...AND THE DISH RAN AWAY WITH THE SPOON

We (Paul) sold our old stove yesterday and I polished it within an inch of it's life. Who wouldn't want this pretty old stove? It's going to a new home and I wanted it to look pretty and it does. I made hamburgers on it last night for me and Paul, told him that was our last cooked meal on that stove, really in this house, I suppose...

Then I started packing everything else in the kitchen - pans, dishes, all the little things you think you might need in a two week interim before moving. You don't. You need only a few things. A plate, cup, fork, spoon.  One pan, one spatula. To live very simply, that is all you need. I'm reminded daily that we have a huge abundance of things we don't need, and most of it, truth be told, have no attachment to, or even want when it comes down to it.

After our hamburgers, we split a Sonic Oreo Blast. He found a plastic spoon in his truck; I got one of the measuring spoons off the ring it was on and that's what we ate with. The measuring spoons had escaped being packed as yet, only reason they were handy.

Tuesday I went to Women on Mission and it was so good to be with "sisters." I know there will be other "sisters" in Iuka, but these ladies I have known - most of them - ever since we've lived here, gone through teen years with our daughters with some, bought the BPW birthday calendar from one, taught GA's with one, just gotten to know them even better since I retired and have time to spend doing things like this.

Today is lunch with the TB's (Travelin' Buddies), Jean, Carol and Charlene. Tonight a small going away get together at some friend's home. Tomorrow - reception at City Hall. Next Tuesday afternoon a reception at the Tech Center.

How much I love Wynne and its people. Yes, bittersweet to move. But ready to move on to this adventure of our retirement years.  So glad Paul decided to retire. We may get on each other's nerves, but at least we'll have plenty of room to go off by ourselves for a while - he on his riding mower and potentially two acres to mow, hack and clear out underbrush; me to Bren's house, or "My Room," or a walk over to Aunt Ginny's!

Now to go and round up stray spoons...

WHOSE WOODS THESE ARE I THINK I KNOW

Paul and I spent a few days in Iuka at the "other" house, he doing mostly yard work, which he loves. By the time we left, he had the front yard looking like a small park.  There are over a dozen dogwoods in close proximity to the house and they were glowing in the sun by the time we left.  There was a very rainy day, a couple of coolish ones, but I suppose we needed those for down time.  As for my part, I cleaned Mama Nick's china cabinet and washed some walls and windows, labeled the fuse box, vacuumed, and laid out all the quilts flat on a spare bed, with sheets between each one.  I also spent a little time on my knees trying to dye bleach spots on some dark green carpet in a bedroom.  What was I thinking?  The sponge dripped and I didn't know it. Someday the carpet will be replaced, but it did look pretty bad so I got some Rit dye and dabbed it on.  It looks better...

At brother Mike's: Mike, me, Paul, Andy (Steve #2), Erica, Benjamin, Kiley in front. Kiley was four on March 28.

Posing in front of the beautiful azalea that is in front of Mama, now Benjamin's, house.

Kiley and Aunt Marsha playing with a porcelain doll that was Morgan's.

Bears from cousin Amy.

Papa Belk! How strange it seems that my youngest brother is a grandpa!! I think Kiley favors my little girl pictures. She also looks like Morgan and Mama. Something about us...

 

The "Low Garden" with dogwoods. There are at least 15 dogwoods in full bloom in close proximity to the Iuka house. The two acres is cleared out of several that are wooded on all but the road frontage. We did set out the hostas. They're barely visible on the lower right. (When I got home I discovered yellow tulips in the flower bed next to the garage! What a surprise! I don't recall planting tulip bulbs!)

Paul mowing in front of the house. He practically drove the mower off the trailer out into the yard and didn't stop till it was done!

We went to see Mama Nick several times. A very sad thing happened while we were there - the owner of Carrington House - Ann Cummings, age 52 - died suddenly at her home following some surgery she'd had just last week.  Her funeral was today.  I unintentionally broke the news to Mama Nick; I thought she already knew it.  Of course, she was quite upset but I stayed until I knew she was alright and she seemed fine when I left.  I had only met Ann once, and had met her sister.  Ann was building a new home and was living in a travel trailer I believe at the site until her home was finished.  I felt so sorry for everyone at Carrington - residents and staff as well, for they are all family.

