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 |  A Journal of our Adventures in Country Living.... |
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"Home is where the heart is" and this is the continuing story of our life on the farm....where our heart is and where we make our home. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** I want to thank janieruthryals for this wonderful Merit Badge: ![Merit Badge in Nature
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For the wonderful visit to your farm, all through the words in your blog.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/genre-Nature-1125.gif) |
| Since David and I talk about our pets at times, I thought I would introduce some of them to you in this blog. I know David has posted a few pics... well here are a few more. Crockett, our Rottweiler, showed up on our front porch one afternoon. David was at work, and I happen to open the door, and here was this dog... dirty, skinny with some deep gashes across his shoulders. I use to raise Rottweilers, and could tell that this dog was not vicious at all. He was purebred looked to be about 2 yrs old. I brought him in, gave him a bath, dressed his wounds and fed him. I was going to call David at work and tell him about the dog, but decided to just wait and surprise him when he got home. Surprise is not the word for it. David walked in the door after a hard day at work, and here stood this 90lb Rottweiler in the living room looking at him like "who the hell are you?" David froze. Crockett (I had named him already) made a lunge for David's leg. David... well, I can't tell you what David did. I just sat there and laughed my butt off.... Crockett lunged for David's leg and HUMPED it!!!! I don't know what possessed that dog to do that... he has never done it again in the three years we have had him. I guess it was just his way of establishing order!!! David just about fainted!! lololol I called Crockett off, and they have been best buddies ever since!!! He and David are a lot alike..... ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Mollie is another dog that showed up on our front porch. She is a black lab mix and was about 5 months old. At first I wouldn't let her in the house, I just fed her and hoped she would find her way back home, if she had one. Apparently she did have one... OURS!! She has infiltrated our hearts, and is such a lovable dog. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Smoke and Twister are brother and sister. Their mom was a cat that was just not 'right' in the brain. She was a dump cat, and was pregnant when she showed up at our door. When she had the two kittens, I guess she didn't realize what was happening... and had them in the litter box. I woke up in the middle of the night and heard them mewing. I got up, fished them out of the litter, cleaned them up, and gave them back to mom. Once she realized what they were, she made a wonderful mother. Mom disappeared a few months later... I think a neighbor that lives on the other side of the ravine shot her. We don't let our cats outside anymore because of him. Smoke got his name because of his color. Twister was named because everytime she walks, she twist her tail, and her butt goes in the direction of the twist. So she looks like she is doing the twist all the way across the floor. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Lil Shit was given to us by a friend... who just thought we needed another cat. She was about 6 weeks old, and rode in Davids lap on the car ride home. She just snuggled down into his arms and never made a peep. She is now the "hellion" of our house. She terrorizes all the other animals, unrolls the toilet paper, shreds the paper towel in the kitchen, gets into the cubboards... and she knows she's in trouble, but she doesn't care. She knows that she is not allowed on the computer desk, and will take off running, fly across the desk right in front of you, then run and hide somewhere until she feels safe to come out again. We originally named her Lil Bit....but that changed real fast. hehehe ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** There is an interesting story behind Buddy, the cockatiel. I had been to Wal-Mart, had lunch with David and bought groceries for the week. As I was driving home, I noticed this cockatiel all huddled up in the middle of the road. I stopped the car and walked over to the bird. I knew that I had one chance to catch him, that if I missed, he would probably fly away. I quietly snuck up on him.... his head was under his wing, trying to stay warm. I reached out and grabbed him. He immediately latched onto my thumb and bit down....hard!!! I started muttering under my breath...ouch, ouch, ouch.... but I couldn't let go. Blood was dripping down my hand. I got back into my car and wondered what I was going to do with him. I couldn't just let him go... so I snatched a Wal-Mart bag, dumped the items out, and put the bird in the bag. I then had to go back to Wal-mart, snuck in through the garden center making the cashier promise me not to tell David I came back... and bought a cockatiel cage and food. I made it back home and set up the cage, put the bird in it, and waited for David to get home... another suprise awaited him!!! He just shook his head when he saw the bird.... nothing surprises him anymore. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** This is David's recliner after he walks out the door to go to work. The cats and Mollie make a mad dash for it.... to see who can get there first. Sometimes Mollie wins... and sometimes the cats: ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** David never knows what he will find when drives in from work. One day, there were two horses running loose down the road.... I caught them and tied them up in the front yard. He never said a word... just drove up, walked past them into the house, and sat down at the computer like they never existed. I said, "Honey, I found us a couple of horses." He just said, "I see that.. and where did you find them?" "Oh," I said, "they just showed up on our front porch!" lololol The owner came later that afternoon and claimed them. They had broken through the fence, while he was at work. We have more critters... the fish, the birds outside, and all the other wild critters that show up for treats occasionally. I keep looking for an Armadillo!! I want one.... they are so neat looking, sort of prehistoric!!! If I could only find a baby!!! David swears that we will never have an Armadillo as a pet.... Oh yeah???? hehehehe |
| We have two spare bedrooms. The smallest one... about closet size, we use as the exercise room. Somehow, we managed to drag the home gym unit into it, and the rowing maching and bicycle. Its a tight fit, but it works!!! The other room was used by David's youngest son (who is now 18 yrs old) when he lived with us. He moved out last Spring, and I have just been tossing all our extra crap into the room. Stuff like fishing poles, baskets of clothes we don't wear, computer parts that don't work, pet carriers, more clothes, more computer parts. It got to the point I was afraid to open the door. It became a monster to me.... one that I knew I would have to eventually face, but kept putting off till tomorrow!!! Well, this morning.... I stood facing the door. I thought about my plan of action, I wondered what I would find in there, I turned around and walked away, thinking I needed more norishment and writing.com time before I could manage this task of slaying the monster. About an hour later, after fighting off the guilt, I went back and stood before the nortorious door. Again, I stood there wondering what weapons I would use to destroy this haven of junk. Again, I walked away to resupply my resources (garbage bags, clothes baskets, more garbage bags) and to see if any other of my friends had posted blogs on writing.com. Finally I strode up to the door, filled with confidence that I could actually open it this time. Crockett and Mollie stood at my side, Goober, Lil Shit, Smoke and Twister stood behind us all waiting to run if the monster should decide to leap out into the hallway when the door opened. I grabbed the doorknob... Crockett and Mollie stood poised!! With a resignated sigh, I opened the door to this haven of junk, this room of refuse, this pile of riffraff. I found out that thinking about facing the monster is a lot worse than just doing it. I fought my way into the middle of the room and started making piles. The cats came in and checked everything out, crawling in amongst the boxes, bags and clothes like it was a new-found playground. I had throw away piles, keep piles and give away piles. It didn't take long at all to clear out the monster from this room. Now, when you open the door, it actually looks like a guest room. I moved the furniture around, vacuumed, dusted and pulled the bedding off. I am rather proud of my slaying abilities... hehehe But don't ask me what my living room looks like now. I had to put the keep piles somewhere, and the give-away piles. Oh, and the laundry room is piled full of bedding and stuff.... Oh well, I slayed one monster, I know I can slay these also!!!! |
| Just a quick note today... I just heard on the local Houston news that there has been a glinch in moving some of the people out of the Astro Dome and other crowded facilities, onto the luxury cruise ships they have docked in Galveston Bay..... The evacuees said that after what they have been through, they are scared of water!!! If I had my choice of sleeping on a cot, a few feet from a hundred strangers...using common bathrooms, people snoring and farting all around me... versus...my own cabin aboard a cruise ship, with room to move around and walk and visit.... would I hesitate at all.... HECK NO!!! Now come on.... scared of water, so you don't want to be housed on a luxury cruise ship????? What are these people going to do the next time we get hit with a deluge of rain, which happens in Houston all the time? Ok, maybe I just don't fully understand the situation. Or maybe I just think differently from most folks... I don't know. But I just sat there and shook my head when they said that. |
