A Very Important Day

It’s a very important day

Celebrate our veterans in special ways

But I can’t help remembering back

And memories I never lack

Family and cousins galore

Opening and shutting the doors

Carrying food to the picnic table

Each container had the owner’s label

A day of overeating and so much fun

Playing tag and chasing the sun

I thought of this all week long

As I realize there’s quietness in my song

So I decided to do it alone

I fit in my memories like I’m young and at home

I made the foods just like mama did

And at suppertime I’ll remove all the lids

I’ll say thank you for what our Veterans do

And my family, I’ll always miss you

.Written by,Terry Shepherd 05/31/2021

Sunshine and Vets

Sunshine on my shoulder, a nice phrase, a nice feeling. The past two weeks have been so hot for this area. It was more like August weather instead of May. Overnight, it changed. We got some rain and it cooled down.

Time to turn the air off and let the natural air come on in. It feels so good to air my apartment out. I never cared for air conditioning for that reason only. I like fresh air. As a kid, we didn’t have air. We shut drapes and windows and then at dusk we put fans in the windows and drew in the cooler night. I loved the smell of the sheets and my hair.

Now I think most homes have some type of air conditioning. I wonder how the cowboys and Indians made it without air let alone electricity.

https://www.schdm.com/blog/from-the-wild-west-to-today-the-history-of-the-air-conditioner

How can we keep cooler naturally?

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/home-remedies/how-to-keep-your-room-cool-in-summer-without-ac-or-cooler/articleshow/64764735.cms

Enjoy your holiday. Happy Memorial Weekend where we celebrate our veterans.

https://www.cem.va.gov/cems/listcem.asp

Peace is Needed

I am having some new tests done in an area that has never been examined internally. I am asking for prayers for healing or good results.Thank you.

My weekend was spent trying to stay busy and at peace. I did pretty good at it. I used muscles that hadn’t been used for some time so did experience pain in the evenings. As long as it is temporary, I can deal with it with some pain medication.

Today, so far, I have put a pork roast with seasonings in the crock pot. I am in the process of making a strawberry pie. I made egg salad and last evening made cucumbers and onions. I cleaned out the refrigerator and have a bag of trash ready to take to the dumpster.

I have hamburger thawing and don’t know for sure what I will do with it. I may make some type of goulash from it. I love making things that will last for more than one meal because standing and cooking takes the life out of me.

Tomorrow I have errands to run and Wednesday and Thursday will be tests days.

Photo below taken by me this past weekend.

What are your plans or goals for this week?

I see your thorn

I am definitely entitled to have arthritis at my age. Sometimes such as today, it hurts and has a nice knot sticking out. I have to make choices on these days as to baby the pain or get through it.

Today, I got through it. It still aches but I did manage to pull some weeds, trim a shrub and sweep the porch. Although it hurts my fingers and wrist, I received joy from my work.

Go away, thorns of pain

I don’t want you here today

I’ll ignore you the best I can

And show you I’m the stronger man

You’ve thrown some curve balls my way

But today, I missed them and enjoyed my day.

Written by,

Terry Shepherd

Here in the moment

A cup of coffee and plenty of quiet time is how I like to start my day. It is the one section of my time that I can count on feeling the best most days. I start lagging around noon and it goes down hill from that point.

I remember when my kids were small and it was hustle bustle throughout the week days during school and lazy weekends with fun activities planned or at least that was the goal. Cleaning has always been my hot spot. I love clean. I don’t over do it anymore. I save windows and walls for Spring and Summer.

I sure can’t do the same quality of work on my place as I used to do but I am happy with what I achieve. I don’t want critters either in my home, which includes ants, roaches, spiders or most anything that has legs or slithers.

Last Spring about this time of year, I would open my front door and there would be a great, big frog. I have a pond very near and it is common to find them up here by my door. Of course they want in but I can already tell them, they would be much better off and happier to just hop off in the opposite direction. I also had black snakes last year. I don’t care what color they are or if they are poisonous or not, they aren’t getting in if I can help it.

