Back In the Saddle Again!

We are now half way through the year and almost half way through the sixth month.  It's been a little over a month since my last post, and what a month it has been!

As my family and friends know, I have always loved horses and have never missed an opportunity to ride.  That is until my back problems got serious enough that I could no longer comfortably or safely ride.  It has been close to 15 years since I have been on horseback, but, with Mountain Man's encouragement, I got back in the saddle again!  It was, at the same time, one of the scariest and also one of the most thrilling things that I have done in a long while.  Because of the nerve damage in my back and legs, I quickly found out that my legs are not nearly as strong as they once were.  Maintaining correct posture and stance in the saddle was incredibly difficult.  So not to embarass myself, Mountain Man and I waited til the stable was closed for the day to take my ride.  The horse that Mountain Man selected for me was Chubby Checkers.  He was chosen because of his smoothness, which he was incredibly smooth.  He also is a little on the impatient side, not wanting to stand and wait while I refamiliarized my body to being on horseback.  Needless to say, most of my adjustments were made while on the trail.  The land that the trails are on at the stable is some of the most beautiful land in this part of Georgia.  There is so much to look at and take in that I had to keep reminding myself to pay attention to what I was doing since it is no longer natural for my body to just settle in and ride without any conscious effort.  We quickly found that the beautiful mountain trails weren't going to work for me.  With not much leg strength, I was going to be relegated to flat land trails which have a beauty all their own.  Crossing streams and meadows, we were able to enjoy the mountain views all around us.  Since it was after hours, all of the horses had been turned out for the night.  As we went further on the trails, we would come across a few horses here and there and since they are trained to follow the trails with their pack, even though they were "off duty", they just followed in line behind us. Before the ride was through, instead of just our two horses, we now had close to a dozen horses on the trail with us.  It was quite a sight!  As our ride came to an end, we approached the gate for the stable.  When we went back to the barn to dismount, we looked back and the rest of the horses were still standing at the gate waiting patiently for their friends.  After taking their saddles off and giving them a good long drink of water, we walked our horses back over and through the gate.  There they met up with their friends and went off into the forest for their own adventures in the night.  Even though I will never be able to ride like I once could, I'm glad that I took the chance and now know that I will be able to join Mountain Man for an occasional ride off into the sunset.

The first week of June, I was Ohio bound.  The token son had business in his Atlanta office and when he was ready to return to Ohio, he got me a ticket and I flew back with him.  I was blessed to spend a week with the Grands just being Bhakti.  I had no one or nothing pressing me for my time.  Whether it was just sitting watching cartoons with them, reading books, or going for walks, they had my undivided attention, and I theirs. I was also able to spend a great deal of time with my Middle Chile and  Daughter in Love.   The time with Middle was especially good since she had already closed out the teaching year, finished her first year of her master's program and the church choir that she directs was already on their summer hiatus.  For her, all the stressers were gone and her time was her own which made for an awesome visit.   The highlight of my trip was getting to attend my oldest grand's first dance recital.  What a joy it was to see her and all of her fellow students nervously walk onto the stage and wait for the music to start.  After the first few beats of the song, you could see her nerves disappear and see her get lost in the dance.  What a beautiful thing to see all of those little people find their joy in moving with the rhythm of music.  Dancing has always been one of my great loves in life.  From a young age, learning to do the Polka with my dad in our living room to imitating the June Taylor dancers on the Jackie Gleason show and then as I got older learning the newest dance steps in front of the TV with my friends watching Band Stand and Soul Train.  Music and dance have always freed my soul and brought me great joy.  Just ask anyone who has ever attended a wedding reception with me.  I'm the first one on and the last one off of the dance floor and will drag everyone that I know out there with me!  All of the Chillin' are great dancers too.  When they were young and money was tight, me and Mountain Man would have our own personal dances on Saturday nights.  We would dance together with all of the Chillin until we were too tired to dance another step.  Now it warms my heart to see my Token Son with his wife and the Grands along with my Middle Chile all dancing together in his living room.  The songs are different, but the love and joy that fill that house when the music starts are the same.

After the week in Ohio that went way too quickly I was back on a plane heading south.  I will admit, I was a little nervous flying into Atlanta alone.  The last time that I had flown into Atlanta was when I was 16 and it was a whole other animal then!  I was pleasantly surprised at how easy the airport is to navigated. Token Son had shown me around the airport when we flew to Ohio, so, I was able to retrieve my luggage, purchase my Marta ticket and find my train to North Spring where I was being picked up by Mountain Man with no difficulty. After all of the horror stories you hear, I was pleasantly surprised at the ease of it all and won't hesitate to travel alone through there again.

On Sunday, one of our new friends at the stable had a graduation party for her beautiful daughter at Lake Chatuge.  The weather was picture perfect and so was the company.  We had a wonderful picnic and then they rented two pontoon boats.  We rode around on the lake all afternoon taking in the breathtaking combination of mountain views along with a crystal clear mountain lake.  When you combine the food, views and wonderful people, it was a perfect day and again another reason to count our blessings.  I'm sure that there aren't many places around with such awesome people.  People who are not only coworkers, but have quickly become family.  We are truly blessed and until next month, I pray that you will also realize and appreciate all the blessings in your life.

It's May??? Where did April go?

Wow, what they say is true; time flies when you are having fun!  I'm not sure where the last month has gone.  I do know that we've been extremely busy and still trying to squeeze in a little fun every now and then.  

Mountain Man has been working at Trackrock Stable for almost two months now.  He is loving it.  They have given him a horse for his own personal use and he is living his dream of being a cowboy.  He works with a phenomenal crew of people who have taken him in and love and appreciate him and all that he has to offer.  The bonus here is that I stop in occasionally and get to love on all of those fantastic beasts.  I have also gotten to practice my Reiki while hanging around the stable.  There's always a horse here or there that has pulled a muscle or has some aches and pains that permit me to direct some of our Creator's healing energy into their bodies.  Horses are amazing creatures in that they are excellent communicators. If they know where and what the problem is, they are willing to communicate that to you so that you are able to help them.  I truly enjoy this interaction with horses and all animals for that matter because they are not natural born doubters.  Without even trying, they feel the healing energy and relax into it and accept what they need.  I have even had the rare pleasure of transferring our Creator's healing energy into a brand new foal.  She was born several weeks early and had an infection.    There was some doubt about whether she would be able to fight hard enough to survive.  Her owners were able to get the medical care for her that she so desperately needed and graciously allowed me to lay my hands on this sweet baby to fill her with healing energy and peace.  Since she was so relaxed and open from the Reiki, her body was able to metabolize the medication much quicker and I am happy to say that she is now growing and the infection has subsided and she has a very bright, healthy future ahead of her.

One day, soon after Mountain Man started working at the stable, I rode along with him when he had to deliver some paperwork to the stable owner.  Before I go any further, I should also say that she not only has the stable, but also a beautiful campground and cabins all tucked away in the mountains of the Chattahoochee National Forest.  So, Mountain Man and I were visiting with Boss Lady and out of the blue, she asked me if I would like a job.  She was looking for someone to clean the five cabins in the campground.  Without even giving it a second thought, I eagerly accepted her offer.  I have finally learned after many, many years not to question or turn down a gift from above when it is presented to you.  When we moved to the mountains, did I move here with the intent of being a cabin cleaner?  I can honestly say, NO, not at all.  But, that doesn't mean that I shouldn't do it!  We always hear that if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.  Well, I have, after almost 56 years, finally learned that it's best just not to make any plans.  Take the opportunities that are presented to you and run with them.  Needless to say, I have grabbed my broom and my dust rag and ran for the hills.  Literally!  After accepting this job, I meditated on God's reasoning behind it.  This is the answer that I was given. When I am blessed enough to go on vacation, wherever it is, I am able to relax easier and enjoy myself more when my surroundings are extremely clean and tidy.  This is my opportunity to give the gift of a neat and clean cabin for our guests to relax in, to unwind from a hectic life, and to spend quality time either alone or in the midst of their loving families.  This is, at times, strenuous work and at times, exhausting work.  But it is always rewarding.  When I am able to finish cleaning a cabin and fill it with positive energy and prayers for the incoming guests' peace, love and relaxation, I know that I have done my job well.  Apparently, I must be good at this because shortly after starting,  I wasn't even able to clean as deeply and I truly wanted to, but the health inspector came to inspect the cabins and they were given a 100%. This reassured me that I was doing the right thing.  The other hidden blessing in accepting this job was that I have met the most phenomenal people that live and work in the camp grounds.  These are people from all walks of life and all ages.  They have taken me in and treat me as if I were a member of their family.  I have only been working there for a short time, yet, I feel as if I have known these people forever!  They are all blessings to me and I sincerely hope that I am able to bring some of the happiness and joy to their lives that they have brought to mine.

