Random Acts of "Kindness"

CAT

August 5, 2017

We have had a number of cats when our children were small. At the present time, our home belongs to only one dog. But she shared it for a couple of days with a cat. Let me tell you a story — that was very real.

We were at our camper in the country on Independence Day. I was just getting ready to go to bed, it was after 10 PM. I heard a meow, followed by another meow. It wasn’t very loud, just persistent. I turned on the outside lights by our room addition and saw a small black and white cat. I turned the lights back off, determined to ignore the voice. But it was persistent. My husband came to look too. Our dog was interested. It was such a small cat and crying. Both my husband and I have a soft spot in our hearts for animals.

I got some of Robin’s small beef dog food pellets. Cat ate it all gone — instantly. I brought out a small bowl of milk — gone. I thought since cat had its snack — it would leave. Go back about it’s business. Wrong!

I couldn’t fall asleep. About 1:00 AM, I was in the kitchen and I heard a meow. Cat was on our porch — Robin was barking at the door. My husband finally put Robin on a leash and took her out to meet cat. The meeting went very well. Cat rolled on its back and waited for Robin’s inspection. Cat stayed outside, Robin came inside and we went to bed. I hoped cat would continue on its way or go back to who ever was feeding it. WRONG!

I was up at 5:00 AM and curious, I looked outside to see if cat was still there. I saw a small black and white cat cross our yard, headed for the porch. So did Robin. She started barking and crying. She wanted her friend. I put out a bowl of food and a bowl of water. Both were instantly gone. I picked cat up to check for fleas and saw NONE.

Cat found a safe place to sleep on our deck. I don’t know how long life would have continued in that pattern but it was Wednesday and we had to go home on Friday. Cat didn’t act like a wild cat. It was too calm, too loving. I figured it belonged to someone so I called the gate to inquire if anyone was missing a cat. NOPE?
What to do with cat?

Finally 7:00 AM rolled around. I phoned our oldest daughter to see if they were open to adopting another cat — they already had two plus a dog. Thankfully they were. She suggested we take it to a Vet and see if it had a chip. Nope! Robin chased cat and it ran. I thought it had left. NOPE! Just hanging out under our trailer. Cat escaped from the crate I had it in, almost escaped from my arms. We discovered it didn’t have a chip, he was a male and had all of his parts. He found a safe place to sleep inside, in a corner under a table. Robin watched him sleep. We bought a cardboard carrying case from the Vet and took him to our daughter’s on Friday. He was so sweet, such a lover — he would have had a home with us if our daughter hadn’t said they would take him.

He is a VERY LUCKY CAT — He has a home with people who will give him the love he deserves. They even have a dog. The Vet inspection turned up infected eyes, ringworm, chipped tooth and sore toe. Even the vet commented on how loving he is. Now he has a name — Barnaby and is quarantined for ten days. Then he will get his shots and be neutered. Cats get angel help too! Welcome to the family!

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CUT OFF

July 29, 2017

If there is an explanation for the sequence of events that occurred on the last Tuesday in June, I don’t know what it is. Maybe if I write it down, I can make some sense of it. Or maybe, it will just remain a mystery.

First, my husband had made an appointment to take our car in Tuesday night for repairs. We were in the country, with only one car. Friends who might have helped us had gone home. I thought we could use my son’s black scooter as a second vehicle. My husband could drive it to the garage and I would bring him back in the car. Then he would have a vehicle to drive back to the camper after dropping the car off. It would have worked. EXCEPT, the black scooter refused to start. I called for service on the black scooter.

Next, we learned that there had been a major hacking of the computer systems at some of the hospitals. That wouldn’t affect us because we had no health issues scheduled EXCEPT our cell phones went down. Neither my flip top nor my husbands smart phone had service. We don’t have internet at our trailer. When I went down to a place the internet was available their computer network was not operational either. ??

I have a small blue scooter that was made in 1987. I only ride it at the campground and it doesn’t go fast — but it doesn’t need to. My son DID NOT THINK my husband should ride it on the highway. I walked over to a friends and asked it they would be able to provide taxi service. I was very happy when they agreed.

My husband took my blue scooter for a ride. It shut off five times in a distance of a mile. I called for repair service on my blue scooter.

I was worried that one of our children would try to contact us and be worried when they couldn’t. Thankfully our campground sent out a message that cell phone service was down.

