Time sure passes quickly, hard to believe it’s halfway through July already. I am keeping pretty busy talking with friends, staying active online connecting with friends around the world and making new ones. I am still baking and cooking lots of foods and trying new recipes. l even make wheat thins and graham crackers and they taste lots better and are healthier than the store bought ones.
In April I had my camper van repainted and about 2 weeks later when I went outside I smelled smoke, it was a distinct smell miles around the area. That was on a Thursday. Friday I went to the camper van which is parked about a mile away and put new tire covers on the tires. Saturday it rained. Sunday morning I went to drive the camper van and there were black streaks and black spots all over the vehicle, there was some on the car too. But it would not wash off the camper van, it did wash off the car which was painted in October. I don’t know if it was because the paint was only about 2 weeks old, or a different paint, but it was not what I expected that it would not wash off. I took it to the body shop and he didn’t know why it would not come off either. He used some lacquer thinner and it came off. My friend who details the van had to use compound to get it to look white again, and then he used a paste wax on it. So now Molly (the camper van) looks almost like new again.
Physically, I am doing okay. Still have chronic pain and some days are more intense than other days. Every now and then I have a day that is almost pain free and I am so grateful for the reprieve. I was scheduled to have out patient surgery on Monday, July 11th. I went for the COVID test on Thursday and later that day the doctors office called and said the hospital overbooked the operating room and they are rescheduling my surgery for Friday, July 15th. Hopefully it will go smoothly and not be as intense and painful as when they took a tumor out of a different part of my back several years ago. This tumor is not as deep or as big and it’s not into nerves, etc. like the other one was. It’s in a sensitive spot on the lower part of my back just on the side of my spine. Last Thursday a friend who is a massage therapist came over and gave me a really good massage loosening my muscles, tissues, etc. I was so grateful for her. We had a nice visit catching up on life and I made lunch for us.
I know I still need to write stories about going up in the Goodyear Zeppelin, Arnold’s Wildlife, and Native Rhythms Music Festival. I have to download the pictures from my camera and phone and figure out how to add the pictures to a story since it’s different since my friend updated my website from www to http. Eventually, I will get them written.
I spoke with Sue Arnold who ran Arnold’s Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Okeechobee, Florida. She sold the land and found good homes for the animals. A few years ago she started a horse and donkey rescue in Vermont so that is her focus for the past few years.
I’m hoping to take a trip maybe in late August for a month or so to visit friends in the southeastern states. A month or so ago the building I am living in had hurricane windows in which is a blessing. I am on the 2nd floor of a 2 story building and my north windows were exposed and I didn’t have a way to put up hurricane shutters if needed. Thankfully, the past few years we have been very lucky and didn’t have any hurricanes. I hope it stays that way. Living through a category 5 and a few 4’s was not fun. Neither was living through tornadoes when I lived in Texas.
In October 2013, I wrote an important story called Seriously, Really, You Would Rather Be An Ostrich? You can search the word Ostrich and read it. It’s about the importance of having your legal documents prepared like a trust, will, DNR, living will, health care surrogate, etc. Since it has been a few years since I updated my documents, I met with my attorney the past few weeks and did what he called the Eighth Amendment which is a restatement of my trust. It consolidated all the amendments into one document and I updated the organizations where my money will be donated when I die. Since I don’t have children or a spouse, all my money is being donated to organizations and charities that are important to me and that use the money to purchase necessary equipment, preserving historical documents, and other worthwhile places. In 2013, when the doctor told me I would not live long I donated funds to rural fire departments to purchase equipment, wildlife rescues, and other places. There are many stories about a few of the places I donated because a few came to visit me or I went to see them. I have some special friends at several of the fire departments around the country.
On my website there are also lots of interesting things other then places I have visited and traveled to. There are inspirational poems and stories, pictures of jigsaws I did, stories about a mentor named Lois who had a significant positive impact in my life and helped me become the woman I am today. There are lots of stories about historical places I got to see like the Oklahoma Bombing site, a RV dealer in Amarillo who has a wonderful free museum with RVs and motorcycles from the 1930s to the 1970s, many National Parks, and lots more adventures.
There are also links in some of the stories to books I like like Oh, The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss, and the Real Story of the Three Little Pigs it’s the wolf’s version. Lois loved Shel Silvestein and we would read all of these books out loud in funny voices and laugh. I love reading books out loud. It slows my mind down, I remember more of what I read. I have learned over the years to believe in and trust a God that is my Higher Power and I invite myself into God’s day because I realize and have experience that anything is possible in God’s day. I don’t invite God into my small, limited, human day. Also, my God has a big eraser and makes frequent changes to the script of my life daily. I have so much to be grateful for.
Guess that’s about it for now. No promises but I will try to get some stories and pictures from last fall posted here.