I am constantly seeing on social media and hearing people talk either about themselves or others that they just can't find a job and I think that this is a true statement, especially if you think that some jobs are beneath you or that there are jobs you just don't want to do.  I really believe that if people will put it out into the universe that they are open and waiting for an employment opportunity and then truly stay open and listen, that an opportunity will present itself to them.  It may not be their "dream job" or what their idea of the perfect job is, but it will be doing exactly what they should be doing and with the people that they should be with and this is where the gifts from heaven truly lie.  It will be in the life lessons that they learn and the people that they will meet that will make a job into a blessing from above!

All Creatures Great and Small

Having almost two months under our belt since our last trip back to Ohio, Mountain Man and I are relaxing and have fallen into a comfortable routine in our little cabin.  Having the time to be more mindful of our surroundings now, we are able to focus on the beauty of nature around us.  Living in the forest, you never know what you will see or hear.  The original owners of our cabin landscaped the area around the cabin beautifully.  You can tell that they loved it here by their attention to detail that they gave to the arrangement of the flowers, trees and shrubs.  Every time I walk around our property, I say a prayer of thanks for those people.  I almost wish that we could have bought our place directly from them because the gentleman that we bought from was not here very often and had obviously no interest in the upkeep of this beautiful property.  If you haven't already guessed, we have been spending a great deal of time outside raking and cleaning up years worth of leaves, pine straw and weeds.  When we first moved in, the property had been basically weed whacked down to bare dirt in the middle and was totally overgrown around the edges.  I have been working steadily, section at a time, trimming, digging and generally cleaning up.  My reward has been each little daffodil that has poked it's sweet yellow head up, each fern that is, for the first time in several years, feeling the sunshine warming its roots, and a variety of green plants just starting to gain the strength to wake up from their long naps.  With living in the mountains, I have more Mountain Laurels than I can count, several azaleas that I am excitedly waiting to see bloom, not to mention the crepe myrtles, forsythias and other assorted shrubs.  But, my favorite by far is my giant pear tree.  It is the biggest and fullest pear tree that I have ever seen.  It stands well over 30 feet tall and spreads out into a perfect egg shape that must be nearly 20 feet in diameter.  Right now, it is in full bloom and looks like a giant white egg.  When we first moved in, Mountain Man and I had a battle of the wills about this tree.  All I could see was a perfect specimen in need of nothing but love and rain.  All he could see was a chance to use his chain saw for some serious pruning.  Thankfully, we had to have some tree work done and while the gentleman was here working, I took the opportunity to inquire about the best way to maintain the beauty of the pear tree.  His words were music to my ears! "Don't do anything.  It's perfect the way it is."  Poor Mountain Man then had to put his chain saw away for another day and my tree was saved!  Other than just the general beauty of this tree, I also love it because it is home to so many little birds.  We have the pear tree on one side of the deck and at the other end is a giant cedar tree.  Between the two, they house lots of birds, squirrels and even some bats!  Down in the front of our property, in front of a whole row of Laurel, we have established a food plot for all of our critters.  We get bags of local corn and sunflower seeds and keep a pile on the ground for whatever comes through and is hungry.  We get an incredible variety of birds, from the tiniest of wrens to the huge Pileated woodpecker hanging in the trees.  We have a resident chipmunk who has now eaten so much corn that he's starting to look like a small squirrel.  I love to watch him wander out to the pile and make himself at home right in the middle of it and spend his entire afternoon eating!  When he is on the pile, all of the birds have to work around him because he never learned to share!  We have also had a variety of other critters come to dinner.  Rabbits, raccoons, opossums, squirrels and deer.  No matter the time of day or night, whenever you look over the rail down to the food pile, there is always some bird or critter having a meal.  Part of my joy of living in the forest is making a wildlife habitat that draws all of nature close to us.  You see, we have worked out a sweet deal for everyone involved, we feed their bodies and their beauty feeds our souls.

Life Never Ceases to Amaze Me

Here it is, February first already!  Where has the month of January gone?  I hope for all of you that it was a happy and peaceful month filled with wonder and joy.  Mine?  Well, it was full of surprises, happiness and new experiences.

To begin with, if you have read my January post, you will remember that I was sad about not seeing my Grands for Christmas.  Well, you'll never guess who showed up on our doorstep the end of the first week of January.  Aw, you guessed!  Mountain Man and I had gotten up fairly early and were sitting out on the deck, having coffee, enjoying an unusually warm January morning.  Since we only have three other full time families on our side of the mountain, we recognize by sound and sight all of the cars that come past our cabin.  As we were looking out over the mountainside, we heard a truck coming up the road that didn't sound familiar.  As it appeared around the curve, Mountain Man remarked that it looked just like Token Son's truck.  Me, being the curious and slightly nosey person that I am, ran to the other side of the deck to see if I could see where it was heading.   Well, wouldn't you just know it, it pulled right in our driveway!  I wouldn't have been any more surprised if I woke up with my head stapled to the floor!!!  After a whole lot of whooping and hollering and kissing and hugging we found out that they had plans in the works for quite a while to surprise us with a visit and I must say, it worked like a charm.   So, we were able to spend some wonderful, quality time with our Chillin' and  the grands.  The highlight of the week being their first horseback riding experience.  We knew that the older sis would ride since she had gotten to do a pony ride in the past.  The younger sis?  She was a crap shoot.  At not quite two, you truly never know how she'll react to any given situation.  She made Mountain Man's day! She took to that horse like a duck takes to water!  We now have two little cowgirls in the family and I'm sure many fun times ahead riding with them when they come to visit.

The week with the Grands went waaaay too fast.  You see, I'm greedy with my time with all of my Chillin' and my Grands.  There is NEVER enough of it!  But, seeing how, the very next week after they left, we had to make a trip back to Ohio for a memorial service for Mountain Man's first Mother-In-Law and my adopted Mama.  So this meant not only bonus time with the Chillin's and Grands, but getting to see so many friends and distant relatives that we don't get to see nearly enough.  Girls that were just babies themselves yesterday are now successful career women with families of their own.  Young men who were busy raising families and carving out their place in the world are now grandfathers and are either retired or looking forward to retirement.   The "old people" are mostly gone and WE are the "old people".   It seems like just yesterday I was 18 years old, now I look in the mirror and don't even recognize the face that I see.   Getting to see everyone again and catch up on our lives made us realize just how quickly time is passing and how much we can't take a moment of it for granted.

When we returned to our beautiful mountains from Ohio, we decided not to let any grass grow under our feet.  We know that we will both have to get jobs soon since Social Security is never enough.  But, until we start working again, we are trying to spend as much time as possible out in our beautiful backyard, the Chattahoochie National Forest.  Since we have been blessed with an unusually mild winter (even by North Georgia standards), we have been hiking as many trails as possible, experiencing the great  beauty of as many waterfalls as we can find and experiencing all the beauty that nature has to offer us.  This doesn't mean that we are running a race to see everything there is to see.  No, we are truly taking our time by hiking a slow pace.  You see, we don't want to miss one little thing in nature.  Whether it is a new plant peaking up through the leaves, a print from one of many little woodland critters in the mud or a claw mark from a bear searching for bugs in an old tree stump or under a rock.  We are finding that when we truly slow down our pace, it is easier to breathe, easier to move and easier to rest.  I pray that when we return to the working world, we will be able to keep to this slower, more mindful pace to make the most of this beautiful life that we have.

Happy 2017!

I have started this page in my head more times than I can count.  I have actually been writing it since December 1.  Every time that I would think that I had my idea concreted enough to blog about it, something would happen that made me rethink it.  After a few days, I would start over with a modified idea and again something would happen to change my thought process, and so on, and so on.   I'll give you an abbreviated rundown of my month's worth of failed attempts before I get to my actual current thought.  Hopefully, that will help to make sense of this current entry.

