SAVED in My Time of Peril

During the storm, on Friday June 26, I was at work at Tasker's. I saw the storm approaching, black clouds flowing like molten lava. I raced to close all the windows in my sister's house.

When lightning stuck and blew out the battery back-up on the office computer, and I smelled smoke, I high-tailed it into the broom closet to wait it out.

I feared another 100-year tornado. It was then I knew what that poor, deceased grandmother feared as the 100-year tornado approached her home, killed her, but allowed the young grandchild in her arms to live. I listened...pricked my ears to hear what I've heard is the scariest sound in the universe...the sound of an approaching freight train upon you...when there are no train tracks in your vicinity!

I WAS WORRIED!

First, I worried because I hadn't had enough time to get the two dogs in.

Next, I worried about how rescuers would find my body in the broom closet.

Finally, I worried for my life. I didn't want to die, yet.

I prayed, I chanted, I begged God for safety, begged for my life...and it worked. I realize now I was being selfish: I should have prayed for other people, too. My bad.

When the worst of it was over, with rumbles of thunder further away (over some other soul's life) I ventured out of the closet and took this quick photo outside the office door. I had to push the door hard to get it open. Hail was up against it, blocking my escape!

My sister's and my mother's houses both received moderate/sever hail damage, but they and I survived.

They may claim to be lucky.

I don't believe in luck.

I believe I am connected...to the SAVior!

That's why I was SAVED in my time of peril.

(Photo by Lisa (Allen) Kennard)

Meme - Saaaavor These Days

This Meme loves her grand-babies; it's evident in her outstretched arms. Arms that hug, hold 'em close, and protect the babes. A kiss for him, a snuggle for her...this Meme of twins has plenty of lovin' to go around!

This Meme is my sister! Isn't she lucky for all she holds in her arms! Soon, these two cherubs/devils turn four. Each day, their personalities explode.

In one breath we wish they would grow faster so we can hoard and enjoy their ever-increasing identities. In another breath, we pray for time to standstill, or at least proceed in slow-mo, so we can saaaavor these days.

I believe Meme would agree. Yes?

(Photo by Lisa (Allen) Kennard)

Religious Manners

Here is a lesson in religious manners:

To those of my readers who appreciate God and all he does in your life, join me in saying,
"THANK YOU!"

To those of my readers who don't know God, or who have drifted apart from the Lord, I encourage you to renew your friendship.

God wants to be your best friend!
God wants to be your cheerleader!
God wants to stand beside you!

Just say,
"YES, PLEASE!"

Yea, God!

(Photo by Unknown)

...Come Sail Away...Repeat...Sway...

Set three: Ladies and gentlemen, give a huge welcome to STYX!!! The lights burst on. Styx puts on a music show that blew me away.

It spurs me on to ATTEND AT LEAST ONE CONCERT per year! As a matter of fact, perhaps you will now be charmed by my prose to consider attending a concert of your own favorite musician(s). I feel it is 40-bucks well spent. Even in these hard economic times, it is a boost in spirit that can give one a temporary reprieve from situations out of one's control.

My favored sister and I had driven from the countryside in Tinytown, NH to the Lakes Region in Gilford. We followed the crowd, many protected from downpours with multi-colored umbrellas, into Meadowbrook US Cellular Pavilion.

This crowd, near the end of the set, stood and applauded, swayed and sang along to what I'm convinced was the highlight of the three-band-concert. Yes, saving the best for last is a deal clincher!
"...come sail away, come sail away, come and sail away with me..."
repeat, repeat, sway, repeat, repeat, sway...

I even saw a few flickering flames from lighters held high in the air. Lighters at concerts are a thing of the past, aren't they? Don't hip concert-goers hold up lighted cellphones? The flashiest things were the smuggled-in cameras, like my new Kodak 10 megapixel with zoom (an astounding upgrade from my Kodak 2 megapixel, no zoom).

As we swayed and sang to the 30-year-old 'Sail Away' song like it was a revered, current love-song, it was then that I knew what paying homage to your favorite band is like. It was a heartfelt, poignant moment. It's a personal decision to be a bit selfish for a little while. Wanting, seeking, and taking comfort in simple things, like a good song.

(It made me glad I survived the recent hail hurling weather the day before that had me cowering in the broom closet, begging my Lord to save me from a possible tornado!)

(Photo by Lisa (Allen) Kennard)

Liberated Concert Goers

REO SPEEDWAGON's band members have aged and their hair styles different, but their music and lyrics brought the same familiar goosebumps! This, too, is a band whose music reminds me of another life, a past life, that is best swept under a rug. If the only thing I could take from that time period was the music, I would be fine.

Back then music was all about drums, and guitars, keyboards, and lyrics. It was classic rock and roll with words you could understand and relate to. Song after song had the fans, who had braved the wet conditions, clapping, hooting, and singing along. At the end of their set, REO praised their fans and thanked them for their loyalty. I liked that.

Beside me at the concert, my sister's knees moved up and down to the beat. She enjoyed them as much as I, though I'm sure her memories of hearing this music and my memories differ, like night and day. But together we hunkered down at the concert, sporting our emergency ponchos following the downpour, and though we are two separated people, at that moment in time, under the rainbow that appeared in the sky, SHE AND I WERE ONE!

