Procrastination

Hello, Is it possible to develop the skill of procrastination? I seem to be perfecting the art. In the past, I would do many things whether I wanted to or not, but because they had to be done. These days I just figure I will work on that tomorrow. However, frequently tomorrow also seems like a good time to put off the task. When I was working or had kids in the house putting off some work just was not a good thing because for sure tomorrow would be taken up by a number of other things. Now I just float some jobs for days and it seems to work as the world does not stop or let me know about it. Is that retirement closing in on me? Perhaps it is time for me to do more volunteering. The things I do now seem to have a time for them that I must meet. Not sure I want to be tied to a schedule, but what volunteering is there that does not require a time commitment? Paula

Papers in our House

Hello, We have a four-drawer file cabinet in our home. It has been with us for a long time. It cost $100. At the time, that seemed like a lot of money, but Leroy wanted it. It was used from some office supply place. The guy showed us how safe it was to have in a house with kids. He pulled open the top drawer and flopped over it. It remained upright. According to him accidents happen when little kids try to climb them and they tip because only the top drawers are filled. We now have stuff in all drawers. Only the top two have files in them. That does not mean we can always find a paper when we are looking for it. Leroy and I think very differently about many things so some things are filed in the unexpected place according to the other person. At least we still talk to each other so items are eventually found. I wanted to find the booking number for one of our trips. I searched every likely place. When questioned, Leroy gave one answer and that was where it was. It never occurred to me to look there since it really did not apply to that file except remotely. If one of us dies the other will have to do some serious searching to find some things. I guess we are still of value to the other. Paula

Global Entry Application Interview

Hello, We have our appointment. Yeah! I was incredibly anxious about this. It is done. We will go to Minneapolis for that. We help with the meal for the food insecure on Saturday night, drive to Brian’s on Sunday and come home on Monday after the interview. Paula

No Sunday Work?

Hello, We got some green beans yesterday. Canning them seemed like a nice possibility, but it was late in the day. Do we can today, Sunday, or wait? On the way home from church, we saw that there were a number of beans in the garden that needed to be picked. We came home, ate and snack, and went back to the garden. Leroy seemed quite optimistic about the process, but then he has not done it for a while. He wondered what to tackle first. I said, “Pick beans it is the most tedious.” After picking for a while he commented, “Picking beans is tedious.” We ended with two grocery bags quite full. Then we moved on to the cucumbers. We believe that we gathered 25 or 30 pounds of them. Tomatoes were not as plentiful but still a nice amount. I was thinking of canning them too. On the way home we spotted a neighbor getting out of his truck. Leroy asked, “Would you like some cucumbers, green beans or tomatoes?” “Yes, I raise fish and I feed them cucumbers. Plus, we like salad so I would like tomatoes too. We also like green beans.” We gave him some of the good cucumbers and some that were quite old. I did think, “I am not helping to raise cucumbers to feed fish. I want to feed people.” It is a conundrum. Ultimately, I was happy to lighten our load. Tomorrow I will take a number of things to feed Iowa first. Life does not always have perfectly clear answers. Paula

Global Entry

Hello, It has been recommended to us that we get global entry so we do not have to stand in lines when coming back into the country. Today was the day I tried to tackle that task. The website was easy to find. Then, I started doing the required steps. It was ok to get a log in name and password. It was recommended that one should have two security measures in place. The first was easy just get a text on my phone. But the second had my blood pressure rising by the minute. Of their choices, I tried to download an app. It said, it would download soon. At another point it said it was on my device and did I want to put it on another device. I could not find this app on the computer even when I searched for it by name. I wailed to Leroy, “Maybe you can help me!” He also did some looking and was unable to solve the issue. I suggested, “Why don’t you try to do yours. It might work for you.” I paced the rooms trying to bring calmness to my mind. Then Leroy muttered. “What is happening?” I wondered. “I cannot find the website that you were using.” He grumbled. “I will try again,” I announced. Somehow, I got in without needing to put in the second verification. Then the form was not so bad. It still took me a long time because I had not gathered my passport, driver’s license, and credit card. At one point the site was going to shut down and I had to request more time. Everything had to be double checked for accuracy and I printed it even though I found later I did not need to do that. When Leroy did his, after he found the site, he noticed that he could skip the second security option. What an afternoon. Someone else called this easy. I guess we did it the hard way, whatever that is. Paula

