Memoirs

How blessed am I to live in this neighborhood!

Last spring I walked almost every morning for about half an hour.  I
started out easy but met my goal of walking to Bellwood Lake which is
in our development.  I reached my goal and continued the walk to the
lake and then to Bell Rd. before returning home.
This routine enabled me to dance, dance, dance at my grandson,
Matt’s, wedding in N.C. the end of July.  I had a ball and a wonderful
wonderful time.  However, it was extremely hot there so there was
little walking in the sun.  We had a very hot August followed by a
very rainy September and I procrastinated putting my walking on hold.
Now, I am looking forward to being with loved ones in Gainesville for
Thanksgiving weekend and need to rebuild my stamina to keep up with
the activities.  Hopefully, Claire and Ian’s twins will be around six
weeks old and a joy to hold.  Yvonne and I are flying so as to have
more time with loved ones – son, Wes, daughter-in-love, Deb, Claire,
Ian, Malik, Leila, grandson, Matt and granddaughter-in-love, Katie.
Hopefully, will get to see Matt’s and Katie’s good friend, Chris, his
wife, Jessica and their daughter, Ella (I danced with him at the
reception and Ella was the adorable flower girl.)  When it was time to
leave, my son, Wes went for the car and Jessica thoughtfully guided me
through a grove of saplings in the gathering dusk to meet him.
So, this week has been absolutely beautiful, especially for October!
Temperatures during the days in the seventies and the nights no lower
than fifty.   Still, I put off getting back to walking.  Well, this
morning, I finally bit the bullet and upon waking dressed in
comfortable clothes and started out.   I had gone about a block and a
half when my neighbor, Fran, came walking too because she said, “There
goes Jo.  If she is walking, I should too.”   We hugged and chatted
for quite a while.  I shared about the wedding and the twins and she
shared about the preparations for her daughter, Emily’s wedding.  Love
her; hugged and she went her way and I continued on toward home.
Walked to Bell and as I was returning, met other neighbors, little
Asher, who is couple months older than Jaydin, his dad, Eric and
mother, Kelly walking their dogs and we exchanged greetings and a bit
of talk.   I had walked past my house and turned around when George
and Liz (neighbors I have known for over thirty years) stopped to
tease me about chatting with Fran.  I told them that “my” twins will
be arriving soon.  They have five year old twins (boy and a girl) and
were on their way to watch them play soccer.

My life seems to be a roller coaster ride through a three ring circus!
Not complaining but lovin’ it! And, that is my excuse for being unable
to add to my blog. I have decided that since this is the last day in
May, I will get a good summer start and enter some thoughts. Often, in
my life, what seems to be a lemon experience ends up being a wonderful
opportunity to make lemonade. One recent example is the weeks of rain
we have had in northeast Ohio. In fact, seems like we have had months
of rain. Not steady but in May many days of rain followed by sunshine
or sunshine followed by rain. Though many people dislike rain, I have
always loved it. It seems so soothing and also cleansing as it keeps
us from dashing madly to and fro and gives us an opportunity to
meditate and rebuild our spirits. Even the thunder storms show the
power and grandeur of God especially when lightning streaks across the
night sky.
All of this rain has actually been a blessing to me. My daughter
Yvonne and my son Wes surprised me with a Mother’s Day gift of two
apple trees!! I had been buying apples to toss across my back yard and
watch the deer dining on them without buying apples. My neighbor,
Marilyn, has an apple tree that the deer love and I often envied her.
Well, with my own trees, I will be able to enjoy the deer, too. Yvonne
preferred a Cinnamon Spice apple tree but left the decision up to me.
When Wes heard that she planned to buy a tree, he said he would send
money if she would buy one for me from him! I agreed the Cinnamon
Spice sounds intriguing and I love Honey Crisp so the day before
Mother’s Day, Yvonne said she wanted to go somewhere with me, and she
drove my car (a CRV with lots of room to carry stuff) to Breezewood
Gardens in Bainbridge. There I picked out the trees that I liked and
they loaded them in my car. My neighbor is contracted to mow my lawn
and he volunteered to plant them! Well, it rained and rained and
rained which delayed the planting but also made it unnecessary for me
to water the trees in their pots! The sunshine was welcome and that
helped to keep them healthy. Eric was away one week and his wife said
she would do it but the rain made that impossible so Eric came over
this morning and very quickly planted them on the first terrace behind
the house where we had marked where we thought they would grow best
and where not only the deer but I could access the apples. He did a
great job and I am so grateful to have such loving, caring people in
my life.

It does not seem possible that I have been home from Florida for a month!  It also amazes me that the Fourth of July holiday weekend is fast approaching!  The weather has been so lovely — seventies with light breeze during the day and down to low sixties in the evening and during the night.    So pleasant for the walks I have been taking and the cool nights are so good for sleeping!  Seems more like early spring than summer.

Because of this beautiful weather, I have been able to eat breakfast, lunch and even dinner on my front porch.   I love to sit so close to the two clumps of maple trees and watch a variety of birds flit back and forth.  I am always happy to see them drink out of the birdbath.   They have bathed in it but not lately.  I loved to watch the birds bathe in the birdbath in Wes and Deb’s yard and wish more birds liked mine.    They did not even drink from it after the last storm; when I checked, I found that the water had leaves and debris in it so I cleaned it out and gave them fresh water.  So, a few more than been drinking.

