Quiet New Year’s Eve

Hello, Leroy is working on stamps and I am writing this letter. We will go to bed at our usual time. Things can happen without our attendance. I would still like to walk 1600 more steps so I can get to 10,000. Maybe later I will watch something on TV and step away. It is somewhat rainy or I might have gone outside once more. I have a book called American Sirens which is the story of the first modern ambulance service. All of the first guys on this service were Black and they did an incredible job. We spent some time this afternoon trying to decide which pictures to have printed for our family picture frame which holds eight 5x7s and one 8x10. The frame will be holding the fourth new picture set. It is hard to select the best picture when there are so many to chose from as well as the fact that some people look better in one shot and some look better in another. Sarah has been a great help since she has a great deal from a photo printing company. We just have to get it done in time before the deal expires. We are also working on our desk calendar to get it ready for the new year. I still like to have a paper calendar for what I consider easy access. That means I do not have open some electronic device to see it. We actually have three calendars for the coming year, and places to put them. Are we rich or what? Happy New Year. May you be blessed and experience joy, laughter, contentment, and peace. Paula

Last Paid Day

Hello, Yesterday was my last paid day. I was going to say the last work day, but that is not really true. We as a society so seldom count unpaid work as important. Many of us put in a lot of hours doing unpaid work. How did we come to the conclusion that pay makes work more important? The unpaid can be doing service of great value to the earth or society. It was a bit of a sad day to realize that it would be the last time for many tasks, especially those I enjoy doing. Only one person came to yoga. I was disappointed, but I knew others were occupied elsewhere. I did have a nice chat with the one. I managed to keep busy the entire time I was there. When I left the day before, I thought I would be able to get the last pile of books catalogued. That did not happen. I only snuck in three that were on hold for patrons. The rest of the time I was at the front desk. There were tasks to tend to there as well as a number of people to visit with. Some had come just because they knew it was my last day. Is visiting work or work visiting? I realized I should have thought it might happen and looked at the schedule for getting things done differently. There is to be some type of gathering to recognize my service for the years. Goodness, I have been there more than ten years. My boss is on vacation now. So, it will be later in January for a gathering. I am looking forward to that. I will have to go to the library as I have two books to return and Leroy has one DVD to return. Otherwise, I made sure we had returned almost everything. It will be a learning experience for me to use the library closest to me. Where will I find what I want to read? It was nice to have things go in front of me and realize that I might like to read it. An era of my life is over; a new page is open. Paula

The Day After Christmas

Hello, Leroy and I still have a quiet day because we both work for the next three days. There was new snow so we shoveled. Leroy did most of the area by the garage and I helped with the sidewalks in front. It was over an inch, but I have no real idea how much. Because of the dry quality of it, shoveling was easy and rather enjoyable. The wind was down so it was nice to be outside. After that, we called the woman at our church who does meals for many of the homeless shelters. She was coming to church to get the lunch fixings for the homeless overflow shelter. She is there almost every day no matter what the weather, even when the church might be closed. I had some frosting, milk, and butter that she can use for future needs. I also give her my large yogurt containers as she can use those. I had a scarf that I had not been wearing. I do not like to keep things around if we do not wear them and they are good for cold weather. We also wanted to pick up a devotion booklet for the next three months. I had thought we could mail our Christmas letters today, but learned that the post office is closed. Tomorrow will be the day. Perhaps Leroy can take them there after work as he goes close to the post office. We will go to tai chi tomorrow morning. Leroy will drive his own car since I stay for work. He has been doing tai chi on zoom because he has to be at work and driving two cars did not seem appropriate. Today will be the last in person session for three months so he wanted to see people once more. I have been reading the Henna Artist for a book club and enjoying it. Paula

Shopping on a Nice Day?

Hello, The temperature was at zero or a degree above. The wind did not seem so fierce, or at least it was quitter. I did not wear my stocking cap, but did take it with me. Also, I was not wearing my warmest gloves. It felt like a very cold day as I walked from the car to the stores and back to the car. What a difference all of my warmest gear makes for comfort. We went to the post office for stamps only to learn that we were too early. The closest store seemed like a good move where we bought envelops, some hair stuff for me, and a clearance shirt for Leroy. The last two items were unplanned purchases. Back to the now open post office for a variety of stamps. Leroy likes to get some of the commemoratives and that is fun, but the staff had to do a little searching to find them. The first grocery store was a leisurely stop as nothing in the car could be frozen. When leaving that store, I walked off with Leroy’s gloves which he had left in the cart. Consequently, his hands got quite cold before he caught up to me. When putting the cart back, I became quite cold as it was a longer windy walk. My hands were also cold. Leroy suggested I sit on them and let the heated seat warm them. It worked wonderfully well. We have used and appreciated those seats this year even though we have owned them for two or three years. At the last store, also a grocery, we did a quick in and out. It was also a quick transfer at home from the garage to the house. We are so grateful to be able to come into a warm house. Paula

More Wind

Hello, Leroy packed his lunch, bundled up, and climbed in the car with no thought of riding the bike at -8 F. with a wind chill in the -30 range. At work he soon learned he was the only one there. He had not looked at his work email since usually he is called about a closure. The plants are now watered and he printed off our Christmas letter. So, it was not a wasted trip. He is fortunate that he can park in the garage at work. He and I both shoveled a little more in the alley behind the garage. The wind was definitely the winner in the struggle. We like to have the entire width of the alley cleared, but it is not, more like three fourths done. Later in the afternoon, we went back out to work on the front sidewalk once more. He wore the heated gloves that Brian had gotten him. He now knows he needs to have them set at the highest level for this low cold. We had cleared the sidewalk yesterday. The wind put some of the snow back and packed it down. We did manage to get all of that removed once more. Hopefully it is done. Much of the snow has packed down under the force of the wind so it is not blowing as much. I should be doing something useful, but instead I am just spending most of my time reading. We do not have enough envelops or stamps for the letters mailing will wait another day. Tomorrow, we have several stops to make, weather permiting. Paula

Snow Day

Hello, I was supposed to work today, but the library is closed due to the snow, cold, and strong wind. I am happy to stay home rather than make the 12-mile drive. Leroy’s museum was closed before mine. It would have been much easier for him to make the drive in town with only three miles to go. He is concerned because today is plant watering day. That is true for me as well, but I figure those plants can manage until Tuesday when I will be at work. I only have three more work days before retirement. Amazing that it is so close. Right now, I have quite a few books piled on the desk area that need to be catalogued. The plan was to get much of that finished today, but it will wait. After I am gone someone else will have to do that. Much of that work is now being done by the book ordering service, but they still need to be checked for accuracy. They are not replacing me as cataloguer and my boss who also has her library degree will take over that part of my job. I also call for overdue items, but someone else has been trained to do that. My book club duty will also go to another staff person. No one has come forward to do the yoga/stretch class. My coworkers also tell me they should make a list of my “swear” words. I tend to say “Oh for cat’s sake, fiddlesticks, fuddy-duddy”, and a few other things I cannot think of right now. Who knew? My vocabulary would be missed. With this storm a reminder, I am glad to be able to avoid this drive during the winter. It is a nice time to retire. Some people feel that I will wonder what to do with my time and others tell me I will be too busy. I am not going to book myself with too many volunteer jobs right away as I try to figure out what I really want to do. Paula

Long Flight Home

Hello, One of the other couples was on the shorter flight with us, but seated quite a distance from us so we did not visit. When we landed in London, we reconnected and worked our way through that airport. To our surprise we once again had to go through security. The time between flights had seemed long, but after much walking it was getting shorter. We did not have issues going through security, but they did. One of their bags was thoroughly checked. That takes a bit of time. We were getting nervous about making the flight, but they finally completed that ordeal. As we went on, we found the direction we needed to go. Finally, they suggested we hurry on because we could move faster and to let the crew know they were coming. At the gate we told them our friends were coming. The person replied, “They will be here in plenty of time.” How they knew such I do not know. It was a while before we took off and they did make it with time to spare. It was great fun because we were seated across the isle from each other. This flight was not so full and that allowed both of us to spread out a bit more. This flight also did not have any turbulence. I was grateful for that. It was hard to know that we were moving. I managed to read every magazine I had with me. When we landed in Chicago, we could still spend some time with our friends as we both had a few hours to wait for the last leg of the journey. Planes more us through space fast, but not so fast in the airports sometimes. All the airport time adds a lot to the journey. Paula

