"We Are Irrelevant Now"

 

    She leaned in my direction with her coffee in hand and said, cheerfully, "We are irrelevant now." 

    We had arrived early at the Dublin, Ireland airport...on purpose. We were headed home and wanted to check our backpacks through to Phoenix, via Dallas-Fort Worth International airport with high hopes that they would make it all the way. We also had a secondary reason: get our last coffee at Butler's Coffee Cafe. We had discovered a coffee that almost equaled Dutch Bros, our favorite in AZ. However, unlike Dutch Bros, Butler's adds a piece of their candy with every coffee. This morning, we asked for dark chocolate, salted caramel.

    With our piping hot cups, we searched for an empty table, and fortunately, found one. To our surprise, we did not end up with two coffees, but one hot chocolate and one coffee. Our drinks were un-lidded and we were pouring one into another, mixing the coffee with the chocolate drink when a couple asked if they could join us at our table.

     Both of them born and reared in Dublin, they were a wealth of voluntary information as they sipped their teas from Butlers. Don't you know about their coffee? I remember thinking. A newly retired pharmacist, the two were headed to Nice, France where they vacationed occasionally. Nice!  I thought. She shared about their once busy professional lives, their children and now retirement days. 

    He interjected in a beautiful Irish accent, "That's quite a potion you have mixed up there. How's it taste?" 

      "This is the extent of our chemistry knowledge, but Butler's can now serve a chocolate coffee." We confessed with a light laugh.

    Then, she said it. "We are irrelevant now," and casually bit into the remainder of her chocolate.

     I swallowed mine and murmured "Oh, we shouldn't think like that. I believe, especially in retirement, we can still make an impact. I'm sure you do now.  I asked if I could share something with her. She agreed.

From my sticky chocolate-covered fingers into hers, I gave her a card that we travel with that quoted Jeremiah 29:11. She accepted it, read it and thanked me.

I told her we were retired, too, and mentioned what occupied our lives now. She knew two of them...already.

    Later, after our "nice to meet you and safe travels" farewells, I sat at the gate and recalled many famous people who made an impact late in life. I researched the age at which they died.

• Moses was 120 and he certainly had an impactful life
• Noah was 950 and he made a significant difference
• Abraham, 175 years old. His impact is a living testimony today
• Isaac and Jacob died at 180 and 147, respectively
• Florence Nightingale, a most compassionate nurse, died in her sleep at age 90
• Laura Ingalls Wilder published her first book at 65
• Harriet Tubman died at the age of 91 with words of faith on her lips
• Dr. George Washington Carver died at the age of 79. We love our peanuts to this day!

    We could go on and on. These are names we know, but think about those older around us, still living, who have made and are making an impact in our lives. Aren't we just as obligated to make a positive impact?

    I say, as long as God gives us breath, as long as we are above ground, we can make a difference and have a positive effect. Actually, God's children are never irrelevant...even after we die. (See names mentioned above.)  Even when we briefly meet a stranger. 

Matter today!

Keep Looking Up!

J:m and L:nda

    

    

    

Backpacking Packing

         Packing for Seasons

     A small flyer made its way into my hands in 1992. Ms Martinez, a professor of Spanish at MidAmerica Nazarene University was planning an eight-country, three-week trip to Europe. And, it was for those who were interested in learning how to backpack. "Buy a backpack and come to our first meeting."  I bought a backpack and went to the meeting. 

    Travel changed for me after that adventure, and it influenced Jim, too. In 1993, he bought a backpack and we started out simple: a backpacking trip to Canada.  We managed with little, so we considered it a great success.  Still, there was much to learn about traveling with little!  In 1994, we graduated, bought Eurailpasses, Hostel passes and backpacked for three weeks in Europe. It was getting easier because we traveled during the summer months and only had to pack for one season, the hot one.

  

  Fast forward to forty countries later, and we have upgraded from JanSport to Ospreys - Porter 46L for Jim and Fairview 40L for me. The larger the backpack, one begins to pack their fears. So we settled on perfect sizes for us and packed only the necessities. I pack like I want and Jim packs what he wants.  :)

    The biggest challenge is always shoes. Summer travel is easy - sandals and Tevas, which don't require much room inside the canvas. On several recent adventures, we faced weather and temperature changes that required enclosed shoes and several pairs of them. 

    For example, on the two pilgrimages we did in Spain and Italy, we wore our hiking boots on the plane there and packed our Altra's or Solomon's for the change.  However, we broke the rule in Patagonia. We wore the hiking boots on the plane, trail runners for there and Tevas to air our toes! 

   

     Secondly, traveling in several countries with climate differences during the trip, is challenging. We were slow learners here but eventually learned that layering is key. We can't take it all, so we have accumulated over the years a lot of merino wool clothing. They layer nicely and don't smell. Seriously! They wash easily (if they get washed) and dry out overnight. When we travel on public transportation in some countries, hands down, we blend in quite seamlessly. 

    Finally, laundering. Some countries make this easier than others. In warmer climates, we need a laundromat...just to avoid offending!  Now, in Europe, these "laundromats" are available outside supermarkets, service stations or beside phone stores (great marketing strategies...all). We take laundry sheets, pop them in and smell delicious for a day or so. If we can't find a service like this, it's laundry in a sink at night and pray the radiator heats up! Otherwise, wet clothes travel in ziplocks.

There is a skill to backpacking, and we are still learning how to do it well and how to pack tightly. We try to take as little as possible because we must carry what we pack, which is why investing in a line of clothing that dries quickly, warms or cools during weather changes, and keeps us dry is important. 

    There are so many advantages to backpacking independently. It opens up opportunities to meet the locals, to struggle with the language, and to experience up close traditions and cultures of other countries.  It makes us realize that we don't need, but we can do with what we have...which is a way of life in many countries where we have traveled.  It's actually a good lesson of living with little for a while.

Keep Looking Up!

J:m and L:nda