Poetry...

Trying to clean out files on my laptop. Lots of files. One directory I have is titled 'Poems". While reading through to see what I could delete, I found three that I shared with my family. Two for Papa and one for my kids. 

My father loves trees. He loves their color and their shapes. He comments about them all the time. I saved a poem I had to memorize when I was in in elementary school about trees. I took it to Papa to read. He very much enjoyed it. Here it is:

Trees

(For Mrs. Henry Mills Alden)

I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed

Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks to God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.

Joyce Kilmer

I also found a poem Papa sent to me in 2003. Given our current set of circumstances, this is just a mite ironic. Papa laughed at this one as he read it.

My Rememberer Is Broke

 

My forgetter's getting better,

But my rememberer is broke

To you that may seem funny

But, to me, that is no joke

For when I'm "here" I'm wondering

If I really should be "there"

And, when I try to think it through,

I haven't got a prayer!

Oft times I walk into a room,

Say "what am I here for?"

I wrack my brain, but all in vain!

A zero, is my score.

At times I put something away

Where it is safe, but, Gee!

The person it is safest from

Is, generally, me!

When shopping I may see someone,

Say "Hi" and have a chat,

Then, when the person walks away

I ask myself, "who was that?"

Yes, my forgetter's getting better

While my rememberer is broke,

And it's driving me plumb crazy

And that isn't any joke.

The third poem is one I sent to my three children. I titled their eMail..."Get Ready!"  Here it is:

When I am an Old Lady

When I'm an old lady, I'll live with my kids,

And make their life happy and filled with such fun.

I want to pay back all the joy they've provided,

Returning each deed. Oh, they'll be so excited

....When I'm an old lady and live with my kids.

I'll write on the wall with red, white, and blue;

And bounce on the furniture wearing my shoes.

I'll drink from the carton and then leave it out.

I'll stuff all the toilets and oh, how they'll shout.

....When I'm an old lady and live with my kids.

When they're on the phone and just out of reach,

I'll get into things like sugar and bleach.

Oh, they'll snap their fingers and then shake their head,

And when that is done I'll hide under the bed.

....When I'm an old lady and live with my kids.

When they cook dinner and call me to meals,

I'll not eat my green beans or salads congealed.

I'll gag on my okra, spill milk on the table,

And when they get angry, run fast as I'm able.

....When I'm an old lady and live with my kids.

I'll sit close to the TV, through the channels I'll click.

I'll cross both my eyes to see if they stick.

I'll take off my socks and throw one away,

And play in the mud until the end of the day.

....When I'm an old lady and live with my kids.

And later in bed, I'll lay back and sigh,

And thank God in prayer and then close my eyes;

And my kids will look down with a smile slowly creeping,

And say with a groan, "she's so sweet when she's sleeping."

....When I'm an old lady and live with my kids

Nissa was the first to apply and assure me I would not have to eat okra at her home and my bedroom is ready. Jake, who has been to Cracker Barrel with me, said, "Mom 'gagging on okra'? Yeah, right." I only commented that I have been known to order two servings of fried okra when ordering the veggie plate at Cracker Barrel. 

Poetry can be fun on many levels.

April Shenanigans...

Claude and I are attending an Adult Religion Class each Wednesday morning. We are really enjoying this time to learn together. I missed the first one because it was the day we were going to pick up the Mini's for their spring break visit. I visited Papa while Claude attended. We are studying the New Testament. This is one of the treats of having a hubby home during the daytime. We get to do some things together.

We also finished up our transaction with Strategic Wealth Designers. We are a bit more set for some more years of retirement. Feels good to take care of those things.

Each month on the second Thursday we have a Stake Self-Reliance Committee meeting. This month we combined with the Lexington Stake's committee for some special training. The Church is adding the BYU Pathway Connect to the Self-Reliance umbrella. This is an amazing program to help people attend college that might not be able to go away to college. Maybe a person who had to quit college for some reason and wants to go back and finish their degree. The Pathway Connect allows them to get their first year for a nominal fee with credits that will transfer to BYU-Idaho. Classes are on-line and the participants must attend an Institute of Religion class each week. They can continue until they have a bachelor's degree. This is being implemented in only two stakes of the Church so far and our stake is one of those two. Friday morning we had three of the region and area leaders over Pathway to our home for breakfast. They did the training on Thursday evening and wanted a follow-up of what we felt before they left. It was a good meeting. 

