A Birthday Savored

This was a rare year that I had time to think about my birthday after it was over. Daughter Lise celebrates Birthday Month in November and doesn’t let Thanksgiving squash it. I feel blessed if I have a day before to think about my birthday and one day to experience it before Christmas crowds it out. How I appreciated all the phone calls and cards, both mailed and electronic! This is such a busy time that I never expect anyone to remember and am grateful when I am noticed beyond all expectations. Blogging friends sent many written words and wishes. Thank you all very much.

David spent the whole day with me, celebrating the entire time. We drove in the mountains for several hours, always a treat. A quick fast food sandwich was our lunch, and we shopped in the crowded supermarket. While we were home, birthday balloons were delivered. How I delighted in them! They have danced about ever since, reminding me how blessed I am.

Shawn and Bob had a pizza party for me, and that included live music! One of the musicians was a relative of a relative, so that made it very special, relatively speaking.

I wasn’t expecting cake or presents, so I was surprised by that. Shawn bought a lovely cake from the town’s best bakery. I have a very weak spot for bakery treats. It’s great that not only was Logan there, but also Shawn and Bob’s two grandsons were with us. The staff asked if they could have a taste of the cake. I know it sounds crazy, but I was glad there were only two huge slices left that we brought home. I savored that, knowing I would have eaten half of whatever was left. Gluttony for birthday cake knows no bounds.

This photo shows their singing Happy Birthday to me, which I could hear. What none of us heard was that the musicians sang that song especially for me. We were sorry that a raucous table between us and the music blotted that all out. It was very sweet of singers.

I love this photo of Shawn, a very gracious hostess.

I’ve never dreamed of sugar plum fairies, but I have dreamed of snow – lots of snow. I had some sent especially to me! This is a photo of the house where daughter Lise is visiting son John $ and Rose in Washington state. They have included me with phone calls and videos. I’ve had chats with daughter Kate, too, as everyone waited for the big storm that was sweeping the nation. David and I were amazed that we saw zero on the thermometer and found the constant blips with electricity to be a bit disconcerting.

That brings us to Christmas Eve, certainly far different from any before. In past years we always stopped whatever we were doing to listen to the service of lessons and carols live from Kings College in England. I knew where to find the service on line, and David kept it going. Because of the brief blackouts, we lost the internet connection repeatedly. We had the service bulletin on the screen and had do-it-yourself scripture readings when the power failed. David was able to reconnect as soon as the power came back on, so we didn’t lose much. If the choir cut out on an anthem or carol, we supplied the music by singing it ourselves.

Nativity by Shawn

Merry Christmas!

Birthday Eve, a Personal Holiday

On the cusp of old age, I thought I ought to ponder what took me 80 years to get to this day. I have scars and metal bones to show for the journey, but they aren’t nearly as important as all the blessings. I had a marvelous childhood with two parents and my older brother who is still in good health. We went to church every Sunday, grounding us in an eternal view of life. Husband John died only three days before our 58th anniversary, and what a fantastic life we led! This Southern country-town girl lived with him in Queens, on Long Island, and in England before moving to the mountains. Our children, three rich blessings, call me frequently from New Jersey, Washington State, and Denmark. Beloved grandsons are in the same state, one living with me and one three hours away. I look back now and can see God’s hand was guiding me all the way.

I don’t know why old age begins at 80 for me. Maybe it’s because none of my parents or grandparents made it to 90. John’s mother made it past that number. An interchange between her and John has become part of our family lore. John was in the habit of joking by saying, “Old age is a terrible thing.”

Mom heard him say it and challenged him. John replied, “If you’re not old at 90+, what are you?”

She replied immediately, “I’m in advanced middle age.”

Brilliant! We have laughed at it for years, while admiring her indomitable spirit.

I was trained to teach music in school. Practice teaching taught me that I’d rather be in a room full of spiders than to be in charge of a group of students. Although we have fantastic teachers in John’s family, teaching genes were not in my makeup. My calling came a few years later when our church needed an organist and choir director. That lasted 25 years, and I retired with no regrets. Concurrently, I was the secretary for an accounting firm. It was satisfying to be part of a team delivering the best service we could to our clients, mostly not-for-profit organizations.

I avoided music, so God sent me in a different direction. Writing became a passion. I found I’d rather write than eat or sleep. I can no longer see music to play it, but computer screens allow me to read and write. What blessings God sent me!

I have no idea whether I have days or years left to live, but I long to be a blessing to the wonderful people in my life. If you have the same leanings, praise the Lord with me, wherever you are. Eternity beckons!

Skunk Damage

I noticed holes dug in the lawn beside the walkway and wondered what had happened. Hours later I mentioned it to David, and he went out to look. At his suggestion, we viewed the video clips from the porch cam. There was the culprit, a skunk! He was active about three hours before I went out to walk. He could have been digging for beetles, crickets, or grubs. Skunks are nocturnal, so they are not likely to be out when I walk. Although the action is visible on my phone and computer, it is too dark to play here. The next day I took photos of the holes the skunk had dug.

