"I FEEL LIKE A SCHOOLGIRL" (January 26 - February 28, 2023)

Edisto Island Sunrise

Wes and Marcia Bittenbender at Botany Bay

Our time in central Florida came to an end on February 25 as we headed to South Carolina to finish our "winter". This time we would be on Edisto Island (WYNDHAM OCEAN RIDGE) until May.  Long-time friends had joined us for our final week at WYNDHAM CYPRESS PALMS and, together, we made our way to the Carolina Low Country. Our time in Florida was everything we had hoped it would be.  The weather was always warm with more days in the 80s than 70s and plenty of sunshine.  The resort was excellent and the staff accommodating.  It will always be one of our favorites. But there's just something special about Ocean Ridge and Edisto Island. It's not for everyone but it is for us. It is a place that we treasure.

REFLECTIONS

The six-and-a-half-hour drive from Kissimmee, Florida, to Edisto Island, South Carolina, was nearly completed.  The road trip, with four weary travelers crammed into a small vehicle with all their luggage, was coming to an end.  As we made the final turn unto route 174, we knew that in a matter of thirty minutes or so we would arrive at WYNDHAM OCEAN RIDGE.

It was then that from the crowded back seat that I heard my wife of 54 years proclaim; "Every time we make that turn, I feel like a schoolgirl".  I am not exactly sure what she meant but I believe it was an expressed outpouring of anticipation of what was to come.

We have made that turn many times in the past 38 years and, after the first time, every time we feel like we are coming home. It's hard to explain but, for us, there is just something very special about our South Carolina Island.

Our friends will leave in the morning to head back to Michigan.  Other family members will show up later but in the meantime, we will just be at home.  We'll watch the dolphin play in the Sound, we'll walk down the shell covered beach, we'll watch both sunrises and sunsets (you can do that on an island), and we'll soak it all in. I have already booked several weeks for next year.  However, at our age, who knows what 12 months will hold.  Until then, we will cherish each moment.

What is it, where is it, in your life that you feel "like a schoolgirl".  Where is it that you genuinely look forward to being?  Find that place, that special place, go there often while you can, and be blessed.

Edisto Island Sunset

 

LOSING TRACK OF OTHERS (December 26, 2022 - January 26, 2023)

A Cypress Palms Sunset

                                                               

For the last thirty days we have been enjoying our life at the Wyndham Cypress Palms Resort in Kissimmee, Florida.  After the holidays and our ministry time in Alaska, it was nice to be able to just do nothing and do it well! My time was spent with morning walks, swimming, setting in the sun, and visiting the hot tub.  We did have some visitors as my daughter's family managed to slide out of Indiana and spend a few days in the sunshine state.

My brother and his wife came over from their winter place on Casey Key for two days.  It is always special to be able to spend some time together.  Gary is nine and a half years older than I am and has been the best big brother I guy could ever ask for.  

We have both been married for 50+ years.  I guess we are the exception to the norm these days.

                                         REFLECTION

     Sometimes when you are living in Florida you forget that winter exists.  You get so used to every day being sunny and warm that you lose track of the fact that it is cold and snowy in other parts of the country.  That happened to me yesterday when, while sitting on our lanai in 80-degree weather, I read that all three of my children would be experiencing a winter storm with high winds and up to ten inches of the white stuff (snow).

      It was a reminder that our response to situations in our lives change as we change.  I'm still me but, am a me that would no longer enjoy getting bundled up to go outside and shoot hoops.  I still like basketball but only what I can comfortably "watch" without much effort.  

     It was a reminder that in the midst of our personal journey we shouldn't become so wrapped up in our own world that we lose track of what others may be experiencing.  While our world might be filled with sunshine and palm trees, we need to always remember that there are others who may be struggling with storms.  There may be others who may be snowed in and unable to escape their surroundings. 

     The point is that whether we are "in the storm" or "in the calm", we should always be aware of others and their world.  The "Good Book" says it this way; "Rejoice with those that rejoice and weep with those who weep."  Wherever this day finds you, be thankful and be thoughtful.

