Random Acts of "Kindness"

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Go Home

I think that I have mentioned that the Fall is often a sad time for me — I’m older, winter is coming and we have to close our camper for the season. I have to pack up all the food and take it home. It is never something I look forward to. When we were younger, we didn’t close the camper. We left the furnace on, the food in the fridge and cabinets and wandered between city and country as the spirit moved. Sadly we became older — the winter sports and cold weather, icy roads became more of a challenge. We haven’t gone to the country in many years in the winter.

I tried to use up the food stored in the freezer — the freezers at home were already loaded. I tried to use up the food in the cabinets — the pantry at home was well stocked. I tried not to load up the camper for food for the summer but God laughed. Our granddaughter from Florida was only at the camper for two days — including travel time. Our grandchildren in Illinois were not out as often — the rainy weather cancelled a lot of plans. Food I bought for their stay was still in the camper.

Then to make life more interesting — a friend noticed edible mushrooms on our lot — hen in the woods. I learned another friend knew how to clean them. I have to admit that I wasn’t successful in harvesting — hopefully they will return next year. I spent a full day cleaning and preparing for freezing — 10 quart bags full. Thankfully our son came out to the camper and I had packaging to transport the frozen mushrooms back to the city. Our son found room in the freezer at home for the mushrooms. Finding room for the rest of the food would be interesting.

When we planned our last trip — the weather was supposed to be in the 60’s, rainfall limited. Our first two days were beautiful. My husband raked and burned leaves. Then the clouds arrived, the temperatures dropped and the rain visited the area. The clouds and rain were VERY comfortable. They didn’t leave for more than four days. We extended our stay, hoping for sunny weather. The day before we planned to leave the sun came out at 2 in the afternoon. We took the scooter for our last ride.

That night, both of the heaters in our room addition stopped working. The temperature at night was close to freezing. Was someone telling us to go home? We packed up the freezer, fridge and cabinets and left the next afternoon — more clouds coming in, more rain predicted.

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DECISIONS

Sometimes I make a decision that actually works out. Reality — that doesn’t happen often. Sometimes my plan works. Usually it is delayed or changed.

OKAY — we are having FUN today. Someone is playing. Is someone on the other side receiving a lesson? What appears in print is not necessarily what is happening. I type something, and I get a duplicate. ?? I have now lost my train of thought. SURPRISE? As if I wasn’t already having enough trouble, the phone rang — a sales call.

About two weeks ago — back in town, I attended Mass at our city church and noticed a number of people sitting in the last pew on the West side of the church — normally occupied by Joe and his granddaughter. One and one quickly made two and I realized that something had happened. We just attended his memorial Mass and I gave his daughter and granddaughter a copy of JOURNEY WITH ME. The book contains my early lessons on “help” from the other side. (If my early lessons would be of interest to you the book is available at Amazon.) And as you have probably noticed — more than 15 years later, it continues.

Back to DECISIONS. Every once in a while I receive a “gift”, a vision or an unexplained feeling. It doesn’t happen often and always is strong enough that not only am I surprised but I remember it. Our youngest daughter had not started school, I was sitting on the back porch stairs and saw myself walking down the stairs with white hair. My older self was slender. Even though I’m older, my hair IS NOT WHITE YET, nor sadly am I slender. After my husband retired, I was walking down a main street close to our house and felt like my feet were rooting into the ground. I understood the messages to mean that we shouldn’t be selling our house and moving.

Recently, “I” planned that we would spend a couple of weeks in the country. The weather changed — we had an early fall — rain, cold temperatures. We stayed in town. “I” planned we would attend the Field Museum and see the reimagining of the 1893 Worlds Fair. The exhibit CLOSED the Sunday before our visit. Instead we saw BIOMECHANICS — a nuts and bolts look at the Natural World. Both my husband and I totally enjoyed the exhibit. I like animals, some of my favorites — giraffes, wild cats, and elephants. Giraffes wear compression stocks to help with their circulation. I’m not tall but my legs are long and sadly NOW I NEED compression stockings. Cheetahs use their long tail for stability when running — Robin has a very long tail, she runs in turbo speed. Elephants use their ears as a fan to cool off — I don’t have big ears. The Field had a rough winter too — two restaurants are no longer there — replaced by fresher, more expensive options. Picnic anybody?

