Monday, May 30, 2016

Been Keeping Busy, As Usual

Seems I either don’t have the time or the creative energy to blog these days.  Both of those commodities are being put to use in other ways and, when I have “down” time, it’s spent with Dave enjoying our Tuesday/Wednesday evenings relaxing our brains and bodies watching some previously selected Netflix programs.  Our latest was Last Tango in Halifax.  I take some Sunday evenings, such as this one, to catch up on things around the house, do yoga, organize my work area and projects for the coming week (read restore some order to the chaos resulting from the week winding down), clip and/or bathe Maggie and perhaps even gasp blog. 

I find if I do not take the time for personal creativity now and then, my temperament suffers both internally and externally. 

I was fortunate to be an advance reader of Paradise Down, the latest work of author Donna B. McNicol.   Paradise Down is now available on Kindle at Amazon.  It’s an entertaining whodunit set in Hawaii and, as usual, Donna delivers an enjoyable read.  You can visit Donna’s author website here to explore her other works, including The Klondike Mysteries.  I’ve read all of those, and hope there will be more in that series.  Ahem, Donna, nudge, nudge.

On Tuesday, I took the truck for a wee run up the road once again to Hearne.  My plan was to check out the Ace Hardware in downtown.  Gotta love Ace Hardware, ya know.

Hearne TX 05242016

   Downtown Hearne, a virtual ghost town on a Tuesday afternoon

I did prowl the Ace, a thrift store that had seen better days, a wee antique-type shop and Wilson Drugs.  Wilson is still a functioning pharmacy with gift items towards the front of the store.  I confess the cow portrait paintings captured my spirit and fancy and . . . one of these days I just might make a return visit for one of the smaller versions.  I expected outlandish price tags but was pleasantly surprised and, well, they made me smile.  Good vibes and all that, ya know.  Cow energy is totally groovy.  Trust me.  I’ve hung out with cows.

Once again, it was a rejuvenating outing for my Spirit – me, Truck, tunes and the open highway.  I think these wee expeditions nourish my independent Warrior Spirit.   

Thursday was the day of torrential storms and the tornado touchdown you have heard about in Bryan, TX.  That touchdown was perhaps five miles south of us, just a couple of exits down Highway 6 that runs by the park here.  Dave, Maggie and I joined others at the nearby restroom building here in the park for a while when the winds picked up and, well, it just didn’t feel “right” outside. 

I can’t describe that feeling to you other than it didn’t feel “right” and I knew we needed to get out of the rig.

Aggieland RV Park Bryan Flood 2 05262016

This drainage ditch in the park is typically empty. This is looking out toward Hwy 6.

Aggieland RV Park Bryan Flood 05262016

Same ditch, facing the other way.  Tops of the culvert pipes are barely visible.  Those pipes are big enough for me to comfortably crawl into still relatively upright.  That’s a lot of fast-moving water, folks.

Even after the imminent tornado threat had passed, we were still under one tornado warning after another pretty much throughout the day.  Dave was scheduled for work but ultimately called in an absence due to severe weather.  Bryan and College Station PDs were telling people to stay off the roads, emergency vehicle sirens were heard constantly, there were reports of cars off the roads, roads were flooded and so it went all day.  The storms continued throughout the day; the rain was biblical, torrential.  In short, it was nuts.

With one ear and eye on weather conditions and Dave at home, I accomplished very little work on Thursday.  I’m grateful for understanding clients.

Speaking of work, one of these days I’ll share with you the sometime insanity that is a day in the life of a virtual assistant.  It’s actually a fun state of madness, and I’m grateful for clients who are both professional and a pleasure and for work that is stimulating both mentally and creatively.  I get a kick out of having a full day’s schedule and that feeling of “Yes!” when I tackle and conquer a new process or complete a project.  I experienced that this week in compiling procedures for a process, finalizing that document in collaboration with my client and then implementing those procedures for the first time.  The feeling of accomplishment is sweet.

It was a bittersweet week with anniversaries of the passings of two of my favorite people . . .

Karen and me camping

Me on the left and Karen on the right, camping “back in the day”

Cousin by blood, big sister and soulmate by hearts, Karen passed seven years ago on the 26th of May.   She was the wind beneath my wings throughout my life and remains so to this day.  I think I will always miss her.  I hope I will always feel her presence.

Dad and Texas Raiders

Dad with “Texas Raiders,” the B-17 he helped restore back in the late 1970s/1980s.  The B-17 was scheduled to be in College Station as part of her current tour, but has rescheduled for June due to weather.  I’ll go see her then and give her a hug.  It was aboard her that I dispersed Dad’s cremains in September 1997.  She’s a special lady.

It was 19 years ago yesterday, the 28th of May, when Dad “went West.”  We shared a special bond, as many fathers and daughters do, I suppose.  He instilled in me a love and appreciation of Nature and wildlife, photography and flying things, to name a few.  Over the years while I was growing up, he taught me how to be independent from the practical – such as changing a flat tire – to the spiritual of being content with one’s self and not dependent on another for one’s happiness.  He’s also “to blame” for passing along the nomadic genes I carry.

It was a week of smiles and, yes, misty eyes on occasion.  It was a week of a full heart. 

Thanks for stopping by.  Ya’ll stay safe out there, okay?

 

 

 

1 comment:

  1. Sorry you had to hide out from the tornado, this weather in TX has been terrible. My daughter is moving back to CO on August 1st, so I am not sure how much longer I will be living here. Time for me to get back on rhe road and maybe start blogging again.

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