Leroy Helps And Gets Many Steps

Hello, Today Leroy walked to bible study, came home, and walked back to church to help move things back into two refurbished rooms. He said he now has 16,000 steps. We are planning to walk to church tonight. Seems he is going to the extreme. I only have 4,500 steps, but by walking to church and a little more I should get to 10,000. After my exercise class, I took things out of the kitchen and bathroom in prep for washing those floors. After lunch and washing dishes, Leroy took a nap. I read for a little while before starting to wash the kitchen floor. Leory heard the rag squeaking on the floor and he came to help. We got both floors finished before going outside to put the hose away. It seemed like a good time to put away the fences keeping the rabbits out of the garden. All that is in the garden is sweet potatoes. I am hoping rabbits do not want to eat those leaves. It is satisfying to get all of these things cleaned up. I have to confess that I spent a bit of the morning finishing the newest book by William Kent Krueger. It is well ahead of the 10 day check out deadline. I enjoyed it. Paula

Change in Schedule

Hello, Our morning went as planned. Leroy counted money at church. I volunteered at the place that serves lunch five days a week. The plan was that we would later wash the kitchen and bathroom floors. The walk to church to water flowers could be added on to a walk to the library. After lunch, I realized that I had earlier planned to get flu and covid shots today. It seemed to be the best day. Leroy decided he would come too. At the pharmacy, we learned that three people were ahead of us. I wondered about coming back another day. After more discussion, we decided to stay. Leroy had to fill out some paper work which I had picked up another day. We then learned that I too needed to fill out another page. By the time we got done filling that out, it was almost our turn. Course, we went in one at a time. After, mine was done she suggested that we stay in the store fifteen minutes to see if we still felt ok. We could walk around. Then it was drive off to church to water plants and deliver some items. That took some time. The mums had blown over in the wind. After getting them adjusted, we spent some time visiting with some people at church. Leroy “needed” more books. We got the large return load from the car and set off walking to the library. Got to get those 10,000 steps. At the library I could not find the book I was looking for so I asked for help. Silly me, I had overlooked a shelf. It was right where it should have been. But when we were checking out Somone returned a book that I wanted to read. If I had not asked for help, I would not have seen that book. It is new and only out for ten days. Read fast! On the walk back to the car, our next-door neighbor pulled over and asked if we needed anything. He recognized us by our sun hats. We are a rare breed. Paula

Garage Cleaning Morning

Hello, After some early grocery shopping, we cleaned the garage. It was a job chasing all of the spider webs away. We even managed to get rid of a few things. That seems to be a major accomplishment these days. We do not move enough to make us evaluate our possessions. Amazing how things cling. Leroy had gotten a new garage boom about six months ago. The end piece kept popping off. In frustration, he used a mallet to pound it back on only to have more of the end of the handle crack. Wish this had happen shortly after the purchase, because we could have taken it back. Now we are stuck with a broom that has an uncomfortable handle, but the brush end is in excellent shape. It meant moving many things out and then putting them back in a cleaned-up space. They are a bit more organized. Just hope we can find things again when they are needed. Both of us were rather tired after this effort. Are we getting older or would we have been tired in the past and just figured that was normal. Paula

I was Wrong

Hello, The company that closed was not a publisher, but a supplier or book seller. I had forgotten that, so publishing should not be affected. Libraries are still struggling to find sources for the books they want. Leroy walked to church twice, giving him plenty of steps. I took two walks and achieved the same goal. It was nice to walk in a bit different part of the trail. It has some trees and green grass to appreciate, along with squirrels and rabbits. In one place we used to see a fox, but have not seen her for years. It was a her because there were babies with her. I am trying to cut back on carbs and it is not an easy job. I seldom eat sugar or white flour. Instead, it is recommended that I do not eat so much rice, pasta, or potatoes. I thought I did not eat large servings. We did have a gallon of cider and I had been drinking that before I had the blood draw, perhaps that is culprit. We have not gotten any since then, even though we both really like cider. More aerobic exercise might help. But it seems to me that 10,000 steps a day helps. I could walk faster and I will make an effort to do that. Thanks for listening to my whining and moaning. Paula

Libraries

Hello, One of the major publishing houses in the country has closed. That will certainly affect libraries who often depend on them as a major source of books. Will that make it more difficult for authors to publish their works? That is a bit scary. Leroy thinks there will be more self-publishing, but the marketing is another matter. We certainly depend on libraries as a source of reading material. Seldom do I read a book twice so I do not want to buy them. There is something satisfying for me to browse the shelves and find something that I want to take home. Sometimes I do not like that item, but then I can just bring it back without finishing it. There was a time in my life when I felt I needed to read to the end, but no longer. Fifty pages is a good sample. If I do not like it then I just quit unless it is for a book club. Generally, I finish them because I want to know what others thought of the book. I also check out DVDs from the library. It is again because I do not want to buy them or pay to have the movie streamed. Am I cheap or what? I am reading a fiction book now, The First Phone Call from Heaven by Mitch Albom. So far, I find it interesting. Paula

Crop Walk and Clothes

Hello, Beautiful weather today for the crop walk. It was shorter this year. Not sure why, but we walked farther to get a bit over two miles done. It was good to be out in the breeze and in the beauty of fall.

Many people participated this year. Hopefully it was not just a big group, but that much money was collected. A person suggested we come to their house afterwards. We did that and had a nice visit. Before we left, they gifted us with some beautiful romaine lettuce, large spinach leaves, and a butternut squash. What treasures! I have decided that my legs are size small and my waist is size medium. My top is also size small and again my waist is size medium. It seems that at some point everything that was movable, moved lower. Finding comfortable clothes is a challenge. On our bike ride yesterday, we met a couple on bikes and thought, “We know them.” Today, they both asked if they had seen us. They were headed in the opposite direction, going for ice cream. Another man at church asked, “Did you ride bikes?” I thought he meant to church, so I said, “No, we walked.” He explained that he meant yesterday. He was driving and waited for us to make a left turn. I thanked him for that wait because not all drivers do that. There are some careful people out there. Paula

Bike Ride

Hello, We managed to take a bike ride in the beautiful fall weather. The bike trial has been reconnected. It was great to have that new stretch along the urban trout stream. Some of the trees are gone, but hopefully more will be planted. Much of the rest of the way is canopied by trees. It is restful and relaxing to ride. There are some hills, but they are not so steep or long. Now if we could just get this done more often my body would adjust a bit more. We are not so fast, but maybe that is not such a bad thing. We can enjoy the scenery. One complaint. I had about fifty more steps that Leroy before we started. At the end of the ride, he had five thousand more than I. I wish I could get some credit for the bike rides. It helps my heart, but not my bones so much. I am reading a book by a man who, with his six-year-old son followed the Oregon Trail. I feel ready to get in the car and try that too. I have been in some of the places, but not all. The other book I am reading is on memory. It is so interesting. Good to know I probably do not have dementia. One more book is about troublesome words in the English language. I will have to find a fiction book to round out the collection. Paula

Bird Watching

Hello, This morning, we went on a city sponsored bird watch walk. We enjoyed this new experience. We spotted 16 different bird species. Mostly our leader identified them. Some of them or most of them were common birds for the place and season. No pictures to share. They only ones that were close enough to get a snap of were the turkey vultures. When seen closer they are indeed a large bird. Usually, we see them high in the sky. Our guide explained that they were waiting for thermals to hep them get higher. It takes a lot of energy for them to fly. Sometimes we could only see them clearly with binoculars. The guide was disappointed the we did not see more varieties of sparrows. New to us was the pied-billed grebe. We saw several of them on the water or on the opposite shore. I had never heard of the yellow rump warbler, but we saw several. There were some double crested cormorants. There was another woman who went. She had two dogs and asked if she could bring them. They are Cesky Terriers. It is a rare breed. They seemed to be nice dogs. They did not bark and they do not shed. They are originally from the Czech Republic. In the afternoon we walked to church to water plants. We have more than enough steps. On the way home we stopped at the community garden and picked okra, watermelon, and Swiss Chard. We are blessed in many ways, food and experiences. Paula

