Hello,
With our bedroom cleaning project we
got out both vacuums which we almost never do. Are we vacuum hoarders? When we
lived in a larger home it was nice to have one on each floor. Here we have some
struggle to fit them into the space, but I thought I might be prepared for the
future. Anyway the floor in the closet was dirty so I took out everything that
was on the floor. When putting things away I noticed something hanging toward
the back that I could not identify. On extracting it, I was overjoyed to find
that it was my “lost” sun hat. When searching for it, months ago, I suspected
that I put it in some safe out of the way place. I am a great hider. The next
question is: Where will I store it now?
I am grateful for Leroy and his help
with this cleaning. He helped move the larger pieces out and in, brushed down
the ceiling and the walls, and washed much of the woodwork. It almost makes me
wonder, when I see this list, if I did anything although I remember moving
around a lot and working up a sweat. So I must have been busy.
I am so pleased my pink cactus is now
blooming again. This is the third time this season. It was so loaded with
blooms that I did not think it do it again two more times. The white only is
only doing two blooms at this time.
Paula
Hello,
Leroy and I have decided to clean a
room from time to time. This would be part of our spring cleaning that seems to
have disappeared into the air two or three years ago. Some months ago I cleaned
the closet in our bedroom, expecting that we would soon clean the room. Somehow
that never happened. So today is the day we will tackle that. We have removed
everything from the room and will tackle the cleaning in the afternoon when
both of us will be available.
This morning Leroy had an online
meeting. Also the museum staff is to call all members to check on them and see
how life is going. Leroy has 100 calls to make. He has made a few of them. He thought
this morning he would call those in the Eastern Time zone only to learn that he
had already called all those people. That put his schedule off.
While he was doing some other work, I
called the people we visited in Guatape, Columbia. They are well although quarantined,
in part because their son, from the United States, is now visiting. As soon as
any virus cases were verified, the country of Columbia mostly shut down. Their
area is a tourist area so it is very quiet. They are concerned about the people
who depend on tourists to make a living. They also commented that all of the
six political parties are working well together to get the best results for the
most people.
I also had a long email from a Slovak
friend. She also felt that Slovakia shut things down very quickly, hopefully it
was soon enough to slow down the spread. She is fortunate to have a daughter
who lives in a house with a garden so she can stay there and work in the
garden. She lives in Bratislava and if in her apartment, would be quite
confined to a small area.
Paula
Hello,
This morning Leroy said, “Our walk to church
will be easy and short.”
I thought about the fact that we
usually walk that mile to church, but with live streaming that walk would not
happen. The next best thing was to wear a path in the carpeting. Sorry
downstairs friends! I started off at about our usual departure time. It seemed
that I needed a bit of tea from time to time as well as some other unscheduled
stops to put something away or adjust the position of something else. What a
drag, but I finally made it. Even in cold discomfort, the outdoors wins as the
better place to walk.
It was nice to sing the hymns, speak
some liturgy, join in prayers, and listen to the sermon. We certainly missed
the social contact, but it is interesting to experience a different way of
being with God. It helps me to empathize with those who have not been able to
get out for a long time. With this first attempt using this technology, some
had difficulty accessing the service. Leroy and I could get on but it would
blip from time to time. After it was over people could chat, but somehow we clicked
off and could not get back to that area. Learning, learning all the time we are
learning. I am not complaining just noting that change can bring challenges.
We did go out this afternoon and walk.
I now only need 400 more steps to reach 10,000. That should be fairly easy. At
least it will not take me 15 minutes. We
also did a little bit of tai chi this morning. It feels so good to move more
parts of the body.
Paula
Hello,
I have a spiritual mentor. We talked
about how to meet since we have usually met at her house. She said, “I am fine
with still having you come here, but if you are not comfortable we can figure
out something else.”
I told her about my shopping trip that
was like a serious mission. She asked if I had gotten everything I needed. When
I told her I had not gotten disinfectant wipes or hand sanitizer she said, “I
have a habit of stockpiling and hording those things even before all of this
came up. I am going out in a little bit and I can share some with you. I will
call when I am at your house and I can hand it off.”
She drove up, had the things in a
plastic bag, stretched her arm of the window, and I took it. Life has certainly
changed. What a gift! Values do change.
