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Review of Raised in Ruins
Many of us have dreamed of escaping the stressful demands of our current life with the wish for a simpler one, surrounded by a breathtaking view. How far have you gotten? Me? Well, we did downsize three years ago. We moved into an almost tiny home (at 753 sq. ft.) on a little hill in rural America after bringing a 30 Yard dumpster to our backdoor, having a garage sale, and giving away the rest. And then just this year, we bought a very small camper to pull behind a larger car so we could have new adventures. All this was because Alzheimer’s forced us into a new reality. And…
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Light of Peace
The season leading up to Christmas has been a unique one at our house this year. Since neither of our sons and their families will be with us, we combined our celebrations for birthdays, Thanksgiving, and Christmas in October and November in Missouri and Minnesota. For the only time all year, our entire family was together for our grandson’s 2nd birthday. It had to be enough. Jim and I went into Advent knowing we would have a low-key, less hectic Christmas and New Year and that was okay with us. What we didn’t count on, was that a sweet couple from our church family traveled to Busch Stadium last week…
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Kenai, Service Dog in Training
Last fall when our beloved chocolate labrador Lex died, my husband Jim and I both felt like we could never replace her. She had been a part of our family for so many years. As much as she was missed, and we knew she was still “around” (http://a-visit-from-lex), we also no longer had to make arrangements to kennel her when we left town. She was an alpha female and didn’t get along with other animals. Since both our sons lived out of state and had pets, kenneling had been a must. The freedom seemed like the opening for a new lifestyle for us, so when friends asked if we would…
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Appalachian Trail, Part 3
I felt no pain, but I was depleted of energy with every step and gasp for oxygen I took up Little Hump and Hump Mountains. It became worse with every false summit we encountered. I had stayed positive most of the trip, but it becomes devastating when you think you have reached the ultimate peak and see yet another in front of you when you think you can’t take another step. All I wanted to do at this point was get to the end of our section of the Appalachian Trail (AT), but I didn’t speak it. Looking back on climbing Hump Mountain, Dee Ann and I can’t agree on…
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Appalachian Trail, Part 2
Our first morning in Watauga Dam Campground came early. I turned the alarm on my phone off an hour before its scheduled blast at 5 a.m. because I was awake most of the night. Today was the day. Today we would hike a section of the 3,000+ mile historic Appalachian Trail. Adrenaline was surging through my veins as I woke Jim and we stuffed our packs with water, trail snacks, extra wool socks, and gloves in silence. The silence wasn’t for any reason other than Jim doesn’t talk much anymore. Damn Alzheimer’s. We drove into the dark to meet Dee Ann, our local hiking partner, at the McDonald’s in Hampton,…
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Appalachian Trail, Part 1
A few days after I bought the camper and we headed to Minnesota to begin our journey to outrun my husband Jim’s Alzheimer’s, I received a phone call from my brother-in-law’s cousin Dee Ann. I heard words I had never expected to hear. “I remember you and Jim coming over to our house when I was a teenager. You guys had just come back from a big backpacking trip and you made an impression on me. You two were wearing real hiking boots and clothing that were well worn, and you sat there and didn’t say a word until someone asked about your trip.” “Dee Ann, I didn’t have any…
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Northern Minnesota, Part 2
The days we spent in the Sawtooth Mountains above Grand Marais and Lake Superior were beautiful. We left sticky temperatures at home, so the cooler days and nights were a blessing. But we couldn’t linger in the campground because there were too many things to see and do. Every morning we drove from our campsite at Golden Eagle Lodge and Campground https://www.golden-eagle.com/, surrounded by the Superior National Forest, and traveled along the Gunflint Trail where Native Americans, French Voyageurs, miners, hunters, trappers, and loggers came centuries before us. The trail is now a 57-mile National Scenic Byway winding through mountains, lakes, bogs, and valleys. There are no towns along the…
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Northern Minnesota
We pulled away from our first night in our camper in that Walmart parking lot and went forward. We met one of Jim’s sisters and her family for brunch in Madison, WI because we could park on the street in front of our niece’s house. We stopped that same night at our son’s house south of Minneapolis because we could pull into his driveway. The next morning, we loved on our two beautiful grandsons for a few hours and left for northern Minnesota. After our son backed the rig out of his driveway. It felt uphill the entire way. The car pulled the camper well, and I was feeling very…
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The Adventures of Orville and Narvel
Many, many years ago, we were part of a band of free spirits who went to Big Bend National Park and spent the month between Christmas and college spring semester backpacking. We all had names like Orville, Narvel, Doc Emmit, Wandy, Hecker, and The Booze; names that were to be spoken with the longest, most drawn-out southern drawl one could possibly muster. We named our group the Big Belly Sunset Watchers Club and we watched gorgeous sunsets from the canyons and the Chisos Mountains in the Chihuahuan Desert. Fast forward 35 years: Orville and I (Narvel) bought a camper and new car to pull it. We are a long way…
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Dark Before Our Dawn
Last week, I didn’t have a thing to say here. It was a dark week and love compelled me to get to work heading problems off at the pass. It began when my husband Jim wanted to “have a talk” as we sat drinking coffee on the patio early one morning. A pit formed in my stomach and it ended up being accurate intuition on my part. He said, “I’m on an island and I’m drowning. I need to do something.” When he can string words together to convey his thoughts, it’s a good day. And after being together 41 years, I can often fill in the blanks when I…
