Thirtysomething

More of the Write 31 Days Challenge....

Today's one word prompt-moment

Actually this was Fridays prompt but since I didn't get there I'm using it today.
I'm allowed.

So where were we?
My thirties. The second half. (You'll find Part 1 here).

We left North Jersey at the end of Daughter1's kindergarten year. Hubs was so ready to let go of the crazy insane commute he was making and the crazy insane interest rate we were paying on our mortgage (remember not everything about the early 90's was fabulous) and he was especially excited for a new work challenge. Plus Annapolis. Who wouldn't want to live there?

I had mixed feelings. That's how I roll when you say 'we're moving'. I do love a clean slate, fresh start but I also love warm and familiar. I was settled with my babies and my friends and my house without air conditioning. Moving means change and I always have to resist before I march headlong.

But I marched headlong because that's what you do, and I fell in love with the town beside the Bay.

With our new house and our little cul-de-sac with kids spilling out everywhere and hubs ten minute commute. With the sweet school nearby and our church down the road. Piano lessons every Tuesday and ballet class in Maryland Hall. Girl scouts, family camping, Disney World. The swingset out back and homework at the kitchen table. Blue crabs picked by tiny hands on a warm summer day.

New people, new places, new experiences.

No social media.
Real life in real time.

I went back to work part time in my thirties. My girls were in all day school then and the preschool Daughter2 had attended was looking for a teacher two days a week. The Director knew I had a background in education so she approached me about a job. I remember thinking, 'Work? Wait...what?? How in the world can I work? Am I capable of managing a room full of four year olds?'

I think this is sometimes a side effect of being a stay-at-home mom. You forget a few things about yourself. Never mind that once upon a time I had a caseload approaching 90...when it came to working outside the home I was rusty.

But I was also ready.

This little school and the people in it were so dear and the work hours meshed so well with my own girls school I said yes. My second year there I taught three days a week and the year after that half day kindergarten. The staff was wonderful and I enjoyed interacting with the parents too. Five is my absolute favorite age, the perfect mixture of curiosity, sweetness, and mischief, and getting back in the classroom reminded me I was good at this sort of work.

I think if I could pick any age to be forever it would be 35. That's the age where I really and truly got completely comfortable in my own skin. Where I fully acknowledged my strengths and abilities and put them to use. In motherhood. In the world of work. In the volunteer community that makes the world go round. If I had to choose one word to describe these years my word would be 'satisfying'.

So what are some take aways from this decade?

Change adds things to your life you didn't know were missing.

Treasure your parents.

Perfection is overrated so stop chasing it.

Say yes to things that feed your soul.

Save for retirement.

The value of a good night's sleep cannot be overstated.

Get the babysitter. Tag along on that work trip with your husband. Leave the grandparents in charge and get away with the one you married. One day in the not so distant future you'll be 'just us' again.

Make room in your day and life for seeing the small things.

You don't have to have it all figured out.

Pray. Seek wisdom. You are loved by the God who sees and you're not doing this thing--parenting, relationships, work, life, everything--alone.

Capture

Still at that 31 Day Writing Challenge....

Today's prompt-capture

I went ahead and skipped yesterday's prompt because the word was 'brief'. Y'all I wouldn't even know where to begin-ha! Today's one word prompt is capture and since I've been meaning to come back here and 'capture' my thirties in a blog post this works.

Back when I hosted the weekly Wednesday Hodgepodge I asked people to describe their 20's in one sentence, and then later to do the same for their 30's. Since one sentence is never enough for me I wrote a whole post about my 20's (here). I wanted to do the same for my 30's and today is going to be that day.

So, it's been a while. What do I remember about my thirties? How does that decade look from a vantage point some twenty years down the road?

I turned thirty just a few days after giving birth to my second daughter. If you'd asked me then I'd have said I felt every bit my age and then some. Baby girl was an absolute beauty and she loved her mama so much she did not ever ever ever want me too far from reach. She sleeps like it's her job now, but those early months were sort of a par-tay whoop whoop all night long.

And I was tired for the first half of my thirties.