Learning About Health Care

Hello, At a luncheon at church the speaker talked about the free health care possibilities in the community. There are three places in the city that do this. One of them charges, but on a sliding scale. They will no longer accept people who are on Medicaid since the government no longer funds that. Another group does not charge, but they also no longer accept Medicaid patients. Those people have one last option. The third clinic accepts all who come. They never charge. They are able to survive because of churches supporting their efforts. One of the hospitals in town also contributes financially as well as with volunteer staff. It is so good to know that there are people committed to care for others no matter their circumstances. If the affordable care act is not to be funded by congress, they expect that a huge number of people will need their services. As it is she said many people who work do not have health insurance so they come for care. This is especially true of young people. As their jobs do not often provide insurance and they cannot afford the bill to get it themselves. There is certainly an advantage to being old enough to get Medicare. In the past Leroy’s job included health care. I know that was a big bill for the churches, but it was such a gift to us. Not sure that I was always grateful, but just took it for granted. At least originally, many people had health insurance through an employer. Paula

Spiders in the Fall

Hello, It seems there are spider web or just strings of webs in the air in many places. When going though an arch it is advisable to wave something in the air ahead of you or those webs land in your hair or on your face. Sometimes a long stick or broom handle is a great tool for defense. Fall is a time when spiders seem to be quite active, especially overnight. True confession, but we do find some in the house. Mostly we try to catch them in a jar and transport them out, but some are in such a spot that killing is the elimination method. Luckily most of these spiders are quite small so not so scary to me. People are decorating for Halloween with webs and spiders, not my idea of anything I want to spend much time with. One house that I delivered newsletters to is a candidate for the best decorated house in the neighborhood. Today on our errand run, we dropped off some clothes, used an expiring $4 off coupon at the drug store, enjoyed flowers in a park, stopped at a big box store, got groceries, and lastly bought a new sudoku puzzle book. It was good to get all of this done in one circle trip. So, satisfying.

Paula

No Bike Riding Today

Hello, It might have been good to get out again today, but it did not happen. We did walk to church to water plants. The heat was noticeable on the way home. Then we took another walk this afternoon so our ten thousand steps are in the devices that store such information. It helped that we hung out clothes. Three peace lilies are too many for our house. Thursday, I put one out with a free sign. It could not be out in the sun all day. It went out again some of the time on Friday. Today I asked a neighbor with a tree in front of his house if I could put in the shade of that tree. It is now gone. I am happy. It was nice, but I think Leroy brought it home from the museum so it has no sentimental value to me. I hope the new place is good for it. The doctor told Leroy to get fish oil to see if that would lower his cholesterol. He bought some only to see that if taking a blood thinner it is not recommended. He talked with a pharmacist. They were not sure so he contacted the doctor. The reply told him what dosage level to take. Leroy can relax about that now. We are learning new things that we did not necessarily want to know about. It is helping our brains, right? Paula

The Fourth Bike Ride

Hello, I have only been on my bike for the fourth time this season. I have great excuses, it is too hot, or it is too hard to get my bike out as it is behind other things. Consequently, I have become uncertain while riding. Today we decided to ride the bike trail south of Ely. We have not done that yet. We have to haul the bikes to Ely because we are not capable of riding that far in one day anymore. There was a certain amount of grumping as we had not used the bike carrier in some time. It finally got on the car with the bikes secured, but not before Leroy cut his finger. A Band-Aid helped. But the bleeding seemed a bit much, guess the blood thinner is doing its job. We rode a round trip of 9.4 miles. We were happy to get back to the car. Certain body parts were talking to us. Even though it was during the week, the trail was rather busy, we probably met or were passed by 30 riders. Maybe we were the slowest people out there as we did not catch up to anyone. We did see some wild life. The rabbits seemed to run faster than we rode. There were some wooly bears on the trail and a turkey buzzard in the sky along with a number of butterflies. Leroy also saw a small snake and a praying mantis. We went in the morning and by the time we came in the house it was 86 F. degrees. Certainly, time to be home. Paula

Sunday News September 29, 2025 Hello, They celebrated Leroy’s 50 years ordination anniversary. We went to service Saturday night, and two on Sunday morning. During the service, they had a small validation and commendation along with a prayer. Leroy said a few words. After the service, Leroy and I stood at the door to receive congratulations and hand out bookmarks. The bookmarks had a picture of every church he has served as well as the years he was there. They were quite nice. There was also some time for fellowship and treats. It was nice. Another person on the church staff made a good slide show. By Sunday afternoon we were a bit tired. We both took a nap. I did get out and pick okra at the community garden. Half of it had gotten too large and went into the compost bin. Glad we have the bin. There was a Grant Wood Walk of the neighborhood. Grant Wood spent some time living here as a kid. We had gone on this tour earlier in the summer on a very hot day so they were repeating it. I wish I had gone again because one neighbor invited them in to see his historic home and what had been done to it. I had talked to him a few days ahead of the tour so I knew it might happen, but was not sure. I just stayed home and rested. Regrets. Amazing how 50 years can seem like such a short time when looking back on it rather than ahead to it. I was pleased for Leroy that the church wanted to honor him this way. Paula

Conundrums at the Grocery Store

Hello, Warning, if a potato is taken from the side of a heap, potatoes can fall. Only two went down to the floor, but it meant that the next potatoes came from the top of the heap whether they were worthy or not. Then it was time to move on to get eggs. How much should be paid for organic, free range, or pasture raised. Buying local was at the top of the buying criteria. Then some eggs were in plastic cartons and some were in cardboard. The cardboard carton, pasture raised, local with a small sale price won my purchase. Local honey that will fit in my own quart jar was an easy decision. Keeping it from dripping after filling was more challenging. The jar stayed in place while getting some other items across the aisle. On returning, all looked done, but just as soon as the jar was removed and capped a drip fell on the tray under it. Some tea we like was on sale. Should I get that or the not on sale, equal exchange organic kind? The on-sale tea found its way into my cart, but with some guilt produced. We support others around the world in other ways, but maybe buying their products gives them more dignity. I remember a day when I just went to the grocery store and bought the item we liked if it was priced at an affordable level. Life has more questions for me now. I try to go organic for the sake of the earth and the future, but sometimes the seductive voice of savings calls loudly. Who knew grocery shopping could be an ethical question. Paula

A long Day

Hello, Yesterday was another heart test day. We were there in plenty of time. We don’t live very far away, but did not really know the entrance they wanted us to use. Luckily, there were helpful people who could help at points of confusion. The parking ramp was rather full. I would slow looking for a spot to park with a car very close behind me. They kept honking every time I slowed. Pulling to the side, allowed them to pass and I was able to back into a spot. Leroy, as usual, thought it was a crooked parking affair, but I just ignored that. He did admit as we left the car, “It is better than I thought.” Just before Leroy was ready to go in, a heart attack person needed attention ahead of Leroy. I think it was a wait of an hour and a half. Leroy was bored, but not hurting so that is good. They found that he has no blockages to his heart. That means more tests in the future to try to ascertain what is the problem. Because they go in through an artery, he has to be careful with his right wrist. I zip his pants, button or snap, put on socks, shoes and tie them. He manages to eat with his left hand without spilling. No heavy lifting, no tugging, no vacuuming, no washing dishes, etc. for a few days. He feels a bit limited. I took the sticky pads off his arm and chest. Those places where they connected wires. He had already pulled on one side of his shirt so I missed two of them until last night. as the nurse stated, “If you wait too long the glue stays on the body.” Sure enough, there was a sticky feel. After searching for rubbing alcohol, I could not find the sticky places. How did that happen? Paula