We saw Tommy for a while Friday evening; Carol, Whitney and Marianna had gotten home from Gatlinburg the day before and they already had plans for Friday evening. David has been working long hours - he's a CPA and this is always a busy time for him.  I got to see Sandra when I went by the office on an errand. I called Edwina to see how she is and said she was much better. She'd had a good check-up in Memphis a couple of weeks ago and finally got the results back.  Olen had been sick but was better.

Brenda and I went to Booneville yesterday afternoon - she took off the rest of the week, and sorely needed the rest.  Between Paden and Booneville there is a quilt shop that an older gentleman (Claude Wilemon) owns and operates - it is fantastic. (Susan, if you're ever up that way NE Mississippi, it would be worth looking up!) There are rooms and rooms of quilts and fabrics - not a fancy store, but this man's home which he's converted into an old-timey showcase of fabulous quilts. He cuts the kits and others piece and quilt them. Maybe I can get the pictures of some of them off my phone and show some later. He also has several collections of old depression glass, and specially made headboards of various woods he has had made to show his quilts.  They are show flat or on the walls. 

On to Booneville and the nearer we got, the more familiar the road looked - after all we traveled that road on a schoolbus to Northeast Mississippi Community College (then Junior College) for two years! Sometimes we'd go in my little green Corvair if we missed the bus. We went to a discount store and I can't for the life of me think of the name, but I got five brown/aqua decorative cushions for $24 (including a Senior's Discount!).  She bought several tiles for herself and for Harry Bowman, whose beautiful garden we walked through last summer.  He uses broken crockery, tiles, etc. for decoration and points of interest.  After our shopping spree, we stopped at Sonic and ate corndogs, cheese sticks and Picolos (fried pickles), cherry Sprite and Diet Coke. Solved all our and all the world's problems. Again.

Paul and I tidied up this morning and left Iuka around 10:00, got home at 2:00.  Oscar threw up in the truck, on his doggie shaggy mat. Only the second time he's ever done that traveling. He didn't eat breakfast and I had given him a couple of doggie treats.  Just too much...  Got home, unloaded, went through the mail and took a nap.  Now I'm gonna watch Parenthood, hopefully it recorded. Then bed and tomorrow to Jonesboro - regular eye check-up and ENT appointment.  Wouldn't you know? The dizziness is better. I hate to cancel, though. As sure as I did I'd be dizzy on the way home...  I had started doing my vestibular exercises, but got in the cold wind and sinuses hurt...  Sometimes I feel as if I live in a bubble. Or maybe, as some would say, I just have to count out my spoons for the day...

WEEKEND

Paul and I had a restful weekend in Iuka and saw family. It's nice to have family come see us... Saturday night I made a big pot of soup and Paul's Aunt Ginny, his two brothers and their wives, one niece and one "great-nephew-by-marriage" came two different times to eat with us. It's so interesting to just watch them together - Paul and Tommy - the oldest sibling and the youngest - are so much alike. Even their grade school pictures - I thought a couple of Paul were Tommy, but who can dispute their mother's handwriting on the back identifying him? They have some of the same gestures and speech patterns, too. David is the third sibling in age and next to youngest; they all have such similarities - David looks more like Daddy Nick, Paul like his mother, and I guess Tommy has lots of both. I remember Daddy Nick was easy to laugh and so are his boys.

We went to see Mike and thought Steve was coming over (my brothers), but I learned later that one of Steve's neighbors had an emergency and Steve took him to the ER. Mike has a new BFF - a little miniature Pinscher that is wound so tight most of the time - but so very cute. He's like a tiny deer, but not tall enough yet to hardly jump into your lap. I thought Tux, Morgan's little poddle mix, was lively, but several times even he had to jump to the back of the couch to get away from Max. Mike got a new iPhone and said it was so easy to use and we have messaged f/b a few times. His "ark" of a garage now now two bay openings and a regular middle door, and all the metal siding is on it. He's such a hard worker. Marsha had told me earlier she was going to Muscle Shoals (area) to see her mother, and that Morgan was coming, but we missed both of them. Morgan will have her sonogram next Friday I believe and we'll know if we'll have a great niece or nephew.

