In Winter, Thoughts of....

Travel is a passion of mine. I love to discover the places that maybe others wouldn't go to or even want to explore. Like my family, I love to see the hiking places, and those of natural beauty but sometimes those places aren't very easily accessed.


When I traveled to Florida recently to visit our youngest son he shared with me some beautiful spots that were a major part of his life on Amelia Island. The vistas I came to treasure from this special place were not ones out a window in one of the many elegant condos but rather ones that walked the paths that meander through beautiful tree lined rivers and swampy areas that really glow in the early evening almost every day. The algae, the small ponds, and those moss covered trees gave an almost other worldly sight to those many spots we explored.

That walk through this part of Florida wasn't one through fancy stores with all kinds of trinkets - instead it was one of those special scenes that really creates those wonderful, perfect, Polaroid memories that make truly vacations special.


So what is your favorite spot in your community? Yup, in your own community! You know, those little out of the way places that showcases your area at its best. For my own home region there are just too many to count! Like the places I was able to ferret out in Florida all it takes is a little research and a day or two to explore.

One that was really over the top small, county park along one of the many rivers in our area that is a well hidden secret and is filled with nature walks that covers meadow and forested areas all along and through an area that can take your breath away and give a real answer to why West Michigan is so diverse in its landscapes that go from fabulous beaches, to great hiking and camping spots, to so much more scenery, scenery, scenery!

What's your special spot, that escape place where you can lose that stress from the office or classroom? Is it a beach filled with huge trees of driftwood, or a river walk where the kingfishers rule? Mine are all of the above, and more! Take a walk on that wild side in your own life and discover a new passion...the lovely places right where you live!

Christmas Surprises

Do you ever wonder if that old wives tale about trouble coming in threes is true? When my husband slipped and fell on the ice shattering his elbow Sunday I was certainly sure it was true!

Beginning on the Thursday before Thanksgiving I ended up in the emergency room in sever pain - my gall bladder. (Four days in the hospital because it was the weekend and only one surgeon around and he would not do it alone!) Then I had one of my big back molars crack and I ended up losing that tooth (It was dead!!!). And then Sunday my husband fell on a patch of ice outside our house and smashed his elbow, he had surgery to repair it as best they could after a terrible break.

He's home now in a splint with many weeks off of work, and I have to admit I am looking over my shoulder wondering - no, hoping nothing else happens!

Life isn't meant to be easy, but I think we're ready for a break! Merry Christmas!!

Make it a Shared Christmas

A wish list...that's what we all have, especially this Christmas. I can remember as a kid growing up in a rather poor family the wish lists that I would create were changed nightly and stuffed in my pillow case because none of the wishes could ever happen. The funny thing is I wrote them every year and would sneak them down into the burning fire in our fireplace hoping somehow they'd make it all the way to the North Pole.

Today the lists aren't as extravagant and are more realistic. They have to do with many of the people I care about and know, and even some I just barely know. My list this Christmas are for those who are in need in one form or another - a son who is severely injured after a car accident to finally get the social security so his family doesn't lose everything; a bit healing for a friend with MS; a fair shake for a friend who has lost her long term disability as the sole breadwinner for her family, there are just so many in need and with economic mess we're in there are so many losing everything.

Life isn't easy. It was never suppose to be but that is where we come in as caring people in a hurting world. We Americans have the wrong idea - it's not all suppose to be happiness - that's different than pursuing happiness (The Declaration of Independence). We need to find some contentment and a little peace in our lives.

Peace isn't things, it is relationships, family, and sharing those every day burdens. Sharing the weight helps make them lighter, and laughter and fellowship are the best for healing so let's make these Holiday Season one filled with sharing, laughter and togetherness, not simply objects that people forget after the first of the year.

Faith, or Simply Hope?

Faith. We all talk about it, but I see too much reliance on what we see as facts and figures for us to be truly faithful to anything. In order to have faith we need to believe in the possibilities of change...and of being able to step out and say out loud that we believe.

When I was young it was in church that I first began to understand what faith was, but as I grew I realized that in order have faith you have to trust, we need to have faith in that person, store, business or government.

So here I sit with all that has happened both personally, and nation-wide and wonder how will this affect all of us in the coming year? We all come to trust and faith through different experiences in each of our lives. For me it hasn't been an easy journey, but it has finally brought me to where I am today. From childhood with all it's pitfalls and for the the terrors of the teen years that proved to be as painful for this wallflower who tried so hard to fit in, to those early years of marriage as a military wife I was so confused. Part coming from the admonition that the family did not accept Episcopalians. I was too young and too frightened about losing the one good person I had found in my life. But part comes from the fears that I let encase me and hold me for so many years as well.

Stepping away from those pains and facing them made me stronger. I now stand for supporting those who are attacked whether it be verbal, or physical where I see it happen.

Everyone should have someone to stand for them, and behind them as support. That's loving your fellow man, and woman.