Checking in for those that wonder. Thought I would use the campfire because I never was a great morning person or coffee drinker and don't really fit well in large groups. I am more the sit around a campfire with one or two other people type of person. Ideas and thoughts and important pondering of the world just always seems to get shared better in quiet conversations than the group meet sort of thing. So there is that.
As Beth noted I do still stop by and read. (Guess I am one of the few that don't log out automatically. I know that some of the folks that no longer post still read as guests so that no one notices their footprints. Others of course just don't read or post.) When folks talk about past members it is as if they have died or just vanished from the planet. Yes, some like Sparkle and Sprinter and Karen West are really gone. Some like Echo and her daughter were like watching a bad soap opera or a train wreck and not being able to pull your eyes away....Some were never around enough to even be missed but many of the original travelers and storytellers have just moved on...from this forum. And for many of us, staying connected is more than the Forum or Facebook.....we have e-mails and texts and phone calls. And the daily weather is not a topic I share about much since I have weather reports for that. I haven't traveled much in the last two years but when I have traveled I have always tried to slow down to visit with a few of those members. They are still out there and like most of us are experiencing changes in their lives. So if over the years you really made a strong enough connection with someone stay connected...be realistic, this forum is not the center of the universe and many of us are not going to share parts of our lives here in public.
And to catch up on stuff that is not too personal or pondering. Jane's puppy went to live with my friend Cindy to that Cindy could show her (Roan is quality) because I physically no longer can do the physical part of showing. Roan has done very well and has made her mamma Jane proud. I got a young Golden at the beginning of the summer thinking I could still at least train and show in obedience and rally only to face up to my imperfect, over evaluation of my health and stamina. Especially after I returned in October from my two week road trip wandering the long way across to Texas and back with both Lark and young Jill camping with me. My back was trashed. And yes stress played a part in it. Nothing like visiting a cousin you haven't seen in 11 years to spend the afternoon vomiting and being sick in her living room from food poisoning. But we did get to visit and catch up. And I got to feel very humble and human and survived to pull out of her driveway the next day. Anyway working with puppy Jill's breeder, Jill was recently rehomed with a family with two young children and parents and grandparents familiar with 4-H and dog training. Jill now has a home in which she can become someone's heart dog and a have a job raising children. Better and more active life than I could provide her.
In trying to claw my health back after I returned from travels I found a new Chiropractor. One that concentrates more on healing the neural connections between the mind and the body that sometimes misinforms the body with pain signal when there is no danger for the pain to be shouting about. The plasticity of the brain and what it can heal or disrupt is a deep deep subject. I can now walk with my normal stride while standing upright again. Lark is only sad that I still don't tolerate cold weather walks well because my Raynauld's affecting circulation. We are both hoping to make the drive to Florida this winter to visit Liz and Nan and Irmi... down that way and see if I can still walk, weather permitting. The RoadTrek may or may not be sold in the Spring, depending upon how it goes.
So if I don't post and you want to know what I am up to feel free to email (
Dogsandpeople@yahoo.com) I promise I will not discuss housework. I have no recipes to swap since, though I appreciate the talents of other, cooking is not something I can pretend to find all that interesting. I have never had the interest or time to do crafts. Some drawing and photography is as far as I have ever gotten and a few other arts that were attempted and soon left behind. My daughter is an artist and an art teacher, and my son a photographer, I carefully curate the artwork that holds my heart and my wall space. I made enough scarves and hats a couple years ago to last me the rest of my life. My children are very independent and do not live near me though I am invited to go visit the Hudson Valley or Charlotte as often as I want. Someday I will need to live closer to one or the other but am not there...yet. I haven't decorated for an holiday in over 15 years. As a family we decide not to swap Christmas presents many years ago. I do send either family gifts like a full sized electric keyboard or individual money for books to the three grands in New York. But I have been known to see something, for example, in the middle of May that make me think of someone and send it to them, just because. I still indulge occasionally in an afternoon or so of holiday music even though I can no longer sing....for memories sake.
What I am doing.....is reading. writing. spending time and what energy I still have on my dogs. staying connected with close friends near or far. not signing up with the Scoring Center to work any seasonal contracts next year. Yes, I could use the money but with changes in plans I will make do without. Even if I felt well enough to sit in a chair and work and concentrate for 40 hours a week on a computer and supervise people, I now value that wealth of energy and time more than money. not shopping for stuff because I don't need more stuff. working on maintaining my aging body through going to yoga and gentle pilates classes. attending water aerobics so my heart can get a work out without bashing my joints. And naps, the dogs and I like naps. If I lived in one of those "Blue Zones" where folks live to be 100 and stay healthy walking up and down the mountains paths on the some Greek island it might be easier but I am stuck having to find different ways to keep my body healthy and strong and flexible....No one warned me that I would have to work this hard at things that I took for granted. Velda, I often think of all the energy and work and research you have undertaken to try to maintain and/or regain your health. It is no small feat. And as an aside, I want a full time cook who will prepare healthy mediterranean meals for me.....
But enough about me. Carry on Lyn, as you demonstrate how to move through life's challenges and make necessary adjustments as needed. I don't know if I ever told you but there was at least one gtg that I drove out to because I knew you would be there from the west and I was never sure when I would get to see you again..... Sandi, I am so glad that you and your daughter have found your way back to each other these last couple of years so that you can share these more recent adventures with each other. Martha, I always miss your cat stories....
So be gentle and kind with one another and understand that the one thing we can be sure of is that life is full of changes and there are many ways to stay connected with the people close to you.....and there really aren't any wrong choices.
I'll be stopping at a dealer on my way towards Hot Springs to go through the slide controller reset. If it keeps up, I'll be looking for another camper. Guess it's my own fault. Dad used to say never buy the first model year of anything. I've already got a case open with the factory. Fingers crossed. 
I hope you get your slide issue fixed permanently but from your past experiences it may take more than hope.
