Attachments to Places

 

I suspect most everyone reading this knows precisely what I'm talking about. Our emotional attachment to specific places can be as deeply rooted as our attachments to certain people; indeed, our most deeply felt feelings about people are usually associated with specific places. George Ellison

Nature Journal

I saw this quote from an article in the newspaper and quickly got it saved to access. Some of our driving conversations this weekend centered in on just this thought. As we drove further east, away from the mountains, we would comment on the scenery. Hmmm....this looks like east Texas or Alabama between Birmingham and Gadsden. We saw a swampish looking area and of course we thought of southern Louisiana. Roy and I talked about our travels with and with others through those areas as we saw them. By the Costco, it was all Houston thoughts. Traffic, abundance of shops and restaurants. Driving into Winston Salem, felt like approaching Houston as the freeway widens and street lights run the whole way throughout the freeway. Happy thoughts of time, place and people but it is when we begin to head back toward the mountains, my emotional attachment comes alive. Roy says the countenance of my face changes. With the mountains the attachment to friends is right there as well. We say to each other at least once a week, best decision we made in deciding to move and retire here. It keeps us mentally sharp because there is always something new to learn here and I might add always something to do or take care of.  

A humorous situation has developed in the garage with the Feral Fam. It seems that Sweetie has decided to take over mothering the three kittens. As Cutie is spending more time away from them, Sweetie is the ever watchful eye. They have been exploring outside, playing under the pallets and under the skinny fir trees, can't remember what they are called. She will pick them up by the knap of the neck and drag them back into the garage, places them in a safe spot and as soon as she goes out to get another one, the carried one escapes. They fight her tooth and nail but she is constant in her care of being the watchkeeper of those young ones. 

For the first time ever we are thinking about a long day trip to Mt Airy, Andy Griffiths home town. I usually don't like to go to places like that but several people have written in a Carolina Day Trip group I belong to about their foray into nostalgia. During the pandemic, The Andy Griffith Show became background noise for me. Familiar and quick recognition of episodes I don't care for is what got my attention. Last summer I had so much trouble with my attention span, more than the usual, and having that familiar whistle in the background was comforting. I told Roy last year when I was getting upset over how much everyone enabled Barney, too much. Also it seems that they just rewrote episodes each season cause there are major themes that occur. 

Zillow and Realtor.com emails still come through and I do look at them from time to time. Accidently I came across a house that we see from a distance each time we head into TN. It is on the market with a recent reduction in price.  Eight bedrooms, two kitchens and an in ground swimming pool. Not interested but it was interesting to see the inside of the house. 

***********

Check up and cleaning at the dentist office yesterday morning. Nearly a good report except for one troublesome spot. I'll be back next week. After the appointment I decided to do the spring drive though the Biltmore Gardens. A few tulips were holding on but I came for the azaleas. I was not disappointed. I took a walk through Antler Hill Village and bought cheese straws and rosemary crackers at the winery. I drove through the gardens twice trying to get good pictures of the azaleas on the right side of the car. First time through had a car trailing me and that was also true for the second time around. I felt so disappointed and turned into a little pull off to debate walking back to get the pic. I looked up and there was this scene. 

What a gift from the Lord. I wasn't feeling all that bad about missing those right side of the road azaleas. Came home, picked up Roy and off to the Publix. He was out of apron meals and I was running low on the goat cheese with cherry port topping I love. They only had one left but we scored two taco meals. One of which we will have for lunch today. 

This morning the news brings a brush fire near the Pisgah Inn on the Blue Ridge Parkway and yesterday the news of the fire at the Ocoee White Water Rafting Center, home of Olympic and Olympic training center for rafting completely destroyed the building. We usually passed up a stop but one year when Dena and I were on our way to the Biltmore, we stopped. As we took pics and guy there told us we were getting a rare treat with the gates opened and the white water was flowing. They didn't do that too much. We also got great pictures of the signage over the bridge and was dismantled several years later. 

This morning off to get strawberries and look for Zinnias. Sounds like a fun day. 

