A Trip to Kentucky

We left IAH Houston early one Tuesday morning (November 4, 2025) and flew to Cincinnati. Our daughter and hubby live in KY, but the CVG airport in Cincinnate is easy for them to get to. It's also a lot smaller than IAH.

We were afraid security would take a long time at Bush IAH, but the wonderful TSA personnel on duty (who worked without pay) were super nice and patient. We also feared flight delays or cancelations because of the government shutdown. All went smoothy. Yay!

I made a video while on the plane. 

Our daughter and son-in-law picked us up and took us to a German restaurant in Cincinnati. I chose spaetzle.

https://www.justataste.com/easy-german-spaetzle-recipe/

I've never had it and found it delicious. I can't imagine making all those tiny dumplings. Hubby tried a variety of sausages.

After lunch, we strode the famous walk bridge. People can rent this beauty for special events. It was fun for him to be in one state and me the other.

Our daughter took us to Berea, KY the next day. Berea is a beautiful college town, and I bought a few handmade items while we were there. Would you believe we ate a TexMex lunch while in Berea? It was as good as any in Texas, and believe me, I should know.

On day three, our son-in-law suggested going to Bernheim Forest. What a great suggestion! This 16000 acre forest exists in Clemont, KY. It features over 40 miles of trails and includes the famous Forest Giants Sculptures. The fall colors were amazing. We took the three dogs. In this picture, you can only see two. The smaller one found a place to sleep.

Giants in the forest

We are standing with our daughter next to one of the giants. He's a huge man. See his toes.

Day four came, and we kicked back at home. Our daughter cooked an early Thanksgiving dinner for us. She excelled with the meal. Turkey, ham, and dressing, plus trimmings. She didn't learn cooking skills from me! 

Day four, the return trip to Houston, and even though the governement failed to open, we had no trouble at all. 

Thanks Craig and Lanissa! You provided a great trip for us and were outstanding hosts. We enjoyed Kentucky, but we love you and wish you were closer!

Here I am talking on YouTube about the trip.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCYg1EiO6fw&t=115s

The Future

 

People want to know the future and spend zillions of dollars on fortune tellers or soothsayers. Yikes! Scary stuff.

These charlatans claim to predict the future with accuracy. They use tarot cards, palmistry, and crystal balls to provide services, making blurred predictions as they go along. The person paying for these prophecies can interpret the prognostications in multiple ways. So, when they leave, and something happens that somewhat sounds like the quack’s prediction, they exclaim, “Wow! She told me that it was coming.”

Most of these pretenders are con artists. However, beware! The devil knows a limited amount about the future, and you may run across a soothsayer who has a connection with Satan.

That is another reason to leave these fortune tellers alone. Don’t go near them. They are dangerous.

Halloween approaches, and haunted houses will spring up. Halloween is October 31, and the Day of the Dead is November l. Party goers who celebrate the evening before the Day of the Dead may find themselves in front of a lady with a crystal ball.

These parties are supposed to be fun. No evil is planned, but folks, the devil is a liar and a deceiver. What starts out as fun can lead to nightmares.

Long ago, I sat at a desk in the reception area. A group of palm readers came through the door and offered to read everyone’s palms. Several in the office agreed. I did not. Three of the colorful ladies dressed as gypsies retreated to back offices to begin telling fortunes.

But one stayed in my area. This brightly dressed palm reader, who had dozens of gold bangles on her arms, kept bugging me. She wanted my hand so she could read my palm. I kept saying no.

She finally said, “Without reading your palm, I know you are a Christian.”

I smiled and replied, “You are correct. And now, I’ll tell you about the one whose palms were pierced for me. Cruel men put nails in His palms and He died on a cross so that when I die, I will spend eternity with Him. Would you like to know Him?”

The gypsy shook her head. “I know enough already.”

With that, she got up from the chair and walked out the door. She didn’t even wait for her companions.

What does my future look like?

I know that God knows and that’s what matters.

 Gay's Author Page

Months Vanish into Years

 

 

The Months Vanish into Yesteryear

 

A few people recover from grief quickly, even if they loved the deceased person deeply. They move on to the next phase of life as if the sorrow was a mere blimp in the road.

Others mourn for years. The sadness is heartbreaking, and they carry it forever.

Where are you in the process of grief?  We all experience it with different emotions and sometimes, the emotions repeat themselves. One day, we are okay with our loss, and the next, we are angry. Then a week later, we are sad. The repetition continues.

Grief recovery is different for each of us. We are snowflakes, unique with our perspectives and upbringing.

If we have surgery, a scar remains as a reminder of the incident. It takes days to recover from a medical procedure. After the healing, we experience health again, but a scar remains, and it jogs our memories. We’ve been through something important.

While living in the survival mode, there is no right or wrong way to feel. No magical genie in a bottle to blow grief away. We live with it. Period.

Helpful people may say to you, “Just move on.” Perhaps they can do that, but it may not work for you. I recently had a family member tell me, “Oh, I forgot about her death.” This person finds it easier to adjust that I do.

It has been a year since my daughter left this earth. During these past months, I’ve carried on with the necessary things, but I’ve also cocooned myself. I don’t answer the phone. My hubby knows I won’t answer, so he does it. I don’t go somewhere unless it is a must. I don’t dress unless I’m going somewhere. I play games on the computer. They rest my mind.

However, I’ve given suggestions below, and these suggestions continue to help me. My support group consists of two women who have gone through grief. I took medication for a brief time, and my Bible study is a godsend. 

God grant us mercy as we live with our grief.

 

Help for Caregivers

1.     Find a support group. Don’t try to go through this process alone. You want to be healthy, and a support group can help with that.

2.     See a doctor for your extreme sadness. Temporary medication can help.

3.     Join a Bible Study. Exploring how Bible characters went through grief can be enlightening. Take the story of Joseph in Genesis. His brothers sold him into slavery, and he also spent years in prison. He was totally innocent. How did he handle it?