Wednesday, August 14, 2019

 
You could say we were prepared.......
1 awesome Toyota 4-wheel drive RAV4
1 mighty shovel
1 kitty litter bucket of cinder ashes
3 pair of back-up gloves to replace any wet ones
1 big tarp - enough bungee cords for an army
4 blankets
2 pillows
2 lap tops
2 charged cell phones
Reading materials
1 thermos of coffee
H2o
1 pack of chewing gum (secretly stashed)
 Homemade muffins
 Mom's sandtarts
 Granola bars
 Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate mini bars (plenty of those)
 Dried sweet cherries (sustenance for the hunger to come!) 
AND most importantly...God...

Yesterday, when Marty was driving home from JFK airport with Josh, Mary Anne, & me in the car, there were 20+mph winds making us dance the tango (minus the rose) all over the roads. SNOW ( something no-one wants - at least in my opinion) was falling at a rate of 1-2" per hour.

We will tell you that no-one slept a wink. We laughed. We were serious as the snow fell and the wind howled.  We silently prayed for safety. We felt Blessed!

We will also tell you that we felt even more Blessed because we know and believe God hears AND answers prayers!

This time prayers were answered in the form of 2 plow trucks plowing and salting in tandom right in front of us for miles! Break out the goodies :)


A 4 hour trip that takes 7 hours is a great adventure because we were safe and being watched over. TYJ. How can people live without HIM? Why would they want to?

Turn Around

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=urq8m_XBxzA~So Blessed......Just a mini-blog down memory lane......Amazing how our brains work.....NO rhyme or reason, but memories from years ago flooded my mind this afternoon on my way home from the college.  I was thinking of my Grandma Baskin and how, when I was a very young little girl,  she used to play the song Turn Around (shown above) on the piano; and sing this to me.  Her talking and singing voice was as loud as could be..seriously it really was. Ask my family! I fondly remember that I was always amazed at how she could  play the notes without looking at the keys, look right at me, smile, belt out the words in perfect pitch, and make me believe she wrote this for me.  She wanted to be an opera singer in her younger days.  Her soprano voice could be heard from "miles away."  In church she was known as the lead singer! She and Pap-Pap blended well - that is if you could hear him over Grandma!  (On a side note, I am thinking this "Baskin-loudness" was totally inherited and most likely genetic on my father's side of the family.)  She easily could have easily been an opera star. Hmm...maybe she really was in many ways. I encourage you to spend some time down a path that you may not always travel and recall a favorite memory.  I'm considering this to be a pleasant way to self-care <3 Enjoy the video and song and travel with me today.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Joyous Laughter


