Brass Band

Hello, The brass band was an interesting concert. They were quite good. They even stopped and showed all of their instruments. It was based on the British style of brass band. All of the selections were introduced with a little description. The concert was in the Shakespear garden. That certainly fits. I had wanted to visit the Shakespear garden. It was a good excuse to get there. What makes it a garden of that period, I can not begin to say. It was quite well organized and colorful. We were a bit early so we could walk around and admire the plants. There was a breeze scattering the bugs. The temperature was warm, but not hot and the breeze helped with that too. There was a municipal band concert after the brass band, but Leroy did not want to stay so long. I would have stayed if I had been alone, but it was ok to come home and go to bed before it was late. Today is so much hotter. Glad the concerts were last night. I went out early to water plants this morning. Neither of us did much outside this afternoon. Air conditioning is a comfort. Leroy had an appointment this morning with the cardiologist. I did my volunteer job. Trusted him to pay attention. He seemed to do a good job with questions and listening. Some of his meds are changed. He will have another procedure done when it can be scheduled. Guess these people are very busy. Too many people with hearts that require attention. We are fortunate that he can get it taken care of. Paula

Getting Ready for a trip

Hello, Even though the trip is still a little more than two weeks away, I keep planning for it. Perhaps it has been too long since we have taken a trip. Wondering which suitcase should I take. Old faithful or the new one? How cold will it be outside, on the bus, or in the hotels? What clothes to pack? Warm or cool weather? How much of each type? People often ask what cities will be visited. It seemed good to make a list that I can see them and start to learn them. Perhaps I should learn something about each one. Now that would be out of character. Should I set aside something when it seems we might need it? What shoes? Sunhat for sure, but it is worn almost daily. Should a spare go in even though it is not the favorite in case the favorite is forgotten at the last minute. How much reading material to take? Not a lot of time for reading, but certainly some. Perhaps the magazines will be just about right for reading and leaving someplace. How much money should we take? We like to leave a tip in the hotel room for the care we get. Then there are some meals that we purchase ourselves, but usually we use plastic for that. Souvenirs are not really on our list. Paula

Ordination At Church

Hello, We went to an ordination at our church last night. That is the consecration of a new minister who has just graduated from seminary and received their first call to a parish. This was a second career for this man. It was a good service. I drove and Leroy walked. I envy him the ability to just walk and feel good about life. On Tuesday it will have been two weeks since my toenail was removed. The instructions were to take it easy for two weeks. I have been trying to follow the instructions, but it takes a bit of encouragement on my part. Many days I have not even walked 5000 steps. Feels a bit sinful. Tonight we helped at the Saturday evening meal for the food insecure. It was not so nice for my toe. Too much standing and moving around. I did drive, but there was still about two and a half hours on my feet. Also we were short one person although the meal was not so hard to clean up. That helped quite a bit. Fireworks are going off in our neighborhood. Apparently it is legal until 11:00 at night on the weekend before and after July 4th. Leory and I like to be asleep by 10:00. Guess we can manage. Paula

Pieces Found!

Hello, This morning both Leroy and I went back to the parking lot where I had dropped the fob. We searched quite a while. Finally, I looked in a spot I was sure I had not parked. There was the red button. The other darker harder to see button was nearby. We were both quite pleased. Leroy suggested we see about replacing the battery in his fob which has not worked for several years. Previously we could not get the fob apart to get to the battery. We went to a battery shop that he remembered. The shop was dark and appeared closed with a sign on the door. It stated that they had permanently closed in February. One of us had the brilliant idea of going to an auto parts shop. “Sure, we can do that,” the worker said when we arrived. After a few minutes and with additional help they had to admit that they did not have a screwdriver small enough to take out the screw. These helpful people recommended a lock shop. They felt those people could do about anything. Driving again and looking for the shop. Leroy had noticed it before. We went in with high hopes and a little trepidation since we had heard it is sometimes quite expensive to work on these fobs. The woman there said, “I can do that. It not be long.” She was true to her word. It might have taken her five minutes and the bill was $8.03. Talk about a deal, no reason to wait years to get this done. On the way home we even completed another errand. Paula

That Car Key

Hello, Today I started shopping for books to put in the little free libraries. Again, I am looking for books that are of people of color or people who are in some way different from the norm. The purpose is to help them feel the importance of being true to themselves or their value just being who they are. I will have to go back with a list of titles that I would like. I found some things, but not enough. On the way out to the car, loaded with three heavy bags of books, the car key slipped from my hand. It smack landed, broke open losing the battery back along with all of the identifying labels. I was unhappy. All of the parts were there except for two of the button covers. I managed to get the basic unit together so I could drive home. With help of a screwdriver, the fob came open. With guidance from the second key, we could tell which cover went in which spot. Leroy then suggested that we take the covers from his fob since it is seldom used and the battery is dead. That seemed like a good idea. He took it apart and got one back together. But had to go out to the car to check to see if it is in the right order. All was good.

