~it all started with a paintbrush~

     Good Friday morning everyone out there from a place far away nestled safely into the Grand Valley of south western Colorado.  When I woke up this morning and washed up before making a pot of coffee, I had to laugh as I saw specks of "paper bag brown" paint on both of my hands.  We're doing some serious painting around here and last night Mike helped me to get most of the walls we are working on finished.  Obviously I missed washing off  a few spots of it when I took a shower before bed last night.  The brown color is very soothing to me and I chose it for the walls of our small extra bedroom, one that I will soon turn into an office area for myself.  Everyone needs a place to go to from time to time for some peace and solitude.  This spot will soon become mine.

     It was kind of weird last night as we worked together, Mike taping the windows off while I worked on painting the bottom part.  I looked at him and said "You know, this is a good feeling to be able to finally do this, don't you?"  He smiled and said that he understood exactly what I was saying.  Ever since I had arrived here early this past summer, Mike had told me that I could do whatever I wanted to in changing/redecorating the 100-year old farmhouse that we live in.  It had been a "bachelor's" house for nearly 7 years and ok, ok it really did need some sprucing up. 

     I had been putting off his offers of doing some interior redecorating for one reason and one reason only.  I was desperately homesick for my old life in Kansas and to be real honest, I wasn't sure if I would be able to stick it out here.  I couldn't bring myself to put a lot of work, time and money into doing something that I might not be around to enjoy in the future.  Heck, I was having a hard enough time just bringing out my remaining belongings from my old home along East 14th Street back in Hutchinson.  Painting was a sign of permanence to me and well, I just wasn't sure that I would make it.  I was wrong, really wrong.

     Looking back, I think the change for the "good" for me must have started about late September.  It crept up in the form of the most beautiful earthy blue paint that we applied to the walls of our bedroom and the subsequent decision to try and decorate in a lighthouse theme.  We hung an old fishing net that I picked up in the Puget Sound area last summer and filled it with numerous seashells that both of us had been collecting.  We added other things, in particular lighthouse memorabilia that I had come across during my trip to Maine in 2012.  Little by little the room took on a most peaceful aura and I liked that.  It settled me down to be there and that was good my friends.

     Then later on in January of this year, one of us had the crazy idea to repaint the kitchen and add some extra lighting.  Not sure if I remember rightly who the "one of us" was but no matter, we found ourselves for 3 weeks, up to our eyebrows, in another shade of blue, a pale one this time, as we coated over the old color.  We did some more cleaning out of stuff, rearranged things once again and just last weekend were grateful to have our friend Mel from Grand Junction come down and help Mike put up the new track lighting.  When we finished, we took a picture and it made both of us happy to see the results.  Now, well now it's the third room we've moved on to and with luck we will be completely finished before mid-March.

     Sometimes when I think of all the struggles that I have gone through in order to find myself "ok" with calling this new place my home, I have to stop and think about my mom.  Lois Scott lived in the house on East 14th Street in Hutchinson, Kansas for over 25 years.  When the time came for her to leave it and enter long-term care in a nursing home, it was not a happy moment in time for her.  When she sold the house (I later bought it) and emptied it of all of her possessions, it marked the beginning of a long 4-year journey of existence in a room much smaller than the living room I am now sitting in as I type this blog post.  When she passed away a couple of weeks after her 87th birthday in 2007, very few of her original belongings from her old home could be found in her room.  Time and time again we would say to her, "Mom why don't let us bring your_______________________ from home.  Don't you think it would be nice to have it here with you?"   Fill in the blank friends with anything you could imagine an 87-year old might have had....a chair, record player, cabinet, a pretty picture from the living room wall.  My siblings and I tried them all.   Each time we would ask, she would always flatly refuse and we knew why.  By integrating things from her life before nursing home care would have been acknowledging the fact that she was never going back there.  Perhaps some of you who have cared for aging parents know exactly of what I speak.  At first, I was just like her here along the Western Slopes but no longer.  This is my new home and this is where I belong.  Wielding a paintbrush may be the strangest of ways to put down roots into the soil of Colorado  but that's how I feel it to be for me.

     Am I totally over my homesickness?  Probably not.  Am I better today on this last Friday in February than I was in that last Friday of May in 2013?  Absolutely!  Mike and I talk often about this and that's something I am really grateful for.  If I have a sad moment and for whatever reason my memories take me back there to a place now well over 600 miles away, he understands why I need to call and talk to my family or friends back in south central Kansas.  When you stop to think about it, thank goodness this is not the pioneer days where people made the trek west and sent a letter back across the mountains once a year with a Pony Express rider.  All things considered in today's era of modern communication, we have it pretty nice after all.

     It's 5:30 in the a.m. here and time to get ready to get out the door for the day.  Hoping the days won't be much longer until we get word from another place, far away from us here, that a new life has been born.  That little Miller baby is due any time now and both Momma/Daddy are more than ready for that to happen.  God has blessed me a thousand fold and I surely pray the same for you all my friends and family.  This is the last Friday of February, the 28th day to be exact and a great day to be alive in!  I'm going to do as the "Good Book" so admonishes us to...."rejoice and give thanks in it."

The day I saw the sea~Portland Headlight, Cape Elizabeth on the coastline of Maine.

The view outside of our kitchen window, here at home in Montrose, Colorado.

A gallon of paint, willing hands to do the work. 

 

Back in the place that it all started from, my dear hometown of Haven, Kansas in October of 2013.

 It will never be Kansas because it is not supposed to be.  What a beautiful sight to see each and every day!
 

     

upon realizing the power of one~

"I am only one but I AM one.  I cannot do everything but I can do SOMETHING and I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I CAN."  Edward Everett Hale

     I'm not even sure where I first saw that quote by Edward Everett Hale, an American author and historian who died in the early 1900's.  But the moment I read it a few years back, I adopted it as my goal for whatever life remained for me here on earth.  With a current world population of well over 7 billion people, the idea of one person making any difference in the whole scheme of things might seem a bit on the "ridiculous" side.  How can one single person do anything to make a difference in this place?  Who would even notice and more importantly, who would even care?  The answer to those questions is easy and I see it on a daily basis and my dear friends and family, I would dare to say that you see it too.