A Whole Gamut of Emotions

 Yesterday we headed east and drove further than what we have driven before in the state of North Carolina. Our destination, the Winston Salem area for a celebration with friends and family of DC and Judy for the occasion of  their 50th wedding anniversary. It was simply marvelous and the gathering of loved ones was fun and the meal delicious. The desserts? Well, very good but I am jumping ahead in the story. Roy had looked online and found a Costco in that area, so we are almost always up for a Costco trip and thus we left a little earlier to make that fun run or walk at the Costco. Not only is there a Costco all around it are stores I like to shop. Lots of good places to eat too. The only knock on the Costco there is this; it is the most counterintuitive Costco I've ever been to. It got to be a bit overwhelming for me but Roy said it kind of reminded him of the Costco in Katy so he got his bearings much faster. Of course any Saturday at any Costco is busy and this held true. We filled up with $3.43 gasoline, then headed into the store. 

Once we left Costco, we were about forty minutes away from our destination. Arrived and went about celebrating and having fun. It was such a fun casual setting. The best kind! Dressing up is overrated in my book. We left around 4:20 because, old person alert..., we wanted to get home before it got dark. The Feral Fam was very hungry and happy to see us, well me. Blazey who has been out and about the last few days ate seconds and a bit of third servings. The little kittens were hanging with the big ones until food is served. I thought we might have lost the black with a white tuft of fur due to the Mama Cat swipe and fight she directed toward the little one. He went outside and into the backyard. We searched for him until it was dark so all you can do is pray. He was at breakfast this morning and he had a much nicer time at the food bowl with Mama Cat not in attendance. Benny let me pick him up and pet him without a fight so progress is being made. 

**********

Monday morning, a new week ahead. The week will not hold Tippy though. Yesterday morning, Sunday, our neighbor texted to let me know that one of the male cats had been hit by a car. They moved him off the road and over toward our side of the road. I thought for sure it was Blazey because he likes going across the road, but it was Tippy. To our knowledge he hadn't shown that much interest but guess cats being curious and all.  Tippy was one of the Fam that wanted to give in and be petted but just couldn't let himself. He would nuzzle between Toupee and Blazey by the steps and would get a few head rubs "accidently" from me. Just in the last few weeks he stationed himself right behind the food container, stretching out the length to keep any other family members from getting first dibbs but he always shared with Sweetie and his protegee. I dreaded going out there this morning to feed them cause that is when if any interaction was going to happen, it was then. Since the weather is warming up, a few of The Fam were sitting on the back step looking into the kitchen window this morning. They heard the click of the unlock and were there to greet me by the backdoor. Toupee and Blazey together, Charlie bringing up the rear, and Sweetie and Cutie hanging back a bit. Tappy sat by me as I prepared the bowls. Tippy was a pleasant member of the Fam. Even in mating times, he wasn't like a typical male tom cat, he kind of acted like a gentleman about the whole thing. The gift this morning, all three kittens were asleep on the second shelf by the food. So, no hunting for them this morning. I confirmed yesterday that all three kittens are boys. 

The adventure east on Saturday wore me out something fierce and I was thankful to have asked June in advance if she would teach the class. I figured I'd be there but it just wasn't going to happen. It was nice last week while getting things done not to have preparing the lesson in the back of my mind. This morning I am ready to hit the books, so to speak. 

Still being on the quest to find Tex Mex, I have decided to see if we can do a Costco trip and a good Mexican Restaurant in the vicinity. Thought Knoxville would be the perfect option once they get the roadwork done near the TN/NC border but alas Abuelo's closed during the pandemic is not reopening. Our next bet is going to Marietta Ga. The pros for the trip, don't have to go through Atlanta to get there and the second pro is, there is a Pappasita's nearby. Oh happy day! The third pro is the route is beautiful. The cons, traffic, near Atlanta...almost a three and a half hour trip. So, we shall see if we decide to ever do that but at least we have informed information. 

