Another Day, Another Adventure

20 Nov

A Time to Live

Melody Hendrix

Blowing Rocks Preserve 574 S Beach Rd, Hobe Sound, Fl       

Another day, another adventure. My friend Pat and I recently traveled to Jupiter Florida. We had been there a few times before but will always want to come back to visit Blowing Rocks Preserve.

It is a unique park, and odd for a Florida landscape. Each time I visit, it is a different and wonderful experience. This time there was a hurricane near and we knew the ocean would be turbulent and the Rocks of the preserve would be alive with water shooting out of them possibly up to 50 feet skyward, giving me an opportunity for some oh so loved slo mo photography. 

I love any form of photography that reveals nature in ways that we can’t or don’t witness in our mundane life. It was awesome as usual.The rocks are longing to be explored with their tunnels and caves. That is, when the seas are calm. However they can be treacherous if you are caught below and the water comes in. You cannot climb up on them with bare feet and hands. Oddly the rocks are razor sharp. You would think the ocean waves would wear them down and polish them, but instead it seems they are sharpened with every wave.

It contains the largest Anastasia limestone outcropping on Florida’s east coast. The limestone also encompasses coquina shells, crustaceans, and sand. 

I created a 5 minute video of last weeks trip there. Enjoy,

Melody Hendrix

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November Christmas

19 Nov

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

My husband took me out to lunch this week for my birthday. A very delayed celebration of my August birthday. To my surprise, the Seafood restaurant was decorated for Christmas!

For several weeks Christmas has been appearing in Florida and not just in the shops. I see Christmas tree lights shining from windows as I drive down neighborhood streets and some even have put up inflatable Santas. Friends have been posting their Christmas trees on Facebook, some a bit sheepishly. There seems to be a longing for the magic of Christmas to mitigate the fatigue of 2020.

My fellow blogger at Minding my P’s With a Lot of Q wrote a poignant post this week titled “Perspective – Decorating Cheer Trending“. I heartily suggest you visit.

https://threepsandq.com

Excerpt:

I’ve never been one to follow trends, but I’ve done so accidentally, I’m decorating for CHRISTMAS. I didn’t know I was part of what might be a nationwide movement until I watched a news show yesterday on the topic. I’ve noticed in my area many people began to put up Christmas decor long before November even arrived. My husband and I chalked it up to warm weather and putting lights up with sunshine on your back instead of winter winds.

I'm a winner

After my retirement, I decided to re-learn the canning and preserving skills I learned from my mother but hadn’t practiced for twenty years. I titled the blog Old Things R New to chronicle my experience.  Since then I have been blessed to have six other bloggers join me, DiVoran Lites, Bill Lites,  Judy Wills, Louise Gibson, Janet Perez Eckles and Melody Hendrix

In addition to blogging, I work as the publicist/marketer/ amateur editor and general  “mom Friday” for my author daughter, Rebekah Lyn. I also manage her website, Rebekah Lyn Books  where we frequently host the best in up and coming authors.

My 2020 goal is to use my love of photographs and words to be an encourager on social media. You can visit Real Life Books and Media You Tube Channel if you would like to view some of the mini-videos I have created for our church, Gateway Community in Titusville, Fl.

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Mount Rushmore Road Trip Part 5A

18 Nov

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Day 5 Sunday 

9/13/2020 

Before leaving Canon City this morning I took the time to stop at the Royal Gorge Route Railway Depot for a photo.  In 2006 DiVoran and I had made a trip to Canon City to visit family and friends.  During that visit one of the tourist things we did was to take the Royal Gorge Route train ride.  The ride starts at the old Santa Fe Depot in Canon City, travels under the Royal Gorge Bridge and returns to the depot.  It’s a really great experience for anyone who hasn’t ever ridden on an open-air train car and the scenery is awesome.

Then since it was on the way out of town to my next stop was at the Royal Gorge Dinosaur Experience for a photo.  The Dinosaur Experience is new since our 2006 trip to Canon City, when DiVoran and I had explored the dinosaur footprints, located along the Skyline Drive.  I figured they were still there, if I wanted to see real dinosaur footprints, and I didn’t have time to see the museum’s exhibits.

