on it – us, Kathleen, Sean and Misty, and Katie. We told him it was his birthday, Father’s Day, and Christmas – his present for the year! (I’m sure we will get him something for Christmas, but that’s what we told him!) He was so happy to get it that it made all of us happy as well. He even went and bought a new stand for it this past week. We had had to put it on the coffee table since his old TV stand wasn’t big enough. We told him we would help him get the stand and put it together the next time we were down, but he couldn’t wait! He had to get a neighbor to come help him with it, though.

JW turned eighty-one this year. I think he does very well for his age. He doesn’t seem as old as Daddy, even though he’s actually five years older. He is on a lot of medication, same as my folks. I guess all old people are. But he and Doug’s mom get around pretty good. They like to go out to eat and play bingo. They have lunch at the Senior Center at least once a week, and they get together with friends to play games. I couldn’t imagine Mama and Daddy doing all that. They don’t even go out to eat very often anymore since Daddy lost his sense of taste.

We called JW on his birthday, and he had a big day planned. Katie and Wayne were meeting them for lunch, and friends were taking him out to dinner that night. We called again yesterday, and he was back from church, enjoying his new TV.

As for my daddy, I decided he had lost so much weight (without trying, I’m afraid) that he needed new pants. His old ones looked like they were wrapped around his waist a few times! He had no idea what size he needed, so I told him I was taking him to a new clothing store in Murphy so he could try them on. We made the trip on Wednesday. Daddy was in his usual negative mood that day. I started out rather cheerful, but this is how the conversation in the car went: first he talked about the property dispute with the neighbors, telling me for the umpteenth time what terrible people they are and how they are going to hell over all this; then he went on to talk about how we are certain to have a nuclear bomb detonated in this country in the near future, and how the North Koreans are planning to attack us; then he went on to say that Obama has done more damage to this country in the short time he has been in office than all the other presidents of his lifetime combined. This was followed by dire predictions for the economy and the demise of America. Thankfully, we arrived at the store, and he got focused on finding pants. I had to go in the dressing room to help him since his balance isn’t that great. I was surprised that he wears a 36 in. waist! (He looks so skinny.) He asked me how they all looked, and I told him that it didn’t matter what size he bought, they would look baggy in the rear-end because he didn’t have one. He said, “Well, if anyone asks what happened to it, tell them I worked my ass off.” He really did.

We found four nice pair of pants in different colors, and then he found some shirts as well. I went to the register to pay for them, and there was a lady already there to check out. She told me to go ahead since she was going to take a while. She only had three little items, so I told her I would just wait. The cashier rang her up, and then the woman got out a bag of coins and dumped them on the counter in a big pile! “You must have robbed the piggy-bank!” I said.

“No,” she replied, “my husband leaves his change lying around all the time, and I grab it.” She was a plain, meek-looking little woman, and I wondered if that was the only way she ever got anything nice for herself. Meanwhile, the cashier decided to void her transaction and let the lady start making stacks of quarters while she rang mine up. Daddy and I left and went to Long John Silver’s for lunch. Then we went to Lowe’s to get a new light he wanted. When we got to Lowe’s, he started talking about this girl they went to high school with, who decided to become a nurse. One day she was taking a break and smoking a cigarette when a friend of hers sneaked up behind her and threw ether on her. She immediately went up in flames and burned to death. Apparently, throwing ether on each other was a joke they played because it felt so cold when it hit the skin. Her friend never got over it. (I probably would have lost my mind if I had done that.) I don’t know why Daddy felt compelled to tell me all that, but I couldn’t shake the image from my mind the rest of the day.

Despite the negativity, the day went well, and I was pleased we found clothes he could wear.

Things got a lot better this weekend. Mike and MJ arrived really late Friday night, and Sean and Misty got here around 10:00 am Saturday. (Kevin and Cindy came last weekend.) We all took Daddy out to eat at a steak house. Then we came home and ate MJ’s peach cobbler with ice cream. This was followed by homemade banana pudding for supper. MJ and Cindy have been so worried by Daddy’s not eating that they bring food up here all the time. They both really like to cook. Anyway, Mama and Daddy were in a very good mood having so much family around. Daddy seemed better than he had in weeks. MJ, Sean, and I played triple solitaire and had a great time.

Sunday morning Doug and I took Sean and Misty to the Cottage Deli for what has to be the best breakfast you can buy anywhere. When we got home, they gave Doug his Father’s Day gift – a cordless drill and circular saw. By the time they left to go home, it was too late for us to go to church, so Doug went to the garden and gathered the first squash. I used part of it to make a casserole for lunch. I also made tartar sauce to go on the trout Mike and MJ had caught the day before. Then we went up to Mama’s where I boiled potatoes and got everything ready except the fish, which Mike took care of when they got back from church. Daddy fried them outside in his fish fryer. They were delicious! But the best part is, we were sitting there stuffing our faces when Daddy suddenly said, “This fish is really good!” We all just sat there for a moment. Then – “You can taste it?!” we all asked at once. “Yeah, I can taste the fish!” He went on to eat the most food I’ve seen him eat in a long time, and he enjoyed it all. He followed that with a bowl of banana pudding. We are hoping now that his sense of taste might be coming back.

Mary Jane and I cleaned up the kitchen and then relaxed on the sofa for a while. Most everyone went to sleep. Mike was lying there with his mouth wide open, and we wished we had ping-pong balls so we could play corn-hole with it. Either that, or bounce them off his bald head. MJ and I decided to play solitaire, and Doug actually got up the nerve to play with us for the first time. (Our games are wild and crazy, and you can get hurt.)

We had told Daddy there was something that really stunk in the fridge down in the basement, and he went down to find what it was. When he came back, he said his smeller must be gone cause he couldn’t smell anything. Doug then said to him, “Paul, you’ve lost your taste buds, your smeller, your hair, your teeth, your butt and your memory!”

“I told you I was going to leave early,” he responded.

“Yeah, but you didn’t tell us you were going one piece at a time!” I added.

Later on we had raspberry shortcake for supper. Notice we do not eat especially nutritious suppers. Doug and I went home so Mike and MJ could come down and see my waterfall before they left. Just as they left, Mama and Daddy’s next company arrived – Bill and Jo Poor. Bill is an old high school buddy of Daddy’s who lives in Orlando now. They came up to spend the night. Mama and Daddy really don’t care much about having company these days unless it’s family, but they couldn’t tell them not to come when they called. Besides, they really like them a lot, and Bill is the only other person left from Daddy’s old gang. Doug and I stayed home and watched “Impact” about the moon colliding with the earth. I’ve always been a sucker for disaster movies. I have to admit I felt kind of sad after everyone had left, but I appreciate the weekend we had.

Celebrating an Anniversary

This past weekend marked the first anniversary of our move to Shooting Creek, North Carolina, and we celebrated it in style. (Actually, there just happened to be a lot going on that weekend.)

We started on Friday with a trip to the movies. Doug wanted to see Terminator, but I had had enough of blow ‘em up, shoot ‘em up movies for a while, so I opted to see just Up, the latest Disney offering. I was glad I did. The animation was adorable, and the story was poignant and sweet, offering a glimpse into the lives of elderly people who feel the world has passed them by. There were even some good laughs. Doug and I met up after the movies were over and went to Asiano, an oriental restaurant in the area. It was good, though not as good as Pekings in Athens!