You know there's a very short window in motherhood where you actually get to sleep the way you want to sleep and not the way your children dictate you sleep. That window opens up about the time your children are between the ages of 5 and 15. For the rest of your parental life sleep will be interrupted either by babies needing to be fed, changed and soothed, toddlers needing water or the potty or to climb in bed with mom for no reason at all, or by teenagers who drive cars and college students living just out of reach. Then all of a sudden they're all grown up and sure you could sleep if only your own body would let you.

Actually I think I might make this two posts because life is chock-a-block full of experiences, feelings, and lessons learned in your thirties. We'll do the first five years today, and somehow I'll make the second five fit tomorrow's prompt. Or Monday's prompt. Or sometime.

When my thirties began we were living in a tiny little town in the far northern tip of NJ. Hubs had a brutal commute to work and on top of that was traveling a ridiculous amount of the time so sometimes it felt like I was living there and he was living at the office or Newark Airport. Almost weekly a car service would show up at our door at 3 am so he could make a 6 am flight or some such nonsense and hey, no wonder we were tired.

We were involved in a church in a nearby town and it was here I attended my first Women's Bible Study group. The women in that group were a Godsend to me in those early exhausting days of parenting. My faith grew here by leaps and bounds, and the love and support I felt from these women helped me navigate one of the hardest seasons of my life, the loss of my dad.

I don't think we have any idea how the loss of a parent will shape and change us in the years to come, but it does. My dad enjoyed his grandchildren so much and all these years later I still feel sad that he didn't get to watch them grow up or know them as the enchanting young adults they are today. He left a legacy of faith and courage though and these are gifts you treasure with an ever deepening sense of gratitude as the years roll by.

Daughter1 turned three years old and after a scary episode of mono ended she was finally able to start preschool. Every Tuesday and Thursday we moms would linger in the hallway as we dropped our littles off for class. Then we'd all kind of shuffle off alone to our own homes and repeat the ritual at pickup. I became friendly with one of the moms because our daughters had latched on to one another from the word GO, and she and I decided together we'd organize an informal coffee morning.

So we invited all the moms to come to my house the next week for coffee and cake while our preschoolers were in school. Most of us had a toddler or a babe in arms too, so everyone came and brought their babies and it was the beginning of a wonderful weekly play group/mom support system that carried on through Daughter 1's kindergarten year which is when we moved.

We moved in my thirties. Nobody's surprised are they? More about that in the second half of the decade writeup, because today I'm remembering what it felt like to be 32.

To have babies who fit in the crook of my arm and who snuggled up close on the couch.

There was that time a bear got in the garage, the wonky steel swingset perched somewhat precariously on the side of our back hill, the maple tree that turned the prettiest shade of red I've ever seen.

There were birthday parties on the brick patio, bicycles with training wheels, and home made ice cream.

Fourteen country miles to the nearest McDonalds, three trips to the ER for stitches (hello Daughter2!), weekend walks through apple orchards, the A.T. trail, Central Park and Waywayanda.

A pacifier smile, the silky edge of a well loved blankie, the color pink.

Blonde curls and books and freshly bathed girls.

A full day. A full life. A full heart.

Audience

You wouldn't know it to read here but I am still sortakinda participating in the October writing challenge called 31 Days To Telling Your Story. For the record, mine is less 31 Days and more something of an abridged version. Still calling it a win though, because even at less than 31 I've already blogged more this month than last.

Has anyone noticed how I spend the whole first paragraph of every single post explaining why I'm not on top of things here?

I printed out the list of prompts at the beginning of the month and have been picking and choosing as the mood strikes. Since I missed the last ten prompts (!?!) I have quite a few to choose from today-

pray-pause-search-who-audience-start-help-common

Today's one word prompt-audience

When you blog you're supposed to have a niche, if you want to be successful at it anyway. I've blogged in this space quite happily for over nine years now, but I've never really had a niche. Unless  you count blabbing on about everything under the sun in which case I'm a success-ha!

My blog is often all over the map in terms of content, but one thing that has remained constant is my target audience. Who are the people in my head when I put words to paper?

My girls.

c. 2009

My girls who were university students when I hit publish on that very first post and who are now adult women with lives of their own.

When I started blogging it surprised me to learn there were people I didn't know reading what I wrote. That something I said resonated and made them think differently or anew about their own story. One of the most frequent comments I've heard from readers through the years has been, 'What you said? Well I feel the same way."

