Lacoochee kid

I spent the last two weeks in Florida.  I had planned to go to attend Women of Faith with my good friend, Peg.  I left on the Sunday before Labor Day on the auto-train.  Arriving in Bradenton, I spent a few days with my father-in-law and a few more days with Mary Jane, a friend whose sons I taught in Haiti.  And then I spent a couple of nights with my friends, Don and Elsie.  I got to see a lot of people, got the last bit of stuff out of storage, and then I went to Orlando and went to Women of Faith to attend their farewell tour.  It was a busy two weeks, and while I loved being there, I was glad to come back home.

When I made to decision to move finally from Florida to Virginia, there was no looking back, and I have not regretted at all the move.  I have a lovely home.  I've found a warm, loving church, and I'm getting to know some of the locals, as well as a lovely lady down the street who has moved here to be nearer her grandchildren.  I've had a young woman staying with me since the middle of August.  She is here, interning in our church for a year and working in the community.  We've had a good time together.  I've been "living history" to her...since she's so young, and I'm older.  I will not say "elderly."

The air is beginning to be crisp.  I had to close the back door this afternoon because the air coming in was a bit cool.  I posted a photo of a tree beginning to turn yesterday, and someone said,  "You know what follows fall, don't you."

Anyway, back to today.  I went over to Chick-Fil-A this morning for breakfast, and I saw a poster advertising a senior trip to Sight and Sound for the Christmas program.  I had called a travel agent about a similar trip, and it was all sold out, so I was thrilled to see this and make a reservation to go.  Later, I had a doctor's appointment with an endocrinologist, and I mentioned to her that I had not had my A1C checked since January, and she said that they could do it right there in the office.  It was the lowest that it had been for a while.  That made me SO happy.  The doctor said, "If we could only see more of those..."

While I was there, David called to see if I could pick Ella up after school and take her to get her glasses adjusted.  Of course, he didn't have to ask twice.  I love being close by and being able to help out whenever needed, or just to be with her.  After going to the optician, I took her with me while I had some blood drawn.  While there, a nurse who had worked in her school clinic came into the cubicle and saw Ella.  She was so happy to see her again.  We mentioned a little boy who accompanied Ella to the clinic to get her meds before lunch, and the nurse said, "When you see H., give him a hug for me."  Ella said, "Well, now, that would be awkward."  So then the nurse said, "Well, tell him hello for me."

After David and Ella left, I went to Ruby Tuesday to get my birthday hamburger, and the server said to me, "You're a teacher, aren't you.  Did you get your air fixed?"  It must have been three months since I had seen her.  I told her how much it meant to me to be recognized by someone here.  Those of you who know me well know what I mean by that.  Coming from a town where I lived all my life and knowing so many people to a place where I know so few, her comment to me meant so much.

All the little things that happened today were big things for me.  I know every day won't be like this one, but I'll welcome them.

 As she celebrates this year, we are celebrating that new drugs are appearing on the scene that are making a real difference in the lives of those with cystic fibrosis.  Recently a drug was approved that is targeted at Ella's mutation.  While right now, it is only available for those twelve and over, trials are being done in children younger.  We are so thankful that Ella has been very healthy and pray that this continues to be the case.
 The highlight of her day on Sunday was a trip to Build-a-Bear with several of her friends.  When they were done, all returned to Ella's house for a cookout and playing in the yard.  In just a few days, she and her friends will be starting fourth grade.  Can you believe it?  Happy birthday, Ella.

Spring is certainly in bloom in the Shenandoah Valley.  During the last couple of weeks, the weather has warmed up and flowers and trees are blooming and beautiful.  This weekend I drove over the mountain to Charlottesville, and all along the side of the highway, the redbud and dogwood are just so pretty.

Waynesboro is the home of P.Buckley Moss.  A prolific artist, she moved to this area in 1964 with her husband and five children.  She grew up in New York city.  When she entered school, she was a poor student, and she was found to be dyslexic.  She then began to study art and found her gift there.  You can read about her early life here.  When she and her family moved to the valley, she found Amish and old order Mennonites living here. (I have referred to these dear people in an earlier post.)
When you look at her art work, you will find that they became the subject of many of her paintings.

