Community Garden

Hello,

Saturday we met with two other neighbors about the community garden. They have not been involved in the past. One of the problems is that they know little to nothing about gardening. They are eager to learn and involve others. We are hopeful that this will bring more people on board both in learning about the garden process and in the harvesting times and what to do with the produce. What a great thing when more people express an interest in something that is so basic to life. I am often reminded of going to Russia in 1997 and seeing many patches of dirt supporting cabbages and onions. We are so wasteful of our land, growing grass instead of food for people, or even allowing people to grow food almost any dirt that they have available to them. Beauty or a certain standard of beauty rules.

Yesterday I helped Leroy return his eBook to the library. This was something that the CR library person had been unable to do. I have to admit that it was mostly serendipitous rather than solid knowledge. My method was not how to do it according to the help prompt with the software. Whoever wrote that software was half asleep?

Later Leroy helped me with the laptop because I was complaining about the cursor going to odd parts of the page when writing this letter. He thought the problem was that I was touching the touch pad and causing it to respond to that touch. So far it has been good. The only problem is that I will not really know if it is fixed until I have used it for several days without mishap. I suppose that fits in the prevention area of life. It is hard to know if prevention works without out doing a serious scientific test. For now I thank Leroy because it has not happened once in the interval since we changed the response time.

Good that we can help each other with life’s little fixes.

Paula

Walking to Church

Hello,

Leroy and I were pleased that the temperature was in the 20’s. So much more appealing to walk in that tropical air, however when I stepped on the back porch I thought my foot slid a bit. After checking out the situation we decided that we could walk with care. It was a just a thin, thin layer of ice, maybe just mist that had frozen. Leroy gallantly offered me his arm and I grabbed on. It makes it look as if he was holding me up, but who knows who was holding whom.

It was not long before we abandoned the sidewalk and walked on the street. I suspect even one car disturbed that ice enough to make it not exist. We crossed the main drag and kept to a little less traveled roads. My gloves were some new ones and they were too tight so my fingers were quite cold when we arrived at church. Someone commented that we looked colder than when it had been below zero. I think I did feel colder today. Feelings are all relative aren’t they? And many factors contribute.

Sarah tells me that she and Stephen also walked to church. I suspect their walk was much harder and more exciting with over 20 inches of snow on the ground. They already know they will not have school tomorrow as many places are not cleared.

Leroy is thinking about riding the bike to work tomorrow, but there is a prediction for some snow here so he is unsure about it. He does not want to fall. Sometimes there are patches of ice hidden under the snow.

I see a squirrel sitting very quietly in a tree with its tail wrapped over its head. Relaxing, I suppose?

Paula

No Snow

Hello,

Just a bit envious of daughter Sarah’s family in DC. I have been a lot of places where they have great snows that defy the odds, but not while I am there. It seems like fun to me if I were safe and not required to go somewhere. At seven this morning they had 16 inches. We are just having a rather ordinary day in Iowa. Nothing to brag about in any sense.

I told Leroy about a wallet that I had seen that he might be interested in. We went today and got that. Leroy is more of a shopper than I am. He found several other bargains. Not sure it is a good idea to take him with me. But these were all things we will use that is ok.

For rags, I tore up a sheet that had a hole in it. Now my rag pile to be washed was quite large. Rags are really a staple in my life. I am not sure how others manage without them. I did not put these in the dryer but hung them on my two clothes racks which were totally full. I am grateful that we relearned the art of drying clothes on racks while we were in Slovakia. I think it is much better for the environment. Also these new rags have lots of strings on them which could have clogged the lint filter.

Leroy is struggling to use his tablet to read eBooks. Finally today he went down to the library. They worked with him for an hour before they got it to a good place. Not sure why it is not just as easy as most people seem to find it to be. Maybe now all will be good.

We went to a faculty piano recital at the college close to us. It was quite good with four of them playing at the same time for two pieces. We will go again tonight for a student recital. Two of the people last night are the organist and choir director at our church. They are so talented.

Paula

Losing Our Minds?

Hello,

Leroy thinks he is not with it half the time. Course I do not think he is much different than I am. Is that one of the great values of growing old together?

Today I decided to do some dusting because I had not done that for a while. I got out two cloths because they were lying together. From time to time I used one or the other just so neither would feel neglected. Now I cannot locate one of the cloths. Where can it be? I have searched in every logical and illogical place. I stopped and made the bed in the middle of this activity. Do you suppose I put it in the bed and very carefully tucked it away?

Every morning, to start the day, Leroy and I have a cup of lukewarm water with apple cider vinegar and raw honey. Years ago we knew a guy who did this. At the time we thought he was a little crazy, but when we saw what good shape he was in, we decided to replicate his “tonic”. This morning I heated water just a little to take the edge off, but not destroy the great properties of raw honey. Without using all brain cells I put it in the pot the make steel cut oats. After a bit I was wondering why it was taking so long for the water to get hot. Usually I put boiling water in the pot.