     It's early, way early here along the Western Slopes this morning.  Somewhere out there, the "18" are tucked inside their places of rest and I hope they will have received a good night's slumber. We will be quite busy in our classroom and I need for them to be awake, alert and ready to learn.  For sure Mike and oddly enough, even Sally the dog are fast asleep and thus I find myself in a quiet house with only the sound of coffee brewing in the background. I'm thinking about that quote and the impact it has had for me.  It's in these very earliest of hours in the morning that I do some of my best and most profound reflections of life and the person that I have become. 

     As an educator for dang near 4 decades of time, I've had the chance to see first-hand how the power of one person making a difference works out.  I've taught in a dozen schools, worked for many administrators and shared experiences with hundreds of other educators and support staffs.  It doesn't matter whether it was at Lincoln or Avenue A Elementary Schools in Hutchinson, Kansas or Olathe Elementary School in Olathe, Colorado.  The concept of the "power of one" was at work and I was a witness to it each and every day back home on the great plains of Kansas and continue to see it today along the Western Slope of Colorado. 

    Friends, consider this.  I'm positive that today in the hallways of our elementary school that someone will notice a small child with their shoes untied and stoop down to tie them for him.  Another person will give a hug to an older kid who looks like the day didn't start off quite right for them.  A teacher will give a pep talk to students who have perhaps become complacent and admonish them to remember that they have way more capability than they are showing at present.  Some child, some little one whose belly is empty will receive a tray of nourishment to take away the hunger and not once mind you, but twice in this day.  The list goes on and one but you get the idea right?  One person at a time, one person at a time my dear friends.

     How about me?  What am I going to do to make any difference this good Thursday?  I've been attempting to do that with students since the early days of teaching in 1979 and I laugh now to think of it but many of the teachers I work with weren't even born then.  Hey that's ok because we all have to begin somewhere.  I began then.  I have made mistakes aplenty and learned well from each one of them along the way.  Today I will have many chances to exercise my right to do what I can without worry or regard to the things that I cannot.  More than likely it will be right there in our classroom but it can just as easily be found in the hallways, on the playground or in the teacher workroom.  Those opportunities will present themselves without even being asked and if my eyes are open and my mind is ready for the chance, they will be mine.  I kind of look at it as a way to keep growing myself and if I am honest then I would tell you that even though I always thought I was a good educator for all those years before, I still have room to change and become even better. 

My dear family and friends, I invite you to look around today and see how the power of one person doing what they can for those around them makes an impact in your day.  It's all around you, I promise and oh by the way, here's the nice thing.  Most of those people, you included, exercise their right to make a difference without even knowing they are doing it. They do it day in and day out, each and every day for one reason only.  It's the right thing to do. 

Have a great day everyone out there.  I can never tell you enough and if I've said it a thousand times already, well then here is time "one thousand and one".  Thank you for being my friends and caring about what happens to me.  Whether you live in Kansas or Colorado or even a hundred other places across this big world of ours, it was no accident that we met and became friends.  I hold that thought very close to my heart.  May God bless this day for you.

Mrs. Bette Harris made a difference in the life of a little fourth grade girl named "Peggy Ann Scott".

No doubt about it, friends like these have and will ALWAYS make a difference in my life, no matter how far away we find ourselves from one another.

There's a good chance that I made a difference in this kid's life :)  Michael, Michael, Michael..you can't help but to love him!

    

    

    

upon the passage of nine months~

Greetings dear friends and family on this Tuesday, February 25th in the year 2014.  Hard to believe or even imagine that it will soon be time to turn the kitchen calendar page over to show us the fine month of March.  It's always been my favorite of months, I suppose mostly because of the arrival of Spring and all the new life that it brings along with it.  Winter hands off the baton to the next season of the year and returns to the place where it goes after it finally leaves us here.  The seasons' dance continues and it wouldn't bother me a bit if Spring wanted to "cut in" before its due time. It is definitely time to change partners in that dance :)  Never have I been a cold weather person and I surely am not crazy about snow but I have survived here in a state known for those kinds of things and all in all, it's been ok.

The passage of "nine months" is starting to take on a whole new meaning here in our family these days.  Any time now, we expect to get the call from our son and daughter-in-law on Whidbey Island to let us know that their little one has arrived.  No one knows if it is a boy or a girl, but whether it be "Simon James" or his little sister, everyone will rejoice in the safe delivery of a healthy Miller baby.  I remember fondly the first time I met Angie when Ricky brought her by my house on East 14th Street back in Hutchinson.  It was over 3 years ago and they were on their way to the Kansas State Fair, only 5 blocks north of where I lived.  I knew from the first time I was introduced to her that she would be the woman that he would marry.  It was a "thank you God" kind of moment because I could tell within the first 5 minutes that she was a kind, loving and most sincere person.  Those two "kids" will be fine parents and as it is with all first babies, there will be plenty of lessons to learn about raising children.  Life is not easy but they will make it because of one thing.....they love each other.

Just a few days back, Mike and I marked our own version of "nine months" as we celebrated the fact that it was the mark of  nine months' passage of our marriage to one another.  Our first few months have not been easy and it is no secret to say that we have had to work hard to make it together.  What we thought would be a "piece of cake"  has proven to be totally the opposite for us sometimes.  Friends, I tell you the truth when I say that more than once, especially in the early days of this new life, I was ready to go back to Kansas.  Seriously, no kidding.  But we hung in there together and made it because of one thing only.....we love each other.

Perhaps the biggest part of the problem for me was the fact that I didn't know how to call this new state of Colorado my home.  Hey, I have to tell you that when I first came here and saw all of the mountains that I thought it was some of the most beautiful scenery there ever had been.  It was a great place to visit and I proved it by coming out here to the Western Slopes every month until Mike and I got married on May 21st.  Then two days later, we packed up all of my things and moved me here to stay and that's when the realization sunk in, and oh how I hate to hear it sometimes, "You're not in Kansas any more Peggy."  I had retired from teaching (again), gotten married and moved away from my lifetime home all in one fell swoop.  When reality sunk in for me, it was pretty much devastating.  How on earth could I make it here?