While our stories are uniquely our own there are threads woven throughout that connect us to one another. I love that, and am so grateful for the many ways our lives intersect with each other. I think about those readers when I write, but my litmus test for hitting publish or save and think it over has always been my girls.

All my blog words are filtered through them. Not literally of course, but as I write I'm always hyper aware of the way my words will leap off the page and into their brains, their hearts, their memories. What do I want them to know about me? About my childhood? About how I see the world and my place in it? About the challenges of growing older? The world around me? About my faith, my fears, my failures?

I love being a mother and I don't care if I'm defined as such. It's been my greatest joy and privilege to adore and nurture these amazing women from the very first moments of their lives. Over time I've come to see blogging as a gift. A way to share parts of myself with my daughters as they reach the milestones I've left behind.

I also know that by telling my story here, by putting all the many moving parts of my life into words on a page I've opened a window for them into who I am apart from the word mom.

My audience has learned a lot about me in this space-

I've learned a lot about me too.
SaveSave

Say When

Hanging on by my fingernails, but still trying to squeeze in 20ish posts before the end of October as part of the 31 Days To Telling Your Story Writing Challenge. It's going to be tight, but I like to think I work well under pressure. Today I'm going with yesterday's prompt because I like to keep you guessing. Also, I missed yesterday.

Our one word prompt-when

As in when it's time for a day in the life kind of catch up on the blog. That needs to happen here periodically or my head will explode from all the things.

So what's been happening here lately?

boat riding
wedding planning
porch sitting
football fanning

crock pot cooking
Neflix streaming
concert going
whole house cleaning

quiet praying
sunset gazing

dinner out
dinner in
talk in real time
soak up face time

neighborhood gathering
pickle ball playing
wine tasting
fund raising

reading
writing
and no 'rithmetic

We've been at home 23 days in a row which honestly feels like some kind of small miracle. We popped into the nearby small big city once or twice and took a leisurely drive over to Asheville one afternoon to meet up with friends passing through, but those were all in keeping with the slower pace that is our Autumn.

When.

As in say when you've had enough trekking and packing and busy-ing and admit you need a month to stay put, slow down, think deep and notice small.

Say when.

The Cure For Anything

Day 29-sea

If I were to make a list of my top ten favorite words this three letter small big word would most assuredly be on it.  A word that needs no words.

Everyone feels something when they stand before the sea.

I feel small.

Grateful. 

And absolutely certain God exists.

What about you? How do you feel when you stand before the sea?

The Sound of Silence

Day 26-whisper

Long ago I taught reading, writing, and 'rithmetic to a room full of bright-eyed, eager-beaver, five-year old cuties. If I were pressed to pick my favorite age five would most definitely be it. School is fun! I love my teacher! Watch what I can do! Tell me everything about everything because the world's amazing! Look a butterfly!

I've never been someone who yells, and there's nothing that makes me want to curl up in a corner faster than when I'm the recipient of someone else's raised voice. I was not a yell-er at home, and I never ever yelled in my classroom.

Yelling into a room full of crickets does you absolutely no good, even if they're adorable human crickets cheerfully chirping and hopping their way round your class.

When the noise level rose too high and I needed everyone's attention, raising my voice would have gotten me nowhere. Whispering though? Whispering got my student's attention. It piqued their curiosity. What's happening? Is something good happening? Why is she whispering? What's she saying? Gradually chatter would cease, and you could feel a hush sweep across the room like a soft summer wind. Bodies in motion became still and soon all eyes were on me, ready to hear something that surely must be important. When I whispered into the noise they tuned in and really listened to what I was telling them or instructing them to do.

In 2015 the world is noisy. Can I get an amen? Holy moly, we are full to the brim with sounds and devices and angry voices that distract us and irritate us and eat away at our good intentions. Why is everybody suddenly shouting? When did we become such a short-tempered, angry nation? If I'm not intentional about seeking quiet space in my day I can drown in the world's noise and confusion.

There have been circumstances in my life where God has shouted and I need that sometimes. More often though, He whispers. He speaks softly into the silent spaces that are present in every single day I'm given.

