August 2015
My first August workday finds me still frequenting my favorite river. Despite her accented sandbar tattoos surprisingly left by her July flood rage, I still find her passing waters calm my soul and allow me to emotionally and spiritually prepare for my day. I am not a Monday through Friday person actually, as for me, everyday is a special day that I can live and participate in the gift God gives each of us.
My first August workday finds me still frequenting my favorite river. Despite her accented sandbar tattoos surprisingly left by her July flood rage, I still find her passing waters calm my soul and allow me to emotionally and spiritually prepare for my day. I am not a Monday through Friday person actually, as for me, everyday is a special day that I can live and participate in the gift God gives each of us.
Posted August 1 from my morning River
One
more thing I forgot I loved about grand kids! Linda and I are Just 9 days into our
AT&T shared plan of 8 GB's that we never use between our two
smart phones and her tablet in any given month. So this early Sunday morning as I begin to
stir to life, I find a text from my favorite carrier telling me that I
have used 100% of my shared data and they have courteously given me an
additional gigabyte of data for $15 bucks! Bam! Another message saying "that" data was gone with the promise of another $15 bucks
on the next monthly bill along with another fresh gigabyte of newer data! Before
I could even comprehend how almost 11 gigabytes could have been
"hacked" from my account, another quick "ding" notification on my text informed me that
75% of that data was gone! So here is the love I would like to share
with all of you. If you let your 9 year old grandson play games with
your iPad (thank you, Linda), you might want to teach them (grand kids) as to how to use Wi-Fi to Watch
Netflix during one of those all night stays at Maw Maw and Poppy's house! Of course he, along with the help of his
able 15-year-old cousin, managed to discover that you could watch movies
on YouTube, which unknown to us "elderly fixed income types," had no idea that You Tube Movies literally eats that 8 gigabyte plan alive! Attention: able programmers Wanted! New app that will electrically zap
any grandchild that uses my fixed income data for anything they can't find at their own parents' house. Yes... I'm still agitated to the tune of $45 extra dollars on my next bill. Grand Kids or Maw Maw, Grand Kids or Maw Maw.... Have I reminded anyone lately of my contempt for kids? Why is it that old people are getting on my nerves almost as bad???
Posted August 9 from my early Sunday Morning home
I have so much fun with my grand kids every chance I get, especially the teenagers! A small band of thunder storms pushed through Central Louisiana this afternoon breaking the sultry August heat cycle that has been stifling us for weeks. Junior and McKenzie seem to be a constant companion on these after church, lazy Sunday afternoons. At 5:15 PM everything electrical ceases to work in our comfortable home as a result of a power failure somewhere in the grid that serves us. I struggled to regain consciousness after being put to sleep by satellite TV's "Undercover Boss," and walked down the hallway to my bedroom toilet to answer a simple call of nature since it was raining on my patio. Junior pipes up and asked me one of his more brilliant questions, "What happened to the electricity, Poppy?" After just two steps of my journey to my destination, I just responded, "Maw Maw forgot to pay the electricity bill so they turned it off until we can pay the bill tomorrow." As brain damaged as he is, the electrical storm outside never crossed his under developed mind as he breaks his neck to go tell McKenzie that the security, solitude and unlimited Wi Fi that draws them to our house in the first place, is doomed because Maw Maw did not pay the electricity bill! Did I mention it was Sunday? Yes... Yes I did, but that didn't cross his mind either... It is about this time I step into my bathroom and actually reach up to turn on the light for my convenience. Now, who was I just talking about? I just shook my head and won't tell you what Latin word crossed my mind but, Oh my, aren't we creatures of habit? What really gets to me, is walking away from the toilet not bothering to flush it when it dawns on me that the toilet is not part of the electrical system?? That folks, is aging brain damage. Yes, I stepped back in and flushed the damn thing! Anyway, I encouraged Linda into getting up from her nap pretty easily because our ever alert alarm system, Junior, woke her up to tell her the electricity was off. I suggested that she and I go somewhere and have a light dinner together. By this time Junior and McKenzie, both upset that our electricity has been disconnected, are wondering why we are leaving them there alone. I appease them by setting out a couple of scented candles to compensate for the growing darkness and to make them as happy as possible. I also remind them they may want to contact their mama on their I-pads, Y-pads or cell phones to come pick them up before the battery back up on my Wi-Fi runs down and their world turns pre-historic. In the meantime, Raisin Canes over in Alexandria is on my radar scope. This is a chicken strip kind of day.
Posted August 16 from my late Sunday afternoon home
And as my morning begins, I find I am simply joining the masses of
others already under tow. The task of participation. Task of
participation? I sat up this morning and Thanked God for this day. I
ached not in my body or soul. Yes, there are those that could not sleep
because of whatever reason that torments their mind. The new Widow and
her 9 year old son of our slain Trooper in Lake Charles? Those sitting
patiently beside an aging loved one waiting for them to pass. Even
also among those I know are those that will put down a beloved pet that
has comforted them for years. Does not matter if they make the right
decision, the hurt is still there. Yet for the majority of the masses,
most of our day is yet to be defined. My tow is miles behind me down
river yet she will return. Laden with coal to furnish electricity that
keeps me cool this time of the year and supplies me with light as to
comprehend my daily challenges. I yield to a greater authority knowing I
am His. That also comforts my soul.