I was my own worst enemy in those early days of June and July as my homesickness nearly did me in, time and time again.  I had few friends here and had no idea of how to meet anyone new.  My bike, which I had ridden thousands of miles back in Kansas, sat idle on the front porch. My good friend Leroy referred to it as its "slothful state" and he was right.  Thank goodness for Facebook and its ability to keep me connected to the world I once knew and for the prayers of all the people who knew that I was having quite a time getting used to life here.  I've gone back to reread some of the blog posts that I made in those early hours and days.  I have to admit they kind of reflect the extreme sadness that I was feeling but I am glad that I wrote them.  It's been a blessing to reread those posts from last summer and to see just how far that I have come.  I'm 100 percent better today than I was then and perhaps I have yet a ways to go but I am just about positive that I will make it.  I have never given up trying although I have been close to it at times.  It seemed as though when I was at my lowest of moments, God intervened and gave me that proverbial "whack upside the head" that He has so often done and delivered the message to me that said, "You will make it here for I am with you wherever you may be."  I take much solace in knowing that and it brought me out of the deep valley that I often times found myself in. 

You know, when a person moves away from a place they have known for so long, they have to leave a lot of folks behind them.  Back in south central Kansas are a lot of good friends and most of my family.  I do miss them, without a doubt, and I will always remain most grateful for the time that I spent with them.  The gifts of their presence will forever be stored away in this Kansas farm girl's heart.  Never will I forget them and there is nothing that can stand in the way of our always being close to one another.  611 miles is just that, a short distance.  Did you just feel that Kansas?  It was a hug from me to YOU. 

But the most interesting and welcome thing has begun to happen to me here in this place called Colorado.  I felt it coming on several weeks back yet I was afraid to say too much for fear that I was wrong.  No, I need to say that a different way, "for fear that I would have to admit it."  I have begun to see that this new place in my life is actually an "ok" place to be.  The dear and loving husband that I have kept encouraging me all along saying, "It's ok to take baby steps."  It would appear that he was right.  My life here in a place that I once considered most foreign has been filled with the blessings of new friends and different purposes.  It was no accident that two kids from the "land of long ago, and far, far away" would meet up with one another after the passage of 4 decades of time.  It was in God's plan all along that I should not be a retired teacher in Kansas but rather come to teach this year  in a wonderful school called Olathe Elementary.  What more does He have in store for me here?  Hard to say but whatever it is, I say "I am ready for it."  

Here's how I have come to see it, 9 long months into this incredibly life changing journey that I embarked upon~There is beauty everywhere you look in this life of ours, whether it be the plains of Kansas or the majestic mountains of Colorado.  As for me, when I doubt the reasons, the purpose of my being in one place or another, I look to the "Big Guy" and know who truly is in charge of the whole thing in the first place.  I'm a flatlander and a transplant from Kansas but I already feel my roots finally beginning to take hold in the soil of this place that I now call my home.  Friends and family in Kansas and friends and family in Colorado-thank you for helping me to get to where I am this good day.  It wasn't an easy journey but "whew" I think I have finally made it.

Claire Hastings, my dear friend and teacher at Olathe Elementary here at home in Olathe, Co.

Fun with students here in Colorado.

A lifetime of memories of students back in Kansas.

You are right Leroy Willis-it's a little hard to ride like that.

Two fine people who truly love one another and the parents of my first grandchild.

Jessica Mandeville Ray, my dear friend and teacher at Lincoln Elementary back home in Hutchinson, Ks.





 

 

taking the time for a little reflection

Good morning dear friends and family from Montrose County, Colorado.  The weekend has passed and now it is the very early morning hours here.  Our 100-year old farmhouse is quiet and even Sally the dog is still nestled up in her bed.  Outside the sky is dark and as I gaze out along Highway 50 there's not a lot of traffic yet to be seen . There doesn't seem to be a lot of need for the general populace to be up and travelling before 5 a.m. these days.  I'm very partial to these early morning hours and the gift that they provide of peace and quiet.  Soon enough my day will be filled with sounds  aplenty.  I take this "before the sun comes up" time to think and reflect about my life.  Oh yeah, and to drink coffee. 

Having written this blog for well into 3 years now, from time to time I love to go back and reread some of the entries that I've made since I first started this in May of 2013.  I have to laugh at some of the things I've written and at times have remembered with a tear in my eye some of the not so fun things I have posted.  Repeatedly throughout my days of being a blogger, I've made mention of the fact that I write about whatever is on my mind.  Sometimes life is happy and going along smoothly yet during other times we travel roads that are pretty dang rocky and rough.  That is how life is and if we are blessed enough to live it, then we have to take the bad with the good. 

This morning I took a look at where I was in "time" a year ago or so today.  It brought back nice memories of a Kansas school teacher who was getting ready to make the most life changing decision she had ever made in life.  I had no idea of what would lie ahead for me but I had faith that all would be fine and you know what?  I still have that faith.

I'm reprinting that post from last year at this time if you would care so to read.  As for me, it's soon time to get ready for school and make the journey to a place that I have grown to love more each day, Olathe Elementary.  Today is our "pirate ship" party~more explanation on that later.  But it's 25 minutes of extra recess and a couple of slices of pizza for each of the "18".  Their hard work paid off for them. 

Weird how August and the first day of school doesn't seem that long ago.  In 3 months more we shall be done and all of a sudden, that makes me feel a little sad.  I think I just now had a "reflection" there friends.  I have told them, sometimes on a daily basis, not only how much they mean to me but also how much they should mean to one another.  My wish has always been for them to remember that and my prayer is that they do.  

Have a great day everyone and take care of yourselves and one another.


