HELLO, ANYBODY OUT THERE? (May 13 - June 12, 2020)

It has now been 73 days since we left WYNDHAM OCEAN RIDGE in South Carolina and found our way to our cabin retreat in the hills of southern Indiana.  Our nomadic lifestyle has, for now, come to a grinding halt.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love our Hoosier hideaway.  Yet the truth is that living in a 12 x 20, dry, no A/C space for over two months is a major challenge.

When we built this place seven years ago we never expected to spend more than a week or two at a time enjoying its rustic charms.  It was never intended for an extended stay.  We borrow electricity and "facilities " from Sherry's brother and sister in law, who live down the lane.  They have been life savers.

My wife, an avowed introvert, has found this to be a blessed time of solitude.  It has been an invigorating period of seeing no one, going nowhere, and reading dozens of books.  It is pretty much what she does in our WYNDHAM travels.  Aside from the lack of the WYNDHAM extras, she's fine.

I, a practicing extrovert, am having a more difficult time.  For me, it's  like being kidnapped and taken to a tough love camp for recovering extroverts!  Where's the lobby?  Where's the pool?  Where's the hot tub?  Where are the people?  I love the outdoors, but you can only watch the birds so many hours a day.  I have named the six squirrels that visit daily!  I hear the old song from "Paint Your Wagon" echoing in my mind;  "I talk to the trees but they never listen to me.  I talk to the stars but they never hear me. The breeze hasn't time to stop and hear what I say......"  I am exaggerating but it is a unique experience.

In 42 days be are scheduled to begin a six week stay at WYNDHAM KINGS GATE RESORT in Williamsburg, Virginia.  We'll see!  Until then; I'll work on the grounds , feed the critters, and talk, not to the trees, but to the One who always listens.

SELF ISOLATION IS FOR THE BIRDS (April 23 - May 13, 2020)

   Three more weeks have passed, bringing our self isolation time in Indiana to a total of six weeks.  We, although not really sure how we feel about the merits of it, have tried to be compliant citizens .  After all, we are part of the "endangered" crowd over 65.  We have sheltered in place faithfully.  Our "trips" have been limited to Aldi (twice), Walmart (once), and the drive through at Steak & Shake (once).  Other than that we have not left our 6 acre "compound".  Our only visitors have been our daughter's family. That time together was spent six feet apart for a couple of hours outdoors around the fire pit.  Worship is on line and I've binged watched The Virginian and Bonanza!  The movie, Ground Hog Day, pretty much describes the way I feel.

One thing I know is that I will never take the blessings of travel lightly ever again.  Our nomadic lifestyle has come to a grinding halt.  Hopefully our Wyndham resorts will be opening back up sometime this summer and air travel will be safe and regular.

REFLECTIONS

   A major way to pass time has been bird watching.  I can sit at the counter, look out window, and enjoy the activity around the feeder.  They come and go all day long as they etch trails of yellow, blue, black, white, brown and orange against an emerging background of verdant green.
   They are big and small....male and female... stay at homers and travelers....ground feeders and not ground feeders....aggressive and passive.
   They have names like Finch, Eastern Blue Bird,  Blue Jay, Indigo Bunting, Grosbeak, Raven, Crow, Vulture, Hawk, Wren, Sparrow, Hummingbird, Chickadee, Titmouse, Nuthatch, Robin, Towhee, Cardinal , Dove, and Oriole.  These feathered friends and others have been my guests.    The Woodpecker clan; Red Headed, Downy, Hairy , Flicker, and Pileated have been regulars.

If it seems like I have too much time on my hands, it's because I have too much time on my hands! 

Yesterday I found myself jealous of the Rose Breasted Grosbeak contingent.  They "checked in" for a ten day stay on May 2nd and disappeared sometime yesterday.  There were at least a dozen in their group.  I understand their travels will take them north.  I was envious because they did what I would love to do; fly somewhere, stay a couple of weeks (or more), and move on.   But, for the foreseeable future, it will be southern Indiana.

One thing that provides me great comfort and hope during this uncertain time are these words.

"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or stow away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them...Are you not much more valuable!" (Matthew 6:26-27)  Simply put....HE'S GOT THIS!

So I'm off to the Ponderosa or Shioh Ranch to see what calamities they will overcome today; knowing that if they could overcome in the 1800s, I can overcome in 2020!

OUR INDIANA SANCTUARY: A SHELTER IN THE TIME OF STORM (April 2 - 22, 2020)

Because WYNDHAM decided to close all resorts, we found ourselves back in the hills of southern Indiana five weeks earlier than we had expected.  There is where we call home, even though we typically spend about six weeks a year there.  Sherry's parents left her and her brother about three adjoining acres each between Bloomington and Bedford. Curt had a nice home built and we put up a 12 by 20 cabin.  The land is mainly wooded and is nicely suited for the isolation required these days.

