Wild Geese Flying 09/11/00

That is the name of one of Ian's favorite books.  It should not surprise me that John, who is so like Ian in many big and small ways, dearly loves wild geese.   

Elsa claims that John can hear any that fly within honk distance of Squirrel Run, even in his sleep.  The only time I have ever known him to get up at daybreak was last year, when he and Elsa went to the Churchville Nature Center several times to watch the geese taking off from the little lake, hundreds and hundreds of them.

I rarely get to see the geese, although just hearing them can make me smile, too.  It takes me too long to get to the door or the window from where I sit in the big chair in the living room.  This morning, though, as I sat on my bed getting ready for the day, I heard the familiar honking coming from the south (probably the bit of a nearby pond) toward the northeast and looked out the window.  There was a magnificent V of Canada geese, winging their way toward Oxford Valley or Langhorne.  It was beautiful.  

It felt like a special blessing from the Lord.   

I am having the first of two cataract surgeries tomorrow, I am not sure on which eye.  I had been dreading it for some time and had sort of worked it so that other people would call it off, but every obstacle was overcome and surgery is still set for tomorrow.  

 

Yesterday I was very nervous and even afraid, but today I felt excited.  I believe that is the effect of the geese.  After the surgery, if all goes as planned, I will have my wings back - I will be able to read again. I miss reading.

John is taking me - at 7:10 a.m. - to the hospital and will stay with me, the dear lad.  Elsa could not get off any time, due to a heavy work load.   

John is so sweet, he almost makes it sound like he is honored to take me, John who normally gets to bed at 4:00 a.m. and gets up after noon.   It will be an adventure.

The geese I saw this morning are settled down somewhere and soon I will be doing the same.  Love to you all,  especially to my loved ones in Hurstville and Loftus NSW - we are separated by as much distance as anyone can be, but my heart is very much with you, fired by The Torch and my love for you all.

  

Grandma Lockhart

Missing Winnie 09/08/00

Winnie Cook Cooper died.  The phone call came today.  Ivan Smith called, telling me she had gone, just about a year after her husband.

It was Winnie that I was talking about last night.  It really shook me up, what happened yesterday.  I found myself looking for the word to describe how I felt, but finally had to accept that I do not have words to describe the feelings.  I do know that I was disturbed by the strangeness of the experience.  I was frightened when I went to bed, although I would not admit it. 

In the night, I awoke with chilled feet, even though they were covered with a cotton flannel sheet, a North Star wool blanket, and my warm red robe.  I woke up Elsa & John around 3:00 a.m., not because I had to pay a visit to Lamb but because I needed to assure myself that I could still stand.  I feared that my circulation had stopped. 

I do not know how to explain this, but it felt as if the aura around me was somehow unsettled.  I was glad when morning light dawned. 

I will miss Winnie a lot.  Another of my compatriots gone on before.  I have known Winnie, who was 88, since the early 1930s.  My circle of contemporaries continues to shrink, like my bones. 

I wonder what it was about Winnie that drew my spirit to hers as she was preparing to exit this world? 

Have any of you had unusual experiences with people so close to death?  I find myself wondering. 

Love to all my dear friends & loved ones - Gocky

Upset & awestruck 09/07/00

When John & Elsa got home from their weekly communications coaching session, John headed up to his studio and Elsa settled down on the couch to talk with me.  As we talked, she immediately noticed that I was on edge and that I had what she  described as a frailness of speech.  It had been an unusual and not exactly distressing but sort of evening.

This morning and this afternoon, my mind went time and again to a friend I have not hobnobbed with for many years.  It was not that we avoided each other, our paths just did not cross as they once did.  I found myself thinking about her so much, I actually called her daughter to hear how she is and left a message letting her know it was important to me to get news of my friend. 

This evening, after John and Elsa were on their way,  the phone rang.  It was a daughter-of-my-heart, Leslie Adams, asking for Elsa.  I explained to her that she and John were out for the evening and would she like me to have Elsa call her back.  No, she replied,  she was on duty (she is a nurse) and unreachable for in-coming calls. 

"Actually, it was you I wanted to talk to," she said.  Then she asked if I knew a certain person.   

It was the very friend I had called about that afternoon.   

She was at the nursing home and, Leslie broke it to me, she was dying.   

