Lady's Lines

It is easier to capture the feelings of daily routines when one writes about them closer the actual events. I feel I am behind on doing so lately.

On July 11th I decided to inquire about assisting with driving the youth to the Hill Cumorah Pageant in Palmyra, NY. I offered my assistance and made arrangements on Monday to take part of the 13th and all of the 14th of July off to go. What a great trip it was for me.

I throughly enjoyed the company of the youth. They are such a delightful group of young women and men. It had been about thirty seven years since I had been to the pageant. It was an amazing spectacle to behold. I wanted to take the Tree of Life prop home with me. The rain came and went, it was humid, there was not as much sleep, and the book store loved my money. I am sure I came away with far more than I gave.

Saturday, July 17th, I had the opportunity to attend the baptism of Jeremy Hunsacker. New husband of Kayla. She is such a sweet spirit. It was such a good experience. Again, I received more than I gave.

At the start of this year, I was more than aware that I was heading towards my 60th birthday at the end of the year. I thought to myself what if this was the last year of my life, could I live this year, as if it were my last year. Would I have a greater sense of urgency to get certain things done, to do things I had always wanted to do, etc. I have found that the answer is yes; to a certain degree.

It’s July 19th and I have not accomplished near as much as I thought I would by now for this year. One of the blessings has been realizing more fully how much I have been given and how good my life is.

What remains is for me to finish out this year and my life, however long it lasts, making the most of what I have been given.

Yippee! It has taken a while for rolling laughter to spin it’s self into my mental realm again. Spontaneously it gurgled up and pealed out of my grinning mouth.

It moved right along with my words creating a chain reaction effect. Sprinkling from one sunny laughing face to another.

Being human is an amazing experience.

Sometimes life zings you like you are the bullseye of a target.

You are just standing there minding your own business, target like, and with the snap of a tight string on a bow the pointed barb finds it’s mark.

I could move my target self to another field, but past experience has taught me that where there are targets, ready strung bows always exist.

Someone once told me that if you find yourself a sitting target the secret is to duck.

In the movie ”The In Laws”, with Alan Arkin and Peter Falk, there is a scene where Peter Falk is telling Alan Arkin to “serpentine, serpentine.”

It is humorous. It is ludicrous. It is also perfectly sane.

Serpentining target, am I.

I am a pink lady tonight. I decided to use my last day off of work to head to the shores of Lake Erie. I basked in the sunlight for about 15 – 20 minutes. It was enough to turn my lily whiteness a light hot pink.

I packed in an umbrella, a comfy chair, and a cooler. I have not been in a bathing suit at the beach in about four years. It was great fun to put my feet in very warm lake water. I hunted for tiny bits of beach glass and found a few plus two fossils.

I sat at the east end of the beach where not too many people choose to sit. Many of them do come walking by to go see the lighthouse. Therefore I got to see quite a few interesting people.

I viewed the colors of bathing suits, not to mention the various types of attire. Then there were hats, sunglasses, shoe attire, and how on earth did some of those people get into those outfits.

It always love seeing the sailboats on the lake. From time to time ski jets would go zooming by and pop up in the air.

My lunch was a tasty fresh from the vine tomato, fresh basil leaves, and fresh mozzarella on a kaiser roll.

I thought I might stay until 5:00pm, but as 2:00pm rolled around even the shade of the umbrella and the comfy chair could not keep me from wanting to escape the late afternoon heat.

I started through the sand dunes to the parking lot. I soon found out that when sand is 92 degrees hot and it flies up onto your flip flops – it actually burns your big toes! Ouch.

On my way home I stopped at Diary Queen for my favorite blizzard. After all a pink lady deserves no less.

It would be an under statement to say that I am glad my work week is over. The silence in the department has not been just quiet, it has been terminal.

Otherwise life is good. Warm days, cool evenings, good books to read, no weeds in the garden, and ice cream.

I have stocked up on dvd’s, have a cleaning activity in mind, groceries to shop for, and a wedding to go to. At the back of my mind I have added hours at the beach. All of this sounds great until I wake up tomorrow morning realizing I have slept in too long.

Whatever I choose to do, I am going to find time to laugh.