My Neighborhood Job is Over

Last week neighbor Joyce had a retirement party to celebrate her ending 10 years at her job. We were invited to write a note to her and hang it on a tree. I wrote that my job had been to wave at her while walking, as she passed me on the way to work. Today my job ended on Joyce’s last day to go to the office. As I waved, she stopped to share her pleasure in the day for a few moments.

At right neighbor Shawn hangs our notes on the tree at the party.

I liked this photo of her receiving the standard gift of a golden baby. The agency helps babies get treatment for developmental problems. One of her comments was that she would say publicly that she hated the paperwork. Her supervisor said, “But you were very good at it.”

The theme of the party was hiking and being outdoors. I got tickled at the ending of the last speech. “There really isn’t anything more to say than … take a hike!”

Congratulations on a job well done, Joyce! We look forward to seeing more of you in the neighborhood.

Cutting Trees

This is not about Christmas trees, but getting rid of two trees that outstayed their welcome. When we moved here eight years ago, I liked having the two Bradford pear trees bursting with white blooms in Spring and parading colorful leaves in Autumn. They lost a bit of appeal when a large limb fell toward the house. Neighbor Jeff and his wife cleaned up the mess, donating the burnable wood to a relative. John painted the wound on the tree, and life went on. A few years passed, and I read that Bradford pears were no longer welcome. They were brought here in the 1960s and became popular with developers and home-owners. It seems they are invasive, the seeds being spread by birds, and are pushing out native trees. A few states are going to ban their sale in the next year or so. Ours kept on growing. It was easy to see that they could easily fall on the house. Their days were numbered.

I had an appointment and didn’t get home until after the first tree was felled and removed. This photo shows the tree man getting ready to cut the second one.

David and I enjoyed watching the men feed the branches into a machine to make wood chips. Then they cut the trunk in pieces and threw them in the back of the truck. I was impressed with their cleanup. They raked all the twigs, putting them in the truck, and blew the sawdust to disperse it.

Now the house is clearly visible from the street.

I was stunned at the view from my front door this morning. Without the trees, I could see the house across the street and the mountains behind. An older photo shows how limited the view had been. Grandson David and I have discussed planting new trees, ones that wouldn’t grow as large. I’m happy to wait a while until we have narrowed the list.

Before and after photographs:

Last Days of Lise’s Visit

Almost every day daughter Lise did something to help with the upkeep of things here. She and David went under the house to check on the water filter that David and brother Bob had worked on. Our water comes from a well, and it has to be filtered to get out silt and impurities. We never did change the filter as often as we should have, getting neighbor Bob to do it several times. One should NEVER over-use a neighbor! We’ve all decided we should get a new system that would be easy enough for me to tend. Meanwhile, this one is clean for now.

Shawn and another neighbor (who prefers not to be named or pictured) wanted time to visit with Lise, so we got together for coffee. This photo shows Lise, Shawn, and the hands of the other person cutting the pie. I made a Cheesecake Pumpkin Pie and botched the cutting. She said, “Let me do that.” She did a much better job of cutting and serving than I did.

We took a whole day to drive to Tennessee and back. Lise and I both wanted to see the train layout where John spent so much time. Two of John’s and David’s friends met us there. Here is David with some of his own cars and John’s engine just out of sight.

David took us for a short ride on the train. At one point the wheels began to slip, and he hopped off and pushed the engine to help it up the hill. He thinks it was the moisture on the track that caused the slippage. Lise was sitting behind me, so I had the vantage point for taking this video.

Lise’s new favorite place to go is a frozen custard restaurant in Asheville. We were there on the first of December and back again on the way to the airport.

Here Lise is finishing a jigsaw puzzle that a special blogger friend sent us. Linda chooses photos of mine from the blog and has a puzzle made. Knowing Lise is usually here for Thanksgiving, she orders it early so that Lise can help work it. This was a unique puzzle with the last photos taken of John, along with pictures of the inner family circle. We rework puzzles from past years, too. These are family keepsakes that will eventually go to the grandsons.

The last photo is a selfie Lise took at the airport. She is back in Denmark now, working until she flies to Washington state to spend Christmas with her brother.

Seeing Nathaniel and Sarah

On Sunday daughter Lise, grandson David, and I drove to Charlotte to visit with Sarah and grandson Nathaniel. What a delightful time we had! While waiting for Sarah to get off work, Nate served us hot spiced cider and chicken Alfredo tortellini. Delicious!

The brothers posed for a lighthearted photo.

The lighting was not very good at the restaurant.

Four of us squeezed together as Lise took the picture.

Sometimes you are lucky and get a good shot.

We went to an ice cream shop for dessert, where Sarah was looking at the world through upside down glasses.