My first thought for this entry was how was I going to deal with spending my first Christmas without my Chillin' and Grands.  I must admit, I was feeling more than a little sorry for myself thinking about all what I would be missing. After all, in all my years of being a Mountain Mama, I have always had at least two of the Chillin' if not all three in my house over the Christmas season.  Plus I have always been blessed with getting to watch my Grands open all of their gifts on Christmas.  Well, that poor me story wasn't long for this world because I received word that our oldest Chile, her hubby and their mountain pup would be trekking up from Florida to spend Christmas with us.  This renewed my Christmas joy.  Mountain Man and I set out every Christmas decoration that we have.  We decorated inside and out.  Thank goodness I always dreamed of a mountain Christmas because I had everything that I needed to decorate our mountain cabin.  We did get a new Christmas tree, though.  Since this is my first vaulted ceiling, I felt the need to have a tree that I had to stand on a ladder to put the angel on top, that was the only new decoration that we sprung for.  I must say, our cabin became a warm and welcoming Christmas mountain retreat.  Everything inside was adorned with lighted pine roping, beautiful red cardinals and pinecones galore.  Add in the bluegrass Christmas music playing in the background and I felt like I was living in a Hallmark movie!

My next thought was about Christmas gifts or lack there of. We along with our Ohio Chillin' decided not to exchange gifts this year, but to adopt families in need instead.  I am so happy with this new tradition that I hope it is one that we will carry on for many years.  Our token Son's wife (our daughter of the heart) is such a thrifty shopper that it was truly amazing at all of the wonderful gifts that she was able to buy for all of our families.  As I said, I hope this tradition continues for a long time, but I LOVE giving to my family, so that was a very difficult thing for me to come to terms with.  There would be no gifts from Mama this year.  Well, no one said that I couldn't MAKE gifts!  I ended up spending two solid weeks crocheting and sewing until I had a large suitcase full of homemade gifts to send up to Ohio with our oldest Chile when she went up for a few days.  When there's a will, there's a way, I always say!!!

My next topic was going to be not getting to be with the Grands when they opened their gifts.  Anyone who has ever been blessed by being with little ones at Christmas can appreciate the joy and awe that they bring to the season. Because of my thoughtful Token Son, I didn't have to miss it this year either! Through the miracle of video chat, I was able to watch my Mountain Babies open their gifts and had a wonderful visit with them.  Even though I couldn't feel their little arms around my neck, to hear them say "I love you, Bhakti" warmed my heart just as much.

Our Christmas Eve was a joyous day.  My oldest and I spent the entire day baking cookies and Christmas goodies.  It had been a really long time since she had been around when I was doing my baking, so it was a special gift to me to get to spend the whole day baking with her.  I hope she knows how much that time together meant to me.

Christmas day turned out to be an unusually warm and sunny day.  After having a leisurely morning of opening gifts, breakfast, and long distance phone visits, we threw our Christmas roast in the crockpot and headed out to Meeks Park. Meeks Park is our local community park which I have never seen the likes of in any of the states that I have visited.  It is filled with beautiful walking trails along the river with swings located every so often so you can rest and enjoy the river view.  Baseball fields galore, multiple playgrounds, basketball courts, tennis and pickleball courts and of course the beautiful community pool dot the rest of the several acre park. The park was teaming with people that also wanted to enjoy the beauty of our Christmas day.  As we walked along the trail by the river, everyone that we passed wished us a Merry Christmas and a good day.  It made me feel that we were celebrating Christmas not as a few people in a family, but as part of an entire community.  What an awesome gift!

My Christmas carried over to December 26 when our Ohio daughter surprised us by making the drive down to spend the rest of the week with us and her sister. If I live to be 100, I will never tire of those kinds of surprises.  Needless to say, the rest of Christmas week was filled with the joy of family.  We visited, shopped, ate, and most importantly, enjoyed each other's company.  

Now it's New Years Day.  The Chillins have all gone to their respective homes and the cabin is quiet once again.  Last night, after Mountain Man retired early for the last night of the year, I sat alone in the living room.  I listened to the quietness of the cabin and our forest around us.  I reflected on the past year and all of the happenings, both good and bad.  If you ask just about anyone, me included, they are glad to say so long to 2016.  It was a turbulant year at best filled with war, deaths, elections, crimes and depression.  But, as I reflected, at least for me personally, for every negative thing that life threw at me, I was then gifted with at least double that in positive things.  Sometimes, while in the midst of the dark night, we aren't able or willing to look beyond to the horizon to the sunrise.  There have been many times in my own life that I am in the middle of a rough period that it is all I can do to muster the energy to keep moving forward.  Through my Creator, I always do manage to do just that, keep moving forward.  I do this because I have chosen to be a survivor.  A happy survivor!

This is my New Year's wish for all of you, my friends.  Be a survivor.  I know that everyone wishes for good health, prosperity, happiness and all of the other cliches that go along with the beginning of a new year.  I have found that if I only concentrate on surviving, all of the other goodies come along with the success of surviving.  Everyone has to find their own personal way to get through the sadness, stress and basically crap that the world throws at us. Sometimes it's all we can do to remember that our Creator wants only happiness for us, and if we can keep on wading through the mire, fueling our strength with happy thoughts and memories, soon we will be standing in front of a beautiful sunrise of a new day.  

I'm Baaaaack!

I'm sure that because of my two plus week haitus, a lot of you thought that I gave up on my feeble attempt at blogging.  Wrong!  Mountain Man and I made a trip up to Ohio for a combination birthday celebration for our token son's wife and their eldest chile and Thanksgiving.  As anyone who has ever moved away from their home state and then gone back to visit, it's impossible to see everyone on the "I need to get together with..." list.  I made my list, checked it twice, added a few more names and then both Mountain Man and I got sick. He with a severe sinus infection (partially blamed on breathing the smoke from the forest fires), and I with my usual standby thyroid issues that had been brought on by the stress of the move and the exhaustion from the renovations. Needless to say, other than the immediate fam, our doctors got to visit us the most in our first week in Ohio.   Always looking for a bright side, feeling like I had been run over by a truck made me take it much easier than normal and gave me a lot more snuggle and reading time with my two grands.  You will never hear this Bhakti (their name for me) complain about too much snuggle time!  

Thanksgiving was a beautiful day. The whole day before, we cooked and spent the day together, and on Thanksgiving day, it was awesome!  The first Thanksgiving day in 30 some years that I didn't put the meal together!  Once the turkey was in the oven, I was off duty.  I got to watch the Macy's Parade, play, read the newspaper peruse the ads and just plain relax.  It was one of the best Thanksgivings EVER!  The kids did a fantastic job of putting on the dinner.  They have learned well and the baton has been passed.  We have had a changing of the guard!  Can you tell that I am totally excited by this change of events? After our family dinner, Mountain Man went back to bed,  my Daughter-in-Law (I really dislike that term for her.  She is as much mine as my two girl chillin so until I can come up with an appropriate title for her I will from herein refer to her as one of the girl chillin and you can just be confused!) took the two grands to her family Thanksgiving and my two chillin and I went to the nursing home to visit Mountain Man's ex mother-in-law.  She is actually our mama of the heart since she never let go of Mountain Man and she adopted me and mine when we got married 26 years ago.  She has been laid up in a nursing home for the past 15 months since breaking both legs in a fall.  We had a wonderful visit with her and promised to be back in a few days to see her again.  Then we went to visit our girl chile's family for a while.  Shortly after we all got home in the evening, we received a call that our mama of the heart had passed away shortly after we left.  Even though we had watched her health fail over the past few years, she was doing so well on Thanksgiving that we were totally in shock when the call came.  I am so blessed to have had that one last great visit with her.

The next week was a blur trying to catch up with all of the promised visits.  I must say, I failed miserably.  I did get to stop into my old place of employment and I got to see a lot of my beloved coworkers.   It felt really good that they were as excited to see me as I was to see them.  Hopefully, during my next trip to Ohio -- we are supposed to go up in January for the memorial service-- I will be able to see the rest of them and everyone else on my list.  