I ran out to Bren's for about an hour to see her newly painted "office." Love the flooring - it's Congoleum, looks like old weathered wide boards like in the old dime stores "out town" in Iuka. She had found my stained glass ornament of Iuka Baptist Church that she'd misplaced. I have several of the landmark ornaments; glad she found that one, where Paul and I married.

Before we left this morning, I vacuumed and mopped the hard floors - kitchen, utility and both bathrooms. Decided to see just how hard it would be to wash off the vinyl walpaper, so badly stained, but it doesn't appear to be stain, just years of being wallpaper and needing some attention. It'll take a while to get that done - every room except the den (paneled) has wallpaper - neutral off white - and the rooms are large. The homemade solution of Borax, vinegar nd just a little dishwashing liquid seems to be best - scent is not strong and doesn't require much rinsing off. So although someday I'd like to have the rooms "peeled and painted," for now this will be an easy solution.

Both days we visited Mama Nick and Saturday I took her a large wall calendar with pretty pictures and monthly pages big enough to see the numbers - a Lang calendar. Saturday evening David and Sandra took her the beautiful lighthouse picture Sandra's photographer daughter enlarged and they had framed. It's an actual photo of Currituck Lighthouse in North Carolyn. The colors are so vivid - it looks more like a painting than a photo.

On our way home, back in the Arkansas delta near Earle I think, we saw this field of geese and had to stop and make some pictures.

BTW, Oscar was a very good boy and did not bite or growl at anyone. I hope finally in his middle years he is learning it is okay to have other people in his life. No one petted him, no one looked at him, he was pretty docile and stayed close to me, though.

CHRISTMAS PICTURES, FINALLY

I worked on Christmas pictures today, putting them on Kodak, sharing and ordering prints. I'm all about paper prints - digital is like fairy dust - gone in a whiff sometimes!

Paul went to his Aunt Elbie's funeral in Corinth; Amy had a job at the funeral home in Memphis and I made two loaves of bread: one for us, one for the library staff.  Of course, Angie had to beg for it! Poor dear! (smile)

My neck/ear/miscellaneous felt much better today. I have a pharmaceutical routine including about half a dozen puffs of Flonase on that side of my sinuses. I know I can't and won't continue to do that for very long, but it sure makes that ear stop popping when I swallow.

Bren and I emailed back and forth, I listened to some oldies on XM radio, and Oscar has wanted in my lap for some reason.

ONE OF OUR CHRISTMAS GIFTS

During all the other exciting events at during the Christmas season, our nearly 60 year old sewer pipes decided to literally disappear. Paul called the plumber and he said he could patch things up for the time-being, but eventually the whole line would have to be replaced. Eventual became immediate. A backhoe operator was called and he dug trences five feet deep on two sides of our small patio - there there were no old lines to be found. After about an hour of this folderol, there were no old pipes (greenburg I think they called it) to be found. (Later our neighbor said he believed our two houses' pipes were joined at an angle at an impossible distance from the house, but at the time was probably the most economical way to join up to the brand new sewer line.) So when we decided we'd paid enough for digging, we told Randy to cease and desist and just go ahead and put in the new line. It had to be done anyway. What better Christmas present than some PVC pipe? At least everything goes out like it's supposed to now. Our house was probably one of the last, if not the last, to have to have this replacement done. I did notice our neighbors down the street were having their front yard dug up, but I think that was the water line... My Virginia Sweet Spire and Wygelia bit the dust. I doubt their horrible roots could penetrate the PVC, but we'd had enough.

In better news this week, Paul sold his mother's car to my brother. Paul made a trip to Iuka yesterday to have the title signed by her and took care of some other business while he was there.

I made a trip to Memphis this morning and learned (at Semmes-Murphey) that my neck is inflamed. I knew that. But thank goodness, no x-rays even at this point - some physical therapy. The doctor did reflex tests and I passed all but one where I didn't see all the fingers he held up because of the "glaucoma" spot in my left eye. Since I had a bunch of migraines back in September I seem much more susceptible to light and motion and he said, "Yes." My diagnosis was correct.

