Today's bike ride reminded me of something I wrote a few years ago. When I ride my bike, there is a two-mile stretch as I leave my neighborhood that is it relatively flat. By Northerner’s standards it would most definitely be considered flat. But in Texas, our guidelines for flatness are a little different. In Texas, anything with an elevation is a hill. On this two-mile stretch ~ with only a slight hill ~ the road is flanked by pastures most of the way. If there is any sort of a breeze, it Keep Reading...
The Woman Behind the Man Billy Graham
This past week the world learned the famous evangelist, Billy Graham, died. My Facebook feed was full of odes to his life and legacy – mine included. Billy Graham’s life changed a generation. And that generation is changing the next generation. But there is another story about the success of Billy Graham that is intriguing to me. The story of Ruth Bell Graham. Billy’s wife. The mother of his five children. As I young girl in my bedroom during the tumultuous and often lonely junior high Keep Reading...
Facebook is a Wonderful Thing – Most of the Time
Facebook is a wonderful thing – most of the time. Yesterday a friend posted a link that got me thinking. That can be good – or bad. The Facebook posting friend and I were in choir throughout junior high and most of high school. We went to choir hours before the other students, spent our lunch breaks in the choir room and stayed after school to practice. We were a tight group of singing friends. But my junior year, I switched from choir to drill team and my friend group switched along with Keep Reading...
The “Shelly Move”
It’s the middle of the night and I wake to hear music. Music? At 2:00am? Oh, yeah, now I remember. My grandbaby is visiting and she sleeps to worship music playing all night long. Worship music. All night. This is the child of the child of mine who often listened to music I highly and vehemently disapproved of when she was a teenager. More than once I drove down the road listening to a CD my granddaughter’s mother (aka, my daughter) had pushed into the car’s CD player that I didn't Keep Reading...
Shark!
It's Shark Week y'all ~ When I was in college, I got in a car wreck and, apparently, the insurance company for the guy that ran into me - sending me to the hospital by ambulance where I got over two hundred stitches – wanted to give me some money so I would not sue them for a whole lot more money! I was getting ready to graduate from college, get married and enter the “real world” so I did what every down-to-earth, logical girl would do. I bought scuba gear! Not long after my husband Keep Reading...
What a Three-legged Dog Taught Me
A few days ago I went for a bike ride. Because of my diagnosis, my family and friends worry about me when I ride. I question whether I should be riding since I am due to have a procedure on my knee soon. Why not just wait until I recover? I was pedaling along thinking, “Why am I even doing this? In a few weeks I will have a procedure that will make it impossible to ride for weeks – maybe months. What’s the use?” And then I looked over and saw a couple walking a dog. The dog was kind of Keep Reading...
The Hill
Last week I took advantage of the beautiful, warm Texas weather to go cycling while visiting two of my daughters in Dallas. As I was pedaling on the spacious bike paths, I realized I was not focusing on the beauty around me. I was only focusing on the hill I knew I would have to climb on the way back. I kept telling myself to enjoy the journey but it was futile. All I could think about was that blasted hill. I had ridden this path more than once and I knew the hill could be a beast. So Keep Reading...
The Diagnosis – AKA THE LIE
I rode my bike for the first time in such a long time that I cannot remember how long it has been since I last rode. As I pedaled down the country road, I wondered why I quit riding. I really enjoy riding my bike so why in the world did I quit? Oh, yeah! I quit because of the diagnosis. That’s why I quit. The diagnosis. When I was 13 years old, I had knee surgery. Whatever they did during the surgery didn’t make my knee “well” so I have spent 38 years adapting and compensating for a bum Keep Reading...
One Woman’s Weakness is Another Woman’s Strength
I have been preoccupied with getting my manuscript to the publisher so I have had a bit of a blogging break. But, tonight I overheard several ladies talking and it reminded me of a past blog. Enjoy! I hate doing the laundry. Really hate it. I would rather mow the yard in 100-degree temperature then do the laundry. When I mow, I at least know that my efforts will last a few days. When the sweet smell of fresh cut grass tickles my nose, I can look around at the nicely manicured lawn Keep Reading...
Things I Learned on a Recent Trip
#1 People don't people watch at airports anymore - they phone watch. Everywhere I looked, I saw people looking down at their phones. No one paid any attention to others around them. Could this be a major contributing factor to the increasing narcissism in our society? Years ago, I friend of mine had a professor make the prediction that "the Walkman will ruin the art of conversation. People will listen to a device and stop talking to each other." We were so enamored with the new technology that Keep Reading...