Set Backs

Jenna starts school tomorrow and had hoped to have less hair to deal with.  I had set up an appointment for each of us to get our hair thinned out – though I wondered if it we better just to recreate the pandemic hair from last year.

Because we were already out and Jenna hadn’t gotten the schedule that would supposedly be sent out by August 27 (that was the original plan anyway. Tomorrow is the first day of school and no schedule has been identified. I told Jenna we could swing by the high school to see if we could figure out the source of the problem.

 Walking to the school from the street made for an interesting challenge all by itself.  This is a view of the high school parking lot:

I seriously have my doubts about this being finished tonight
and ready for the students who drive to school tomorrow.

 COVID is the source of vacant schedules. Only the freshmen who started today have the schedules.  Still working on grades 10 – 12) After I returned home, I posted the picture to facebook and proposed this question: “I wonder if administration and construction will hold a competition: Which will be done first? The parking lot or the student schedules?”

The smoke continues to envelop our community.  The stars have not been visible the last couple of nights.  The hills appear to have been swallowed.  This road which runs alongside the high school seems to be a drop off into the unknown.

What Kind of Friend Are You?

 I have seen one or two of the Harry Potter movies.  I can’t say that I enjoyed it nor would it have been of my choosing.  The times I had watched were with a number of other Swire employees who had been on their best behavior and were rewarded with our own private theater for viewing at Jordan Commons.  We were also fed hot dogs and drinks.  I remember the pickle relish being a brighter green than I have ever seen on a relish. 

I don’t suppose I had paid much attention to the houses and house names nor cared which each represented.  But I notice Jenna will sometimes ask others “What group do you belong to?” as she refers to the four houses and considers herself to be a Hufflepuff which she defines as “I will automatically be your friend until you give me a reason not to be.” 

Slytherins sound like the kind who will use others to get ahead.  Perhaps not all of them are toxic.  Unfortunately because of her overly friendly attitude Jenna has allowed some toxic people into her life without knowing that they are toxic until she has gotten to know them.  It usually gives me great pleasure that she is so friendly that she is able to put others at ease and make them feel welcome.  But there are times that I worry as she does seem to be too trusting of others without really knowing what they may be capable of.

 She has made a friend with one whom I shall call “Kennedy”.  Kennedy goes the pronouns them and they.  Jenna and Kennedy get along great.  Kennedy has also made friends with another named “Ryley” – I don’t know what pronouns Ryley goes by.  Jenna has absolutely no problem when the three of them hang around together but does not enjoy hanging with Ryley by herself.  Ryley, like Jenna, seems to be overly friendly.  I would have categorized her as a Hufflepuff – but apparently that is not the case.  Too bad.

 I am definitely not a Hufflepuff though I used to be.  I do not use people to get ahead. I am definitely more cautious of people and their intent.  I wish I wouldn’t be so judge-y.  I don’t appreciate getting hurt.  I believe the more distanced I am from people, the less chance there is in creating emotional attachment that could hurt me in the long run.  I wish I was better at taking the initiative to control that.

Crash Course: Where Love Is

         The smoke must have cleared out as I was able to see stars above the skylight.  I hope it may remain behind the hills or better yet disappear all together.  Bless the many fire fighters who are battling the flames.

        A funeral was held yesterday at the church.  The second I've attended in person rather than virtually since the pandemic made its way to the US.  As with the last funeral, the service did not take place until after the body had been buried - or in yesterday's case, cremated.

        Jenna had been asked to sing with her friend, Heather.  They performed two songs: "I am a Child of God" and "Where Love is".  I remember them learning the latter in primary after Jenna had already graduated to Young Women's.  It is one of my favorite primary songs and it makes me feel bad that I somehow missed out on teaching or singing it to Jenna.

        She took it upon herself to find a recording that neither one of us particularly enjoyed.  She learned it and practiced with Heather for the first time yesterday morning before the funeral started.  There was no emotional attachment and they were able to sing both songs in their entirety without stirred feelings.  They did a really great job.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/music/library/childrens-songbook/where-love-is

        

Smoke Billowing Over

 Yesterday looked overcast in the morning.  I thought I saw mist.  Maybe not.  More probable not.