All the Adventure With Less Side Effects

 It was a raucous bunch out there for breakfast this morning. Always seems to happen if Mama Cat is around. She was laying down the law to all the youngins that she is the oldest and to be respected. Who knows what they think, but those kitties all do the slow walk as not to attract attention when she is around. She took a swipe at Benny and he ran for cover in his preferred napping place waiting her out. Once the food is out and distributed they all calm down. The three were in attendance, so that is always a good morning greeting. 

We decided to take a little spring drive yesterday that included a stop at Food City. Roy loves Dr Enuf and his supply was getting love. He discovered their herbal blend and loves that as well. The trees are blooming out and the drives around NC and TN were gorgeous. We stopped several times to take pictures. Roy is finally getting to see what I've talked about for the past few years how spring suddenly explodes and the very look from dormant to life is wonderous. The multi-use flowerbed saw the last few blooming tulips and with just a few, Mike weed eated the area so our next season can transform into container/raised bed gardening. Our experiment this year is using cheap plastic kiddie pools for annuals. I've been researching how we can utilize the pools and the space and it seems very do-able. We were at Lowe's earlier in the week and as rubberized mulch was loaded into the back of the truck, several ladies stopped and asked us where we found the pools. Not in Lowe's but at Dollar General. We still need to wait until after Mother's Day to plant a few things or a lot of things, but I think we've had dogwood and blackberry winter...had a freeze warning on Tuesday into Wednesday morning. 

Wednesday, it was Blue Rooster and Ducketts day. We shopped at Publix, brought stuff home and headed over for lunch at Blue Rooster. Fried chicky day and I debated that since I have a cardiologist appointment today. So to make it feel even Stephen in my mind, no coconut cake but the collards and homemade applesauce was good. Roy had country steak. We headed over to Tractor Supply since it is in the same general area, got dry cat food and looked at plants. Off to Ducketts for strawberries and to top it all off, the lady that does the canning and baked goods was there filling her empty shelves. I got to thank her for making such delicious green beans and greasy beans. On the way home yesterday, we stopped at TJs Produce Market in Mars Hill. Got a couple of heirloom tomatoes. While we were standing in line, I was telling Roy about a previous visit from several years ago when I asked about Mr. Stripy tomatoes. I asked if they were tomatoes grown by a local man, Mr. Stripy. Just like that long ago day, the ladies in line laughed at that story yesterday. They are heirloom tomatoes and I will add they are very tasty. 

**********

Off a in a little bit for a Saturday adventure. The adventure yesterday? A visit to the cardiologist. This was a rescheduled visit since I was in the twixt of converting to Medicare in February. All in all it was a good visit. He tweaked the new med, well new since November because of some side effects. We discussed some of what I was experiencing and my nonprofessional opinion lined up with his opinion on the amount of stress I've experienced since the end of December and the effects of said stress. It is usually an entertaining time of people watching in a Dr office. Yesterday, was a good people observation day. The new protocol in their office is waiting for your appointment behind the golden door, that closed door between the waiting room and inner office. I think one of the cardiologists was in emergency surgery and so his patients were being worked in with my cardiologist. An older couple sat six feet away and their conversation while not entertaining but more irritating, kept me from reading my book. Dang, no paper to take notes on. Their conversation kept going in the same circles as they discussed the next day appointments at the VA and the appointment after seeing the cardiologist with the pacemaker guy. The circle ended with, well, thirty minutes before seeing the Dr. He would then say to her, watched time always goes slow. They made at least four circled conversation in the ten minutes I sat near them. When they called me to go into the inner, inner room, the wife exclaimed...what, she is seeing the Dr too? Then they assured her they were the next patient. There are some old people things that I am content with or maybe accepted but I do not want to be one of those patients that shows up an hour before the appointment. We are also working hard not to be couple Dr visits. We will cross that bridge when the time arrives. The idea was tempting yesterday because we could drive through the Biltmore Estate on such a beautiful spring day but we decided that Roy getting the new modem and router installed was a far better thing to do. We made the right decision.  

The Feral Fam got an early morning treat again but I will feed them a little later than usual this morning. 

