Posted on by ChatterLei · 2 Comments

My Back Yard

What do you love about where you live?

Bird’s Eye View of the Salt Lake Valley (Copyright 2024 by Chatterlei)

What I love about where I live is that it is my home town. All three of our children, their spouses, and our six grandchildren live in the same town. For as much as we get together because everyone’s lives are so busy, we might a well live in Timbuktu! Our little (growing) conservative town/city is a great place to raise a family.

We are only 3 hours away from a University hospital where my husband can have surgery on his leg, then lie in a hospital room to heal for a few days and enjoy bird’s eye views, as captured in the image above, taken through the window from his 6th-floor room.

From our home, within a couple of hours’ drive on a Saturday afternoon, we can be on a bench in Yellowstone National Park with other tourists watching in awe as Old Faithful reliably spews it’s steamy water up to 180 feet into the air. We can pick up a souvenir from the nearby shops and eat our packed lunch either in the car or at a picnic table in the area. Then enjoy a drive though the park on our way home, hoping to see buffalo, elk, deer, and maybe even a bear or two in their habitat.

In about the same amount of time, we can drive a different direction and sit at the still glasslike water’s edge of Jenny Lake which is tucked away at the base of the Teton Mountain Range. This is one of the area’s most beautiful and most visited sites. We are fortunate to have Yellowstone and the Tetons in our back yard, so to speak.

Taking a long day’s drive we can be at the Oregon Coast enjoying a cool walk along the beach listening to the waves crash along the shoreline. In the same amount of time, heading in a different direction, our drive could take us to San Diego where we can enjoy the warmth of sunshine and see the beautiful sunsets fade below the horizon of the ocean as it meets the sky in the distance.

I absolutely love the outdoors and I love to travel! Living near the Rockies to the East and not far from the Pacific Ocean to the West we can enjoy a variety of God’s most beautiful creations. These are some of the things I love about where we live.

Posted on by ChatterLei · 3 Comments

Gratitude

Daily writing prompt
What positive emotion do you feel most often?
View all responses

Lately, the positive emotion I feel most often is gratitude. Especially for my husband. Because of him, my mom, and one of my daughters, I know what unconditional love feels like. My husband loves me as I am, no expectations for me to be someone other than I am. All he has ever wanted is for me to be happy. I used to think he did not care enough to share an opinion, but now I realize it is because he loves me as I am. He does not want to try to make become what HE thinks I should be. He wants me to be my own best self according to what that looks like for me.

He also believes in 2nd and 3rd and 4th and… so on… chances. He is very forgiving, loving, and kind. He is respectful, so very respectful. He always has my back. I can count on him to always be there for me. He has my best interest at heart, not his own selfish desires.

I took it for granted. But, never again. I am so GRATEFUL for my husband. He is not perfect, but he is perfect for me, as the saying goes. We are perfect for each other.

Posted on by ChatterLei

California – Own a Piece of History

Photo by Tom Fisk on Pexels.com

A few weeks ago, my family joined Life360 so we could find each other at the 4th of July celebration fireworks by the river that night. About an hour ago, I received a notification via Life360 that our son-in-law landed in San Francisco. What? I didn’t know he was going to California. So, I shot him a text asking him what he’s doing there. He said he is attending a conference for work. Tomorrow is sight-seeing day and he asked for suggestions of places to go. I gave him some ideas, but only what I could find online, since I have not been there. I see on Life360 that he is checking out the night life in Soma. I hope he takes some pictures to share tomorrow. You haven’t really been anywhere if there are not pictures to prove it, right?

In my earlier adulthood, whenever I would travel to a new location, I would watch the local news channel to get a feel for what was going on in the area. Nowadays we have the news from anywhere right at our fingertips. So, I searched San Francisco news to see what is going on in the area, just for fun. An interesting article caught my eye, so I thought I would share it.

Caltrain is a California commuter rail line serving the San Francisco Peninsula and Santa Clara Valley for the past 160 years. On January 16, 1864 the first steam train made its way down the Peninsula past Mayfield, to San Jose. This year, 2024, Caltrain launches Electrified service.

ABC7 News (KGO) reported on August 13th, 2024 that Caltrain will have a new fleet of cars that are all electric. The gas powered trains are on the chopping block. They are going to sell the diesel locomotive with 40 years of service and a million miles traveled, a piece of history, to a California buyer. It will not come with a working engine. So, with enough money and imagination, someone will be able to transform it into something fun and useful. What a fun Airbnb it would be! Here is the link to the story and to Caltrain’s store for more information.

