Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly…So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. Jonah1:17, 2:1,10
Wow! I saw a whale today while standing on my porch taking a break. It was … awesome!
I needed to get busy and write and was having a hard time planting my bottom to the chair and beginning. Start, just start! My brain’s motor just would not turn over. Finally, I hoped for inspiration looking at the ocean. The water is green-blue today with several white caps, and I wondered if I would get the blessing of spotting a dolphin, or even a pod of them.
Resigned that didn’t seem likely at the moment, I was about to head in when I saw a huge dolphin leap out. But no, there it is again. Wow! That’s not a dolphin, that’s a whale, that’s its tail! And yes, I know it sounds like a whale of a tail, but it was not. I felt humbled and thankful. I was standing here at the right time, God’s right time, and received this visual rare blessing.
My breathing caught and I continued to stare. I saw the tail slap three times causing ocean spray, and I assumed this was part of feeding, maybe stunning fish. The tale disappeared, and I continued to watch and was fortunate to see this gray massive creature rise and send spray up into the air, then see part of its back as it rolled up, then down, every twenty seconds, slowly working south. How amazing! Just look at this creature God created swimming and living life within sight of my porch. And I had the blessing of standing there at the right time to see this rare view.
I watched her (I decided it was a female, but who knows?) and she continued south for several minutes then disappeared from my view even though I waited to catch a glimpse again. How greedy I was! I already watched for maybe fifteen minutes and was filled with awe at this gift; and still I wanted more.
So, now I sit so thankful for the eyes which see, for the timing of spotting that impressive gray creature, and for giving me something wonderful to write and share. Such a moving blessing to witness and share.
Thank You for my many blessings; this was terrific for “mybellaviews.”
Over the next hour, they looked at and discussed the property.
Laurie called the owners who now lived out of state. She told them of Nora’s interest, and her offer, which was almost $60,000 less than asking price. When they balked at the offer, Laurie reminded them the property had not been cared for in nine years and required a lot of work.
To her surprise, the amount was agreed on. The purchase offer written and sent via email.
To her amazement, Laurie sold a property she had not shown. Technically, Nora had made the offer just peeking in the windows. She liked Nora Corcoran’s manner and her spunk. She looked forward to getting to know her a bit better.
Within three days, the property was Nora’s.
Laurie Temple laughed as she handed her the keys and said, “I’ve never sold a property without being inside it. Congratulations, Nora. Steve will be so surprised when he gets back and learns of this. He’s the owner of the realty company, but is on vacation right now. Due back Friday.
“Let me know if you need recommendations for contractors or anything.” Laurie said.
Nora squeezed the keys tightly in her hand. For a moment, doubt, fear, uncertainty gripped her. She wanted to share this with people she loved–Cassie, Donna….her brother. The pain she felt again over her brother’s death was sharp. She purposely turned from it, and looking at Laurie with a smile, “Yes, I do names of contractors.” Nora said, “I can do a lot outside, but I am not great with a hammer. I’d like any recommendations.”
Quickly, Laurie located the number for Randy Simmons and one other contractor.
“I like Randy the best. He’s nice to work with, listens and is good about offering suggestions. But this Bob Crowder is also supposed to be good.” Laurie held out the paper with the numbers on it. She started walking Nora to the entrance. When they reached the door, she shook Nora’s hand, “Anyway, Nora, the best of luck.”
Nora had just purchased the house by the river. She’d never been upstairs as the stairs were unsteady. But she had known it was right. Now, as uncertainty nibbled at her gut, she faced the daunting task of getting the rundown property into a livable–she hoped–condition.
What did she know about good buys? What did she know about renovations? Maybe the house was ready to fall down. It kind of looked as though it could. Had she jumped the gun and without the advice of a house inspector bought a home she would regret? What had she done?
She looked about, suddenly filled with doubts, trepidation and a lot of fear. But she had three days to put a stop on the transaction, right?
