Friday October 30 2015  LOVE THE ADVICE

Come on people.  Send me some advice.  I’m soliciting for it.  I can take it!  I LOVE THE ADVICE my sister sent me regarding last night’s blog.  And I will back her statement and say that it is true she has told me this many times before.  Remember that I need to experience the situation in order to learn from it.  Well, I have now experienced what she is commenting on and I just want to express loud and clear, I AM A BELIEVER!

Here is the advice OLDER sister sent me:

“Comment: I tried to tell you how short the hours are and how busy you will become after retiring. WELCOME TO THE RETIREMENT WORLD BABY GIRL.  Until you run out of energy and the get-up-and-go that you have now; and as long as you are semi working – the 24-hour clock is about 12 hours.  Best get used to it; at least as long as you live in such a large house and property – they own you. And if you want to eat healthy that takes time too.  You didn’t listen or learn from your big sister – now you are finding out what it is all about.”

I hope to be a quick learner.  With all the “get-up-and-go” that I seem to have, I wonder if it will be used up more quickly because I use it excessively (sort of like a bank account would deplete if you overspend in too short a time) or, if it will continually renew itself BECAUSE I am so active.  The days I do not work out I seem to have less energy.  So, until I run out of put-put power I will keep on, keeping on.  BUT…I do plan on reigning in a bit.

The older I become the more I realize how little time I have left to finish all that I want to accomplish.  None of us know how long our days are numbered, but they are definitely numbered.  From the last data I received, death has 100% results.  Only while I am here on earth can I be of service to God.  I will continue to help others, share His love with others, and most of all love my family.  If I accomplish some of my other dreams that will be a bonus.  If I don’t succeed, it won’t be because I didn’t give it my best try.  One of the saddest things for me is when I talk to other people who no longer have drive to follow a dream but would rather sit in front of a TV and live their life through the fantasy on the screen.  I’d rather live my life through my own fantasy, my own dreams and my own imagination.  Sometimes fantasies become reality, and that is when life becomes exciting.  Everyone’s dreams are different.  Some are grandiose and some are simple.  It doesn’t make one dream better than another’s.  What is important is to keep your dream alive and enjoy the journey.  And remember, just because aging creeps up on us it doesn’t mean our dreams must die.

My photo session went well today and was accomplished in the quickest time ever.  One reason being is that I have another session next week to finish the large group photos.  These photos are for purchase and all will be in the school year book.

So this afternoon is bonus time.  I have lots of little things I still hope to accomplish before 4:00 p.m. when I plan leave in order to attend my grandson’s birthday party.  He is now four years old and I must say he is a super kid.  And so is his big brother!  Dave will not be attending due to his precarious situation and coming face to face with a lot of bouncing, active, little children.  Of course I will take lots of pictures!

 

ACCOMPLISH WHAT YOU CAN

By Kathleen Martens

October 30, 2015

 

If there is a dream

That lives deep inside

Fan the flames

So it will abide.

 

As you grow old

Keep it alive.

Make the time

To help it thrive.

 

Accomplish what you can

A little each day,

And soon it will grow

And find its way.

 

A dream will bloom

When it’s watered and fed,

Never give up

Until you are dead!

 

I send you my best. (It is hard for me to say “Goodnight” when the sun is still shining).  Have a great rest of the day.  I intend to!  I’M GOING TO A PARTY!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday October 29 2015  AN ORDINARY DAY

What is an ordinary day?  I suppose it depends on who you ask.  Since my husband retired I don’t  know if we understand what an “ordinary day” is anymore.  No two have yet been the same.   The thesaurus synonym for “ORDINARY” is:  ‘normal, commonplace, usual, regular, everyday, conventional, average”.  I am beginning to forget what those words mean.  When I find out what my “normal” day is I’ll be certain to let you know.  If anyone would like to tell me what a normal day is I’d be glad to share it with my readers.

Today was another one of those hectic days that run out too soon.  I won’t go into a lot of detail because my clock is ticking fast if I plan to be in bed by 9:00 p.m.  But, I will tell you that all the photo equipment is in order, checked, tested, packed and waiting to be loaded in the morning at 5:45 a.m.  I must leave at 6:15 a.m. and that means I must aim for a 6:00 a.m. departure if I am to actually be on the road by 6:15 a.m.  It is now 8:02 p.m. and I must still shower.

