Beneath the Wraps

           I dragged my family to the high school last night.  I understood the meeting to start at 5:30, but it must have started at 5:00 as we walked into a mass production that had already obviously started.  It seems that the focus was mainly on just one school, though the elementary next to it had been mentioned.  There were parents there for both group.  I saw several youth but not a huge number.  The meeting was at the high school library and it was filled and overflowing.           Three separate events had taken place.  The first was a threat made by a person that was being bullied.  The threat made was toward the bullies and not the entire school.  On October 23 a "prank" phonecall had been made to 911 about a shooting.  Two youth were arrested.  Last week there a note had been left in one of the bathrooms lea...

           October is normally my favorite month, all the fall leaves and crisp air.   Facebook memories indicate that there has often been a sickness within the family.   It doesn't last as long as what I've seemed to experience this year.   It was bad enough before we set our clocks to standard.   Setting the clocks back seemed to say to the sun, "you have permission to take a long nap.   Perhaps you can make an appearance every now and then - just so we know you're up there."           The air has been so dry.   It's horrible.   I came to Oregon for moisture.   The fog hasn't seemed to carry much moisture to it this year nor has it rained often.   We're not currently hooked up to natural gas, and thus the only source of heating we have had has been electrical and feels drier than the gas somehow.   At least my lungs and throat believe they are.   ...

            Every once in a while I will search for a particular blog post using a single key word or phrase that I think are mentioned in the post.   Yesterday I typed in the word " pieces "   just to see what would come up.   I was surprised that I had used that word in over 50 posts in reference to several topics.   That does not include the 20 plus posts where piece was used singularly.   The top   " pieces "  post  references referred to candy, other foods, luggage, lessons, toys and games.    Other posts included actual breakage or used in a metaphorical way.             I have used the word " pieces "   in about ten or so December entries posted on different years. One post mentions a four-piece measuring cup set that we had purchased as a white elephant gift.    ...

             Lockdowns, shootings and bomb threats were unheard of during my youth - not in my neighborhood.   It was such a foreign concept by yesterdays standards.   Today it is the beginning of norm.             We were living in West Valley.   Jenna was in the fifth grade. I had been working on the scrapbook that I mention here .   I find it ironic that I had come to a page to explain about how life was then, and what makes her life experiences different from my own when I received a computerized phone call from the school.   The school was on lockdown and no one would be coming in or going in until whatever cause for lockdown was lifted.             As it turned out, there had been two teenage girls in the area who had been going from residential door to door to steal what they could from houses that seem...

           Mountain Dew doesn't work on stomachaches as well as 7-Up or Sprite but I can rely on Mountain Dew to assist with relieving headaches and sore throats.   I do use it more as a medicine than for an enjoyable beverage - though I do enjoy the taste of Mountain Dew.   I wish they made Mountain Dew flavored throat drops.           There are a few times when Mountain Dew hasn't worked for me.   There are a few times when I thought, "Oh, I shouldn't have had that."   But not usually.   For the most part Mountain Dew has been my friend.   It's not just my tongue that appreciates it's wonderfulness.   I really love water.   Clean water.   Drinkable water.   But if I had to choose a favorite beverage other than water, it would be Mountain Dew.   Weird, huh?          Mountain Dew does not quench my thirst.  Water do...

                Yesterday was bleak.   The temperature remained pretty consistent throughout the day  fluctuating   between 53 and 58.   There was a hint of moisture in the air.   I was able to breathe so much better than I have for over a week.   It has been really dry the last five months.   Dry as though I had never left Salt Lake.                     As I hadn't slept well the night prior, I slept several times during the day.   I needed to stay home and rest.   Perhaps I should have rested all day, but had left word that I would help with the library annex.           It is our fourth year to celebrate Halloween in Myrtle Creek.   Each year the city will close off a few streets downtown and everyone is invited to ...

             Yesterday I subbed for an aide at one of the elementary schools. There are at least two kindergartners in her class who have a hard time following or understanding directions.   She had me sit at a table near the back of the class and sent the two directionally challenged students to sit with me to work on the paper.   The directions were simple, really: draw a picture of a pumpkin and write the word "pumpkin" as best as you can.  Don't ask how to spell it.  Just do your best at sounding it out - which was the entire point of the exercise.   The little girl who sat by me understood what was expected of her.  She whipped out a list of words and copied the words pumpkin and costume.  She drew three amazing pumpkins and turned her paper over.  The boy was much more interested in drawing than spelling.  I asked him how pumpkin started.  He made the "p" sound and I asked him what tha...

            On March 22 of this year Corey posted to his blog for the first time in two years.   Apparently it had been due to a request made when I mentioned how much I had missed reading his posts.   But that is his most recent - nothing more.   So last night he called me to relate his "Walmart" experience - although he really was not at Walmart.   It just felt like he was.   I laughed at his misfortunes.   It was nice to go to bed with a smile on my face.   But Corey does have a knack with relating experiences and telling stories and even making announcements with an entertaining flair.   So the following is a second-hand account of the things that he related to me.             First off he had to renew something - he must have mentioned it at least three times, but I failed to understand exactly what it was that he was renewing...

            Roland and I were both on our computers when the power went off and then back on.               I was trying to do my assignments.   He was at work.               The sky outside had darkened as if the power had not been fully restored.   The porch light shone on the yellow house across the street,             but that was it.   No sign of life anywhere for a minute or two.   Then there was a             brilliance in the sky.       my camera did not capture the brilliance that I saw Jenna took this from the church parking lot she said the power had gone off and on there also It was several hours before ...

             For a couple of weeks my right eye has been tearing up.   It's quite annoying as it will create a fogged up view through my glasses.   I have also felt somewhat dizzy and lightheaded at times.             The air has been so dry which I'm sure has been a contributing factor to my health today.   I had thought it was all allergy related when both eyes went balistic last Tuesday but I may have a cold underneath - or worse - the dreaded sinus infection may have weaseled its way into my life again because the air in Oregon isn't providing the moisture which brought me out here.   We may need to move closer to the ocean.             The fire levels are back to low and moderate - at least here, but there is still a hazy sky to the west of I5 between Grants Pass and Glendale.   Where is my rain? ...

My initial post is costing more time than I am able to give for the moment anyway.  Guess this one will have to tie my readers over:             The meeting ended early today and so the bishop decided to call a few members from the congregation to come and bear their testimonies.   I smiled as I thought about how often meetings were based on impromptu due to short meetings or just lack of speakers.   In this post I mentioned the majority of youth had their favorite impromptu meeting which was sharing one's favorite hymn and a little bit about why it was/is our favorite (or one of our favorites) and then we would sing that hymn as a congregation.   I think that is something we could do in this ward with our regular pianist, but I know there several in the ward who would not be comfortable playing some hymns out of the blue that they hadn't practiced for a while.       ...

      Jenna and I first met Chris just over a year and a half ago.   We met him at Millsite Park.   Jenna and I had been walking around and Chris was looking for the perfect stick as he had a request for making a cane similar to his (see this post)       I thought that would be nice to have a custom-made cane for myself, and thought I would start collecting words that might describe me and ask him how much he charged.   Chris said he walked in Millsite all of the time.   That was the only time that I saw him.   I don't even know his last name.         When Roland was playing Friar Tuck in Hi, Ho, Robin Hood , he had stripped one of our wild junipers to make a walking stick for the character.   I decided that when he was through with it, I would adjust it to my own needs.   I would strip the wood, sand the stick and start a decoupage.   I decided to use...