Next I took the road to the Royal Gorge Bridge for a photo of the world’s highest suspension bridge (at least it was in 1929 when it was built).  I’m not sure they have improved the road much since then, but the view of the bridge from the Park & Visitor Center is spectacular.  Back in 1975, when our family took a six-week cross-country camping trip, we were allowed to drive or walk across the bridge.  What a thrill that was.

Now I took CO-9 north 75 miles to visit Fairplay, CO which was founded in 1859, during the Pikes Peak Gold Rush days.  The historic old town is located on a hillside just east of the Middle Fork South Platte River, and has been maintained as the open-air museum called South Park City.  There was not much going on this morning, as most of the old town was closed off because of COVID-19.  So I headed northeast another 25 miles on CO-9 to Breckenridge, CO. 

On my way to Breckenridge I crossed the Continental Divide at Hoosier Pass (Elevation 11,539 feet) and had to stop and have my picture taken at that historic spot.  A couple from Illinois was kind enough to take my picture after I offered to take theirs, in front of the Historical Marker.

Then it was downhill to Breckenridge (Elevation 9600 feet).  It was Sunday and some of the streets in Breckenridge were blocked off for a street fair.  Greta (my Garmin) couldn’t get me close to the Underhill Museum, so I parked and walked a few blocks to find the museum closed for the festivities.  A couple of blocks from Main Street I visited the Erwin Carter Museum, which is a small local natural history museum filled with all kinds of taxidermy displays, mostly done by the miner-turned environmentalist in the late 1880s.

As I was leaving Breckenridge I visited the Lomax Gold Mine located in the Lomax Placer Gulch.  This original 19th century gold mine offers visitors the experience of panning for gold in a setting of 1860s gold mining equipment and historic cabins.  I didn’t have time to try my hand at panning on this trip, but maybe next time I’m in Colorado I’ll give it a give it a whirl.  

—–To Be Continued—–

Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 63 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing.  He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville.  Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.

One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is:  John 10:10

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Chickens

16 Nov

My Take

DiVoran Lites

When I was a little girl, I had a playmate whose family had chickens in a chicken house. Her name was Patricia, and we always had fun playing together. One day Patricia and I had an outdoor tea party. She had a trained chicken that would lie on its back so we could pretend to have baked chicken for dinner. 

My family has always been chicken people. Bill and I have never owned them, but my Mother and Dad had them several times, as did my Granddad and Grandmother.

Several years ago, my parents lived in Ft. Bragg, California, in a small farmhouse. Dad had his salmon boat, and both liked being close to the Pacific Ocean. Mother liked to beach-comb while Dad was out pulling in the shrimp. While we were there, Mother took me out to the shed where the chickens were kept and let me watch some eggs hatching. One took a long time, and Mother decided to help it out. In my ignorance, I told her that I had read that you shouldn’t help them out. She knew better, but she did what I asked and let the egg alone. It turns out that I was wrong, and she was right, and the poor little fellow never made it out of the shell. Some things are better left to the experts. 

When I was a child, my Grandmother kept chicken in a small chicken shed near the detached garage. When I stayed with her and Granddad, she let me go out and bring in the eggs. One day they taught me how to turn a live chicken into a baked one. It wasn’t a lesson I’d ever want to repeat, but now that I’m older, I know how important it was for them to give me the skills they thought my family and I would need in order to survive. Back then, there were no superstores as we have now, and they ate whatever they could raise or what they could get from a small general store. They had no idea how far from the concept the future would take us.

Grandmother also taught me, as did my mother, to learn to cook and clean. My mother, who was busy with the restaurant she and dad owned, paid me a dollar to iron a basket of clothes for the whole family every week. My brother and I worked in our restaurant doing dishes and taking out the wooden boxes full of empty pop bottles. Once in a while, I was allowed to fry hamburgers for sandwiches.  At that time, people were eating more beef than chicken. 

