Weekend Review: The Trespassers Edition
So. This weekend.
Friday night I stumbled across some very sad news that still haunts me. I was scrolling through my fb newsfeed when I spotted a photo a friend of mine had been tagged in. The message attached to the photo read, "In loving memory. May she rest in peace."
My stomach dropped to my knees ya'll and all I could think was, "No. Not possible. This does not mean what I think it means." So I immediately clicked on her page and...and...it was full of memorials and RIPs and a link to the obituary. I just, I couldn't and can't comprehend how this happened. Unfortunatly, this is one of those friendships that I made through the Harlequin community and we'd never actually met. Most of my on-line friends are like that. Just so happened, when we both drifted away from Harlequin, she and I maintained our friendship on MySpace and then Facebook, though we hadn't actually communicated directly with each other in a little while. If I hadn't seen that photo she'd been tagged in, it might have been months before I knew she was dead. And that makes my heart hurt.
Just on the off chance that anyone else who knew or remembers her from Harlequin and might not have heard, this friend was April Jolene. Or AJ, as she was sometimes called. She and I first met on the "Downsizing" board way back several years ago when the "Downsizing" board was new. She and I and our friend Sara formed a sort of weightloss bond through that board and for the longest time kept up with, encouraged, and virtually shook each other into staying on our wagons. They were both around when I lost all that weight back in 2006 and I remember her always saying, "You can doooeeeeet!" like that silly guy on that elliptical machine commercial.
She was also an amazingly talented writer. She and I both entered short stories in contests on the boards and she always won first place whenever she entered. She never published, but she could have if she'd really wanted to. She was just that talented.
Her life got busy, though, when her marriage fell apart and she became a single parent to six children under the age of 13. She quit the boards and while the friendship remained, the daily contact lessened a lot over the years until we were mostly keeping up with each other through our status updates. Again, kinda sad.
I wish I knew what happened. Was she sick? She never said so. Was it an accident? Or something worse? Not that knowing would change the end result. But it's just so heartbreaking. She wasn't even forty yet. Had two young children as well as the six she had when we met. How does such a young life get cut so short? So abruptly? It's just all so sad.
Needless to say, I spent most of Friday night reading the memorials, reading her old status updates, looking at pictures on her page and praying for her family.
Saturday morning I got up and did my usual Saturday morning things--grocery shopping, breakfast, etc. And oddly enough, after all that sadness the night before Saturday turned out to be one of those perfect days. The weather as amazing--cool but not cold. Sun was out but it wasn't hot. I felt healthy and unstressed for the first time in months. Not depressed. Not exhausted. It was just one of those perfect autumn days. I got all my laundry done and put away. Got the kitchen cleaned. A pot of chili made. I read a book and watched television. Libs and I played outside a bit. It was just a peaceful, calming day.
Sunday I sang at Daddy's church for the homecoming service. I haven't sang a solo since last year's homecoming service at his church. A fact I hadn't really thought about or realized until Granny asked me to sing again. I made it through, no problem, though. The second worst thing about singing solos, though, is I never know what to do when people come up to me afterwards and compliment me. I always just say thank you, but that feels so conceited to me. Almost like I'm saying, "I know. Thanks for noticing." It's not as though I put a lot of work into developing my voice. Whatever it is they like about it is just what God decided to give me. I have nothing to do with it other than providing the vessel. But to not say anything is rude. And to try and joke it off or be self-depreciating makes it sound like I'm fishing for compliments. So. I just say thanks and feel awkward.
The first worst part, of course, is the whole standing in front of a crowd with everyone staring at you. It's a socially awkward hermit's worst nightmare. haha
Anyway, after the service they had lunch and I ate a proper amount. Didn't overeat. Still felt a little gross when I got home, though. All that heavy southern church lady food, I guess. So me and Libs set off on a walk down the road as part of an activity challenge my "MapMyWalk" app had issued. There was a chance to win a couple hundred dollars, too, so it sounded like a good idea.
I hate walking on gravel. Hard on the feet and ankles but I wasn't about to drive somewhere smooth to walk so we just set off down our road. While we were walking, we did a little trespassing. Because that's how we roll, apparently.
