Advent Is Coming

Hello,

 

This morning, Leroy and I got candles for our home advent wreath. It was nice to have Leroy with me. He always has opinions about the color of the candles. We are both on vacation this week so we have time to go together. We also got some groceries. Leroy says he is not so into shopping but I notice he looks at a lot more things than I do. I mostly have on blinders when in a store. Get in, pick up the stuff, and get out.

 

While getting the candles I thought about advent wreaths in Slovakia. We always enjoyed buying ours at the local market. They were handmade, often with natural items for the decoration, and quite varied in appearance. Perhaps it might have orange slices that would create a wonderful smell as they dried with the season. The candles were always already on the wreath so we never had to buy those.

 

I am astonished how much of the year has disappeared. As with many of you, we had not thought in March that we would be spending the holidays with just each other. It will be different, but we have had that happen before. We can still celebrate and remind each other of our blessings and joys. We will connect with the family online. Certainly it is much easier to make the connection now than it was 10-20 years ago. We are grateful for the advances and inventions that allow us to do that.

 

Paula

Good Sunday

Hello,

 

We had a good Sunday, even though it started off a little on the skewed side. We walked early as usual and that was fine. It was early enough that these days the sun was not yet putting in an appearance. Those early morning walks help start the day on a positive note.

 

Leroy set the computer up so we could see church on the larger screen TV. Sound would come, but not picture. He fussed around with this and that setting, to no avail. We finally went to the kitchen table where we could sit side by side and view the same smaller screen. All was not lost, just disrupted. The sound was not up to a nice volume so we could hear the piano and singer above our singing. Eventually Leroy thought of something and got the sound louder.

 

Leroy was still upset about what might be the problem with the TV. I was upset because he was upset. One seems to feed the other.

 

We also had a meeting after church that we attended online with the computer. That was fine as well. It was also interesting to us.

 

After lunch, Leroy diddled around some more with the TV, trying this and that. Nothing helped. He called Brian who said, “Unplug the TV, wait a bit, and then plug it back in.”

 

That worked like a charm. I know about rebooting the computer, but failed to think of that in regard to the TV. We have not before had a TV that has so many computer components involved. We must once again learn something new. Our brains should be of enormous size by a life time of learning.

 

At some point, I did think this is a problem of the privileged. We have food, shelter, and almost good health because of health care. Life is good even if we cannot see the picture on the TV.

 

Paula

 

Dripping Shower

Hello,

 

Wednesday morning when I was finished with my shower I turned off the water only to find that it was still dripping, a lot. I tried various things: turning it off more firmly, turning it back on and off, and turning it back on and off with the hot and cold in different positions. As a last resort I called Leroy to come try his skill at getting it to stop. He got no better results than I did.

 

We went on to eat breakfast, all the while hearing drips. After breakfast I did some of the same steps to see if now it would work. Nothing!  I disliked thinking about all that water going down the drain so I put an ice cream bucket under it. I have that handy because I use that bucket for various scrubbing tasks. That worked, but it filled in about an hour and a half. Then a trip to the garage was required to fetch a larger bucket. I emptied that one on the trees outside at about noon. At that point it was full enough that it challenged me to get it downstairs and outside without spilling. In the middle of the afternoon I emptied again, but it was not so hard to carry.

 

We tried searching for the shut off valves, but could not find them. We found one for the toilet, and some for the sink. Leroy even took off a screwed on panel on the attic steps. Water pipes were back there but no shut off possibility. We did not want to contact our landlord because they were enjoying a last of the year camping trip which was a bit of a distance away. It was not an emergency so we just listened to drips and emptied when needed.

 

Before we went to bed we once again emptied it. We were both concerned that it would be very full in the morning. When it was very quiet before going to sleep I could still hear those bothersome drips.

 

In the morning Leroy went in to take his shower and commented that there was only about three inches of water in the bucket. Strange! When he turned off the water after his shower the drip was gone. Is he a miracle worker or what? He thinks there might have been something clogging the line and it was now gone. We have been drip free since that time.

 

Paula

Naked Produce

Hello,

 

Today we went to the store and got some naked apples, potatoes, and some naked beets. Just for good measure we bought naked soap. Just what is all this naked stuff you ask? It is produce that is not packaged. We are trying, at least from time to time, to make our lives a little less wasteful. The garden is perfect for that, but purchasing bare produce is another step in that direction. Since these items were also organic and local the bill is higher, but we are also trying to realize that we hurt many things when we spend carelessly.

 

It is hard to have such a frugal background and standards that do not live well in that fence. Definitely a small war zoon inside. With no children at home, both of us working part time, and social security, we are quite able to meet the expense. We will often donate to causes that help create a better world for many and I have decided this fits in that area. Leroy seems to agree, but then he might have been there before I was able to even think of it.