I was in shock, over my friend's condition but even more over the entire turn of events.  We talked for a bit, then she rang off.

It still has me feeling shaken.  My behavior earlier today was unlike me,

first to be so concerned and then to actually call and make a bother of

myself.  Then, to get a call from someone with no reason to think that I know her patient.

I am heading to bed in awe and wonder, with prayers for my friend and

gratitude for the opportunity to think about her and hold her in my heart while she is still with us.  A gift from the Lord is how it feels.  This dear woman was so kind to me during some of my darkest days.  I am grateful to be aware and to direct loving thoughts to her and her family as she moves through what Leslie described as "transition," toward the brightest and most beautiful Light.

Love to my dear friends from a less upset and still awed ~ Grammie Kay

Advance, Australia Fair! 09/06/00

Between the Olympics and Donna Heldon's wedding, my heart and mind seems as much with my loved ones Down Under as with the "Yanks" here at home.  (Australians consider all Americans - whether from Back Bay Boston or the back hills of the Appalachians - are Yanks.)

What do I love and miss the most about my home away from home?  Of course, the people.  They are so hospitable and as open as the Out Back.  They are bold in what they say, no shrinking violets.  There is a spirit about them that is hard to describe, friendly with an intentional edge.  They have a special energy about them that is so real I could feel it.

I remember colors, all sorts of colors.  From the stunning flowers to the exotic birds to the luscious fruits to the blue of sky and water.  When I think of beautiful colors, I think of Rhonda Hall and the beautiful dresses she wore with their wonderful colors. 

It is impossible to describe the glorious fruits I enjoyed on my stays,

especially my beloved mangoes.  Oh, to enjoy a perfectly ripe, practically just-picked mango.  We get them at the supermarkets now, but they are not the same, not by a long shot. 

And the fish, so many wonderful types.  My favorite fish of all time is

baramundi.  What I would give for a bite of baramundi right now. 

Then there is the water.  I am a water baby, as my family knows, and it was heaven to be so close to the water.  I drew strength just being so near. 

Best of all, of course, were my friends and family.  My times with Mike & Kerry and Scott & Karen are happy memories.  I enjoyed getting to know Kerry's family, especially Bryan.  Oh, yes, I like Bryan very much. 

As for the people in our church society, I wanted to pack them up and take them home with me, especially dear Laurel Brettel. 

I am on the other side of the world, but for the next few weeks, my heart will be in Australia, celebrating with the Heldons and whooping it up with the people cheering on the Olympians.  Just writing this, I am smiling and so very happy.

A special "Good on ya, mate!" to Donna & Jason and her family - Grandma Lockhart

I stand (run?) corrected 09/06/00

I jumped the gun.  The torch will be in Hurstville - home of the Clanlocks and sometimes Kay Lockhart - NEXT Tuesday.  See following:

 

Tuesday, SEPTEMBER 12 (not the 5th):   Kurnell to Parramatta 4.35am Kurnell; 5.05 Cronulla; 6.53 Hurstville; 9.01 Lakemba; 9.59 Condell Park; 10.50 Milperra; 13.26 Liverpool lunch celebration; 15.01 Bonnyrigg; 16.09 Fairfield; 17.56 Merrylands; 18.57 Parramatta.

The lunch and evening celebrations remain the same.  How i would love to hear the 1,000 voice choir singing in 20 languages to celebrate the regions cultural diversity.

The torch and a town I love so well

Now, it's really getting exciting - Mike & Kerry and Karen live in Hurstville, which is where our General Church society is located.  I am so happy and proud that its part of the torch relay. 

Torch Schedule for Tuesday, September 12: Kurnell to Parramatta 4.35am Kurnell; 5.05 Cronulla; 6.53 >>>>>>> HURSTVILLE <<<<<<<; 9.01 Lakemba; 9.59 Condell Park; 10.50 Milperra; 13.26 Liverpool lunch celebration; 15.01 Bonnyrigg; 16.09 Fairfield; 17.56 Merrylands; 18.57 Parramatta.  Lunch celebration: Woodward Park, Hume Highway & Hoxton Park Road, Liverpool; Evening celebration: Parramatta Regional Park (Macquarie Street entrance), Parramatta, and includes a 1,000-piece choir singing in 20 languages in celebration of the regions cultural diversity as well as local and international cultural dance troupes.