We would meet with Bob and Pam Bylund who will be the service missionaries to lead the BYU Pathway Connect in our area on Thursday, April 18th. We formulated and shared some ideas of how to train Church leaders in our area and get people registered before the first session starts in August. And we are off and running with this new program. We will meet in our next Stake Committee meeting to firm up our plan with the stake committee.

My sister, Junie, came for a brief visit. She arrived Monday, April 15th, in the early evening. She had all day Tuesday with Papa. She took him for a car ride and visited with him. Wednesday, Claude and I picked Papa up after our Adult Religion Class and brought him out to the house for lunch and an afternoon visit. This was a good move. Junie was taking medicine for a bad pain in her neck and it makes her very sleepy. This allowed her to sleep in and still have half a day with her dad. She would leave Thursday morning. When we took Papa back to the nursing home Wednesday, Claude took this great picture of Papa and two of his daughters. My only regret is I didn't think to do this with Neffie when she visited. This picture is printed and on Papa's wall in the nursing home. He was very happy to get it.

April 18th was Jake's birthday. This is the picture I posted on Facebook. This was taken a year or so ago. Love our son. He is a great young man. Where did these years go?

We had to have some flashing added to the roof our our home.  We learned of this need when water spots appears on the wall of our living room by the door to the deck. I thought it was water from when Claude power washed the exterior. Alas, it was flashing on the roof that was not there so the water was running into the wall. We had that repaired but we opted to repaint the living room wall. Claude went to Ocer Paint who sold us the paint we currently have upstairs. The paint we used was discontinued. They were able to make a match out of another kind of paint. Claude set to work on April 19th prepping the wall for paint.

I sent this picture to our family via our family Facebook page asking them what they thought of the new look. Jake assured us the blue trim was to die for. I told him his dad felt it had a Danish Modern vibe to it. Andie thought the blue was cool and we should add some stripes. Nissa simply knows her mother well and was sure I would add some stencil to this new design. Ah, Family, ya gotta love 'em!

Claude finished his painting only to have a bubble in the paint over the light switch. I noticed it as I walked by when putting laundry away. I showed Claude and he immediately knew it was because the sheet rock must have let some in and bubbled up. Hmmm... Claude let the paint dry and then removed that bubble and spackled the spot. When that dried he sanded and then painted. Looks great. We are back to our normal look. Yeah!!

On Saturday, April 20th we received a note from Andie. They were all watching TV and suddenly Bailey piped up and said, "Oh, I can't wait until Grampa sends us another Omaha Steak set!" The girl is a carnivore! This is Claude's tradition with the guys in our family at Christmas. They each get a box of Omaha Steaks. It is nice to know they are appreciated.

Easter found our Roper family heading to Church. Katelyn fell back as Drew and Raelyn walked in to Church and took this picture. She has a picture of her mother, Nissa, walking with Evan, Claude's father and holding his hand. She also has a picture of her walking with Claude. And, she has a picture of Raelyn walking with her grampa. Now she has one of her hubby, Drew, and their bundle of energy, Raelyn. 

And, while we are talking about the Roper's. Here is a picture of our soon-to-be-born third great-grandmonster, Amelia. Katelyn is ready to give birth.

Monday, April 22nd, was a sunny day. I picked Papa up and we did something different. I took him to the Church and I practiced the hymns for this coming Sunday. Then I had Papa find hymns he loved and we sat for an hour and a half with me playing the organ (which he could hear) as I played hymn after hymn. He smiled and remembered and occasionally I would hear him trying to sing again. My plan had been to do that for a bit and then take him to my home for a haircut. I determined the better part was to stay and sing with Papa. We could cut hair another day. We finally stopped because the arthritis in my hands was causing a great deal of pain and my fingers were not moving as they should. We will do this again some time. We left the Church and went to Burger King where I got Papa a chocolate shake. He and I sat with the car windows down and enjoyed the breeze and his chocolate shake. Good afternoon with Papa.

