Water Therapy

When I a child, I thought like a child in that I mistakenly assumed backyard swimming pools, park district swimming pools, beach clubs, and summer vacations by lakes were the norm - because that is what my family did.

But a lack of resources (either time, money, or both) and husbands who were afraid of water (due to near-drowning experiences, perfectly understandable) meant that I've spent most of my adult life away from water.

My return water came in 2015 when I visited Sarah and her family in North Carolina and went out on Falls Lake in their pontoon boat for a day of boating and swimming. 

Because I enjoyed it so much, her husband Sean always took one day off work when I came out so we could also go out on the boat. Twice, Sarah also made the two-hour drive to Wilmington to the Atlantic Ocean.

But I haven't spent a week in North Carolina since 2019 (COVID, finances, other responsibilities at home). I'm hoping May/June 2025 will break that trend since my grandson Lucas will graduate from high school and (of course) I'll want to be there.

This past weekend, I spent two afternoons in a swimming pool with family, the best two summer weekends since 2019. I was originally going to post a few photos but - honestly - I was having too much fun to take photos.

Instead, here are three videos of water beauty from earlier North Caroline trips. Enjoy - and Happy Monday!

Atlantic Ocean, Wilmington, North Carolina, August 2016

Falls Lake North Carolina, August 2017

                                                 Falls Lake North Carolina, August 2019

Fifty-Two Minutes of Summer

"She was the lake."

This is the opening line of the third chapter in the third installment of the BryonySeries novel Before The Blood.

And it kept running through my head through the fifty-two minutes I spent immersed in Falls Lake, North Caroline a few weeks ago.

I don't know if early childhood experiences shaped my love for water or if that love is something innate

All I know is that summer, for me, is associated with water, and summer is never summer without swimming, lakes, oceans.

I've been married twice and both husbands were afraid of water. So out of respect, we never engaged in activities that might trigger that fear.

I didn't travel during the pandemic, so no Falls Lake for me.

The last time I saw Falls Lake was 2019. And I remember thinking as I paddled in the waters that a year was a long time, but not really, that 2020 would be here before I knew it.

Well, we all know what happened in 2020.

But then circumstances prevented my from traveling in 2021.

As the summer of 2022 was closing, I couldn't believe another summer was to vanish without being truly summer.

But Timothy and I finally had an opportunity to fly to Raleigh for a couple of days shortly after Labor Day to see my father who is not well.

Four of us (Timothy, Sarah, Lucas, and me) had our lunch one day by the lake. And then we had fifty-two minutes to enjoy the lake before we had to leave.

Timothy snapped this photo shortly before we headed to the restrooms to change.

Fifty-two minutes isn't a long time.

But it was fifty-two minutes I didn't think I'd have this year.

And it must do until 2023.

Pullen Park Tour (4K) - World's 16th Oldest Park

Historic Raleigh Tour & Pullen Park Carousel - Wonderful!

If All Goes Well...

 ...this will be my last blog post until Monday.

For the last nine months, Timothy and I have tried to go to North Carolina to see family, including Sarah and my grandson Lucas and especially my father, whom I've not seen seen since my last trip in August in 2019 and is not doing well.

My father, Loran Scho0nbachler,was working up until the shutdown. He is now in a nursing home with a number of health issues, including Alzheimer's.

If you see a blog post tomorrow, it means we canceled again. Please send up good thoughts that we will be up, up, up, and away in the morning.

Now in the meantime, if you're really looking for something to read or make, please explore the BryonySeries website.

You will find plenty of good books to read and plenty of activities on our calendar of events, which I'm planning to update today.

Three books are not (yet) listed in our store, but you can buy them from Amazon.

These are.

Cornell Dyer and the "Mistical" Being

Cornell Dyer and the Calcium Deficient Bones

Call of the Siren.

And if you read a book, we can chat about it when I return.

Over coffee - virtual, if necessary.

Raleigh Bound!

On Friday afternoon, Rebekah and I fly out to North Caroline to spend a week with Sarah and her family.