People who laugh actually live longer than those who don’t laugh.  Few persons realize that health actually varies according to the amount of laughter. ~James L. Walsh  With that being said, I would agree to a certain extent.  I believe that laughter is contagious and lightens the load. Psalms 126 offers a wonderful verse about laughter: Psalms 126:2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “the Lord has done great things for them.” I would venture further and say that because of all the Lord does for me and, laughter is good for my soul. He graces me with the joy of laughter and contentment no matter what predicament I get myself into!   My soul is HAPPY!
I have been laughing for the past 2 days at all the conundrums I have gotten myself into. For the past 2 weeks I have been plagued with a nasty strain of the flu, a bronchial chest cold and other achy ailments.  It seems a well-known fact that when a person is not feeling up to par, it is difficult to keep a smile on one’s face.   I consider myself to be a ”smiler” and a “laugher.” Lack of ambition and diminished physical strength is not something to smile about; however, I must be feeling better due to all the laughter I have been blessed with in the last 36 hours.  It you want a few laughs, then keep on reading. 
Feeling a little ambitious with the impending storm a-coming, I whipped up a batch of healthy chili and a crock pot of deer meat. These are some of Marty’s favorites and I thought they matched well with the storm!  Comfort food.  Sadly, he got stuck in the snow storm and to be safe he stayed at New Beginnings overnight.  The food would have to wait! No problem, they always taste better the next day right? 
Since I would be alone, tending the fire was my job and I did it well.  The house was up to 80 degrees.  I like that temp!  A LOT! It may be important for you to know that I am one who usually has a back-up plan when something goes awry.  Well, awry occurred!  On one of my trips to the blustery snow-blowing outside woodpile, I closed the door; not wanting to let any precious heat out of course! NOT a good idea! Thankfully, I had the sense to put on a hoodie and a pair of old sneakers. (Sometimes I sneak outside barefooted but thankfully not last night.) SO, there I am with a pile of wood expecting to turn the knob and nicely go inside to stoke up the fire.  HA! I dropped the wood at the stoop and started laughing out loud.  This locking myself out of the house when Marty is not home seems to be my specialty.  What to do besides laugh and call myself a bumblehead?  Thinking I could walk to the neighbor’s house about ¼ mile away was a good back-up plan because calling someone was not an option as my cell phone was inside on the couch table; nice and warm! It was dark and I was not really dressed that warmly, but, yes I could hoof it to the Israel’s where I envisioned they would put me up on their couch for the night.  Then I remembered the SECRET key!  Ah, yes, the key that would get me back into the house.  Everyone has a secret key.  In my case, I need 10 secret keys; one outside and the other 9 duct taped onto my body!  SO, I trudged through the 12 feet of snow – okay 12 inches- and in less than 10 minutes outside, I was back inside grateful for the warmth. SO grateful and feeling blessed to be in my own home that I decided to put the SECRET key on a chain and wear it around my neck all night; JUST in case!  Wanting to share my narrow escape of a sleepover at the neighbors, I called the Rents.  They said they would have come up and gotten me.  That’s parental love to the extreme.  They would brave a fierce storm to help out their, not so smart, only daughter get back into her house.  Note to self, make sure they have some extra SECRET house keys! 
The next spurt of laughter occurred today after snow blowing and shoveling a wide swath of a path for our chickens.  Thinking they may want to come outside for a look-see and scamper in the snow (do chickens scamper?); I took great care in carving out the perfect area for them.  They made all kinds of joyful clacking and clucking while I stood outside telling them to back up as I opened the door.  They listen well too!  Upon opening the shed door, all 7 of them jockeyed to be first to go outside and see Momma (me).  Matilda won first place. She is a little pushy at times!  Aptly named too!  Have you ever seen a chicken put on their foot-brakes?  Comical to say the least.  It was like a pile up on a major highway. Boom, boom and 5 more booms chicken faces slamming into their sister chicken…..ummm…backsides and making so much racket, you could not hear yourself think!  NOT a good idea for them, but it brought joyous laughter from me.  These adorable ladies never cease to amaze me.  They turned around and high-tailed back into the warm depths of their Marty-built suite of a coop!  I followed them in and went over to the nesting box to retrieve their daily presents.  Today they offered up 3 eggs.  As I thanked them for blessing us daily with these wonderful treats, I carefully and expertly placed them in my right coat pocket; something I do daily without problems….until today!  NOT a good idea.  I said my goodbyes to the girls, closed up their coop and proceeded to take the snow blower back to its shed.  All went smoothly UNTIL I reached into my pocket for the key (not a secret key mind you) to lock the shed.   I not only pulled out the key fob, but with it came a glove-full of a broken, golden yolked egg that went on for miles; at least it seemed that way.  I never knew an egg could make such a colorful wet mess all over me and the snow!  At least the keys only poked one of those chicken gems!  The other 2 survived unscathed; albeit yolk covered though!  Again, I had to laugh.  I started to think about what might happen next in my days of solo-fun here at the Kunzmann Farmette. Just the thought brought me to more laughter. Throughout these past 2 days, I know without a doubt that God watches over me, allowing me to make a mess of things all the while patiently waiting until I turn to Him and seek His guidance.  During these times I remember that I am~SO Blessed

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Save the Food

We finally have electricity!  One does not quite ever realize how much we are dependent upon something until it is gone. I had one of those "duh" moments on Thursday afternoon when the electricity shut off, and then a bigger “DUH” when Friday morning rolled around and we still did not have it! ……Hmm, what to do with the food, especially since we had just stocked our fridge with all sorts of healthy salad fixins’, fresh veggies and fruit!  Well, we could’ve had a party, but at 6:30 a.m. but I wasn’t sure how many of our friends would have come over for a veggie feast at that time of the day!  After praying that our electricity would be back on before the estimated date of next Saturday or a faraway as Tuesday… “Tuesday”-are you kidding me I thought- 5 days of no electricity???… I did the next best thing.  I had to SAVE THE FOOD!

I am reminded of Jeremiah 29:11 –“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  God has blessed me, for I have hope and a future with Him being at the head of my life.  He also has generously blessed me with a mind that likes to wander all over the place thinking up ways to do things, to plan and create, to dream and to press forward to make life around me fun and lighthearted. I even can usually accomplish things when all is said and done!  I love planning and coming up with ideas. I wonder if it is a good consequence of being an only child?

