Testing Negative

               On Saturday I received my first COVID test ever.  I’m sure the person who was testing was being as gentle as possible – my poor nostrils.  I honestly was expecting that blood would come out of my nose.  It didn’t help matters when Roland (who’d been tested fair) coughed and spewed – or whatever he was doing.  He is NOT a wimp and I am so if he was having problems I figured it was bad.

       It actually was not as bad as I had allowed myself to believe.  Nor was it as easy as my friend, Carol, had indicated the previous day.  It hurt!  And when I said it allowed, I heard Jenna behind me saying, “Thanks, Mom” 

       The person doing the testing told Jenna how brave she was – really?  Hadn’t I been any less brave?  We were told to wait 15 minutes for the results.  Roland started joking that “mom and Jenna” would be negative but his would come out positive.  Not funny.  So we were all more than concerned when they had him take the test again.  Negative.  We had all been vaccinated and had tested negative.  That is reassuring.

       We were told in the beginning (was it last year? Or last century?) that the rural areas would be hit the hardest.  The cocky people of this county didn’t believe – many still don’t – even though Douglas has been proved to be the worst county in the state (don’t forget, Douglas County is also the fifth largest county in the nation) and guess which city in Douglas County currently has the most cases?  That is right, Myrtle Creek’s three thousand somewhat population has contributed to the most cases in Douglas.

       I think I have mentioned before that aside from the massive geographical size of our county, Douglas offers only one hospital located in Roseburg.  Recently they lost a patient from the emergency room.  The patient had been there for two hours or more waiting for an ICU bed to open up.  The patient died of COVID.

       Jenna had come in contact with a friend who had tested positive for COVID. Hence our little jaunt.  Thank you Public Health for your service.

Taking in the View

          I’ve seen many landscapes in different view

                   from my friends houses

                   Medford pear orchard

and during drives beyond city limits

and touring the coast or McMinnville

            

I have missed some views

such as the solar eclipse two years ago             

but the skies were filled with smoke

from the fires that had burned that year

          I have missed seeing stars

due to the heavy clouds and rain

though my view of the sky has been

spectacular this year

Fog can be eerie –

not much of a view when

it envelops us

  

I’ve seen both nature and manmade

                   I watched a person above a cherry picker

reach up into a McDonald’s sign. 

That was interesting.  

Never had seen anything like it before.  

A bit freaked out at the       

mass size the “M” appeared to be.

I have viewed different works of art

including paintings and quilts. 

I have had the opportunity to view

“dressed” vegetables

I am grateful for the opportunity that I have

to view pictures online to see family members

who are so far to see each day in person

I am grateful that daily quotes

that uplift and remind me

that I am a child of God and

His point of view matters more

than what any human may think

There is definitely a different point of view

with each religion and scripture read

          I appreciate the differences

My favorite point of view for book reading

is first person. 

I like the creative approach that some authors

have used,  such as

the “Dear Mr. President” series.

R.J. Palacio’s “Wonder” or

Rob Buyea’s “Mr. Terrupt”

in which several characters take a turn

at telling the story – written in first person

and different points of view.

One of his characters likes what he refers to as “one dollar words”

which is another way to view

spelling and math combined

I have gone on countless job interviews

and Jenna was able to interview Bill

for an assignment last year

She has also used a creative approach to book reports

          by pretending to interview         

a character from whatever book       

she may be reading.

I have always tried to review my work

before I’ve turned it in. 

Our county newspaper is called

The News Review. 

Jenna had her picture taken and

put on the front cover on

                      August 8 this year.

Vegetables, Ventriloquist and Perfect Weather

         

          We had lived in Douglas County less than two months the first time we had gone to the DC fair.  I know we overspent.  It was worth the smile on Jenna’s face.  It seems like there was more distance to cover that first year than this year.

          Though the fair is held every year, we have not gone to it each year.  I think it was just a matter of lack of funds in 2016.  Jenna and Roland went for a few hours in 2017.  The elements that surrounded that year were hot and smoky and I chose not to go.  They  had dressed vegetables and were gone for just a few hours.

          I don’t know that Jenna had even considered last year as she and Roland were performing in Robin Hood.  This year she decided she wanted to go and we would take Marie.  But then again, Marie drives and her old fogie parents would most likely wish to leave before they did and so we drove in separate cars.

          On Thursdays before a certain time, patrons may dress a vegetable in order to get free admission to the fair.  I guess it’s an annual event, but as the page was dated 2018 we weren’t sure.

          Roland had started the one in the middle and Jenna added the body.  She also added a potato to her own and made the one on the  right.  Mine is the one to the left.

          Since Marie was coming with us, they decided on a new approach for another vegetable – replacing a doll’s body with a potato.  Looked a bit like one of Sid (from Toy Story)’s creations. 

I liked the baby looking one (joined creation) the best but it was also the heaviest.  I had added a sock to mine.

          Jenna and Marie left about twenty minutes before we did and made it into the fair with their two potatoes.  Roland and I had to pay to get in as the two pumpkins had been left in Marie’s car.

          I took pictures of some of the creatively “dressed” vegetables that were on display.  Though I saw Jenna’s final creation, I did not see her other which Marie had entered as her own.

          We caught up with the girls who were watching ventriloquist, Steve Chaney.  Of course, Jenna volunteered to go on stage to be a human puppet.

          The weather was perfect – well, maybe not for the fairgrounds, but for me -  I don’t recall ever having gone to the fairgrounds before when the skies showed signs that it might rain.

          The fair somehow seemed smaller in size than it had five summers ago – but perhaps it was because we weren’t packed in like sardines.  Sadly, a lot of vendors did look bored.  Enjoy it while you can.  I suspect tomorrow will be a madhouse.