Light the Night

Back in September 2009 (wow, it's almost been a year!!!) my husband, Neil (26) had a cold and thought he would go to the doctor for an antibiotic, but kept putting it off.  He ended up at the urgent care clinic after I insisted he go, and while he was at it, we discussed--why not have them check out the lump he had on his neck?


It was almost a quick in-and-out visit. The doctor had her hand on the doorknob when Neil gathered the courage to ask her about the lump he'd been a little nervous about that we had dismissed as nothing.

She felt it and advised him to have it biopsied. I heard the fear in his voice when he called, and it caught me off guard. We had both dismissed it as a swollen gland. It hit me in the pit of my stomach.
Suddenly, life was in fast-forward. In the following weeks, Neil would given a variety of scans and tests and they had scheduled a biopsy. We were told it wasn't looking good, but still held out hope it would be something benign. A text message I sent from my phone from October 6, the day of the lymph node removal and biopsy, reveals how much our lives were about to change:

8:55 a.m.
Just took him back. We should get preliminary results in about an hour.

9:59 a.m.
It is Hodgkin's. We see an oncologist next.

A few more tests and scans and then an appointment with an oncologist followed. Neil started chemo on October 23rd, our niece's second birthday and the day before my 27th.

Since then, it's been a roller coaster...one we would not have been able to ride without the help of our families and friends. Neil has been strong and worked throughout the ordeal and our insurance has covered a lot of our bills. Today, we count our blessings--Neil is in remission. But we realized that some people weren't as lucky.

That's why we are walking in this year's Light the Night Walk. Will you support us?

Please donate here.

Bardstown Ghosts

We recently made our second visit to Bardstown, KY, this time with four friends in tow. If you've never been there, it's a great little town known for bourbon, Civil War history and Stephen Foster. It's one of those places, like Gettysburg, that offers up both incredibly significant history and borderline cheese.

After a long day of sightseeing (Perryville Battlefield, Maker's Mark, Bernheim Forest) we decided to eat dinner at the Old Talbott Tavern. Not only is it known for its delicious food, it was also part of the ghost tour we planned to take after dinner.

We met across the street for the Bardstown Ghost Trek, led by a slight, but spunky woman who has been doing these tours for over 20 years. Like most ghost tour directors, she combined history with reported ghost sightings and local lore. When we arrived at the Old Talbott Tavern (our last stop on the tour) we were told about the Jesse James Room. We had seen it from the outside earlier in the evening and told that he once stayed there, that his ghost had been seen in the window, and that it was destroyed by a mysterious fire in 1998. Now, one of the legends is that bullet holes in the room were from a drunken Jesse James, who thought the room's famous murals had come to life. He apparantly shot at the birds and the holes were left as a tourist attraction. The fire of '98 destroyed these murals and the room is no longer open for viewing.

You might notice that sometimes what I find most fascinating is the unsaid or hidden away. In this case, the mere fact that Jesse James had stayed in this room once was enough to put a plaque on the door and parade tourists past.

Interestingly, even though it may seem far-fetched, James actually had quite the connection to the tavern. His mother's family was from the area and local politicians and law enforcement tolerated and even welcomed his presence in town, even when he was on the run. He often dined and met people here.

If you're ever up for a weekend trip to Bardstown, definitely dine at the tavern and take the $15 ghost tour which begins at 8:00 across the street at the Old Stable. While it's not the best ghost tour I've been on, it's a pretty good way to get your local lore bearings and perhaps do some more exploring on your own.

Happy Birthday

I haven't posted nearly as often as I should this summer...but it's for good reason. After a very important scan, my husband again tested negative for cancer activity. We've been busy living life with parties, weddings and outdoor trips. Here's a photo of him at his 27th birthday celebration...this was probably the most special birthday of all.

Devil's Courthouse

My husband and I just returned from a fantastic trip to Asheville, NC. We spent an entire day driving the Blue Ridge Parkway up to Craggy Gardens and beyond. We came across Devil's Courthouse late in the day.

Something that always strikes me when we visit large parks is the names given to natural features.I wasn't surprised to see the name of this peak because I would bet during a storm it looks an awful lot like judgment day. In fact, being in the mountains struck a bit of healthy fear into my soul. I can imagine living up there on a fair day. But I could actually see the mountains affecting and/or causing weather. Looking out over the entire range as far as the eye can see, it seemed so desolate and lonely. Beautiful, yes. But also very haunting. Storm clouds rolled in and disappeared just as quickly. 

The Blue Ridge Parkway site offers this explanation of the name:

Devil's Courthouse may have received its name because of the sinister aspect of the rock formation, or because, as legend holds, the devil held court in the cave that lies beneath the rock. In Cherokee lore, this cave is the private dancing chamber and dwelling place of the slant-eyed giant, Judaculla.

I could indeed imagine a monster of some sort living up here. Even in the sunshine, it's not a place to mess around.