I LOVED our Chocolate Lab and miss her daily but I know I don’t have the strength for a big dog. Robin was small when we adopted her. She had the audacity to continue to grow, taller — longer, taking up more space on the bed. I thought we should get an older dog, Robin is younger, has unlimited energy, likes to run and play — not rest and sleep. “I” guess we were given the dog we NEEDED. Thankfully I receive “help” with my decisions.

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MUSCLES

I thought of Muscles this morning as I watered our African violet. I have to admit that I don’t remember to water it every week — hopefully at least once a month. Muscles gave the plant to me many years ago. He passed over many years ago, in 1990 at the age of 90. Muscles loved to garden — that is how we met him. He asked Terri, our youngest daughter at the time, if he could plant a garden in our yard. When my husband met him, Tom agreed.

I should mention that Muscles was a very dark African American — possibly the shade of dark mahogany. Although my children are a good mix of many countries, they look like typical Swedes — fair skinned, blonde hair. Our neighbors did a double take when they saw our children with Muscles. My husband is from the South — his family is still very prejudiced. The army whittled away at my husband’s prejudice and Muscles erased the rest. He adopted our family and we took him camping, fed him meals when he stopped by and invited him to stay overnight on many occasions. In fact, it was our house that he had a stroke that sent him to the VA.

Muscles came to mind when I was watering the plant. My grandmother loved African violets. She watered and fed them regularly. Before I received the plant from Muscles, I acquired a few plants myself. THEY NEVER SURVIVED. Here I have this plant that Muscles gave me, it blooms every year. The plant is over 25 years old. HE MUST BE TAKING CARE OF IT. If it depended on me — it would no longer be green.

I think he is taking care of the apple tree at the camper too. For many years it didn’t have any fruit. In 2012, it had ten apples. They were delicious. We DON’T SPRAY the tree. Last year, it had too many to count. This year — none. I’ve heard that the snowy, cold spring delayed many fruit trees from blooming. It was a very snowy winter, it has been a very rainy summer. The predictions for the coming winter are challenging.

I recently mailed birthday cards to our friends and family. Many are born in September and October — almost an even dozen. Muscles is part of that group — he was born on October 1st.

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SERVICE

Yesterday was a lovely, sunny day — a transitional day, before the rain and the falling temperatures. After all it is Fall. This morning, as promised the rain has arrived. Robin jumped onto our bed at 6 AM. She has been sleeping all by herself in the back bedroom. I thought she really had to go out and walked downstairs, opened the door to the rain. She didn’t even stick her nose out. I started the morning coffee and returned upstairs to get dressed.

Once I had a raincoat on, we went for a walk. Luckily the rain was light. I saw a few of my neighbors and got some early morning exercise. And I thought of our service dog. She likes to go for walks, meet other dogs — play, chase squirrels and bark to get them to come down and play. The squirrels don’t accept her invitation. She loves to run — run depending on who is walking her. SHE DOES NOT LIKE to do her business in the back yard — to boring — no one to play with. She will do her business in the middle of the night if she has to go. The daily walks give us exercise, we see our neighbors and of course, meet many dogs.

Yesterday I heard a new noise outside. So did Robin. It sounded like someone had a new instrument and was learn to play — a tuba. Robin DID NOT LIKE IT! She is not normally a barker, she doesn’t use her voice regularly unless she wants something — a squirrel to come down and play or announce the arrival of someone on our porch. SHE USED HER VOICE — many different ranges of her voice. I don’t think she was trying to sing — maybe the sound hurt her ears and she wanted them to stop. They didn’t — neither did she. Whether or not she was inside the house, outside the house — it didn’t matter.

Yesterday, when my husband called the garage to schedule an oil change, he was asked to come in tomorrow — they were very busy. Yesterday was sunny, a beautiful day. Today is RAINY — thankfully not the heavy rains of the last two storms. A lighter rain, but it still tied up the traffic. Normally the drive to the garage from our house takes five minutes or less. I didn’t count today. I turned on the radio and listened to the end of an up beat South American song. Followed by Noah arguing with God about the animals on the Ark. Two male Rhino, “Lord change them! A pregnant elephant, without delivery instructions.” More interesting discussion — then the thunder. I knew who won and I didn’t mind the longer drive. To finish my morning serenade the verse of a song ” You belong to me, I belong to you” Enough said! THANK YOU!