Later we did a video chat for our
meeting and we have set up another for next month since we do not feel this
will be over before that.
I have finished the book I had from
the library. All that is in my book basket are lonely bookmarks. I do have
three books on the shelf that I thought I wanted to read, but now apparently is
the time when they will look more attractive than they have in the past.
Leroy is working on his last library
book. He also has three books around here so we will do those before we move to
ebooks. We both like paper better, but when we need, to we can change.
I will have to say we have watched a
bit more TV and the amount of ads astonish me. I do not have much patience for
that.
Paula
Hello,
When coming home from the shopping
trip two days ago, at a stop sign there was a rather loud noise as if someone
had lost a muffler. Leroy said, “Was that us?”
I had no idea, but thought, “Surely
not.”
However as we moved on there was a
noise that seemed to go with us in a rather rhythmical pattern. At the next
stop sign there was again that noise, but not quite as loud. Going into the
garage it was still there, but not so much. We had a number of groceries to put
away so we ignored the vehicle. It was raining and our garage is a ways from
the house so Leroy did not venture out again and then forgot about it. I had
been in the garage for something else and looked at the wheel where I thought
the sound might be coming from, but could seen nothing that I knew anything
about. You realize that I do not know what I was looking for, but I wondered if
something had been caught in the wheel. Leroy forgot about it again yesterday.
This morning he took that vehicle for
his last work run and he said, “There was no noise.” Hopefully his hearing is
good because it is not going to have any attention now.
Yesterday I went to another store
where I get my flour. They had a special early hour for seniors. I was quite
pleased that rubber gloves were available for all customers as was hand
sanitizer. In the bulk food area they requested that the gloves be used. They had
glove places scattered throughout the store. I believe this will be my last
trip out in the community for some time to come. As I cannot think of anything
else that we do not have here. Seems to me we will “make do”.
Paula
Hello,
At least I am not alone with Leroy
here too. Once in a while he even talks to me. However he is working at least
six hours a day. So much of the time he is occupied. He will go back in to work
tomorrow to bring home more things as the building will be totally closed next week.
I guess you could say he is getting prepared.
We did a shopping trip yesterday
morning. It was interesting in the big box store, where hand sanitizer,
alcohol, and toilet paper were still not on the shelf, there were few
customers. We then went to a grocery store that was much busier than I thought
it would be. We tried to stay a respectful distance from people and managed
quite well until we checked out. I am quite grateful for those workers who can
still come to work.
For some reason in the middle of the
store I thought about how some of the people I was seeing could be dead in a
relatively short while. Somehow it made them seem so human. I offered up some
prayers. I hope that coming out of all this we as a culture will realize that
we are all dependent on one another. Kindness and courtesy should rule.
People were so serious and did not
spend much time loitering, but seemed to be on a mission. Soon after we came in
the door, Leroy noticed that someone had a package of toilet paper so he said
just as he was walking off, “You start getting the other things and I will get
some toilet paper.”
I thought that was a bit silly, but by
the time I got to that aisle it was all gone. Smart Leroy? Someone in the
parking lot said they would take our cart back for us. As they were waiting for
it they remarked about how rude so many people are, cutting in line, etc. I was
grateful that we did not see any of that.
Paula
Hello,
We have now lived in this place for
eight years. As I have said before we only expected to stay a year and a half. Obviously
we know little about the path our lives will take.
Today Leroy went to the museum to
bring home a computer as well as some items to catalog. He is all set up and
did a little of that today.
I went out this morning and picked up
trash on my block. I wore gloves and never touched my face. Also the trash has
probably been there since some snow in January certainly it was not new stuff. So
besides the virus I do not want to touch it because it is quite unsavory. I do
wish smokers would stop putting butts on the ground. I understand that is not
good for the environment. Also they are hard to pick up when wearing thick
gloves. I got four plastic grocery type bags full. We had a bag from the city
that we can fill with trash from the streets, but that is now full so I put two
bags in the regular garbage. We do not have so much garbage each week so it is
ok.
To get my 10,000 steps I did take a
walk on the bike trail in the nice afternoon sun. Today there were more people
out. Yesterday I only met three, today it was about 13.
Life is certainly taking a new path
now. We are trying to be flexible and go with what is best for all. I am
grateful for phones, computers and TV’s. What a wealth of connections we have
available!
Paula
