Today is Linda's last day in the office here at the campground. I will continue to clean the pool through the weekend but on Monday (Sept 1) we will be leaving. It took us about two days to figure out what our next month was going to consist of since there are so many variables to take care of (dr. appts, last days of work at Busch Garden, wedding in NJ,etc.) After sifting through all the dates, we came up with a departure date of Sept. 8...last day of work at campground of Sept. 7. Upon telling the mgmt here, they proceed to tell Linda that her last day will be Friday and if we stay past Sept 1 we will need to pay site rent. Back to the drawing board....
So, after scrambling to make arrangements at another campground, here's the plan:
* Leaving here Monday Sept 1 (once Linda gets out of work) and moving to campground in Newport News. Will be there till Sept. 8. WILL NOT have internet so this may be last update for a little while.
* Sept 8 will be checking into campground in Pomona, NJ for Linda's niece's wedding. Will stay until at least Monday, the 15th. May possibly stay till the 18th.
* Return to VA for doctor appts on Sept 19.
Will update more once we firm up our travel plans.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
National Conventions.......
History was made tonight with the nomination of an African American man for the highest office in the United States ! Linda and I watched the process on CNN and it was a very moving event and one that many people did not feel would come in our lifetime. When you think about how far we've come in the last 50 years....from the back of the bus to the possibility of an African American man serving in the Oval Office. Wow !!
Linda and I have watched the convention proceedings this year but typically I don't like to watch the conventions. Convention time is a reminder to me of a dark time in my life.
In June of 1972, my grandfather went to the hospital to have an operation for a hernia that he had lived with most of this life. He had put it off because he did not like hospitals and so he had suffered for many years with it. Finally he decided to have it taken care of. He had the surgery and was recovering from it but died when a blood clot dislodged and moved to his heart, killing him. I was 12 and can still remember the disbelief my grandmother, mother and I felt when we arrived at the hospital and were given the news.
My grandmother had a very hard time with his death and my mother told me that I needed to go and stay with my grandmother for the summer. My grandparents farm was close to my house.....just a few miles away. But it might as well have been hours away, as I felt very isolated there....staying day after day when I wanted to be home. My grandparents slept in separate twin beds within one big bedroom and I slept in my grandfather's bed each night. My grandmother would cry herself to sleep most nights; grief stricken by the loss of my grandfather. My grandparents were a team, loving spouses and a dynamic couple who worked hard on the farm. His sudden death was almost more than she could bear.
I remember enduring the 1972 conventions that long, hard summer. As a twelve year old, it wasn't my choice to watch the electoral process unfold. When you live in a rural area, as we did, you got very limited TV reception. Such was the case at my grandparents farm. They got one station and lo and behold, it was covering the conventions. How lucky for me.....I would spend evenings watching TV to pass the time, until I eventually had to go to bed. George McGovern and Richard Nixon....we know how that all turned out. I haven't been a fan of conventions since then.....until NOW.
I think the shadow has been lifted on my opinion of conventions. At least I have a sense of hope.....we'll see what happens over the course of the next 69 or so days. Will we emerge from the darkness that has overtaken our country or will we fall deeper into the shadows ? It's up to us to make that determination.
Linda and I have watched the convention proceedings this year but typically I don't like to watch the conventions. Convention time is a reminder to me of a dark time in my life.
In June of 1972, my grandfather went to the hospital to have an operation for a hernia that he had lived with most of this life. He had put it off because he did not like hospitals and so he had suffered for many years with it. Finally he decided to have it taken care of. He had the surgery and was recovering from it but died when a blood clot dislodged and moved to his heart, killing him. I was 12 and can still remember the disbelief my grandmother, mother and I felt when we arrived at the hospital and were given the news.
My grandmother had a very hard time with his death and my mother told me that I needed to go and stay with my grandmother for the summer. My grandparents farm was close to my house.....just a few miles away. But it might as well have been hours away, as I felt very isolated there....staying day after day when I wanted to be home. My grandparents slept in separate twin beds within one big bedroom and I slept in my grandfather's bed each night. My grandmother would cry herself to sleep most nights; grief stricken by the loss of my grandfather. My grandparents were a team, loving spouses and a dynamic couple who worked hard on the farm. His sudden death was almost more than she could bear.
I remember enduring the 1972 conventions that long, hard summer. As a twelve year old, it wasn't my choice to watch the electoral process unfold. When you live in a rural area, as we did, you got very limited TV reception. Such was the case at my grandparents farm. They got one station and lo and behold, it was covering the conventions. How lucky for me.....I would spend evenings watching TV to pass the time, until I eventually had to go to bed. George McGovern and Richard Nixon....we know how that all turned out. I haven't been a fan of conventions since then.....until NOW.
I think the shadow has been lifted on my opinion of conventions. At least I have a sense of hope.....we'll see what happens over the course of the next 69 or so days. Will we emerge from the darkness that has overtaken our country or will we fall deeper into the shadows ? It's up to us to make that determination.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
By the light of the silvery moon....
Last night I had a dose of insomnia. Woke at 12:47 with "busy brain", as Linda and I like to call it. Went out on the couch and laid there for an hour, tossing and turning and then went back to bed. After laying there for a few minutes...wide awake, with no sleepiness in sight, I decided that I might as well get up and go clean the pool. If I continued to lay there, tossing and turning...then finally fall asleep and the alarm goes off at 6:00, I'll be a zombie for my drive down to see Becky. So I got up, dressed, grabbed the pool key and off I went.
The campground looks a lot different at 2:15 a.m. then it does in the daylight. And the pool looks even weirder. There are a couple of lights on surrounding buildings and two underwater lights in the pool itself so there are lots of shadows that are cast.The sky was full of stars and there was a half moon; very pretty and comfortably cool.
The water was very clear and not dirty at all so it only took me an hour to finish up everything. No frogs to rescue from the skimmer baskets (or the pool itself)so nothing out of the ordinary to take extra time.
I like working when it's quiet...no distractions....no one looking over my shoulder. Just get in there and get the job done.As I pushed the long pole through the water, with the vacuum attached on the end, weird shadows were playing off the edge of the pool on my side and the opposite side of the pool. Kind of creepy !
When I finished, I locked the pool up and walked back to the rig. The exercise of cleaning the pool was just what I needed. I crawled into bed, curled up with my pillow and slept till 6 (when I heard Linda getting up for work), then resumed sleep till 8:30.
Getting ready to leave now to go visit my daughter, who has gone to Cape Charles with a friend for the weekend. It is supposed to take me about an hour, forty minutes to get there but I have to cross the Chesapeake bridge, which I'm not looking forward to. 17 miles of bridge over open water !! Eeekkk !!!! One of the very few things I really have a fear of. But with the thoughts of seeing my daughter on the other side....I can do this !
Friday, August 8, 2008
Relaxing Morning
What a perfect morning ! Temp is in the 70's....nice breeze blowing...it's not quite 8:30 and no one is moving around much in the campground. All you hear are the birds chirping and the faint sounds of morning rush hour starting on nearby I-64. The dogs are chillin' outside with me (see Boomer there on the patio). Schroeder is laying next to me at the back of the patio. They are taking in all the sounds and smells of being outdoors. I don't go in till noon today which is a shift I don't think I've ever had before. Still needed to get up at 6 to clean the pool but now I have time to relax and enjoy the morning. Just wanted to share the view with you all....
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