While I was gone, Claude sent me this picture. It seems a bird was sitting on the decorative birdhouse on our front porch. Fortunately, it did not take up residence.

Tuesday, April 23rd, I did my first weeding of this year. Oh my do my legs ache. Got a good bit done. Will do more next week. It sure feels like the weeds are much more prolific this year than last. We had a wet year and that may be the reason. 

Christmas for Claude in April...

For Christmas I gave Claude two Groupons. One of them was for an off-road drive on Black Mountain in Harlan County, Kentucky. We scheduled it for Monday, April 15th at 10am. Since it is a three hour drive from our home, we determined we would go up Sunday night and stay in Harlan so we could be rested for our 4-hour adventure on Monday. When I scheduled this through Ken Cridder, the owner of Black Mountain Adventure Tours, I told him we would come up on Sunday evening. He mentioned that he owned the Little Inn of Harlan. I checked it out on the Internet, picked the room we would like to stay in and called to make a reservation. His wife, Drenda, reserved the Coal Room for us. All was set.

Sunday we woke up to two rain showers that were pretty strong. Ken had promised to call if we needed to move the date due to bad weather. Claude and I went to Church. Then I visited with Papa. As we prepared to leave Georgetown, I received a call from Ken. He said the skies were clear and all was a go. As we left Georgetown, the sky was clear and there was a little wind. Then we headed south on I-75 to Corbin and turned west to Harlan. This turned out to be one horrific drive. The wind began to blow the Jeep all over the place. Fortunately, Claude is strong and was able to keep it on the road. The rain started to come down in buckets. We kept receiving text messages and eMail warnings about tornadoes in the cities we were driving past. We were very grateful to get to Harlan and find that Little Inn of Harlan. We were greeted by Drenda and she showed us to our room. We rested for a bit and then went out to find dinner at the local Pizza Hut. We dined on salads and bread sticks. Good meal. Then back to the Inn and another good visit with Drenda before retiring for the night. 

Monday Ken greeted us when we were going to leave and find breakfast. He said there was a lot of rain on Black Mountain and it might be a little warmer to wait till 11am for our drive. We visited with Ken a bit and then left to find breakfast at Hardee's before driving to Evarts where the trailhead is for our off-road trip. Ken was there with two Arctic Cat Side-by-Sides. Ken would drive one in front of us to lead the way. Claude would drive ours and try his best to follow where Ken drove. Ken was born and raised in Harlan County. He was a Highway Patrol officer and retired from the position. He knows and loves Harlan County. He also knows Black Mountain and was instrumental in the creation of the off-road trails park on Black Mountain. He knows the area very well. We were in for a wonderful adventure.

First, Ken took Claude on a brief ride to let him get used to driving the Arctic Cat we would be in for the next 4 hours. This also gives Ken a feel for how the person might handle the drive and which trails he might use.  While Ken and Claude did this brief drive, I roamed the parking area while Ghost, Ken's dog, observed my wanderings. Ghost would ride with Ken on the drive.

Once Claude was trained in how our Arctic Cat worked, we were off to tackle Black Mountain. We started on gentler slopes to our first pause for a photo op. It was exhilarating. At this stop Ken confirmed we were seeing coal seams along the sides to our trail. 

Then it was onward up the mountain.

There were level places where strip mining took place.  

We paused for a bit of a lunch break on the side of Black Mountain. This view is through a valley with Virginia in the distance.

Now we would climb up Black Mountain a little further. At this point we knew that Ken was pleased with Claude's ability to climb the mountain. He was taking us on trails that were more difficult.

We passed rocks left by miners that people have painted on. More coal seams in the mountain. Higher and higher we drove. 

One more pull over for a picture. 

Now for the final push to the top of Black Mountain. Due to the rains the day before, we enjoyed many puddles of water. Some seemed like small ponds. Ken pointed out the logs and the bark scraped off them. He told us this was from the black bears that live there. They tear the bark off looking for grubs in the wood. We had two really steep climbs. The final one was really big rocks up a steep hill. 

