Cold Start

I was pleased when neighbor Joyce asked for help getting her car to the shop for a brake job. Her first idea was to join my walk as I reached the stop sign and she came up the steep hill. Luckily, we came up with an alternative, because it was much too cold for the majority of people. 22F (-5.556C) Yes, daughter Lise, I should have listened to you and gotten used to putting the car in the garage. Ten minutes ahead of time I started the frosted car, and the windows were clear when I needed to pick her up.

I must have cleaned off my car hundreds of times in New York, because I worked for 23 years. Our garages were always full of junk, except the time SIL Barbara and Thom helped us clean them out. Those thoughts led me to a small chest in the hall where I rummaged for driving gloves. Eureka! I found a pair I haven’t used for over 10 years. They and my NY coat kept me warm.

Why was this a pleasure? It shows the world’s best neighborhood is working as it should. We always help each other whenever possible. I had to be at the house and dressed by 9 for a man to do a routine check on the heating system. I could not have walked at my usual time. It was easy to help Joyce. Goodness knows, she has helped me many times, and I could need more help in the future. Oh! If only everyone in the world had lovely neighbors!

Picture This!!

I want to share a website that I think is fantastic. It’s https://stoppingup.com/ Ross Viviano is a landscape photographer. Some of his photos were taken in the area where I live, and I am particularly fond of them.

I met Ross when he came to see niece Chrissie when she last visited me. They are friends, and he lives nearby. She told me he was a photographer, and I simply took her word for it. Big mistake! I didn’t look at his website until now. His scenes are marvelous, as fresh and crisp as all outdoors. I drank in the beauty, going from one photo to another.

I have one of his local waterfall scenes in my bathroom! Chrissie had the idea of having a shower curtain made using one of his photographs. She knows I decorate my bathroom more often than the living room, and this is wonderful. I enjoy it from the front and the back, with and without sounds of falling water. The shower is small and does not show off the photograph as it should be seen, so I plan to move it to the main bathroom soon. I want everyone who comes in my house to see it at its very best.

An Odd Yardstick

I used a candlelight carol service as a yardstick! As I rode to the service with another church member, I realized I hadn’t been inside the church for a long time, because I now attend regular services there via online streaming. The last time I was there in person was for the same gathering a year ago. It was marvelous to be among familiar people that I often talked to when John was alive and driving us to church.

After the service was over, I realized there was a marked contrast between last year and this. I had no hesitancy in crossing the room to speak to people before. This time I couldn’t see faces clearly. I hung back. Because the people are friendly, they came to me and greeted me warmly. They’ll never know how much I appreciated that. I had read that losing an ability causes older people to withdraw, and now I’ve experienced the beginning of it.

Many women’s voices don’t carry well. Because of that, I couldn’t understand the announcements. I followed the crowd and asked people around me what was said. There is a growing distance between me and the rest of the world. It’s no wonder I feel more comfortable standing by someone I know who will interpret for me.

My best comparison between last year and this is that I don’t think my brain is failing nearly as quickly as my eyesight and hearing. As soon as people came within arm’s length, I could have told you their first and last names. What a relief that was! I may not see you or hear you easily, but given half a chance, I’ll call you by name.

Winter Tap Dancing

As I was walking, neighbor D stopped her car to chat for a moment. She commented that it was going to get very cold – eleven degrees! That didn’t shock me, since I had walked a day or two ago at that same temperature. 11 F is -11.667 C. I said I would watch it and be ready to do my tap dance – dancing around the house setting all the cold water taps to drip water. Just a steady drip will prevent the pipes from freezing and bursting.

We never did that in New York, because our pipes were in the basement, along with the heating unit for the house. It wasn’t exactly warm down there, but it was never below freezing. In North Carolina there are vents scattered around the walls in the crawl space beneath the house. It could get quite cold, because the heat pumps are outside and not adding heat to the air. D said they will run a small heater in their garage under the house. That will keep their floors from being quite as cold as mine. I think a mug of pumpkin spice hot chocolate will be my reward after doing the tap dance.

I added the photo above just because it looks cold. Lise and Toke took it on the lawn at Biltmore.

End of Lise’s Visit

Daughter Lise and friend Toke did a number of repairs around the house. They replaced batteries in smoke alarms, enlarged holes in the burn barrel and moved it to a new location, brought in the Christmas totes filled with decorations, and helped me change solar lights from pumpkins to red stakes.

We all worked on the family jigsaw puzzle.

Lise took a photo of my new togs – penguin nightshirt, candy cane tights, and warm fuzzy socks.

I needed warm clothing and was glad daughters Lise and Kate convinced me to buy thermal underwear. I wore the top and bottom walking in snow the day before Lise left. I think it was 19 F (-7.222 C) when we walked. The day after Lise’s departure it was 11 F (-11.667 C) when I went out and 12 F when I returned. I saw a notice from the alert system that Haywood County opened a temporary warming station to assist those affected by a recent power outage. Brrr!

I failed to get a photo of Lise with neighbor Cindy when Cindy drove us to the airport. I think my brain was cold. Lise texted me when she was boarding the flight from Amsterdam to Copenhagen. I presume she got there safely and is now at home.

Thanksgiving 2024

We had a great Thanksgiving celebration, although there were only three of us. I took one photo. Toke was at the stove, and I asked Lise to stand with him. He was making a Danish dish which translates as Brown Potatoes. That is a humdrum name for something I would describe as fancy caramelized potatoes. He boiled the small potatoes the day before, and I think he peeled them then. The next day he browned them in butter and sugar, shaking the pan from time to time. The result was marvelous.

