Beginning of Isolation

This morning my alarm went off as I had set a reminder to meet with the bishop this morning.  Of course that never happened.  It is weird not going to church on Sunday.  The dismal air outside mirrors the way Jenna and I feel with summoned isolation.

Jenna and I watched a “Come Follow Me” video before reading Jacob in its entirety.  

She still plans to study independently according to her daily schedule starting with seminary and each class that she has – except for maybe one of her math classes as she has no reference from the school.  I told her to watch math videos during that time.

I did get a message from the friends of Myrtle Creek library.  They may be staying open as they are not considered to be a public library.  However, the library is still in a city-owned building and so the decision may not solely be left for patrons and volunteers of the library to decide.

This is such an odd reality – or is it?  Are we just guinea pigs in some political scam in which the media blows everything out of proportion?  I’m not worried.  I’ve got more pressing things going on in my life.  Worry is not one of them.  Que Sera Sera.

Odd Week – or at least the last half . . .

            I accepted a long term position at the middle school last week.  When I arrived to the school on Monday I was given a schedule which had my name on it along side three other aides.  I was told to follow the schedule unless another aide is absent and than her schedule would be my priority rather than my own.  I’ve been there enough times to know what teachers utilize me and which ones don’t and so will use my own discretion on where I may be needed most but often will feel as useful as a tampon dispenser in a men’s room.

            The schools let out an hour earlier on Wednesdays giving time for instructors to meet together or what have you.  Those aides who are scheduled to stay after school lets out go to the detention room to provide homework support for those students who need it.  As I have mentioned in prior posts I have RS meetings on Wednesdays – or did rather. I am able to leave before school lets out in order to make my meeting.  As a result, the office manager had me come in earlier.

            I arrived before the students were dismissed from the Cafeteria to walk up hill and cross the street to the school.  When I arrived, students were walking toward the Skyhawk instead of going to the school.  I hadn’t believed that there was enough time to make the walk down there but learned that all students were being sent there as there was “a flood in the girls’ bathroom” which I guess was code for something else – though I don’t know what.  When I had seen the police officer I wondered if it was vandalism.  I don’t have my own email account for the school and so did not get all of the details about what took place.

            Many teachers stood in the cafeteria as students sat at tables or on the floor.  One teacher was on the stage lecturing the youth about the seriousness of the cornavirus and went over hygiene and the importance of washing our hands.  After about 35-40 minutes, the students were released to go to the school.   First period was pretty shot as far as time goes.  The staff added an additional ten minutes cutting the next class 10 minutes short, but 3-7 period were all the 35 minutes that occur each Wednesday.

            On Thursday a child had pulled the fire alarm just before the middle schoolers were about to dismissed for lunch.  The fire department was contacted and those persons who’d been in the elementary school and surrounding buildings could not be in the building.  Because the Skyhawk cafeteria is near the elementary school, it was closed due to a “fire drill” – thus all the students were to report to the gym before they could go to lunch.  I don’t know how long they were there.  Though the inconvenience seemed to disrupt the schedule, they made it work.  Still it felt weird.

I made this rough map to illustrate my
explanation in a letter to my son.

            This morning it was announced that today will be our last day for a while.  The state of Oregon is shutting down all schools for at least the next two weeks.  Two weeks, really?  They think all this commotion will be gone by then?  I expect it will be more than a month.  But what do I know?  

            At lunch time a few patrol cars showed up and the officers entered the field to play football with the students.  That was an awesome sight!  

             I read on my sister’s facebook page that they have shut down the libraries in Utah.  I don’t know whether they have been pulled out of school or not.  I really haven’t seen a lot of signs of panic.  I have seen more eye-rollers and skepticism.  Signs of precaution and concern. Jenna brought home a letter about the school shut-down and Roland said we need to keep it for the future of “remember this”. 

            My paycheck is usually enough to pay the mortgage – though sometimes it has been under.  I think this is one of those times that it will be way under.  Jenna’s crying.  Not only did seminary get cancelled but so did school.  Her birthday is coming up.  Some sweet sixteen celebration.  Isolation. Again, worse things happening elsewhere.  My suggestions to her are not helpful at the moment.   

Be Prepared . . . Perhaps

When the “Come Follow Me” program was introduced at the same time as two hour meetings, we were told to use the third hour to study at home.  We were also told that we wanted to develop the habit for one day when we were unable to attend church meetings for whatever reason.  None of us had predicted this soon however.

