Visits

Hello, Miriam and Nora were scheduled to fly in a little before midnight. We were at the airport in time and waited until about 12:20 before the plane landed. It was good to see them even if it was past our bedtime. Leroy wanted to get a smart watch so they helped him shop for that. Then Nora spent quite a bit of time helping him get it set up. He knows how to work some of it, but there are still many mysteries. A friend from church asked if we could help with the meal on Saturday night. They were still shorthanded even with the four of us helping. We just had to work harder or more intense. Leroy and I were quite tired by the end of the shift. We got in plenty of steps that day. When you come visit, do not expect to sit and do nothing. We might put you to work. It seems there are many needs. Being able to help lifts my heart. Paula

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