KEEP THE FAITH (November 29-December 26, 2022)

 

It was nice to step out of the airport and into the warmth of the Florida sunshine.  Our mid-west stay between Alaska and Florida had come to an end and we looked forward to a relaxing, lengthy visit to WYNDHAM CYPRESS PALMS in Kissimmee.

Temperatures in the high 70s and low 80s greeted us and the heated pools and hot tubs beckoned us to wade in and enjoy their inviting waters. Time was spent walking the grounds and in the adjacent neighborhood.  Gators, soft shell turtles, and numerous birds made for wonderful photo opportunities.

One great thing about Cypress Palms is the proximity of grocery stores, drug stores, and restaurants. It is the perfect place to just hunker down and enjoy central Florida. I also got to speak one Sunday at the Florida Holiness Campgrounds.

                                        REFLECTIONS

By this time next week, it will be 2023! It is difficult to believe that we have been both retired for six plus years now.  Those years have pretty much gone as planned.  Oh, wait! Covid did throw us a curve or two didn't they!  For the most part though we made our reservations at Wyndham Resorts, stayed with family and friends, and spent a bunch of time serving various churches in Alaska!

It takes a good deal of faith to set up places to be over a year ahead of time! But that's what we do.  Right now, I am booking reservations in Pompano Beach, Florida for January 2024!  Will we actually end up there?  I would say, with the last six years as history, that there is a 90% chance that we will.

Faith is an interesting dynamic, isn't it? Every day we expend some faith. Faith that, when we turn the ignition switch in the car, it will start.  Faith that when the weatherman says it will be "sunny and in the 80s, that it will be a great day for a picnic.  Faith that your favorite college football team (GO BLUE) favored by several points will move on to the National Championship Game.

Sometimes our faith in things fails.  You turn the key, and nothing happens.  You plan the picnic, and it rains all day.  Your team gets thumped by T.C.U.!

When I got married, 53 years ago, I placed my faith in our pledge to each other that it was "till death do so part"!  Has our marriage been perfect? No, but we have remained "faithful" to each other.

When I chose to become a Christ-follower, I placed my faith in Him.  Has everything worked out just as I thought it would? No, but He has been faithful in every circumstance.

Might 2023 find us excited and full of faith that it will be our best year yet!  I, truly, believe that "the best is yet to come."

ON GIVING THANKS AND BEING TOGETHER (November 14 - 28, 2022)

The stand-by flights to Indiana went smoothly and we landed in the Hoosier state to prepare for the family gathering over Thanksgiving.  This year all of our crew (except Ethan) would make their way to Avon and Autumn's home for a time of just being together, eating an overwhelming amount of delicious food, and watching the Michigan/Ohio State Football game.This brief blog will cover that short time we spent together in Indiana before making our way to Kissimmee, Florida, and the WYNDHAM CYPRESS PALMS RESORT, where we will stay for thirteen weeks.  It will also be our opportunity to wish each reader a "Merry Christmas".  We trust that your holiday times are and will be as special as ours.

                                                                                             REFLECTIONS

First of all, where has all the time gone? As I looked around the family room and kitchen, I couldn't help but notice how old everyone else has become. Our three children are all over 40 and our oldest son will be a grandfather come February 2023!  How is that even possible? They are supposed to be children, anxiously awaiting Christmas gifts under the lighted tree. My grandchildren will soon all be graduated from High School and my oldest grandson, a father.Then I looked in the mirror hanging in the hallway and there was my father looking back at me. When did I become him? Even as I thought about it, I realized that now, at 74, I am 10 years older than he was when he passed.

Secondly, I was reminded that as we age, we develop habits, beliefs, and outlooks that are uniquely our own.  We are no longer the same as we were years ago.  That realization is highlighted in these times of family gathering and closeness. Although most of our time together was harmonious and enjoyable, there were those moments when there were tensions derived from our developed personalities, our likes and dislikes. I can't imagine that this balance between the pleasure of being together and the times of friction were only evident in our gathering. It's part of being individuals with differing concepts and ways of processing the world around us. It's also part of memories of childhood conflicts that continue to be points of contention.