Still in the airport

Hello, Finally, we found our departure gate, but there were closed glass doors barring it. One man did come over to tell us that they would open at a certain time which was about 20 minutes later. As we waited, another person came up to wait. He spoke both English and another language with some of the people who were with him. They wandered off so I asked, “How many languages do you speak?” His English was spoken with a slight accent so I thought he was not from this country. He speaks at least three languages and knows two or three others. I was happy to learn that he is originally from China and moved here as a young person. He commented, “They really had us walk through the shopping mall to get here, didn’t they?” After the door was open, we learned that we had to go through another type of security. They dusted our bodies/clothes as well as opening our bags and dusting much of the contents. Amazing how life can be full of new experiences. They asked for someone to check their carry-on bag through to the end of our journey. Leroy decided that it would be nice not to have two bags to wrangle around. Our friends who were on this flight had gotten wheel chairs. It seemed like the better way to move thought this large building. At least the people pushing the chairs knew where they were going. Now we all just had to wait for boarding. Paula

Leaving Istanbul

Hello, We got up at some early hour 2:00 or 3:00am in this time zone we had become adjusted to. Our bags had been picked up outside our doors the night before. What we learned was that they were busing many of us to the airport at the same time. Earliest to leave dictated the time. Our flight was not so early, but it all began to make sense on the long ride to the airport and the giant airport terminal that required many stops, starts, and steps to traverse it. Immediately inside the door we had to go through security. We US fliers were used to the idea of being dropped off by the airline name. Such a system was not in operation here. After security we did spot an information kiosk. We were pointed in the proper direction for British Airways, but it was still a bit of a trick to feel that we were in the right place. There was no one on duty. I cannot remember how we learned that they would not be there until a certain hour. We waited anxiously until more people from our ship also got in line. We could not all be in the wrong place, could we? Crew came, at the appointed time. First, they had to set up, then start processing people. We learned later, we went though quickly because we not in the economy line. I even checked in my carryon bag. I was so happy that I had done that because I did not have to manage that luggage as well as my backpack. Leroy kept his with him. We looked around for the gate, but could find so signs for such. Then we came to another security place. I asked a passenger, “Do you speak English?” He rolled his eyes a little, replied, “Yes.” From him we learned that we must go through security once more. He also gave us excellent directions for finding our gate. Thankful. It was a long line of people. I was happy to be with only one bag to scan. Leroy’s two bags took longer, but we finally got done and headed out for the long walk to the gate. The shopping district in this airport was beyond anything I have ever seen. They certainly wanted us to spend some money before we left. Paula

Istanbul

Hello, It was fun to watch another ship pull into the dock. Impressively, there was no impact at all it just stopped moving as the tugs expertly got it into place. We had been warned that this harbor was quite large and would take a while for us to get to our buses. It went beyond my expectations as we walked and walked. Usually, it is just a short walk from the ship to the bus, usually we could even see the buses. We went to the Egyptian bazaar. It was quite full of people even though the tourist season had passed.

I was having stomach issues so I did not concentrate on anything but “hanging on” until I could use a bathroom. It was not a totally successful battle. So, I can tell you I did not really enjoy this city as I had hoped. Leroy and I had been here in the past. At least there are those memories. This also had a tour inside a mosque. That was nice as we had been in a mosque, but no tour or explaining the culture. We had a boat ride tour of the area that was very nice. In the evening we were to go on another bus ride around the city in the dark. I had expected that to be quite nice as I remembered when we when we came in the city years ago and it was all lit up. Beautiful. I decided I had better stay on the ship close to a toilet and wash my clothes. Grateful that I could use those washers and dryers. Grateful that friends understand and have sympathy. The rest of our group decided to skip that last excursion as we were all to get up very early in the morning. I chose not to eat anything more that day or the next morning and I was much better. While we were out in the city in the afternoon, waiting for our guide to lead us a guy came up behind Leroy and started massaging his shoulders. He then cracked his back. He also did that to one of the other guys in the group. We are not sure what this massager was up to, but we were all uneasy about it. After this some boys came up and he yelled at them. I wonder if they were to pick our pockets while we were distracted. Nothing happened. Perhaps we all had our things well guarded. Paula

Sailing Day

Hello, Just a month ago we were to be stopping in Troy, however the wind and current were so strong that we could not reach port. We just kept going toward Istanbul. There was a sense of disappointment, but also a sense that things would be fine because we were safe. Even though there was a strong wind we did not notice the ship rocking. It was surprisingly smooth. We had some time to do laundry which had been planned, but it would have been more of a push to get it done without that free time. As it was it was a trick to find some of the machines free to use, as many others were taking advantage of this time off. There are four washers and dryers on the floor we were on. The use of these was included in our total fees used or not. There was also soap provided which is so nice. People who had used the machines in the past told us what to do. That is so helpful even though they did have quiet good instructions on site. We three couples who were traveling together combined our clothes and it made for fewer machines used for the three of us. The laundry room also seemed to be one of the big meeting and greeting places. As in much of life it is the places where we do mundane chores that we connect with others. Many of the people on this trip were from the USA, but all over the country. We visited, laughed, and played games. Or some of spent some time on our own. Paula

Ephesus, Greece

Hello, Our stop at Ephesus went as planned. Even though this place figures prominently in the Christian bible, a book I am quite familiar with, I did not really know much of the history of Ephesus. I heard about more history and remember some of that. It was a great city in the early days. As a leader in learning, it developed a great library. This was also a city of many cultures that came together and learned from each other. We did not see the modern city, but toured the ruins which are being carefully restored. We also saw many dogs and a few cats wandering around. They tolerate stray animals and gather them up to neuter, give shots, etc. Certainly, these critters were used to people. Perhaps some tourists feed them as well as locals feeding them. We were often told that the tourist season was just over the week before so there were not some many crowds to contend with. Making us lucky not to be contending with crowds. This end of the season also affected the merchants who cater to the tourists. Some of them opened just because they knew that our ship was in port. We were told to be careful because of pick pockets. Again, because of smaller groups it was not as easy to be a victim. The library was more than one story tall. There was a fire, however it could still operate, even with reduced resources. An earthquake stopped it altogether. I believe some of this has been reconstructed or at least made safe for people to be around.

This is a picture of us in front of the library.

This is Leroy inside the library. Paula

Rhodes Drive Around

Hello, Leroy and I are now home, but I am still giving my trip report. We flew to Athens and back from Istanbul. Certainly, lots of moving around for two weeks.

In the afternoon we took a bus ride tour around the island. It was quite wonderful scenery. St. Paul was in Lindos, but did not preach there. It is recorded in Acts 21. These places do note the journeys of Paul as I suspect it brings tourists to the area. We could also see, from a distance, the acropolis of Lindos with the temple of Athena.

Before we returned to the ship, we had a snack/meal of local foods. It was basically quite fine, although I do not think I will add many of these things to my diet. On all of our excursions our guides have been local people who speak excellent English. They have much information to impart. Once we returned to the ship, we had a bit of a panic time as we could not find the paper copies of our Turkey Visa. We were sure we had brought it, but where was it? We had several copies on our phones. By that I mean we stored it in more than one place on our phone. There were computers and printers on board and we went to print. However, all computers were being used so we waited to see on of the support staff. Our young woman was quite helpful, but I was disappointed to learn that we could not print from our phones, instead we had to email her and she printed them from her email. She too thought we should have the paper as well as the e version. Only the printed copy was ever looked at. Paula

Rhodes walk around

Hello, Still talking about the cruise, we had a nice walk around Rhodes, Greece. It was a name I knew, but that is about all. Other members of our group knew more. The castle was quite fine even if most of the interior had been originally somewhere else. There were many beautiful mosaics along with some nice furniture. It is amazing how some beauty appeals to people many years later. Sort of gives me the feeling of connecting with those who have gone before. Many cultures are in this city including a small Jewish remanent. On the way to visit the Jewish quarter, we passed a public library. Leroy and I went in. The first small room seemed nothing much like a library, but more like a store room or package receiving room. The next room had a check out desk, complete with attendant. Looking through the glass, straight ahead we could see a nice courtyard with book shelves across the way.

