~starting with the "good"~

A very good morning to you all from soggy Reno County, Kansas.  It seems so wonderfully nice yet kinda strange to be typing this blog post from the same old dining room table that I've used for so many times before.  We're talking "early morning" hours here and yep, it's just me and old Oblio the Roundhead that are up and about.  The other three inhabitants of this house are fast asleep but not for long though.  It's the day appointed for us to return to the western slopes of Colorado and by 7 a.m., we indeed hope to be on the road to begin the long journey back to Montrose.  And thus, the end of our special time back home in Kansas will come to an end.

It's been a great visit and a wonderful chance, really a blessing, to be able to come back home to reconnect with so many of our family members and friends that live here in the Midwest, especially in the Reno and Sedgwick County areas of Kansas.  When I left this place that I'd called "home" for so many years, I didn't realize just how much I would miss them all but I most certainly do.  We couldn't have asked for a better time here, well except for the flooding incident of yesterday morning, but what can you do about Mother Nature?  Not much, just accept that sometimes no matter where you live, you don't have any more control of the weather than even the weatherman himself does.  Rough way to spend a Sunday morning, but hey more on that in a moment.  Let's put the "good" way in line before the "bad" in life, shall we?  And there was so much good to be had here in Hutchinson.

We were blessed to arrive safe and sound in the early morning hours of last Friday and what an unbelievably good feeling to crawl into my old bed here and catch a couple of hours' worth of sleep before starting the day.  And when we backed out of the driveway of my house on 14th Street at mid-morning, we began making as many memories as humans could possibly store up in their hearts which must account for the reason my own heart feels very full on this morning of our departure.  The good folks at "Blogger" would probably raise their collective eyebrows if I wrote of every happy thing that we encountered, so as shown below, I'm remembering through photos many of the "blessings" that I found here along the way.

 Meeting up with my dear friend from my days at Lincoln Elementary here in Hutchinson~Brenda Chastain.  We two have shared many happy moments at school and always began our day in the gym doing breakfast duty together.  One thing I always loved about the relationship Brenda and I have had is our uncanny ability to read one another's minds.  We could speak without even saying a word to the other, the mark of a really good friend.  Brenda, I miss you!  Not sure if I will find another friend in this life of the kind you were.  

I was sure hoping to meet up with at least a kid or two that I might have known from school and sure enough, I did.  Found my good friend, Joshua Campbell, eating breakfast at IHOP on Saturday morning just a table or two away from me.  I've known this guy and his twin sister Angel, since they were kindergarten students of mine one summer now so long ago.  Love this young man and as I sat there briefly visiting with Josh, I was remembering all of the growth that I had witnessed in him over the course of the last 6 years.  It was one of those proverbial "teacher's bonus checks" to have crossed paths with him in Hutchinson this past weekend.

It was nice to catch up with family members here at home on Saturday evening.  Not everyone could join us and for that we felt badly.  But for those who were able to gather together, we gave thanks.  Show above, Mike's sister Nancy and her good husband Tarry.

My two sisters, Cindy and Sherry.  The beautiful woman in the photo is our mom.  It was nice to see my sisters and brother once again here in Hutch.  It had been such a long, long time to be together, all of us, here once more.

Mike and I had a great visit with Patty and JD Spencer, friends from the days of his youth here in Reno County.  How wonderful to be able to reconnect with those people who have played such an important part in Mike's early years of growing up in this area.  

We took a moment to return to Lincoln Elementary, in Hutchinson's south end of town, to pause for a photo underneath the basketball goal that served as the "altar" for our wedding back in May.  I will never see another basketball goal without thinking of that day when we got married in front of our family, friends and all of the students that I had taught over the past 3 years.  

And of course, the very lovely sight that we saw yesterday as we awoke here in this "neck of the woods".......

Give it any moniker you want, "Lake 14th Street" seemed to just about fit for me.  There is a street way under there somewhere and any lucky car (ours included) that was parked along it was filled with water by the early morning hours on Sunday.  Mike found about 3 inches worth inside our Honda Civic.  The story was the same all over town yesterday as the city was the recipient of nearly 7 inches of rain overnight.  Thanks to our friends Mike Lucia and JD Spencer, we were able to dry vacuum out most of it and we can only hope no more damage awaits us along the line going home today.  It wasn't what we had hoped to spend most of our Sunday doing, but things could have been so much worse than they were.  For the gift of very much  needed moisture in a parched and drought-filled land, we should all be giving thanks for the very least of things.  And you know what?  We do.

The clock is moving fast now, way too fast and it's time for me to sign off and pack up this computer with all of the other stuff (much of it not even needed LOL) and load up the car once again.  It's a long way from my old home on East 14th Street to the front door of my new home on Locust Road and it will take much of the day to get there from here.  I am so grateful, so very happy that I got to come back here and spend time in a place so very familiar to me.  I wish I could have seen everyone but shoot, time just went too quickly by us.  For the gift of seeing those that I did see, I surely do give thanks.  God blessed my life by placing me in the places and times that He did.  If you are reading this, then we are friends and here's another "You know what?" kind of moment~it was NO accident.  I love you guys, one and all.  Take care of yourselves and of each other this day.  Live your lives in peace.  This is Monday, the 5th day of August, 2013 and a very great day to be alive in!  As the "Good Book" admonishes us so to do, I am going to rejoice and be glad in it.