Booking A Flight

Hello, We have booked a flight to Miriam’s in Utah for Christmas. She called yesterday and said, “If you are going to book a flight for the holidays, I heard today is the cheapest day to do it.” Not sure I truly believe that, but we looked and found a flight that was not too expensive. Leroy tried booking it, but got hung up somewhere along the way. I tried to help, but we do not work well together on these things. We called Miriam and asked her to look to see what she found. She ended up booking it for us. We will be there a long time, makes it much cheaper to come some time ahead of Christmas and leave after New Year. She said, “You can stay that long. We might leave, but you can stay with the girls and the dogs.” Not sure how serious she is about that statement. We like both the girls and the dogs so it would be fine. Now Leroy is wondering how much time off he can take since we are working with our other travel partners for a winter get away in January or February. I told Leroy I could go alone if he cannot make it. I think he will come too. He would miss me and he does not want me to go on trips without him. It is in the high 90’s again today, but the feels like temperature is quite a lot lower than it has been, because the humidity is down. Not cool enough that I want to take a big walk Nin the evening. Leroy and I like rather ripe bananas. The food pantry in Ely is loaded with them. I brought home a box yesterday and froze several. Today I brought home some more, but found someone to give them to. Yes! I did freeze some that I still had in the refrigerator. Leroy and I will have to remember not to buy any bananas until we consume some of the frozen ones. Who knew food could become a chore. I dislike throwing it away. Paula

Heat, Garden, and Water

Hello, Leroy has an early morning bible study so I am up early on Wednesdays as well. He left before I did, plus he drove and I walked. He is concerned about the heat at the end of his work day so he is driving instead of using his bike. I left before 8:00 when it was already 80 degrees F. There was a little breeze and the sun was still low in the sky, however by the time I got to church I was sweating. Un lady like, but true. The church door was locked so Leroy had to let me in, aren’t portable phones wonderful? He had also filled the water jugs. I did refill them and give it all a second drink. I sat and had a drink before starting home. It was certainly hotter on the way home. A stop at the garden was necessary. I picked half of the green beans, some of which were quite large. But I ran out of energy. So, I went after the cucumbers who were growing at a great rate. Before I picked any tomatoes, another woman drove up and started picking tomatoes. I gave her a bag from my supply, and asked, “Would you like some cumbers?” She helped by taking two of them. It lightened my load. She told me that last year she had canned some green beans, so I showed her where I had stopped picking. She told me about her health problems. Amazing what people will tell strangers. I met a cute, even though she has a nose ring which is not my favorite accessory, young woman on the way home. I asked her if she would like some cucumbers. She also took two of them and a tomato. Wonderful! Six other cucumbers stayed downstairs or were distributed. Paula

Neighbors Helping Neighbors

Hello, Leroy went to a store to buy a sprinkler for the community garden only to learn that this store was out of lawn sprinklers. Is the summer over? We saw Christmas items in a store today. I called a neighbor who has loaned a sprinkler to the garden and told her our plight. She said, “I am planning to go in the early evening. Perhaps you could come later and water the second part. So, none of us would have to be there too long since it is already hot.” I thought that sounded great so that is what we will do. With the predicted high heat and no rain, it will be very difficult for the garden to flourish. It is so wonderful when it is a cooperative venture. I like this garden where anyone can work and anyone can benefit. It has been a blessing for the two of us. Both because of the satisfaction of helping and harvesting. There is no sense of ownership except that it belongs to the neighborhood. The land belongs to the college and they let us use it as well as use their water to keep it strong. We often tell the students who live close that they can pick anything they want, but I am not sure if they do. Leroy picked up his new glasses today. He is very pleased with them. He proclaimed, “I hardly know they are on my head. I can see so clearly.” I wish I had had my prescription with me because I could have gotten money off on my pair if we had gotten two of them at the same time. Paula

Garden work and sharing

Hello, The other night Leroy and I went to the community garden to pick beans, cucumbers, and to water. Leroy started watering while I picked beans. Two women that I had seen before came by. They had refused the invitation to take things from the garden. This time I greeted them and then said, “I am picking beans and there are more than I can use. Do you like green beans?” “Yes, we could use some.” One of them said. She then started to pick into the bag I gave her. “We have many cucumbers, again I cannot use them all.” I got a bag and the second woman started to find cucumbers. Encouraged by this, I asked about the kale. When they said yes, I got out my paring knife. I also helped look for cucumbers and just laid them on the ground. I found another bag for the kale and Swiss chard. They ended up taking all b two of the cucumbers. Such a good feeling went through me. They had walked about as far as we had so it would be a load to carry home. The one woman told me she was from Columbia and came here 22 years ago. The other woman was from Honduras. Her English was quite limited and she was quite a lot younger. It was such a good feeling to share with them since they were so appreciative. I told them they could come back on their own any time. They sounded like they will do that. I hope that is true. Paula