SO, I hatched a plan to save the food!  I quickly thought of the possibilities……Our soon to be new neighbors (across the heavily wooded ravine about ¼ mile away) are having a house built.  Every day for the last few weeks, the workers have used a generator to get power!  Hmm…would I dare run a bright orange extension cord and beg for a lonely socket, as one would ask a neighbor for a cup of sugar?  I would even take some gas over too!  Nice idea, but just not practical or safe because it would take 1320 feet of extension cords…and yes, I did the math too!  On a side note, Man would be so proud of me because I rarely involve math in my plans.  I just ask him and he is instantly able to give me the needed facts.  My brain can’t be bothered with numbers because it is so full of ideas! 

NEXT idea…..After a morning call to my Alpha Rents, they were ready to bring up their generator and keep the freezer and fridge running. Alpha Dad went so far as to get his shoes on and start to hitch up the trailer while Alpha Mother and I devised a fool-proof plan right down to getting the most nitty out of the gritty!   I love my parents SO much!!!! They are always there for us and everyone else!  After much discussion and thought, a generator did not seem practical, especially with the possibility of a 5 day wait for electricity to be restored.  Moving the food seemed easier at the time.   

After 5, yes FIVE, hours of playing food shuffler and moving our fridge and freezer contents from here to there all around Bradford, Tioga and then finally to Lycoming County, all the goodies ended in my Alpha Rents fridge, and in my English Sis's spare freezer.  My family is the best!  Thanks sis for being so fabulous anyways, having a spare freezer and storing my frozen goodies.  For lands sake, she agreed that we CANNOT lose the wonderful deer and hormone-free beef (from Sis's farm no less) plus homegrown frozen corn and fresh-picked blueberries.  Oh, and then there is the cake! That is a story in itself.

Being a second generation "I can wrap that tighter than a drum and it will last forever in the freezer Princess,"  because you see Alpha Mother is the Queen, I was only a tad bit concerned that R&J's frozen wedding cake topper would be slightly thawed as I arrived at the targeted destination.  You see, last year after their beautiful April wedding, I lovingly wrapped their delicious cake topper with 82 miles of plastic wrap, and for an extra dose of protection, secured it with 28 various plastic bags.(Really now it's just recycling the bags right?)  Yup, no freezer ice monsters would ever dare try to attack that!  Ahh…memories…back to the saga of “save the food”… I called R&J on the way to freezer destination and shared my dilemma through a voice message.  They texted and said they had confidence in my caretaking abilities when it came to their topper.  I had a very small moment of glee at that text! Thank you for your trust with the topper.  You may be thinking, get to the point because you just want to know…”Did the newlyweds cake topper make it to the new freezer in its still frozen-form ?”  Absolutely, and nary a dent or smoosh either!  R&J’s topper is nestled safely on the top of all the other frozen goodies.  I breathed a sigh of relief.  Mission accomplished.  Ahhhhh…Big sigh of relief.

Driving through another storm on the way home Friday was almost fun.  Family Life Network was giving a storm warning for Lycoming County for the next hour.  Winds were reported to be about 60 miles per hour.  The trip was uneventful, yet scary when some ill-advised drivers flew by doing what appeared to be 80 mph compared to a long line of us informed and cautious 45 mph drivers.  The upside was that Rav4 had a free power wash and was almost shining when I arrived home!  The sky was a hue of colors, mostly grays and blues with a little black thrown in.  Probably the two best parts of that storm were: 1.) that cool fresh “rain smell” that happens during and after a storm, and 2.) the cool air coming in from the vents was lovely-remember, no air conditioner. How beautiful our little house looked when I drove up the lane; still in one piece, some tree branches and leaves scattered in the yard, even the wood pile that shifted and had fallen over during Thursday’s storm looked quaint! The seesters greeted me with their squawks and clucks as I shut off the engine.  I no more than walked inside when I heard a humming that wasn’t there when I left 5 hours earlier.  I walked over to the fridge and thought I heard it working. Really? It's working-we have power?  Am I going Koo-Koo?  NO need to answer that please-it was simply rhetoric!   Funny how the mind plays tricks on you!  For instance, how many of us believe we feel the vibration of our cell phone in our pockets, but when we reach for it, it is not even in there! Me too! 

