Winter days

These quiet days are spent mostly with my nose in a book. All ambition to organize and clean have disappeared as my body has gone into hibernation mode. The lack of sunshine and cold weather has drained my mood and my energy. Cabin fever is beginning to set in as I long for something new and different to entertain me. 

   Yesterday I finished the new James Patterson book, Liar Liar which was typical of those books he writes with coauthors. Good, but I prefer the ones he writes alone. I am now reading James Rollins’ The Malta Exchange.

     My sister booked our flight to Hawaii in April and we are starting to plan what we will do and how we will pack for the trip. That certainly lends some excitement in my life and gives me something to look forward to. Chris emailed me yesterday that he has to go to China for work in March. He has been to Switzerland five times and Germany twice. He doesn’t enjoy overseas traveling like his son Dan does. He and Gretchen loved Japan. 

    Another little bit of news...Scott is moving out of the house and has an apartment in Lancaster, PA. He is hoping to find a job in his field of sound engineering there. Meanwhile he will keep working for Sheetz. 

      

    How are you spending these winter days?

Things I don’t like about winter

I went out this morning. Even though it was cold and snowy I still go out every morning to meet my friends. Some think I’m crazy to go out like that every day even in bad weather but it is my salvation. I’ve never been one to sit around and that is what I do on days that I don’t go to coffee. If you live where it doesn’t snow much maybe you can’t relate to this huge pile of snow outside of Aldi’s. Actually it’s like this all over the parking lots in my town. They have to put all that snow somewhere so it ends up in big piles blocking you view when you try to pull out. 

This morning the roads were very slippery with ice underneath the snow. If you know how to drive it isn’t too bad. You just have to accelerate slowly and be careful not to press on the gas too fast. It slows everyone down. 

You can see how the ice builds up around the ties and how dirty the car gets with the slush and salt from the roads. It’s something extra that we up north have to content with. Our February has been a really cold and snowy month for us and everyone here is anxious for it to be over.

Missing

Have you ever misplaced something? Go ahead, confess...I know you have. Me too. Sometimes its mildly aggrevating and then sometimes downright annoying. And if you don’t find it frustration comes in too. I go crazy when I can’t find something. I search all the obvious places first remembering the last time I used it. And the search goes on...and on. Sometimes the misplaced object doesn’t get found for hours or days. And then, in the most unexplained place, it shows up. 

  We joke in our house that the Future People come and take the item to display in the future museum. Then they bring it back. Haven’t you ever looked for something you know should be in a certain place but it wasn’t there? You search that place multiple times to no avail. And then later you go back and search it again and right there, in a place you couldn’t have missed it, is the object. Well, the Future people brought it back. In our family we have many stories of how something was missing but later shows up right in plain sight and you couldn’t have missed it in your searching. And then sometimes the Future People don’t put the object back correctly and it ends up in a strange place that it couldn’t have possibly be. Yep, that’s our theory anyway. 

No matter what goes missing, the wallet or the father, the lessons are the same. Disappearance reminds us to notice, transience to cherish, fragility to defend. Loss is a kind of external conscience, urging us to make better use of our finite days. As Whitman knew, our brief crossing is best spent attending to all that we see: honoring what we find noble, denouncing what we cannot abide, recognizing that we are inseparably connected to all of it, including what is not yet upon us, including what is already gone. We are here to keep watch, not to keep.” —Kathryn Shulz, The New Yorker

Clock tower

 Our clock tower in downtown Bradford. 

There are advantages in living in a small town. We never have traffic jams. We can get from one side of town to the other in just ten minutes. Doctors, pharmacies, grocery stores, and appointments are all very convenient. The University offers many cultural activities for the public. It is a quiet life here. And I love it. 

Baptism

I don’t know why the pictures didn’t publish in the last post so I added them here. 

After Chris was baptized he was able to stay and participate in the baptism of the next person. 

Baptism

This weekend Chris and Wenday came over. When they stay with me they go to the OPen Arms church on Sundays. This weekend the church was doing baptisms and Chris has been wanting to be baptized for some time now and thought this the perfect time. 

The baptism was done at our local YMCA pool. There were about 30 people being baptized that day. The minister first explained what being baptized means and exactly how it would take place.      We were able to watch from the exercise room since Don could not be in the pool area because of his COPD. It was very moving. I am very happy for Chris. 

Seasons

Ten thousand flowers in spring,

the moon in autumn,

a cool breeze in summer,

snow in winter.

If your mind isn't clouded

by unnecessary things,

this is the best season of your life.

