IN THE MOUNTAINS

BACK HOME IN THE MOUNTAINS

We made it to the house in PA... and a yard high in weeds, weeds, and untamed wisteria. The Buddha up back was so buried, I could barely find him.

First buying trip was to purchase a hedge trimmer and weed whacker. I was not a happy camper. The place was a mess. The poison sumac has advanced several feet into the yard. This is not good. I hate using Brush killer -but I was not left with much choice. The sumac was growing at the edge of the roof over the "cave" - a storage room built into the mountain side. The entrance to our apartment is under this roof - that is the first floor down there.

So far it has been cool, temps mostly in the 60s to low 70s. They have had a lot of rain up here... the river and streams are full... makes for nice waterfalls. I think we missed the Mountain Laurel - have seen only a little of it. Some of the rhododendron is in bloom. The water in the dam is up over the road - not on purpose, just a lot of rain. See the vehicles at the water's edge? The Lehigh is fast and full.

The water over the road in Hickory Run was a bit deeper this year... and somebody had pulled a few of the rocks out of the road since last year. We hit bottom in one spot. Got the tires washed at any rate!

Time is short... more later!

HAVE YOU EVER?????

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN GUILTY OF LOOKING AT OTHERS YOUR OWN AGE AND THINKING, SURELY I CAN'T LOOK THAT OLD. ????
WELL . . . YOU'LL LOVE THIS ONE.
MY NAME IS ALICE , AND I WAS SITTING IN THE WAITING ROOM FOR MY FIRST APPOINTMENT WITH A NEW DENTIST. I NOTICED HIS DDS DIPLOMA ON THE WALL, WHICH BORE HIS FULL NAME.
SUDDENLY, I REMEMBERED A TALL, HANDSOME, DARK-HAIRED BOY WITH THE SAME NAME HAD BEEN IN MY HIGH SCHOOL CLASS SOME 30-ODD YEARS AGO. COULD HE BE THE SAME GUY THAT I HAD A SECRET CRUSH ON, WAY BACK THEN?
UPON SEEING HIM, HOWEVER, I QUICKLY DISCARDED ANY SUCH THOUGHT. THIS BALDING, GRAY-HAIRED MAN WITH THE DEEPLY LINED FACE WAS WAY TOO OLD TO HAVE BEEN MY CLASSMATE.
AFTER HE EXAMINED MY TEETH, I ASKED HIM IF HE HAD ATTENDED MORGAN PARK HIGH SCHOOL .
'YES. YES, I DID. I'M A MUSTANG,' HE GLEAMED WITH PRIDE.
'WHEN DID YOU GRADUATE?' I ASKED.
HE ANSWERED, 'IN 1975. WHY DO YOU ASK?'
'YOU WERE IN MY CLASS!', I EXCLAIMED.
HE LOOKED AT ME CLOSELY.
THEN,
THAT UGLY,
OLD,
BALD,
WRINKLED FACED,
FAT-ASSED,
GRAY-HAIRED,
DECREPIT
SON-OF-A-B**** ASKED,
'WHAT DID YOU TEACH???'

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey. He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.
As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!
Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up. Remember the five simple rules to be happy:
Free your heart from hatred - Forgive....
Free your mind from worries - Most never happen.
Live simply and appreciate what you have.
Give more. Expect less

NOW ............ Enough of that crap . . .. The donkey later came back, and bit the farmer who had tried to bury him. The gash from the bite got infected and the farmer eventually died in agony from septic shock.
MORAL FROM TODAY'S LESSON:
When you do something wrong, and try to cover your ass, it always comes back to bite you.