The Day After Easter

 The day after Easter and the resurrection of Jesus still is true and is still to be celebrated. The past few days I have been reminded of previous Easters. Early on before moving to Houston, when we lived close to Chicago, most of those toddler day Easter pictures have coats and jackets, but a few pics to get the full effect of Mary Jane black paten leather shoes, ruffled socks, frilly dress and a hat with a little elastic strap under the chin outfit to go to church. My mom dressed stylishly as we posed for pictures. Houston childhood Easter pictures were not that definitive. I do remember one Easter dress that my mom bought me, smocked on the bodice floral print dress. It was probably one of the best days of my life because my father and brother were on an Indian Guide campout leaving my mom and I to go shopping, eat at the Wyatt's Cafeteria and then go see the movie Cat Ballou. If my dad had been there he would have never let me get the little bit pricey dress. I wore that dress every chance I got. Now, I don't even think about Easter dress up for church. Yesterday, I wore a dress bought at the end of last summer. Warm enough for the cool temps with a denim jacket and leggings. It was the first day of this season not wearing boots. 

Saturday night I played Easter music. Rich, deep tones of Easter organ music always gets to me. Love that majestic sound that gives a prelude to a service. I listened to Second Chapter of Acts Easter Song, Sandi and Larnell  Harris sing, I've Just Seen Jesus and I cried. Well maybe it was more like teared up. Listened to Black Gospel as well as Southern Gospel Easter songs. Such joy came. Our Sunday School lesson was found in Matt 28 but we kind of went through all the gospels looking at the Resurrection Story. What stood out while studying was, the early morning and the women. Of course, yes, Jesus is the main emphasis, but what the faithfulness of the women and the two secret believers in Jesus, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicademus. They hold strong that part of the narrative until the disciples come to understand all that Jesus had told them about what was going to happen once they got to Jerusalem. Reading the accounts in the Wuest NT Bible brought more understanding to all that happened. I don't know if it is because I am older now, that these stories have much more meaning than previous times. 

Roy was up early Sunday morning. He helped prepare breakfast for those who participated in the sunrise service. He stayed for Sunday School but was too tired to sit still long enough in church. He wisely came home to rest. I got to sit with Brenda for big church. It has been awhile because of pandemic and such. Roy and I fixed maple glazed ham, sweet potatoes and greasy beans for our Easter lunch. We got the beans from Duckett's Produce on Friday. A local lady sells her mason jar canned veggies. We also bought some of her homemade salsa. Haven't tried that yet, but we will. Think we will go back and buy more of her veggies. It was a quiet afternoon for us. Roy took a nap, hardly ever does that, and he took it easy. He was going to go out and do a few things, but we decided to truly rest. Roy has always pushed himself to get things taken care of both at the office and at home, really wherever he was helping or serving. I am getting used to this side of Roy, where he doesn't push himself so hard and is truly relaxing. 

There are two people that I went through all of school with, beginning in elementary through high school, Randy and Roxie. Roxie left FB long ago and so we don't keep in touch, but Randy is still on FB. He gave the sad news of his mother's passing. I don't remember too many moms that were room mothers but I remember his. I think our moms were room mothers of various grades throughout our elementary school years. 

Not up early yesterday but I am today. Did watch the online services, partly, of The Pretty Place and Chimney Rock. Watched mainly for the sunrise. This morning it is raining. The Feral Fam will be in full attendance for breakfast and with the rain maybe, just maybe, I'll get more inside projects completed. 

Bunny Trail Once Again

 Oh the beauties of a rainy mountain morning. That means the garage is harboring the Feral Fam and not waiting so patiently for better cat liking weather. Of course breakfast was welcomed by all. The morning began early when getting up around 5:00 am after awakening from a crazy, didn't make sense dream. John Bolin was singing opera for the morning service and Joan Brunson was his accompanist but we all thought it was Jill. That is upon John taking a deep breath, Joan stopped playing the piano and telling funny stories. That sequence happened several times in the dream. Whoever was sitting across the aisle from me got to laughing so hard over Joan's interrupting and then telling funny stories, that she spilled her mac and cheese all over the floor in the worship center. I got to laughing so hard, I couldn't even help pic up the spilled mac and cheese. Then I woke up. I wonder if eating at Carraba's yesterday triggered the dream? By the way, the opera music John was singing, truly beautiful. 

