"INCH BY INCH ANYTHING'S A CINCH" (July 31-August 29, 2024)

Sunset in New Bern, North Carolina

We began the last thirty -day stretch with a brief fifteen-day excursion to visit with friends in Michigan and Ohio. This stretch also included a weeklong stay at Wyndham Harbour Resort in New Bern, North Carolina. We were joined there by long-time friends, Mike and Lois Crawford, from Tipp City, Ohio. I was their pastor in the 1980s! 

Next, it's back off to Michigan for five days before returning to the Hoosier state for most of September and October. Looking forward to watching several of our youngest granddaughter's volleyball games as she plays out her Senior High School season.

                                    REFLECTIONS

While in North Carolina, I was able to observe a rather large alligator every day from the deck of our condo. He would cruise across the lake and come over our way. Most of the time he would just hang around with only his head above the surface. Hardly moving, it was as if he were waiting for someone to provide him his breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It was interesting, but boring!

Then, one morning, he showed up with a pre-packaged meal in his mouth. He had, somehow, secured a large Snapping Turtle as his breakfast! Problem was that he couldn't eat it before removing the hard outside packaging!

I watched intently from about ten yards away as he proceeded to, every five minutes, raise himself as high above the water as he could and with a tremendous twist of his huge scaley head smash his dish on the surface with such force that the shell began to crack. Finally, after six such tries, he was able to throw his head back and consume his meal. 

After seeing this and taking some time to think about it, I started to remember something that my parents used to say. They would say, "don't bite off more than you can chew".

I think that in my retirement life I spend a great deal of time just hanging around. Then I get "inspired" and decide to do something big. All too often the enormity of the project causes me to eventually give up the idea and retreat to just being happy to keep my head above water.

I need to be better at devouring things in smaller pieces. I need to break them down into smaller bites and keep working at them every five minutes, five days, or five months! I need to remind myself that this type of patient, consistent effort could ultimately result in being able to throw my head back and enjoy the result.

During WW2 the Seabees, who cleared the jungle islands for runways, had a motto; "Inch by Inch anything's a cinch!"

That's still true today! Keep living your life in bite-size pieces and you will surely partake of many enjoyable meals!

Sunset in Howell, Michigan

 

"IT IS WHAT IT IS!" (June 20-July 30, 2024)

We finished up our ten week stay in Indiana on July 30th and began our summer tour to visit friends in Michigan and Ohio. It was wonderful to be close to some family while in Indiana. Sherry's brother and his wife live just down the lane and our daughter, Autumn, and her family live in Avon, Indiana, about an hour away.  One of the drawbacks of our nomadic lifestyle is the distance we find ourselves from family and friends. We enjoyed the solitude of our three-acre piece of Indiana "wilderness" and the abundance of deer in the backyard of our daughter's suburban home in the Indianapolis area. They were days of reconnecting and enjoying quality time with both. We will be back to spend most of September and October, before heading to the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri.

                                      REFLECTIONLives are all lived in segments. Our lives are just an exaggeration of others. Ours just happens to be backwards from most. Most take a "vacation" to relax and unwind before returning home. We return "home" to relax and unwind before heading off to explore interesting places.The last eight years have been a balancing act as we learned how to keep family important and yet be gone so much of the time. I am not saying it is easy, but I am saying it is important! We try to use social media, phone calls, etc. to stay in touch while we are traveling, and when we are "home" we try to spend extended periods of time with our family and friends.Whatever your "lifestyle" is, please remember to cherish and enjoy every moment. Life is way too short to have regrets. Things may not always go the way you had hoped, but that's the way life is. Nothing is perfect. Don't expect it to be! Work at the art of being joyful in spite of circumstances. As a matter of fact, it is the times of imperfection that make life an adventure.When I pastored in Florida I had many "islanders" in my congregation and they had two oft repeated phrases. First, "don't worry, be happy" and second "it is what it is".  Not bad thinking!Now, it's off to Michigan, Ohio, and North Carolina to visit with some longtime friends and make some memories.  Will everything go as planned? Probably not, but the totality of the experience will be amazing.