Packing

Hello, Leroy manages to pack in half the time that I take. It is hard to know how many items for various temperatures one should take. We are going on a Panama Canal Cruise. It should be much warmer than it is here, but will it be breezy on the ship? Who knows? The temperature was better this morning. I walked to church with care as there were many places that I wanted to know what my foot was coming down on. I only slipped a little once. There were certainly places that the sidewalk had not been cleared. I am so grateful for all who made the effort to get to the pavement. Some drivers do not realize that pedestrians have some marked crossings and they pull their vehicle into that spot. Then it is a choice, do I go in front of the car or in back? Usually, the front seems safer because they will see me and not run over me. Sometimes they are so far ahead that it is uncomfortable to walk so far into the intersection. I took quite a lot longer going to church because of my slow pace, but I arrived. It was disappointing that at church, I somehow lost my mask, which protects my nose from the cold. sI had to depend on my scarf. It worked, but not as easily as the mask. Paula

Heat Wave?

Hello, It is six degrees above zero now with the sun so beautiful. I took a walk. It was good at first, but then at the end of the block the sidewalk had not been shoveled making it harder to navigate. No one around the corner had kept their patch of sidewalk clear. When I got to the end of the second block, I considered how to climb over the mounds left by the snow plow. Unfortunately, I had worn shorter boots. It seemed like enough walk for the day. It was so fine to get back to the cleared sections on our block. The only problem now was that the wind seemed quite strong. I was happy to get back to the house even with an abbreviated walk. I am going to a study at church tomorrow morning. Not sure that I feel comfortable walking that far by myself. I would wear my tall boots and wrap my warmest wool scarf around my neck and shoulders. I do wonder what it would be like if I fell when by myself. Yesterday when we were out and about, we met a car in a particularly bumpy place. It looked like Mr. Bobble Head was driving the car. We probably looked the same, but I could not get that perspective on us. Paula

In the Car

Hello, We went out twice today. In the morning Leroy needed to turn in his time card. While at the smuseum, I took some dead leaves off the plants, trimmed others, and watered them. They do like the library window as all seem to be thriving. Some books were returned to the library. We came home, had lunch and went out once more. It is a land of huge snow piles on the edge of roads and parking lots. Sometimes the mounds obscure the view of on-coming traffic. The streets have places of packed snow or ice which is at times lumpy. Luckily, Leroy’s car has all wheel drive and we did not have any problems, except Leroy’s hands got quite cold on the steering wheel. Our seats were heated and warm. The sun was shinning brightly much of the day, but the temperature did not get above zero degrees F. I wore my mask to protect my nose from the sun and the cold. It is great to have this nice supply of masks. Paula

Did you walk today

Hello, So many people at church asked, “Did you walk today?” Many added: I was going to give you a ride home if you had. I explained, “When it is more than minus ten degrees, we do not walk.” A tough North Dakota couple told us that when they were in college their personal rule for not walking a mile and a half to their destination was, -20 degrees with a 30-mph wind. Wow! Would it matter that they were younger then? They also commented that they dressed appropriately. On the way to church three fire trucks raced up the main street. It helped me to realize that they have to do some things in the outdoors. With three trucks required, I figure it was something on a larger scale. There was a pot luck at church for a guy who is going to be an intern at another church. It was nice to see so many people there on this cold blustery day to give him a good send off. Someone there told us they saw Leroy and I at church on the live stream. She wondered if she should come to church and give us a ride home if we had walked there. We did shovel a little in places where it had drifted. We could see that someone had come down the sidewalk with a snow blower. That was nice. All in all we did not spend much time outside. Paula

Confined At Home

Hello, With the weather we have been mostly confined at home. We go out and shovel. It gets us out of the house and into the wind. In our last outing we did not stay out long, partly because there was not a lot of snow to shovel and partly because we were getting cold. We have played games two times, read a lot, and watched TV or DVD’s. I feel rather hemmed in, even though I am grateful that this is a warm comfortable place to be. There are some who are not so fortunate. Leroy is getting a lot of steps now while watching TV. He does not get very many while shoveling, or at least compared to my numbers. I believe the wrist motion of shoveling adds to mine while his is just counting it if his feet move. I am currently reading three books. I like all of them, but they appeal to different parts of my brain. One is the Man called Ove. We watched the movie while in Utah and I decided to reread it because it had been a long time. One book is for the church book club. We are home only one day ahead of the discussion so I must be done with it before we leave. It is The Mothers by Brit Bennett. It does have a lot to say to me as serious fiction. The last book is The Shed that fed a million children. It is inspiring and uplifting that so many people help others. Leroy only reads one book at a time and they are all fiction, right now most seem to be mysteries. Paula

Weighted Trees

Hello, Our trees are weighted with snow. Some trees are breaking because it is too much to hold. Maybe the wind that is to come soon will help to move the snow round. We do not like the idea of driving anywhere in that, but the trees might like it. Our tree looked like this when we went to bed.

This morning when I looked out our bedroom window there was a noticeable difference in the amount of snow on the branches. The wind must have been quiet. However, I learned that our downstairs friend shook the trees so branches would not break.

We are so fortunate that we do not have to go anywhere today. I should have gotten yogurt yesterday when I was out getting some more groceries. We can live without yogurt, but just barely. There is some melt from the roof so we are getting great icicles. Some of that is dripping on our internet wire. Luckily, I could open a window and break off those icicles. I am concerned about the weight on that cable. I do not know when a service person could restore the connection. Leroy and I were to have a home health visit today. Luckily that was canceled. Even driving across town could be a challenge. It is not a necessary visit. We shoveled snow earlier and will have to do it again. If we wait too long it gets much heavier than we would like to move. How many pounds do you think we have moved just this week? Surely it counts for weight lifting. After shoveling again this afternoon, I know if someone gave us a snow blower, we would not turn it down. I like to shovel snow so this is a new thought for me. Paula

Driving on Snow

Hello, I realized as I pulled out of the garage, that I had not yet driven in snow this year. We just pushed the new two or three inches of snow to the side of the alley so Leroy could get his car out and go to work. After lunch I decided to go get a hair cut and get a few more groceries. I found it easy to pull out of the garage, but turning was not so easy as we had not shoveled the part where I pull ahead and turn the wheel. I guess I managed to get the job done by backing up two times. The rest of the alley was not fun, but not too bad. The street had a few frozen bumps on it. The interstate was clear, but I do not use it very long. The side streets required a bit more alertness. There was no waiting to get a haircut as there was only one other person in there while I was there. I like the cut. The grocery store was busy as other people must be loading up before the next wave of snow comes in tonight and tomorrow. After that, the noticeable factors will be the low temperatures with strong winds. We are hoping the power stays on. When I got home, I realized that I had not closed the garage door. It seemed everything I could think of was still there. Guess navigating that turn distracted me. Luckily not so many people roaming around. I did not hop right out of bed this morning. Leroy had almost finished in back of the garage by the time I got out there. When we went out front to do the sidewalk the neighbor had reached the steps in front of our house. He was moving quite fine, but he is so thin and I know he does not feel well. Maybe tomorrow we can help him again. Paula