How much water

Hello, I watered a mum plant at church that was inside the building. The dish under was not very deep. Just a little water was needed. Somehow my little got way too large. I raced to find a rag, asked the custodian. “Sure, I have rags,” he told me as he handed me a medium sized towel. The water was pouring off the table, splashing on the wall, and spreading out on the floor. The towel only held about half the water. The wastebasket was close; after wringing out some of the water, I raced back downstairs to find more of these rag towels. Back up the stairs, and sopped up as much as it could hold. Hurry down stairs for another towel when the flow finally stopped. It was a calmer affair to water the outdoor plant where the excess water would not cause any harm. It is good that Leroy is almost done getting drops in the first cataract eye. He seems to blink just as the drop falls. Or I might be aiming in the wrong place, or he might move his face just as it drops. It is definitely a challenge to get this job done. Seems to me he was more cooperative with the nurses at the surgery center. Hopefully, we have enough drops to make it to the end of the month. The trials of the easy life. Paula

One more on Leroy’s Health

Hello, He feels so good this morning. He even helped with dishes at noon. Last night he did have a headache. Apparently in the night it went away. He had taken pain pills, but that just took off the edge. I have come to the conclusion that everyone and their grandmother must have A Fib. Oops, it is probably just their grandmother who has it since age seems to be the major qualifier. This morning, I went to tai chi. When it is over I always report the number of participants to the person at the library desk. As I was telling the woman, she commented, “See that man out on the bench outside the window. He has been sitting there for some time and cursing.” “I will stay with you,” I told her. Not sure what I planned to do in the event of an issue. He had a small blanket with him, no shirt, not shaved, large tattoo on his back, and something that looked like mail. After a bit, the woman stated. “He has been much quieter now.” A woman came into the library with her two children. The man outside got up went to the garbage bin, put stuff in, and then I did not see him. Going closer to the window, he was spotted on the cement on his blanket using his phone. I suggested, “I think you should call someone to just check up on him.” She called the city office and the mayor came over. I left as he was coming. All that made my morning longer, but I was glad to wait with her. Paula

Leroy is Bored

Hello, Leroy’s second cataract surgery went well. It was earlier in the morning. He could drink water closer to the surgery, so he got up at 4:30 for his last drink. The anesthesiologist, came in and said that she would give him half of the dose he had last time, even though it was quite low. He was talking normally when they brough him back in the room and he remembered much of what happened in the operation. They too noticed how much better he was this time. No one had to ask, “Does he always talk like this?” This time they did not highlight the signs of a stroke. And they were not adamant about not leaving him alone for 24 hours. He is not to do much for the rest of the day. He is bored. He is listening to an audio book, but gets rather tired of that. Now we just have to spend some more time getting tests for his heart. Amazing how the focus of one’s life can change in a heartbeat. Paula

Leroy looks healthy

Hello, Yesterday Leroy had a call from the cardiologist. They had told us if the Doctor calls it is not good, no news is good news. The doctor reported that Leroy had more a-fib incidents when he was wearing the halter which monitors 24/7. Leroy feels nothing. When we saw the Doctor, he did comment that some people are asymptomatic. Guess that must be Leroy. Leroy asked if he should go ahead with the second cataract surgery. The reply was yes, but in the notes, he called it dangerous. We are hoping for the best result on Monday. This time he is scheduled for early in the morning and he can drink water much closer to that time so he should not be dehydrated. Leroy also is going to have a cardiac catheterization the following week. We feel as if our lives have been flipped upside down. Leroy admitted, “I have always been rather proud of my good health. Now this shoots it down.” We are getting used to the idea. I am almost starting to hover asking, are you thirsty, do you feel all right, do you want to sit down? Today we still walked to church to volunteer by watering plants, helping unload, packing grapes, washes and culling plums. We were there and on our feet for most of two hours. We were not alone another couple was there also helping the main person. We brought home some of the bruised plums. They had excellent flavor. Paula

Tomato Joys and Woes

Hello, We were able to pick a nice number of tomatoes in two days. I did give a small bag away, but I was happy to do that. Today was canning day. We think it has been three years since we have had enough tomatoes to can. My memory of how to, is a bit rusty. About how many make a quart? How long should they be in the water bath? What pans did I use to sterilize the jars and lids? Do we have enough jars? Where are the jar rings? What did I use to put the jars in the canner without burning my fingers? With some help from the internet, my brain, and Leroy’s memories it got done. All was good until I went in the spare bedroom and saw a tray with tomatoes on it. Neither of us remembered to bring that to the kitchen. We only had enough for five jars, but really there was enough for six jars. Now those tomatoes will have to be used another way, especially as they are quite ripe. Blessings overflow. At noon we ate beans from the garden and squash that was a gift. We have a very rich life. Food to share and more clothes than we can wear. We also have some mysteries. Why is there a dead mouse on the sidewalk close to the house and then another out on the main sidewalk? Why is there a dead bird by the fence? Is there a cat that hunts but does not eat the kill? Paula

Community Garden

Hello, Even though it is Sunday, we walked to the garden this afternoon. I try not to work on Sunday, but some things were ready to pick. We got a number of tomatoes and left some on the plants. Then it was time to pick okra. Two of them were too large and had to be put on the compost. Then there was a big picking of Swiss chard. It is beautiful. The broccoli looked very nice, but the holes in the leaves signaled cabbage worms in abundance. We washed all of these things even though that was work too, but I do not like to have them in the house unclean. As it was, the first washing of the broccoli had at least ten worms floating around in the water. Leroy picked off several more. The vinegar soak killed more of them. The last water was clear of worms. It is still a bit hard psychologically to eat this produce. Interesting how chemicals do not bother us so much because we can not see them. Ultimately, they probably harm our bodies much more than worms. We are going to read this evening, by reading or watching TV. Paula

Leroy Feels Fine

Hello, How many appointments can he have? That is a question with a big answer. Age seems to be the cause of this as he does not show any other symptoms. He did the stress test, but we do not know the results. He does have a slight leak in a valve or two, but not out of the ordinary for his age. The fact of the matter is that the body has gone on for 76 years and it has a few things that are not working as if he were only 50 years. He is certainly getting a lot of reading done now. Although some of it has been audio books which he does not like as well. The eye doctor told him his eye and lens look good. He has reading glasses now and that has made a big improvement. His correction is not as strong as mine, both for near and far, so he manages much better than I did between the eye surgeries. I believe the difference was so great that my poor brain could not get it figured out. He is back to getting 10000 steps per day. He does admit to being a bit tired, but then he has always taken naps. We have only missed getting the eye drops in once. I am pleased, we have remembered so often. He can go back to normal activities so we will volunteer at church tomorrow. Mostly that is not too hard, but we do feel tired when finished. I have read The Women by Kristin Hannah and am now reading The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. They are both set in the Vietnam war. It makes me realize how little I really knew about that even though I was alive then and old enough to be aware. Paula

Labor Day Indeed

Hello, It seemed like a day to labor. We were out of bread and granola so I made granola in the morning and bread in the afternoon. We had been gifted with some tomatoes. Some of them were a bit fragile so it was necessary to take care of them. My rag bag was full and overflowing which means they needed to be washed.

