Monday Afternoon Reflections - October 29, 2007

Dear Family and Friends,
Today is a gloriously sunny autumn day with just the hint of a chill in the air. I often associate this kind of weather with San Diego, but after the horrible firestorms they've been having there over the past week, they probably would wish for some of the rainy weather we're accustomed to. I heard from all of my friends and family in San Diego over this past week with relieving news from each. Some evacuated last week, but all came home to their homes intact. May we continue to hold the people of this California region in our prayers as the Santa Ana winds continue to blow. May the ones devastated find strength and courage and may the ones spared help those in need.
I just got home from an unexpected lunch with my son Will Pylate. (See Photo #1) He and his coworker had time to break for lunch after a job over in Orange, and I met them at the Cajun Eatery, a thirty-minute drive for me. What a nice thing this is, getting to enjoy a catch-up visit unexpectedly on a week day. My family missed Will and his family at our family gathering this weekend, and I was glad to have this opportunity to at least see Will.
The family gathering over this past weekend was so much fun for those who could make it. Friday we all headed to Nacogdoches, Texas, to be there in time for the evening Nacogdoches High School football game against Marshall, Texas. I checked into my hotel as soon as I got into town and then went to Scott and Marcia's house to meet up with the others. Lee's family couldn't get away until Eva got finished with teaching her first grade class, so they were the last to arrive, just after kick-off. We made a good cheering section. (See Photo #2) It was hard seeing where Emma was amid the crowd of her marching band, but we think we snapped at least a couple pictures that had her in. The band didn't actually do any complicated formations on this particular night because of the middle school bands joining their show. We got to see Emma the next morning, though, marching in the Stephen F. Austin University's homecoming parade. (See Photos #3 & #4)
Saturday afternoon, the adults took off in Scott's all-wheel drive vehicle for a tour of all of their properties, leaving the children home to fend for themselves. The boys played video games all afternoon, and the girls did girlie things like straightening their hair. We adults went out to the country to visit Miss Marcielle, Marcia's mother, in her little cedar cabin out on their property. (See Photo #5) Scott drove us up steep hills and around rocks and trees down into dales to see the details of nature that are so beautiful this time of year. (See Photos #6 - #9) The purpose of this weekend together was fall birthdays. I supplied the cake from Cypi's with all of the names upon it. (See Photo #10) Scott, Debbie, and I blew out the candle right before I left to return home. The rest stayed into Sunday and enjoyed more time outdoors together. (See Photo #11)
My weekend wasn't over after this rich and fulfilling time with family. On Sunday morning, even though I missed choir practice on Thursday due to a hot water tank problem, I sang pretty on-key the song, "Instruments of Praise." I sat listening to Fred preach and thought how fortunate we are to have such a good storyteller from Mississippi in the pulpit. He seems to have anecdotes from all parts of his life to share in bringing God's Word to life for us. I appreciate it every week.
Right after the service and a quick lunch, I was back on the road again--this time over to Port Arthur for the Texas Bamboo Festival held at the Buu Mon Buddhist Temple there. I arrived just as the ordination service in the temple was ending. Little girls were just finishing a dance, and I oh so wished I'd left home thirty minutes sooner. (See Photo #12) I ran into friends from the American Bamboo Society who had organized this event--Jimmie and Judith Bussey (See Photo #13) Judith walked me through the beautiful gardens of many kinds of bamboo and water lilies, and soon I was on my way to Dillard's. I've been on a mission to replace my underwear again, this time with what seems like a really sturdy and pretty kind called Body Suede by Wacoal. I like the XL sized panties, and most stores just buy one pair in each color, so Judith's news that there was another Dillard's in Port Arthur made this shopping trip even more fruitful. I also stopped at the Dillard's in Beaumont, and now I have what I want and need. It was a successful trip all ways around.
The whole weekend followed a work week of accomplishments--in the classroom, in my rental business, and in other areas of my life. My classes continue to astound me with their creativity and sensitivity about what we're reading in literature. I am getting pure pleasure from working with these eight girls this year.
In my rental business, because the weather changed to 70's in the daytime and 40's at night, suddenly there were heating issues to deal with. Tuesday Ted had to go get a heater up and running for me, and on Thursday, he got a hot water tank back on line after hours. I had a floor replaced in the bathroom of another house by another contractor, and he also did a very nice job. He works in conjunction with Lanier Plumbing, and I'm glad to have another back-up in case Ted's ever not available. I had Lanier Plumbing also come unclog my bathtub drain. It was long overdue, and it is so nice to again have that drain working right. I did some handiwork myself this past week. When the air turned chill and it was time to turn off the ceiling fans, it became apparent that they were indeed very much in need of a good cleaning. I went out to Bed Bath & Beyond and got one of those long-handled tools to wrap around the blades and get all of the cat fur and dust off. I'm so glad to have that done, and it's so nice to not have heat or AC going. Maybe my utility bill this month will be nice and low.
I walked the Labyrinth at Good Shepherd on Tuesday night before I went to the last Grief Workshop session at my church. Every time I walk the labyrinth, something new and different comes from it. This time I felt like God was telling me that like the labyrinth, I'm on a pathway right now and out there somewhere there's someone else on a pathway that will someday cross paths with mine. I was thinking as I walked that night about how I happened to meet my first husband Craig through a channel of unexpected occurrences, and the same thing happened with Ray Gardner. Ray happened to be perusing the Yahoo personal ads for women in Galveston, and we met through that unexpected means. Through my walk through the labyrinth on this particular night, I got the message that there's another chapter to my life on the horizon. I just don't know when it will engage and happen. At least the Grief Workshop has gotten me thinking in these kind of new possibilities in my life. I'm grateful to Dr. Danny Miller and his wife and the Viegas for helping me to move along in my grief process about Ray and about so many chapters of my life.
In addition to the work on my weight that I've been doing through Curves, this past week I offered up my home for a program called The Light Weigh. It's another approach to coming to terms with the reasons why we eat and learning about the proper ways to eat in order to release pounds and come to a natural resting place. Leslie Fain is the facilitator of this group, and I have volunteered my home for our meeting place for 12 weeks. The first session went very well, once we found a place to show the DVD. It wouldn't work on my TV player, so we ended up in my bedroom using my computer. But this was the only glitch. I'm anxious to hear more about this plan of eating. On this first night, I found affirmation for something that I've gravitated to already, just living on my own and not needing to plan meals for anyone else. I'm waiting until my stomach growls before I feed it anything, and this is one of the keys this program teaches. We've got to get in touch with our natural hunger cycles. I look forward to finding out what's being taught tonight when we meet here again.
Everybody's looking forward to Halloween coming up this week. May the goblins and witches not scare any of you...
With love, Linda
"Whatever you do may seem insignificant,
but it is most important that you do it."
--Gandhi