Giving Thanks

Forty five years ago today I missed my Thanksgiving dinner. It was the day my son, Eric, was born. So food, or no food, I had a lot to be thankful for.

Today I went to my daughter's home for Thanksgiving dinner. I still have a lot to be thankful for: I'm thankful I have enough to eat and family to eat with. I'm thankful I have a home to come home to, a job which enables me to earn some money, the nice music I am listening too right now, the candles which are glowing on this table, the wonderful weather we are having and the beauty of nature.

Grandson, Chris and son-law, Chip straining gravy!

You crown the year with your bounty;

your wagon tracks overflow with richness.
The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
the hills gird themselves with joy,
the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
the valleys deck themselves with grain,
they shout and sing together with joy.
- Psalm 65:11-13

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Ride to Work

The weather has been beautiful this week, inspiring me to pump up my bike tires and ride to work. I have had this bike since the mid-eighties. It still works fine. The dent in the back fender came from the garage door coming down on it a few years back.

Inspired by my friend Wanda's pictures taken on a ride down the road to Lucerne from Holden, I grabbed my camera on the way out the door the other day. I liked her shadow picture, so took one of my own. Whereas she took hers while riding, I actually stopped to take mine. I'm not so brave!

I pass this tree a couple of blocks from home. This is the real reason I took my camera. The morning sun shining on this tree turns it to a bright burnt orange. I am in awe every morning as I pass by. I wanted to preserve it before it's too late. Rain is predicted early next week and the leaves may be gone after that. I may never have paid attention to such a beautiful sight while driving a car.

The Old Bag!

I have this old clothespin bag. When I moved into my house 38 years ago, it was here - left behind by the former owners. Since they were the original owners and the house was nine years old when I moved in, this poor bag could be anywhere from 39 to 47 years old.

This bag has been here all this time. I have used it all this time. I have never liked the design or colors on the fabric. Why is it still here? Because I love this bag. I love the way it hangs over the clothesline, the way the clothespins sound when I drop them into it, the way it relaxes in the laundry basket as I carry it in or out of the house. This clothespin bag and I have grown old together. I have not used this bag faithfully over the years as I have used a dryer most of the time. I have, however, used it during certain seasons of the year, mostly fall and winter.

But...now I have not used my dryer for over a year. I vowed that I would do my part for the environment by not drying my clothes in a dryer. And I haven't. So the clothespin bag and I trek out to the back yard every Saturday morning (if it's not raining) and hang my clothes on the clothesline. The poor clothespin bag is falling apart after all these years. I am going to try to repair it and see how much longer it will last. Why am I doing this? Good question. For some reason when something is that old, I want to keep it. Maybe I want to see how much longer it will last. I have been watching it go downhill now for several years, and have planned to make repairs. It's at the point now where I will have to either repair it or toss it. I choose to repair it if I can. It is strange, but I just want to keep the old bag!

Two Weeks at Holden

Flowers still bloom in the flower boxes while snow falls on the mountain tops

I just returned from spending two glorious weeks at Holden.
A time to enjoy
sunshine, blue skies,
cool days and cooler nights,
starry skies, full moon.
A time to be with old friends and meet new ones.
A time to work, time to relax.
A time to attend sessions.
A time to watch "Fellowship of the Rings" again.
A time to ride my bike alone and with friends.
A time to share hopes and dreams.

Vacation - Part VII - Back Home

August 11th.

We left Ferry Beach about 7:30 a.m. Liz drove me back to the train depot in Saco. The rain that had been predicted for a few days hit while I was waiting for the train, but stopped soon after I boarded. (Or maybe the train just moved away from it.)

The two hour trip back to Boston went pretty fast. I sat next to a woman from Paris, France, and we had a really nice discussion about how things are done there versus in the U.S. It was very interesting to hear about their child care and medical care programs.

