"HE WILL DIE" (October 2 - January 1, 2021)

 

This has been a difficult blog to write because I didn't know how to begin or where to end.  Also, the in

between stuff isn't too pleasant.

We left WYNDHAM SMOKY MOUNTAINS and headed to visit family in Missouri and Indiana (Marching Band and Volleyball).  Thirty days passed quickly and we found ourselves headed to WYNDHAM MOUNTAIN VISTA in Branson for a family Thanksgiving.  

However, after arriving at my son's in the Springfield, Missouri, I found myself completely worn out with a nagging knot in my stomach (November 4).  I lost all desire to eat and began a weight plunge that would ultimately reach 29 pounds.  A trip to a clinic (November10) indicated that I most likely had diverticulitis and I was given a

prescription.  They also did a Covid test.   That test came back positive (November 15).  My condition rapidly deteriorated and two days later (November 17) I was taken to the hospital. 

For the next four days they fought for my life.  I don't remember much about the next two days but what I do remember is chilling.....literally!

I remember being moved to another room where, through my brain fog, I heard this conversation.

Lab Tech: "I have to finish this blood draw."

Dr. "If I don't get his temperature down immediately, no one will care about your blood work because he will be dead!"  (it was approaching 106 I have been told)

The next thing I remember was waking up in a cooling (under statement) blanket.  It felt like I had been frozen into an ice burg.  The next few hours were not pleasant.

The diagnosis was Covid with double pneumonia.

On November 24th I was discharged and Sherry was admitted. Her case was not as severe and she was out in four days.  We both had the remdesiver treatment.

The good news is, so far, we are recovering nicely and hope to be able to keep our date at WYNDHAM RIVERSIDE SUITES in San Antonio on January 2, 2021.

RREFLECTIONS

So there you have it.  There were times in the hospital when my will to live faltered.  I know my eternal destination, so death dosen't scare me.  But I vividly remember the moment, in that darkened hospital room, when I cried out, several times; "I want to live!"  There was no one else to hear the proclamation but I felt strongly that it must be verbalized. 

I understand that for the Christ follower the best is yet to come, that death is not a period but a comma, but I still have much to see and do.  Be safe, wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands, and get vaccinated.  Enjoy each day as a gift.

(photo taken last week)

MEMORIES IN THE MOUNTAINS (September 27 - October 1, 2020)

 

WYNDHAM SMOKY MOUNTAIN RESORT served as the site of our 4th annual "Friends Gathering".  Eight couples enjoyed the spacious rooms and accommodating staff.  The area provided plenty of opportunities to explore both the Smoky Mountains National Park and the many varied shopping venues.  Dining out, a Chili Cookoff, shopping outings in Gatlinburg, Golf, hiking, jig saw puzzles, and group games kept us busy.  Yet, again, the best times seemed to be those times we just gathered to remember and recall those days we spent together in the late 1960s! 

REFLECTIONS

As I looked around the room I was reminded of the blessings of longtime friends.  It just didn't happen.  It took some effort to stay connected all these years.  But here we were together once more.

Covid 19 made it somewhat more of a challenge, but eight of the nine couples who attended last year's Gathering chose to come.  Ten days have passed since we left Tennessee and all continue to be in good health.  Next year's plan calls for us to head to WYNDHAM NASHVILLE. 

As my gaze circled the room, I remembered something I once heard.

"Your choice of friends throughout your life will greatly affect the person that you will become."

If that warning speaks truth, then I must, at least be on the right track because they are men and women of great character.  They are men and women who, through their journeys in life, have loved God and have given their best to their fellow man.

Like our hike in the mountains, it was seldom easy.  Yet we determined to keep on hiking until we reached our destination.  At the end of our trek it was worth it all.

So that's my plan as I near the end of my life's trail.  I plan to keep on hiking, one step at a time, while enjoying the vistas along the way.

To all my friends....."Happy trails to you until we meet again".

ON SERVING VOLLEYBALLS AND COOKIES (August 23 - September 26, 2020)

 

We left Williamsburg, Virginia, and winged our way back to Indiana.  The six week stay at the WYNDHAM KINGSGATE RESORT proved to be a wonderful experience after having been locked down in the Hoosier state since April 1st. Once back in the welcoming hills of southern Indiana, we settled into what has been a September ritual of bird watching and volleyball watching!  This year our oldest granddaughter, Abigail, is the only sophomore on a very good Avon High School team and Adelyn plays "all around" for the undefeated Avon South 8th grade team.  This fall, however, found us also heading to Minnesota for a few days. I had been asked to speak in special services hosted by the Backus Church of the Nazarene.

We really enjoyed our time in the "10,000 Lakes" state.  The scenery was beautiful with Autumn painting the landscape and those colors being reflected by the deep clear lakes.  The church kindly housed us in a lakeside cabin.  The people we met were gracious and kind.  Their many hospitable acts will never be forgotten.  We hope to return in the spring for some Walleye fishing.

