Good Morning! It has been a beautiful end to the week here in Iowa where nature has been giving us temperatures in the 70's, low humidity and mostly sunshine. It is a wonderful time of year in the upper Midwest. This weather has been a nice reprieve before the heat and humidity return by Monday.
Speaking of beautiful, this past Wednesday 20,000 riders came in to town on Ragbrai. Ragbrai is a non-competitive bike ride going west to east across Iowa for 8 days, and people come from all over the country to ride their bikes. The ride to Mason City was 105 miles for the one day! The town has places for everyone to eat if they wish including local churches, etc. Our large East Park was covered in tents, people, and bikes! Many have "support vehicles" (RV'[s) that they stay in and they keep extra bike supplies, etc. on board. Joel likes to go down and chat with a few which he did again this year. He has never had an interest to ride with 20,000 other bikers but is interested in their stories! One guy from out east was so impressed with how "green and beautiful" it was here in Iowa. Seeing our place of residence through someone else's eyes makes us more grateful for our Midwest roots.
This past Tuesday the contractor began working on our upstairs bathroom. In one day he had the demo mostly done, removing the big ol' jacuzzi tub the next morning. He is here by 8 am and leaves by 4. I am spending most of my time in the basement family room or on the front porch. Joel finds his own "spaces" to retreat into but he is also curious about what they are doing! So excited to have it happening!
It is no surprise to any of you when I say demolition is swift and destructive! When we watch HGTV or DIY neither of us like the demo part of the show. Renovations are slower and more precise. More intentional and restorative. It is kind of like our words...........If we speak negatively and with anger, it is so destructive and quickly tears people down. Destroys relationships, sickens our bodies. But if we are intentionally more constructive....building up others and yes, ourselves? It is soooo good.....
This was blueberry week for us. We only ordered 10 lb this year from the Mennonites, as we won't freeze any. They are so delicious! I already made blueberry muffins and will be thinking of other ways to enjoy them besides in our yogurt, cereals, and on top of French toast! We loooooove blueberries!
My siblings and I were texting this week about a house we lived in while Joel was going to seminary in St. Paul, MN. It has been called "the bat house" because we killed around 20-25 bats that came into our living spaces from the attic during the two years we lived there. H.o.r.r.i.b.l.e. An inspector told us there were around 200 in the attic and by law we could not exterminate them. Joel used to sit down the basement with his BB gun and shoot them as they came out of the walls...we learned where they came from and plugged those entrances but YUK! One time we came home from somewhere and the kids and my niece Debbie were with us. A bat started flying around and I screamed, "BAT" and ran outside. Debbie was soooo upset with me as I left all 4 of the kids inside. Needless to say it was not my finest parenting moment. My hubby and brother did the same thing once...ran outside! But they bravely went back in with tennis rackets and killed the thing. Ugh.... That two year adventure with bats has made it impossible for me to move into a house without checking the attic for residents first.
That memory took me back the the Philippines where we had huge flying roaches. (Besides bats outside). The roaches were in our house no matter how clean it was. One night not long after we moved in Joel asked me if I had added a door handle to the kids bedroom closet because it looked like I had........until the handle moved. It was a roach. We ran and got the RAID and sprayed and sprayed but it kept going across the floor. Joel got a dixie cup to put over it and it dragged the cup across the floor. I never got used to them and can't tell you how many cans of RAID we used to kill ants and bugs of all shapes and sizes. We grew to love the Gecko lizards that lived in our house because they took care of a lot of bugs!
Thinking back on The Philippines had me dragging out our USB port that is filled with Joel's years of slides, thanks to Bethany and Abbi. We have enjoyed looking back not only at our FIlipino slides but all slides............here are two pics of us engaged and soon to be married, taken 55 years ago with Joel's motorcycle at Golden Valley Lutheran College where we met. Who are these people and where did they go? Ha.....
So today I am grateful for a house without bats or flying roaches! Grateful for memories of so very long ago and pics to look at. Grateful for the bathroom reno going on, for a young man of faith who is working on our bathroom. Grateful for nice weather, Ragbrai coming through, walks outside this week. Grateful for places to retreat at home while the work is being done! Grateful for blueberries and more blueberries to enjoy, for phone calls, texts, emails, that connect us to family and friends. Grateful for God bringing Joel into my life 55 1/2 years ago.....Grateful for open windows, breezes, birds singing, and so much more.
Enjoy your weekend!
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