She has a gallery in downtown Waynesboro, right next to Stella, Bella, and Lucy's.  After having breakfast the other day, I stepped into the gallery, and as I was looking at the art work and the prints that were for sale, in she walked and we talked for quite a few minutes.  She has had a home in St. Petersburg and a gallery there, but she has recently sold that and moved back here.  As I was looking, I found the print that I just had to have.  She has a couple of prints of a mama manatee and baby.  I bought one.

This weekend she has had a barn show where she greets people and signs works that they have purchased.  I went out early Friday afternoon with my print and got it signed.  Now I'll have to wait a little while before I get it framed.

All the photos that I've posted here are from that signing day.  I took photos of some of the prints.  You will see the glare of lights on some of them.  The best way to see them is to come visit me, and I'll take you and show them to you!

Sunday night was another wonderful experience in my new life here in Virginia.  When I was a girl, all-night gospel sings were popular, and many times we went to hear the gospel quartets sing.  They didn't quite last all night, but they did go on for a long time.  And then, in our town churches used to get together on a fifth Sunday for a hymn sing after church on Sunday night.  I remember how I always loved going to those.


We did do some a capella singing.  At a couple of spots a lady came up with her pitch pipe and led in a couple of songs.  I think that was my favorite part.  When she introduced one of the songs, she said that it was one that "we had all learned in school." When she blew the pitch, you could hear all the parts coming on right on pitch, and then it started.  I loved it!  I love it at church when the accompaniment drops out and all you hear are the voices.

I looked for it on the internet, and I found a video of it being sung by a men's chorus in India.  You have to listen hard to hear all the words, but you certainly can hear all the parts.  I'll be singing it in my head for a while, and I hope our church sings it so that I can learn it better.  Click on the link to watch and listen.

The photos used in this blog were used with permission of Ginny from Let Your Light Shine.

 There were lots of books there, but this one in particular caught my eye.  I would be interested  in reading this one since Mennonites are pacifists, and I wonder what role they played.  Perhaps they were in a support role.  I'll have to find out.
There were quite a few folks from the church there that I'm attending, so it gave me an opportunity to get to know them all a little bit better.  Names, names, names, I'm trying to learn names.  And so far, I'm not doing too badly.

 This particular church was of the old order of Mennonite.  There are no tire tracks, only the marks of the buggy wheels.  The parking lot, or hitching lot, is very organized.

 There are posts to hitch the horse and a concrete slab at each spot to put the feed for the animals.
 On the way back, we stopped by the lake where we saw these lovely swans.

In several yards I saw something that one hardly sees any more.  I remember we always hung our clothes out to dry.  I remember one time my mother got so upset because someone had come along and stolen some of the clothes from the line.  I don't imagine that would happen in a community like this.

In this area of Virginia where I have moved, there are a lot of Mennonites, and there are several different kinds, just like the Baptists and the Presbyterians, and other denominations.  When I got home, I googled "Old Order Mennonites" and found a very interesting article that was published a few years ago in a Virginia magazine.  I think you would find it interesting too.  You can read it here.

It's a small world, after all.  No, I haven't been to Disney, but I'll bet you'll be humming that song all day.  I've been in Virginia for two weeks now.  When I arrived, it was very, very cold...at least very cold for this Floridian.  Snow was on the ground, and there was more to follow.  Temperatures hovered around zero for a couple of nights, but two weeks later, spring is definitely in the air.  Right now at 11:30, it's 62 with a high expected of 72 today.  It isn't going to stay quite that way all week, but it's getting there.  Crocuses are popping up .around the city  I understand they are the first flowers of spring.  At least, they are the first I have seen.

My daughter, Sarah, has been helping me get settled in by unpacking boxes and moving some things to the basement that I won't be using for a while.  She has broken down boxes to make them easier to take to the recycling center.  I hope I can find someone who might need them before I take them.  David has been a great help too.  He did all the legwork in my buying this house.  In fact, he found it for me.  It is a perfect fit.  I really like being on one level, but this means I have to do more exercising since I don't have stairs to contend with.