We had cancelled our last RS activity due to the weather and decided to cancel our upcoming as well.  We had made the decision before the church announced NO MORE MEETINGS until further notice (here). Only seminary will be held unless the schools shut.  But as of now only seminary is the only meeting that will be held at the ward house.  No others.  Not even sacrament meeting. 

Why do people panic instead of remaining calm?  Why do so many always expect the worse.  Instead of viewing the police car at the high school as “Oh, good.  They are keeping my child safe” a parent may panic and demand, “What is going on?” or a fire truck at the elementary . . . of course Roland is looking at this with a business mind and political gain.  I seriously doubt the church is in it for either of those.  And it always takes much longer for the world to catch up to what God has warned us about all along.

Some are eye rollers and don’t understand the severity – or don’t want to.  Closing our eyes to what’s happening won’t make it go away.  When a sporting event is cancelled, then I know that it’s serious.  They haven’t cancelled the schools as of yet, but have limited to school only – no parent teacher conferences, no assemblies, no athletic or performing art events.  Today the air raids have been going off all day. 

We have “bug out” bags located next to our door.  Over the years we have added, borrowed and changed items but have never had to use for intended purpose.  Even now.  We won’t be “bugging out”, we will be staying in.  Hopefully with the benefits of electrical communication and running water.  We won’t stay marooned.  Jenna and I will go to the park or elsewhere if school is cancelled.  Hang out in the fresh air.  It will still be fresh air? 

I came to Oregon, not just to add years to my life, but decades.  I intend to claim them. 

Chilly

The morning fog was thick

In years past that meant

when the skies decided to clear

 that it would be sunny

and warm

then to hot

Not today.

The fog finally cleared

the sun came out

But it did not get warm

The wind blew and chilled the air

Our day is now near its end

Relationships: September Babies and Baptisms

         Four grandchildren were added to George and Peggy Bird‘s list of grandchildren in 1998.  I believe all four were in September.  Three biological and my niece who was an honorary member as Ellen and Kimball did not have cousins on either side of the family before Candy was born.  I think she was the eldest of the four cousins. I know she was the largest.

          Before Christmas, Birds had held their annual Christmas pageant.  Ellen reluctantly played Mary (as the only two other girls at the time were babies) and held one of the twins in her arms.  He was wailing.  I remember someone saying that Baby Jesus wasn’t being very reverent. 

 

Sarah Fitch - LDS clipart

          Corey and I had to excuse ourselves from the pageant as we had another commitment – I don’t even remember what.  Whatever it was hadn’t taken very long, for we had returned in time to see the wise men arriving in Bethlehem.  Ellen no longer held either twin, but had her sister.  I remember thinking how appropriate that was that she had a larger child as Jesus was two or so when the wise men arrived. 

          Fast forward to October 7, 2006.  There was no way all of the Birds could make it to all four baptisms unless all four were baptized the same place.  Arrangements were made for the four of them to be in one building at the same time.  How awesome it was that they were able to share their special day together and no one had to choose which one baptism to attend.

          I would have been in that predicament today if we were in Utah.  Tony had called to let us know our eldest granddaughter was being baptized and had even given us advanced notice in order to make the drive.  But driving to Medford is hard on the body – going to Utah two years ago had really been rough.  

LDS clipart

Jenna didn’t wish to take the time off school.  We can't always go to events or wait for life to stop for those we wish could come.  Tony was unable to make it to Jenna's baptism or either of his brother's weddings.  In a way I wish I was closer to my grandkids, but I really don’t know them.  I have lost touch with the boys.  Life seemed to get in the way (for them – even in Utah – for Tony anyway.  I suspect if we did live in Utah that Biff and Claire would be living with us instead of the in-laws and life would be more chaotic)

          My sister had told me that her oldest boy was scheduled to be baptized the following week, but that seemed to change at the last minute to today.  So of course we would have probably gone to Ester’s out of obligation and perhaps to my sister’s house afterward though I know I would be wishing we were at my sister’s house to begin with.  I am just closer to her children than I am to my own.  Roland says he misses the boys, but it’s not like he’s ever been close either.  I think that’s one reason they all seem estranged. A “Cat’s in the Cradle” (here) type thing. 

             Our youngest son now lives in New York.  If neither one of us had moved to another state, I suspect I would know his oldest daughter the best of any of my grandchildren.  I would have had more opportunity to spend time with her.  And I suspect I would have taken her on bus trips and she would have gotten to know her generational cousins.  But alas I am in Oregon.  I am breathing and I am happy.

