Killer Content by Olivia Blacke

 

Killer Content held my interest day and night, I finished in 3 days. A Louisiana girl house sitting for her aunt in an out-of-her-price-range apartment in NYC. I recognized the culture shock as I had experienced the opposite. I was a Michigan girl transplanted to Dallas. We both recognized that people are the same, just the cover story is different. The way I saw it, people in the south sugar-coated everything. Her perspective is that NY people like it raw.

This could have been a travel journal, the descriptions of the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of NYC are vivid. Yes, I wanted to visit again, as I read the tale of Odessa and the search for her co-worker’s killer, but it also reaffirmed the reasons I don’t want to live there.

This author is witty, clever, quick, all the good attributes. She doesn’t always make the choices I would have. When she let Izzy stay with her and shared keys, everything in me was crying out no, no, don’t do it. In the end, it was a good choice. Izzy will be a great roommate.

If Odessa decides to stay on the east coast, I’ll be watching for more of her cozy mysteries. I enjoy hearing about New York City and I honestly felt like I had visited there this week. Oh, and I just couldn’t resist having some avocado toast, she made my mouth water!

Lava Hot Springs, ID

Well, I thought I was going to Thermopolis (Thermop to the locals) but I guess not. That twelve hour, practically non-stop drive up here kicked my butt, my sciatic nerve to be exact. I now solemnly swear to myself that I will never do that again. I will stop every hour and a half to two hours at a rest stop to walk around, do some stretches and feel the sunshine (not in NV). This morning I went into town and signed up for a deep-tissue massage. I don’t know where this woman trained but I have never in my life had anyone work so deep and make me cry in pleasurable pain as I know that this is going to fix the problem. Then I got a manicure and had lunch at the Main Street Artisian café and gallery. Everyone in this town has been so friendly – quite a contrast to the anonymity of life in Vegas. I could fall in love with this town. There will be a bluegrass festival in about 2 weeks and the following week is the hundred year anniversary of the railroad station. I hate to miss it. Saturday apparently broke all records for low temps. I nearly froze to death while I saw teenagers walking around sleeveless with shorts and flip-flops. Ah, youth is wasted on the young, I remember those cold, cold nights that we walked around the Shores, half bare, indifferent to the cold, our minds on other things. But, today is beautiful and this town is Americana at its best. Now, the point of this blog post is to tell you that popular opinion in this town is that Lava Hot Springs, although 3 hours west of here, in Idaho, is the better attraction. I looked at google maps, topographical view and as I see this three hour drive, curving around waterways and mountains, I know I’m in for a spectacular drive. I think I’ll leave early in the morning and treat myself to a night at the Riverside Hot Springs Inn . My Boost phone does not work in Wyoming anywhere. No pay by the month plans available. I can buy a prepaid at Walmart, sign up for a contract with Verizon, connect my Magic Jack and find the headphones or pay for service with Skype and find my headphones or maybe have better luck in Idaho. I’ll keep you posted.

Evanston, WY

Left Vegas about 4am on Friday, stopped to sit down and relax for the first time on this trip, as soon as I crossed the Wyoming state line. That’s about 12 hours of stops for gas, water and restroom – 2 coffees, 2 donuts and a bag of veggie chips sustained me. It wasn’t planned that way – just happened. I finally chose to stop and rest for a bit at a day-use State Park in Wyoming. There was a picnic table where I made myself a cup of tea. Then I had a nice walk along a path with a rushing stream running parallel. I chatted with a fellow about my age regarding his Harley. He told me there was a Bike Rally in town this weekend. I didn’t even know there was a town. So he gave me directions and recommended an RV park. I had a good time listening to live music, looking at bikes, talking to the tat and piercing people, bought a hand-carved leather case for my phone and watched the antics. Saturday I explored further into the town of Evanston and fell in love with a little quilt shop. I bought stuff for two projects and promised to come back and hang out with the girls in the sewing room, from ten til closing most days. I experienced the best service and customer interface with a Pharmacist ever at City Drug. Excellent barbeque brisket and slaw from a street vendor and entered into a contest where a brand new Harley is the Prize. Winner will be notified October 6, 2012. I’m also entered into a drawing back in Vegas for a 1977 Firebird. Either one will make me happy. The trip up here was unbelievable. The images were parallel in beauty only to Alaska. Utah was spectacular. I had difficulty driving because I was so distracted by the beauty of the mountains, water and vegetation. The abundance of water was totally invigorating after having spent the past 2 months in the desert. From Provo, UT northward, the distractions were doubled as the landscape continued to expand and grow phenomenally more beautiful and construction was going on and those silly obstacle course posts were all along the roadway. Not one placed called for me to stop, just admire as I went through. So now it’s Sunday afternoon and I’m still in the little RV Park in Evanston. It’s owned by Grandpa and Grandma, grandkids run the place, but it’s a very pleasant little roadside stopover with Wi-Fi, cable and electricity provided. I just paid for another two days so that will give me time to take my knitting project to the quilting shop and learn what all those terms mean AND 5 needles for a pair of socks??? I noticed there is a therapeutic massage spa in town and my legs are in dire need of some deep tissue massage while I just relax for a couple more days. I thinking I’m, heading north when I leave here, to Thermopolis where the Fountain of Youth is open to the public for hot tubbing. I’ve already had to break out my hoodies, hats, jackets and gloves. My blood is pretty thinned out due to the triple digit weather in Vegas when I left.

