Hearts in Service

I had an appointment yesterday morning at the hospital for pre-surgery admission. After the appointment, we headed about 45 minutes south to the peace center of the Onondaga Nation.  It was set up as an educational center to learn about  these tribes.  What an interesting place It was well worth the $10 we paid to go. I learned many things about the nation that I didn't know. For example, I had no idea lacrosse was introduced by the Native Americans! Lacrosse is huge here and now it makes sense why it's so popular.     After we finished browsing in the museum which took us about 2 hours, we headed off to a favorite spot, Green Lakes State Park. The water is such a beautiful bluish green because of the minerals in it. I actually was able to walk a bit, but not as easily as the prior day's walk. My knee was bothering me quite a bit, and that was probably from standing on it so long at the museum. The water is so clear y...

We woke up to a very rainy day yesterday, but didn't let that dampen our plans. I had a doctor's appointment with my primary care physician to clear me for surgery first. When we were done with that, we headed off to Salmon River Falls which isn't far from my doctor's office. It was rainy, but the trees gave us a lot of good coverage. The best part? They had recently added fresh dirt to the beginning of the path and it was a spongy, soft texture to walk on. I went a good distance with very little pain in my leg. Yay me!!! I made it past the falls and to this point when I decided to turn back. The fresh dirt ended here and the path went from flat and spongy to rocky, bumpy and muddy. Wisdom prevailed! Yay me again! lol   As we were headed home, we came to this sight and since we had never been here, we decided to check it out. I never thought fish would be so interesting, but it really was. The place was empty and we were the onl...

I received a phone call yesterday from my orthopedic surgeon's office, letting me know the surgery on my torn meniscus is scheduled for July 12th and that I have a number of appointments for various things scheduled.  Three of those appointments are for this week, right smack in the middle of our vacation. I was tempted to grumble, but I also know I need to get them all out of the way in order to have my knee repaired so we are working around the appointments this week. So our first stop yesterday was at the hospital for bloodwork and then we are off on our adventure for the day. We headed about an hour south and into the first of the Finger Lakes, Cayuga Lake. It is such a beautiful area and it was a great day for it. We stopped here or there along the way at different vineyards just to check them out. I must confess that I've heard of wine tours and had no idea what they were. lol I'm not a drinker, but do use wine for cooking so was curious. I didn't...

We are on vacation this week, but unfortunately, can't go anywhere because I have an event at the end of the weekend for which I need to continue to prepare. The other reason we haven't planned anything is that I can't do much of anything because of my knee. Surgery will occur pending insurance company approval but that's not until July 12th. Then thirdly, money is always an issue so we needed to try and be frugal. In the meantime, we decided to check out a few places we've never been that I can handle with my knee and also allows me to do what brings me joy; photography. Yesterday, we went to Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge that allows you to drive through these marshy areas to see all kinds of birds and wildlife. It was a gorgeous day with bright sunshine and low humidity. I did get out and a walk a bit a few times though it didn't help my knee at all but I certainly enjoyed being out in God's creation. I often feel like I'm so sappy because s...