I asked if he spoke English, just as a woman came up to talk to him. He did speak English, but the woman patron had better command of the language. We told them we were librarians in the USA. Then I asked if I could take a picture. At the positive response the woman stepped aside. I said, “You can be in the picture. Just be at the desk.” “Oh, I’ll be famous,” she giggled.

I had a note about inner walls and outer walls of the city, but cannot imagine what that was about. Paula

Chania on Crete

Hello, I am still writing about that cruise we took at the beginning of November. I can remember many things, but some things have faded. Because of strong winds, we could not reach port on the planned side on Crete. It then became difficult to go on the scheduled excursion. Some of our group were quite disappointed. I was not so much because I did not really know much about it. We did get our money refunded as a ship’s credit because we had had to pay for that excursion. Instead, we had a walking tour of the city of Chania which none of us knew before. It was an interesting substitution during which we learned that Titus was the first bishop. There was some time for shopping and Leroy bought a nice leather belt. He is now sorry that he did not buy two of them. It was a good price and well made. We had planned to do two excursions. We had been a bit concerned about getting back in time from the first to make the second trip. It is amazing how many things just work out for the best. It gave us an amount of free time because of the change. There was time to play some games, visit, look over the schedule for the next day, take a nap, read, or just sit and think. Each day, Leroy had some gelato for dessert. He enjoyed it.

Paula

Ship’s Amenities

Hello, A very nice thing about this cruise line is that there is free Wi-Fi, not only for the patrons, but also for the staff. Again, a staff member told us how much they appreciated that because they could contact their families. The staff signs on for six months. They take a “vacation” for two months before they can sign on once more. Our steward said that he has done this for five years. He is from the Philippines. He has three children, the oldest is eleven. I suspect the money is good so he keeps doing it even though he talked about how much he misses changes in his children. Leroy and I went to the fitness room. We only went twice even though I had hoped to go every day, but our sleep pattern and schedule of tours did not allow that. I did a mix of tai chi and yoga while Leroy did tai chi and tread mill. Some others saw us doing the tai chi. They thought we should give a class in that. They were very impressed with our balance which was quite good at that moment. Is that a new career? Tai chi on cruise ships? We also went in the hot pool/whirlpool. This is a nice pool that has metal tube seats on one end. The whirlpool effect raised the top of my swimsuit almost to my neck as it filled with air. I had a struggle to try to get it down. It was hard to get the air out. It has a bra like structure under so I was still covered. Luckily only one person was there at that moment. That man in the hot tub was not looking my direction, so I ignored it as best as I could. My relaxation level was not quite as high as I had hoped. Leroy and I both did spend a bit of time laughing about that raising suit. Just a picture of what the suit looks like in normal circumstances.

Paula

Corinth

Hello, A driving tour with details was how we saw Corinth. On the way we stopped to see the Corinth Canal. It was quite a distance from the bridge that we were on. It saves much shipping time and money.

In Corinth we saw places where St. Paul had been. I am including a picture of the three pastors at the site where Paul was tried. Paul had riled the silversmiths when he said that they should not create things for other (false) gods.

On the premises there was a museum that we explored as well as the surrounding ruins. Our guide led us through all of this. Some things stay in my memory, but some escaped as soon as heard. In the evening, the ship started to move. It seemed hardly noticeable. So glad that others know what they are doing. We went to the sixty’s musical presentation in the evening. It was quite fine. I could name almost none, but recognized many. That was not loss of memory because I never knew names in the first place. I did not sleep so well the second night or the third night, but the fourth was good. Tiredness visited in the day time. It is too bad we can not just go there without all the time adjustments. Again, we just spent a great deal of time visiting with these friends. Paula

Friends and good times

Hello, It seemed like forever but our friends finally came. Much joy and laughter came with them. It was quite late, by my standard, but then who knows what time it really was after traveling through several time zones. We walked to the restaurant that had been recommended by the cruise company. It was a billed as a mom-and-pop restaurant. Mom did the cooking, pop did the greeting and seating guests, while the daughters were the wait staff. Consequently, it had more local dishes to choose from. It was quite fine. Another advantage to being in a residential neighborhood.

The next day we all got up for a shared breakfast time. There were multiple selections for us. In comparing notes, we learned we all slept deeply and long. Even at breakfast we laughed a lot. After that we boarded the motel shuttle to the city center to catch a hop on hop off tour. Our first stop was the acropolis which supports the Parthenon. It was quite a walk up to the top and three of us made it, while the other three rested very close to the top. It was quite the view of the structures as well as the surrounding city. I hardly took any photos, but just absorbed the sights knowing that others were taking plenty of pictures. Do I remember much? Glimpses are in my mind. As with the last trip we took with these people, Leroy became our scout to find out where we should go. He did a good job trotting back and forth. All of the men in our group went to seminary so they had some familiarity with Greek, especially the written word. I just floated along and let them tell me things. Paula

Life Is Amazing

Hello, Our downstairs friend took us to the airport even when it was not a usual time to be awake. We got there in good time. It is so nice and easy to move through the airport at home. It is small, which we like, but we still get to the places we want to go. All of our flights were on time. Can you imagine? Our long flight from New York to Athens was to be nine hours and forty minutes, instead it was eight hours and forty minutes because of a tail wind. It is a long sit with occasional trips to the toilet. I try to do a bit of stretching so all joints will work on the exit. Neither Leroy nor I slept much. Our seat mate covered up her head and apparently slept almost the entire time. At least she thought we got there very quickly. We were met at the airport by the tour company. That was so nice. Several people were coming in at about that time so we did have to wait a bit for others, but I was just relieved to be connected. On the bus ride to the motel, our leader gave us some nice information about the places we were traversing through. Later we learned from friends that it had not happened with them. Are we lucky or what? Because our friends were coming a few hours later, we unpacked and went out to explore the neighborhood. We were in a residential/business area. We did find a very large store that had many electronic items. Certainly a few that we had never seen before. Definitely these people are more interested in ironing clothes than we are. Here is a picture of our hotel. We could cross the street in the underground tunnel.

Paula

Still on the ship?

Hello, We have been home for two days. We arrived home at 10:00 pm so I do not count that as a day. No unpacking on that night, but to find toothbrushes, change clothes, pull back the covers, and fall into bed after about 26 hours on that return journey. Sleeping was a welcome relief as neither of us slept much on any of the four planes. November 14, 2022 How time gets filled is a mystery. I am finally totally feeling as if I am on land. For the first days it seemed I was still moving with the ship. Perhaps all those flights contributed to the moving feeling. It was weird to get up to go to the toilet at night and not know where I was even though I was home. Those were especially the times when I thought I was back on the ship and should mind my balance. It was a wonderful trip with many good things including the ride home from the airport. We are blessed indeed. I go to work today so will try to write more on Wednesday when I have the day off. Wish me wakefulness on my drive home from work tonight. It feels much more like the right time, but who knows when tiredness will come. Paula

Ready to Go

Hello, Leroy and I spent some time repacking as we learned the weather will be warmer than we first thought. Hopefully it will all work out. If we will be cold, I keep saying, “It will be temporary cold.” This morning we did the last load of clothes, I watered plants, we did a half hour of Tai Chi, and we fussed a little about including the right things. We are not taking a check in bag. That means traveling light. Good for some things not so much for others. What if we should have brought some important thing? Leroy is doing his usual Monday morning stamp volunteering at the museum. I will be leaving for work shortly. We hope to sleep well tonight because this is a long trip coming up. The last flight from New York to Athens will be nine hours and forty minutes. Leroy hopes to sleep while I hope to survive in decent shape. We have tested negative for Covid and we both feel fine so hopefully that status will hold. I will not write while we are gone. We are taking Leroy’s tablet and I find that hard to write on the touch screen. I will give you any exciting details later. Paula

More Technology Learning

Hello, For some reason Leroy decided today to make sure that we got mile credit from the airline. It became a slog through dense unknowns. Some caused by technology and some caused by us. It has been a while since we have flown with this airline and we could not find my password. Leroy also had trouble signing in. He decided to call, but was asked about emailing as the wait for a call was 10 minutes or more. The email turned out to be a lengthy wait as well. Even after he asked his question the answer took some time. There were some issues when he tried to apply his information. I had to leave the room to avoid listening to his exasperated breathing. I finally got mine done on my own. It was amazing, first I was told my number on the card was the wrong number for me to sign in. I tracked things down on their website only to have them give me the number I had already entered. Eventually it was accepted, but I no longer remember what I did. I decided to have it remember me on this device for eternity. So what, if someone else gets that information, I will have died a death of technology exhaustion. I am sorry that the one book I need to read for a book club is not available as an eBook at the library. I am still noticing my larger bandaged finger which makes more difficult to touch the proper keys. I am sending a picture. You can see it is not a big deal, but does interfere with certain movements.