The next morning we got up and went down to the Farmers’ Market on the square in Hayesville. We enjoyed tasting various jams, jellies, and sweets, as it seemed everyone was handing out samples. We bought a small loaf of pineapple – banana bread, which we ate for breakfast the next two mornings. From Hayesville, we drove to Hiawassee, where they were having the annual Fire in the Mountain chili cook-off to raise money for the fire department. We bought enough tickets to sample five different chilies. There were 28 entries in all! Zell Miller was there, signing copies of his latest book, Purt Nigh Gone, and, of course, I had to have one. He autographed our book and posed for a picture with us both.

Lest you think all we did was have fun the whole weekend, when we left the chili cook-off, we came home – well, after a stop at the Just $5 store. I then spent most of the afternoon helping Daddy cut lower branches off trees on the property and haul them off. It was hot and quite a job. Doug joined us after a while, and we both got dirty and sweaty so we had to have showers before going out for the evening. And what an evening it was! We had tickets to hear Josh Turner at the GA Mtn. Fairgrounds. Our seats were on the third row, right in the center. I got great pictures! (He is a really cute guy, by the way.) We both love his deep voice, and he put on a great show. We got home around 10:30 and went on to bed.

The next morning we went to Sunday school and church. Then we ate a late breakfast at the Huddle House with Mama and Daddy. I spent Sunday afternoon as usual, watching This Week with George Stephanopolus and reading the Sunday paper. Somewhere in there I squeezed in a nap.

Not every weekend is so eventful up here, but things do start happening in the spring. This coming weekend we’ll be attending the Roots and Music Festival at the fairgrounds. We’ve gone for the last three years, at least. There will be plenty of good bluegrass, crafts, and tons of food. Maybe even some of the family will be up – I hope so!

Spring in the Mountains

Make a Smilebox photobook

Face book - good or evil?

Well, it’s been two or three months since I broke down and joined the popular social network called Face book. I was heavily influenced by my son and daughter-in-law, who were mesmerized by it whenever they were over at our house. I really didn’t see what the attraction was, but I figured I might be able to keep up with their lives better if I joined. So I did, even though I had always thought it was for teenagers. It definitely is a fact of life for the younger set. I once asked Sean what percentage of people under thirty were probably on Face book or My Space, and he guessed about 90%. I’d say he was about right. I have been surprised, though, by how many people my age (old) are also on there!

It didn’t take long to find lots of “Friends.” All my former students are on there, and I’ve found out all kinds of interesting things about their lives after high school. (Sometimes I learn things I really didn’t want to know.) I chat with a few of them regularly. One night, I kept up with a real-time account of the birth of one of my former student’s first baby. It was quite exciting.

Only about four of my high school buddies are on Face book, but it sure has been fun catching up with them. One of them is fighting a battle with cancer, and I keep up with how he is doing. I also found old college friends as well as many friends from various churches we have attended over the years. Even my current pastor is on there. I’ve also kept up with people we met on our last cruise. A couple of close, current friends are on my Friend list as well as a few family members. I love keeping up with them through their wall posts. I’ve never been much of a phone person, and I never write letters to send through snail mail, so Face book provides me with contact I otherwise would not have.

I also love seeing all the pictures people post. I’ve enjoyed sharing my pictures as well. I’ve wasted time answering random quizzes where people reveal facts about themselves, and I’ve wasted lots of time playing games, mostly word games like Scrabble and Scramble. One night I stayed up till midnight playing a three-way Scrabble game with two of my former students. On the plus side, experts say that such mind games can help us avoid Alzheimer’s. Oh, and then there is Farm Town, sort of like a Sim City for the country. I’ve got cows, pigs, horses, and lots of crops to raise. (I need two more neighbors to go to the next level if any of you are interested.)

I once read where a person joined Face book and a friend said to them, “Welcome to the biggest time-drain of your life.” Well, I guess it certainly could be. One does have to exercise a little discipline. Some people obviously spend WAY too much time on there, but I try to check mine maybe two or three times a day, which I can do since I’m retired.

Other people make fun of Face book because of the rather humdrum, boring things that people post like, “I got only two hours of sleep last night,” or “Gave the dog a bath today.” But the reality is that life is made up of just such moments and concerns, and it helps you feel connected to people when you know what’s on their minds.

In short, I’ve become a true Face book devotee. I know that, without it, I would have felt far more isolated and cut off from the people I know since moving here to the mountains this past year. Some people dislike the impersonal nature of “electronic communication,” but it’s really no different from old-fashioned letter writing – just a quicker response time. Internet communication is definitely better than no communication at all!

The only thing that would make Face book better would be if more of my close friends and family members would join, but so far, I haven’t been able to get them interested in it. Right now, they see it the way I once did, as something that kids do to waste time. Maybe one day they will see it as a way to keep in touch with the people you care about and have fun, too.

Friends Come for a Visit

 
 
 

What a fun weekend! Ken and Vivian Payne and Vivian's mom, Hattie, and David and Linda Lavender came for an overnight visit. It was great to see them, even if the weather was not what we had ordered. The Paynes arrived at lunchtime on Saturday, and we ate hamburgers Doug had grilled on the deck. Unfortunately, it was too chilly to eat outside. The weather started to clear a little after we ate, so I took Vivian to my favorite plant nursery since she is in the middle of a landscaping project. It is the most beautiful nursery I've ever seen, with a huge variety of plants. We had fun tramping through the mud looking at flowers.

When we got back, the Lavenders had arrived, and I finished getting supper ready. We had barbeque pork, Brunswick stew, baked beans, corn-on-the-cob, and slaw. Vivian had brought a birthday cake for me and Linda, since both of us have birthdays coming up this week. It was the coolest cake with a picture of us celebrating our birthdays together two years ago. The picture was even edible! It was also a delicious cake, especially with ice cream. After supper we watched the latest X-file movie and then sat out on the deck talking until quite late. We had blankets and sweaters!

This morning we got up and made coffee and sat around talking a lot more. Then we went to our favorite restaurant for breakfast, The Cottage Deli. It has a buffet, and the food is as good as Cracker Barrel's. The Paynes left after breakfast as Hattie was not feeling well. By then, the weather was much-improved. We then drove around for a long time showing the Lavenders all the sites, especially the campgrounds. They have a very nice RV, and we thought they might want to bring it up this way sometime. We stopped at a roadside stand and bought tomatoes, watermelons, and plants.

The Lavenders left when we got back. Doug took a nap while I read the Sunday paper and watched This Week with George Stephanopolus, a Sunday tradition with me. Mama and Daddy came down for supper and helped us eat the left-overs. Now I'm blogging and soon I'll finish the day on FaceBook - like I said, a great weekend!

