When It Rains, It Pours. (Literally.)

Podcast Tuesday! Today is the last day of school for our city, but Ryan and I are apparently just getting started on the learning. ;) And now you can learn from mistakes, mishaps, and misadventures! (And you can laugh at us too!)

 Listen here

I had a couple more stories from our trip a few days ago; hope that is okay! :)

I told you that the Sunday we were gone, we hiked Clifty Falls State Park, and it was so beautiful. We got back to the hotel mid-afternoon and were pretty hungry (because nine miles will do that to you) so we found a little local café and had some lunch! It was delicious. Tenderloin for Ryan and giant salad for me.

And because it was so hot we topped it off with a little frozen yogurt:

We sat by the river for a while:

And then we decided to go back to our room, watch some TV, and rest.

I really, really, really wanted to walk across the bridge to Kentucky (even though bridges and heights scare me) so I could say I did it. And since it seemed to be the day of conquering fears - and since we were leaving town the next morning - it seemed like the best time to go ahead and do that. We decided to wait until it cooled down just a bit, though.

So we rested, we watched TV, and then we strapped on our walking shoes and set out to conquer the bridge. I looked it up, and it said the bridge is a half mile long. It has a separate sidewalk for walkers and bikers. Tons of metal separates this sidewalk from the busy car lanes, so even if there's a crash, you should be safe.

I had to do some deep breathing, but we got up there and started walking! And as I glanced out over the river, I saw what looked like rain in the distance, even though the radar was 100% clear.

Do you see it there in the middle? Just to the left of the smoke stacks? I said something to Ryan about it and he said not to worry - it was just cloud/sun shadows. No rain on the radar, after all. So we began walking.

We paused for selfies:

And I said I really really thought that was a rain storm coming, and the noise we heard was in fact NOT the rumble of a barge, but the rumble of thunder.

The bridge felt a lot longer walking it than it looked staring at it, so by the time we hit the Kentucky side, I was ready to hurry - HURRY!!! - back. If there was one place I did NOT want to be in a storm, it was out in the open on top of a metal bridge.

So we picked up the pace on the way back. (I also had my good camera with me and didn't want it to get wet and ruined.

Yeah, that's definitely rain.

We were almost back to land when the first big drops began to fall. So we ran and made it UNDER the bridge just before it let loose.

Here's the funny (not funny) part. Our hotel was RIGHT THERE across the street, but it was up a big hill, and we didn't have any way to get there without the camera getting wet. So we stayed put. But the rain fell harder and harder, and we realized we might be there for the long haul. Also across the street was a park with a shelter house, so we decided to make a run for it and get into the shelter house.

Good thing we did. About five minutes later, the rain fell so hard that the spot where we stood in the photo above was completely rain-soaked.

Ryan made friends with another couple taking refuge there, and I rocked on a picnic bench. LOL. Oh how I hate storms.

I had to laugh a bit later when this guy pulled up and just sat. I wondered if he was hunting business from people who had gotten caught out in the rain?

The rain eventually let up, and we were able to walk back to our hotel and resume our evening resting.

Never a dull moment in a Shafferland adventure, is there?

Remembering

Today is Memorial Day, and I'll confess that across my 40 years of life, I've not done a great job of observing this day for what it really means.

Yesterday in our church, they paused to remember people associated with our church who had died since last Memorial Day. They showed their names on the screen, and as each one popped up, family members were invited to stand in honor of their loved ones. Our pastor reminded us that while we might just be seeing names, those names represent people who were dear to someone. They deserve to be remembered. So as the names flashed on the screen and people began standing around the room, I prayed for those people, because their grief is still fresh.

Even though I didn't know any of them personally, I thought over the past year and the people in my own life who have been touched by grief. I thought of a friend I met through a retreat a couple of years ago who lost her baby son before she even met him. I thought about my friend Michelle's family. They said goodbye to her with such little warning. I thought of my friends who lost a son to suicide earlier this year. And of course there were more, but with each one, a story. A story that deserves to be remembered. A grief that deserves to be recognized.