Leroy is packed, but I have not managed yet. Clothes are on the bed, but not in yet. Will they fit? Paula

Technology love, hate

Hello, Today, we signed in for our comfortable log-on to the cruise. We had to have a picture and were given much information as to how it should look. We took a picture on Leroy’s phone, but we were filling the form out on the computer so it was necessary to transfer it. For some reason on Leroy’s phone, we could not get it to go at all. Even with two people trying. Then we switched to my phone. Finally, we had passable pictures of both of us. I decided I must brush my hair and put on a little makeup. It helped some, but did not give my youth back. I have often saved picture to Facebook, in a way only I could see. That method was not available in my lengthy search. The next step was to send it to my email. That worked very well, but I could not easily figure out how to save it to the desktop which would allow me to save it to the check in site. The rest of the process was quite easy even for us. How much time and energy should all this take? We could have just waited to check in when we were on site. At some point I thought of calling on a grandchild to help with the process, but stubbornly kept at it. That does give a sense of accomplishment. Two days ago, I was getting some plants ready to settle in for the winter. A rather thick stemmed plant needed to be cut off. I got a serrated kitchen knife and started sawing. Oops, slipped, gashing my index finger on my left hand. Bleeding was profuse and pain followed. I was going to a meeting in about 30 minutes. It was a struggle to sit with my hand in the air bound with some cloth so blood would not be many places. I was a little shocked. Some deep breathing and relaxing were also necessary. It struck me: how vulnerable we are when alone and an accident happens. I am grateful for a nice supply of bandages. I can say with authority that fingers get bumped many times. It is much better today and so I can write to you. Grateful for healing. Paula

Packing Light

Hello, I just watched a video of a person packing a carry on for a month’s stay. Can I do that? It is questionable since we might have some cold weather and some warm weather. I am hoping for cold weather when we leave so I can just wear the warmest, bulkiest clothes. Once we are on the ship there will be no need to try to put them in a suitcase. I will pack only one pair of extra shoes. They are certainly a room hog. We will probably have one small check in bag for the two of us. It is nice to wrestle with just a little luggage. This morning Leroy and I delivered more newsletters. It is warm and pleasant to be out. On the way home, I made a detour and got my flu shot. Hopefully I will have a healthy year. Tonight, we will help with cleanup for the meals served at our church for the population who struggles with food insecurity. That is about a two-hour commitment. Leroy is taking a nap now so he should be ready to go. We get a good feeling from helping out. I am sorry that people need this to get through their weeks, but helping out a little is good. We got our absentee ballots. I am pleased they came very promptly. On there it tells us that we can deliver them to the county office. We will do that so we know for sure they made it on time. I also now learned that we could have just gone in and voted early which seems like it would have been much simpler. Paula

Fall is Here

Hello, I had a doctor appointment this morning. It is in a building close to the church. I knew I could pull some plants that surely froze overnight. I put on my warmest coat, but not before I realize that I live in luxury because I have some choices of coats for different events or temperatures. I passed the community garden on the way. Even the Red Russia Kale looked quite stressed. I have always expected it to survive and thrive until December. It must have been colder than I knew about. Our thermometer had 24 degrees. I believe the kale can handle 19 degrees, but no lower. I was there early for the appointment, but my doctor was ready for me so I was done in record time. That meant I had a lot of time before my spiritually class at church. In the meantime, I pulled up the pullable plants. Some other day we will clip some of the others. I certainly did not want to water today. It was much warmer on the way home. When walking in one place I noticed many walnut leaves on the cars that were parked close. At home I saw that our yard was blanketed with walnut leaves. Never have I seen that before. All in the house agree it is a strange sight. We hope the tree is going to be ok.

Paula I am not sending these out on time. I think I will get back to it, but move on to other things. Mundane things, but necessary.

A Day Off

Hello, Leroy did preach today. It was not so much a day of rest for him, although most of the work was done ahead of time. We are also planning to deliver some neighborhood newsletters this afternoon. I do not consider that much work because it counts as a walk which I would do anyway. It isn’t quite like being in a forest, but it does get us outside. Last night we went to a choir party. It was at a home that is set among the trees. It was so restful and beautiful in their back yard. We did have to leave a bit early because I had yogurt in the Insta Pot and it was done, requiring attention. I should have timed that better, but did not think well eleven hours ahead. The stumps have been chopped up from the derecho that happened over two years ago. I counted chopped stumps on one block section. There were more than ten. Those are the remains of our largest and stateliest trees. Depending on what you are used to we still have a lot of trees, but we can remember what is missing. There was a time when we could walk in the shade most of the mile to church, but that is not true anymore. The city and many individuals are planting/planning for the future. I am grateful for that. We delivered some newsletters. It was a job because of battling with the wind. All of them needed to be secured. Sometimes there is a door mat to put them under. Sometimes there are rocks or lawn ornaments that can be used. That wind also cooled us off quite a bit. We are home now and did battle with peanut butter that needed stirring. It was in a small jar, but it was still much work. Paula

Our Health

Hello, Leroy got a good report about his giant cell arteritis. His blood work is now normal. He will begin to gradually phase out his meds for that. This is to make sure it is fine even with a lower dose. He certainly seems quite fine. I sometimes wonder about breast cancer since there is so much of that in my family background. So far, the screenings always come up with a good result. I am sorry to learn that my bones are not holding up for the test of time. I could not tolerate the pills, but will probably explore other options since I have not done a good job of maintaining my position. I walk a lot, but I guess that is not enough bone building work. We are getting excited about our cruise which is coming up in November. We spent some time on zoom with the other two couples and that makes it seem more real and much closer. One of the bigger issues is how to prepare for whatever the weather will be. We do not want to take too much stuff, but we also want to have something for multiple types of conditions. Personally, I think weather can be quite changeable in many parts of the world even though people in Iowa feel they have the most changeable weather conditions. Traveling life is easier if we are not dealing with much luggage. Paula

Feeling Good

Hello, This morning I woke feeling normal. It was just like a cold or the flu in that it has taken about a week to turn around. Should I have taken the drug? Who knows. It did not seem to me that I was very ill, but what do I know? It is not possible to go through something in more that one way and declare this is the best. We decided to change our password manager. It is not as simple to move to the other as we had hoped. The new program has better ratings. In the end it will be satisfying, but now it is a little frustrating. I cleaned up four of my plants yesterday. I will try to get four more done today. Leroy tells me he will drive tomorrow and take the winter supply of plants to the museum. I will be happy to have that done. I am considering not bringing in so many plants this winter. We do get a bit crowded in here. Leroy is just happy that I leave enough room for him to be here too. We will take down our garden fence today. We will also pull the tomatoes. In other words, it is some fall clean up time. We want to have these chores done before we go on our cruise. Certainly, plants will need to be in the house. Speaking of the cruise, we have not had a flight change recently, perhaps it is set. I gather the airlines keep cancelling flights because they are not full. Hopefully we will have no such issues when we are traveling. Paula

