The Ugliest Time of the Year

         This is the time of the year I dislike the most.  The world looks gray, listless and extremely dismal.  The trees are bare of leaves and the few pine trees mixed in with the hard woods have lost their color also.  The green of the pines looks dirty brown. The only color that stands out, is the purple sprayed on a few trees which means "No Hunting".  These trees are few and far between and even their purple color has faded to a washed out sad shade of lavender.  We are between seasons. Winter isn't through with us yet and Spring is just around the corner--but out of sight.

       It has rained most of the day,a slow drizzling rain hanging to the tree branches. We have heavy rains coming in tonight, continuing through out tomorrow.  And I find myself needing to take a vacation.  I need to feel some sand between my toes.  To wade in water that is warm, instead of mud that clings to my boots and goes to my knees at times.  I need to go to Florida!!!!  Since that isn't possible right now. I think I will get my scrapbooks out, reread my journals and maybe even make a margarita.

        As I look back on our vacations over the past three years, I have wonderful memories of our time in Fla. with our oldest daughter, Lisa and her husband Lisle. I can literally smell the ocean, because I bought home a gallon of ocean water!!  I searched until I found the perfect clear genie bottle to hold my ocean. I added white sand from the Emerald Coast, sea shells and a tiny starfish from Naples. I have it sitting on my computer desk beside a dish of seashells and a picture of a "maneki neko" cat from Japan ( who is supposed to bring me happiness). What more could I ask for?

        Well, that is an open ended question.  I really, really want some sunshine.  I want some things that I can't control.  I want our gravel road to find it's bottom!!!  It is soooo muddy that it is literally hard to drive through.   I say "through" because there is no driving "on" it right now.  It is a fight, for three miles, until we reach the black top road. That is enough whining, for right now. The things I want today, are things I have no control over.

      In due time all this gloomy weather will pass.  Spring will get here and the world will look alive again.  Until then, I think I will put on my favorite Jimmy Buffet c.d. --do a little dancing--maybe watch  "Practical Magic" again.  That movie always brings a smile to my face.  And thank God for all the good things in my life----which far out number the weather and the mud.

      

 

Love Story--Revisited

          In 1970 Erich Segal published his first novel, entitled "Love Story". It became the number one best selling book of that year. 

          Tommy and I had been married about three months and were having our first argument.  It was Easter Sunday and I missed my Mama!!!  There was no way we could go to Ky. We were in the military stationed in Atlanta and were flat broke.  I seldom got homesick. I liked being on our own---just the two of us.  It was definitely  something I think every newlywed couple needs ,time alone to help cement their relationship, but on that day, I wanted to go to church with my mother and out to lunch and shopping.....just like we had done for years.

          I was in the bedroom crying.  Tommy was laying on the couch watching t.v. and trying to figure out what to do with me.  He felt bad that he couldn't take me home.  I heard the t.v. shut off and the door shut. I cried more!!!!  In about thirty minutes, Tommy came back home with a copy of "Love Story".  He gave me a hug and a kiss, told me to stop crying and get lost in this book.  He went back to watching t.v. and I grabbed that book, like it was manna from heaven.
  

         I grabbed the quilt off the bed, the pillows and went into our walk in closet---made myself a bed on our nearly empty closet floor.  Immediately, life began to look better.  It was just as good as I thought it would be. I laughed to myself and cried even more. It was such a touching love story ----and I was in the right frame of mind to enjoy it to the fullest.

        The book is only 125 pages long, so I had it read in a short period of time.  I was still in the closet, when Tommy came to check on me.  I was still crying, only this time it was because of the book.

       He opened the door--cautiously-- and said, "Now why are you crying?"  I jumped up and was in his arms before he could get the door shut.  Needless to say, we made up and ended up having a wonderful afternoon.  Then we went for a long walk and I told Tommy all about the book.  He listened as I quoted the famous line "Love means never having to say you are sorry."  We talked about that for awhile.  And both decided that although it was a catchy phrase, it was wrong.  Love means you are always saying "You are sorry". 

          Saying you are sorry, clears the air, rights wrongs and helps to ease the hurt of harsh words spoken in anger.  Saying you are sorry is like an aloe balm, applied to an open sore.  It is soothing, kind and healing. 

         It is also a necessary part of life. Taking responsibility for our words and actions, is just part of being an imperfect human. It is necessary to be able to say these words and to mean them.  For us, it has been said quite a few times in these past 41 years.  I am glad we learned that lesson early in our marriage.  After all, I can only stay in a walk in closet just so long!!!

   

           This picture was taken on Valentines Day 2011.  P.S. I got a book for Valentines Day, too.....and I didn't even have to cry!!!

     

     

The Blizzard of 2011

    Life is very quiet today.  The sun is shining, making the ice on the trees shimmer like diamonds in the rough.  For a little while my corner of the world looks pristine and delectably wealthy.  The "Blizzard of 2011" has ceased, at least for the moment. We have about 18-20 inches of snow, layered on top of 1/2 inch of ice. Plus the last 5 inches of snow left from storm number 4. Not bad stats for a "blizzard"!!

