Twilight

Manic Monday, school year off to a good start day.  Summer sunshine now slowly slipping away as the space between night and day has her turn.  A spectacular artist. She splashes color across the evening sky in a breath taking production original nightly.   God dims the house lights as Twilight takes her bow and mother nature joins with her bedtime symphony. 

Good Night . 

Padre Island, Texas by Cheryl Kratz

First Day of School

Good morning, Sunday Summer day, church day, begining of a new week day and the last day of unstructured  8-4.  Come Monday, school days, dear old Golden Rule days start fresh and way to soon.  Remember when the 1st day was always after Labor Day?  I also remember practically every year it poured rain causing more stress for parents, puddles of muddy fun for us kids.  

My Mom would safety pen an envelope with a check to pay for a month of school lunches, to the front of my dress.  I was instructed to go straight to the school office before class.  The Principal's nice pretty secretary would remove the penned envelope while saying pleasant things to smooth over my humiliation.   Wasn't the first day of school hard and confusing enough?  What was my Mom thinking? 

The pretty nice lady in the office was so kind to me and said such funny things about my safety pens that by the end of the school year I looked forward to my brief morning once a month, walk of humiliation.  That nice, pretty lady it turns out was my bestfriend Ruthann's Mother,  Nancy Jo Ulbrich.   I so admired her while I was growing up and I love and admire her to this day.  She accomplished so many things in addition to corraling us kids.   Role model, wise counselor, I learned so much from her.   Thank you Nancy!  Love ya lots. kisses 

Night Nurses

It is a blue sky, super sonic hot, Summer Sunday, church day and just one more day the Lord hath made.

I spent 25 years working the night shift as a RN.  Nursing is the career I wanted and it served me well. There are so many things I want to say when friends and acquantances advise me-for financial reasons-to work as a nurse again.  I do struggle financially.  It is a challenge to live on less money than the deductions on the checks I brought home as a nurse.  The emotional, physical and  spiritual toll is so unbelieveable and overwhelming you will never hear a RN discuss it-unless you are a RN.  In fact nursing was not particularly encouraged as a career choice until salaries more than doubled almost over night some years ago. 

Yesterday another RN friend passed from this world to the next. The timing it seems was her choice.  I have lost more nursing friends than family, schoolmates and various acquantainces combined.  

Years past I looked out patient windows to see the night sky.  Tonight I am gonna be on a roof with friends watching the meteor shower as the Supermoon rises.  I like to think the twinkling stars are happy lights of ones whose earthly light shines only now in our memory.  Forever happy. Forever at peace. 

Rock on you night nurses looking out patient windows. I know what you face and the courage it takes, On and on and so it goes. 

kisses

Self Destruct

Have you ever had a friend just seem to self destruct?  Maybe you kinda sorta had a feeling something was up and made yourself available while feeling incredibly inadequte as this is no ordinary person.  This friend is the center so many others depend on, look to and seem to naturally gravitate around.   

The slippery slope of self destruct is steep, leaving casualities shocked and shaken.  Equally and particularly hideous to witness are the ferrett faced, self proclaimed, wise counsel,  spinning tales of woe from a grain of truth mixed and multiplied in imagination poisoned with envy and anger.  Gossip so harsh, toxic karma takes its toll as the casuality list increases.  

It occurs to me in this time of 'selfies',  emphases on importance of self esteem, and general attitude of 'Me, myself & I'deserve 'whatever it is I think I want',  the reality is that self gratifacation is fleeting.  WORD!   

So it goes and now you know. 

Life is fragile and so very precious. kisses