I think that's one of the hardest parts of grief when you lose someone. You don't ever want to forget what they meant to you, and you fear that the farther you get from them, the harder it will be to remember the specific things about them you loved so much. And you fear that everyone else will forget them altogether, and you know you never will. And how can life ever feel normal when you can't forget and they can't remember?

Remembering matters.

Yesterday was hot, hot, hot here in Indiana, and Ryan and I had a blissful sort of day with no plans after church. We came home, changed our clothes, ate our lunch, and curled up on Mo for movies and naps. I curled up next to Ryan, enjoying the blast of the air conditioner and the perfection of the day, and I began to remember...

...another Memorial Day Sunday eight years ago. It felt just as hot as this one, with the sun beating down mercilessly. I was in the thick of my broken heart, and the day suffocated me inside as much as the heat did outside. I remember feeling so very hopeless that afternoon, taking a long walk through campus, and not even caring about how miserable it was to walk in the middle of a hot day. I remember coming home to an empty house and crying out of hopelessness and despair.

I remember.

And I was so grateful for the comfort of this home and the presence of Ryan next to me. I still don't take him for granted. I haven't forgotten the hurt of the desert days, and I never want to. I remember because it matters. I remember because it shaped me. But I'm thankful for the healing that has come my way in the last eight years.

Remembering matters. It matters for us today as we remember the people who made a very brave sacrifice for us. It matters for those grieving a loss that maybe too many others have forgotten. It matters for seasons that shaped us, even if we no longer live in them.

And so today, I remember.

The Shafferland Shuffle

Happy Sunday! Hope you are enjoying your weekend! (To those of you enjoying a lake this weekend: enjoy it extra for me!)

* Last Sunday was a gorgeous day, and we were hiking Clifty Falls State Park! (But then you already read all about that, didn't you?) We were so thankful for a beautiful day, after the forecast said it would be otherwise allllll day. We hiked 9 miles, and I'm pretty sure almost all of it was uphill! :)

* We came home from our trip on Monday! We did one more county tour on our way home, which I will tell you about soon. It involved a very cool covered bridge and some delicious pie. (Not in the same place.) It was a great end to our little vacation. Thankful for some time away.

* We had a full, full, full day on Tuesday, so I helped Ryan by mowing the yard for him. I had to take multiple water breaks because of the heat, but I got it done! That night we helped our friends on their house again. Ryan had offered to haul some trim for them, but he found out the store isn't allowed to cut it to fit a vehicle, so we had our own cutting party!

* I had to finish my birthday thank you notes before I started looking ungrateful, so I worked hard on that Wednesday, and Ryan and I had a little coffee date that evening! OH! And we went on a walk. That was much-needed. It was one of those days when life just kind of crashed in and we needed to clear our heads!

* Thursday afternoon, I watched some kiddos, and we had A BLAST. I knew it had gone well when the oldest one informed her mom she was moving in with me forever and EVER. Sweet! :) They really were fun kids, and I had a blast! Ryan had a little extra time at lunch that day, so we even got to have a coffee date on the porch!

* I found our VERY FIRST rose bloom on Friday! I was so excited! I love it when the rose bushes bloom! That night we had (yes, another) coffee date - this time at a new coffee shop in town. This one just opened and it's the only one in town that stays open late. We are so excited to finally have options past 9 pm!

* Ryan worked yesterday, and I worked on my scrapbook! I'd been all caught up, but then, you know: BIRTHDAYS! TRIPS! Braeya helped me work and we watched Hallmark movies, too! I tried a new recipe for dinner (keeper!) and we went for a walk, despite the crazy humidity!

The Saturday Six

One.

The Annesley Writers Forum published one of my articles this week. I write for them each month, and some topics come more naturally to me than others, therefore I like some of my submissions more than others. For whatever reason, I like this one!

Two.

#marriagegoals. The man who went to the salon to learn how to style his wife's hair after she couldn't do it for herself anymore. Sweet!

Three.

As a massive dreamer myself, this post hit home! What if people laugh at your dreams? (What if you're laughing at someone else's dream?) Side note: I actually have a piece of art sitting in my office that says "My impossible dream...isn't" because I want to remember that my dreams do matter, and God just might cause them to come true!

Four.

