Eavesdropping

What do two sunflowers gossip about, anyway? I couldn't get close enough to catch the whispers. But it certainly seems that some secret was quickly spreading across the field I stopped to admire.

By the way, did everyone but me already know about the masses of sunflowers the state of Minnesota produces? I had no idea, but I sure passed dozens of them on my way home from Roseau last week. They were fun to watch, all of them facing the sun like an audience at a giant outdoor movie theater. 

Kalimpong, West Bengal, India

 

Driving Miss Mindy

Hello, hello.
I just returned from a roadtrip to Roseau.
Seven hours up on Tuesday, seven hours back on Friday.
All by myself.

I actually had loads of fun. Not just in between the driving days, but during. More on that later. But first, here's an idea of how excited I was to go up and see my beautiful friend Emily and her husband Rob....

I stayed fairly entertained the entire time. I'm not easily bored. Here I am listening to Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. I look pensive because I am. I'm trying to remember my lines from once upon a time when I was in that show...

I'm telling you, the entire trip was thrilling. There were... fields... and trees... and lots of lakes. Oh yeah, and then the fields. Did I mention fields? And ponds? The shrubbery and trees? It was awesome. I wasn't bored even once. Really.

Ok, maybe by hour number seven I was a little ready to get out of the car. Fun pictures from the trip coming up later!

Oakwood City Residence

Traveling the world has its ups and downs. Missing your flight home after being gone a year is definitely one of the downs. But when Steffi and I missed ours because of a not-delivered wake-up call, we discovered one of the ups: free hotel stays!

We stayed at Oakwood City Residence in Bangkok, Thailand for an unexpected extra night. After the initial disbelief and devastation - "We're NOT going home today?!" - we found we had been given a beautiful gift. Our first night was short and hurried - quick swim in the pool, quick tour of the grounds, and quick instant noodle dinner. Our second, unplanned day was leisurely and pleasant. We discovered beautiful nooks tucked away in various corners of the hotel...

We spent the morning reading our Bibles at the side of this beautiful pool...

...and even had a sweet hour of prayer in these beautiful surroundings...

We also spent time at the nearby mall sampling various Thai foods and buying cheap jewelry. After adding in laughter, a warm sunny day, and just the fun of spending time together... we found we wouldn't have gone back and changed a thing! God's little surprises are always different from what we expect... and better! 

Oh, the Pain!

Last night I played on my sister's co-ed softball team in her place, as she is having fun in the sun in Florida. Seeing as I hadn't picked up a glove, bat, or ball in over a year, I warned my brother-in-law that I might not exactly be an asset to the team. He countered with, "Mel, we're short two girls. Basically, we need a body."

Well, I have one of those. And boy do I feel it! They stuck me at catcher, where I could do the least possible damage to the team. We played a double header. That means there were two full hours of squatting down to catch the pitch and standing up to throw it. Squat, stand, squat, stand, squat, stand, on and on (and on) until I couldn't even guess the number of squats. All I know is it was WAY more than I would ever do in my right mind in any exercise class. Seriously.

This morning when I woke up, I could hardly walk. I can't wait until tomorrow. It's always worse the second day...

Second Try

While we were in Cross Lake last month, we decided to climb this old fire tower.


It took quite a long time.


And when we got to the top, the watchtower platform was locked up. But the view was still worth it.

 

First Try

So call me a little behind-the-times, but I've never posted a picture on my blog. Here goes my first shot. This is me and my beautiful sister at her birthday dinner. We love P. F. Chang's. We also love sitting at a table so near the restaurant's front door that incoming diners can sample off your plate, and the Piccadilly valet boys keep asking which car you were waiting to pick up. It was a fun night.

Just Wondering

Maybe it's some kind of magic number thing, but I was kind of waiting for five.

Four listeners... is that enough to start doing something with this blog again?