When our son grew up and got married, he and his wife had two children. Eventually, they moved to a place with acreage and used the shed for a chicken house. The family had gone full circle, except that they no longer processed their chickens for food. They just gathered the eggs and used them, and shared them. Once or twice, when they went on vacation, they brought three chickens over to our house. Our son arrived with a trailer attached to his SUV, and the men carried a big cage out and put it on the back porch. We let the chickens roam in the yard, and they cleaned up all the bugs they could find. When the sun started to go down, the chickens wanted back in their cage. Their way of showing it was to jump/fly into our kitchen window. We’d go out and pick them up and carry them in and put them to bed. Their water bowl was on the porch with them. When we woke up in the morning and took them back outside, there was sometimes an egg in the cage and sometimes one or two lying in the flower gardens. Eggs don’t get any fresher than that. 

  At one point, eggs were deemed to be bad for people. We missed them, and are now glad that their benefits have been “discovered.” Often, scientists warn us about certain foods, such as eggs, and oil and we all obey like sheep, but sometimes I take a look at the mandates and wonder why God put those things on earth if he didn’t want his children to thrive on them. We humans don’t think like God thinks, so it’s a good idea to be familiar with our Bibles so that we will know how he wants us to live. 

DiVoran has been writing for most of her life. Her first attempt at a story was when she was seven years old and her mother got a new typewriter. DiVoran got to use it and when her dad saw her writing he asked what she was writing about. DiVoran answered that she was writing the story of her life. Her dad’s only comment was, “Well, it’s going to be a very short story.” After most of a lifetime of writing and helping other writers, DiVoran finally launched her own dream which was to write a novel of her own. She now has her Florida Springs trilogy and her novel, a Christian Western Romance, Go West available on Amazon. When speaking about her road to publication, she gives thanks to the Lord for all the people who helped her grow and learn.  She says, “I could never have done it by myself, but when I got going everything fell beautifully into place, and I was glad I had started on my dream.”

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Random Memories of Germany

15 Nov

Wiesbaden-Part 1

SUNDAY MEMORIES

My husband, Fred, joined the U.S. Air Force following his college and seminary education.

While he had intended to go into full-time ministry, God had other plans for him.  He was sent to San Jose, California to attend a year’s study/training in meteorology at San Jose State College (now University).  

Credit Google Search and San Jose State University website

During our stay in California, he received follow-on orders to Wiesbaden, West Germany.  He was to be assigned to the Weather Unit there, for the Air Force.  We were both excited about the prospect of living in Germany.  I had never been out of the U.S. (except for a couple of visits to Mexico as a teenager), so this was an exciting time for me.

I was pregnant with our first child at the time we left for Germany, and was a bit concerned when our baby stopped moving after we arrived on German soil.  However, I think she was just tired from that 8-hour flight – as was I – because she picked up the pace after a good rest!

We delighted in Germany.  We were unable to get into American housing right away, and lived “on the economy” the first year we were there.  That was an amazing experience, as well.  We found a house that rented to Americans, and we lived on the entire second floor of this house. 

1967 – Wiesbaden, Germany – Upstairs is our apartment – with the balcony

We didn’t have any furniture, so we were glad to find this house was furnished, since we were only allotted 2,000 pounds of “furnishings” by the U.S. government.  We purchased a car (actually two separate cars while there), and set up for living.

There was a lot about Wiesbaden we loved.  We lived just down the street from a beautiful park.  Fred and I would take walks through the park, and later, after our Karen was born, we would take her on buggy walks through the park.  The German people – especially the women – would stop us and ohhh and ahhh over Karen, and we were pleased.  