For the foodies – our menu included roasted turkey breast, stuffing, gravy,Toke’s potato dish, green bean casserole, acorn squash filled with spiced apples, Connie’s grape salad, pumpkin cheesecake, and pumpkin pie.

Because Toke’s airplane was too late to make the connection to Amsterdam, he spent an extra night here. That gave us enough time to finish the annual family jigsaw puzzle. Blogger Linda Schaub (Walkin’, Writin’, Wit & Whimsy) chooses photos from my blog and has them made into a puzzle. Her choices are superb, showing people closest to me throughout the year.

In Memory of John

Lise and I had seen the sign for months on an informal eatery near town. It said, “Prime Rib Wednesday.” Two visits ago we said we had to try that, because a prime rib dinner was John’s first choice on his birthday. I treated him to that dish at a steak house the last few years of his life. It was so expensive that I ordered something with ground beef. Last visit, Lise and I went to the casual restaurant for lunch, not knowing prime rib was only served after 4 in the afternoon. This time, we were there at “prime” time. Frankly, our expectations were not high. This restaurant serves meals on paper plates with plastic utensils and styrofoam cups. Lise noted that our choice was twice as expensive as regular meals, but I approved the gamble.

I was shocked when plastic plates, stainless steel forks, and steak knives came to our table. Each piece of meat was huge and over half an inch thick! The waitress said they were at the rare stage, and that’s what we wanted. Oh! My! How good it tasted! Toke ate everything but the bone, but I brought half home, along with the baked potato. This was a good pre-Thanksgiving meal that stretched our stomachs for turkey the next day.

While walking one morning, Lise saw two deer in the woods near the big bend, and she was able to point them out quickly enough that I saw them, too. Others in the neighborhood see deer all the time, but they are rarely in the open spaces around my house. This visit was special, since we saw both deer and a bear on different days.

A Dane on Vacation

Daughter Lise is working on weekdays, so friend Toke is the Dane with a vacation. He offered to cook a Chinese meal for us, and we jumped at it. I’m glad I have a wok on hand for him to use. Toke speaks Chinese and lived in China for a while.

There were noodles with beef, as well as beef and broccoli. They bought buns filled with pork at the Asian market, and they were a treat, too.

Our delicious Chinese meal. We used chopsticks.

Another day we went to Sylva to have lunch with friends Connie and Marla. Lise promised Toke that he would enjoy talking bikes with Marla, and so he did. I speak for all of us that we enjoyed every minute together.

Lise usually lights a cigarette on the way back from the stop sign, and if she hasn’t finished, we sit on the porch. Most normal people porch-sit in warm weather, but we had been heated by walking and sat outside comfortably when the temperature was freezing.

Lise saw a bargain at Walmart and called me to see if I wanted a new queen-sized air mattress. I did, because Sarah and Nathaniel ended up on the floor a few days ago. Nate said the old mattress had begun losing air the last time he was here, so it was time for a replacement. It served us well for ten years, and that is probably old age in mattress years.

Gobble Fest

Grandson Nathaniel, Lise, Toke, and I walked to the stop sign, knowing we were all going to be riding in cars for hours. My pace was so slow that Nathaniel walked backward most of the way. We were so busy talking that I forgot to take our photo. Because Nate was facing a different way, he saw things we didn’t. “There’s a bear!” he exclaimed.

He was looking at the mountain and saw something black moving about. We were peering toward it when neighbor Linda came down the mountain with her dog. At least two of us saw the animal and knew it was not far behind the house nearest the stream. She turned back as we continued going home. That was an exciting way to start the day.

Nathaniel and Sarah left before breakfast, needing to get back to their jobs in Charlotte. We ate quickly and headed for the family Gobblefest in Lincolnton. Thankfully, we made good time, because Lise had the appetizer of chips and dip with a vegetable tray.

A photo shows people at our table except Toke and me. Beth and Bob are there with Lise across the table. Bob’s daughter Kathie is toward the end, along with her Uncle Rick. The two young men across from each other are Kathie’s son Max and his friend Zack.

Another shot caught Kathie and sister Susan laughing. Susan’s husband Bill is behind her, while Lise is telling a tale to Bill and Toke.

I was relieved to find one picture of our host and hostess, Rick and Myra talking to Susan’s granddaughter Kate and Toke. I missed shots of niece Julie and Michael, as well as Kate’s Elias. Beth’s brother Hunter and Christie were eating at my table, but I managed to miss them, too.

After we had eaten far too much, Rick took a group on the house tour that always includes magic tricks. For the whole assembly, he did one elaborate trick with smart worms. Julie was his assistant for that and didn’t recoil at handling things that looked like live worms. Entertainment ended with Rick playing the saw and his brother Hunter playing a guitar and singing songs he had written himself. They are amazing. What a talented family! I have videos of some of the music, but they are much too long to include here.

Toke’s Arrival Spans Three Days

Lise’s friend, Toke, landed on the 21^st, and we got home from the airport at 1:30 a.m. on the 22^nd. On the 24^th, his luggage was delivered, having been lost in Copenhagen, Amsterdam, New York or possibly Charlotte.

First photos weren’t taken until grandson Nathaniel and his fiancee Sarah arrived to stay one night. We were a bit late, but we did have the mirror ritual.

Nathaniel and Sarah delivered an old family bookcase they had rescued. They took care reassembling it, because it wasn’t one piece, but four boxes stacked on top of each other.

Nathaniel, Lise, Sarah approving bookcase assembly

I wanted a photo of their seeing the new family jigsaw puzzle for the first time. Kate and Lise also saw it, but we haven’t worked it yet.

As always, the group found something amusing.

To be continued.