Riding In the Mountains Can Be Cooolllldd!

Yesterday, I decided to ride up to Rock Creek to see a bunch from the congregation at mom and dad's cabin. Since with my motorcycle it would only cost about $4 each way I thought this would be an affordable, as opposed to a very expensive trip if I were to be driving the truck. Before I took off I decided to insert the lining into my motorcycle jacket, and toss in my winter riding gloves instead of the summer ones. I thought I was probably being a little over cautious as usual, but decided to do it none-the-less. It turned out that I WAS SO GLAD I DID. The ride is exactly 84 miles from my place. At the half way point I decided to pull over to thaw out my hands. I really had no choice; they were so cold I could barely hold onto the handles any longer. I decided if I could thaw them out to the mildly painful but okay to ride level, then I would keep going. So I stood on the side of the road with my hands sandwiched in my armpits for 10 minutes. I then decided I could keep going. When I started closing in on 30 miles left to go, I knew I could make it as the sun was starting to peek through.

The experience reminded me of the time I decided that Armstrong, my previous dog, and I should ride to Idylwild for ice-cream. When I took off in the afternoon it was hot and sunny so I just had my "hot air" jacket on. But that night coming home the air got brutally cold and I honestly considered walking into a pub and offering someone money for their coat. We made it home, but it was rough.

Anyway, Rock Creek was great. Murray and Rita Hammon were there, along with Aunti Jean, Don Gauvin, Tanya and Tim and the kids, Rick and Hannah Bray and their dog Tuppence, Talbots and their dog Boo, Mary and Doug (My brain has froze on their last name, sign of early alzheimers I'm sure), and of course Dad, Mom, and Otto. Went down to the Rock Creek fair and just wandered aimlessly looking at animals and booths of hand made crafts.

For the ride home, Tim gave me a pair of hotshots for my gloves and dad lent me his work gloves to put over my regular gloves, and even though it was still brisk it was still much better than the ride up. I could actually enjoy the scenery, instead of over-focusing on my frozen digits. :-) Anyways, will do it again, but next time on a 30 degree day. :-)

Okay, must run for the meeting.

Love, d :-)

ps. all the photos from yesterday's ride did not turn out, so I decided to post one of Harvey and his blankets. He can never seem to bury himself into enough of them. Funny pup.

New Direction

I hadn't blogged in a long long time, but today I read something that stirred me on. I was catching up on a usual blog of a couple and they were talking about the usual stuff of their travels and how they were so excited because they had upgraded their RV - an older couple - Bruce, Margie, and their dog Annie that they doted on. Margie had written about how after all these years of full-time RVing with Annie she, at 13, just developed a health problem and they were giving her new medications. ...so I scrolled up to the top to read the next entry to see how little Annie was making out on her new meds. However, within reading two sentences I noticed that it was someone else writing. A different style, but also within a paragraph she said that she was the daughter. After the last entry a couple days before, her parents had gone out for their daily evening walk with Annie, and a car with an occupant had hit them and killed them. Annie had survived. The daughter and her husband were flying down to Pismo Beach to drive the unit home. Apparently the driver had been trying to commit suicide, had sped up to go over the bank but hit them instead not seeing them walking, and survived the crash. How tragic for everyone.

Anyways, it inspired me to do some writing because even the most mundane things to someone are special to someone else (I loved reading their blog), especially if they are interested in your life. The last while of being here in Winfield, and working in Kelowna, I thought no one in their right mind would be interested in hearing about Kelowna and life here, but I have decided to try to show a side of it that maybe is a bit different from the usual. Maybe someone will be interested in that. :-) Kelowna is the third most expensive city in Canada, behind Vancouver, and Toronto. I am trying to expand my theocratic activity here, as challenging as that may be. I live on a teachers salary based on a 27 hour week, so that means I live life on the "slim". Translated, that means I live a rich full life, but on a meager budget, focusing on and enjoying the simple things in life, and making adjustments wherever I need to, to make things happen. Chances are I will not be the person that retires with a big pension, but I will have enough to cover the expenses. Last week I found a list on CNN that read: 15 countries where a person can retire on $1500 per month or less. Oooo sounds like one could be my future residence :-) Most of them are tropical, so that means I will have to maintain Harvey and Pearl's life jackets and pick a country where their future rickety little bones can enjoy sand and surf mixed with service too.

So that is the plan. For the next while we...as in me, Harvey, and Pearl...are planted here, but I will try to show how one can expand their service in the ministry, and live with zest and enjoyment on the "slim" in the third most expensive city in Canada, through the good months..and the winter (burrrrr). You will see how oversight and direction from Jehovah are the ONLY way things come together sometimes for me, and WHO He uses along the way at times, when I am unsuspecting. There are moments when I imagine he directs His angels to answer my prayers only because he doesn't want to see my prayers escalate from mildly intense to the weeping level. And you will be amazed, as I constantly am, to see how He maneuvers things to answer my prayers. Hasn't let me down yet. I realize some may think that it is better to be quiet with their challenges, but for me I thought maybe if someone sees how someone else can make life happen and their goals be realized with a similar mindset...that they can do it too. :-) So, I hope you enjoy the journey, adventure, and challenge, with us.

Love, d :-)