Leroy helped me hang the rags and get them in and folded afterwards. I fold the rags because they take a lot less room. In the afternoon we went and picked okra and cucumbers in the community garden. Much of the okra had gotten too large. Six inches instead of the recommended length of 3 to 4 inches. We tossed quite a few in the compost. There were seven cucumbers and we managed to give away five of them as well as one bag of the okra. We did discuss the okra with the people who took them. I could not give them much advice about them except to look it up on the internet to learn about it. Leroy had cataract surgery last Wednesday. During that he went into some a-fib so we have been busy seeing a lot of health care people for consultation and testing. They are trying to get all the testing done before his next surgery. Not an easy task since they were booked out until October. But I think much of it is scheduled now. Leroy and I think it was because he was dehydrated. He had been told not to eat or drink after midnight. We are not up so late so he had something at 10:00 pm. It was 16 hours before the surgery and I think that was too long. He is feeling fine and his eye is healing well. We need to see the eye doctor, but the heart people scheduled an appointment at the same time so we will have to adjust. Paula

On A Trip

Hello, On our trip to share a cabin with friends on a lake, we stopped to visit Brian’s family. While there, I went to my favorite shoe store because I had been unable to find shoes that I wanted. It was on uncharacteristic move, but I bought two pair of sneakers. They both fit me and both were on clearance. It felt extravagant, but they should last twice as long when trading them off, right? At the cabin, it was great to catch up with friends. We seemed to have plenty to laugh about. That certainly rests the soul. Or maybe uplifts the soul. We visited a weaving shop that employes people with disabilities. We saw them cut off or finish three people’s work. They have a nice acclamation for them. That was uplifting. The next day we went to a pioneer village museum in the area. That was also quite fine. Even though we were on a lake, we were just content to sit by the water rather than experience it more personally. We all supplied some food and prepared a meal or two. Can you imagine, there was a lot of food so one day was basically left overs. Paula

Grumble, grumble

Hello, Leroy and I went to a shoe store this afternoon. We were both looking for new shoes. Leroy found a pair, on clearance even. They are exactly like the shoes he has on at this point. He wanted something a bit different, but the price convinced him that he could live with the choice. I tried on several pair. Nothing on clearance fit me. All of them felt a bit tight and I do not want to move up another size. I am already in a larger size than I thought I would ever wear. I did try on some men’s shoes, but was not thrilled with them either. Also, I was told at one time not to wear men’s shoes as our feet are a little different. We tried another store that also did not have any my size on clearance. Monday we will go to Brian’s house. My favorite shoe store is fairly close, so we will check that out. I realize this is a rich person problem as I think about the shoes we handed out to people at the church. Their choices and sizes were somewhat limited. But there was no complaining, but people were happy to get a new pair of shoes. It makes me think about when I was a girl and looking for new shoes. The store only had three girls’ shoes in my size and I did not really like any of them. The sales person went over to another and said disgustedly, “I can’t do a thing with her. See what you can do.” I picked out the more acceptable shoe and wore it until it wore out because that is what we did at my house. Paula

Poison Ivy

Hello, Leroy has poison ivy. He is not miserable, but not happy. I have not heard misery in his voice. He has had it for a week or so. We thought maybe it was bed bugs because he would wake up and say, “I have more itchy spots.” I never had any, but we looked for bed bugs anyway and were unsuccessful in that search. Yesterday he showed someone who has had poison ivy more than once and they said, “It looks exactly like that.” They recommended some soap and lotion. We also washed the bedding and dried it in the dryer so that it could not be contaminated again outside. He commented this morning, “no new spots.” He is disgusted to have this, but glad to finally know what it is and a solution. His new hearing aid needed to have a wire repaired. His night time appliance broke. He is having cataract surgery soon. Leroy feels like cares are pressing down on him. Last night we went to an excellent organ concert. That is uplifting. Leroy had a piece of pie afterwards and we spent some time visiting. Paula

Lending a Hand

Hello, On our walk to church this afternoon, I spotted a guy across the street in a wheelchair struggling with random hazards to forward motion. “Leroy, do you think we could help him?” Leroy went over and asked, “Where are you going?” “The library,” he replied. “You mean the downtown library?” I wondered. He said, “Yes.” Leroy than said, “We are going to First Lutheran and could push you that far.” This young man hesitated a little then said, “Yes I am getting tired and my hands are starting to hurt.” We visited on the way. He had googled the address for the library so knew where he was going. He was coming from a block farther away than we did and we are 1.6 miles from the library. We talked about him using the bus on his trip home. It stops right by the library and about a block from his home. He wondered, “Could I ride the bus?” “Yes, there are clips to hold the chair in place.” Leroy told him. “How would I get on the bus?” he then questioned. “The bus lowers,” I said. Leroy added, “And a ramp comes out.” At the church I asked, “Do you have water? I will look for some gloves for you to protect your hands.” He did not have water, so I got a bottle of water and with the help of someone else, looked for gloves. I had forgotten to check the size of his hands. We found a pair of leather work gloves that looked like some Leroy might have donated. We also gave him the granola bar we had brought for our snack. It felt good to be able to help some. We than cleaned the last two restrooms which was why we had come to church. We were both happy to be done, especially when more than one person commented that we looked tired. Paula

A Reputation

Hello, We have to keep walking to maintain our reputation of being walkers. Guess that makes sense, but some days I wonder. We drove to church. It was raining so hard before we started that we figured we would get to church and be soaked with the wind-blown rain. This would include having umbrellas and raincoats. More than one person asked if we had walked. They were ready to be impressed, but seemed to understand the better choice to drive. Maybe we encourage others to walk more in their daily lives. Seems that would be a good thing. We certainly did not have to water plants at church they looked to be soaked with the more than an inch of rain. This afternoon we did get some steps in the muggy heat as we delivered newsletters. It is not as far as going to church, but we both have over 5,000 steps now. I appreciate Leroy’s help, but I had such a set method and that does not work with two people. Sometimes it irritates me to change even if it is to my benefit. We deliver the newsletters a few blocks from our house. It is noticeable when one place seems to fall in weeds and no care. Leroy commented, “More places seem to be in disrepair.” Often, I pray for the people there as something not good could have changed in their life. Most of these people I have never seen as we just find a place to secure the paper and move on. It was five years ago that we experienced the derecho. It was quite the day and weeks for many of us. Are we more prepared for another? Maybe not, but we pay more attention to the weather warnings. Paula

Playing Games

Hello, Leroy and I are competitive. Today we played a few games of boggle. I was way ahead of him on the first game, but he beat me on the next ones with a tie for the last one. That seemed fine to me as I did so well on the first one. Walking seems to be a competitive sport at our house. We each like to get 10,000 steps. It does not feel right if Leroy gets that if I do not. But I am coming around to the idea that it is a small thing in life. At night before bed, we work on puzzles, both crosswords and sudoku. Leroy is a better speller so I depend on him to finish the words I can think of but not spell. I am better at sudoku, and he resents that I get the answers so much faster. Seems to me it is an equal exchange, but he does not see it that way. Because of the heat and storm prediction we might not get our 10,000 steps, but at least I have over 5,000. Leroy did his exercises this morning. I did not. Unfortunately, I feel that stiffness from that lack. These days if there is a little sluffing off, it matters. Paula

