Monday June 29 2015 DAY 117 ALWAYS ANOTHER THING TO DO!

How is it that my saga is almost over?  There is always another thing to do.  I am visiting Cynthia and Chris in Denver Colorado, the mile high city.  And boy can I tell the altitude difference.  Yesterday I had to abort a trip I would have enjoyed taken to the top of a mountain range but had to turn around and continue on my journey to Denver in order to arrive at my planned hour.  Today I did not go due to “always another thing to do”.  If you read the blog a few months ago you may remember Chris and Cynthia.  It was here in Denver that my previous IPhone died and Chris was able to transfer all my photos to his computer system, save them, then download them to my new IPhone.  For that I am forever grateful.  When I drove into Denver I realize I had made my first complete circle.  It was my first point of starting where I have now actually returned.  I guess my next circle will be Madison Wisconsin.

Cynthia has two little boys, one 4 years old and one 3 months old. I see how busy she is, nursing, cleaning, preparing, taking care of the children and it so reminds me of 40 years ago.  Courtland as a baby, Rebecca as 4 year old, me working outside the home, and Dave commuting long hours away.  I remember the comment that Cynthia said to me earlier this morning.  “There is always another thing to do”.  Yep, been there, done that!  And…it was one of the best times of my life.  At least I tell myself that now when I look back.  It seems however that that statement still rings true.  I believe if we are a person who loves life, loves learning, loves new experiences, there is always another thing to do.  Time never stretches long enough or far enough or high enough or deep enough for me to accomplish all I have to do.

A man who attends our church, worked hard all his life late into his retirement and had such a zest for living told me something a couple of years ago that still rings in my heart as a piece of insightful wisdom from someone who could only say it if they lived it.  He said to me, “do whatever you desire to accomplish starting today because there comes a time when you will no longer care.”  I looked at him quizzically and asked how he knew that.  He told me “because it had happened to me”.  Yes, he is older, a little slower, had a major injury later in life and now is winding down.  Sometimes things just don’t matter anymore he said to me that day.  “Do what you want to do now”.  He knew I was planning on retiring and he said to just jump in and DO IT.  Whatever the IT is.

I’m not there yet.  Perhaps someday I will be there.  I should leave the “perhaps” off the beginning of that sentence.  Should I live long enough I will be there.  So, I decided to take the bull by the horns and line up all that I want to accomplish in the next few years of life, places I want to see, books yet unfinished, books I want to publish, and to love and love those who mean so much to me.  It brings to mind the wisdom written earlier in this blog from a woman I met at one of the Botanical gardens.  She said whatever you plan to do, start it today or will never get done.  Does that mean I must do everything I plan to accomplish all in this one day?  No, but it does mean I have my priorities in place, I intentionally look at the avenues I need to go down to complete the project and put a tentative timeline as to what I am doing, will be doing, and make it a priority for today.

For instance I write.  I’m not going to write someday.  I write every day.  One line at a time, one poem at a time, one story at a time.  Now it is time for me to finish transcribing and organizing and editing that which I have already done.  I wish I could explain to you the reams of paper that are printed out that now will be in the sorting and organizing stage along with the computer organization.  It overwhelms me sometimes to think that I have written so much.  Who would ever want to read it, I wonder?  Does it matter if anyone reads it?  I would hope that it would matter if others read it so they could enjoy my words, my poems, but even if no one else in the world reads what I have written, it is what I wanted to accomplish and I did it one day at a time.

My trip is one of those endeavors I have wanted to do for the past three years.  I planned for it, saved for it, contacted people to see and stay with, made reservations across both the U.S. and Canada, took the training I needed to learn a PC instead of my trusty old MACS (which I regret not buying another MAC), took lessons on using a new camera (supposedly easier than my Pro Cameras) and learned a new program to work on photos.   It took a lot of time, a lot of thought, and I just did it a little at a time over months of preparing.  And now I have done it.  And there is always another thing to do, another place to see, another journey that is calling me, beckoning me from the ends of the earth.  And right now it still matters.  Someday it won’t matter anymore.  Perhaps someday I won’t even be able to remember what I’ve done, where I’ve gone, or even who I am like my mother and aunts experienced at end of life.  When or if that time comes it will not matter.  But you know what, what matters is that I did it and I enjoyed each and every moment in the present I lived.  If there was one things I would bequeath to others it would be to learn to live in the moment.  When you live in the moment you experience the fullness of life as you live it.  You are not storing up memories for later, or worrying about what is yet to come.  You are enjoying the very second, the very experience, and the very moment of now.  As I’ve often said, LIVING IN THE MOMENT it is a beautiful place to live.  LIVING IN THE NOW.  It was about a year’s learning experience for me to really grasp the true meaning of NOW.  It was through scripture, prayer, insight into others’ lives,and listening to the voice of God speaking to my thoughts.  To paraphrase a scripture, there is no need to worry about tomorrow for today has enough trouble of its own.  And  aother scripture that talks about we are like the grasses and flowers of the field, alive today and then withered and gone.  Think of the scope of eternity.  Our life is not even a drop in the ocean in eternity’s timeline. You might want to stand still a moment and contemplate on what difference can your drop of life mean, to yourself, to others.  Is it worth worrying about what may never happen?  No, I don’t think so.  Just live in today, live in the moment and so much more can and will be accomplished.  Just write one poem a day for years and see the pile accumulate.  In other words do what it is you want to accomplish in life one day at a time.  Begin today.  And feel blessed when there is always another thing to do.