I drove back I40 and stopped at Woodruff to visit a while and talked to Norma, Carolyn, Wesley, and returned my plaque to have it corrected. Somehow my first 8 years of service was overlooked and it said "32" instead of "40." No problem. They'll have it fixed. Good to see everyone. I noticed the walls had been painted, a darker tan color. Looked nice. Wesley was nursing a broken heart over the Sugar Bowl loss but said he'd be okay. "Lost Mallett." Razorback's Ryan Mallett is going for the NFL draft.

It's supposed to snow Sunday, so tomorrow for sure I need to go to the grocery store. But first, there's the refrigerator to be cleaned... Is it always something "first?"

Cooking in Mama Nick's kitchen. Without her there. A little strange...

Scene from the front window... RFD MS

OFF AGAIN!

I'm going to Iuka again tomorrow, leaving early. While there I'll visit family and friends and do some more genealogy work. There is a Thorne cemetery at Riverton, a sort of ghost town on the Alabama side of Pickwick, the backwater. It's a beautiful lake and you can drive for miles along the shore with the water fully in view or through the trees. Riverton is a small town that was flooded when the Pickwick Dam was built. It was an old trade town south of Waterloo, Alabama. There are still some older homes, some habitable, some not. One of the Thorne cousins says there is a Thorne cemetery there, as is also noted on a Gooble search. This site also says the "climate is underwater..." It feels like a ghost town when you drive through there. Mama used to like to take that long ride around the shore, called Rose Trail. There is also an interesting farm along the way with life-size models of horses and cows. They've been standing, grazing or looking out over fences for years, in the same positions, of course. Makes it feel even more eerie.

I have a few stops to make along the way - Lifeway Bookstore, JoAnn's Fabrics (Sher gave me an idea for another apron - for her! - so I'll try to find the appropriate fabric.

Mama Nick's (and Paul's) birthdays are in October when I'll be gone, so I'm taking her birthday gift to her this time.

I also would like to plant a cutting of the Oldham Rose (my name for it) in a little flat garden spot at Mama Nick's house. My cutting just took off and grew so well, I thought it'd be neat to get one started there. I'll also be getting cuttings for Sher - the ones she got in May didn't get planted right away and so they perished.

My truck is practically packed, as well as my bags and all I have to do is get up and get dressed and leave. I remember when Amy was little, coming home from work, getting all our things packed, including her litlte girl things - bottles, clothes, diapers, toys, potty chair! (there was just about one place to stop and you had to buy something to use the bathroom) and drive to Iuka on Friday night, come back on Sunday afternoon. This was when Highway 72 was two-lane and you could never get around the big trucks. There were no shoulders and no passing lanes and just no place to pass once we got on the roller coaster stretch between Collierville and Corinth. Some trips took four hours. When it rained it was even worse. Now, with even a couple of short stops, I can drive it in three.

I had another weird headache today - at Bible study. I opted to stick it out, though, and after about thirty minutes, the wavy prism lights passed. This is four in the last week, whereas I've had maybe two a year for the last three or four years. Probably something I'll have to investigate further, although I've read that some people have them all the time. Once it was gone, though, I didn't seem to have as bad a headache as I have had.

I got my hair trimmed this afternoon. It'll grow. What was I thinking. The cut is fine, it just doesn't look right on me now.

MORE MISSISSIPPI

I made another trip to Iuka last week and spent time with family - two nights at cousin Edwina's and two at Bren's. Along the way I visited Mama Nick, Aunt Ginny, Aunt Reba, David and Sandra, Mike, Marsha and Morgan, and got to see Harold Boothe (Edwina's son-in-law), and David Thorne, an old classmate. (Don't know that Thorne connection yet.) I have more relatives than I ever dreamed!