Normally I’m not tied to our cell phone or our computer BUT I had a different feeling when we were shut off. HELPLESS? ABANDONED? Thankfully we didn’t have any major problems at the time.

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AWAKENED

July 22, 2017

I had a most interesting week — in a weeks time I have revisited many of the talents and interests I had over the years. Many of them slipped by the wayside without my noticing it. Too busy, too many other things occupying my time. Years ago, I belonged to the Nature Club at our campground. This week, Sunday, I attended a presentation on a wetland area that is only a few miles from our campground. Even though it has been there for quite a few years, I was completely unaware of its existence. The person giving the presentation had interesting slides of the plants, animals and insects that inhabited the area.

Two days later, I saw a member I knew from the Nature Club at a restaurant. The very next day, I ran into another person who had helped me with the float on a parade. The back to back experiences reminded me of not only the fun I used to have, but also how much I have forgotten. Too many years have passed!

That same day, I attended a colored pencil drawing program hosted by the nature club. I haven’t drawn in years — not that I have ever been very skilled. I picked a flower to capture on a wood panel. All the supplies and pencils were provided. The experience reminded me of when I first started painting 30 years ago. It was an invitational program put on by the campground. Bring your body and talent and we will provide the rest. My rendition of that painting opened up a new world for me. I didn’t think I could paint — I was proved wrong. Thankfully the technique I learned this week was easy to adapt and the flower I colored surprised me. Instead of hiding in a drawer, it is occupying a space on our wall. My family thinks I should pick up my paint brushes again. They may be right.

While I was occupied with colored pencils, I learned of nature activities coming up on the weekend. A nature hike and later, a nature presentation of life in early America. Both sounded interesting — I planned to attend. Then I WORRIED. Would I be able to walk on a two mile hike? Would my knees allow me to do it? I decided that I would hike as far as I could then walk back and leave.

I didn’t need to worry. I arrived at the prearranged spot and saw the leader putting down a plastic ground cover. The plan was to DRAW, then hike. I WONDERED HOW not only would I get DOWN on the ground, HOW would I get back UP?

I needn’t have worried. The leader asked me to wait, he had something in the car for me. HE DID! He had his mother’s wooden folding chair. I WAS VERY COMFORTABLE. I still couldn’t draw — a bird, copied out of one of his books. (My grandson could have done better!) A tree — some resemblance but nothing to brag about. I think I will try to pick up his suggestion and DRAW every day.

The presentation — EXCELLENT! I convinced my husband to accompany me. He was glad that I did. Brian “Fox” Ellis became Prince Maximilian in 1832. I was reminded of the many hours I spent in storytelling.

The only thing missing was writing. OH! I GUESS I’M DOING IT NOW!

Years ago we had bird feeders hanging in our yard. A hummingbird visited a few weeks ago — reminding me. This weekend, we hung up hummingbird feeders. We had a visit from either one hummingbird twice or two separate hummingbirds. WELCOME. ( I have plants that are beneficial for hummingbirds in my garden. The feeder is more permanent.)

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TIMING

July 15, 2017

It never ceases to amaze me — too many times to count — I am at the right place at the right time to either help someone or be helped in return. Maybe I will accidentally meet someone on the street who I haven’t seen in a long time. Or I will hear something that helps to solve a problem or question that is bothering me.

We are at the camper. This week I took our dog, Robin, for a morning walk. Standing in the middle of the path, I came face to face with a yearling deer. (My best estimate of its age.) It was very interested not only in myself, but in Robin too. Now I don’t know if Robin saw the deer, she didn’t bark or pull on her leash. The deer just stood in the middle of the path and twitched its ears. Of course, I kept up a running conversation on my end. We got close enough that if I would have had a long shadow, it would have touched before the deer jumped off the path. Then Robin wanted to chase.

I will admit that I’m not sure what is occurring. Today is the anniversary of my Mother’s birth. Am I receiving “HELP?”
I haven’t put in special spacing or changed the font to italics but that is what is appearing on my screen.

Do I make God laugh? That seems to be my mission in life. I tell God my plans, LAUGHTER — things change.

Just because — I’m going to ramble on. I’m most interested in the formatting of the thought ramble! It will be most interesting when I publish it, to see what it turns out to be.

