Random Acts of "Kindness"

Posts tagged ‘travel’

ALOHA

At Christmas, my son combined my Christmas and Mother’s day present by inviting me to accompany him to Oahu. We have made the trip before and had a marvelous time. The last time we were there we spent many hours hanging out at the International Market, sipping ice tea in the tree house and watching the world go by. We planned to do the same this time.

A month before we planned to travel, I met a woman in the grocery store whose children went to school with ours. They had just returned from Hawaii — they could not find the International Market. Computers are wonderful things. Returning home from the store, I looked up the International Market and learned it had closed. I have to admit that the knowledge made me sad but it was early enough that we could change the things we planned.

I wasn’t worried. Since I travel with Spirit, I knew that I would find many things that would intrigue me. I WASN’T mistaken. After experiencing Oahu traffic on our last visit, and learning the buses, we decided not to rent a car this time. We did take the bus — to the zoo, aquarium and China Town, but most of the time we used our feet.

The first day, I searched for a store that sold Apple Cider Vinegar. I have found that having a tablespoon in water before meals helps my digestion. We had wandered down the beach after breakfast, heading for the old location of the International Market. I stopped in a store that I thought might carry the product. They didn’t, but the manager told me how to find the Food Pantry. Make a right at Dukes Lane, (the alley) walk down a block, turn left and it was only two blocks away.

Imagine our surprise, we turned down Dukes Lane and discovered an off shoot of the International Market (Hawaiian flea market.) I found a purse that held my camera, cell phone, glasses and wallet that didn’t hurt my back — that I could afford. It didn’t have the tree house for iced tea but you can’t have everything. We learned a new International Market is being built, anchored by Sax’s Fifth Avenue opening in 2016. The new market sounds too pricey for me but it appears that Dukes Lane will remain unless they are forced out.

We found the Food Pantry — they had my vinegar. I would have had a lovely time buying food items but our plan was to eat out — a cooking vacation for me. The Food Pantry was near Wakiki beach., which became our new hangout for watching the world go by.

We wandered to Ala Moana Mall the next day to look for shoes. When I asked about the food store that had been at the mall, I learned it had closed. I was very happy to have found the Food Pantry. The mall now has a lovely food court — food from around the world in one space. Sadly, I wasn’t hungry.

That same week, we found another food court — not as big but with a lovely variety of places. I tried Tai Milk Tea and Vietnamese seafood noodle soup. We discovered that the shrimp truck was close to the time share and ABC store had a variety of fresh salads and sandwiches. I can truthfully say that my diet didn’t resemble the food I ate at home.

I can also truthfully say time spent at Wakiki Beach was worthwhile. Besides watching the surfers and the waves, we found many things to delight us.

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KNOCK — KNOCK

Is anyone home? Actually we weren’t but we were on the way. We had four hours to spare before our plane took off. Time to eat, read, relax, get into trouble. Our daughter had to go to work and dropped us off on the way. I took the extra time to look through the books at the various shops. A title intrigued me — the author used a year to look for her happy side. I have to admit that I was not in a happy state of mind and was afraid the author’s listing of all the things she wasn’t able to do would bring up more stuff of my own. That was the last thing I needed. I thought it might be fun to look for the happy things each day in my own life. So far I really haven’t had the time.

I might have bought the book if I found it on the other side of the security check in but it was absent. I picked up a book by a medium and once again was reminded of why I needed to write about the happenings in my own life. This person was aware that she had psychic talents when she was four years old but chose to ignore them until serious illness in her thirties caused a conversation with God. In this conversation He detailed the reasons she had to use her gift to help others. I didn’t write down the conversation and have to admit that I don’t remember the reasons. It made sense to me at the time. It wasn’t concerned with religion, just the spirituality of the people. Just to be clear, I’m not psychic, I haven’t had a conversation with God. I’m sure it could happen — other means are just used to get the message through. And the message seems to be that I have stories that I should share.

I have to admit that I ended up telling two of my own stories to a couple of people who were waiting. Since arriving back home, trying to catch up on the mail and all of the various things that continued on while we were gone, I’m receiving nudges again to write. The question seems to be, “What are you waiting for?”

Flying over the city, I was happy to see autumn colors still on the trees. We have had a couple of dips in temperature and even some snow. The wind has done its best to send the leaves off of the trees. We picked up seven bags of leaves yesterday and I have sent most of my hanging baskets to recycling.

Usually I don’t find money on the ground but recently I have found 3 dimes. When I found the first one, I wasn’t sure it was real. It must have been run over many times. When I picked it up, we were still in Florida and I was walking the dog. An elderly, older man crossed the road when I talked to him. I ended up telling him the story of how I saw Shanae’s spirit run through the house. I think the story is in JOURNEY WITH ME. It is a comforting story when you have lost a four footed member of your family to know that they are fine on the other side.

