Odds and Ends

I slept later than usual this morning.  By the time I had bathed and dressed and spent some time checking my email and FaceBook it was time to go for my walk at 7:15.  My walking friend Linda was walking her dog, Scooter, and very kindly agreed to take a picture of me!

                                          This is Linda!

This is me!

I am beginning to be aware that I am sleeping better.  I still awaken but I am not having lengthy bouts of insomnia falling back to sleep.
We ran into some children that Linda knew who were walking to the entrance to wait for the school bus.  I photographed a young girls back pack because she had adorned it with so many things!

I continued my walk and nothing else caught my attention!  

I mentioned the Delicious Fried Rice that I had for lunch yesterday but forgot to mention my Fortune Teller Cookie!  It read "You will travel to exotic places on your next trip."  A very nice fortune!  It reminded me of the movie I like so well "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" which is about a group of British "elderly" retirees who move to Jaipur, India to take up residence.  Judi Dench (my favorite actress), Bill Nighy, and Maggie Smith and four other well know actors play roles in the movie.  I recommend it highly!

I thought that Thanksgiving would be my next trip but maybe not!  I like the sound of "exotic!"

A not well known fact of the Civil War:  In 1861 Sally Louisa Tompkins was commissioned a cavalry captain.  She was the only woman to be commissioned in the confederate army.  There were however female soldiers disguised as men who fought.  Capt. Tompkins was a nurse and established a hospital in Richmond, Virginia.  

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The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 

"Evelyn:  Nothing here has worked out quite as I expected.

Muriel:  Most things don't, but sometimes what happens instead is the good stuff!"

Consistency

I completed the first half of my two mile walk before the Bible Study Group met.  The weather forecast for today was cloudy (but it rained anyway) with temperatures between 69 degrees and 65 degrees.  It will be the same for three days with scattered thunder storms on Thursday.  Saturday and Sunday are supposed to be sunny!  It will be a challenge to walk two miles every day for the next three days.

Dean emailed me this morning to congratulate me on yesterday's increased "speed" and acted as my coach by saying that "Consistency" is the key to success.  I would love to earn a Turkey-Trot T-Shirt  but I don't think running is in my future.  My sense of balance is much improved but I don't think that Dr. Sprague will ever recommend running.  It sounds like too much of a risk.  

I arrived at church at 9:30 a.m. I chose to take The Jerusalem Bible today.  It has received reviews as being the best translation of the Bible.  And I was very pleased with it.  But it differed from other translations, having a few extra verses.  It caused some confusion. We are reading Leviticus, reading three chapters and discussing them quickly.  I wish we had reverted to the New Testament again after reading Genesis and Exodus.  

After Bible Study I went to the Post Office to mail the quilting fabric to Sandra.  I was truly shocked--it cost $22!  Then I headed home and stopped at the Chinese Restaurant in the Shopping Mall right outside Merrimack Meadows to order Fried Rice for lunch.  They make several kinds, all of which are good, but my favorite is a Thai
recipe of curried rice with large-cut onions, chicken, and sea food, usually shrimp, but today they had added some lobster!  It was very, very delicious!  

Now, I am home and am watching "Rizzoli and Isles," one of my favorite TV Programs.

And we are never too old to study the Bible.  Each time the lessons are studied comes some new meaning, some new thought which will make us better.             

                                                  John D. Rockefeller

   

The Autumn Leaves

According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, "Autumn is the season between summer and winter comprising in the northern hemisphere usually the months of September, October, and November or as reckoned astronomically extending from the September equinox to the December solstice —called also fall."

Autumn arrived last night.  The days are shorter and the nights are growing longer. The Canada Goose is in flight.  And the temperature dropped to 51 last night.  I had a wonderful two mile walk today in sunny weather wearing a fleece jacket, a knit cap and gloves in addition to my usual walking clothes.  I am humming the lyrics to "The Autumn Leaves!"

According to a 10 day weather report, we will enjoy sunny days four days, and cloudy weather with rain five days, and one day of scattered thunder storms with our highest temperature being 85 degrees and our lowest 51 degrees.  It will require ingenuity to stay in "training" during inclement weather!  Especially when the New England winter comes.