They're doing some logging in the woods down the road from my house. I know logging is a necessary evil but it sure does make a mess of the environment.
Rutting up the road, clearing out what used to be thick wooded areas. Just a general mess. The hunters in the area are up in arms because on their way to clear and cut timber, the loggers have disturbed hunting areas that are leased by the local hunting club. The hunting club leases some hunting land from the timber company that owns a lot of the land down my road. I'd think it would be illegal to lease land to a hunting club for the purpose of hunting and then go in and cut down all the trees making the land "unhuntable." (That's totally a word. Because I said so.) But I'm not a lawyer or a hunter so I just stand back and cry at the loss off all that beautiful forest that has covered the land on that end of the road since I was a wee child. Before they're done with it, I likely won't even recognize the land anymore. *sniffle*
Anyway, Libs and I walked a mile and a quarter Sunday in twenty-five minutes. Up hills, down hills, on rutted dirt and gravel. Well, I walked. She ran, sniffed and hopped around like a loon. haha
When we got back, I popped in the episode of American Horror Story that I'd recorded last week and watched it through my fingers. It's kinda gross. But I love the story so I'll stick with it.
Then, because I'm silly, I got up and experimented with making homemade tortillas. They turned out pretty good but I didn't really have anything to put on them. I was mostly just curious if I could do it and if they'd be good. I've gotten to where I don't really like the taste of the ones you buy in the store. Turns out they aren't that difficult to make. I'll probably give them another go sometime.
Anyway, that's what was up with me this weekend. I still have a partially written draft of last weekend's review. Not sure if it's worth finishing and putting up, though. We'll see.
Cio!
Friday night I stumbled across some very sad news that still haunts me. I was scrolling through my fb newsfeed when I spotted a photo a friend of mine had been tagged in. The message attached to the photo read, "In loving memory. May she rest in peace."
My stomach dropped to my knees ya'll and all I could think was, "No. Not possible. This does not mean what I think it means." So I immediately clicked on her page and...and...it was full of memorials and RIPs and a link to the obituary. I just, I couldn't and can't comprehend how this happened. Unfortunatly, this is one of those friendships that I made through the Harlequin community and we'd never actually met. Most of my on-line friends are like that. Just so happened, when we both drifted away from Harlequin, she and I maintained our friendship on MySpace and then Facebook, though we hadn't actually communicated directly with each other in a little while. If I hadn't seen that photo she'd been tagged in, it might have been months before I knew she was dead. And that makes my heart hurt.
Just on the off chance that anyone else who knew or remembers her from Harlequin and might not have heard, this friend was April Jolene. Or AJ, as she was sometimes called. She and I first met on the "Downsizing" board way back several years ago when the "Downsizing" board was new. She and I and our friend Sara formed a sort of weightloss bond through that board and for the longest time kept up with, encouraged, and virtually shook each other into staying on our wagons. They were both around when I lost all that weight back in 2006 and I remember her always saying, "You can doooeeeeet!" like that silly guy on that elliptical machine commercial.
She was also an amazingly talented writer. She and I both entered short stories in contests on the boards and she always won first place whenever she entered. She never published, but she could have if she'd really wanted to. She was just that talented.
Her life got busy, though, when her marriage fell apart and she became a single parent to six children under the age of 13. She quit the boards and while the friendship remained, the daily contact lessened a lot over the years until we were mostly keeping up with each other through our status updates. Again, kinda sad.
I wish I knew what happened. Was she sick? She never said so. Was it an accident? Or something worse? Not that knowing would change the end result. But it's just so heartbreaking. She wasn't even forty yet. Had two young children as well as the six she had when we met. How does such a young life get cut so short? So abruptly? It's just all so sad.
Needless to say, I spent most of Friday night reading the memorials, reading her old status updates, looking at pictures on her page and praying for her family.
Saturday morning I got up and did my usual Saturday morning things--grocery shopping, breakfast, etc. And oddly enough, after all that sadness the night before Saturday turned out to be one of those perfect days. The weather as amazing--cool but not cold. Sun was out but it wasn't hot. I felt healthy and unstressed for the first time in months. Not depressed. Not exhausted. It was just one of those perfect autumn days. I got all my laundry done and put away. Got the kitchen cleaned. A pot of chili made. I read a book and watched television. Libs and I played outside a bit. It was just a peaceful, calming day.