Our choir gave an Easter concert Sunday night. It was done so well and the music outstanding. Several of the arrangements were Cindy Berry ones, which reminded me of her arrangements we sung at First Baptist back in the day. I will be coming back to choir after Easter. What a great time to come back, finally the altos outnumber the sopranos. Afterwards, it was to the Fellowship Hall for cake and ice cream for a missionary family near and dear to the church, the father grew up at Newfound. He spoke Sunday morning and his honesty and vulnerability along with preaching the Word, was refreshing. Honestly, I usually punt a service where a missionary speaks because everything is too predictable in the options of what they will speak on, but not Sunday. They leave Friday for a new country. 

A friend asked me Sunday night if I miss Houston. Not really, not Houston per se but I do miss friends. Now that Roy is here, no turning back, no turning back. I miss different things, mostly food, in Houston. An article about the River Oaks Tennis Tournament came through on my timeline this morning giving five reasons why you shouldn't miss it. Roy's company sponsored it for several years back in the day. It was many people's social event of the spring each year. Clay court tennis played at one of the ritziest and for some, the most coveted membership to a country club. When friends or company offered tickets, I always chose the early to mid rounds. Courtside seats and/or entrance to the VIP area above the court with complementary food and drink. Ah yes, complementary is country club talk for free. I played tennis with a few friends who were ROCC members and they would get a table or two for the luncheon and fashion show that kicked off the week long event. Those tables were not easy to come by. One year our team got a picture taken with Jimmy Conner. The tennis players comprised of up and coming as well as on the road to the senior tour...thus Jimmy being there as well as John McEnroe. Saw Pete Sampras play before he was Pete Sampras. Our tickets to the matches usually came with the close in and on the property parking. We were not left to find a parking spot on the streets in front of the richest homes in Houston. The final on Sunday was the place to be seen and who are you wearing for many. That never interested me cause sitting in some dress up clothes to watch tennis in 90 degree temperature is not my idea of fun and because I had no interest or any kind of financial means to be a social climber being rather happy on a lower rung. I remember fun times with friends mostly. Roy only went once or twice, tennis has never been high on his interests except only, it made me happy at that time. Sunday night, I was telling my friend about some of the more interesting characters I met along the way by playing tennis. Some of their life experiences were like movies. Others were so down to earth and you'd never know their monetary worth. Last year I looked up several of the ladies I played with and many of them have passed away. There was one woman in particular, after reading her obituary, the details of her life explained a lot about who she was. Those former University of Texas beauty queens of sororities of the long ago, many don't ever see themselves realistically in their 60s and 70s. Those days when they could drink to excess and not have it phase them. That doesn't carry well into old age if one is still drinking the copious amount of alcohol, carrying with them their travel liquor cabinet and flask. She was a tenacious tennis player and was always up for something fun after games or tournaments. She could easily get on your last nerve and who of us can't do that, but she fought an uphill battle. There was a pecking order and I have always said, I was in their world but not of their world. It helped that my tennis game was pretty good.  Well, it seems I took a bunny trail . 

It is now afternoon and it is still raining. Roy is watching the market and I am working on the lesson for Sunday as well as doing those things that need to be done, so hard to be done on sunny wonderful days. Lots of shredding of the mail, picking up this and that and getting ready to vacuum. 

********

Wednesday morning. The Feral Fam is fed. Checked on the kittens and all three are accounted for. They are braver and even trying to eat with the big cats. Some growls and playful swipes at them. Charlie even played with one, helping that little one to develop skills. 

We stuck around home yesterday. A rare rainy day, almost all of the day. Got a lot of little projects taken care of and began some of the bigger projects toward the latter part of the day. 

I Should Have Known Better

 This morning we have sunny skies but they will soon be changing over to cloudy skies with rain and on April 8th, the chance of snow tonight into tomorrow. Each Sunday I think, well this will be the last Sunday to wear boots. I have been thinking this for about three weeks. We shall see what this Sunday holds. Mike the Mower Man was here on Wednesday. He cut back the daffodils that didn't survive to bloom during a winter freeze. The tulips continue to bloom and provide such blissful colors to the otherwise bare ground. 