This morning, I took Robin for a walk. This time she didn’t refuse to walk, didn’t stop and lay down, but continued down the trail. This morning I totally enjoyed picking black caps (black raspberries)along the trail, freshly washed from the morning rain.
I stopped to fill my scooter with gas at the service center and said hello to an old acquaintance. As I passed him, I noticed that his face seemed thinner. I turned the scooter around and went back for a chat. I was correct in my thinking. He was 30 pounds thinner, having had surgery for a valve that was in trouble. It was allowing his lungs to fill up with fluid. He also had four blockages fixed. I can see his daughter’s “help” with this surgery. She passed more than fifteen years ago from Leukemia. I’ve known the family for years. It didn’t surprise me when he remarked that his mother in law was out, at 88 years young, pushing a broom on the deck this morning.

I think this thought ramble is long enough. It will be interesting to see how it saves and what formatting it publishes in.

One last thought, last year I heard that a restaurant had the best pizza. It was at the end of the year and since my husband does not like pizza, I didn’t stop. This year I had an occasion to stop. I ordered a personal pan pizza to share with my grandson. A) he is ALWAYS hungry. B) He would remind me of sodium, and help me stay relatively safe.
IT WAS DELICIOUS!

The strange formatting is still on the copy of this thought ramble before I uploaded it but it changed to normal on wordpress. I guess it was just for my confusion!

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ON THE ROAD

July 8, 2017

We have a 2001 Ford Taurus. The mileage on the car is approaching 200,000. And our car is showing its age. Recently the low coolant light came on. We were headed for our youngest daughter’s house — 3 hours away. We bought a bottle of coolant at the gas station and proceeded on our way. We were at our daughter’s for a full week but we don’t have a relationship established with a repair garage down there. My husband thought that if we kept adding water, we would be okay. And we were. We even traveled to horse country — another 60 miles away.

Returning from our daughter’s we ran into HORRIBLE TRAFFIC. It was Friday, the Cubs had a game and there was a festival on the lake. It took over an hour, driving in the city, to reach our house. The low coolant light came on during the drive but the car continued to run, the heat register didn’t go into dangerous territory.

We were going to wait until we went out to the camper — 100 miles from home — to have the car fixed but the problem seemed to get worse. We needed a new water pump and a new hose. My husband thought we NEEDED a new car but he wanted to reach 200,000 miles. In spite of a few bumps and wrinkles, our car was in good shape.

We drove our fixed car to North Chicago, to visit a doctor. NO PROBLEMS. The next day my husband drove to get mulch for the back yard. The car was smoking on the return trip. I was at the EL platform, heading downtown to buy a sticker for our car when my husband phoned and told me not to go. I hadn’t brought my house keys with me. Returning home, I saw him cross the alley as I approached our block.

The NEW water pump put too much pressure on the OLD HOSES. More work needed. Hopefully that is all the repairs our car will need for a while. I’m hoping that it will continue to run well for at least a year.

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FREE FALL

July 1, 2017

I don’t know what happened! Normally I’m very careful with money. When I use plastic, I note the charge in one of our checkbooks. I keep a running total of our Visa charge so I’m not caught off guard when the bill comes in. That is my normal accounting practice. That is NOT what happened this month.

I forgot to note the charge for our rental car when we drove to Texas. I forgot to note the charges we incurred for part of the trip. When I finally figured out how to cover those expenses, when I phoned the credit card to make sure their balance agreed with my records, I learned that the bill was $300 higher than I expected. Evidently the money I spent on the first of June must have been free because I did not record it anywhere. I found the receipts. They were where I always keep them. Why they were filed but not recorded is anybody’s guess. It is beyond me.

I know we were planning the next day to go to Central Illinois to watch our grandchildren for a week. That doesn’t explain why I would have neglected to note the charges I incurred.

The only thing that I can think of to blame was that all the traveling caught up to me and I was exhausted. Of course, I knew I was tired. I thought I was being very careful. Of course now I know that I was wrong. Hopefully that absent mindedness won’t happen again. If that is what occurs with Alzheimer’s disease I want no part of it. That I was so careless is scary.

I don’t think there is any way I can recapture my youth, but I can try to allow more days in between travel to recuperate. I can continue with my plan to try to lose weight, exercise and regain the use of more of my body parts. Thankfully my lapse involved a credit card — not the debit card and a bank balance. I don’t like checks to bounce.