Sunday I sang at Daddy's church for the homecoming service. I haven't sang a solo since last year's homecoming service at his church. A fact I hadn't really thought about or realized until Granny asked me to sing again. I made it through, no problem, though. The second worst thing about singing solos, though, is I never know what to do when people come up to me afterwards and compliment me. I always just say thank you, but that feels so conceited to me. Almost like I'm saying, "I know. Thanks for noticing." It's not as though I put a lot of work into developing my voice. Whatever it is they like about it is just what God decided to give me. I have nothing to do with it other than providing the vessel. But to not say anything is rude. And to try and joke it off or be self-depreciating makes it sound like I'm fishing for compliments. So. I just say thanks and feel awkward.
The first worst part, of course, is the whole standing in front of a crowd with everyone staring at you. It's a socially awkward hermit's worst nightmare. haha
Anyway, after the service they had lunch and I ate a proper amount. Didn't overeat. Still felt a little gross when I got home, though. All that heavy southern church lady food, I guess. So me and Libs set off on a walk down the road as part of an activity challenge my "MapMyWalk" app had issued. There was a chance to win a couple hundred dollars, too, so it sounded like a good idea.
I hate walking on gravel. Hard on the feet and ankles but I wasn't about to drive somewhere smooth to walk so we just set off down our road. While we were walking, we did a little trespassing. Because that's how we roll, apparently.
They're doing some logging in the woods down the road from my house. I know logging is a necessary evil but it sure does make a mess of the environment.
Rutting up the road, clearing out what used to be thick wooded areas. Just a general mess. The hunters in the area are up in arms because on their way to clear and cut timber, the loggers have disturbed hunting areas that are leased by the local hunting club. The hunting club leases some hunting land from the timber company that owns a lot of the land down my road. I'd think it would be illegal to lease land to a hunting club for the purpose of hunting and then go in and cut down all the trees making the land "unhuntable." (That's totally a word. Because I said so.) But I'm not a lawyer or a hunter so I just stand back and cry at the loss off all that beautiful forest that has covered the land on that end of the road since I was a wee child. Before they're done with it, I likely won't even recognize the land anymore. *sniffle*
Anyway, Libs and I walked a mile and a quarter Sunday in twenty-five minutes. Up hills, down hills, on rutted dirt and gravel. Well, I walked. She ran, sniffed and hopped around like a loon. haha
When we got back, I popped in the episode of American Horror Story that I'd recorded last week and watched it through my fingers. It's kinda gross. But I love the story so I'll stick with it.
Then, because I'm silly, I got up and experimented with making homemade tortillas. They turned out pretty good but I didn't really have anything to put on them. I was mostly just curious if I could do it and if they'd be good. I've gotten to where I don't really like the taste of the ones you buy in the store. Turns out they aren't that difficult to make. I'll probably give them another go sometime.
Anyway, that's what was up with me this weekend. I still have a partially written draft of last weekend's review. Not sure if it's worth finishing and putting up, though. We'll see.
Cio!
Comments
I'm so sorry for the loss of your friend, Jana, even if you had never met IRL. Unfortauntely, I don't remember her, and based on the discussion in which you met, she may have joined after I left. I hope reading the memorials helped you find closure and inner peace. Based on how your Saturday went, it sounds as if it did. {{{hugs}}}
That's about how I felt late last winter, when I discovered they had cleared out a large section of woods along the bike path and had also cleared out a section of the Arboretum that had become too overgrown.
On the one hand, I understand the need to preserve the prairie by cutting back the encroaching woods. I understand the need to regularly clear out dense undergrowth to prevent invassive species from taking over and to prevent fires. But at the same time, the loss of all those beautiful trees, shrubs and flowers was a bit sad.
I think they've either finished logging that area or are working elsewhere for a while. The county graded the road and I haven't seen or heard any log trucks. Hopefully they're finished. If they are, it isn't as bad as I'd feared it would be.