He's present in the beautiful places He spoke into existence like the early morning sunrise or the changing of leaves from green to red. He whispers into all the pockets of time and space where I make room to be quiet and still.

And that's the magic of a whisper.
The only way to hear is to draw near the speaker.

To cease the chatter in your head and let the hush sweep across your heart like a soft summer wind.

What's Up Dock?

Brace yourselves. Our dock is in and I have words and pictures. 

Probably too many of both, but our dock is in! 

It was actually a really interesting process, one that took all day. Plus a couple of months in the shop beforehand. The dock floats, but we'll have pilings too. Please don't ask me to explain, suffice it to say it floats.

And has pilings. 

We met our dock guy at a boat launch on the lake. They actually construct the pieces in their shop, assemble it on the water, then pull it by barge over to our lot. It must feel really satisfying to build something so well that people enjoy so very much.

Our dock guy (Bobby at Carolina Dock) has been so nice to deal with from start to finish. His crew is great too, and they enjoyed teasing hubs by showing him half the walkway and telling him that was the whole thing. Hubs tried to act like no big deal, but he was sweating on the inside thinking they'd made it only half as long as it needed to be. They were kidding of course, and I say high five to the dock build crew. It's hard to pull a fast one on hubs. 

Back to Tuesday. We pulled our camp chairs out of the trunk and plopped ourselves beside the lake to watch the dock come together. When we arrived fog was lifting from the water, and the crew was floating around in the cove, setting the roof frame in place. Before I go any further let me state for the record I'm going to make up my own words for some of the dock parts. 

Lucky for you I've got pictures. 

Eventually the guys floated over to the shoreline and cabled the barge and dock to the land. I asked the roof man if he'd ever slid off one of these things and he assured me he hadn't.  

Our dock build motto is go big or go home. Residents on the lake spend a lot of time hanging out on their docks and we want to have plenty of room for friends and family to hang there too. If you build it they will come-ha! 

But really they will so let's make room.  

Essentially it's a deck on one side of the boat lift and a 'sidewalk' on the other side of the lift. I bet hubs is shaking his head reading this because I'm not using proper boating terminology, but he loves me anyway.  

We covered the entire dock because this is South Carolina people. We'll probably add a ceiling fan under there too because July mid-afternoons on the water beg for someone to please move some air.

While all the assembling was happening we passed the time taking selfies-

...dashing across the parking lot to snap photos of the mountain backdrop-

...and feeling dazzled by the glorious October sun dancing on the water-

He is not happy at all. 

We spent a few more hours chillaxin'...

...admiring the crew's handiwork-

...and worrying about this guy sliding into the water-

Rest assured he remained securely on the roof.

I had no idea so much would be done on site, and it was a fun thing to see happen. There are a few 'parts' to connect, beginning with the dock itself or the deck as I like to call it or the swim platform as the experts call it. Then you've got the boat lift, which we'll add later. We don't have our boat yet and we don't have power on the shoreline yet, so we had the builder install brackets now and he'll come back when we're ready to add the lift.

If you're going to swim, and we're definitely going to swim, then you need a way to get yourself out of the water. We opted for what they call swim stairs which look like a ladder, but they're angled because we're not getting any younger.

Besides the dock and the roof and the stairs and the storage box, there's a walkway connecting your floating dock to your land. That's important. The lake honchos dictate where on the shoreline your dock can sit. Not precisely, but every lot has an area called the pier zone, and included in that is how far out in the water you can take your dock. Almost everyone goes out as far as their permit allows because you want to be in deep water and also you want as wide a view as possible.

We'll have another small 'pier' that fits between the walkway and shoreline but they haven't set that yet, because we need the inspector to give the okay on where we've placed the dock. We're well within our zone, so it should be just a matter of ticking a box. Once that's done the dock team will come back and drop pilings to hold the dock in place and they'll remove the cables currently holding it to the land. Everything's a process when you're building. 

After the dock, roof, walkway, stairs, and box were connected our crew pulled the barge away from the shoreline and started the ride across the lake to our lot. There she goes...

 And here she comes...

There are not enough words to describe how specific hubs was we were in directing the barge operator to the exact precise correct spot we needed him to hit.

