I Was Wrong about the Spring Season

Please forgive me spring. I complained because I thought you abandoned us too early. I need to be careful what I say, because spring came back, with a vengeance. It was hot, and then it was not. It was dry, with the air filling up with pollen, and then it was severe weather, with serious warnings of tornados and large hail. Somehow, we always seem to miss the worst of it. I think it’s because we live in a low spot of our neighborhood. But we always heed the warnings. For the first time ever, my husband decided to tape cardboard to our car windows, to protect our windshields. Also, for the first time, our neighborhood was mentioned by name, by Ryan Hall, Y’all. If you haven’t experienced this self-made and amazingly awesome meteorologist, you need to look him up on YouTube. He honestly saves lives, by providing a live feed during dangerous weather outbreaks. He mentions towns, cities, cross-roads, telling you if you are near these landmarks, you need to get to your “safe place.” So yeah, this time, as we were hunkering down, he said, “Mt. Airy, you’re in the path.” I felt kind of like Mike Wizowski, because we were suddenly a little bit famous, but it wasn’t a good thing. We could have been unrecognizable, just like Mike

Luckily, the storms passed over us, dropping some rain, but really not that much. They moved to the north-east, looking for flat farmland (as tornados often do) and they touched down in Morrow and Lebanon, very near our local NOAA Center. A few days later, the temps started going down, and we had some extended colder temps and then the craziest rainfall we’ve ever seen on our street. Standing water in the road, while rivers of water gushed from both directions into the storm sewer.

There was a day, not so very long ago, when this would have been a terrible thing for us, except that we were one of the first properties on our street to prove that our prevailing basement floods, with toilet waterfalls, was not our fault (thanks to my husband’s research and all the pictures he took of the floods, and the surcharged sewer line in front of our house.) Heavy rain often comes at night, so we would be in the basement, at first shop-vacking squeegeeing, and dumping the shopvac outside. It went on for so long, that hubby actually put a “dam” around our floor drain, with a pipe running out through our walk-out garage. But we still had to sweep, out there with our next door neighbors doing the same thing, guiding the rain and sewage outside. It was very stressful, especially for my husband. He had a mild case of PTSD from those 3 years of hell. Finally, the sewer dept put in a new “cleanout,” closer to our house. Prior to that, they had checked a cleanout further up the road, and the float was never up, making them claim it was’t their problem. The next time we flooded, I told my husband to mention a new cleanout, which I had witnessed being installed. Hubby went out, told the workers, and turned around giving me a high-five, as I watched from the house. We were ecstatic with this first proof that the problem wasn’t with our property or plumbing. We still had to jump through some hoops, though. We had to hire someone to come in to clean and take a video or our line feeding into the sewer line. After that we were signed up for preventative measures. Some kind of flood blocking device that does it’s job! Now when it rains, we just pray that the electricity doesn’t go out, while I go searching for tiny aliens. (And I will never complain again about a lack of spring weather!)

Friday is Grocery Day (The perfect day for suffering (😉)

Grocery shopping has come and gone for another week. This morning I also needed gas, so I checked out Gas Buddy, and found that gas was 3.26 at Sam’s Club, and 3.43 at Kroger. Hubby uses the “gas points” from Kroger, since he drives a truck, and he had already used up our April points. I have a small sedan, better gas milage, so I get leftover points, if there are any, or I go elsewhere. I saved 17¢ per gallon on nearly 10 gallons today (and not out of the way at all, with my morning errands.)

On the way back home, I swung into Kroger (who wants to acquire another grocery giant to “imprison” us even more with all of their schemes and “offerings.”) I really wish we still had a small town IGA nearby!

Anyway, I had scoured the sales flyer and downloaded any applicable electronic coupons, and got what was on my list for this week. I felt like I had a smaller list this week, only one small meat purchase, and I shopped for bargains, but the self check-out ended up with a shocking total of $150 and some change. WHAT? How can this be?! Well, I did buy some flea and tick treatment for our dog, and even though I buy the store brand, it’s still a bit pricy, and I bought some chocolates for our table guests at a fundraising gala this evening for The Chesterton Academy of St. Joseph, in Dayton Ohio (of which one on my s-i-l’s is the headmaster. Chocolate is getting very expensive, but, as the table host, I like to have some extra sweets for my guests. And beans were on sale. I’m still eating a lot of beans for continued health improvement, so I stocked up. I bought bread, and crackers, and some cheese and the cheapest shampoo I could find, and still, $150? Yikes! As I finished packing my cart, I remembered a coupon that I had thrown away, that morning, thinking I wouldn’t spend enough to use it. It was a Best customer coupon, which would have saved me $14 if I spent $150 or more. I actually went home, dug that out of the trash, smoothed it out a little, and drove back to the store (about a 5 minute drive) and went to customer service to cash that in. That made me feel just the tiniest bit better…one, small “win.” We really need help with the out-of-control inflation in this country, and our president is too busy writing off student loans. My girls paid off their student loans, so don’t blame me!