I blogged about this more at length a few weeks ago, but we are officially LESS than a month away from participating in the kidney walk to help raise money for those facing kidney disease. We are walking with (and in honor of) my friend Pat, who has received two kidney transplants in his lifetime. If you want to help our team out, here is the link!

Five.

If you're local, a week from today is the first class in the "Write Your Story" series I'm teaching at the Marion Public Library. The classes will take place on the first Saturday of every month, starting in June and ending in October. This is especially for people who want to write their own stories to preserve their history but feel overwhelmed by the idea of the project. We're breaking it down into manageable, bite-sized pieces! I'd love to see you there!

Six.

The first home I lived in as an adult (which was also the first home Ryan and I shared together) had a small galley kitchen. There were many things about that kitchen that I didn't adore, especially once Ryan and I tried to cook together and were always bumping into each other. Eventually I learned to like it, though I won't lie about being grateful about our bigger kitchen in our current house. I think that's why I liked this article so much. The blogger has a heart of gratitude for her tiny kitchen most would find frustrating.

Clifty Falls State Park

This past Sunday, while we were still down in Madison, Indiana (part of our Jefferson County tour), we visited Clifty Falls State Park. I had seen many, many pictures of this park from my friends who regularly visit that part of the state, and I knew it was beautiful. And I feared we wouldn't get to FULLY enjoy the beauty because it was supposed to rain (storm, really) the ENTIRE day. We knew we couldn't control it, so we alternated between holding our breath and praying hard, and my goodness. God gave us a BEAUTIFUL day to enjoy His creation in ways we never had. We were so, so grateful.

If you ever decide to go there, they do have an inn on the grounds, but it was a bit above our budget, so we didn't stay there. I've heard really good things, though! Also an interesting note...this park doesn't have trash cans or bathrooms scattered throughout like most other ones we've been to. I figured that would make it really litter-filled, but I have to say it was the cleanest state park I've seen. When we stood on bridges and looked down into creeks, I didn't see any cups or chip bags or anything. Interesting! I do wish they would have had more bathrooms because it was a hot day and I wanted to drink way more water than I did, but I knew I couldn't have bathroom breaks. (Nine miles on two bottles of water on an 80+ degree day worked out okay, but I was nervous!)

We started at the observation tower, which I did climb, even though they scare me to death, but it was a bit too foggy to see much:

Six hours later, during take #2, it was much more scenic:

I took a bazillion pictures and won't subject you to them all, but here were some of the moments we encountered that day. I will add that this was the most rugged hiking I've ever done. I know compared to what some of you do, this is NOTHING, but for me, it was rugged. And many of the trails were mostly rock, and the rocks were wet from recent rain, so we did a lot of slipping and sliding and slogging through mud. My shoes look GREAT! :) And many of the trails were straight up hill. STEEP! Toward the end, Ryan found me a good walking stick, but I did most of it very carefully.

There were definitely lots of cliffs and falls throughout!

HUGE!

(I was too chicken to climb up where Ryan was on that one. That was the only thing I wish I would have tried that I didn't.)

We came upon this tunnel, which was really a cave with two entrances. They said it was manmade, but they also said bats live in there, so I don't care who made it or what it's called. It's a cave. You could ALMOST stand up straight inside. Especially toward the middle, you had to crouch to get through. Someone told us it's about 600 feet long, and when you're in the middle, there's a bit of a bend, and you can't see light at either end. The ground was made entirely of rocks covered in water, so it was pretty much all my fears wrapped up into one. But of course Ryan wanted to try it, so we did. I quoted a LOT of scripture and did a LOT of praying.

 WE DID IT!!!!!

 I only slipped once and Ryan hit his head on the top once, but otherwise, no humans or cameras were injured in the cave trek!

 I did the rugged one, thankyouverymuch.

 It was called Cake Rock. Yes please.

We crossed a couple of creeks (like IN the creek).

 The delicate art of washing mud off your shoes WITHOUT falling off the rocks.

 He ran up the hills.

 I went a bit more slowly.

But oh, what a fun day! We saw people along the way, but for the most part, we had the trails to ourselves. It was warm, but the trees provided nice shade. We saw NO snakes. The waterfalls were stunning. It was a worship-filled day and a great experience to have together. Loved this park!