From a year ago, February of 2013   ~to everything there is a season, a time and a purpose

Greetings dear friends on a sunny Sunday afternoon from my part of the world, Kansas.  The "time and temperature" down town on Main Street is registering 49 degrees and probably a dang good thing that it is.  Those warm temperatures are helping to melt down a good part of the nearly 15 inches of snow we got just a few days back.  Just in time, by the way, as we anticipate blizzard like conditions to show up starting late this evening and into tomorrow night.  Depending upon which weather model you look at, we can see anywhere from 12 to 18 inches of more snow in the next day around our part of the "neighbourhood" and from drought stricken Kansas that continues to be good news.  Yes, it's a given that snow in such excessive amounts is a little tricky to get around in and a real mess to clean up, but in the least of things we give thanks for whatever moisture should be sent our way.  Don't know exactly what tomorrow will bring with the weather, but most folks around these parts are prepared for it and now, all we can do is wait to see.

I spent a big portion of the morning packing my car with some things that I will be taking on to Montrose at the end of the week.  Because the weather sounded so terrible for Monday and Tuesday, I took advantage of the warmer temperatures (and funny how the 40's all of a sudden sound so "tropical") to load up things that I wanted to get moved that I really can do without here at home.  During my visit 3 weeks ago, I took out the first load of books, dishes, and assorted odds and ends.  This trip out, all of the old crocks and bean pots that I have collected over the years are already neatly tucked inside the car with several other items stashed in around them.  The car is full and packed as tightly as I can safely make it and now, all I have to do is drive the 611 miles that lie between Mike's front door and mine.  Putting that into perspective for me is it's like saying I'm going to drive over to Haven and back a little over 25 times, give or take a time or two because of the mountains.  Not the easiest trip I ever took but also not the hardest either.  It's all in how you look at it my friends, all in how you look at it.

 You know I had the strangest "awakening" as I was packing things up and taking them to the car earlier today.  The realization began to set in that the "exodus" of those things from the house would leave some gaping holes inside and because I still will be living here until school is out, I wanted to rearrange some things inside so it wouldn't appear as bare.  It was easy to move the remaining things around to fill in the spaces that were once occupied by the items now stashed inside my car.  And guys, here's where the "awakening" part came to me~If I had enough stuff already inside the house to fill in the "gaps" where stuff had once been, then I could be wrong here, but I think that's a good sign that maybe I've held onto too much stuff to begin with.

The late-comedian George Carlin had a memorable stand-up routine on the subject of "stuff" and although laced with his "choicest of words" he still brings about a great point~People have way too much attachment to the things that they own, so much so that it can be more than overwhelming at times.  Friends, do you ever find that to be true of YOUR own stuff?  I know that I have, especially as of the last few months.  And it is with a huge sigh of relief that I know I am ready to begin "letting go" of it for the sake of having a much more peaceful and simple life.  When you hear it said that "less is best", well they really mean that.  The more you have (at least in my case) the more you want.

As I've gone through my personal belongings here at home, I've had to make decisions about which of "3" piles that each item will go in.  There's the "take me to Montrose" pile that holds things like my collections of crocks and old fashioned brown bean pots.  There's the "this can stay in Kansas" pile like the dining room table and chairs and living room sofa.  And finally, there's the infamous "over my dead body" pile with things like all of my old record albums, the 50-year old Easter egg, and my Grandmother Brown's handmade checker table from 100 years ago.  And along the way, sorting through papers and the "leftovers" from the last 20+ years of life, most of which can and SHOULD be trashed.  I kind of like the feeling of "travelling light"~probably could get pretty much used to it.  How about you?

Well, this afternoon is coming to a close and although the sun is still shining brightly above, those of us in this part of the country know that the winter storm warning that awaits us in a few hours is indeed a real thing.  Looking for huge amounts of snow and wind to come our way tonight and tomorrow and as best we can, most of us are prepared to wait it out until it should pass by us.  Although the moisture is desperately needed, the high winds and ice that will accompany this storm (now named Rocky) are not welcome visitors.  Praying of course to hang on to our power throughout the night and tomorrow and that everyone in our town and all the other affected areas will be safe, warm and INSIDE until the storm is over.  Take care of yourselves, all of you, and one another no matter where you may be tonight.  Winter cannot last forever, it only seems sometimes as if it will.  Taking the "bad" alongside the "good" is at times easier said than done~Hang in there together everyone, be safe and well.  Have a great Sunday evening friends!

My favourite piece of crockery~one of the first ones I wrapped and tucked into the corner of the car's trunk this morning.  My name was written here in Kansas when I was born.  It will always be a special place to have been raised up in.

Now my name is written here along the western slopes of the Colorado Rocky Mountains and it too will be a very special place for me to be.  And as the "good book" says in Ecclesiastes 3:1, " to everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under Heaven".  With a grateful and happy heart and a much lightened spirit, I tell you that I have found mine.  I am at peace and I wish the same for all of you my dear friends.  If I told you a million times, it would never be enough~I love you all friends.

"Dear Marissa,"

Good morning dear friends and family~
Half of the blessed time that we all lovingly refer to as the "weekend" has come and gone.  How fast the time flies, it would surely seem.  A quick check on my phone's weather app tells me that it's going to be a pretty fine day here along the Western Slopes.  Spring, my most cherished time of the year, is set to arrive here in about 26 days more.  This has been a long and hard winter for so many of us and sometimes it's hard to fathom that we really will see the warm days come back around once again.  Take heart everyone and don't give up because they will come.  Winter is stubborn and determined some years but it cannot last forever.  It only supposes that it can.

This day's blog post is different and as you read it, you will understand why.  I'm very privileged in this life here in the Rocky Mountains to be a teacher at a wonderful school just ten miles up the road from our home in Montrose.  Every day 18 of the most wonderful kids that you could ever imagine walk into the door of our classroom and call me their teacher.  I have shared my blog with them at various times throughout the school year as I've tried to guide them through the writing process.  It's fun to watch their faces as they have listened to me read to them from it as well as their excitement in determining any errors I might have made :)  One little girl in particular is a steady reader of it and today's blog post is written for her.  I thank God each day for the blessing of being a teacher.  It's the finest and most honorable of vocations that I could ever have known.