I had to put one of my Boston terriers down today. He was one of the blessings God entrusted me with more than eleven years ago. We got him and his sister from the same litter and they were so much fun. While not very intelligent dogs. . . or maybe they were intelligent enough to manipulate me whatever they wanted by pretending to not understand.
Clancy and Bailey were always close and brought smiles to a lot of faces because people enjoyed seeing them energetically play and they loved meeting new folks, watching them play soccer on the beach. They were bright enough to keep the ball off the dunes when I called to turn, and they would chase it into the water, then back up to the shore. They made a great team. Although they rarely liked a third dog joining in their game, they weren’t nasty about it, and would manage to steer it away from the new one, and maybe one of mine would hip chuck the other dog out of the way.
There was an excited joy every time I came home, even if I’d been out to just pick up the mail! No concept of time it seems. I am fortunate I never busted anything of bodily value tripping over them, yet couldn’t help smiling at their unadulterated pleasure. God knew what He was doing giving me those two litter mates.
So although I have some heaviness in my heart, it was time for Clancy to go trotting on the next part of his journey. Surprisingly, the female, Bailey, is doing well. She and my most affectionate cat both spent time on Friday licking Clancy, snuggling, and then for the next three days, (today is Monday) they steered clear of him. I believe in my heart they said their animal good-byes Friday. But it’s nice knowing I have the others to snuggle with today.
So, although I miss “my little boy dog” I know he’s in a better place. Thank you, God for blessing me with him for such a wonderful while. He was certainly one fun and happy “mybellaviews.”
Knowing Cassie would be reluctant to have her leave the sanctuary of Assurance Abode, Nora thought for a couple of days how to broach her plans. She needed to have Donna and Josh there also. She felt Donna would be more in favor of Nora’s branching out, and she knew Josh recognized the prime purpose of the home was to get women stabilized, strong enough and knowledgeable enough to stand on their own, away from the security they had needed at one time.
As expected, Cassie threw up several logical roadblocks, but between Nora’s well thought out answers and the support of Donna and Josh, Cassie worriedly agreed it might be time. “You have to call at least every other day. I will be so concerned. I want to know your plans, your itinerary and any glitches that might come up.” Then with a thick, choked voice, she pulled Nora into a tight hug and whispered she loved her. She turned and left the house.
Both Josh and Donna reassured Nora Cassie would adjust in a couple of days. They each gave a brief hug, assuring her she was doing the right thing at the right time.
There were so many places she wanted to see; the mountains of the northeast, Niagara Falls, Nashville, Tennessee and the Grand Ole Opry, Washington DC, the Appalachian Mountains, the Blue Ridge Mountains, Charleston, Savannah, and both the Gulf coast of Florida as well as the Atlantic Ocean. Oh, how she wanted to spend a few days at the ocean walking in the waves.
Saying farewell to the other residents, especially Nathan had been painful and left Nora with a sadness and heartache. But she still felt she had to do this. It was important for her development. So, with her Subaru Forester packed, armed with an atlas, and a cell phone with map applications installed, Nora left early one Tuesday morning.
Nora went to Georgia, Florida, DC, and New England, and when she started south went to Tennessee and all the other places. She spent several days to a week in each area she liked and wanted to explore. She met some nice people, some became friends. She enjoyed herself.
After traveling for almost 6 months, she came upon a little town in North Carolina on her way back to Virginia.
She found this one town in eastern North Carolina, Gottlieb, as she was returning. She felt a sense of belonging and the interest to possibly stay had been immediate.
I just returned from Mexico, a country I had never had the opportunity to travel to before. It was lovely. Of course, most of my reason for being there was to suck up the sun, sand and sea and escape the shivers of winters on the east coast of NC. So although this area of eastern NC does not get as much snow, ice and cold as many other areas of the country, it was still great to get away for a bit.