The park where we walked

We had originally decided to attend the military base chapel on Sundays, since Fred had grown up in chapel, and his father was an Air Force chaplain, but give our tithe to the English-speaking Baptist Church we found in town.  However, after visiting the church a few times, some of the members of the church, convinced us that we should indeed, be members of that little church.  And so we did.  While there, they moved from the “cellar” where they met, into a more up-to-date building.  I began playing the piano for that congregation during that time, and played until we left Germany.  That’s where we met Frau Katie.  Quoting myself from another post I wrote about Wiesbaden:

There was a nursery there [in the church], that was manned by a lady they called Frau Katie.  I think she really took a shine to us, since I would take Karen down to the nursery and nurse her.  That was when a lot of American women were against nursing their babies, and only using bottles.  In any case, Karen became a favorite of hers.

Karen and Frau Katie

On one of our last trips before we rotated stateside, we asked Frau Katie to stay with Karen while we were gone.  We later discovered that she was teaching Karen to speak German!  That gave Karen a head-start on German when we returned to Germany 10 years later.

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Six vital steps to take when diagnosed with COVID-19

14 Nov

Walking by Faith, Not by Sight

Janet Perez Eckles

Reblogged November 14, 2020

November 13, 2020

“I’m in the hospital,” my friend emailed me. “I have COVID-19.”

My heart sunk.

Many recover. Many have few symptoms. And others test positive and have no symptoms at all.

So, what do we do when we learn a dear friend is in the hospital? Most would pray. I did. But are we praying out of our emotions or out of our convictions? Are we pleading out of fear? Or declaring God’s power out of faith? Are we trembling before an intimidating giant, or are we declaring that Almighty God is greater than any threat?

If we give the wrong answer, doubt turns to anxious moments. We secretly question God’s ability to rescue us. When dark diagnosis comes our way, we question why He didn’t prevent it. And when symptoms persist, we feel abandoned.

So once again, we get on our knees as we were taught. We begin to plead, beg, and ask over and over again. And when no answers come, His silence spurs more anguish rather than peace.

Six Vital Steps

But whether we face COVID-19 that attacks our body, or a virus that attacks our soul, a drastic change occurs, clarity begins, and faith increases when we follow these six steps:

  1. Readjust our priorities. If we seek the answer to our prayer with more passion than we seek God Himself, His patience rather than answers is what will be at work. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33)
  2. Resist the temptation to recite memorized, perfect prayers, with lovely words and deep insight. God simply wants the genuine expression of our heart. And most of all, “…when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Matthew 6:7)
  3. Recognize that sometimes we don’t know how to pray or what our requests should be. So, we can freely ask for Him to show us what to pray for. And confident that He’s listening attentively, whisper to Him, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24)
  4. Remember that His answer is always in His timing, not ours because a thousand years in God’s sight are like a day that has just gone by. (Psalm 90:4)
  5. Relish in the fact that while we wait, He’s working in us, in our heart, in our situation because, “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)
  6. Remove anxious thoughts. In the silence of the moment and in the power of His presence, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Philippians 4:6)

Why follow these steps? Because “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” (1 John 5:14–15)

Let’s Pray

Father, thank You for showing me how to pray with the certainty that You are indeed watching, listening, and observing each step I take. Grant me the wisdom to recognize You are vigilant of my every move. In Jesus’ name.

How will you renew your trust in Almighty God to work in your situation?

Janet

______________________________________

Did you know I wrote a book filled with words of encouragement, uplifting thoughts and illustrations of real-life triumph to empower you? Its title, Trials of Today, Treasures for Tomorrow: Overcoming Adversities in Life. You can get it HERE.

CLICK HERE for a one-minute inspirational video.

Looking for a speaker for your upcoming event? A great speaker makes the difference between a so-so event and one that shines with impact. I invite you to view one of my two-minute videos HERE.

Please share: Feel free to share Janet’s posts with your friends.