Illusive Thoughts

Hello, Yesterday afternoon, I had the best idea of something to write about, but did not have time at that moment. That was the end of the best idea. Today has been a day about changing the schedule. Leroy was to have a home health visit. I decided to go to the garden early and do some more weeding. He went with me. We worked for about 45 minutes, not covering much ground, but creating a big pile of vigorous weeds. We were both tired as we returned home after picking beans and broccoli. I planned to get a haircut, grocery shop and drop off items at Goodwill. I just got to the walk-in haircut place when Leroy called to tell me that the person coming expected to see both of us. He started to tell me she was not there yet, but would be. I cut him off and said, “I will just come home.” I could have gotten a haircut since she did not come for an hour and a half. She was fast and efficient when she did get here. We finished in a reasonable about of time. She declared us both quite healthy. We had planned to go to the shoe store, decided that we would water plants at church, go to the library to return books and get more because Leroy is without a book to read, grocery shop because there is not fruit in the house, drop something off at a friend’s house, and go to goodwill. We got all that done, but it was not what Leroy had intended to do with his afternoon, but it was easier to keep him with me and get the jobs done. Paula

A good book

Hello, The Ely library has a book they promote for the summer by giving it away. It ended up in my book basket and several other books were piled on top. There was some discussion about it when I realized I had not read it, or I forgot everything I read. I did not go to the official discussion. Yesterday and today, I read that book which is for later elementary students. It was a great book. It was well written and helped me to think some more about why a book is banned. The book is Ban this Book by Alan Gratz. I am sure some of his books have been banned because they deal with WWII. The subject matter would probably considered upsetting by some. I certainly agree with the statement that no one should ban a book so others can’t read it, but parents do have the right to stop their own children from reading it if they feel it is inappropriate. My friend reminds me that I once removed a book from the elementary library and passed it up to the middle school library. I cannot remember what the book was. But I obviously gave in to pressure. Since reading this book, I have thought about how, to a degree, selections of books to put in a library has some standards and that could be considered control of what is presented. If there is enough money, a book can be purchased. The public library also might have a copy that can be checked out if the school library does not have it. That might be difficult for some students to get there. Also, I wonder how much exposure to the internet influences young people. I suspect most of them have been exposed to many things just on the bus or around other people. Paula

National Senior Games

Hello, I learned this morning the national senior games met in Des Moines, Ia. I had no idea there was such a thing as national senior games. We heard about it at Tai Chi this morning. Participants in many sports are not young, 70’s 80’s and 90’s. There is still time for us to do some more moving around. Apparently pickle ball is the most popular event. There are men and women competing in these events. No reason to stop being athlete, but what if you were never considered an athlete in the first place. Do you think that walking, or bike riding are athletic events for the seniors? I know Tai Chi is, but I do not see myself at the competitive level. It is not good to get too stressed about doing Tai Chi as that takes away the meditative part of it. Our instructor also brought in an article about a woman who is 88 and still doing tai chi. She talked about all the ways it helped her to feel better. Paula

Self-perception

Hello, We went to the garden this morning to help weed and possibly plant some fall crops. We only weeded and went home before the other woman. She had even gotten there ahead of us. She just seems so energetic. She is a bit younger than I am, but where does her energy come from. She was even all excited about going home and pickling beets as well as making a very large batch of cucumber salad. Leroy picked 28 cucumbers this morning. We only took five of them home. We shared two of them so we still have three, but I believe that will be plenty. We did bring home the beet leaves. It was a bit of a chore to go through those and find the good ones. Which we then washed and put in the refrigerator for a later time when I have more energy. After going to the store and picking up a prescription, we went back to the garden to pick green beans. We have enough for about three meals. There was also one cucumber that Leroy missed and we gave that to a neighbor. We talked with him for a little while. He commented, “I get tired too. I am 55 now. I know I don’t look that old, but I am.” When we were a good distance away, I asked Leroy, “What did you heard for his age?” “Fifty-five,” Leroy said. We both felt he looked quite a lot older than that. Maybe he said 65 which he looked more like. Paula

Deep Cleaning at church

Hello, Yesterday was the day to spend some time in the restrooms at church doing some deep cleaning. There were three of us working and we managed to get the job done without getting in each other’s way. Because the walls had recently been painted it was not as large a job as we were expecting. The other guy took on the more demanding kneeling job and Leroy and I got off rather lightly. We were still tired when we finished. Course, we had walked there and had to walk home in the rather daunting heat. We also watered the plants in pots under the overhang since they would not have gotten the rain. In the past I did not notice the heat so much, or I think that is true. But sometimes I wonder if we don’t glorify the past. Last night, Leroy woke me up by calling my name at least three times and then pushing against me. I was a bit groggy, but also annoyed. Then he pointed out the sirens that were continuing to wail. We got up and listened to the radio and the TV. As has happened in the past we did not seek a lower shelter since the worst of the storm seemed to be going north of us. We were grateful for that. Back in bed it took some time to settle down and get back to sleep. Paula

More of that bus trip

Hello, On day four we also had an interesting afternoon at Castle Farms in Michigan. It was built in 1918 close to the town of Charlevoix. It has a varied history as a farm, a place for rock concerts, and is now a museum and wedding venue. It has changed hands several times and almost fell into total disrepair. The woman who now owns it has put her heart, soul, and money onto bringing back to a beautiful place. Some of the employees there told us that when she is there you would never know she is the owner because she does any job that needs to be done, and does not look like the multimillionaire that she is. We had a nice lunch there as well as a tour of the place.

Our last stop of the day was Kilwins. They made chocolates of several types. Now they were working on Easter confections. They have several stores and they also make the candy at those stores, although we were at the main place. Many of the group bought some treats, but because I do not eat chocolate, we did not get anything. Leroy did not because he noticed he was overeating. It was fun to get a tour and see them work.

Paula

Community Garden

Hello, My plan was to be at the garden early in the morning to beat the heat. Getting up at 5:30 and being there by 6:00 seemed good and doable to me when I went to bed. I woke at 5:45. Leroy was not yet awake so I did not get up and waited until he stirred at about 6:30. We tend to wake each other if one gets up early. It was now breakfast time. After washing and hanging out two loads of clothes, I was in the garden by about 8:45. Leroy had an appointment and could not come. It was not hot and the weeds pulled easily. Standing up from my squat meant that I did not faint. As it started to get hotter, quitting seemed like a good idea. Before I left the garden area, I saw one of the college students. I told her that the garden was for all to enjoy. She seemed to know that, but when I told her what might be ready, she seemed a bit vague. We took a tour of the garden. Then she told me, “I am going home tomorrow. I do not cook very well, but my roommate is very good.” “I am talking to the wrong person,” I said. “No this is good. I remember everything you told me and I will pass the information to her.” She said with a smile. That made me feel good. Paula

Day four of the tour

Hello, I stopped writing in my notebook, so this is strictly based on pictures and the memories that come from them. The tapestry at the visitor’s center was beautiful and finished in a short number of days.

Our “hop on” guide at this point was not at the top our recommendations. Most of the guides seem to be able to jump seamlessly between storytelling and telling the bus driver where to turn. After the first missed turn the driver had to turn around. Remember this is a rather large vehicle. Our driver was good and managed to get it done. On leaving the park a turn was missed and now we had to go back through the park again. It was nice to do that but the schedule is tight and lunch was waiting for us. Would not want to miss lunch you know.

