Learning Curves

I just returned from a wonderful Spring Break trip to the bustling 'burb of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Yet another reunion with precious high school friends where we talked, ate and shopped nonstop. NONSTOP. I feel that my life is sorted out, enriched and blessed beyond compare during these visits.

Now? Back to the Real World. Where Daylight Savings time wreaked havoc with my clocks, cable and wireless internet in my absence. Deep breath. I can do this. When in doubt, unplug the device and plug it back in. HALLELUJAH! All electrical paraphernalia set right.

Feeling a little heady, I decided to reset the clock in my car. And not wait for six months until the time is correct again next fall when DLS time returns. Which I may or may not have done before. The secret was revealed in the owner's manual: push the button labeled "clock". Who knew?

I have now taken care of my day-to-day home maintenance for 20 months. I think it is interesting that loss is measured in months, just like a toddler's age. There is so much change that it must be labeled month by month, and not rounded to the nearest year. When Married Daughter was a little thing and wanted to do something without help, she'd say, "I want to do it by my big self." I guess I've learned to do quite a bit by my "big self" now.

I do miss having D to bounce ideas off, and to ask for advice. I've learned to seek others for their opinions on things like which GPS to purchase, how much a water pump for the van should cost, and how necessary is a sprinkler system when I have the yard re-sodded. (Very necessary, apparently, if I want the sod to live in the Texas summer heat.)

When was the last time you did something for the first time? That seems to be a pretty frequent occurrence in my life. I don't love it, but I don't mind so much anymore. That car clock reduced me to a puddle the first DLS time without D. I just mentally added an hour on to the time for six months.

One very interesting change has come slowly. During our reunion, one of my friends mentioned to me that in the Bible, a woman was not considered a widow (meaning she was to be totally taken care of by others) until she was 60. (I Timothy 5:9) I'm a good ways from that age, and I've never really applied the word "widow" to myself. (And, by the way: isn't widow a strange little word?) I guess that makes me single instead.

But, considering the great friends and family I have? Single is not alone. Definitely not alone.