New Adventures and Reliving the Past

It's so hard to believe it's been three months since my last blog post. It's not that things haven't been going on in our lives. But it just didn't seem like it was anything worth sharing. We've made trips to the beach, a few state parks and several county parks. We've said goodbye to our slower pace of summertime and hello to a new school year and adjusting to the routine that comes along with that. Having moved right at the beginning of summer break, there seem to be more adjustments that need to be made than just the normal getting to bed a little earlier and getting up a little...or a lot...earlier. All in all, it was a good summer with many photos taken and even more memories made. Perhaps a new little adventure in my life is taking photos of people. I've been really enjoying my nature photography for awhile now. But I recently had two friends ask me to take photos of big life events for their kids. One was a friend from high school who asked me to take photos of her daughter's baby shower. I spent a few hours taking candid shots of people celebrating this new life coming into our world, photos of the happy parents opening gifts and many family photos. It was a great experience and I'm so honored to have been asked to capture those memories for them. Then I had a friend ask me to take senior photos for her son who just started his senior year in high school. We spent some time taking photos outside his high school, at a local park and at their town fire station where his dad is a firefighter. Again, it was a great experience and I was so honored to have the opportunity. The school year has gotten off to a great start. It was hard getting used to getting up early and leaving my sleeping husband. But the early morning alarm doesn't hurt quite as much as it did the first few days. I'm having a good time coming up with some fun new activities and assignments for my kiddos. Third graders can all almost log in quickly so we can maximize our class time. This is the first year I could say that before Labor Day. I count that as a win. It's nice to come home and make dinner before relaxing for the evening. Our evenings seem more relaxed than they often did in years past. Our biggest adventure of the summer actually happened after summer break. We were hoping to have made a trip to visit my aunt in Ohio all summer but due to health issues and moving, we were never able to make that happen. But with the three-day weekend, Saturday made the perfect day to travel and still enjoy some rest time (it's amazing how much more one needs to rest after a long road trip as we get older) before the new work week. One of our granddaughters developed an incredible attachment to my Aunt Darlene at my dad's memorial service in March 2020. She often asks about "Aunt DarDee" and has expressed a desire to visit her many times. So, we planned our little road trip and were anxious to hit the road. Clara came to spend the night Friday night so we could get up early to get on the road. She apparently decided that 3:00AM was a good time to get ready to go. We had other ideas and she drifted back off to sleep for a few more hours. Shortly before 7:00, we loaded up the car and headed out. We made it to Warsaw for a bathroom break and more coffee then continued on our way. We made it to my aunt's house just shortly after we had planned and all went out to Bob Evans for lunch. After lunch, we headed toward the farm where my dad and his sisters grew up. My grandma was born and raised at this farm. We drove past the houses where my dad and his sisters were born (his older sister was born at one house while dad and his younger sister were born at another house just down the street. It was fun to see these two homes that I don't remember seeing before. As we came around the corner toward the farm, I started to get more and more excited. I have so many memories in the house, barns and around the property. This trip was probably my favorite ever because it was the first time in almost 30 years of marriage that my husband was able to see the farm. Every time we've gone before, he had to be at work. So this trip was incredibly special for me since I had the chance to show him and one of our grandchildren this place that's so special to me. When I was a little girl, there was a man named Denny who worked for my Grandpa on the farm. I remember him taking me on tractor and combine rides, watching him work alongside my Grandpa in the barn and fields, and feeling like he was just a part of our family. When my grandparents reached the point in life they could no longer farm and needed to sell the family property, there was no question that Denny and his wife should be given that opportunity. So, this farm has been owned by two families - mine and Denny's. Pretty impressive for a farm whose deed was signed by Andrew Jackson in 1832! Pulling into the lane, it felt just like so many trips we've taken there before. The only thing that was missing was hearing my Grandma say, "Yoohoo! Raymond, they're here!" as she did every time we pulled up to the house. This time, Denny and his wife Karen met us with big smiles and warm hugs. Clara could see the front of a tractor in the barn. She didn't hesitate to run straight for it! She checked out the truck and wagons in the barn. She closely checked out the tractor. Then Denny asked if she wanted to take a ride. She was excited to take a ride...until he started the engine and she decided she didn't want to. I knew she would like it if she tried so I picked her up and we climbed in. He drove us down the long lane and back. Along the way, I told her that he used to take me for tractor rides when I was little and we showed her the fields where most of my rides took place. He parked the tractor outside the barn and we got out. She was ready to get right out of the tractor and move on to something else. I asked her if she wanted to go up into the hayloft where I used to play basketball with my brothers and cousins (when they'd let me) or just went to hide from all the boys. She was more than excited to check it out so we climbed up the ladder into the loft. She loved playing basketball up there! There is even a hoop just her height so she could get some dunks in there. Denny played with her while I took pictures. After awhile, I convinced her to come back down from the hayloft so we could check out the rest of the farm. We looked at the equipment in the barn, checked out the front porch of the house where I used to make clay with my Grandma and she checked out the tractor some more. She sweetly walked up to Denny and asked for another ride in the tractor. He was quick to oblige and she got right in there without me! She was set to go. She was all smiles as they pulled away for another trip down the lane and back again. She proudly waved at us as they drove off. When they returned, she was still all smiles and waving wildly. Denny parked outside the barn again and turned off the tractor. After he got out, she sat there for a very long time pretending to drive the tractor...and honking the horn that Denny was crazy enough to show her how to operate. After awhile, she agreed to get out of the tractor and spent time running around, enjoying the fresh air. I wanted her to see the corn on the stalks but she didn't want to go over to the cornfield until Drew asked her to check and see if the baseball players were out there. Then she couldn't get into the cornfield fast enough! She walked up and down a couple rows "looking for the men" that would play baseball with her. She probably would have walked the entire field if I would have let her. But I convinced her that they must be playing baseball on the other side of the field. I told her we'd have to see if we could see them playing when we left. She spent a little time dancing on the foundation of the old corn crib that was destroyed in 2008. Before we left, Denny gave her an ear of corn and a John Deere tractor flashlight to remember her first trip to the farm. Little did he realize, he cemented himself in her life as a friend forever! After saying our farewells (and we'll be backs) to Denny and Karen, we drove a little way down the road to the cemetery where my grandparents are buried. It was the first time I had been there since they were buried. We saw lots of other family gravesites there as well. We sure have an amazing heritage in our family! We went back to Aunt Darlene's house and visited for awhile before having supper. We ate, Clara colored and played the piano, we visited and then it was time to say goodbye and hit the road for the drive back home. It rained the majority of the drive home. When we finally drove out of the rain, we had thick fog for most of the rest of the trip. Thankfully, Clara had completely worn herself out so it was easy to focus on the road through the rain, fog and darkness. After 16 hours and 827 miles, we pulled into the garage to bring an end to a day filled with many memories. We can't wait for another trip to the farm! I have two kids and 7 other grandkids who still need to see it! Now we have some time to rest and get things ready for a new work week. I love being able to make memories with my family. But I also love having time to relax once in awhile. I wish you all a relaxing Labor Day weekend. Never be afraid to try new adventures or spend time looking back at the memories from the past. ❤ Brenda