I don’t know if this is a girl thing or not and I guess it doesn’t matter. It’s my feelings and that is my story. I love to go to the zoos and look at reptiles from behind the glass. They fascinate me I love the monkeys and about any zoo animals. I find it so interesting on how old turtles can grow to be. I wonder what their secret is.

Maybe they don’t live under stress like humans. Perhaps they are more confident in themselves and know their work or goal will be accomplished. We should rethink our lives. We may live longer?

Do we want to live longer? Do we want to see cars flying over us or maybe live on Mars? o we want to see more war and fighting? Now, it doesn’t sound so pretty does it, or at least it doesn’t to me. I will continue to work on my thoughts of being happy in place, knowing I am here and here for a reason in the moment.

Lost or Maybe Not

Sally thought she was lost. Not in her home of over fifty years but in trying to figure out how people’s minds worked. In her day, it was the golden rule that she tried her best to follow. She taught it to her own children. Be kind, love one another, work hard for what you want.It didn’t seem to be that way now a days. She scratched her head as she sat on her porch swing watching the kids across the way play. She could tell things had surely changed as she observed the kids hit on each other when they weren’t getting a fair turn and the names, oh the names that came out of those youngsters mouths. Why if those were her own kin, she’d take a switch after them or better yet, wash those mouths out with soap and clean up that talk. She swung back and forth thanking God that she was now an old woman and her children were all grown and fine outstanding young folks. She looked up at the blue skies and smiled.Written by, Terry Shepherd05/11/2021

New Question

What’s one thing you refuse to tolerate?

Summer is Coming

What are your plans for this summer? Mine are pretty simple, sit in my swing, take photos of flowers and nature and be at peace. Tell me your plans?

I know it Sounds Crazy

But some days I wish I had the look of a person with a disability. I get looks sometimes when I say I can’t do something when others ask. I am living with the disability so I don’t question myself, but it makes me feel odd when others question me as to why I can’t or give me that look.

I look perfectly fine on the outside but on the inside it’s a different look. For example, yesterday, I felt weak. I was having internal tremors from my trunk down through my personal area and down my legs. It takes it out of me. It isn’t that painful as it is more of an annoyance and bringing on weakness. It feels like I ran a five mile race. Yesterday was the first day that it lasted for hours, so every move I made was like moving cemented legs.

I can’t walk long distances without my walker or a cart and when I do walk it isn’t long before I feel like I am going to pass out. This coming week I am going to a specialist for a Tilt Table test. Hopefully, I will find answers to this issue.

I really don’t want to look like I am disabled but people would believe me when I told them no or I am too weak today.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Happy Mother’s day to all of you moms

Memories like today

Yesterday was my brother’s birthday. He would have been sixty-six. He passed away from Multiple System Atrophy when he was fifty-nine. It seems like today, not seven years ago. I can still remember so many of the people that showed such compassion and support here at WordPress. I am pretty sure I had over fifteen hundred comments in one day.

It didn’t make me cry this year but the memories came flooding back. Us going out to eat and how excited he was to choose from the menu. He didn’t eat out much before I started taking care of him, so some things we did were new to him although when I began being his guardian, he was fifty-two. My brother was mentally challenged and he didn’t experience so many things that you and I take for granted.

I remember taking him to different antique stores. His eyes would light up like Christmas lights. He would search for anything that had the words Coco-Cola on it. He was obsessed with this category. He didn’t care if he had several at home, when he saw something like it, he wanted another. I would talk to him and gently sway his thinking to getting an item that he didn’t already own.

He loved vintage cars too. My youngest son had a Chevy Bellaire and so he wanted one too. I found one in a large die cast and bought it for him. He had several vintage car collections by the time he became ill and the blue Chevy Bellaire was his ultimate favorite.

My brother loved the life that he and I built. i think each day for him was brand new. I always wished I had that innocence about life like he did, almost as a child.

I miss my brother so much. I loved sharing life with him. I learned so much about him and even about myself. Watching his face glow and his big smile is what I miss so much. I was never lonely when he and I lived together, even when he was plastered to the TV sports shows.

I love you buddy. You are always in my heart. I will never live the experiences of what you taught me ever again. Until we see each other again.