Meaningful Moments

November brings sunlight, migrating birds, and a chill in the air, and yet this glorious state of Oklahoma can find summer days in November. Next week we have planned golf tee times for four days out of five. It is refreshing to enjoy so much sunshine and warmth after the ice storm of October, that has left our landscaped scarred. The rising fear of COVID 19 once again has settled into our souls, and we are looking for chances to enjoy friendships in the sun. 

Taking time to breath and relax after chopping, pulling, tugging, and tossing tree limbs, Jack and I took a long walk over the hidden hill, up and down, breathing deeply and laughing when we tired so quickly. On the last hill upward and homeward bound we saw a giant 'kissing tree,' or at least I saw a giant  tree on the horizon filled with mistletoe the size of leaf bags. Needing a chance to slow our pace, I gently tugged on Jack's arm and pointed upwards. He looked at the mass of mistletoe and smiled saying, "I love you." I returned his smile but didn't budge.

Once again pointing upward I asked, "And what is the custom when standing under mistletoe?" Without another word he pulled me into his chest, covered my body with his arms, and planted a sloppy loving kiss on my lips. I just love being in love.

During this week when the world whirled with Presidential controversy, we said yes to babysitting a Goldendoodle puppy nearly four months old. No cliche of my mother's could describe the hysterical mayhem that existed in our quiet home for two and a half days. So innocent, little Miss June Bug appeared.

Her puppy energy flowed indoors and outdoors. Like we did with Lucy, we went outside with our puppy and played ball. It didn't last long because she discovered the torn tassels of the pampas grass broken and strewn all over our yard by the storms. Junie B, as I nicknamed her, carried the flowering tassels in her mouth and ran in a gallop back and forth across the yard. Tiny fluffs of pampas grass floated into the air like children blowing bubbles.

On day two I drove to PetCo and bought chew toys, and oh, did she ever love to tug, growl, and bit at anything that moved, including our feet and ankles. We never quit laughing.

On day three I attempted to sit in on a Zoom meeting. What was I thinking? I did my best to pay attention, but Junie B had other plans, like chew on a golf ball. Not good I tried to explain to her, then she found a squeaky toy that I keep for kids to play with, not good I explained and grabbed it from her.  At last she found a workout ball that she could chew, and occasionally found my sock and ankle to chew on. I lasted forty minutes on Zoom. I can't imagine the view my friends had of me as I continually dropped away from the computer screen to pull something out of the dog's mouth. 

That afternoon, I invited our neighbor to bring her six month old puppy over to play.  

Quinn, Australian Shepherd looks so regal on his footstool, but in action he runs like an Oklahoma dust storm in constant motion, never missing a swirl.  

Watching Junie B trying to run figure eights was a riot. Quickly, Junie B caught on that she would not be able to keep up the race, so she stood crosswise to the running dog and took the passing blows of Quinn, leaving both dogs to roll and tumble. For nearly an hour, Linda and I sat in lawn chairs watching the dogs play. For a moment, I thought back to the days when I sat in the park, a proud young mother watching her daughter play on the slides and swings. She was always a dare-devil in the spirit of play. 

Our minister called to check on us this week. It filled my heart with joy to hear his voice and concerns. I explained that even though we felt apprehensive with the coming months of indoor activity, we had managed to play more golf this summer than in the years when I felt younger. He wished he had an escape like golf.

Ironically, I have golfing friends who sometimes say things like; I am really not competitive, I just like to play golf with friends and be social. I just laugh, because I know that deep down inside each one of my golfing friends has a competitive streak. 

On a warm day this week, with only a hint of a breeze three of us teed off near the ten o'clock hour. Even though I thought I hit the ball with zing and power I found that my short game stumped me. On hole nine, I chunked my favorite chip shot to the green and my head dropped in disgust. "That hurt my ego," I expressed out loud. We laughed. 

On hole thirteen none of us went in the water, but Donna, our five foot tall dynamo out drove me, on a great drive I might add. She nearly danced a jig she was so proud. Naturally, we took a photo with her showing her bitch wings and me pointing to a ball not even in the picture.

Being a non-competitive group of ladies, and that's a tall tale, we continued on our lovely day in the sun sharing stories. On hole number eighteen, the last hole of the day, we teed off and each of us found the fairway with our tee shots. Being able to say that our tee shot is in play (in the fairway), is a great line to use in golf, especially when the leaves have fallen and the rough is littered with brown crumpled leaves that hide golf balls from men and women alike.  

"Ah ha!" Kathy yelled pointing her finger toward the ground, "Look what I did. I just out drove both of you."

With a little imagination look for three golf balls, 
foreground, middle left, and front. 

I am sure glad this is not a competitive group of women golfers, but they are some of the greatest ladies I have ever been blessed to play golf with regularly. And that is most meaningful for me.

Meaningful Moments

This week has passed in a wintry blur of frozen tree limbs hanging to the ground building igloos underneath.  For a week the weather predictors promised ice and rain, but since when do we put a great deal of credit in their exuberance to share diabolical weather conditions?

We felt the sting of winter and our trees bent and broke before our very eyes. 

In those my moments of awe at Mother Nature's power, I found some amazing moments. 

I love zinnias and enjoy watching the birds freely scatter the zinnia seeds from year to year. They may pop us anywhere in our gardens bringing a smile to my face and the hum of insects exploring their red, pink, violet, burning orange, or yellow petals. With this ice storm I discovered their beauty encased in ice. Isn't nature amazing?

Along with the shock of the ice storm came the experience of waiting in line to vote early at the Fairgrounds. I really don't know what we expected to see at 8:00 in the morning with a cold blustery damp rain falling, but it sure wasn't the line already wrapped around the building on the outside! Being the problem solvers that we are, we drove over to IHop and ate breakfast. Still not believing a line in the weather, we drove by the Fairgrounds and moaned. The line was even longer. 

By noon the weather changed and the sun came out. It seems like another few hundred or thousand people made the same choice. We stood in line from 12:24pm until we voted at 2:35pm. 

I am proud to be an American, and even more proud  that our crowd of people from our county all wore masks, displayed no abusiveness, no arguments, nothing negative. In fact, I enjoyed people watching. Amazing how we all seem to blend as thoughtful caring human beings. Each and every person felt a duty to vote and not make a scene. 

  I'm Proud to Be an American by Lee Greenwood (click here to listen to the music)

And I'm proud to be an American

Where at least I know I'm free

And I won't forget the men who died

Who gave that right to me

And I'd gladly stand up next to you

And defend Her still today

'Cause there ain't no doubt

I love this land

God Bless the U.S.A.

There is still nothing better than neighborhood friends who step in to help in times of need, and we all need help from time to time. Thank you Charley and Debi for helping us to save one tree in the front yard, by cutting down the damaged hanging tree. 

After several hours of labor over two days, the tree is down and stacked all around the yard. We finished off the night with pizza and a few adult beverages. Cheers! We are thankful for meaningful moments in life.