This put us at the top of Black Mountain, the highest elevation in Kentucky.  In the second picture you can see a level spot alone the top of the mountain. This level spot runs over several mountains. Ken explained its a huge coal seam in the mountain. The coal seams run like that through the mountains. I did not realize this. They would take these seams and strip mine right along them. Then restore them when the seam played out. 

This is Claude and me at the top of the mountain and then loaded up to head back down. 

This is the road we came up to get to the top of the mountain. We would have to take it and several others to go back down. That is the rule. You can get up the mountain but you must also go back down the mountain to get to the Jeep. 

As we went down Black Mountain I was able to get this picture of some of the steepest trails we saw on our ride. These trails were pretty much straight up. They reminded me of those videos you see on television of the competitions where people roll their vehicle as they try to climb an impossible hill. We did some steep roads but not quite like these. 

This was just the most fun. I remember yelling to Claude at one point that I felt young again. Ken said he could hear us laughing. I would highly recommend this to anyone interested. The mountain is also used by those with their own side-by-sides. You just get a permit to ride on it first. I'm going to post the flyer in case anyone reading this is interested. Lots of fun up on Black Mountain!

The Tour of Two Cemeteries

In a continuing effort to get Papa out and about, Tuesday, April 9th, I picked Papa up at the nursing home and off we went. I told him things were blooming as it was spring in Kentucky. I explained we would do a cemetery tour to enjoy all these pretty flowers. He was happy to do that.

Our first cemetery was Calvary Cemetery in Lexington. We just happened on to this one as it is across the street from the Lexington Cemetery which was our destination goal. This was a smaller cemetery. But the blossoms were great and we enjoyed it very much. 

Then it was across the street to the Lexington Cemetery. This is a very old and very large cemetery. The ground was covered with all these tiny flowers. It truly looked like a layer of snow was covering the ground in many places. I told Papa we were very fortunate to be there that day. It would not be long before someone would come along with a lawn mower and all these pretty little flowers would be gone. Papa's favorite color is pink and there were so many trees full of blossoms in many shades of pink. He was happy.

Then we were off to the Frankfort Cemetery. Again, a very old cemetery an quite large. We had lovely views of Kentucky's capitol across the Kentucky River from the cemetery. I was able to point out Daniel Boone's grave. We didn't get out of the car. Too hard for Papa to walk on these uneven paths. He was fascinated with the grave markers.

I posted these two pictures on Facebook. One friend commented that they have a baby buried in Calvary Cemetery. I shared with her that, as we drove through Lexington Cemetery, there is an area with lots of tulip beds. These were all in bloom. Out among these tulips was a young mother with her two little kids dressed in spring outfits. The mother had a very nice camera and was taking lots of pictures of her little ones playing among the tulips. I pulled my car to the side of the road and Papa and watched this mother and her little ones for a bit. Papa loves little ones. At one point the mother looked up and caught my eye. We grinned at each other. I couldn't help but note that we were at opposite ends of a life journey and drawing memories and peace from that beautiful place at those opposite ends of life. 

This was a great afternoon. I must confess that prior to taking Papa out for any ride, I say a little prayer to Heavenly Father to confirm the route or place we should travel to that day. The prompting came to do a cemetery tour. I give Heavenly Father full credit for this very positive outing with my earthly father. I am grateful both my Heavenly Father and my earthly father love and care about me.

Another great day.

General Conference April 2019...

Saturday, April 6th and Sunday, April 7th Claude and I watched the General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We totally enjoyed this General Conference broadcast from Salt Lake City and watched on the BYU-TV Channel. 