Well, today I had a tour of the Denver Colorado State Capitol Building.  What an awesome place.  Sometimes we just go in a building and never think of the history, the whys of being built, how it was built.  Well today was very fascinating learning about the history of the Denver Capitol Building.  I won’t go into all of it because it might bore you even more that my reflections above might have done.  Don’t know how many of you will even get this far reading what I wrote.  But remember, I am doing this because it is what I want to do.  If you are reading it I hope it is because reading it is something you want to do.  If you get this far send me an email to wkmaratens23@gmail.com and let me know.  You can go to the contact page to do so.

I will tell you that the Denver Capitol allows visitors a tour up into the dome of the building.  The dome rises 272 feet above ground and is covered in real gold.  It took 200 ounces of gold to gild the dome when it was originally built.  In 2013 it had to be gilded once again and because of new techniques it took only 64.5 ounces.  Except for the brass and wood in the capitol building everything else was harvested from Colorado.  All the granite, onyx, and marble were from the mountains of Colorado.  The people of Colorado felt it was important to use local supplies even though it would have been less costly to order the marble from Italy.  I was amazed at the beautiful, one of a kind marbles they used.  Some of the marbles were literally used completely up.  There wasn’t even enough to finish some of the areas originally designed for it.  I took some photos and will include them when I can get online.  As I write I am unable to access the internet but perhaps I will be able to have service tonight.  It is only 4:24 p.m. and I am writing now so I can go to bed early tonight because I have a long drive day to Lincoln Nebraska and I need to leave very early.  I thoroughly enjoyed the tour today and only wish I could have toured Cheyenne’s Capitol yesterday since I was right there on the premise.  I will also include a photo of the City and County building that I took from the outside height of the dome on the capitol.  I walked up and up and up forever to get there.  I had to do it slow as not to go into Atrial Fib.  This high altitude does a number on my heart rate.  I just took it slow and rested a couple minutes when I needed to.  Some people in the tour could go to the top.  I am so glad I was still able to do so.

Tonight we will eat out, hopefully get home early and go to bed.  It was and still is a wonderful day.  Every moment filled with the joy of the Lord in my heart.  For this is the day that the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it!  And I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!

I pray God’s blessing on you this day.  Two more nights on the road if all goes as planned.

One more thing.  Just so you can see how quickly plans can change.  Last night I stepped off a step in the garage without realizing it was there.  Caught unaware I started going down and my face was aiming right at my car’s right hand mirror.  It was as if it happened in slow motion.  All I remember is saying to myself “Oh Lord” and I felt an unnatural pressure on my chest, my feet came forward from the step and it was if I was caught in midstride and quickly walked off that step, returning to an upright position.  I felt a little twinge in my right hip as I stumbled somewhat, quickly righting myself.  With the dynamics of what was happening that should not have been the outcome.  I was left with that little twinge of pain in my hip for a while, slept well, and could walk up all those steps today.  I give praise and thankskgiving to God for having His Angels surrounding my every step.  And I thank God for his protection.  How quickly my plans could have changed in that twinkling of an eye.

TO BE IN THE MOMENT

Kathleen Martens

June 29, 2015

So much to do

When do we live?

Time has a way

To others give.

Is any leftover

To use as we may

Do we worry about tomorrow

Or in today stay?

What must be done

To accomplish our goal

To have things happen

That speaks to our soul?

Do we spend time

On yesterday’s regrets?

Or worrying about next week

And all of our frets?

To be in the moment

Is the place to be

In the here and now

You are forever free.

So slow down and keep

The promises to self

To finish your desires

Upon your shelf.