Deep Cleaning at church

Hello, Yesterday was the day to spend some time in the restrooms at church doing some deep cleaning. There were three of us working and we managed to get the job done without getting in each other’s way. Because the walls had recently been painted it was not as large a job as we were expecting. The other guy took on the more demanding kneeling job and Leroy and I got off rather lightly. We were still tired when we finished. Course, we had walked there and had to walk home in the rather daunting heat. We also watered the plants in pots under the overhang since they would not have gotten the rain. In the past I did not notice the heat so much, or I think that is true. But sometimes I wonder if we don’t glorify the past. Last night, Leroy woke me up by calling my name at least three times and then pushing against me. I was a bit groggy, but also annoyed. Then he pointed out the sirens that were continuing to wail. We got up and listened to the radio and the TV. As has happened in the past we did not seek a lower shelter since the worst of the storm seemed to be going north of us. We were grateful for that. Back in bed it took some time to settle down and get back to sleep. Paula

More of that bus trip

Hello, On day four we also had an interesting afternoon at Castle Farms in Michigan. It was built in 1918 close to the town of Charlevoix. It has a varied history as a farm, a place for rock concerts, and is now a museum and wedding venue. It has changed hands several times and almost fell into total disrepair. The woman who now owns it has put her heart, soul, and money onto bringing back to a beautiful place. Some of the employees there told us that when she is there you would never know she is the owner because she does any job that needs to be done, and does not look like the multimillionaire that she is. We had a nice lunch there as well as a tour of the place.

Our last stop of the day was Kilwins. They made chocolates of several types. Now they were working on Easter confections. They have several stores and they also make the candy at those stores, although we were at the main place. Many of the group bought some treats, but because I do not eat chocolate, we did not get anything. Leroy did not because he noticed he was overeating. It was fun to get a tour and see them work.

Paula

Community Garden

Hello, My plan was to be at the garden early in the morning to beat the heat. Getting up at 5:30 and being there by 6:00 seemed good and doable to me when I went to bed. I woke at 5:45. Leroy was not yet awake so I did not get up and waited until he stirred at about 6:30. We tend to wake each other if one gets up early. It was now breakfast time. After washing and hanging out two loads of clothes, I was in the garden by about 8:45. Leroy had an appointment and could not come. It was not hot and the weeds pulled easily. Standing up from my squat meant that I did not faint. As it started to get hotter, quitting seemed like a good idea. Before I left the garden area, I saw one of the college students. I told her that the garden was for all to enjoy. She seemed to know that, but when I told her what might be ready, she seemed a bit vague. We took a tour of the garden. Then she told me, “I am going home tomorrow. I do not cook very well, but my roommate is very good.” “I am talking to the wrong person,” I said. “No this is good. I remember everything you told me and I will pass the information to her.” She said with a smile. That made me feel good. Paula

Day four of the tour

Hello, I stopped writing in my notebook, so this is strictly based on pictures and the memories that come from them. The tapestry at the visitor’s center was beautiful and finished in a short number of days.

Our “hop on” guide at this point was not at the top our recommendations. Most of the guides seem to be able to jump seamlessly between storytelling and telling the bus driver where to turn. After the first missed turn the driver had to turn around. Remember this is a rather large vehicle. Our driver was good and managed to get it done. On leaving the park a turn was missed and now we had to go back through the park again. It was nice to do that but the schedule is tight and lunch was waiting for us. Would not want to miss lunch you know.

It was fun to walk in the sand, but we kept our shoes on and did not go too far. No sand in my shoes. The head of the sleeping bear dune has been damaged by humans who used to walk on it. Apparently the first peoples, who kept it in good shape, used it as a landmark to tell them they were getting close to their destination. Paula

Two movies in two days

Hello, We watched a bit of a movie while on our trip. It was just enough to interest me in seeing the movie, “A League of Their Own.” I watched that and liked it. Leroy read most of the time, but watched the end. I also had “Forest Gump” on hold because some quotes from that show had been coming in conversation or readings. It was so long ago that I had seen it. I watched it this afternoon because Leroy was volunteering and he did not want to see it. We do not have so much space to get apart if one of us does not want to watch something on the TV. We went to the garden yesterday with the yardy (city compost bin). It was an effort to get there and an effort to come home. We really did not weed a very large area because the weeds were so large. At least there is a sense of accomplishment because it looks so different in the weeded area. Leroy is going to a meeting tonight. I thought I might go weed some more as it would be a bit cooler, but he reminded me of the neighborhood meeting. I like to go to those, but have not been to many recently because we are out of town so much. We are learning another form in Tai Chi. That is taxing our memories. The pep talk is that it is good for our brains to learn something new. Of course, the tai chi is good for our balance, breathing, and concentration. Paula

Day 3 of mystery bus trip

Hello, Every day someone would ask, “Where are you going next?” “We don’t know until we get back on the bus.” Was our reply. There was often quite a bit of laughter at this response. On day three we started in Holland, MI. There was a windmill from the Holland to view from a distance and many flowers that were in the spots were tulips had been. A guide came on the bus. She was excellent at giving us the history and interesting facts about the area. Our next stop was Muskegon where we toured the houses of some lumber barons. Apparently these two families got along very well because they built homes next door and even shared the carriage house. The homes were similar, but different.

For lunch we were fed at a dairy farm, a very big dairy farm with an astronomical number of cows. They had 19 robotic milkers which cost $200,000 apiece. It was not much like the farm I grew up on. This tour was also very interesting.

We stopped at a coast guard museum in Ludington and then spent the night in Traverse City. It makes for full days with early wake up calls. When someone commented it was not much like a vacation our guide said, “It is not vacation, it is a tour.” Paula

No Lazy Sunday Here

Hello, Leroy ushered and I was lector at church this morning. Some choir friends were moving so there was a reception after church. I brought watermelon. Because it was raining when we were ready to go to church, we actually went by car. Not so many steps accumulated there. At church I looked over the plan for the service. Reading the lesson, my nose wanted to drip. I wondered if I snuffed my nose would it be amplified in the building as well as on line. Somehow I maintained control. I had the lesson and the prayers ahead of time. There were no people listed to pray for. I am always concerned about pronouncing the names correctly. As I was progressing though the prayers I saw names, oops. There was one Jan, someone I did not know. In Slovakia that name is pronounced differently and I almost said the Slovak way, but managed to use the version known in the USA. In Slovakia it is a male name and here it is mostly a female name, maybe a nickname. I had a book and two DVDs on hold at the library so we walked there this afternoon. That is 1.6 miles one way in humid 80 degrees F. We did have water with us. We stopped at the community garden and pulled some weeds. It was more work than I thought it would be since we had rain in the morning. The weeds are quite large and have deep roots with no desire to leave their spot. We are grateful for AC and the comfort of home. A snack was also a good thing. We also both have our 10,000 steps. Paula