CRISSCROSS

 Today was a crisscross day.

Crisscross: to mark with intersecting lines; to pass back and forth/through or over; overlap, intersect.

All day long.

It started when my feet touched the floor this morning.

Spam calls were crisscrossing the airwaves like sparring swordsmen … and subsequently being sent to voicemail; where I promptly deleted them without giving them ear time.

While washing my hair, I thought I’d better drive to castle Rock and grab a week’s worth of the salads I like (and that Longview does not sell); I also decided to call the hair salon I like in Castle Rock, and make a hair appointment for next week sometime; before available openings were filled – so, after toweling my hair, and briefly aiming the blow dryer at it – I made the call: the hair salon wasn’t open yet. As I was dressing, the cell jingled; the salon owner was returning my call … and three times the call was ended when airwaves crisscrossed and broke communication connection: both of us were on cellphones, so I guess we were both walking around at the same time hoping for a connect signal that would last more than a few seconds: finally, a solid connect was established, and she said she could book me for 10 AM this morning. I threw a quick glance at the clock (and did a fast mental time calculation), and told her I’d be driving in from Longview: she said she’d hold the opening for me. I hastily pulled the rest of my clothing on, grabbed my wallet, and beat feet.

My hair needed attention.

I do like the Shag haircut, but I don’t like looking shaggy when it’s lost its shape – my shagged hair needed to be reshaped.

The morning was foggy; fog lights were engaged with the speed control app as I drove up and over Delameter Road, and I was only 5 minutes late 😉

Hearing, “That cut really looks good on you” was worth the hustle to crisscross the foggy landscape 😉

After I left the Hair Salon, I drove 2 seconds to the Grocery, and bought the six salads I had originally slated my morning for.

Coming back home was not as easy as getting to Castle Rock had been, even with the foggy overcast.

There were road crews everywhere along the route homeward.

Hazel Dell Road from Castle Rock; 9 mins. via snippets of West Side Highway & Delameter Rd.

Road Crew 1; Hazel Dell Road.

Road Crew 2; Hazel Dell Road.

Virginia Way from Hazel Dell Road; 14 mins. short touchdown on West Side Highway.

Road Crew 3; Glenwood Drive & Virginia Way junction.

Glenwood Drive & Virginia Way Junction; Longview. Red Marker is where road crew was today ...

Traffic delays weren’t too lengthy, thank God 😊

Carefully slipping past the crews and flags-women and driving down Glenwood towards Pacific Way, I debated backtracking to walk the PW Trail after refrigerating the salads … or skipping it, and cleaning house instead.

I hadn’t planned on the haircut this morning – I had planned a morning walk before grabbing the salads. It was already 1 PM.

Glenwood Drive & Pacific Way; Longview-WA

Unbagging the salads at home, and slipping them into the ‘fridge, I made up my mind to backtrack; my daily walks are as important as my daily salads. I need to stick to routine if I expect success.

And I do expect success – that is what I am aiming; and working for.

Plus … I just plain enjoy walking every day and taking in nature’s delights.

My weekly salads I ferry home from Castle Rock; not available in Longview.

Pacific Way from Heron Pointe - 6 mins; via Ocean Beach Highway, Coal Creek Rd, and Pacific Way to 42nd Avenue Trailhead.

Pacific Way Trail; lower end.

I wore lighter shoes today … and walked brisker than I have been walking.

I saw the water fowl {regulars}, and one unidentifiable duck.

Ring-neck Duck pair.

Goldeneye duck.

I watched the huge heron take wing, coast past me as I stood on the dike trail, and fly to a new perch – just to my right 😊

Mallards & flying Great Blue Heron.

I watched with concern as a murky patch of water flowed downstream towards the nest sites ☹

Scummy water fouling up the dike waters; it is draining from somewhere up-bank.

I listened to songbirds, frogs, toads, and overhead jets: all these sounds crisscrossed the airwaves swirling around me, and created a strange – yet soothing – freestyle symphony.

Busy airways, today.

I watched a fat muskrat lunching on water plant foliage.

Muskrat enjoying a lunch break; bank burrow opening in background.

I noticed sunny blossoms blanket the opposite bank (they were not there 5 days ago); and snapped off a blurry zoomed in pic, which I still cannot identify.

Sunny Spring color popping ...

Don't know what this flower is, but it sure is bright yellow.

I felt the walk’s burn working its magic on my body.

It was a pleasant 46-degrees (warmed significantly by my brisk walking), even with the low, hovering, gray clouds.

