Other Things in DC

Hello,

All of us went out exploring after Sarah got home. Leroy, Lexi and I when to a 3D film on current day Jerusalem with a little history thrown in. Leroy especially liked it. I put it above average.

At the end of the afternoon we ate at a Bohemian restaurant. It was fun to taste some familiar foods well prepared .

While the others were at work or in school Sarah, Leroy and I visited the aero space museum out at Dulles airport. That was quite interesting. I thought it was great to hear the control tower people talking to the pilots. We heard a plane cleared for landing and saw it come in.

On our way to the Reagan airport we once again used the Metro. It was interesting to me that at an early hour in the morning, unlike in the afternoon, not many people were using their phones or tablets. It was more of a dull, in a trance, look about them. Leroy and I fit right in.

As we were waiting in the airport we heard an announcement from the next gate over that the pilot departing for Alaska was retiring as of that flight. The entire group waiting at all close gates clapped for him. His family was flying with him on this last flight. We were introduced to them too.

At the Detroit airport our plane was de-iced. I could not see anything on it, but… it seemed so strange because the temperature in DC had been in the 70’s the day before. Where was this ice coming from? Long before we got to Cedar Rapids snow and then more snow became visible on the ground. We stepped out of the airport into rather frigid temperatures. Luckily the bus came in good time so we did not have to be out for long. My body was not adjusting quickly but thankful for a warm coat.

Paula

Wild Life

Hello,

While in DC we saw some unexpected wild life. The people looked quite normal, but there was the paper wasp nest on the way to the girl’s school. I will attach some pictures of that great wasp home. Lexi spotted it first high up in a leafless tree. I have not seen one of them in a natural setting in many years. If the nest had been lower I might have been tempted to see if the owners wanted us to cut it out. It was quite fascinating. It is interesting too that at the library we looked for some information about these wasps and found very little. The honeybees seem to get all of the press in the bee/wasp children’s book world.

We also saw a black squirrel darting up one side of the tree trunk and down another. Both Leroy and I remembered when he was going to the seminary and a white or albino squirrel lived in our yard.

Later, on a car trip to the store, we saw a red fox run into the woods. That was just a few trees grouped together. We did not get to look long at this moving object.

Still later we saw a deer as we were driving through a park. So you see there is wild life in the city if your eyes are open.

I do enjoy the walk to the school as we get to see leaves, trees, grass, dogs, people and the occasional bird. We both noticed how many leaves were still on the trees and that some of them were still green. Quite different from the view out our window where bare trees reign.

Paula

Tourists

Hello,

Yesterday was tourist day. After we dropped the girls off at school and pre-school we headed downtown. Sarah had gotten us passes to go up in the Washington Monument. We followed instructions and a map and went the shortest way from the closest Metro stop. It was a cold windy day, although not as cold as Iowa, but still noticeably cold. We did not stop to pick up the tickets at the proper place so Leroy gallantly ran down and back up the hill with them. We were told to go inside for the tour. I told the guy, “Our ticket is not until 10:00.”

He laughed and said, “If you want to stand out here for another 15 minutes, go ahead: otherwise go on in.”

It was great to be there on such a day when many stayed away. Not only did we get in earlybut we could spend more time at the less crowded windows taking in the clear view. I remembered when we went to the Eiffel Tower; it was cold, gloomy, and rainy. There was rain at the ground and snow at the top with little view available. I am still glad that we went as there were almost no people so we could wander at will.

Back in Washington, on the way to the library of Congress we stopped off at the Freer Art Museum. We saw some Muslim, Japanese, and Indian art. It was quite interesting. I am no art aficionado but I could still enjoy it. There was no painting, but objects of various types.

At the Library we saw the Magna Carta which is on loan through December. I certainly learned a lot of history about it. Ignorance was rampant. Name recognition was about all that I had. Leroy had more, but still learned some things. It was certainly an old looking piece of paper which I could not possibly read.

Before we left the library, we looked at the Big Bible of Mainz as well as the Guttenberg Bible. Then we also walked around Thomas Jefferson’s collection before heading back.

We figured that we walked possibly eight miles because of taking the girls to school too. Maybe it was only six miles, but it was sufficient. We will admit to being tired, but happy.

Paula

In DC

Hello,

Even though I have done a bit of traveling, I am always relieved and excited to get where I intend to be and in one piece. Our bus ride to the airport went just fine. Both of the drivers were quite friendly with greetings and smiles. I wish more people rode the bus so more times would be available. At no time were we the only people on the bus and I consider that a good thing.