Dear Marissa,

     It's the weekend little one and I hope that you are enjoying it just like any 9 or 10-year old kid should.  Mr. Renfro and I have been very busy around here doing the kinds of chores that grownups get to do, you know things like laundry, housecleaning and paying the bills.  May I give you a word of advice my young friend? Don't be in a hurry to grow up too soon, EVER.  In fact, plan on being a kid at heart all of your life.  It really works out better for you that way.

     I suspect that you are a little surprised to be reading this and to learn that you are the subject of this blog post.  But I thought about this a lot before I actually wrote it and it truly seemed the right thing to do.  Sometimes in the "blink of an eye" the inspiration for what to write about comes to me.  Yesterday for some reason it was you I thought of and thus, well thus the impetus for writing a blog post called "Dear Marissa,"  I hope that you like to read it.

     I think that you may be among my youngest of readers and it always makes me happy when you come up to me at school and tell me quietly, "I read your blog last night Mrs. Renfro."  At first, I just figured that you'd read it a time or two and then be finished yet that is definitely not the case.  You are what I like to refer to as a "voracious" reader of the printed word and it's not just this blog but lots of other printed texts that you seem to constantly have in front of you.  I like to see that and I encourage you always to keep reading, whatever it is that you should enjoy. The saying that "knowledge is power" is indeed true and it would seem to me that there is no better time to figure that out than when you are young, "fourth-grade young". 

     I had to smile in my heart just a few days ago when you came up to me and said, "Mrs. Renfro, I found a mistake in your blog last night."  For just a teeny moment in time, I was a bit worried.  "Holy cow!" I thought to myself.  "What did I leave out?"  And then you told me. Remember that you thought that I had spelled the word 'lo' incorrectly?  I knew exactly what you were referring to and after I explained it, well now you know that when you say something like "lo and behold" that's how you spell it.  You've got a great eye for editing it would seem young lady.  That makes me happy.

     I'm surely pleased with your writing and have seen lots of improvements in it as the year has gone by.  Lately I've noticed that you are adding in more detail and that you are not satisfied with just doing the bare minimum.  Don't be afraid to try different ways to say something as you write.  Once a few weeks back, you came to me with a quizzical look on your face and asked me why I used the phrase, "Save for Sally the dog, I was the only one awake."  THAT was a great question and I explained to you that I wasn't out to "save" Sally from anything and that it was just another way to say "except for Sally the dog". You are growing and changing in the way you write and some day in the future I suspect I shall see some of your words printed in some place very special.  I'm counting on that.

     I'm glad that I have shared this blog with you and all of the other kids in our great 4th grade class.  It's been fun to guide you all in the writing process this year and to turn you loose to write on your own.  All 18 of you have made great strides this year and that makes this teacher's heart most happy.  Please remember what I've always told you kids about this blog.  I am most careful about what I write so as not to include anything that would be of embarrassment (ok,ok save for the time I went into the boy's bathroom by mistake one day) to our classroom, our school or our community.  I choose wisely the things that I write about because once the "publish" button is pushed, I cannot take back anything that I wrote.  Sharing a few of my blog posts from time to time has been a great way to teach the kids in our room about writing.  My lesson to you all has forever been that writing can be a lot of fun if you allow it to be. I figure that the best way to show you is by my own example.

     We've been studying all year long how the use of text features help us to understand non-fiction text. In this blog I often include photos/captions to help my readers understand what it is that I am referencing.  I went back in my blog posts and picked out five of my favorite photos that I've used over the past 3 years and am including them at the bottom of this one.  I hope that you enjoy looking at them.    

     Well young lady, it's time for me to go now.  I am so glad that I came to teach at Olathe Elementary and to meet you and your 17 classmates.  That we all should be together this year is not by chance and I remember that each and every day. You are part of "the 18", a group of kids that I love so very much. See you soon Marissa!

     Most sincerely,

     Mrs. Renfro
      

The day we released the birds during our field trip to Ridgway in September.

The day that Mr. Renfro and I got married at my old school back in Kansas.

Poor "old lefty" and the hard lesson I had to learn about bicycling safely.

I am an "Olathe Pirate" now :)



Once I was a quiet little fourth-grade girl, just like you!






 

    
 

    

    

from the "other side"

Good morning to you everyone, my dear friends and family with greetings from here along the Western Slopes of the Rocky Mountains near Montrose, Colorado.  The clock on the microwave is displaying "4:33" in the a.m. and save for an occasional visit from Sally the dog, I'm alone at the kitchen table.  The sanest of persons living in this old farmhouse along Locust Road is fast asleep in a nice warm bed.  It's the crazy one who always gets up at least two hours before the sun.  For the life of me, I cannot figure out a way to do it any differently.  No matter what time it is, welcome to the weekend and I hope yours is a good one filled with everything you wish for it to be.  You deserve one my friends, you really do!

The countdown is on now for the birth of a tiny little baby that is soon to arrive to a momma and daddy who will love it for ever and ever.  My first grandchild is due on the 3rd of March and when that little one is born, its birth certificate shall read "Whidbey Island, Washington".  It's a place far, far away from here in the Rocky Mountains, nestled safely into the Puget Sound area off of the coastline.  I had never heard of that place before my son Ricky married his wonderful bride Angie last July there.  My son Grahame and I traveled to Langley, a small town on the island, for the wedding and we were able to spend 3 days seeing the sights and hearing the sounds of life there.  It was beautiful.

I have a ticket in hand to make the journey there to see this little person when spring break arrives here for our school district in late March.  Having never been through this before, I'm not quite sure what it is that a "grandma" does but I'm a fast learner and will probably do ok.  After the saga of "old lefty" in 2011, I was so afraid that I would never have the strength to safely hold things in my arms again and one of those "things" was a baby.  It was a real concern to me.  God provided the healing after that little curb jumping incident and there should be no problems.  The silly things that we people worry about!

