At Church Again

Hello, We have both been at church for one reason or another for three consecutive days. Leroy is planning to go to a funeral tomorrow. I might go, I did not know the family as well as he did. There are services on Sunday. You would think we have some connections there. We don’t even have plants to water. Someone else takes care of the plants in the church. One time she told me that she has 100 in her care. That is a lot of walking and watering. We helped unload the reduced cost food again. We also put just a few of the things away. Often there are 54 half gallons of milk to put away. That has become my job. In part because I am comfortable squatting to get at the bottom shelves of the refrigerator. Today the woman who coordinates all of this made the comment that she has five meals to get together by Sunday. How she manages all of this, I have a hard time imagining even though I see much of the prep. I feel like a wimp. After putting the milk away, I packaged plastic silverware for her to use for some of the meals. I am glad to be able to save her from doing some of the work. She always has to be in charge because she knows the big picture. On a side note, I connected with one more college friend on the chat program so we can all meet. It takes a little while for people to get on. When we do it soon as a group, it should work quite well. I have had the pleasure of connecting with all of them individually. Paula

More Deep Cleaning

Hello, I am definitely against using scotch tape on glass. Paint is easier to get off with a razor blade. The custodian did show me a trick, but it still seemed more involved than just scraping the paint away. The tape itself came up but a lot of sticky stuff was left behind. I was just working on the glass in the classroom doors. I had not really noticed how many of them there are. Now I know them more intimately. Leroy and another fellow cleaner spent time in other places. Steaming an area and cleaning the wall board and many chairs in one room. We are happy to do this when thinking about it as we sit in the comfort of home, but get tired at the end of two hours. Leroy and I still have to walk home so we are not technically done. At least it was a bit warmer today. True confession. Our home is being neglected. It would not pass the white glove test. This morning, I did go shopping and get a haircut. Leroy stayed home and gathered, evaluated, and organized tax papers. We are still short a couple items. Paula

We will get lots of steps today

Hello, Leroy left for a bible study at 6:15 am. It was a bit cold he tells me. When I went at 8:30 am, so I could do a class on line followed by a spirituality meeting it was warmer, but not warm. I had walked around the house some doing this and that so my step count is nice. We have choir tonight and that will add all the steps we need for the day. Leroy volunteered this morning at the museum along with other stamp club members. He was pleased that some representatives of National Geographic from Czech Republic were there. They took some pictures of the guys working. Maybe Leroy will be in a magazine that is read overseas. There were also some high school kids at the museum. Some of them stopped and asked questions of the stamp workers. Leory sensed that they were interested. Maybe young people will find something good in the old. I washed and folded a number of things.That is satisfying to get that done and off my list. We got mail delivered to the house for the first time in four days. An inquiry told us that there has been a number of people sick so they cannot meet all of the demand to get mail out. It was rather like being gone on vacation and seeing what had piled up. Most of it was just waiting to be recycled. Paula

What is in a day

Hello, We woke up to see that it had snowed, hurried outside, and started shoveling. We managed to get it clean before we headed off to Tai Chi. There was a bit of a struggle to get on the zoom site. So, it all started late and there were two new people. After that we headed off to the dentist where I was expecting to have a tooth extracted. I suppose I was not paying attention when the appointment was made. Instead, an impression was made for the aftercare time. After that we went to the library to return books and check out more books. It is Leroy’s birthday. We had planned for him to take care of me for the day. Yesterday I made lasagna for his birthday dinner. It was good yesterday and today. At least he did not have to prepare anything and I could comfortably eat today. We did not really do anything special, but we just relaxed a bit more. I have not gotten very many steps. But will try to get at least 5000. I forgot to put on my watch before shoveling, so my body actually got more steps than I can count. Paula

Organ Concert

Hello, The organ concert was great. It is so nice to have the technology to be able to have cameras on the hands and then another window of the feet. It shows an astonishing amount of movement and coordination. I almost never tell anyone that I can play the organ, or at least I used to be able to, because there are so many organists that are so good around here. I have not touched one for several years now. I would be a little slow and awkward. Skills left on the shelf do not keep growing. Since we do not have a piano, I suspect even the keyboard is not as easy for me as it once was. We have walked to church enough to get our steps. On the way out of church, we stopped to help an older person put her walker in the car, get the snow off her windows, and adjust her seat. She offered us a ride home. We did not need the steps so we said yes. It was a bit of a challenge to stay calm. She came close to hitting something on her way out of the parking lot. She also tended to drive on the center line or even a bit over it to the other side. Now the question is do we have a responsibility to do something about this or just hope for the best? She was glad to give us a lift home since she thought walking was unsafe. We think walking would have felt safer. She did say I could “back seat” drive and I told her more than once to move into the lane. We could use some stickers that say the driver is older just like there are signs for student driver. Paula

Walking in the Cold

Hello, I just read that being out in the cold is good for a person. Leroy and I should be gaining all kinds of health benefits. We both walked this morning. He walked very early and I did later. We will walk to choir tonight to get all of our steps. I did not manage to get that done yesterday with other obligations in my day. But we were out Sunday and Monday. Three days should count for something. I still wonder about the younger people that we see on campus. They are now generally wearing long sleeves, but they can still be rather lightly dressed. Another person was running this morning when I was out otherwise, I do not meet many people. This weather means we need to start gathering our income tax information and organizing it so we can give it to someone else to finish. Income tax in Slovakia was no big deal since everyone was taxed at the same percentage. Not sure if it was fair, but it certainly simplified life. We will go to church choir practice tonight. I am not sure why, but my voice seems rather fragile. It is not comfortable for me to sing for a long time. Maybe I need to sing more during the week to strengthen my throat. I do not really want to give up singing. I remember that my mother had some trouble singing in her later life. Is this another way I’m becoming my mother? Paula

Life Mysteries

Hello, At zero degrees F. we walked to church cold, but we could handle it. It should be warmer on the return trip. Instead it felt worse with the wind blowing in our face or on the side of our faces. It was warmer by six degrees, but felt much colder. My cheeks hurt by the time we made it home. Counting blocks and then houses helped to encourage me to keep going. Course, how could we stop? We keep a careful eye on the condition of the side walk as we do not want to fall in this time. How can there be so much cruelty in the world alongside so much kindness? Why does this keep repeating or reappearing in many different places? There is certainly no chance to feel superior as it can be found everywhere. Sometimes it goes underground, but then reappears. Thank God for good people who give their all. Where and how do I fit, in all of this? How can I get rid of possessions that have some sentimental value, but no real purpose in my life? How many times can I move them before they become more of a burden than an asset? Ah the mysteries go on. Paula