I think we might have managed if we had taken the later bus, but I guess we did not have to worry about getting on the plane even though it was oversold and they asked two people to give up their seats for a voucher of $500. As slow thinking Leroy and I were considering this, two women literally ran up to the desk to grab those possibilities. All of us watching and waiting laughed.

Leroy and I speak a different language when talking about planes leaving. I always think we are talking about when they take off and he is talking about the boarding time, consequently there is a little disconnect. That tends to make us be there earlier than I feel is necessary, but closer to what Leroy likes.

Even though the Atlanta airport is large we got from one end to the other with the help of the train. It was not difficult to have some time to relax. When we landed in Atlanta, our plane did some usual flopping from side to side. Not enough to worry about, but enough for a surprise. I was happy that we leveled out before the wheels touched down.

In DC we navigated the Metro like pros. When Leroy and I came pulling our bags down the street towards Sarah’s house, we could see two little girls standing on the step waving. It was great to get such greetings. This morning Lexi told me that she was so happy I was there. It warmed my heart and colored my day bright.

Now here we are getting used to another hour earlier time zone. “Body you can do this! It is just an hour and just for one week"

Paula

Plants

Hello,

I have been putting plants in a bucket with water so hopefully they will be happy while we are gone. I just love to look at the sun coming in the window and hitting the green leaves or the blossoms. I have a Mandevilla that I am trying to save for next summer and it still has six blooms and more coming. Then the yellow primrose has one blossom open. My colorful coleus are at church where I can see them if I think to go in that area.

I have two oregano plants of different varieties. One of them was in the community garden. It is so low to the ground that it makes it difficult to harvest. When harvested the leaves are often quite dirty. The rain must have hit the ground and pushed soil into the air.

I could ask my landlady to water the plants, but most of them will be quite satisfied for one week. There are some that I water more frequently, but I believe they will live.

Yesterday Leroy helped me and we froze the last of the leaves in the refrigerator. We stowed away brussel sprout leaves. I have not eaten any, but they look good surely they will be delectable. Then it was on to broccoli leaves and flowerets. Collards we did the day before. The freezer is full and the refrigerator is almost empty. As Leroy said, “It now looks more normal.”

We certainly do not eat the same things that my family did when I grew up, but I have followed my mother’s habit of not having much in the refrigerator at any one time. However, now I am storing many of my granola ingredients in there as I have purchased in bulk and have enough that I do not want them to go rancid even though they are a dry and shelf storage item.

I also have dry falafel as well dry hummus mixtures in there. It would be interesting to learn what is kept in refrigerators. Does that indicate something about a person?

Paula

Plans

Hello,

We had planned to go visit my sister as she is in the hospital in St. Louis. The plan was to drive down and back in one day. We both worked yesterday so that did not a two day weekend make. The problem was that we both did some slipping and sliding on the way home from work last night.

I zoomed along on the blacktop because the cars ahead of me were traveling at almost the speed limit, maybe a little above that. When I got to my turn off, even though I had slowed down quite a bit, I slipped a little. After that I adopted turtle speed. Tracks in the snow/slush indicated others sliding at the next stoplight. In the rearview mirror I could see the car behind me slipping over into the next unoccupied lane and then coming back my way. After crawling around downtown, it was clear at the bottom of the exit ramp that someone had been unable to stop and leaped the curb by the stop sign. I was happy to shift into lower gears.

Leroy told me he spun his wheels when starting up after every red light for which he had to stop. Because the report said more snow today we cancelled travel plans and felt ourselves lose tension.

Tuesday we are going to fly to DC to be with Sarah’s family. Because no snow or other bad weather besides cold is predicted I am confident that those plans will be met.

Leroy and I are going to use the bus to get to the airport, but it tempting to call on someone else to take us because the bus does not get there at quite the time we would like so that means being a little late or being quite a lot early. At this moment we are planning to do the quite a lot early. Surely we can find something to talk about that is interesting and stimulating.

Paula

Grappling

Hello,

I am grappling with greens of all kinds. First there are all those green things I picked from the garden. I gave one stem of brussel sprouts to our landlady. Check! That has been taken care of.

I froze quite a lot of celery this morning. At the same time I took out the ice cube trays and some coconut (for granola). Check! That has been taken care of.

Last night I cooked all of the leaves on one collard stem. The heap of leaves in the pan diminishes to about an eighth of its original size. There was enough for leftovers. Check! That has been taken care of.