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DIRECTED AGAIN

June 24, 2017

I don’t look at the date when I place a thought ramble to publish. Often I have to laugh at not only the subject but the timing of the thought. I have to admit that DIRECTED was just such an occurrence. Not only is it my oldest daughters birthday, but it is Father’s Day as well. It is only with the advantage of age, and still keeping some of my memory that I can see that many, many years ago my mother was already involved in “helping” me with my life. I’m from Illinois, my husband from Maryland. We met in California were he was stationed and I was on vacation. I’m sure you can understand why the date I picked for DIRECTED made me laugh.

Wandering with Spirit often delights me. Chance encounters often help with my day, plans, or health. In Central Illinois we are at a lost. Although we often drive down, we are not familiar with the location of some needed items. Where do you get fishing licenses? Where do you buy bait for fishing? Both relevant questions when our grandchildren want to go fishing. We were at Homer Lake when I stopped to talk to a woman who was loading her car — no fish, she forgot her tackle box at home. She was able to direct me to a gas station that sold fishing worms.

My husband and I were at our daughter’s house, watching her kids while she attended a writing workshop. Although she tried to stock the house with the food we would need, we ran out of some necessary options. Talking to the clerk while she packed my purchases, I learned her son has picked the winner of the Kentucky Derby many years in a row. She doesn’t bet on the horse, she doesn’t want to jinx him. She would like to treat him to a race but the tickets are VERY expensive.

We planned to go to horse country — my granddaughter’s favorite place. I will admit that I enjoy many of the stores that are down there. In the spring, there are colts — I like to watch them play. I like to watch the horses as they run down the road, pulling the buggy’s or wagons. I guess like the woman in the store, I have always liked horses. Just never been able to own one myself.

We had only been in Central Illinois one day when I got THREE mosquito bites. One on my check, another on my ankle and a third on my eye brow. I went to the store and bought OFF but I must admit that I don’t like to use it. We were at Beeches, a store in Arthur, when I overheard a woman speaking about a mosquito repellant that was natural and worked. I haven’t tried it yet but I bought the ingredients. Combine lemon grass oil and witch hazel in a spray bottle, spray on and rub in. Hopefully it will work.

My stomach had been upset. We had just returned from Texas, I was tired when I packed — that is the excuse I’m using for all the stuff that hasn’t made this trip — I forgot to bring my tea. I brought a fresh box of Detox and Joint Comfort BUT I forgot to bring the selection that I turn to for various body ills. At the health food store I bought two boxes of chamomile mint — one to leave at my daughter’s and one to take home. At the check out counter, a woman had a bag that was orange, looked like carrots but not quite. It was dried papaya chunks, she uses it for tummy upsets — a bag came home with me also. They also had children’s chewable magnesium — it might help my granddaughter’s headaches.

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DIRECTED LIFE

June 17, 2017

Although we have many conveniences at the camper, the internet isn’t one of them. My husband has a hot spot on his phone. I tried to connect to it. Unsuccessful — three times in a row. I gave up and said I was going to the Laundromat. There are a few places at the campground that you can connect to the internet. The Laundromat is one of them.

I put our dog Robin in the car and we went for a drive. There was another car in the lot when I pulled in. Before long the person in the other car tapped on my window. “Can I talk to you?” I rolled down my window. “We are new out here and my friend is in a lot of pain. I don’t know what to do? Should I call for an ambulance.”

I’ll admit that I didn’t know what to say at first. I told him that there was a hospital in the nearer big town but suggested that he go up to the gate. They have Emergency Technicians there and they will be able to advise what to do.

He immediately started his car and headed for the gate. I have no idea what the outcome was for them. I finished hooking up to the internet and headed to our camper. My husband was able to connect his ipad to the hotspot that night. When I told him my story he said I lead an interesting life.

Interesting Life continues. The reading in my Inner Reflections engagement calendar reads this week: “So long as we are on stage in the drama of life. We should play our part to the best of our ability …. We must try to understand the purpose of the drama, and why we have our particular role in it. ” Paramahansa Yogananda.

My reading in Queen of Heaven this morning made me laugh. “I thank God who bumps me and prods me and pushes me.” But this evening, as I prepared to write a couple of thought rambles — I was unable to connect to my external hard drive. I didn’t laugh — I cried! All of my thought rambles were on there. Thankfully I always print a hard copy too.