                Each day Roland will ask if I’ve checked the mail if he hasn’t already checked it.  I know there have been times when he has been expecting a check or medication or something else.  I wondered what it’s been he’s been searching for lately.  He says he had found the address of his eldest daughter and has sent a letter each month and has been hoping to receive a letter from her.  I doubt she lives on her own.  She is probably not getting the letters if she still lives with her mom – though her mom has poisoned her mind against having anything to do with Roland.  Too bad.  I doubt that he will ever hear from her.  I hope I’m wrong.

March Skies

Monday morning the sky

was white as though the

fog had been lifted up and

covered any trace of blue

I was surprised at how light

was the view for I could

see to drive at 6:15 in

the morning. 

Sometimes it is still

too dark at 7:00 and

so I was surprised.

I did get a brief glimpse of

the sun as it tried to peak

through the whiteness –

shining orange beams in

the east but only temporarily.

It remained white and light for

about 12 hours.

At 6:15 p.m. the sky had

started to darken.

On Tuesday the skies were

blue and only one hill had

clouded fog surrounding.

By noon the sun was shining.

Yesterday the skies were

white again.

Right now it is just after

6:00 am.  The sky appears to
be blue.  The earth is 
surrounded by fog.

It is too dark

for me to see.

What gives?

Missionaries, trees and games

There are a few posts in which I have mentioned George and Peggy Bird.  They lived across the street from my mom and dad.  We played with their children and we have remain connected and have spent holidays together and all the grandchildren are friends.  But the connection dates back even further – for George Bird’s dad and my great uncle were really good friends – making our families friendship lasting at least five generations now.  I think that’s cool.

          The youngest of the Bird children was the only girl.  She married and had three children – a girl and twin boys.  One of the boys received his mission call to Oregon and was recently transferred to Myrtle Creek.  Thus we had invited him and his companion to have dinner with us.  I hadn’t realized that Roland had suggested they wear their P-day clothes.  That was different.  We fed them and learned more about each of them. 

          One Elder loves the rural areas.  He appreciates seeing trees that are not a part of the Las Vegas scene where he’s from.  He doesn’t care for the cities.  Like me, he enjoys the light traffic and fresh air.  They hate the one way streets which seem to be a part of the larger cities (Eugene, for instance).

https://metro.co.uk/2015/12/25/quiz-can-we-guess-whether-
youre-a-countryside-or-city-person-5582972/

          We played Baulderdash with them.  Turns out Birds’ grandson is really good at Baulderdash.  For the most part he was at least five to seven spaces ahead of everybody else.  Roland did finally manage to catch up with him.  They were on the last square and everybody had guessed the correct answer thus Roland and Elder (who comes from Birds) were theoretically tied, but Roland said to shake the die to determine the winner.  Elder won.

          It was good to visit with a Utah family member. I accidently kept calling him by his first name instead of Elder.  Old habits die hard.  I believe we all had fun. Before they left our house, they left us with a message and a prayer.  It was a good night.

Different Rewards

          People pick careers for different reasons.  Some people seem to focus more on their paychecks than the occupation.  Others pick their jobs in hopes to create a better world.  Take education, for example.  I don’t know any one teacher that picked his/her career in hopes of seeking financial wealth.  I don’t think teachers get paid near enough.  Many of them make huge sacrifices.  They sacrifice time as well as money out of their own pockets.  I don’t think the majority of students appreciate that – or may even be aware.

          I know of two music instructors in the school district  that I work for.  One of the instructors spends three months at three different schools working with elementary children.  In addition she teaches before or after school band at Canyonville. 

          The other instructor teaches three classes at the high school before he has the option of taking lunch and drives to the middle school for three afternoon classes.  Today he is at the local grocery store with some students from his choir class.  He will be there again tomorrow giving up his free time to be with them and their cause. They are having a bake sale.  

         Jenna and one of her friends baked goods all morning.  They are raising money to go to San Francisco.  The music instructor does not get paid to be with him.  At least I don’t believe he does.  He believes in his students and is giving up his free time to be with them.  That’s what many instructors do.  They sacrifice themselves and their paychecks to contribute to the souls of this generation in hopes that they may instill values as well as knowledge.