Picking Kale

Hello, The community garden has so much kale. It is difficult to tell if anyone else is picking. All but four plants are volunteer. There is an organization called Feed Iowa First that will take fresh produce. With an address in hand and mostly in my head, I headed to a drop off/pick up place in the next neighborhood. While there I learned where the refrigerator is located behind a church. The pastor told me that we were really supposed to turn in produce at another place where they sort and wash it. He left after telling me that. I even went so far as to put three cucumbers in the frig when I noticed the address for drop off on the door of the frig. It is not good when people drop off the unwanted. It becomes a burden on the museum or library. “Okay, I will take it there,” I thought. Luckily the gps lady talked to me because I had no idea where I was going. After many turns both left and right, it was right in front of me and I knew where I was. I could get home from here. There was a drop off shed, where directions stated that items should be put in a tub and the form listing name, email, produce, organic or not, and tub number. No tub numbers were visible to me, so I just unloaded my piles of curly leaf, flat leaf, and Red Russian Kale. There were also three cucumbers, and some giant Swiss Chard to share. Before I left, I saw a young woman in a building across the way. I learned that she was working for this group. She answered all my questions. I am now much more comfortable bringing more produce. The idea of promoting feed Iowa first bothers me some, but I do feel that produce especially should be shared with all. Many people I know do not want to help people in other countries and that does not seem right to me. Maybe if all of Iowa people were fed and comfortable there would be more of a feeling of sharing with people from any place on earth. Paula

No Subs

Hello, Leroy and I will be gone at the end of September. We are assigned to work at the Saturday night meal at our church. Apparently a good many people will be gone at that time. We have contacted seven couples about either subbing for us or switching with us. It gets to be a long process because often people do not answer so we have to wait for a call back. Just today Leroy let me know that someone called back so we are covered. We will work for them two weeks ahead of that time. We are going to help with a meal tonight at church. Apparently, it has been hard to find someone for that job because I was just asked yesterday. It is always good to have wonderful ideas, but getting it all to come together can be an issue. I started reading the next book for our book club. I believe it fits in the thriller category. I will not be reading it in the evenings because I do not sleep well after that. The title is the overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf. I feel hooked right away, so that is good. August 17, 2023 We do have subs. We will trade days with them. That will be okay, but we have to work the Saturday before we leave. Hope we do not feel too busy. Glad we could help last night. It was necessary. Paula

Community Garden

Hello, With the recent rains the garden has flourished, both the edible and the inedible. Last night Leroy and I went to pull some weeds. It was quite satisfying because they pulled so easily except for one lamb’s quarter that was enormous. Its roots extended farther than our small spade could manage. Leroy thought it would require a large shovel. We filled and dumped several buckets, clearing a nice amount of territory. Another neighbor came and helped. She commented, “I like to weed. And I was free tonight.” It was a great help for us. We always are more energetic when there are other helpers. Plus, some drops of rain started to fall. She thought it looked like a bigger storm coming so offered us a ride home. We gathered equipment, emptied buckets and got in her car. It was raining more by the time we got home. But not so much that it was still easy to get to the garage and unload things as well as get in the back porch. Probably about that time the rain was pouring down, backed with quite a bit of wind. What a gift to be home. I think we would have been about half way home when the strong stuff came if we had not had the ride. I went back today and pulled more weeds as well as picked large cucumbers. There were probably more hidden in the leaves, but I was getting tired. Also, I did not want to carry more weight home. I will go tomorrow and pick kale and take it to a place where produce is shared. I can look at that time for more cucumbers. I also did not look at the green beans because I did not want to deal with them. Paula

Surprises August 14, 2023 Hello, The weather is lovely today. We even had a half inch of rain last night. It is so great to get that. Leroy and I took a short walk this morning to finish delivering the neighborhood newsletters. On the way home a man signaled to us by waving and walking towards us. We did not stop, in part, because we did not know him, but then he called out so we stopped. He came up and asked, “Would you like some surprise lilies? My yard is full of them. They smell so nice. Now so few flowers have a nice smell. I will not be home for a while. When I get back, they will all be gone. You are certainly welcome to come pick some.” “I would like some, but I do not have a knife to cut them.” I reponded. “Oh, you can just break them off.” He replied. “Come on.” He walked to his yard, we followed, watching in awe as he gripped a handful of lilies and snaped them off. But he was just eager to give some to us so he broke off another bundle before handing them to me. “These are beautiful. Thank you so much.” I smiled. “Enjoy!” he said as he turned back to his car. We came home the richer and wondered about his trust of us to tell us that he would be gone.