Leaving Ohio was bittersweet.  As you would expect, I hate having to say goodbye to my chillin' and my grands, but after being in Ohio for those two weeks, Mountain Man and I realized that Ohio is not home anymore.  Our home is in our sweet little cabin in the beautiful North Georgia mountains.  As much as we love being with our family and friends, there is just something in these mountains.  On the drive home, as soon as we could see the mountains again, we had an overwhelming sense of inner peace and joy.  It's a combination of so many things that it's hard to pinpoint what exactly makes this feel like home.  I know that at this time of year, our town is much smaller,  it only consists of the full timers now.  All of the Floridians and summer renters have gone home for the rest of the year.    Now, when you pass a car on the road, you get a friendly wave.  When you pass someone on the street in town, they stop to chat for a moment.  It's more like living with an extended family rather than a town full of strangers.  We went to the annual Christmas parade (Yes, it was a Christmas Parade, not a "Holiday" parade) downtown last night.  The whole town comes out for events such as this.  There was music on the town square.  Santa was visiting with all of the children,  the ladies of the historical society had a bake sale set up and I'm pretty sure they sold out!  The parade was great fun, but then again, I am partial to parades!  After the parade was over, we stopped in to the local coffee shop not only for a caffeine fix, but to visit with the owners. Then after walking around town, we stopped into the motel that we stayed in while waiting to get in our house in what now seems was a lifetime ago.  The owners of the hotel not only remembered us, but welcomed us with warm hugs. We enjoyed a great visit with them before making our way back through town to our car and home again.  I know that for some,  all of the friendly, family type atmosphere would be an uncomfortable and stifling thing.  For Mountain Man and me, this is exactly what we need at this point in our lives.  The only thing that could make this life any better would be to have all of our chillin and grands here with us.   That is not to be at this point so we will make the most of our visits to Ohio and Florida and make the most of their visits here with us. We know now, after only one visit back to Ohio that in these mountains, we are exactly where we belong... we are home!

When Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

When Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, the classic beautiful ballad by the Platters comes to mind every time we step out our cabin door lately.  The forest fire that started a month ago in the Chattahoochee National Forest with a single bolt of lightening has now burned over 21,000 acres of land and is only 20% contained. They don't expect to have them totally controlled for at least 2 to 4 weeks yet if we don't get any considerable amounts of rain.  Since that first fire started, there have been many other fires that have also taken off.  Unfortunately,  they are finding that some of the more recent fires that have started have been set by obviously deranged people.  Thank goodness, they have already found a few of these criminals.  I know that forest fires can be a cleansing thing to happen to forest land- burning up old dead wood and allowing new growth to come up from the forest floor fresh and new.  I understand that,  and I don't have a problem with it as long as the fires are able to be contained inside the boundaries of the forest and not have any ill effects on any homes in the area.  My only problem at this point is breathing the sooty and smelly air that is constantly surrounding us and our entire town.  Since we don't have a garage at our cabin, my car and Mountain Man's truck are constantly covered in a layer of gray powdery soot.  Not good for the lungs!  Since the smoke is getting heavier and more consistantly in our area, Mountain Man went to the local big box store and got us some masks to wear.  I must admit, it's not  a very becoming style, but it does make breathing a bit easier!

As with most tragedies and catastrophies, there is always a bright side.  The bright side in this story is the outpouring of love and generosity that is coming from ours and all of the other surrounding communities.  We have firefighting teams from all around the country and Puerto Rico,  Sky Crane Helicopters with their flight and mechanic teams, and tanker airplanes with their crews that have all come here to help us control and extinguish the fires.  Even though most of these heros are being compensated for their time spent here working on these fires, there are also countless numbers of volunteer firefighters that are actually taking time away from their full time jobs so they can be here to help.  All of the communities that are being affected by the fires are so grateful to all of these people that the local restaurants are providing free meals, people have been preparing food and bringing it to the fire departments, collecting water, toiletries and other necessary items to keep these firefighters as healthy and comfortable as possible while working on these wild fires.  To be a part of and a witness to this southern hospitality makes me proud of my community and happy to be a resident of Georgia.

As I mentioned in the last paragraph, there has been a Sky Crane Helicopter, which is equipped with a snorkle to suck up 3,000 gallons of water in 45 seconds that can then be dumped on the fires, stationed at our local airport.  This past Sunday, Mountain Man and I were making a trip the Walmart to pick up a few things.  The road that leads to the Walmart passes by the end of the runway.  We could see that the helicopter was there as we drove by so on our way home we decided to stop in at the airport and see if we could meet crew and thank them for risking their lives to save our forest.  We pulled up to the operations center at the airport and Mountain Man went in to ask if we could meet the crew.  I am still not totally used to small town living, the operations manager at the airport told us to go ahead and drive across the runway to see the copter and the crew!  Yes, you read right, drive across the runway.  Well, he did tell us to be sure to look both ways for landing planes!  Good enough for us, off we drove across the runway.  When we got to the other side,  the copter and crew were all just hanging out waiting for their next call.  We were able to have a nice visit with the whole crew and much to Mountain Man's delight, he was able to cross another thing off of his bucket list. He not only got to get his picture taken in front of the giant flying machine, but he also was able to get up inside of it and have the captain give him a lesson in how to start up and fly the big bird.  Needless to say, it was one of the great highlights of recent times for my Mountain Man.  To be able to watch him getting to experience something that brings him such joy and to see his childlike awe brings me such great joy, there are just no words.

So, until next week, wash your cars, clean your windows, forget your umbrellas, do a rain dance and most of all, pray for rain!

Green Acres, We Are There!

There is definitely a "slow southern style" way of living here in these mountains. There is an inbred politeness and kindness that just about every soul in this area carries with them.   Case in point: nearly everywhere that I have been in this country I have seen No Littering signs.  They are usually matter of fact and are accompanied with a threat of fines.  On the roads in our community, we also have similar signs.  The only difference is that they are polite reminders.  These signs say "NO TRASH PLEASE".  As we were taught as youngsters, please and thank you goes a long way.  I'm not sure whether there is just more pride and respect in our community or whether people appreciate the manners, but either way, it is rare to see any trash along our roadways.

We also have, as most other communities do, community online yard sales.  I have taken to reading these posts on Facebook, not because I'm in need of anything. Heaven knows I've got way too much stuff already.  I ready them for the pure entertainment value.  As the oldest of my chillin' called to my attention, most of these people have no filters.  Everything from phone numbers to personal information as to their whereabouts is openly shared on these sites. You can tell that this is a small, trusting community because you could never get away with these things in big cities.   Here are a few of my favorite posts from these sites.  I hope that you will also see the humor and innocence in them.

The first one that every caught my attention was a desperate woman with an unemployed man.  This ad read something like this:  "My boyfriend needs work now.  The baby's coming soon and he needs to be working.  he will do almost anything.  Please call me at --- ----."  The way I read into this is that he will do almost anything other than look for a job!

The next one was a man trying to sell his truck. He was also including the wench.  Yup, you read that one right.  So did a lot of other people.  The first person to pull the trigger on that one wanted to know if she works and what does she look like and is it legal to sell wenches in Georgia.  The gentleman that placed the ad soon saw the error in his spelling and corrected it promptly!

Sometimes people aren't looking to make money on their items, sometimes they just want to trade.  There was this one gentleman who was looking to get rid of his car.  He wasn't interested in cash he only wanted either a truck or weapons!  There are no words!

The last one for today is a lady that was interested in getting rid of some of her farm animals.  She had the usual goats and chickens for sale, but the one that caught my eye was the silky chicks.  She said that she had a whole batch of silky chicks for sale, but they were too young to be sexed.  My question is: How old does a silky chick have to be to be sexed???

Now for my Green Acres moment.  Last week, Mountain Man was trying to make a phone call.  When he picked up the land line, he heard a man's voice on the other end.  After a few confused moments, he found out that the phone line was being worked on and he would have to wait to make his call.  I was starting to feel a Green Acres moment coming on.  If any of you are old enough to remember Green Acres, you'll remember that the Douglas's had to climb to the top of the telephone pole to make their phone calls.  After they would climb all that way, they had to talk to the operator if no one was using the line so they could make their call.  Later that day, our middle chile called us.  The only problem was that when she called, the person that answered the phone had an unusually thick southern accent.  Her, knowing her Mountain Mama like she does, thought that I was playing around with her so she just refused to say anything until Mama straightened up and talked right!  The voice on the other end again said hello, can I help you?  Now, realizing that this isn't  the Mama, she looks at her phone to make sure that she hasn't dialed the wrong number. Reassured that she had indeed dialed the correct number,  she, now wondering who exactly is in her parents house, said, "I'm trying to call my mom."  The kind voice with the strong southern drawl then politely informed her that he was working on the phone lines and that she should try back in a few minutes.  When I did finally talk with her, she asked if the lineman had given me the message that she had called.  I told her no, but that wasn't his fault.  I only waved and kept on driving when I passed him.  I'm sure that if I had stopped and said hello, he would have given me the message!  That's just how things work down here!

