Thursday October 15 2015  THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS

CALENDAR WISDOM

OCTOBER 15 2015

HAPPINESS RESIDES NOT IN

POSSESSIONS AND NOT IN GOLD.

THE FEELING OF HAPPINESS

DWELLS IN THE SOUL.

We have only three days and three nights to be here in Arkansas.  So every moment counts. The terrain we drove through today was breathtaking.  Autumn color has arrived to the Ozark Mountains.  As many times as I have come to Arkansas I don’t believe I have ever traveled through the mountains this late in the season.  It was simply spectacular but of course there were no places to stop on the winding, narrow mountain roads to take a photo.  It was afternoon as we came through the peak color areas and the sun was shining brilliantly through the rusts, ambers, and golds of the recently turned leaves.  I was doing the driving so I couldn’t just gawk as much as I would have liked, but I could not help but be enthralled with the colors that caught my eye.  For quite a way we were in a caravan of slow moving cars following a semitrailer truck up the laborious, snaking road.  It made it easier to see the wonders around me a bit better without someone honking the horn behind me (which did happen today).

We arrived at Aunt Esther’s by 3:00 p.m.  The back door was unlocked and no one was to be found when we walked in.  I checked every room and came across my sister Scarlett sleeping peacefully like Snow White.  I had called out when I arrived but she didn’t hear as she had her cochlear implant magnet unconnected.  She later awakened and reattached her magnet to the implant site so she could once again hear.  It is so amazing to be with her and be able to carry on a conversation with her.  Though I was with her a few days in March when I stopped by on my trip, I am still not used to her being able to hear and follow a conversation.  It is awesome!  We talked and laughed and ate together.  My aunt Vela also came so there were five of us.  Dave was outnumbered, 4 to 1.  But, he did his fair share of talking.

Dinner is over, the guests are gone, auntie is in bed, as is Dave, and I sit here writing a blog that I cannot publish tonight.  I will go to the library in the morning and hook onto their website in order to publish.  Can’t promise I will be able to do that every day since the library is closed on Saturday and Sunday.  We will be leaving on Sunday afternoon and I should then be back in the land of electronics and Wi-Fi.  Oh my, how simple life was before.

Life is different in this part of Arkansas.  If you were to ask me why I don’t know if I could really pin point the exact reason.  It just seems different.  In some aspects it’s like going back in time.  Houses are simpler, life seems slower, and less complicated.  It is popular for T.V. shows to demonstrate how to do a fixer upper and then decorate in the “country style”.  All I have to do is walk into one of my relative’s homes and I get that same warm cozy feeling of “a little bit of country”. The only thing is, their “little bit of country” is the real thing.  And even more than that, it is both inside and outside.  The houses are old, the furniture is old but has that aged comfortable look, and everything is authentic.  And…to make it even better…IT HAS NO WI-FI, no cable TV, no smart phones.  What it does have is lots of time for loving. 

I look up across the kitchen and see a beautiful photo of my mother taped to the wall above a photo of her brother.  Both are siblings to my aunt Esther and both are now in heaven.  Yet, their faces are on the wall as a reminder of the love my aunt still carries in her heart for her brother and sister who are no longer with her.  My mind wanders back to the day I snapped that photo of her in 2005 when I was staying with my mother here in Arkansas so my sisters could have a time of rest.  They were the primary caregivers, living with mama and caring for her through her years of dementia.  It was not an easy task but even though mama no longer recognized them or me, we knew who she was.  There was a lot of love and sacrifice my sisters gave through the years they tended her and I shall be forever grateful for their love and concern for our mother. 

I walked outside with a dishpan of cut up watermelon rind to scatter out in the field that once was a beautiful garden with both vegetables and flowers.  Aunt is 87 now and the garden is no more.  But, she still feeds the earth with the organic matter that comes from nature’s bounty.  Those rinds will decay and feed the birds and the insects.  Again, I was struck with nostalgia and a bit of melancholy at the same time.  I could still picture in my mind’s eye, on this very same garden plot, my mom walking down freshly turned soil with the rows ready to accept the seeds of purple hull peas she had in her pocket.  She walked slowly dropping a seed on the new mounds of dirt and then tamping each seed down with the blunt side of her ever present hoe.  Row after row she did the same motions over and over as if she were dancing to a tune in her heart that was in synchronization with Mother Earth.  My mom had a way with gardens.  Wherever she lived a garden area was always created.  I have written a story about her gardens but it is not edited as of yet but I will search for it when I get home and see if I can clean it up a bit and get it on the blog for you to read.  It is a sweet story.  My mother lived here with Esther for several years before dementia set in.  While here she primarily lived in the garden.  This place holds lots of memories that connect me with my mom.  Not only do I come home to Aunt Esther, but it is like coming home to my mother.

All too soon these days will be gone and Dave and I will leave.  I will leave my Aunt behind.  I will leave my sister behind.  I will leave tears behind.  But in my heart I will take the memories and love with me.

MEMORIES TUCKED IN MY HEART

By Kathleen Martens

October 15 2015

Memories and love, they have a way

Of being right where they are supposed to stay.

Tucked in my heart that follows my trail

So when I call them they never fail.

They never fail, but comfort give.

They offer joy wherever I live

And love overflows and makes room for more

And allows my heart to open its door.

When I recall, a sacred time,

My memory always tows the line.

I see the moment as if it is

It’s prompting perfect without quiz.

My treasure chest opens so I see

What’s in my heart that desires to be free.

And a little tidbit of yesterday’s pleasure

Is filed away for tomorrow’s treasure.

And then my memories I call by name

And they come to play their game.

Good night.  Cherish your memories.  Make new ones tomorrow. Live in the moment. (My wisdom)