We don’t have any new paws in our house yet — I’m sure that day is coming. I just don’t know how soon. We are not planning to get a puppy, and there are so many older dogs that need a home. We can’t adopt them all.

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TREASURES FROM OUR TRADITIONS

Home again — home again — for a minute. My husband and I took the opportunity to go to Mass to say THANK YOU — for our trip, for our family, for our life. The church bulletin had an article about the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, — a gift from the ancient Church of Jerusalem. “A legend among Orthodox Christians tell how all the disciples except for Thomas were present at Mary’s death and sat by her tomb for three days. On the third day, Thomas, who was teaching in India, saw Mary’s body rising to heaven. She greeted him as her friend. … Thomas, the one who expressed doubt at the resurrection of Christ, received a gift from Mary: the chance to proclaim resurrection faith to the disciples.”

WHY AM I SHARING THIS WITH YOU? Fair question — for a change — easy answer. In 1995, I spent the summer at our camper working on TO PAP, WITH LOVE, the story of our journey with my father through Alzheimer’s disease. It was on the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, sitting outside before Mass, drinking a cup of coffee that I saw a black feather fall. The feather inspired my thought ramble FEATHERS, the fifth story in JOURNEY WITH ME. I planned to take another Creative Writing course in the Fall at our community college. If I said my writing DID NOT impress our instructor I would not be exaggerating in the slightest. In fact, he read everyone’s work and always put mine on the bottom of the stack — until later. I was surprised when a few weeks into the course he mailed me a note, complimenting me on FEATHERS.

When my father passed over, he gave me a gift — the knowledge that life continued on the other side. Like Thomas, I share my story with those who need it.

While we were in Florida, our family spent a day at Fernandina Beach. After lunch, we slowly wandered back to our cars. An author sat outside a book store signing her book. I stopped to chat and learned that her mother passed away from Alzheimer’s disease. Since I travel with stories in my mental pocket, I shared the story my father had given me.

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HOME AGAIN

Fair warning. I try to keep my rambles around 500 words but this one is a bit longer.

The last time we visited Hawaii , the trade winds were also on vacation and it was very hot. I packed for hot, not cool temperatures. SURPRISE — the trade winds were on vacation, the surf was flat and the sky was cloudy, and the temperature was on the cooler side. But you see, I have friends in high places that take care of me. Saturday, our first night, my camera stopped working. I took the battery out, wiped it off and replaced it. The camera worked but when my husband phoned and I told him about my camera, he strongly suggested I get a new one. I thought we would visit Costco on the rainy Sunday and check out cameras. Lost, wandering the streets via car we found China Town and the Ala Moana Mall. I was told there was a Foodland Grocery store in the Mall and I wanted a couple of items. Huge Mall, many high end, expensive stores. As we were leaving, I noticed a sign that the Sears store was closing — 50% off. An hour later, I had cool weather clothes — a new sweater, long slacks, a terry cloth hooded jacket and a long sleeve shirt — all at an amazing price. Thank You! We found the food store too, it was tiny but I got a couple of things.

Monday, another cooler, rainy day. We headed for the International Market. I won’t bore you with my purchases, let’s just say I’m learning how to bargain. A Post office is located in the Market. I bought stamps and mailed my post cards. Monday evening we chatted with a couple from Canada that drove the whole island in 2 days. They didn’t see any sea turtles on the North Shore, even though they stopped at four beaches but they found a shrimp truck that served delicious food.

Tuesday — sunny skies, we headed for the North Shore, hoping to see turtles. My son pulled into a tiny parking place off of a small beach. When we climbed down to the shore, a sea turtle slowly made his way up from the water. He was expected — two turtle watchers were on guard to make sure he was safe. I learned that Brutus came on shore to rest and warm up. Once he stayed 50 hours. One of the watchers shared stories with us, including how they knew his sex and name. THANK YOU!

While on the North Shore we visited Waimea Valley. Before leaving for Hawaii, I looked at my Hawaiian cookbooks. I decided that I only wanted to buy a new one if it had nutritional information and the recipes were on the lighter side. Even though I looked at the Mall and the Market, I didn’t see any cookbooks. At the store at the Valley I found what I was looking for. Thank You!

A shuttle is available to take visitors up to the water fall which is 3/4 of a mile up the trail but my son wanted to walk. It wasn’t too hot — since my energy had increased a bit, I thought I could walk it too. Right place, right time — as we headed up the trail, a tour just began. Needless to say, we joined the group. The guide told us she was known as the “bird whistler” when I asked if she knew the identity of the bird that was calling. An ancient village was located on the site — she was very knowledgeable about the culture of her people. Sadly, the tour ended at the end of the village and we still had a long way to go. The waterfall was smaller than I expected, the pool of water at the base was 30 feet deep, but we didn’t bring our bathing suits and now it was hot. I took the shuttle back down.

