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| Most likely, playgrounds aren’t used in the summer when it’s just too hot for kids to play outdoors. |
As the days wind down toward our leaving the USA again on August 1st, we find ourselves beginning to switch mental gears. This past almost two months in the US catapulted us both into a state of mind far removed from our now familiar reality, nearly five years since its inception.
The time has been well spent with family and friends, rekindling relationships in entirely new ways as we’ve all matured and changed as the years have rolled on.
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| Landscaping in housing development. |
Our grandchildren have grown and, our children have settled into their lives as they’ve worked their way into “middle age” with grace and dignity. It’s hard enough to believe how old we are, but then, even more so when we consider the ages of our children ranging from 42 to 50 years old.
Gosh, it only seemed like yesterday that we were 50 years old. And now, as I’m fast approaching 70 (seven months) and Tom 65 (five months), we continue to strive to maintain a youthful persona, vibrancy, and outlook along with the optimum of good health commensurate with younger years.
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| Empty basketball and tennis courts in the heat of summer in Las Vegas/Henderson. |
We’ve come to accept the reality that for us, good health is by far the most critical aspect to feeling young while providing the stamina and endurance to continuing in our world travels.
In some ways, this past year was challenging for me. With the spinal injury in June in the pool in Bali followed by the effects of contracting h. pylori, along with its frustrating and lingering effects, was a long year.
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| The upkeep on this green grass must be outrageous in this heat. |
Now, with a pain-free spine once again and the aftereffects of the gastrointestinal condition wafting away day by day, I’m returning to my optimistic, if not “overly bubbly” self. In the process, I find myself all the more enthusiastic about returning to our nomadic lives of world travel.
Tom, on the other hand, never faltered in his determination and mindset as a world traveler. He’d continued with research for the future, searching for new locations, cruises, and points of interest. Also, as always, in snippets of spare time while in the US, he continues with his never-ending hobby, ancestry.com.
Today, we’re both heading to North Las Vegas to visit my sister Susan who’s looking forward to seeing the updates Tom has discovered these past years in our family’s history.
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| Surprisingly, there are some birds in the desert. |
We’re bringing our HDMI cord, and Tom will hook up his laptop to her TV so she can easily see the updates on the TV, rather than trying to peek at the screen on his laptop.
As mentioned in the past, my dear sister has been lying in bed for the past 12 years suffering from the same hereditary spinal condition I’ve also been plagued with for most of my adult life. Had it not been for my strict anti-inflammation diet over these past six years, most likely, I’d have suffered the same fate.
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| Zooming in for a close-up of this bird as it quickly flew away, I cut off the top of her/his head. |
On our way back from Susan’s home, we’ll stop at our mailing service located about halfway between Henderson and North Las Vegas and collect our awaiting mail and mail the bins of Christmas decorations to Greg and Camille that I’d left at Richard’s home five years ago.
When we stored the Christmas memorabilia, I had no idea we’d never have our own home again and subsequently never decorate a Christmas tree again.
As time has passed, we’ve come to accept that we’ll never need those decorations again. They’re better in the hands of Greg’s family with our three grandchildren, who many appreciate them in years to come, perhaps for their own families someday.
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| This entrance to a housing development with a waterfall. With the dry heat, the amount of evaporation must result in a massive loss of water. Isn’t water at a premium in this valley? |
By the time we leave Henderson to fly to Costa Rica in 16 days, we leave behind not a single bin of “stuff.” Thanks, Richard, for storing them for us while we decided our future lives and returned to Nevada to dispose of these totes.
With no basements in homes in this part of the US, every bit of garage space is needed, and he’ll now have more room for his own “stuff,” although he’s not much of a packrat and keeps his home as tidy as it could be. Even we’ve had to be mindful of not cluttering his meticulous space while we’re here.
May your life and minds be free of clutter, allowing you the space you need to fulfill your desires.
Photo from one year ago today, July 17, 2016:
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| Tom, me, Captain Han, and new friend Bob in the wheelhouse. We thoroughly enjoyed the Viking Mekong River Cruise. For more photos, please click here. |