First Day: Lockport

The first picture that I took as we made our to the locks

Behind the gate is the first lock which would  raise or lower level for each boat 

Jenna impersonating a game show model

Randy told us that the boats would line up and spend three days waiting for transfer

He said that is when the town started to build up as those transporting would have a three day wait

notice the height of the stairs.  I had to bend my knee with each step

the jackhammer crew that Randy kept on apologizing for.  They
 are working on another set of stairs so they're not so steep

newest lock is on the left opposite of the red platform

I think this was a gift shop that was closed

Jenna liked the optical illusion of being a wall goat.

Randy, Jenna and Roland

pay attention

I took this from the railing of that bridge

This is the bridge from picture prior.  Ends at the church.

This was taken from the church end of the bridge

In addition to the locks we were introduced to downtown lockport and the high school near Randy's house.  Here are some more pictures that I took (out of many)

 

Jenna took this closeup of the church

downtown Lockport

Stupid Americans

               I don’t know which is worse, the coronavirus or the stupidity of some individuals who seem to make it hard for everybody else.  I heard on the news that Paris and Spain (wasn’t France and Spain or Paris and Madrid.  Two different sources – one using the capital and the other mentioned by country) have just barely gone into phase one.  Now these are other countries that had the virus before the US did.  Why did the United States feel superior to open in phases long before countries who were hit before?  Too many believing the numbers given are a hoax.  There is no way that US would have more cases than China.  I don’t know how accurate the numbers are in China, but it doesn’t surprise me that we have more cases.  It has always been my opinion that we opened too soon, and now cases are skyrocketing because some citizens couldn’t wait.

            That is just the tip of the surface.  Today I heard Trevor Noah comment on the politics of wearing the mask.  Certainly there are drawbacks to wearing them, but come on!  Show some respect for those you may come in contact with.  I don’t know anybody who likes wearing them, but they are required in many public places and should be.  Get over yourselves already! I will wear a mask just to offend Trump and his supporters.  

What an idiot!  I suppose his followers are the theory behind “Zombie Apocolypse”

Old People in the Attic

As I was busying myself with posting my pictures to facebook, I was notified to view my memories.  It’s funny how so many of my memory posts have triggered thoughts for things that are happening this year.  On June 19^th it was the memory of four different albums I had posted from a trip we had taken back to Salt Lake in 2017.  We were staying at the house where we had once lived.  By then Randy and Carrie had moved in and made the house their own.  We were staying with them three years ago.

no family members currently reside or have anything to do with this house

A year and a half later we went for Christmas.  By then Randy and Carrie had moved to Eagle Mountain to a house larger than I thought was necessary.  I don’t guess they were planning on moving again so soon. 

Randy had wanted us to stay with them, but it wasn’t a practical location for all of the family to meet – not that the hotel was.  That was probably more inconvenient for everybody, but just as neutral of a location, I think.  Plus we were tired.  Randy’s house would have added at least another hour.

And this year we went to stay with Randy again – only it was in New York instead of Utah.  He’d been given this opportunity to become a safety inspector and had interviewed for and accepted the position in Lockport – about 30 minutes outside Buffalo and 20 minutes from the Canadian border (or was it the other way around?)

Not quite the house they had purchased in Draper, Utah.  Lockport is a very old town with housing created during the turn of the 20^th century – thus the home they are currently residing is over 100 years old.  When we drove up to it I was reminded of the McCallister house in “Home Alone” 

Randy led us up 32 stairs from the bottom floor to the attic.  After being cramped in a plane and car (as the car seat had not been removed and Jenna and I were squished in the back which really wasn’t any less roomy than flying from Seattle to Detroit) my body felt like it had climbed over 100 stairs to get to the attic where they store the family members who come to visit – except for Jenna who was given a choice between the attic or the basement.  I don’t think I had visited their dungeon basement until our third day there. 