Dave’s pain level is still a nuisance but he seems to be managing it okay with half a pill every so often.  He said he may try to go through the night without one. 

Fortunately for me I do not even need to stop and think about writing a poem tonight.  I will use the one I wrote this morning in my quiet time with the Lord.  This blog will be short and sweet due to my action packed day.  It is good to actually sit down for a few moments to chat with you as I have been on the go my feet most of the day.

Just in case my longtime friend Albert (who I’ve known since I was 6 years old) is reading the blog I send birthday wishes to him tomorrow.  We’ve shared a lot of birthday cards back and forth.  He is much better than I am at sending them out.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALBERT.  REMEMBER I LOVE YOU.  I LOVE YOU TOO MARK! 

 

DESERVING OF ALL

By Kathleen Martens

October 29, 2015

 

Oh God, thank You for this day.

I need You, every hour I need You.

I long to hear You and obey,

And Your plan my life ensue.

 

Open Your word that it will teach

What it is You want me to hear.

Deep into my soul probe and reach,

To rid me of doubt and fear.

 

Open my heart and fill it with compassion

That my heart will turn to the lost.

Your likeness Lord let me fashion

Regardless of what the cost.

 

For you are King—mighty above all.

In voice I worship, my hands I raise.

You are the Father who hears my call,

Deserving of all worship and praise.

 

Good night.  Tomorrow has the promise to be even busier , as I will be attending my grandson’s birthday party tomorrow evening.  Dave has chosen to stay home due to his precarious situation.  I hope I have time to blog!!!

P.S.  By the way, my grandson is awesome and so is his brother!

 

 

Wednesday October 28 2015  THE DAY RAN OUT

 

Proverbs 16:9:  (Five different translations of the same verse).

NIV: “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”

KJ2000:  “A man’s heart plans his way; but the Lord directs his steps.”

NLT:  “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.”

ESV:  “The heart of man plans his way but the Lord establishes his steps.”

Aramaic Bible in Plain English:  “The heart of a son of man plans his ways, and the Lord Jehovah orders his steps.”

 

Then Dave found the following verse, Psalms 37:23 from the NASB translation:

“The steps of a man are established by the Lord, and He delights in his way.”  

Then following that verse is the commentary  for verse 23 which states: “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, rather, established, upheld, and made firm.”

 Well, today my steps did not feel established, upheld, or made firm.  All I can hope, is that it was God who established, directed, determined and upheld, and made firm my steps, because I felt as if I were blowing in the wind. 

Up by 6:00 a.m., had my crock pot full of pumpkin and beans and lots of other good things, plugged in and cooking by 7:30 a.m.   Then I took the time to pick a pomegranate apart for a salad.  The rest of the day felt like a rug was being pulled out from underneath my feet.  I found out that the new battery charger I had purchased in August would not charge the new battery that I bought yesterday.  With the long photo session coming up I must have plenty of back up batteries for the hundreds of photos I must take.  So the first thing I had to do was go all the way back to town (about 13 miles away) to buy a new charger to replace the other charger.  I had thrown away two other batteries (almost $100 each) over the last couple of months because they wouldn’t take a charge.  Little did I know that is was the charger and probably not the batteries.

I don’t remember if I mentioned about one of our large lower cupboard doors breaking a hinge yesterday and falling off.  I searched for a replacement hinge and went way across town to buy it yesterday (again with limited time to use that way).  I called and left a message for the builder who was the contractor we used three years ago when we had a water loss.  He returned the call as I was in the garage leaving for the Camera Company.  I came back in, we talked, and I had an appointment in one hour for the workman to come.  Well, I left, the store, exchanged my charger free of charge and the salesman threw in a used battery to boot.  I arrived home two minutes before the carpenter arrived.  He was efficient and quick and the job completed within the hour.  He did not use the hinges I purchased yesterday but was able to reinforce the ones that were already on the door.  It was a much better fix than having to reconfigure the cutout area that would be needed to use the new ones, not to mention it would have weakened the integrity of the door.  The doors are heavy solid oak.

He left and someone called and needed to change an appointment they had with Dave for this evening to this afternoon.  We ate quickly, and my plans were to go down and start working on my equipment.