These visits have "gathered me in," while at the same time, made me feel much expanded. "Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes." (Isaiah 54:2)

~~~~~

I know that God "defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing." (Deuteronomy 10:18) Being in the midst of old home places I never knew about, seeing the first house my mother and father lived in after they married, learning names of great aunts and uncles in the Thorne/Daniel families - is bittersweet. I missed a lot; but Edwina has given me a lot. Salinda has given me a lot. Brenda W has a wealth of knowledge about family ties. I had kinfolks that probably would have given me a lot more of themselves had we lived there all our lives, but we didn't. All the times we visited there during the years of working and raising families - I regretfully did not take the initiative to see them more often. There is only so much time in a visit and we were always the ones going here and there... It is difficult to fill in the gaps at a later time and I have the sense of urgency that I won't know all I want to. But everything happens in God's timing and for some reason He has opened the doors of this house of relatives; and opened my heart to receive more of them with a better sense of who I am in the midst of all of it!

It isn't all serious! Edwina goes to her mother's - my Aunt Reba's - every day. Reba is 95, soon to be 96 years old and still lives alone. I love her mannerisms and how she says things, such as, "I can't figure it." She will nod her head emphatically, a short little bob, as if to say, "So there," or "That's just the way it is." Or shrug her little bird-wing thin shoulder and turn the corner of her mouth up... She can't hear or see very well and E has to yell to make her hear. You would think they're in the midst of an argument if you just walked in on them. Edwina is devoted to her - every day she takes her a plate lunch from a local restaurant and calls her at least twice a day. Someone is with her at least two days a week, and Edwina in and out the other three.

Then there's Olen, Edwina's husband. He's nearly 76 also and still works in his shop as a deisel mechanic. He got a cell phone recently and just purchased minutes for it - maybe ten minutes. He just wanted his own cell phone! But the minutes ran out soon and he kept hitting the side buttons accidentally which caused him anguish. Edwina and I took it back to the store Saturday - it was within the 30-day purchase return time.

The last night (Saturday) I spent at Bren's and her s-i-l Mitzi was there. She drives from Jackson, MS, often to see about her mother who is in the same independent living center that Bren's dad and stepmom are. She's also my second cousin, which I recently learned, and we had a good time visiting. I remember in school she had long dark hair - beautiful - I thought one of the cutest girls in school. Still a beautiful woman, hair still dark, but not as long. She just learned that she and John will be grandparents in March!

I spent a lot of Saturday at Mike and Marsha's and Morgan came from Selmer (TN); her Steven had to work. Mike is working on a huge garage beside their house. I held up a sheet of metal siding while he secured it with a screw. I told him now I could say I helped him build it! I didn't see "my" Steve - brother Steve. I think he had to work.

David and Sandra's on Sunday morning for cinnamon rolls and fruit. Sandra had redecorated Jessica's bedroom and it's beautiful. Jessi had taken a picture of an old rusted ship in the Bimini Islands (or maybe Bimini is one island) with her cell phone, sent it to Sandra and she in turn had it enlarged to about 18X24 and framed. The clarity was not lost at all and it's a beautiful picture, giving the room a nautical theme.

I will be going back, but it has to be cooler this time. The heat is dreadfully too much, even just getting in and out of vehicles and b/f into houses. I think my next big trip - Big Trip - will be to Sher's in October...

A Big Happy Day

By now all our "juking around" has run together, but it doesn't matter so much about the sequence as that we just had so much fun!

Two of Bren and Jim's grandsons - Alex and Andrew (waving). They drive the Chuck Wagon all over the Whitfield hillsides, as does Austin, who is the oldest. But he has graduated to driving the truck across the property.

Roses from Mama Nick's yard. Bren and I got cuttings; used root powder and hoping they'll grow. You see these all over embankments so maybe they'll grow easily.

Two of our classmates we ran into on Saturday. Bobby Enlow at the Relay for Life in Mineral Springs Park. (David Hubbard mentioned on this site is not my direct line of Hubbard's but somehow related on Goobie's mother's side of the family. Her mother was a Hubbard. I always thought that was funny - "Old Mother Hubbard" in the nursery rhyme!) The other classmate is Janie Tigner Patrick - we saw her and her husband at North Crossroads Cafe, near the TN/MS state line.

Fair View, where many of Bren and Jim's families are buried. I was also surprised to see many Joslins and Blakneys, my Papa's (my mother's dad's) side of the family. But Burnsville is not far away as the crow flies, where his folks are from.

This day was not full enough yet! After we got back to Bren's, she loaded us up on the Chuck Wagon and we took off across the pasture. (She's done this a few times - lots of practice!) What a wonderful ride and tour!

An old Coke truck that David bought at an auction, for parts.

The "boys' college education."

Rough roadbed through the trees.

Bren and Jim's house nestled in trees. I remember when you could actually see the house from a distance. That's my Explorer right in the middle where I park under one of the big trees.
After this, Bren took us on over to New Prospect Church, where they are members, and behind the church, Theresa and Harry's home. He's a Master Gardener and his creativity needs a post all its own...

From Whence I Came...

Saw a lot, heard a lot, met a lot of people... Wonderful sense of being "home," with relatives, friends, and no stress about getting back to go to work! Did anyone hear me say I love retirement?? And Bren and Jim, whom I stayed with, made it so easy and fun!

A picture of me at age six or seven (no front teeth?) that I'd never seen before, that my cousin Edwina had in one of her numerous family albums, which, she said, will someday be mine, because no one else is interested in family history like she and I are.

Lovely, wonderful time at Bren's this past long weekend. Visiting Mama Nick, Aunt Ginny, the quilts, Chuck Wagon ride, Master Gardener's garden, homecoming, brunch, shopping, "juking" around, seeing old classmates and friends from Jack and Jill days... Almost too much to comprehend. Bren and I will have to compare notes and see what we did! My cup runneth over with... information, "gathering in," "being gathered in," relatives, blessings!