Posted on by ChatterLei

Perfect

What is a word you feel that too many people use?

In the years 2006 thru 2010 when I was working for myself as a people photographer shooting weddings, engagements, bridal sessions, senior photos, and family sessions. I remember, especially in the years 2008 to 2010, arranging the people to set up the shot. When I would get a person in the ideal placement for the photo, I would say, “Perfect!” I don’t remember hearing that word other than when I proclaimed their perfect placement and asked them not to move.

In the fall of 2010, I began working for a doctor as his receptionist. I remember that following year recognizing that people were using the word “perfect” instead of saying “that’s great” or even when a simple “thank you” would suffice. Had I started a trend? Or was it there all along, but I just became aware of it?

I had never heard it used in the context in which it was now being used. And, overused, I might add. It reached a point of overuse over a short few years, in fact. So much so that I purposely avoided using it.

It has become a source of irritation when, for example, I hand someone my debit card for payment or if I am checking in at a hotel and need to show them my debit card and driver’s license. They look the cards over and exclaim, “perfect” in place of a simple “thank you” while handing the cards back to me. The worst example is when they give a long, drawn-out, high-pitched version of the word: “Perrrr fect!”

Ugh… Gag me with a spoon! 😉

Posted on by ChatterLei

Things Could Always Be Worse

My husband and I are reading a book together. I am reading it aloud. He is listening intently. We are discussing it as we go. I remember hearing about it not long after it was published again in 1992. It was first published in 1962. The book is called “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl. Every person on the planet should at the very least read this book from the library. However, I think  it would be best to purchase a copy so the powerful passages may be marked and, more importantly, so the pages of this book can be turned again and again as one re-reads it to pick up messages missed in prior readings.

In the forward by Harold S. Kushner, he writes, “Frankl saw three possible sources for meaning: in work, in love, and in courage during difficult times.” Kushner shares that Frankl’s most enduring insight: “Forces beyond your control can take away everything you possess except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation.”

Like Frankl says, we cannot control what happens to us in life, but we can always control what we will do about what happens to us.

Vicktor’s story of time spent, against his will, in the concentration camps in Germany is a remarkable story of courage displayed while being forced to live through unimaginable circumstances. It was during this awful time of existence that he came to the understand that “The salvation of man is through love and in love.”

He and his wife were separated when taken by the German’s and forcefully sent to the concentration camps. He had no idea if she was alive or dead, but he thought of her and pictured her face and clung to life because of the love he felt for her. He wrote, “I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved.”

The message(s) in this book is/are powerful and encouraging to anyone facing challenges in life. It may be poor timing for my husband that we happen to be reading this book at this time. My husband is in the hospital following a knee surgery, his 9th knee surgery in total, but only the 5th on this knee. Anyway, as I hear the expressions about the discomfort he is feeling, I can’t help but remind him, “Yes, that may be true, and I am sorry you are uncomfortable, but at least you are not in a concentration camp.” The look he gives me is a clear indication of his wish that we had not started reading this book prior to this surgery. I just shrug my shoulders, smile, and remind him how much I love him.

Posted on by ChatterLei

My Dream Boutique

Daily writing prompt
If you were going to open up a shop, what would you sell?
View all responses

If I were to open shop I would want it to be a clothing boutique catered to the plus-sized down to the smallest of women. We would sell beautiful unique accessories, perfect for any outfit and occasion. There would be framed prints and canvases hanging on a gallery wall, available for purchase to beautifully adorn any wall at home or work, as well as books and cards for gift giving and letter writing. These all would showcase the talent of outdoor photographers from all of the gorgeous places from West to East, from the Pacific Northwest across the Rocky Mountains through the Appalachians to New York City, from Southern Texas to the Everglades of Florida, from the oceans to the deserts of our amazing country. It would be a joy to meet people and learn about their lives and what brings them into our quaint little boutique. What a lovely dream!

Posted on by ChatterLei · 1 Comment

And then this happened…

Feeling very emotional, one day, I wondered if I could release my emotions through a fictional scene created from emotions I was feeling. In my mind, I was screaming right along with her. Here is the result…

“NOOO!!  It was NOT supposed to happen this way!!” Her screams echoed through the trees.

“Nooo! Nooo! Nooo! Please, God, don’t let this happen!” Not even the forest could contain her anguished cries.

