Year 2010

A beautiful year, filled with meeting new friends, reuniting with old friends, fun visits with family, and yes, I must include the loss of so many friends.  The year started cold and drab as each new year does and progressed to the joyous spring with the warm breezes teasing the blossoms on the trees and shrubs.  Each season brought change not only to the landscapes but to my heart.  Never one to shun a heated discussion, I have found I loath the negativity, anger, and hate found in so many.  I wonder what life has served them to cause such feelings to linger and fester.  There is so much in life to bring joy and peace if we only search for it and brush the harsher feeling aside.

Spring brought the loss of hubby's father.  Sick for over a year with strange rash on his arms but no diagnosis of the cause, he succumbed to lung cancer in a matter of days after finally being diagnosed.  

Spring also bought with it the reuniting of friends in preparation of a class reunion.  It was a happy time for me to see the many friends and acquaintances of my youth.  One weekend was not enough time, but we made the best of the time provided and many have continued to keep in touch.  So many have died through the years and they were memorialized through the artistry of a fellow classmate. 

Fun in the sun was the theme of our Summer and it was a time of relaxing and visiting with family and friends and enjoying the pool through the hot summer days.  Wonderful food on the grill and homemade ice cream seem to top the charts on the weekends. The grandchildren are growing by leaps and bounds and changing from one visit to the next.  It is a wonder to listen to their conversation and know their minds are growing as quickly as their bodies. 

My garden flourished in the early days of summer, but succumbed to the heat and lack of rain quickly.  Mulching more this winter for a better chance of survival during the hot dry days for the upcoming year.   The asparagus is beautiful and since this is my first try I was very pleased with the results.  None to gather this season, but come spring I should have a bumper crop.  Now is the time to get my onions in, so I have to get busy with those. 

Fall brought on a most memorable reunion with my best friend from school.  One short visit of a couple of hours was not enough, but we are staying in touch and plan to revisit soon.  It is such a comfort to reunite with someone that meant so much to me for so many years.  It is strange to think that we were ever separated to begin with, but that is another story.  Leave it to say that we are reunited and looking forward to catching up.

Mid afternoon the yard chickens come in for a bit of scratch feed.  Week before last I rounded the corner of the barn and there was a beautiful tom turkey.  Light gray and cream with a rose colored waddle, he gobbled at me and headed for the scratch I had put out for the hens.  I watched for a minute and decided there was not enough to go around - he was eating like crazy.  I spread another batch and he proceeded to follow me in my rounds to gather eggs and water the barn hens.  I called hubby to the barn and it was decided he was a tame bird and hubby proceeded to visit the neighbors to locate the owner.  No one claimed the bird and he seems to have made a home here.  Free to come and go as he pleases, he prefers to stay close to the pen and visit with the pen birds.  He makes a nice addition to the landscape and gobbles as I talk, doesn't appear to be aggressive, but not taking chances around the babies.  Those talons look fierce and that beak could do some damage if provoked.  He is a beautiful bird and fun to watch.

Thanksgiving and Christmas is always filled with lots of good food, long visits and a time of fun.  I so enjoyed the visits with family and friends. 

As I read back over this years happenings I know I have been greatly blessed.  I look forward to the coming year with anticipation.  I can't wait to see what God has in store for me next.  Until next time . . .

Happy reading!
Belle

Another Stroll Down Memory Lane

Well, Thanksgiving is well behind us now and preparation is ongoing for the celebration of Christ's birth.  Some days it just makes me tired and some days I approach it all with a joyful and peaceful heart.  I believe rest is the key.  The temperatures are just now getting uncomfortable and the days are definitely shorter.  Many days I just want to sleep - remaining under the warm covers and not venturing out.  But that doesn't have anything to do with the season but with the changes my old body no longer adjust too so quickly or well.

I had such a surprise on Friday when a friend showed up.  This isn't an ordinary, run of the mill friend.  This was the one person I felt attached to, completely trusted and thoroughly enjoyed her company during my school years.  She was in my wedding in September of 1969 and after that day I never saw her again until Friday.  I can't imagine a more memorable day.  I have always believed that you could tell a true friend in the reuniting.  They were no dead spots - we were laughing as she exited her vehicle and we chattered like we had never been apart.  Easy, comfortable, trying desperately to catch up on all the years and yet knowing we both have been down paths we won't share yet.  I say yet because there is so much surface stuff to gather and share.  It pleased me greatly that my friend found her soul mate early on and has had a happy life. I can't wait to get together again and learn more about her children and family.