What I found in Vegas

I’m still in Vegas. I thought, as a non-gambler, Vegas would be a waste of time and energy for me. I thought I had no real interest in visiting the Entertainment Capital of the World, but I do. I arrived about six weeks ago and have been overwhelmingly pleased with the sheer number of people in my age group who are living an active lifestyle here.

I’ve never been a couch potato, always busy and love to travel, enjoy shows and new experiences. For me, Las Vegas tops the list of best places to live and I didn’t even know it until I arrived and worked myself into some gatherings and meet-ups. Then, there were more opportunities at church and additional local social networking groups.
I’ve attended shows, visited galleries, bookstores, herbal markets, dined and bowled! Bowling alleys it seems are frequently built into Casinos. So, I walk past the slot machines, obtain my ball and shoes from my storage locker ($44 annual fee at Santa Fe) and get into my exercise routine, for $1 a game, daily until 3pm for seniors. Hard to believe, but I do qualify.
I’ve received discounts for haircuts and shows. I’m thinking that if I stay long enough I will find more, easily done if you are a gambler. A card is issued by the Casinos, much like your supermarket discount card, and records the money you spend at the slot machines. This enables the Casino to focus on the members who visit regularly and receive gifts in the form of discounts for food and lodging at the hotel/casino. Unfortunately, for me to start gambling would amount to working at new job and pulling a lever doesn’t do a thing for me, sorry, just the way it is.
Las Vegas is not just for gamblers, so I’ve found. I love the new friends I have met, women my age who are not interested in becoming a rocking-chair-grandma nor a couch potato. But, Michigan beckons and I will be on my way soon. I’ve delayed long enough and everyone is understanding – they say, “We’ll see you when you get here”, but I know my presence is desired, especially at Ma N Pa’s in Watervliet. My son and grandchildren are awaiting my visit in Chicago (right around the corner in Illinois) and a sister who is 17 years older than me who is finally a friend. I’ve got nieces and nephews and friends from Clarkston to Ann Arbor.
I’ll be leaving soon. I think I'll be heading north to Cody, Wyoming and then east to the Fountain of Youth in Thermopolis, WY, where there appears to be more than a few natural hot springs. I need the healing waters. Cody was the destination for my Great Aunt Ada, who in the late 1800's traveled west, from Michigan, to visit her brother, Asa, a photographer there. These two individuals are featured on the labels of my Avalon Herbaly hand-made soaps. I'll get that home-based-business up again soon. I haven't made soap in awhile, but while I'm in Michigan I just may do it.
I’ll keep you posted.

the Fountain of Youth is in Wyoming?

... at least the RV park is.
A friend told me a few years ago that she had taken the hot springs trail across the US and finally the time has arrived to embark upon one myself! I've purchased two books, Hot Springs Hot Pools of the Northwest (Aqua Thermal Access) and Touring Washington and Oregon Hot Springs (A Falcon Guide).

I've traveled extensively in many regions of the US but have never set foot in the Pacific Northwest, but this year, I plan to. If Marc doesn't manage to meet me somewhere along the trail, I guess I'll end up in Vegas on my way back.

The Aqua Thermal Access book mentions several springs with Thermopolis, WY as their address. I had included it in my list of 'must explore' locations. It says the well looks like a small volcano with over one million gallons of water being pumped out per day. No chemical treatments to the water is a BIG plus for me! Two hours from Yellowstone.