| I had to pick up a few things at Wal-Mart today, so timed my shopping with David's lunch, and found him in the breakroom. We spent the hour talking to the other workers who were on break, discussing everything and nothing!! One of the things that was mentioned, was the fact that Wal-Mart (the corporate office) has now upped their donations to 20 million dollars to the relief effort for the hurricane victims. They also have jars set at all the entrance doors for people to make individual donations. David said that the jars fill up at least twice a day (these are those large 5gal jugs). David and I talked about taking in a person or couple, since we have a spare bedroom... but then decided against it and will just donate and help out locally to help the evacuees that we have here in Livingston. Some of the worries that we had was the fact that we live in a small house...about 1100 sq. ft. and the spare bedroom is small. We share this limited space with two large dogs, four cats, a bird and a 30 gal tank full of fish. It would be hard for a person to enter into this little world of ours, and feel comfortable. I was also told, as I was calling the different establishments finding information on offering housing, that I would have to make sure we had liability insurance to cover anyone we took in. And there is a possibility we may have trouble getting them to move out, down the road.. and would legally have to have them served with an eviction notice. Right now, it looks like our local churches and government agencies are able to handle the influx of people that we have received. All they are asking for is clothing, school supplies, toys... etc. So we will do what we can to help these unfortunate people, in our town, who have been uprooted by Katrina. Talking about our little world.... David had a rude awakening when he married me. I have been an animal lover since I was a toddler. It is a gift that my mother handed down to me. She was always taking in sick or injured animals and nursing them back to health. Then we would release them into the woods behind our house. As a teenager, we always had a house full of critters from Great Horned Owls, Possums, Raccoons, Geese, Ducks, Quail, Squirrels, Blue Herons... you named it and we probably nursed it back to health. We lived in the country on a small lake, surrounded by woods and fields. All the locals knew that we would take in any animal they delivered to us, and they delivered!!! David, on the other hand, only knew animals by the meat they provided for his family to eat. Even the dog was not allowed into the house. His father had the old Philosophy that if it lived, that was fine, but if it died... oh well!! And all their animals had to have jobs to stay. There was no such thing as having just a 'pet'. Well, then I entered David's life!! hehehehe It was a rude awakening for him, to not only have dogs in the house, but in our bed also. He put up a small fight, but it didn't last long. All our animals are 'dump' animals.... dogs and cats that people have dumped off and they found their way to our house. Even the cockatiel was a bird without a home... I found him in the middle of the road one day. I guess the fish are the only critters that I have actually gone and sought out, and purchased!! One night, there was a noise at the front door, and David got up and opened it. Then he came over to me, and growled...."Mel, your friends are looking for you." "My friends?" I asked. "Well, they sure as hell didn't come looking for me!" he snarled. I walked over and opened the door, and there on our front porch were two of the biggest racoons... waiting for their nightly handout of dogfood and bread with jelly on it. I also have a possum that comes in once in a while to enjoy the 'outdoor cafe'. Then I have to laugh, because everytime David attempts to cut the grass, he ends up growling and snarling and commenting on all the bird feeders I have strategically placed so he hits his head all the time!!! I have 7 feeders out in my yard and it is really a treat to watch the birds come in to feed. I am invaded by Redbirds (Cardinals), Blue Jays, Chickadees, Nuthatches, Titmouse, Wrens, Dickcissels, Grosbeaks and the most beautiful bird of all.. a Painted Bunting. This bird is easy to identify with its blue head, red underparts, rump and eye ring, green/yellow back and dark red nape and black wings. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** I love standing in my kitchen and watching the birds fly in to feed. Sometimes the trees are full and they squabble and fight for position at the best feeder. I mix my own bird seed, using peanuts, dried fruit, black oiler sunflower seeds and then a factory mix of regular bird seen. I also add thistle seed for the Finches. The resident rabbits and squirrels eat the bird seed mix that I leave on the ground under the feeders for them. I had wild pigs in my yard one time, and then we also had cougar tracks in our driveway... but the encroaching building of houses has finally scared them back into the Thicket. David has finally gotten use to all the critters that hang out around the house. In fact, he is almost as bad as I am now when it comes to dogs. There have been times, when I wasn't feeling well, that I would leave the dogs out in the living room for the night. They have the couch and Davids recliner to sleep in. As I crawl into bed, David will look at me with this bewildered look on his face and say, "You aren't going to leave the babies out in the living room are you? They will be devasted." Then he will get up and let them in. Thank goodness we have a king size bed, there is barely room for David and I after Crockett and Mollie stretch out. And now he is telling me that we need another puppy.... a BLOODHOUND puppy. You will have to ask him why he wants a Bloodhound!!! Anyway... when I checked out at Wal-Mart today, the cashier made a remark... 