To prepare, I am attempting to get nearly and extra week's worth of work done (which will run the week I am gone), and Rebekah has graciously picked up my portion of the household duties to fee up some of my time. She also is the travel coordinator and suitcase packer. I literally will only have to get in the car when it's time to leave.

What will we do out there? Who knows? Last year, I had two goals: to read through my BryonySeries as a series and to do whatever Sarah and Lucas (my grandson) wanted to do. We didn't make it through Sarah's list last year, so she started another before we left. I assume we'll just pick up where we left off.

One change from last year: Bertrand the Mouse will accompany us wherever we go. We plan to take lots of pictures of him so we can finally get some books released.

So really, this year's goals look like last year's goals. Posting may be spotty next week, but we'll see.

Have a great day. :)

A Few Raleigh Videos

Playing Chutes and Ladders with Lucas, Rebekah, Sarah

The lazy river at Buffalo Road Aquatic Center

Lucas bowls a bumper strike

Lucas makes a wish at Goodberry's Frozen Custard

Walking/biking the trail behind Sarah's house

At Rum Runners

A view from the Stegall boat

Raleigh Recap, In Words and Links

This blog became poignant in the retelling. Rebekah took so many photos and videos, Sarah and I backed off, figuring we could share. Last night, while attempting to upload said videos and photos, Rebekah's phone wiped her SD card clean.

Yes, that's right. Most of our pictorial summary of our trip is permanently gone. And now, the recap.


We had just claimed baggage at Raleigh-Durham International Airport (http://www.rdu.com/), and I had just swallowed my anitbiotic when Sarah and Lucas appeared, with Lucas running excitedly up to greet us.

BTW, this is what caused the antibiotic reaction: https://umem.org/educational_pearls/487/. Apparently, even topical alcohol (in lotions, slathered over the body). I stopped using such topical products when I started the drug, but seeing that I had already applied them that day...well, not a fun reaction. But we fixed it.

After lunch at Papa's Pizza & Subs (http://www.papaspizzaandsubs.com/) and a walk with Lucas to buy some much-needed coffee at the nearby by Sola Coffee Café  (http://www.solacoffee.com/) and bring it back to restaurant, we went grocery shopping, and then past her former house on Waterbury Lane so I could envision it, and then back to Sarah's for a tour of her beautiful manufactured and very open house in the woods.

BTW, Sola has fantastic atmosphere, and it's one of my to-go places when I return to Raleigh. Another BTW: Each and every time we stopped somwhere for coffee for me (after the first day, it was always Starbucks because it was always nearby whereever we were at), Lucas tried conning the counter person out of an iced coffee. It became our predictable ritual.

During dinner preparations, I played ping-pong with Lucas. After dinner, Lucas, Sarah, Rebekah, and I played Chutes and Ladders, the first time I had played Chutes and Ladders with the girls in a VERY long time. ;)

On Saturday, we went Good Will hopping to two stores (and "hiding" stuff on the racks at closing time for the next day), stopping to have lunch at Subway.

More on the fun of Good Will hopping with Sarah and Rebekah (and only with Sarah and Rebekah) on a later post.

Later that evening, we took a walk down the Neuse River Trail (http://neuserivertrail.com/) behind her house, with Lucas riding his bike, stopping at Poole Road to turn around because it was getting dark. Sarah promised we would go farther next time. Sarah said it was supposed to the longest connecting trail either in the state or in all fifty states, when it's finished.

On Sunday, we attended All Saints Antiochean Orthodox Church (http://www.allsaintsnc.org/)
 and back to Good Will to try on the stuff we hid the previous day. Then we went to Triangle Town Center
(http://www.triangletowncenter.com/) checked out items we could not get at Good Will, and then decided Wal-Mart had the better deal (although we did buy a box of Cinnabons to take home. At Wal-Mart, Lucas gave me a ride on a shopping cart, and we also bought his school supplies.

