Strategic Walk

Hello, On the way to church this morning, Leroy and I discussed all possibilities for sheltering us from the wind that was whipping through the area. Buildings are wonderful protection. It is also good for us that we live in a neighborhood with the houses close together. The temperature was not so terrible but with the wind it was quite noticeable. Leroy grumbled, “My slacks are too thin. My legs are getting cold.” I was a bit better, but I noticed the cold blowing up under my coat. I did not have a top that was close to my body so that wind had free access. We were more than half way there when Leroy said, “My hands are getting cold.” At that point we were ready to cross a one-way street. I noticed a car coming the wrong way on that street so cold took a back seat to safety. I am not sure why, but this has happened before on this particular street. I guess drivers figure no one is coming and they do not have to go around the block to get to their destination. The temperature was higher on the walk home, but there was some misty rain in the air. The wind seemed to blow it right off of us. We were happy to get to the church building and then we were happy to get into the house. Paula

First Bike Ride

Hello, We rode our bikes to the library this afternoon. It was windy and cool, but I managed. It felt a bit scary at first because it has been so long since I have ridden. I forgot which lever makes the gears go up and which makes them go low. I had trouble with that in the first place and it is not sorted out in my mind. I only moved it a couple levels so I am still not sure. It is more difficult for me to get started on this bike because I do not have toe clips which helped me to move the pedal into the position that I like. This bike does move so easily. It that good ball bearings? Leroy, who has ridden much more than I have, struggled more against the wind. I was not using the power of the battery, but just my power. I could easily keep up with him. My ears hurt a little because of the cold, but it was not as bad as I expected. I will encourage myself to get out more frequently. Leroy had over 5,000 steps after our ride. I had almost 3,000 steps. He gets quite a few recorded when he is riding while I do not. I am jealous. After we came home, I went out for a long walk. I have over 7,000 steps. Now Leroy is out walking, trying to get more. Are we competitive? I planted two amaryllis bulbs out by the garage which is where they usually spend the summer. I figure they can tolerate quite a bit of cold. It is too early for much else. I have more house plants to take out, but it will be a couple more weeks before that will happen. Paula

Volunteering

Hello, I will have to figure out my volunteering path. I helped several hours at the church yesterday and it felt good. We had a choir from a college present a short concert at noon. They were in town for another event and wondered if they could sing for us as well. I was involved in the setup, serving and clean up for the meal that was provided for them. I will admit to being tired and dragging, but there was definitely a feeling of satisfaction. The concert was quite fine and attended by more than 100 people at noon in the middle of the work week. My friend did a great job getting the word out. We also had choir practice last night so I clocked over 13000 steps. No wonder I was tired. I have now had 28 days of more than 10000 steps. I can do that for some more days, but I am working hard at not pushing myself too much. All the nice weather helps make it a good thing to do. I did check out a DVD from the library. It was shelved in the comedy section. I wonder who decides it is a comedy. I for one barely cracked a smile before I gave up on it. I have put another one on hold, hopefully it will at least be grin worthy. Paula

Amazing Things

Hello, Leroy is now totally well. He even commented that he can touch his cheek and it does not hurt. We were so impressed when his oral surgeon called to see how he was doing. That was more follow up than we anticipated. After a long hiatus, Leroy rode his bike to work today. He did say that he felt dizzy after he got off the bike. It helped when he ate a little something. Good thing he takes snacks and his lunch so he would have something available. We visited with our financial advisor yesterday. We are doing just fine even though I have retired. Actually, we thought it would be fine. We did get an increase in social security and my pension amount went up now that I have retired. Any lack of income was not very noticeable. We are rich indeed. We went to an orchestra concert at the college that is close to us. We raced in at the last minute because the clock that we had been using had a battery that was slowing down. A slow clock speeds us up. It was a nice concert with the final number being with a rapper! I would not have thought that the two could be compatible, but it was good. Mysteries of life. On Sunday evening we went to a concert at the museum where Leroy works. The person who sang was an opera star from the Czech Republic. It was quite fine. We are gifted with many musical opportunities. Paula

Remembering care of the earth

Hello, The store that we are members of had an earth day special where we could get a reusable bag for bulk products. I was happy to get that. It is a cloth bag so it can easily be washed and used many times. I do reuse my plastic bags, but I like the idea of cloth much better. Later, Leroy and I went to an area where there were many exhibits highlighting what can be done to help the earth. Some were things we can manage and some do not apply, especially those that involve home ownership. We departed with a bit of literature as well as some seeds for flowers and vegetables. We saw displays of native plants, a few were new to us. We brought home a bag of compost to put on our raised bed garden. We also have a nightlight, but I am not sure how that fit in the whole plan, but we could use a new nightlight. It was quite cold and windy with some snow in the air from time to time. I was happy to be a viewer rather than someone standing at the tables. Most, if not, all had on winter coats, hats, and mittens. When we left, the heated seats in the car were a welcome place to sit. Those seats probably do not help the environment. See we are not able to be as committed to the earth. “The spirit is willing and the flesh is weak.” Leroy and I are going to have a hard time getting our steps today as it is much more pleasant to be inside, but we are going to a concert tonight at the college which is close so that will take us out for a half mile walk one way. I intend to go out a bit more this afternoon as I want to get at least 5000 steps. Paula

