12/22/2024 0 Comments Connecticut!
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12/15/2024 0 Comments New Hamshire!
12/8/2024 0 Comments Vermont - tiny but neat!Ps 121:1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
I can’t help think of this verse whenever I get to these small midEastern states. Vermont means green mountains, and it is a small but scenic state – at least in the summer. I’m not sure I’d like to drive there in the winter! Although their capital, Montpelier, is the smallest state capital in the country they can be proud of their state. It was the 1st state admitted to the union after the original 13 colonies (1791). They are the #1 producer of maple syrup in the US and have more covered bridges per square mile than any other state. They are so neat to come across unexpectedly. Driving through on Hwy 2 is something I have done a couple times. My dream would be to get there during the autumn and run the eastern side of the continent during leaf season! Skiing and water sports are also big in this little state. 12/1/2024 0 Comments PA - Go with the flow!![]() Act 21:15 And after those days we took up our carriages, and went up to Jerusalem. This verse just seemed to fit as PA has the #1 settlement in all of USA for Amish. You can’t drive through Lancaster County without seeing buggies and carriages everywhere. Besides the Amish, PA also has the largest Mennonite settlement as well. Since farming is the biggest occupation for these people, PA is full of farms. However, farming there is very different than I’m used to. There’s lots of rolling roads and valleys as the Appalachian Mountains run through center of PA. The Allegheny and Pocono Mountains are in the NE while the Waynesburg Hills in SW have the coal mines. Going to a singles retreat the other summer I didn’t get car sick, per se, but after 12 hours of driving and going up and down and around curves – I was so dizzy, I couldn’t get the world to stop moving for hours after I stopped. Thankfully by the next day I was ok again! PA also have 4 nuclear power plants so have huge energy resources. But my favourite memory was going to the Hershey’s chocolate factory when Dad took our family to visit friends one year. It’s the US Chocolate capital and we had a 30 min tour with taste testing and everything! :0) One of this state’s claim to fame was they had the first baseball stadium built. I wasn’t into baseball, but when I taught in Delaware I coached girls JR volleyball, and we had an intense competition with some rival PA schools – so several times went into PA for weekend tournaments. I don’t think it’s bragging to say we walked away with a no-lose season as that wasn’t due to my coaching – I simply had some amazing girls that could REALLY play! 11/24/2024 0 Comments Ohio = Great River11/17/2024 0 Comments Michigan!![]() Song of S 2:3 As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. My truly home state – I was born in this state. When you say “Michigan” immediately 4 images come to mind; making apple butter in the great copper kettle outside every fall with the relatives, going through the trees and watching the tapping for maple syrup, the Mackinac Bridge, and wading along the shores of Lake Michigan. Since Mom came from the UP (upper peninsula) and Dad came from the lower – we crossed the bridge every time we visited relatives. It’s one of the longer suspension bridges in the world at 4.9 miles. I was 17 the first time I drove across it, and boy I was nervous. When it’s windy you can feel the shake. So many times there’s construction; then you have to move into the center lanes with the green grooves that whine as you drive and make you feel like the tires are wobbling and going to fall off. I still get a bit nervous every time I do it, but there are some people who have to use the “courtesy driver” – a transport system you pay to have a staff member drive you across. So that makes me feel good that I can still do it under my own power. However, I nearly lost it a year ago when I made the mistake of crossing on July 4th weekend!!! NEVER do that! The 5 minute drive took 45 minutes! I could only inch along and as I kept my foot on the brake and looked way WAY down I was able to come up with about 4 different novels in my head in every genre about a person stuck on the Mackinac Bridge as it gave way due to the bumper to bumper congestion! Sheesh! Dad liked to return to Michigan either in the spring or fall; if fall, we got to help with making apple butter as a family weekend. It may have been work to the adults, but it was great fun for us cousins. The big copper kettle out in the yard with the fire underneath needing to be fed with wood periodically; hauling in the wagonload of apples to dump in turn into the bubbling cauldron – with everyone in a big family helping it was a fun weekend. If we went in the early spring, we could help with tapping the maple trees or lugging buckets before they put in a pipeline system. Such good childhood memories to have! Michigan is a beautiful state to be in with the fall leaves, and varied nature in so many forms – Mom lived just a couple miles from Lake Michigan, so we always enjoy the boardwalk and lighthouse as well as wading in the water. It’s so clear you can see to the bottom some days. Quite scary-impressive when there’s a storm raging! I’m proud to be able to say, “I’m from Michigan.” 11/10/2024 0 Comments AlabamaGen 18:1b … and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day.
