Traveling again

Hello,

 

Wednesday Leroy and I will be flying for the first time in over a year. It seems strange for it to have been so long. We will be going to visit our daughter, Sarah and her family. We have not been there since December of 2018. We had planned to visit before this, but you know what got in the way.

 

It is interesting that safe traveling is not so much focused on the plane staying in the air, but germs in the plane. Certainly is a change in attitude.

 

We had planned to ride the bus to the airport, but I learned today that the route that goes so very close to our house is not running. We would have to walk four blocks to get on the bus. For blocks is not long, but who long will it take us? Should we do that or a friend has offered to take us? It might be best to let them give us a ride even though I felt we should ride the bus. We will do that on the trip home as then we do not have to worry about being in the right spot at the right time.

 

Leroy did some organization work in the garage, watered some things, and relaxed for a while. I also watered some things, pulled some weeds, saw more weeds to pull, but ignored them. I spent a little time reading, but also writing thank you notes.

 

This afternoon, we took a nice long walk with friends. It seemed cool, but Leroy and I were too warmly dressed by the end. It was nice that we had some watermelon to share at the end of the walk.

 

I am baking bread as we have run out. Leroy likes to have bread around so it seemed I could make a smaller batch than usual. It smells good in the house.

 

Paula

What Month is it?

Hello,

 

I knew that June was coming soon and I wanted to get more steps today. Church seemed like a good destination because the devotion booklet we use was getting close to the end. At church I could not find the booklet so I went in the office to inquire. The guy there, who does not usually work at the desk, had to do some searching before he found one. He commented that it was for July, August, and September. Oops! I am month early. I said, “If the secretary had been here she would not let me have this as it is too early!”

 

“Well, this is just between the two of us,” he said with a laugh.

 

Course here I am telling you, but I figure you will not tell all. I had not paid attention to when the current booklet ends.

 

It is so cold here that we brought in many plants last night and will again tonight when it is to be even colder. There are frost warnings for some parts of the area. I hope the city warmth keeps us from the possibility. I do not want to think about what will happen in the community garden where covering is out of the question. Especially tomatoes and peppers are vulnerable. The cabbage family items should be just fine even though it is to be so close to freezing.

 

Leroy unexpectedly went to work this afternoon because his boss had been out of town and was unable to get back in a timely manner because of car trouble. That gave me some time to finish watching a movie that he did not want to see. If one of us wants to watch something on the TV that the other does not want to see, it is a bit complicated to work with the feeling of forcing someone else out of the comfortable seats for reading in that room. Actually we have a comfortable seat elsewhere, but the reading light is not so good.

 

Paula

Tomatoes

Hello,

 

As part of the food pantry in the library lobby, there is a group that is working for zero waste for food. Depending on the week there can be a lot of produce or not so much. This week there were two bins of tomatoes. I brought some home on Monday, cut them and froze them for later use. Yesterday I looked at the remaining and noticed that someone had put a very advanced tomato on the shelf. I found a plastic bag and scooped it in for the compost bin at home. After much thought and consideration at the end of the work time, I gathered up a rather large box to bring home. Many of them had spots. Leroy helped me wash them, but at nine at night I did not want to face cutting them up. I put them in the refrigerator. This afternoon I worked on them. Some had grown mold even in the cold. A fairly large bowl of pieces was relegated to the compost. The rest went into the freezer. I had vowed to just get organic foods, but I have such a time with waste that I just hoped these might be organic. They do have a very nice flavor for a preseason tomato.

 

I have also brought home a number of peppers which found some room in the freezer. Again I am not sure that they were organic. I just wish more people were willing to work with fresh foods and were comfortable cutting off the unusable parts. I often give sales talk when trying to convince people to take something that is out there getting older by the day.

 

The meat in the fridge or freezer seems to be retrieved as do canned items or other non perishable.

 

I ended up doing laundry because the sun was shining and because the plastic bag that had the tomato in it leaked soaking into all my library masks. I work tomorrow; hence I need a clean mask.