Paula

Returning to Regular life

Hello, I volunteered today. Usually, I am standing the full two hours, but today I sat some of the time. I was careful not to bump my foot. I have also decided that I must leave the band aide off so the air can help dry it off. When I am home it is bare. I also did some exercises this morning. That made me feel good. Sitting around much of the day is not my happy place. Tomorrow will be tai chi. That should feel good too since we do not get down on the floor with toes against the floor. Leroy is out trying for more steps and more black raspberries. He thinks they need more heat to ripen. We have gotten quite a bit of rain in the last few days. Leroy also did some vacuuming this morning. It is good to have it look a bit cleaner around here. If I could just get motivated to dust, we would be in good shape. Paula

Still Sitting

Hello, I am trying to be a good patient and not do so much the first week after the toe nail removal. It is hard because that is not my style. I also do not hurt so much that I want to stay still most of the day. I have read much more in the last few days than I usually do. I found some mysteries that I like. That keeps my mind a bit occupied. These mysteries do not have recipes in them or much descriptions of the rooms and building. Some how those things do not appeal to me. Today I have not put my foot up so very much and that makes it easier to read. Envy sneaks in because Leroy gets to go weed in the community garden with others. Guilt also sneaks in as I just find that I am useless. Leroy also picked black raspberries this afternoon. I enjoy those tramps into the brush. He has not found so many raspberries at any one time. We think some other neighbor might have visited the patch between times. At least it gives us a nice supply to eat with delight. We do not have an automatic dish washer so Leroy is getting in a lot of dish washing. I do help put them away. Tomorrow I will drive to church but Monday I am going to return to more walking as it will have been a week. The instructions were to take it easy for two weeks. I will be a little careful. Hopefully after that it will be back to normal. Paula

Some Hard Things

Hello, It is hard to lie around with my foot higher than my heart after having a toenail removed. For sure I was to do that for most of the first 24 hours. It is too bad the TV does not project to the ceiling. Or that a book does not float above one’s head. If I liked them, there are audio books. Or Leroy could tell me titillating stories. I managed to get through that time. I got up a little more in the evening, but the pain came a little bit. It seemed better to go back to elevating. Today I went with Leroy to pick out some more plants to put along one side of the church. I did not help with the planting, but gave orders. Those flowers are not evenly spaced, but they will add color. We did help unload the order of food items. I just held one cart in place and then pushed it into the building. I also put the milk in the refrigerator. After that I had to sit down and I noticed some pressure on the toe. We came home soon after that. Two days ago, I had not necessarily planned to have the nail removed, but she had the time. I called Leory to learn if he could bring me home since I had walked that mile to the facility. He could come. She assured me that I should be able to travel in a month. Now I am trying to obey the rules, keep it up and keep it clean so there should be no infection. Paula

Black Raspberries Already?

Hello, Leroy has been talking about checking on the black raspberries for a week or so now. Because heat has moved the season ahead, he thought they should be ready. I thought he was a bit ahead of the game. He was right and I was wrong. He checked today and came back with two cups. He did leave some in the patch because he had not taken a bigger container. Good for Leroy. He also got 7,000 steps. I only have 3,700. I did my volunteering this morning and came home tired. It helps when I do some stretching ahead of time. I also do not eat a snack on those days and I miss that little bit of pick up. There are plenty of things to eat at the place, but much of it is sweet and I do not eat that. Next time I will eat ahead of time. This afternoon we will go to weed in the community garden. We have not contributed much this year. In places, the weeds are sure they are in their new home. They look happy and flourishing. Yesterday we went on a hidden Gems Tour of Homes in our neighborhood. It was quite nice. Some of the homes are more than 100 years old. The owners were there to give some history of the building as well as old photos. Now if I can just remember some of it. Paula

Walking Summer or Winter

Hello, Walking outside lifts my spirit and helps me to connect with life around me. Sometimes it seems the best time to walk is in the summer. However, we have had two days when it rained most of the time and the sidewalks became full of water in places. Then there is excessive heat. Generally, that slows us down, but does not stop us. Enjoyment is taken down a few notches. In the winter there is some extreme cold which keeps us indoors. Snow is usually great to walk in unlike rain. Then there can be ice hazards in the winter. As my bones have become more fragile, it also sometimes curtails a walk. Looking down at my footing keeps me at a rather forward and downward slant. Upright keeps my posture intact, but falling would not be good. Today we delivered many newsletters. It was a bit daunting in the morning heat. The afternoon handily won that contest. I have only about 200 steps to reach my goal of 10,000. I am pleased with that. Leroy is going out again since he still needs about 3,000. He will walk more on the level so as not to aggravate his heart. I did talk to some people while delivering the newsletters. One guy is growing asparaguses which are quite small yet. I have visited with him before. He recognized me. I think it is my hat that identifies. He commented, “I would like a hat like that.” I kept mine on my head. I do think about getting a second one, but have not done that yet. Both seasons have drawbacks and positives. Such is the way of much of life. Paula