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THE STORM

It was a wild night. Thankfully we were home, not in the country. It didn’t sound like it would be a bad storm. I didn’t prepare for water in the basement — take up the throw rugs, check for cartons of pop on the floor. The rain came down so fast, it overpowered the city’s drainage system and water backed up into our basement. The rain didn’t last long, neither did the water — it came in, deposited a lot of dirt and left. I was surprised when I went down into the basement, I saw ripples of black dirt everywhere– but no water. I was puzzled by the dirt but it didn’t take long before I understood what had happened. It took longer to clean up the basement — dry out the throw rugs — dry out the floor. Thankfully most things stored are not right on the floor. But it would have been much worse if we had been gone for a few days.

We had been in the country until Friday. We were in the city because our youngest daughter had asked us to watch our grandchildren for the weekend. Our part of the country had many storms that night and some tornadoes. A severe storm hit our campground in the country. If it wasn’t for watching our grandchildren we would have been in the country to experience it. I’m so thankful we missed it. The entrance to the camp ground winds through a patch of evergreens. 35 trees were down in the entrance way. The number of trees felled by the storm is estimated to be between 2 – 3 hundred. Considering the severity of the damage, no person was injured. Quite a few trailers were destroyed, a couple of cars were damaged as well as porches and sheds. Many roads were blocked, as well as the trails. The swings and climbing tower of a playground vanished.

So much storm damage occurred in our region, the storm hitting our campground didn’t make the news. They think it was a micro-burst. In a neighboring town it took three weeks to remove all the downed trees. We learned that security phoned everyone who had major damage. We didn’t receive any phone calls — from security or any of our friends. Our summer has been very busy. We were expecting family from Florida, our granddaughter, mate and great grand daughter were coming for a two week visit. We were preparing for a crawling child in the house again. We didn’t have a chance to go to the country before they arrived. We weren’t aware that the storm had hit the campground until we pulled into the entrance and saw piles of cut trees everywhere. The storm pruned some of the dead branches but we had no severe damage on our lots. The work to remove the downed trees from the campground will continue into the Fall.

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SUNSHINE

Rain, rain, rain — go away. Too many days — gray skies — damp, cool, wet. Finally a day of sunshine. I ran away from home to the Botanical Gardens and so did the world. I knew I was in trouble when I got off the expressway and entered a long line of sitting traffic. Barely moving, we inched our way to the entrance, resting every foot or two. Many cars turned around. I wondered what my options were. A shopping center was near by but I really didn’t want to be in a store. I WANTED TO ENJOY THE SUNSHINE!

As I approached the entrance I said a prayer that I would find a parking space. I repeated the prayer many times before I gained access. I asked a person directing non moving traffic if there was still parking. I asked another person at the gate about parking also. In fact, I asked which lot might have the best chance. As I drove up the entrance, I saw cars parked along the drive — I was concerned and said another prayer.

The first lot I drove into — I saw people heading for a car. I staked out their parking spot only to have a van with handicap plates pull in behind me. As I waited for the car to load and pull out, I noticed I was blocking another van that was ready to leave. I tried to send hand signals to the car waiting behind me — there are two spots. I didn’t know if they got the message so I tried again. The car I was waiting for pulled out — and I parked. The car that I was blocking — pulled out and the handicapped van parked also. They had a child in a wheelchair. I asked if they understood my hand signals. “Not at first, ” the woman replied. “Then we got the message.” I told her that I had been praying for a parking spot, I was glad they got one too.

The last time I had been at the Garden was during the week, this was a weekend. Daffodils had been in bloom, crab apple trees were waiting. Now daffodils were done, so were the crab apple trees. I was sorry I had missed them. The roses hadn’t started. The garden was waiting for sunshine — warm temperatures. I WAS TOO!

No sense crying for what I had missed — time to enjoy what was there. A man and his son each had an expensive camera, taking pictures of the same scene. I asked if they were having a contest. I didn’t see the swans but before leaving I found the blue heron. Redwing blackbirds sang, robins sang also. I found many photo opportunities. An older woman sat in a wheelchair, pushed by her daughter. I asked if they wanted me to take their picture. Thankfully their photo turned out well. Although I take many pictures, sometimes they are fuzzy — not clear. I don’t always take the time to let the camera focus the shot.

Since I’m by myself, I kibitz with strangers all the time. Thankfully this time I edited my comment before it left my mouth. An older boy pushed a baby stroller with a doll in it. I almost asked him where the missing child was when I noticed that the boy might have been challenged himself and it was his doll.

Right place — right time — all day.