Janet Eckles Perez

Some say she should be the last person to be dancing. Her life is summarized in this 3-minute video: http://bit.ly/1a8wGJR

Janet Perez Eckles’ story of triumph is marked by her work as an international speaker, #1 best-selling author, radio host, personal success coach and master interpreter. Although blind since 31, her passion is to help you see the best of life.

www.janetperezeckles.com

Mount Rushmore Road Trip Part 4

11 Nov

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Day 4 Saturday

9/12/2020 

I started today’s activities with a visit to the Weisbrod Aircraft Museum located adjacent to the Pueblo Memorial Airport, and it was close to my motel.  This is a great aviation museum with 40+ beautifully restored aircraft and lots of other aviation artifacts and memorabilia in two large hangers and outside.  The museum’s show-piece is a Boeing B-29 by the name of “Peachy.”  I just wish our Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum at home had more of these rare WWII aircraft in it’s collection.  

Now I drove into downtown to visit the El Pueblo Museum.  This museum displays artifacts and memorabilia related to the history and culture of the ethnic groups from the southern Colorado area.  It also has an archaeological excavation scene depicting the original 1842 El Pueblo trading post site, and a re-created scene showing what the El Pueblo Trading Post & Plaza would have looked like in the mid-1840s.

A few blocks away, and adjacant to the Arkansas River,  I visited the Pueblo Railway Museum located in a part of the old original Pueblo Union Depot.  The museum displays artifacts and memorabilia discribing the railroad history in and around the Pueblo area from the 1880s to the 1940s.  The musuem’s outdoor  displays include historic steam engines and other rolling stock from the 1940s    Pueblo has continued to be a major rail center, and at one time or another as many as five different railroad systems served the city.

Next I drove over to inspect the Steelworks Center of the West which houses the Steelworks Museum and the Steelworks Park.  The Pueblo Steel Mill, Located just south of downtown Pueblo, was founded in 1881 and has been productive thru many turbulant times.  Today with only a fraction of the number of employees it once employed, the mill still produces a smaller quanity of steel products from rcycled scrap metal.  Interesting tours of the mill are still available to visitors that focus on preserving the history of the coal and steel industry in the Southwestern United States.  DiVoran remembers the day her grade school class made the trip from Canon City to Pueblo for a field-trip to the (working) steel mill.  What a thrill that was for the kids.

Now I headed west on US-50 toward Canon City.  On the way I stopped in Penrose long enough to take a photo of the Estes Model Rocket factory.  My son, Billy, and I have fond memories of building and flying model rockets over the years.  We even introduced his son, Jacob, to the sport when he was a teenager.  My, how the time does fly.  It seems as if it was only yestarday when the three of us were launching model rockets from the local school yard.

I arrived in Canon City in time to meet DiVoran’s cousin, Lois, at the Museum of Colorado Prisons (Old Max) for a tour.  The old Colorado Territorial Prison was built in 1871 and served as such until 1935 when it was converted to a women’s prison.  A new prison was built in 1993 and the old prison was renovated and opened as a museum.  The museum displays artifacts and memorabilia of the Colorado Prison System from 1871 to the present day.

After the prison tour, Lois went home to pick up Hank,  and I took a drive over the famous Skyline Drive.  I always get a thrill when driving over that one-way (no guardrails) 3-mile long  ridge road over looking Canon City.  Built by the Colorado Territorial Prison inmates in 1905, it has been a little-known tourist attraction over the years.  I found this really great video of the drive on the internet.

I met with Lois, Hank, Carol & Rob for dinner at the Quality Inn where we had a some really good food (beer battered fish and ‘O’ rings) and a wonderful visit.  After dinner Lois and Hank invited me to their house for home-made brownies and Otter Paws ice cream.  I couldn’t very well turn down that offer now could I?  While enjoying that dessert Hank’s son, John, came in for a visit.  Before I knew it, the night was late and I headed for the motel.

—–To Be Continued—–

Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 63 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing.  He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville.  Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.

One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is:  John 10:10

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Porcupine

9 Nov

My Take

DiVoran Lites

The name of this rodent came from the French: porc d’ espine or thorny pig. It is the third-largest rodent in the world. After a gestation period of approximately 112 days, the babies are born enclosed in a thin placental sac. Their quills are soft, moist, and flexible. The quills quickly harden in the air and become prickly.