We didn’t find the famous shrimp truck but found another along the highway. On the North Shore I found a real supermarket. I wanted apple cider vinegar. I didn’t bring some from home and my tummy was acting up but I was able to restrain myself and only buy a couple of items. I kept reminding myself of all I had purchased on Sunday and how many days we had left. We got stuck in rush hour traffic on the way back to our hotel. Abandoning the highway, we got lost again and found Costco. Which was extremely crowded, but we also found Quiznos — sandwiches for a late night supper.

I call Wednesday  TEACHERS DAY. I gave the attendant at the small store in our hotel information on compression stockings, since I was wearing mine and he noticed. My son shared computer information with the owner of a store at the International Market whose computer was down.

Thankfully, I was able to go in the hot tub and the pool. My son went for afternoon walks without me and saw sea turtles feeding. Our last day — I went for an afternoon walk with him and saw turtles too. On the walk, my cell phone rang. It was a friend who was inviting my husband for dinner. I have no idea how I got included in their conversation. Neither phoned me.

Traffic was horrible on the drive to the airport. Luckily we had plenty of time but we had to find a gas station. My son turned off onto a side street which also had horrible traffic. He drove through the parking lot of a library and I saw a gas station a short distance away. Hawaii is supposed to have the worst traffic in the Nation. I believe it — our pilot and airplane personnel were late for take off — stuck in traffic.

Did I have “help” on this trip. Let’s see —  Lost — but found  — sale on clothes I needed; meet and greet a turtle; find a cookbook; join a guided tour; enough energy for most of the walks; saw sea turtles feeding; an interesting phone call; on time at the airport; — and I only mentioned the highlights, leaving out all the interesting people we talked to and meals I enjoyed. One last thought — I took over 500 photos, no more problems with my camera. Did I say Thank You?  –DAILY!

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EXCITEMENT IS BREWING

Less than two weeks before we fly and “my friends in high places” are HELPING! Excitement is in the air. Yesterday, shopping at Target I stooped to pick up a pair of reading glasses on the floor. As I put them back on the stand I noticed that they were on sale. I have to admit that a pair came home with me, as a backup for my prescription glasses in Hawaii. Too many times I have taken my spare glasses out of my purse and reached for them while shopping, only to find them missing in action. It must have been a glasses day — I also found a pair of Magnivision SunReaders 100% UVA-UVB. I’m not sure either of the non-prescription glasses are strong enough, but they are going.

Yesterday, I read that color is power — advised to select a color you don’t normally wear and introduce that into your wardrobe — it changes your energy field. No surprise, looking for a hat to take with me, I found  a bright pink LEATHER purse on sale. Pink is the color of love — a predominate color in my vacation wardrobe, but not one I normally wear. I also found an airy, collapsible, white hat, trimmed in pink.

At Tuesday night’s dinner, I loved a tomato, cucumber salad. It was so flavorful I had to push the serving dish out of my reach. I had asked to look at their menu and received a take out menu instead. The writing was so small that my glasses and the dim light did not allow me to read it. Pulling the menu out Saturday night, I found the salad I enjoyed — Shepherd’s salad.  The internet is a marvelous tool. I’m not very experienced but I was able to find a recipe for it.  I was slightly surprised when I learned the name for this Sunday at church is SHEPHERD’S SUNDAY.

I planned to go to the Botanic Garden today. I have not been there since the fall, the weather hasn’t been inviting. I know that daffodil’s are in bloom, and possibly tulips. Since today is blue skies, temperature in the 40’s, I thought a walk in the Garden would be delightful. I’m curious what my body will say about the trip.  At Mass, I asked a friend if she knew how the recent rain affected the Garden. She suggested that I look at their website. I am SO GLAD that I did. I learned the Antiques & Garden Show is this weekend. A few years ago, I wandered there on this weekend and had to park in a lot off property. They had a shuttle to take people back and forth. To say the garden was crowded is an understatement. Hopefully the weather will be warmer tomorrow with blue skies. I’ll wander then.

April 22, 2013- – Earth Day — blue skies, a perfect day to wander the Botanic Garden. Our cool spring has delayed the blooms. The hills that normally are covered in daffodils are waiting. The workers are taking down the tents from the weekend’s show. The East side of the Garden showed few effects of last weeks storms. Sadly, the West side didn’t fair as well. Many bridges were underwater, paths closed. I was curious, I wanted to know if I would be able to walk the garden as I had in the past. Thankfully, I had the energy, even if the walk was longer because of the detours.

