Does it Matter?

Some months after John died, I was small enough to wear his t-shirts. There were two themes – church and trains. Most didn’t appear to have been worn. I enjoyed wearing them and always turned them inside out before washing them, wanting to protect the words and pictures. Fairly soon I was annoyed with turning them right side out again. The routine was to take the clothes from the dryer to the bed. That was fine for folding sheets and towels, but hanging up those t-shirts made my mouth turn down. Did it matter? It did to me!

It took a few weeks to find a solution. I turned the shirts as I took them out of the dryer and tossed them on the pony wall in the laundry room. When everything else was in the laundry basket, I put the shirts on top, and there they were, ready to hang up with no hassle! It was such a simple thing, and yet it brings me joy. The next time I ask myself if something matters, I hope to pay attention and do something to make the situation better.

WW Wins

Wicked Wisteria Wins a big thank you from me! I have complained endlessly about the invasive vine that has threatened me for ten years. Today I said thank you. That plant averted a great disaster. I was pulling weeds in the garden when Kacey suddenly ran through the evergreen trees with the wire lead and stake bumping along behind her. She desperately wanted to chase neighbor Joyce’s yard man on a riding mower. In my mind I saw her running at the man and having her legs chopped off. Oh! How awful that would have been! I was shouting at the dog to come back and then saw her facing me instead of running away. Several long tentacles of the wisteria had caught the stake and held it tightly. This was quite a distance away from the main vine on the pergola. They ran underground, past three huge evergreen trees, and up again, aiming for Joyce’s house, I presume. It took a full minute or two for me to untangle it. Kacey was docile as she walked back home, seeming to realize she had gone too far this time.

Alarm Revenge

I woke before the alarm, thinking I was ready to deal with whatever the cell phone did. Since not being able to stop the alarm was highly unusual, I didn’t change anything. Surely it would not repeat the 10-minute ringing from the day before. Nothing prepared me for what happened. Here was the peaceful scene of Echo Blue Dot sitting near the deck door across from my bed.

I had my phone in my hand. When the alarm sounded, I said, “Alexa, stop.” Nothing happened! NOTHING! The alarm kept ringing. Holding the phone to my ear, I found it was not making a sound. The noise came from across the room.

I said to myself, “I’ll take care of you Alexa. I’ll turn you off!”

In low light, I couldn’t see the buttons and jabbed at each one on the device. The ringing kept on and on. I pulled the plug. The alarm continued!! I held the blue globe to my ear, convinced it was somehow continuing without power. How could it? I didn’t think it had any batteries. Wait! The sound wasn’t louder close to my ear! Alexa was truly off.

Here is a closer shot. Do you see my old phone upside down on the left?

It was the OLD PHONE that was ringing, not the Echo and not the new phone in my hand! I figured out what had happened. On Saturday I charged it to play games with it and assumed it would be unresponsive while face down. Nothing else would have worked, but I now realized the alarm would work. However, the alarm was not set for Sunday, so it dutifully went off on Monday. It quit ringing after 10 minutes, as programmed. Whew! I was so happy to know how this happened two days in a row. Without hearing aids in my ears, I couldn’t tell exactly where the sound was coming from and assumed it was the new phone. The old phone is now truly turned off and had better not haunt me any more.

Waking Up was Alarming

In all my born days, I’ve never had such a rude awakening! The cell phone sounded its usual alarm, although I thought I had dismissed it a few minutes ahead of time. Absolutely nothing would make it stop. I pressed the usual places on the screen, then I madly jabbed at them. I tried to turn the phone off, but it refused to die. I’ve had it only a few weeks, so I did not consider drowning it. The ruckus woke Kacey, who jumped on the bed with me and looked quizzically toward the monster sound. Closing the app did nothing. I probably should have tried deleting it. I’ve had Motorola phones for years and never had anything like that happen before. I saw it was possible to snooze the alarm for ten minutes, but it CLANGED for those agonizing ten minutes. I noticed the time was 7:10, and that’s how I know exactly how long it screamed at me. I might try having Alexa wake me tomorrow. If I don’t touch her, surely she will obey my voice. If not, I’ll have a triumphant win as I unplug her.

Mirror Ritual

One of the nicest results of daughter Lise’s delayed departure was that she got to see grandson Nathaniel, his fiancee Sarah, and her sister Katie. Their afternoon visit had been planned for several weeks, but Lise would not have been here.

The first thing they did was to include Katie in the mirror ritual. Nathaniel always raises the mirror in the hall when he first gets here and lowers it when he leaves. I liked the photo because it showed the girls’ faces.

