Finish the Trip, Go Back To Work!

7/21/2020 — Finishing the Trip-(finished writing 7/22/2020)

Our time with family in New York was precious, as usual. The difference, though, was because of the “what’s-goin’-on-now.” Each day we were there we had fun, ate waaay tooo much and came home faaaat! But it was fun seeing who could eat the most ice cream, my son or me….I won’t bother telling the winner. And, of course, we now regret that part. We collectively worked the NYT crossword puzzle each day, just to see how fast we can complete it correctly. I’m amazed: that’s a tough crossword. 

Saturday morning was “goodby time” and as always, a little sad. As time goes fleeting by, it is a little harder each time. No surprise there. We couldn’t see our granddaughter who lives in NYC, not a convenient time for them to “escape,” I guess. Maybe soon, we hope. We did get a couple more hugs than when we arrived, in spite of the existing problem, hard to say goodby without a hug!

So we headed West, then South to go through Pennsylvania and Virginia. Two truly beautiful states. When fatigue took its toll for the day, we came to Salem, VA, near Roanoke.

Salem was once the largest city in Virginia. Today, it is about 25,000 and thriving, but not quite the powerhouse town it once was. There is a beautiful campus for Roanoke College, a beautifully restored downtown which looks to be a very healthy business climate, and this town hosts some big sports tournaments each year. Since the hills offer a lot of beauty naturally, it is a “destination city.” That means people go there on purpose and don’t just stop for a night of rest like we did. All this makes me want to go back, sometime.

We decided to head South on Sunday morning to attend church at Charity Bible Church in the countryside near Hamptonville, NC. Charity is pastored by Bro. Brian Sipes, our friend and one the best Grace preachers we know. It was great to see many friends we’ve been in fellowship with for years and we had a very pleasant surprise, too. Bro. Sipes had been out of town all week and had asked Kevin Wooten to preach in his place. Even though the Sipes family returned and were there for the service, Kevin preached (taught) a tremendous message about the times we are in and why as bad as things are today, this is nowhere near what the wrath of God is going to be like, nor can we, the church the Body of Christ, be here for that coming “great tribulation.” He just did an excellent job.

After saying our “goodbyes” we headed home, ready to be done with our trip, tired but happy we took the trip, saw all the folks, saw some new places, etc. We arrived home about 9pm Sunday night. Whew! (The adventuresome afternoon will be spoken of in a later blog, I think. I don’t want to write about that now. Safe, but adventuresome.)

[Note: Those who refer to the current crisis as a pandemic must have more fear than me about the numbers they hear, or they must be more unsure of themselves, ie, their health, than me. It’s quite alright with me to be around those whose caution is greater than my own. I’m not putting them down or elevating myself here.  Sometimes it just surprises me where I see it. When I greet people who don’t want to shake hands or hug as we usually do, it’s ok. But, it isn’t the same. When they back away to honor the “6 feet” safety rule, it’s ok. But, it isn’t the same. Many things happen in our lives which do wind up changing us, I’m just sorry this is one of them. Since as far back as “flu” or influenza has been defined, we have known when it comes it kills people. To Quarantine the ailingis not uncommon for such things, but how did the powers-that-be get us to believe the un-sick should quarantined, though? Every other time in history, those quarantined were the ill folks and their homes. Shutting down the economy in such an ignominious way—how did they get us to go along with that? It is a shameful thing we have done. This has cost so many people their livelihoods, so many people their dignity, their self-respect. And for what? Can anyone boast about the number of lives we’ve saved? Or how we’ve shortened the time-span of the problem? No, …no, we can’t…we can’t….that’s sad.  There is no charge for this intrusive paragraph, just didn’t know how to go on without saying it.]

Now that we’re back home in our “new” digs, there is work to be done. After all, the masthead picture (above) is of our old home—what’s the point in that, right? We’re starting work on the yard this week. We don’t yet have our plan complete, but we know some ways we can start, then add to it as we go. I’m looking forward to this now. Pretty sure I couldn’t think this way while in the home we just moved from, as it required so much more work. This work will fill and architect the landscape away from continual labor, we believe.

An interesting side note about the “pandemic:” our Blue Jug Alkaline Water and Health Markets are all doing rather well. We’re not experiencing any storeowners speak of struggling. Mostly because our number one product is the best water to drink in the whole wide world!But a couple of other reasons: we all offer healthy snacks, some stores have alternative health aids such as,  Structured Silver, CBD oils and tonics, herbal tonics, etc. These are things that keep our bodies in as good a shape as possible. That’s very good news for anyone thinking of getting into business for themselves! In fact, that is great news!

Thanks for reading, the Elder