Sadly — the forecast for the next week is RAIN — EVERY DAY! But at least I enjoyed the sunshine for a few hours.

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REFRESHING SPIRIT

It has been a long winter. Too many days of snow, cold temperatures, gray skies. As I write this, the country to our north is still getting SNOW — 9 inches. I’m sorry it is them, GLAD that it isn’t us. So now supposedly it is spring. Oh No — coldest spring in ____ years. We just had a week of rain, gray skies, cooler temperatures. To make matters worse, my husband’s cough required a trip to the doctor, which led to an EKG, than an appointment with a heart doctor — scheduled stress tests. First test he couldn’t breathe and we needed to reschedule.

STRESSED — I guess so. He passed his next stress test with flying colors. Afterward he suggested I take the rest of the day off — enjoy the warm ( 88*) day, blue skies, — visit the Botanical Garden. I didn’t argue.

Daffodils were still in bloom — tulips too. In fact, the Garden had planted 26,000 tulips to bloom for Mother’s day. The cold spring didn’t stop their flowering. The crab apple trees are forming buds, no flowers yet. As I wandered the garden, camera at the ready — I wondered what photo would capture the day. Would it be the single swan swimming in the lake? I wondered where it’s mate was. Then I heard young voices from the fountain in the rose garden. Two girls, shoes off, were enjoying the water.

I wandered from garden to garden — many flowers showed the effects of the weather, many flowers stood tall, showing off their blooms. Birds — many voices — many species sang their songs. Reminded me of ourselves — struggling through the challenging weather — doing the best we could. I passed many family groups — some with toddlers in strollers, some with handicapped people in wheelchairs, some elder couples — hand in hand — all enjoying a brief respite.

I stopped by the bubbling waterfall — listened to the water music, rested my eyes, when I opened them, I saw a flying bird with a large wing span. I recognized a blue heron and changed my path to discover its spot on the shore. My camera took a photo as the bird dived into the water for a fish — I just captured an outstretched wing.

I didn’t have the length of time to wander the Garden at my leisure. I wanted to be on the road before heavy rush hour traffic. That being said, I visited my favorite spots, took photo’s in passing and headed for the exit. A toddler, shoes off, dipped her feet in a fountain. The pair of swans swam under the bridge as I left — closing with the sights and sounds as the day began.

Wandering with SPIRIT is ALWAYS an adventure. This time the Garden was REFRESHING as well.

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AUTOMATIC PILOT

I had (past tense) a magnetic bracelet which used magnets to close. I wore it everyday to help my trigger finger work properly. Putting clothes away in the back bedroom closet — I felt the bracelet leave my arm. I searched the areas where I felt it leave — no luck. I pulled all the clothes out of the closet — 2 times — I was sure I would find it. WRONG! I removed everything that was resting on the floor boards, hoping to find the bracelet –still hiding.

Now I will have to admit that I don’t give in easily. It dawned on me that the bracelet could be attached to a hanger — after all it is magnetic. Just looking at the hangers did not release the bracelet. I decided that I could remove the clothes and wash them, taking the hangers out too — maybe find the bracelet but at least have the clothes ready to wear — I didn’t realize how many clothes I had.

I started with the lighter clothes, leaving the darker clothes hanging. When the basket was full to overflowing I stopped. I STILL HAVEN’T FOUND THE HIDING BRACELET.

For a change I separated the clothes into piles rather than just dumping them into the washer randomly. After two wash loads I decided that was enough for one day. The day before I had washed material to make a new seat for the garden swing. The material left stuff all over the drum of the dryer. Thankfully I realized that before I put the first load of clothes into the dryer. The residue was rough, scratchy. I would have had to rewash all the clothes. It would have been worse if the clothes were back in the closet. Wet towels drying for a few minutes cleared the drum.

Question — did I really want to wash the rest of the clothes lying on the basement floor. NO — I WAS TIRED! The next morning — I started the first small load of whites. Some of my long dresses dry hanging up. The last load of clothes consisted of blouses — light in weight. I decided to wash them on gentle. As I prepared to put all of the tops in the dryer, I looked at a label — wash by hand — hang dry. OOPS! Most of the clothes had the same instructions. Would the dryer have hurt them? Would they have shrunk? Thankfully I won’t have to answer that question. Thankfully, I have “friends in high places” that help when my mind is taking a break. They must like my bracelet because I still haven’t found it.