I'll take some pics when I get there.

Healing Waters?

Soap Lake, in Washington State, according to their website, “At the turn of the last century, Soap Lake was one of the most well known mineral spas in the country. Before the development of sulfa drugs and penicillin, Soap Lake and spas at Saratoga Springs, New York, White Sulfur, West Virginia and Hot Springs, Arkansas were Meccas for the treatment of disease, illness and injury.”
I’ll let you know how it works on carpel tunnel~
Soap Lake

Will this be the endless summer?

I'm serious. I'm wasting too much time on Facebook. I need to spend more time planning for summer and camping in Montana and Wyoming. I've never been to the Pacific Northwest and I think this is the year. I've got two books with exact locations for all the natural hot springs in Montana, Washington and Oregon.

Sweetness

I didn’t leave Texas yet, I’m still here in Abilene. I think there is some kind of weird psychic energy about this place that magnetizes those that step into its bounds and holds us… not uncomfortably as much as uncommonly. Dallas held me for a long time with a great social life, although it gave me plenty of room to leave and return with much travel in between. Lake Orion in Michigan definitely held me by its unique charm and beauty. Southwest Michigan retains a silver thread of connection with friendships and home to many of my worldly treasures. But, here I am, still in Abilene.

When I arrived at the end of February, I was ill. I don’t get sick very often and I really couldn’t tell you what was wrong with me this winter, other than symptoms, the overriding one being that I just couldn’t get my energy back. Dallas had finally allowed the doors to close behind me and left me free to explore other regions for a new home. I know not everyone opens the door to change as much as I do, but its part of my nature.

So, I’ve been here four months. Many things have come together for me and life is promising much sweetness. True, the times they are achanging and much turbulence is visible in the world. But I think the final votes haven’t been cast and the winds could still blow in a different direction. I’m going to remain hopeful. In the meantime, life is good.

This too shall pass~

I left my home in Michigan just before my 30th birthday. I had been planning the move for six months. I loaded my Ford Mustang with everything I thought I’d need to setup a home for two children and myself. I was heading to Texas for the first time in my life. I’d been reading the classifieds, print at that time, which had been sent to me by my brother who was already there – in Houston. I was going to Dallas. I had interviews ready for my arrival and a friend who had been there for only a few months herself.

I was leaving my Mother and it was breaking her heart that I was going and taking my children with me. She had helped take care of those children since their births as I worked and went to school with hopes of a career in computers.

I don’t know if you watched the HBO series Six Feet Under or not, but it was one of my favorites. All five seasons are available by DVD. Many episodes are memorable and I’ve watched all five seasons from start to finish again in addition to the original. The seasonal finale brought everything to together and as I watched it the first time, my reaction is still the same to watch it today, the tears stream down my face.

The series begins with the death of the father and every episode begins with a death. The family run business is a funeral home which the two sons take over running after their father's passing. The story line includes the arrangements of the deceased and the interactions and relationships of the family as they all live upstairs over the funeral home.

Unlike many televised series, starring members of the family and friends die during the series. They do not disappear from the show, rather we know they are dead and they remain visible at times to various family members and occasionally speak to some.

The series finale features Claire leaving home to pursue a career in New York, as she drives across the desert the future flashes as the next 80 years pass and all members of the family age and die. We all have but a temporary interlude here. The final vision for each is a visual of a loved one who has already gone on to the other side.

I have always identified with Claire in this last episode as I left Michigan 30 years ago, driving for three days to arrive in Dallas where I created a life and career. My children grew and married and created families of their own and now great grandchildren. While I was gone, time passed and many of the loved ones I left behind aged and left this world.

Two years ago I returned to Michigan to bury one of the more significant ones, my ex-husband. I stayed to go through his home and clean up and finish all his worldly business. I found parts of myself that I had left behind that had been treasured by him in those years. I wondered many times as I went through his belongings what my life would have been like if I’d stayed. With great sadness, I knew that for my own personal growth I had made the right decision.

Now, I am in Texas, preparing to leave to go west. Plans were made while I was finishing in Michigan, I’d said good bye for a while to my family there and stopped in Texas to visit my daughter. I thought it would be a short visit but it turned into three months. She and her husband had been having some difficulties and were considering whether to stay together to finish raising their four sons or to split their family now. This place in Texas is well suited for them to complete their job and I think they’ve decided to work it out. My job here is done although I could stay; it’s not a place that’s well suited to me.