More Rain

Hello, Today we had more torrential rains. I was in Ely for the morning stretch class that I lead. The dark sky was quite in evidence when I was finished. There was some rain, but not much so I headed home. It quickly became more intense. With the radio announcing that there was a tornado warning, heavy rains, and possibly hail. The speculation was that it would be with me in about ten minutes. It would take me about that long to get home. The rain got so strong that it was difficult to see, but I kept going. As I was pulling onto a larger four-lane road, I noticed that four semis were pulled off to the side of the on ramp. Is that a sign? But I still kept going. Then there were semis in the road with their hazard lights flashing. After a while I saw several cars also with lights flashing. Sometimes it was there was a bit of clearing, creating a sense of safety. As it pulled off on the street for home it seemed much better. However, then came a long stretch of street that was covered with water. It felt so good to pull into the quiet of the garage. After I cleaned off the back up camara, and squeegeed some car windows, it seemed I should just brave the rain that was still falling and make a dash for the house. It was wonderful to get in the house. Even though in a tornado it would not be so safe on the second floor, it still felt better. Paula

Another Graduation Party

Hello, After two days at home, we headed to Minnesota for Sophia’s Graduation party. It was an uneventful trip until we got to a turn off from the interstate only to find the ramp closed. Then life got more on edge. I was driving so I just took the next exit. Leroy was trying to turn on GPS on his new phone, but it was a struggle. In the meantime, I am still driving with no place to easily pull over to wait for instructions. He finally tried calling Brian who was able to help some even though he was not with us. All the talk was going through Leroy’s hearing aids so I could not hear, but had to depend on Leroy to tell me. Nothing was going through the car radio which would have also been a help. We spent some time wandering around the U of MN. A place that we are not familiar with. Brian gave some instruction, but we did not turn in the right place so were lost once more. Finally, we got it figured out with Brian’s help again. We were able to assist a little with the party, although Brian and Jen had it well organized. We even knew a few of the people who came. And met some more of the neighbors.

We left on Sunday and drove through some intense rain storms. In the car we had discussions about pulling over or not. Neither moving or stopping seemed safe. In the end we kept moving more slowly, along with the rest of the traffic that we could see. It is good to be home again. Nice to go and nice to come home. Paula

Good Graduation

Hello, Nora’s graduation was over an hour long with a certain amount of formality. Sophia’s graduation was shorter and more informal. There are positives to be said about both. We did watch Sophia’s on line because it was just a day after Nora’s and they are geographically too far apart. We will head to Minnesota tomorrow so we can be there in person for her graduation party. I graduated with 28 people. All these graduations are quite different than what I experienced. But the sense of celebration is the same across the generations. There is also the feeling of grads looking ahead and missing what was. People are still basically the same people on many levels. Perhaps that is why we can read some old books and find connections. In Utah, we walked the dogs every day. We have only been home one day and I have not walked as much as I should. Leroy did better as he walked to church. Today he rode his bike to the museum. At Miriam’s house, we learned that Andy had hurt his shoulder, making him a one-armed man. Then Miriam tripped and hurt her knee. She could walk, but there was a certain amount of pain involved, especially with stairs. Their daughters helped with a lot of things and we did too. Sometimes the young and the old have to work together because the middle is not able. At least Leroy and I could still manage most things. Paula

Flights Were Fine

Hello, After two weeks away we got home yesterday. We were in Utah for Norah’s high school graduation. We got to the airport in plenty of time. We like that. Because we fly economy, we could not see our boarding pass much before we left. That did make me a little nervous. They appeared in time with seat assignments. Leroy and I were across the aisle from each other. No one was sitting by him after we had boarded. The flight attendant agreed I could move by him. Then just before we left, another couple got on. The man sat farther ahead. And the attendant ushered the woman to the seat I had vacated. For the next flight we each had the middle seat in the row. I thought I had looked at the seat number. Later a woman came up and said that I was sitting in her seat. I realized then I should have been in the seat ahead, but someone was sitting there. Guess I did not even process that too much, but assumed that I had looked at the wrong row. An attendant came to solve the issue. It was determined that the row ahead of me had two people with the A seat ticket, but one was sitting in my B seat. After some checking, they learned that one of the A people had been reassigned to first class. She moved and the wondering person in the aisle took her seat and I just stayed put with feelings of embarrassment. Otherwise, the flight was uneventful just how I like a like a flight to be. I know some think bigger is better, but I am so happy to come to the smaller airport here in town. Leroy and I both got our 10000 steps. In the two larger airports we got plenty of walk to the gates. In Denver we went from 88 to 22. We just walked and did not take the moving steps as we had enough time. Paula