I just celebrated my fifth year writing on Wandering with Spirit. I don’t think I’m supposed to stop but then who am I?

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PERPLEXED AGAIN

June 10, 2017

I’ll admit I was tired. Okay — I was more than tired. The last place I wanted to be was shopping BUT I DIDN’T HAVE A CHOICE. We landed very early on a Saturday morning, returning from Hawaii. I hadn’t slept on the flight because I didn’t think — I had TWO glasses of cranberry apple juice — too much sugar! I had Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday to recover. Bright and early Wednesday morning we picked up a rental car to drive 900 miles to Cumby, Texas. My husband’s brother had stage four lung cancer and two of his sisters were traveling to Texas also. We only stayed two days before heading home again. I wanted to get the photo’s of the family in Texas in the mail. We were only going to be home for two more days before we were heading for the camper.

I parked in the lot so I could just drive forward, not back up. I parked at the end of the lot — hoping I would remember where I parked the car. After ordering the photos, I had a lengthy list of supplies to pick up. I had three boxes in my cart as I made my way to the parking lot. I didn’t need to worry about finding my car. It was the only one there in a huge open space, that is until I almost reached it. A white SUV pulled in directly behind my car. I couldn’t believe it! The person had more than 20 spaces to pick from. Why did he want to park behind my car?

I looked at his bumper and I looked at the rear of my car. I wondered if I would fit between the two. A young man got out of the car. He asked if I had enough room, he could back up. Then he told me he had muscles, he had been working out. He offered to unload my cart. I didn’t refuse. He offered to take my cart back to the store — I didn’t refuse. Actually I was very grateful. Not sure why I had received the help, but very glad that I had.

Tuesday — I was scanning the photos on my camera. The camera kept stopping at the pictures of my husband’s brother. Each time I tried, three times in all — the same results. I gave up!

Thursday I realized it was the anniversary of my brother’s birth. Happy Birthday brother. Did you send the help on Monday?

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BLOSSOMS ON THE WIND

June 3, 2017

Step by step, line by line — watch my thought rambles grow. My fifth year anniversary — 265 rambles — who would have thought I had so much to write about. Time passes so quickly, I thought this was my third year, then I divided 265 by 52. Didn’t quite believe the number I saw. Evidently I finally gave into the nudging in May of 2012 to begin to write. FIVE YEARS later my friends in high places still think I NEED to share the goings on in my life. If I don’t have a thought ramble ready to publish — I’m reminded that I have thoughts to share.

I enjoy going to the Botanic Garden in certain seasons of the year — daffodil time, crab apples in bloom, summer roses, fall asters, mums, etc. I probably would enjoy winter there as well, I just haven’t gone in a few years. I was at the Garden a few weeks ago — daffodils were in bloom — many plants were being planted — crab apple trees were waiting. After a couple of 70 degree days, I phoned to see if the crab apple trees were in bloom. The answer was negative — trees were in bloom in our neighborhood but the Garden was waiting. I phoned again this week — just starting I was told. So I waited a couple of days but rain was expected and I wasn’t sure how many blossoms would stay on the trees — how many would ride the wind. The Garden NEEDED a few more warm, dry days. White and pink crab apple trees were in bloom, red were still ladies in waiting. I still ended up taking more than 100 pictures. Trees, tulips, robins, frogs — many things caught my attention. Of course in that number I probably missed another one to two hundred photos. It doesn’t help if I remind myself that I have taken a picture of that same tree last year, I still capture the image. I will admit that some scenes DO NOT appear again. I have a lovely photo of a tree in bloom with different shades of tulips below that has not repeated itself.

More than blossoms have been on the wind — my eight year old granddaughter has been going through a very challenging time. Health issues have caused migraines to start. She is staying with us for the weekend. I had planned various things to do outside — GOD LAUGHED. Cold weather, storms are predicted. I found myself at Walmart, glancing at a basket with merchandise that was going to be returned to the shelves. I found a craft item that I thought she would enjoy. That reminded me to get a few new things for her. The item I found in the basket must be hiding in the store somewhere because I would not have found it. I did find a roll of stickers and an artists notebook. She loves to draw — crayons, markers, paint. I’m not ready for wet weather but I have a few things that hopefully will be fun.

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