Now it's off to WYNDHAM SMOKY MT. RESORT for a reunion of college friends (1960s). Seven couples, hundreds of memories, and five days to once again be together.  

REFLECTIONS

As I grow older, I am discovering that I am becoming more of a watcher than a doer.  As a matter of fact , I have really come to enjoy watching others work!  I haven't hunted in nearly two decades and I haven't played golf in over a year (unless you count ("WI GOLF").  I could go on...but you get the idea. Photography, preaching, and this blog are about it. Everything else is just the rhythm of life; the daily, routine meanderings that become more and difficult to navigate.  I don't mind getting old but my body has a hard time with it.

But just when I start thinking that I am at that point of surrendering to Father Time, I run into someone like Miss Sadie in Minnesota. Lovingly known as the "cookie lady", she bakes dozens of cookies and loaves of bread each week! She lives to share these blessings with others.  The chocolate chip cookies  and Pineapple/Coconut bread she gifted us were beyond delicious!  Oh yes, she's 93 years young!

So I guess I can manage to keep on preaching, keep on blogging, and keep on taking pictures for awhile.  Perhaps that can be my gift and blessing to others as I continue to proclaim that the best is yet to come.

WALKIN' A TIGHT ROPE (July 25- August 22, 2020)

 

Four more weeks of relative isolation, but this time on a Wyndham property in Williamsburg, Virginia.  The Kingsgate Resort was a good place for this "at risk" aged couple to return to resort living.  It is another location that has a community feel to it.  The spacious grounds are nicely landscaped and the half mile loop drive around the development was perfect for my morning walks.  Some activity areas were closed but the pools and mini golf course were open.  Our ground floor, two bedroom, unit was large and clean.  No housekeeping visits for our six weeks kept our room protected.  Supplies were quickly delivered when requested.  We had food delivered to our door from Aldies, Walmart, and Red Lobster.  Outings were to Cracker Barrel (.8 mile walk) and Peking Restaurant (.3 mile walk).

REFLECTIONS 

I must admit, as I REFLECT on the past 28 days, that there's really not too much to see.  There were no day trips to "Old" Williamsburg, Jamestown , or the Ocean.  There were no friends joining us.  It was just the two of us; the extrovert wanting to be together and the introvert wanting to be alone.  

The good news is that throughout our 18,711 days of married life we have found balance.  It's not always easy but it's always necessary.  It's like walking a tight rope.  For the first 47 years we walked on one rope with two strands; side by side, encouraging one another, steadying each other.  One strand of pastoring and one strand of home making and counseling.  Now, for the last 4 years, those strands have been woven together in a single rope called RETIREMENT!

If you think that walking a tight rope alone is difficult, and it is , then try walking it with someone else for 24/7!  That's retirement.  But here's our secret.  It never has been two strands separate or woven together.  From the moment we stepped off the platform on our wedding day there have been three strands.  Anytime we have lost our footing He was there.  Anytime we have struggled with balance He was there.  He is with us now when, in the truest sense, the two have become one.  

Now, as we approach the end of our rope, we know he will be standing on our exit platform to take our hand and proclaim "well done".  Until then we'll just keep on walkin'.

"..a cord of three strands is not easily broken." (Eccl. 4:12)

A CABIN OR A CONDO, WHY SHOULD I CARE? (June 13 - July 24, 2020)

Our time at our cabin has come to end after 114 days and, as I construct this blog, I am sitting at a large desk in our condo in the WYNDHAM KINGSGATE RESORT in Williamsburg, Virginia.  While the cabin is "technically" our place of residence, it feels like we've come  "home".

The familiar blue glasses are on their shelf.  The white linens and soft pillows on the King size bed call out, begging one to settle in for a nap.  So many familiar things await on arrival and each, no matter where you land, says; "Welcome home".

I will miss the quiet refuge of the "Point" and the "Wi Golf" and the"Westerns" I watched with Sherry's brother.  We were there so long that I watched the garden planted and harvested.  Thanks to Covid, I made wonderful memories that will not be forgotten.We were blessed with visitors to the cabin and our daughter's home in Avon.  Mike and Elisabeth Adams came to the cabin and Mike and Lois Crawford drove over to Autumn's from Ohio. Good friends are good medicine for the soul.

Now it's time for 6 weeks of our  WYNDHAM life.  We will have to see how that goes .  

 

REFLECTIONS 

Cabin life or condo life, it's pretty much the same.  You eat, exercise, sleep, read, mess around on the computer, talk on the phone with friends, take your meds, shower, sit in the sunshine, listen to the rain, pray, write a blog, watch TV, and do other stuff.  Day in and day out, when you are retired and elderly, it is pretty much the same.  So much so,that you tend to lose track of what day or date it is.

In reality, neither the cabin or the condo will be my ultimate residence.  There will be one final journey and one fantastic homecoming.  There we won't worry about what day or date it is.  We won't have to remember to take our meds.  We will really be "home".

Until then I chose to enjoy each day and each challenge.

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!