~ Wu-Men 

This is the best season of my life. And I’m not talking about winter, spring, summer or fall. I’m talking about old age. I feel so wise now and all those petty things I worried about when I was younger now seem such a waste of time. I wish I would have learned sooner that some things really don’t matter so much. Now I know what is most important. Love. Just love.  

True friends

It occurred to Pooh and Piglet that they hadn't heard from Eeyore for several days, so they put on their hats and coats and trotted across the Hundred Acre Wood to Eeyore's stick house. Inside the house was Eeyore.

"Hello Eeyore," said Pooh. 

"Hello Pooh. Hello Piglet "said Eeyore, in a Glum Sounding Voice. 

"We just thought we'd check in on you," said Piglet, "because we hadn't heard from you, and so we wanted to know if you were okay."

Eeyore was silent for a moment. "Am I okay?" he asked, eventually. "Well, I don't know, to be honest. Are any of us really okay? That's what I ask myself. All I can tell you, Pooh and Piglet, is that right now I feel really rather Sad, and Alone, and Not Much Fun To Be Around At All. 

Which is why I haven't bothered you. Because you wouldn't want to waste your time hanging out with someone who is Sad, and Alone, and Not Much Fun To Be Around At All, would you now."

Pooh looked and Piglet, and Piglet looked at Pooh, and they both sat down, one on either side of Eeyore in his stick house.

Eeyore looked at them in surprise. "What are you doing?"

"We're sitting here with you," said Pooh, "because we are your friends. And true friends don't care if someone is feeling Sad, or Alone, or Not Much Fun To Be Around At All. True friends are there for you anyway. And so here we are." 

"Oh," said Eeyore. "Oh." And the three of them sat there in silence, and while Pooh and Piglet said nothing at all; somehow, almost imperceptibly, Eeyore started to feel a very tiny little bit better. 

Because Pooh and Piglet were There.

No more; no less.

I love Pooh!  When I taught first grade I would read it to my students. There is a simplistic philosophy that comes from the characters that has such charm. I even named my son after Christopher Robin. I loved the story above and wanted to share it. We all need friends like that. 

It rained

It rained this morning.

I heard a noise and looked up

To see outside the rain

Pouring from the sky.

It tapped on the roof

And slapped at the tree branches.

It drummed on

And then

Suddenly

It 

Stopped.

And

Disappeared

Literary Club

What a treat we had at Literary Club yesterday. The program was presented by one of our members Betty Hach who was an art teacher at the Bradford schools for many years. I worked with Betty when I was teaching. She presented a program on Robert Frost and gave many interesting details about his life. Afterwards four of our members read his poems while Betty illustrated them with a chalk drawing. 

Sometimes the days get away from me

 

These days go by so fast. Tuesday seemed to fly by and I forgot to blog. I had my art class and I finished the flower picture in one setting. I seem to prefer painting fast. Anyone who knows me is not surprised at that. I have a saying, “if it can’t be done in an hour, don’t ask me to do it.”. I really needed some brightness in my house during these dreary February days. 

Today Don and I went to Erie to get out of town. I bought a new suitcase to take on my trip to Hawaii in April. I also bought a waterproof case for my phone to take with me to the beach and something to put my credit cards in to protect them from thieves. We had a great lunch at Eat n Park. I hadn’t been to one of those in many years and was impressed at the large, well kept salad bar. I had bruschetta chicken with a balsamic reduction on top with tomatoes and onions. Delicious. Don had the shrimp dinner. It came with a yeast roll and a cinnamon roll. Afterwards I went shopping. It was nice to see all the spring items out and I purchased a rabbit. (How could I resist?) Going to Erie is an all day affair and now I am safely home and ready for bed.  Thursday night is my favorite night for tv so I will settle down now. I hope your day went well. 

The little fellow

This little fellow keeps us entertained every day. We just wait for him to come down to the feeder. There are actually two that come..a red and a gray squirrel. I think they are very happy that they don’t have to work very hard for their dinner. 

We put out some peanut butter mixed with seed and they have been feasting and not saving much for the birds. 

Scott

I’m very proud of my grandson Scott. He has turned an extra bedroom in his house into a sound studio. 

Here his band Echo Threefold is recording. 