All our WYNDHAM reservations have been cancelled until Thanksgiving time in Branson, Missouri.  Surely by then things will have opened back up.  When your retirement plans call for you to spend ten months a year with family, friends, and WYNDHAM; a self quarantine really messes things up.

Fortunately the six acres are like a State Park.  There are flowering trees, a ravine with a flowing creek at the bottom, and lots of wildlife.  Thus, there are daily opportunities to be creative with my photography hobby.  Finding a quiet place to read is not a problem.

REFLECTIONS

Once more we are reminded of how quickly things can change. Once more we are called upon to make a choice.  Will we choose to become bitter, angry prisoners in our own homes or will we embrace the freedom to slow down and enjoy the simpler things in life?  You can either fester in your malaise against the virus, the decision makers, or China, or you can decide to spend the time encouraging others and thanking God for each dawning day.  It is difficult to do both at the same time. My heart goes out to those who have lost loved ones.  It is never easy.  Yet, whether a virus, an accident, a heart issue, cancer, or something else,  we are all mortal.  As of this day I have lived on planet earth for 26,230 days and if I survive this, perhaps, 90 day time of social separation, it will only amount to about .0034 of my lifetime to date.  I think I (we) can handle it.  Hope to see you on the other side; one way or another.

THIS TOO SHALL PASS (EDISTO TO INDIANA) (March 24-April 1, 2020)

Our final 9 days on Edisto Island, South Carolina, were spent trying to find a balance between enjoying the island and dreading the time we would have to leave.  The resort was shutting down and our greatly anticipated stay would be shortened from 7 weeks to 18 days.

Not only were we disappointed with the abbreviated stay but, also, were troubled at having to leave the safety of the secluded island and the near empty resort.  It had seemed the best option when leaving Florida.  We would rent a car and drive Edisto, buy food for the duration, and hunker down until the middle of May.  Then, as Covid19 intensified, Wyndham moved to shut down all resorts.

The final two weeks of our time at Ocean Ridge was spent in the Bay Point section.  For the final three days we were the only ones there.  The weather was perfect and temperatures in the mid 70s with plenty of sunshine made the thought of heading north to Indiana less than appealing.

We soaked up the sunshine , the silence , and the solitude while packing and renting a car for the 700 mile drive.  An unexpected consequence of the empty resort was that a family of Bald Eagles joined us at our beach (human beach going had been banned by the South Carolina Governor)

On April 1st we made the long drive to our Indiana cabin in the woods.  The plan is to hide away in hills of southern Indiana as long as we need.  So far, we are healthy and enjoying the coming of spring.

REFLECTIONS

During the last month I have again been made aware of how fragile life is.  We have heard about the death rates of, not just Covid 19  but heart disease, auto accidents, the flu,and many more.  Listening the these numbers tends to make one a fatalist.

The truth is that we will beat this! We will beat this like we have so many other maladies in our  nation's past.  In a book I am currently reading, I read these words concerning the Yellow Fever outbreak in 1797-98.  Sound familiar?

"Cities lost thousands of their residents ......impromptu hospitals were were rigged up at the town's edge to be tended by heroic volunteer nurses .....where every desperate cure was tried on hearsay .....houses were quarantined .....Those who were wealthy enough to possess both transportation and friends elsewhere fled the city."

There was, also, political animosity.  Benjamin Franklin's grandson (a journalist) died from the fever.
Here's what President John Adams wrote.

"He was one of the most notorious libellers of me.  But the Yellow Fever arrested him in his despicable career and sent him to his grandfather from whom he inherited a dirty, envious, jealous, and revengeful spight against me."

The point is that what happened in 1798 sounds a lot like what is happening now 222 years later.  I wonder, should Christ tarry , what will have been chronicled about us?

Stay safe and dream about that next vacation.  We may have taken the blessing of travel too lightly.  Remember, the best is yet to come!

Spring in Indiana

MY TEARFUL TRIBUTE TO MY TRUE FRIEND

Today a special friend and mentor transitioned from this life to eternity with the Lord he loved and served.  Clyde Barnhart was a faithful husband, loving father, and doting grandfather.  He was a caring pastor, successful CEO (Boy's Clubs of Cincinnati), and an outstanding preacher.  He was many things to many people.  To me....he was friend.

Someone has said that a friend is someone you love and they love you, someone you respect and they respect you, someone you trust and who trusts you.  Through times good and times not so good that was us; loving, respecting, and trusting each other.

I first met Clyde at church camp in 1965.  He was helping with the sports events and I was a Junior in High School.  He was a starting pitcher for the University of Michigan baseball team (MVP) at the time.  I asked him to speak to our youth group and he did. 

He would tell me later that it was his first time to do  anything like that and that he was scared  to death.  It wasn't too long after that that he felt a call to ministry.

After I graduated from college in 1970, I went to pastor in Taylor,Michigan.  Clyde was pastoring a church 10 miles away and a deep friendship was born.