Here's what I know for certain following our time together.  We love each other.  We tolerate each other. We only want the best for each other. We are richly blessed.

I also am proud of who my children and grandchildren are becoming.  And, at the risk of sounding too proud, I am proud of the job that Sherry and I did in parenting our three children. Are they perfect? No, but they are sure a blessing to many.

Then, there's "Indiana Jones".  In the midst of all the action and the loud cheering as Michigan clobbered Ohio State, he, somehow, managed to find sanctuary under the Christmas tree.

SIX YEARS AND COUNTING (October 12 - November 13, 2022)

We left our long-time friends behind in Pennsylvania and headed back to Indiana. The Hoosier state provided us a place to unpack and repack before heading west to Missouri.  Also, it was an opportunity to, one last time, watch our oldest granddaughter, Abigail, play High School Volleyball.  What a joy it has been to see her play for Avon High School's varsity team these past three years.  The Indiana fall weather was beautiful and it was good to be at our little cabin for a few days. Another well executed stand by flight day from Indianapolis to Atlanta to Springfield, Missouri, brought us to our son's home in Republic.  A choir concert and a marching band context (Branson, Missouri) gave us pause to reflect on this, also, being the last such events, we would see for our youngest grandson, Ethan.  He will be graduating from Republic High School in the spring.

We stayed the next two weeks in Branson at the WYNDHAM RESORT AT THE FALLS.  It

was a perfect time to catch our breath after being on the go since leaving Alaska.  The autumn colors in the Ozarks was awesome and the slow pace was much needed. The remainder of our time was spent back in Republic where I made almost daily trips to the Wilson's Creek National Battlefield.  There I enjoyed long walks and seeing nature up close and personal.  Encounters with white tail deer and turkeys always give me pleasure and great photo ops!

Now it's back to Indiana for a family Thanksgiving before heading to Florida (WYNDHAM CYPRESS PALMS) and South Carolina (WYNDHAM OCEAN RIDGE) for the following 23 weeks.

REFLECTIONS

 

The pages of the calendar keep on turning.  It has been right at six years now that we have
been retired and living our nomadic lifestyle.  It certainly has had its challenges but overall has pretty much been what we had hoped for.  It has provided us with the opportunity to enjoy travel and to experience the beauty of life. We have been blessed to have good enough health to keep up with all that is required to get from place to place.  Some have asked how long we plan to continue our unusual journey.  Our reply is, simply, as long as we can.

It is a blend of being free to travel and being able to experience the joy of family.  Frankly, I think we've done a pretty good job.  I am not sure that we would change anything in how the past six years have worked out.

There certainly have been surprises like, being able to spend six months in Alaska this year.  But, for the most part this, golden years, adventure has gone as planned.  We will take it one day at a time until we can no longer feel good about our ability to continue our chosen path.  Until then, it's full speed ahead into 2023 and beyond.  Glad you can join us. 

FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND FAITH (September 12 - October 11, 2022)

Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania

We arrived, along with Autumn, back outside of Alaska.  The friends and memories acquired during our six months in the Last Frontier will never be forgotten, but it was good to be back in the lower 48!

This last month has not been a time of slowing down and catching our breath, but rather a time of travel and enjoying both family and friends that we hadn't seen in a while.   

Our first stop was in Indiana where I enjoyed working around our cabin, playing in a golf outing, and seeing our granddaughters play High School Volleyball.  This is Abigail's senior year, and we were blessed to be there for her "Senior Day" game.  She has become a fine volleyball player, but an even finer young lady.

This was also the time for our 6th annual "Celebration of Friends" gathering.  This time in the Poconos at the WYNDHAM SHAWNEE VILLAGE RESORT.  Friends since college days back in the late 1960s, these seven couples gather from across the U. S. A. to renew friendships and just enjoy seeing each other once again.