A week from Monday I will be packed and heading off on another thousand mile journey across the country to place I’ve never been. Hopes and dreams packed along with my clothes, I’m traveling solo and I know that as I leave to pursue a life in another new city, time will pass; my daughter and her family will grow and go their own ways. I won’t be here to see it. There will be visits but not the same as Sunday get-togethers.

I watched the season finale again today and the tears stream down my eyes as I once again identify with Claire driving across the desert, leaving her family behind, pursuing a new life apart from them, and knowing that those that passed are waiting for me on the other side.

Watch it~

Be ready with your kleenex!

Why Vegas?

Marc is already in Vegas. We’ve been planning to live in the same city at the same time for awhile. He’s a family member that I met about ten years ago for the first time. As you can guess we’re part of a large family, spread out across the US.

Marc’s an Artist and he’s currently working as a Tatoo Apprentice in Vegas. He’s airbrushed t-shirts for Disney and Knotts Berry Farm, murals and motorcycles. How does that tie-in with what I do? Anybody's guess and the sky is the limit. I know a little, and sometimes more, about a lot of things.

I’m going with an open mind. I truly love the nitpickyness of programming – I was a COBOL programmer in a former life and now I do websites and blog. We’ll see what happens as I get ready to depart Abilene and head west.

If you’re wondering how I ended up in Abilene, I’ll tell you that I only came for a visit since my daughter and her family are here, but she wanted me to stay. I think she was actually just going through a challenging time and it looks like that all got settled down and she and her husband are going to work things out.

I’ve been here for about 3 months and that’s long enough for me to know that I won’t get into any trouble here in Abilene and that’s just a little too peaceful for me. I spent that last two years in my home state of Michigan and before that lets just say, Dallas primarily with temporary contracts in states from Alaska to Florida.

I plan to keep you posted as I get ready to leave here in about ten days. Lots of last minute preparations and planning for the unknown.

Countdown to Vegas

I’m in Abilene, TX, preparing to leave in about ten days. I’ll be heading for Las Vegas for the first time. I’m not a gambler nor a drinker so we’ll see what other trouble I can get into.

Dallas

I’m in Dallas and the weather is fine! I think I got out of Michigan just in time; the first snow of the year was beginning to fall a few weeks ago as I was leaving. Now, the worst winter snow in ten years has hit as the area I’m visiting is experiencing 50-70 degree weather.

Finishing up a term paper on Second Life and how the virtual world is being used by librarians… very interesting~

I’m currently looking around for some work in graphics or website development. The work I performed last summer in Michigan was most enjoyable and while I would like to visit there again next summer, I do need to keep busy and Dallas definitely has the edge.

It’s good to be here, visiting old friends and familiar places. Oh, if I could only find a job or a contract, I’d probably settle right back in.

Michigan will always be in my heart as my native home. However, I never planned to return except for summer visits after leaving years ago. I almost stayed this time. I was in Michigan for two years, due to some family business I had to take care of. I’ll always visit in August but financially, I’m probably better off in Dallas.

Fall

My favorite season appears to be on its way. Cool days and cold nights bring energy and vigor to my physical body. I’m inspired by my surroundings, the river, trails in the woods, leaves that will soon be turning my favorite colors. Sometimes I just need to know I’m free to leave before I can open my eyes to see all the reasons to stay.

I finally bought a motorcycle and now its for sale. I'm a starter, a late bloomer on the biker trail. I got a Honda Gold Wing and I think it's just a bit too big for me to learn on. True, I have a perfect place to practice, but I'm thinking a smaller bike may be better for a beginner. Why did I buy it? It was part of a larger deal, an added bonus to the pot.

Let's see what Craigslist can do for me.

You gotta know when to hold em, and when to fold em

Bow to the Inevitable, Accept the things you cannot change, change the things you can and ask God for the Wisdom to know the difference. God doesn’t delay long when he’s letting me have the Gift of Discernment.

An offer from a pharmaceutical in Chicago and a global online bookseller both came in on my birthday, yesterday. The willingness to go to work for the enemy doesn’t appeal to me and I wonder if I have the physical stamina for the physical work required from the online giant. But I hear the call …

Dancing Rabbit and Sandhill farm are both Intentional Communities I’ve visited in the area and might visit again, if I find Amazon’s not right for me. I’d like to swing down and visit my daughter in Texas. I’ll probably go by and visit my old friend in Kansas City too. Then I’d be getting near Arizona and New Mexico where I see a lot of communities that might suit me for awhile.