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NIBBLE

I’ve mentioned that I’m a pack-rat. It is a part of my personality that I’m totally aware of. I’m trying to get rid of some of the clutter — books not read, clothes not worn, stuff not used, paper and notes waiting attention.

When someone in the house is ill, it doesn’t matter how much care is taken to keep the germs isolated — members of the household often share the bug. I’m sharing my husband’s. I know that my immune system hasn’t recovered from this winter’s illness. It doesn’t help that we have had a week of cool and damp temperatures. It doesn’t help that I have walked our dog, Robin, many times in the drizzle. It doesn’t help that my mood is on the darker side. Once again I’m fighting a cough.

I’ll admit that my energy LEFT! I wanted to accomplish SOMETHING for the day so I decided to attack a pile of paper that has lived on our bookcase for too long. As a matter of fact it fell all over the floor twice in the last couple of days. (Was someone trying to tell me something?)

A couple of handfuls of envelopes, notes, pictures and other stuff joined me on the table. I found four pages of notes I took at the Body, Mind, Spirit Expo a few seasons ago. The notes concerned the importance of my writing on the blog. Now to my defense — even though I have trouble coming up with a title — I try to have something of merit publish once a week. Hopefully it is helpful to you.

I found a card from my cousin in Sweden with a postcard of the boat my great-grandfather took to America. He also sent in another letter a copy of my grandmother’s birth certificate. It reminded me of the chapter of my great grandfather’s book that he translated and sent to me. I now trace many of my talents to the Swedish side of my family.

I found a letter and picture of my mother’s brother — and a note of how changing to a vegetarian diet has prolonged his life. He has had multiple bi-pass surgery’s because of clogged arteries. For a short time, battling high cholesterol, I tried a vegetarian diet. My triglycerides went through the roof — didn’t help my cholesterol either. Evidently my body needs animal protein. Many of my cookbooks are low sodium, low cholesterol. Because of health issues, I limit my sodium intake to less than what is recommended — that might be making a difference to my health. Time will tell.

I found a card from a friend which contained along with a note, a memorial card from a friend’s passing. We were traveling, unable to attend the wake.

I also found many letters and pieces of paper that no longer need to be saved. Those that have value to me have been moved to a safer place. I just hope I remember where that is. The rest has either met the shredder or tossed for recycling.

This blog will publish Memorial weekend. Remembering my family and friends, alive and those on the other side is important. Not only on this weekend but throughout the year.

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STILL TRYING

I have lost count of how many times we have planned a trip this year to visit our youngest daughter and family and had to cancel the plan. And it has happened again.

All winter whenever we planned to travel south, the weather forecast predicted snow and freezing temperatures. The route we take is open farm fields that are polished by the wind. Planning to travel in a snow storm can be challenging. The news on television has been filled with too many multi vehicle car crashes. So we have postponed the trip many times. Now it is Spring. We should be able to travel. Right? WRONG!

First the emission light came on in our car. Fixing the problem required a few days at the garage — delaying our most recent plan to travel. Then our son in law got a bad cold. Since I haven’t fully recovered from the flu, cold, and congestion of the winter, postponing our trip seemed to be a good idea. Next our dog, Robin, had stomach problems making it unwise to travel. I remembered a brew I made for Mabel, our chocolate Lab, when her stomach acted up. It is equal parts white potato, and sweet potato with a turnip and a slice of leek added for good measure, stewed with lamb for flavor — then mashed. It seems to be working on Robin too. We are waiting — planning — hoping that maybe in a couple of days we will be able to travel.

ON A DIFFERENT NOTE:

Robin seems to be allergic to chicken. Although we have not put her through allergy tests at the vet, eliminating chicken flavored dog food from her diet reduced her scratching. We finally found a dog food that DID NOT contain chicken, poultry by products or meal or chicken fat. And she ate it! I planned to buy more when I noticed the bag now announced a chicken flavor. I phoned the manufacturer to learn if they were making two different products before I combed the stores. Sadly they are not and the customer service rep told me that the product ALWAYS contained chicken. Even when I read the ingredient list to him he didn’t change his statement. I won’t bore you with our whole conversation or the many times I was on hold. I asked him if any of their dry dog food was manufactured without chicken or poultry by products. Sadly they are not. And sadly the search is on for a food that is healthy for her to eat. Her allergy seems to be with all feathered products. Duck breast brought on a new episode of scratching.

I’m now feeding her Purina Pro Select for sensitive skin and tummy’s. Hopefully they won’t change their formula.

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