Old Youth Pastors and Fond Memories

This was a weekend for old friends and fond memories. Doug and I traveled back to Athens to attend a retirement party for Barry Shettel, longtime youth pastor at Prince Avenue Baptist Church, where Doug and I were members for over twenty years. Retired youth pastor – that’s almost an oxymoron! Many pastors start out as youth pastors, but it is just a stepping-stone to being a full-time pastor of a church. Barry never had any such intention. His heart was always with the young people, and he pastured the youth of Prince Avenue for , I believe, 29 years. During that time, he had a tremendous impact on the kids in the youth department as well as the adults who helped him. Doug and I were fortunate to be two of those adults who spent years as Sunday School teachers and attended many camps and other events with teenagers. We saw Barry in operation throughout those years, and were amazed by his patience and good humor with kids, even the ones who would have tried the patience of a saint! He always kept a spiritual focus in all that he did, and provided wonderful teaching on Sunday mornings. His influence was proven by the fact that many other youth pastors came out of Prince Avenue. Most of all, Barry was and is the ideal role model for young people. I don’t believe he ever let them down. How many people could say that?

As for Doug and I, we had a lot of fun in those years, cried a few tears, and learned a great deal. Camps provided some of our fondest memories. We became friends with other youth workers that we treasure to this day. And, of course, we have kept up with the lives of many of the kids we came to love as well. Sunday evening we got to see many of them for the first time in years. It was like a great big family reunion! We delighted in seeing old friends and kids that now have kids of their own. It was great seeing Barry get the honor that was due him. He accepted it humbly, as always.

Prince Avenue was our home church for many years, including the first years of our marriage. Our attendance there probably saved our marriage! As young married adults, we sat under the excellent teaching of Leonard Hampton and Frank Brannon. We also went with other couples to hear the teaching of Bill Gothard. From these Godly men, we gained the foundation we needed on which to build our family. Our son grew up there, singing in children’s choir, attending RA’s and camps, and attending the church’s Christian school for eleven years. I taught in that school, taught Sunday School, and sang in the choir. I used to joke that I might as well pitch a tent in the church parking lot, since I practically lived there anyway. We learned so much under the teaching of Brother Bill. We made lifelong friends in that church as well, people we are still very close to today. I can remember many times when, sitting in a pew, I would be overcome with a warm feeling of belonging in that church.

I also remember singing in the annual Singing Christmas Tree. Perhaps my favorite Christmas memory was the time we sang while the congregation passed the light of a single candle from one candle to the next. Looking out across the sanctuary from high up on the tree, the lights of a thousand candles was one of the most beautiful and meaningful sites I have ever seen. The singing tree was always the highlight of the Christmas season, and probably did more than anything else to keep me mindful of the true meaning of Christmas.

We later left the church. We moved out to a neighboring county and eventually wanted to attend a community church with people we lived near. Also, Prince Avenue made the decision to move the church and begin a very ambitious building program. Doug and I did not support that move, and felt if we could not support it, we should probably attend somewhere else.

We spent a year attending a Presbyterian Church with a wonderful pastor and lovely people, many of them associated with Westminster Christian Academy where I was then teaching. We stayed there long enough to decide that we are not Calvinists. From there we went to Watkinsville First Baptist where we found another fine pastor in Carlos Sibley. We joined and attended there until our move to Hayesville, and now we are members of a small, but friendly and active Baptist church five minutes from our house. When we go back to Athens, we enjoy visiting Athens Church where we hear the amazing teaching of Andy Stanley. In all these moves, we have learned that the family of God is the same wherever you go. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ. I have a confession, however. Since leaving Prince, I have never had that same warm sense of belonging I often experienced in services there. I guess that’s because I don’t have a history or roots in these other churches. Prince Avenue Baptist Church will always be a part of me, no matter where I live or attend church.

Barry will soon be off on a cross-country bike tour. I know he will have a great time and make lots of new friends along the way, because that’s the kind of guy he is. He will be influencing people for Jesus as long as he lives, wherever he goes. Have a great retirement, Barry! You have earned it.

A Weekend for fish

So much rain fell this past weekend, everyone was talking about building an ark! Experts have now announced the drought of the past several years is officially over. Doug and I picked this lovely weekend to drain and dismantle a fish pond.

The people who are renting/buying our house in Oconee County did not want the fish since they won’t be there all the time to take care of them. They are taking possession of the house April 1st. We agreed to find the fish another home and fill in the pond. (This was sad, especially for Sean who dug the pond for me for my birthday one year.) Although the Avants said there was no hurry, it is getting warm, and the fish needed to be fed, so we decided to get it done this weekend after the weather forecast showed a break in the rain for the afternoon.

The forecast was wrong. We drove the two and a half hours down there in nonstop rain. When we arrived, we had lunch with former neighbors. Joanne had made a delicious homemade lasagna which we enjoyed immensely. The rain still had not stopped after we finished dessert and coffee, so we sat and talked with Joanne and Ferris for another hour. Finally, the rain slowed to a drizzle, and we went to the house to begin what would prove to be a difficult, dirty job.

We donned our rain jackets and put our hoods over our heads. I pulled the hose off the outer pump so water could drain onto the ground beside the pond. It drained very, very slowly. The ground had already been saturated with several inches of rain, so the water from the pond turned the ground into a mud bath. Doug and I soon looked like we had been mud wrestling! We moved all the heavy stones away from the edge of the pond so we could pull up the liner once the water was gone. We used two five gallon buckets to dip water out while the hose was draining. Occasionally, the rain got heavy enough to drive us back into the garage.

Once the water finally got fairly low, I filled the two buckets about a third of the way full of pond water and started trying to catch the fish with my net. It was impossible. The water slowed the net down, but not the fish! They got away every time I tried. We realized we would have to drain almost all the water before we could get to them.

Meanwhile, we pulled the potted plants out of the water. The lilies weren’t hard, but I had about three pots of water irises that had all merged together in one gigantic mass of roots and stems. Waterlogged, it weighed a ton! Doug and I struggled with it several times before we finally pulled it out.

We had a dinner date for that evening, and time was running out, but I felt we had to move the fish at this point since so much of their water was gone. Finally we got down to the place where the fish really had no place to go and I could net them out. The water by this time was red, and I couldn’t see the fish at all. I just kept dipping until I couldn’t get any more. The fish went into the five gallon buckets, which we put in the back of the RAV and drove to my friend Susan’s house. They were dumped into her pond to wait until my sister Cindy can get her pond up and running and come get them.
From there, we drove straight to Ken and Vivian’s house. We arrived dirty and wet and went to take showers before we ate the great steaks they had grilled. We had a wonderful evening with friends before retiring to bed.

Sunday morning the rain was gone, but a cold front had moved in. We had to return to the house to remove the liner from the pond. It had rained during the night, putting more water back in. We started the pump draining again. As the water got lower, it somehow got under the liner. We pulled and pulled off and on for a good hour before we finally got it out. Then I dismantled the external filter and hosed off the liner. Meanwhile, Doug dug up a large cedar tree that had been ruined by the recent snow storm.

By the time we were done, we were cold and dirty. We loaded the last of our things into the RAV and drove to Sean’s house to get a pet crate for Little Bit. We finally returned home, tired and ready for a hot shower.

On the bright side, we had a good time eating a bagel and cream cheese at Panera Bread with Ken and Vivian that morning. We sat and talked for a long time. Then we went to Wal-Mart to buy pet supplies. After that, we met Rod and Marlene to eat lunch at Rachel’s, and Rod insisted on treating us. It was so good to see them. So we worked hard, ate well, and enjoyed good friends – not a bad weekend after all.