It was fun to walk in the sand, but we kept our shoes on and did not go too far. No sand in my shoes. The head of the sleeping bear dune has been damaged by humans who used to walk on it. Apparently the first peoples, who kept it in good shape, used it as a landmark to tell them they were getting close to their destination. Paula

Two movies in two days

Hello, We watched a bit of a movie while on our trip. It was just enough to interest me in seeing the movie, “A League of Their Own.” I watched that and liked it. Leroy read most of the time, but watched the end. I also had “Forest Gump” on hold because some quotes from that show had been coming in conversation or readings. It was so long ago that I had seen it. I watched it this afternoon because Leroy was volunteering and he did not want to see it. We do not have so much space to get apart if one of us does not want to watch something on the TV. We went to the garden yesterday with the yardy (city compost bin). It was an effort to get there and an effort to come home. We really did not weed a very large area because the weeds were so large. At least there is a sense of accomplishment because it looks so different in the weeded area. Leroy is going to a meeting tonight. I thought I might go weed some more as it would be a bit cooler, but he reminded me of the neighborhood meeting. I like to go to those, but have not been to many recently because we are out of town so much. We are learning another form in Tai Chi. That is taxing our memories. The pep talk is that it is good for our brains to learn something new. Of course, the tai chi is good for our balance, breathing, and concentration. Paula

Day 3 of mystery bus trip

Hello, Every day someone would ask, “Where are you going next?” “We don’t know until we get back on the bus.” Was our reply. There was often quite a bit of laughter at this response. On day three we started in Holland, MI. There was a windmill from the Holland to view from a distance and many flowers that were in the spots were tulips had been. A guide came on the bus. She was excellent at giving us the history and interesting facts about the area. Our next stop was Muskegon where we toured the houses of some lumber barons. Apparently these two families got along very well because they built homes next door and even shared the carriage house. The homes were similar, but different.

For lunch we were fed at a dairy farm, a very big dairy farm with an astronomical number of cows. They had 19 robotic milkers which cost $200,000 apiece. It was not much like the farm I grew up on. This tour was also very interesting.

We stopped at a coast guard museum in Ludington and then spent the night in Traverse City. It makes for full days with early wake up calls. When someone commented it was not much like a vacation our guide said, “It is not vacation, it is a tour.” Paula

No Lazy Sunday Here

Hello, Leroy ushered and I was lector at church this morning. Some choir friends were moving so there was a reception after church. I brought watermelon. Because it was raining when we were ready to go to church, we actually went by car. Not so many steps accumulated there. At church I looked over the plan for the service. Reading the lesson, my nose wanted to drip. I wondered if I snuffed my nose would it be amplified in the building as well as on line. Somehow I maintained control. I had the lesson and the prayers ahead of time. There were no people listed to pray for. I am always concerned about pronouncing the names correctly. As I was progressing though the prayers I saw names, oops. There was one Jan, someone I did not know. In Slovakia that name is pronounced differently and I almost said the Slovak way, but managed to use the version known in the USA. In Slovakia it is a male name and here it is mostly a female name, maybe a nickname. I had a book and two DVDs on hold at the library so we walked there this afternoon. That is 1.6 miles one way in humid 80 degrees F. We did have water with us. We stopped at the community garden and pulled some weeds. It was more work than I thought it would be since we had rain in the morning. The weeds are quite large and have deep roots with no desire to leave their spot. We are grateful for AC and the comfort of home. A snack was also a good thing. We also both have our 10,000 steps. Paula

What to do on a Rainy Day

Hello, Leroy complained about having a hard time reading. I suggested, “We should do a deep clean of the kitchen since we found a spider web with an insect caught in it when we came home.” Leroy agreed and we set to work. We are not as energetic as we used to be. We got all the “loose” things out and moved some of the moveable things such as the cabinet that the microwave is on. At that point I realized how large the job was. We left things in the cabinets for another day. But Leroy cleaned down the walls and ceiling. I washed woodwork and we both washed the floor. It felt as if we had done a lot by the time we put everything back. It was even satisfying. It is no longer raining so we can deliver the rest of the newsletters this afternoon. That deadline is approaching. It heated up outside, but the newsletters are done. Later I went to the community garden to pick broccoli that is quite mature. I also pulled a rather large beet. Hopefully the beet will stll be good. I had a couple things on hold at the library, but not sure that I will get there today. Maybe tomorrow that can happen after church. Paula

That Mystery Trip July 18, 2025 Hello, That mystery trip around Lake Michigan was quite fun. We did not know where we were going until we got on the bus and even then, sometimes, we did not find out right away. The first night we spent in Milwaukee. We had a hop on guide for a bus tour of the city. I did not know much about it so I learned a lot. It had some hard times, but is gaining economic stability. They have a very nice river walk. The three pictures are on that walk.

In the morning, we had to guess whether we were going north or south. It was not long before we knew we were going south. We had a nice bus tour of Chicago. Sarah had lived there for a number of years so I saw some familiar sights and learned some additional facts about the city. Not that I can recall any of them right this minute. It seems if I do not take notes, I do not have the information for very long. Listening is not my preferred learning style.

In the afternoon we stopped at Indiana Dunes National Park. Both Leroy and I feel ready to go back and explore more. We visited the visitor center and saw a film. There are miles of hiking trails and much flora and fauna to see. Paula

What is Right

Hello, Today we went to church to water plants only to find that two of the flower pots are gone. Whoever took them made sure that the rest were spaced nicely apart. I feel upset, but Leroy said it does not bother him so much. I do hope that whoever took them needs to have plants and color in their space and that they are not able to buy such. I think we need to move those pots and put them behind a fence. Leroy did not sound so keen on the idea. Earlier someone had said that plants in pots in front of the church would be taken. I am sad to learn they are right. It has been hot again today. However now it is raining and the temperature is lowering. I will walk later. We actually drove to the church and walked to the library which is only .6 mile away from there. We did have water with us and that helped. It was farmer’s market Saturday so there were many people around. There was also a book sale at the library, but we did not even look since we checked out some books that we had put on hold. That was enough to carry. Leroy has done quite a bit of packing already. I will do some today and the rest tomorrow. We are taking rain gear, but until now had not expected to use it. Storms can blow in and change things around. Paula

How Hot

Hello, Between higher temperatures and a body that does not deal as well with heat, I am not adapting to the outdoors very well. I did wash two loads of clothes and hang them outside. There were some plants that required pruning. After that there was a walk to church, filled water jugs, got them outside, watered plants that had been transplanted the day before, watered other plants, transplanted two more plants, moved flower pots to the front of the building, walked home, and brought in the rest of the clothes from the line. Both of us were ready to just sit for a while and cool off. We did drink quite a bit of water. I did not feel bad, but a bit tired and uncomfortable. Not many people were out there. There were four other people at church getting ready for the meal tomorrow night. Even though it is a holiday some things need to be taken care of. We also discovered one of the church doors had not been locked. It took a bit of fussing to get that locked. One of the people there talked about a church in a small town that does not lock its doors. We have lost some sense of community and a feeling that all will look out for the best of all. We do not trust each other to be good. Paula

Quieter Morning

Hello, Even though Leroy got up at 5:15, it was a much quieter morning. He gets up to do his exercises before he goes to the early morning bible study. He also eats breakfast. They always have breakfast, but it is often just sweet things so he eats oatmeal at home to help him get some good nutrition. I also did some stretching because I lead a class on Thursday and I like to prepare for that. I found a good article on ankles and some moves to go with that. I will share that at the class. For some reason my ankles have been stiff. Probably because I do not do so much daily stretching and working them as just part of a routine. At my age there cannot be so many days of sloughing off before a notice that things are not as good as they once were. Chi gong does not move the body in quite the same way. It is more meditative which is also very nice and relaxing. My blood pressure has gone done, is that why? Tomorrow morning, we will dig up the plants at church. I am not really looking forward to that as it is a question of what to do with them once they are out of the ground. But Leroy now tells me that he knows several people at church who would like some of them. Hope they all find good homes. Yesterday we brought home all of the potted plants which were looking quite sad. I am not sure they will revive to the point of keeping. I had a book on hold at the library. It is now ready for me, but I will be gone for a week. Not sure I will get it read before it is due again. Hopefully I can renew it. Paula