Of Waterfalls and Rainbows

Let me start by saying that moving isn't easy. Going through 25 years worth of stuff, throwing things away, packing other things in boxes is hard work. Deciding what to keep and what to get rid of becomes exhausting. Loading up my Honda Accord with boxes until there's only room for me to drive it so I can transport it all to our new home gets overwhelming. So we've decided that we need to commit to working a chunk of the day and then taking a bit of a break to adventure. We certainly don't intend to travel every day. Some days, our adventure will be to the couch for movies. But yesterday, we went on a road trip. After getting a bunch of work done in the morning, getting some boxes packed, taking a car load of boxes over, and filling a couple trash bags, we loaded up in the car to head south. The forecast isn't looking good for days. Yesterday was no exception. The forecast looked a little sketchy. But it looked better a little further south. We left with blue sky and white clouds but could see heavy rain in the distance. We drove through several downpours but made it to Logansport, IN to find beautiful weather. It was so well worth the drive! So, last summer we kind of stumbled upon a beautiful little county park in Cass County. France Park is a lovely little spot in Logansport. They have very nice camping areas, a beautiful lake, fun hiking trails and a stunning waterfall. The waterfall was what attracted us to this park in the first place. But since that first visit, we've been exploring the park a little more each time. I've hiked quite a bit and found that they actually have 3 waterfalls. The largest one is very impressive. The smaller two are tucked back in the woods, accessible by winding trails through the woods. It's a beautiful hike along the creek. The main lake has a nice little beach and is surrounded by beautiful rock walls. The lake was made in an abandoned quarry and the water is so clear. But there's also another lake we found hidden back in the woods. It's usually a great place to see lots of birds and geese. Yesterday we realized it was home to hundreds of water lilies and dozens of spiders, ladybugs and dragonflies. What a beautiful sight!

