Sunday October 4, 2015   A Time of Sweet Reunion

A TIME OF SWEET REUNION

By Kathleen Martens

October 4,2015

We are here exhausted.

Ready for our beds

So soon it will be time

To lay down our tired heads.

A long day of driving

Mesmerized by constant song

When driving erases all quiet

And the day becomes so long.

But now I hear a pleasant surprise

Come knocking at my door,

It is my traveling daughter

And rest will be no more.

A time of sweet reunion

With our little girl now grown,

As well as with our beloved son

None better could I have known.

So we stay up in all the chaos

With two grandsons who ice our cake.

No better time of family love

Could we ever make.

Too soon I will be asleep

Alone in all my dreams,

But no imaginings could be better

Than what reality seems.

Our daughter arrived much later than expected and it was quite a day of travel with two little dogs.  Her husband was exhausted when they arrived and went to their cabin to settle in before coming here.  He decided not to come as the dogs were quite beside themselves after such a day. Rebecca decided to come over even if the hour was late.  It was worth it.  Our week is booking up rapidly.  I think that we will be very pleased that we extended our stay after our children and their families leave for home.  Because Rebecca and Neil live so far away it will be hard to part.  Dave and I miss her and Neil so, so much. 

We stayed at a Comfort Inn and Suites in Pacifica Missouri last night.  I was very impressed with how comfortable, clean, and accommodating the facility was.  We have not always been pleasantly surprised.  While at the hotel I noticed a little message framed on the bathroom sink.  I thought it was amazing.  I will post it at the bottom of this blog.  Read it all, I think you may like it.  I think the message makes a lot of sense,

I forgot to bring my calendar wisdom with me on the trip.  I don’t know if I could have made room for it.  Our little Kia Soul was packed!  Probably about as much as I had on my long trip.  A lot of what we brought will not be going home with us.  Court and Amy do not know it yet, but a lot of what we brought will be going home with them.  All the meals I planned were not refrigerated in transport, but because of the way I packed them they were still frozen solid when we arrived at our destination 24 hours later.

Tomorrow comes early.  So I will say good night.

God bless all of you!

Saturday October 3 2015  A LATE NIGHT

A late night for two retired people.  We finally were packed up and on the road by 3:45 p.m. this afternoon.  We both went to the gym this morning to get a good workout in before we headed out for today’s adventure on our rears.  We only stopped three times so we made good time.  Illinois is beautiful this time of year.  It was a beautiful clear day with low clouds and lots of wind.  The sunset was brilliant red and piercing as it lowered the shade of light.  Darkness comes so early now.  The sun set about 6:41 p.m. and it made the day seem so late. 

We are in Missouri, safe and sound in our hotel, praying our belonging and car are safe in the back parking lot of this busy highway.  We booked the last room in this hotel.  We called several hotels in this area and all were booked up.  I asked why?  This hotel told me there was a dog show locally, we are close to Six Flags, there was a large wedding they were hosting, and there was a skeet shoot competition scheduled for the weekend.

 We had several phone chats with our daughter as we drove to our destination.  We personally do not text or use the phone when we drive but since there was one of us not driving it was convenient to have the non- driver manage the phone.  It seems we never have enough time to talk to Rebecca and her husband so it was nice to chat back and forth as we both traveled.

Siri, (the talking voice on my phone) informed us that we drove 397 miles today.  Our estimated drive tomorrow according to Siri is 219 miles.

I must keep tonight short as I am ready to go to sleep sitting here in the chair.

EXIST NEVER MORE

By Kathleen Martens

October 3, 2015

Sitting in the chair

Keeping my eyes awake,

Seems an unending task

My body has to make.

My body just desires

To spread out on my queen

And then in the morning

I’ll glow a healthy sheen.

Slumber land welcomes me

To cross its silent door,

Where all the cares of the world

Exist never more.

But the never only lasts

Until dawns early light

When the sun will shine again

And is it no longer night.

Good night and God bless.

P.S.  I wrote this for you sister dear so you would know I was still alive.

P.S.S.  It is 11:47 p.m. and the hotel wifi will not allow me to open it for some reason.  I cannot upload my blog so will try to do so again tomorrow.