Thank you for sharing in this first of many concerts with me, Sis! You and I have been liberated!

.38 Special Memories

.38 Special was just that...special. I have about 38 special memories about this group and its music. Two songs they sang at the concert, that my sister and I attended, brought me back in time to two different instances. Amid the downpour during .38 Special's set, I reminisced. The rain just added to the poignancy.

"...so caught up in you, little girl, you're the woman's got me down on my knees, so caught up in you, little girl, and I never want to get myself free..."

This I remember dancing to at the Airman's Club with my clique of friends about 1983. Friends like Donna & Dan, Cathy & Mike, Rhonda, Stoney, Mark, Mark, Richard, and a bevy of others that were more acquaintances. All these names...all these memories...are ghosts in the past.

AND

"...a heart needs a second chance...since you've been gone, I've been in a trance, this heart needs a second chance, don't say it's over, I just can't say goodbye..."

This I remember that a certain brokenhearted love-interest from my past, around 1991, told me that when he heard this song, it reminded him of me. We were sitting on his couch...both viewing each other through rose-colored glasses in the distant past of 1979, and not able to really connect to the modern-day version. Sadly, this old friend died in a house fire and I was shocked. I miss never mending our bridge. During the concert I sung along with the band, loud and full of emotion.

This was the first act at the concert. It got me fired up and ready for act two.

(Photo by Lisa (Allen) Kennard)

Rockin' Out at my Rock Concert!

SING WITH ME:

'You take it on the run, baby, if that's the way you want it baby, then I don't want you around! I don't believe it, not for a minute, you're under the gun so you take it on the run. Heard it from a friend who, heard it from a friend who, heard it from another - you been messin' around!'

Oh yeah, classic REO SPEEDWAGON, from the 1980's. And guess what? Tonight's the night! I'm loadin' up my sister and a lawn chair and gunning it over to Meadowbrook. We're gonna see the show! And that's not all. Also playing is Styx and .38 Special.

This is only my second 'real' concert. The first was The Irish Tenors, when I went with my husband. Very calming, surreal music. This rock concert will be the exact opposite of calm. I'm gonna rock out! Close my eyes and just soak it all in.

Talk about a mind-blast from the past. These three bands were hot when I was in the service in the early 1980s. My clique of friends and I would go partying every Friday and Saturday night over at the Airman's Club on Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas.

We'd shake, and move, and have a romance or two, or three, or four! Never in my life did I party this way, and probably never again. No drugs, nor over-indulgence of booze. We were just living life without many cares, out dancing hard with friends and strangers...all in the same boat. The service was like that for me (the best part of it, anyway.)

Classic rock - classic memories. Memories I can only tell you about, because no one I know today was with me during my service days. Those old friends are all in my past, still alive in my memories. Can't find them in real life, so I remember them in daydreams. Some things from those 'crazy days' are best forgotten.

But hey, this is about REO SPEEDWAGON! All that's another blog...
Check out the site to see what I'm talkin' about!

http://www.meadowbrook.net/?page=event_info&show_code=062709&cf=24204452_1

Retired Wood-Chopping Man

My husband, the wood-chopping man:

he used to saw up trees with his trusty chainsaw (14-inches long), lift them onto his rugged wood splitter, split them up to the perfect chunk...they went

UP, UP the conveyor belt, and

DOWN, DOWN into his one ton dump truck.

He'd season the wood in piles in the backyard, their bark baking in the summer sun.

Then he'd fill orders for his 200 cords of wood by throwing the wood UP, UP into the truck body and make the delivery

by dumping the wood OUT, OUT onto customers' grounds.

For ten years he gave the fire wood processing business his all...even ended up giving it his healthy back.

Now my husband is disabled. Now he is enjoying the retirement he so deserves. My husband has worked hard and honest his whole life...I'm proud of him and his work ethic.

If only I could retire with him, every day, to stay home and play with him!

That is a goal to look forward to...someday.

(Photo by Lisa (Allen) Kennard)

My Great Aunt Velma

This is my aunt...actually my great aunt. She is my Nana's sister.
Nana is gone to heaven,
but her sister, my great aunt, remains.

My great aunt is like a grandmother to me. Sometimes I believe, more like a grandmother than a great aunt.

I was a dutiful granddaughter to my Nana, but to my aunt, I am a gracious, great niece. Gracious, becasue she makes it all right to be me.

We can sit for hours, talk, laugh, giggle, and tell a multitude of secrets.
Secrets I never felt comfortable telling others.
Secrets she doesn't repeat.

This is my great aunt...she is really GREAT!
Love ya, Great Aunt Velma!

(Photo by Lisa (Allen) Kennard)

Echos in my Childhood Church

This is my church.

This is the view I dreamed in when I was a child learning about God.

These colored windows

let in the warm sun, and blocked out the devil!

In this church, when I was young,

I prayed, I sang, and I pondered.

Now, forty years later, I've gone back for a visit.

Back to the colored windows.

Echos of my childish voice still singing, still praying, still reverberating off these hallowed walls.

This is my church.

This is my salvation!