Raining in Maryland ~ Dancing In the Rain

Oh, I slept well last night! Here I am just rising back in Maryland with my sweet girls... Olivia off to Sunday School this morning, Nana just getting up to coffee served on the deck after a night of rain... Looks as though we will be dancing in the rain on my last day today ~ ~ ~

I'm thinkin' this whirlwind trip finally caught me last night as I was falling asleep with my arms around Olivia on the couch after dinner and a movie! LOL... what a way to relax is what I'm thinking...Left Arlington yesterday after saying "thanks" to the staff at the Residence Inn Marriott Courthouse for their wonderful care of me while there. They were outstanding.

Ending my trip with a lovely visit with Janeth, (*aka) Cutie Patootie from days of yesteryear at the in patient hospice where many a hour was shared in Arlington, many a tear and many a lesson learned! She and sister Melissa called me "The Comforter", "Bear" back then, as did patients and families! Oh the sweet and cherished times and memories I have, the ones that she recalled during our brief but wonderful visit, ending with a staff person taking our picture together... I will share it once she sends a copy. She in school in DC and working at Alex Hospital now, her sis Melissa now a RN there... A decade since last we saw each other, but it seemed like just yesterday! I do love her so, my little cutie patootie ~

Once in the car with Joan and Olivia, we went to see the old Hospice in patient unit, I ran in and gifted them a copy of Healing Heartaches, and looked around for old times sake! Then off to see more of the old STOMP grounds; went and saw my old home... From there a quick run to see the United States  Air Force Memorial built after 9/11 and it was stunning... and then...
and then....

OH MY IT WAS THE BEST... STAY TUNED FOR A PICTURE.... OMG!!!!
TO THE BROILER FOR A ....
STEAK N CHEESE SUB! I've wanted one from the broiler for 5 count them 5 years.  And my trip in Arlington ended with one, AND IT WAS GREAT!
Just like or better than the last one!
HAHAHAHAHAHA ~
it just don't get better than this I tell ya!

OK, that's the update... so here I am with my girls, Olivia is tickled that Nana is back and reminded me of her generosity in "letting me go all the way to DC for a week"! And the rains are here., We are thinking that the Creator is crying tears of happiness that we are together and that now we can dance in the rain today, but hoping that it stops so that she can play soccer while Nana gets to watch once again!
What grand adventures are all of you up to on this remarkable day???


Water, Fire, Wind, Air,




There must be a million reasons why water has such a powerful effect on us. Partly because we are made up of so much water and use so little of it, but more, much more than that. Water soothes. A babbling brook flows by; wandering mindlessly. There is one right behind me here... Cool, crisp, spring fed. It’s tranquil, playful, inviting. Lush ferns on the banks, moss, overhung with trees that creep up on its banks. Really quite lovely. A fallen log to serve as a mini bridge to the other side where it is slightly sunlit. I could spend an entire day sitting by a brook with no desire to leave the peace it offers.



Rivers rush by, swirling with currents, carrying logs, and fish, rafters and white waters. Rushing to the sea. Hosting brackish waters where special and magnificent Manatees winter over. Some crystal clear, sand bottomed; some churning up muddy red clay.






Sometimes they meander, and other times they tumble with outrageous swiftness. Deep and shallow, swirling waters. Full of energy. Heading to the sea. Day after day, an endless journey. Reeds and grasses anchored deep against the currents. Gorges, through valleys, massive bridges with soaring steel girders, and humble and foot bridges span their banks. Olivia had a wonderful time finding a salamander recently in the creek; I enjoyed her telling me of all her explorations and she named the little creature "Bob"!



The sea, so majestic, it’s waves, white capped crashing to the shore. Day in and day out. We can "count,, and trust the ocean for rolling in and out". Endless power, fearless. Storm tossed, and smooth as glass, ever changing, ever the same. To stand on any shore and know the same tides will roll in and recede. It’s waters embracing every fish known to man. Providing a bounty of food for the world, great mysteries of the deep. Tossing millions of shells upon the sands . Its shores dotted with sea grass, dunes, windblown trees nestled at the waters edge. Miles and miles of shoreline. White sands, and black beaches, giant rock banks, cliffs to overlook it’s majesty. Spilling an endless supply of seaweed, hurling weathered driftwood ashore. To watch amazed as the sun rises in the distant eastern sky, and sets in all its glory on the western shores. To think that one can set sail and travel the entire globe adrift in the ocean. Separating whole continents. Covering most of the planet. I am awed.