Seeing God at Work

Sometimes things happen that just have God’s fingerprints all over them. Such was the case this week in two different situations.

The first happened when I went to Fred’s to get diapers for Mama. I was dismayed to see a long line at the register because I knew I would be late for choir practice. However, I was standing there when the older woman in front of me turned around and saw the diapers. She looked at me and said, “I have a whole case of those I will give you if you want them.”

“Really?” I asked incredulously. These diapers cost around $10 a pack, and Mama goes through them in no time. The cost of these diapers has become a real bone of contention between Mama and Daddy. Daddy hates buying them all the time and claims they cost him $100 a month, which, considering the source, is no doubt an exaggeration. He also hates carrying them off in the trash. Lately he has been pushing her to get a catheter, an idea that two doctors have told us is very, very bad. Catheters are notorious for causing infections.

The woman in front of me smiled kindly and said she would be glad for me to have them since her husband no longer needed them. I thought he had probably died, but then she went on to tell me the whole story. He had been in a horrible car accident a year ago last October that pretty much crushed one side of his body. Doctors told him he would never walk again. He spent two months in the hospital in Chattanooga and several more months in a nursing home before finally returning home. During his recovery, he needed the diapers because he couldn’t get up and go to the bathroom. Now he is walking with a walker and takes himself to the bathroom. He refuses to use the diapers anymore.

I told her how much my mom would appreciate it because of the cost of them. She then went on to tell me she is able to order one case a month for only $8.00! And they are Depends, not the cheap kind Mama buys at Fred’s. She told me she would be glad to order a case for Mama every month if we just give her the money. This was great news! The lady introduced herself as Virginia, and went on to tell me how much Jesus has helped her over the past year-and-a-half, so now she wants to help others. It turns out she lives here in Shooting Creek, not five minutes away from us. She gave me directions to the house and her phone number, hugged me, and left. I went on the choir practice and sang with more enthusiasm than I had in a long time!

On the way home, I took a slightly different route because I wanted to take some pictures for an album I will call “Spring in the Mountains.” I was heading back toward the house when I saw a very small black dog standing in the road. It was running around looking lost and confused and had no collar. I stopped and got out and tried to go up to it, but it was so frightened, it ran back into some briars where it hid behind a log. I couldn’t get to it without getting all scratched up. When I got as close as I could, it growled at me. It was so terrified, I thought it might bite. I gave up and got in the car and left. As soon as I did, he came out and started after my car. Just then, another car came down the road, and I stopped and waved them down because I was afraid they would run over the little dog. The saw it and stopped as well. I saw them get out in my rearview mirror. Well, maybe they will get him, I thought. I drove on a little ways, and then decided to go back to see if he was still there. I didn’t see him anywhere so I turned around again and started up the road, and there he was, standing in the exact same spot where I saw him the first time. I tried in vain to get him to come to me.

I went on back to the house and fixed a bowl of food, which I took down there. He ate like he hadn’t eaten in a week. I couldn’t believe such a tiny dog could eat that much food. He still wouldn’t let me touch him, however. I left him curled up behind the log, shivering and cold.

The next morning he was still there. I tried to entice him with a milk bone. He came very close to taking it from my hand, but then backed up behind his log again. I had brought a towel to try to cover him because he clearly was cold. I managed to drop it through the briars over him. He stayed underneath it. I decided he probably needed water. I went back to the house and got some. Boy, did he ever want the water! He came to it immediately and lapped it up. Finally, he allowed me to pet him. I left him there and went on to Virginia’s to get the diapers. When I came back, he seemed glad to see me. I was able to pick him up, put him in the car, and take him home. He was introduced to Blackie and Dallas, who behaved well. Now Little Bit is asleep in a box outside on the porch. Doug says we can keep him as long as he stays outside. Daddy is ok with it, too, so I guess we have a dog again!

Mama said there'd be days like this...

It started before the day even began. Sometime in the wee hours of the morning, I woke up like I usually do and got up to go to the bathroom. As soon as I stood up, I doubled over in pain. I had the worst stomach cramp of my life! You know how bad it hurts to get a Charlie horse in your leg – well imagine that in your stomach. In agony, I managed to roll back into bed where I lay in a fetal position afraid to move an inch – for a good half hour at least. I could barely breathe. I couldn’t call Doug either. He has a terrible cough and went to bed upstairs so he wouldn’t keep me awake. I was glad Dr. Mercer had removed my appendix or I would have been seriously worried that it had burst. As it was, I decided that too much fiber in my diet had resulted in a large volume of gas. After a very long time, I was finally able to relax my abdominal muscles and eventually went back to sleep and slept until 9:00 am. I woke up feeling sore around my midsection and not in the least bit hungry. So I decided to do some plumbing.

Yesterday, Doug had started installing a new kitchen faucet to replace the old leaky one. He was interrupted in the middle of this by Daddy, who had loaded his pickup with Mama’s junk, intending to take it to Dan’s second-hand store. Just as he started to drive off, a tire went flat on his truck. Dan came over, and it took all three of them half the afternoon to fix it. Then Daddy wanted us to bring more of Mama’s stuff down from the upstairs in the shop for the next load. I knew Mama was going to be upset by all this, so I hurriedly got things I knew had sentimental value for her and brought them back to our house to put in an upstairs closet. Now this is the same stuff I had spent the hottest week of the summer hauling out to the shop in the first place. Doug and I brought down boxes until Dan’s truck was full. Then Doug got back to work on the faucet. Meanwhile, I was on the phone trying to placate Mama about the loss of her things.

The old faucet would not come off. When Doug and Daddy finally got it off by tearing it to pieces, the new faucet wouldn’t go on. There was a small metal clip that attached the hoses under the sink to the faucet – a very important piece. Doug struggled and struggled to get it on, all the time coughing his poor head off. His back was killing him from lying under the sink so long even though I had stuffed pillows under it. We finally decided he should quit for the night and try again this morning.

I was up before he was. I thought maybe I could get the little metal clip on simply because my eyesight is so much better than Doug’s. So I crawled under the sink and had the same trouble trying to get the clip on. Then I dropped it. I tried to pull it towards me only to see it fall through a tiny crack at the back of the cabinet where it was – and is – irretrievable. “Oh no,” I groaned. “Doug is going to kill me!” I hurried out to the shop to search for one of those magnetic thingies that picks up screws and nails. After searching in vain, I went back to the house to find Doug coming into the kitchen. I confessed to what I had done, and to his credit, he didn’t get mad in the least.

I left Doug eating breakfast without me and drove to the hardware store in Hiawassee hoping to find a replacement part. They didn’t have one. Then I tried Dan’s. No luck. Defeated, I returned home and called the company that made the faucet to request a part. Supposedly, they mailed one out to me. So until it comes, I am without water in my kitchen. We at least put away all the things that had been under the sink, and I took the dirty dishes to the kitchen downstairs. By now it was time for lunch. I really didn’t want to cook, and besides, everything on the menu contained beans, which didn’t seem like a particularly good idea considering the night before. I warmed up some soup.

I left then to go to my painting class, definitely the highlight of my day. It was great, except for getting blue paint all over myself. Last week it was white. I don’t know why I seem to be the only one in the class that can’t paint without getting it all over my person.

