I guess two months is a pretty good run of not ever getting tired during the day.  Well today it hit.  I haven’t worked out for many days due to lack of place, timing, and schedule.  Finally today I hit the gym and probably over did it. Two hours, full workout, and probably too long.  Felt so good afterward though.  It is also a very hot day.  Probably up in the low 90’s and getting in and out of a hot car sort of takes the starch out of you (or at least me).

Jeanette and Denny had previous plans for this evening before my scheduled trip interfered with their lives.  They are gone tonight and I am happy as punch.  I made a phone call to my husband and made a big mistake.  I laid down on my bed and I could just feel the energy drain out of me.  It really caught me off guard because very seldom do I ever have that happen.  For one thing I don’t lie down during the day if I can help it and do not stop and even sit except to eat and drive and type.  So…maybe I won’t lie down again during this day.  Confidentially…”I will tell you that I am tired!  It was only a little after 7:00 pm when I started this blog and hope to be in bed by 9:00 as I have a big day tomorrow.  It actually feels good to be tired.  Sometimes it is difficult for me to slow down. CORRECTION: It is always difficult for me to slow down.

This has been a coming down day for me.  I am settled in and will actually be here more than a week.  I leave next Saturday May 9th so I am feeling as if I have a temporary home.  Wherever I am actually feels like “home” to me.  Where my friends and family are is home. But at the same time I so love silence and solitude.  I hear the sound of a clock ticking and it is like music to my ears.  I am so grateful for the sounds I do hear.  With hearing loss being prevalent in my family (dad’s side) and my hearing being so much less over the years, to have my hearing restored has been a blessing.  That happened October 2013 and was a miracle of prayer.

So…here I am alone and loving it.  I think I only took two or three pictures today of some flowers.  That’s all I have today folks.  Actually I will show you three photos.  The first one is of a lovely rose that was on  my dresser when I arrived at Vicki and Bill’s house when I arrived in Monterey.  I love roses.  The next is of a small beautiful bouquet of roses on the dresser of my room here at Jeanette and Denny’s.  I know for certain that these  must have been plucked from their backyard.  They have so many beautiful blooming bushes of roses.  I had forgotten about all the roses in California yards.  It is just so amazing to see.  And when I am walking by them I cannot pass them without smelling them.  I actually think I could identify their colors by their frangrance with my eyes closed.  All very distinct and unique olfactory pleasure. If you don’t know it by now I am a “stop and smell the roses” kind of gal.  If we don’t look, we don’t see.  I think my wisdom for this night would be “Open the eyes of your heart and appreciate all the blessings God puts on display for us every single day”.  Such a simple gesture to place a flower in a room.  But it speaks so much louder than words.

I had another good piece of wisdom offered to me today.  I met a man, a perfect stranger in my eyes, but I think we both departed having been blessed.  It doesn’t take much to have two persons start a conversation when God is in the meeting.  I shared a bit of my travel story with him and he was actually the first one to bring up God.  He asked me if I ever asked God about things.  Can’t remember verbatim his first opening statement about God but that was all it took for us to realize we were brother and sister in Christ.  He said some very affirming words to me (which have since been repeated to me by another totally unrelated person and event) and gave me encouragement and affirmation of what I am doing on my trip.  I won’t go into the details but will say that it was confirmation that I am on this journey for a reason.  I asked him for a bit of wisdom and he said: “Let your past help someone else”.  That is very simplistically quoted and I am sure there was a little more to it.  He said he would email it to me but I am writing now and will correct it tomorrow if I receive his email after this is published.  I found out through our conversation that he is a Pastor of a Hispanic speaking Baptist church in Manteca.  It was a delight to speak with him.

Just stop and think about what God has allowed to happen in your life, that today may be the very reason  you are who you are, doing what you do, capable of helping others in the same situation.  Use your experience and gifts to help others.  It is a way of making beauty out of ashes.

I know these blogs probably get to long, but like I said before, even if no one reads them I am writing them for myself.  It feels good to feel the keys  dance under my crooked fingers as I express my love for words by putting them in written form.  Words are powerful.  Use your words wisely.  I’m still trying to learn how to do that.

Hey, it is only 8:21 p.m.  I might get to bed by 9:00 after all.

Have a blessed night.

Good night.