A Walk In The Forest On An Autumn Eve

Well, the work on the mountain cabin has all but been wrapped up.  After a few more deliveries and a new HVAC unit going in this coming week, we will be all settled in.  The rooms have all been painted, cleaned and decorated and the place now feels like home, our perfect little mountain cabin.  We will now have time to relax and enjoy our beautiful surroundings before heading back to Ohio in a few weeks.  We will be going up to celebrate birthdays and Thanksgiving with the Ohio Mountain Chillins.  I am looking forward to seeing them all again, along with all of our extended family and friends that we left behind.  With all of the modern technologies that we have now in our lives, it is so much easier to stay closely connected to our loved ones,  so even though there are over 600 miles between us, I can still talk to them almost daily and see their face. It does help with the homesickness.   Still, nothing is better than a good hug! I'm looking forward to lots of those!

Since we have more free time now, we have been taking advantage of having the Chattahoochee National Forest in our back yard.  There is a beautiful, gently sloping trail that leads through the mountains that we have been walking.  With each walk that we take, we have ventured further up the mountain.  With Mountain Man being a hunter, we normally can navigate the trails looking for signs of all of the forest creatures and sometimes even stumbling across a few without making a peep.  With this years drought, though, there is no such thing as a silent step.  The beautifully colored leaves that carpet the trail are so dry that the crunch of our footsteps is almost deafening.  There is absolutely no chance of quietly coming upon a feeding doe or any of the other small wildlife scampering about.  They are able to hear us long before they see us.  Just as when we are sitting on our deck, we can hear them making their way along the well worn trails long before we can see them.  Autumn in the mountains is so different from Autumn anywhere else that I have experienced it.  The air is cleaner, the sky is so clear and blue that I sometimes feel like I'm looking at it through a high definition camera lens.  The leaves vary much so in color that I'm sure there are not even names for some of the beautiful shades that they turn.  If you stop long enough and sit quietly, you can hear the birds and critters calling out to one another in their own personal conversations that we are blessed to be able to eavesdrop in on.  The wonders of nature are truly here in these North Georgia mountains.  I'm not wishing my life away, but I am living in anticipation of the spring, when hopefully the drought will subside and the creeks and rivers will once again be filling and the sounds of the babbling waters flowing down the mountain.  Since I am a water baby by nature, I do miss having the water around me.  

After a light dinner this evening, we trekked back out into the woods to collect some wood to turn into walking sticks and curtain rods.  We hiked up the hill across from our cabin, selected the perfect saplings;  a hickory for me since Mountain Man says that a hickory is a lady's stick and a mighty oak for him.  In true Mountain Man nature, he used his handy little ax to cut them down.  No chain saws for this Mountain Man!  As we were dragging our saplings back up the road to our cabin, I secretly hoped that none of the neighbors would drive by.  You see, the hickory that I was dragging was nearly 20 feet long and the Oak was every bit of 15 feet.  Oh, and, I forgot to mention that since this wasn't a planned adventure, I was wearing my slippers.  When you are alone on a mountain most of the time, you tend to forget that, on occasion, other people are around!  We were almost back to our driveway when we heard a car coming up the road, I didn't realize how fast I could move in slippers dragging a big stick.  I felt like I was doing the mountain version of Cross Fit!  I beat the car, so  no explanation needed!  Mountain Man then cut the sticks to length, skinned them both and they are now drying so they can be sanded and oiled.  This will make our hikes quite a bit easier.  Plus, having it made with love, just for me, makes it even more important.  I will be making curtains for the basement windows when the fabric comes and I will have enough of the saplings left to use as curtain rods.  This living off of the land thing is fun.  Now every excursion into the forest will surely provide more decorating ideas and materials!

Not So Random Acts Of Kindness

Up until just a few months ago, I have lived my entire life in or within a few mile radius of Akron, Ohio.  Most of the people that I know have also lived their entire lives in that same area.  I know, or at least am acquainted with, many good people with big hearts that have always been kind, caring, compassionate and generous with not only us, but anyone else they come in contact with.  But working in the public venue for most of my adult life I have also come into contact with just as many, if not more, selfish, rude and impolite people.  Here's where I'm going with this... in the few short months of living here in these beautiful mountains, I have witnessed more of what most people would call "random acts of kindness" than I have in the past few years of living in Ohio. As a matter of fact, I would even be tempted to retitle them Common Acts of Kindness.   Some are so touching that they will bring a tear to your eye.  Some are actually kind of comical.  One of the funnier ones that we were witness to happened just yesterday in the parking lot of our local Walmart.  We were waiting behind a car to turn down an aisle to find a parking space.  The car was sitting still for what seemed an extra long amount of time waiting to make its left turn.  As there were no cars coming the opposite direction, Mountain Man and I began looking around to see what the holdup could be.  There, standing at the end of the row of cars, was an elderly gentleman with a cane.  You could tell by the way that he was standing that to walk was a chore for him.  We realized that the lady in the car ahead of us was waiting and waving him across the crosswalk in front of her.  After two waves and no movement on his part, she rolled down her window and kindly told the gentleman that she was waving him across and he was free to go.  He then told her, I understand that, but I'm not crossing, just waiting here for someone!  It brought to mind the old show Laugh In where the boy scout would pick up Ruth Buzzy, who was dressed as an old lady, and carry her across the street when she didn't want to go and she would end up beating him with her purse.  This instance wasn't as animated or as violent for that matter, but still made us giggle.  We have witnessed and been a part of so many acts of kindness here that there are just too many to mention.

On Friday of this week, Mountain Man was invited by one of our new friends to go with him to check out the hunting grounds in our area.  Always up for a hunting adventure, Mountain Man gladly took him up on his offer.  After a good four or five hours, they returned to our house to fill me in on their adventures. Expecting only to hear about the trails they found and the animals that they saw, I was only slightly excited to hear the tales they had to tell.  Well, I couldn't have been more wrong.  The tale that they had to tell was about one of the most emotional acts of kindness that I have ever heard.  You see, our new friend is of Cherokee decent.  He was raised not to be proud of his heritage, but to not acknowledge that part of who he is.  Therefore his children were also not raised to be a proud descendant of the native people.  A few years ago, after learning much about his descendants and his heritage, he decided that he would like to have a statue erected in Meeks Park,  our local community park, to honor the tribes of our area.  He started a small fundraising campaign to obtain the $32,000 that it will cost for the statue to be commissioned.  It will be sculpted by Daniel Horse Chief,  who is of Cherokee, Pawnee decent and is from Oklahoma. This started out for our friend to be a tribute to his people who were not only stripped of their land, but also of their lives, to acknowledge that this is their home.  This plan seemed to take on a life of its own.  It has now gone way past the statue.  Our friend is now waiting to be able to meet with the congressmen from here in Georgia to get approval from the federal government to officially welcome the tribes back to their original homes here in the four county area of the North Georgia Mountains.  This might not sound like a big deal, but it would be the first time in our country's history that the native people have been officially welcomed back to the land that was stolen from them so long ago.  In case you are wondering, this has nothing to do with the so called "Indian Casinos".  This would be a much more personal welcome.  No one thinks that there will be a mass exodus of the tribes that were displaced to Oklahoma back here to Georgia.  After all, the people have lives and careers and homes where they reside now.  What it will do is to open our communities and towns to anyone who would be interested in relocating, opening businesses and making a life in their true native land.  There would be help set up to assist these people in reestablishing a life here in their mountains.  

Mountain Man and I have always felt a strong connection to the native tribes. I'm not sure if it is just from our history lessons or if we were part of these tribes in another lifetime.  Either way, I feel that this act is long overdue. Mountain Man and I feel blessed to have a friend that has sacrificed so much of his heart, time and not to mention personal funds, to extend this kindness to the most deserving of people.

If you are interested in learning more about this endeavor, please check out the webpage at We Are Still Here.  It is a little outdated since it has taken longer to raise the funds and obtain the meetings that need to take place to make to make this happen.  And until next week, let's all go out and commit some acts of kindness!

Sunday Morning In the Mountains

We have yet another beautiful Sunday morning here on our mountain.  Sunny, cool breeze blowing, birds singing back and forth with one another, the mountainside is a little more kissed with the colors of autumn. Even though we are in a drought and desperately need rain, I still appreciate these beautiful mornings. This is my religion. This is my peace. 

