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Blog“Just Over the Hilltop”

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“Oh, what a beautiful mornin’. Oh, what a beautiful day” is a song from the musical Oklahoma and this day has been beautiful. Dick and I were up early to see his primary doctor about his shoulder. He sent us for x-rays on both the shoulder and the elbow, plus gave him a shot for pain and muscle relaxant first.

Dick had taken a slide off the porch steps Sunday morning when the ice was thin and transparent. He re-injured his right shoulder and has been in pain when trying to extend or lift the arm. They are looking for a chipped bone, a possible rotator cuff messed up, or badly bruised muscles. We are praying that it won’t need surgery but will do whatever is necessary. In the meantime, he is trying to exercise it, without damaging it more, to prevent a frozen shoulder. Even with going to the clinic and health campus, this has been a beautiful day!

Pressing on

Friday afternoon the phone and internet was connected at the bookstore and while Dick was preparing the other three walls for painting, I was shredding bills and receipts from ‘96 and ‘97. I don’t think I need them anymore. But stuffed in that old box of files was the deed to our very first home in Putney, Vermont. It was a twelve room Federal with four fireplaces, a side porch, and a back deck off the family room. We also had a Christian Bookstore in one of the rooms off the front hall. It was a lovely house and home with many events and parties. We lived there for seven years before moving to the North Country so our children could farm. That’s another story of adventure which we are so thankful for. The North Country is home to us and we can’t imagine living anywhere else.

Our oldest son, Eliot, along with our granddaughter, Alysa, surprised us with a visit Friday late afternoon. They had traveled from southern Vermont to go snowboarding with Eliot’s brother Eric and family over at Titus. Because of the rain the Friday night event was canceled so they visited with us first and went to Titus on Saturday. We had a wonderful visit but as happens, it seems so short and all the things you want to talk about don’t get mentioned. “Practicing the Presence” is what I used to instruct my waitress staff and I am still working on it, too. All that means is to be completely present when you are with another person. My mind tends to meander with things that need to get done or what might the other person need. So, instead of me preparing a meal, we took them to Hometown and let someone else do the cooking while we fully concentrated on them. It was wonderful to see them if even for a short time.

let someone else do the cooking while we fully concentrated on them

Also last week, Heidi (age 3) called and pretended to be baby Elsa. “Hi grandma, this is Elsa.” Well, I knew Elsa can’t talk yet and realized Heidi was giggling and playing with me. I love little children’s imagination and play as they learn to communicate in the world of big people. I pray she doesn’t lose that delight in her speech or play.

I forgot to mention that our “couch” travel last week took us to the state of Alaska and then over to Norway again for more cooking recipes with various fish. This Sunday we toured the state of Washington. What a magnificent job the writer/narrator/musician did in presenting the beautiful state of Washington and bringing you into its gorgeous sections of ocean-side, desert, and farmland. This was coupled with the activities and sights available for tourists. We are getting low on our own personal travelogues that Dick has picked up over the years at either library or yard sales and so we’ll check out the local library for more countries to discover. This is such a treat and the price is fabulous.

Beautiful days

I began this journal with “oh, what a beautiful mornin’” and I’ll end with “oh, what a beautiful day.” It really has been a beautiful day in many ways and I am thankful Dick slept well last night, people have offered to help finish the painting at the bookstore, because of the injury we re-designed the center display area of the store and it will cost a fraction of what we thought originally. He won’t need to build any more display units for a while and we’ll leave the front of the building until we’ve been open a while to see how the flow around the store is and what needs we might have. “I’ve got a wonderful feeling, everything’s going my way.”

Now just to be clear…. “it is not that everything is going our way, but that our way is being established by everything” which is in the capable hands of a loving and omnipotent God! Have a beautiful day and a joyous week. Love, Sharon

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