And, of course, it’s not just food. Clothing, energy costs, property tax…oh my gosh did that ever go up this year! Luckily my husband found some information in an AARP magazine, about how seniors could lower their property taxes, and he succeeded in doing that. Clothing? My husband and I (especially my husband!) wear the same articles of clothing year after year! I sometimes add a new shirt or sweater from the thrift store (only when such items are on sale!). But hubby is all proud of himself for his patchwork repair of one of his favorite pair of pants (for which he used various colors of iron-on patches that I had purchased. It was the smallest patch assortment that I could find, and had several colors that I would never use. Now, he’s a kind of an “Old Testament” Joseph, with the technicolor dreamcoat, but he’s got dreampants instead, and all of the colors are inside (and the patches didn’t go to waste!) Ha, ha!

And, our reluctance to buy new clothes also means that we are careful about what we eat, and how much we eat. There’s nothing like digging out the seasonal clothes and finding out that they still all fit me! Now, with my Intermittent fasting habit well-ingrained after a few months, I seem to be dropping pounds without even trying, so I’m definitely sticking with that plan for good health, (and also the spiritual gifts of fasting!).

At any rate, we’re all doing whatever we can to pinch our pennies, just hoping and praying that our economy strengthens before too much longer, That costly wars and rioting doesn’t push world economies to the brink, so that we can continue to afford the necessities of life, without having to dip into our retirement savings prematurely!

A “Shrinking Spring”

It used to be, here in The USA, that we had a long and noticeable spring. We had lots of spring showers, of course, and the budding of trees and daffodils and other plants waking from the winter. We saw fawns resting by trees (as Mama deer went foraging). We had several weeks of cool weather, keeping the trees from budding before they should, without the danger of a surprise frost. And the bugs stayed mostly inactive until the end of April.

Now we have a spring season that awakens way too soon. Temperatures soar, and we might have 70°’s for a couple of days, luring out the anxious flowering bush buds, and the tender flower shoots from underground, and then, a few days later comes the threat of a heavy frost. I’ve had to cover my Viburnum bush for three spring seasons in a row, often more than once, and also protect my flower garden. The Viburnum is going to be too big for me to cover next spring, so I’m not sure what I’ll do. Just last year, in mid-April, we had a couple of inches of snow!

This (so-called) spring week I decided to get some serious spring cleaning done, but found out that I had “missed the window.” I was so hot and sweaty by the time I got done, it might as well have been the “Dog days” of August. And now, here we are, still in the first week of May, and the daily temps are forecasted to be in the upper 70’s to 80’s for this week. I must admit that I’m glad we aren’t in the major “tornado Ally part of our country (although there was a tornado that touched down in our state a couple of months ago, which devastated a summer community hotspot at a place called Indian Lake. Luckily, it happened so early in the spring that no one was occupying any of the summer cabins, many of which were left in ruins.

In the past couple of weeks, we’ve had a severe outbreak of tornados in the plain states. There were very few deaths, but neighborhoods were wiped out, houses torn apart, some houses “picked up” and moved several feet off of their foundation. This old world seems to be telling us something, but nobody really knows exactly why these terrible outbreaks of severe weather keep happening. I personally think it’s just the natural warming and cooling cycles that have been around since God first made the earth, and I also think that original sin unleashed evil forces with potentially devastating effects that we cannot measure. Humans are out of balance, hurting and killing each other, many people being exploited by human trafficking. We have crooked politicians and other world leaders whose hearts are filled with hatred and anger, as they grab all the power they can get, at the cost of many lives. If you don’t think that sinful actions can affect the balance of earthly cycles, then you have no idea of what evil can truly bring about. If there was a sudden shift of focus, with humans turning back to God, I believe we would see positive change. What have we got to lose? I say let’s all give it a try! And on that note, here is the prayer for the nine month novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe, which thousands of people have signed up for. Cardinal Burke sends out a monthly reflection, and in between, we pray this lovely prayer daily, in our homes, with our families. Please join us if you can!