'Boy, you two sure feed your animals well.' I had dry dog food, canned dog food, dry cat food, canned cat food, several kinds of wild bird seed, cockatiel food, fish food.... and I felt guilty that we should spend all this money on our critters, when there are people out there needing help. But I did donate.. and will continue to donate as I have the money to do so, to the charities that are helping these casualties of Katrina. Our lives must go on, in the shadow of this catastrophe. I am going to go through all our clothes and take the ones that we no longer are able to wear, up to the church to be used by the evacuees. I will hit some garage sales and flea markets this week for good toys for the children. Ok, got to run.... got things to go through, and David should be home soon!!! I tell y'all that he growls and snarles all the time, but he does it with this big grin on his face. See y'all later... take care now!! |
| With all the devastation taking place this past week, I haven't really been in the mood to write anything. David has been after me (the brat) to write.... So................ Tor is a brat, Tor is a brat, Tor is a brat, Tor is a brat..... Oh, thats not what you meant, honey? Ok, Ok..... How about a little update on my diet. I have now lost 38lbs... its coming off slower now, even though I have increased my workouts, both in duration and weights. But, I hate to admit this, but David told me I need to do more 'aerobic' type of exercising....and he is RIGHT!! Gawd, that hurt to say that.... hehehehe So, I have increased my walking miles/speed, increased my time on the rowing machine, and increased my time on the bicycle. I still do my strength training... but only 3x a week now. I want to build and shape muscle as I lose this weight, so I don't want to give it up completely. And I will not increase the weights for a while. They are set at a pretty heavy level (just ask David), and I don't really need to turn into a body builder... but I do want to shape and maintain muscle. I do realize that I am not eating enough... but what I do eat is really healthy (veggies, fruits, chicken, fish..etc) and I am taking supplements to make sure I don't miss important nutrition that my body needs. I take a real good multi vitamin/mineral/amino acid supplement, iron, B12 and a few herbs that are suppose to help with weight loss like Green Tea extract. My total calorie count per day is approximately 900 to 1000. I am not excessively hungry all the time, just late in the evening... and then I get the snack attacks... and I calm them by eating a 'Light' nonfat yogurt (60 cal). Now David said he was going to start a diet AGAIN... doing what I am doing by eating healthy and exercising. I have brought the rowing machine into the livingroom so I can watch TV while rowing... and will leave it there for him to use. I do from 30-60 minutes on it at a time, at a medium intensity. The last time he tried he did 3 minutes and collapsed. But this will be really good for him... I am excited to see him take an interest in working out. He is on his feet all day long, but doesn't really get a good workout, and I think that once he gets into this, he will enjoy it... hehehehe (evil grin here)!! Oh, I will see to it that he enjoys it!!!!! I think I will be able to start walking outside now... the weather is starting to cool down. Even at daybreak, the temps have been in the high 80's low 90's with the humidity just as high... but now the mornings are great and I love walking outside. We have a nice little park in town with a 1/2 mile trail that winds through the trees. I will start taking one of the dogs with me, and walk there. David and I went there last week and walked 1 1/2 miles with the dogs, and it was really nice. After the first 1/4 mile, I left him and Crockett behind and Mollie and I took off power walking. It was a bit hot that day (101 degrees), and we (the dogs included) couldn't wait to get home to the airconditioning!!! But the heat and humidity kill me. It just wears me down to much, and it takes me forever to recover. My doctor told me I have a bit of a heat induced asthma, thats why it gets hard for me to breath when I get so hot. So I have been using the treadmill...but even with it in the living room, in front of the TV.. its boring!! I love to walk outside. I have found a hiking group in Houston that uses some State Parks around here to hike in. I may just join and start hiking with them. Back in Michigan, I was walking/hiking