The eldest of our three mountain chillin' and her hubs came and stayed with us for a few days.  We not only celebrated her birthday with a beautiful trail ride through the mountains, we put them to work.  Mountain Man and I are blessed to have a wonderful family that is always willing to help each other with whatever needs to be done.  Whether it is as simple as raking leaves to as complex as remodeling a house.  It is awesome because there is no one keeping track of who helps the most or the least, it's just let's do this and get it done! This weekend, it was a major kitchen organization and painting a cathedral ceilinged living room.  Thank goodness for tall kids and hubs!  We were able to get a great deal done in a short amount of time which still left enough time for play. They also brought our grand puppy with them.  It was so nice to have a dog's energy in our house again.  This is something that I've missed since our Bailey found her time had come to go and live in another dimension. Her spirit is always with us, but it is also nice to be able to physically snuggle with a puppy.

Today we will slow our pace back down to mountain time.  It's funny how quickly you acclimate to the slower pace of life here.  It now feels more natural to me to take my time and relax as I do things instead of rushing.  I feel that my body and mind are more in sync with my creator and the earth this way.  I may not get as much done as quickly, but I feel that I do it better and more thoughtfully.

The only thing that is a must on our to do list today is to repair the sliding screen door that goes out onto the deck yet again.  You see, it is a bad habit that Mountain Man and our oldest chile have acquired.  They either ignore or forget about the doors.  The oldest chile has actually given herself a pretty severe case of whiplash by walking into a patio door.  More than once!  Mountain man has also perfected this bad habit.  Once while in Florida, I witnessed him walking into a glass patio door with such speed that I could actually see the glass bow.  All I can say is thank goodness for hurricane and Mountain Man proof glass.  Today's event was much more minor.  After going inside from the deck, he closed the screen door behind him.  A few minutes later, as I was sitting on the swing, I heard a crash and looked over in time to see the screen door come flying off the frame and into the deck rail and Mountain Man hot on its tail with a look of great shock on his face.  I am grateful that the deck rail is a strong one, or he would have been testing his flying skills.  There were no injuries incurred in this latest event, so feel free to laugh now!  I have decided that I will not only buy an extra repair kit for the screen door, but I will be buying a few screen hangers to put on the screen in hopes of catching people's attention and warning them that the door is indeed closed!

This week, we will be working on the guest bedroom and bath.  Check back next week to see what fun that brings!

Gushing Water and Falling Leaves

Reading the title of this chapter of my blog probably brings to mind a beautiful autumn scene of a roaring waterfall amid colorful leaves gently falling from the forest of trees.  You may even be able to imagine the cool mist of the falls along with the gentle breeze carrying the leaves.  Yeah, well, you wouldn't be further from right!  One day last week, after a full day of working to paint and update the master bathroom, I was getting cleaned up in the guest bathroom to make yet another trip to our local Home Depot.  We are on a first name basis with most of the cashiers there now.  As I said, I was getting cleaned up and Mountain Man was out on the deck working on one of his many projects.  I finished in the shower, stepped out and turned off the water.  I no sooner had the cold water shut off, turned to grab my towel and heard a whoosh and a thunk.  I turned back around to see a torrent of water coming out of the wall so hard it was hitting the back wall of the shower.  It was coming out where the cold water faucet used to be.  I was grabbing at the shower curtain to try and contain as much of the water as possible in the tub while yelling for Mountain Man to shut off the main water valve.  Being on the deck, he couldn't hear the water, only my desperate calls for help.  MM came running in toward the bathroom, thinking that I had fallen in the shower.  Once he saw what, looking back at it now, was quite a sight, me in all my glory battling an uncontrollable gush of water, he knew he was headed in the wrong direction and made a B line for the basement.  Thank goodness, just the day before we had looked to see where the shut off valve for the entire house was, so he knew right where to go. I don't know if I ever told you this, but, Mountain Man's nickname is Mr. FixIt, so in a matter of minutes he had figured out that the entire cold water stem had unscrewed itself, or had never been properly screwed in.  Either way, he had everything fixed quickly and was helping me sop up all of the water that managed to escape the shower.

A few days later, we had purchased a new toilet for the master bath and were installing it.  I don't know how toilet savvy you are, but we had no idea that the new toilets come with a pump system instead of the old flapper system.  They say that it gives you a much more powerful flush with much less water.  I don't know about that, but I do know that it was more like working on a spaceship than a simple toilet!  After much analyzing, reading, and rereading the directions, the unit was finally installed.  We were ready for the "maiden flush"! Never having seen a "pump" toilet work, we decided to leave the lid off so we could watch the "super pump action" that this unit was advertised to have.  That was our first mistake.  Our second mistake was taking too literally the instructions saying not to over tighten the tank to the seat because it would cause cracking and breaking of either or both parts.  So, with the excitement and anticipation of a child on Christmas morning, we flushed!  No where in the installation instructions did it say that if the toilet is flushed without the lid on that the water will spray straight upward like a geyser.  And you can imagine where the rest of the water went since the bolts for the tank were obviously not tightened enough!  This time, I was the runner to get every available towel while Mountain Man shut off the water to the toilet and tried to contain the water that was quickly making its way toward our bedroom.  After rereading the directions AGAIN and resecuring the bolts, all the while holding our breath that we wouldn't hear any cracking noises, we were ready for the longed perfect flush.  As we are fast learners, we put the top on the tank this time and proceeded to flush.  And the perfect flush it was.  Not an errant drop of water anywhere.  We were back in business!

After all of that excitement, I was ready for a break.  On the back of our house we have a 40 foot long, 20 foot high deck that overlooks the mountain that we live on.  With being up so high, I am able to sit and watch at eye level the leaves flutter on the trees and every once in a while, I am able to see one as it comes loose of the tree and floats to the ground.  You always hear people talking about mindfulness.  This is a perfect example of being mindful.  Having 
your mind relaxed and empty enough that you can totally, without even trying, focus on that one beautiful leaf's journey from limb to ground.  Noticing nothing else around you.  This is why I am here.  This is why I love this place.  To be able to take the time, calm my crazy mind and focus on the incredible perfection that is nature.  To see all of the gifts that my creator has given to me so abundantly and that I rushed through life and totally missed out on until now. As my journey continues, I am anticipating many new and amazing experiences, even some wet and maybe less that perfect experiences and I am so honored to be able to share them with you.  Thank you!  

I've Got The Music In Me...Again!

Anyone who has known me for very long knows of my love for music.  It started at a very young age.  Some of my earliest memories of music in my life are my mom playing the huge wooden console radio that sat in the corner of our dining room.  WAKR was the station and that was back in the day when they played all the top hits.  As she would lay out sheets on the dining room table and sprinkle them, one of her favorite songs would come on the radio. As she would be ironing sheets, I would be playing on the floor near her and we would sing "Red Roses for A Blue Lady" by Dean Martin.  To this day, I can't hear that song without that vision coming to my mind. 

On my brother's thirteenth birthday, I was three and I remember him getting his first record player.  It was a portable in a red and white leather case that you had to take the top off of to play records.  I think that I loved that gift even more than he did.  A few of his first records were some of my favorite.  One in particular, Lemon Tree by Peter, Paul and Mary was my absolute favorite. Looking back, I feel bad for my poor brother, every time the record player came out, I would beg him to play that record for me.  He finally got so sick of it that he either threw out the record or gave it to a friend.  I was never sure which, but I missed that song.  From there, I learned the words to most of Frankie Valley and the Four Seasons songs.  I still love their music.

For my first five years of school, I went to St. Paul's Catholic School.  They never had much in the way of music class.  In my fifth grade year, after having five long years of not fitting into the catholic school dogma, my parents finally put me in public school.  Much to my delight, they had choir!  A class where I could actually get to listen to music and sing for the whole hour!  That quickly became my favorite class.  From that point on, all I wanted to do was to be able to sing and play instruments.  Unfortunately for me, I had relatively little talent in either area, but that never stopped my love and desire for music in my life.

I was never able to take piano or dance like most of my friends did, but that never stopped me!  I would tag along with them to their lessons trying to pick up pointers as I sat quietly and watched.  When my friends would get new dance costumes, I would gladly take their old ones and I would have them teach me the steps to the dances that they used them for.  This led to my love of feeling the music move through my body and moving me to dance.  This was one of my requirements when Mountain Man proposed to me.  Will you always dance with me?  The answer was obviously yes.  We've been dancing now for 26 years.

All through the rest of my schooling, I always participated in choir and Singers.  I've never figured out if the instructors had pity on me since I had such a sincere love of music or whether they were that desperate for bodies and voices.  Either way, I loved every minute of it.  I even got to sing a few solos throughout my high school years.  

In my early adult life, my love of music stayed strong.  I was now able to buy all of the albums then eight tracks and then onto cassettes and CDs that I wanted. My choice of music was widely varied.  Once my Mountain Chillin' came along, I made sure that they had a variety of music in their lives also, starting with classical when they were newborns.

