Deck Sitting

Mom and I are making good use of a beautiful day. After weeding and lunch we are settled on the deck. Mom is reading and I am writing.

I don’t know if she spends much time outdoors but she will while I am here. Sitting outside is on my top 10 list of things I enjoy doing. However…sitting outside in dry Colorado is very different than sitting outside in hot, humid Illinois.

Check back with me later in the summer to see how my deck sitting forays are going.

View From the Treetop

The slats of wood nailed to the trunk shifted as I grabbed one over my head. As I grasped the bit of wood above me I lifted one foot onto the lower slat. I kept reaching and stepping until I touched the platform nestled into the crook of thick branches in the middle of the huge shade tree. When I pulled myself to the place I was seeking I sank with a sigh to the rough floor beneath me. My place, my hideaway. Peering through the leaves I could see the houses across the street, I wondered if they could see me through the leafy shade.

Do kids still build tree-houses?

It was a wonderful way to wile-away a lazy summer.

Building a tree-house wasn’t something accomplished in a day.

You first had to find the right tree and get permission to build in it.

Then there was time scrounging in the garage for wood that could be used.

It might involve a trip to the grocery store for discarded orange crates. Those had to be dismantled so the wood could be used for a new purpose.

Begging dad for permission to use his tools with the promise that they would be returned or suffer the consequences of the rest of the summer locked in your room.

Securing the steps was key to getting up into the tree. Then tying a rope to the tree so that you could haul up the lumber needed for the platform. This is definitely where a friend came in handy.

Somehow we were able to get the wood stable and secured. We didn’t have carpentry skills or an adult supervising us, just the desire to make this dream come true. Friends working together can accomplish almost anything.

There were several styles of tree-houses to choose from. You could go with the very simple platform or you could add sides, have a door opening and widow openings and a roof. The latter style took a lot more lumber than we usually had.

The tree-house was a wonderful meeting place for friends, “I’ll meet you at the tree-house,” was spoken over telephone wires or shouted across hedges.

Games were played, books read, secrets told, lasting friendships made in that place amongst the leafy canopy.

As an adult I miss the laid back, free from a schedule, time of childhood summers.

How about you? What summer memories do you miss?

SUMMER RECAP

Summertime is over and it was a hot one in Colorado Springs. We have enjoyed some spells of rain with beautiful thunder. I love to feel enveloped by it when it rolls on and on.
In June I attended the Glen Eyrie Writer’s Workshop and it was fabulous. If you are looking at conferences for next year I recommend this one. I had such a great time with the featured writers/speakers, Angela Hunt, James Scott Bell, Nancy Rue, and Kathy Mackel. We laughed and learned. The location is beautiful, lots of places to walk, hike and spend peaceful time with God. It doesn’t get much better. The picture is of the members of Words For The Journey Writer's Guild with author James Scott Bell.

In July my husband and I headed to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida for a family reunion with his brothers, his sister and their families. We had fun, his family knows how to have a good time. I did learn a very important lesson: Don’t go to Florida in July, can you say hot and humid, record breaking temperatures.
Family picture without all the kids.

July 28th our writer’s group Words For The Journey had a write-in at the Broadmoor, lots of ladies came and the click, click of computers could be heard all day.

August has been a hot month in Colorado Springs. I have spent the month reading and playing with my granddaughter. Did I mention that I will be a grandmother again in November, another girl is expected. Yeah!

This last week of August has been an unpleasant one for me, I picked up a bug and spent a whole week in my house. I am still recouping from the cough and I need to recoup fast, because I have a busy week ahead.

Monday I will be getting my hair done, it is time for a trim and color. I wonder how gray I am? Not ready to find out yet so, touch up here I come. I would like to try a new style but I have no idea what look I would want. Ugh, hair issues, you love them and hate them at the same time. I’ll also be spending time with my granddaughter.

Tuesday evening our writer’s guild Words For The Journey will kick off our return to meetings, we took a break during the summer. The guest speaker will be author Robert Liparulo. The meeting will be held at the Barnes & Noble Lone Tree by Park Meadows Mall. Join us if you are in the vicinity, we start at 7pm.

Wednesday is church night and also more time with my granddaughter.

My daughter Coleen will be flying into Denver from Kansas City on Thursday morning. Thursday night my other kids and families will be congregating at my not very clean house, remember I have been sick for a week, for dinner.