 

Paula

Flowers again and Goslings

Hello,

 

We rode bikes again this afternoon. This time we were with a friend who says she rides her bike almost every day. She had not seen the flowers in the area where we were today. It is just a wonderful sweep of color up hills and close to the stream. At the return we rode around the lake.

 

Geese were out. One adult was definitely in the protective mode as it came at me with open mouth and red tongue stretched. I slowed, moved to the side and it was calmed, although when the other two people came it had to strike an aggressive posture once more. We sat and rested in a shelter that was close. My bottom noticed the eight mile ride yesterday and needed a break. It is not tough at all. More riding will help that.

 

As we watched, an older man walking alone, found the two adult geese and several babies of at least three ages spread across the trail. He started clapping his hands to get them to move. It took quite a while before they moved on and he felt comfortable going past.

 

When we got to the other side of the lake I moved from the street to the sidewalk only to find more geese families there. I noticed some on the left, but failed to see two youngsters on the right until they crossed in front of me. I was able to avoid hitting either of them, but my companions commented on my goose hitting skills.

 

Paula

Tree Roots and wild flowers

Hello,

 

In the morning, Leroy was outside, called me to come out to see them take up the roots of a large tree on our block. I would guess the exposed roots were much taller than I am. They brought in some large equipment, broke it up some, and used a crane/claw to pick it up, shake off the soil, and put it in a pile. The guy running the crane certainly knew what he was doing, but then he has no doubt had lots of experience since we hve had all these tree issues since last August. Just after the derecho on August 10, 2020 this tree fully blocked the street. In a day or two they cleared enough so we could get through in one lane, sometimes by driving over smaller branches still on the street. I certainly traveled through there many times, as Leroy was sick enough that he was not driving at that time. Perhaps that was where I tore that wire under the car. I cannot remember when they cleared enough of the tree that we could travel in two lanes. The memory is leaving.

 

This afternoon Leroy and I took a bike ride on the bike trail. It was muggy, but beautiful. After a certain point there were wild phlox on both sides of the trail for a mile or two. We did not stop to take pictures, but it could not have captured the magnitude of the glory. They are white and purple. I do not remember seeing so many in the past. It reminded me of a hike that we took in the mountains in Slovakia where our guide knew the location of huge expanses of wild flowers. It is beauty that feeds the soul. What a gift we have been given!

 

Paula

No New Shoes Today

Hello,

 

I decided to shop for new tennis shoes or athletic shoes or whatever you chose to call that style. My current pair is definitely showing some wear. This afternoon Leroy and I headed out for some other shopping since the zipper is failing on his rain jacket. He did not get a new jacket and I did not get shoes. He was not sure he wanted to pay the price and I was not sure I could handle the shoe size.

 

We went to the best shoe store in town. The person who waited on me did not make many suggestions and they did not have the brand that I have liked. I tried on one pair in size eleven since that is what I am wearing now. My toes were touching the end. She then got a size twelve, but had only one selection in this style and brand. I was horrified that my foot is that large. It sort of took me back to a point in my life when I needed new shoes. In those days girls wore shoes that were quite different from adult shoes. The shoe store only had two styles for me to choose from. I did not like either one. The salesman went over to another salesman and said rather disgustedly, “I can’t do a thing with her, see if you can.”

 

I was so humiliated. Eventually I picked one of the styles and lived with it. Shoe shopping is not a favored activity for me. I should only go when I am strong emotionally.

 

I did not buy shoes today, but someday soon I will have to do that. We did stop at another shoe store, but they hardly had any size elevens, although I did not look at many.

 

On the way home we looked for frozen organic blue berries. The store was out as had been the store we visited in the morning. Instead, I got some fresh organic strawberries. Even though several of them looked not ripe they had a very nice flavor. I guess that was my treat for the day.

 

I know there are worse things in life than having big feet, but some days it matters to me.

 

Paula

Ordinary Day

Hello,

 

I washed two loads of clothes and baked bread. The clothes were put in a machine and the bread was kneaded with my hands. I have no desire to wash clothes by hand, but I like getting my hands in the dough. I will have to confess that I do use the mixer for the first part of the bread making process.

