What a beautiful day it was today! Perfect weather, trees are beginning to turn, morning glories are blooming each morning on our fence line, my cough has disappeared overnight - overall a very great day.
Had to take my little IG - Envi - to the clinic today. She was under the weather - not eating or drinking. Everything checked out normal but she was a little dehydrated so gave her sub-q fluids. She was so good today - stayed right under my desk and never left. Good?? Or intimidated???? Maybe a little of both. She met her first up close kitty today. She has seen them outside of our yard and loves to bark and try to chase them off. But this one was a little different. This one was teeny tiny - about 10 days old - and made a lot of noise. Not too sure she liked it. But she was curious. She was feeling much better tonight and ate a full meal!! My chow hound is back!!
Well, it has been a LONG time since I have written something here. But I think I am going to start back writing here - to put my thoughts and feelings down AND to put down what happens in my daily life. I don't think I need to worry about anyone reading it - I don't think many people ever read it when I gave them the blog address. And I really doubt that anyone in my family will read it (except maybe a sister).
Anyway - to start - I have been feeling pretty crappy this week. Ann, Carole and I were trying to get a family get-together going this year. I didn't want to be the one to have to organize it but somehow I wound up doing it anyway. Put out an e-mail - not much response. Mike and Jenny both said they would definitely be there. Thomas said his dad said yes. Rick said he couldn't - Austin still in school (this is over Memorial Day weekend). And of course I heard from Ann and Pat that they would be there. So - put out another e-mail telling the family that I needed to know this week yes or no as we needed to put reservations on a house if we were all going to get together. And then I heard a "maybe - but only for one night" from Jerry but daughters probably wouldn't come; Aunt Dixie had other plans for then; Michele said no they couldn't afford it (she needs to talk to her husband about saying yes to Thomas); and then Jenny (who had said yes) said she didn't know cause Alan might not be able to get off. Put the e-mail out on Sunday and here it is Tuesday night and that is all I have heard from. Put me in a downright depressed and then angry mood. I can't get this family to want to get to know each other for anything. My family newsletters and pleas for news from each family goes unanswered. I tell everyone when birthdays are coming up but no cards are ever sent to anyone. I know everyone gets busy with their own thing - but someday......they will all wish they had spent more time with family. I know I do but my words now are falling on very DEAF ears.
So....I am pretty sure the family get-together will be cancelled and Pat, Ann, Carole and I will probably get together ourselves and go to Branson. I am still hoping Larry and Marilyn can come but they probably won't. Vince had prostate surgery and may not be up to a trip and I understand that Marilyn would not want to leave him. And if Larry can't come (which I wish he would), maybe Betty would come. And I WILL NOT BE INVOLVED in planning another family get-together.
I have been talking with the Lord and I think I expect too much from my family and they have definitely been disappointing me. So now I won't expect ANYTHING from them and maybe I will be ok. I am not sending out any more family newsletters except to my siblings, Aunt Dixie, and Mike. And the birthday cards are now going to stop. I know it is petty - but for all the cards I have sent to EVERY MEMBER of my family for several years now, the only ones who send me cards are my siblings.
So starting now - things are going to change. I know who I can depend on and who really cares - my sisters and brother. But most of all - GOD CARES. Through all this and through everything in my life I know God is always there with me, beside me and guiding me. Thank you Lord!!
Terri and I had a terrific weekend this weekend. We drove to Corbin, Kentucky to take her sister Melody to meet their brother Pat who was taking Melody back to Indiana for a 2-week visit. After they left for Indiana, Terri and I spent the night at Corbin and went to Cumberland Falls again and then to Pine Mountain State Park. But this blog is about the adventure we had on Friday afternoon at Cumberland Falls.
To begin with, we arrived at the Falls and it was a big difference from last August. With all the rain, the Falls were very full.
But they were still very pretty. We hiked around the area and stopped and talked to a park volunteer. She told us about some more falls on the other side of the river and how to get there. It sounded like a quick hike and a chance to see some more falls - Eagle Falls. So off we went to the trail on the other side. Thus the adventure begins. Let me tell you - this trail was NOT an easy trail but we didn't know that until we were already on our way. (And in our excitement for more pictures and nature, I did something I NEVER do - I forgot my cell phone and left it in the car.)The trail started fairly easy and we saw this unusual site - a HUGE growth or something on this tree. Kind of weird, huh?!!
Then the trail started to get difficult. Here is our progress going to the top. At the top we stopped and saw Cumberland Falls from that side of the river and it was beautiful. But still had not found Eagle Falls.
So, we continued on........
The trail was not as wide or very well marked. We went up hills, down hills, over trees, rocks.... finally we saw some metal steps going down toward the river. We thought - we are almost there!!! And then it was........WHERE'S THE TRAIL??????
We could not see a trail - so Terri went up ahead - over rocks and more rocks. I went over a few but thought I had better stop before I slipped and twisted an ankle. Terri went around a corner and then came back and said the falls were there but to get there we would have to climb over bunches of rocks and the falls really weren't that impressive. So - all that and we didn't get to see the "beautiful" falls this lady told us about. I hope she was having a good chuckle on sending us on this "little hike"!!! And if that disappointment wasn't bad enough, WE STILL HAD TO HIKE BACK TO THE CAR!!!!! And as you can see, it was not an easy hike back either!!!
But WE MADE IT!!!! We figured we hiked about 3 miles over a very difficult trail, with no cell phone in case we got hurt, and still didn't get to see the falls. But would I do it again - YES!!! It was strenuous but we had a good time and laughed about it alot. But as you can see by this last picture, I was VERY GLAD TO SEE MY LITTLE CAR!!!!
We had a fun time but I was very thankful to the Lord for watching out for us and keeping us safe. If we had slipped and hurt ourselves, we had no way to contact anyone. But the Lord was watching over us. Our next hiking adventure on Saturday wasn't nearly as exciting!!!!
