When I got home on Saturday at 4-ish, wolfed down the pizza, emptied the truck, got upsetting news, and crapped out…all in a matter of fifteen minutes, I thought I was stepping into the twilight zone. All that good work I’ve been doing on self soothing and maintaining emotional equilibrium seemed to have gone out the window. When we are excessively tired, it is extremely difficult to see the bigger picture and so easy to slip into old behaviors.

When I took that hot shower, laid down in front of that cool fan, and did my “God is…” exercise, I drifted off to sleep. I awakened a little hungry so I got up at 10:30 for a little bowl of cereal, went back to bed, and slept till around 9:30 yesterday morning. That bed felt so wonderful and when I woke up, I felt renewed and refreshed and ready to take on the world again. What a difference a day makes!

I got up yesterday morning and fixed a pot of coffee and went out to sip it on the deck before the day got too hot. I chatted with my sister-in-law in Utah, and I FaceTimed with my dear friend Gail as she was the guest host at her campground this weekend. Finally, Mr. FixIt made his way out to sit with me. We discussed our plans for the day and decided to go to town to get flowers to decorate everyone’s graves and head out to the cemeteries. It was an all day ordeal. We took care of his family first in Parkersburg, then went out to Ritchie County to take care of my people. We stopped at DQ for ice cream cones in between the two cemeteries.

We went to the farm and I cleaned and set up the dehumidifiers for the summer. I totally missed the irises and the rhododendron and we’re at the tail end of the peonies. That makes me sad, but I did get to see my own little Colorado flowers in the form of my loves, so this was a year of sacrifice, as it were.

We stopped at my cousin’s barn down the road and visited for the first time in ages. We marveled over their chickens and geese, ducks and guinea hens. And their cattle. We topped at The Pig on the way home and bought sandwich fixin’s and headed home. It was a lovely day and we had a wonderful time together driving around the countryside. By the time we got home, we were both beat and glad we didn’t have anything else that needed doing.

I think it may take me a few days to recuperate from the trip. The older I get, the longer the recovery time after any given strenuous thing. And, let me tell you…that was a strenuous trip. Today is Memorial Day. Our people have men remembered and their graves decorated, and we have nothing pressing to do. We may mow a little, and work to get the pool ready. Maybe do a little laundry. I totally plan to sit and knit a little. And to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice that allows us this Memorial Day. 

May you be safe and healthy and remember those who sacrificed for us.

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“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.”

Colossians 2:8 ESV