Yesterday we stayed put. Four days a week at least, we are somewhere else besides home, so staying at home was a treat.
After walking twenty two driveway laps, I ventured around the yard in search of something to photograph. The zinnias we planted for my momma and a tree with bright orange berries seemed like a good place to be.
Even the swing set seemed to sing, with its dark green slide and seats. Most of our yard has taken on a tan-brown view because of endless droughts this year.
Other shots are somewhat random, but I like how they turned out. It’s funny what can make a great photograph sometimes.
red zinnia we planted for my momma
still beautiful while going to seed
close up of a garden stone
swings with a pop of green
bright orange berries
Squealer on the slide
sparkly rocks in the flower bed
EMPTY on purpose bird feeder because we have cats who like birds…
Today we are off again on grand adventures that include decorating a float for an upcoming Christmas parade. With cooler temperatures, I will be including long johns and a coat, ha ha.
Hope you have a wonderful Friday. Thanks for being here.
My son has a club on Wednesdays and I’m supposed to remember to take our bag with us. It contains the papers and pencils he needs and the notebook and pens I need to take notes to track the week’s story.
Yesterday, I forgot the bag.
So, instead of my normal note taking, I sat with the other moms. My goodness, it was divine! We talked, got to know each other better, swapped stories, and laughed. Maybe I’ll forget the bag more often!
Today I thought I’d share some of my favorite photos I’ve taken over the past couple weeks.
a nest at Alley Spring
a bench up close at Big Spring
a log across Slough Trail
double the scenery at Big Spring
some green at Big Spring
a mossy rock hillside on Black River Trail
a stunning tree at Clearwater Lake Beach
a heart with little tiny angel wings at Bluff View Beach
Today is our last warm day for awhile. We may stick around home and hang around outside or go to the river. Yesterday I took a nap! How glorious. I may even do that again, ha ha.
Thank you for being here! Hope you have a great Thursday.
Yesterday we had an errand that landed us by a natural spring and hiking trail! How cool is that???
I’ve written about Big Spring before, so this time I thought I’d share photos of different view points. The spring itself gets tons of attention, and rightly so. It pumps out over 276+ million gallons of water a day!
Whoa! I can’t even get my mind around how much water that is!
While driving around the campground by Bluff View Marina on Saturday, we topped a hill and I saw the most glorious things on the ground!
Persimmons.
I’d never heard of persimmons until I moved to southern Missouri. They are a fruit that’s small and sweet. It takes about a million of them to make a pie, but my goodness, so delicious.
I only gathered a few, maybe enough pudding or muffins, but seeing them was such a joy. I actually considered getting some for the wild deer that come to our pond. A sweet treat! Seeing them reminded me of why I love the Ozarks SO much.
My 22 day miracles and gratitude challenge ended yesterday. It was a bit all over the place, emotion wise. Loss does that. It seems to step in, sometimes, on a perfectly sunny day, scooting over on the bench next to us.
For a couple of months, I’ve actually felt kind of bad for ‘subjecting’ readers to my going on and on about how badly I miss my momma. “Who still wants to hear about this?” I thought.
I mean, it’s been 6-7 months, shouldn’t the grief be all tidied up by now? Swept up and let go like dust on the wind?
I’m not trying to rush myself through parent loss by any means. I’m trying to survive it and get through it with baby steps and grace. But, I kept thinking about the sharing it part…
Then, about a week ago, while on social media, I did a grief search. Turns out there are tons of pages about loss and grief with thousands and thousands of followers. It reaffirmed that talking about losing my momma is ok.
Does it help me? Yes.
Could it help someone else? Maybe.
My cousin sent me a poem called, “Don’t Miss Me More Than Once A Day,” by Donna Ashworth. It’s a wonderful poem and I was instantly hooked on her writing.
The author has a FB page and lately she’s been sharing about mother loss. Talk about resonating. It seems like when someone gets it, they get it.
Anyway, what I’m learning is, this loss isn’t just some separate thing I can just shut off and send down the road. This experience is part of who I am now. Has it changed me? Oh my, yes. Have I figured out all the ways yet? No, not really.
I’m still getting through the “I can’t believes”, “I miss…”, and “what in the world happeneds.” It’s like when you drop a photo album with a thousand pictures in it and they all fall out in heaps on the floor. It’s the sifting and putting them back in some sort of order, but there’s no sense to where they go.
Maybe, eventually, I’ll get this all figured out. Maybe I won’t. What I’m realizing now, 7 months into this, is that talking about it or sharing this is appropriate whenever it comes up. People went before me in mom loss and people will come after me, too. We can all learn something from each other, I bet.