After class, I dropped off a prescription for some nasal spray for Doug’s cough. I told the woman Doug had not used the pharmacy before, but he had the same insurance that was on file for me and gave them his birthday. Then I went to the hardware store to buy some new pipes to go under the sink because the old ones weren’t long enough for the new faucet. Now it was time to drive to Murphy to top this wonderful day off with a mammogram – scheduled at 5 pm. After THAT fun experience, I drove to Lowe’s to see if they had the little metal clip so I wouldn’t have to wait for it to come in the mail. I waited and waited for someone to help me only to be told they didn’t have one. Then I drove back to Hayesville to the pharmacy to pick up Doug’s prescription. They hadn’t filled it. “When is his birthday?” the girl wanted to know. I gave it to her, and she went to the back. Then she returned and told me, “He’s never been here before.”

“Yeah, I told the woman that when I dropped it off two hours ago.” I had to go talk to the pharmacist who asked me, “When is his birthday?” After giving someone his birthday for the third time, I waited and waited until finally the prescription was ready. Then I walked over to Hardee’s to order our little thick burgers for supper. I waited while they cooked, and when they were ready, they discovered there were no French fries cooked. So I waited and waited while they cooked the fries. At least they were hot. By now it was 7:00, and the little bowl of soup was long gone. The medium order of fries was a small order by the time I got home. Believe it or not, while driving home I listened to the song that shares the name of this blog post on the radio.

After we ate, I got on the computer only to discover that Doug had deleted the program I needed and had spent 30 minutes downloading yesterday because he didn’t recognize it. Besides that, the printer wasn’t working. While I sat there reloading the software, I absent-mindedly drank what I thought was my coke only to discover it was Doug’s – he with the horrible cough.

At last we settled down to watch a movie we had ordered from Netflix – one of the few I got to pick out, and, you guessed it, the sound didn’t work. So, there was nothing left to do but chronicle this terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day.

New Discoveries

I’ve made two new discoveries this past week that should prove to be most time-consuming. The first one is Facebook.

Course, I’ve known about Facebook for ages; pretty much all my students spent more time on it than they did doing homework. I just didn’t get it. Then Sean and Misty got into it – big time. They would come over and eat and then sit there on their Facebook instead of talking to us, which was rather annoying. When I complained, Sean just told me I should try it. I told him I had no idea what I would do on there, and besides, I thought it was for kids. Then he started telling me about people my age he had as “friends.” I guess the thing that finally sold me was when an old friend of mine was dying from cancer. Sean kept me updated on her condition via Facebook. Maybe it could be useful after all. I finally caved in and decided to try it.

Well, I’m having lots of fun. So far, I have 56 friends. Most of them are former students, and I’ve enjoyed finding out about their lives today. They sound happy and excited about their lives, and it makes me remember how I felt when I was young and starting out on my own. So many of them have posted pictures of their kids. (That part makes me feel old.) I’ve also caught up with some old high school friends. One of them has been in a year-long life and death battle with leukemia. I chatted with him for some time the other night. I’ve found people from Prince Avenue I haven’t talked to in ages. And yes, there really are lots of “old people” on there! Some of them are good friends I never knew were on Facebook – like Don Fournier. (If I find Pris on there, I will fall over from a heart attack.)

I’ve also discovered Pathwords, a game you can play on Facebook. It’s my new favorite game since Excite messed up my Mah Jong. The problem is, I can’t beat Doug or Sean.
Of course, this is a huge time waster. I like to believe that I am exercising my brain to ward off Alzheimer’s.

The second big discovery this week is a gym. A friend from church told me about it. It’s located in the Clay County Recreation Center, and any resident of the county can use it for free. Besides a nice basketball court and walking track, it has a weight room with nice weight machines, free weights, treadmills, and ellipticals. Doug and I are trying to go three times a week. Yesterday we worked out there and then went to the dam to walk since it was so pretty outside. I really, really need the exercise.

I did do something useful yesterday. I painted the outside door, pruned the rose bushes, weeded the flower bed, and cleaned out the car. Today we plan to paint the last bedroom. Well, the sun is up, so I better go fix the coffee.

Dog-sitting Doldrums

Last week Doug and I kept our doggie niece and nephew while Mary Jane and Mike enjoyed a week-long cruise in the Caribbean, where they had the perfect weather we were denied on our own cruise. The dogs are cute, loving, and sweet. Spooky is a fourteen-year-old miniature poodle. He has been Mary Jane’s baby since he was a pup. We’ve kept him several times before for a weekend, and all went well. Daisy is a recent addition to the family. She is a little black Chihuahua mix, or a chi-who-a-who-a, as they are known in our family. My cousin’s wife Janice once saw the word in writing and innocently, and quite seriously, asked, “What is a chi-who-a-who-a?”

This is the same Janice that once showed up in the middle of the night standing in our bedroom wearing nothing but her underwear. She thought she had gone into the bathroom. When she turned on the light, Doug and I sat straight up in bed, and there she was. “Oh, my God!" she cried before running from the room. She returned to the guestroom and woke David to tell him to pack their bags; they were going home! Meanwhile, Doug and I kept laughing so hard we couldn’t go back to sleep for hours because one of us kept shaking the bed in a new fit of giggles. Janice is a good sport, which is a good thing because our family never lets you live something like that down.

Daisy just showed up at Mary Jane’s house, apparently abandoned. Now she clings to Mary Jane and exhibits signs of attachment disorder. After MJ and Mike left them here on Saturday morning, Daisy cried nonstop the rest of the day. The only time she would quiet down for a brief period was when she was on my lap. In fact, Daisy gives new meaning to the term “lapdog.” I got very little done all week as she was not content unless someone was holding her.

Spooky recently had cataract surgery. He is still blind in one eye and deaf in two ears. Calling him does no good whatsoever; you have to go get him. He has three different eye drops and two pills he must have every morning. He takes the pills embedded in peanut butter, which he loves, and he wants them as soon as he wakes up. If they are not forthcoming, he complains loudly until he gets them.

Old age seems to have affected Spooky’s mind. He seems to have forgotten what it means to be housebroken. We would let him out each morning as long as he wanted, and then he would come inside and immediately poop on the rug. Sometimes he did it three times in a row. (At least it wasn’t runny or messy!)

Daisy is used to sleeping on MJ’s bed, but Doug wouldn’t hear of it. We put her in Casey’s old crate at night. The first night I left the crate upstairs where it is warm, but she cried for hours – loudly. I ended up putting the crate in the basement where we couldn’t hear her. I turned on a small heater for her down there.

Theoretically, crates can be used for housebreaking, as dogs do not want to soil the small area where they sleep. No one explained this theory to Daisy. The second morning, Doug got her out of the crate and took her outside without noticing that she had pooped all over the crate. (You would think he would smell it; maybe he didn’t want to notice so he wouldn’t have to clean it up.) Anyway, Daisy came and jumped on the bed with us and curled up next to me without me knowing she had slept in a poopy crate all night. At least now I know that my new quilt washes well.

I removed Daisy’s sweater and halter and gave her a bath in the bathroom sink. She stayed fairly clean until the last night when she did a repeat performance in her crate.

