Life Seems so Busy...........

I don't remember being this busy even when I had a full time job.   Do other retired people feel the same way?  Maybe it's just because we ARE retired that we feel like we have all kinds of time to get things done, so we procrastinate, and then wonder where the day went.  Alas, if that's my biggest problem, I shouldn't complain.
It's over nine miles down the hill from Silent Valley to Banning, so we would PREFER to only go down once, or twice a week, but last week it was six days out of seven!  
Last Wednesday the church had a 50's themed party and pot luck dinner.  I know I told you about it, but now I will include some pictures, and a video, if I can.

 This was the inflatable jukebox we had, but the music came from Pastor James's Alexa.
On the right is Pastor James and his wonderful wife, Judi.
I managed to stay out of these pictures, as I was taking some myself.

Several people, including Diane tried to use the hula hoops.  Fifty plus years ago, I was good at it.

Oh well.  Life moves on.

Sunday was Diane's birthday.  We baked her a cake for that night.  But it was her wish to get away somewhere, and she chose driving up to Big Bear Lake for the day.  It was a great idea, because it was over 100 degrees in Banning, and a cool mid 70's up there.  We had lunch at the Teddy Bear Cafe.  We chose that one because they had an outside patio where we could take all FOUR dogs with us.  We were very proud of Millie and Willie as they were on their very best behavior all day.  After lunch, we drove to a marina where we rented a pontoon boat for an hour on the lake.  Diane's husband Jim drove the boat, and we had an amazing time.

The guy from the marina took this pix.  I took about 125 pictures, but many were NOT good, as the wake bounced us around and many were just of water!  But some turned out very nicely.  Some of the people we saw enjoying the day on the lake.

 It was cool up in Big Bear, and you can see the snow up in the higher mountains.

On the right is a "pirate ship" that offers narrated lake tours.

 As always, Millie was fearless, but Willie had to be lifted onto the boat, and was not sure if he liked being away from terra firma.

This is just one of many beautiful, and very expensive homes we saw along the lakeside.
I understand that Big Bear Lake is a man made lake. 

 At one time this was a restaurant that people came to by boat.  On the right is an observatory.  We didn't go in because it wasn't open, but there are times when one can go inside it.

This was another tour boat we saw there.  It was an amazing day, and I'm so grateful that Diane & Jim wanted to share it with us.

I had to include this picture.  It was taken on California Highway 243 on the way up to Silent Valley.  California had more than its usual amount of rain this year, resulting in more greenery, and more beautiful flowers everywhere.  We think this is lavender, but I could be mistaken.  Nevertheless, it is a delightful spot of color on this usually dry, and brown landscape.

I took the picture on the right, looking northeast from Highway 243 as we were going down the hill. You can see how green some of it is, and again, snow capped mountains off in the distance.  God has blessed southern California with such beauty, and we can only hope and pray that this beauty won't be destroyed by wild fires, as happens too often.  Sadly, people can be very careless, and the resulting fires destroy many millions of acres of land, and homes, and all too often lives are lost too. Besides the risk of wild fires, there is another danger we must always be aware of.  In the summer heat, too many people leave, pets, children, or elderly family members is a closed and locked car to run errands.  It only takes a few minutes for the heat in a closed car to climb to life threatening temperatures, even with windows open a few inches.  Please do NOT leave people or pets in a closed car for even a moment.  If you can't take pets with you, they are better off left at home.  Also, if you have elderly people in your neighborhood, please check on them frequently.  Make sure they are not suffering from heat related problems, and are well hydrated.  We ALL need more water when it gets hot, since we can dehydrate easily.  And even if they are OK, most people would appreciate the company, and knowing that someone cared enough to check on them.  Occasionally you might even deliver them a nice homemade meal or dessert.  Maybe they cannot afford a tasty dessert, or cannot prepare meals.  Be a good neighbor, it's what Jesus wants us to do.

Bye for today.  Take care, drink plenty of water.  Don't spend too much time out in the sun, and if you like to exercise, try to do it either early in the morning or after it cools down in the evening.  Best wishes to all, and to all good day.  😀