Absentee Voting

Hello, Leroy and I will be out of the country on voting day. It seems like a complicated business to get an absentee ballot and get it in at the right time. I had Leroy check my request because I did not want to have a mistake and have it turned down. It seems that it would be simpler to just go to the county clerk and ask for the ballot, but no, we have to request it by mail within a certain number of days. After all that care I still made a mistake. The office called to let me know they got the request, but I had given my birthday date as 12/25/2022. Oh no! I said with a laugh, “You do not believe that is accurate?” “No, especially since it is just September now and not December,” she replied, “I just need to know your year.” I gave her that information with relief. It did not get thrown out. She did remind me that they cannot send out the ballots until after October 19. As soon as we get the ballots we can vote and put it back in the mail. It has to be postmarked with the right date. We cannot turn it in at the county office. It also has to be marked with the date it is received. Personally, I find this all very unnerving. Does this mean from now on, as long as we live in Iowa, we must plan our vacation times so that we are not out of town on voting day. Paula

Closer to Well

Hello, Leroy felt well enough to go to the grocery store this morning. When he got home, he said, “I am good, just weak and worn out.” He did manage to make lunch and wash dishes. I am grateful he is able to do these things. I am not quite in the same position. I seem to have achy areas as well as not so peppy. I am a few days behind him. Also, he told me he never felt achy. Lucky guy! My fever is gone and I a grateful for that. Now I feel a bit cool. I will go sit in the sun for a while. It just sounds very nice. I am doing another action team of getting diversity books for little free libraries. My package came yesterday. Today, I ordered the books. That has taken about all of my stamina. I can tell I am not well because I totally forgot about my house plants being outside when the temperatures have gotten down to high 30’s or low 40’s. Usually I am bringing them onto the porch at least. They all seem to be surviving my neglect. They will have to come in soon, but I do not have the energy to clean them up now. Usually there is a bit of dirt on them as well as spiders making a home there. Paula

Sick at this house

Hello, Yesterday, as he coughed, Leroy declared I do not feel well. He cancelled his supply preaching engagement for today. By the time he went to bed he had a slight fever. This morning he tells me that he got a terrible headache in the night. Today he feels better, but not well. He did a home covid test with a negative result. Covid has certainly put a different spin on being sick. I believe more people in the county are staying home when they do not feel well. Leroy tested positive for Covid on Monday and I did today. He is mostly taking care of me. Paula

Gas Buying Adventures

Hello, Once again, the gas station that is off my list had a good gas price. Since I go past them it is difficult to pass by. I was lured in. This time it accepted my credit card without fuss. At the gas pumping step, it refused to give me any gas. I tried the entire routine again still no gas flowing into my car. I went into the station where the woman cashier quizzed me on the steps. I was able to answer each question in the affirmative. She did not know why, but suggested I do it all again. I did that, but then just left this place. Because I was going home through different streets, I saw another station with the same low price so I stopped there. This station had some new displays. However, after putting in my credit card I pulled it out only to see a display that said to wait until told to remove it. Sigh! Usually, one must get the card out soon or it won’t work. I dutifully started over and made it to a later place in the process where it just beeped at me with nothing in the display. I canceled that. Then I moved on to my debit card because it is a tap card and this could handle that. Again, it got hung up on the beeping. It seemed my only choice was to use my credit card inside and get a specific amount charged to it. This kind woman told me she could do that or she could come out and show me how. Guess I look old enough to be clueless. I asked if she would come out and help me learn. At the pump she could not get it to work because there was not the proper display. She had me move to another pump where she walked me through the steps, many of which I had done before. She also came to a point where it was just beeping at her. We then went inside and she charged a set amount that I hoped would cover the purchase. It did just that and my gas tank filled. Do you hear me? I am not going to stop at that first gas station again. Do you believe me? Paula

Missing plans for some time off

Hello, Once plans change it is easy to fill up the time. After cancelling our few days away, Leroy and I are both working our usual schedule. Plus, he is attending one study at church and I will be at two. We are also going to church choir. I am reading one of my book club books. I had thought I might not finish it, but should be able to now. Why is it that relaxing is far down on the list or nonexistent? Leroy tells me he feels I do not know how to relax. That could be true. I figured out how to use the church phone app to sign up for an event and pay for it. Not relaxing, but satisfying in the end. Pleased I made it to the end. On the way home from church this morning I saw some red color, deep in the tomato cage. One of the neighbors by the garden told us that he thinks people are picking the tomatoes when they are not ripe. We have not harvested any large ripe tomato from this garden. This red was on a plant that has smaller tomatoes, about cherry size. I managed to get out quite a few, but it was a struggle requiring some serious maneuvering. Because I was hungry, no snack, I ate some of these sun warmed fruits and they were quite refreshing. They will make a nice addition to our salads in our lunches. Leroy rode his bike again today. I should ask him how many steps he has now. He missed one day, but has gotten his 10,000 all the other days. I envy him because his bike riding counts as steps. It is good for him so that is fine. Paula

Time disappears

Hello, I worked four days last week and that filles up my week very fast. On the days when I am home, there is cooking, cleaning and volunteering. Leroy helps with all those tasks or at least I boss him around. There is not a lot of time for sitting around and contemplating the world. Last night we had tickets to the symphony at a manor house near our home. It was rainy much of the day. In the cloudy day we watered plants at home and at the church because it was just a little rain. We dutifully trotted off up hill carrying lawn chairs to this musical event that is more than half a mile from our house. After feeling a bit of moisture on our faces we were ready to cross the street when a car pulled up, the driver put down his window, asked “Are you going to Brucemore for the concert?” At our positive response, he informed us, “It has been cancelled.” We turned around, but did not notice many people heading away from the venue. We called a friend who had gone there early because they eat there, “It is still happening, we are still here.” Once again, we turned and headed up the hill. After two more blocks we did see some people coming our direction. Another car stopped at the intersection to tell us that it had been cancelled. Another turn around, we were on the way home when our friend called to tell us the news, plus another person had seen us walking and called to tell us it was cancelled. It is supposed to happen tonight, but we have seen that there are to be thunderstorms tonight. Hopefully we will know something before we head up the hill. Paula

Giving

Hello, Last night Leroy and I had fresh green beans from the community garden. They were quite tasty, but getting old. Leroy, who was off work picked them. When he said there were quite a few more, I felt we should pick them before it was too late. At the garden we picked the rest of the beans which were not quite as plentiful as on the plants he had picked from, but we still got a meal or so. We also found a number of cucumbers. Some of which were definitely full grown. There was some very nice broccoli. We were discussing what to do with all those cucumbers, but luckily on the way home we saw three people out. They took every cucumber that we had and half of the broccoli. What a deal! We both felt so good about that. It also lightened our load. On that day off Leroy swept up the elm seeds from the sidewalk. I have probably done this three times this fall, but Leroy tells me that he had about a third to a half of a big bucket. This tree is trying to make sure it reproduces itself. Black walnuts are falling and Leroy is collecting those. I wish we had a better way to get the hulls off. My family used to use an old corn sheller. Leroy puts on gloves and uses his hands. I would not bother even though we like them. Both of us will be working tomorrow. I had forgotten that I needed to work another Saturday before one of my coworkers does that most of the time. I will also be working four days next week because two of my coworkers will be at some meetings and we two remaining workers are needed to cover one of the days I am usually home. My extra work is done because of the need to help out rather than to earn more money even though I will earn more money. Paula

Where does time go?