Meanwhile, Spooky learned that I put food for the big dogs outside on the porch. Never mind that he always had food inside – he wanted the other dogs’ food! He constantly went to the door and cried to go out. I never knew if he really needed to go or just wanted to look for food, but given the accidents he’d already had, I didn’t dare not let him go. When I wasn’t holding Daisy, I was taking Spooky outside.

At least I could let Spooky out and wait inside until he came back. Daisy had to be taken out on a leash after she ran from me twice. Once she ran down to the garden near the road, and the other time she went up behind Mama’s house. I ran after her calling, but she ignored me. When I went up the hill after her, Spooky followed me. I picked Daisy up and Spooky started following me back down the hill. About halfway down, he changed his mind and went back up behind Mama’s house. I called Doug to come and catch Spooky while I took Daisy inside.

About midweek, Spooky got sick, probably from eating the big dog’s food. He vomited all over the kitchen floor.

I have a confession to make. Casey has been gone for three years now, and I have missed him terribly. I had begun to think we should get another house dog. Doug said he didn’t want another one. I had hoped that having Daisy and Spooky here all week might change his mind, but it had the opposite effect! I now realize that after a certain point in your life, you don’t want to take a dog outside early in the morning when it’s 7 degrees. After all, one of the biggest perks of being retired is being able to get up when you want to.

Sunday was our last day. When we got home from church, we took Mama to her house. I went in with her while Doug went down to take the dogs out. After talking with Mama and Daddy a while, I went down to our house, walked in the door, and stepped in poop. I just shook my head and thought it a fitting end to our week. We have always called the dogs “puppy dogs” even though they have long since ceased to be puppies. Doug has now dubbed them “poopy dogs,” and poopy dogs they shall remain from now on.

We were going to Athens for the next two days and took them home to their mama. Daisy was overjoyed when she got home. Spooky would have nothing to do with MJ at first. He was clearly mad at her for leaving him all week. But by the time we left, both dogs were happily back in their mama’s lap.

Mary Jane and Mike say they want to take us out to eat for our trouble. I’m thinking filet mignon at Longhorn’s.

Excellent Adventure - Final Chapter

Our last day at sea was somewhat anticlimactic. It was quiet, and the sea was calm. The weather was again cool and wet – too cold to be out on deck. We spent the day reading, eating, and playing Scrabble. We also packed our suitcases to leave outside the stateroom that night. By this time, we were tired of “gourmet” food and opted for hot wings and French fries. We also decided to skip the accordion player’s second performance that evening, and instead, turned in early for a good night’s sleep.

The next morning (Sunday) we were scheduled to debark at 9:30. We were ready early and went to the breakfast buffet where we ran into David and Louise, so we sat and had a leisurely breakfast with them. We were already docked at this time. This is when I took this picture of the bridge over the Mississippi. The sun was actually coming up!

We had time for one more game of Scrabble before they called our luggage tag color. Then we left the Norwegian Spirit for the last time, reclaimed our luggage, and stood in line to go through customs. We quickly found our car in the parking deck and loaded up. Then we locked the car and went to explore New Orleans on foot.

As I said before, this day turned out to be beautiful. We strolled along the river walk, taking lots of pictures, and then walked to the French Quarter and Bourbon Street. We then walked back through a large riverside mall where we got delicious shrimp po’boys, which we took outside to eat. A lone, fat seagull sat on the railing watching us. I threw it a crumb – big mistake! About a hundred seagulls came swooping down out of nowhere! We were very fortunate not to get bird poop in our food!

We began the long drive from New Orleans to Athens, where we planned to check on our house, especially the goldfish pond. That pond has been a constant source of worry since I am not there to care for it. I knew it was covered with leaves and ice as well. We had learned that it snowed in Hayesville the night before, and Saturday morning it got down to 5 degrees. It wasn’t a whole lot better in Athens.

It was 10:30 pm before we pulled into our garage. We collapsed on our air mattress and went to sleep. The next morning was cold and windy. Doug changed the heating filter while I broke up the ice on the pond and dipped the leaves out. I didn’t see any sign of the fish. I have no idea if they are alive in there or not. They can live for a while with the pond completely frozen over, but it had been a few days.

After talking with the neighbors, we went to the hospital to see Doug’s daddy. He seemed in fairly good spirits. By now, we couldn’t wait to get home, so after visiting for about an hour, we drove back to Hayesville.

So – this wasn’t the BEST cruise we’ve been on, but it was still a good one. We overheard one person on the ship tell someone that there is no such thing as a bad cruise. I probably wouldn’t go that far. If you were sick the whole time, or the toilets backed up, THAT would be a bad cruise. If your idea of a Caribbean cruise must include sunny days lying on a beach, you probably would have been very disappointed on this particular cruise. That really didn’t matter to us. Doug hates lying in the sun, and I am no longer too keen on being seen in a swimsuit. What we enjoy is going new places, meeting people, and learning about other cultures. We definitely did that! Plus we ate good – too good. We’ve been watching our diet ever since we returned. I still recommend cruising as an excellent way to vacation. There is still one more we would like to do – New England and Canada in the fall. We may wait a couple of years before that one.

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Excellent Adventure - part 6

Friday we arrived in Cozumel. This was by far the nicest, prettiest, and most modern place we had been. Unfortunately, we did not get to see very much of it. We had scheduled an excursion to see the Mayan ruins at Tulum. It was quite a trip to get there. First we were to be tendered twelve miles to the Mexican mainland, then ride a chartered bus for about an hour to Tulum. While waiting for our excursion to begin, we met another couple, David and Louise Hunter from Jacksonville, Arkansas, who were celebrating their 38th anniversary that day. They were on their 14th cruise! Talking with them would make our boat ride much easier to take. When we were ready to get on our small boat, we were told the waves were too rough for that pier, and it would be dangerous, so they walked us several blocks to the next pier. That is when we got to see a little of Cozumel.

Once we were finally on our boat, we began what could best be described as a 45-minute roller coaster ride at Six Flags! The little boat was tossed about and waves went all the way over the top. John was back on the ship watching and telling Mary Ann that Doug sure was going to get sick, as his stomach had been upset the night before. Doug did not get sick, but many people started looking pretty green, and so the crew handed out the barf bags. I took one since I was feeling a bit queasy, but I never needed it. There was a bar in the boat. Of course, the bottles and glasses were fastened down, but everything else ended up in the floor. It was quite a ride, and all of us were relieved when we arrived at the dock in Playa del Carman. Unfortunately, we got separated from David and Louise and ended up on different buses and tours. From the dock, we walked several more blocks to get on our bus. Again, this area was quite nice. It looked just like any American city, except the signs were in Spanish.

Carlos was our guide, and he was obviously proud of his Mayan ancestors. He told us a great deal about Mayan history on our way to Tulum. Once we arrived, he led us the half-mile into the park. One nice thing about being on an organized excursion is that we didn’t have to wait in a very long line to get tickets like the many other tourists that were there.

Tulum is fascinating and beautiful. Here is where you see the ancient temples with the long stairs leading up the front to the altar where human sacrifices were once made. There were many other buildings as well. The temple itself is on a cliff overlooking the sea. Below is a beautiful beach. We were fortunate. This day had the best weather of our entire trip, except the day we got back, which, naturally, was beautiful. We enjoyed walking around Tulum and taking lots of pictures. We even paid five bucks for me to have my picture taken holding a real live iguana!

