Celebrating

Ward and I recently celebrated our wedding anniversary by going to Blackwater Falls State Park in West Virginia. That's where we spent our first night as a married couple many, many years ago. When we got married, Ward was working in New Orleans and had only been at his job a few months. He hadn't earned any vacation time but his company gave him a couple of personal days to come to WV to get married. Because of time constraints, we got married on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Following the wedding, we drove 3 hours to Blackwater Falls to spend the night.  The next couple of days were spent driving to New Orleans where Ward returned to work and I immediately began a new job. 

We have visited the Falls since then, but more as a passing-through stop than to stay, so we decided it was time to have a longer visit. We rented a small cabin and when we weren't working puzzles or reading, we spent time exploring the park. The weather was cold and ice and snow covered most of the trails. Even though the the snow was not deep, footing could be treacherous at times especially considering all of the roots and rocks to maneuver around. There were a few slips, but no falls. Yay! 

Below are pictures from our hikes. 

Deer outside our cabin.

I didn't think there were many pay phones around these days,
but we found one in the woods.

 

Shopping on Saturday

and Other Things

So Ward and I lost all of our common sense and went shopping Saturday afternoon. We knew it would be crowded and tried to get into the right frame of mind to handle that before we set out. And our expectations were met. There were people everywhere getting ready for Thanksgiving. Parking lots were full and check-out lines seemed to stretch for miles. Despite all of that, we were able to maneuver through the crowds with success. 

And why did we not choose a different time to go out? Well, we've been waiting for extended family to figure out whether or not they would be joining us for Thanksgiving dinner. There were many moving parts to consider before deciding that we won't have any extra guests for that day. So as soon as we knew how many we'll be feeding (4) and what our menu was, we headed out to shop before the shelves were empty.

Our menu started out featuring smoked ribs, but that got changed when Theo was given a big turkey at work. We are going to try a new-to-us cooking method for it. Basically, you heat the turkey for an hour at 500 degrees and then turn the oven off and let it sit in the warm oven for the next 5 or 6 hours. There is almost a cult following on the internet for this method. We'll see if we're able to produce the browned skin, meat falling off the bones everyone is raving about. I think the hardest part will be not opening the oven or lifting the lid on the turkey to see how it's doing.

Back on the homefront, we have had a few surprises in the yard. Our camellia tree is blooming! We planted it last spring and it is a variety that is supposed to bloom in the fall. However, we didn't expect it to bloom the first year, so when it hadn't shown any signs that way, we weren't surprised. But we were surprised when after several frosts, we saw our first bloom.

There are a couple of other things that are braving the cold weather and still flowering. What a treat for this time of year. 

Camellia

Spirea

Cosmos

Dianthus

Until next time...

Tuesday 4, Home Sweet Home

 Today's Tuesday 4 asks questions about where you grew up. Join me if you'd like.

An aerial view of my town when I lived there. You can see that the business part of the town was built in a valley but most of the people lived in the hills surrounding the downtown, including me.

What was your hometown like?   Or home state or both! I've talked here about my hometown and state many times. As most of you know, I grew up in a small town in West Virginia. My parents continued to live there until they passed away a few years ago, so I was able to keep up with the town and the people there. I haven't lived there full time since I was 18 years old, but I still get the weekly newspaper. So you might say, that I have a deep connection to where I grew up.

So what was it like? The town was the county seat of a county of about 14,000 and the town had about 3000 people. We had one stoplight in the middle of town, 3 grocery stores, and a movie theater (built in 1907 and one of the oldest continuously operating movie theaters in the country). The main employers were a state mental hospital and a plant that made hockey pucks and shoe soles.

While you might not know everyone, you knew most people, and things were done on a personal level.  One story I like to tell is that one summer I went to Girl Scout camp with a friend and after camp, another camper wrote a letter to me using my friend's address because she lost mine. However, the post office delivered it to my house. 

It was a town where my parents did most of their business by talking to people when they saw them instead of calling an office, and most local elections were determined by what people thought about the character of the person running rather than what they promised they would do.

My town was a place where you greeted everyone you met on the street. I lived in town and walked to school and most everywhere else. Friday night football games and Sunday church were a big part of the social life for many people including me. (I was a cheerleader, so I was at most of the sporting events by default.)  

Did you enjoy where you grew up?  Why? I did enjoy where I grew up because of the sense of community. It was also small enough to be able to get involved in many things. More than once, my parents told me that I had to cut back on my activities in both school and the community because they were taking up too much time. I would drop out of a couple things, but somehow a few months later, I'd be right back where I started. Luckily, I was able to keep up my grades and home responsibilities (Mostly. I won't say that I always completed everything on the worklist in the most timely manner but the important stuff got done.)

How much did where you grew up shape you? I was greatly influenced by where I grew up as I think most people are. I learned to value hard work and be genuinely friendly. I learned to appreciate the simpler things in life and the importance of being responsible for yourself. These were values not only present in my family but ones I saw around me.