More time with people

Hello, Yesterday, I went to tai chi. Six of us were there in person. We had a good time relaxing and breathing. After class I visited with people in the library. It feels so good to spend time with others. In the afternoon, I attended a study at church. Again, it was good to have time with others. I will have to figure out how I want to be able to spend more time with people. It is good for my spirit. Lifting my sense of energy and mood is so important. On the walk home from church I stopped in the college garden which is open on week days. It was beautiful, tulips were blooming as well as some others that I could not identify. I like time by myself, but I need time with people too. My job seemed to make that happen naturally. Now I have to figure it out. Leroy is healthy, but did not ride his bike to work. Guess that will be next week. After what seems like a lot of fussing around, we booked flights to Miriam’s home. We have not been there for more than a year so it is time. Paula

Almost Normal

Hello, Leroy is eating almost all regular food, just more carefully. He also went to the museum this morning for work with the stamp crew. We walked early in the morning and he moved right along. This evening he will go to a spirituality meeting on the psalms walking to church to get there. I will go tomorrow afternoon. His group is all men and my group is all women. We are planning to go visit Miriam in Utah. I can say that plane ticket prices are a moving target. We will have to check dates with her before we book, but it is a gamble. However, it has been a long time since we have been there. We will just say ok and do it anyway. I wish our daughters lived a days drive away rather than two days. We do not want to spend so much time in the car. If we tried to get the cheapest flights, we could spend a lot of time in one airport or another. So many of the trees look beautiful now with blossoms. It is to freeze tonight. I hope that does not do a lot of damage, especially to fruit trees. We believe in eating an apple and a half a day. We like to have a big crop so the prices are not so high. Plus, there are more varieties to choose from. Saturday we put the comforter away, today it came back. I was a little cool last night even snugged up against Leroy as he only heats one side of me. Paula

Less Pain Today

Hello, Leroy commented, “I feel so much better today than I did last week.” He certainly acts like a different person. He did go home right after church because he needed to take another pain pill. Now he only takes one pain pill at a time so that is good. He is still taking antibiotics since he has been instructed to take the full amount. We have decided he has been very lucky as other people have told some terrible stories about their experiences with an abscessed tooth. It seems to be nothing to ignore. Weather has been an adjustment. As much of the country we have gone from very warm to quite cool. It is hard for us to adjust as it is for other wild life and plants. Brian tells us his bees liked the warm days, but he does not know how they are managing now. I had taken some plants outside, but brought three of them back in for a few more days. Paula

Newsletters are done

Hello, We finished delivering the last of the neighborhood newsletters this afternoon. It seemed like a short walk, just a few blocks and back. Leroy was tired and so was I when we finished. Too much heat! I then counted and it was four blocks up and then four more back. No wonder Leroy was dragging. Leroy is doing quite well today, but gets tired easily. He did help me a little bit with the window in the back porch. I finished the two windows in the house and then decided I wanted to clean the one on the porch that I see as I come down the stairs. It has had some bird poop on it for some time. Today was the day that disappeared. I had thought about washing the valance, but just put it outside for a while for the wind to blow through. It is much cleaner now. I feel so good about getting that done. I thought about doing the other porch window, but there is too much in front of it. I simply was not ready to do so much moving of things. With so much sitting time, Leroy is reading even faster than usual. We will go to the library tomorrow to get him resupplied. I might look for something too, but I have quite a few at home to finish. Paula

Quick Update

Hello, Leroy saw the oral surgeon today. A very young guy according to Leroy. He was back there for about an hour so I was beginning to think it might have been a big deal. When Leroy reappeared, he looked fine. It took a while for him to be seen. The actual deed only took about five minutes. He does need to take it a bit easy for two or three days. Full healing will take longer, but it should not be any problem. He does need soft food for three days. It is amazing how much crunchy food we eat on a daily basis. We can do soft, but it takes a bit of planning and thinking. Because it is a back molar they are not going to do an implant. Medicare and our insurance supplement do not cover this expense so we are happy that we have to money to pay for it I washed two more windows this afternoon. There are still two yet to be cleaned. I hope to finish it tomorrow. Paula