Friday October 2, 2015  THE TABLE IS FINISHED

Dear Friends, Family and all the Others who do not know me:

Pretend this is a letter to each of you.  Actually, it is an email letter to bring you up to date on what is happening around this place.  Both lots and not much.   The people who will be attending our house while we are gone will be here tomorrow so Dave and I are hitting the road.  It is good to know that I have two such capable people here to do all the things that need to be done while we are gone.  Since we have our farm boxes being delivered each Thursday we had to have people here we could depend on.

I am in the midst of prep work for packing the car.  We find it easiest to leave midday rather than early mornings.  We do not put a time factor to when we leave but we do put a time factor on how much sleep we get the night before we begin driving long distance.  We will wake up at our normal time, without an alarm, and finish the last minute packing and then hit the road.  We’ll travel until about 10:00 p.m. and finish the drive the next day.  It makes for a much easier and safer trip for us.  We probably will not leave until early afternoon.

I’m taking lots of frozen dinners and must put them in the car at the last last minute.  Everything is frozen and packed so tightly that usually most of it is still frozen 24 hours later.  It helps that the weather is cooler.  It is truly fall where we are and  Wisconsin knows its seasons. Like clockwork, the calendar said autumn had arrived and the temperature minded its P’s and Q’s and dropped considerably.  We actually already have our down comforter on the bed over our light summer quilt.  On my side of the bed I also have three additional blankets to ward off the night chill that blows its way through our open window.  Dave has one extra blanket.  In the cold of winter we have two down comforters on the bed and I have a few extra quilts piled on top.  We do close our windows when the ice starts forming but we do not heat the back zone of house where the bedrooms are.  I said all that to say this, since it is so cool now I am not concerned about the frozen entrees we are transporting.

So, life is on track for the time being.  Our daughter is not quite so fortunate. She and her husband will be delayed from leaving Florida as planned, due to a tornado that is just 80 miles away from where they live.  Originally they were not thought to be in its path but per chance that it changes direction tonight, they will need to board up their windows and batten the hatches before they leave.  They have an outdoor room that is covered with a thick canvas roofing.  Many times they have had to unlace it and take that down as well.  Lots to tie down when you live in hurricane country.

Dave and I did accomplish one of the things we hoped to accomplish with the help of our neighbor today.  We were able to bring in our table that I have been painstakingly painting.  It turned out very nice.  It is very heavy and we could not have moved it into the house without help.  And now the garage will be available for cars while we are gone.  I took a few photos of how the finished table looks in the house.  Remember, it is not a conventional dining room table, especially for a formal dining area.  But all said and done, we all agreed that it looks quite nice.  It is sort of whimsical and elegant at the same time.   I have already made a display in the well area of the table.  I’ll publish a few pics for you to see.  We set 4 of the chairs around it to see how it looked.  The seats have not yet been reupholstered but everyone that sees them has told me not to do so as the color on the seats go well with the table.  It feels good to be finished with this project before we leave and before winter sets in.

A NEW LIFE GIVEN

By Kathleen Martens

October 2, 2015

Such satisfaction is a job well done

When all the work complete.

To know the labor of love put in

Really makes it quite sweet.

Just a vision in my thought,

I figured it could be done.

But it’s always a lot more work

Than it is a lot more fun.

And to know I salvaged a piece

Destined for the garbage heap.

An old battered rusty table

That is now a treasure to keep.

Over a hundred and fifty years past

This table has lingered long.

I wonder at all the places it’s been

And to whom it may have belonged.

A new life given to something so old,

No longer discarded or rejected

It was an old tobacco table,

Which no one has suspected.

And now it will stand prim and proper

Under a chandelier the color of gold.

It’s been given a new purpose

And it no longer looks so old.

And instead of tobacco plants,

In its well are a display of books.

My very favorite one in the world,

Scroll down to take a look.

(INSERT POST PUBLISHED)  I published the photos as I promised so they would be at the bottom of this blog.  However I had to remove them as pertinent information showed on the display that I was not at liberty to to publish.  Due to that I will not have the photos where they should be.  You need to scroll up to see the ones I could publish.

I will sign off now.  Thank you for reading my letter to you.  I will miss you while I am gone.  I may or may not be writing my blog.  I’ll play it by ear as to what is happening in the moment.  We have a lot of exciting functions planned and lots of things to see and do.  I’ll try my best to write a little something, even if it is a simple poem.

Sincerely,

Your blogger friend