A life well-lived

The morning was sunny and bright, but
by the time we all got to the cemetery the
clouds had rolled in and it was cold. 

I was texting with my daughter while waiting for the funeral service to begin yesterday afternoon. I told her that I'd overheard one of the staff say they'd run out of chairs. Her response is the subject of today's brief post.

We who were there yesterday didn't learn anything about our friend that we didn't already know. He was kind and generous, knowledgeable and loyal. Saying good-bye to a man like that is hard, my friends. Real hard. There are so few of them.

His parents – and oh, how sad I was for them – raised him right, simple as that. "Right" to them meant helping and giving and learning and working hard and he did all those things, every day, until he got too sick to do them any more.

My grandchildren knew Billy from their summer visits. My granddaughter came by herself a few years ago and practically before she got out of the car, Billy was there to take her on her first tractor ride. She baked him a batch of lemon bars to thank him. Her brother came with her the following summer and sure enough – he got his first tractor ride the first day of their visit. He also cut a path through the field where our pond is, unasked, so they could walk in to go fishing.

We could never repay him for his many kindnesses, or for rescuing us in true disasters. He brought a huge tank of water for us during the derecho, and cleared snow from the driveway countless times. Our gifts of home baked bread or brownies seemed like a paltry thank-you, but he would never take money and we wanted so much to reciprocate.

Had either of us known about the disease that eventually took Billy's life, we might have been able to share our stories. But we didn't know, not until he was on life support in a hospital two states away. Too late. Leaving both my husband and me helpless. And too sad.

Water, water everywhere

Woke up to a chilly 37° F temperature this morning. Not freezing, but definitely colder than tomatoes like. I hope they're not damaged. It's too muddy to walk in the garden anyway.

There are times during the summer when you can walk across
the river on the large rocks that line the riverbed. Not now!

The rain Thursday and yesterday ended up being not as much as predicted, but still pretty impressive: two inches in the rain gauge. My husband and I spent a couple hours yesterday morning at the garden center moving plants, as the Greenbrier River kept creeping closer and closer to the retail area. So that was a good workout to start the day.

We then walked along the Greenbrier on a road I used to use all the time when I was training for half-marathons. It's a two-mile flat stretch, so four miles total, and it used to be very pleasant. Apparently more people have moved into the area or have discovered that it's a nice little shortcut road to take. Lots of traffic, more than we're comfortable with.

So a biting dog that runs free on our favorite road and too many cars on yesterday's road leaves us walking the hills of home, I guess. Hills are good, though, right?

My neighbor's funeral is this afternoon. It's still so, so hard to look out at his hayfields and know he won't be cutting and baling it this year. Or to see his old dog, Toby, waiting on the porch for a pat from Billy.

I'm not sure whether I'll walk before or after the service, but walk I will. Taking last Thursday off might have been necessary weather-wise, but it didn't help me get to that 1500-mile goal at all.

My weight is holding steady. Perhaps this is where I'm supposed to be. My BMI is still in the overweight range, though, and I'd really like to – once and for all – see it below 25. I'd hoped to see it last year, and that – obviously – didn't happen. This year is speeding by and I've stayed the same since Christmas. That's one long damned plateau.

BUT … I haven't been using the rowing machine as much as I'd hoped to. The yard and garden work are eating into my time significantly. But I made walking a priority, and I'm only rowing 30 minutes every other day – I should be able to manage it.

Thanks for reading. I do appreciate it, and I especially thank you for your comments about Billy's death. It isn't only the good who die young, but when the good do die young, it's somehow more of a loss.

And on Thursday, May 15, she rested. Maybe.

It's going to rain all. day. long. Well, maybe not all day, but when I look at the hourly forecast it's supposed to let up at noon. When I'll be in a meeting.

And so, unless something really inspires me later this afternoon, this will probably be a no-walking day. I'd like to keep the streak going, though – I haven't missed since April 7 – so I wouldn't be surprised if I hit the road later. And you shouldn't be, either! Heh.

The coming week will at least be better for walking temperature-wise than the last few days have been. If you don't get out early on a day when the thermometer rises to nearly 90 (in MAY!), you're going to suffer. Or at least I do. But we have a week of 60s and low 70s coming up – pretty perfect for walking and running and gardening.

I still don't have the fence around the garden, but I've planted the onions, summer squash, tomatoes and peppers. I dumped coffee grounds around the tomatoes and peppers, because I've heard the deer don't like the scent and, well, we have plenty of coffee grounds around here. But no fence. One does what one can.

Primary day is done and dusted. I ran unopposed for a seat on our county's Democratic Executive Committee. I didn't need to campaign, which was nice, but I was still invited to all the meet-the-candidate events, so I got to test my public speaking skills a few times. Not something I've ever been especially comfortable doing, but the older I get the less self-conscious I am. Imagine that.

Republicans don't turn out for the primaries the way Democrats do, which gives us Dems a sense of hope, looking at the numbers. But Democrats don't turn out for the general election the way Republicans do – why is that!?!?! – so we have a lot of work to do. We have some great candidates with good plans and policies, and we'll need to push, push, push to turn Democrats who vote in the primary into Democrats who vote every damned chance they get.

That would be me.

On a sad note, my neighbor died yesterday. He'd been in two different ICU units for the past two weeks, one in West Virginia and one in NC. He was married but had no children. He was a farmer and a railroader and the best neighbor anyone could ever hope for. We talked about sports and politics and weather – always the weather. He gave my grandchildren tractor rides when they visited, unasked – just showed up when they arrived and told them to get in the cab. He made sure our driveway was plowed when it snowed. He let me pick apples and turnip greens from his garden.

I'm sure going to miss him. He was only 57. A hard worker, and a good man with a fatal flaw. Rest in peace, my friend.