Here are a few quotes I noted as we watched:

• There is not a right way to do wrong things. (Becky Craven)
• Although we cannot be perfect we can be worthy. (Becky Craven)
• Faith also includes trust in God's timing. (Neal A. Maxwell)
• Walking the path of discipleship takes practice. (Dieter F. Uchtdorf)
• The most joy comes from the simple things of life. (M. Russell Ballard)
• If your ox is regularly in the mire, we strongly recommend you sell the ox or fill the mire. (Jeffrey R. Holland)
• Repentance is not an event, it is a process. (Pres. Russell M. Nelson)
• You don't earn a blessing. But you do have to qualify for it. (Dale G. Renlund)
• Christ heals wounds. Christ is rest. Christ is light to see. (Sharon Eubanks)
• We want to know about the Lord. We want to know the Lord. (D. Todd Christofferson)
• When the Holy Ghost is your companion, you can have confidence that the Atonement is working in your life. (Henry B. Eyring)
• I need to feed my spirit. (Pres. Russell M. Nelson)
• Salvation is an individual matter. Exaltation is a family matter. (Pres. Russell M. Nelson)
• Do it now. Time is running out. (Pres. Russell M. Nelson)
• God's love is immediate. (Kyle S. McKay)
• God's objective should be our objective. (Pres. Russell M. Nelson)

Great conference. Time well spent and my cup was fuller after watching all the sessions.

Spring Break for the Mini's...

The beginning of Hayden and Bailey's spring break was spent in Maryland with Michael's grandmother and his family. They were able to see the cherry blossoms in Washington, DC and eat at a Roy Rogers. Here are Michael and Hayden enjoying a burger together. 

The Marx family would return Tuesday evening. Bailey had an orthodontist appointment Wednesday morning. Claude and I drove to Shelbyville Wednesday afternoon and met Andie to pick up our Mini's to spend the next few days of their break with us. 

On the way home we stopped in Frankfort and had lunch at Taco Bell. Then we were off to the other side of I-64 south of Frankfort to introduce the Mini's to Josephine Sculpture Park. We went to Walmart first and picked up some paint markers for them to use. I posted before about Claude and my first visit to Josephine Sculpture Park. We really wanted the Mini's to have the opportunity to write on the wall there. Hence, the paint markers. They very much enjoyed getting to do this. Then we walked through a bit of the park on our way to the car. I sent Andie and Michael pictures as we drove home. Andie's response, "Everyone should have grandparents that teach them about horse racing and graffiti!" 

Thursday, April 4th, our outing would be to Frankfort. Claude had a KIA Board Meeting. We tagged along, dropped him off and headed into Frankfort in search of the Rebecca Ruth Candy store. We were able to tour the place where all the candy is made. At the end of the tour the Mini's were given a free piece of candy. It turned out to be Bourbon Balls. These were first made here. Those Mini's thought they were big things getting Bourbon Balls. I also had them each stretch a penny. They had a good time with this adventure.

We still had time before picking up Claude, off we drove to the Frankfort Cemetery. Our goal, to find the grave of Daniel Boone. The Mini's were fascinated with some of the head stones as this is a very old cemetery. The neat thing was seeing the Kentucky Commonwealth Capitol from Daniel Boone's grave.  

I thought we might make it to the Vietnam Memorial in Frankfort. This is the coolest tribute to those who lost their lives in Viet Nam. But, we got a text from Claude that he was just finishing up so we pointed the Buick toward where Claude was and then headed home after picking him up. Good day. Andie and Michael we proud of us for getting these two out two days in a row.

Friday, April 5th, would be our last full day with the Mini's. We slept in a bit. Then we packed these two up and headed to Williamstown, Kentucky to have them see the Ark Encounter. We toured the interior of the Ark and then walked to the Ararat Zoo for a bit. Tried to entice them into riding a camel but neither of them would. I totally enjoyed doing that in Egypt and was hoping to share that fun experience but they just didn't want to ride a camel. But, they enjoyed the Ark and Bailey was very happy being with animals. And, Claude and I got extra points from Andie and Michael for getting the kids out and about three days in a row.

In the evenings we watched several movies. We ate lots of foods the Mini's wanted. Happy they ate well on their solid foods so we could spoil them a little with the junk foods. Claude would drive them home Saturday morning after dropping me off to visit with Papa. It was a good spring break and the Mini's went home ready to rest after visiting Maryland and then touring some in Kentucky.