Our time, outside the resort, was spent in day trips to Jim Thorpe, PA (Reading RR), Delaware Water Gap (Trolly), various waterfalls, and seven covered bridges.  With fall colors adorning the mountains, it was an amazing event.

                                        REFLECTIONS

When you think about it, time just keeps on ticking and marching along.  What "is" quickly becomes what "was", what "will be" becomes what "is".  We are reminded of this almost daily as we look into the mirror.  This group of fourteen came to Olivet Nazarene University in the late 1960's as individuals and left as couples!  The couples became families and the families continued to grow.

We are all now grandparents and Sherry and I just found out that we will become Great-grandparents next year!  That means that my oldest son is a grandfather!  How is that even possible!

Yet, in spite of the passing of years, family and friends remain an integral part of our lives.  They are the ones that love us regardless of our shortcomings.  They are the ones that encourage us to keep on keeping on.

For our family and friends there is another strong connection and that is our faith.  Faith in One greater than us.  Faith in One who will stand with us and help keep us together.  If my faith was only in myself or in others, I would surely fall way short of all He wants me to be.  Family, friends, and faith keep me going year after year as time quickly moves long.  I trust that you have found as much joy in your journey as I have!

 

 
 

LIFE ON THE EDGE (August 23-September 11, 2022)

 

   Our time in Alaska, 165 straight days, has come to an end!  The final three-week segment was spent in Juneau.  We enjoyed the fellowship of the wonderful folks at the Church of the Nazarene and took advantage of every opportunity to experience the beauty and ruggedness of this great state. 

   The Tongass National Forest, the Mendenhall Glacier, Douglas Island, and so many other places will forever be etched in our memories.  My love for nature was a driving force in spending as much time as I could outside in both rain and sunshine.  I was able to have close encounters with black bear, observe spawning salmon, fish for, and catch, Halibut and King Salmon, and have eagles, porcupines, and bear in our back yard.

Add to this the many wonderful Alaskans that we met, and you have a mix of ministry and adventure that made for an amazing 86 days in the capital city.

Douglas Island, Alaska

                                     

                                              REFLECTIONS

It seems like when you are in Alaska you are always on the edge of something amazing.  You can't wait to see what might lie around the next bend of the road or trail.  There is a continued sense of anticipation.  It is certainly so when you find yourself on a small bridge crossing a stream filled with spawning salmon in the middle of the forest.  It is especially so when you are alone and have no cell service.

I stood totally alert, with my head on a swivel, as I watched the trail and the stream in hopes that a bear would decide to have a fish dinner.  I really hadn't imagined the tension I would feel when, it dawned on me that, I was alone with no bear spray or weapon.  There was always someone else on the narrow bridge hoping for just a glimpse of a big bruin.  But not tonight!

As darkness descended on the mountain, and it falls quickly, I calculated my hike time back to my
car.  Maybe another ten minutes.  Then, it happened.

On the windless day, the top of a tree about 100 yards away began to shake.  Could it be?  Now the trees shook with increased intensity, and I knew that something big was making its way closer and closer.  I stood poised with my camara, but not poised in my emotions.  

Suddenly, the somewhat slow approach was aborted and here she came full speed ahead, charging through the stream and trying to catch a tasty Sockeye Salmon.  Snapping branches and
throwing shards of water into the air, she rushed through the cascading water.  Now, less than twenty yards from my, now seeming less than secure, viewpoint, she skidded to a halt and continued walking slowly my way.

She ambled under "my" bridge, directly beneath my riveted feet, her silky deep black fur dripping wet and hanging in the shallow water.  She continued her journey as if I wasn't even there.  In another minute she was gone from sight.

Sometimes life comes at us the same way.  We find ourselves wanting a challenge and yet, when it comes, we find ourselves saying "What in the world am I doing here?"  However, as frightening as life's adventures are sometimes, they can become incredible moments of abundant reward.  If we never take the chance, the risk, we will never experience the blessings.