It Really Did Happen

Last week I wrote about the darkness and threat of rain during the day. Well, it really did rain during the night. There were flash flood warnings, a tornado touched down in Lennox, south of Sioux Falls. When dawn came I found 6.5 inches of rain in the gauge! It really did rain. We’ve had several other nice showers throughout the week. ¶ One can tell that the season is about to change. The bees can hardly wait for the autumn joy sedum to come into full bloom. The new roses are growing. Mums are bursting forth little by little. The first two plants went into the new landscaping today.

¶ My phone was kind enough to remind me today that I was in China ten years ago. That brought back some wonderful memories. When we cannot travel easily, we do have the memories of trips past. I am finding those memories to be wonderful. It is difficult to believe all the places I’ve traveled. I am so grateful that I’ve had the opportunities to be exposed to countries and cultures other than my own.

¶ Visiting the Olympic Village in Beijing, walking on the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, seeing the terra cotta warriors, walking on the glass floor in the skyscraper many stories above Shanghai are all memorable The long plane trip with a stop over in Seoul ended with the cabin attendant bowing and thanking me for traveling with Asiana Airlines. That’s the only time that has ever happened.! ¶ With the European Union’s transparent borders one no longer has a stamp in their passport for each country visited there. When I look back at my old passports and see all of the interesting entry and exit stamps and the visas, the memories of those trips come flooding back. When I last renewed my passport I ordered the model with more pages since my previous passport had no pages left. Now I ask myself, why? There is only one stamp in this new passport and lots of blank pages. Oh well, there was no extra charge for the extras. ¶ Many, many years ago I never dreamed that I would be a world traveler, yet that is what I became. I’ve not visited Australia or Antarctica yet. The other continents have seen my footsteps. This whole blog thing about being a pilgrim started as a record of a journey. There were many trips before blogging became “the thing.” Travel is truly a wonderful experience. When things do not go exactly as planned one still learns something. If nothing else one learns not to do that particular thing again!

¶ There have been some lovely days this week. It was nice to be able to enjoy them. I’ve felt very well. It was fun having lunch with some long-time teacher buddies. We worked at a school that had just opened and we really bonded as a group. A lot of credit goes to the principal who hand-picked the staff and the person that followed him. ¶ Miss Sophia was delighted that a new bag walked into the house this week. That gave her an opportunity to check out the contents and to pose. She loves being photographed.

¶ Next week is chemo week and I know things will go well. I won’t start until Tuesday because of the holiday and I’ll need to finish on Saturday. I had to go on New Year’s Day. It’s kind of spooky going to a big empty building usually bustling with people and being one of two or three in the cavernous space. ¶ Thanks for your thoughts and prayers and all the ways you’ve touched me in the last few weeks. I treasure your support. Thank you also for what you do for others.