Stuff Piles up

“Vs. 1) I’ve been working in the attic, all the livelong day, I’ve been searching through the piles, just to find what I can give away! Can’t you see the dust piles blowin’ and stink bugs getting kicked out of my house? I am really just so happy that I haven’t seen a mouse. (Vs 2.) I am filling up big trash bags with stuff that other people just might need, and I will take them to the thrift store, where folks can buy it on the cheap” (sung to the tune of “I’ve been working on the Railroad,” one of my all-time favorite songs).

Yes, once again, I find myself decluttering. I just did a small amount of that a few weeks ago, but I still had Christmas items spread out over both upstairs rooms, and the disorganization was driving me crazy.

Now, all of the Christmas items are back in their proper places, and things that I will never use (since our house is now too small to host our growing family (Praise God for his many blessings, especially our youngest daughter who lives 10 minutes away, and whose house is plenty big enough for our family!) But that means that I no longer need to hang stockings for the whole family, and I don’t need tons of Christmas napkins, or wreaths on every door. I’m saving my small collection of decor favorites, and the rest of the stuff will soon be gone. I should have done this earlier in the year, because it’s a little hot today in the attic, but there’s a bit of cloud cover, and I’ve got a box fan crankin’ on high up there. The worst part is walking up and down the stairs, to get something I didn’t think I would need, or to put some special things in a bag that my kids/grandkids can dig through when we get together later this summer.

And, yesterday I got my small garden all planted, so that left today open, so now I’m cleaning and getting my daily exercise on the steps! And cutting down on the Asian stink bug invasion, one stinky discharge at a time. There’s nothing like a good attic cleaning to lighten your load, organize your stuff, and make you feel clean and organized.

Not much to see in the garden right now, but a sun-gold (sweet) tomato plant, and some plant cages. The cages are for my numerous cucumber seeds that I planted, and there’s also some totsoi planted in there. Now, all I need is a nice shower for me and for my garden, and this will go in the books as a well-used day, and blessed day! (Oh, and my husband has a pot in the garden with a plum tree sapling, hoping to plant it at our”farm” in Indiana. 👍🏼

The World is Going Crazy!

Reading the news these days can be scary. My advice would be, if you get anxious by news stories, don’t read the news! Because honestly, there’s little we can do about it. I read that China has been working for a few years on ways to shut down the United States, with cyber attacks, shutting down banks, Energy companies, our Government, etc. What the heck can we do about that? Nothing. We need our government to be focusing on such immanent dangers to American Citizens, but our government leaders are distracted by other wars around the world, and growing unrest in our own country. We already have many illegal aliens who have come into our country, just to wreak havoc. This adds a new dimension to our safety. But you wanna know something? I just give it all up to God, (with help from the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph, and many other saints whom I “know” and love.)

We’re all going to leave this world at some point, but if you have hope, there is no room for fear, because God has it all taken care of. I often say, “What’s the worst that could happen…well, I could die!” But being in heaven with The Holy Trinity (and all of the saints already there, known and unknown) will be the best, most beautiful, and safest place of all. And yeah, I might suffer before I die, but I’m not scared. Dying is only our last, “great adventure,” and with the love and grace of God, and the intersession of the saints, I know that I can die “well,” uniting any suffering to Christ’s, so that His cross becomes my bridge to heaven. Because God is good, and all that He does is for Our Good, and for the ultimate good of ALL humanity.

Don’t allow the worries of this world scare you, or cause you anxiety. Offer your entire life to Jesus, our Savior, get to know and love Him. And pray this short prayer many times each day, “Jesus Christ, King of Mercy, I love you. Never allow me to be separated from You.” I find great hope and tremendous peace in that prayer, because I have tangibly felt the overwhelming love of God, and it’s a love that never lets go. It’s a love filled with mercy and grace. And that is what our world needs right now. A return to faith, and a sincere love of God and neighbor. In God, hope is eternal and everlasting.