I have more brussel sprouts, parsley, collards, kale, and broccoli. I eyeball the space in our freezer above the refrigerator and know that more will go in, but not all. Can I can any of this? Would we eat it if I did? Do I need to share more and if so with whom? If in the refrigerator will it be good to eat when we come back from DC?

Next it is on to that other green stuff, money, do you know it? At church we are to turn in our pledge for the coming year. I generally figure that. Last year was an up and down year with Leroy losing more than half of his work and then gaining a half back that actually pays more. And I got a raise midyear. So I can barely tell you what we made let alone what we should have given to God. This year, however, seems to be less cloudy. But when I added up what our last check amounted to and assumed that could be for the future, I see we are not paying a tithe as I thought we were. It is quite a bit less. Then I started to think about the problem. One thing came to mind. When Leroy was full time in the church, taxes were not taken out till after the check was in hand. He paid them as if a self employed person. Now taxes come out before the check is handed to us and I had been just figuring on that amount of money. Then the question is, Should one tithe before or after taxes?

Also, when he was with the church,  we did not pay for any of our health insurance and now we pay all so we did not tithe on that money, but we do now because we pay that bill from earnings.

Well, one thing I know for sure, we will raise the amount that we give, whether it is a tithe, I simply do not know. I can see why the Pharisees created all sorts of guidelines for living. On one level it made the answers clear, not necessarily right, but clear. Sometimes I like easy answers.

Paula

Winter is here

Hello,

Those last greens in the garden are calling out to be picked. I phoned one of the people I met in the garden last summer. She said she would like to meet me there and named a time. As per my character, I was there about five minutes early. I hunkered down to get out of the icy wind and to pick some of the last arugula that seems not to notice the cold as much as I do. When that was picked I moved on to the broccoli snagging the last little heads that might make a meal for us. Then I moved on and dug up a celery plant looking for a root such as we could buy at the farmer’s market in Slovakia. This root was a rather anemic cousin that might not yield anything eatable.

At this point, keeping my back to the chilly wind, I dug my phone out of my pocket to check the time, it was about five after our designated meeting time. Then I realized that I did not have this woman’s phone number with me and she had my home phone number. I pulled up one more brussel sprout, stuffed it in my large bag that I would carry hanging from the end of my arm. The rest of my bounty was tucked away in my backpack. As the cold was seeping into my being, I decided to walk on home.

The house was a warm haven that I am not so anxious to leave again for a while. I will work on putting some of these pickings in a good storage place. That means washing most of it and some will go in the freezer. 

There are a number of things in front of the house. The collards look wonderful, but I do not believe they will survive the expected cold temperatures. There is also one cabbage, two broccoli plants (I will eat the leaves.), a few carrots, two brussel sprouts that have only babies attached, as well as one kale plant. I suspect I will just pull all of these things, bring them in the house and deal with much of them tomorrow. How many greens can we eat in the next six days? How much can I get into the freezer?

That brave Leroy rode the bike to work today at the museum.  I suspect he will be cold when he gets home in spite of the face mask, hat and gloves.

Paula

Together Still

Hello,

Leroy and I are still together and the air is better after “kiss and make up”. Luckily what finally happened, as it frequently does, one of us started to laugh about the absurdity of the situation. Amazing how that clears the air and creates a bond. Is group laughter more important than kissing? Or maybe it is because it leads to kissing?

We are almost ready for our presentation on Thursday. I have checked with my boss and it is fine with her if I take some time off in the afternoon and then work the evening for her. I suspected she would be quite happy to give up the evening work. None us seems truly excited to work those dusky hours. Actually it is deep darkness now when I drive home.

At least this week I am working on Saturday so I do not work three nights, but only two. When we work on Saturday we do not work another scheduled time.

I hear that deeper cold is soon coming so I am concerned about the plants in the garden. On Saturday I pulled up one of the brussel sprouts and Leroy and I have eaten two meals from these oddly shaped growths. There will be one more meal before they are gone. I am happy about that. It must not have been a good year for the brussel sprouts. The ones in our front lawn garden are so small that it is difficult to harvest. They are about as big as a large pea. The ones in the community garden have been odd shaped, as they mostly have opened rather than forming a nice head. They are also a little stronger tasting. There are still two plants out there, but I will wait until tomorrow to harvest them. Maybe someone else will take them.

Paula

Fussing People

Hello,

It all started before church. There was extra time because we did not have to be at church early as the choir was singing late. It seemed like a good time to work on our Slovakia presentation that we are making to the retired people.

Leroy was originally scheduled to make this presentation by himself, but I begged, pleaded, or pushed myself into the program because I like to talk about our experiences and Leroy would not talk about some things the same way I would.

