A New Pew

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We found a new place to worship at our church. A week ago we watched a video of the service in the dining area using a laptop. This time we saw the service streamed at the usual hour, and we were using a desktop. We could hear it without straining, and even better, we could sing at our usual volume. Whispering to sing is difficult! Grandson David grasps electronics faster than I do, so he was in control. People around us conjecture what life after COVID-19 will be like. I think we’ll have to install recliners in churches instead of pews. Some will have lift seats to help us oldsters stand up at the proper times.

Note John’s white shirt. He dresses for church, even if it’s in a bedroom.

Son John $pencer and Rose found a place to rent for a short term where they can more easily control their environment and lessen the chance of getting the corona virus. Our service was over when they finished packing and said goodbye. I’m always thrilled to have a good likeness of people I love, even if it is taken when they are leaving.

Sunday dinner was at the same venue as last week – Richland Creek near the rec center. In fact, we had the same table and sat in the same places, though Nathaniel was gone. This time we brought food from Haywood 209 Cafe. The wind made it a bit challenging to keep things on the table. We managed to keep it all under control and back in the car, following the camping protocol of “leave no trace”.

You can’t see the strong wind here.

We enjoyed a long drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway. This time there was no heavy fog, and we could see the long views that are so lovely here. We went to Looking Glass Falls, always impressive in every season. David went down to the base, but I’m glad to say the daredevil near the falls in my photo was not David.

Rose sent a picture of $ and Sadie, showing man and dog enjoying their new home after unpacking. The house is on a hillside overlooking a country road and a creek as large as our Jonathan Creek. If I begin to get jealous, I must find my CD of a mountain stream.

Sadie and John $pencer

Published by Anne Mehrling

I'm a retiree who loves to write about life in the mountains of North Carolina.

Published

35 thoughts on “A New Pew”

  2. It is unusual to see John out of suit.
    You can get mountain stream sounds with birds on Utube. They are wonderful to listen to . some even have video.

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  3. Some movie theaters have recliners in them and many churches around here buy old movie theaters and turn them into places of worship, SO you’re idea might already be happening. How’s that for conjecture.

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  4. We sat on our comfortable sofa wearing our comfortable clothes as we watched our church stream live this past Sunday. As soon as the service started my husband asked if we were dressed appropriately? We couldn’t help but giggle at how we looked and were glad no one else could see us in our sweats and t-shirts. Maybe this Sunday we will dress differently? The picnic by the stream looks wonderful! As soon as some of the pollen in our area let’s up we plan similar excursions.

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  7. I had a real laugh when I saw that one of our Sunday readers was wearing a full three piece suit and tie on Zoom. He told me he had his image to maintain. He only ever dresses up when he reads on Sunday. Otherwise he is a very casual guy.

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    1. I thought I’d like to live by a creek, but some of those folks get mighty nervous when the water rises. I’ve scaled back my yearnings, now thinking it would be lovely to live by a stream on a hillside. I’m going to be satisfied here, because the nearest stream is behind the house across the street.

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  10. Sounds like a lovely day and I saw a helium balloon in the background of the first picture – well the larger screen on the desktop works for all of you to view at once … good for David getting that service up and running. That looks like a pleasant place to spent a few months – John $, Rose and Sadie were lucky to find it.

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    1. The balloon in the bedroom was for Valentine’s Day. It moved into my room when John brought in one for St. Patrick’s Day.

      Rose texted today that the place they have rented is just what they had been looking for. I’m pleased that they are so happy with it.

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      1. That Valentine’s Day balloon looked good at six weeks. Oh, that’s good – it looked big, lots of room for Sadie to romp around and maybe daily hikes for Rose and John $. I just looked at our stay-at-home/stay safe order as they had the head of the State Police on and he said with nicer weather coming up, not to go “joy riding” … get to your destination, do the buisness there and return home again. Yet, hiking, walking and outdoor activities in parks is encouraged – in fact the Metroparks give three days per week of free admission (usually a day pass is $10.00 – I get a yearly pass for $35.00). Anyway, the Metroparks are all in rural areas, so unless you live down the road, or close and go by bicycle, then you have to be out in your car. His reasoning was: you get in an accident, then the ambulance, police, tow truck personnel have to attend to you and you might go to the hospital. I was trying not to drive to not have to go fill-up at the gas station, but I guess I’ll just do short trips 2X a week now and walk the rest of the days to the park.

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        1. We went out for a joy ride today. It was David’s day off, so we drove to a nearby town. We didn’t get out of the car, just drove around a few streets trying to see what was open and what was closed. On the way home, we got takeout from a sushi/noodle house. It was fun and didn’t hurt anyone. I wouldn’t have thought about the fallout if you got in an accident. Our mental health is important, too!

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          1. I agree with you – right now our mental health is a real priority to get through this next few weeks especially. When I was younger, my parents went on a joyride every Sunday, the “Sunday drive” and that was for years and not always with a destination.

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        1. David and I got tickled when John fell asleep, missing the whole sermon. He gets lots of other devotional materials and listens to religious music, so I’m not about to take his spiritual temperature.

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    1. I was shocked when people began to bring water bottles into church. It made me feel like I was at a sporting event. It was inevitable that John would take coffee to worship. He fills up a travel mug just to go to the supermarket. He takes at least one sip going and one sip coming home. If you take tea into church, try to take a spill-proof container. John stows his coffee under the pew. He has kicked it over a couple of times, and a woman with a cane knocked it over once. There follows a mad scramble for paper towels.

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