A Windy Day in the Neighborhood

I love windy days (when we’re not under a tornado watch). I opened most of the windows, and I can feel the breezes clearing out the stale winter air. The screens whistle a quiet tune as the wind squeezes through the small openings. It’s a sweet melody of Spring. This year, I have the added gift of chime music. I had been hinting, for several years, right around Mother’s Day, “boy, wouldn’t it be nice to have a lovely wind chime right outside my door?” But no one caught on. On a trip to visit Xenia daughter, I stopped to check out a farm market, set up in a lovely old barn. I bought some plums, and some delicata squash, and then something else caught my attention. I noticed a wind chime with a decorative metal chicken. I like chickens, but I don’t want to take care of chickens every day, so this seemed like the perfect thing. A chicken that chimes, but doesn’t eat or poop! I splurged on a gift for myself (which I very rarely do) and I am enjoying it immensely, especially on windy days. If I need to hear it on calm days, I walk outside and rattle it. It’s such a soothing sound.

I also have my standard, windy day joke. I just walk outside and yell, “Dorothy!!!” (From one of my all-time favorite movies, The Wizard of OZ.) None of the neighbors have ever laughed. I’m guessing they must think that one of the cats’ names is Dorothy. Or else, they have no sense of humor. I’m going with reason # 2, because our nearby neighbors are crabby (even though they smoke weed ALL THE TIME, which I thought was supposed to keep people calm. It doesn’t work for our neighbors. 🙄 The wind chimes help to drown out all of their yelling at their kids (and sometimes at me). I just point to my chimes and my ears, making hand motions which say, “I can’t hear you!” It’s great. For all I know, they might be cussing me out because my chimes wake them up at night. Honestly, I’m thinking about installing a few more wind chimes, with a horse, a cow and a pig. We’ll have a regular cacophony of barnyard chimers. And I’ll never hear another word from the crabby neighbors!

Anyway, I still have my own fun, here in the land of crazy neighbors. I laugh at my own jokes, and enjoy the sun and the wind, working in my lovely flower garden, and in my raised bed vegetable garden, and listening to my beautifully noisy chimes. I hope we have a reliably windy summer, especially after I find some more affordably-priced wind chimes!

Getting So Much Done!

It’s amazing how much I’m able to do around the house, now that I’m not working outside of the home anymore! I’ve started a list of all the things I’ve been wanting to fix, or clean, or get rid off, or paint. And I have the time to do all of those things! (Maybe not always the energy, but that’s slowly improving, too.)

I’ve started out with little things, like cleaning the top of our refrigerator, which was quite dirty and dusty, and I also dusted off the top of our stacked washer and dryer set. Quite a bit of dust up there! A few years ago, I bought reusable dusting pads made to fit on Swiffer dusting tools. I love those things! No more unwanted perfume smells, and I just hand wash the reusable ones and hang them on the line to dry. They pick up so much dust, more than the swiffer brand, because they are much fluffier. (I found them on Amazon). I highly recommend them.

Other things I’ve accomplished is rehanging some curtains that were washed and never put back up (until now) because they were way down on my list of things to do. It was pretty quick and easy, but the job just didn’t seem that important when I was stressed and tired from work, and doing the minimum requirements of grocery shopping, food prep, and vacuuming, and keeping the kitchen and bathroom cleaned up! Now I have plenty of time to do all of those things, and I’ve even started a list of other things I want to do. I’ve already put in the summer screens in our doors (maybe jumped the gun a bit on that one, because we often get snow in late April, but, Oh well, job is done.)

Yesterday I also put up my hummingbird feeders, the earliest I’ve ever put them out, but the Hummingbird Migration map showed plenty of sightings of those lovely birds already here in our state, so that job is also checked off (although that’s a constant chore all through the summer, making “nectar” and keeping the feeders clean and refilled). Once this rainy week is history, I’ll be planting cucumbers and tomatoes in my raised-bed garden, and looking forward to plenty of cucumber and onion salad. My husband and I love that salad, eat it all through the summer and never get tired of it! (I buy my sweet onions from the grocery store.)

