The Original Route 66

I LOVE ROUTE 66!!!  When we moved from south Texas (no where near Route 66) to Oklahoma (only 10 miles from Route 66), I became a happy cruiser - Pops, the Round Barn, the Braums bottle, Route 66 Bowl - all within 30 minutes of our home.

But what I didn't realize was how much the actual nostalgia of the road would affect me.  When we are driving it, my mind relaxes and takes me back to a time when this was it - this was your vacation - this was seeing what the great country of the United States of America had to offer - this was simple (compared to the super highway interchange monstrosities of today).  I feel so humbled when I am on this road, with the fields, farms, and old structures barely standing from days gone by.  And the new Route 66 attractions that will one day be old and fondly remembered too.  It is like therapy for my soul to get my kicks on Route 66.

Now, mind you, most of the current day Route 66 has been rerouted, become a highway, or at least repaved and/or widened several times.  Last Thursday evening - Keven and I went to The Boundary (great BBQ) on Route 66 east of Luther, OK with our friends, Steve and Krista.  As we cruised Route 66 with the setting sun turning the farm fields gorgeous colors, Steve surprised us by turning onto a side road with a sign that said "Private Historical Site ...".  We had seen this sign before, but it said PRIVATE - so we looked (and went) no further.  Well, we should have stopped to read it...

An ORIGINAL section of ROUTE 66 that parallels the newer highway for about 1/4 mile !!!!!  Route 66 heaven !!! - narrow, unstriped, ORIGINAL pavement of Route 66 - life doesn't get much simpler than this for me.

Keven and I both appreciated that excursion and can't wait to show it to our family when they come visit again from Texas.  Thank you so much Steve and Krista.

Blessings from the Mother Road -

Kat

Tend Your Own Garden

While I love flower and vegetable gardening, this is not what the title of this blog refers to.  But it will serve as a good example of the importance of these four words.

I had a beautiful beginning garden in May.  I tended it everyday, morning and night, looking forward to my months-long reward for all this hard work.  Coneflowers, lilies, zinnias and gallardia - green beans, okra, squash and canteloupe.  And our yard -  Keven had it looking like a golf course!  Then THE summer of 2011 hit OK ... hottest summer on record, most number of days of 100+ temps.  And the rain - where did it go once summer arrived?

Well, by the beginning of July, I was physically suffering - the heat was taking its toll on my not-too-healthy-to-begin-with body.  I was really aching by the end of the day, with the very warm mornings of gardening and watering chores (you would think those darn weeds would die with everything else from lack of water and excessive heat - ha!), followed by a day at work.  By evening, I was pushing myself to get more watering in, feed the thirsty and hungry animals that frequent our yard (ok - the lack of mosquitos this year has been a blessing, though not for the animals that depend on bugs for their sustenance).  Getting into bed every night, I hurt and I hurt BAD - could not stitch or read, could not visit with my friends, could not go to sleep (much less stay asleep when I was finally able to drift off).  And then it would start all over the next day.  And the weekends - those were CATCH UP watering and weeding days!  But I was intent on having those fresh-cut flowers for my tables and fresh veggies for our summer meals. And Keven - well, our grass was still nice thanks to his hard work. 

So now, back to those four wonderful words.  I was reading the book from clutter to clarity - simplifying life from the inside out by Nancy Twigg (which I highly recommend to all you overachieving, stressed out, "quiet time is wasted time" kindred spirits out there).  Ms. Twigg challenges the reader - Tend Your
Own Garden.  And my response, "I am trying - I have all this stuff I want to be doing, but this gardening is taking up all my time and energy and strength and stamina this year.  I can't quilt.  I can't go out with friends.  I can't even do my nightly reading.  I am physically spent."  Blah, blah. 

But then, her point hits me.  I have to take care of myself first - nobody else is responsible for doing that.  I was trying to best Nature itself and was losing the battle - not just the flower and vegetable garden battle, but the battle to keep myself healthy for the other important things in my life (afterall, it is just this one rare summer, right?).  I had to stop tending my garden to tend MY garden.

And I stopped - and the flower and vegetable gardens (and eventually the grass - even Keven has his heat limits) died - no more watering and weeding needed.  I started feeling better, and then even BETTER - and I had energy to read some wonderful spiritual and educational books, and I did MORE quilting and other stitching in the last 2 months than in the last 2 years, and had energy to go places with Keven and friends, and I started sleeping again.  Crazy, huh?

Well, I think Ms. Twigg and her book saved my summer (and much more).  I realize now that paring down the material things (not fabric material, mind you!) and eliminating some of the excessive tasks on our to-do lists every day is NOT the end-all-be-all solution to simplifying your life - the solution starts by simplifying the clutter in the mind and soul of all the "wants" and "shoulds" that seem to take over our lives.

Oh, did I mention?  Our cactus garden did VERY GOOD this year!!!! 

Well - I did get on a bandwagon, didn't I?  I promise my blogs won't be this wordy all the time - because that is simply not simple, is it?  Ha!

Blessings - and don't forget to TEND YOUR OWN GARDEN.
Kat

It is a new beginning for me...

This blog is something I have been wanting to do for a while. While enjoying so many others' blogs, I wondered if I had anything truly worthwhile to offer of myself. Then it hit me. This is not just about sharing me with you, it is about reminding myself about the things that really matter in life - the simple things that inspire and define me - and maybe encouraging and inspiring someone else along the way.

So, HELLO everyone - welcome to Simple Kat Style ... where I am in search of true contentment through simpler living!


You can see from my list of favorite things that I have an affinity for things that read "simple, old-fashioned, retro, country, etc". These things are now becoming symbols ("reminders, inspirations, visions") for me of when materialism and schedules and deadlines and endless tasks and commitments STOPPED consuming my life and I started filling my heart and soul with items and activities to make me happy and relax, keeping it simple and uncluttered so that I can truly live my life and not some made up one where I don't even know who I truly am.


Let's have some fun. Join me on the porch with a glass of iced tea and homemade cookies, birds singing, companionable discussion or silence while we stitch a quilt top or read a book, and absorb what life truly has to offer.