A year since my last posts, I hope to begin again. Around this time last year, my dear mother who had been ill and living with me, began to decline further. Her need for care increased, and I spent most of my non-work time with her. In November, she finally went home to be with her Lord, where she had been so ready to go, especially since Dads passing. Like me and my siblings, so many baby boomers are in that position now of caring for their parents, and I think most of us are glad we are able to do it. For many it puts you in the "sandwich generation" with kids still at home and parents living with you. It's an odd feeling you may not get used to, becoming a parent to your parent. And then when you do, they are soon gone, and that is a different place all together. It is a feeling like something in your soul untethered from its anchor.

Do you signal when changing lanes? Fifty percent or more (my estimate) of the drivers on the roads in my area have opted out of using their turn signal. (I still call it a blinker.) It seems turn signals are going the way of the cassette deck. I notice it most on the highways and interstate when drivers change lanes. Some drivers signal every other lane change, while other drivers never bother at all.  On the rare occasion I forget to activate the turn signal, I usually receive a horn blast from the offended driver in the next lane. Meanwhile others are breezing down the freeway freely cruising from lane to lane oblivious of other motorists. 

 

I frequently encounter  motorists who whip in front of me with no signal only to engage the turn signal a minute later and steer into an empty lane. Apparently for some, alerting other drivers to a lane change depends upon whim. The intermittent or occasional signal users are probably distracted by the cell phone or anticipating their stressful work day.  The folks who never use the turn signal however come across arrogant, inconsiderate and frankly narcissistic.

 

 If the turn signal was tricky to handle or awkward to reach I might make allowances, but automobiles and trucks are designed by engineers who placed the turn signal in exactly the right location. It’s so easy to use, you can practically activate it with a thought. Well your thought plus a small movement of your little finger will launch the signal, so ease of use is not the issue. The issue is people don’t care. The issue is self focus, distraction, stress and hurry. The disappearing turn signal is in inanimate sign of our times and people who don’t use them really annoy me. User your blinker people!  Whew…feels good to get that out!

The dreaded commute is fortunately for me not so dreaded. I drive almost an hour each way to work and my route is rarely plagued with backups. Each morning I enjoy having that time to drive and listen to various favorite radio talk programs. I pray about the day ahead and sort of gear up if you will. The evening is the commute I don't look forward to because I'm tired and ready to get home, and it often takes a little longer than the morning drive. However during the winter months of the year, the freeway and highways I drive daily give me a front row seat to the most glorious Texas sunsets. Each one different. Each one with it's own unique grandeur. Each one bringing joy and wonder to my heart.

What's the deal with towel warmers? Perusing catalogues or browsing online for household items, I've noticed towel warmers are popular.  I never heard of a towel warmer until a couple years ago and yet more and more I see them advertised. A Google search for the term "towel warmer" yields over a million sites. Each time I see an ad for a towel warmer, I stop - stymied. Unless you store bath towels in your refrigerator, why do you want a towel warmer? Maybe it is a luxury experience not to be missed, but I've never noticed a bath towel being cool or wished for a warmer towel. It only takes around 10 seconds to dry off. Hardly enough time to even notice what the towel feels like. I've never heard family, friends or anyone express an interest in towel warmers. So with all the promotion of towel warmers, someone must be buying them, but who?

So here I am in mid-life. Not much went the way I had hoped. When you're young, if things aren't going right, you keep hoping and looking to the future because the possibilities are still wide open. That's a spark that keeps you going. But now, the future is here, and that spark of youth is not so easy to come by. It becomes especially important to take one day at time. To find purpose in each new day. To look beyond myself to how I can best honor my Creator, to do something for someone else. Sometimes I have to be reminded to get back to the little things. Doing the right thing moment by moment.

As Thanksgiving transitions into the official Christmas shopping season (Yes I still say Christmas, even though the politically correct word these days seems to be "Holiday."),  I watch with interest how the shopping trend will play out this year. After the significant downturns in the economy, this Christmas season should be an indication of how we will now choose to spend our money and indirectly how or if our priorities will change.