Perhaps it is the idea of the baby arriving soon but lately for some reason, I've been ever more aware of all the blessings that are around me each and every day.  It's like an awakening of sorts that perhaps has come as I've settled more into my surroundings here in a place far from my old home in south central Kansas.  I surely am grateful for my new school family at Olathe Elementary, just up the road from here in Montrose.  I've said many times throughout these blog posts that it's a wonderful thing to work in a place where everyone watches out for each other.  I can remember what it was like the first time I met them all.  It was a huge mass of humanity to me, what seemed like thousands of strange faces looking my way as I was introduced to them all at the first faculty meeting in August.  I wondered to myself, "How on earth am I going to keep them all apart?  Geesch, I'll NEVER remember who is who!"  But oddly enough, I did figure them all out and it is with pleasure that I journey there each day to teach amongst them.  God knew all along what it was that I was supposed to do here in this new land called "Colorado".  In His own time, I found out.

And for the "18"?  I will forever be thankful for the blessing of knowing them and you know what?  I have to say something about them here.  No, really I have to say something about ME here.  Call it a "confession" or whatever you wish but a couple of mornings ago in my classroom I learned something about myself and the lesson was taught to me by my students.  For the record, some of my best lessons learned have come to me from kids.  We had just started our day and were busy in social studies, trying to work on some map skills.  I gave directions about what to do, not once but many times to them.  I was positive they were explicitly given and actually rather simple to follow.  Evidently they were not.  Time and time again during the next 3 minutes, I was repeatedly asked to repeat or clarify the directions of what to do.  I could sense my impatience growing with them and realized that by the first fifteen minutes of the day I was close to already becoming the "cranky Mrs. Renfro". Finally I realized what I needed to do and it was necessary to do it right then and there.

I stopped myself, put the lesson on the proverbial "pause" and told them all to put down their crayons and pencils and look at me.  I gazed out at them for a moment or two and looked at each one of them.  One by one, throughout their array of student desks I made eye contact with them.  In my shame for growing so quickly impatient with them, I could feel a tiny tear welling up in my eye as I began to speak to them all.

"You guys, it's obvious that I didn't do a very good job of giving you the directions for this assignment.  It's the first part of our day and I've forgotten that perhaps you might have something else on your mind right at this very moment  besides finding the geographical center of the North American continent right now.  Please forgive me that I was impatient with you.  Let's start over.  Is everyone set to listen now?"  And with that, we did and the lesson went smoothly from that point on.

As a teacher, as a person, this 36th year of being an educator has taught me so very much about what a good teacher is supposed to be like.  I find myself more and more stopping to reflect about what I am doing within the four walls of my classroom and the impact it has on my students in the world beyond our room.  This year, nearly four decades into this life of working with students, I am sharing more and more of those reflections with the students that I work with.  If I learn a lesson about myself, more likely than not I will share it with them.  Since we spend more than 7 hours of our day together, it seems fit and right so to do.  So to those 9 and 10-year olds, the woman that they call "teacher" says a sincere word of thanks for coming to school each day and allowing me to present lessons both from the books as well as from life.

Funny, I have said some things over and over to those fourth-graders of mine in the months that we have been together.  They can repeat them, word for word, in their hearts and minds. 

"All summer long I was looking for you.  I was sad and homesick and I thought I'd never find you.  And then, just as I was ready to give up there you were, waiting for me here all along."

"Two things I want you to know.  If you ever have a teacher who doesn't love you, then you need to find a new teacher and if you ever have a teacher who says that they never make a mistake, well then you need to find a new teacher."

 Don't think I'll ever go down in the history books of teaching for those quotes above but my students know what they mean and that's all that matters to me. 

Well the microwave time display says that an hour has passed by in the time that I've been writing this blog.  Time to get busy and start this day.  Dear friends and family, know that I am ok and actually beginning to figure out life here in this new land that I have moved to.  Strange to imagine that already 9 months have passed since Mike and I were married back there in Kansas.  The children that sat around us under the basketball goal in the gym at school and watched us get married, are now nearly another year older too.  Time flies when you live life, I guess.  May YOUR lives be at peace.  Carrying you close to my heart, each of you.  This is Saturday, the 22nd day of February in 2014~a great day to be alive in!

Some pretty decent advice from the "Good Book"~

Hard to imagine that little guy will soon be a daddy~

The view from Whidbey Island~

 

 

Where in the heck did 9 months go?

 

 

the view from all around me

     Long, long ago (ok, ok really up until January of 2013), I never realized that the state of Colorado extended past the Front Range area of Denver.  Yeah, you had your Colorado Springs and Pueblo, even a place called Ft. Collins but that was about it.  At least that's the way I looked at it in my mind's eye.  From time to time throughout the years, I had visited this state but for whatever reason, I just never ventured over the top of the mountains to see what was on the other side.  To me, to THIS flatlander, the rest of Colorado was just a place to have to travel through to reach Utah and all points beyond to the Pacific Ocean.  I suppose it was indeed true.  I didn't get out very much.

     When Mike and I first started visiting with one another through emails and online, he told me that he had been living for several years  in this city called Montrose, Colorado in the southwestern part of the state.  I had never heard of that place before and when I said something about it to him, he told me to just look on the map and to follow Highway 50 as it left straight out of Hutchinson, Kansas.  So I did and sure enough, lo and behold, Mike was right!  By my quick calculations, via MapQuest, I learned that the distance from my front door on East 14th Street in Hutch was just about 611 miles from his front door on Locust Road just outside the city limits of Montrose.  I got pretty good at driving it, except for the time that I plowed into a snow-filled ditch up on Cerro Summit last February, during the 5 trips out that I made before we got married.  I think by my last count that I have made 11 trips back and forth since this new adventure in life got started.  I could probably make the trip with my eyes closed by now but I promise you that I won't unless I just have to.


The sign just at the outskirts of South Hutchinson, Kansas that I saw each time I headed out to visit Mike in the "early" days and the one I follow after I've returned to Kansas for a visit and head home to Montrose.  I used to ride my bike down this street in the city of South Hutch.  From my front door to McDonald's down there is 5 miles.  I miss that Kansas skyline.