Hot and Dry

Hello, We seem to be entering a new season of hot and dry. I have to remind myself to drink a bit more water. I delivered neighborhood newsletters this afternoon. I was quite tired by the time I was done and I had only done a portion of the route. I was too warmly dressed. There are a lot of steps that I must climb and that is a challenge from time to time. Later I will be in better shape? I still figure it will take me two days to get the job done. Leroy went to work today and will again tomorrow. He takes all of his pills and sets the alarm on his phone so he can take them at the proper time. He is taking four antibiotics a day. That seems like a lot to me. Guess that is seriously fighting the infection. His oral surgery appointment is not until 1:00 in the afternoon. He is not to eat or drink six hours before that. I suspect he will find that difficult. He is getting better at mashing his food to the proper consistency for ease of eating. We get notices of deposits pending for our bank account. I am curious as to how long something is pending before it is deposited. Seems like a longer time than expected. The mysteries of the modern banking world. I am still short a bit over 1000 steps today. Since I have had a number of days with the 10,000 steps, I will try to do that before I go to bed. Paula

Easter and Following

Hello, Easter, when I woke up, Leroy said, “I did not have a very good night last night. I have an ear ache. I took some pain pills in the night so I could sleep.” He dragged around at breakfast. I wondered if he should go to church. He felt well enough to go after some more pain pills. He even seemed to perk up. On the way home from church he commented that he was hurting again, but it seemed to involve his jaw. He wondered, “Maybe it is a tooth. There was one the dentist filled and he told me that I might have to have a root canal someday.” At noon he had trouble eating, helping him to decide to call the dentist rather than the family practitioner. He left a message hoping that they would get to that first thing. This morning he called before the office was open and then after they opened. He was offered an appointment at ten which he gladly took. He learned the tooth that was filled five years ago was abscessed. The dentist said, “You could have called me yesterday.” Leroy replied, “I did not want to call you on Easter Sunday.” “Thank you, but you still could have called and I would have prescribed an antibiotic.” this kind dentist replied. After considering the options, Leroy has decided to have the tooth extracted. Unfortunately, no oral surgeons were available until Thursday. Leroy is living on antibiotics and pain pills. There are times he feels good and times the pain comes back. Apparently, the bone is also deteriorating a bit. If it can be done with a local, they will do it that way, otherwise he will be put out. We are grateful for health care that is so available. Paula

No Storms at this house

Hello, We have had no serious storms at our house, just small arguments. Really the weather has been serious around us, but we have been missed. We are seeing winter onions that are ready to eat, but I have so many purchased onions that we have ignored those outside. We also see a few flowers around here and appreciate the color. I like those spring time surprises. I remember going in the woods when on the farm and looking for early blooms. It was always fun and uplifting. Now city lawns are so manicured that there is not the element of amazement. Leroy has been going to work early so as to be prepared for the accreditation review. It seems he has enjoyed learning about this process. If he does retire in the near future, I know he will miss many things about the job. I went to Ely for the in person Tai Chi. Because the leader was not yet in person, I was the only person there. That gave me plenty of room to move around and I had a nice visit with people in the library after. That is certainly the part of the job that I have missed the most, visiting with others. I was trimming off dead leaves when I cut my finger with the scissors. How is that for demonstrating skill and ability? At least the plants look better now. It was a very small nick in my finger, easily covered by a band aid. Paula

Time Off Today

Hello, We watched the Iowa Women’s basketball game yesterday. We have not seen any other games. I wondered was I, or were we, a jinx. Leroy said, “I do not think you have that much power.” I was sorry to see a loss, but that is the way games go, up some and down others. How is that for a pithy thought? I had another deep thought, but cannot retrieve it from the recesses of my brain. Leroy is at the library working on stamps and I have some time by myself. That is so nice. That is what I call time off even though I washed and hung out a load of clothes. I have taken a little time to work on two sudoku puzzles and read a bit. That should truly be called time off. I am not sure what we have been doing since we returned home, but I have felt quite scheduled. Even though Leroy does not have responsibilities at the church, we will be at church Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings along with Sunday. I will also be there Thursday noon. Is church still my home away from home? On our recent travels we saw, many hawks, two pheasants, a beautiful red fox, and some horses. Paula

Interesting visit

Hello, We went to an escape room. This was a combined effort with eight people over 70 years of age and only one of us had ever been in an escape room. We were instructed to not damage the room. It was not hard for us to follow that rule. We seemed to make little progress at first, but figured out a few things as we struggled, laughed, and sighed. It was interesting because some of us have brains that work with certain types of puzzles that some of the rest of us did not understand at all. The woman who was a great helper managed to give us a multitude of hints and tips. Escaping took us almost the entire hour. One group managed this feat in under half an hour. Surely, they did not have as much fun as we did.

Perhaps the most interesting thing we did was to see the bible that had been commissioned by St. John’s University. The bible is entirely hand done with calligraphy and illuminations. It was not quite what I had expected as it pulled in symbolism, inclusiveness, text, and modern times in the illuminations. The half hour lecture before viewing was informative to say the least. One man was a serious force behind the work, but several artists joined him to create the whole. The book is not yet bound and may not be. At the moment, only a limited number of pages are on display so the rest can be put in darkness and a controlled environment.

What a lot of learning! And to think it was in the snowy, frozen land. There are treasures everywhere. Paula