The basement was definitely cooler but the attic was only hot the night we arrived (well, half of it.  Randy had cooled off the room with the two beds – which was nice.  He said it normally doesn’t get that hot – which it didn’t.  I like the summer temperature.  I would not want to live there during winter however).  I was cold only one night during our stay.  I think Jenna could have used another blanket.

On our first day there Randy took us over to the Locks District and gave us a tour of the Erie Canal.  There is a little history at this site.

Randy apologized that we weren’t able to do boat tours or the zip line or that the jack hammer tearing up the stairs was so loud.  The pandemic wasn’t his fault.  As I mentioned before, New York had just started phase one.  Of course places were going to be closed.  But it was okay.  Randy was quite informative and we were able to get a huge number of pictures without other tourists around. 

I have ridden on boat when a lock was used (see here) but would have liked Roland and Jenna to experience it as well. Or just even see it in action.  It really is quite fascinating.

 

 

 

Blueberry Season has Started Again

            Jenna received a text from Evelyn yesterday afternoon.  She had picked blueberries for her last summer and we said we would be available again this year.  I don’t normally take Jenna to the farm on Sundays, but as time has been really an odd thing this year and we’ve lost track of days and haven’t been to a real church meeting for over three months, I decided it would be okay to go out there.  Father’s Day was just another day and Roland didn’t seem to care if we left him.

             I don’t know how long we were out.  The bushes are definitely a lot taller and loaded with blueberries.  They don’t all turn at the same time as with cherries in which there is only two to three week window.  Blueberries ripen at different times.  Among the fat blue blueberries were several with purple bottoms and several more that were very small and green.

https://gardengoodsdirect.com/products/low-bush-blueberry-bushes

             We stayed a couple of hours, I guess.  We would have stayed longer if the breeze had continued and the sun didn’t blast its rays on us.  It’s been ten months since we had picked and weren’t quite into the swing of things.  My back is still hurting.  I don’t think Jenna hurts, but she does feel bad that we had told Evelyn that we’d be back and have not yet returned.

             It’s that darn sun.  If we stay too late then I have to drive toward it when it is setting in the west or if I miss my window of when sun will rise – like this morning – it was just too blinding.  I had to turn back.  I don’t recall having had that problem last year. 

            Del Blanchard is known in our community. It is my understanding had started several businesses and had done a lot for the community.  Evelyn had told us that the blueberry patch was his last contribution – though  she was never really excited about running it herself.  When Del became ill, John came to assist.  He is a nurse but came over from the Philippines to assist Del with his health and ended up assisting Evelyn with the blueberries.  He has since moved to Roseburg and Evelyn has made other arrangements to make the farm somebody else’s responsibility.

             Jenna and I met him yesterday.  I’m happy their agreement will benefit each of them.  Roland's vacation came to an end as he returned to work this morning.

I'm Back!

 

In November Randy had mentioned that he would like to fly us out for Thanksgiving.  Didn’t happen.  I wasn’t surprised.  I was surprised when he sent ticket information to Roland in January to print up and fly out in June.  The tickets Randy had purchased were just one way and Roland paid for one way tickets from Buffalo to Medford after he received the agenda from Randy from Medford to Buffalo. And then COVID happened.  Well I suppose it was already taking place in China.  None of us knew that our lives would be disrupted just a couple of months later and plans would change.

Roland’s brother and sister-in-law had also made arrangements to send Roland’s mom out to Oregon for a visit in May.  The plans were cancelled in April.  We never saw her.  Roland asked if we should cancel our flight.  I thought we should weigh it out and make a decision and pray about it.  Truth is it is hard to get through to any business right now. All centers are experiencing high volume in calls due to COVID19.  Does not matter what business you are calling.