And when to walk away…

I’m on the Michigan side of the Lake

This weekend I’m visiting my Sister in Ferndale and some old friends scattered around the Detroit area… I almost typed ‘Metroplex’, a holdover from my Dallas/Fort Worth days but ‘Detroit area’ will come back to me in time.

My sister is holding a garage sale today for her daughter who is in the midst of moving to Philly. I was there for a long weekend a few years ago and I thoroughly enjoyed taking a tour of the home of Betsy Ross (maybe because I’ve enjoyed sewing my whole life?) and a late night run downtown for The First and The Originator of the Philly Steak and Cheese Steak, Pat’s King of Steaks, will always be remembered with a smile… just so Saturday Night Live. But it’s not a city that calls me to return.

I plan to visit the Eastpointe Pub in St. Clair Shores while I’m in the neighborhood. One of the girls from my high school class opened a bar on Nine Mile Road. Through Classmates, I’m learning that a few of those from my high school class, who still live local, frequent her establishment. Even thought I'm definitely not a 'bar person', I’ve got to pay a visit.

Driving through Chicago this morning was quiet and uneventful. Thank Goodness, I had my concerns with the Taste of Chicago running downtown this weekend, but I guess I got through while everyone was still asleep.

I’m in Watervliet this morning, enjoying the homey atmosphere of Ma-n-Pa’s Country Kettle Restaurant. I’m working on their website with their daughter, Joanne. She’s a teacher who works at the restaurant on the weekends and enjoys playing with websites as much as I do. We’ll be snapping photos this afternoon of all the water enthusiasts who come here for canoes, kayaks and tubes.

I'm planning to head over to Watervliet this weekend and plan to camp at least one day at the Paw Paw River Campgrounds. The resturant serves an excellent all-you-can eat breakfast, has clean, hot showers and a very peaceful river for canoeing. You can rent the canoe from the office and they will take you upstream and drop you with the canoe for a very reasonable price.

I promise

I promise to post a new picture today. My hair is so much shorter, spunkier! I'm enjoying Chicago, currently exploring the northwestern side, which seems like it should be the northeastern side although I guess there is no northeastern side to Chicago! I like Evanston. I've gotten as far north as Waukegan. Come back later today, I ~promise~ a current photo rather than this one that was taken about a year ago.

Chicago

I’m taking the train today, Amtrak, heading to Chicago. My beautiful, darling son is there with his wife and children. I asked him once how he learned to be such a good dad. His answer was that I showed him by being both. You don’t get many compliments like that one in a lifetime.

My niece is there with her husband and little boy, plus her big boy who has developed into a good friend as he reached adulthood a few years ago and became an artist and world traveler. Those don’t usually get combined but they did in his case. He was doing air-brushed art at Disney and a New Zealand couple took an interest in his work and now it’s offered on t-shirts on the Island on the other side of the world. I’m looking forward to a more in-depth chat about how his visit went.

Trains are a great way to travel. I enjoyed flying from the first time I got on a Michigan-winter flight to Florida back in the early 70’s. Went by myself and enjoyed every minute of the thrill. Back then the last few rows in the plane were reserved for smokers! Planes changed and while the smoking in closed quarters without any open-windows would be an issue, a bigger one is the rules and regulations requiring shoes, coats and belts to be removed, taking the laptop out of the case, everything in baskets and then on the plane, the seats up and down, trays, electronic devices. Give me a train today.

Trains are easy. You can reserve at the last minute, show up at the last minute, pay in cash, none of that credit card required to be scanned. Change your seat, move around, and take a break by walking back to the dining card and sitting down to have a coffee and bagel. Not the best food to be sure, but available. I can stretch out and open my laptop or read a book or sleep and five hours later, I switch trains in downtown Chicago.

A few blocks away from the Amtrak station is the Metra station. I get to walk along Chicago River and remember the summer jaunts I’ve taken on the Water Taxi. I love Chicago. Navy Pier is a favorite place in the spring and summer.

I visited Tall Ships Chicago in 2006. This year's event is still in the planning stages, but starts August 24th and they are looking for volunteers. Hmmm, if I'm still in the area...

Ships from all over the world, all sailed into Chicago on the same August morning for the Festival. A few of the local tour boat companies offered special cruises during the festival and my grandson and I were in one of these that was heading out into the lake as the ships were sailing in. Phenomenal day, never to be forgotten.

