Thursday

Well Wednesday was much a usual day that started with a 6'ish roll out then my routines of a cup of hot tea, a few quiet moments, the posting of this ramble and then a lite breakfast before pedaling out to the rec on my bike for a couple hours of pickle ball. The temps had dropped to the "chill in the air" for most of the day as the strong north breeze kept it quite comfortable even in the direct sunlight. Later in the evening we met with our house church and it was a delicious one as well as a round table discussion; more on that get together later.

We had a 2 courts going at pickle ball with 10 or so players so if you were winning you pretty much didn't sit down all morning. I had a good sweat going for most of the period. Afterwards I stopped off at the library for a couple new reads and one that really intrigued me titled COMING CLEAN by Kimberly Rae Miller. I finished the book during the day and wow is all I can say about what she endured with her family as they were hoarders to the maximum. Unbelievable that people live this way and she had the courage to write about. She and both of her parents have very high I.Q's but she was able to break away. This is a must read book and will enlighten you about this mental illness.

 I came in contact with a real live hoarder many years ago while working a follow up on a fatality in the Largo area. I will never forget what the inside of this house was like and you can only visualize what's its like from this writers prospective if you have never had this experience. There was a path throughout the inside of this woman's house that you could barely walk through. The path went to what I thought must have been the bedroom and to the kitchen and from the front door inward but other than that the rooms were completely filled to the ceilings with papers, articles and junk. The path looked as if it belonged in a outside yard and the smell was atrocious. Needless to say I conducted the interview outside once I saw and smelled the inside of the house. She was lucid, intelligent and forthright and made no apologies about the house or it's contents so I had first hand knowledge what this author was writing about with regard to her parents and what she endured while growing up and even to this very day.

Amy, GG and the kiddo's came for lunch and we dined on a fresh garden salad that I had made. Afterwards I loved up on Sam and Eliza until it was time for them to head out to pick up Ava from school. We were having house church tonight at the Botbyl's so Nancy picked up pizza crust's, fresh mushrooms and mozzarella cheese at the store and I picked fresh basil from the garden and we made or'derves before we chowed down on fresh salad(Katherine made) and Zuppa Toscana that Carol made and Danielle supplied a decant chocolate cake with chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. I usually never partook of this part of the part of the meal but it looked too good to pass up so I indulged. It was worth it for a change.

Dan brought out a really old family Bible from the 1800's and we perused it and then got into a discussion about different aspects of where our country is at this time in our history using biblical predictions and what we, our kids and grand kids will be facing in the future. It was interesting how each of us interpret scriptures and the questions we left unanswered. It was after 9 before we finally headed out for home. We will miss the Tracy's as they will be traveling out of the country the next 2 weeks to Central America. We wish them Godspeed.

Well after a hot shower I read and watched a little baseball until it was lights out for me around 10:30, LATER. The Ray's lost again in Kansas City; what's with this team??