up to 4 miles a day, and doing 9 miles on the weekends. It was when I moved here, started cooking for David and his two sons, stopped walking, and got a sit down job that all this weight came on. My family, especially my dad's side of the family are all heavy... and the weight comes on real easy for me. I have to work at it constantly to keep it under control. Ok, enought about my weight... just what you wanted to read about wasn't it?? lol But it is nice to share with friends!!! Take care now!!! 38/82 (my goal weight is 160... that would put me in a size 12/14....and at my age and height, that is perfect. When I was younger, I was in a 6/8... but I would look like a scarecrow now if I got that skinny again. I am 5'8 1/2" tall and medium boned. Oh, I filled out an application for that "extreme makeover" show. I would love to have all the 'krinkles' taken out after I lose this weight!!! lololol |
| Ok, I'm going to kill him...grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Well, I won't kill him, but I am sure to hurt him bad, real soon. This being on vacation with nothing to do, and having a case of writers block is going to undue the one frazzled nerve that I have left. "Why Mel, what in heavens name could good ole Tor do to upset you so? You ask.... Well, let me tell you........ I have been feeding him vitamins and herbs for the last month, and he is really starting to feel his oats. Now, this is usually a good thing, when he leaves every morning for 8 hours of retail hell he calls work. By the time he returns home, he is somewhat subdued and not as 'fresh' as he was when he left that morning. As most of you know, he is on vacation. We didn't plan anything since he wanted to spend the whole week working on his writing, especially 'Bygone Heart'. He wakes up in the morning rearing to go, bugs me relentlessly, teases the dogs, harrasses the cats and even has the fish in the aquarium cowering behind rocks and plants. We put up with this behavior all morning, hoping that once he gets a few cups of coffee down his gullet, he will finally settle down. But does this happen....NO!!! I will be quietly sitting there watching the morning news on TV when he will walk by and pinch me. I growl at him and he says "WHAT"... what did I do? Then he comments on everything I do.... made that tea a bit strong didn't you... it looks way to dark' "No dear, I just used 4 tea bags for 2 quarts of water" you must have used the BIG tea bags then' "No dear, I used the little ones" No you didn't, you used BIG ones So now I get up and show him the tea bags that I used... and he don't even drink tea!!! Are you wearing your hair like that all day? No dear, I just have it up because I am going to work out. How long are you going to work out? I don't know, DEAR, probably an hour. Well you need to do more walking, and not that other stuff you do I do walk, every other day DEAREST, then I ride the bicycle and do the rowing machine on the other days, plus the weights. Don't use the weights so much, do more walking YES DEAR!!!! What are we having for dinner, I'm hungry I have some stew meat cooking, not sure what I am going to do with it, maybe season it and serve it over rice, or shred it up and make enchiladas. STEW meat, gawd, well I guess I want stew with cornbread then GRRRRRRRRR YES DEAR Now this goes on ALL day.... I am going to hurt him bad, real bad!!! Then he sits down to write. When he writes, he likes it quiet with his music playing in the background. I respect this, and usually leave the house, or go in the bedroom and read or listen to TV. I decided to just go in and read Dan's book for a while. I stayed in the bedroom for hours, reading a bit, then watching TV, then reading some more. Finally, I stepped out to get a drink of water, and what do I find....TOR IS SITTING ON THE LIVING ROOM FLOOR PLAYING HIS X-BOX GAME!!! Um, Honey.... I resigned myself to the bedroom all afternoon, to give you peace and quiet so you could write.... WHAT ARE YOU DOING??? Well, I wrote 2 paragraphs, and nothing else would come, so I decided to play around on WDC for a while, then sat down to play my game. And you couldn't tell me this???? Well, I sort of forgot you were in there by yourself, HONEY, SWEETUMS...um... I LOVE YOU Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr All day yesterday, all day today.... he has been like a bratty little boy in school who is always pulling the pigtails of the girls. Just wait, he is going to pull my pigtail just one time to many, and he is going to get his butt spanked. But it really is nice to have him home... I get to bug the dickens out of him too.... turnabout is fair play, is it not? All's fair in Love and War you know!!! *************************************************** Got this in an e-mail this morning, and thought it was too good not to share. YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2005, if ... 1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave. 2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years. 3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3. 4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you. 5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses. 6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries. 7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen. 8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it. 10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee. 11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. :) 12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing. 13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message. 14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list. 15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list. AND NOW YOU'RE LAUGHING at yourself. |