          Roland wants me to be an accountant.  The rewards for an accountant are not the same as they are for a teacher or teacher’s aide.  The rewards are with the youth who let me know that I have made a difference.  It is with the youth who go out of their way to give me a one-armed hug.  It is with the youth who say “Hi” to me at the pool.  It’s a feel good award.  That is more valuable to me than the paycheck is.    

          Thank you to all the educators who make the many sacrifices that you do.  Thank you for caring about our youth.  Thank you for making a difference.

The Stupid Emotion Called Love

          When Jenna and I were both in middle school, we would roll our eyes over the dramatics of “couples” displaying affection and expressing emotion only to break up and express drama.  Gag.  Both of us were determined not to experience the stupid emotions ourselves – at least not in school.  Not middle school.  Not high school.  She had plans of “not ever”.  I succeeded with keeping my emotions in tact all through high school.  No love interests.  No broken hearts.  She, on the other hand, has had two "shedding tears" experiences.

          She and Nathan were friends, but he was starting to like her as more than a friend and told her so.  Things would have been perfectly fine if he hadn’t said anything.  They would have remained just friends and no stupid emotions would have entered the picture.  It was nerve racking in a way.  Why would he do that?  Why would he mess up a good friendship for something gross?  She was mortified in one way but yet flattered in the other.  She had barely turned 15 and did not want to commit to a relationship, but she did like Nathan.  Perhaps they could just hold hands and work up to something more after she had turned 16.  But that was quite a wait.

          Neither one of them wanted to call their first date a “date”.  It was just two people hanging out.  Yet it felt awkward for each of them as they knew there was the "more than just friends” label hanging over them.  Nathan broke it off just after the school let out for summer vacation.  It would have been fine if he had never said anything in the first place.  Jenna had not even wanted a relationship in the first place – and yet she became attached.  He had put thought into their “breaking up”.  He wanted to respect her religion.  He is a senior this year and she is a sophomore.  It isn’t like the relationship was going to last anyway.  But still it hurt.  It had been his idea and then he said he didn’t want to see her that way.  He should have just kept it all to himself to begin with and then she wouldn’t have felt the pain.  Stupid Love.

          I never understood this song until the “break-up” happened.  I felt bad.  I didn’t know what to do.  They go to the same school though she did not have any classes with him.  She and her friend still continue with a class that they had with Nathan last year – but he was not in the class anymore.  Not many guys were.  There is one they teased and were playing with his hair and another boy, Chris, asked why they weren’t playing with his hair.  So Jenna started playing with his hair.  They became fast friends.  They held hands in the hall – which according to high school terms qualifies as “dating”.  I don’t know that there was any “love” there.  Jenna and Chris had very little in common.

          They went to a school dance.  He came over for Thanksgiving.  They exchanged gifts at Christmas and Valentine’s Day.  Jenna got tired of participating in high school activities that he was obviously not interested in.  After Valentine’s she broke off things with Chris.  Ironically there had been more tears over Chris than there were for Nathan – whom she may not have shared much in common with either.  For one thing Jenna LOVES water.  Always has.  And Nathan is deathly afraid. 

          Chris did not react well to the “break-up”. Jenna is afraid that she has lost him as a friend and wishes she wouldn’t have said anything.  At the same time she didn’t wish to string him along.  It was quite obvious to me that they weren’t going anywhere.  I like both Chris and Nathan.  I hate the “heartbreak” thing.  I wish I was better at dealing with it.  When Jenna hurts, I hurt.  I hate the stupid emotions connected with Love.

Bottles, Cans and Plastic Bags

When we had purchased juice, sodas, bottled water and so forth in Salt Lake, we were not required to put a deposit on the containers.  Here in Oregon we are.  Some people don’t seem to care that they are paying ten cents extra and will carelessly toss containers away as recycling seems to be such a bother – which it is.  I was not opposed to tossing cans into the recycle bin when we lived in Salt Lake, but all of those cans and bottles add up – especially for party animals or those who drink by the pack.   

There are some areas that offer services by providing machines outside of their stores, others who have tried their hand at providing the service but doing away with the service when it becomes more work for the store who has to send employees out to empty bins, clear jams and what have you. The local store Rays has a couple of machines out front. But for those who have bags and bags of bottles, Roseburg BottleDrop Redemption Center is a really great place to go.  On November 22^nd 2017 Gabby Urenda reported this story

We went there one Saturday and waited in a line that proceeded to get longer before we were able to find a machine to put our cans and bottles in.  I like watching the machine sort the bottles from the cans.  Unlike the machines in front of Rays that deposit cans into the bottom, the machines at the Redemption Center have conveyor belts and I’m guessing people behind those belts who change the tubs as they get full instead of opening a door at the request of a customer who has brought to the attention of store employees that the machine had stopped. 