Amazing elements. Amazing life.



How is it that the same element that lightly roasts a child’s marshmallow at a camp fire, heats steel until it bends. Renders all , to ash and coals effortlessly. Produces warmth, and devastates forests, an uncontrolled inferno. It can be evoked by a mere spark, yet rage on, undiminished by water, chemicals, rain… It produces it’s own great energy. It is capable of raising buildings, and leaving only cinders in it’s wake. It’s flames dance, glow with orange and gold, blue tipped. It lights up the dark night. Invites us to watch; to study the flames; to gaze as it flickers and sputters, and roars. It can mesmerize, warm, fascinate and eradicate. This substance we call fire. We cook over it, are comforted by it’s oaken fragrance on a cold winters day. We huddle around a can of fire on a frozen pond, skating back to thaw our hands, and in another moment, watch it sweep down a mountain consuming untold acres. Fed by the updrafts, nearly impossible to contain. It is welcoming and it is frightening. We keep the” home fires” burning for our far away loved ones, and purchase insurance to protect our dwellings from it’s ravages.






And the wind. It comes gently as a soft breeze, it carries the seeds that produce tall oaks and delicate flowers. It’s updrafts move planes through the sky. It blusters and howls. Builds snow drifts two stories high. It tosses and tumbles, and rumbles. It’s ever changing. It comes from all directions, swirling, bursting forth. It levels deserts crating patterns in the sands of time. It cools and freezes. It bends trees in half some uprooted by it’s efforts. We harness the wind to make electricity. Now how amazing is that. The wind graces us with excitement. We feel its energy. It makes us feel wild, untamed. It howls and we huddle. It races and we run head on into it. It burns our cheeks. We laugh with glee. It calls to us to cast off worries, to celebrate this free feeling surge of power it offers. The wind single handedly strips the trees of dead leaves predictably each fall, making way for the pristine winter landscape; then roars like a lion to usher in the spring. This intangible we call wind. It tosses the seas, and fans the flames.

The very air that we breathe, we take for granted so often... the air; breathe in, breathe out... smell all the wonderful fragrances, sneeze! The grasses that have just been mowed, the candles that soothe you, the fresh washed hair of a child! I brought Olivia a cute little pen of "hand sanitizer" from the conference and she has smelled it, rubbed her hands, "the mamma's hands" "Nana's hands" and did I mention "smelled it" so often that I'm thinking it was one of those "best gifts"... She tells us that the smell is like a fresh smell of air, one that calms her... Now I'm wondering if those vendors maybe put a little calming juice in that hand sanitizer! LOL
The air that we breathe, that gives us this wonderful thing called life... BREATHE... STOMP, enjoy the day, own it.... have fun with it~

These elements surround us. They inspire us. They awe us. They prove that as life is ever changing. So change the tides, the winds, the flames burn brightly. Casting warmth and light. Each producing it’s own power. Each a sign of the continuity of life. A reminder that not all power can be harnessed. Not every mystery is to be fully known.

Great thanks to Mother Earth for each of these gifts

The fire is burning and the embers are hot... I am sending love and thoughts of healing and HOPE to all today... The arms of the angels and those here are holding you in the arms for strength in healing, for HOPE in believing, for reassurance that you are never alone.

S T O M P....
S   T   O    M    P . . .

Wherever you are and whatever you are doing.... have a great time, make it yours, smile at those you don't know, if someone touches your soul, evokes a smile, take a moment and speak to them, thank them, shake their hand, never miss an opportunity....

Tom, it was lovely meeting you and your family in Arlington Virginia ~ Hook me up with a speaking gig in your hospital and we'll chat again!

Thank you Arlington for a lovely stay... I look forward to seeing you all again

Florida I'm coming home,
HOTCHAU

Walk In Beauty
DRSES
author of
Healing Heartaches, Stories of Loss and Life
order yours at
http://www.drsherryeshowalter.com/