~~~~~

Got home yesterday, will spend the night with Amy tonight.

~~~~~

Love that baby!

Late Tuesday Eve

I got "My Trip" finished and it's on back down the page.

My Trip

Of course, the best part of going somewhere is getting home... But first...

Saturday Paul left around 6:00 and I got up and got myself together for my trip to Iuka. I stopped by McD's for coffee and a biscuit, took Oscar to the kennel by 8:00 and was on my way. (He really looked small in his large comfortable kennel. I took his blanket for him, but went back out to the truck and got the furry seat blanket for him as well. I'm sure he appreciated it. It wasn't easy leaving my baby, but it's such a nice kennel - Classy Pooch - clean, warm and a big play yard for the doggies to run around and get some exercise. I have never seen Oscar loose with other dogs and that would be so interesting to see!)

I got to Bren's around 11:30; we talked about our heart's most pressing issues, cried, passed Kleenex, hugged, prayed. We had lunch and went for a long drive through the county roads, to Pray Pottery (which was closed - we missed it by about an hour), to Pleasant Hill Church, to Holcut and the overlook at the Tenn-Tom. Way across the canal a network of other roads wound up through the hilly embankment and she said the canal eliminated the road that way to her uncle's house. "See the top of the hill? That's where he and Aunt Vonn lived." He still does, but Aunt Vonn passed away in the summer. Now they take another route over the Burnsville bridge and back oh, south, I guess. It was drizzly/misty, so we just walked to the edge of the bank and looked all up and down the waterway at the trees showing some fall colors with summer green fading fast. Honking geese flew overhead. I love that sound! On through the coloring leaves she drove us, past old homes, new ones, and not really knowing exactly where she was. We came out at the road that goes up to Woodall Mountain, the highest point in the state. (I told someone in her SS class the next day all that was missing was her daddy's old straight-shift truck!)

We drove by her son's family's home and her grandsons were out by the back deck. Later they came down to her house on the Chuckwagon. I was amazed at how they've grown and equally astounded to see the plate of brownies quickly disappearing! Growing young men! They were going to the county fair later that night, and I thought, oh, young families that can withstand the cold! Brenda had cooked white beans and she put together the finishing touches on the meal - my favorite - just home cooking - fresh okra (off these stalks, below), potatoes, cornbread. (She cooked her cornbread in a "Munsey" Rival toaster (I'm sure that's a brand name of one we had, but they are all munsey now to me), made from their fresh meal that Jim grinds and bags from local corn. He's president of the Flywheelers (antique tractor club) and we watched a CD of pictures of a recent "play day" in their "front yard" which is seveal acres. Their church across the highway had cooked soup that day, so the Flywheelers contributed to their fundraising and had a good place to eat nearby as well.

Austin (L), Andrew, holding Austin.

After good hot showers, we watched TV for a little while with Jim, then retired to "my" bedroom where we talked some more. We both know from similar circumstances that some things we just can't change and we have to trust God for the outcomes. Some things that happen to us or in our lives may not be for us particularly, but for someone else. We still have a choice about our reactions and decisions about how we'll handle things. We still must trust that God is in control, not us. We pray, and God, knowing our hearts, knows we grieve and hurt. But He tells us, "Hold on to Me. I have plans for you. I have the plans for all of it." So not easy to do. I told Bren that God puts our tears in His bottle. That may be why there are oceans. How do we know what shape His bottle is? Or how big?

We looked at the big coffee table sized "Mississippi" book and we just had to go to bed so we could get up for church. I slept so good in that bed and was barely stiff Sunday morning when I got up. But I'd taken one of my "whole big pills" Saturday night. (Oh, and my bp is getting lower - she took it with J's monitor and it's come down a good bit!)