I walked to the entrance of Merrimack Meadows this morning and started back following the loops.  I was delighted and surprised to see Curly again standing in front of his door.  I took two pictures of him and they are better than the pictures I took  yesterday.  The lighting was better.  

I kept walking, hoping to be inspired for taking pictures.  I have taken pictures of the flags on display, pictures of the ways people have decorated their doors, I have shot pictures of pets and photographed the small gardens that were attractive and photographed all of the signs.  Today I decided to take pictures of the large rocks that have been used in the complex.  

Now is the season of apple picking and enjoying the fall foliage!

Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head!

I started on my walk this morning, a few minutes after seven, and the sun was shining.  It promised to be a beautiful day.  I walked less than a block and the sky had darkened.  A few drops of rain began to fall.  It was impossible to determine the weather forecast so I kept on walking and hoped for the sun to shine again.  It didn't.  I made it to the entrance of Merrimack Meadows and the rain began to fall a bit heavier.  I was getting wetter and wetter!  I stopped at my mail box to collect the mail and clutching it to my chest I hurried on home. I may have walked a half mile:(  

Not much progress in my training for the Turkey Trot.  A 5K (3 mile) or a 10K (6 mile) run or walk on Thanksgiving morning that everyone except me has participated in, sponsored by Carlisle, PA. The family usually gathers at Dean's for a feast on Thanksgiving and he and Dawn have invited everyone again this year.  It has become a family tradition. He is very happy about my walking program and encourages me to join the family at the Turkey Trot.  I am walking two miles now.  Surely I can make it to three miles by Thanksgiving. If the weather will only cooperate! 

I called Dean for two reasons.  One, he bought two loaves of bread at "When Pigs Fly" and they were missing when he got home.  I have done a search and they are not here.  The second reason was that the sound on my TV was not working and I wondered if he might know what the problem could be.  He solved my TV problem immediately by suggesting that the remote button on my control might have been accidentally hit and was on "remote".  I wasn't even aware that I had a remote button.  It is infinitesimally small!  I remembered several things that needed attention but forgot when Dean was here.  He suggested that I make a list and keep it posted somewhere convenient.  The faucet in the kitchen sink that is frozen in  place and cannot be moved.  The cabinet in my bathroom that is ruined on the inside from a water leak.  A new cabinet will have to be installed.  

I told Dean that Kady probably had the loaves of bread.  She had picked them out and probably unloaded them at her mother's.  They aren't ordinary loaves of bread.  Each cost $6 and are made with wonderful ingredients!

It looks as if it will clear and I may be able to finish my walk this afternoon!   


You don't choose your family.  They are God's gift to you, as you are to them.
                                                                                 Desmond Tutu

Happy Birthday, Dawn!

I didn't walk yesterday because 1. it was pouring down rain and 2. I was doing the laundry (sheets and towels) and 3. I was exhausted! We went to Kittery, Maine the day before to enjoy shopping at the outlet stores and having lobster again for lunch at the Weathervane. Followed several hours later at Kimball's for more ice cream.  The day started with a 2 mile walk through the Merrimack Meadows Complex with Kady and Murphy, with Dean and Dawn joining us early on.  

It is one hour's drive to Kittery.  We stopped at "The Trading Post" first--one of our favorite stores.  I took my first picture of the day there, a repeat of a picture I had taken on a previous visit!

Travis, Kady, Dean, Dawn, and Charlie

We went to most of our favorites but everything is less of a bargain now.  In one store there was a knit cap that looked like the cap Kady had liked in Norway for $80!  It was $35 and I bought the cap for her. It was made in China, but the cap in Norway could have been made in China! Dean and Dawn went to several stores of cooking ware and bought a very nice baking pan for large muffins.  Looking for something in my kitchen Dean had discovered at least 12 muffin mixes!  I hope I can redeem myself!  After our seafood lunch we shopped some more, coming to an end at "When Pigs Fly."  A wonderful designer bakery for original breads.  I thought that they used to be expensive at $4 a loaf but they are now $5 to $8. Nevertheless I couldn't resist buying at least one loaf with raisins and mangoes.   