Dave then answered the phone and it was a NILMDTS call to photograph a baby that was being taken off life support.  There went the rest of my day.  I must be honest and tell you that I had a bit of a grumbling spirit going on inside me.  I would never say no to doing such a photo session and knew I would do it if I couldn’t find someone else.  I just gave it over to the Lord.  And I did feel a bit better after that.  The hospital said they would call me when it was time to come.  So now I had to reconfigure my equipment for the kind of session I would be doing at the hospital.  And I still had batteries that were not charging.  By this time I am constantly praying in my spirit.  Dave’s appointment time arrived and I had to leave the area, as these are personal sessions with his care receiver.  I exited to the lower level and started working on getting things ready for the photo session in two days.  I became sidetracked with a bogged down computer and had to do a little work there.  I did accomplished some things but never did touch my equipment that I wanted to have completely tested and packed today (which is several hours of work).  I try never to leave something for the last moment just because of situations like today cropping up.  Now tomorrow becomes the “last moment”.

There were other phone calls, other people that I had to see that dropped by and my plans for today quickly dwindled due to the fact that the day had run out.  So that is what happened to my day.  I planned (what I thought was a good plan) and like I said, I certainly hope it was God directing my steps because I always want to be in His perfect plan, and I do hope He delights in me.  I then received a phone call.  It was the hospital.  And lo and behold, just when I thought there wasn’t anything left of today the nurse told me that the hospital photographer stopped by and had some extra time and decided to do the photo session since he was there at just the right time.  Then I heaved a big sigh and knew that it was God directing my day after all.  Now, if I had gone to do the session I would have looked at it the same way.  There is always a reason I am where I am when God directs my steps.

So…tomorrow…hmm…

Maybe I just won’t make any plans and allow God to lead me from the moment I arise.  Somehow He always helps me get things done.  I just need to remember that BEFORE I make my plans.  That alone would save me time.  One thing I am hoping however, is that when I go to bed by 9:00 p.m. tomorrow evening, that all my equipment is lined up and ready to load in the car in the morning.  Since it is too cold at night to have my equipment in the car I must load it in the morning.  The good thing, is the fact that there is no snow and I can still drive around back to the studio entrance and load from there. 

 

EVEN THOUGH I CAREFULLY PLAN

By Kathleen Martens

October 28, 2015

 

Lord, thank you for this day,

Regardless the mess I was in.

No time to do what must be done

So hectic it has been.

 

Even though I carefully plan

How my day is laid out.

Perhaps I should just wait for you

To tell me what it’s all about.

 

It would sure save me time

To always do it Your way.

With all the planning that I do

I’ll let you establish my day.

 

But I must remember

To give it over to You,

And allow your sovereign guidance

To show me what to do.

 

And I am always grateful

For I feel You are watching over me.

And I thank You for the joy you give

As you show me how to be.

 

So…tomorrow…I’ll just put myself into God’s hands and allow Him to establish, uphold me, and make firm my steps.  Then I will be ready for Friday.  I must remember, He never gives me more than I can handle.  But sometimes I forget that. 

I’M STILL LEARNING.  I AM A WORK IN PROGRESS!

 

Good night and sleep tight.  I’m looking forward to a beautiful tomorrow.

 

 

 

Tuesday October 27 2015  TAKE A LOOK AT YOURSELF

 

Well, I don’t know quite where the above title came from.  It just popped into my head after I typed the date.  So, what does “Take a look at yourself” mean?

Personally, I am a people watcher.  I thoroughly enjoy looking at people’s faces and any other part my eyes may wander to, but especially their faces.  If I am in a public place like an airport or mall I never need to be entertained.  I can sit in a seat and just watch the people for hours.  I often wonder if people really know what the expression on their face looks like, or may reveal to others.  I often ponder that, as I see such somber, serious expressions.  I wonder who are these people, what are they thinking, why are they in this particular place at this time?  Sometimes when I am with Dave waiting for a plane or at another public place where the wait is long, we’ll spy someone across the way, maybe a couple or family.  On occasion we will make up our own fantasy about them as we watch their expressions and antics.  It can be quite interesting.  

Back to the faces.  I think if people really could see the expression on their face they might actually try to change it.  Foreheads furrowed, brows pinched together, eyes squinted, mouth hanging open, tongues hanging out, aloofness, are all some of the picturesque demeanors I have had chance to view.  And I again wonder, do we really know what our face look like when we are not purposely engaged face to face with another person? 