 

The notice from the step tracker states that I have walked 5500 miles since they have been tracking. That is equal to the Great Wall. It was fun to get that total.

 

Leroy rode his bike this morning in spite of the mist in the air. He reported that there was a lot of mist. When I asked if he was dripping he replied, “Almost!” His glasses needed drying.

The rain was gone in the afternoon so I mistakenly thought he would have a dry ride home. He leaves work at four. At about five minutes after four I heard rain coming down. Looking out I could see a cloud burst.

 

Leroy was quite wet when he got home. He started before the rain got so bad, put on his rain coat and proceeded. He tells me there are no places that he knows of where he could take shelter so he just kept going. He was also a little muddy from things flicking up from the street. He was happy to get home and change clothes. Under his rain coat he was not so wet. Luckily his phone was protected under that raincoat.

 

Paula

Joy, Joy, Joy

Hello,

 

Tomato plants left over from the community garden are sitting at my house no more. Several were saved for volunteers. This morning I counted out that number before taking the flat to the end of the sidewalk. As I looked across the street I saw someone at a neighbor’s house. I trotted over before she could leave and asked her and a young visitor, “Would you like some tomato plants?”

 

The young woman’s face lit up. “Yes I would,” she replied.

 

“I will run get the flat so you can choose,” I called as I turned back to get them.

 

“You can take as many as you would like,” I urged. I also brought over some chocolate mint that we were dividing.

 

Both of them took a couple tomato four packs. The younger one grinned and took the mint. Then the neighbor, pointing to a fall sedum said, “See how well this plant you gave me is doing. I am going to give some to her when it gets bigger.”

 

Turning to the younger woman I asked, “Do you have time now? I have some more to dig up because they spread. I would need to get a key and the spade from my garage. At her nod I raced home, upstairs, downstairs, out to the garage, pulled out the hand spade, and met her on the sidewalk. She admired my iris

and dianthus

before I dug up three clumps of sedum for her. “This is so nice because I can make an arrangement with them.”

 

What joy to have things to share and see people smile!

 

Paula

Who Wants kale?

Hello,

 

The red Russian Kale is just doing so well in the old community garden. I like to cook it, however when I mention kale to people and try to interest them in some, they are less than enthusiastic. Most people seem to eat kale raw and this kale is a little stronger in flavor. However, when it is cooked it is just as mild as can be. I sauté onions, garlic, mushrooms, and green peppers. When that has warmed and browned a bit I add the kale, and diced or crushed tomatoes. We also often put in some more herbs, depending on what we feel in the mood for. Leroy also seems to like this dish, at least he does not complain. Now if I could just convince others to eat this. Any way at this time I am picking as much as I like since no one else is taking it. At least the college is letting us harvest from the old garden space. They could mow it off, but have not yet. Sometimes I think of myself as trying to sell kale with no buyers. I know they were at least willing to wait until we could move the rhubarb after harvest. We also have cilantro, winter onions, oregano, and arugula left or it just returned to that space.

 

The irises by our house have six flowers open. They are a beautiful deep purple. I got these from my sister’s house. It is nice to have a memory of her.

 

We are going to move the mint to another location. We even have some mystery mint that has come up in a new location. So now we will put it in a place where it cannot spread because it is confined by cement sidewalk.

 

Paula

Garden work

Hello,

 

Yesterday four of us worked in the community garden, eliminating weeds and planting. This space had not been used as a garden last year and Creeping Charlie moved in and spread rapidly. The tiller did a nice job loosening the soil, chopping Charlie and spreading it around. Two of us spend most of our time sifting through the dirt and throwing out all of those sprigs that we could find. We have now covered about half of the garden. Many plants are in the garden as are a number of seeds. I look forward to growth. We were blessed because one of the local stores called the neighborhood president, telling her that she could get some plants that had been nipped by frost. They were not able to sell them. We got a number of cabbage family items as well as many, many tomatoes. Some of the plants were not to be saved, but enough were that it was well worth the time and effort to pick them up. I am also pleased with the idea that they are not all going in the garbage. I see that as good for the earth.