I just want to thank Dan and Linda, for the wonderful time we had yesterday. Dan and Linda are the sweetest people. Dan gave me a copy of his new book "Book- Across the River"  by PlannerDan  signed and everything!!! I sit at night, curled up on the couch reading this marvelous story based on real events and real people in the early history of Texas. Yesterday, as we pulled into the parking lot of Saltgrass Steakhouse, David and I were wondering how we would recognize Dan and Linda. But right ahead of us was this big ole red truck, and David and I just looked at each other.... "THATS THEM" we both said at the same time. Sure enough, it was. We had planned meeting around 11am, just as the restaurant was opening, so we basically had the place to ourselves. The hostess sat us down at a real nice table, which we didn't vacate until almost three hours later. As the four of us munched appetizers, we talked and laughed and discussed and compared everything under the sun. We talked about all of y'all, here on WDC... of course it was all good talk!!! We discussed the ups and downs of writing. We compared stories and lifestyles. And we LAUGHED a lot. Linda was hilarious, she would get so tickled at some of the stories and stuff that was said. David and I both had ribeye steaks, which were delicious with just the right amount of seasoning, and cooked to a medium rare that we both enjoy. Dan had a sausage and chicken platter that just looked scrumptious, and Linda had a lightly battered but very crispy order of chicken strips. When it came to dessert, they don't have a dessert menu, per se ... they bring a huge platter to the table with an example of all their desserts, so your eyes can brainwash your mouth into ordering something sinfully dangerous. Dan and Linda ordered the cheesecake. It is a humongous piece of cake, so they ordered one and split it between them. David looked at me and asked if I wanted to do the same. Well, I am not a real connoisseur of cheesecake, so I reneged on the offer and ordered a piece of Apple Pecan Pie. David went ahead and ordered the cheesecake for himself - and ate the WHOLE THING. We all suffered greatly from this indulgence of manna from heaven. We moaned and groaned for an hour afterward, but came to the unanimous decision that it was all well worth it. Finally, Dan began to squirm, and I knew that our time for visiting was short. They still had about a four hour drive ahead of them, and the afternoon was flying by. As much as we hated to end this fine meeting, we pushed our chairs back and realized that it was time to head on out. We grabbed the nearest waitress to take a picture of the four of us... and she never questioned why Dan stood behind the post for the first picture... just kind of looked at all of with that funny, "these people are crazy" sort of look. We then said our goodbyes and gave hugs and all agreed that we had to do this again. Maybe one day, David and I will head up North to the Dallas/Ft Worth area and repeat this wonderful experience. I sure wish that there was someway that we could do this with our other wonderful friends here on WDC. One day, when David and I win the Lotto (yeah right, in our dreams), we will jump a plane and head off into the sunset to catch up with all of you on the other side of the pond!!! Thanks Dan and Linda, for a wonderful visit and lunch. You two are really the sweetest and our lunch was truly the greatest!! |
| I just posted two pictures of my son in my portfolio "Photo Album" . Like all mothers, I am really proud of him. He is now 26 years old (gawd, that makes me feel real, real old)...and a Blackhawk helicopter pilot in the Army. He loves to fly. He joined the Army when he was 18 with the full intention of flying helicopters. But he wanted to learn the mechanics first, so spent the first 3 years as a helicopter mechanic getting to know them from the inside out. Then he went to flight school, where he graduated 3rd in his class (the first place grad was already a jet pilot). He just got back from a year in Korea, and is now stationed in New York. He spends every other month in Washington state, flying medivac for the big training station there, and also for the local communities. I talked to him last weekend and he told me about a flight into the mountains he did, to save a young man who fell off a waterfall. He said he had to slide down in between two 6,000 foot sheer cliffs to get close enough to drop a medic and a basket to lift the guy out. The guy ended up with major injuries...a broken shoulder, ribs, hip and leg. OUCH!! He has not been called to Iraq or Afghanistan yet... but he is willing and a bit dissappointed that he hasn't been able to go. It will probably happen after his stint in New York, within a year or two. He is proud of what he does, and does it to the very best of his ability. Do I worry... gawd yes... all the time. I am dreading the day he is deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan... but that is his job, and I know he will do it to the best of his ability and will be doing what he loves. I stand proud of my son, and of all the young men and women who serve this great country of ours. |