Friday morning Coleen and I will leave for Silverton where she will awaken on Saturday morning to begin a 48 hour running race. She has participated in many ultra runs; she completed the Leadville 100 mile run last year. She takes after her dad who has run many ultras. You can read my story about them in the Chicken Soup for the Soul Runners book that came out in July.

See what I mean about a busy week.

I am planning on September being the month I settle down and get serious about my writing again. I’ll keep you posted.

I hope you had a summer full of fun, frolic and fulfillment.

Spring Road Trip Delights

It is good to get away from home. A driving trip to Kansas City, not looked upon as an exciting event, has sights for the eyes to feast upon, if one has eyes to see.

The Kansas countryside displays trees dressed in their spring fancy. There is something so alive in the intense green of early spring leaves, unlike the deeper green that comes in the heat of summer. This bright green is an assault to the senses. I miss the Midwest offerings of spring; it comes so very late in the semi-arid region of Colorado.

In the Midwest each season arrives with intensity.

Spring offers bright green trees, tulips, daffodils, lilacs and fragrances drifting through windows thrown open, driving out the staleness from a house closed up tight against the cold of winter.

Summer is warm sun, beaches, flowers growing everywhere, and fruits and vegetables growing on the vines and stalks. The smell of fresh mown grass, the prickle of the cut grass stuck to your sweat covered skin.

The autumns in the Midwest are a riot of colors on the trees and ground. Maple leaves, as big as plates, the color of the sun, hanging on the branches and littering the ground. The reds, oranges, yellows and browns of the leaves raked in a huge pile ready to experience the giggles of children who leap into the mound with joy. The air has a distinct smell of decaying leaves and plants, but it is a good smell, earthy, a fragrance whispering, “what is happening in this death will be life giving in the spring.”

Winter is harsh, dropping in like a parachute refusing to be rolled up for months. The air so cold it hurts your lungs with each breath, snow piled on top of snow, some beautifully white but most caked with the dirt splashed from passing vehicles.

Intense, full on seasons, no sliding from one season to another, you know when you have entered a new one.

This morning Kansas offered up thunder, lightning and rain, a gift I received with a smile. I love the sound of thunder, a beautiful, rumbling percussion. Each entrance and exit is different, the duration long or short.

God is so gracious, giving us delights for all our senses, imagine the world in black and white with no fragrances or textures. He created us with five senses to experience all of His glorious creation, are we using them or blindly lock stepping through each day unaware of His gift.

Photo:Morguefile

Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer

July 10th, already. Have you done the things you planned? Have you even planned anything?

Don’t let this more laid back time get away from you. Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer.



I’d hate for you to be facing the Labor Day weekend and wondering where the time went. I’d hate for that to happen to me, yet it seems to happen to me every year. How about you, do you have regrets at the end of the season of summer? Make it different this year. I am going to try.

On the other hand you may be one of those who packs so much into each day that you are wiped out, wrung out, and dried out, and giving everyone who comes near you the evil eye.

There is a balance here. Make a plan. Find out what is happening in your area this summer. Check your newspapers, check online. Make a list, or lists.

First list: events/activities planned just for kids. Don’t have any children? Borrow one, or more, it will give you an excuse to act childish and it will give a worn out mom a break.

Second list: events/activities you want to do, adult things, concerts in the park (you can bring the kids to these but why???), rides on your motorcycle (can’t take the kids on this one unless you have a sidecar, again why would you???), you get the idea.

Third list: Things to do as a family: beach, pool, amusement park, vacation, drives in the mountains, picnics, even just a walk in your neighborhood can be fun. You get exercise and you meet all your neighbors.
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I am sure you can think of a lot more things to do. Write them down, put them on your calendar. I hate when I realize something I wanted to attend was last weekend; that is why you shouldn’t trust your memory.

If you are married to someone who thinks adventure is sitting in front of the TV or a computer, then find a friend to go with you, or go by yourself. Sometimes your own company is good for you.

Gathering others to join you on your excursions adds to the fun. Don’t forget your camera.

Allow time to just laze around, find a good book, the library has lots.

Right now my hammock is calling me. Have a wonderful summer.





Thank you to the Nancy Lee Ould family for the youtube video.