I also need to do a thorough cleaning/washing of my car, inside and out, and I want to wash all of the other curtains in the house (maybe look for some “new” ones for the kitchen, at the thrift store. And, I want to do some cleaning in the attic, and donate more items to the thrift store (already took a big load of stuff last week, but there are still items up there that we no longer use). Once that space is sufficiently cleared out, then I can clean and organize things up there. My husband recently put in new insulation in the attic, so my Christmas storage boxes are all in the wrong places, and need to be reorganized so I can find stuff later this year. And oh yeah, my front yard flower garden needs weeding and mulching. Last year I splurged on some Creeping Phlox plants. Those are so pretty, and the new plants are looking good this 2nd year. And we certainly have plenty of rocks for them to “climb on!” When I go to pick up front garden supplies, I can also get the manure and top soil for my vegetable garden. Just thinking about all those projects has me excited, because now I have the time and energy to get those things done. I especially love working outside (until the dog days hit). I guess I’ll save the indoor jobs for the dog days, and crank the AC!

Health is Improving!

I got serious about my blogging again when my health issues caused me to quit my job. You’ll recall that I had brain fog, anxiety, and wasn’t sleeping well at night. I also was very low on energy. I started eating a lot more beans, and I quit drinking my usual, once in the morning, cup of caffeinated tea. Now I drink only caffeine-free herbals: a lot of Cinnamon Spice tea, and Dandelion root. I might branch out to other kinds if I get bored with those two. One day, I decided to try my black tea again, and I got an adrenalin rush shortly after drinking it, so, yeah, tea can aggravate anxiety, so only decaf from now on!

I will continue to choose healthy foods, including a good amount of protein, greens, and, of course, my detoxing beans. All of these things helped me, but there was a thought that came to me one night that has made the most difference. I had been praying before I went to sleep, as always (most often a Divine Mercy Chaplet), and I asked the Holy Spirit to guide and inspire me as I try to heal. What came into my mind right after that was the fact that my doctor had prescribed a mild anti-anxiety prescription many months ago. I had decided to take just half of what she had prescribed. I seemed to be doing fine, and finally decided that I would just quit taking it (even though anxiety has been a constant with me, ever since my chemotherapy treatments sixteen years ago). As I laid there in bed, the inspiration came to me that I may have set myself up for what I was going through, by refusing to follow my doctor’s instructions. And why did I quit taking them? Well, because no one really wants to admit that they need anti-anxiety meds. And a lot of people will try to talk you out of the idea. But the Holy Spirit sent that thought into my mind, that I had been off of those meds for a pretty long time, and so I decided to see if I could easily get a refill of that medication. Next morning, I went to my MY CHART portal, and saw a list of my prescriptions. The drug in question was still on my list, so all I had to do was click on it for a refill, and two days later, I picked it up from my pharmacy. I have been taking it daily ever since, and my brain fog and confusion has really improved, and I’m sleeping much better, and I have more energy now to do things (like, vacuuming up the spring explosion of pet hair every-other day, and doing some other spring cleaning, and decluttering with donations to the local thrift store, and traveling to meet our new grandchild, and watching total eclipses, and going grocery shopping, and writing, too, of course!) It feels good to “be back!

So, even though that medication was not even on my radar several weeks ago, it made its way back, and is helping me tremendously. I’m having no bothersome side effects whatsoever, and, if that starts to happen, I will cut back on them. But, it’s good to know that I’d still have access to them, if needed again. And I’m thankful for the kind of relationship I have with the Holy Spirit, Who always responds and guides me when I ask Him to. He always shares the best advice and ideas with me. I’d be lost without the Holy Spirit!

Two Total Eclipses, No LearJet

In 2017, I talked my husband into driving down to Kentucky to see a total eclipse of the sun. He was reluctant at first, but then started doing some research, and decided it was worth the effort. We ended up in Auburn, KY, in a big park. Our youngest daughter was still at home with us, so she came along, and so did Benny, our dog. The eclipse was breathtakingly beautiful, and full of “extra” surprises, like the strange activity of the birds, and an extended viewing time of the eclipse, and a rousing reaction from the crowd gathered in the park. My response was to yell out, “Our God is an Awesome God!” You just can’t begin to imagine what it’s like, seeing it in person, if you’ve never experienced it.

However, the traffic was definitely the downside. On our way to Auburn, we got stuck in a big backup on the highway. We were very worried that we would not reach our planned destination in time, but somehow, after creeping along slowly for quite a while, we finally made it to the park that hubby had scoped out, and we got there in time to find a good spot and settle in for the show. Then, on the drive home, we were stuck on little country roads for at least an hour, inching along, until my explorer husband found a place to bail out and search/transition to an out of the way route. I think it took us about five hours to get home. But, still, the memory of that awesome sight stayed with us, and my once reluctant husband became an eclipse disciple, spreading the word to one and all to experience an eclipse viewing whenever possible.