On Monday, we went to the Atlantic Ocean:  Johnnie Mercer Pier Pier at Wrightsville Beach (http://www.johnniemercerspier-nc.com/). Having been married to two husbands that are afraid of water, I have  not been in a swimming pool or any body of water since my teens, so this part was extremely important to Sarah, as I love water very, very much.

BUT, I am allergic to the UVA rays in sun, and this particular antibiotic increased sun sensitivity (naturally). So I happily lay under the awning, read Bryony, and listened to the waves, while everyone else frolicked in the water. At five o'clock, I reslathered the sunscreen (zinc oxide and titanium dioxide blocks UVA) and headed to the water.

The first wave washed over me when Sarah yelled out, "Something bit me!" I thought she was joking, but that Rebekah and then several people around us echoed that. We collected Lucas, scampered from the water, and surmised the girls had been stung by jellyfish. Sarah produced a credit card, scraped their legs to remove the stinger, and broke camp quickly, with the help from one very kind man.

Off we went to Medac quick care (http://medachealth.com/) for treatment and vinegar soaks, with me reassuring Lucas that his mother wasn't going to die, and Lucas trying to sell Bryony to the staff. I felt badly that the girls had been stung; Sarah felt badly that I didn't have time in the water.

Sidebar: We learned at quick care that the staff treat several jellyfish stings a day (one woman before us had run in screaming), and that the tide brings them in around five o'clock (figures). We had thumped ourselves on the head for not deciding to pack overnight bags, and I had already envisioned myself getting up early in the morning, before everyone was awake, for a nice dip in the ocean before the sun's rays could hurt me. Well, we learned at quick care that also would have been a bad idea. The sharks are out until nine a.m.

Then it was home for reading (me) and TV and vinegar soaks for the girls.

On Tuesday, we went to the Buffalo Road Aquatic Center (https://www.raleighnc.gov/projects/content/PRecRecreation/Articles/AquaticsHoursOfOperation.html). We were supposed to attend Lucas' family-style Taekwondo class later that night, but after playing on the three-story water slide, in the vortex, chasing each other in the lazy river, and water basketball, Lucas really needed some down time, so had a mellow evening.

On Wednesday, after watching Dirty Dancing (which I had never seen), all the while musing on the fact that I was watching a favorite movie of both my daughters, we went to Waffle House (where Lucas bought me a Waffle House coffee) and then to return Lucas' Nintendo DS at Toys R Us.

While there, Lucas really, really, really wanted the new Sonic Colors game. He 'bout fell over when I offered to buy it for him by saying, "Merry Christmas." Except for mice creams (http://bryonyseries.blogspot.com/2011/01/handprints-and-mice-creams.html), and our annual St. Nicholas drawing, I have never bought him a present.

Next on the agenda was bowling at Buffalo Lanes North, where Lucas celebrated his eighth birthday (as we were leaving, Sarah's former dance teacher Mary Ann Corcoran called, apologizing that she didn't call in time for my storydeadline. I interviewed her that night, added her to the story (http://www.theherald-news.com/2015/08/13/an-extraordinary-life-joliet-woman-exemplified-biblical-command/auhh09s/), and she and Sarah spent some time catching up), and Goodberry's Frozen Custard.

At Goodberry's Lucas and I went searching the strip mall parking lot for loose change to throw into the wishing well. We found none, Lucas got bored, so Sarah supplied the change, and we made wishes. We walked off the ice cream by walking down to Neuse River Trail to Anderson Point Park (www.raleighnc.gov/parks/content/ParksRec/Articles/Parks/AndersonPoint.html), which is beautifully open, landscaped, and has this really quaint retreat house for community events and for rent.

On Thursday, the original plan was roller skating. However, Lucas seemed like he needed a quiet day. So
took a ride to see the Sarah's first Raleigh home on Upchurch Subdivision on Jordan Road. We parked in a former neighbor's driveway (with permission), walked to the woods (where there are old graves from the Hobby family from the nineteenth century) behind her old house and then over to the playground, where there was a boy playing, the first time ever, Sarah said.