| I went up and had lunch with David this afternoon and did a bit of shopping. I was talking with a couple of ladies while standing in line at the checkout counter when we started talking about traveling. The two middle-aged women said that they had never been out of Polk County except to drive into Houston for doctor appointments. NEVER BEEN OUT OF POLK COUNTY??? I got to thinking about that, and thought how sad. We live in this big beautiful country, and they have never left the county, let alone the state of Texas. Then I thought of how lucky or priviledged I have been to have traveled all over the United States, either on business or for pleasure. I use to live in the San Francisco area and traveled the Pacific Coast Highway several times from there all the way to San Diego. The sea crashing against craggy rocks, the sea lions harping, the fog rolling in...are all memories I cherish. I have driven from Los Angeles to Detroit several times, once taking the northern route through Nevada, crossing the Great Salt Lake Desert and climbing the Wasatch Mountains east of Salt Lake City, passing through Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area. This took me into Wyoming, a land of wide opened grasslands Then across Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois I drove. I remember in High School, they use to tell us that we would run out of room if our population growth continued the way it was. They had all us kids scared to death that we would be living underground or stacked on top of one another, with no room to move at all. Well, after crossing these three states, I realized just how big this country of ours was. Open plains, thousand upon thousand of acres of grazing cattle, miles and miles of corn, and wheat/oat fields for as far as the eye could see. I have also traveled the southern route from Los Angeles across the Santa Ana Mountains and into the Mojave Desert. I crossed the London Bridge over the Colorado River into Arizona and was amazed to stand on the south rim of the Grand Canyon. It is just an amazing sight to behold, to see nature at work creating this natural wonder. Leaving Arizona behind me, I headed into New Mexico and was awed by the giant mesas that stood like giant sentinels guarding this haunting land. I stopped by the Zuni Indian Reservation which was built in 1695, and is on the site of one of the seven original Zuni villages attacked in `1540 by Coronado. Several tribes live in this area, the Navajo, the Acoma, and the Apache Indians all have reservations here. Once I reached Albuquerque, I took a side trip up to Sante Fe and then into Taos. Beautiful Indian pottery, turquoise jewelry and rugs can be purchased here. From New Mexico I drove across the panhandle of Texas into Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and to my home state of Michigan… the state of many beautiful forest and lakes. I have traveled along the gulf coast from Texas to Florida, passing through rice fields, crawdad farms, alligator ranches, the Atchafalaya Swamp and into the Bayous surrounding Houma, Louisiana. I have smelled the sweet odor of sugar cane wafting through the air as they harvest it. I have waved to crop dusters that flew so low to the ground, I could almost see the color of their eyes. I have stood in the middle of a cotton field and thought I was surrounded by snow. I have stopped to let alligators cross the road in Florida and watched dolphins play in the wake of the boat I was on. I came face to face with Ivan, the Hurricane that ravaged the Florida Pan Handle last year. I was staying with friends not far from Panama City Beach at the time. I have traversed the twisting roads through the Smokey Mountains in the Fall, the hills alive with colors of red, yellow and orange for as far as you could see. I have watched Bighorn Sheep and Elk wander the slopes of the Rocky Mountains. I have stood on the edge of Niagara Falls, stopped at little towns hidden in the valleys of the Appalachians. I have hiked up to Big Springs, a spring where millions of gallons of water an hour flow up through the ground in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri creating a instant river. I have traveled this country of ours, seen sights, met people, experienced lives so different from my own. I have danced with the movie stars in Hollywood and with the Cajuns of Southern Louisiana. I have eaten meals on tables made of marble, and on bare wood planks and tin cups. Am I trying to boast??? No, not