Since Monday, I have been taking short walks before breakfast, before lunch and before dinner.   At first looked upon them as necessary exercise but each day enjoy them more.  Yesterday and today saw blue birds – not the noisy  Jays but dear little blue birds.    Think a neighbor down the street has a blue bird house  in their yard.

I love this time of year when the fields have been plowed; when corn is growing;  many Amish food stands with fresh vegetables.   It is always so much fun to go to Middlefield with daughter in law, Tina and my sister, Cheryl.  We make a day of it with several stops along the way.

Of course, this month has had its usual crush of activities.   Most recently, got an e-check on my car and passed.  Yesterday took the car for an oil change and then stopped to get a tag for my license plates.    Plates not need renewing till my birthday in August but now I will not bury the reminder and forget to get on time.   Also read a whole book:  Rainwater by Sandra Brown.     It is on the list of suggested books to read before my book club (Holy Ground) meeting July 20.    I just loved it, especially the ending.    Although a lot of conflict and pain, the ending made it all worth  while.  Do not remember reading any other books written by her by there are a lot of them and I intend to read more.

Feel that I am blessed by God.   Grateful that He guided us to buying this house in this neighborhood.   I have wonderful neighbors, and the area is so beautiful and safe to walk through!

When I was in Florida, Wes helped me set up another blog and get on Facebook.  The latest excitement in my life is that with the help of Matt, Yvonne and Wes, I now have Skype!!!     Pam suggested it so Aud and I could see  one another on callsl; I got the Webcam kit at WalMart; Matt installed most of it; Yvonne helped some (we use cross loop and she can do wonders with that) and Wes guided me through my first couple of calls!!  It is amazing!!  The first call to Wes, I could see the building that is going up on his back lot — see men walking on the rafters!  I had been disappointed that the construction did not start till after I left but God must have heard my wish because I am actually watching it being built!  The second call to Wes, Deb chatted too and showed me a piece of her artwork in which she incorporated some of my writing!  I am so honored and proud to be a part of this piece.   She has been working with en caustics  which is a form of art using hot wax!  It was wonderful to watch her work and see some of the beautiful pieces she makes.  It was so much fun, too, to talk with my nephew, Kevin.   He has such a delightful sense of humor and we laughed a lot.   Hope to chat with him on Skype often.

Every day, when I awake, I thank the Good Lord for the new day of possibilities.    It is so wonderful to awake to the sunshine (or the quiet rain), stretch and treasure these golden days of life. Read the rest of this entry »

Although I miss my loved ones in Florida, I am grateful that I returned just as the hot, muggy weather moved in!   Here, in Ohio, the weather has been beautiful.  Some rain but no real storms near me.   Pleasant days and cool nights.

Still getting organized here at home and striving to keep up my blogs, Facebook, and emails!   Also to get more writing done. Read the rest of this entry »

Woke at 6:30 and packed.  Wes made breakfast which we ate on the back porch  – accompanied by Toulouse, of course.  We read the paper and I started to work on the crossword puzzle.  Deb pointed out more birds than usual were singing in the mimosa tree — I said a whole bouquet of birds.  It is hard to say goodbye. Read the rest of this entry »

This is one of the loveliest holidays I ever spent.   Wes, Deb and I awoke after a refreshing night’s sleep and Wes made a great breakfast of fried potatoes, toast and eggs.  Deb and Wes are a great team in the kitchen (and elsewhere)  as they usually each do something in preparing great meals. Read the rest of this entry »

There is a saying that time flies when you are having fun and that is sooo true!   On Tuesday, we had a quiet evening with a wonderful salmon dinner made by Wes and Deb.  Different in that maple syrup and garlic were among the ingredients that flavored it!   Terrific.  This sure is a five star bed and breakfast! Read the rest of this entry »

Deb had to work, but Wes and I had a lot of quality time together.  Was able to check my Facebook and pleasantly surprised to find many people want to be Facebook friends with me.   Especially pleased that when I encouraged Pam Kelley to be a friend, she showed my picture and comment to her mom,  Aud, who is a very dear cousin visiting Pam in Alaska.  Aud asked her to comment on my picture where I am wearing a tie die shirt that says: Let me Tell You a Story.  Aud said she would like me to tell her one.   This is wonderful to be able to communicate this way.  Bless Wes. Read the rest of this entry »

Perhaps because I am having so much fun being with my loved ones in Florida, I think about all of the fun that can be found in life.  Sometimes it comes to us as a surprise, but we can look for it as well.

It was fun to ride to the airport with my youngest son, Matt whose sense of humor always brightens my days.   I enjoyed the plane trip down, and it was fun to be met by my oldest son, Wes who also has a great sense of humor.   The warm welcome by my daughter-in-love, Deb, confirmed that this would be a wonderful visit.   It is always fun to be with them and also to spend time with my granddaughter, Claire, her husband, Shaheed and my great grandchildren – Malik who is eleven and Leila who is nine.   A rare treat is for Wes, Deb and me to have lunch with Leila and her friends at school. Read the rest of this entry »