Hello, I find my days are full of this and that. However, I wonder how important is that or this? Just now I got the mail and spent some unplanned 20 minutes looking at it. So that is how time is used. Besides doing the things I intended to do. I am beginning to look forward to retirement, when I should gain 21 hours per week plus driving time. People who are already retired tell me they do not have any additional spare time in fact, many of them feel they are busier. Wow! This morning I hung out a load of clothes, watered plants at church, attended a study, walked home, ate lunch, made and baked granola, brought the clothes in, put mine away, and now I am writing to you. That uses a good bit of my day off. Tonight, we have church choir practice. I should be reading my book for book club as we meet next Monday which will come soon enough. On the way home from church I realized that a tree at the end of our block had been cut down. That stabbed my heart a little. I cannot remember noticing that it was damaged from the derecho, but maybe I missed something on it. Every tree now seems precious and important. Our fall sedum is starting to bloom. It pleases me to see bumble bees enjoying a food source. There are some black flies that do not thrill me, but surely, they have some purpose in the world. Paula

Booking Travel

Hello, We are going on a cruise from Athens to Istanbul. We need to book our excursions this afternoon. Our travel friends, who have done more trips with this company, were able to complete the choices. We hope to be able to pick the same outings, but we will see and deal with whatever. Seniority does help in some situations. We are traveling in November and now that seems close. We are certainly looking forward to that. We are also going to spend some time together in Springfield, IL at the end of this month. October is still free, but we are talking to Brian about coming to get some honey from him. He harvested about twice as much honey this year as he did last year. Apparently, it was a good year for the bees. Someday I would like to see how he does some of that bee work. Yesterday we visited a park that is somewhat close to us. We picked up a friend and walked with her on the trails, admiring the sculptures and flowers, both wild and tame. Leroy had said he would not aim to get 10,000 steps after he got it for four months. However, he has managed to keep it up for a few more days. He did help me clean the last four windows. The bat was not to be seen so Leroy even cleaned the bat poop off the outside window ledge. So far that poop is my only complaint about the presence of the bat. Paula

Riches Abound

Hello, We are rich. We have cars that need washing. Leroy got some free car wash coupons when some work done on the car. We went this morning. In the wash it was like a new kind of ride. We have never been in a car wash with the same brushes or whatever you might call these long strips sliding over the car. I guess the car was clean, I did not check. We did do the free vacuum. That unit had much more suction than we are used to. It devoured a quarter before I realized I was close to it. Wonder if vacuums are checked for loose change. We stopped at a grocery store on the way home. We argued a little about whether to buy this or that, but the real deal is that we had the money for either or both. Certainly, it is different than when we had children at home. In those days I looked carefully at the options and whether there was money to cover that purchase. Leroy thinks I have become extravagant. The bat came back yesterday. It is the hot days, I believed, that bring it to the screen where the air can circulate around it. Yesterday it was quite hot. That thought is not scientific research as today when it was much cooler it was once again on the screen although tucked up in a corner. What a gift to have this wonderful visitor. Riches indeed. I stopped to get gas at the station I do not like because it had a very low price. It did not accept or read my credit card so I left rather than argue with it all. That is a rich move too as I could pay more at another station and save my struggle. Today Leroy got gas for that same low price at another station. Gasoline prices are a moving target and it is not wise to get too concerned about them as they go up or down in the blink of an eye. Paula

The Suit is complete

Hello, Today, after an early morning bike ride to Ely, I managed to get to the store to look for more swim tops. We rode with friends this morning, but not all the way to our house. The bikes loaded nicely on the carrier and we were able to meet about six miles from Ely. That made for a nice ride with a stop at the bakery. I had a vegetarian kish while Leroy had a cherry bar. Actually, we did share some of these treats. I was impressed with the kish as it definitely fit my eating habits. On the way home we stopped at the museum so Leroy could pick up some posters that he could not easily carry on the bike. He wanted to give them to someone at church. Watering plants at church was the next stop, but the posters came all the way home with us. So that will take another trip. While watering, we also saw the woman who generally does the watering. She was getting a load of drinks out of her car so Leroy switched jobs and helped her unload and store. It feels good to be able to help. All this took so long that I did not get to the store until after lunch. The swim tops that I thought might be best were gone, but I did find two others that I took to the fitting room. One of them had a size larger than I thought I needed, but I decided to try it on first because I did not want that small size struggle again. Especially since the person outside the fitting area was a long haired, ear-ringed young man. Getting help from him to extricate myself from a tight suit did not fit my idea of a good time. The medium was indeed too big for me so I gingerly tried on the small and it fit. When trying on the other small, I could feel it tightening its grip on me and I got out of it before getting it on all the way. The suit that fit came home with me. Somehow when I got home, I realized the security tag and not been removed. That means another trip to the store. Luckily, I have the receipt so it should not be any problem.

Paula

Who sits down?

Hello, Today is my day off. I only had three things on my to do list. They are done, but so are many other things. In spite of all this movement I do not have my steps. I made three trips to church. The first was in the car, because I had some things to give away. Too much to carry. The second was the half gallon of milk that I had forgotten for the first trip. That trip was also in the car because I did not want the milk to become too hot. The last trip was by bike because I wanted to solo ride my new bike on the streets. It was quite hot so the bike seemed like the breezy way to get there. My garden gloves were inadvertently left at church on the first two trips. I still need over 4,000 steps to make my goal. I did wash three more windows today. It raises my spirits to look out a clean window. There are four windows left. I am considering asking Leroy to do them with me on a day he is home. Surely, he wants to contribute to this clean window effort. Snacks are important in my life. I did sit to eat while I sovled a sudoku puzzle. I just did not sit and read. I need to get that going as I have a book club coming in a week or two. I have also checked out two books for fun that were recommended by patrons. It seems I must retire so I have more reading time. Just a little update on the bat. We have not seen it for some time. I miss it. Cooler weather allows it to hide more securely. Paula

Material Things

Hello, A new carry-on bag for flying seemed like a good thing. My current bag looks quite tired even though it still functions as it did before. It was checked in and that caused it to pick up many smears or streaks that I cannot clean off. I try to say that appearance does not mean very much, but once in a while, deep feelings come to the surface even though I have worked to tamp them down. The new “expensive” bag has come. The selling points were that it is expandable from under the seat size to over head compartment size in seconds. It also collapses to a small size for storage. As our life gets downsized, we should not need large bags, right? It fit all of the advertised criteria, but going from storage to usability and back takes more than seconds. Actually, it is still seconds, but when added together, it is probably minutes. I was imagining more speed. Leroy purchased new windshield wipers for his car. He tried unsuccessfully to get the old ones off. He looked at a video online to see how it was done, but no help for removal. He asked our downstairs friend to have a look. Even his great inventive brain could not remove this suborn wiper. Next, he asked his boss to stop by, since he works on cars. The boss came, expecting to get it done in short order. One side worked like it was supposed to. They ended up braking off the tenacious old one. Now, after a significant struggle and the input from two others, Leroy has new wipers installed on his car. Do material things control our live? Paula

Half of swimsuit purchased

Hello, I told Leroy I was going to look at more than one store to see what swimsuits they had left. This trip involved four stores. He still said, “Can I come? I want to go to a store that is in the area and look at their weather stations and also look for a water key.” Did he have any concept of what he was asking to be included in? I am not much of a shopper. I want to be in and out and done, but I did not expect this swimsuit search to follow that pattern. I do not always like the styles and the prices amaze me. My last suit is 16 years old. At the first place, Leroy searched futilely for a weather station, but found a water key, however he did not like the price there. Surprise, they have some clothes, but not the suits. I did end up buying a top and some pants that were in the clearance aisle. I expect them to be good for traveling since the tag said they dry quickly and had a good UPF rating. The next store was for my swimsuit search. They had many left, but I was not taken with the styles. I liked what I had seen online better. Also, the prices were higher than I expected. From there we went onto two more hardware stores. We did find some good weather stations and water key, but Leroy decided to put off that purchase for the time being. The next clothing store informed me when I asked about swim wear, that it the end of the season. The following store said there were still a few remaining. I found one bottom in my size. I tried it on, but was dismayed at how much of me was exposed when wearing it. At the last store on the list, I found many suits, tops and bottoms on clearance. I found a bottom I liked. I tried it on, and decided it was the one for me. It is a black short short so it covered more territory than the previous style. When back looking for a top, I realized I had left my purse in the fitting room. Panic, as I raced back to find it still hanging in the room. What a relief! Back out to look at the rack. I found a top I liked. However, in the fitting room it was a mighty struggle to get it to pull down into place and it cut in under my arms. Not for me, but I thought I might have to wear it home and be cut out of it, as it would not come off. What do I do? Should I call for help? I did not want the young attractive girl working out front to see all my exposed skin, but I was sure they did not want Leroy in a women’s dressing room. I wrenched this way and that before finally succeeding to get rid of that vile thing. I forgot to tell you that I did find another pair of dress pants that I liked. With the pants and the top, I told Leroy, “I am done here. I want to go home.” So now I have a bottom and not top. Leroy suggested I just go topless, but what does he know about my comfort level? Paula