Instead of a daily challenge now, I’m just going to write and share adventures. Even if and when those adventures are about my beautiful momma.
I haven’t been writing on here. With all this talk about fall, I’ve been squeezing in as much summer as I can.
If there was a bus between seasons, I’d be the last one on the bus to autumn. I LoVe, love, love summer!!
Every day for weeks, I’ve been in our pool. They say vitamin D can be soaked up from the sun, I’ve been getting my share, ha ha.
Labor Day came and went with a day spent bowling, a day trip to Arkansas, and two days by the pool.
And, to top off all this squeezing in summer?
A county fair yesterday!
Ferris Wheel
view from Ferris Wheel
these made me laugh!
sunset at the fair
see all those boxes? potatoes!
those potato boxes belong here
yum!!!
We rode the carnival rides. On one, for some reason, I laughed the entire ride! I could not stop laughing!!
this ride made me laugh!
We watched the demolition derby, too. It’s crazy how those cars get all banged up!
loved that a car was pink!
love Ferris Wheels at night
We had a wonderful time! In the next few weeks, there are two more fairs we are going to. Take a few steps backwards Fall, we’re not quite done with summer yet! Most are, of course, but we aren’t. Ha ha.
A trip around the yard this morning, shows it’s such a beautiful day.
the sun is shining
the sunflowers are blooming
the crepe myrtles are wearing their Monday best
The kittens are awake and showing off all of their cuteness.
Millie on the left, Ruby on the right
Squealer in front, Blackjack in back
Millie and Squealer
Tonight some friends are coming over for a Mom’s Night Out- Swim and Chat. I fancied the name all up for social media, ha ha. Basically, friends are coming over and we’re going to talk, eat, and swim.
sunlight and circles on the pool this morning
I’m excited to see them. Some I haven’t seen in a couple months and one I haven’t seen in a couple years.
Life gets busy. Seems like everyone is doing their own things. Putting an evening on pause once in a while is good for the soul.
We’re having a potluck. I got stuff for yummy sandwiches, fruits and dip, a veggie tray, and my son and I are making a dessert made with graham crackers, pudding and whipped cream.
I already decided that I’m not going to do a lot of cleaning today or get in a huge frenzy about the house. Call it the grace of relaxing into life. Plus, I read an Erma Bombeck article recently, where she mentioned letting people come over even if the carpet was stained.
We don’t have carpet, but I get the point. Just invite them over, is what my heart says to do. No need to get stuck in the details of things being spotless and perfect.
Chances are, they’ll see all the beauty in this day like I see it, and won’t even notice the un-mopped floor. Ha ha!!
Thanks for being here. Hope your day is beautiful, too!
Seems like all I’ve been doing is writing about loss and grief.
Here’s the thing I’m learning though. I can go through a loss AND live my life, too. Just because I had a loss, it doesn’t mean I’m *required* to be sad all the time.
In fact, I’m not sad all the time. Sometimes? Yes. All the time? No. Remember my post, Switchbacks and Waves? Sadness and grief come in spurts.
So, back to the pretty cool thing.
My husband bowls. In fact, he’s a really good bowler. Have you ever seen those bowlers who can throw a ball, it almost hugs the gutter, then it suddenly curves over and knocks down all the pins?
He can do that.
He has been bowling in leagues for about nine years. One or two nights a week, he bowls.
Me?
I only bowl maybe once a month, when we go as a family. My balls are usually in the gutter, ha ha, and when I do bowl, it’s straight down the middle, I hope.
Several weeks ago my husband super gigantically surprised me when he asked me if I would consider being in a league.
Like, a bowling league. I about fell over! I was so honored that he asked.
Then, approximately two seconds later, the questions started kicking in:
Wait, I’m not very good! Who would want to be on MY team?
Is there pressure? Because I don’t want any pressure if I’m not doing well.
How long is it? What if we sign up and it’s too long?
Me? Are you sure? (Is what I was thinking)
Turns out he does want me on his team, there is no pressure because it’s just for fun, and it is long, thirty six weeks, but it’s one night a week.
Heck yeah, sign me up.
We live in a tiny town and to get to the bowling alley we like, it’s fifty miles one way. So, about a hundred miles one night a week. Sounds like a lot, but it’s totally worth it.
It’ll be family time, a chance to make new friends, and it’s something we can do together.
Bonus?
It’s by a lake!!!
Last night we went up there and bowled. I did pretty decent and my husband and son did great. We even got to meet some of the league bowlers we’ll be bowling with in a couple weeks. It was really fun.