   Tommy and I are officially closed off from the rest of the world.  We will be on our own for several days, but we are prepared and are planning on having fun.  I-70 was closed last night from St. Louis to Kansas City. At that time it was snowing sometimes up to 3 inches an hour.  Beautiful, but impossible to navigate in.  All the side roads are closed. Some places have drifts up to 3 feet deep. Even though we have a 4 wheel drive Blazer--we can't go anywhere.

         There was nothing left to do but begin to dig out. Our plan of attack was to dig 30 feet to our garage. The temperature hovered around 0 and the wind was biting cold. Right about this time, we began  to argue over who cluttered up the garage so much, that we can't park in there. We finally called it a "draw", and went on to the next argument---where  the second snow shovel happened to be. It has been a week and I still don't know where the darn snow shovel is!!!

Tommy did most of the shoveling---since I only had a little shovel. LOL I kept him in coffee and moral support. After he got the path completed, it was my turn to feed the birds and drag the dogs out of the house. We changed places. Tommy went inside--and pretty much stayed!!!

I felt good. It shouldn't take long to fill four bird feeders and by this time the dogs were already out and fed. I should be back inside for "Dr.Phil", coffee and cake. I love a plan

. However, my plans seldom go exactly like I think they should. As I was walking, bird feeders in hand.  I slipped on the ice and my feet literally flew out from under me. Bird food went sailing, my bogon was knocked off my head and suddenly I had to pee so BAD!!!  I found myself lying flat on my back, yelling for help and unable to get up.

No one came to my rescue. The dogs came by to check on me and then went into the garage. It was too cold for them.  I was yelling at the top of my lungs for Tommy------when he finally opens the back door, he bursts  out laughing and says "What are you doing down there?" 

No lie!!!  If I could have reached his foot I would have jerked him down with me!!!  I didn't really have a great answer for that question. It went something like, "Oh nothing, I am just laying here on top of the ice,covered in bird food--probably with a broken back and oh, by the way---I really need to pee"  It could have gone that way, but I kinda doubt it. I was a mess!!!

Tommy, still laughing says,  and I quote, "Don't go away---I need to put  on my boots and I will be out to help you up!!!"  He really did say that.  Like I was actually going somewhere!!!

      He gets me up--we brush off the bird food and take what's left around front. I really wasn't in any mood to feed those birds, but it wasn't their fault I fell down.  So we got them fixed up.

Our road stayed closed for 3 more days.  Everything finally went back to normal. Or as normal as we ever get!!!

I didn't fall anymore, the road grader finally made it down our road...which brought us back to the 2nd lost snow shovel.  When the grader came by it added another 2 feet of snow at the end of our driveway--which we had to dig out. I say "we" but I gotta admit that Tommy did it all. Once again I cheered him on, kept him in coffee and took pictures of all his hard work. As soon as we made it to town, he bought me my own personal snow shovel!! Paybacks are rotten sometimes. 

      With just a small touch of the occasional "cabin fever" we survived the Blizzard of 2011. Thank GOD!!

It is supposed to be 50 degrees by the weekend. Living in Missouri, at times, is like living in OZ. I can hardly wait to see what next week brings!  It is gonna have to go some to beat the events of last week!!!

A Glimpse From the Past

           Last week I received a "vintage postcard" in the mail. It has all the possibilities of being one shade less than life altering for me.  Well, maybe not "life altering" but it has definately started me down the path to a new hobby.   It immediately envoked all the nostalgia of 1934.  It set my imagination free to wander about the people associated with the card. Were they friends-certainly- lovers-maybe. They could also be family members, perhaps cousins. All I know for sure, is that Frank knew Abbie well enough to know that she would appreciate the picture of the painting on the postcard.  He thought about her when he saw the card.  He took the time to mail it to her.

            I wonder what kind of woman Abbie Barber was?  Was she waiting to hear from Frank?  Checking the mailbox each day, hoping to hear from him?  Or was she surprised and delighted to get a card from a man in Instanbul?

      

         The man, Frank L. Hewith, who sent Abbie the card was either visiting or living in Istanbul, Turkey. He mailed the card on Dec.11, 1934 and she received it on Christmas Eve. Was she overjoyed when she got his card?  Did it make her Christmas perfect?  I wonder if her parents were upset that he wrote their daughter? Did that card change the feeling in the air of Christmas in their home that year? There is no way to know the answers to these questions. Ahhh, but the imagination can wander and make up all kinds of romantic scenerios.

        

           There is something exciting and intriguing about owning a "vintage postcard". It is a glimpse of an era I never knew and people I will never meet. Probably people who are long since gone. I hope they had a happy life...each in their own way.  If they were meant to be together---then I hope it was a wonderful life.  When Frank saw the postcard of the Italian boats, was he wishing they were there together? We will never know---but I have a very romantic story in mind.