When we returned to Playa del Carman, we met up with David and Louise again. We all hoped the sea would not be so rough on our return ride to the ship. Unfortunately, it was worse. Besides that, our boat was late and caused the ship to be late launching, something that rarely happens in our experience. I guess because we were late, the tender boat returned directly to the dock where the ship was anchored, the one that had been “too dangerous” that morning. That’s when the real adventure began. To get off the boat, we had to go up steps and then back down to the gangplank. The boat was rocking wildly, so we had to go up the steps single-file, holding onto the railing for dear life. The wind was blowing at gale force by now.

The gangplank was laid across from the boat to the dock, but because the boat was rocking so, the gangplank kept moving. Four men stood on the dock pulling on it to steady it as best they could. It took forever to get everyone off, one person at a time. We had to jump from the bottom step to the gangplank because if we stepped down level with it, it could slide back over our feet. One lady foolishly did just that, and had a bleeding foot. One by one, we quickly ran across the gangplank and were thankful to be on dry dock.

We returned to the ship, showered, and met John and Mary Ann for dinner. Of course, we told them all about our day. They had stayed in Cozumel and walked around, which is what we will do if we ever go there again. We saw the show afterwards. By that time, even our huge ship was rocking enough that people could not walk straight down the halls. All I wanted to do was go to bed, so we did. I lay there for a long time, rising and falling and rocking to and fro, hearing trays and objects crashing in the hallways, and creaks and moans from the ship itself. Finally I turned on the ship TV to find out what was going on. The waves were from 12 – 18 feet, and the wind was gale force 8.

I finally went to sleep, and everything was much calmer when we awoke the next morning in the gulf. This day would be spent at sea as we returned to New Orleans. We spent a quiet day, eating, buying pictures, playing Scrabble, and finishing our books. Mary Ann had gotten motion sickness the night before and spent Friday in bed, eating only soup. When we met up with David and Louise the next day, they told us that in all their cruises, they had never experienced such rough seas!

Excellent Adventure - part 5

Thursday, we dropped anchor off shore from Belize City. I assume the bay was too shallow for large ships. We were tendered over to the docks on small motor boats. We were all excited when we reached the dock and noticed a dolphin following closely behind us. Of course, I was trying to get a picture when my cell phone rang. It was Daddy, much to my surprise. We thought we were out of range. He called just to see how we were doing. I was able to assure him that all was going well before I lost the signal. I couldn’t get him back. It seems that people could call us but we couldn’t call out. Cell phones work well while at sea in the gulf, but are not of much use once you reach Cozumel and the Yucatan.

As soon as we got off the boat, we were walked through the “authentic” shopping mall built by the cruise line to board a nice chartered bus. There we met Mary, our guide for the excursion. She was not funny or entertaining, but was friendly and knowledgeable. She told us about the history of Belize, which, when we were in school, was still British Honduras. As a British colony until recently, Belize has a history of peace and stability often lacking in other Latin American countries. The government is not known for corruption, and the people have escaped civil war. The country is becoming increasingly popular as a tourist destination.

We saw very little of Belize City as we drove out of town. It did look nicer and more modern than the other cities and towns we had been in so far on our cruise. This all changed, however, as we got out into the rural areas, which to me, looked almost as bleak and poverty-stricken as Guatemala and Costa Maya. One thing that struck me was the amount of trash all along the sides of the road. This might have been a result of the floods that recently inundated Belize after two weeks of rain. Water still stood in many places. Perhaps the flood waters had deposited debris in the ditches along the roadside. Still, there were places where people had clearly been dumping garbage for quite some time. If Belize hopes to become a tourist attraction, they need to clean the place up! I commented on the litter to Doug. “Just like at home,” he quipped. But it was worse, much worse. We do at least pick the trash up ever now and then.

We rode for about an hour to a zoo. The landscape along the way was flat, sandy, and punctuated by scrubby tropical plants. In the distance, oddly-shaped mountains seemed to jut out suddenly from the flat land. Eventually, we entered a more jungle-like forest with thick growth. Soon after that, we reached our destination, a zoo that housed animals native to Belize. We were told an American lady had financed it and was very proud of it. A fellow traveler told us the lady is Dolly Parton.

It was raining on us all the way out there and the rain continued the whole time we were there. It was a light shower, and it was fairly warm, so we just got wet rather than carry umbrellas. We had foolishly left our rain jackets back on the ship. We wandered along trails to see tapirs, tropical birds, black howler monkeys, deer, cougars, leopards, and
other assorted cats. We were able to get up close to the animals, but the rain prevented me from getting good pictures.
The zoo was just so-so, certainly not worth the long ride out to it. We spent a short time there before boarding the bus for another ride to the Belize River where our lunch was already prepared – chicken with rice and red beans. It was tasty, but the conditions under which it was served were pretty unappetizing. As usual, there were people selling goods there, and Doug and I were delighted that one of them had Snicker bars for sell. We bought one for each of us and thoroughly enjoyed them. All of us bought these flimsy blue and yellow plastic ponchos to wear on the boat we were about to ride down the river back to the bay. The rain had stopped, but the sky was still threatening. The motorboat had no cover.

We rode for miles and miles down the river and saw mostly green – green water, and thick green plant life along the banks. Our guide spotted iguanas and black howler monkeys in the trees along the river and made the boatman go back so we could get a closer look. We also saw crocodiles, though they were small. People think nothing of swimming in this river with crocodiles! The rain held off throughout most of our ride, so it was pleasant.

However – when we neared the bay, the bottom fell out. Our driver sped up and we all covered ourselves with our plastic ponchos and huddled down in the boat as low as we could. The boat flew over the water. At one point, I looked at the woman next to me and saw the plastic was covering her face. I pulled my poncho aside and yelled, “Can you breathe?” She pulled the plastic down, and, looking like a drowned rat, as we all did, she said to me, “This is the most miserable day of my life.” I laughed and said to her, “You have to see the humor in it!” She laughed, too.

We were very glad to get back to our ship and get a hot shower before joining Mary Ann and John for a nice dinner. This turned out to be our least favorite excursion, but it had still been an interesting day.

Excellent Adventure - part 4

We docked in Puerto Barrios, Guatemala, early Wednesday morning. Doug and I had not booked a shore excursion here as nothing really appealed to us that much. We had a leisurely breakfast and then decided to go on shore to look around on our own. The weather was warm but cloudy. There were plenty of shops near the dock, and we again experienced the frenzied selling of the local residents. This time we bought a few things: a scarf, a necklace and earrings, and coffee. Walking around, we discovered that plenty of local taxi drivers were offering to take people to see the sites. We decided to go back to the ship, eat some lunch, get some more money, and then return to hire a driver. Doug was a little nervous about hiring someone we didn’t know as he had read all kinds of warnings about Guatemala on the State Department’s web site. Apparently there has been a real problem with crime, especially the theft of money and passports from tourists. Until 1996, Guatemala was engaged in civil war. The web site stated that things are much better now, but tourists should avoid “agitated groups.” I think I would have done that without the warnings! Anyway, the drivers had very official looking taxies, so I really wasn’t worried. This might have been the first time in our entire married life that Doug was worried, and I was not! Doug did want to try to go with another couple, figuring there is safety in numbers, I suppose.