So about the fridge… surely it wasn’t Tuesday already…..Nope, it seemed Tri County electric has some fantastic men and women out there working 24/7 trying to restore power to all those in need.  We were not in a terrible need, but certainly feel blessed to have power restored quicker than was originally thought.   There were over 5,000 who suffered outages.  I can truly appreciate how hard these folks work because MBFAM, my brother from another mother (my pet name for him as he related by love and not DNA) works for an electric company.  MBFAM tirelessly works even on his time off to help restore power to those without. He is amazing!

Again, a reminder to never take something for granted. Look around at the simple beauty that surrounds you.  It is there by the bucketfuls.  We have plenty up in our neck of the woods.  At the end of the day when all was said and done-through the laughter and drama I continue to praise the Lord, for I am still…~SO Blessed!

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

The Trip Home: VA to PA





Facebook asks, "What's on my mind?" 
Well, with breathtaking intensity...NEVER believe your adult children when they offer suggested times to leave their place of residence. For example...
Me: "Em, what's a good time to leave so I don't get stuck in the D.C. early morning rush hour traffic?"
Em: "Probably early."
Me: "Yeah, well that's a given but I mean 6 am, 7 am..."
Em: "Well, not 8 am or 9 am cause you'll get stuck and set forever. Traffic starts to get really bad around 8 am"
Me: "So, if I leave at 7 am it should be ok..traffic shouldn't be bad at all then?"
Em: "Mom, you are asking too many questions, just pick a time and leave as long as you don't go during rush hour."
Me: "Ok, I will leave by 7 am."
Em: "That should be fine."

SO, at 6:46 am, after gently kissing my beautiful sleeping adult daughter on the forehead, telling her to take care of herself and that I loved her, I left Arlington VA. My adventure started out rather well. I found my Rav4 in the underworld garage where there is lurking some sinister -like lighting. I touched base with Alpha Mother to let her know my travel plans for the day, gave her and Alpha Dad my love and easily slipped out onto Eads Street. I was thinking…..”Oh yeah, I can do this.” A little Dale Evans "Happy Trails" tune popped into my brain! I was soooooo ready. I had my fresh ground cup of extra strong black coffee, (courtesy of the apartment complex fantastic free coffeerama center, my jug of icy Brita-filtered water with slices of lemon and lime, a freshly homemade gluten-free blueberry muffin (which last night my dear child said, “Hmmm I guess I will get used to these but they taste like dirt with gravel in them.” Gee, so much for my gluten free baking abilities. Note to self-Practice on Marty!). Bye-bye my sleeping daughter, see you soon! The temp gage in the ole' Rav4 registered a whopping 78 degrees outside. Not bad..not bad at all! Maybe there won’t be any Christmas Carols sung today on the way home…”Happy Trails to me”……

I was listening to K-Love Christian radio and having a great moment or two just before I went from a two lane, where there were about 10 cars, to Route 395 where there instantly were a bazillion cars in 6.5 seconds! I had to get from the far right-hand lane to the other side ...which was a crossover of at least 82 lanes (well o.k. 5) and then EXIT onto the George Washington Parkway in less than ONE-HALF MILE! Can a middle-aged, only-child who when growing up never really wanted to learn how to drive a car at 16, ( Yes, ask Alpha Mother for the story on that one and be sure to mention Job Kiess) accomplish this......OH, absolutely. I love a challenge!!!!!(and exclamation points!). I always could figure my way out of a situation-has to be the skills learned from the Alpha Mother and Dad combined with being an only child I bet.

On a positive therapeutic note I learned something immediately. The Gas-N-Go/Brake-N-Gas method works. Somewhere there has to be research on this method! Also, I have deduced that D.C. drivers really do get out of the way when they see an out of state vehicle with a crazy-haired driver (remember the window had to be open/down-NO air conditioner) laughing and crying and praying (eyes wide open) while hunched over the steering wheel, speeding up, signaling, dodging in and around cars switching lanes. Almost like a dog following a good scent.

It is important to note that my life did not pass before my eyes at all...hey-there just wasn't any time for reflection. But, I believe there was a waft of adrenaline! Hallelujah, I had made it with nary a scratch!

Now I will tell you that I thought I was hearing bells during this mad-dash across the 82 lanes. With both eyes on the road, I blindly fiddled with the radio and found that it was not on, so I listened closely and sure enough it was a lovely melody of horns (from all the drivers )cheering me on to my destination! I was so overcome with their thoughtfulness that all I could do was wave my thanks.

So, If you see a photo of a crazy-haired, wide-eyed driver laughing, crying and praying who was waving at everyone-it is probably me!! As for my adventure, I am ~SO Blessed~