Sunday morning we were up around 8:15 or so, Jim having gotten up a couple times already since about 5:30, read the paper and had coffee made. He said he started to get us up when he did and I assured him it was a good thing he hadn't! We went to Sunday School (Bren teaches her ladies' class) and church. Something occurred to me, or God showed me this thought while I was sitting there: We know satan attacks our weakest points; she had brought that into the lesson. and I said, "Yes, and the older we get it seems the more we have to struggle against his attacks. He knows his time is limited because we are getting older and he has to step up his attack to get us if he can, before we leave this world." Now I'm not giving satan any credit, but the Bible does tell us to remember God in our youth; to finish the course, to run the race, to fight the good fight. The older we get also, the more and more we must rely on God - our bodies become weak, but our spirits must remain strong. God has won the war; we must face the battles with what He has left us - His Good Medicine, His Word. And I'm not saying that we lose our salvation. It is that satan would like for us to leave here defeated and unhappy. God wants us to meet Him rejoicing!

They are meeting in the fellowship hall temporarily as the sanctuary is being remodeled. Their son David is painting the interior, but was not really happy with the ceiling paint/texture. I'm sure they'll decide before he goes further. Their stained glass windows all have to be taped around and covered, so they're having a work night Tuesday.

We had lunch at North Crossroads, where Bren, Charlotte, Martha, Sher and I went last year. Where Charlotte and Martha met their old classmate Danny Lynch, who died suddenly in the spring. It was a good home-cooked meal - fried chicken breast, which I haven't had for ages, creamed potatoes, peas, slaw. Jim and I ate a piece of cake, which looked like someone's leftover birthday cake - it had writing on the icing - but it was okay. I told Bren I'd have to have a nap before I started my trip home!

Goats at the pond.

Okra stalks. They save the big pods for next year's seed. Jim had a small basket of okra seed drying out.

New Prospect Baptist Church, where Bren's family attends.

So after Bren and I slept a little in their recliners, I packed up and headed back out west. It was late enough and some clouds that the sun wasn't so bright in my eyes. And I had on my RX sunglasses. I left Bren's around 4 and got home a little after 7, so not a bad trip. It was a beautiful day, I listened to NPR, while thoughts and memories surfaced and I am truly thankful for what I can do, for my friends, for a little hometown back in Mississippi, for time just to be, and for home and family.

Paul had a prize for me when I got home: a MS State hoodie! He'd gotten us both one in Starkville, not campus prices, but at Walmart. I can wear it on Friday this week if the temps hold as they are. Oscar was so glad to see him when he picked O up at the boarder's, and me when I walked in at home sweet home.

Quick Trip

We went to Iuka yesterday, called the folks together for an impromptu lunch of hamburgers, which Amy mostly cooked and Ore Ida extra crispy french fries, which everyone liked. We got to visit with one stop instead of three, and all be together as well. Mama Nick's dogwoods are in full berry; they're always so beautiful in the spring too with lacy blossoms. I like the red berries. David and Sandra (my new s-i-l, whom I knew, but not as s-i-l; they married June 20 in a small wedding at one of the nearby lakes), and Aunt Ginny came. AG had made a caramel pie! She said it was her first and a "little runny," but it "tastes." Yes. It did!

Amy and her grandmother. Mama Nick will be 91 on October 22; Paul has the same birthday. What a birthday gift he was! Made with my phone camera, don't know what the haze is on the right.

We also saw my two brothers Mike and Steve and nephew Benjamin. Marsha had called when she knew we were on our way (Mike called her) and was in Florence shopping. She must have been waiting for us to leave because she drove up just as we were going out to our vehicles. (She said she wasn't... hmmm...) We missed Morgan, too. She's in nursing school and working part-time for a hospice. Benjamin had a cyst removed from the top of a finger last week and all was okay with it. He had several stitches, though.

