“What do I do?! What do I do?”  I was on the telephone to my husband.
“It’s not stopping! It’s not stopping!” I screamed, as the bed heaved and the chest of drawers moved back and forth. He pulled over on the side of the road to listen to my ranting.
He started laughing. I told him “it isn’t funny!” He replied with  “Dang! My work truck is even shaking – man this IS a good one!!” (Thanks dear that really helps my “chicken” heart!)
“The inside wind-chimes are going crazy! It’s not stopping! Do I run outside or stay sitting on the bed?” At that point our Mastiff-Ridgeback 2 year old ‘puppy’ came bounding in with wild eyes, as if to say “what the heck is happening?!?
It was only a 6.2 earthquake…….you would think, that living on a fault line, and Alaska having dozens of earthquakes a day we’d be used to them. But when they are over 6, and last for what seems forever, yes, at least I get a little shaken. (I could have been my son, who was only about 15 miles from the epicenter, out surveying, having the ground beneath him shake!) Yes, pictures are askew, and I’ve noticed a couple other things, but all in all things are ok (except my blood pressure with the after shocks!)
Then, the funniest happened about 15 minutes after the quake.
While I was getting ready to finally settle down and do some writing, I hear an unusual chime go off 7 times. I’d never heard the sound before. What was THAT? We DO have a clock collection, so I gingerly (still heart pounding) made my way upstairs, and low and behold, a cuckoo clock from my husband’s grandparents from “The Old Country” (Holland/Germany) that had not worked in well over 20 years, was running – and the time it had last stopped was just before 7. So the seven chimes I heard – yep – 7 o’clock!!
So? What will YOU do in a 6.2?

Fall is all round where I live up in Alaska. I know it won’t last long, so I drink in every smell, every sight, every color, and every sound. For all too soon, the ground will be frozen solid and the landscape will change to majestic peaks displaying all their winter glorious coat of white, with jagged raw peaks with their blacks and purples where the winter winds have blown the snow as if a fine coat of dust.
The picture above makes me reflect and ask: Where am I heading? Am I doing the most important thing I can at THIS very moment? (Srini Rao) Do I LIKE where I am heading, and if so, why?
I smile, because, for the first time in a very long time, I feel like I am right exactly where I should be, AND I AM ENJOYING IT!! The last part of the former sentence is the caveat. For, I think while often times we ‘like’ where we are headed, we aren’t there yet – we are anxious, we are excited, we are nervous, yet often times not content, much less ‘enjoying’ the ride.
I woke up to the hues of autumn in all its glories of colors and smiled. I may not like the fact that I never know ‘who’ I will wake up to (aka: how or what my body will wake up to being); I may not like the frenetic pace that living with hidden ‘different’ abilities that my body takes me on (like to a gazillion appointments). But I love that I can rest in the fact that today is today. It is the ‘today’ I have been given, and I have the choice to make it the best day ever.
And today, I choose to make it the ‘bestest’ I know how.
I’ll smile more. I’ll make a few calls to encourage some people I know who are having a tough time. I’ll drop a couple snail mails to people not expecting them. I’ll cuddle under the covers a bit longer (because I can!); I will write some more on Book 2 (And Yet Another Day: turning life’s obstacles and adversity into opportunities and adventures); I’ll make some crock pot Chicken Tortilla soup and I will even venture out and let the dog take ME on 4 wheel ride. (OK, so he’s spoiled, and believes HE has to drive – but I admit, it’s getting harder for my arms to reach around him to reach the throttle and brake handles!)

It’s Monday. It’s the start of a new week. 
Lying in bed, I linger until the last possible moment. My head is cradled in my favorite pillow, not wanting to move. My warm jersey sheets and soft plush blanket wrap around me snuggly. Somehow I begin to discern fact versus the trailing dream I was enveloped in.
Slowly I rise, bringing my body to an upward position. My muscles ache, my body rebels. It pleads for just one more minute to recline and rest. It begs for several more moments until Life-Power can surge through the sinews of my bed strewn Life-form. I know that once my feet hit the floor, the demands of a busy week will clamor loudly, each demanding their presence be acknowledged, if not attended to immediately. 
The question then becomes: Will I let Rest have its way or will I let the din of the world win over? 
The world sees strength in action, in movement, in ‘busyness”. The world oft sees rest and stillness as weakness.
Today as my bare feet make contact with the unsympathetic floor, I choose to walk forward in Rest. In quietness and in confidence the world will see a different kind of strength. In my still, quiet way of Rest, my strength will be made manifest. 
The strength of Peace and the Peace of strength will crown my day. I will find Joy and Rest…..in Me.

Many of you have been wondering where in the world I’ve been…..
As usual, our lives have been far from dull. Between having to have my foot rebuilt TWICE, not just once :0( , and still in a boot cast (since Aug 30!)  THEN before I can say I’ve hit the “magic” 5 year mark with battle #11 – hopefully in November, (colon cancer) , I got the news that I entered into battle #12 with my nemesis. This time, chemo induced most likely (three basal carcinomas – stitches and all!! with 3 tumors removed, all malignant. Blessed once again, they got clean margins! I’m not eligible for any more chemo/radiation, so am happy to return to the bountiful garden and fresh fish/meats of Alaska to sustain me. I’ve also been working on a grant for Book 2,  “And Yet Another Day to Turn Obstacles and Adversity into Opportunities and Adventures – the stories behind Book One, Loose Screws and Skinned Knees –  now on Kindle!! Book 2  is in it’s rough draft version, with hope for June date – we’ll see!!
THEN!! The best news of all! Our incredible daughter and equally awesome  incredible son-in-law gave us the gift of a life – our first grandchild!
Scott Carl Casey came into this world at 2:43am on 9-12-14, weighing 7 lb 8oz, after forty long hours of labor. Let me tell you – those two parents are two of the strongest people we know!! Enjoy the photo and know that once things settle, I’ll be writing, speaking and podcasting more!