As life progresses, as it does sometimes, some of your favorite things fall by the wayside.  Life gets too busy to make time for yourself and the things that you love most.  This is what happened with me and music.  For the last 10-15 years, sadly, music was not high on my priority list.  I felt as if I had lost a close friend.  A part of me was missing.

As Mountain Man and I are settling into our new house and our new community a little more, we are finding something that I had known in the past but I had not really thought about.  The people of the south have music in their souls. They have a great amount of talent, a love and appreciation for it, and a desire to share it.  Since we have been in the mountains, my old friend, music, is coming back to live on in my soul again.  Every Friday and Saturday evenings, there is a free concert somewhere to enjoy.  Fridays are usually at the old court house with a wide variety of music from blue grass to jazz.  Saturdays are where everyone of the local bands is playing.  The rest of the evenings are a step back to my childhood.  We sit on the porch swing and listen to the radio.  I still have all of my music collection.  The only things that I have gotten rid of were the eight tracks.  I was sad about that, but I had nothing left to play them on.  I have replaced most of them with either cassettes or CDs.  

I am so happy to have my old friend back again.  My music fills me up.  It moves my soul and more times than not, my feet.  Welcome home, my dear friend, welcome home!

The Mover is Here!....The Mover is Here?

Yes, folks, you read that right.  Mover, not movers.  No, there is no plural there. There is also no 26 foot straight truck.  Before I confuse you any more, please let me explain.

Last Tuesday afternoon, I received a call from our moving company stating that our movers, note the plural, would be arriving on Thursday morning.  The movers, again note the plural, would be calling as they got closer to our home to let us know a more exact time to expect them.  A few hours later, I received a text that was either very poorly spelled or very broken English, at that point I wasn't sure which,  stating that he was on the road and would let me know when he would be arriving tomorrow.  As in Wednesday.  Hhhhmmmmm. Already something doesn't seem right, but I'll go with it.  If they do come on Wednesday, that would be fine since we were now ready for them.  We spent all Wednesday morning working around the house, waiting for our long anticipated call.  By early Wednesday afternoon, we decided to go out and do some shopping while we waited since we would be within a half an hour of our house and could get back before the movers if they call.  It was a lovely afternoon. We shopped, ate, and went for a ride to scope out a riding stable for Mountain Man. Finally, on our way home from the stable at about 5:30, I got a call from the movers.  They were in Tennessee and would be in Blairsville at around 8:30 if they didn't hit any traffic or get lost and would like to start the delivery then!  I don't know about you, but I for one think that its a very bad idea to start a move at my bedtime.  Ok, so I'm not really in bed at 8:30, but I do like to have my jammies on and be relaxing with a good book before bed.  Thinking that this was one of the worst ideas that I had heard lately, and believe me, I've heard A LOT of really crappy ideas in these past few months, I promptly called the moving company and plead my case.  The compassionate fellow on the other end of the line agreed with me about the poor timing and called off the move til 7 a.m. on Thursday.

Thursday morning, we were up bright and early ready and waiting.  We had coffee and waited.  We cleaned up the kitchen and waited.  We sat on the swing on the deck and waited.  Finally, a little after 8:30, the movers are here!!! We heard them coming down the gravel road at the bottom of the mountain. Mountain Man walked up the drive way and down the road to meet them and instruct them on the best way to get up our road and down our drive without going over the edge of the road.  He wasn't gone long.  Not nearly long enough and when he came back, there was no moving truck following him and he wasn't smiling and whistling.  For any of you that know my Mountain Man, know that if he stops whistling, things are NOT going his way.  I met him at the door already knowing that the news I was about to get was not good.  Without me even asking, he wasted no time telling me that our movers was just a mover and our 26 foot straight truck was an under powered 24 foot flat bed truck pulling a 35 foot overloaded low slung enclosed trailer that would not only be able to make it up our road, but definitely would NEVER make it down our driveway.  Oh, and our "mover" had arrived in this country seven months ago from Siberia and spoke very broken English.  I had to see this to believe it! I got in my car and drove down the road with Mountain Man in tow.  I drove, not because I am too lazy to walk, but because our cell phones get no reception at our house and our new land line wasn't working.  But that's a whole other story. So, down the road we drove, I met "Paul" who was very confused and apologetic and I left Mountain Man with him while I drove to our friends on the other side of the mountain so I could use their phone.  I explained the situation to Mountain Friends and as we were discussing the predicament, I realized that I was working with very limited time since the moving rig, if you can call it that, was blocking a good portion of the road leading up to ours.  Not a good foot to get off on with our new neighbors.

I've always been good at thinking on my feet and this time was no different.  I looked up the phone number for the moving company in Blairsville, called and plead my case.  They obviously have dealt with mishaps like this before because they were awesome!  Within two hours they had three guys and a straight truck on their way.  While our mover waited for the other movers to arrive, he had to unpack almost half the trailer onto the roadside because he was also moving a household to the Orlando area when he left our house!  Mountain Man stood and watched this whole escapade take place, met and visited with all four of our neighbors as they came by to see what the ruckus was on their quiet mountain. Everyone was very sympathetic to our plight and was very friendly. What a way to meet the neighbors!  

We also had time to get acquainted with "Paul" and learn that he came to our country to try and make a better life for his family.  He is trying to get settled and then will bring his wife and ten year old daughter over.  You never know what other people are going through unless you take the time to listen to them. We also learned a great deal about life in Russia and also how a person new to the United States perceives our country.  Needless to say, this was an awesome reminder of the gratitude that we should always have for our awesome lives and the people in them.

Once the other moving company got here, within three hours everything was transferred from trailer to truck and was unloaded into the house.  The local moving company guys were such a great bunch of guys.  Seeing that our mover was new to this country, they really helped him out and explained easier ways to do things.  They even helped him reload his truck and got him on his way again.  It was really beautiful to see how some good old boys from Georgia took a foreigner from a foreign land under their wing, even despite the language barrier.  

Just as the movers were all leaving, our Mountain Friends pulled in with two bottles of wine to help us celebrate our move.  After an evening of celebrating and enjoying their company, we woke the next morning to a house full of boxes. After working to make sense of things, we took a break and Mountain Man left to walk down to our mailbox.  A guy in a four wheeler from the other side of the mountain stopped and gave him a ride.  Mountain Man introduced himself and the first thing the guy said was "heard you had quite a moving experience yesterday!"  News does travel fast in these here mountains!

Welcome Home.........Finally!

After three looooong and, at times, trying months, our house finally closed on Thursday, September 8.  To say that we were not only overjoyed but also greatly relieved is an understatement.  After signing our lives away with at least 100 signatures, we received our long coveted keys and took our first trip up Wilson Mountain as new home owners.  With all of the giddiness of a couple of teenagers, Mountain Man and I hurriedly unlocked the lock and walked through the door of our dream home, which now after the long humid summer months of being locked up with no air circulation reeked of mildew.  After closer examination, EVERYTHING had a coat of that fine white powdery mildew covering it.  YUCK!  Oh well, no time to fret, we were leaving for our beach vacation the very next morning.  So after a quick repacking, off we went for our week at the beach.  It was a fun and hectic week.  The grands were great fun as usual.  Mountain Man's Mountain Sis and her hubby were even able to come spend a few days with us which always is a good time.  I have always felt a very strong connection to the ocean and its inhabitants.  This time was no different. I was once again blessed to be able to be in the water when a school of dolphins swam by.  The energy that they share is amazing.  Whenever I am lucky enough to be near them and receiving their energy, I also send Reiki to them. I only hope that they feel the wonderfulness of the energy share that I do. Needless to say, the week flew by.  We arrived back on our mountain late Saturday afternoon. Sunday was spent shopping for our necessary arsenal of bleach, Odoban and other assorted cleaners and smell good items.  We took the rest of the day to regroup, smudge the house, and rest up.    Sunday afternoon it rained all afternoon.  To be able to sit on our covered porch overlooking the mountains while listening to the rain fall gives me the truest sense of peace and contentment that I have ever felt.  All is right with the world.

