Good Saturday to you from snowy Iowa where yesterday's snowstorm brought us 6-7 inches of the white stuff. It was snowing when we woke up and still snowing when we went to bed last night. Wind brought it's own headaches to anyone out on the road. Winter in mid- January keeps us close to home, and grateful for our fireplace and warm house. Still, there is a beauty to be found in the fresh snow and how is adorns the trees, bushes, and roofs, blanketing earth. Thought I would share some of that beauty with you today.
View from dining room side window
Backyard and deck railing piled with snow
Taken from upstairs looking down on the half
down landing and out the 8 ft. tall window.
A bit of drifting in front of the garage door!
Speaking of mid-January, we finally decided we better put away the Christmas tree.....and get the lights off the house. Unusually warm weather ( 41 degrees) made the outdoor task easy. Things look so stark when the tree and all the decorations and lights get tucked away. And with the tree gone we do miss the glow of the lights at night, but know it was time.
Speaking of time, I was able to get a hair cut this past Tuesday. My hair had grown a bit in two months, although I had cut away on it myself a few weeks ago. My hairdresser had sickness in her house for the month of December, but was healthy when she came to our house. We wore masks "just in case" any germs were flying around from both of us. What is it about a fresh haircut that makes a person feel soooooo good!?!
There is not much going on the first three weeks of January. That is a good thing, but also means there is a lot of slow time. Puzzles, books, music and TV fill the hours. I was getting into a series by Jana Deleon and read the first four books in her 21 book series, but then realized they were pretty much the same plot over and over again and our library does not carry them either. On to the next book! Or puzzle....or TV show. What do you do with your slow time?
Last Sunday we Skyped for a really long time with friends who spend their winters in Tucson. It was nice to catch up on each other's lives....and have a good laugh or two in the process. Whenever we chat with them about their lives I can't help but think back on when we were planning to move to Arizona. They were encouraged by our sense of adventure and our thoughts of a new life with a new ministry in a different part of the country. God used our plans to spur on their own long term plans and then the rest of the story happened......And now we listen and observe their adventurous life while we continue to be here in Iowa as we head into year 26. We thought Iowa was a stopping point for us, but here we are. Life is indeed what happens while you are making other plans! To be honest, we still miss the west, but especially our home state of Minnesota. Although if we were to think of a place where we would want to move to, we don't feel any town call our name. But as military you always had to have a home state.....we still have that mindset, and there is much to love about ours. The lakes, forests, four seasons, "Minnesota nice", family roots, and did I mention lakes? There is much to like about Iowa too, and for us the neighborhood where we live is at the top of our list. Oh, we will always love a new adventure! We have moved 23 times and lived in 6 states and 1 third world country....it gets into your blood and I was born with it so alas...........the desire to live a somewhat nomadic life is there.....but then again, God has blessed us where we are. Being in our 70's we know there is at least one more move for us ahead, but when and where? Only God knows!
Speaking of only God knows, yesterday I saw the dermatologist for a melanoma check...all was good! He is the nicest guy....he had been catching up on my medical chart and so was asking me about the lymphedema and using a pump. Did the pump help? I said I didn't know, but the pump is to move fluid out of the arm and won't keep it out, but moves out this toxic fluid which is a good thing. So, last night as I was thinking, only God knows if this is helping.....after supper I used the pump on my arm and hand. I ended up getting up 3x to head to the bathroom in the night and that surprised me until I was reminded by God that the tech had told me that moving the fluid out of the arm makes you go to the bathroom more. Seriously. So, here was my answer.........it is working and doing it's job. The sleeve and glove are doing their jobs, the bandaging is doing it's job,, and as we pray over the lymphedema and persist with the above named daily check list, we are doing our jobs...and a quiet reminder in the night let me be at peace that it is working..........
So with that story, I am bringing this Saturday's Scribbles to a close today with so much to be grateful for. I am grateful for the reminder from a loved one to see the miracles in 2022, grateful for the "tools" we have to manage and maintain, grateful for good reports, for sunshine after a storm, for fresh snow and it's beauty. Grateful for my Alexa playing worship music in a moment, for walking 30 minutes again, for an old iPad that lets me read free Kindle books, for homemade pork stew on a chilly day, for a toasty fireplace, blankets and my "woolie" at night, for texting with siblings, kids, grands, and friends, for phone calls, for a much needed hair cut, for a drive down by the river, and for so much more!
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Enjoy your weekend!
Enjoy your weekend!
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