Walkers
are for Walking
Made
it to Molene, Illinois,
but
with a big bump.
At a
rest stop,
Loren
fell on his back
while trying
to use his walker
as a
wheelchair.
Several
people stopped
and helped
him up.
At the
hotel,
he threw
up five times.
Slept
the night.
We
didn’t take him to the ER.
Should
we have?
We’ll
see tomorrow.
Lord,
please heal Loren.
Family
Quotes About Trees
“There
must be seven million trees.”
Quote
from my five-year old great nephew
from
the cornfields of Nebraska.
And
several us from the Shannon Reunion
followed
the trails in Cook Forest, PA
in awe
of the towering eastern white pine,
eastern
hemlock, northern red oak,
white
oak, black cherry and red maple,
some
over three-hundred years old,
some
nearly two-hundred feet tall.
I
remember when my Wyoming husband
came
to see me in PA for the first time.
He
said, “All you can see is trees!”
And I
said, “That’s what you’re supposed to see.”
What I
said of Wyoming?
“It
looks like God left it unfinished.”
Old Vacation
Stomping Grounds
A
bunch of us went farther North
To a
shop called Hallers
It was
a place we remember
When
we were little fellers
We ate
out lunch
Where
we ate it the day before
We
played some games
And
played some more
Packed
a bit
For
tomorrow
Our
reunion will end
With a
bit of sorrow.
We may
not see each other
For a
year or more
Where
next?
I hope
somewhere we adore.
Another
Fun Day
Fun
day today
Began
with shopping
Hand-made
crafts
Kept
on hopping
Had a
picnic lunch
In a
forest glen
Hiked
a paved path
For
Loren then
We
took Loren back
To the
Airbnb
Then
Lori and I
Joined
the family
We
hiked through trees
Taller
than skyscrapers
We
ventured through them
But
didn’t end our capers
We
visited Linda’s family
At her
Airbnb
And
played a game
That
seemed a bit silly
Watched
a show
And
went to bed
Fell
asleep
As if
dead.
8/5/26
Woodland
Creatures
Our Airbnb
in Pennsylvania
lies
at the edge of a forest
where
just about anything
can be
hiding.
Fairies,
aliens, Bigfoot?
Or at
least bear, deer and rabbits.
My
daughter and I
wandered
through the woods,
following
paths leading nowhere.
We saw
a rock
with a
hole dug at the base
housing
some kind of critter.
We saw
a fence
With a
plastic owl
perched
on each post.
One owl’s
head fell off.
I can imagine
a real
owl cozying up,
thinking
it found its mate
and oh,
what a shock!
I can
relate somewhat
since my
husband
had two
strokes.
He had
a problem
with his
head, too.
We
snapped pictures,
but
didn’t see any photo bombs
from
fairies, aliens, Bigfoot
or
bear, deer and rabbits.
But we
had a nice walk
while
the rest of our reunion family
scattered
hither to yon
until
their return this evening.
August
4, 2026
Canoeing
The
ten of us went in canoes
Most
of us wore water shoes
I went
with Meg
After
she begged
I
decided the fresh air I could use
On a
tube, Lori chose to float
And
was tied to the end of a boat
She
drifted lazily along
Behind
two men who were strong
Looks
fun, we all took note
And
then we had a thought
A
pasta bar?—Sure why not?
We all
got busy
You
could get dizzy
And we
used many a pot
In the
kitchen, Becca’s a champ
She
learned it all at the camp
For
the twenty
There
was plenty
From
sweat, we were a bit damp
And
then they all flooded here
Everyone
was of good cheer
We ate
till content
Until
time was spent
It’s
great to have family near
August
3, 2026
Play
Day
Today
we had a fun day
A time
to relax and play
We had
a cook out
Calories—look
out!
Someday
we’ll have to pay
We got
in the bumper boats
It
putts, bumps and floats
We
giggled and laughed
And
gave them gas
We all
became cut throats
We
raced go carts around the track
I was
in the one near the back
All
soon zipped around
To
speed they were bound
For my
slowness I caught some flak
And
then we stacked up our gifts
The
bean auction our spirit lifts
We bid
our beans for fun
And
got gifts one by one
And
then our adventure shifts
We
practice the swimming sports
I’m
glad no one reports
Since
my pants were soaked
It
seemed like a joke
When I
wore Hubby’s swim shorts
And
then the gift exchange
Some
of the gifts may seem strange
But
most were quite nice
At
such a low price
And
they covered a great range
Fun
was had by one and all
The
Shannons have a ball
We
don’t know when
We’ll
be together again
But we
can always text, email and call
