Cool, in more ways than weather

Wednesday, February 5, 2025

It's windy and cold but I refresh with a good walk along the Hope Slough. I cook and tidy up, but Mom and I get to spend most of the day together when she's awake. I stay awake until my last call at 11:00 PM for Mom's meds and seeing her to the bathroom. I'm asleep before midnight.

Thursday

We say goodbye to Mom when her caregiver arrives mid-morning. We are headed for Seattle. The mountains are capped with snow.

We make a brief stop for tea and coffee with dear friends LeRoy and Lynette. Lynette sends along a package of Spekulaas cookies. Yum - it's the Dutch version of German Pfeffernuss baking.

Lunch is Tex Mex in Burlington.

The restaurant is decorated with bright colors and sombreros (traditional Mexican hats).

We spend a few hours unpacking, doing laundry, and repacking at our flat. In the evening, we toss the suitcases into the rental car and head to the airport hotel: we don't want to miss our morning flight with a lousy commute from the other end of the city. W has researched the weather. It looks like ice and snow are coming overnight.

Saturday

Sure enough, the freeways are slippery with multiple vehicle accidents. Instead of fretting about getting to the airport on time, I catch the hotel shuttle in while W parks the car in an airport lot. We find each other at the check-in counter for the 4.5-hr. flight.

Kirsten picks us up from the Austin airport in the early afternoon. We watch her church service together, a practical and uplifting message on living with intention.

Her friend Chantelle comes for supper: Texas barbecue ribs with all the fixings. So yummy!

W sits with us but is busy, working on his manuscript.

Sunday

I sleep almost 10 1/2 hours. When Kirsten walks the dog, I trail along for some fresh air. A house is being constructed on the last empty lot on her street.

It's cool outside (60oF/17oC) so we layer up, coming in afterward to warm up with tea. K lays out a general shape for a new picture gallery for her hall.

As part of his dad-chores, W pounds no-dig metal spikes into the ground along a shared fence. K hopes to deter the neighbor's 3 dogs from burrowing into her backyard. They've trespassed and bitten her little dog.) We do some shopping and have a hearty supper.

Monday

K makes yogurt and granola for her dad and herself. I cook a Western-style breakfast, making an extra tortilla and bacon for W who reflexively says "no" but will want it after seeing my plate.

W checks the smoke detector batteries and shakes out the house's air filters, while K and I unwrap picture frames. We wash the glass or peel protective plastic sheets off the plexiglass in the frames. We trim the artwork, frame it, and make sure all is ready to hang.

W measures the wall, levels the angles, and installs the pictures ... before K takes him to the airport. He's off to work in Missouri. I have a few more days here.

We bake a pan of brownies in the evening, and enjoy the rich chocolate with a cup of tea.

A few evenings, we relax with a home improvement series. Both of us enjoy the imaginative designs as a couple works with a construction crew. 

In the episodes of Fixer to Fabulous, I'm struck by the husband response: "Yes." Whatever she (the designer) thinks up, the first thing out of his mouth is "Yes, we can do that," and then he figures out how. Pretty cool - and how uplifting to start with "yes!" ...

Tuesday

K and I do some shopping, eat good food, and rest together. The prayer times are precious. We contact my mom each day, too. We tweak the gallery wall put up yesterday and put up the last items.

I cut K's hair on the back porch. The rain and wind gusts make it hard to get an even grip on her locks.

For lunch, we try a Chinese noodle place - outstanding tastes, especially with their homemade pickles and chili crisp oil.

It's been a wet and gusty week. Multicolored leaves blow across the sidewalks.

This is the color I associate with Austin foliage. Grey-green suits the dry wilderness climate of summers and the tan-colored soil.

Wednesday

K and I walk the neighborhood in the late morning, redo the bedding and toss in some laundry, before having lunch and praying together.

In mid-afternoon, K drops me at the airport. I am refreshed and encouraged by the visit with our daughter. She's a mature and thoughtful person with strong opinions and a soft presentation.

The lounge has healthy options, including a delicious salad-in-a-jar. The woman next to me strikes up a conversation about what it means to live and serve abroad. She's on her way to becoming a global citizen.

The flight is uneventful from Texas to Seattle. W flies from Missouri to Seattle, arriving an hour after I land. We are grateful for heated metal benches in the shuttle waiting area. The shuttle picks us up to drop us off at the parking lot. We retrieve the car and drive to our flat. It's -1oF ... BRRRRR so cold. At least it's been dry so the freeway isn't slippery.

I toss my pajamas and the blankets into the dryer to heat up and soon we're fast asleep.

Read more:

*[Jeremiah prayed,] “Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you."

Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? Jeremiah 32:17, 26-27

*O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. Psalm 51:15

*Peter and John said, “We cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard.” Acts 4:20

Moravian Prayer: Jesus, may we continually praise you in all we do: from our lips, in our hearts, and in our actions. May we declare your goodness to all whom we encounter. Let us live in such a way that every person we meet will feel your presence through us. In your name, we pray. Amen.

Almost sunny

The weather report says "37o. Mostly sunny today." I like the light coming in my office window. We had some trees trimmed earlier this week. Plus my calendar reports that days will get longer from now on. Thank God! Overhead, the clouds are swirling and there's not much sun to be seen. Our house must be in the other area, "probably overcast."

I'm glad to be inside instead of shopping or in pre-Christmas traffic. W has been out and about every day and says it's crazy "out there." And he hasn't even gone inside a mall! We know some of you are loving the shopping, the wrapping, the cooking and baking... but this feels like a quiet year, a between times, for us. Our granddaughter is young enough that she won't remember that we didn't fuss (5 months).


Life is a matter of perspective. Somewhere the sun shines brightly. Maybe it's in San Antonio, Texas, where the faintest hint of a white patch causes the weather forecaster to enthuse, "Partly cloudy today, folks!" 


We're grateful for a good report from Kirsten's surgeon yesterday. She exchanged a heavy cast for a boot that she can take on and off (yahoo, showers!). Her bones are healing well, and even the incision - usually a slower mend for RA sufferers - is coming together. She got some stitches out and on the way home, had lunch with her dad at a cool downtown restaurant.

So, it's mostly sunny over here after all. The clouds of deadlines, finances, illness, and other stressors sometimes want to shade us, but we know God see through them to bring us warmth and light.


Thanks be to God during this Christmas memorial of his arrival among us!

Read more:

*Then I will live among the people of Israel and be their God, and they will know that I am the LORD their God. I am the one who brought them out of the land of Egypt so that I could live among them. I am the LORD their God.  Exodus 29:45–46 NLT

*Does disaster befall a city, unless the Lord has done it? Amos 3:6 NLT
 

*Even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid. Matthew 10:30-31 NLV

*Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11:28-29 NKJV

*Psalm 145:8-16 Zephaniah 3; Haggai 1; Revelation 17:1-8

Moravian Prayer: Holy Creator and Sustainer, bring to us your peace. Spread your love and mercy where hatred and loathing have pierced many. Place the newly born Christ child in each heart and may the multitudes sing his lullaby. Amen.