Early Morning Action

Hello, Bang, Bang, “Open the door!” Silence for a little while then, bang, bang, “Open the Door!” It was not on our door, but I did not know where it was and I heard the neighbor’s dogs barking. Looking out the hall window and between the ash tree and the second house over, I could see a helmeted guy in camouflage holding a large gun, banging and yelling “Open the door!” Because I could not see very well, I went down and opened our porch door, but the neighbor’s fence blocked my view. I looked to the street to see a van in the middle of street with two more guys in camouflage holding large guns and pointing them at the corner house. I told Leroy about all of this, but he did not seem as excited as I felt. I wondered if we should call the police, but he said, “This is the police.” “What about those people in MN who thought it was the police at the door?” There was a sound of a machine grinding. But I could not see what they were doing. I did notice there was another van in the alley in back of the house. Then I could see many more of these gun guys by the vehicle and trailer parked in back of the house two doors away. In a bit they seemed to get into the trailer. It was not so long after that they left. Later I asked the dog owning neighbor what had gone on. He did not know. “My dogs woke me. I thought they were aiming those guns at me. They had that house surrounded. I went on the porch and they told me to go back inside.” At some point I felt I should get dressed just in case… It is scary to think about how much can go down just next door and not know what it is about or even know it happened since they were gone without much fuss. I probably should not have looked out the windows. If guns had started to fire a stray bullet might have come through. I still feel our neighborhood is as safe as any other. Paula

Volunteering Mondays

Hello, I volunteer on Mondays at the organization that gives out meals M-F. almost every time I have been out of town recently has involved two Mondays. I am out of town for the next two Mondays. When I told them, I would be gone, I apologized. It is hard to get some tasks accomplished if volunteers are not regular. Both of the people I work under said, “Go enjoy yourself. We will see you in two weeks.” Today there were some large donations of food that we need to date and shelve. That took a bit of time and squinting to read the “best by dates”. Our large marker dates are easier to read when distributing food. It amazes me how many cans of green beans are there and then the next time I come they are almost gone. All of the donated foods are weighed as they come in. Not sure what happens to that information, but it seems to be required. I helped make sandwiches from the donated chicken. They also get a lot of donated hamburger buns, hot dog buns, and loafs of bread. If the breads have been there for some time, and they too are dated, we check to make sure it is still good. Today I threw away quite a bit of it. Bothers me to throw out food, but most of this food is being saved before the business would have to throw it away. It also bothers me that so many people in this country are food insecure. Something is certainly wrong, but I do not know how to fix it. Paula

Understanding

Hello, It is amazing how a simple thing can be misunderstood. For instance, when is it this week and when is it next week? For me Sunday is the first day of the week. Saturday it would be the last day of this week. When it is Saturday, such as it is today, any days after Sunday would be next week. I do not know if this is the standard or if is just the way I see it to be. The person I was speaking with was not interpreting it that way. She thought I was talking about a week from the coming Thursday when I said, “Next Thursday.” We solved it all by using the calendar and dates. It is easy to see how things get misunderstood and resentments happen when we could not easily have a conversation about the days of the week when something was going to happen. And we expect world peace and good relationships to happen among people who do not speak the same language. Being an interrupter is certainly a heavy responsibility. Look at how many different takes there are on the same Christian Bible. Even the written word is open for some variation in understanding. People need to be open to different ideas in order to have a good respectful conversation. Paula

Connected Again

Hello, Because of an upgrade, our internet was down when we came home. Now today it is finally back after a bit more than two weeks without. We did “borrow” from a good neighbor, but it feels better now to know it is back. We had to buy a new router, but it did not connect. Brian tried to help, but could not manage. Then a person tried over the phone, but they were unsuccessful as well. The first technician, who came to the house, did learn that the router worked, but there was not feed in from the outside. He said, “I will have them send a bucket truck to get up to the pole. They should come tomorrow or the next day.” No one came or even contacted us. Leroy called once again and spent a long time on the phone. This person also could not get it connected. He set up an appointment for a technician to come in three days. The technician who came today was very good and got the thing going. He put his ladder up to the pole, climbed up and fixed. He said, “They did not reconnect us after they had completed the update.” We had to call Brian to help us get the router up and working for us, with user name and password. I learned a little more about facetime and making the screen larger. Now hopefully I will remember that if I need it in the future. This shows how much we are dependent on the internet connection. Every day we missed it. Paula

Hot Days

Hello, While in DC we took a little trip to visit Yorktown which was an important battle influencing the outcome of the revolutionary war. It was an interesting place. I do not remember this battle from my history class. It was often a battle between ships trying to gain important trade routes.

The next day we went to Williamsburg to see an historic area where European settlers made a long-lasting settlement. It is a tourist area now with people wearing period costumes and working in the old ways. People seemed to be well versed on history and could answer many questions pertaining to earlier times. There were also some reenactments. It was quite a hot day and we started to notice that the crowd was about a third the size in the afternoon.

It is very hot here today with temperatures in the 90’s. There was a history walk in our neighborhood. It was very interesting about the early life of Grant Wood. He and his family lived in the neighborhood. We went supplied with sun shirts, hats, and water. We managed to do the whole two hour walk. I had thought I might stop after an hour, but there was a breeze and when we stopped, we all stood in the shade. I sat on the ground some of the time and that helped too. The sun has cooked two of the pots of pansies at church. Not sure they will be revived with more water and being placed in a shadier place. Paula

Getting to the Airport

Hello, The bus had not come to the stop on time, according to the paper schedule we had. I tried to look up the location of the bus on my phone. For some reason I could not find that even though I have found it before. I felt a little panicky, but Leroy was calm. He figured we had possibilities since we have to start so early to take the bus. We could even walk home and drive if need be. The bus came with just enough time that we could catch the next bus for the airport. We did learn that there is a summer schedule. Also, I think this bus was a bit late as all the other buses were at the bus station. When we went home this bus was late coming to the station, but it helped that we did not have to catch any other transportation. A number of people were on all of the buses that we used. I am happy to see that. It helps the environment not to have so many cars on the road. We like using it to go to the airport because we do not have to park the car there for a week or more. Seniors ride free and there is a little guilt associated with that. We could pay as we do in the cities of our daughters. The buses do not run sometimes when we need a ride so than we do have to catch a ride with someone in a car. In DC we use the metro. It is so convenient. As it stops about a block and a half from their house. This time when I was looking at the map a public worked came up to help. Telling me where we should change trains and which side of the platform, we needed to be on to get to our destination. There are good people everywhere. Paula

What Time Zone?