The bodies of both men were lifted into the back of the first and second ambulances. The flashing of the lights, the cop cars surrounding the campground, the EMTs trying to calm her and keep her from pulling more locks of hair from her head as she screamed like a mad woman, was all so surreal.

“Who will put the fire out?” She sobbed, barely able to breathe. She jerked away from the medical technician holding her by the arm. Robotically walking in circles around the firepit, her hands over the sides of her cheeks, cupping her face, she thought, “It doesn’t matter now. NOTHING matters!”  

Those dancing flames that once represented happiness and life, will now forever represent the end of dancing. The end of a dream. The end of breath. The beginning of a nightmare. Her nightmare. The one she created….

It is not very long, but it’s a start. And it is fiction. And it worked! The emotions I felt were screamed right out along with her feelings. In my mind, I screamed with her, pulled my hair out with her, jerked away from the technician, sobbed and walked around the firepit aimlessly. It was a very interesting experience/experiment.

The story brings up so many questions and could go any direction. Thoughts?

Posted on by ChatterLei

Scotland or Hawaii

Daily writing prompt
If you won two free plane tickets, where would you go?
View all responses

If I won two free plane tickets, it would be a toss up between going to Scotland or Hawaii. Ever since our daughters traveled to Scotland and shared their stories and photos about their time in that land of castles, I have wanted to go.

I have always wanted to go to Hawaii, but have never had the opportunity. As a former professional photographer, I have always been drawn to those beautiful islands. They appear to be lands of beautiful photography opportunities. It would be great to experience Hawaii with my Canon in hand shooting every beautiful moment I could possibly capture.

The book of photos from there would be a beautiful treasure of memories to rest on the sofa table and share with family and friends. It is on my bucket list and hope to visit there before I am too old to enjoy it!

Posted on by ChatterLei

Fact or Fiction

The discovery tonight that fiction writing is not my inspiration or gift. Rather, non-fiction journaling of thoughts and experiences holds me captive to the words I want to imprint on paper.

Stephen King’s dark, scary novels do not interest me, but his Memoir of the Craft of Writing called On Writing has held me captive for nine hours of listening and learning. He is a master writer and teacher, in my opinion. Are there greater authors? Possibly. The fact Stephen King wants to share his thoughts about what he has learned as an experienced novelist, so that others may glean and benefit from his suggestions and the techniques he uses to craft great stories, all while telling great stories, which help do the teaching, opened my eyes to the fact he is a great human.  A thoughtful person. He is not just some evil horror storyteller. He is much more. He had a childhood. He has a wife and children. He has feelings.  He cares. He loves his family.

I doubt there is a lot of money to be made for simply sharing thoughts about a person I admire or a personal eye-opening experience I had that turned a negative judgement about a person, because of a particular genre of writing, into a positive judgement about the person behind the writing. I don’t know that Stephen King is the type of guy I would want to strike up a friendship with. But, I could listen to him tell stories about his life and teach about writing for hours upon hours.

Not to get overly political, but this question came to mind: Is my realization that Stephen King is not such an awful evil person because he writes beyond scary, horrendously dark fiction similar to the realization that Donald Trump may not be such an awful human being because he made awful choices in his past? Some might think so. I do not compare the two men to each other. They are very different men. The only parallel I want to draw is that some people believe Stephen King is good for the writing world, just like some believe Donald Trump is good for the political world.  

The pressure is off. Becoming a fiction novelist is not in my future, more than likely. (Did you see me leave the door open to the possibility, still?) However, blogging is in my present. Blogging is a place I can share my thoughts and experiences. My written musings may connect with my fellow bloggers from time to time, just like theirs connect with me. That is what brings me joy and that is what inspires me.

Who knows? Maybe the more I blog the more I will realize there is a fiction story in me that is waiting to get out…. Someday.

Posted on by ChatterLei

An Unexpected Joy

Reading for fun is one of those guilty pleasures I do not allow myself time for very often. It seems that my mind has this crazy belief that if there is time to sit around and read, then the reading should be for learning or increasing knowledge about a subject of great interest, not just some waste of time reading fiction. My interests are (in no particular order) politics, news, religion, photography, writing, the outdoors, traveling, family history/life stories, watercolor painting, just to name a few.

Recently, in one of the writing groups I joined on Facebook, someone asked a question about what books are out there that would help increase her knowledge about writing. She is a beginner and would like any information people in the group would be willing to share. One of the suggestions, by several people in the group, was a book called “On Writing” by Stephen King.