Fallishness

I just remembered the pictures of wet leaves I made this morning, a portend of fall. It has rained parts of the last three or four days. Everything was shiny and cool this morning; by afternoon everything was steamy again. Paul said rain is forecast for the next 10 days!

Mama's gigantic philo which will need to be brought in and put... where?... before too long. But I know she'd be pleased that it's been nurtured so well and grown to be a big, healthy plant. The small plant below it is a cutting of her Christmas cactus that has done well outside this summer. There's a larger one from which this came; I'll have to repot it soon.

Came across this on my disk of the two Dawg fans before the Jax State game a couple of weeks ago.

Tomorrow Amy and I plan to go to Iuka for the day. She said she hoped I bring Oscar. I hadn't really planned to, but he enjoys riding and she enjoys playing with him. He'll be on the leash the entire time he's at anyone's house. But at least there is one more person - Amy - whom he "likes" now! It hasn't always been so and she has scars to show for it. But she didn't give up on him.

This has seemed like Saturday all day. I gave Oscar a bath, started dusting the house (serious dusting - throwing away things, putting jewelry away, putting lost buttons in my sewing drawer) and did some shopping. By the time I got home from the grocery store and Walmart, being gone for about an hour and a half, my foot/leg was screaming for relief. I did take something; I've hoarded my prescribed med because I knew it would have to last at least till I see the doctor again - no refills. Paul asked, "Are you limping because you're hurting?" I try to walk as normally as possible, but when it hurts I limp, so yes - I was hurting. But it is better.

Vidette

Mama Nick (Paul's mother) used to send us their newspaper from home after they had read it. One year she subscribed for us and for a really long time we've subscribed. Sometimes they send the renewal card three or four months after it expires. One year I paid for two years, having been a whole year late. I think we're current right now.

Sometimes I wonder why we still take it, but it's a link to "home." We still occasionally know the people the articles are about. Sometimes we recognize the grandchildren of our classmates in the "Happy Birthday" pages. These pages showcase birthdays, anniversarys, memorials, and new babies. Sometimes I wonder how long the honoree lets the "honored" live after seeing his or her sometimes less than attractive picture that was submitted on their behalf.

Today the paper arrived in the mail - this one is very current - August 20. There have been times when we'd get the paper a week or two after its publication. One of the major articles this week was that the Tishomingo County Archives and History Museum requested additional funds for the upcoming year. The Museum is housed in the old Tishomingo County Courthouse on Higway 72 East, kitty-corner from the historic Mineral Springs Park. It's beautiful old structure and is used for archives and special presentations. (We donated an antique glass/wood candy case from my great aunts' old country store at Oldham community, to showcase artifacts.) A sad little article below this headline was that a "visitor" to the museum made off with the money from the donations box!! The staff said he had asked several questions about the museum and commented how he had enjoyed his visit. None of the staff recognized him. Pretty sad to rip off our little museum.

In other news, the Iuka Methodist Church will celebrate its 150th anniversary on November 8. There was an accompanying picture of the outside of the church, March, 1900, when Iuka native Governor John M. Stone's funeral service was held. He was Mississippi's longest serving governor. "...his funeral was the largest the town has ever witnessed. The entire student body of A. and M. College attended. Over his grave cadets sounded taps to one of the most distinguished citizens Mississippi has given the world." The Commercial Appeal, March 1931