     At the risk of starting to sound like I like it here or something (LOL), this morning I have to admit that in its own weird way, Colorado has begun to interest me.  Geographically, I have never lived in a place that is as varied as this state is.  All around our home as far as the eye can see (which is NOT far at all by Kansas standards) are the mountains.  Doesn't matter which direction you look, N-S-E-W, it's all you see.  In the early days here, I was so claustrophobic and there were times when it nearly sent me into a panic attack.  I would be driving along, missing Kansas and home, and those mountains would seem like sentinels to me.  I actually felt at times like they were holding me a prisoner here, that on any given day I might not be able to pass back over them again to return to Kansas when I wanted to.  Now I know that's silly and actually kind of pathetic, but remember that I had all of a sudden found myself in a place very foreign to me.  I was homesick, dang homesick and I just wanted to go home.  Thankfully that changed for the better several months down the road.

    To the south of us, lie the beautiful San Juan Mountains.  They really are gorgeous I admit.  Right now, they are snow capped and will stay that way until probably early June.  When we go down to Ridgway and Ouray we see them up close and personal.  I take photos of them all the time because truly they are about as stunning as mountains come.  When Mike and I chose our wedding rings, we only had to look at one pair before we decided on which ones that we wanted.  They were made by the silversmiths down at Ouray and they depict the view that we see out our window every day.

      The view just outside of our kitchen window each and every day.  Sometimes I feel like they appear so surreal.

     To the west of us, nearing the state of Utah which is only about 60 miles from here as the crow flies, is the Uncompahgre Range.  It's a huge landform that runs forever or so it would seem and it's home to the Uncompahgre Peak, the sixth highest peak in the state.  I can remember when I first came here that I didn't even realize that people lived up there.  Geesch, one time in mid-summer last year I noticed this little glimmer of light shining in the late evening hours.  I remember saying to Mike, "Hey, what's that light doing up there?" and he told me that was someone's home.  Once again, pathetically I remarked...."What??  You mean people LIVE up there?"  He told me to look at it and I'd see plenty of lights and he was right.  Lots of folks make their homes in places I hadn't even thought of.  All I can say is three words.....flatlander, flatlander, flatlander.  

Sunset over the Uncompahgre Range as seen from our home just outside of the city of Montrose.  Most evenings, except for the cloudy ones, you can see God's paintbrush at work in the sky.

    To the north, lies the Grand Mesa which is the largest flat-top mountain in all of the world. It spans an area of over 500  square miles and stretches all the way from near Grand Junction to Delta, 40 miles in all.  Each day as I drive back and forth to school at Olathe, it rises up to greet me.  It's so weird, during all of those months of coming out here before we got married, I hardly noticed it.  Now its presence nearly "smacks me in the face" on a daily basis and I laugh to think that all of a sudden, there it is.  We went to the top of it last summer in late June to catch a glimpse of what the top of the world, at least to this Kansas farm girl, looks like.  The picture from up there at over 10,000 feet or more will always remind me of my dear social studies teacher from back in the 7th and 8th grade at Haven Grade School. The view from the top was like seeing the late Mr. Rex McMurray's topographical map of the world unfurled before my very eyes.  It was a gorgeous view, without a doubt.

     To the east of us lies the Black Canyon and it is by far my favorite view, if I WERE to have one :)  The Black Canyon is an area formed long ago and is even older than I and my good friend Dennis Ulrey from back in the Flint Hills of Kansas are.  It's home to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and contains the most magnificent of views that anyone could wish to see.  The mighty Gunnison River runs through it and manages to drop down at a rate of on the average 34 feet per mile.  Thus the Black Canyon is noted for having the 5th steepest descent in all of North America.  It gets its name, the Black Canyon, due to the fact that sunlight has difficulty in reaching the steepest parts of the canyon walls.  When I miss Kansas and home there, I look to the east and realize that those mountains are my friends, not enemies, and they will lead me back to my friends and family on the Great Plains.  I have grown to respect them in many ways.

     Yep, those are the views.  I have slowly but surely grown accustomed to them.  Time has a way of making things a little easier to get through and for that I say "AMEN".  There is still much to learn about life here but shoot all I have is time anyways.  Oh yeah, there's a couple of more views that mean the world to me.  Without "these" views, I'd be pretty lonely here along the Western Slopes.  I'm thankful that God saw fit for me to meet up with about 19 people that I was meant to know in this life.  I love them all and one more thing.  I love you guys too!  

At the top of Cerro Summit last September with the guy who got this whole thing started in the first place!

They have grown into wonderful boys and girls.  I'm glad that I got to meet them and become their teacher.  There is no greater blessing in life than to work at a job you love for over 36 years.  I was born to be a teacher and I'm glad I listened to that "calling".



the struggle to put down roots

     Welcome to this Wednesday morning dear friends and family.  I hope that wherever you may be this day that all will be well for you and yours.  It's the pretty early morning hours here in Montrose, Colorado and a quick check of the weather app on my phone says that the temperature is at 37 degrees now.  We'll be moving upwards towards a high of 55 degrees today.  It's clear and 30 back home in Hutch and it wouldn't surprise me a bit to know that in my back yard on East 14th Street that there are all kinds of bulbs beginning to make their appearance for this year's blooming.  Don't give up hope everyone because spring time is waiting on us, just around the corner only two houses down.  I love it!


 


One of only about 7 giant Russian Mammoth sunflowers that I planted along the fence row here in our front yard at home in Montrose, Colorado.  I'd planted thousands of seeds (ok, ok maybe only a hundred) in mid-April last year hoping they would be alive and thriving by the time I moved here for "good" in the summer time.  Alas, hardly any of them lived but the ones who did make it stood tall and thrived, even during the windy summer mornings.  They helped me to remember my home in Kansas and the lovely life that I had enjoyed there.  I'm determined to plant them again only this time, I've got some changes to make to ensure their viability.  I can do it!