I mean you can't have the dock sitting crooked in the water and the barge operator was so patient moving it 1/32 of an inch left, no right, no go back left, wait that's too much...bless his heart. We're not annoying at all.

There's a small island within view of our lot, and we're doing our best to put this little island in our line of sight. We rewarded the crew with Gatorade and Snickers because they earned it.

Once they got the dock in place there was still more to do, namely cabling it to the land so it doesn't float away before the pilings are dug. Details, pssht. When everything was secure hubs and I put up a couple of chairs and had us a little party.

Actually, one of our neighbors walked over and brought us a beer to toast the occasion. We chatted for a bit, and he ended up inviting us to dinner, which was so nice. His wife served us melt in your mouth roast beef and fried green tomatoes and I already told them we'd return the favor.

I also told them if it was spontaneous they'd likely not get a roast beef dinner. Wow. It was awesome. And we're happy to have neighbors who are up for last minute entertaining. We love that.

And for anyone who's wondering...here's my house-

See that mountain of red dirt? Well, right behind it you'll find the makings of our house.

Hubs likes to have me stand where four of those posts are sitting and tell me I'm at the front door, except on the lower level. Okay. Whatever...the dock is in and I don't even need a house.

How 'bout we pitch a tent and live right here?

Back to the Hodgepodge

Hello Hodgepodgers! We had a full and busy day on Tuesday, so I'm writing my responses to this week's questions at a ridiculous (for me) hour. Better late than never, right? I've even managed to squeeze in something relating to today's one-word prompt from the Write 31 Challenge, so whoohoo! Add your link at the end of my post, IF you've played along too. Here we go-

1.  October 21, 2015 is Back to the Future Day. Did you see the movie? The sequels? In the second film, Doc takes Marty into the future to prevent Marty's future son from making a mistake. They leave 1985 and land on a 'skyway' on October 21st, 2015. So tell us, what were you doing in the fall of 1985?

I did see the movies, and loved the first and third. The second was just okay. 

Back in 1985 I was a fresh-faced newlywed, married just over a year. Hubs and I had moved from Knoxville Tennessee to Richmond Virginia in March of that year, and in September I'd started working as a Speech Pathologist for the Richmond City Schools. We were living in a rented townhouse and feeling very grown up. I have a picture somewhere, but it's been a long day and I don't have what it would take to find it on my computer. 

2. If time travel were possible, would you want to go to the future? The past?

While I think it would be fun to meet my future great greats I'm sure there are things about the future that would also worry or upset me. And I'd love to go back in time if I could skip any sadness, and just relive the good stuff. 

I'd think twice about traveling either direction. The future and the past are both filled with highs and lows, love and loss, joy and sorrow. I feel a huge sense of relief knowing I'm not in charge of time.  

3. We're not flying cars, but some of the technology imagined in the 80's film has indeed come to pass in real life 2015-flat screen TVs on the wall, tablets, fingerprint recognition, video conferencing, online banking, 3-D movies, motion controlled video games, drone cameras, and smart glasses (Google glass). Do you worry technology is growing at a rate so fast we'll soon be unable to keep up with it's demands? Do you think the Internet does more harm than good?

I think it's safe to say there is no un-doing the Internet. In general I think it's done more good than harm, but of course there is always that one bad apple (or ten) who like to spoil things.  

I don't worry too much about whether we'll keep up with the demands of all this ever-evolving technology. I'm sure the future will bring more and more new, but with that will likely come ways of managing it all. 

In 1985 if someone had declared that in 20 years we'd all be carrying around computers and cameras in hand held 'cordless' telephones we'd have wondered how in the world we'd manage. But look at us! We rock! 

Also, it is past time for us to be flying cars, don't you think?

4. Your favorite dish prepared in a slow-cooker? Your favorite fast food?

A pork roast with sauerkraut or else shredded with BBQ sauce would be my favorite dish prepared in a slow cooker. We try not to eat 'fast food', but now that we're back in the land of Chick-fil-A that's sometimes easier said than done. Since they list the calories on their menu I think twice about my order. I love their original sandwich with extra pickle, but their Asian salad is also delish. I don't eat Chick-fil-A very often. 

5. No time like the present, down time, face time, pressed for time, in the nick of time, make time, mark time or just in time...which timely saying most relates to your life right now?

