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