Cincy Chic

Here I am in Cincy Chic, talking about road trips, my new book and why I love Cincinnati. Enjoy!

Old Farm

It has become my family's Easter tradition to walk back to where my great-grandparents' farm used to be. It is located on East Fork State Park property in a somewhat unknown spot. We only occasionally see other people back there.

As a child, my mom would go to the farm every Sunday and she and her siblings and cousins would often spend the warm months exploring every inch of this land. There are a few traces of the old pig farm left. A few fenceposts, a manmade pond deep in the woods, and my favorite--these daffodils. It's so amazing to see that the daffodils still faithfully come up each spring.

There's a lot of beauty, but also a lot of sadness here too. You can still see remnants of a stone wall from the farm that used to be across the road and there are old driveways and more bulbs that mark where the fronts of houses used to be. Mom said there were a few holdouts when the state was buying out the land, and one farmer killed himself in his barn. Another woman's house mysteriously caught on fire. She was in the basement and didn't make it out. My great-grandfather, another holdout, awoke one morning to find that all of his pigs had been poisoned.

 I don't like to think about the loss that occurred here. I prefer to see this as something full-circle. The land was used and loved. Then it was reclaimed and overrun by the trees and kudzu. Now I visit it and respect the land as my great-grandfather always did.

We have hidden a geocache so that others may find there way here.
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=cec2eb96-8484-44d3-bdad-852211d8f08a

Empty Nest

My husband took this photo and I think it's an interesting symbol, especially with Mother's Day approaching. Some people would look at the empty nest and think it's sad, others would look at it and think, "how interesting!"

I am the latter type. I suppose these thoughts are stemming from a comment made recently to me on Facebook, which I ended up deleting because I didn't feel like getting nasty with someone. I was talking about the faulty statistics of that study that comes out each Mother's Day. In it, the researchers claim that a stay-at-home mom's salary comes out to six figures based on the tasks she performs. Maybe I worded the post poorly, but I was trying to comment on how you can't necessarily posit that a mom with no degree in psychology could dole out psychological help valued at $34/hour. And I made it clear that you can't say that about anyone under the same set of circumstances. A high school classmate took this as a personal attack on her lifestyle and posted something nasty about how I would never know what she went through because she was a mom and I wasn't and that maybe I should just keep my mouth shut. Whoa.

Do I agree I don't know what it's like to be a mom? Sure. Because of circumstances beyond my control, I might never be a mom. But does that mean I can never be selfless, tired, busy or an excellent multitasker? Are moms the only ones who can get credit for going to school and working at the same time because they chose to have kids before completing school (as this person did)? Does everything get elevated when you give birth?

I have to say no. I would argue that even without kids, my life is blessed, interesting and full, and yes, crazy busy. If I have an empty nest for the rest of my life, do my experiences count for less?

Apparently some think so.

Weeping Willow

IMG_2293
Originally uploaded by True North Two

Found this lovely example of classic weeping willow imagery at a small cemetery near Bethel, Ohio. The detail is just gorgeous! We found a geocache nearby and I took a few minutes to explore the cemetery. Yet another cool spot discovered by geocaching!

Years, Months, Days

One of the most common questions I get from people who

accompany me on graveyard adventures has to do with a common practice of spelling out the years, months and days of a person's life. I remember reading years ago (or did I hear it in a college history class?) that the reason for this is that in the 1800's (the period from which you commonly see these gravestones) lives were often short. We're talking lives plagued by cholera, consumption and dysentery, to name a few. When some reached old age, such as the person whose gravestone is shown in this photo, the family was damn sure to list out every single moment the person was alive. But it applies to very short lives too. Sadly, many old cemeteries are filled with the graves of children, most likely victims of the diseases of the time. Many times you will see the graves of multiple children from the same family who died in a short period of time. This stone reads "Ages 1 Yr & 6 Ms."

Geocaching

When I was in college, my parents would come and visit sometimes and we would go to nearby Shawnee State Forest. On one of these visits, they introduced my now-husband and I to geocaching. I remember at first thinking they were insane. "Let me get this straight," I said. "We are looking for boxes of junk?" Oh, how wrong I was! From the first geocache, I was hooked. For the uninitiated, geocaching is locating small containers filled with random items and a log, or sometimes just a log, with a handheld GPS. More information can be found on www.geocaching.com

There's something about the thrill of the hunt and finding something that has been hidden, found, and re-hidden for months and even years! It's so cool to look through the log and see who has been there. Sometimes, you will find that someone was just there hours or minutes before you.

Geocaching can sometimes take you to some out-of-the-way places you might not ever visit otherwise. Cemeteries are a great example--we've found many old, interesting cemeteries when looking for caches. We always stop to admire the symbols on the headstones before leaving.

This stone was found in a cemetery in Pierce Township. The dogwood flower is a symbol for Christ, resurrection and innocence. Floral motifs were very common in this cemetery, and the cache was in a cool place. If you've never tried geocaching, I encourage you to do it! I guarantee you will find something you've never seen before.