Good afternoon from a sunny Kentucky prison,
The days are long, and humid, but the sun is shining brightly. Since the birds now wake me before the gunfire, I can lay awake in my spring filled bed and not have instant panic attacks. FMC Lexington is unique in that we are next to a CIA/FBI/Police training gunfire range, and there is constant gunfire and grenades going off from 6am-5pm through the week. So those times when they aren’t training are pretty peaceful. The sunrises and sunsets and many rainbows offset the firing as well. We finally got a fan today for our room, and at some point, they promised to put it up. Grateful, as the temps here are in the 90’s. Being on the 3rd floor is rough, especially as there are no windows in our room, just an open square of screen, that I have to keep covered with cardboard so the rain doesn’t flood inside. The hole above my bed has gotten bigger, so the asbestos and ceiling particles land on my bed daily. This place really needs a makeover.
In other news, boards have been cut for the house I designed, but we have a week off carpentry, so we will start assembly after next week. It was a low-key week with the holiday as far as staffing goes, as it will be this week too, now that Kentucky schools are out for summer break, and vacations are being taken. We are now having sack dinners every night for the foreseeable future, as there isn’t a guard to cover dinner any longer. The fair has packed up across the street finally, so at least we won’t have as many extra counts during the day. I am spending a lot of time outside walking around the track, and wearing a waist trainer which makes me sweat something fierce. Also started yoga on the weekends, which was a nice change, as I miss the Pints n Poses classes I used to take with Alex at Dan’s place.
It was nice to have an extra visit with Alex this week on Juneteenth, in which I had him taste our “holiday meal” that they brought to me in visitation. Safe to say he doesn’t envy my meals in here, hahaha. Juneteenth Jeopardy was fun, and something new I introduced to the prison, and then we had a karaoke party at night where I and others sang and danced. I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time- it was pretty awesome honestly to see everyone have a good time despite our circumstances.
This week will be the final equine therapy class, and I will definitely miss seeing the horses. It has been a highlight of my time in here. I am doing my best to try to find something positive with every day in prison, as it’s not the day that is bad, but the circumstances. I believe positivity can get you through even the hardest of times in your life, and I am choosing to be grateful that I am only here another 3 months. Heading down this afternoon to teach my bible study classes. This week I am teaching lessons from a book I read called “Bad Girls of the Bible”, written by Liz Higgs. It is funny, enlightening and relatable. I hope they like it.
Hope you all are having a fantastic weekend. I miss and love you all.
xoxo
Carolynne (Mom)