Journal Prompts

When I first started this blog in 2006 I did it for just one reason. I wanted it to be like a diary, only with pictures. I just wanted to record my daily thoughts and experiences. I would  hope that someone would read it in my family or my friends might look at it too. On these pages I poured out my heart, my emotions, my feelings, my activities. I only did it for myself. But on the way I found a few faithful readers who have been generous in their comments and for that I am thankful.
When I didn’t have much to say I would look to journal prompts such as these…

So today I will answer just a few of them for fun.
#3…Your favorite childhood vacation.
     We always went to the same place every year during the first two weeks of July. My dad was from the North and my mom was from the South (Georgia, to be exact). When they got married he promised my mother that he would take her back to Georgia every year to visit her family. And he kept his word all of his life until they retired down there. Our trip would start before daylight when dad would wake us up and usher us into the back seat of the car wearing our pajamas. We would sleep for a few hours until we reached a park outside of DuBois where we made our first stop. Mom would have us get dressed while dad cooked bacon and eggs over a campstove. I remember what a treat it was to open those tiny boxes of cereal and eat right out of the box. We played while mom and dad packed things up again and we continued our journey. Our next stop was lunch usually at a roadside picnic table by the highway under a weeping willow tree. We made half of the trip in that one day, all the way to Roanoke, Virginia where we stopped at a motel. We always loved that part because it was the only time that we did that. We would hop into the pool and swim and swim to relax and then eat a dinner out which was also a treat in those days. The next day it was back in the car for a long ride. We always looked forward to the trip to see our cousins.

#20…something you are looking forward to.
  In April I am going to Hawaii with my sister Linda. It will the biggest trip I’ve taken in a long time and I am excited.

#27…Four items you’d put in a time capsule
The first item I would put in is the scrapbook I made for my father called My Footsteps in Time which tells his life story. I also would add my printed out blog books. Another item I would add is a picture of my family together. The last item I think would be one of my paintings.
#10 ..did you ever get lost as a child?
I can only remember getting lost once but it made such an impression on me that it sticks in my memory. I was very small…perhaps five or so. We were at Jones’ Beach on Long Island. My mother used to live there and we were back visiting my aunt. I think it was the first time I remember being in the ocean. I loved the waves and was playing in the water. Then I looked up and couldn’t find my mother. I think I had moved down the beach. I looked at the shore which had a thousand bathers with towels and umbrellas and I couldn’t find my mother. I panicked and started crying and was very scared. Mom came right away and carried me to shore.
#5…what objects tell the story of your life?
Paint brushes, ipad, books, flowers, blue and white pottery, nail polish.
I hope you enjoyed my answers. I would love to hear your answers to some of the questions too.

Literary Club

Oh, you beautiful sunny day! How I needed you. The sky is blue with a lot of clouds, but the sun is shining brightly. It’s still a cold 42 degrees with snow on the ground but how the light has cheered me up. 

Today was our Literary Club Election Day Luncheon. The tables were decorated with dolls in nursing uniforms which were a collection of one of our members. She has over 800 dolls and was our guest speaker for the afternoon. She talked about Miss Rose Percy a famous fashion doll who help raise money for charities all over the United States. Our luncheon was a delicious Swiss steak that had such a spice to it that I asked for the recipe. 

Sending you love

If you have love in your life or are truly blessed. On this VAlentine’s Day I would like to send my love out to you dear reader. It means a lot to me that you take the time to look at my blog and even comment sometimes. You have been dear friends and so I am sending out love to you today. 

How lucky I am to have friends in this world and lucky to have my family too. There is a lot of love around in this world. In those days when I worry about the state of politics and the hate that I am seeing more often I try to believe that all the love will rise above it all. 

We must spread as much love around as we can. To those close to us and to strangers also. It is amazing what the impact of a smile can do. Just a small compliment can create joy in someone’s day. ANd how easy it is to give a smile or say something nice to someone. 

So on this day of love send and receive all the love you can. And know I am hugging you through the computer. I love you. Happy VAlentines Day. 

When will it end?

I swore I wouldn’t get to this point this winter. But today....I’m done! I may have mentioned that I have SAD (seasonal affective disorder) in February but I thought I would be able to get through it this year with sheer perserverence and saying “I love snow” over and over. 

  Then came yesterday with its sleet and slush and snow and wind. It was a miserable day. Of course I went out to coffee in the morning. As I drove down the highway that goes through the heart of our town I couldn’t help thinking that I should have stayed at home. The snowplow and plowed...but only the passing lane so the other lane was filled with slush. If you’ve ever driven in winter weather you would know that slush can be worse than ice sometimes because it pulls your car and there is no traction. So I rode in the fast lane (only I went very slow). 

     Next we had a financial review with our insurance man which went well but nothing I wanted to do on that blustery day. To make matters worse our bathroom sink drain had been going down too slowly and Don tried to fix it. He needed a part that could only be found in the next town and half hour away which meant we had to travel in that horrible sleet to get to Home Depot. To make sure the trip wasn’t a total loss we had lunch at Applebee’s and I stopped at the library and got a bagful of books. I was very glad to get back home safely. 