I learned that I wasn't the only person that was lost in a world of confusion and insecurity when school let out for the last time.  I didn't realize that I would lose touch so quickly with those so dear to me and that we would all move on in such a hurried manner.  In my older years, I have found that I have plenty of time to locate and reunite with those that I have missed so much. 

Hubby and I have really enjoyed our shopping trips this season.  Never one to enjoy crowds, we have managed to have a little fun this year with our shopping experience.  Both of us are "people watchers" and we have certainly enjoyed the shows put on for us by the other shoppers.  I made my first trip to the Bass Pro Shop in Macon recently.  Of course hubby made his first visit at their grand opening, but I bypassed that trips and the many he has made since then.  Of course, wouldn't you know, all it took was a "I want" from my grandson to get me to trek right down there and get the item.  A beautiful store, it is great for just browsing, but they also had some great bargains over the weekend. 

Then on to the Bass Road Mall and a wonderful visit to Jo Ann's.  I could spend a whole day in this treasure.  A quick visit to Dick's Sporting Goods - prices on the high side - and then to Sticky Fingers for a tasty smoked turkey club sandwich.  Barnes and Nobles was our Waterloo and we spent a couple of hours browsing the books and games.  Found some deals on several books to add to our Stuart Woods' collection.  I am missing only three now so it is close to complete.  I am thinking I need to make a return trip this weekend as I didn't get close to Dillard's or the other shops.  I am so glad the regular football season is past and hubby is not glued to the television on Saturday afternoons.  I have a partner in my shopping experience and a driver to get me where I want to go without me having to fool with the traffic.

Looking forward to all the get togethers with friends and family and already some are overlapping and I know I won't make it to all of them, but you can bet I will hit as many as possible.  Dinner has to be made, so until next time . . .

Happy reading!
Belle

Homeless

Homeless!  Does that word bring to mind a person with no home, no warm fire to come home to, no hot meal waiting at the end of a long day?  It is definitely that, but one can be homeless emotionally when they have left the home or town they have called home.  Many years ago, my husband (who was in the Air Force) was stationed in Charleston, SC.  It was so exciting to be moving to a new town, home, area and I was looking forward to the adventure.  It took a few weeks to get settled in and take care of all the essentials.  My first unsettling experience was at the post office.  Our house was in a little community called Ladson.  I stepped into the post office to the jabber of the employees and low, I couldn't understand a word being said.  The nice gentleman looked at me and said "What?".  Not may I help you or what do you need, just "What?".  That was the only thing I understood during my first visit to this lovely little building.  The rest I wrote down and somehow managed to get my address recorded and my mail started.

I left feeling so frustrated.  I didn't know the people in this area spoke a different language.  I came to really not like that post office.  The people seem to be nice but we just did not communicate.  I also had my first major accident turning into this same post office. 

As the days drifted by, the loneliness drifted in.  I was doing a lot of sewing and that kept me busy, but I had no one to talk to.  It wasn't long until I went to work at a day care center in our neighborhood.  The communication in itself was not a problem, but the attitude of these people were strange.  One infants parents wanted the child to sleep all day so they could play with him all night.  Another was fed so much and he was so large his fingers looked ready to pop.  I had the infants - all 8 of them - alone!  Two were ready to move up to another class, but there was no room, so I had two toddlers in with the 6 infants.  I loved the babies, but went home exhausted everyday, knowing the same was waiting the next day.  I didn't last long, 6 months was all I could handle, before I went looking for something else.  Sears saved my sanity! 

The friend problem had not been solved.  As much as I talked to those precious infants, not one of them talked back.  The other workers were nice as could be, but they were as busy as I was and there was no time for chatting. 

It took some time, but as the new neighborhood filled up we met new people.  It made things much easier, but it still wasn't home.  My point is that a house doesn't make a home.  Family and friends are the foundation of a home and happiness.  During this Holiday season I commiserate with those away from their home.  Remember your friends and families are anticipating your return visits and the days are not quite as full as they would be if you were at home with them. 

Until next time . . .

Happy reading!
Belle