On Wednesday we had planned to make a Costco run, but we both felt a bit tired after the Tuesday trip to Marion for our drivers license. We punted Costco to Thursday. Had a lovely drive that way and the trees are budding out. Filled up the truck with $3.53 gasoline and then went into the store. My first stop was the nessatarium, bathroom, and in the particular stall I was in, a previous user had left their cell phone. Found an employee and turned it in. While we were shopping for shorts, Roy not me, I overheard a conversation with a young woman and her mom. The daughter said, someone turned in my phone and she was expressing her relief in not having to deal with all that. I looked at her and said, I'm the one that found your phone and turned it in. Not to hear a thank you, but I was thrilled that the phone was returned to the owner. Happened to me several years ago so I was empathetic for the lost phone to be found by the owner. Roy found shorts and I found a very lightweight windbreaker/rain coat to keep in the Mustang. We also got ten more bags of raised garden bed soil. While Roy was loading the truck with the bags of soil, he was backing up his cart for a better angle. At the same time a tour bus is coming up right behind us to make a right turn. Surely Roy heard this bus or sensed its presence. Nope. Finally, I had to get his attention to tell him he was about to be run into by a bus. Ha, he laughed. No really, look behind you. Roy turned a pit paler at the realization he could soon be thrown under a bus by his own hand. 

On our Tuesday drive back toward home Roy and I had a great conversation about avoiding dementia. It is a serious situation and my mom died from Alzheimer's but we were making a list of things that one must remember when out and about cause it is all about presentation. Not like dressing up or stylin' and drivin'. It's about not sitting or standing or walking slumped over and to complete the look you're not going for, keep your mouth closed. Not like in saying something, just as the slack jawed position cause facial muscles must be tired to keeping the lips together. With this presentation is the blank stare, think President Biden looking around while everyone flocked around Obama or the squinting eyes look which will activate the mouth slightly hanging open. I am the most guilty of the squinty eye look. One must remember these things because if you don't you'll either draw unwanted attention or draw "feel sorry for you old person" look. 

***********

It's a beautiful April morning, with a dusting of snow and snow still falling. Dogwood winter is right on time. Last week while reading the weekly installment of The Marvin Chronicles and I had a good chuckle. The subject matter of little winters is discussed among the raccoons. I knew about Dogwood and Blackberry Winter but not Britches or Whippoorwill Winter.  

The phrase little winters will probably sit with me today and not because I flock to a phrase with the word little in it. When our first spring in the house here rolled around, many told me, don't plant anything fragile until after Mother's Day. Being from Texas, where it is full on summer by Mother's Day and you've missed the boat if you're planting then, well, I took those words to heart. Followed those directions and had a nice season of blooming flowers and plants. This year, as in the last two years, I am itching to plant wildflowers or something but I know not to do that. We are seeing now prolific blooms on the ornamental cherry trees and the peach trees. Snowball bushes, lilac and forsythia are slowly moving into a spring mindset. Got to get past the seem to be empty sticks in the ground knowing that soon enough, there will be blooms. Between two worlds of leaving winter and entering spring. It can be discouraging at least to the eyes. Years ago, Lowe's had a group of décor called trans-seasonal  merchandise. I bought a couple of their pieces and still own one small ottoman/storage piece. Would have kept the other two but Buddy liked to tear into them for some reason. I was willing to sacrifice for the greater good of the living room furniture. I only remember seeing the trans-seasonal merch set up just that one year and thought it was a way to bring in customers when there is not a whole lot going on except for maybe some remodeling. No one can remodel every year, well most can't. I have totally digressed from little winters though. Reminds me of Ezekiel and learning of the little sanctuaries that we can find in the Lord. 