at all. Today just made me realize how lucky, how privilege I have been to experience all that I have. Am I a rich person... Not in monetary value, but in what I have learned from these experiences... Yes, I consider myself very wealthy. Again, I feel sad for the two women I met at Wal-Mart today, and so many others like them. To have been born, lived and probably die in the same place without ever seeing what else is out there. To see the waves crashing on the great Pacific Ocean, the rugged peaks of the Rocky Mountains, the Great Plains, the softness of the Smoky Mountains, the Atlantic Coast and everything in between... You only live once on this great Earth of ours, you don’t get a chance to go back and do it again. Ok, now I am going to get my road atlas out and reminisce some more, remembering the folks I have met on my journeys, how I have laughed, cried and just purely enjoyed my travels across this great nation of ours. |
| I am afraid that Tor has been hit with another dash of reality. Back in June, he had his first dose, and he didn't take it very well. If you remember, Tor and I drove up to Caddo Lake to try out his new camera. "Let's rent a canoe, hon" he said. "OK, sounds good to me. How long should we rent it for, an hour or two?" "Oh no, that won't be near long enough. Lets rent it for FOUR hours!" Well, an hour later, he found out that even though his brain thought he was still 35 years old, his body KNEW it was way older than that. We came struggling in barely able to make it to shore. Well, today, he had another dose of reality. I have been eating healthy and working out every day now for almost three months. Its working, the weight is coming off and I am feeling so much better and my energy level has really increased. Tor and I were sitting at the computer reading the blogs this morning when I told him I was going to go in the spare bedroom and work out. We had bought a home gym used from a lady in town. We have a treadmill, rowing maching, stationary bicycle and then the gym itself. The gym has two stations so that two people can work out at the same time. It has all the gizmos to work both the lower body and upper torso. "Well, wait till I write my blog and I will join you in your workout today," spouted Tor. "YOU... work out....Yeah right!!!" I snorted. I went in and started my warm-up... about 15 minutes on the rowing maching then another 10 minutes on the bicycle. I had just started on the gym doing leg presses when Tor walked in. "Where do I start?" he asked. I told him he needed to warm up first and suggested the rowing maching. I then made a quick trip to the bathroom. I walked back in to find Tor sitting backwards on the rowing maching trying to figure out why the handles were in such a awkward position. I shook my head and turned him around and got him started. "Five minutes," I told him. Three minutes later he collapsed and rolled off the machine exhausted. He lay there for a minute before finally sitting up and proudly asking..."What next?" I sighed. "Ok, how about leg presses? I will leave the weight at the level that I use it, and I do 30 to a set," I told him. He sat down and got in position, knees up against his chest and feet on the plate. I saw his face turn red, I saw his muscles strain...finally, he got the thing to move. "How many?" he squeeked. "Well, I do thirty at a time," I told him. I sat down at the other station and started to do work on my triceps and crunches. I can hear him counting quietly over my shoulder, one ... two ... three ... four ........... five ........................ six ................................ huff, huff .......... seven ...........................huff, huff, huff, huff, ....................eeeeiiightttt ...................... huff, huff, huff, ..................................... niiiiiiiiiine ...................... um, honey .... how many do I have to do?" Well, I must say, he did manage to get thirty leg presses done. I then went over and helped him off the bench, holding on to him so he didn't topple over. "Now what?" he asked. "Well, lets work another part of your body. Sit down over here and lets work your abs and chest." So he sat down at the other bench and worked his arms and chest, and managed a few crunches. He sat there for a good three minutes before I finally asked him if he was done. "Well, yeah, I was done a few minutes ago," he huffed. "I just can't seem to move any part of my body at this moment." So I grabbed his leg and with much ado, got him off the bench, into the bedroom and plopped him down on the bed. "Are you comfy now, dear?" I inquired. "Uh-huh," was the only sound he managed to utter. I left him there in the cool breeze of the airconditioner, passed out on the bed while I went in to finish up my workout. I did another 30 leg presses, leg curls, another 10 minutes on the rowing machine and 10 minutes on the bicycle to cool down. He has managed to moved to the computer a few times to check on his blog and to read other blogs. But right now, he is back in bed moaning and groaning something about me trying to kill him!!!!! |
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