   But this morning really did me in. There was such a snowstorm and the snow was coming down so hard that you couldn’t even see the nearby buildings from inside the restaurant. But by the time coffee was over it had let up enough for me to go to Walmart and exercise. 

   So I’m going to treat myself to a day of doing nothing but reading. Tomorrow I’ll get over my funk!

                              

A little bit of blooming

During this time of year when all outside is white and grey I long for something bright. 

And these little blooms were just the thing to cheer me up. 

You see, February has always been a strange month for me. While the rest of the year I am usually upbeat and happy most of the time in February my energy reaches an all time low. 

I have to force myself to exercise and eat well for my mind is telling me to sit and read or watch movies and eat comfort food. 

I attribute it to the lack of sunshine this month or cabin fever. Either way my ambition goes right out the window and I find myself cold all the time. It is not unusual to find me huddled underneath a blanket with a heating pad. I even bought fingerless gloves this year for my perpetually cold hands. 

But what can really cheer me up are some flowers or plants with heir bright colors. These came from Aldi’s and make my world a little happier.  

   What do you do in the winter to beat the blahs?

The Silent Patient

I have been looking and looking for that perfect page turner and yesterday I finally found it. The Silent Patient was so good that I read it all in one day. I couldn’t put it down and had to keep reading to the end. I love a twist ending and this one was the best. Here is a summary....

Promising to be the debut novel of the season The Silent Patient is a shocking psychological thriller of a woman’s act of violence against her husband—and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive…

Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word.

Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.

Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations—a search for the truth that threatens to consume him...

A good day for a cup of tea

Take time today to just sit. 

Undisturbed retirement

Fireside enjoyments, home born happiness, and all the comforts that the lowly roof of undisturbed retirement and the hours of long uninterrupted evening know.. Home. 

               William Cowper

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love retirement. Who wouldn’t love to have all the time you want to do anything your heart desires? Retirement isn’t a time just to sit around lamenting that your life is over now. People are living to a longer age and there are a lot of days left after your job is over. And you get to choose how you want to spend those days. Yes they are numbered so you need to make the best of those healthy days you have left for someday you won’t have your health as we all know. It is a time to relax and enjoy all those hobbies or interests that you have had over the years. Do you like reading? Now you can read anything you want anytime you want and read all day is you wish. Do you like traveling? Now you will have time to take that trip and not be confined to just a week and have to hurry back. Have you always wanted to learn something new? A new language perhaps? Or a new skill?  You have time now to take a class or do some online learning. Do not be stagnant. Enjoy each day that is gifted to you. Enjoy the present. 

Change

 Here we go again. Are you adaptable to change? I have found that as I get older I don’t like change. Especially when it has to do with electronics. My Directv just went through a change to AT&T which wouldn’t bother me except this morning. I like to stream Directv onto my ipad. I can take it anywhere and watch live tv or anything I have recorded on my DVR. When I’m away it comes in handy. But this morning when I tried it...it didn’t work. AT&T has changed my account number so the app won’t let me in. I tried reregistering..that didn’t work. I tried deleting and redownloading the app...that didn’t work. I tried turning the ipad off...that didn’t work. I tried troubleshooting...that didn’t work. Now I don’t know what to do. I suppose I am going to have to call for help. I really hate to do that. First you have to go through a lot of baloney just to get to a person to help you. Then it doesn’t always help. I am already mad at Directv for raising my rates so high and this doesn’t help. I may have to look into an alternative tv provider. 

P.S.  I finally googled it enough to figure it out. I had to go to settings and log out and reload in. That fixed it. Unfortunately DTV has made the app not fill the whole screen so the view is smaller than before. 

On a more pleasant note I finished my painting in art class last night. I wish the photograph would do it justice. 

Chris and Wendy

I’m seeing a lot more of Chris these days since his girlfriend lives in the area. They spent the weekend with us and it was so much fun. On Saturday the two of them went to Letchworth Park in New York State to see the falls in the winter. 

Then later they met up with us and we went to the Olive Garden for dinner. Back home we played cards and ate chocolate cherry cake that Don had made. Today after church we ate some seven layer salad and lasagna that I had made before they headed home. Always fun to be around family. 

Little boxes

Since I viewed the Marie Kondo series on Netflix I have become a devoted fan. Her simple ideas of organizing have given me a new viewpoint and a desire to organize everything in my house. I worked on my linen closet before but still wanted to do more and I needed boxes. Last night when we went to Jamestown (more on that later) I went into Michael’s. And right in the front they had a sale on these photo boxes which were just what I was looking for so I bought eight of them. 

I used them to organize all of those drug store items that everyone has and everyone needs at some time or another. 

I really love the new look of the closet.