After riding the subway in Boston back to the airport, I had time for a quick lunch before boarding the plane back to DFW. I must say a few words about Midwest Airlines. They are a really good airline. The crew is so friendly and hospitable. The seats are good sized and there is enough leg room, unlike some other airlines. And on each flight they serve two complimentary homemade (on the plane) warm chocolate chip cookies. Well, since I was on two flights today (Boston to Milwaukee and Milwaukee to DFW) I got to have four of those cookies. What more could you ask for?

Epilogue - August 12th

After the bike ride Monday and sitting all day yesterday on trains and planes, I was really stiff today. I am hoping tomorrow will be an improvement in my movement!

Vacation - Part VI

August 10th -

Yesterday I found out about the bike rides. Ben is a biker who plans to do bike rides every day this week. I was sitting near him and his family at dinner and mentioned I would like to go, but didn't have a bike here. His wife, Erica, told me I could use her bike since she was working with the children's program today and wouldn't be riding.

There were six of us who showed up for the ride this morning. Everyone but me was an avid bike rider, so I knew I couldn't keep up with them. Ben took pity on me and sent the other four off on an 8-10 mile ride while he and I headed out for a 3 mile ride. When we finished the 3 miles, we decided to go around the loop again. Part way around we went into the state park thinking there was a short cut back to the road. There wasn't. So we rode back out the way we came and continued the ride. As we neared the end of the ride, we met up with the other four riders. They had ridden the 8 mile route and were just finishing up too. Ben had an odometer on his bike and it turned out that the two of us had gone 7 miles. I felt really good about that since I haven't ridden more than 2 miles in the last 9 months or so. I love bike riding and wish it wasn't so hot in Texas in the summer. I plan to ride more this fall.

Liz got off work at 2:30 and we drove up the coast to Freeport, Maine, and went to the LL Bean store. I just wanted to see it after all these years of looking a their catalogs. I bought a thermos bottle there. On the way back we stopped in Portland and ate dinner at one of Liz's favorite restaurants overlooking the water at a place where the ferry boats pick up passengers to take them to the various islands. We lingered over the meal and had a good amount of time to chat. Then back to Ferry Beach where we went to a get together for staff women who are over 50. Kinf of like the crone get togethers we had a Holden when I was there.

Vacation - Part V

August 8th -

This place is right on the beach. I got up early (as usual) and walked to the beach and sat in the sun reading. I also walked barefoot down the beach. The tide was out so the part of the beach that is covered with water later in the afternoon, was very walkable, almost like walking on a path. I had forgotten how neat beaches are. The sun was quite warm, but it was cool in the shade, almost too cool sometimes. Liz had to work all day and into the evening so I spent a lot of time sitting on the porch reading. This place reminds me a lot of Holden Village, except it isn't set apart from the rest of the community and you can drive into town in 10 minutes! What reminds of it though is the people. All greeting each other after a year or so, coming back to the place year after year - some have been coming for 30 years or more. Ferry Beach is over 100 years old so there is a lot of history here too.

A view on the beach.

The building called Quillen houses the summer registration office, a living room, and the dining hall on the first floor. I never did find out what is on the upper floors. the porch is a popular place to sit and talk or read.

August 9th -

I attended the Sunday morning worship service which was held in the outdoor chapel. Liz played the piano for the service along with people playing guitars. Afterward we strolled through the memorial garden and then had refreshments in the camp ground. The camp ground is for those people who want to camp in tents or RV's.

I had another cousin visit today. This time it was Paula and her husband, Bob. They drove over from their home in Winchendon, MA to visit with me. We had lunch in the dining hall with a pastor who has a church in Winchendon, so they had a lot to talk about. After lunch we took a drive down the coast of Maine to Kennybunkport. Talk about a tourist town!!! There wasn't even room on the main street to get a car through the crowds of people!. We didn't stop there, but drove a little farther down the coast and back. We stopped once at the only place along the shore that we could find a place to park the car. Paula and I walked down on the shore and I took a few pictures--as usual.

Paula taking a picture along the shore near Kennybunkport