At night we close all the registers because we like to sleep in a cool or even cold space. Last night I asked Leroy if he had closed all of the registers. He said yes, but this morning I found one to have been left open. He thought he had closed it, but the evidence was clear.

None of these things are a big deal, but we certainly hope we keep our wits about us when we drive. I was on alert when I came home last night in the snow flurries. Leroy asked if it was slippery. “I did not test it out, but drove slow.” I answered.

Just a point passing though my mind. How is it that when I clear the snow off the back window of this car it seems to almost immediately get covered again so that I cannot see the traffic behind me? At least at night people have their lights on and I get some clues from that.

Paula

My Picture Changed

Hello,

Quite a long time ago a picture appeared on one of my email accounts. I could not figure out how it got there or how to get rid of it. It was a profile picture of a woman; at least it was a woman, who is quite a lot younger appearing than I. It bothered me because I did not remember putting it there, but who knows, I could have clicked on something. In the last couple of weeks this woman’s face is no longer with me. I wonder where did she go, is big brother watching and figuring out that was not me, and what is coming? Right now there is no picture there, but an outline just waiting for something.

Leroy walked to church today. The temperature was zero and the neighbor’s flags were drooping with almost no movement. I encouraged him to walk instead of driving the mile. Hopefully I was right. Leroy tells me that yesterday at work was fine, tiring, but fine. The problem was that the furnace was not working well and his office was in the low 60’s. Occasionally he would take a hike to another part of the museum that had heat so he could soak it up. He tells me that when he got home he took an hour nap and the best things was waking up and feeling so warm.

My work place was rather warm. I wore a sweater, but took it off because I was too hot. It does pay to layer. Some clothing does not lend itself to that strategy which means I wear it less frequently.

I read that book on tiding up, but have not yet tackled anything in the way the author recommends. I am thinking some day when I feel strong I will start on my clothes. There are definitely some items that have not given me pleasure.  It seems to me a difficult job will be to sort digital pictures. How many are there anyway? What are they anyway? Why have we kept so many anyway?

Paula

Leroy is well

Hello,

Leroy announced as soon as he knew I was awake, “I did not wake up once last night. I feel good.”

He did his exercises only to remind himself that he pulled a muscle in his back. When I asked if he was going to ride the bike to work, he simply rolled his eyes because it is once again a negative temperature reading. His cut off point is 19 degrees.

Because the high temperature is only supposed to be 9 degrees, I am thinking carefully about what I might have in the car just in case. When I come home after 8 pm on a very cold night, I notice that traffic is quite diminished so I like to be prepared for any eventuality.

I made granola this morning. It is so nice to make that in the winter time creating warmth and wonderful smells. I am so grateful for a warm, dry, comfortable place to live. I am rich indeed. Besides that I have stairs to climb everyday to give me a little exercise just by existing.

I have now read the second Harry Potter. I will go on to the third. It is not bad, but it still is not the genre I would choose first. I do miss reading a book that I just totally enjoy. I have to confess that from time to time I skip some words just to move that Potter along. I am not good reading about things that are not in my life or in the life of anyone else that I know. Not sure how Leroy manages, but he loves much of this type of reading material. Dragons, he says, “Bring them on.”

Me, I sigh and wonder who thinks of this stuff.

On another note, I remember going to the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial in DC. I thought this quote of his is especially important. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

Paula

On the Mend

Hello,

I am on the mend. I did not do a lot yesterday, but annoy Leroy and take a nap after washing two loads of clothes.

Friday afternoon Leroy started to be bothered in his stomach. It was painful. In the night he got up, went to the toilet, started to feel that he might throw up, moved to get on his knees in front of the toilet and fainted. Hearing the big bang, I got out of bed and started calling, “Leroy where are you?”

He did not reply. I saw the outline of him on the bathroom floor. I then did something stupid, I moved his head. I know better, but… He responded in a little bit, seemed confused for a short while, and was quite exhausted. We discussed the possibility of a hospital visit, but he said he was ok. In a bit he went back to bed and slept the rest of the night. I kept checking on him from time to time. Saturday he seemed much better than he had. This morning he announced, “I think I am getting over all this, but I will stay home today.” If it is viral he still has a couple days, but he looks so much like normal, but with a bit of a stuffed head.

I checked the temperature this morning (-9), the neighbor’s flags (gently waving in the breeze), put on my down coat, head covering, wind breaker pants, wool socks, boots, and headed off for the mile walk to church. It seemed much nicer than it had the last cold Sunday. I bundled up to come home and because my angle had changed noticed the wind a bit more, but it still was not bad. Love my down coat and good head gear. Oh and those old 20 year old windbreaker pants are just a great barrier. After I got home I saw that there had been an announcement that because of the wind chill, people were to use their judgment about coming to church. I was quite surprised. It did not seem that bad to me. I still remember when I subbed in the MN schools. The rule was that they did not cancel outdoor activities for JH and SH until it got below -10. Wonder if that still applies?

Paula