Recently when I was in Branson at the Sight and Sound Theater I had an interesting experience.  It was intermission and hundreds and hundreds of people were all being dismissed at the same time.  Well, one guess where most of us headed.  I was in a quick moving line in the ladies restroom and had an interesting encounter.  Now I want to explain a little something about my primping for the day.  I take my shower, my hair is wet, I brush it once so it will lay down, I get dressed and I am done for the day.  If it is Sunday I’ll put on lipstick if I remember.  Sometimes I remember to brush my hair after its dry, but most days I do not.  This day at Branson was no different.  I’m close to the front of the line so it is moving quickly and I almost had a collision with someone.  Everyone was turning left so I decided to turn right where I saw many empty stalls.  Just as I turned I almost bumped nose to nose with a lady who startled me completely because I didn’t see her there just the second before. She was walking fast and I was walking fast.  You know how many thoughts swirl in your head at any one time, well my first thought was “there was a lady who knew where she was going as the look on her face was very determined”.  Within a split second my mind captures what I was truly seeing just a second before I collided with this “older woman”.  All of a sudden I realized I was going to collide with the mirror image of myself if I did not halt quickly.  That OLDER WOMAN was me!  In that split second of time I had noticed her wrinkles and they didn’t bother me at all UNTIL I realized, hey, that was me.  Those were my wrinkles!  At first I actually did not recognize myself until I was nose to nose walking into a mirror.  For once, I truly did see the expression on my face before realizing I was going to be viewing myself.  I find I can make myself look a lot better in a mirror if I hold my smile in place so as not to have too many drooping lines show.  I caught myself off guard.  I guess I better start taking a better notice of the expression on my face that I am exhibiting to the world.  What do you look like to others?

I must admit it was a quick, interesting meeting with myself.  I guess I just don’t realize how I really look.  Maybe that’s a good thing.

Sometimes I just put myself in situations so that I can people watch.  The Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison are a great place to do it.  People are usually in a good frame of mind when strolling through a peaceful garden and their eyes are full of wonder and curiosity.  I think the environment of the garden and other people close by give them a comfort level to smile back.  I usually get lots of smiles and lots of conversation when I go there to browse.

Sometimes I stand at the exit of a planeload of people who are debarking, with a big smile on my face, and try to catch everyone’s eye as they pass me.  I’ve actually done counts of how many will smile.  Just for your information, when I smile at a person their first reaction is a startled look, then the eyebrows furrow and most look away as quickly as they can.  There are always the two or three who will smile back and in their eyes I see a kindred spirit.  I will tell you who does smile, all the children.  They light up when we make eye contact and a big grin will become plastered on their face.  Many of them will watch me as they are being dragged away by their parents.  Sometimes when I am in Woodman’s Grocery Store in Madison I will smile at anyone who looks at me, and you would be surprised at the responses I receive.  Some do quick head turns to avoid any further contact, some look quizzical or look around to see if they are close to someone else whom I may be smiling at, and some will actually speak to me and smile back.  I’ll tell you who does smile back to me in Woodman’s, all the little old ladies, bent and shriveled, walking up and down the aisle with just a few things in their cart.  As a general rule, our world does not know how to smile at strangers anymore.  Strangers do not know how to spontaneously smile back.  Again, ask yourself the question, what does my expression say to another?

I don’t know about you but I want to look like I am full of life and joy and the love of God.  Others may not recognize the God-part, but I have often had people who don’t know me say there is something special they see in my eyes when I smile at them.  I truly hope it is the love of God being poured over them.  How much better would the world be if we could again trust enough to return a smile, or even better yet, to give the first one. 

Below is a short poem I wrote several years ago inspired by a friend’s smile.

 

Inspired by Jeanette’s Smile

February 26, 2011

 

A smile is always a special thing,

To someone else, joy it brings.

And because you give it away,

Another on your face

Can take its place.

 

Well, now I guess I know what “TAKE A LOOK AT YOURSELF” means, especially today.

 

Update:  Dave is still having intermittent pain.  I am busy constantly but not accomplishing what I must.  I tell myself tomorrow will be different because I am not even going to go out or get dressed.  I must work in my studio office ALL DAY and go through all my equipment and supplies for Friday’s all day photo session.  I won’t be answering the phone, but hopefully I’ll surface in the evening so I can find out what else is in my head to write about.  Maybe I won’t even take a shower or brush my hair.  I have those days too!  They are the ones I cherish!  (But I do brush my teeth)!