Unfortunately, it is March and not much going on this weekend in Chicago, at least not that I’ll be involved in, just a family visit. It’s good to have family.

Skate Parks

****** I visited Ortonville yesterday, enjoying a cool afternoon walk and observing the downtown area. The hub of activity was clearly located at the Skate Park in the downtown area. The sounds of wheels, skateboards, bikes and rollerblades overrode good natured calls and kidding between the kids, roughly aged between 11 and 16.

The reason for choosing Ortonville for my afternoon outing was the construction of the Brandon Township Community Park. They recently received a $75,000 grant from the Land & Water Conservation Fund and Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The community has been in the process of funding the recreational area with donations from private residents and local businesses. A committee was formed in 2000 dedicated to providing quality recreation programs. The resultant 47 acre parcel of former farmland, containing fields for soccer, baseball and football, pavilions, play and picnic areas is beautiful and peaceful. The only ones using the park yesterday was a small wedding party in one of the pavilions. It would be way too far for the kids of downtown Ortonville to walk. The kids were more interested in the skate park in the middle of downtown and so was I.

As a child growing up in the fifties, in a suburb east of Detroit, I loved to roller skate. Bike-riding came fast on its heels and claimed my time until I graduated to automobiles and other interests. We didn’t have skateboards or roller blades in those days. I got on a pair of rollerblades once last summer. I probably won’t try that again.

But I am impressed with the agility and balance of today’s youth in handling the hills and valleys of the Skate Parks and any other non-flat surface they can find. They can’t find many in the Village. Why don’t we do something about that?

I’ve been doing some research on the Internet (so what’s new?) and have found that the idea of a Skate Park has been making the rounds but no one is stepping forward to assume responsibility for building one.

I’ve never been afraid of a challenge. After all, I am in the final stages of estate settlement for my ex-husband who died last year. I won’t go into detail other than to reveal that I never knew that many pieces of paper and other ‘stuff’ would fit into one house.

Is anyone interested in joining with me? I’ve got some ideas and all that research I’ve been doing this spring and summer. I also have a location in mind and there are some ways we could gear the project to several different areas of interest that would place us in line for some Grant Funds.

See you around Lake Orion.

I’m gonna talk about God today

I have a spiritual advisor, a woman that I speak with daily. She gives me a question to write and the following day I read her my answer.

Today’s question was about the role that discipline or the lack of it has played in my life. I won’t bore you with the details except to say that both were considerable in length and the disciplined areas of my life far outweigh the undisciplined.

Where I am undisciplined is related to an area not readily seen by the outsider looking in. Let’s just say that upon occasion my emotions overrule my head. But, because of the mix, my life has been a colorful, lively journey. I wouldn’t trade it. When I was very young I made a decision that I didn’t want to end my life looking back with regret at adventures I didn’t have. I won’t be. I really don’t have many regrets. The ones I do are where I’ve hurt others.

I have to say it’s been a lot like going to my brothers. He lives out in the country and I when I find myself driving to visit him, it’s usually on a pleasant, sunny afternoon. I frequently get lost.

He’s told me that he’s come to expect the phone call (Thank God for cell phones), as I tell him where the landmarks are and where I got off course and he give me directions back on, that sometimes will mean another call or two before I get there. He knows not to hold dinner for me, but he leaves the porch line on because he knows that eventually I will arrive.

Those veers off the path don’t change his feelings for me. They are my opportunity to explore the countryside and get a feel for it. I sometimes meet and talk to people along the way. I lean toward the back, country roads and usually stop at produce stands, cafés and garage sales. It’s an enjoyable day for me and he and I have a chuckle about it as we sit and talk before bedtime.

It’s a lot like that for me with God. I’m heading in his direction, but he knows I probably won’t arrive in time for dinner, or while I’m still in human form, but if I keep heading that way, making calls, asking for help, eventually I’ll get there. If I wasn’t heading in that direction, I’d never get there.

As I write this I think of the Footprints in the Sand verse we’re all familiar with. I don’t need God to carry me all day every day instead of walking along side him, although there were times in the past I did. And he wants me to walk directly toward him, but sometimes I still take those detours. I usually get back on track, before I stray too far and get totally lost. But, I really never need to let go of the hand that’s always available. That will always be there to keep me on the path. He doesn’t want me to miss dinner but knows that it’s up to me to decide if I want to reach for his hand.

He’s keeping the porch light on.