Stephen King’s books or movies would not be my first choice, or last, or anything in between. Horror stories are not my thing. Although, I did watch the movie, “The Shining” with a group of friends when I was seventeen. Peer pressure was alive and well that night. Anyway, this is a book about writing, so I was intrigued. I found the audiobook version read by Mr. King in my Libby App and decided I would give it a listen. The description of the book said it is “Part memoir, part master class….” Wow! So true. It is clear why he is a successful writer. One of the very best.

Did you know Stephen King was a teacher? And, that he is from Maine? Did you know he had a brother? What do you know about his wife and children? He is a brilliant storyteller, author and teacher. He talks like a filthy sailor, but if you can get past that, it is worth the time to read or listen to the audio version. I did not expect to enjoy the audio version as much as I did. It was fun, as well as educational. Even his voice is interesting. Two thumbs up for sure! (Three, if you have an extra thumb!)

(Please excuse any annoyingly irritating adverbs or any possibly passive verbs I may have inadvertently used in the writing of this blog post!) Read the book or listen to the audio version. Inspirational stories and great writing advice!

Posted on by ChatterLei

Making the best of it

Monday. Sitting here with my husband at the North Clinic Check-in, waiting for his appointment with the orthopedic surgeon to look at his left knee. Again. The appointment, which was scheduled in August, can now be canceled.

Three days ago, my husband stood up from the bed with the aid of his walker and nearly collapsed to the floor. The pain in his left knee was excruciating. Fear filled the room like fog filling the room from a fog machine at a rock concert. Not another infection! You see, once you have MRSA in your system, it lies dormant and can rear its ugly head at any time.

The medical assistant in black scrubs with a long french-braided ponytail cascading down the middle if her back checked my husband in. She happily asked, “Where’s the pain? When did it start? What meds are you on?” He answered each question. She stumbled over a couple of words, which she blamed on the fact she had just returned home last night after spending a month in France for “study abroad” so she was a little tired. That was not something I would have guessed about her. She seemed awake, happy, and her word stumbles were not noticeable. I wanted to talk about her experience in France, but she was quick at doing her job and the next thing I knew, she was headed out the door to let the doctor know his next patient was ready to be seen.

The doctor is easy to talk to and very personable, a bit unusual for most surgeons. Long story short, another surgery is in my husband’s future. In three weeks, he will have his 9th knee removal and/or replacement surgery.

Here we go again. Good thing he is full of determination. Sigh….

Smokey Sunset

Tuesday. Our conversation on the ride home last evening after Joe’s appointment was mostly about what he was feeling about another surgery and we started planning for an upcoming week-long stay that our 7-year-old grandson has with us prior to the surgery.

Our daughter said our grandson is very excited to spend the week with us rather than his other grandparents because he “gets too bored” when he stays with them. And, I thought they were the fun/interesting ones! Now, I am questioning our planned trip to the museum. Guess we better throw in an ice cream cone. 😉

Life goes on…. Make the best of it!

Posted on by ChatterLei · 6 Comments

Step it Up

The number of steps from my car parked in the parking garage at the University Hospital to the top of these stairs is 210. The number of stairs between the escalators is 25. The number of steps from the bottom of the escalators to the cafeteria is 103. I did not count the steps from the top of the stairs to the elevator or from the elevator to my husband’s room on the top floor.

I figure I walk about 1000 steps total for each daily visit, including walking up the stairs after every visit to the cafeteria. I thought that was pretty good. Then, my husband told me that a person should walk 10,000 steps a day to maintain good health.

An article in New Scientist says walking between 9000 and 10000 steps per day appears to reduce the risk of early death or heart related event.

My heart was beating out of my chest and my lungs were huffing and puffing with every climb up those stairs and walking the distance to the elevator and from there to my husband’s hospital room. Those stairs really should count for something…extra!

I wish driving counted. I am going to put a lot of hours and miles on the car for the next several weeks visiting my husband every weekend in the physical rehabilitation facility located three and a half hours from home for the next 6 weeks. He just spent 7 nights in the hospital following an emergent (5-hour) knee replacement revision surgery due to an MRSA infection that then spread to his bloodstream. 

I will walk at the gym or around the neighborhood to increase my number of steps while at home. I will listen to books on tape or podcasts driving to and from the PT rehabilitation facility. I will increase my heart health and mind health while my husband is simultaneously increasing his physical health.

Goals are good.