Posted August 25 from my morning River side
Reflecting through the pages of my blog, I go all the way back to the month of May and find even then my river was at a bowling fast track pace as spring rains throughout her collective basin was making an obvious difference in her rise and temperament. It took a couple of months but eventually she reached new levels of flood stage records in this century setting many along her path at various stages of alarm. Today is the first time I have pulled beside her shores and could see the reflection of Alexandria's taller buildings and landscape glimmering softly in her much slower run. I wonder if one of her locks are closed up river? Almost time for man to pool her between locks. Then her waters loose the red tint and become a bluish green reflection of peace and solitude as sediments settle to the bottom. It is during these early morning visits that her surface looks like she is covered in black ice. That is when she is most beautiful to me. But it will be a couple of more weeks before she makes peace with her past summers raging floodwaters. Maybe then she can provide comfort to herself and those she loves as she settles in to her redefined shorelines establishing peace within her soul and those that look to her for nurture, solace and life. My river. Sometimes I wonder if when that time intersects, if what is left of what I once existed within, could In fact be poured into her depths to consummate this affair with her I seem to not be able to end. And a crisp, hint of fall, beautiful day beckons me!
Posted August 26 from my morning River
Posted August 9 from my early Sunday Morning home
I have so much fun with my grand kids every chance I get, especially the teenagers! A small band of thunder storms pushed through Central Louisiana this afternoon breaking the sultry August heat cycle that has been stifling us for weeks. Junior and McKenzie seem to be a constant companion on these after church, lazy Sunday afternoons. At 5:15 PM everything electrical ceases to work in our comfortable home as a result of a power failure somewhere in the grid that serves us. I struggled to regain consciousness after being put to sleep by satellite TV's "Undercover Boss," and walked down the hallway to my bedroom toilet to answer a simple call of nature since it was raining on my patio. Junior pipes up and asked me one of his more brilliant questions, "What happened to the electricity, Poppy?" After just two steps of my journey to my destination, I just responded, "Maw Maw forgot to pay the electricity bill so they turned it off until we can pay the bill tomorrow." As brain damaged as he is, the electrical storm outside never crossed his under developed mind as he breaks his neck to go tell McKenzie that the security, solitude and unlimited Wi Fi that draws them to our house in the first place, is doomed because Maw Maw did not pay the electricity bill! Did I mention it was Sunday? Yes... Yes I did, but that didn't cross his mind either... It is about this time I step into my bathroom and actually reach up to turn on the light for my convenience. Now, who was I just talking about? I just shook my head and won't tell you what Latin word crossed my mind but, Oh my, aren't we creatures of habit? What really gets to me, is walking away from the toilet not bothering to flush it when it dawns on me that the toilet is not part of the electrical system?? That folks, is aging brain damage. Yes, I stepped back in and flushed the damn thing! Anyway, I encouraged Linda into getting up from her nap pretty easily because our ever alert alarm system, Junior, woke her up to tell her the electricity was off. I suggested that she and I go somewhere and have a light dinner together. By this time Junior and McKenzie, both upset that our electricity has been disconnected, are wondering why we are leaving them there alone. I appease them by setting out a couple of scented candles to compensate for the growing darkness and to make them as happy as possible. I also remind them they may want to contact their mama on their I-pads, Y-pads or cell phones to come pick them up before the battery back up on my Wi-Fi runs down and their world turns pre-historic. In the meantime, Raisin Canes over in Alexandria is on my radar scope. This is a chicken strip kind of day.
Posted August 16 from my late Sunday afternoon home
Posted August 25 from my morning River side
Reflecting through the pages of my blog, I go all the way back to the month of May and find even then my river was at a bowling fast track pace as spring rains throughout her collective basin was making an obvious difference in her rise and temperament. It took a couple of months but eventually she reached new levels of flood stage records in this century setting many along her path at various stages of alarm. Today is the first time I have pulled beside her shores and could see the reflection of Alexandria's taller buildings and landscape glimmering softly in her much slower run. I wonder if one of her locks are closed up river? Almost time for man to pool her between locks. Then her waters loose the red tint and become a bluish green reflection of peace and solitude as sediments settle to the bottom. It is during these early morning visits that her surface looks like she is covered in black ice. That is when she is most beautiful to me. But it will be a couple of more weeks before she makes peace with her past summers raging floodwaters. Maybe then she can provide comfort to herself and those she loves as she settles in to her redefined shorelines establishing peace within her soul and those that look to her for nurture, solace and life. My river. Sometimes I wonder if when that time intersects, if what is left of what I once existed within, could In fact be poured into her depths to consummate this affair with her I seem to not be able to end. And a crisp, hint of fall, beautiful day beckons me!
Posted August 26 from my morning River