When people hear “New York” many assume it applies to the city which is barely a part of the state.  New York State has a population of almost nineteen and a half million people – at least before COVID.  Just over 8 million of the population reside in New York City.  That is a lot of people for such a tiny area. My son and family live in Niagra County about 7 hours NW of NYC.  

perhaps it's not an accurate illustration, but this is the 
gist of how everything relates to where we were 

The state had just started phase one two days before we arrived.  Masks were required to be worn in the few businesses that were open.  From what I observed the cities we went to were handling the pandemic a lot better than many of those who can be seen in Roseburg, Oregon. 

I think it was on the 15^th or 16^th that I looked upon the web for the daily count they’ve given for the different counties.  Douglas County had 30 cases.  That is what it had been when we left.  Yesterday’s news showed a 0 for 6 counties and 3 for Douglas.  What?  When did they start the numbers over?  3 cases since when?  And what happened to all the other counties that had once been included?

Over a week without internet, news stories, clocks, phones, etc.  It was peaceful.  Hard to come back – not to Oregon so much as reality.  I posted many of my pictures to facebook.  I had posted 7 albums – so I should have at least that many posts in me.  And they are in me.  I still need to get them out and post them.  Lots of pictures and maybe a day by day account.  Probably won’t start until Monday however – when Roland returns to work.  I seem to have neglected Roland and Jenna since our return.  Roland and I are both so tired still.  Jenna is upset.  She was hoping to stay in Salt Lake a bit since we had to switch planes anyway.  But it just didn’t work out for her/us.  Perhaps we can send her back for a visit.  Just as for everybody else in the world right now, we don’t know what the future holds from day to day.

Until Monday . . .

Was That Comment Supposed to Make Me Feel Better?

          I am so amazed by the ignorance and the gullibility of some people.  Just after we started phase one (which by the way did not nor does not apply to the entire state as there are currently seven counties still on lockdown.  Since the protests started there has been an increase in numbers with those counties entering phase two come Monday.  Really?  We are still going forward opening the essentials such as bowling alleys and movie cinemas.  Really? 

          Shortly after Nevada started phase one Corey had sent a text out to all family members that three of Joh’s family had tested positive for COVID.  That has snowballed into five.  Normally I don’t comment on facebook posts when my opinion differs with that which is posted, but I was saddened and not excited by the opening of phase 1.  An acquaintance had posted about the opening of different resteraunts.  I did not share her enthusiasm but posted my thoughts on social distancing.  I believe Joh’s brothers were working the frontline and were infected by others who had not bothered to protect themselves.  My acquaintance came back with this reply: 

Really?  Did she really believe her words would offer comfort?  Did she think that spending countless days and weeks in the hospital would be okay whether it meant death or not?  I know that I have been guilty of this myself when I was an ignorant youth.  I hope that I have matured since then.  I do know how to check references.  I would have thought she would have had written a few essays sometime during her life.  But I have no proof of her ever checking sources.  I wonder which four of her family members she would pick to have this "undeadly" disease. I had to stop following her before the end of the month. 

Jenna had suggested to me to join the page “Worldwide Fast” when it was called that.   The name has been changed to “Worldwide Unified” and has almost 600,000 members.  It’s great to have so much support, faith, prayers, thoughts of healing.  Yesterday I shared this thought:

 I am overwhelmed by the support of so many.  Most of the names I see belong to people I have yet to meet.  What an amazing group.

 

Sidenote:  Just so my readers are aware I am taking a break from the internet for a couple of weeks.  That means I won’t be posting anything to facebook or here for a while.  I just need a break.  Don’t we all?

Under Whose Authority?

They don’t look anything alike,

but their ruling seems similar. 

Donald Trump promoted HATE before

he was voted into office – and yet

there were so many who

really believed in his promise to

make Germany America “great again”

 

Now there are Nazis protester movements

in other countries – supporting a cause

that should never have been an issue.

It should not matter if we are black, Jewish

Chinese, American, Italian, red, orange, green

Whatever!

We are all a part of the human race – even

though some may act like they’re not.

I hope the protesters in other countries are

more peaceful and don’t end in violent riots.

 

Our nation has a curfew just as those

during World War II.

