Wow…what a week! Every single one of you should take a break from FB for a few days. I admit, I peeked a couple of times. My granddaughter was out of state at a swim meet. I got a smarmy message from some guy I had to take care of. And even a sabbatical can’t stop Fitness Friday. It was great to be away from any negative influence but I sure missed all your positive energy. You’re my daily dose of Vitamin LOVE!
Where to start? I drove to Blackwater Falls State Park on Tuesday to meet with Janine Pettit, Girl Camper extraordinaire. She brought her best friend, Carol from New Jersey. We had adjoining rooms and it was like summer camp sleepovers! The park is gorgeous and we were there with the Tucker County Tourism representative. Girl Camper is hosting a Go Girl Go camping weekend in May at Blackwater Falls. We still have a very limited number of spots left so if you would like to join us, let me know.
Wednesday morning found me working in my room while Janine and Linda toured the area. I was recently invited to submit a proposal to speak at an international conference in DC in August so I had to focus and get that done. The process was complicated by the need to update some social media and do a little online housekeeping first so it was time consuming. Wednesday afternoon we hiked. Carol is also into fitness so we ran down and back up 242 steps to the lower observation deck overlooking the falls and took the lodge steps two at a time with deep lunging steps down the halls. I’m sure the security footage was entertaining. We ended the night with a working dinner.
Thursday after breakfast, Carol headed back to New Jersey and Janine and I sat down to record a Podcast on “Solo Women Travelers”. I’ll let you know when it goes live. We also discussed my upcoming Podcasts as the Travel Correspondent for Girl Camper: Going Places, Doing Things. My first will be on Camping in Colorado. Janine is darling and extremely knowledgeable on technology, media, and marketing and I always learn so much from her. And besides that, she’s great fun!
After recording Thursday, I took off for my cousin’s house. And what road trip of mine would be complete without a diversion? I saw the sign for Spruce Knob, the highest peak in West Virginia at 4863 feet, and turned off the beaten path. It was 44° and really windy at the top of the observation tower but the views were breathtaking. I backpacked up the other side of this mountain back in 1979 and it was amazingly beautiful with the rhododendron in full bloom in June! I saw an unusual bird this trip, slowly crossing the road…a Woodcock. It has a strange dance. Google it!
I went to Harrisonburg, Virginia with my cousin and her husband on Friday. We took over the front end of a 1920’s Cadillac that he is having rebuilt. The hot rod guy had recently finished rebuilding a 1934 bus and took us for a ride to a local barbecue restaurant for dinner. Such fun!
Saturday dawned with snow on the ground, much to my dismay. I wanted to crawl into bed and pull my covers over my head! However, that’s not what we do when we are focused on fitness. My friends back home started texting back-and-forth about the Blues Festival being held in Marietta Saturday night. How could I resist four hours of dancing for exercise? So, I took off and came home. The music was fabulous and the dancing was great fun. Four of us pooled our money to buy 20 tickets for the raffle, and we won! We will split a year’s worth of tickets to live music in the mid Ohio Valley. How cool is that?
That was my week. My time away reinforced my decision to focus on fitness and my observations on life and not talk about grief all the time now. I will be restructuring my blog next month so that my earlier writings will be more readily accessible when you are needing more support during early grief. I want my readers to see there is life after loss. What message do I send if, after three years, my loss is all I can talk about? You never “get over” grief. But you DO get through it. There will certainly be times we revisit darker topics as that is the nature of grief. However, what we do with the rest of the life that we are gifted with depends a great deal on us. That’s my focus now…living a life that is genuine, full of joy and purpose, and in as good health as I can achieve. My focus is on “Positive Aging” and all that entails. I’m so glad to be back home on the Ranch! Thanks for keeping the fire going while I was gone!
❤️
“They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green,”
Psalm 92:14 NIV