When we finished at the park, we decided to head to Peru, IN for a late lunch. We recently found a place called Harvey Hinklemeyers. They serve pizza, subs and sandwiches. Their sandwiches are huge and the prices aren't bad. Besides, they have tater tots on their menu so they can't be bad! We liked it enough the first time we went, we wanted to go back again. So, we had a nice late lunch and headed on our way. We drove around Peru a bit to see if there were any parks along the Wabash River. We couldn't find any with a view of the river so we headed north. Drew is great at looking on the map as I'm driving and he finds places to check out along the way. Yesterday was no exception. We headed towards Bourbon, IN. It was a little out of the way but the park we found was a nice little park. It's caled The Wall Historic Park. It was a stone wall built in the 1930s as part of the New Deal. It consists of a stone wall and concrete steps that lead down to the river. The wall has fallen apart quite a bit over the years. But the view of the river was very nice. There's a little trail that goes along the river a little way. Continuing my day of wildlife views, I saw a couple beautiful frogs along the path. While this was a cute little park, I think the highlight of the drive there was turning down a narrow country road and seeing a beautiful rainbow! It's not often you can clearly see every color of the rainbow. But we could on this one. When we stopped to take pictures, it looked as if God has just plopped the end of His rainbow ribbon down in front of a grove of trees. It was so pretty! While we had no plans of driving through heavy rain, seeing menacing skies in the distance or even being on the remote country road, God reminded us that He always has a plan for us. The rainbow was His sign of a promise to never again flood the whole earth. But His promises go so much further than that. He promises to always walk with us through every circumstance of life and to carry us when we need it. The minute we saw that perfect rainbow, I knew there was a reason we went that way. It went far beyond going to see a little park way off the beaten path. It had much more to do with the fact that God knew I needed that reminder that He is with me through the good, bad, easy and hard times of life.

Adventure Time!

It's the beginning of summer break which can only mean one thing...it's time for two crazy lovebirds to venture out into the world and enjoy time away. It seems like last summer was 3 years ago. I know we're not the only ones who feel like we've been through the wringer. But I feel like this summer's adventures are more exciting than any before. That doesn't mean we're going any place outrageously exciting. It just means this summer feels more relaxed than ever before. Drew still hasn't recovered enough from Covid for the doctor to release him to go back to work. That means instead of feeling like we need to stress over the weather and whether or not it'll be good for the one day a week we'd have together, we can just pick a day...or two or three to adventure. We can see which days have the best weather and plan accordingly. We don't have any sort of plan of what places we'll go or anything. This is our summer of spontaneity. Six days ago, I walked out of school to begin summer break. We spent the weekend caring for two of our grandchildren. We went to DeFries Calendar Garden, Krider Garden and Dutch Creek Animal Farm. We had been to both gardens with the girls before. But we had never been to Dutch Creek. It was outstanding! You can take a wagon tour where you get to feed animals or drive through in your own car. You can still see all of the animals from our car so we chose that option for our first visit. The girls loved looking for all the different animals as we drove slowly through. When we got to the end, we went into the walk-through petting farm. Both girls absolutely loved it! When it was time to leave (because they had closed for the day and were being incredibly patient), Clara's response was, "That makes me so sad we hafta leave. I wanna stay here with the animals!" I think it's safe to say she'll be glad to go back again...and again and again. In checking the forecast, today looked to be the best weather day of the week. So we decided we'd have this be our travel day. We chose one of our favorite state parks - Oubache State Park. It's about a 2 and 1/2 hour drive from home. We decided we'd stop at a couple other favorites along the way to stretch our legs. After getting iced tea and coffee for the trip, we headed to Warsaw's Biblical Gardens. It's a lovely little park near downtown Warsaw filled with flowers, plants and trees all mentioned in the Bible. It's a short walk through the garden but there are so many beautiful things to see. After stretching our legs for a few minutes (yes, I know it was only a 2 hour 30 minute drive to our main destination, but we're old and can't sit that long), we headed towards Huntington. Lunch was our next plan and we were hoping to go to Nick's Kitchen but they closed just before we arrived. So, we went a little farther down the road to Hoosier Drive-In. It was certainly worth the drive, even though we had to eat in the car. From there, we were on our way to Oubache. We've visited quite a few of our Indiana State Parks in the past couple years. But this one very well be my favorite. First of all, it's beautiful! Second of all, there's a 90-foot-tall fire tower to climb and get an amazing view all around the park. But my favorite part is most definitely the bison enclosure. I don't know what it is about bison. But I think they are one of the most beautiful animals! Yes, I know they could tear me apart in a split second. But they're so gorgeous! The park has a great trail that circles all around the enclosure. It's a beautiful walk with lots of spots to view the bison. After a quick stop at Kunkel Lake right across from the bison, we headed off for the rest of our trip. There were two cemeteries about 40 minutes away where many of Drew's ancestors are buried. Many are buried in the first one we stopped at so I walked row but row to find every one of them. His paternal grandparents are buried in the other one so we stopped by there and left a penny for Grandpa. After visiting the cemeteries, we stopped for iced tea and a bathroom break before one final stop for the day. We headed north to North Webster to check in on the Dixie Steamboat and see the beautiful lake. We'll be so ready to ride the Dixie again since it's been two years! It was a wonderful beginning of summer break. If the rest of this summer is anything like today, it's going to be amazing! But first, we need to pack up our home of 25 years and move. That's a topic for awhole different blog post. We've promised ourselves one adventure day a week until we get moved. I'm looking forward to what this summer has in store. Stay tuned!