Coffee and Other Things

It occurred to me tonight that I have been retired for four years, as of June 30, and I've lived in my current home in the town where my daughter and family lives for 4 years next week. I got the keys and started moving into my rented condo on Sept. 15, my oldest son's birthday. 

Lots of things have changed in the past 4 years. Some of these are serious, some are funny. I'll list some of them below.

First change I complained about: there was no drive through Starbucks.

This was huge to me at the time. We had a really good one back home, and even though I only budgeted for it a couple times a week, I had it down to a science. I could get through there and still get to work on time, in school traffic. This is kind of a funny one; coffee is, after all, necessary for the sanity! Especially when I was working in a school office and needing to be kind to co-workers, parents, and students when they needed something from me first thing in the morning. Coffee is vital! LOL!

Seriously, though, over the past 4 years I have discovered no shortage of drive-through coffee shops. These days, I only treat myself once a week, on Monday after my morning walk. Plus, I have discovered that iced coffee is quite good when one is sweaty after a brisk walk. I never liked iced coffee before.

This brings me to my next change in the last 4 years: Walking. This isn't something I was missing from home, but it is definitely something I needed to be doing. I've gone from walking about a mile once or twice a week (only when the weather was just right) to walking every day. During summer I was skipping Sunday since I go to church in the morning and it was too hot even just before sunset to walk, but I'm starting to walk Sunday evenings now that it's a little cooler. I walk 1.5 miles minimum every day; on 2 days a week I walk the "through the woods" path which is 1.75 miles. Two things led to this, as I mentioned in an earlier blog: One, I feared I was losing my mobility, which resulted in my kids buying me a really good smart watch to track my walking, and two, I found the BEST walking path system ever.

Finally, the 3rd change. At the end of 2021, I had still not found a doctor and was having to drive back to my doctor back home 3.5 hours away. I have a good doctor here now, plus I discovered something wonderful. The doctors' offices, and even the hospital, where I had an endoscopy about a year ago, are FIVE MINUTES from my house.  There are some really good doctors here, and so close! Back home I was having to drive 20-30 minutes to the far side of the larger city I lived close to, so this is a good change. 

I have to conclude that overall, even though I STILL love and miss my hometown, and my friends and family that are there (and I always will), I am adjusted well here in my new environment. 

I have a good church home here, where I have friends I love. My daughter's house is 10 minutes away instead of 3.5 hours. And I have found that I LOVE walking (who knew?). 

And of course, there's a drive through coffee place just a few blocks from my house. 🤣

I'm blessed! Blessings to my friends!

"I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." Psalm 27:13,14 NIV

Find the Joy

Hello September! I'm so happy we finally got to the "ber" months! It's my favorite time of year. I'm encouraged and feeling better now that we are seeing that the end of summer isn't too far off.

Walking in the mornings has been so good the past week with the cool front we are currently enjoying. I realize it's September, though, so summer isn't over in Arkansas but the reprieve from the heat has been welcome.

I'm still tending my "tiny little garden" and it's still looking pretty good. The petunias, bless them, are a challenge because they require constant deadheading to keep them blooming. I may rethink having them in the garden next summer. 

Since I rent, I have all my flowers in pots, so I'll be replacing them with some mums and fall decor pretty soon anyway. I'll rotate the summer pots to my off-season "storage area" (behind the hedge right by the house). I will be sorry to see the vincas go; I received them for Mother's Day and found that they don't have to be deadheaded, and they are very prolific in blooming. They are annuals, though, so I can't keep them for next year.

Listen to me go on and on about flowers! Who knew I would learn to like gardening, even on a mini-garden scale? The thing is, I've found them to be an unexpected source of joy. Something shifted in me this summer, and I found myself arranging the 5 potted plants I managed to fit into a little area by my front door into a pleasing, joyful thing in my life. 

Know when it happened? 

When I stopped lamenting over not owning my own place and therefore unable to plant a real flower garden. That's when it happened. Truth be told, these 5 plants were all I had the headspace for in this season anyway. Five plants, creatively arranged into a part of the landscaping that had room for them. Five plants that don't have to be moved so the mowers can mow and trim weeds.

Five potted flowers. A source of happiness and a reason to smile in a season when it's been tough at times. By the grace of God, though, every morning I wake up, go for a walk, and come back to water my little garden if I didn't the night before and they need it.

I didn't start out with the intention of talking so much about my flowers, and the joy they cause. Somehow, though, it just seems right. Maybe someone reading this needs to find something to make them smile. I hope I've encouraged you to do just that. 

Maybe it's not flowers. Maybe it's the sun trying to peek through the clouds, or a funny face someone put on a tree on the walking path, or simply a calendar that you bought because you needed something pretty in your life. 

Find the joy. It's there. Be blessed, my friends.

Shout for joy to God, all the earth! Psalm 66:1 NIV