I had mentioned the recycling program in this post, though I hadn’t explored the Redemption Center at that point.  In addition to the mandatory ten cent deposit on each can and bottle, legislature has voted Oregon to ban plastic bags thus encouraging patrons to recycle or used recycled bags or pay for each bag they need to hold whatever they purchase wherever they purchase.

  Thus we have a hardy supply of bags in our car.  We rarely remember to bring them into the store.  Fortunately the parking lot is generally not that far away.  Jenna usually has a sweatshirt on and will often take it off and turn it into a temporary bag.  I am impressed out how much it will hold. 

My Lazy Way

          There was a sub in the eighth grade math class yesterday.  The instructor had left the instructions for the students to write out their 9 times tables from 1 – 25.  They were required to do in their heads and not use a calculator.  It’s not so bad doing in order.  1X9 of course is 9.  Just add 9 to it for your next answer 18 + 9 for your next answer: 27 and down the line.  Or you could use my lazy method which I have been doing since third or 4^th grade (whenever it was that we were taught)

          I never did memorize my 9 times tables, but tens were easy.  All you had to do was tack a zero to the end of the number being multiplied and then take that number away.  Thus 70 -7 is the same as 9X7.  I find subtracting a number is easier than trying to multiply:

          When I was taking courses on line, we required to look up references to back up our theories or understanding or whatever you want to call it.  I am sure that there are several others that may have come up with this same type of math solution for multiplying 9.  But we didn’t have the technology then when I figured out subtracting rather than memorizes the nines table.  Thus I am not going to provide any references other than the pictures I scanned of problems printed by my hand.  I’ve been doing it that way for decades.  It is what works for me.  There’s your reference.

100 plus days

                I believe it was Thursday when the kindergarten celebrated the 100^th day of school.  They had used 100 beans to fill in the number 100 on a paper and glued their beans in place.  I wasn’t there for that part.  I saw their papers set aside to dry.

            It had rained on Sunday.  I’m assuming that the rain chased the fog away as there was none impairing my vision during yesterday’s drive.  It was cold and the sun remained hidden and so was not blinded as I approached any off the exits. 

            First class: 7^th grade math.  17 students who for the most part are respectful to the instructor and pay attention to what she is doing on the board – except for two who constantly visit.  I can’t stand between them as there are two students behind the talkers.  If I stand between them, I will block the view of the other two youth.  I stand to the side.

            Next class: 8^th grade math.  12 students.  Pre Algebra.  XY slope.  Yuck. I mostly just sit in the back of the class.

            Prep Class: teaching respect and humane concepts in addition to academics.  Last month they learned math. This month is writing. 

            After that is homeroom for 15 -20 minutes.  I just don’t get the Canyonville schedule.  What is the purpose of homeroom?  To get caught up on missing assignments.  Most of the students seem to be under the impression that it’s a time to socialize.

            Student lunch.  I have usually preferred monitoring the middle schoolers as opposed to the younger children.  Middle schoolers don’t say, “That kid pushed me/called me a name”.  But I noticed behavioral attitudes with several after the 100 days.  Coincidence?

            “No balls in the playground area.  It isn’t safe.”  “Don’t play tag near the playground equipment.  It you’re going to play tag, take it out into the grassy area.”  Do they listen?  No, they are middle schoolers and the rules don’t apply to them.

            Their lunch and recess are finally over and I get to take my lunch.

            Kindergarten:   Usually I have helped with assignments involving the letter of the day.  Yesterday was math.  New numbers introduced: 16 and 17.  Though they have been counting to the current days-in-school each day.  They have counted from 1 -100 by ones, by fives and by tens.

            2^nd grade reading: the room is so loud I can’t even hear my own group.  I wasn’t having issues with them but the teacher was.  She had reprimanded several of the students several times.  I thought my group was doing okay – except maybe one who wasn’t following directions.  She couldn’t seem to hear me.  It was loud.  I couldn’t even hear myself.

            15 minutes of recess and I’m done.  I will follow that same routine today.  But Thursday and Friday will have me at a different schedule.  I won’t be working with the middle schoolers.  I might only have to do lunch recess.  I’m not sure.