Hitler wanted to keep his people

in the dark by taking away their radios,

limiting their transportation, taking away

any freedoms that may have existed.

Trump wants to do the same thing. 

He sends messages to the nation by

texting so that everybody with a

cell phone (or a smart phone anyway)

so they will see his message.

 

He doesn’t want citizens to have the right

to vote by mail.  That would mess up

his corrupted system. He wants to

get rid of facebook and twitter

as thought that is his right.

 

It isn’t just American’s who use

social media.  It’s a worldwide thing

for those who can afford it.

There will always be hackers

and creators.  People will find

a way to communicate.  If he

can use a system that will control

all private cell phones couldn’t another? 

Say someone smarter than him? 

Which is just about everybody.

 

And yet he’s part of the plan that

I had heard about since my youth.

It’s got to end.  Surely there couldn’t

be that many Trump supporters to

keep him in office again.

To keep our nation from

broken

 

to repaired.

Fire Season Around the Corner

There are patches of green throughout the county. 

But now a lot of brown and dry. 

And winds which could easily spread a fire.

COVID, earthquakes, floods, hornets, riots

 

Bring it on!

Invitation Answers post 2

         A year in April I had started a class called Sociology of Ageism.  A class that seemed more to do with life than with career choice. It was during this class that I was able to meet one of my favorite instructors that I had during my three years online.  She was really quite animated and did her entire lecture with the camera on. 

          I had seen other instructors use the camera before the lecture started, but not for the entire lecture.  I don’t know how many students watched the video.  I was the only one present for her live lectures.  I had become familiar with Zoom during those three years at school.  I did not realize that this year it would be an essential for so many.

          I’ve had several instructors who cared about their students as well as the subject they were teaching.  I didn’t have many who didn’t seem to care, but I do remember a couple that didn’t seem like they wanted to be there and expressed a “whatever” attitude.  But at times I understood the tone in their voice.  Either the subject was boring or else they just weren’t getting the feedback that they were looking for.

          I think it was during my last year that the students were required to elaborate on the quote of an instructor and to ask a question related to the lecture.  Thus I was forced to take notes which actually helped me to retain more.  What a concept, right?

          I have written posts about many of the classes that I had taken.  Some I did not.  I can’t seem to find any mention of my entrepreneur assignments.  I think entrepreneurship is the American Dream for many, but not for me.  I never wanted to own a business or invent something in order to gain profit.  There are so many advertisements right now that are related to Covid19 or current situation.  Some offer product out of concern for their clients but I think overall companies are taking advantage of marketing by preying on weaknesses or necessities even that volunteers have given but of course the company product is much better and so you should buy.

          I never did take the marketing class that was a part of the agenda when I had first started taking courses.  The agenda was changed and the marketing class was removed.  In Salt Lake marketing was always in my face.  In this little town of Myrtle Creek, only a handful of people understand what marketing is.

Invitation Answers post 1

          It has been less than a year since I graduated from the online college that I attended.  Recently I received an email from the school with an interest in candid photos in which I could share my personal story.  I am usually the one behind the camera – or was.  Jenna has taken over that job and has taken countless photos.  I don’t know that any of them say “success” as far as “look where our student is now”. 

          Included was a list of questions which I was more interested in answering with words than with photos.  The first five wanted reasons about why I had gone to college – specifically their school.  Umm . . . because my husband is an underpaid employee who works for your company and thus we took advantage of getting an expensive education for his time. 

          Roland had majored in graphic arts when we were living in Utah.  He was also working from home.  He would spend hours on end at the computer – though he had initially said that the university only expects you to sign in four days a week and then you’re only on the computer for a couple of hours.  NOT true.  He spent more time on the computer with his assignments than he did for work – or so it seemed.  Actually he didn’t.  But he did spend more than 18 hours a week with graphic arts. 

          Graphic arts may be a more demanding field than accounting – especially since he asked to have two classes at a time.  Sometimes two classes felt overwhelming to me – but often one class wasn’t enough for me personally.  I don’t know how people working full time were able to manage.