Hello, In the last month our time zone experience has been: Midwest, Mountain, Midwest, Eastern, and Midwest. My body hardly knows when to go to bed or get out of bed. We will stay in this zone until after the fourth of July, when we will spend some time in Eastern time zone once again. The direct flight to Washington, DC was uneventful except for a delayed start. At least we did not have to fret about catching another plane. Going through TSA, I was asked, “Do you have anything dangerous (or some word like that) in this bag?” Nothing came to mind. He pulled out my travel silverware set that I have so I do not use plastic when eating out. It is my idea of doing my part to help the earth from becoming overcome with plastic. Unfortunately, the knife in this set was serrated. The man then said, “I know it is a butter knife, but the serration makes it unacceptable. You could take it back out to your car or check the bag rather than carry it on.” Since we came by bus and the cost of checking the bag is at least $35, the knife was gone. It saddened me. He suggested, “Look for a slim none serrated knife and it will be ok.” Cutting back on the plastic in my life is not an easy task. However, I did use my two sets of silverware at least three times on this trip so it helped a little. I was also very quick to tell the server not to give me a straw. When at home I almost never eat out, it is not a fast was to cut back on plastic, especially one-use plastic. According to the kid’s almanac, the plastic mass in the Pacific Ocean is twice the size of Texas. There are five such plastic garbage locations in the oceans. Paula

Graduation Number One

Hello, We were happy to be in person for Olivia’s graduation. Only two wishes that it would have been shorter than two hours and that we could have heard a little better. There were over 400 graduates, but it was the talks that made it all so long. After the program, it was a little hard to find the girl even though she is taller than I am. Seems everyone is taller than I am. How did I get short?

Afterwards we went out for a nice meal. With the family and all the grandparents. Tomorrow, we head east for another granddaughter graduation. It is a smaller class so maybe it will be a shorter event. Can you believe there was a time when we thought we would not have any grandchildren and now we are blessed with six of them. While we have been home, we have watered plants at church, unloaded and put some things away at church, discussed moving flowers when the construction starts in earnest, and worked at the meal last night. I served because they were short some people and Leroy stayed on the clean-up crew. It was nice to serve because I got to greet the people. Paula

Our Bus Trip To the Airport

Hello, Just ahead of our stop, the bus stops at the meal site where I volunteer. We could see that stop from ours. There was a long line of people waiting. A woman who eats at the site came to our bus stop. I have seen her there as well as at the church meals. I greeted her. She then said, “Some people won’t talk to me because my husband is in prison. He did not do the crime, but he is there anyway.” I sympathized a bit. Actually, I had not a clue what would be a good thing to say. After a bit she asked, “What would you say it is like for me with my husband in jail for a crime he did not commit?” “It must be terrible for you.” I said. “Thank you,” she said and then she went off to the laundry mat. I saw the bus stopping at the stop ahead of ours, even more people got in line. That woman missed the bus as well as another one she could have caught. Perhaps she wanted to avoid the other lunch people. The bus was quite full. I perched on the edge of a seat next to a very large guy who really needed more space. But at least it was a stable place for me. Leroy stood, but almost lost his balance as the bus started. At that a woman moved her things off the seat and onto her lap so he could sit. That was better. Paula

Being Busy Away From Home

Hello, Miriam does have some jobs for us to do while we are there. I do not think I did so much because I do like to keep busy and I wanted to contribute to the house being ready for the graduation party. We helped plant some flowers, weed, deadhead iris, move soil, and Leroy mowed. Leroy dusted a little and ran the vacuum in several places. I did a small amount of dusting. Humm, it seems I did a bit of sitting around while Leroy moved. He did finish one library book and started another. I only managed to finish one I made breakfast for us each morning and he did his exercises. Maybe those exercises gave him a lot of energy. Leroy helped Andy string some wire for the new water heater. He also helped Andy, Miriam, and Olivia get the new heater downstairs. While Nora, Svea, and I watched, ready to call 911 if there was a mishap. I did make granola three times. The first batch was all gone and about half of the second, but since some of them like it so well, it was good to get a third batch made. I also went shopping for the ingredients. Some of them were in the bulk foods section and it takes a bit of energy to decide if I had the proper amount. So I was working. We took the dogs for some walks along with anyone else who wanted to go. Those dogs sense when we were going on a walk and they trotted right over. Paula

The Home trip

Hello, Our trip home started with ease, although I always get a little anxious about it all. We got to the airport in plenty of time. At the check in kiosk, it had no record of Leroy checking in even though he is sure he did that. I wondered if he clicked on all the possibilities. A kind woman helped us. But then the next thing was that it did not show that we had paid for the, to be checked bag. I was sure that this had been taken care of because we had gotten a receipt for the purchase. Course I did not find that on my phone. We just went ahead and repaid plus an addition amount because we were doing it at the airport. The friendly woman assured us that when we found the receipt our money would be refunded. The rest of the check in and security check went quite smoothly. Although my backpack was pulled out of line and checked. I had a bag of nuts in there and she said, “It is alright, but it showed up as a mass and we need to check those.” Once seated at the gate I calmly searched my email for the receipt and found it. Leroy suggested I take it to the agent at the desk. That was a great idea. The agent saw the purchase and commented, “I do not know why that did not show downstairs. Your last bag purchase will be refunded, but it will not show up for a couple days.” I was pleased to get that done and it did not involve a phone call. Paula

Happenings

Hello, We are leaving tomorrow for Utah for the high school graduation of our oldest grandchild and a niece’s daughter. We leave in the afternoon. It seems like a long wait as usually we fly in the morning. But we can manage to find some patience. Yesterday just after putting some new children’s books in the little free library, a couple walked by with their toddler. I got their attention and told them I had just put in some board books. With the first one the kid’s eye lit up and there was a big grin on his face. He was pleased with two more. His mother told me, “We have found books in here before. It is so nice. We will read this when we get home.” I was happy to hear that. What a good thing when people can find books that work for them. A large tree about four blocks from our house had died. It was taken down this week. It is really an art to take down such a tall tree in a city. We think the tree was perhaps 80 feet tall as it was much taller than the two-story house it was next to. The trunk was easily three feet in diameter. It did not have a single leaf on it, but I remember walking and enjoying its shade. Paula

Life Changes

Hello, When we had kids at home, we were not financially able to manage trips that much more than a few day’s drive. Now our grandchildren have been many places, some around the world. They can never really know what it was like to grow up like I did when at 4:00 pm we had to be home because the cows would need to be milked. It was years before I was comfortable staying somewhere after four as it seemed to be time to leave. There was no arguing this point the cows were important. When growing up it was rare to have a death of someone that I knew very well. That has changed now. I am not always close to the person, but I certainly know many who die and I have even laughed with them. It seems to me that laughter is a more intimate connection. As a young person, people my age only rarely had bodily aches and pains. Now it is a matter of course as people have both mental and physical issues to deal with. I notice some changes in myself. Generally, they are not such a big deal, but some are rather annoying. I could work to regain any strength that I have lost, but the truth is I only talk about it and do not lift weights. So far that has not achieved any positive results. Can you imagine that just thinking something does not make it happen? Paula

Seminary Graduation 50 Years Ago

Hello, Wow, it has been fifty years since Leroy graduated from seminary. That meant a move to his first parish in Missouri Valley, Iowa. He had to learn how to be a pastor and I had to learn the role of pastor’s wife. Actually, the learning went on for many years as each place is a bit different. Even in one place people come and go changing the dynamic. Leroy and I went back to the seminary for a celebration of this event. It produced less positives than we wanted. When Leroy graduated there were two seminaries that have now merged. His was the smaller of the two schools. There was only one couple there that we knew from days past.

It was good to see them again, even if we travel with them and had been together in April. We did have some interesting conversations with people we just met. Too bad we did not know them from the past.

We stayed with Brian the night before the event. That was nice to spend a bit of time with his family. They were a busy with work and school so there was not much time together except for being with Brian who is done for the summer since he works for a college. We drove in rain most of the way there and back. I now know how to use the windshield wipers on Leroy’s car. We were happy to have purchased tires that stop a bit better in the rain. We had one sudden stop and they did a good job. Paula