I love when I put my unwanted items by the roadside they disappear.

Today’s items were a birdcage with accessories, a large duck watercolor painting, a metal shoe rack, 140 books, and a box of cassettes. Only the shoe rack remains.

To the recycling bin has gone a stack of newspapers and at least 180 magazines. There is a little bit of room left in the bin. I will need to bring some boxes from work to fill before the next pick up day.

The shoe clutter area has been vacuumed, washed and organized. A cluttered table has been removed. It is exhilarating to me.

Time to wind down for the day and plan next weeks’ goals.

The evening sky turned from dusk to dark as I glided along the winding roads to home.

Glancing into the heavens beyond the open car window the moon’s reflection was captured in my eyes.

Soft waves of a cooling summer eve’s breeze brushed against my soul.

Fireflies lit the meadow laden horizon. The peace of a smile graced my face.

Happy Flag Day! I forgot to take a mini flag to work and put my flag out this morning. Nevertheless it is a banner day today.

I signed up for the Adult Summer Reading Program at my local library. It runs frorm June 14th to July 31st. Bring it on fellow local readers. I have seen the t-shirt and it is mine. The theme is Water Your Mind - Read. The t-shirt is ocean water blue. It says Make A Splash – Read and it has a whale on it. Enough said.

All I have to do is fill out a slip of paper with the title of a book and author, rate it, sign my name and email. Apparently one can fill out a slip of paper for each video or magazine as well. I will stick mostly to books.

The current stash of books are:

Jane Brody’s – Guide to the Great Beyond, Life In Rewind – Terry W. Murphy, This I Believe – Jay Allison, Lasagna Gardening – Patricia Lanza, Clemency Pogue: The Hobgoblin Proxy, Clemency Pogue: The Scrivener Bees, Water Wings – Kristen Den Hartog, Life of Pi – Yann Martel, Lasagna Gardening with Herbs – Patricia Lanza, Gold Prospecting in Ohio, and No Man’s Land – Scott Huler.

What I really need is a book on speed reading.

The current stash of books to

It has been an interesting week. Lots of drama every where my daily life took me. One day of work out at the gym, one good book read, several good conversations, a new two and 1/2 year get out debt plan, and more than the usual amount of motivation to get things done.

Two evenings this week and most of today were spent tackling nature in the yard. A mere ten hours. The front yard flower beds are virtually clear off all weeds/grass. A few new  perennials have been planted and one large tomato plant.

All of the hostas and ferns still waiting to be planted have been moved to a tiny corner at the end of the flower beds. The plants placed at the base of the mailbox are still alive, but clearly need to be pulled up and put back in the main yard.

All but the front and back of the greenhouse have been dismantled and removed from the front porch. The picnic table, freshly scrubbed, and the large bench have been uncovered and moved back to their usual spot.

A good sweeping occurred after all the pots, dirt, gardening tools, and other odd items were removed from the porch. Two rocking chairs are now in place ready for summer nights or quiet Sunday afternoons.

The bouncy horse sits at the west end of the porch waiting for a rider.

The past week has been busy with all the diversions a vacation can bring.

It has been good to see my daughter every day. That is not something that happens very often for me, to be able to see one of my children every day.

Vacation also gave me some time to look at life from a different perspective. One comes home feeling refreshed and motivated to get things done.

I finished reading a book as I finished my vacation: The Man Who Swam the Amazon by Martin Strel & Matthew Mohlke. It is a great story about a dedicated man who loves to swim. It is also amazing. The closing words in the epilogue are worth repeating:

“There are millions of people throughout the world gazing out that same window. Occasionally a crazy thought comes into their head from somewhere so far away they can’t even fathom its source, but they quickly discard it and return to the surface to deal with the seemingly important aspects of everyday life that crowd their inbox. Years pass, their children have children, and every time they gaze out that window, those old dreams flood their minds again. Big dreams. Dreams they’re afraid to try to reach, but yet linger. They may think they’re too fat or too old or whatever their excuse is, they all have an excuse that prevents them from reaching those dreams. If a fifty-two year old, slightly fat man can swim the Amazon, what can you do? Those last two hours before sunset can often be the best swimming of the day.”