Lucas invited the boy to come with us to Lake Benson Park in Garner (http://www.visitraleigh.com/listings/Lake-Benson-Park/61309/), where we were gong to have lunch. The boy's mother, just a couple years younger than I and from the Ukraine, was wary, as she did not know us, but that was not the case an hour later. We talked, friended each other on Facebook, and left with her promising Sarah to send an invitatino to her son's birthday party, which would be held the first part of September.

Amongst all this, I also called Joliet Regional Airport for one last source to this story (http://www.theherald-news.com/2015/08/05/manhattan-nonagenarian-has-been-flying-74-years/avhyq3a/), as everyone I needed to contact was on vacation.

We then went to Lake Benson Park, had a picnic lunch in the pavilion, and then walked by the lake, where Lucas showed off his proficiency at skipping rocks. We walked through the woods, checked out the turtles, and then went to Pullen Park, founded in 1887 (http://www.raleighnc.gov/parks/content/ParksRec/Articles/Parks/Pullen.html) and then rode a carousel built in 1912.

We rode the carousel, invited three boys playing at the park to ride then train with us, and then went to Lucas' school to meet his teacher. That night, after filing the story, te girls and I went to Rum Runners (http://www.rumrunners.com/raleigh/), the little piano bar that Sarah loves and where she spent at least one of her birthdays.

The girls, heads together, sent up requests. The guys' styles reminded me of Elton John's Get Back, Honky Cat, which the younger pianist sent to the older one, as he was unfamiliar with it. Old people's music? I guess.

A stripper from the bar next door thought Sarah and I were twins...but she and I, Rebekah and I, and she and Rebekah heard that everywhere we went. Too funny!

Afterwards, we had a later dinner at Woody's (http://woodyscitymarket.com/), which served the tenderest chicken strips anywhere. I am such a kid!

On Friday, Sarah's husband took part of the day off so we could go to Falls Lake in Wake Forest and Durham (http://www.ncparks.gov/Visit/parks/fala/main.php). We drifted past the place they camp, swam, ate lunch, zipped around, and went tubing, my first time and tons of fun. Next year, Sarah said it will be wakeboarding. Can't wait!

The afternoon ended earlier than we would have liked because Sarah had to be at Lucas' school before four o'clock in order to sign him up for before-school care. We talked to his teacher again, and then Sarah and I reviewed her wish list. Sarah took some items, and I pulled "stickers."

Then we cleaned up and headed over to The Pit Authentic BBQ ( http://www.thepit-raleigh.com/) for a rib and brisket dinner...and some outstanding collard greens! This was the ride where Lucas and I sat in the back seat watching the video to one of his favorite songs (http://bryonyseries.blogspot.com/2015/08/house-of-gold-twenty-one-pilots-lyrics.html).

Sometime I ate caused me to flush and my heart to race; we think it was the jalapenos in appetizer cornbread, a normal reaction, except mine was extreme and put the only damper on the entire week.

However,that was nothing to the seizure the man at the next table had to us. The paramedics were called, poor man, although he appeared to be stable when they left. I hope everything turned out okay.

Back at the house, Sarah and Co. opened up their St. Nicholas gifts that had gone through a shipping mishap. Too keyed up to sleep that night, we left the house at five-thirty the next morning for the return flight home. I was extremely sorry to leave so soon, but the realization of something struck me in those wee hours of no sleepand filled me with elation.

I'll explain Wednesday...along with why I pulled "stickers."

Intro to the Raleigh Recap

The last time I took any significant time off from anything was 1995, and that was the first time since the 1970s when I lived under my parents' roof.

We spent three days in Door County and a week at Round Pond (my uncle's sportsman club) in the Catskills. At the time, I was a seven-day a week, full-time homeschooling mom doing everything by myself except bringing home the bacon (and a large portion of that bacon never made it to the household).

In 1998, I decided I could do a better job of bringing home that bacon, too. So I began a single mom, by choice, for the first time. My kids were 15, 13, 12, 7, 4, and 2, the youngest not potty-trained and barely verbal.

