At the radio club meeting last week, final plans for the TinMan triathlon next sunday were finished. I’ll be doing Net Control at the clubhouse. Kamille is doing my old station at a busy corner which gets bicycle riders going both directions plus normal sunday church traffic.
Next event, and last for this year, will be the Headwaters Trail Runs the 28th.
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The newer laying flock, the whites, are beginning to carry their weight. We are getting 3 or 4 white eggs a day. Mark didn’t expect their output to start until next month.
Way to go, ladies.
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As part of the ongoing “clear out the detritus” project, I came across a box of pictures and letters. The pictures are sort of fun … memories and adding names to allay future confusion.
But the letters … mostly from me to George when he was traveling so much full of day-to-day small stuff sort of like these blog postings.
One thing that surprised me was the number of people who came to visit when he was away. Guess they thought I needed looking after. Or maybe they were coming all the time whether George was away or not and I’ve just forgotten.
One entry which gave me tears was a note about my Daddy visiting, playing with the boys (John was 9 and Michael was 1) in spite of being in pain with arthritis. I now know he was having heart trouble as well, but he was hiding it at the time.
Letters full of life. I hadn’t known George kept them. Now I can read only one, or at most two, at a time.
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I have been invited to join friends in two different classes. One was an invitation to join a writing class at COS. The other was to learn Morse code.
They both sound interesting. But at this time I think I will pass on the code class since it meets from 1900 to 2100, and that would mean driving home after dark. Maybe I can catch a ride with someone. If so, I’ll reconsider.
The other meets from 1000 to 1200 so we could “do” lunch after. I went to the first session of that one yesterday. It was interesting and I want to participate. But wouldn’t you guess … life seems to be getting in the way. There are to be only 15 sessions and, according to my calendar, I will miss 5 of them.
I will miss one due to a medical appointment. I will miss another because it is the day after surgery and, although I don’t expect trouble, I don’t think I’ll be ready for people that soon. The other three conflict with days I have already agreed to work for Great Northern.
I will let the teacher know and show up as often as I can.
At the end of the first session we were given time to just write. What came to me was poetry … a Haiku …
Words can be teasers — Seducing through sight and sound — To fill empty time.
… a freeform joke …
I think out loud To woo the crowd. Is that allowed? Oh well.
I’ll spare you the others. (I’m still learning the new computer programs and don’t know how to post in poetry form.)
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Great Northern, where I volunteer for the food sharing programs, held a bar-b-que for volunteers last sunday in Bel Aire Park next to the COS campus. I wore a muumuu. First time any of those folks had seen me in a skirt. It felt a little funny. Maybe I’ll do it more often.
The regular crew with which I work were all there plus some who volunteer at events I don’t. Two of them know Mark, so as I’ve thought before (and most likely said) … I started as John’s daughter, became George’s wife, and then John-Michael-Mark’s mother. In a strange way, that’s a comfort.
At the get-together, I learned there is an indoor pool at the new Community Center in Weed, but not Olympic size for swimming. More like an exercise pool in a gym. We had been hoping it was one where Paul could keep up his swimming skills . Oh well …
I also learned there is a Seniors’ Lunch Program which meets every monday and is catered by restaurants from around the area. The first monday of each month is Casa Ramos day. They serve good Mexican style food, so I may add that to my away days until the snow sets in.
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I spent last thursday morning making strawberry preserves. We now have topping for pancakes, french toast, ice cream, peanut butter sandwiches, rice pudding, …
Next up ??? Peaches.
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Finished reading “Wanderers”, an apocalypse tale. It was pretty heavy along the lines (as is stated often in its reviews) of King’s “The Stand”. It was an acceptable, if long (700 pages), but not great read.
Next will be a fantasy or a light mystery. Maybe another of Coel’s tales of the Arapaho res.
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… and here’s a thought for every time you leave the house next week …
“A SMILE costs nothing, but gives much. It enriches those who receive, without making poorer those who give. It takes but a moment, but the memory of it sometimes lasts forever. None is so rich or mighty that he can get along without it, and none is so poor but that he can be made rich by it. A smile creates happiness in the home, fosters good will in business, and is the countersign of friendship. It brings rest to the weary, cheer to the discouraged, sunshine to the sad, and is nature’s best antidote for trouble. Yet it cannot be bought, begged, borrowed, or stolen, for it is something that is of no value to anyone until it is given away. Some people are too tired to give you a smile. Give them one of yours, as none needs a smile so much as he who has no more to give.”
… Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch
So … ‘til next week …