The time is soon to arrive that I will be able to see my dear loved ones living so very far away and I'll get the chance for the first time to see little Catherine Lois. My flight leaves Montrose in the early evening hours tomorrow and I wish I could say that everything is packed and ready to go but that is surely not the case. This time out I plan to travel lightly, packing in only what is necessary to get by for the next 5 days. I'll check my bag through to Seattle and just have a small backpack with me on the plane. After my "near death" experience (LOL ok, it really wasn't THAT bad) with taking an escalator head first in the Detroit airport last year, I really will be glad to not have all that much to carry with me. I seem to like to learn life's lessons the really hard way but the good news is that once I learn a lesson, I do tend to remember it.
Sometimes I go back and take a look at blog posts from the past three years. As I was remembering what I was doing just about a year ago today, I found the post I made from the faraway city of Binghamton, New York. It was my first experience with the need to travel lightly and I had to smile as I remembered my decision to leave a few of my things behind in order to get myself back home to Kansas with some pretty cracked up ribs. I'm reprinting it below if you would so care to read. I promise to be more careful this time and make sure that the adventures I have don't involve moving flights of stair steps that are heavily laden with people. Have a great day everyone out there and be sure to enjoy the wonderful life that we have all been the recipients of. I give thanks today for all of the blessings I've been given, the least and the greatest. Your friendship is among the greatest of these things. I mean that, most sincerely. Love you guys, one and all.
Remembering a nice warm Fourth of July in 2013 as I got the chance to visit the traveling wall honoring the fallen of the Vietnam War. I'm standing next to the name of a young man from my hometown of Haven, Kansas who gave his life in 1967.
~Upon lightening my load~ from March 26th, 2013
Greetings and salutations from the strangest of places for me to write a blog post from...the airport waiting area at Binghamton, New York. I've delivered Ursela to the bus station downtown, returned the rental car here at the airport, reported in and checked a bag to go to Kansas City, went through security without a problem and now am just sitting here and waiting to go. My flight doesn't leave until 2:30 but I decided that it would be my best option to just get here and wait so I'd have time to get things taken care of. So, here I sit.
I have to admit that I've wondered a thousand times why the events of Saturday in Detroit took place. I mean for crying out loud, how much of a freak accident was that anyway? For me to get a suitcase caught up in an escalator step and then for that whole thing to throw me completely off balance and cause me to tumble the better part of 2/3 of the way down just doesn't happen every day. But as "Miller Luck", a well-known second cousin twice removed to "Murphy's Law", would have it....it did. And as soon as my broken rib stops hurting I think I'll have a good laugh over it, but right now it doesn't seem very hilarious.
This morning as I was packing up my things in my suitcase, I made the decision to leave a pile of clothing behind. The extra weight that I saved by doing so made it much easier for me to pull along my suitcase. I'd been thinking about it all day yesterday and realized that since I would be on my own today, I needed to do what I could to make the load lighter. It seemed to work, thankfully.
But you know here's what I learned more than anything else by doing that "lightening of the load" thing...It helped me physically, that's for sure but it also helped me "mentally" as well. Ever since Saturday mid-morning, my aches and pains from being injured had pretty much taken over. My attitude was half ways "sucky" at best and life seemed about as dismal and depressing as it could get. This morning when I woke up and had the idea to get rid of anything that I could live without, my outlook changed for the better. It was like I had finally figured out a way to help my situation, to take charge of it once more. And for whatever that is worth, it helps me to feel better. Shoot, I didn't need those clothes anyway and for me it was much more important to be able to carry a lighter burden and get home safely to Kansas this evening. Material stuff comes and goes and I long ago gave up the idea that possessions were the most important thing in this life. I know way better than that now and for that, I give thanks.
For the many prayers and good wishes on our behalf, our heart-felt thanks friends. It may take a while for things to heal up but I'm pretty sure that sooner or later they will. This has been a journey to remember and without a doubt, things could have been so much worse. We give thanks in the least of things for every blessing, every good thing that is given to us in this life. My next goal is to get from Washington D.C. to Kansas City, Mo. When that feat is accomplished, I will breathe a lot easier! Have a great day everyone out there :)
May we ALL have someone who means this much to us. My blessing, my someone lives in Montrose, Colorado. Who would have thought that two kids from the "land of long ago, and far, far away" would have ever found one another in the years down the road?
I have to admit that I've wondered a thousand times why the events of Saturday in Detroit took place. I mean for crying out loud, how much of a freak accident was that anyway? For me to get a suitcase caught up in an escalator step and then for that whole thing to throw me completely off balance and cause me to tumble the better part of 2/3 of the way down just doesn't happen every day. But as "Miller Luck", a well-known second cousin twice removed to "Murphy's Law", would have it....it did. And as soon as my broken rib stops hurting I think I'll have a good laugh over it, but right now it doesn't seem very hilarious.
This morning as I was packing up my things in my suitcase, I made the decision to leave a pile of clothing behind. The extra weight that I saved by doing so made it much easier for me to pull along my suitcase. I'd been thinking about it all day yesterday and realized that since I would be on my own today, I needed to do what I could to make the load lighter. It seemed to work, thankfully.
But you know here's what I learned more than anything else by doing that "lightening of the load" thing...It helped me physically, that's for sure but it also helped me "mentally" as well. Ever since Saturday mid-morning, my aches and pains from being injured had pretty much taken over. My attitude was half ways "sucky" at best and life seemed about as dismal and depressing as it could get. This morning when I woke up and had the idea to get rid of anything that I could live without, my outlook changed for the better. It was like I had finally figured out a way to help my situation, to take charge of it once more. And for whatever that is worth, it helps me to feel better. Shoot, I didn't need those clothes anyway and for me it was much more important to be able to carry a lighter burden and get home safely to Kansas this evening. Material stuff comes and goes and I long ago gave up the idea that possessions were the most important thing in this life. I know way better than that now and for that, I give thanks.
For the many prayers and good wishes on our behalf, our heart-felt thanks friends. It may take a while for things to heal up but I'm pretty sure that sooner or later they will. This has been a journey to remember and without a doubt, things could have been so much worse. We give thanks in the least of things for every blessing, every good thing that is given to us in this life. My next goal is to get from Washington D.C. to Kansas City, Mo. When that feat is accomplished, I will breathe a lot easier! Have a great day everyone out there :)
May we ALL have someone who means this much to us. My blessing, my someone lives in Montrose, Colorado. Who would have thought that two kids from the "land of long ago, and far, far away" would have ever found one another in the years down the road?
