For my time is nearly at hand.....

I always keep the current "Miller Bucket List" posted in plain sight these days, just to help me to stay focused and ever mindful that this thing we call "life" can be over in the blink of an eye.  At the top of the current list is Item #1-"To travel to Maine and see my very first lighthouse."  For many years now, I've been waiting to do this and now the time is nearly here.  Monday morning, God willing, I will be on my way.  I say "let the adventure now begin."


Many, many people (friends and family alike) are very concerned for my well-being and have questioned why I would take out on my own like that.  Several have suggested I should fly....some have said "Why not take the train?", and yet others have said "You know Peggy, there are lighthouses a whole lot closer than Maine!"  While I really do appreciate the fact that folks do care about what happens to me, this is one time when I must do something totally on my own and thus, the 3,600 mile round trip to Maine and back.  And to those who have been concerned, wow, every person should be blessed with friends who truly care about someone, enough to question their somewhat "crazy" ideas.  I feel very blessed.


I say to you now and will probably say to you as I travel along the way....I'm a little scared of the unknown.  I've heard stories from different folks that have given me advice and tips for my travel that involve phrases such as these~


~She's a ghost who only catches rides with trucker's when it's raining.
~Peggy those side roads are for the truckers' whose brakes fail them...better than flying off a cliff I guess.
~Just keep your door locked and you should be ok.
~Never let your gas gauge read under the 1/2 full mark.
~Some place in the road called the "Devil's Elbow".
~Holey Moley girl, don't you realize how far that will be?
~Oh man, sister...be ready for a  lot of hills and ups and downs.  Don't forget your barf bag.
~Check in with people a lot...don't stop for strangers that are hitch hiking.....hang on to your money!


And the list continues on....so feel free to string together the above phrases into your own story friends.  I've already heard enough scary stories to last a  lifetime :)


I realize that Peggy Miller still, even at age 56, is pretty naive as to the ways of the world.  I know that there are bad things and bad people beyond the driveway of my home here in Valley Center, KS.  I know that I need to be careful and always alert for danger or concerns.  But by the same token, I know that for every bad person, for every bad thing....there are 10 times the amount of good people and things out there waiting for me to see them.  Sometimes in the past, I've worried more about what bad thing could possibly happen than I ever looked for the nice things.  Chances are good that I have forfeited many opportunities to enjoy something pleasant, simply because I was always looking for the "awful" to happen.  May that change for me on this journey.


Tomorrow will be spent packing things up and finishing up a few things here at home.  I have great neighbors who will watch over things for me~a testament to the friendly people who live here in my new community of Valley Center, Kansas.  How wonderful to have friends now in two different places...Valley Center and Hutchinson.  You cannot ever have too many friends, that is a fact to hold onto.


One last thing....I'm positive that I have said it before and will say again and again while I am still here on this earth~Everything that has happened to me in my time here on Earth up until this very moment and everything that will happen to me in the future is just a "part of the plan" for my life.  I am quick to be impatient, the greatest "worry wart" known to mankind, and at times, the first to want to give up when things don't seem to be moving along fast enough.  I have questioned the reason for a lot of things in life, including what it was that was waiting for me here in Valley Center.  My good friend, Carol Stockton, sent me a message the other day when she realized I was struggling with what that "plan" was all about.  Her message contained the most powerful seven words I've heard in a long time.


                                   "Peggy, maybe the reason isn't ready yet."
You know Carol, my dear friend.....I think you are right. And since I haven't learned the reason yet for about half of my life LOL, I believe I'll head out to Maine and see what life is like there. 


And finally, to my dear friend and favorite Baptist preacher, Dennis Ulrey....I don't think there is a chance on earth that there will be either a Maine lobster fisherman or a Vermont maple tree tapper looking to settle down and find a wife while I am there.  I have a real disdain for ANY kind of seafood and I'd never be patient enough to marry a maple tree tapper.  Looks like this Kansas school teacher will have to look elsewhere along life's way.  But hey Dennis, thanks anyways!

Hey, and as MUCH as I love biking, this is one journey where two wheels just wouldn't make it!