What Morning Person

Hello, I did not consider myself a morning person when I was growing up, although there was no lying around in bed at my house. When I went to college, I found that I was up before many people. I had to eat breakfast before class. That was not a very popular meal on the early end. After having children, I was up early for sure. No loitering in bed for mothers of young ones. After the kids were older, I found walks to be some alone time. It seemed the morning before anyone else was up was a great time. It was always interesting to see the sky even in the dark. When I got home, I was ready to tackle the demands of the day. I no longer have such a need to get up early and find that I do not sleep as well, so staying in bed a little longer is quite seductive. That works some days. Leroy, picks up my habits. I do not think he was ever much of a morning person before me, but he can beat me out of bed now, especially if he has a reason to get up. On Wednesday he has a bible study to attend at 6:45 am. Wednesday finds him up and moving and I am still wondering about getting up. He has prepared for this by packing his lunch the night before as well as laying out his clothes. Not so long ago, it was light when he got up, but this morning it was dark with a hint of sun on the horizon. Times are changing. Paula

Biking to Ely

Hello, Today, Leroy and I decided to take some time off for a fun thing. What was the fun thing? Biking to Ely for the first time in two years. In the year 2020 Leroy was deteriorating from his illness. For some reason I did not want to go alone. After a while, I did not want to be away from Leroy for long periods of time. In 2021, it seems the trail was being worked on, it was too hot or it was raining. Surely, we had good excuses. This year, I had not ridden my bike so much. That 11-mile trip seemed daunting. But today, I thought I have ridden 11 miles. If we do that, I could just force myself to keep going and come home. Or I could use that electric assist. Now the question is whether this a fun thing to do in time off? It was wonderful to ride through the trees. We also stopped in Ely and the “famous” ice cream place where we enjoyed cones. Miriam called me as we were riding home. It was perfect timing as there was a bench there with a pull off area. We were also close to the train tracks with the full benefit of the whistle blowing as the trains sped through. Leroy and I huddled close together so we could both hear on speaker phone. We saw a deer, some rabbits, and I think I saw an Eastern Goldfinch. We are both quite tired now, but I want to get at least 5,000 steps. Leroy has 8,500 as his phone tracks some steps while he is on the bike. Right now, he is taking a nap, but we will soon walk. Not sure I would call this a fun day, but it is very satisfying to have met the challenge. Paula

Crossing off the list

Hello, Our to do list was smaller today, but it seemed to stay the same size as we continued to do jobs not on the list. It became bad enough that Leroy grumbled, “I am going to have to retire or quit volunteering so much so I can do some of the things that need to be done around here.” One of the tasks we spent quite a bit of time on was trying to find the water key for the water source at the community garden. It was a futile search. Leroy kept thinking of more places to look, but nothing resulted in a key. We know another person in the neighborhood who has one. We are hoping she keeps better track of hers so we can borrow it. Leroy had been keeping it in the bucket he takes to the garden. I was afraid he would throw it away with the weeds. He put it in a safe place. So safe we can not think where that might be. It is certainly hidden from us. We did water flowers at the church, but we are sure the big garden needs some water as well. I miss some escape reading. I am rereading the Book of Joy by the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu. The writing is not by them, but by a Jewish man who spent several days with them wrestling with the idea of how to find joy in our lives. In the intro the writer commented it is like a Jew, a Buddhist, and a Christian go into a bar… Serious writing, but uplifting. I am also reading Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown. Paula

Satisfaction

Hello, What gives us satisfaction? Gifting someone with vegetables from the community garden. Last evening, Leroy and I went to the garden to pull weeds and pick the beans and or cucumbers. We weeded quite a lot making the area look much better. There had been some places weeds had come back and some along the edge that had not been tended to in the first place. I also pulled up some green bean plants that were now yellow and lying on the ground. It was an easy pull and brought much satisfaction. I then turned my attention to the cucumbers that are easier to pick than the green beans. It took a bit of searching and gloves to get to all of the mature cucumbers. The total was ten or a couple more. Because we still have some large cucumbers at home, I could not imagine what we would do with these. We had not seen anyone sitting out on their front porch. That is how I usually share the garden wealth. Before we left the garden, I was dumping some weeds in the proper place. Leroy spotted a woman walking by, he asked, “Would you like some cucumbers?” She said, “Yes.” When I came back, I got them out of my bag. They were in two bags from produce we had purchased. I believe in recycling every random thing that I can. This woman not only took all of the cucumbers, but all of the beans Leroy picked as well as some Swiss chard and kale. I just hope she could manage to get it all home without too much trouble as it was quite a bit of stuff and her backpack looked fully extended. Paula

Walking in the Rain

Hello, I volunteered to water the plants at church yesterday and today. I did my job yesterday. At the end of that task, I filled the jugs so I would not have to do it today. What a surprise! The jugs were empty. I tracked around trying to find someone who might know about that. The plants did not look that wet, but I figured someone must have watered, especially after hearing that there was a man who does it when the primary water person cannot do it. On the walk home it started to rain, not so much, but enough to encourage me to pick up the speed. I stopped in a store, put on my sun hat, and sun protection shirt and sped off the rest of the way home. When I got here, I was quite wet, but not really from the rain it was my sweat. I did not want my phone to get wet so I did not slow down but it would have been pleasant since it is so warm outside. This noon I had volunteered, along with a number of other people from church, to help serve meals at a closer church. It is so good that the churches band together to make this happen for families in the summer. Each church takes turns serving for much of the summer. I took my rain coat in case it rained again. It was not raining until I got closer to home. I did put on the rain coat but I did not hurry so much which meant that I did not sweat so much. I am glad that I did not water the plants at church. Surely this rain happened a mile away. Paula

Strong bag

Hello, This bag has been with me for a long time. Originally it belonged to Brian. I cannot remember, it seems he had it in high school. He graduated in 1995. The bag was not “very good”, so he threw it away. I found it before it went to the garbage pickup. It looked fine to me so I pulled it out. I used it for sometime before the zipper failed. I knew that the company guaranteed their products for life. I did not know “whose life,” the bag or mine, but I sent it in. It came back with the zipper repaired. I am not sure how I used it in the first place, but it went to Slovakia with me where it got almost daily use. It was great for hauling my stuff to school as well as bringing groceries home from the store. We did not have a car there so public transportation and our legs provided many challenges, but also many gifts. This bag could hold my clothes when we made our trips around the area to other towns or countries. It felt like my best friend, strong and faithful with no sassing, just there without complaint when I needed it. It was at times stretched to the limit. After returning to the United States, it was not used quite as much. We still tried to walk as much as we could so it was a great help many times. Since we have lived in Cedar Rapids it has become more tired but I still used it to carry my dress shoes to church as well as books, etc. We added reflector stickers to it because we walked at night so often. Finally, I got a new bag for those uptown occasions and this bag became my designated garden bag carrying knives, tools, produce and dirt. When it breaks again, I will not send it to the company to repair, but will hold a requiem for it. Well, maybe not that formal, but I will be sorry to part with it. Paula

Bat House

Hello, I have been gifted with a bat house. Now the question is where to put it and will any bats use it. After a little research, it becomes clear that bat houses are a special structure so the bats feel right at home. Apparently, some commercial bat houses are not really good for bats. I hope this rustic one is just fine. Will we ever know if bats are in there? As I know it is very difficult to see them coming and going. Today is a cooler day and there is no bat on the screen. It is also a deal if there are pups in the bat house as they sometimes fall to the ground and die if it is not set up correctly or at least so something could catch them. I did not finish this letter very fast. It is now July 31. Daughter Sarah’s birthday. How could we have a child as old as she is? Time certainly slips away. We are grateful for our new washer. It works like a charm, does not put oil on the clothes and is much quieter. The clothes look just fine when they come out of the machine. It is a bit larger than the old one, but I do not want to get carried away with what will fit. Last year our little free library had plants on it that required watering once or twice a day. That feature has been covered over. I overheard a girl tell her dad, “Last year it had flowers up here.” as she patted the top. I now miss the flowers even realizing that it was quite a care. All of life seems to have exchanges to be made. Paula