I noticed crisscrossing jet stream lines in the sky; and couldn’t help thinking that with all the demonrat waspish clamoring about “climate change!”, not a single word has been said about curbing jet stream pollution (or electric jets instead of fuel propelled jets): quite possibly because politicians and celebrities cannot pedal a bike to DC from all corner of the world … and their wives/brats from all corners of the world, can’t pedal a bike from their fancy-schmancy homes to far-flung posh holiday locations, or far-flung fancy private school locations. It is only the little people deplorables that must be kept hamstrung and tethered to the unrealistic and tyrannical demonrat climate change agenda demands (like no more fuel propelled cars after 2030).

Watching the crisscrossing jet activities high in the sky above me, I wondered if that annoying, obnoxious brat greta thunberg realizes the hypocrisy of her shrill preaching “climate change now!” while jetting around the world to push forward her aimless activist activities as she enjoys her first-class jetting experiences …

Criss-crossing, jetting jets, are slicing up the atmosphere. I've noticed that there are no public outcries to end air traffic ... ONLY road traffic.

But, I didn’t want to be angry at ridiculous and worthless politicians/celebrities while enjoying my walk.

Tagging the dike gate at the one-mile end of the two-mile graveled loop trail, I pivoted and caught sight of Longview’s Mill Town mascot: a gigantic testimony of the scant prosperity still left in Longview.

NORPAC (North Pacific Paper Corporation) is the worst polluter – the sky-reaching plume never stops.

The sight of that plume, reaching into the sky, struck me as eerie today.

The pollution plume from the Plant on Industrial Way eerily resembles a small atomic explosion. Kinda freaky - and the reason I have 'environmental asthma' since moving to Longview-WA.

Today’s various crisscrossing were certainly in action throughout the day.

I listened to Joel’s album all day long – it is very uplifting. I've been listening to Joel's music since 1979, and Bob liked it too - our kids and grandkids were raised listening to him, too, as long as they were under our roof and in our vehicles. Bob took me to see him in concert at Rehoboth Messianic Fellowship, nine years ago. Joel and Bob talked for about 45 minutes; nothing in particular, just noshing 😊

Joel is very personable. Like Bob.

Joel Chernoff – “Dance With Me” Album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4_aEuy7Wlk&list=PLvWZ3tkpPVFvjwW1X4dinidvE-LXELN3N

IRIS

This morning, I was out of bed; dressed, on the road, and hiking the Pacific Way Trail before 8 AM.

Pacific Way Trail

I walk when I am sorting thoughts.

The early morning sun trying to come through the cloud cover.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxNvFVI2G38)

Overland scavengers were on the prowl.

Turkey Buzzards.

These are big birds.

With scarlet red bald heads to the neckline.

Underground scavengers were on the prowl.

Mole hills tearing up this pasture; this pasture had been a lake through the Winter months. Spring scene.

Same landscape; Winter lake scene.

I had a lot of thoughts tumbling through my mind.

And it shows in some of today’s videos: there were times my thoughts tripped over themselves before they exited my mouth 😉

Introspective thinking; thankful for Iris in my life, brief as it was.

I don't question Elohim's timing - He knows best.

23andME DNA Test linked Iris & Carla up; which led to me and Iris.

6 months of Wednesday phone calls; I loved every one of them.

Hearing Iris’s voice coming to my ears over the airwaves (and seeing her face on her FB Page after we became ‘Friends’) was a 50 years prayer being answered.

Bob would have liked her – and he would have liked Rick, my BIL, too.

I told Bob about Iris straight off; there were no secrets between us. Ever.

Bob & I were good about how we dealt with the baggage we both brought to our union.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0O02-yWH9I0)

When we started dating, Bob and I had a lot of trust issues; mine were family related – Bob’s were from a disastrous first marriage.

Bob rarely saw me cry during our 44 years together; when emotions did overwhelm me and I ended up in tears … Bob knew I was dealing with major issues. The first time Bob saw me cry he was startled – he was startled because I’m not a girlie-girl; I don’t burst into tears at the drop of a hat. With the tears came anger: anger stemmed from embarrassment. Anger because my childhood memories had been tripped and was trespassing into my beautiful life with Bob; a life far away from that other weedy life.

Bob understood that. 

I never had to explain.

And Bob never asked for information beyond what I was willing to share with him.

I shared with him the nitty-gritty things that he needed to know … no more, no less; I never kept secrets from him, but I didn’t feel the need to go into vivid detail either.

And Bob never felt the need to plumb the depth of those vivid details. He always felt that the fact that I had been reduced to tears was all he needed to know – he felt I was going through enough; there was no reason for verbalization.

I was thankful.

And Bob was quick to comfort me in any, and every way, he could.