When porc d’ espine is frightened, he turns his back lifts his tail and slaps the ground. The quills loosen and may stick into an enemy’s face.  

Pixabay

At times our small family, Dad, Mom, daughter, son, went into the Sangre de Cristo mountains in Colorado to fish. Dad taught us that skill, and Mother taught us about the names of wild-flowers and trees. Our dog, Brownie, went along too, and one day he got interested in a porcupine and received a snoot full of quills. 

The strange thing about quills is that they carry their own antibiotics in a fatty substance inside them. Neither the animal nor its enemy is likely to get an infection from the needles. But Brownie whined as Mother held his back legs to keep him from running away. Dad got his pliers out of his leather tool bag and pulled them out one by one. None of us ever saw another live porcupine, but you know how dogs sometimes twitch in their sleep or move their legs as if dreaming of running? We felt that sometimes he might be dreaming of that awful day when he ended up with a hurting nose.   

The quills themselves look like straws with black trim. Native American Indians have used them for generations for their splendid artwork. Each porcupine has 30,000 quills. That’s plenty to twist, wrap, and braid and use for decoration. You see them on dance costumes, leather medicine bags, knife sheaths, and baskets.

God is such a wonderful creator. The Bible says, God works all things together for good, and I believe he has a use for everything He makes. I’d say we’ll never run out of discoveries of his creation, and when we get to Heaven, we’ll probably learn all about them if it’s something we’ll enjoy knowing. 

Random Memories of Germany

8 Nov

Paris Part 2

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

I think the most memorable trip was the bus trip we made to Paris with the girls in 1981 over New Year’s into 1982.  The first complaint we had was that, when we boarded the bus,

Credit Pixabay

we found that a lot of the single soldiers traveling together, had each wanted a window seat, leaving only one seat on the aisle for someone else.

On the bus

Therefore, when we found two seats together, we took that one.  The remaining two seats together were at the back of the bus.  Okay, that’s not much of a problem, except that was the “smoking section” on the bus, which was laughable.

Credit Pixabay

I mean, come-on – ANY smoking on a BUS would contaminate the entire bus.  But Fred was violently opposed to sitting among all that smoke, so I volunteered to sit in the back with one of our daughters.  The girls weren’t too pleased with the situation, and traded seats with each other quite often.  I especially remember that, being winter and cold weather, we had our coats and gloves with us.  And the girls would sit with my leather glove across their noses the entire time they sat in the back with me – they really couldn’t stand all that smoke!

Credit Pixabay

Also, on the trip home from Paris, quite a few of those riding with us, especially in the back of the bus, had been drinking.  I guess they had found a New Year’s party somewhere.  They were quite tipsy and loud – they particularly enjoyed doing the “Funky Chicken” over and over with much hilarious laughter.  I remember telling Karen, who was sitting with me at the time, that “this is real life – this is not a made-up movie to show you what drunk people are supposed to look like.”  She looked at me and stated that “they are stupid…and silly…and I will NEVER get drunk!!”  And she never did.  It was a great teaching moment.

But that story gets us away from our time in Paris.  We loved staying in the hotel, and the breakfasts they gave us of French bread, butter and jam,

Credit Pixabay

and the croissants (sigh)!  We just wished they had allotted us more than one croissant!  They were delicious!!

Credit Pixabay

We went to the Louvre, and spent quite a bit of time there.          

The Louvre with small arch

 We went up the Eiffel Tower.

The Eiffel Tower – Judy, Karen and Janet

We walked along the Trocadero and we told the girls about our 1969 visit to Paris, and the fountain with jets shooting water across the fountain.  

The Trocadero and water canons

We showed them  the statues we had seen along the Trocadero in 1969.

The Eiffel Tower from the Trocadero

 We went inside the Notre Dame and showed them the beautiful Rose Window with its stained glass.

We went to and inside Versailles, and took in all its beauty. 

 We saw Napoleon’s tomb. 

