Planet Word

Hello, While in DC, we went to the newish museum, Planet Word. We found it to be interesting. It gives a bit of the history of language and how it continues to evolve. There were a number of school groups there so it meant waiting to look at things. Certainly, the students go at these exhibits much faster than we do. Many of the displays were interactive which has a strong appeal for the younger set. We also felt a bit of time pressure as we wanted to be back before our younger granddaughter came home from school. It is so nice to be able to use the Metro. We have our senior passes so we get to move around at a discounted rate. We each added $20 to our card and did not come close to using that amount. I did see a young guy jump over the gate where we scan our cards. I am happy to pay instead of trying to leap. We could have driven the car while we were in town, but we chose not to. We hired LYFT the few times we needed to use a car. It was more expensive, but much less anxiety producing. Neither Leroy nor I like to drive in city traffic. This is especially true in a city we have not driven in, except about 30 years ago. I suppose if we lived here, we would learn to handle it, but not now. On Sunday we went to our oldest granddaughter’s guitar recital. She certainly handles herself well in front of an audience in multiple circumstances. It was raining, again the hire of a ride was a good option. Their friend gave us a ride home. That was a gift. Paula

Department of the Interior

Hello, One of our days in DC we toured the department of interior murals. It was quite interesting. We rode the metro to be followed by a short walk. Perhaps we were not clear to the phone that we were walking, because we took the long way to get there. We were still in plenty of time to check out the small museum before the tour started. The video was quite interesting. Not sure how the tour leader knew we had watched it, but she mentioned it. There were seven of us on the tour which allowed us to hear and ask questions easily. The building has three miles of corridors, but we only walked about a mile on the tour. The building was built in 1936 giving lots of jobs to construction workers. Often the murals were in pairs across the hall from each other. Many of them reminded me of ones that I have seen in post offices or other public buildings. Some had been done by Native Americans, depicting their lives as they saw it rather than the European view. They also had a large number of flags from tribes. Almost 600 tribes have an official connection to the United States Government. I was happy to learn that they are acknowledging the pre-European settlers here and that history. There was one really early inhabitant represented. Leroy and I are standing by the head.

Our walk back to the metro was much faster. We got some help from one of the people who was with the tour. Good people everywhere. Paula

Babysitting? February 17, 2023 Hello, Sarah gave instructions and list for the days to come while they would be gone. Because the girls are now 15 and 11 they are quite independent and able to get up, get dressed, get breakfast, pack their lunch, and get to school on time. We were there basically for moral support. On our time, we went to the library three times. On a trip, I checked out two books, but only read one of them each time. So nice to have a library so I can return the unwanted. Leroy read more books than I did, but he also returned one that he had read before so did not take the time to reread. Each day we got quite a number of steps to make our 10,000. I am not sure, but I think the library is close to a mile from their house. Once we took the long way around to get there. Lexi was in a play at school, we enjoyed seeing that. I think she did a good job. Her expressions told a lot and her voice parts were clear and understandable. Nice to be there for that. The play was Cinderella Enchanted. She played one of the wicked stepsisters with flair. She is the one with the purple hair.

Paula

Good Visit

Hello, Yesterday, Leroy and I returned from our visit to Washington, DC. We were there while Sarah and Stephen went off to celebrate his 50th birthday. The grands are 15 and 11 years old so it was a fairly easy job. They even helped us with this and that, especially in terms of getting around the city. I find my stomach is still living in eastern time zone as I have been hungry an hour early. We also went to bed an hour early last night with an early wake up which was fine because Leroy goes to an early morning bible study. When we left a week ago, we arrived at the airport in plenty of time. The airport is small so we do not have to worry generally about getting through crowds, etc. I like small airports, but it does not have direct flights to many places. I spent some time walking around and some time sitting watching our bags while Leroy got some steps. Once, I stopped at a window that looks out over the runways to see a small plane (perhaps four seats) come in for a landing with one wing seriously tipping low. It leveled off and managed to land, but remained on the ground for a short time before taking off again. It was not long before it landed again, but with more finesse this time. It did that again. Could this be a learner? We could have ridden the bus, but we would have been two hours ahead of flight time or just one hour ahead. The first was too long and the second was too short so we got a ride with our downstairs friends. Also, the connection between our buses looked to be just three minutes and that caused anxiety just thinking about it. Now we had some walking time. Paula

Dodged Scam?

Hello, Yesterday, I was trying to book a room at a motel in St. Cloud. It did not make sense on the website when it had a $200+ taxes and fees line. This was more than the cost of a room for one night. I searched around trying to find another site for this place, but kept coming back to this. There was a phone number to call so I followed up on that. The man who answered assured me that that was a regular addition and all motels do something like that. I responded it was too much. Then he told me about the dates that I wanted to book. He had been tracking me is what I think now. He also suggested a motel that was close, and did not have such a high fee. He quoted me that and it was still more than I thought it should be. I suggested another place and it was even more. He kept pushing me to book it before it was gone. I said, “I want to check with my husband.” He said, “It could be gone. Tell me you email address to send the confirmation.” I gave him that, but did not feel comfortable. “My friend was quoted a much lower price.” “Prices change all of the time, when did she book?” he glibly stated. “I want to talk to my friends,” I affirmed but he kept putting on the pressure to give him my credit card information until I just hung up. I gave this person too much of my time, energy and peace of mind. Friends gave me another number to call and I was comfortable with the result. It scares me to realize how easy it would be to give out too much information. Paula

Do we have a pet?

Hello, Today I received a flyer assuring me that I would get a good deal on pet food if I ordered a certain amount. Do I have a pet? Not unless you count my plants. Checking the address I saw that it was our address, but addressed to Daisy Bradway. Who is she? Leroy just finished cleaning the top of the refrigerator. It looks so much better. At least he will not have to do it tomorrow on his birthday. He is going to pick up his hearing aids and looking forward to that. He is aware that he is missing parts of conversations. Paula

Reading and Eating

Hello, I am reading more and I am eating more. Will that change when it is nicer outside and I get out and about more? Less reading, less eating? Today I did go to the store for a short trip. I should have walked around more, but I am not much a shopper. Generally, I just get what I came for a leave. Not much joy is to found in looking at things I have no intention of purchasing. In many ways that is Leroy’s style. My mother was also the go get what you want and leave type of shopper. My father tended to look at things that he did not buy and probably never intended to buy. I believe that Leroy’s family was more into the idea of shopping for the “joy” of shopping. We had not cleaned the top of the refrigerator for some time. I tackled it today. I stood on a chair but was not able to reach the back half so Leroy tells me he can do that tomorrow night. It definitely took some scrubbing to get the dust and grease off. Now you know I am not a perfect cleaner around here. The top of the refrigerator is out of my line of vision that keeps it collecting more debris from the air. I did take a walk this afternoon in the sun and relative warm. It was quite nice to see the sun on the snow in the park where almost no one has disturbed it. We bought a number of cards for the family February birthdays. Some how we come home missing one envelope. We do have a bigger envelope that size that we will use. Paula