Bob loved me: unconditionally.

I was thankful.

And, I did likewise when his past with gloria would rise its ugly head, and refuse to be ignored.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tdx6lLvvRyg)

We had mountains to climb and insecurities to conquer; and we did that together.

Bob & I were a Team – from start to finish; we knew we could trust each other to ‘be there’ for US: through thick, or thin. I feel sorry for people who never had/felt that depth of genuine love.

And after a while, those memories dissipated and our life found healthy balance.

Love was the soothing, healing balm.

Bob & I were very open with each other - we shared our lives. ALL of it.

The bitter cruelty dished my way from Rose, Ralph, and the kids wasn't surprising. They are miserable people, judging others by their own short-comings.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1duMnvd_7Q)

I was going through so much hateful crap from hate-filled people, in the first year of widowhood.

All ridiculous.

All unnecessary.

Elohim witnessed it all … and decided that then would be the perfect time to answer my 50-year prayer.

There were medical questions Iris asked that I could not answer. What little I knew wasn’t helpful to her in her situation (whatever that situation was).

Our time of connecting only lasted 6 months.

But those 6 months meant everything.

If Bob is aware that I finally got to know Iris, he'd be happy for me. He'd like her.

I will always be grateful for Bob’s love … and for his talking me into building a life together; Bob scaled my walls and broke through, to lavished me with love, passion, & honesty.

I am thankful Iris was part of my life – personally – brief, though that time was.

If either of us had known how close we lived to each other, we would have met sooner.

Sedro-Woolley from Cathlamet - 3 hr.46 mins.

Whidbey Island from Cathlamet - 4 hr.23 mins.

I have no concept of travel time … according to these maps, the timelines would have been considerably longer than I anticipated: but Bob would have agreed to the visits anyway 😉

I'm glad Rick is telling me about his wife - my sister.

Walking along the dike, I chuckled when I caught sight of a strutting courting display.

A Red-winger Blackbird putting on a courting show, displaying his brilliant scarlet-and-yellow striped highlighted shoulders.

And a little further along, I laughed out loud.

The yellow Iris reminded me of Iris. 

I could hear her voice on the breeze. 

She always had a sunny disposition.

A wild iris flower. I smiled thinking how fitting it was for the day’s thought pattern.(http://www.wildflowersofireland.net/plant_detail.php?id_flower=137&wildflower=Iris,%20Yellow)

Crossing the street, I noticed 2 foraging geese on the upper grass of the golf course.

I would have liked not to disturb them, but I wanted to keep moving to outpace flying golf balls.

Geese on the Golf Course.

The geese were leisurely foraging, and I couldn't wait all day: I gently moved the geese along.

Kitty-corner to the slow-mo geese was a Mallard pair sunning themselves in the warming sunrays that had finally parted the clouds.

As I got closer, Mr. Duck quickly stood to shelter his mate, and was so quickly pushing Mrs. Duck into the tall grass, I could imagine him telling her, “Move it, move it, move it!” – she even gave him a backward glance eyeroll during her slow waddle (truly), that indicated, ‘I’m going as fast as I can. Relax!’

Kitty-corner to the geese, was a Mallard pair sunning themselves.

And I saw that the waterlilies are blooming.

I’ll have to walk the Lake sometime soon, to see those waterlilies in bloom 😉

Yellow Water Lilies.

Crossing the last street along the hiking trail route, I was delighted to see the wildlife has risen and started greeting the day (they had all been absent earlier).

And I shed my fleece pullover. 

The sun was chasing the chill away.

A sunny place of refuge.

Mallard pair & a turtle enjoying the sunshine.

The red on lower shell identifies this turtle as a Painted Turtle.

This Black Swedish Duck caught my eye; it blended in well - but I saw it. It seemed preoccupied with something in the grass.

She had DUCKLINGS at her webbed feet ... there are at least 3 of them.

I had an enjoyable walk - and I look forward to an enjoyable Thursday afternoon.

4.5 miles this morning; before 10 AM.

Back home by 10 AM, I took my geranium pots out from under the carport sheltering, and set them out in the sunshine for a few hours while I washed my hair, changed into fresher clothing, and tidied the house.

And added some clarification about how I post what I post.

Though I am glad to be of help to other’s who are going through thorny issues similar to mine … I do not feel obligated to divulge my entire life’s story to anyone.

I share enough – and that is enough for me; and for anyone else.

My videos are sometimes hard to follow because I leave deliberate gaps.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2gKzAZH5UQ)

I don't discuss my background with anyone; only Bob & Yeshua. Period.

I share present day stuff. 

My background is off limits.