TAKE THIS TUNE... Life is a Highway

Saturday morning, I got a little nudge from Jamie, who created Take This Tune... “You might enjoy doing this week's Take This Tune.” It is difficult for me to get back to the discipline of blogging with my mind still going in a thousand different directions. FYI, I truly enjoy the music of Rascal Flats and love the movie “CARS.”

Last summer I did drive cross-country and back for the sixth and seventh times in my life. I cannot begin to count the times I have flown from coast to coast. A friend in Massachusetts remarked one time that she always thought I had a wanderlust-type spirit. As I discussed in one of my posts (June 29, 2009), I have actually stepped foot (or car tires have touched ground) in 42 of our 50 states. I have actually lived in only five of them (California, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Connecticut). Then there are all the places we have visited in our cruising life… the Bahamas, Antigua, Dominica, Barbados, St Thomas, St Kitts, St Maarten, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, and Columbia. I think that pretty much covers most of the ports. We may be adding more in the near future. I never in my life thought I would own a passport, say nothing of travel outside of the USA -- except for Canada.

However, this summer my highway travel has been a tad different. It involves travels of the mind… to discover more about who and why I am who I am.

The wordy 1940’s brochure and the not-so-wordy 1950’s brochure about the summer camp my dad attended (and my grandfather had a hand in running) is finished. I spent hours looking at the poorly scanned pages under a magnifying glass (program) so I could make sense of the words. Then I printed out the 50 pages, incorporated what I figured out to be the printed words, made double-sided copies and placed the pages into report covers. I made 6 copies of this. My aunt (dad’s sister) sent me a collection of thoughts she had written during the years – mostly about Camp Tosebo. I have put them into Word and added appropriate pictures (if I have them). That needs to be copied and put into the report cover. There will be chapters with pictures on Todd School, Camp Tosebo and my memories of life with Dad – all interspersed with pictures and emails received from the still-living relatives. When it’s done, I believe I will have written my first book. I would love this project to be done and sent out for Christmas. This may be an unrealistic deadline as I have much more soul-searching and writing to do. At least I will have most of it done – the easy stuff. The things already written that only need to be organized.

I have been knitting and crocheting several things for the grandkids. I finally found a pattern for an ear-flap hat that seem to be popular with the kids these days, which I can make with some ease. I have also been making jewelry for Christmas gifts. This is not real high class stuff, just things I think will be neat for early teen boys and my 9 year old granddaughter. Now, if I were really ambitious, I would work on fixing my camera so that I could take pictures of all this.** That means finding the instruction book and reading it. These craft sessions also provide me with “thought time.” Some of these thoughts actually find their way to the printed page.

Two weeks ago, I was handed a gift from a friend – she had no idea. It is a book that I read very quickly back in 2000… UP ISLAND by Anne Rivers Siddons. It is taking me back through the early emotions of my divorce that occurred circa 1981-82. The emotions lasted a much longer time. The healing of the main character takes place on Martha’s Vineyard. I actually visited that island for one long Columbus Day weekend. It was a wonderful weekend and the book is allowing me to relive some of that wonder. Of course back then I didn’t take many pictures. Darn! I need to fix that camera!** I am enjoying this highway also.

So many highways to travel, so little time… BIG sigh.

** OK… so here’s the scoop on the camera. There was no LCD display picture. I could see the picture after it was taken but not before. I now know what the DISP button means – push it once, no picture; push it again, viola! The picture returns. Do I feel a little dumb?? YES!!! Hubby is being very smart, “I won’t comment on it! Nope, not saying a thing.” I’ll post pictures tomorrow of some of my creations. For now, I am going to a corner and licking my wounds. I may even watch this video again.

Thanks for stopping by... have a great week.

Back from the foothills...

This is a picture taken in February when we visited our friend Ed (a.k.a. Mr Moose) in Sonora. The hill doesn't look ALL that steep from here, but it sure is when you try to walk up -- or down. Anyway, we had another very nice visit with our friend over the past few days. It was very warm -- hot even. We are in the midst of another summer heat surge. Anyway, I would have taken pictures on this trip but my camera decided to have a "melt-down". Yes, I have tried new batteries.

One of the highlights of my visit this time was to participate in Old Farts' Day at the local Sonora grocery stores. Sonora is about 45% retirees and on Tuesday some of the grocery stores give the seniors 5% off on their entire grocery bill. Ed figured that last year he spent about $4000. on groceries. Since he shops on Tuesdays almost ALL the time, it worked out to a savings of about $200. Now that's nothing to sneeze at, right?

We also watched the State Farm Home Run Derby on Monday night and the All Star Game on Tuesday night.

I had a long long phone conversation with my 85+ year old aunt on Sunday. She lives in Wisconsin and I was hoping to garner some more knowledge about my dad's childhood from her. It looks like this is going to be quite a project for me. I want to do this for my sons and grandchildren, so they know something of their heritage... then again... that's another story that I will share with y'all some day.

Thanks for stopping by... have a great day!!

Driving Through Some Memories

I copped this idea from Tammy over at Queen-Size Funny Bone. Strangely enough though, a couple of weeks ago I really was wondering how many states I had actually traveled through and which I had actually in stopped to visit. So, I printed out an alphabetical list of the states and a blank map to fill in. And promptly left both items sitting on my desk... in a pile with other important papers.

I have driven cross-country many times (June 1978 MA to San Diego; July 1982 San Diego to Massachusetts; September 2001 MA to Sacramento; April 2003 Sacramento to MA; September 2004 MA to Sacramento; August / September 2008 Sacramento to MA to Sacramento). I have decided to divide the states into categories:

1. States I have NOT been to or through –

Alabama, Alaska, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota I did notice that these states are very north or very south… Obviously, this makes me a true middle-of-the-roader.

2. Drive-Thru States, with no real story connections (maybe a comment or 2) –

Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia

3. Drive-Thru States and those with a story –

Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Wisconsin, Wyoming

4. States in which I have lived (some stories included) -

California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Pennsylvania

edit 6/30/09