I was at a dinner the other night at David's church, and I sat at a table with a couple who have ties with Haiti.  As we were talking, the gentleman said that his wife's parents had been missionaries in Trinidad, so I asked him if they knew one of the missionaries who had been with the board I was with.  It turns out that the ladies were best friends.

This morning I had occasion to go to the post office, and when the clerk saw the package I was mailing, she said, "Oh, I used to live there."   She graduated from Riverview High School in Sarasota, was in the band, and later lived in Bradenton.

There is another couple here in Waynesboro whose daughter graduated from BCS with my son.  I found out about that when I mentioned Waynesboro to a friend at home before I moved.  He said, "Oh, I'm going to be going there for a family reunion next summer.  My brother and his wife moved there to be near the grandkids."

So, it is a small world, isn't it.

 In my old age, I'm experiencing some things I haven't before.  Someone asked me in church yesterday how long it had been since I had seen snow, or if I had ever seen it.  When I lived in Cincinnati back in the late 60's, there was some snow, although it wasn't the norm.  I've been here in Virginia a few times in the last few years when there has been some, but I haven't lived here during the winter.
 I did have a frosty welcome.  Friends in Florida had asked me if I was sure I wanted to come when I did.  My response was "If winter come, can spring be far behind."  In Florida one of the signs of spring is spring training for baseball, and I must say I am enjoying the posts on Facebook that show the Pirates and the Rays getting ready for opening day
 I am quickly becoming a fan of UVA sports.  The basketball team has been ranked #2 for most of the season, having lost only 2 games.  It will be fun to see what they do in the post-season.  The baseball team does well too...if they can just get the football team up there, we'll be all set.
 Back to the snow...the other evening I made the mistake of getting a caramel mocha about 9 o'clock and found myself awake most of the night.  As I was lying in bed, the light was so bright outside, and as I looked out, I was in awe of the light of the full moon on the snow.  That was a first, and one that I hope I will see again, just not this year.  In the morning when I got up and looked out, I saw the hoof prints of deer in the snow, some large and some small...perhaps a mother and her fawn.
David said, "Mom, you might see some on your street at night. Be careful when you're driving home."  Sure enough, last evening when I came near my house, there was a large deer in the middle of the street, and when I turned to go into the driveway, I saw a small one run toward the back of the house.

Now back to unpacking....stay tuned.

Over the last year, I pondered making a move to Virginia to be near my children.  All my life, except for college years and ten years after that, were spent in Florida.  I'm one of those rare Florida natives that one runs into occasionally, and I've always been very proud of that fact.  I love looking at sites, like Old Florida on Facebo*k and seeing photos of cracker houses and sugar cane mills that remind me so much of my grandparents' home in north Florida.

Whenever I'm out with friends, I invariably run into someone I've known, either from high school, from church, from work, from Sweet Adelines.  I've always loved that...that feeling of familiarity with everything around me.

Well, at my ripe old age, I've moved from Florida to Virginia, to the Shenandoah Valley, to new surroundings, where I will find I have to find my new normal.  I've been coming to Virginia for the last eight years, spending lots of time here with my granddaughter and my son.  Five years ago, my daughter moved here so that she could be closer to Ella and David.  The only time she would see Ella was when they might come to Florida, and she said to me, "Mom, I want to see Ella grow up." So she moved.

So I've moved.  They are the only family I have.  I've bought a home here, and I am in the middle of boxes being unpacked and things put away.  I'm waiting for the delivery of bedroom furniture tomorrow...hopefully, but it is supposed to snow, so I don't imagine it will make it tomorrow.  It will be over a week before I get internet and TV, so I'm spending time during the day at David's using his internet.   It's amazing how unnecessary TV becomes when you don't have it.

I hope to blog more.  I'm looking forward to a trip out west in May, and then I hope to get really settled in and get to know this area more.

So...while they're singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" in Florida, folks here are singing "Let it Snow" or, maybe I should say, "Snow, Snow, Go Away.  Come again another day."