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