Life in Greenville

I admit that last week was a little rough here in Greenville. I didn't know anyone and I didn't know my way around. I felt lonely and paranoid.This week I've been up and about. Lack of exercise was making me sluggish and despondent, so I joined the local "Curves". I always thought Curves was for old fat ladies, but hey, maybe I'm an old fat lady. The women there are lovely - I've made some friends! If I had looked around more, I would have found a more typical gym out on the outskirts of town, but now that I'm learning the Curves Circuit, I find that I like it.
It was not easy to get past the flag, but I've found my way to morning Mass at the local Catholic Church - St. Lawrence. There are only 9 or 10 people there for Mass in the morning, and most are elderly. They have gone out of their way to welcome me, bringing me a Missal opened to the correct page, and inviting me to stay for the Rosary. The pastor priest amuses me with his cheerfulness and simplicity. I suspect an inner holiness. His daily prayers for world peace and a comment about the military budget being complicit in our country's economic problems help me to overlook the flag.

I discovered the local swimming pool, which is mostly filled with children but has adult swimming from 12-1 and 5-6 every day. "The best kept secret in town", the manager told me. She is absolutely right. I have the pool to myself at noon, and with daytime temperatures in the upper 90s this week, the pool feels like a first class spa! (I'll get a photo of the pool next week.)

All of these discoveries bring me back to my own childhood growing up in a small town in Kentucky - remembering how things were and re-connecting with that part of myself. It is a good thing, perhaps long overdue.

Meanwhile tomorrow we are off to Chicago! Jubilee will stay here with Lalaney, the 15 year old daughter of a woman who works with John. I am so excited I feel like we're going to Europe!

This is a photo of a dog-statue that is on our back steps. Jubilee no longer takes a wide berth around it. John thinks it need to be up here on the blog. I'm not so sure, but here it is.