This makes the 52nd thought ramble I’ve written since I began in May of last year. I didn’t think I have that much to say. Evidently “my friends” don’t agree and thankfully they “HELP!” I hope some of the stories I’ve shared and my thought rambles have been helpful to you.

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COMPROMISED

I’m not sure compromised was the word the doctor used describing my legs when he strongly suggested that I give myself shots before flying to Hawaii. I know it was a “c” word — the word didn’t stick. Compromised will have to do. I said I always take an aspirin before flying, he replied that was a glass of water compared to a strong highball. He won, I will give myself a shot before getting on the plane, and another shot 24 hours later, and another 24 hours later and repeat the process coming home. The shot is a strong blood thinner — I really don’t need to get a blood clot. I will get up and walk down the aisles, it is an eight hour flight.  I will make sure that I stay hydrated. I will be a good girl and wear my compression stockings. I DO NOT WANT ANOTHER ULCER!! Walking on the beach, going in the water, I’m ready.

Even if I lost weight, which sadly isn’t happening — the veins in my legs have gone through the war and they won’t return to their youthful vigor.  Taking stock — my energy level is rising. I don’t need a nap mid morning, sometimes I can make it through the whole afternoon. We won’t discuss how early I’m falling asleep at night though, and of course, by now you know that “my friends” thought better at 4:00 AM.  (Now they aren’t restricted by time.) I still haven’t convinced them that I DO NOT.

I told my doctor that I wasn’t able to meditate during the 21 day challenge with Deepak and Oprah. He replied that I ‘m too stubborn. He only met me in January and he already knows.

And I will use that stubbornness to my advantage. I will continue to exercise, try to eat healthy and continue to try to lose weight.  Maybe, just maybe, my weight will decrease. And I’m confident “my friends” will continue “to Help” when needed.

When I wrote To Pap With Love, and Journey with Me, I had “help from my friends”. Sentences would disappear and other interesting things occurred when what I wrote didn’t measure up. Evidently they didn’t like what I just wrote. Four paragraphs gone! I was detailing the events of the last four days, my younger grandchildren were in town. I “saved” the writing. The save didn’t work so I cancelled it and the whole added paragraphs disappeared.

Much of my life is meant to be private and I guess that includes the last four days. Rather than try to rewrite, I’ll just say that I had enough energy to wander through the Peggy Norbert Nature Museum, the Shedd aquarium and Garfield conservatory. I have a sore foot because I wore new shoes, but I was able to do it. PROGRESS!

THANK YOU LORD!

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TRAVELING WITH ANGELS

I have received “help” from the other side for years. But I was not aware of it. My mother and brother passed over when I was four. I’ll credit my mother as the primary force but I have no real information to back it up. I thought I lead a rather normal life until my father passed over and shared the secret. Looking back, I remember when I was in the country, driving on a lonely back road when my tire went flat. From nowhere, a young man pulled up in a truck and stopped to help. He had no trouble jacking up my car, and getting the tire off and the spare on. Luckily it had air. The young man wouldn’t take any money for his assistance and remarked he was a member of a race crew when I complimented him on his ability to change the tire so quickly.

Another night, driving out to our camper alone in the winter, the road turned to black ice and I lost control of the car, ending up in a ditch. Another man in a truck stopped to help, borrowed a chain from a nearby farm house and pulled me out.

I’m sure other things happened when I was traveling while my father was still alive. These two stick out in my memory. When my father’s memory deteriorated from Alzheimer’s disease, there where many instances when I received help and even became more or less aware of it. Learning sometimes comes slowly.

The past week I attended the wake of my son’s ex-mother-in-law. We live on the North side of Chicago. The wake was at 193rd street and Wolf Road. Far on the south side. I took the expressways to the funeral home but at 2:30, traffic was already a challenge. There was no way I wanted to take the expressways back home.

Since we live on the North side, I’m able to wander with some confidence on streets or expressways depending on the trip. I was lost on the South side. So I asked for help. Luckily there was a person who was knowledgeable and offered advice on an alternate. When I mentioned my planned route home, the husband of the deceased expressed concern for some of the neighborhoods I would be traveling through. “That’s alright,” I remarked. “I travel with angels.” And thankfully, I do. I was amazed at the words that had come out of my mouth. I just don’t always remember. Which is why I’m sharing with you.

At the funeral, I searched for the person and thanked him. It had been a pleasant drive, through the forest preserves, stress free,  — about 2 hours — but it wasn’t bumper to bumper traffic.

Short postscript: I shared this story with my middle daughter. She was concerned that I had received a warning and did not pay attention. In my defense I wish to mention that I’m not extremely brave, I don’t depend on my friends in high places to keep me from harm . I try to use common sense to the best of my abilities and am thankful for their assistance when challenges occur.

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