While we were sitting on the back porch, Nathaniel rummaged in the tool area, took hand clippers, and trimmed the Wicked Wisteria in just a few minutes. It was amazing how quickly he could do it without the use of a long-handled tool and ladder. I’ve enjoyed the view much more, knowing that wicked vine wouldn’t be reaching for my neck when I’m out there gardening.

Although the light was not good, I thought you might enjoy the last moments of their visit. Everyone rallied behind Nate as he lowered the mirror. The dog joined them.

I took one more shot and was amused later to see how everyone relaxed when not posing for the camera.

They were soon off to Tennessee where they had reservations at a lovely restaurant and would be at Dollywood for several days.

The next day neighbor Shawn drove us to the airport. where we dropped Lise off and waited in the area to see if the plane to Philadelphia was going to make it this time. It didn’t make it four days before before because of Hurricane Debby. It seemed to be OK, so we left because Shawn was having a big family dinner at her house. After we got home, Lise said the plane was delayed, so they got her on a flight to Charlotte. She was booked to fly to London, Helsinki, and Copenhagen that evening. The flight was cancelled while she was in the air. The airline put her up in a hotel that night, and she was booked on the 4:10 p.m. flight to Madrid, then Copenhagen the next day. She was originally supposed to be home Monday morning, but she actually got there Saturday morning. Amazingly, she is planning to come back in November, but NOT with American Airlines.

Vacation Extension

Neighbor Logan and daughter Lise were busy while she was staying here, but we were able to have bubble tea together two days before her departure date. I loved the taste of my drink. I had a very hard time getting the bubbles to come up through the straw. Lise tried mine and was successful. I drank the liquid and took the cup home to fish out the bubbles with a spoon. I felt like a child who just couldn’t get the hang of an easy skill.

Neighbor Holly said she was happy to take Lise to the airport, since the flight was on the weekend. An hour before we were leaving, the airline called and said the flight was cancelled. We soon found out Hurricane Debby was the reason. Hundreds of people were then calling for new reservations, flooding the system. Lise had been on hold for four hours when the airline disconnected the call. She held on another three hours to get an agent. The usual on-line bookings were not available. It felt odd, since we didn’t get any hurricane-type weather in the mountains. Lise’s new reservations were FOUR DAYS later.

We were delighted to have more time together without any strings attached. The first thing I did was prepare deviled eggs, a favorite that she had asked for. Lise took a photo of me with the eggs, but I have a new problem rotating pictures. I laughed at the shot I had of the eggs. There is always one in a crowd that won’t cooperate.

Logan was available to walk with us one of those extra mornings. His sharp eyes spotted a mushroom with a red stem, something I had never seen before.

Something I couldn’t photograph were the times we got tickled at something that was said and ended up laughing uncontrollably. We tend to do this every time we are together, but we don’t have a score card.

More of Lise’s Vacation Days

Daughter Lise and I have been filling the days with things we wanted to do before she goes home. We went to one of our favorite Italian places where she ordered a calzone, and I had a small pizza, both yielding two meals for us.

Lise ordered a big barrel, and it arrived in time for friend Toke to drill holes in it. After Toke left, we set it up in the area of the old burn pile. You can tell from our victorious smiles that we felt successful. Our first fire was not a good one, but I will keep trying to burn garden clippings in it.

Neighbor Logan had been very patient, and finally we called him to come play Boggle. He had improved greatly after Lise was here last time. He played the game with me, honing his skill. Lise said she was getting nervous when I told her how he routinely trounced me. The photo shows her biting her nails. Logan looks confident. Both played very well, with the best of two out of three games going to Lise this time.

Linda, whose blog is Nutstrok, has a post named Texas Chili Cookoff. I began reading it after Lise went to bed. It was so funny that I struggled not to make a sound, because I knew I might wake her up. It’s a wonder I didn’t explode with all the laughter pent up inside! The next day I asked permission to take her photograph while she read it.

I can almost guarantee you will laugh if you read this. The link should take you to it.

https://nutsrok.com/2024/07/31/texas-chili-cookoff-2/

Toke’s Last Few Days in NC

We hoped for wonderful weather when we ate high on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Daughter Lise and friend Toke admired the view at Pisgah Inn before we went inside for lunch. The clouds were already rolling in.

We were socked in while eating.

We had entertainment, though, as the waitress de-boned Toke’s trout before us. She did as good a job as the person who performed the same service when friend Gerhard ordered fish there several years ago. I wouldn’t mind trying that, but not with an audience!