Paula

No Umbrellas

Hello, Leaving the house for church, we had a discussion about taking umbrellas. Rain was predicted, but only a chance and it seemed it would be done when we wanted to walk home. After the meeting at church, we walked out to a bit of rain reminding us that weather predictions are just predictions and not control of the wind currents. If it were less than a mile home we might have just headed out. Instead, we went back in church to accost someone for a ride. We did ask one person who lives farther in our direction. Her husband was not ready. While we were visiting, someone else came up and asked if we wanted a ride. They also go in our direction. Because they were ready to leave, we switched. It is great to get a ride when we need it, but I am sorry we did not bring our umbrellas as it was a nice walking rain. Those umbrellas just seemed heavy. Last night we went to a city park that has many flowers. It was great to walk around there. We saw a woman and her daughter turning cartwheels and taking pictures while in the air. We did not attempt those types of pictures or maneuvers. Just sedate stop and looking pictures.

Paula

Fixing Things

Hello, We have a crosscut paper shredder. Leroy moaned, “It is not working. Jammed.” He did some more mumbling and fussing around. I finally asked if he wanted me to look at it. I did find two places that I could see paper. With a tweezers I could carefully pull out some of it. He had also tried that method. I suggested, “The vacuum repair place told me they work on many small appliances.” Leroy decided to look on line to see what he could learn. He downloaded the manual to find that he should try putting poster board through it. We actually had some poster board and it worked. Leroy has some shoe inserts that he wears all the time. They have gotten quite old and are splitting apart. He got some shoe glue, put off doing anything, but finally pulled it out and went to work on one of them. It was a success. How long it will last, he does not know but for now it is good. Amazing what is available when one looks. I guess we used to ask around before we had the internet. Is that gain or a loss? Paula

Canned Tomatoes

Hello, Because of a gift of tomatoes, there are six jars in the canner cooling down. It is a challenge to remember how to do something that was done last year or the year before that. Leroy is working so it was just my memory that needed to work. My plan was to deliver neighborhood newsletters yesterday and today. Yesterday, the light sprinkle changed that plan and today, the canning and the return of warm outdoors has changed that plan. Maybe this evening I will get some more done when it is cooler. We were also gifted with some green beans and cucumbers. Perhaps tomorrow, the pickles will be canned. Not sure when I last did that. A recipe will definitely be perused. We ca easily eat the green beans. It just amazes me how much we are given. Blessed above and beyond expectations. Paula

How Many Books to Read At once

Hello, Leroy and I are both reading more than one book. I frequently do that when I read nonfiction. I like to have something in hand that is much lighter. One of my books is the Genius of Birds. I like it but there are a lot of words. The next is the Secrets We Kept. It is about women spies during the cold war. It is good, but not much of a break from serious as this historical fiction has its own kind of serious. A Miss Julia book by Ann B. Ross is the light stuff of the day. Love Without Limits is also good, but not light reading. It is a book that will be discussed when, in September, we go to Holden Village. Leroy is reading some fantasy book that is part of a series as his go to reading. The second book that he is reading is The Planet You Inherit. He is not so thrilled about it for two reasons, he does not often read nonfiction and he has not read anything he does not know or heard discussed some other place. This is another book in preparation for our trip in September. Paula

Handing out Produce

Hello, Yesterday, Leroy and I stopped at the garden on the way home from watering at church. I found the cucumber that I had missed before and a few more besides. We picked green beans as well as a few tomatoes. We hoped to give away some of this bounty on the way home. As we walked along, someone yelled, “Left!” I looked back saw this bicycle bearing down on us, dashed to the side, and realized he was coming at me. I almost got a foot from the sidewalk, thinking I would get behind one of the legs of the swing set since he was still coming. He managed to stop without hitting either of us. I apologized saying I had trouble with left and right. Much later I realized I did go right. The usual protocol around here is for bikes to keep left and you announce, “On your left.” As you go around. However, on a quiet street such as this the bike should be riding in the street. We talked a little, and I asked, “Would you like a cucumber?” “I would like a fourth. Do you have a knife?” he wondered. We ended up breaking one of them and he promptly ate it. He did not want anything else. We gave away two to a neighbor on a porch. Another man was walking towards us. He was glad to take some cucumbers. I fished around the broken one and told why it was broken. His response to that was, “Who would do that? Just take a small amount of one?” We had a good laugh about that. The larger tomato had blossom end rot, but he said he would take that too. He knew what to do with it because in his country he had gardened with his mom. Leroy asked, “What country is that?” “Zimbabwe.” He replied. We chatted some more. He certainly seemed like a nice guy. Paula