 

 

IT MAY MEAN A LOT

By Kathleen Martens

October 27 2015

 

 

What would it be like

If a smile didn’t exist?

And we’d never seen one,

So it wasn’t even missed?

 

How would we know

If one was happy or sad?

Would we be able to decipher

If they were joyful or mad?

 

So much our expressions

Speak louder than words.

The attitude that precedes

Must somehow be heard.

 

How we set our face

Is how it will grow.

What is in your heart

Your face will show.

 

Be careful the brows

That furrow down,

Sometimes that’s construed

As part of a frown.

 

Watch when you squint

At what others say,

Could it be mistrust

That you display?

 

Be careful your expression,

Know what you present.

It could trigger

An unlikely event.

 

So when you get up

And are ready for the day

Grab a few smiles

Before you go on your way.

 

And use them generously

When you see others pass,

Your smile may be fleeting,

But to another may last.

 

Take an abundant supply

Because there is no cost.

There is always another

If the first one gets lost.

 

The more you give,

The more will appear.

And they are always so nice

For those who are near

 

So purposely give one

Whether you want to or not

Because to another

It may mean a lot.

 

I hope you will stop and think of this poem or post it on your mirror as a reminder to smile.  I truly believe a smile is a gift that God created for us to give away.

 

Good night.  May you have sweet dreams full of smiles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday October 26 2015  AND A LITTLE BIT OF SUNSHINE

I am purposely slowing down and still don’t have a moment to call my own.  Or at least it seems that way.  Not a lot going on around here right now so if this is too boring to read just skip down to the poems if you prefer. 

Up early, carved out time to spend with the Lord, fixed lunch for Dave as I would be gone during lunch time, went to the gym, stopped at the grocery store, made a stop at the CAMERA STORE in preparation for Friday’s school photography session, got my car washed and came home.  Ate lunch at 4:00 p.m., worked on laundry, and now I am here.  How does a day get used up so quickly?

Oh yes, I moved my red geraniums into the sunroom from outside.  That is where they will live for the next seven months.  I didn’t bring any geraniums in last year after doing so for many years.  I would bring the same ones in year after year, all nine of them.  They loved the sun room.  I had some sitting on the floor which grew up as high as my waist and huge in circumference.  They were a constant upkeep as I have carpet in the sun room.  I had four sitting in a row on an 8 foot bench like sentinels.  They had both southern and western exposure in a room that is almost all glass.  They thrived.  Others I had on the floor, on stands and on a table.  One particular day I had to debris all the spent blossoms from the geraniums.  I counted 210 flower stems I snipped off that day.  Most of the flowers would grow to the size of a grapefruit with a few others a bit smaller.  I have pictures of that somewhere in my archives.  It certainly makes for a cheery feel when I look into the sun room in midwinter and see all the brilliant red against the outside blanket of white.  This year I only brought in three small pots.  I have two very large pots that will be left to die in the winter cold.  Actually we will uproot them and put the pots into the shop.  Oops, maybe not this year.  I don’t have the strength to get them there.  That was always Dave’s job.  I’ll cover the opening of the pots and hopefully the pots will not freeze and break.

I guess my geranium tending is the most exciting thing I have done or will do on this day.  At least I hope nothing more exciting than that will happen the rest of the day. 

Dave is slowly making progress.  He is up frequently pacing around the house (doctor’s orders) so as to prevent blood clots or pneumonia from developing.  Yesterday he did over 5,000 steps.  I think he is aiming for that today.  It’s good to have a goal!  If that is the only thing you can do then that is a good goal.  He is an excellent patient. INSERT:  Dave just updated me that he will have over 6,000 steps in today.  YOU GO DAVE!!!

 

AND A LITTLE BIT OF SUNSHINE

By Kathleen Martens

Oct 26, 2015

 

A little bit of summer

Came inside today.

In little clay pots

Their area to play.

 

Cheery and bright

In stunning red preen.

Framed in velvet

Leaves of green. 

 

Fragrance of summer

All winter long,

And lots of blooms

That sing a song.

 

It is in my heart

The melody is heard

Because they don’t really

Whisper a word.

 

They plant a smile

Upon my face

When I glance into

My sun room’s space.

 

And a bit of sunshine

Greets me each morn,

And winter’s cold

No longer forlorn.

