Being
Bucket List
Fall is one of my favorite times of the year, sandwiched between too hot and too cold with green foliage bursting into multicolored paintings of orange, yellow, red, and lingering green. It’s a great time to hit the road and so we did; continuing to drive hard on fulfilling my retirement bucket list. Chris and I are exhausted, from working 40-year careers and from our summer bucket-list-take-down tour. Suffice it to say, we are staying put on the now frosty plains for a few weeks. This has been a wild season on our “road” with Multiple Systems Atrophy (MSA), but God is being very present with us, as we wreak havoc on “the list.” Last blog, I described a full week tour through the heartland of Wisconsin (WI): meeting up with family and friends, enjoying windshield vistas of green hilly landscapes, sparkling rivers, and blue water lakes. This blog describes a large step of faith on my part where we literally barreled through the entire length of Minnesota and Wisconsin in one day, as the start to fulfill bucket list items involving Rockford and Branson.
Being
I like to frame my blog posts with a common thread and God seems to oblige by laying out some purpose or destiny on our retirement road. In the book of John (John 1: 2-3) the Bible says that Jesus “was” in the beginning with God and that all things, including us, have come into “being” through him. As a teacher of English, I know that several languages derive the words “is”, “was”, “been”, and “am” from the irregular verb “to be.” Jesus has always been with God and in a tense discussion with Jewish religious law experts later on in John 8 he takes his beginning with God one step further calling himself “I am.” This is a distinct name translated YHWH in Hebrew. It meant Jesus was always in the beginning with God, equal with God, and eternally self-existent. All of this to say I have been created “to be” with the great “I am” Jesus. And in turn, I get to carry his presence with me while “being” with friends. My road in retirement is becoming more about me wanting “to be” with friends than visiting a location and taking in scenery.
Mission From God
So, our latest adventure felt more like a mission from God. Our first objective, if we were to accept the mission, which we did, was to be with friends in Rockford, Illinois. Cheryl and Mark have been close friends of mine since meeting early in our tenure at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. We developed a deep friendship and became strong followers of Christ together in a college setting. One college weekday in 1982, like the Blues Brothers movie (1980), Cheryl and I conducted a mission from God. We spontaneously skipped classes, borrowed our friend Monto’s Ford Fiesta, and drove up and down the hills in and around Platteville (college town) wreaking harmless havoc. Yes, quite lame, but for us sheer joy. Chris asked me, “What was the God part?” My answer was obvious, “Simply ‘being’ with a friend.” Some four decades later, there we were, “being” with friends again, all of us retired and yet still accepting new missions from God. Bucket list!
Hanging Out
The weekend with the Rockford couple had no stringent agenda on that hot summer weekend. We spent time “being” with each other, were joined one afternoon by another Platteville acquaintance and his wife and spent our time simply hanging out: pouring over photos of us as college coeds, laughing, watching Packer-Badger-Brewer victories, puffing cigars (not us girls), and celebrating a birthday. Cheryl even provided Mission from God T-shirts for us girls to celebrate the occasion. It was magical and the birthday celebration was for me!
Friends
Rockford was stage one of the trip and Branson; Missouri was our second stage. We are learning how to travel in our WC van and unfortunately, it’s a “learn-by-doing” adventure. The haul from Grand Forks to Rockford nearly killed us both, just too long and arduous on body and soul. We thought we had it shorter from Rockford to Branson, but again, battling some health things and blazing through entire lengths of two more states (IL and MO), was something we’ll not attempt again. We need more time and leisure. The fathom blue WC van performed flawless, it was the people in it with the flaws. Nonetheless we cruised through fields of dry corn and soybeans and somehow stayed awake in the dark through the mountains and trees of the Missouri Ozarks to arrive in Branson, like Rockford near to midnight.
Branson
Our home for the next few days was a Marriott resort complex aimed at retirees: lots of activities, nice pools, and good handicapped accessibility. There were eight of us in town for the week; one couple were RV’ing it and stayed at a hillbilly RV park (Chris’ words!). Actually, I thought it was cute the way their rig was sort of puzzle-pieced into the side of tree-studded hill, not handy for getting in and out, but peaceful and very Ozark-like. They negotiated a deal with us—we’d chauffeur them in Fathom Blue for the stay and they’d buy us tickets for the Haygoods music show. It was an even deal with rock solid clauses like promptness, snacks and beverages provided in the van, and no backseat driving (if you’ve ever driven with Chris, well, I’ll just end it there). We enjoyed our time together and, on several occasions, while parking the van, cordial folks would come up to Chris and say, “It’s so nice of you to drive that elderly couple around.”
Old People Town
I don’t say this as a complaint, just an observation, but our resort and the entire town must have the world’s largest economy for businesses selling oxygen tanks, walkers, wheelchairs, and protective briefs. Even with all my special needs I felt young and spry. Just before the performance of David at the Sight and Sound Theatre, I poked Chris and pointed at my word/letter chart spelling out: “This place is filled with old people!” Chris’s reply was, “Ya think, we included!” Like the elderly, we ate early and in style, Branson style: on the Lady Liberty Dinner cruise (on Table Rock Lake), 14” pancake at Billy Gails (and a sweatshirt for Eileen), sandwiches and fresh mint ice cream at the College of the Ozarks, and burgers and malts at a 50’s vintage diner.
Top of the Rock
We enjoyed the “just beginning” fall colors of the Ozark mountains at the Top of Rock State Park and golf course. An adventurous paved trail winds through the tall canopy of glade junipers, shortleaf pines, white oaks, hickory, and sycamores. We scooted along in golf carts with the trail often lined by stacked dolomite and limestone ledges and outcrops. Around every bend was an awe-inspiring surprise: cascading waterfalls, Amish bridges over deep chasms, water-hewn caves, and pullouts for breathtaking vistas of Ozark beauty. The trail ended for us with yet another “being together” event: a spur of the moment birthday dinner in a private party room (just happened to be available) at Arnie’s Barn. Arnold Palmer’s Pennsylvania barn was taken down and rebuilt as a clubhouse and restaurant at the Top of the Rock. Oh, and the birthday party was for me . . . again!
David
The show David ranked second as my favorite part of the Rockford-Branson trek, superseded by time with Mark and Cheryl. Being with friends, remember, is this bucket list item’s theme. Chris and I have a son in NYC and have attended a few Broadway shows, and David ranks right up there; except it has a powerful added worshipful element. There are three stages all around you and sheep and horses skip and gallop down the aisles; amazing! David was a man after God’s own heart (God’s words not from any person) and the show testifies to the availability for anyone to live a life knowing and trusting in God’s being, his presence. It impacted our souls with audio-visual-induced worship; enhancing the immeasurable value of taking in this experience with friends.
God Being with Me
A major theme of the musical production of David in Branson had to do with the psalmist’s lifelong leaning on God’s ever-present help. From shepherd boy to King, David continually found divine help mainly because of one thing: he acknowledged and believed God was near. He writes in Psalm 145:18 that the LORD is near to all who call upon Him. That nearness became a refuge of strength, peace, courage, and guidance through David’s many daunting challenges. It does take effort; however, for us to acknowledge God’s presence and call upon him. I think therein and likewise is my ability to move forward with MSA. I continue to call upon Jesus for refuge and strength, whether at home in my reclining lift chair or hundreds of miles away in the Ozarks. His being, his nearness, and his very present help are always abundantly ready to intervene.
A very present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1
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