Stretching Bat

Hello, Dusk was setting in when I happened to be in the room where the bat hangs out on the screen, outside of course. It started twitching a bit, moving its head and then its position. It paid no attention to me so I openly stared, wishing for more light so I could see a little better. It started moving its limbs around. Then it made a noise, rather like a thump, thump. It seemed to be scratching itself, just as a dog might. The scratch only lasted a short time. A wing started to come out from time to time. The goal seemed to be working on cleaning it. That again took quite some time. Leroy found me and stayed to watch for a bit. He was not quite as enthralled as I was. I kept thinking it was going to fly away and I wanted to see that. All this wing action probably took some ten minutes and still no flying. I finally left, but not before it had started on the other wing. Darkness was making it difficult to see. Some of those infrared glasses would have been helpful. What a deal, to have this animal hanging on the screen so I can get about six feet away from it. It is a great learning experience. Paula

Scheduled Morning

Hello, First things, first. We ate breakfast, went out and delivered the last of the neighborhood newsletters. By the time we were done it was starting to feel hot and sticky. We had made a list of tasks the night before. We had planned to water plants at church in the afternoon because the person who would let us in on a Saturday was not there in the morning. Before we were done with our walk, she texted to say that she had come in early and we could come anytime. We decided that the morning was a good time to do our other errands. Riding our bikes, we set off for the post office to mail our visa application for November trip to Turkey. I had a little trouble keeping up with Leroy. He is definitely in better shape for this activity. We wanted to be sure that we had enough postage on the letter as it involved several papers. From there it was a ride to drop off some sneakers that one of the running shoe stores ships off somewhere. I found that part of the ride a bit scary as we were on a somewhat narrow street that had cars parked on both sides. I complained to Leroy when we stopped at the store. I like to be able to have my old stuff be used some way rather than put them in the garbage. A bit farther in the same neighborhood was the bike shop. Leroy had listened to me so we took a path/alley that was less traveled. At the bike shop, I was able to get a shorter height stem so I do not bend over so much when riding. I was impressed that it could be accomplished in about ten minutes, so we just waited. After that we rode back to the church to call our door opener and water plants. By this time, we were both sweating quite a lot. After the watering was done, Leroy went in to fill the containers for the next day. We finally put the bikes in the building so I could spend a little time indoors too. The temperature was 95 degrees F. when we got home. It apparently felt like 112 with the humidity. We did have a water bottle so we could drink and not get dehydrated. It was great to know that our afternoon could be spent at home in the air-conditioned place. What a luxury! Paula

Squirrel curiosity

Hello, While walking home from church, I noticed a squirrel approaching us from Leroy’s side. As we stopped moving it kept coming closer and closer while looking up at us. It started circling us. Both of us were watching this squirrel all of the time. I wondered was it rabid? That seemed not to be the case as it moved smoothly and just kept looking at us. After it made the complete circle of us, we moved a little and it scampered away. It was so close I could clearly see its toenails were a lot larger than our bat’s. We also saw a fox when picking black raspberries. All this city wild life comes to meet us. When we see a fox, another walker is almost certain to tell us that they also saw a fox. There is something about it that helps us to break the barrier and talk with a stranger. A friend asked us if we would go pick their green beans as they are in MN now. Someone else was supposed to do it and they could not. Last evening Leroy and I went there, picked enough beans for a meal or two. Noticed that many of their red raspberries were ripe or even overripe. I ate quite a few before Leroy decided that it would be better if we picked them as otherwise, they just rot on the branch. We picked a nice amount, went home, put water on them to wash them, and were treated to a spectacular showing of small black bugs crawling up to the surface. Hastily, we took them outside. After four washes they were clean enough that we could not see any more bugs. The vinegar in the water did seem to bother them at all. Not wanting the bugs in our yard, we managed to dump the water in a five-gallon bucket with a lid on it. Every time I opened it; I could see them working their way to the top of the bucket. I am not quite as enamored of these bugs as I am of the bat and the squirrels. Instead, I thought, “Gross, gross, gross!” Paula

Bat, no Bat

Hello, We have a bat again today. I was pleased to see it. Especially nice was that it was hanging lower on the screen and I could clearly see its top fingers or toes. They were so tiny and slim. Later in the day it had moved higher so I could not see them. Personally, I found that disappointing. Another day the bat was back. My suspicion is that it is always somewhere under the awning, just in different spots. I am just delighted everyday that it puts in an appearance. This morning when I closed the window it lifted its head and swiveled just the head around. My thought is that it was trying to track the sound for source or danger. I went to the grocery store this morning, thinking there was only a little rain. It was a little more at the store. I got out my injured umbrella that should be replaced if I ever remember. It helped a little. By the time I was ready to come out, it was pouring down. This is a store where I put my purchases in my vehicle myself. After waiting for some time, the rain seemed to slow down. I headed out with the umbrella over me, but not the groceries. I moaned as I stepped in a large puddle. Why hadn’t I worn my water proof sandals? Getting the things in the car was also a bit of a challenge with water coming in the trunk and then in the door when I got in. At least people do not melt as is also true of most of the things I had purchased. Our garage is detached so I took waiting time to wipe down car windows and the backup camera. Paula

Yoga and kids

Hello, This afternoon, I went back to the library to lead the kids in a yoga session. It was quite fine. One of the six, was acting up a bit, but the rest were all attentive and tried hard. I was a bit sorry that I had said “yes” I would do this on my day off, but it was nice to get it done. I do feel energized afterwards. That makes it good. I have had a full day with washing and hanging out a load of clothes. I also brought them back in. That gives me some good steps. A cicada was hanging on one of Leroy’s shirts. I thought it was a beautiful specimen. I have not yet seen any, but have heard them for a few nights now. I prefer the sound the Iowa cicada species makes compared to the sound of the DC cicada. Not that we humans have much choice in the matter.

It feels good to have gotten a haircut. It is a little shorter in back than I like, but it will grow again. This is a walk-in place and I was pleased to go at just the right time when someone was paying their bill. Yesterday was a very hot day. There was a squirrel spread eagled on the sidewalk enjoying the shade and a little cool. I have also noticed birds sitting with the wings spread out and panting. We humans have it nice with air conditioning, but has that made it worse for the entire world? Paula

Home Safe

Hello, Two days ago, when I came home from work, I noticed a flashing emergency light on the ramp ahead of me. Two cars were also pulled over. I figured someone had been stopped for a driving issue. Then I noticed that four people were looking down in the ditch. As I pulled over to go around the police car, I could see that there was a vehicle upside down in the ditch. That did not look good. Just ahead of the overturned vehicle was another lying on its side. As I proceeded further up the ramp, I met another police car in the opposite lane. Fairly soon, two more came zooming past, followed by an ambulance. Not much later, a fire truck came roaring past. By this time, I was on the Interstate. Eventually another fire truck came with lights flashing. The last I saw was the pickup truck from the fire station. I prayed for the people involved as well as the emergency helpers. I realized the accident must have just happened. I think about the number of miles we are in the car with no accidents. Considering the possibilities, our safety is amazing. I was also aware on this Saturday of all the people who visited the brewery across the street. Many rode bicycles and many drove cars. Course there are many other types of distractions when driving. Leroy and I are trying to take the day off, but I managed to create a to do list. Leroy has now gotten 10,000 steps or more for a bit over two months’ worth. Paula

No, bat, old Fogie

Hello, I have not seen the bat for the last two days. I feel a bit sad about that, but I wonder if it is still out there, just out of sight. We suspected something was residing there because of the quantity of poop on the window sill. I miss looking at it up close which allowed me to see so many details. Leroy got his hearing aids on Sunday. Neither of us was quite prepared for the length of the appointment, but happy that he could get in early. Leroy tells me, “Now I am officially an “old fogie”. Another observation he made, “I hear so much noise when I chew, can you hear me chewing?” I had to tell him yes. He is now eating more slowly in an effort to be a bit quieter. I think he often breathes so loudly. So, I asked, “Did you hear yourself breath?” “Yes, I did at first. Now I do not so much,” he replied. Except when he is asleep, I have not noticed the loud breathing so I am hopeful for a cure with hearing it himself. He went to a neighborhood meeting last night. He tells me that he could hear all of it. Apparently, it has been some time since that happened. Hurrah for technology that improves the quality of life. Paula