 

The naked soap is a piece of soap without a wrapper of any kind. I am not sure how it gets to the store, but hopefully just in a box. We do have to use a small paper bag for the produce. So that is some waste, but it is at least recyclable. I also try to reuse it at home.

 

Leroy did some more trimming trees out of the hedge and I joined him after my online meeting. He gets quite tired doing this but feels that he has accomplished something when done.

 

I read this over and it looks I as if /.preached a sermon, but I am going to let it be. You do not have to read it if you don’t want to.

 

Paula

Surprise

Hello,

 

I hung out clothes as I like doing. While getting an item out of the clothes basket I felt something brush my hair and then noticed a bit of bird poop on the clothes pin bucket. “Oh no is there bird poop in my hair,” I wondered.

 

Then it was a question do I run my hand over my hair or not. Totally grossed out was how I felt. I bent over and shook my head a little, hoping to dislodge anything that might be there. When I went in I looked in the mirror first thing. I could see nothing, but I took a comb and very carefully when through a part of the hair and looked at the comb teeth to see if anything were there. Nothing, but I repeated the process several times. I felt creepy, but decided that my hair was ok. Would it be better to be bald like Leroy and see whatever might have been on my head or to have hair which hid things quite well?

 

I am grateful for all the technology that we have available. It certainly keeps us connected with others. I do both Tai chi and yoga on line with people I know and like to visit with.

 

This afternoon we had a meeting with our financial advisors. It is so nice that we can do this safely. One of the people has tested positive with Covid, but he is asymptomatic. Good for him, but he would not be able to meet with people if not for the technology.

 

I took a long walk this afternoon. It was surprising that it was not warmer, but it still felt good to be out. I met two walkers and saw three bicycles. I am glad to see people getting out. I am happy that we have a mask mandate in the state now. I did not wear one when walking. Today no one else had one either. Some days others do. I wonder if it is needed when I walk outside because I can be quite a distance from others. Easily it is six feet and there is frequently a strong wind blowing.

 

Paula

Satisfaction

Hello,

 

Leroy and I went for what is turning into our usual early morning walk. We went a little different way into the park. We were greeted with a beautiful sunrise and a great pile of tree debris which is from the August 10, derecho.

 

At home, I washed a load of clothes and hung them out it was almost up to 40 degrees and warmer is to come. By late afternoon everything had dried. I folded my clothes and those we share leaving Leroy to take care of his things. Because he is also working part time, I have no guilt about expecting him to take on more of the load. Generally he is fine with doing that although he does not always think about the same things that I do. I perhaps have different ideas about what is necessary.

 

In the afternoon we went over to a friend’s house to trim some trees out of her hedge. We have done this before but it has been a while and things have grown again. Leroy found it especially satisfying to have something physical to do. He sometimes feels a bit useless. His strength is not up to the level that it once was. But this he could work at his own pace and ability. A power saw might be nice, but he managed to do a lot with his camping chain saw. This just has handles with a blade between and he pulls first one way and then the other. The trees are not so large around only about 2-3 inches in diameter.

 

Once in a while he would need me to help put pressure on the tree because the chain would become caught with the weight of the tree pressing on it. Generally then it took both of us to free it. Our friend also had an excellent hand saw that Leroy used quite a lot. I did a lot of branch picking up and hauling to the pickup spot. All in all it was very satisfying to me too.

 

Paula

Community Garden

Hello,

 

Late morning, I walked to the community garden. The rain had stopped, but the wind was strong. I could stand up, but it blew me a bit sideways from time to time. I picked the street with the lowest number of trees. I found myself looking up to see if any dead branches looked like they could be blown out. I understand the gusts got up to 55 miles per hour. It is so hard to imagine the force of the 140 mph winds that we had in the August derecho. I was not out in that. I was also at work where we were sheltering in the bathroom because it had no windows. It was hard to see the force, although whenever we checked it looked quite strong. I have heard that in Ely where I was working it only got up to 80 to 90 mph. I still feel distressed when I think about Leroy lying on the couch in the living room. In his pain filled state, he did not think it was too bad out. We are so fortunate that a tree did not hit the house. It could have been very bad for him.

 

At the garden I was happy to see that the weeding and cleaning that others did was quite fine. It certainly looked neater. I picked two short sprigs of celery, enough arugula to add to a couple salads, a small amount of short cilantro, and quite a nice amount of Red Russian Kale. I am convinced that others are not using the kale. If I were more ambitious, I would start freezing some of it. Soon it will be too cold even for it to survive.

 

Leroy and I took a walk this afternoon but we stayed away from the park because of the strong wind. One part of the trail is much more open territory and that felt much safer. We even met a bicyclist. How much work they had to do to move forward!

 

Paula