I always enjoy the spontaneity of Sarah and Nate. We’ll be walking along, and suddenly they will do a quick dance. I’m never fast enough to catch the action, but they are kind to repeat it. In the ice cream shop, they did a bench dance.

Handyman Thanksgiving

When brother Bob and Beth come to visit, they always offer to fix things, and what a team they are! I hadn’t expected them to jump in Thanksgiving night, but they did a number of repairs before midnight and started again the next morning.

One of the things that was high on the list was cleaning the solar tubes. Neighbor Bob installed them for us several years ago, and we had quite a collection of dead bugs. I wanted to leave them and consider them ceiling art, but I was outvoted. We hadn’t been able to open them ourselves. Beth found instructions on line, and Bob could follow them. It still was not easy, but he did the first one while David watched. David worked on the second one, and when the third one presented problems, everyone helped.

Bob removed the pin in a squeaky hinge while Beth looked up the various things that could cure it. David watched and did the second one himself.

The most challenging job was rehanging a bi-fold door that had jumped off track. I was impressed at Bob’s agility – mighty good for an 82-year-old.

I was taking photos as unobtrusively as possible, wanting a record of the many things they did. Because of Bob’s sensitivity, I have this picture that I will always treasure. He asked for a flashlight before going into the attic, and he noticed my hand reaching for the camera as he clipped the flashlight to his shirt. He turned to face me and said, “You want a picture, don’t you?”

I was stunned that he not only knew what I longed for, but he paused in his fix-it mode to make it possible.

We laughed that Beth called her job “stuporvising”. You can make up your own definitions for that. Still, having someone look up things, provide another pair of eyes, offer suggestions, and stand by to fetch tools is invaluable. David was the avid apprentice, learning by watching and copying. He has been doing routine jobs around the house, and now he learned how to do other things. Lise was the list-keeper and general helper, and I was the useless photographer. I am very grateful for all that they did.

I asked the group to help me make a comprehensive list of the things they worked on, because I knew I did not have photos of everything. If you care to read the list, see if there are things that you could do in your own home. Here it is in the order we remembered them. They trimmed evergreens that had grown above windows, put new batteries in the front doorbell, replaced batteries in a thermostat, planted tulips, removed bugs from solar tubes, rehung a bi-fold door, locked windows that had gotten out of line, moved a very heavy recliner (by taking it apart) to another room, checked a suspected leak in the attic, stopped a bathroom light from flickering, shifted the strike plate on the laundry room door to make it shut correctly, painted a moldy spot on a ceiling, un-squeaked a closet door, and replaced the water filter under the house. The last job was so hard that Bob recommended we get a plumber to do it next time. He and David did not have the tools or strength to do it easily.

Thanksgiving

Daughter Lise and I walked to the creek before others got up on Thanksgiving Day. Our church had a service the day before, so there was nothing to rush for.

We had a leisurely breakfast, after which I put the turkey in the oven. It turned out it wasn’t a fake turkey, after all. Several large pieces of turkey breast were put together in a mesh bag to hold them together. How easy it was to slice, with no bones to get in the way!

Here we are, gathered at the table. Left to right are Max and his mother Kathie (Bob’s daughter). Beth and my brother Bob are next, then Lise and David.

For an appetizer, Beth brought crackers and four kinds of sliced cheeses. She prepared a lovely spinach salad with feta cheese, candied pecans, and dried cranberries. The standard foods were on the table – turkey, dressing, gravy, and homemade cranberry sauce. Lise baked Parmesan zucchini, and I sauteed yellow squash with onions. Kathie contributed a lovely sweet potato casserole. We took a break before dessert – lemon cheesecake and a pumpkin cheesecake pie.

Before they left, Kathie asked Max to take a photo of three of us. I’m very pleased to have this more formal picture. It was marvelous to be with this small family group after being with the larger gathering a week ago.

Good Neighbors and a Fake Turkey

When daughter Lise comes, we always try to see former neighbors Connie and Marla. We had a mother/daughter lunch in Bryson City, catching up on recent events. When the restaurant closed for the afternoon, we went to their house and laughed ourselves silly. We caused Albert to bark, but that’s better than having other diners glare at us.

It’s marvelous to have long roots with neighbors, as well as family members. Marla took a photo of Lise and me, a rarity these days.

If you are celebrating Thanksgiving, may you have lots to be thankful for – family, friends, a moist turkey, and sides that are not at war with each other. After all, you will be taking sides.

If anyone cares to share your menu, I’d enjoy knowing what you had for your holiday dinner. I was horrified to discover today that we are having fake turkey! I read the label in the store as “turkey breast”. Despite handling it there, putting it in the freezer and taking it out, I did not read the complete label. It’s a BONELESS turkey breast. That means turkey meat was mashed together and put in a mesh casing to hold it together. Next year I’m going to ask David to pick it out.