     Mike and I spent some time the other evening pouring over seed catalogues as we tried to decide what we would like to plant in a garden this coming spring and summer.  We have received so many of them in the mail all during the past few weeks of winter, so many that we just simply couldn't even look at them all.  Both of us do like to order from the R.H. Shumway book because of the nice variety of seeds, many of them heirloom ones.  If the deer around here don't help themselves to too much stuff, we should have a plot of earth filled with potatoes, onions, cucumbers, corn, peppers, banana melons, green beans and herbs of all kinds.  We'll see how that all works out but at least we are dreaming of it and it is that "dreaming" that helps us to see that things do work out for those who can wait for it.  More on that later :)

 

     It soon will be time to bring back home the dozen plants that are sitting alongside the north east window in my classroom at Olathe Elementary.  The Christmas cactus and geraniums have graced the bookshelves there all winter long.  The kids have loved having them there and several have even taken to keeping them watered for me as the days have gone on.  They notice every new bud, each brilliant color that has come forth and I like that for them.  Plants are good for us and beneficial in more ways than we can imagine.  I've always loved growing things and I have regret that last summer I was too overwhelmed with homesickness and a new life to really enjoy doing that.  This summer will be different, I know it will be.

 

    

 



     The first six months of my time here along the Western Slopes were a real struggle for this "flatlander" girl who felt about as uprooted as she could be.  Putting down roots in a brand new place, far from what I used to know nearly did me in, many times.  Fortunately for me, I had friends and family who understood exactly what I was going through and they cared enough about me to pray me through some of the roughest of times.  Mike stood right beside me, telling me over and over again that it was "ok" and that in time, it would be even better.  "Baby steps, Peggy" he would tell me and you now what?  He was right. 

 

     Little by little, the reason for me to come here all along has been shown to me.  I realize more and more as each day passes by me that life here along the Rocky Mountains will never be the same again as life on the plains of my beloved homeland of Kansas.  Yet again, it's not supposed to be anyways.  As a person, I have grown and begun to change a bit.  I see perhaps a new direction to go.  I'm very fortunate to be close enough to travel back to Kansas from time to time and Mike encourages me to do so whenever I feel like I want to.  I figure I'm pretty blessed.

 

     Well, it's time to go.  Soon enough the first school bell of the day shall ring and the "18" will be looking for me to greet them at the door of our classroom.  I plan for it to be a good day and hope the same shall be for each of you my dear friends and family.  So many of you have asked how I'm doing here and if all is "ok".  My answer is that I'm alive and well.  I'm growing in spirit and learning to somehow anchor my roots to the soil of the Centennial State of Colorado.  I have lots of people on my side, in Kansas and Colorado, and a whole lot of places elsewhere on this earth.  What more do I need in life?  Nothing. 

 

     Love you guys one and all.  Please take care of yourselves this day. 

 

 

 

We may "look" mature but we are really kids in our hearts.  I hope I am just like my good friend, Leroy Willis, because truly I don't ever want to grow up. 

 



as day is done

The sun has set and the day is done.  Hard to imagine where all of the hours in this Sunday in mid-February have gone.  I guess the truth be known, the minutes and hours of each day that passes end up going to the same place, Life. 

Sometimes I grab my camera and head outdoors, especially as the sun sinks into the western sky over the Uncompahgre Range.  I look for pictures to take and sometimes I find ones that I like.  Taking photos was something I began doing almost immediately upon my arrival here last June.  It seemed to make me feel better, to forget about my homesickness, to stay busy until I found my own niche here.  It was a habit I got into and one that it would appear, I will not be able to get out of any time too soon.

I love to capture the sunset and the beautiful colors that God's palette has within it.  Sometimes I wonder if it is indeed what Heaven will look like when I make it there and if Heaven is even more wonderful than a Colorado sunset appears, then what a spectacular sight it will be.  The night time sky has engulfed this part of the world and the dark has fallen.  But just about a half-hour ago I found it, a most beautiful and stunning sunset sky.




When I was a little kid, I remember seeing the clouds at sunset, much like those shown above.  I recall asking my Grandmother if that was what Heaven was like.  She told me that she thought it was.  My Grandmother is there now and so when I get to where I am going in this life of mine, I'll find out if we were right.

 

At times I see flocks of Canadian geese that fly overhead as they head swiftly to their resting place for the night.  As the sun dips down below the horizon, they seem to sense the urgency to get to where they are going as quickly as possible.  They fascinate me for some strange reason and generally speaking I try to take their picture as they fly over head.  Most times I am much too slow to get their picture.  By the time I get my camera focused, they are already long gone while they taunt me with their loud honking all the way as they pass by.  Most times I don't get the chance to get their picture.  Tonight I caught a photo of them, miraculously it would seem to me. 

 



The first wave of geese that flew by on their way to their favorite resting spot for the night.  Dozens more followed them, hustling to find a safe place in the darkness of the evening.

 

 

Sometimes I look at the dark black sky that falls over us here along the "other side" of the big mountain and I think of you all, my dearest friends and family.  I miss seeing you as often as I used to, I sometimes long to hear your voices or meet you for a diet-coke at Bogey's along 17th Street in Hutchinson.  I think of my old students back in Hutchinson, hoping and praying that they are having a good year in school.  I remember our family way back there in Kansas and sometimes I find myself lost in memories of them, so much so that it seems as if we are right there with them at the supper table.  Last night I went out and took a photo of the beautiful moon that had arisen in the sky.  It was an awesome sight and I couldn't help but feel like Feivel the Mouse in the popular animated movie from the 1980's, An American Tale.  I gazed up at that far away orb in the sky and remembered in my heart that somewhere out there my friends and family members were looking at the very same moon that I was.  Somehow, that always gives me much peace and comfort.

 

 



The moon about 9:00 last evening here along the Western Slopes of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

 

Day is done and night has fallen.  I am alive and most well here.  I give thanks to God above for watching over me this day.  I pray all to be well for you my friends.  Have a peaceful night's rest and the sweetest of dreams.  Life is good and I am grateful for the blessing of living it.

 





You just never know what life has in store for you.  As for me, I'm way more determined to find out what lies ahead than I would ever be afraid.