Probably mark time. We're building a house so in a sense, we're marking time until completion. 

6.  Tell us about a place you went as a child or younger person that's no longer there or is now something else. How does that make you feel?

Lots of things aren't what they once were, but the thing I miss the most is the church I grew up in. There's been so much change and turnover through the years, and while I think the building itself is still there, it's not the church I once called home. Makes me long for what once was.

7.  Describe your comfort zone.

I do believe Dorothy said it best, 'There's no place like home.' 

No matter where in this world we roam, no matter where in this world we set down roots, if my people are there it's home. We were away last weekend, and hubs asked why I was anxious to get home when we're living in temporary quarters. I really couldn't explain it other than to say, 'It's home, that's why.' 

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Day 21-wave

Hi Everyone! 

Yesterday was a big day in our little corner of the world, as our dock was officially installed almost. We are so excited. Before the builders do the last little bit (dig the pilings) we need an official stamp of approval saying yes our dock is within our designated dock zone. It is, but we still need Mr. Inspector to sign off. 

I'm going to post some words and pics here later today or tomorrow, but in the meantime we have a couple of chairs, blue skies, a fabulous view, and...

...a serious case of the happies! 



                                                                          

Monday's Laundry

Hello Monday! I missed posting on Saturday as we ended up having a travel day, and I think I already told you I'm not posting on Sundays. Essentially this whole Write 31 is filled with rules of my own making. I like it that way.

I'm not going to be on topic today either, because I don't feel like being tied to the word prompt. I feel like catching up.

Day 19-catchup

We've had positively glorious weather the past several days. Hubs and I both said we'd forgotten how gorgeous fall feels in this part of the country. A couple of my northern NJ friends posted pics of snowflakes falling over the weekend, and do you know I was not even the teeniest bit jealous?

Late Friday afternoon Daughter2 joined hubs and I at the movies. We saw Bridge of Spies which we all thoroughly enjoyed. The film is based on a true story, and the casting is excellent. When is Tom Hanks not believable in something? He's wonderful in this flick too, and Mark Rylance is fabulous as the spy Rudolf Abel.

After the film ended we dropped Daughter2 off to meet her honey, and since it was such a beautiful evening hubs and I decided to watch some of the university women's soccer match. Our girl's Alma mater was playing our own Alma mater, which made choosing sides a little hard for me. Hubs settled the question by wearing our own team shirt, but bringing stadium seats bearing the hometown team logo. I cheered when either side scored so Go Team!

The sky had such lovely variation in color as the sun sank, and hubs pointed out it looked exactly like our state license plate. Ha! It did! Crescent moon and all. There's nothing like an October sky, is there?

Saturday we got on the road bright and early as we needed to be in TN by 11. The road from our little corner of SC over to TN crosses the mountains of North Carolina and it's stunning, especially this time of year. We cranked up the tunes and enjoyed the ride.

We had a Memorial Service to attend in the morning, then spent the rest of the day relaxing with family in the Smokies. The peaceful side for those in the know.

Sunday morning hubs and I met his parents for early church, and then breakfast after which was so nice. At one point during church hubs put his arm around his mama, and she got a little teary eyed. It's so special to have your kids seated beside you in a pew, no matter your age or theirs.

Later we met hubs brother and sister-in-law for a drive out to their lake lot. They're building on a lake in Tennessee, and we're both at about the same stage of construction. That would be the lot-is-mostly clear, septic-in, no-house-yet stage.

But we're both getting there!

Hubs and I headed home, but had plans for a fun little surprise en route. We've been back and forth to TN three times since moving south in August, and every time we pass the exit for a little town in NC we say we're going to stop.

Sweet, sweet friends of ours from the UK years bought a B&B in a really charming NC town back in June. If you've been reading here a while, these are the friends we met up with in Hong Kong when we were there in 2012.

They were living in China at the time, but have changed geography just a little since then, ahem, and are now the proud owners of a lovely B&B, less than two hours from our home. It was about 4 PM, and as we were approaching the area we mapped it, saw the inn was not a ridiculous drive from the highway, and decided to go for it.

Yes, we are those friends who drop in unannounced, but sometimes that is the most fun thing in the world.