We punted our plans yesterday and stuck around the area. We ran a couple of errands but mostly stayed around home. Most of Sunday's lesson, writing it down, took up most of the afternoon time. I was trying to avoid the writing by making excuses to do all kinds of other things. It's not because I don't like the lesson, I do, but writing it out always seems like a daunting task until it is actually more than outline form and drawing arrows from point to point. This is one of those technical lessons, which are the hardest for me to teach, but not because I don't believe, I do. It is because I believe and have so since becoming a Christian, I have never been one to delve into timelines and proof. These things I believe by faith. That God's Word is true. Now, give me a word study and I am hopelessly intrigued and will take bunny trails into looking at everything. 

The Feral Fam is mostly in the garage this morning. With Cutie's kittens being moved about the garage, I put out the pet playpen, with doors open. Every other Fam member was in that playpen this morning with the cushions and blankets. I've been sad about the fourth kitten of Cutie. I thought she was in the process of moving them while I was in the garage the other day. She was carrying the fourth kitten, but she turned around and jumped back up to where she had them. The kitten was alive, so didn't give it much thought until a day later. For some reason she rejected that kitten because it is no longer with her other kittens. She was probably taking it outside when I was thinking she was just moving it there in the garage. Cutie is taking a page from her grandmother, Mama Cat. Cutie and Toupee have a family quarrel going on, they are sisters. Not too much growling just some dramatic hissing. Charlie the unknown orange cat has really turned into a beloved family member with the Feral Fam. I have no idea where he came from but after a few days of being pushed around when first arriving, he can take over a food dish in nothing flat. I believe that Biggio and Junior have joined Junioretta in crossing the rainbow bridge. KH has had it out for the both of them since last year. 

Roy and I have decided we need to buy a different mattress for our bedroom. The one we have is still good, but not good for us. We could not know this with week to ten day visits over these past seven years. Now we know. We had a Tempur-Pedic mattress in Katy. It would never make it up the steps here. Our mattress here is Serta, but we can feel every move, toss and turn. Neither one of us is crazy about that in the middle of the night. So I looked at one mattress ad and now my FB timeline is filled with all kinds of mattress offers. Ugh! I should have known better. 

Good State of Mind

 This morning at 10:06, we walked out of the Marion DMV with our temporary drivers licenses for North Carolina. We are officially North Carolinians. We made our appointments in February and April 5th was the first day appointments were available. After all the anguish of timelines and dates, the actual appointment lasted between us, about thirty minutes. Roy's appointment was 9:30 and mine 9:45. There were two officers working. Roy got asked a lot of questions about road signs, traffic signals and such and he had to read several lines on the eyechart. I only had to read the first line. The most interesting question, besides have you ever been convicted of a felony...no never even accused of one, was what color would you say your hair is? Mousy brown with flecks of gray...shorthand answer on the license, brown. 

We were so thankful for the clear and not too chilly morning for a license. You had to wait outside till they came and checked your name off the list. It began to cloud up a bit on the drive home and this afternoon it is raining. We are thankful that we got an appointment before spring break next week and before summer and teenagers getting their first drivers license. The odd thought I had was pressing my head against the machine with the eye chart. Pre-Covid, I would have never given this a thought but I think cleaning that has gone the way of masks, yet the plexiglass was still up between us. I can highly recommend the Marion office. Beautiful drive and if we didn't have life information as well as the titles to our cars as well as our property tax bill, we would have stopped possibly in Black Mountain or Montreat. We still have some PTSD related fears from December.

I just listened to the NC state song. It is beautiful but wordy and hard to sing along with. Texas Our Texas is a pretty good state song. 

Sunday morning we made it to big church. Each winter I follow the advice of my Houston cardiologist of staying away from church crowds during flu season. We extended into March because of covid and flu. I had tears just being there. We love our church and seeing friends as well as some new faces got to me just a bit. We had communion at the end of the service and it just seemed the right thing for that first Sunday back. In Sunday School we welcomed several friends back to class. They've needed to be out due to family members or needing that bit of protection themselves from germs. It was so wonderful to see them and yes, doing the covid distant hug. 

On the way home at least for me, such a sense of relief. The last of the big paperwork taken care of. Roy said, well, we need to file our taxes but seriously that paperwork is nothing I get involved in so that isn't even on the radar for me. I have felt an ease all day.