The trip was fun because making the trip is a Stodter family tradition. And eating Sea Food at the Weathervane is a family tradition!  Just as Kimball's is a family tradition!   So we drove home and went to Kimball's before coming home.  Kady baked a cake to celebrate Dawn's birthday.  It was delicious and decorated with the Norseman

logo!  I looked through Wikipedia for all the names of Norseman Gods and Goddesses but none listed were good names for Dawn. There are many Gods but not so many Goddesses!  I did however find one for me!  The Goddess Elle--the Goddess of Old Age!!!

We must have walked at least 5 miles that day and I was exhausted!!!

Dawn

I went for my walk at 7 o'clock this morning and walked the entire course--straight up and down the main road and all the loops--two miles.  I am slow and would lose my breath if I weren't stopping to take pictures!  I am pleased with my progress and wonder how long it will be before I try to go further.  

I received Dawn's race report this morning!  She wrote, "The quick facts: 2.4 mile swim in a fjord after jumping off a car ferry; 112 miles of biking involving about 10,000 vertical feet of climbing up to the highest mountain plateau in Europe and then 4 mountain passes; 26.2 miles of running including over 4.5 miles at a 10% grade up Zombie Hill..."  Dawn is 40 years old!  She continues "It took me over 19 hours.  I was on my bike saddle for over 10 hours.  I vomited multiple times and passed and was re-passed by a group of three  begging sheep. Yes, sheep.  Sheep with bells.  And no, the sheep were not a hallucination."  It was a 6 page typewritten report of her performance during the race.  

I am very proud to know her and even prouder to know her as a member of our family.  She was the 212th finisher out of 215.  And ten competitors did not make it to the finish line.

She made it with the help of a good support team.  Dean managed to overcome my resistance to walking and all my children support me.  Chuck, Dean, Cheryl, and Missy.  I have, when younger, 
liked certain athletics--horse back riding and skiing--but fate intervened and I had to give them up.  Now I am trying to walk in the hope that my brain will become stronger.  That is my goal!  The greatest difficulty for me is to walk in all kinds of weather and to not
make excuses because of rain or snow or other kinds of inclement weather.   

Dogs I Have Met

I have just returned from my morning walk.  I covered the two mile regimen and am a bit tired.  Only now is the sun coming out.  It was overcast at 7 o'clock.  

My camera is proving to be a great incentive to walking!  I am not only anxious to take pictures, it gives me the opportunity to stop and catch my breath without appearing to need to do so.  And it has caused me to notice things that I never would have noticed before.

My neighbor, Lisa, drove by on her way to work and stopped to give me some blueberry coffee cake that she had baked.  We chatted for a few minutes.  I told her that Dean, my son, had called the night before to tell me that he and Dawn and my grandchildren, Travis, Charlie and Kady, were planning to come up for the Labor Day week-end.   I am thrilled!  They want to visit all their favorite places--Kimball's Farm, the Bonsai Store, the New Balance store!

My new friend, Linda, was being walked by her dog Scooter and we chatted for a while and I took another picture of Scooter.  She would like to have a copy of the pictures.

As I walked the second half of my walk, the bottom half of Merrimack Meadows, everyone seemed to be asleep!  No one as yet was stirring.  When I had almost completed the distance a woman came out of her house and greeted me.  She was very friendly and I asked her what breed of dog she was walking.  A "Sheet Tsu" she said in an accented voice.  I didn't recognize the accent so I asked her what country she was from.  She answered, "Persia." Her dog's name was Coco (it sounded like Cocoa) and she was very amenable to my photographing her dog.

I have, in a very short time of walking, met Scooter, Curly (Earl Gray), Freddy, Buster and Coco!  That's not bad!

“Petting, scratching, and cuddling a dog could be as soothing to the mind and heart as deep meditation and almost as good for the soul as prayer.”
― Dean Koontz, False Memory