About sunset, we went over to the lake. My goodness, it was so beautiful. Sooooooo beautiful. And, so quiet. We just sat there and watched the fish jump and the sky change.
Afterwards, we found a really nice Mexican restaurant and had a wonderful meal.
Tuesday, the first week of September, OUR league starts. Our! How cool is that?
Me, is included in that our!
Even with gutter balls and very up and down scores, I get to be on a team!
We are back home in Missouri and absolutely loved our trip. It’s interesting how visiting family can lead to different places on the road.
Four years ago, my husband’s job moved us from southwest Missouri to the opposite corner of our state. The significance? It added three extra travel hours to my parent’s house in northwest Missouri, which changed it from five hours to eight.
We just spent eleven days on roads and land I’ve been going to all my life. We passed through a couple of big cities, but my heart belongs to the rural backroads of tiny places that are nearly a blip on a map.
Being at my parent’s house, brought me a sweet peace I can hardly explain. It didn’t make the missing of my momma any less, but it certainly did bring me lots of comfort seeing her things and being in a space she loved dearly.
On my other blog, Jeweled Again by Jessica, I have been sharing posts about my aunt Karen and my great aunt Esther. Esther is the reason we left dad’s and headed for Iowa.
Esther is my momma’s aunt and she is 103 years old. Esther has been an important part of my life for many years. When she turned 100, my boy and I made an eleven hour trip to go to her birthday party.
The pandemic canceled her 101st birthday party, but we were at her 102nd. This year we were late to her 103rd. It was in May, we arrived in August, but you know what? She didn’t care about that. She welcomed us with a huge smile and kind words.
Esther lives in Spirit Lake, Iowa and moved there in 1952. She and her husband rented out lake cottages back then and had their cottages open for 26 years.
If you’ve ever been to northwest Iowa in the winter, you’ll understand how cold and snowy their winters are. Her and her husband started going to Texas in the 1960’s winters. While there, she started doing ceramics.
You know how much I love and miss my momma, well, Esther is the same. I think my momma’s loss touched her in ways I may not quite comprehend. She was 27 when my momma was born in a rural Iowa farmhouse. Of all the people still on this planet, she knew my momma the longest.
I think us being together, soothed both of our hearts. And, family does that sometimes, you know? When the missing of someone is so huge, it seems like just seeing someone else who knew them too, can help.
Esther’s husband passed away over 40 years ago and a year ago March, she lost Patty, her only daughter. She and Patty lived together in a story book type house since 1979. After Patty passed, Esther decided to sell their house and moved into a very nice assisted living place. That’s where we visited her.
Esther loves frogs, this is outside her door
a shelf of Esther’s things, outside her door
cookies my son and I got from a bakery for Esther’s assisted living nurses and staff
where Esther and Patty lived from 1979 to 2021
pictures on the top shelf are of her 103 birthday, the third shelf down middle one is her wedding picture
the pillow we sent Esther for her birthday
What a heart-filling trip we had. Spending time with my dad, yard sailing with my sister, seeing Kate, Diann, and Karen on the way to Spirit Lake, being with Esther, AND making special traveling memories with my son was exactly what I needed.
There are places, you know, where we just feel like we are home. One of those, for me, is Iowa. My roots run deep in the rural farmlands and in the towns that were built around cornfields, country schools, and churches.
For the last four days, my boy and I have driven hundreds of miles through the Iowa countryside in search of lakes, water parks, and family we haven’t seen in quite some time.
Oh my, have we had fun!
Our first stay was at scenic Storm Lake. It’s a small town, with a welcoming feel. We had two nights at the King’s Pointe Resort. It sits right next to the lake, so the lobby has a beautiful view.
King’s Pointe Resort, Storm Lake Iowa
It has a restaurant and one evening I had grilled walleye and shrimp. Yum!
vacation food
Besides lake access, there are also indoor and outdoor water parks. We went down this orange slide!
water slide fun
There are some really cool parks around town. One has a really nice veterans memorial and a huge anchor from a 1943 ship.
anchor Storm Lake Iowa
We loved the Living Heritage Tree Museum. My favorite one was a tree that is a descendant of Johnny Appleseed’s tree.
tree museum
apple tree
Our time in Storm Lake was pretty amazing. The lodging, food, scenery, downtown bakery, water fun, and sunsets were definitely memory makers.
sunset at King’s Pointe Resort in Iowa
After Storm Lake, we stayed in the Spirit Lake/Okoboji area. Love those towns, too
Unmeasured Journeys 