 

We had a nice break while I was creating the above poem.  Rebecca and Neil called to face time us on the IPhone.  It is always so good to see them that way.  They have a lot of building projects going on inside their house (Neil is a builder) and they are planning on having them finished in time for some special company that is coming in about two and a half weeks.  Rebecca’s birth father’s sister, and her husband, will be visiting from Chicago.  It is such a wonderful experience for Rebecca to be able to connect with both sides of her birth family.  We have also met most of her family and find them to be delightful and interesting.  We are actually hoping that when things slow down with us that they will come and stay with us a few days.  Dave’s family is very small, two sisters, a niece and nephew and that is about it.  My family on the other hand is so large that it is hard to get a handle on it.  My mom was the oldest of 12 children who grew to adulthood, and quite a few of those had large families, and their offspring had large families, and now there is even another generation having families.  I couldn’t even give a possible guess as to how many first cousins I have, not to mention the generations once and twice removed.  I think it is great that Rebecca has so many families.   And I think that everyone that has ever met her, in her new found families (located 9 years ago), fell in love with both her and Neil.  I certainly know I fell in love with Rebecca the first time I set eyes on her, and that was when she was bald! And she leaked!

Early this morning I had a sweet time with the Lord.  During that time I wrote two poems.  I will share them below.

 

I NEED YOU LORD

By Kathleen Martens

October 26, 2015

 

I need You Lord every day.

Open Your path and show me Your way.

Call to my heart that I will hear

And be aware of Your presence, ever so near.

 

I need You Lord in time of stress

That when I’ve sinned I will confess.

You are the God of mercy and grace

And I desire to seek Your face.

 

I need you Lord when joy prevails

I need You Lord when all else fails.

I need You in all moments of time

That I know I’m Yours and You are mine.

 

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I PRAISE YOU FATHER

By Kathleen Martens

October 26, 2015

 

Lord I praise You for who You are,

And for caring about me.

I praise You for your splendor

And that You, someday I’ll see

 

No longer through a glass darkly

But face to face in all Your glory.

Thank You Father for mercy unending

And for the miracle of Your story.

 

I praise You Lord, the King above all,

And I rejoice in the power of Your might.

You, oh God, who are high above the earth,

Are the very source of unending light.

 

Good night and may the God of Love watch over you.

 

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY SABBATH OCTOBER 25 2015  LEAVES…LEAVES…AND MORE LEAVES…

This morning as I sat here in front of my computer I heard a noise.  It was a loud noise.  I looked out back into my neighbor’s back yard, it wasn’t coming from there.  I looked into their side yard, it wasn’t coming from there.  But it was loud and close.  Oh well I thought, someone must be doing something in their yard.  After an hour or more I needed something from the kitchen so I walked to the front of the house.  What met my eye was amazing.   First of all, I located the noise and there was my neighbor with her heavy duty, gas powered back pack blower BLOWING OUR LEAVES OFF THE LAWN.  I know they told Dave that they wanted to do this for us but I wasn’t expecting it so soon.  But as you can see by the pictures below there were a lot of leaves.  The only problem is that they haven’t all fallen.  We have so many leaves yet to fall.  They informed us they would be doing it again in the future.  We were truly amazed and grateful.  I have no clue as to how to even begin to repay them.  They probably have twice that many leaves of their own still sitting in their own yard.  I find it amazing to have neighbors with such generosity of spirit.  And I thank them immensely.  Please take a look at the pictures I included below.

I have a little excerpt of an email I sent to my sister earlier today.  It is about what I was doing this morning and a memory it evoked.  I told her about it and decided I would copy it from her email and plug it into my blog tonight because it is something I would like my readers to experience through my writing.  Here is the excerpt from the email I sent her earlier today:

