The lady and the clock

Earlier this week I stopped at the pharmacy of a local grocery store.  I was the first person in line behind an elderly woman being helped at the counter.

The pharmacy employee retrieved the woman’s medications and told her the cost.  The woman then proceeded to pull her checkbook out of her purse and very slowly, very precisely, write the document.

As she was writing I caught sight of a clock on the wall across the way.  It was one of those big face clocks with the second hand that, if you are close enough, you can hear.  Tick.  Tick.  Tick.

Waiting, I felt like moments of my life were draining away.  It had been a trying day, to say the least, and this delay was just one more thing added to the heap of unpleasantness.  I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.

As with anything medical these day, the pharmacy employee asked the woman to verify her birthday.  I didn’t hear all of it, but I did hear the year.

1931.

I looked at the woman again.  She was impeccably dressed in a black pantsuit and blouse and wore low heels.  Her salt and pepper hair was pulled back in a bun at the nape of her neck.  A wooden cane, rather old fashioned looking, hung on the counter next to her.  She finished her transaction and walked away.  She wasn’t quick but she moved with purpose, with elegance. 

I moved up to the counter for my turn.  The employee made a comment regarding the woman and how she hoped to be doing as well at that age.  I had to agree.

As I left the store, I saw the woman once more.  She was sitting on a bench, waiting for her ride I suppose.  There was a grace and a peace about her as she sat there, her posture perfect and her eyes bright.  She didn’t seem to be impatient or bothered by waiting. 

Suddenly she wasn’t just a woman.  She was a lady.


AMDG

Learning the value of a GYM membership

After work one day last week Himself and I went up to my sister’s house to help her with our niece, Sara, while BIL was working some horribly long hours.  At the moment Sis is having a hard time moving.  Last December, a little before Christmas, she had a bad cold.  While holding Sara she starting coughing violently, and apparently slipped a disk in her lower back.

Over the last few months, instead of getting better, her back has gotten progressively worse.  Nothing - no pills, shots, therapy, acupuncture - seems to be helping.  As she was lying on the floor, in the only somewhat comfortable position she can find, she chided me about getting into shape.  She knows that I have struggled with back issues in the past and the extra weight I carry on my frame isn’t helping.

This morning, a routine annual test revealed some suspicious results.  Although it has a less than two percent chance of amounting to anything, it was still unnerving. 

The test results combined with my sister’s warnings reminded me that I really need to take better care of myself, as this is the one and only body God gave to me.   One of the ways, lately, that has been happening, at least on a small scale, is our GYM membership. 

I wish I could say I was clever enough to come up with the GYM acronym, but the credit belongs to the authors at Old World Garden Farms.  GYM stands for Garden and Yard Maintenance.  We have many opportunities to “hit” the GYM, both with the large vegetable garden we planted and with our numerous flower gardens. 

On Saturday I spent hours at the GYM planting and weeding and mulching.  It was physically tiring but mentally and emotionally refreshing.  Did you know that the Holly bushes in the back that we thought the weather and the deer had destroyed are growing beautifully?  We had all but given up on them.  They have so much new growth on them they just might survive after all.   I also discovered that there is volunteer Cilantro growing in the berry garden.   The bean seeds I planted are beginning to germinate and peek through the soil. 

While the GYM keeps my muscles moving it also quiets my mind.  I am learning there is not only beauty in the flowers we plant but in the dirt in which they grow.  The big, fat earth worms remind me that the earth is full of life.  The little toad hopping out of the Holly bushes both surprised and delighted me.  He reminded me of one of the first walks Himself and I took when we started dating. 

And, if moving the muscles and quieting the mind isn’t enough, some of our GYM workouts will result in nourishment for our bodies.  Berries and beans, tomatoes and peppers, potatoes and onions will soon grace our dining table.  This is, they will if they actually make it into the house.  We tend to sit outside and eat the berries we just picked!

I am wondering what I am doing here writing this.  I really should be home at the GYM!


AMDG

I need to tell you something

He don't got a belly button

Since we don't have kids we don't often get the chance to see kids' movies and television.  But, trying to be a good Godmother to my niece, Sara, her Easter basket always has to have something besides candy.  I remembered that friends of ours used to have Veggie Tales videos for their many kids to watch.  So down to the Christian bookstore I went and, two DVDs later, Sara's Easter basket was complete.

What I didn't count on was just how much I was going to enjoy them.  They are funny.  If you really listen to the lyrics they are very, very clever.

And part of me wonders just what the writers were drinking when they wrote these songs!

Baby I know your eyes see right through my disguise

And no one can deny

Baby that I'm the one whose love is no surprise

And he can't tell you no lie

But there's a secret I've been hidin'

I can't keep it no more

There's this thing about himself

He's never told you before

Baby!

He needs to tell you something

I don't got a belly button

(No belly button, no)

Oh, I need to tell you something

Can you figure it out

He don't got a belly button

Belly button no, oh no, no

Baby please don't squeal, just tell me how you feel

'Cause his love is for real

And if you went away, my heart would never heal

So to you he appeals

There's something missing in my middle

And it's hard to ignore

There's this thing about himself

He's never told you before

Baby!

He needs to tell you something

I don't got a belly button

(No belly button, no)

Oh, I need to tell you something

Can you figure it out

He don't got a belly button

Belly button no, oh no, no

AMDG

Home

"There are two ways of getting home;

and one of them is to stay there."

- The Everlasting Man

More years ago than I care to admit I would consider a good weekend one where I was go, go, going, off to this event or that.  I was involved with a "young adults leadership training organization," the Jaycees.  We had all sorts of activities that included community service, fund raising, personal development and socials.