Now we needed to get ourselves organized. I thought Leroy had selected all the pictures and or the power point program he was going to use. I learned that was not the case and there was much to decide. When we turned on our photo program on the computer, it took a long time adding pictures. I do not understand exactly how it works, but it was taking a few hundred photos off the flash drive that we use to save the pictures and saving them to the computer.

I felt a huge urge to blame Leroy for all of this because it made it so difficult to find the pictures we wanted. He became upset with me because I did not understand some of the things he was telling me about power point.

Finally the best idea seemed to be to go to his office at church where we could use his computer that did not have all these pictures on it. When there, we discovered we had the wrong flash drive, but did have a power point of our Slovak pictures. We forged ahead with a lot of miffed feelings and a few mutterings. At least we have some possibilities.  Now at home, while Leroy is out doing nursing home services, I have gathered some of the Slovak things that we want to display. Leroy can add or subtract from that heap when he comes home.

No yelling in this fussing, but plenty of emotional expense with sighing and darted looks.

Paula

Saturday Jobs

Hello,

Leroy and I went shopping this morning. Without expecting to buy anything, the grand opening of a shoes store called us. We each got a pair of shoes that we did not need, but will wear in time. I was excited to find a 10.5 size which is rather rare. It even felt good on my foot, but I did learn that I could wear it at home for an extended period of time and bring it back if it was uncomfortable. Right now I have them on, but of course, I should be walking around to see what it feels like. Sitting does not always tell the tale.

I have been putting off checking about getting our new family pictures in the old frame. I am not sure why, but that type of task wears me out jut to think about it. Maybe it helped that Leroy was with me as he bullies right on through to the end. Prices were checked in two stores and I am quite comfortable with the one store whose estimate was $50 less. I was surprised that the difference was so great. Now there will be a delay because I have decided to replace one of the pictures with another. It will be done before Christmas.

I plan to exercise this afternoon. Now if you tell me to do it so I do not forget about it that would be good.

I am also planning to go to the community garden and pick some broccoli or brussel sprouts. Brussel sprouts from our front yard garden were tasty, but very small.

I will also plant the winter onion bulbs that I see lying on the ground. They will grow either way, but it will be easier to harvest in the spring if there is a little distance between them. These onions were a gift from my Chariton neighbor. She gave me a few in the spring. We ate some and I planted some. Now we have had them for five or six years. Each year there are a few more of them and I share a few more. It is so good when gifts go on and on.

Paula

Squirrel meal time

Hello,

In spite of the cold, I went out early to hang up some of the freshly washed bedding. It was not such a job because they are all big pieces. By the time I was done, my hands were cold, but not hurting. As I was out there I heard a lot of squirrel attacking nuts sounds. When I looked up into the bare walnut tree I saw three squirrels. Two were backed up against the trunk and one was farther out on a branch. All had nuts in their paws up to their mouths. They make a scraping sound as they tackle this meal that is not so easily acquired. All of these animals had their tails flattened up their backs and almost over their heads. It was a sight worth smiling about. Later in the day when I brought the clothes in I saw and heard just one squirrel still working for a meal. Now the tail was hanging along the branch. Tails must be good insulation.

Yesterday at work the power went out for almost an hour. I was once again reminded about our dependence on electricity. All of us found our work at a standstill, mostly because we could not use the computers. No one has to bomb us, just turn off the power and we would be a pack of sniveling loonies in about a week or two.

Today I noticed a suction holder for a stained glass figure was on the floor in the computer room. I searched the floor, close furniture and did not find the glass figure. Later Leroy also looked unsuccessfully. We speculate that it fell in the waste basket and was thrown out on Wednesday. Well that is one way to eliminate possessions. Not my favored way, but it does work. Even without small children around to blame for the disappearance of items, Leroy and I manage to lose a few things. As we grow we become more skilled and talented.

Paula

People Voting

Hello,

I worked yesterday afternoon. Elections in Ely are held in the library meeting room. That increases the foot traffic in the library. I had over 130 people in the seven hours I was there. Most of the time I was the only worker consequently, I was quite busy. It is great to see so many people out. I am glad that so many people felt compelled to vote. It also means that many people stopped in to take out books are return books. Several people also used the internet, either the wifi or our computers. It amazes me how much that service gets used. I sometimes think everyone has access at home, but it is simply not true. But sometimes it is because their service is unavailable or they do not have a printer.