“I am sitting here in the sun room overlooking the back yard and the adjoining woods.  The sun is shining brightly on the trees.  Almost everything is gold and rust and red except one tree.  There is a large green mulberry tree at the end of the terrace (the pool yard area).  The leaves do not turn color.  The tree stays green with all its leaves until just the very right day.  What makes the very right day is a mystery to me.  On that day we will look outside in the morning and the entire tree is still intact.  Once the first leaf drops it just simply lets go of all of it’s leaves and they start fluttering down and every branch is emptied of its burden within a few short hours.  Last year Dave saw the tree was just beginning to part with its leaves and called it to my attention.  I quickly put a coat on over my housecoat and ran outside to stand under the falling leaves.  Oh what a surprise I had.  I motioned for Dave to come out.  It was cold and sunny, sort of like today, and Dave was not going to go stand under a tree in the back yard.  I kept hollering up for him to come.  I had a surprise to share with him.  Finally he came.  When he was standing beside me under the downpour of leaves I asked him to be very quiet and not make a sound.  I said, just listen.  It was so amazing.  There standing under the mulberry tree, being showered with little green leaves, it sounded like gentle rain as the leaves landed on top of the other leaves already on the ground.  It was a sound so delicate and exquisite.  Each leaf that dropped sounded like a little pearl dropping into a pool of water.  It created a quiet, simple, tinkling music. It also reminded me of a gentle rainfall.  I was just mesmerized!  Dave loved it too.  We stood out there for the longest time just listening to this private little gift of God’s creation sounding in our ears.  It was like what that young girl said to me in yesterday’s wisdom,  “Take every opportunity even if you do not think you will enjoy it.  You may surprise yourself”.  I think Dave really did surprise himself. He seemed to enjoy himself (although a shorter time than I did) once he came outside. I loved the above wisdom.  It is something that I have learned to do and so enjoy the discovery of what I find.  Standing under that tree was a once in a lifetime experience, one I doubt many will ever experience.  Who knows, if we are fortunate enough to be home this year and catch it happening, I can do it again.  But I don’t believe it will ever be as wonderful as it was the first time because I will be expecting, rather than being surprised. When the few hours of leaf falling is over there is a green carpet of leaves in a perfect circle directly beneath the branches of the tree.  I stayed outside that day for a very long time.  It makes me feel exhilarated to be in the midst of nature.  Experience has always been my best teacher. You’ve told me that many times.  I need to be in the midst of what is happening to truly feel what I know I must feel.  That is why I so enjoyed my trip this year.  I was in the midst of so much of God’s creation.  I never became tired of it.”

The friend who taught me how to administrate a blog invited me to an annual event he and his wife host called “ONE FOOT IN HEAVEN”.  It is a small group that meets to share stories of what living in the presence of God has meant to them this past year.  We share stories of miracles and prayers and answers and what we have learned through the past year in the spiritual sense.  This is my second event.  It is something that I enjoy and am so happy to be on Len’s invitation list.  I heard some interesting stories today and shared a few of my own from my trip.  I believe there are more that I have forgotten than what I remember.  I am glad that I wrote most things down daily.  I regret the three weeks that I did not have blog service and didn’t think to write the blogs in WORD and then later transfer them over when I had WiFi once again.  I have probably missed a lot that took place during those three weeks.

Dave was doing okay today, able to get up and down, and with his medication he is handling his pain a bit easier.  He has been cleared to drive but he doesn’t think he is ready for that yet.  We are sticking close to home for the next couple of weeks.  He’ll be home, I’ll be close.  I am planning on being out as little as possible.  So what should my poem be about?

 

HE’S A GOOD SPORT AND DOESN’T COMPLAIN

By Kathleen Martens

October 25, 2015

 

Ho…hum…I need something to write

Perhaps I shall tell you about Dave’s plight.

You know those men all chivalrous and strong?

And when they pick something up, something goes wrong.

 

Oops it was heavy, that old tobacco table

I truly believe it’s what made him disabled.

With some help he lifted it high

And it was later he said “Oh my”.

 

The lump showed up in its own time mode

And thought to be a swollen lymph node.

But alas, that was not to be.

It was a hernia that popped the bowels free.

 

Not a comforting thought when he went to see

That his doctor was definitely a she.

It’s got to be fixed before all pops out

We’ll put in a mesh to make it real stout.

 

And so they did with a cut and a sew,

And the sad part is, wouldn’t you know

That now he’s in pain like none other before

Sometimes a little, and sometimes more.

 

He must move easy, and get lots of rest

And sitting down he is at his best.

But he’s a good sport and doesn’t complain,

But he won’t pick up that table again.

 

When Dave helps me proofread I hope he’ll let me keep the poem. 

Tonight I am a lady of few words.  I have more interesting things to do.  I must take my husband’s bandage off tonight and make certain he scrubs down in the shower.  After two days he must come clean!

Good night and have a great tomorrow.  Be glad you didn’t just have surgery.  It really does hurt.