Big emphasis on socials.  Big.  We held parties, went to concerts and ballgames, frequented local establishments for the more than occasional "adult" beverage.  It was fun at the time, but it didn't allow for much quiet in my life.

I find now that after a week at work I crave that quiet time.  Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy an occasional concert or outing.  But, now, it is not what energizes and rejuvenates me.

Last Friday and Saturday we put in most of the vegetable garden.  There were a number of tomato and pepper plants that my dad was starting for us and he brought them over on Sunday when he came for dinner.  Monday was a crazy day at work, the fallout from the previous week's implementation was still apparent.  When I got home I changed into my grubbies and headed out to the garden.  What joy it was to play in the dirt and give those plants a new home!

Afterwards, we sat under the Linden tree, drank our lemonade, and watched as the sprinkler ticked away watering our newly placed plants.

We didn't talk about much, if anything.  We just enjoyed what was around us.

And it was good.


AMDG

First Photo - June

 

To repeat last month's opening line - Aaah!  What a difference a month makes! 

 

The leaves on the trees have really filled out and our lovely Linden tree is providing us with much appreciated shade.  We set up our chairs under the tree this past Friday when we started working on the vegetable garden.  (you can see a bit of the garden fence peeking in on the left-most side of the pic) 

 

Under that tree is such a great place to watch the world go by or nothing at all.  We sat yesterday evening in the middle of planting to gather our thoughts and sort out our plans for what was going where in the garden.  Jack has been enjoying supervising our work from there as well.

 

 

AMDG



Sand Pail List – Take 2

Last year we created a Sand Pail List of things to do during the summer.  The list was good for that summer only and contained a variety of entertaining options.  Some of the items were very specific, Stop for ice cream at the local stand, and others were more open-ended, Go to at least one free concert.  

What a great summer we had!  We didn’t do everything on the list.  Some items we did more than once and in the case of another, we did a slightly different version.  All-in-all, we had fun!

Without further ado, here’s our 2014 Sand Pail List.  Some things are repeats and some items are new.  Watch out summer, here we come!

· Stop for ice cream at the RS stand. – We’ve passed by this place a few times and it looks like a combination of corner store, ice cream stand, and bait supply shop.

 

· Try out a new winery.

 

· Go to at least one free concert – Last year we went to several, but the one we really wanted to see, a Janis Joplin cover band, got rained out twice.  I’m counting on sunshine and blue skies on June 27th!

 

· Go to the County Fair and enter something into one of the competitions.

 

· Go for a hike in one of the county or state parks that we haven’t yet been to.

 

· Browse the local antique barn. - We've driven past it any number of times but have never stopped to look.  Why not now?
 

· Take a train ride.

· Go to a drive-in movie. - It's been years since we've gone to the theater to see a movie, it was the last Harry Potter one.  It has been much, much longer since I've been to the drive-in - before we were married.  Here's hoping there will be something good to see this summer.

· Brew our own beer.

· Make homemade ice cream.

What’s in your pail?

AMDG 

Time

What is it with time?  For most people, this is a short work week.  When I talk with people around here they are all complaining that the week feels so, so long.  Isn’t it Friday yet???

I have to admit, I’m one of the complainers.  This week feels painfully long.  What do you mean it’s only Thursday??

Why do short weeks feel so long?  Do we try to pack in five days of tasks into this shorter week?

Don't answer that.

It is a beautiful, glorious week.  We have sunshine and blue skies.  Just like Camelot, it has only been raining at night.  The temperatures couldn’t be more perfect, low to mid seventies.

So, perhaps instead of complaining that time is standing still, I ought to enjoy it.  I’ve been told that growlers don’t just empty themselves and help is needed at home to do so.


AMDG

Funny Foto - #8

You think they might be just a little frustrated?  When in WV for this we saw the sign at the end of what looked like a small street.  Apparently, it is not.


AMDG

Waiting Well

Five women.  A weekend in West Virginia.  Cool weather and rain.  Planes, no trains, and automobiles.  Excited hellos and warm hugs.  Beautiful scenery.  Winding roads.

Mini golf?  Rain and it’s closed.  Quick visit to the nature center.  Snakes!  Zoo?  Nope, more rain.  Time to check out the museum.  Old things, history, beautiful clothes, period furniture.  Press one to learn more about how this room was used.  Is that a man or woman in that painting?  Press two to learn more about the portraits on the wall.  Poor, poor, unfortunate woman.

Visit the gift shop.  Good chocolate cheap.  Magnet: You will always be my friend.  You know too much about me.  Fairy gardens and beautiful crystal.

Gluten free.  Dairy Free.  Soy free.  Great food.  Warm chocolate chip cookies.  Flowing wine.  After church grocery run.

Daily Mass.  Morning Prayer.  Canticle of Zechariah.  Watched over by Pope Francis.  Grace before meals.  Majestic cathedral.  Vigil Mass.  Chapel in our house.  Eucharistic adoration.

Heartfelt talks.  Late night chats.  Some tears, much laughter.  Talk of doing this again.  Sad goodbyes.

My ladies.  My friends.  Waiting Well.


AMDG

Weekends with Chesterton: Nature

“Properly speaking, of course, there is no such thing as a return to nature, because there is no such thing as a departure from it. The phrase reminds one of the slightly intoxicated gentleman who gets up in his own dining room and declares firmly that he must be getting home.”                                                                         – The Chesterton Review, August, 1993