I watched the art of bartering (or as I was teased because of my accent, ‘bahtering.’ But alas, I am not successful at this practice unless buying a vehicle.) So although I did purchase some things slightly cheaper than the original asking price, I paid a good amount for most of the things purchased. And it didn’t bother me; you see, the outskirts of these resorts had shacks and shantys and there was a sense, almost a smell, of poverty, and just eeking out a living. So I had no disappointment that I was spending more on a trinket than the next person who beat the price to only a very few pesos.
Mostly, the poverty, although very visible, was not discussed as we traveled through the countryside on our way to see Chichen Itza and the Mayan ruins; there was only a quick agreement it was there and sad when it was mentioned. But I had an uncomfortable feeling seeing the poverty. How do your raise children to have hope, to believe in a future when your surroundings look hard, dry, barren, and as though some of the buildings have not protection from rain or the elements?
Once we reached the Mayan ruins, the woes of others’ poverty deserted me. Instead I was chastened.
How humbled and overcome I felt staring at the Mayan ruins, at the temple, the ball court, the old market place and all the rest. How had these people accomplished this 3000 years ago? No cranes to lift stones into place, no bulldozers to haul stone or other material from one area to another. There was nothing but brilliant, God-given minds, and the brute strength of these people to produce this lovely area, so very precisely. How incredibly ingenious these people were! I felt so respectful to be there standing and looking over the area, seeing the brilliance of the minds who created these buildings and cities.
This building was believed to be one of the Mayan worship centers and based on their Mayan calendar which centuries before Christ, they developed a calendar of 365 days. On the outside of this building, the worship center, there are 91 steps going up each of the four sides, (364) with one step going up to the entrance to all four doors at the top which allows one to enter the building.( yes, 365!) Each step to represent the days of the year. (Tours ended in early spring 2007 so no one is allowed to see that last step or climb the 91 steps now). But the precision, exactness and the incredible minds which constructed this and commanded it built by slaves was awe-inspiring. How? It was my repetitive question throughout the day. . . . .Because God gifted someone. . .thus we have the incredible wonders of the world we have.
Back at the resorts, the folks who work thereorts all seem friendly, warm, outgoing, and eager to make one’s stay comfortable, pleasant, and they are all accommodating, and try to be friendly, frequently joking and chatting. Obviously, some speak English better than others, but all try, and all seem to appreciate when you greet them, wish them a good day, and thank them in their language. So I tried to use it each time I sought their assistance.
Most days we lounged at the beach, sampling the drink of the day, soaking up sun, and watching the different vendors walk up and down the beach, back and forth, trying to entice someone to purchase their wares—handmade thread bracelets, purses, little kitschy toys of animals with heads bobbling about, or the cigar seller, or the silver jewelry hawker, and of course, the beach side waiter/waitress. They were all hardworking, pleasant people.
Maybe you also are thinking, ‘yeah, but it’s on the beach of Mexico, man. How hard can that be?’ I’d agree that maybe these people have a better more hopeful life than the farmer who owns his property, but it is a hard ground which is not very easy to dig and plant. And at least at this point of time it is dry. I admire a people who can go out day after day and week after week, and so on, when the results still look as though there is little income for them to go off and vacation and enjoy time with family and friends. I hope that’s not true.
But it certainly made it harder for me to barter. Or as my friends would giggle, ‘hahder for me to bahter.’ (They all think I have problems with the letter ‘r’).
But it was a vacation I will always remember and appreciate. So thank you, God, for the fact I had funds to go, friends to go and stay with, and an appreciation of all sorts of things I don’t get to normally see. Below are some examples of the blessings I saw.
these are Mayan men who spin around this pole about 60 feet tall. Made me queasy just watching them climb. This was in the shopping district of Playa del Carmen.
These are some of the blackbirds that chattered and flew about outside my hotel room, but were brazen, and if I left a chair and entered the room, leaving the door open, they flew right to the porch, landing on the chair, inquisitive about my movements inside the room. After the first time, I was diligent about making sure my door was closed. It was a great trip, and I’d return in a minute!
So, if you’ve blessings or things you would like to share about your trip to Mexico, I’d love to hear (read) about them.
Hi, I'm Kathy. Welcome to my website!