~Upon opening just the right door~

It's the beginning of a new day for us all, friends and family~welcome to it!  Good morning from Colorado where the wind is blowing off of the mountains to the east of us at a "clip" strong enough to push the windsocks in the yard straight out at times.  The view of the San Juan Mountains and the Uncompahgre Range is covered with a haze, most likely made up of smoke residue from the fire in the Black Forest.  From the kitchen window there is a great view of Highway 50 and I sit here sometimes and wonder just how many of those cars might be  heading to my home state of  Kansas.  

I have thought about that wonderful place where I was born, grew up and spent all of my days in so very many times since I arrived here in Montrose.  It's amazing, at least to me, about the  connections to Kansas I have found while I've been here on the western slopes.  That, "geesch, the world gets smaller all of the time" idea has been very true for me in the past recent days and yesterday was a pretty dang good example of that.

I had made my weekly journey to the Southside Laundromat yesterday morning when I noticed a gentleman standing behind my car, looking at my license plate.  As I went out to retrieve some things from the back seat, he asked me "Hey, Reno County Kansas plates~is this you?" I'm sure that my eyes lit up at the thought of someone standing right there beside me who knew of where I was from and without even thinking, I extended my right hand to him.  As we shook hands with one another and introduced ourselves, it was amazing to learn that he too was a "Kansan".  His name was LaVern and he was from Montezuma, in Gray County, the south west part of the state.  He and his wife, Wilma, had been staying in Montrose for a month as they visited one of their children who lives here.  They were taking care of doing their laundry before leaving in the morning to return home.  We stood there and talked, LaVern and I, for the better part of 20 minutes. He was surprised to learn that I was newly married and had been away from Kansas for less than a month.  I told him of my trouble with homesickness and he understood exactly what I was saying. His advice to me was the same as I always hear ~"Just give it some time."  Once again I truly believe it was not an accident that we should just run into one another yesterday.  It was in the "plan" and I'm grateful for the gift from God above.  My old home doesn't seem so far away when I run into folks like Wilma and LaVern.

I'd been meaning to apply to receive a new license to teach here in Colorado and yesterday was a day to start that process.  I know, I know, I already retired~twice already but I wanted to be able to at least have it in hand if I ever needed it.  Yesterday was a good day for me to get things rolling and the first order of business was to get my fingerprints taken and sent on to the FBI offices in Denver.  Never had my "prints" taken before and thus it was quite an experience to go through.  I learned something about our fingerprints yesterday and that was as we get older and use our hands more and more, sometimes parts of our fingerprints kind of disappear.  Well at least that's the explanation Alice, a sheriff's deputy, gave to me.  We tried the new and modern way of getting them through digital imagery and when that didn't work out so much, we went back to the old way of fingers on an ink pad.  $49.50 later, I was done and now, for better or worse, my fingerprint card is on the way to Denver.  The next step will be to finish up the rest of the application process and about $100 later, I'll be "good to go" if I should ever wish to teach here.  Oh yeah, I guess it was "meet someone from Kansas" day as Alice told me that she too was born in Kansas.  Her hometown is Salina and just to hear the word "Salina, Kansas" uttered as I was having my fingerprints taken brought a huge smile to my face.  God's gift was of good people yesterday and for the least of things I do so give thanks.

Life goes on here and truly I am grateful for all of the good things that have been sent our way so far.  Mike and I will have been married for one month come the day after tomorrow.  This first 30 days of married life together has been a whirlwind of extreme change for us both  and although it hasn't been as smooth a road as we thought it might be, we are "ok".  Wait a minute, I want to say that differently...we are BETTER than "ok".  Slowly, sometime's at a snail's pace, I am getting more used to life here.  Finding my niche in a brand new place so far away from home takes a little bit of time.  I know that I was brought here for two reasons~one of which was to become the wife of the most wonderful man in the whole world.  The other?  Well, I'm not sure what the other is yet~but when I turn the knob to the right door that is opening, I'll be the first to know.  And rest assured, when I know then YOU will too :)  Take care everyone and best wishes for this good day from me to all of you.  May peace be your journey today and always, for that matter.  I love you guys, all!

Sometimes I have to remember, especially when the journey of life gets a little tough, just how much I went through with "old lefty".  Most all of us, me included, are much stronger than we give ourselves the credit for.  Dr. Prince Chan...what a great doctor!

Of course, I am prejudiced in this manner but these are the 3 greatest kids that I know of.  I miss them and the unique personality that they each have.  So proud of them and love them so very much.

If a person could be in love with a state, then I would say that I am in love with Kansas.

Try as I might, I STILL cannot even come close to beating this man in a game of bowling.  He's good :)  "The Blessing"