When we went back ashore, we saw another couple about our age talking to the driver of a Gray-line trolley. We stopped to find out the cost. It was $35 for an hour-long tour. Doug told the couple that we had seen air-conditioned minivans for hire for just $20 for an hour and a half tour, with an English speaking driver. They decided to go with us, so the four of us rented a taxi driver. His name was Francisco, and he turned out to be a very nice man whose English was fairly good. We enjoyed helping him find words at times. Francisco seemed to enjoy being with us and proud to show us his home. Our hour and a half tour turned into four hours, at no additional cost! (We gave him a generous tip!)

The other couple turned out to be John and Mary Ann Parsons from Scottsboro, AL. They were very close to our age, and we liked them instantly. Mary Ann was a trip; she must have asked Francisco a million questions, so we learned a lot on our tour. This day turned out to be the most fun day of our vacation. First we rode through part of Puerto Barrios. It is a fairly large port city. Near the docks are many, many cargo containers, most of them holding fresh fruit – bananas, pineapple, and oranges – ready for export. We saw many familiar American businesses such as MacDonald’s, Verizon, Bridgestone Tires, etc. Of course, these names were all that looked familiar as everything else was written in Spanish. Christen and Pris, you would have been proud of me. I was able to read a sign on a grocery store that said “We always have everything you want” in Spanish. The city was crowded and busy. There were lots of cars, mostly small ones, and older trucks, and many, many motorcycles. Most things looked pretty shabby and run-down, but it was colorful. Dogs roamed everywhere, and we even saw a few horses wandering free in the city. At one point, we saw men driving a small herd of cattle up a city side street. Even in the city, it was clear that most people have very little in the way of possessions. Very few homes looked even half as nice as the ones we are accustomed to in the poorer parts of American cities.

Francisco asked us if we wanted to see a banana plantation and we assured him we would. He drove us many miles out of town on somewhat mountainous roads. The only time I was a little nervous was when we passed through a checkpoint where they collected tariffs on cargo coming from Honduras, which was just 30 miles away. Lots of men stood around there, some with very big guns. One man came out towards us waving a fistful of money, in case we wanted to exchange currency before crossing the border. Francisco ignored them and kept on driving. We passed long lines of trucks loaded with oranges stopped along the side of the road. The drivers were waiting to go through the checkpoint.

On our way to the plantation, Francisco stopped at a roadside stand where a woman and her family sold fresh pineapple. There were large piles of pineapples. She chopped up some fresh fruit and sold it by the slice, so we all got a piece to enjoy right then and there. I hoped it was sanitary, but didn’t really worry about it and didn’t get sick. The older lady did not want her picture taken, but the younger girls didn’t mind at all.

The banana plantation was interesting. All the bunches of bananas were wrapped in blue plastic bags to protect the fruit from insects and the hot sun. There were banana trees as far as the eye could see. A lot of men have to do a lot of work to tend to those trees. The trees are cut down every nine months so new trees will grow up and produce a new crop. The trees are owned by corporations, such as Dole. (We saw lots of Dole trucks in Puerto Barrios.) It made me feel bad to think how rich these corporations are and how little they pay their workers, as evidenced by their poor living conditions. Frankly, I will never again complain about paying 64 cents a pound for bananas.

On our way back to the city, Francisco asked if we wanted to stop at a restaurant which also had a museum of Mayan culture and a rain garden in the back. He said we could see everything for $3.00. The restaurant didn’t look like much from the outside, but it turned out to be very nice and beautifully decorated. The lady proprietor took us through the museum and then served us coffee. About the time we stopped there, it started raining fairly hard. We still wanted to see the rain garden, so Francisco got a large blue umbrella that would normally go over an outside table. The five of us huddled beneath the umbrella and started down the paths through lush green plants, stopping now and then to take pictures of the colorful flowers. We were taking little baby steps to try to stay together. Only Francisco managed to stay dry, as he was in the middle holding the umbrella. It was all quite funny, and we laughed the whole time. We were glad to get back inside and sit at a table to enjoy our coffee before getting back in the van and continuing our tour.

Further down the road, Francisco stopped to point out all the iguanas that were resting in treetops. I didn’t even know they climbed trees. They sure are big lizards, and we would see many more of them before our journey ended.

Finally, we returned to the city. Francisco stopped at his sister’s roadside store and introduced us to his family. His sister’s name is Rosalinda. I think that is a beautiful name. Her small store was open to the road. She sold a few food items and school supplies, as she is also a teacher. I don’t think she understood much English, but we communicated with her and her pretty daughter quite well. Their little concrete house was behind the store, and another relative’s motorcycle shop was next door. A dirt yard separated the house from the store. A rooster, hen, and baby chick roamed the yard. I laughed at the way the chick followed its mother everywhere she went. When one of the men in the motorcycle shop saw that, he went and caught the chick to bring it to me, much to its mother’s consternation. I rubbed its little yellow head and made over it, thinking that this guy had no idea that I used to take care of 36,000 of these things at a time! Next, one of Rosalinda’s daughters went to get her new puppy to show to us. It was a scrawny little mutt, but we petted it and told her how cute it was. Then one of the girls brought out a beautiful parrot! The parrot laughed whenever we laughed, imitating us perfectly.

We left Rosalinda and continued through the city streets to the open-air market. We didn’t stop, just rode through and looked at all the wares available. We did stop at a nice Catholic church. As soon as we got out of the van, we were accosted by a family selling goods with, shall we say, great enthusiasm. The mother had beautiful woven throws she claimed were handmade. If so, it was a crime to be selling them for only $10, but I have my doubts about their authenticity. Her adorable little girl, whose name was Sonya, had little handmade dolls she was selling for a dollar. I couldn’t resist her big brown eyes. I gave her a dollar and picked out the doll that looked most like her. Then I pointed at it and said, “Se llama Sonya.” Her little face lit up in a beautiful smile. This only made her mother more frantic in her attempts to sell me her goods. I really felt sorry for the little family and would have bought everything they had if Doug had let me, even though their goods wouldn’t exactly fit our rustic, mountain décor. The only way we could get away from them was to duck into the church; they wouldn’t sell in there. The church was lovely in a primitive sort of way. Burning candles and icons graced the entrance. The ceiling was adorned with a huge tile cross. Beautiful stained glass windows seemed almost out of place in the simple little church.

When we went back outside, the little family started in on us again. I finally bought another necklace before we got into the van and drove away. Another interesting site in the city was the cemetery with its multi-colored stone tombs built above ground. A building in the cemetery looked Byzantine with its onion dome and carved elephants. It seemed very out of place. The cemetery was surrounded by a wall on which advertisements had been painted from one end to the other. Flowering vines grew over the walls.

We finally returned to the dock and boarded the ship. By this time, we had new friends and agreed we would meet for dinner the next night. This had been by far the best day of our trip. I realized that what I most love about traveling is experiencing new and different places meeting new people. Travel really does broaden ones horizons. Books can go a long way towards taking us to new places, but nothing is quite like actually being there. Francisco had done an excellent job of showing us life in Guatemala.