Napoleon’s Tomb

 We walked along the Champs Élysées and admired all the stores and the Arc de Triomphe.  We didn’t dare attempt to get to the Arc, as the traffic was suicidal!

The Arc in the setting sun…beautiful!

But, all in all, we thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Paris.  It was thrilling to us to know that we were in that beautiful country, and all the history that had passed through that lovely city and country.  If Fred and I ever go back to France, there are other places I would like to visit – Normandy, Marseille, Toulouse (mainly because my father stayed in Toulouse following WW1 for one year, and studied at the university there), Avignon, and just the French countryside.

Whether or not that comes to be, is anyone’s guess.  Well, I guess I should say that if it is God’s will, we will go there.  Otherwise, I’ll just be pleased God allowed us to see as much of France – and the world – that we did.  I am grateful.

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Greeting Card Stories

5 Nov

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

Dayspring greetings cards are my favorites and my favorite place to purchase them is Hobby Lobby. The cards have simple and encouraging messages and are a reasonable price. Better yet, Hobby Lobby always offers a 40 % off coupon.

It’s not often I need to purchase more than one at a time but last Saturday, I needed to purchase four..In the space of a week, I needed a card for sympathy, a wedding, a birthday and congratulations on your new home. Only thing missing was a card for a new baby. As I shuffled through the cards, my mind lingered over each one. Attached to each card was a life story.

The Sympathy Card

My cousin’s beloved mother in law passed away at the end of last week from Covid. My mind drifted back several years when my cousin’s twenty something son became seriously ill with complications of the flu. He was in the ICU, his organs were failing and he was on a ventilator. My cousin’s mother in law was a woman of strong faith. She went to her church with a handkerchief to be anointed, then traveled to her grandson’s bedside and prayed healing over him. Miraculously, he did recover. She always claimed that he survived because of the handkerchief. On his final day in the ICU the staff gave him a pizza party to celebrate and confided that they didn’t think he would survive. I felt a sad irony that she passed due to a flu.

Image by Inactive_account_ID_249 from Pixabay

The Wedding Card

Have I mentioned that I am blessed with a wealth of cousins? The wedding card is for a cousin’s second marriage. Since her divorce after 25 years of marriage, my prayer for her was that she would have wisdom in her relationships. It’s a big responsibility to be a single mom and who she allowed into her families lives would be a big decision. I am so pleased with the man she said yes to. In three days they will marry. The wedding plans have had some bumps including herself and two children succumbing to Covid three weeks before the wedding!

Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay

The Birthday Card

We have been blessed to have friends we have known and loved since we were in our twenties and the “baby” couple in a young marrieds Sunday School class. One of them has a birthday coming up. He has a great sense of humor and it is always fun to choose a card for him.

Image by DarkmoonArt_de from Pixabay

Congratulations on Your New Home Card

My husband’s brother is 65 years old and after years of living in his car or in a scary, mold ridden old motel, he finally moved into a reduced income senior citizen apartment building. We are thrilled he is finally in a safe environment. Since adulthood, he has been a loner and we are hoping he will make friends with other residents.

All of the cards have made it to the mailbox (A major accomplishment for me!) except the new home card. We don’t know how to address the card. We’ve called to get his address but being a loner, he hasn’t call back.

I'm a winner

After my retirement, I decided to re-learn the canning and preserving skills I learned from my mother but hadn’t practiced for twenty years. I titled the blog Old Things R New to chronicle my experience.  Since then I have been blessed to have six other bloggers join me, DiVoran Lites, Bill Lites,  Judy Wills, Louise Gibson, Janet Perez Eckles and Melody Hendrix

In addition to blogging, I work as the publicist/marketer/ amateur editor and general  “mom Friday” for my author daughter, Rebekah Lyn. I also manage her website, Rebekah Lyn Books  where we frequently host the best in up and coming authors.

My 2020 goal is to use my love of photographs and words to be an encourager on social media. You can visit Real Life Books and Media You Tube Channel if you would like to view some of the mini-videos I have created for our church, Gateway Community in Titusville, Fl.

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