Yes, I did this by choice. It was a good choice, and there isn't one of my kids who would say otherwise.

I worked seven days a week. I delivered newspapers, wrote for newspapers, sold newspapers, and baby sat, all those activities every day, in the same day. Something had to give, and two things went: homeschooling and sleep. Eventually, as I accumulated routes and and story assignments, so did the selling and the babysitting.

In 2000, I married my children's stepfather, and we built a wonderful life in Channahon, a life that included working seven days a week, returning to homeschooling, being active on our church board, running the church's religious education program (and teaching two of its classes), and founding and running a youth group.

My husband and I had a great partnership until he could no longer do the partnership. We lost our home (which his parents had built before he was born), altered the relationship, and built a new life together in a different direction. And, thus, I once again became a single parent, by my choice again, to three young adults trying to get through college.

The kids, BTW, have all become outstanding adults. Just had to get that in there.

Delivering newspapers stopped in January 2013 when my husband left, and, while the freelance assignments came thick and fast, the money did not. At the end of 2013, I decided that, after the first of the year, I would start applying anywhere that paid, and that would not be writing.

Lo and to my surprise, I became an employee in January 15, 2014, the first time I had been an employee since I was 19, and the first fulltime position ever. I had five vacation days to use last year, but since I could not afford to go anywhere, I took them sparingly here and there and stressed out over the work that was piling up during each day off. I decided I dreaded and hated vacation days, so you can imagine my reaction when I learned I had TEN vacation days that I had to use.

Sigh, through clenched teeth.

As my familyi is still in recovery mode, I can't afford a car, and I can't afford to travel. I took back the promise I made to Sarah last year that THIS YEAR I would finally come to Raleigh, where her family relocated for employment reasons six years ago. But she and Rebekah put their heads together and planned the vacation, including the booking of plane tickets and payment of those tickets.

Now, I'd already taken a "practice" trip with a little writer's retreat in June. I was caught up and slightly ahead before I left, so the return was relatively painless. I was ready to plot and plan the big league vacation.

I went on mega-write that summer and stockpiled work for my absence and my return, thus ensuring little could go wrong. Yes! I was on top of it. :)

Then, in that last week, I made two un expected doctor trips, which cut into my work time and slowed my warp speed (because the health incident made me feel "off").

Trip number two meant an antibiotic that produced a really horrible reaction. We figured out the cause, skipped the dose the morning I left to keep me feeling well (although the kids assured me if something went horrible wrong, they would land the play, yeah, and good-bye vacation), and resumed once the plane landed, as Sarah is more than capable of handling medical stuff. But since we figured out the cause, the side effects gradually dispersed until they disappeared altogether, and I simply took the antibiotic.

And then, it really happened. I had a great vacation and a (fairly) starightforward return to work. Okay, Rebekah came back sick with a bad virus, which spread through the house, but we're getting through that, too.

So tomorrow, I'll share the details of that wonderful trip, but I have to tell ya. As a former independent contractor, I found it hard to wrap my head around the whole "paid vacation" concept. When one is paid by the piece, work is a simple cause and effect. I work, I get paid. I don't work, I don't get paid. If you want a day off (which, except for surgery, I just did not do), better get the work done first.

To think a company would actually give an employee paid time off is...well...too awesome for words, a blessing I cannot take for granted.

I. Am. So. Thankful.

Short and Sweet This Week...

...as I stock-pile stories for The Herald-News and prepare to spend some time in North Carolina with Rebekah, Sarah Stegall and her family.

Well, stockpiling storkies, anyway. Rebekah is off work this week and is assuming the role of the 1940's housewife while sleep, walk, and write. Rebekah and Sarah are the event planners; Rebekah is playing personal assistant, making sure I'm packed, etc; and Sarah will play tour guide when we get there. I'll be playing gracious guest, enjoying my family without work interruptions (a first!) and writing fiction in (any) down time.

Oh, yeah, and i'll be definitely trying out that tankini!

Have a fantastic week everyone!