 

Today we will go back and spend some more time there weeding, planting, and moving mulch into the walking paths. I wear garden gloves, but I did read that we actually gain something positive by touching soil. What a great connection to the earth, our home.

 

We are done with the garden for today. Two other people came to help and we got a lot done along with getting quite tired. It is satisfying, but certainly takes energy.

 

Paula

 

That Leroy Walking

Hello,

 

Leroy and I both have the day off. He walked a mile to get some blood work done only to learn that the Dr. had forgotten to order it, so back home he went. Later when the order had come in we both walked back because I did not want Leroy to be so far ahead of me in the step department. It was a wonderful day for those walks. I now have my 10,000, but Leroy must have 12,000 or more steps. I did not ask, because I did not want to know.

 

Our mint has not been doing very well this year. It must need to dug up and spread out in a new place. I did find some other type of mint in among some other plants. We will move both of them to a spot that used to be good for impatiens, but since last summer’s derecho is much too sunny. I will also try to find a more sun loving flowering annual to put between them.

 

We have taken out all of my house plants that enjoy the outdoors, but it is a struggle to think of places to put them where the sun will not be too hard on them. That storm really altered our shade possibilities. We moved here nine years ago and I was bothered by the clothes line being in shade almost all of the time. Now it is almost the opposite situation, but the clothes dry very quickly. So I am not complaining. Each change is some gain and some loss. Seems like much of life is that way! Adaptability is the key for happiness?

 

Paula

At the museum

Hello,

 

Leroy and I both had a day off today. With warmer weather expected for the near future it was a good time to bring home the coleus plants that Leroy has been tending. He has done a great job. They have thrived under his care and the great sunny window in the museum library. The two smaller plants were given to him by a co-worker. He had shared slips from the coleus with her so she repaid. The poinsettias were some that had been in the library at Christmas and managed to stay good looking. Leroy thought it would be great if I helped him bring the plants home. He managed to find enough boxes that I did nothing but give moral support.

 

However while there, I visited the bias exhibit that is on loan from the Smithsonian. A lot of information is put in a small space. I could have come to look at it two or three times, because I got tired with all of the points made by reading and listening. It was certainly well done. I would recommend it to anyone. The sad thing is that it is leaving after this weekend. Certainly if it comes close to you, try to take it in.

 

I just hope I can become more familiar with my own bias and change it to be more open to all people.

 

Paula

Spring is here

Hello,

 

Leroy and I walked to church Sunday. It was great to see all the blooming things along the way. Buds are growing on many things that have not yet opened creating a sense of anticipation. Is that hope personified?

 

This morning Leroy went out early and got rid of some weeds that seem to think this is a good place to live. He said, “It was not a hard job. Hopefully they will stay away.”

 

We so like our new teapot. The cozy fits it almost perfectly. The only complaint that we have is that the handle gets so hot we cannot pour without a pot holder in hand for the first hot cups. I am so sorry that we spent any money on the more expansive of the two, however I must get over that feeling since it is not good for me to dwell on that. Sometimes feelings are not so easy to let go, why would that be?

 

At least one book has gone from our little library, helping us to feel that it was a success. One thing about two compartments, we can share many books.

 

Paula

Little Free Library

Hello,

 

Our little free library is now open for business. The labor and design ideas were contributed by the architecture club of Iowa State. They apparently are encouraged to “give back to the community.” Now we hope it is used beyond great expectations. Just today three kids stopped by to look. They would like graphic novels. We only had one and I believe it was a little bit young for them. I will certainly have my eyes open looking for possibilities. We also need a number of adult books.

 

An action team gift from my nonprofit insurance company will help. In the past I have delivered books farther away from home. For that I have gotten multicultural books. It was interesting to me that these kids who stopped seemed to represent three different races. I live in a great neighborhood. I am so happy to see them being together.

 

Our downstairs friends are also in on all of this. So it will be good to share the load, although it is easy to buy used books from the library from time to time. It is also good that we live three houses away from the Dairy Queen so there is a quite a lot of foot traffic past the house. Ice cream and books, what could be better?