It would take far too long to say all that I would like to say and bring way more tears then I have left.  But here are a few remembrances .



REFLECTIONS

 

I remember fishing trips to Lake Michigan, the Muskegon River, Northern Ontario, Lake Erie, and Sugar Creek.

I remember hunting trips for rabbits or pheasants.

I remember golf outings in Michigan, Ohio, and Florida.

I remember vacations to Tennessee  and Grand Cayman.

I remember prayer times over decisions we had to make.

I remember times of laughter and tears.

I remember tragedy and victories.

I remember so much and with each memory comes a story that makes me laugh or cry.

I will never forget my friend of 55 years and I pray that someday as those memories come flooding back once again that they will bring joy and laughter and not the heaviness and tears that now blur my vision.  My sorrow is not that of one who has no hope, but rather of one who has lost a loved, respected, and trusted friend.

For Clyde the best is not yet to come.  It has arrived.

IT IS WHAT IT IS (March 7-23, 2020)

 

Sixteen days ago we left Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  We had been there for 63 days and had enjoyed the beach, the restaurants, and the resort.  Toward the very end of our stay, we started to hear about Covid 19.  We were slightly nervous about our flights to Orlando but "social distancing" was yet to be a thing.

Secluded Edisto Beach

However, as we waited in Orlando for two days in a friend's house (they were out of town ), things changed.  We were in Orlando to pick up two grandsons flying in from Missouri. They were coming for a special 5 days with us.  We enjoyed a day at Daytona Beach and quick two day cruise to the Bahamas.  Needless to say, during those days things were changing rapidly.  We loved our time with the boys but were relieved when they flew back home.

Our next stop was Edisto Island, South Carolina.  a quiet, secluded island between Charleston, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia.  Known as Ed-is-Slow Island, it seemed to be the perfect location to "shelter in place".  We had reservations through May 9th.

That's where we are now.  We have been here a week and just found out that they are closing the resort on April 1st.

Edisto Blue Heron

REFLECTIONS

As I wrote this blog, I received the call that I hoped would never come.  It informed us that the resort would be closing next week. I knew it was coming but had tried to convince myself that it wasn't.

In my thinking, we were in the perfect spot.  It was isolated, beautiful, and warm.  The county had closed off the island and there had been only one case of the virus in Collton County. It was my safe place; my sanctuary.

But, as all my Jamaican friends have told me for years; "It is what it is."

So for the next week we will explore travel options back to Indiana, watch the dolphins frolic, and enjoy the warmth and sunsets.  

Stay safe and lean on the One who is not distancing Himself from us.  His name is Emmanuel (God is with us)

Edisto Island Sunset

PRACTICALLY PERFECT IN EVERY WAY (February 16 - March 6, 2020)

When the big silver bird lifts off from the airport in the morning, we will have concluded our nine week stay at the Wyndham Ocean Blvd. Resort in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  We have enjoyed ourselves so much that we have already signed up for seven weeks next spring.

Wes and Marcia

The final three weeks were spent primarily by ourselves enjoying the beach life.  We did have visitors for five days as our long time good friends, Wes and Marcia Bittenbender, from Michigan stopped in on their way to Florida.  We are so blessed that we are able to share our space with friends as we continue our nomadic life style.

We will spend the next two weeks in Florida (with friends), on a two night cruise to the Bahamas with our two youngest grandsons, and at my brother's home in Simpsonville, South Carolina.  We will be "on the move" more than usual but look forward to this part of our adventure.



REFLECTIONS

The Dicers

Just about every day I would make my way down the stairwell from the 14th floor and out onto the beach that lay before me.  The sandy beach became my trail as I edged my way between the breaking waves and the glistening sand.  It was there, many times, in the retreating waters that I found the ocean's treasures as they tumbled ashore.  Some days I found more than others, but everyday I enjoyed the search.  I found myself ultimately looking for a particular kind of shell.  It was cylindrical and when unbroken, I thought, quite beautiful.  I have no idea what they are called and I don't really care.  To me they were discoveries along my five mile journey.  Yet, for every unbroken one I would find, I would find many more lying broken among the fragments of other shells.  They were broken and discarded by the churning surf.  They were crushed under the feet of folks looking for the perfect find.

For every "Mary Poppins" shell ("Practically perfect in every way") there are so many more crushed and broken.  But then I was reminded that it was the crushed, broken, and worn down shells, which sifted together to make the soft, warm, sandy beach upon which I walked.  Without them?  No beach.

Lives are kind of like that.  There are so few that are "practically perfect" and so many more that are fragmented, broken, discarded, and crushed!  The challenge is to not become so enamored with those that we perceive to be "practically perfect" that we overlook look those who, although we may not see it, will rise above their "brokenness" and enhance the journey of those around them.

Never forget that everyone has value and can be a blessing as we travel together along this beach called life.