Over the past few years as consumer spending, the escalation of image consciousness and the desire for creature comforts increased to a fever pitch, shallowness, greed and disrespect of anything resembling restraint or common decency eroded the last vestiges of our nation's character.   So if anything good comes from the losses and hard times brought on by this economy, may it be that we are forced to reevaluate our priorities, values and lifestyles...and grow up and get real. In the process may it be a step to bringing back virtues like "responsibility" and "respect."  

The economy...the election...there is much to take in this fall of 2008. Hard times, historical moments and uncertainty of what next year will bring. 

When I look at history and what made the US a great country, I see people who risked everything. They fought and died for freedom including  freedom of religious expression and freedom to rise above circumstances and with hard work and ingenuity succeed and prosper. 

The idea that government is responsible for taking care of people doesn't seem to fit with the principles this country was founded on and brought it to greatness. A government that seeks to take care of its citizens reminds me of the parents who provide their newly married son or daughter with a fine house and furninshings and maybe even set them up in business. It seems like a great setup to the young couple, but in reality, the parents put demands on the couple to live according to the parents wishes. The couple can't live their own life. They can never grow to make it on their own, and yet they are in a trap that is very difficult to escape.  

Do people deserve a chance? Yes definitely, but what seems like a great and compassionate solution becomes a government with too much say in your life because after all, govenment is footing the bill.  In human relationships we recognize that as "unhealthy."  Wasn't the real "American Dream" about empowering people to reach their full potential, not enabling them in their dependency like grown children who can't leave home and make it in the world?

On the final leg of my close-to-home road trip, this time with my sister, we stopped in the small West Texas town of Albany. A quaint main street appears to be all there is of interest. It includes a couple of inviting Bed & Breakfasts, one directly across from the courthouse where we decided to stay. A stroll around the courthouse square led us to a war monument displaying the sculpted faces of three men from Albany. All whose stories were not only fascinating but revealed that each had had a significant impact on American history.

The proprietor of the Bed & Breakfast informed us that the son of the original owner of her house had been a Broadway playwright and also founded the art museum in the old jailhouse which housed original paintings by Picasso, Renoir and others as well as extensive collections of ancient Chinese relics. We visited the museum before leaving town.

We were astonished at the history of the early families of Albany as well as the legacy they left. The Cook family of Cook Children’s Medical Center of Fort Worth was one such family.  We regretted not visiting laceType>FortlaceType> laceName>GriffinlaceName> just a few miles out of town which is a post Civil War fort and a crucial part of the area’s history. I expected to find quaint buildings, a slow pace and friendly locals in a little agriculture and oil town… but history makers and culture…. in the fields of West Texas?   Who knew?

My vacation included visiting one of my dearest friends. We’ve been friends since college, the kind of friends who pick up where we left off. Sure it’s been nearly twenty-five years since college, and we don’t talk as often as we’d like, mostly because we can talk for hours about nothing, about everything about life’s best and worst moments. We are more alike now than we were then but still different. She’s a stay at home mom with four sons. I’m a single working woman with no children. Middle age has a way blurring differences between people. The disappointments of life are no respecter of persons. Lost dreams and joyous moments may be different for each of us but leave the same imprint upon the heart.

Is it really a vacation to trek to the airport, get through security, check baggage, crowd onto an airplane only to reach your destination and blend into throngs of tourists, not to mention the myriad of mishaps and irritations along the way? Then it’s time to pack as many events into each day as possible to get your money’s worth.

Many vacations these days consist of jaunts to popular tourist island resorts for fun in the sun. I find the very thought of making the trip so stressful that I end up staying close to home. This year I took a road trip to my hometown to visit lifelong friends. I had no schedule to keep. My road trip included not taking the interstate, but a less traveled road with almost no traffic.

The countryside is blissfully peaceful and beautiful. The little towns boast country café’s and stores. Farmers and ranchers go about their daily work. Late one evening at sunset, under shadowy clouds splashed across the sky, I found myself driving through the middle of a wind farm. Before, I’d only seen these “windmills” from a distance where they look like little sticks turning about. Up close they’re majestic man-made spires with long, missile like arms turning gracefully in the wind that sweeps across them.  

The motion of the modern day windmills against the display of clouds gave me the feeling of floating through the air watching the magnificent sunset as my car dipped up and down over gentle hills toward the plains.  No hustle and bustle of tourists, no noisy nightlife.  Just me on the open road, waved silently home by the turbine arms under a brilliant sky that God painted.