 

I took a picture of the kids after I asked for their permission, but I do not feel I should share that so you will just have to picture these boys in your mind with different sizes and colors.

 

I am including a picture of the library and those are plants on top. How cute is that?

 

Paula

How to change Grumpy

Hello,

 

I woke up rather grumpy. I had had trouble getting to sleep, woke to wide awake in the middle of the night, and tossed and turned trying to convince myself to go back to sleep.

 

I groused around the house and at Leroy. A real pick me up happened when I went to the garage for something and noticed the three five gallon buckets stuck together. I thought it might help if I banged them around on the sidewalk. It didn’t help the buckets, but it helped me. Then Leroy got onto the task of trying to get those buckets apart. Having three together made them useless. We discussed how it would be ok if one broke. Before we got the job done our downstairs friend came out and added his opinion and help. Eventually all three were separated with no breakage. Great sense of accomplishment settled on me.

 

After that I pulled some weeds that had been growing next to a bush and bothering my sense of order. Order returned. Another uplift!

 

A zoom meeting with some of my college friends did a great job of adding more joy to the day. That was followed by going to the community garden and extracting weeds that the tiller chopped, but did not remove. There are more to do, but it is satisfying work.

 

Because I did not have enough steps, I walked around the block and filled two grocery bags with trash. A passerby thanked me as did a neighbor. It is nice to be recognized for a deed, not necessary, but nice. Not enough steps, but I am going to ignore that.

 

Paula

Growing things

Hello,

 

This afternoon on our walk Leroy and I saw a number of blooming trees and then baby geese. In spite of no need for a larger goose population, it is fun to see those babies. One set was already in the water and another scooted in as we came closer. They swam in the classic care formation of one parent in front, seven babies in the middle and another parent bringing up the rear. It is impressive that these very small babies can swim with apparent ease. They will not be able to fly for some time, but now they can escape curious people by slipping into the water. The groups on land were busy searching through the grass for bugs, seeds, or just what? We saw at least six family groupings. What a delight!

 

We often go past tree roots that have been left dangling up in the air from last summer’s derecho. On some of the dirt circles that stayed with them, there is an impressive amount of grass and dandelions. The city has cut off the tree trunks and hauled them away, but left these root balls. Perhaps that takes other equipment to remove. In the meantime new life is coming forth.

 

On our way around the lake we see this one massive root ball that has sod draped to the bare side.

Today I looked around at the tree trunk that is still there to see the astonishing sight of leaves growing on this severely damaged tree.

 Life keeps trying to come through.

 

Paula

How much energy?

Hello,

 

I went to the dentist last week. Our supplemental insurance will pay for some of that, but I have to fill out and send in their form. That seemed easy enough; we have done it in previous years. I had to sign into their web site which took a bit of doing since I thought I had just lost my user name and password. It turned out I have never signed in before, just Leroy had. Finally I was there searching their site for the forms to print off. No luck, I called to TV watching Leroy to come help me. He did not see it either. There was a seven minute video about my benefits. With a sigh I watched it skipping ahead when I knew the content. At one point they pulled down a menu that I had not previously noticed. Forms, flashed before my eyes. I swiftly went to the website, clicked on the arrow and there it was. I printed off four forms so if I made a mistake I was prepared. Two were for Leroy because he will also soon go to the dentist. I was tired by the time all that was done, so I did not fill out the form. Soon, soon.

 

This afternoon, Leroy and I went to a park a bit farther from our home, but still in the city. People have often talked about the wonderful trail in the woods. Even thought the temperature was 86 degrees F. we headed off. I left the water bottles in the car because I did not seem like it would be that long. This was a nice trail, but it was quite steep. The number of downed trees was astonishing. Impressive work had been done to reopen the trail. They had sawed through some large trees. But they did not take out the fallen as it was probably very difficult to get a truck in there to do it.

 

This walk was probably a mile or two and we were quite dry when we got back to the car. We both drank all the water we had brought before we headed home. Even though we have not had air conditioning on, it seemed like it was because we have not opened the windows and it is quite a lot cooler than it is outside. Various energy used for this.

 

Paula