We pulled around the side of the building and noticed the kitchen door was open.

Yes, we are those friends who let themselves in through your kitchen door just to see the look on your face and hear your excited shout.

Totally worth it. Made my heart happy and I know they'd say the same. We didn't stay long as they had guests coming and going, but we did get a tour of their fantastic new home, and we can't wait to go back and stay the night. We'll book the regular way next time.

And now it's Monday and I'm finally catching up on the mountain of laundry and grocery shopping and bill pay and other general nonsense that Monday calls for.  Also, know that when you're building in a state with red clay dirt, you're going to have some ridiculous laundry.

Hoping to get back in the swing of the one-word prompt challenge tomorrow, but I'm outta the box when it comes to writing this month, so we'll see. In the meantime, I hope your Monday is filled with all the colors of fall!

It Ain't Easy Being Green

It's Friday, which means today's word prompt is posted the day of, and we set our timers for five minutes of unedited writing for sheer love of the written word.  For more five minute posts on today's prompt visit Kate at Heading Home. Here we go-

Day 16- green

It's Fall y'all. And it's my favorite. I love the color and the light and the coolness in the air. I love jeans and fleece jackets and the way the earth yields to God's grand design. Hubs and I enjoy hiking and we're excited to explore the many parks and trails around our new home state. I wrote about our visit to Pretty Place here, and yesterday we headed back up the mountain for a hike to Raven Cliff Falls.

I know, more Dramamine, but we do what we must.
Plus this weather is sheer perfection.

We stopped first at the Visitor Center at Caesar's Head State Park, and took in the magnificent view from the overlook there.

Talk about green. That's Table Rock in the distance, and it's on our list too. As hubs says every time we see it in the distance, 'I've got to get over there. It looks high and dangerous.' And of course I say 'Me too. I love me some high danger.' Ha!

We've had an abundance of rain in the Upstate this fall, so I don't think the colors are going to be as vibrant as they might be otherwise.

Still lovely though.

I'd read in our handy hiking handbook that the hike to the falls was about 2 miles in and 2 miles out, and rated not strenuous, but that's if you take the guidebook with you and read the directions. We left the guidebook in the car, because it seemed simple enough...cross the road, hop on the trail, hike two miles in, see beautiful falls.

There were a few problems with this plan. The short version is pretty much my modus operandi whenever I go hiking in the woods with hubs. I leave the car park feeling jubilant, energized, ready to take on the world. At some point we realize we're either a) not on the right trail or b) taking the long way round instead of the direct route we intended, and I end up on the verge of frustrated tears.

Sometimes I might even fall right on over the verge.

The gentleman at the visitor's center said yes, cross the road, hop on the trail to the left and follow it around. It will take about an hour. So that's what we did. Except we were first supposed to drive down the road another mile, park there, cross that road, and hop on that trail to the left.

Bother.

What's an extra four miles on a beautiful autumn afternoon? Well it might just be the thing that sends me over the verge. Also, it was steep aka strenuous. Whatever. I got over myself, we found the right entry point, and off we went feeling almost jubilant again.

The trail was lovely and high and so serene. We were anxious to reach the falls because we'd read they're the most visited falls in the state of South Carolina.

We hiked a while before coming to this-

Hmmm....looks like police tape. Danger. Do Not Enter. Which is exactly what it was. Apparently there are a series of bridges you need to cross to get to the falls and with all the recent storms one of the bridges made the route impossible.

Unless you want to hike an additional four hours around them, but do not attempt it without food, water, and plenty of daylight.

He is seriously thinking about it y'all.

I was not.

We carried on anyway, along the un-waterfall trail, because we'd read there was an overlook that would allow you a glimpse of them. I'm zoomed in, and if you look hard you'll see there's a fabulous waterfall waaaaay across the valley.

I read the falls plunge over four hundred feet, so we definitely didn't get to appreciate the full effect, and we'll want to come back another time.

As hubs and I are standing alone on this wooden platform about three miles into the woods in the middle of nowhere admiring the far off falls, a group of seven or eight college boys hiked in. They were so polite, and really friendly, and we chatted for a bit. Turns out one of them went to high school with my brother-in-law's niece and nephew.

Oh don't you just love this big small beautiful world?