When I opened the Interlibrary mail there was a book that had been returned from Ely, MN. The package included a nice letter from the staff there explaining that the book had disappeared in their problem pile. We still had this book on record, but noted as lost. It was last checked out in 2010. That is being out of circulation for a long time. Earlier, in the book drop, a book was returned that had been checked out more years ago than that. It is hard to imagine these books just hidden away waiting to come back to us.

Today I shared most of the dried soybeans with one of my neighbors. She was out of town on the day we picked them. She was quite pleased to get them. I will save some of them for seed for next year. Also gave her some of my winter onion bulbs and kale leaves. Even though it has gotten quite cold my garden in front looks quite good with all of those cabbage family plants thriving without the heat. I like it that the cabbage moths are not around now. Fall is good.

Paula

More Light

Hello,

Leroy saw a woodpecker and thought about taking its picture. Then he decided that it does not work very well through the screen. He asked, “Would you like to take the screens out of some windows and store them in the attic for the winter?”

“I would,” I exclaimed.

We then took out about half the screens, concentrating on the windows that we most often look at squirrels or birds or the sun. I am pleased at how much more light comes in because of that change. It also looks cleaner when I look out. Such pleasure from a simple action!

Our listing kitchen cabinet will be worked on today. I am happy about that even though I did not really feel that it would fall any moment, it was a concern. Not everyone has listing cabinets, sounds like we might be at sea.

I brought in some coleus slips and they have rooted nicely. Yesterday at church someone was telling me that they wanted to bring some coleus inside for the winter and had not been very successful at rooting them. I volunteered to give them mine and they were excited to get them. Hopefully in the spring I can get some slips from them or just let it all go to the church. Sharing is good sometimes. Leroy and I both like these and feel like the plants are crowding us in our small space. One is gone now. This winter I have herbs which I have not had inside in the past. There is rosemary, parsley, and oregano (two kinds). That takes up a bit more window space than normal.

Paula

Soybeans

Hello,

This afternoon Leroy and I, along with two other women worked in the garden to clean up the plants that did not withstand the frost. Because we had gotten some things out earlier it was not such a big job with the four of us.

At the end we picked the soybeans. I just put them in a bucket and we will sort through all that another time. There was another person in the neighborhood who wanted some of them, but they were not there. We picked them all anyway because I was afraid that more of them our pop out on the ground. We are not so hungry that we are willing to scour the soil and leaves looking for that.

This year I plan to roast some of those beans. We did not like them so well in soup. Hopefully we will find this more palatable. We certainly did like the edamame. But this year I had too many other things ripe at the same time and did not harvest so much of it.

This morning I noticed that one upper cabinet in the kitchen looked as if it were coming out from the wall. That is indeed true. The cabinet is now empty. Leroy and our landlord will work on fixing that tomorrow. One plus about renting is that someone else is responsible. Course the downside of that is that some owners do not listen to a renter’s statement that something is in need of repair. I even heard owners frequently talk about how the renters wreck things or that they want things. So as always there are pluses and minuses. The trick is to see the other’s side and come to some type of meeting to make a good outcome for all concerned. We are blessed with good landlords. I am grateful for that every day. We even enjoy visiting with them.

Paula

The Gardens

Hello,

We covered plants last night, but it did not save them. It did save a few green tomatoes that we hope will ripen. The tomatoes by the house had finally started to produce nicely, but the slugs and the squirrels were often feasting before I could pick them, consequently most were lost. At least now we have some green ones in the house where slugs and squirrels do not live and are not welcome. There is something satisfying in pulling the plants and seeing the bare earth. Probably that is not truly good for the earth, but it is certainly what I was used to as a child. At that point I knew the garden work was done and joy was in that time. Now I have mixed feelings. Happiness is there because the work is done, but sadness is there because there will be no more fresh veggies outside my doo.

Leroy and I will go tomorrow and work in the community garden. Mostly that will be getting rid of anything that froze. At home: kale, broccoli, one red cabbage, brussel sprouts, and collards are still thriving. I am hoping that the swiss chard managed to survive as well. We did dig up one parsley plant and one oregano plant so we will have some herbs for a while. Leroy is optimistic that they will survive. I am less so as I know we chopped off hunks of roots.

Last night Leroy and I made a vegetable soup with carrots, green beans, tomatoes, parsley, rutabaga, and celery from our gardens. We did add pinto beans, potatoes, onions, and garlic. We both thought it was quite fine. One never knows with my soups just how good they will be. It tasted just as good, or maybe even better, today. We even used the back porch as a refrigerator. That is somewhat of a throwback to Slovakia, where I was always happy to have some extra cold space. So we can discuss some memories along with good eating.

Paula