The deep south is known for its hospitality – they certainly give you a warm welcome! Supposedly Alabama is not quite as bad as a few other states, but it’s still classified as humid subtropical. I haven’t spent a lot of time there, but the most interesting place I enjoyed was going to Ivy Green – the birthplace of Helen Keller. As I teacher I am just amazed at the tenacity of Anne Sullivan in teaching Helen. I can get impatient when my students don’t get something and I’ve explained it three times already. To teach someone both deaf and blind would take a special quality in a person that I don’t possess. But her perseverance paid off and hence the world became a better place as Helen Keller became a driving force in so many endeavours as she grew up. You can’t drive through Alabama without seeing cotton or peanut fields – which are very different from the crops I’m used to. I found it fascinating and was reminded of George Washington Carver and all he contributed to agriculture and the peanut industry. It’s always good to hear about someone who overcomes tremendous odds to become a blessing to society. It gives one hope to keep on and not to quit just because the going gets rough. 11/3/2024 0 Comments Mississippi
10/27/2024 0 Comments Kentucky
10/20/2024 0 Comments Tennessee - a culture all its own![]() Ps 125:2 As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth even for ever. Oh the beauty of the Smoky Mountains! Now I’m a prairies girl, but I can say it is beautiful to see mountains and the fall colours of the Smoky Mountains are incredible. But driving there is hard on my ears. I have such issues, and you are constantly going up and down and around and around. If you’re into spelunking, Tennessee is supposedly the state with the most caves. But since I’m claustrophobic, I tend to only go into caves that are really big. No slithering through narrow, tight rocky places for me. So while I admire Tennessee and it has many fascinating facets, I’m still happy to drive away and get more into the open. Again, if you’re not a nature lover, then there are so many other things – Nashville with its home of country music, the history of so many places – famous people – Davy Crockett was born there, Dolly Parton, Hank Williams, and the list goes on. Tennessee is a small state but crammed with interesting facts and history. If you get off the beaten track, you can get into what can be termed as more “hillbilly” areas, which I find fascinating. There are special people no matter where you go, but some of the mountain folk can be so interesting. Of course, there’s the huge tourist spots – Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Knoxville, as well as the Nashville music scene. |
CategoriesFebruary 26, 2021
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What a week! As a teacher on a Hutterite colony for grade 5-12, life is non-stop from 9:00-3:30. This coming Friday is the end of quarter, so report cards will be due. So that always makes one extra busy.
But I had 2 highlights in this week. The first: I came home and stumbled over something on my step. When I picked it up and entered, I found out I was holding MY copy of my book! I felt like a mother receiving her first child. The awe and wonder of holding something I'd created and labored over for - yes, about nine months- well, that is quite the feeling. The second: Last night the doorbell rang. I answered and a man stood there with a floral arrangement. I was sure he'd come to the wrong house, but he had the right name. Imagine my amazement when I saw that friends from the States had arranged these lovely roses to be delivered to celebrate this milestone in my life. In today's Covid restrictions, such a thoughtful, kind gesture means SO much! I never get flowers, so I'm still just smiling over it. |
January 5, 2021
How many of you make New Year's Resolutions? How many of you don't because you know you won't keep them?
As I look at 2021 and wonder what this year will bring, I've decided to try a couple resolutions.
A poet once said, "It is better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all." I feel that can be applied to resolutions too. As I start this year as a new author, I'm scrambling to figure out what I'm doing! This has definitely pulled me out of my comfort zone. I've asked the Lord, "What have I done? Am I stepping off this cliff to float or fly?"
So my New Year's Resolution is to have a website and put a blog on it. Will this last? It will be interesting to look back in December 2021 to see what has happened here! Tech stuff is NOT my thing. But as a teacher, I always tell my students, "Just try. You never know what might happen." So how can I do less than I preach? I will try this. No guarantees, but I've made a start! Happy New Year to you all!
As I look at 2021 and wonder what this year will bring, I've decided to try a couple resolutions.
A poet once said, "It is better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all." I feel that can be applied to resolutions too. As I start this year as a new author, I'm scrambling to figure out what I'm doing! This has definitely pulled me out of my comfort zone. I've asked the Lord, "What have I done? Am I stepping off this cliff to float or fly?"
So my New Year's Resolution is to have a website and put a blog on it. Will this last? It will be interesting to look back in December 2021 to see what has happened here! Tech stuff is NOT my thing. But as a teacher, I always tell my students, "Just try. You never know what might happen." So how can I do less than I preach? I will try this. No guarantees, but I've made a start! Happy New Year to you all!