Leroy Shoe Shopping

Hello, Because there is a tax-free holiday on certain items this weekend, Leroy wanted to buy “tennis” shoes. He planned to check deals at three different stores in town. One of the stores was by the grocery so I said I would go too. While backing out of the garage, I asked, “What store first?” He thought for a while and decided on an agenda. The first two stores are fairly close together and close to the grocery. It is quite hot today so we did not loiter outside but went quickly in the first store. He was looking at the shelves of regular priced shoes so I suggested he try the clearance racks. He found two pair that he wanted to try on. The clerk came to help. He tried on one shoe, but it was too tight, one down and one to go. The next one felt good so she went to the back to find the mate. He got on both shoes, walked around a bit, sat down, and said, “I will get these.” Wow! One and done! That has almost never happened. The no tax rule did not apply here because it has to be on items that cost less than one hundred dollars. The clerk said, “We are not participating in that because almost nothing applies, but we are taking seven percent off the price because that would equal the tax and you will actually come out a bit better off.” So, it was a good deal that did not require much driving and Leroy feels quite confident about these shoes and did not dither around. All sales are final on marked down shoes, but he is quite satisfied. I am not used to such quick shoe purchase decisions from Leroy. Paula

Leroy Came Home

Hello, Leroy came home from work unexpectedly. He will work on Saturday because his boss wants that day off. He was feeling full of pep and energy so he helped wash the kitchen floor, got some things out of the garage, and took pictures of my old bike so we could try to sell it. It had become harder to walk around out there. We made a trip to the Restore with some of the boards that he had. They did not take the smaller ones, but did take the larger. It is great to get them out of there. As he said, “Now I can walk around in front of the car.” That will be especially true when the bike goes. I did take advantage of the car and things being out of the way to sweep up a bit. That felt good too. The Restore is close to the library so we made a stop there as well. I picked up a book that a friend recommended called, The Genius of Birds. When I asked for the location, the person working the desk commented, “That sounds interesting.” Paula

Nap or Not

Hello, I have started to take naps. I wonder is something wrong, but I feel fine, however I do seem to wake up several times a night. I would like to sleep for a longer stretch of time, but have not figured out how to do that at night. Yesterday, we had our neighborhood gathering. It was disappointing that only three people came, but glad someone did. In the past when we hosted, quite a few more people attended. Our neighbors are mostly newer now, perhaps that makes the difference. It was quite comfortable to sit outside and we had a nice visit with those who were here. Leroy said it was more effort to ride his bike to work and then to come home was hard because it was so hot. Hopefully, today was better. At least it is a nice temperature outside. I saw a nice cucumber in the community garden on my walk to church. I did not want to carry it around that much, but planned to get it on the way home. I searched high and low among those leaves, but could not find that cucumber. Hoping someone came and picked it otherwise it will be quite large. Leroy does not eat so many sweets. Someone at work handed out a dessert that was quite rich. He felt quite awful when he came home. Paula

Full Days

Hello, Not sure how it happened, but my days feel full. With tai chi, watering church plants, bringing chairs home from church, making granola, and getting things ready for the neighborhood night out, there is a little time to read, but not much. Leroy came home and announced, “It is hot outside.” He also told, “There was a kid riding his skate board in the parking garage. I told him he cannot do that. He just packed up and left on his bike.” Sometimes they have a lot of trouble with kids on their boards in the garages downtown. They could use a park. I do not measure the vanilla when I make granola. Just dumping a little works fine. Today I forgot that there is not a little opening on the bottle. It was a copious amount in the honey and oil mixture. The granola tastes just fine, but now we need to buy more vanilla. Gas prices went up. Yesterday we got gas in my car and it was 45 cents less per gallon than it is today. Sometimes we are ahead of the price moves. Some of Leroy’s coworkers are joining in tai chi. They can follow the moves ahead of the form by watching on zoom, but after that is finished, Leroy is doing a bit of in person teaching. He has had to check his moves. Nothing like being a teacher to being up the standard. Paula