For this recent eclipse, just yesterday, we were exceedingly fortunate to discover that our Indiana property was within the “totality zone!” How amazing is that?! We had family and friends join us out there, and strongly encouraged other family members to find a place to go to witness a total eclipse. Hubby kept sending out messages, suggesting places to go, and even convincing our Headmaster son-in-law to close school that day and gather his students to watch it together. We also prayed daily for the skies to be clear, because the forecast kept going back and forth from cloudy to clear, but when it came to crunch time, the skies were clear! Praise God.

And yes, we did have some heavy traffic on the way home this time, but we took back roads again, got stuck for a little while on a back road, but once we got past that snag, it was smooth sailing, and we were already much closer to home, so it was a breeze compared to 2017. My husband and I both decided that our first eclipse was the best of the two. 2017 was a longer viewing time for us, and also, just such a surprise in the beauty and majesty of the event. There was a lot more “crazy” bird activity, too, with that first one.

Yesterday it was different, so we saw and noticed some new things, like the rapid falling off of the temperature. I got so cold that I had to grab an old blanket that I had brought along, and wrap myself up in it. For the first one, it was such a hot day that I hadn’t noticed a temperature change. Also, in 2017, we had a very good view of the 360° sunset effect. That effect was noticeable yesterday, too, but not quite as dramatic as the first one.

One thing I was able to notice with my viewing glasses on was the bright red of the solar corona. I mentioned that so everyone could see it. Hubby got distracted looking for his binoculars, and missed a few precious seconds of the eclipse. He was annoyed that he didn’t think to get his binoculars out earlier.
It’s not like we’re going to have another chance for eclipse viewing, because the next total eclipse in our state will be in 2099. And as I mentioned, we don’t have a private jet, and we’re not fond of big traffic jams, so yeah, we’re quite content to have two viewings under our belt to recall and reflect upon. Our two and a half year old grandson even got to see the eclipse. The first thing he did when he got to “the farm” was extend his hands and ask “Where’s the “equips?” He probably won’t even remember it when he’s older, but we have photos to prove he was there, sporting his “equips” glasses. So if you hear of an eclipse close by, make plans to go see it, and reserve a hotel room so you won’t have to drive back home on the same day!

To the Land of Late (surprise) Snowstorms, and Back Again

We survived once again, the trip north, but just barely this time. Remember a few weeks ago my story about traveling home from a funeral and getting stuck in the worst snowstorm ever? Well, this one was just a tiny bit less stressful (although I managed to remain pretty calm, which was not the case with that other storm). I guess I gained a lot of trust in my husband after winter storm # 1.

Youngest Grandchild was baptized on Tuesday evening, and we left VERY early the next morning

We did not think to check the weather in southern MN, because things were fine where we were, but as we drove further south, we hit heavy snow, and it was windy. We’d be driving along and suddenly, a strong wind would blow across the barren fields, whipping the snow into a blinding frenzy. before too long, we began to see cars off the road on both sides, and down in the median. We came across one car like that, right after it had happened. We were guessing that the storm must have also been a surprise for the road crews, because we drove a while before we came across a salt/plow truck. We did see several police cars.

The worst thing we saw was a semi-tractor trailer that had jackknifed and was lying on its side off the edge of the road (there were police cars nearby.) That looked very scary and complicated to “fix.” I said a silent prayer for the driver. The highway was not too crowded, and hubby retained his calm reserve, as usual. I got out the snack bag and distracted myself with some chocolate-covered raisins, worked like a charm! Hubby and I enjoyed the view of the snow covered trees, looking like something out of Narnia, mystical and magical. They were beautiful!

By the time we got to Wisconsin, the snow and wind had slowed down a bit, but we could still see signs of frozen precipitation hitting the windshield, and we also saw a lot more snow plows, often just sitting in the emergency turn-arounds, like they were ready and waiting for another batch of snow to call them into action.

Even further south, it was mainly rain, like in Spain, on the plain, except we were traveling the plains of midwest North America. Finally, twelve hours after we had begun our journey, we pulled into our driveway, and I thanked my husband, and my faithful little car, a Hyundai named Louie the Shark, for another job well done. Time to get back in the groove of my normal life again, but, I already miss my sweet and beautiful northern grandchildren!