What were some of the best and worst things about where you grew up? I think I've covered many of the good things, but one of the bad things about my county was the schools were not in great shape. At one point, money was misspent from a school bond issue and people had a long memory of that. No school bond issues passed the whole time I was in school and the top two floors of my high school were condemned. (Note: The pro votes were often over 50%, but they had to pass with 60% of the votes.) I had many classes in termite-infested portable buildings that another county got rid of. But it wasn't as bad as it sounds. They were just fine except in the spring when the bugs swarmed. Then we'd meet outside. However, I had some great teachers along the way and competed quite favorably with others in college who had gone to much more privileged schools.

This is a topic that is hard to cover in just a few paragraphs, but this will have to do for now because the cats are calling me.

Until next time...

Tuesday 4, November questions

 Today's Tuesday 4 asks questions about the month of November. Join me if you'd like.

We're having a warmer fall than normal, but we're getting frosts most mornings now like we did this morning.

1. Besides Thanksgiving is there anything about November you like/dislike? As for likes, November is the time of my wedding anniversary. I got married the day after Thanksgiving so there's a lot to celebrate at the end of the month. As for dislikes, we changed the time at the beginning of November this year and I don't like that it gets dark at 5 pm. That means it's harder to find time to do things outside and there's more night driving.  

2. How is November weather where you live? Does it suit you? November weather is not great. It's colder with regular freezing, and when it rains, it's a cold rain that chills you to the bone. This month marks the final transition from fall to winter and I begin my winter hibernation under a fuzzy throw with a cat on my lap. 

3. When do you plan for Thanksgiving? Eat home or out? Menu? This year, like last, Ward, Wally, Theo, and I will have a small celebration without extended family. The menu is still undecided. I think I'll have everyone pick an item for the menu and we'll go from there. While everyone enjoys the traditional Thanksgiving menu of turkey and dressing, no one is married to it. Ward may smoke some ribs.

The Charlie Brown doormat goes
out right after Thanksgiving.

4. When do you begin your decor and plans for Christmas. It "officially" begins after Thanksgiving and the Macy's Parade when Santa arrives at the end. I start thinking about Christmas in September. I think about any gifts we might want to make and how much time they will take. However, we don't draw names for gift giving within the extended family until October, so it is in the planning stages until then. I start working on the Christmas letter and card in November, so they can be mailed out in early December, and we put up our outside lights on the first good weather weekend after Thanksgiving. The inside decorations usually wait another week or two. 

What are your plans for this November?

Until next time...

Good and Bad and Bad and Good

Yesterday, Theo gave me four questions to answer, two of which involved finding both the good and bad in a situation. Later, he shared this parable with me that illustrated the concept well. It has been around for a long time and the author is unknown.

Maybe, Said the Farmer

Author unknown

Once upon a time, there was an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. “Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically.

“Maybe,” the farmer replied.

The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. “How wonderful,” the neighbors exclaimed.

“Maybe,” replied the old man.

The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune.

“Maybe,” answered the farmer.

The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out.

“Maybe,” said the farmer.

Theo's Questions

In the style of Tuesday 4, I've asked Theo to give me four questions to answer with essentially no parameters. Just like with Ward, I gave the example of asking, "What did you have for breakfast?" And just like his father, he came up with a completely different set of questions than I suggested. Which by the way, require more thought than Ward's did. Here it goes. Join me if you'd like.

My mother was in a nursing
home at this point.

1. What's one good aspect of something bad that happened recently? The first thing that comes to mind is that I spilled something on the kitchen floor. Very annoying, but when I was done cleaning it up, the floor was cleaner than it had been. A good aspect of a bad thing.

On a more serious note, my mother suffered from dementia during the last years of her life. It was a heart-wrenching thing to watch as the changes happened. But also while watching her, I learned that there is happiness to be had during all phases of life. Even when she was no longer able to communicate with words, she still expressed happiness in everyday things such as the warmth of the sun or the smell of bacon. She would do this with a little smile or a glimmer in her eye. Definitely a very valuable lesson in a difficult situation.

In general, bad things provide an opportunity to learn, always a good thing.

2. What's one bad aspect of something good that happened recently? About a year and a half ago, I got a new position at the library. The new position gave me an increased salary, as well as the ability to do more creative things. However, now I  have to work some nights and weekends, making it harder to coordinate time with Ward.

 3. What was the last new or novel thing you saw?

When we were visiting Annapolis last week, we found parking meters where you could only pay with an app on your phone. Cash or credit cards were not accepted. We couldn't get the app to load, so we had to drive around until we could find another place to park. During this search, we saw more parts of the city than we might have otherwise. I guess this is another example of a bad thing/good thing.

Last year, our first good snow was in Dec.

4. What is something you haven't seen for a while?

I haven't seen snow in a while, and that's a good thing. But that may change soon.

In general, I found these questions difficult to answer. They don't sound that hard, but I drew a blank on every one of them, I thought about them for a full day before I could come up with any answers. That makes me think, I'm not a good observer of my everyday life (I just realized that's the tag line on my blog. That needs some more exploration.)

And not to mention, I got confused with the first two. I switched my answers a couple of times before I got the right combination of bad/good, good/bad. Sometime, I will have to write my own questions and I will start with, "What did you have for breakfast?" :)

Until next time...