           I chose accounting – not because I love business and figures.  I don’t.  But I certainly wasn’t willing to go into business or graphic arts.  The other alternative was health care which I believe has to have hands on classes as well.  I mean, it’s not like you can lean into the screen and demonstrate CPR or check vitals or what have you.  I have been trying to balance our personal budget since before Roland and I were married.  I figured maybe I could learn to apply things into my own personal records without actually seeking work in that field. 

           The first two courses I had were computer basics and learning soft skills.  Although I seemed to butt heads with the instructor of the latter, and really didn’t understand why the class was a requirement at first, I did learn from it.  As I have mentioned countless times, my favorite classes had absolutely no connection to accounting other than life skills and the “how to”s for working with people.  I applied these principals into my church callings and later on as a teacher’s aide with the school district.  I had even allowed myself to use my current situations to apply to whatever I happened to be learning.  I truly learned a lot.  Particularly about referencing.  I may have not appreciated it at the time but with all the hoax postings and gullible friends, it has become quite apparent who understands what reliable sources are and who remains clueless. 

                   I have brainstormed over many of these questions and have three pages of notes which should make for at least three more posts.  I don’t wish to ignore what is going on in the states but don’t wish to dwell on it either.  Trump’s promise to “make America great again” has been no different thah Hitler’s promise to Austria or Germany.  Did you know that swastika used to be a symbol of peace? But Hitler was quick about changing that concept. (see here) I know many of my friends already view the American flag in a similar manner.  Trump did not make America great again.  It’s been torn apart since before he got into office.  The tears are bloody and fiery now.

Thoughts Triggered in Just Two Minutes on Facebook

There was a post from Joh pleading for his family with an attachment for gofundme.  Both Corey and Joh are aware that it is a hard time for everybody and raising money has been an issue for everyone towards one cause or another and probably struggling themselves.  I reposted his gofundme plea along with my own words that his mom and I share the same birthday.  I was able to enjoy eating cake and playing games.  She could not.  She has been in the hospital for two weeks.

          The next post I saw was a mother and a son spending time in an amusement park enjoying themselves while social distancing.  They were on a ride in the air.  The ride itself offers a large space between each “lift”  -  my first thought was, “Yes, there’s an essential – to open the amusement parks” but I did not leave my snarky comment.  Outdoor activities seem like they are less risky than indoor.

This particular family who had gone to the amusement park has had a hard go at staying afloat.  Perhaps someone had given them complimentary tickets.  Perhaps someone could see their need for something that I don’t fully understand.  Perhaps she had some pressing issues that she needed a break from and saw the amusement park as an opportunity to do so.  I have never walked in their shoes and hope not to.  I have never walked in Joh’s shoes either.  I just feel closer to his situation as he is family.

          His father had passed away in June 2013.  Two months later my mom passed.  Both had dementia.  Joh’s mother had offered to take in my mom.  Of course that did not come to pass.  I have always been appreciative of her offer – as well as Corey who told me about her offer.

          Next post was Corey’s concerns that aren’t COVID related.  So many racial prejudices and slanders going on our country right now.  He shared these words by Langston Hughes:

 

"What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?"

 

          Have we learned nothing while in this pandemic?  I think some of us have grown stronger while others have been creating a past that shouldn’t be forgotten but certainly not embraced.  Why do these things have to happen? 

 

          And then I come across this post.  Seriously?  Who’s bright idea was this?  Have they ever been to a public school classroom?  How is anybody supposed to learn in this kind of environment?  Can you feel the depression? 

          Another post shows a woman in the pool happy to be in the swimming pool on an overly warm day.  Not me.  There is no way I am getting into a public swimming pool any time this year. I’d feel like I was climbing into a giant petri dish. 

           We can try putting ourselves in the shoes of another but still will never fully understand their point of view or why they do certain things or why they don’t.  I am amazed by the actions of others.