We received word that the Movers would be here either Wednesday or Thursday.  Let the cleaning frenzy begin!  By 10:00 Tuesday night, not a single surface in our house has been left untouched.  Mountain Man and I were thoroughly exhausted and hurt in places we didn't even know we had.  After emptying the last bucket of water from the carpet scrubber in the guest bathroom, Mountain Man went down the basement to make sure all of the lights were turned off.  I was finishing cleaning everything up when all of a sudden up the basement stairs he flew faster than I'd seen him move in a long time.  It seems that all of the buckets of water that we'd been dumping in that bathtub, probably 50 or more that day alone, were now on the basement floor.  The trap in the tub drain had come off!  No wonder it drained so well!  Now, after much mopping and scrubbing, the basement floor is also clean and disinfected!

The movers will be here at 7:00 tomorrow morning.  I'm looking forward to the simple things, like having a paper basket in my bathroom and a real mattress (air mattresses aren't bad for a night or two) to sleep on.  After working in our new home these last few days, I know that I packed waaayyy too much.  We will be purging much of what will be delivered here tomorrow.  Who needs to live in a cluttered indoors when we have the perfection of nature out our back door?

Namaste

What fascinating people and beautiful land that we have moved to.  Since our house didn't end up closing until this past Thursday, we had many days to fill. We filled them by visiting most of the shops and restaurants in Blairsville and the near by towns of Blue Ridge, and Young Harris Georgia and Murphy North Carolina.  Everyone that we came in contact with and talked with were very friendly and gracious.  I'm  sure that it was because of our lack of accent or too much of an unfamiliar one, people always ask where we hail from.  Most of the time when we tell people Ohio, they usually were at one time,  knew someone who was or were at least curious about the state, which always started a fairly long conversation.  Blairsville has a very large summer population of Floridians who have homes that they come to so that they can get out of the summer heat of Florida.  So many times when stopping into the local shops the people usually ask if we are from Florida.  Once, while in the local hair salon getting my hair done, a gentleman that works there, assumed that I was one of the Floridians, asked me what part of Florida I was from.  When I said that I was from Ohio, he thought for a moment and then asked, "is that near Clearwater?"  Hmmm.

While in Murphy, we went into a sweet little shop that had everything from jewelry to Indian and spiritual items.  The store was divided into small rooms.  As I entered the second of five rooms, all at once I felt a great peace come over me.  I couldn't help but smile.  It felt like I was home.  The shopkeeper came in and started talking with me.  I shared with her that I am a Reiki Master and before you know it we were involved in a deep personal conversation and, I'm still not sure if it was the energy of the room, the mountains or just the moment, but, without any information from her, I was able to share with her some problem areas in her life and give her some positive reinforcement and encouragement.  A few more customers then came in and we ended our visit.  It was an incredibly spiritual experience.  A few days later I ran into her in our local coffee shop and she shared that with the encouragement that I was able to offer, she had mustered up the courage to start making the changes in her life, and heading in a more positive direction.  I feel that it was a true gift that I was able to help this beautiful soul.

The downtown motel that we spent the last week in had two comfy rocking chairs right outside our door.  Needless to say, we spent many hours sitting and rocking and visiting with other guests and the owners of the motel.  The other motel guests were from all over the country, and many had very interesting life stories that they shared with us.  The owners were a wonderful couple that we had much in common with on many levels.  On Wednesday evening, it was almost dark when a car dropped off an Appalachian Trail hiker and his dog.  They had come off of the trail to get supplies.  When they got out of the car that gave them a ride, the dog, a beautiful black German Sheppard, trotted right over to our truck in the parking lot and waited to get in.  The hiker called him back, they stopped by our rockers and visited for a few minutes before going to their room for a good night's sleep.  The next morning, we were sitting outside enjoying a cup of coffee when the hiker and his dog came out.  After taking care of business, they stopped by.  They ended up talking with us for more than an hour.  During the course of conversation, we realized that we connected on a very spiritual level.  When it was time for him to leave, he said that he needed to call for a shuttle to return him to the trail head.  Mountain Man and I decided that we would offer to give him a ride back so we could continue our visit.  Hiker gladly accepted our offer of a ride.  His dog ran to the truck and waited to be let in.  The dog actually knew the night before that he was to go for a ride in our truck.  Dogs are very perceptive!  We drove up the mountain to the trail head.  There was a beautiful old stone building on top of the mountain with an overlook with the most breathtaking view I have ever seen.  After taking in the view, and taking some pictures, we sat down and continued our conversation.  Before we knew it, more than two hours had flown by.  Mountain Man's phone rang and on it was our realtor with the good news that we had been waiting for.  Our house was going to close in two hours!  It was a perfect gift to end a perfect day.  We bid our new friend, who by now, we felt as if we had known a lifetime, a fond farewell and headed back to town to prepare for our trip to the attorney's office.

I am really beginning to understand how good mountain living is for me.  The relaxed pace is helping me to realign myself with spirit and open myself on a much deeper level.  Human connections are coming on a much more open and honest plane.  It seems as if Spirit is connecting us with more and more like minded people all the time.  I am beginning to feel that I may be finding my soul purpose here in this new home of ours.  

Hello...Hello...Is Anyone There???

I'm sure that by now, you all thought that our house would have closed, the movers would have moved all of our belongings in and we would be settling into the wonderful world of mountain living.  Yeah, so did we!  Well, it seems as though the universal creator has other plans for us and she's sitting back laughing as we are busy making our plans.  She knows full well that we will be abiding by hers and ours was just a silly idea.

Here's a very abbreviated version of the past week of our life.  After hearing nothing about closing on Monday, we were promised that the closing would probably be on Tuesday.  Note the word probably.  Most of Tuesday came and went and at around 6 in the evening, we had an email from the law firm and a call from our agent saying that all of our ducks were not only not yet in a row, but there may be a few chickens in the mix.  Now the target date was moved to Friday!  So all week long, we enjoyed our cabin, did some necessary shopping for things for the cabin and met many of our fellow Blairsvillains (not quite sure if this is the politically correct term). Actually, we have not met a single person in this town who is not completely kind, friendly and helpful.  We are thoroughly enjoying our new community.  OK, fast forward past all of the fun to the target day.  FRIDAY!!!  It's here, we're ready!  All we need is the phone call from the attorney giving us our time to show up.  So we waited...and waited...oh, and did I say that we waited?  FINALLY, at 3:30 Friday afternoon, the call came. Our attorney's office didn't get the final package from the bank or the final paperwork from the seller's attorney. With the holiday weekend, our prospective closing date now falls somewhere between September 6th and 9th.   Now, you can imagine the sound in comedy movies when something disappointing happens.  I swear you could hear that noise in our car when we got the call. Thank goodness, I went with a gut feeling and booked us a room in the motel in downtown as a just in case.

Oh, and, did I mention that we are leaving on a long ago planned vacation on the ninth of September with Token Son and the fam?  I am sooo very excited to spend an entire week at the beach with them.  But, the timing, really????   So the first thing that we needed to do was to get a hold of the mover.  Since we can't give him an exact date of closing, and we will be gone for the entire week of September 11, the soonest we could get our belongings will not be until September 19.  We also had to cancel all of the turn ons and start ups that had been scheduled.  Also, I hadn't done a lick of laundry since we left Ohio and it was either go to a laundrymat or buy new clothes.  Since you all know how badly I hate shopping for clothes, you know what I did Friday evening.  I never even gave that possibility a thought since our new cabin has a washer and dryer in it who would have thought that I would be spending $30 to wash clothes.  This did not set well with "the queen of cheep" as I am known to Mountain Man and my Mountain Chillin'.  I must say,  after all of our hitches and giddy ups along the way, Mountain Man took all of Friday's news rather well.  I, on the other hand,  instead of having a total come apart, had a total shut down! I guess that's what you call it when the brain experiences a total overload?  I felt like my three year old Grand:   Don't look at me, don't talk to me, don't touch me!  I honestly can't tell you the last time I felt this way.  It was NOT fun!

After filling our bellies at the local all-you-can-eat Pizza Bar and an eventful night's sleep (there was a group of musicians staying at the motel that had a parking lot jam into the wee hours of the morning), I woke up looking at the brighter side of life again.  Even though we aren't in our own home yet, we do have all of the creature comforts:  A warm bed, a hot shower, food, an occasional cocktail and my Mountain Man by my side.  

Today is Monday, the beginning of a new week.  Will we be able to close on our house this week?  Who knows.  If our creator sees fit, we will, if not, it'll just have to wait til we get back from the beach.  As for me, this week will be business as normal or abnormal, however one chooses to look at it!  I will wake up every morning with Mountain Man by my side, have a cup of coffee or two, take care of any business that needs tending to and then move on through my day enjoying my new surroundings, making new friends and trying to spread some happiness and love in the world.