The Inherent Dragonfly A journey of discovering hope, change and love within myself.

We awoke at 4:15 a.m. and headed to the Cleveland airport to fly to Wichita. Betty's brother in law actually picked us up and dropped us at the airport. Wow!  Now that is family above and beyond!  We arrived with no fan fare or drama.  I am loving the TSA Pre Check!  Even though the lines have grown, the fact i don't have to take my shoes off is a game changer for me. The American Airlines flight itself was uneventful and we landed for our connection in Dallas and had a short layover before reaching Wichita, Kansas. I believe we had Han Solo as a pilot for our first flight since there were fuzzy dice hanging in the cockpit. It just added to our laid back vacation vibe.  We even were able to enjoy a roll coaster ride on our travels through the airport in Dallas. Oh no, maybe not.  It was just the fast curvy train to take us to our next gate.   We held onto the railings and other passengers as everyone swayed and suitcases rolled to any open space o...

Late in the spring of 2024, as we joined friends for our bi-monthly catch up brunch, we all discussed needing a getaway. This was just prior to our Mediterranean vacation and our camping adventures.  The four of us were all ready to shed the winter blanket that we had been tucked into for the previous 6 months. Our friends' had endured many changes in the month's prior and were looking for an escape to a place with no commitments and no worries. A good old fashion road trip.  Our friend, Paul, suggested a driving adventure along Route 66 and seeing old America. "Traventure" was born.   Full disclaimer, I have changed the names of our friends not because they are in witness protection. Well, maybe they are, how would I know.  I changed their names because I did not ask permission to share their names or photos online. I am always wary of traveling with friends for an extended period. What if we end up not being compatible?  That would be a long trip. I prefe...

  It has been a while since I have given a Kenobi update.  His puppy days are over.  He is 2 year and 7 months old now.  Though he is no longer a puppy, he is has lots of energy and still learning new tricks.  We discovered his funniest and most annoying trick this summer during our camping trips.  Kenobi loves to go camping!  As soon as he witnesses Bruce putting the hitch on the truck, he is ready to go.  If we accidentally open the door to the truck, he jumps right on in and waits.  This can be annoying on our longer trip because he was so excited he didn't relieve himself before planting himself in the truck.  We are trying to break him of his excited whine during our drive.  We have learned that if we drop him off at daycare for a few hours, he is tired enough from playing that he sleeps the majority of the trip.  Unfortunately, our last trip was 4 1/2 hours away and his was on the tail end of a bout with kennel cough so I...

We met him when he was just 3 years old.  That was 12 years ago.  I fell in love with his sweet eyes.  He reminded me so much of my youngest daughter in attitude and perseverance. I loved to watch him learn and more so watching how he and my daughter learned to navigate the world together. We spent almost every weekend together for years.  I found it calming to brush his hair. We shared snow cones and secrets.  I comforted him when my daughter and he didn't see eye to eye.  I scolded him with a stern voice when he was misbehaving.  I loved watching his sweet gentleness increase as he grew though he always kept his attitude of pushing the boundaries of behavior to get his way.   When my daughter left for university in 2018, I was worried that the separation would be too much and that we would not see him again.  My daughter tried to keep the relationship going, but it hurt her heart to continually say goodbye not know the future.  Gr...

Our last Ohio State Park Campground for the 2024 camping season was Hocking Hills State Park near Logan, Ohio during the last weekend of September. This Ohio’s most popular park with international claim as a top place to visit. Many people are surprised when we admit that we have never been to the park in southeast Ohio, including our own children. We have been looking forward to our full hook up site since making reservations in March. The campground, as do most of the Ohio State Park campgrounds, books up fast when the reservation window opens 6 months prior. We actually debated cancelling as the weather forecast was predicted to be rainy for our 3 night stay. The addition to the remnants of the fast moving category 4 hurricane, Helene that hit Florida the day before was adding to the rainy forecast. The storm brought devastating flooding to the Carolina's and much of the eastern states. We discussed it and decided if we could find a full hook up site in clearer weather...