On the way to the airport, we ate at our usual place, Culver’s. All three of us had the pot roast sandwich followed by a Concrete mixer – soft-serve chocolate custard with two additions each. I concentrated on chocolate, adding Dove bits and crumbled Brownie to chocolate custard. Lise added peanut butter and Toke blueberries and nuts.

Toke wore all his luggage in the airport elevator, making it look easy. Lise stayed with him and worked her magic when the long line at security would have made him miss his flight. She asked people along the line if they could go ahead of them, and a family of three tagged along. One snotty woman toward the beginning of the line refused to let them go first, even though her flight had not started to board. Toke made his flight, but others were not so lucky. We heard repeated announcements for passengers who missed their planes to go back to the lobby to re-book. A number of times Lise had seen airport personnel go through a long line like that, pulling people to go ahead. Asheville workers were not willing to do that.

Though we missed Toke the next morning, Lise exercised as Kacey tried to keep her attention. I had already taken my turn on the floor. Lise is working this week, starting at 4 in the morning, then pausing to walk with me. We plan to make the most of the time we have left.

Fix-ups, Waterfalls, and Food

Daughter Lise and her friend Toke did lots of things around the house, and I am so pleased and thankful that they did. I didn’t get a photograph of every fix, but here are two.

I had immediate gratification when Toke prepared my new telephone. The old one had bogged down so that I had to manually remove things every other day. He set the new one up and transferred all the apps. I am a happy camper! He also repaired my rolling pin and replaced a broken window blind. There was a learning curve for cleaning the solar tubes, but he and Lise mastered that with my brother’s help. Because son John $ had taken a video of the plumber replacing the water filter, Lise and Toke were able to change it easily. I may not have remembered everything here, but I will notice and be thankful when I pick up a repaired item.

We all like waterfalls, so we shared our favorite, Sunburst, with him. His photos are exquisite.

For the foodies: We ate at a Mexican restaurant and compared two barbecue joints. Toke enjoyed eating at two Southern diners and tasted collard greens for the first time. I cooked a childhood favorite of Lise’s as well as shrimp and grits. Toke prepared two Danish meatball dishes one day and a Chinese chicken dinner another day. He learned Mandarin and lived in China, so the food was authentic and delicious.

I took a day off and stayed home when they went to Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River. Lise said the facilities there have been improved since she went years ago. I haven’t been back since son John $ took us before we moved to North Carolina. I saw a couple of Toke’s photos and didn’t miss out completely.

Family at Woodside

The day we went to Woodside began with a walk to the stop sign with Lise, Toke and neighbor Joyce. We had commented on the mist on the mountains behind us.

I liked the group photo of everyone at the Woodside table – Nate’s Sarah, daughter Lise, grandson Nate, Rick and Myra, and Lise’s Toke. For those of you who like relationships defined, Rick is my brother’s brother-in-law whom I’ve known for about 60 years.

Nathaniel was helping himself to watermelon, and I took a picture to show him and the watermelon platter and knife.

Out of the kitchen window, we could see a fallen pecan tree. Myra said they had never picked up more than a few measly pecans from it, so the tree will not be mourned. I don’t think Rick’s broken finger shows in any of the photos. One of the branches he was cutting snapped back and hit his finger.

I liked two group portraits – Nathaniel with Sarah and Lise and our fabulous hosts Rick and Myra.

Our conversation was non-stop. Toke and Nathaniel enjoyed talking about cooking, while the world travelers Myra, Rick, Lise, and Toke compared notes on places they had been. Sarah and I were not mute by any means. We all enjoyed the tour of the house done especially for Toke. I learn something new every time I hear Rick talk. He spoke quite a bit about his great uncle who carved most of the furniture in the house. There is now a photograph of that man in the stately living room.

Many of the larger pieces of furniture have secret hiding places. Toke was delighted with that. He later told us that when he was young, he built a secret place that would open when you touched a button hooked to a rubber band. Toke also practiced magic tricks in his younger years. Rick told us that long ago thieves dug up bodies in the graveyard and cut off the fingers to steal rings they were wearing. He borrowed a ring from Sarah, made it disappear, and showed it to us in a box on the finger of a “dead” person. Things are truly magical at Woodside.

Rick showing Nate, Sarah, and Lise the ring

I was able to go on this marvelous jaunt, thanks to neighbor Shawn. I left Kacey on the front porch, and Shawn came over to check on her and pet her from time to time. I was most concerned that the dog would bark a lot and bother everyone in earshot. She was content most of those ten hours and didn’t bark all the day long.