I noticed that there was smoke behind the hills - to the north, to the west, to the east, to the south.

The north and east don't seem so terrible compared to the west and the south.  The smoke has spilled over and into the valley.  I tried capturing the red sun last night, but the picture is not the same as what I saw with my naked eyes

So this is what the photograph looks like

But it looked more like this -
or maybe something in between

West and South hills have seemed to disappear.  Took most of these this afternoon while we were walking Bonnie

We got a notification from Alexis about our air quality - as though our breathing wouldn't have been able to figure it out on its own.  We've seen worse.  Last year was worse.  

I look at so many elements people are currently fighting across our nation.  The floods, the fires.  Each time I hear of a hurricane in Louisiana I think "Why do those people even stay there?"  

I suppose it's possible that there are people in Louisiana who look at what's happening in Oregon and think, "Why do those people even stay there?" 

We've been here six years.  I feel blessed that we have never had to evacuate.  But we think we're prepared to do so.

My allergies are going haywire and I've been coughing.  I am certain it is due to the poor air quality and not to COVID

Do Not Cross the Board

               We have done a few more home projects including power washing the house and hanging blinds. 

 

           The power “wash” came out more like a power “rinse” as the soap didn’t seem to be coming through.  After watching a tutorial Roland went back and did the cars – so though the house has not been washed – it does look much better than before.

           We moved things around to get to the windows.  As we did so, a board fell to the floor near the couch between the living room and hall.  Bonnie had been outside but I had let her in.  She remained behind the couch and I didn’t think much about it until she started whining.  I asked her to come but she remained until I picked up the board and then she brushed pass the couch.

           Really?  She was unable to move forward because she couldn’t cross the board?  The thickness was less than the steps that she will move up and down each day. And she wouldn’t step on or over it?  Wow.  Who knew?

 

          So yesterday I was doing laundry and the exhaust wasn’t working properly according to Roland.  He had me open the door to the back room in order to let the air flow for better ventilation, but I did not want Bonnie back there.  Who knew that this flat board would hold her back?  It’s quite miraculous really.  

Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda . . .

 Last year when I enrolled Jenna for ORCA, they came back with her to enroll as a senior - which sounded absolutely cool to me. But neither Roland nor Jenna seemed particularly interested in advancing her - especially because Jenna wanted the opportunity of graduating with her class mates at the local high school and not online.  This morning she informed me of the death of one of the staff members who just recently died of COVID.  I don't know why she thinks that.  She doesn't seem to have a source.

It is too late for us to enroll her back in ORCA.  As I mentioned, the school has been put on week delay from when they were supposed to start.  Oregon has called in the national guard to assist with the problem the state is facing with COVID (more specifically the Delta Variant) outbreak.  The state has made national news.  I wish we would have enrolled her as a senior.  Then I wouldn't feel like I am throwing her to the lions den.

Visiting Canines

               Bonnie has been acting squirrelly lately.  We didn’t know if it was because of her allergies or the elements that animals can seem to sense better than any mechanical weather forecaster.  I let her out yesterday and noticed that there was another dog near our unused black car.

I heard Jenna cry, “Why would you let her out?!”

“I didn’t realize there was another dog out here.  Besides, why wouldn’t I let her out?  Maybe she needed to go.”

I don’t know that Bonnie had even tried going potty.  I tried luring back into the house.  She wanted to check out the dogs (turned out there were two of them) but was not vicious about it – which must have meant they were both male.   The border collie seemed a bit put off by Bonnie’s presence and would growl and then Bonnie would growl louder.  Jenna did not get a picture of the three of them interacting on the hill but Bonnie was obviously the smallest of the three.

 

Jenna brought the other two dogs into our brand new room.  I don’t think it was intentional at first, but it seemed a way to keep them safe.  Unlike our neighbor’s menagerie behind our yard, we don’t recall ever having seen either of the dogs before.  Especially the larger of the two.  I would have remembered seeing a St. Bernard before.

Roland jumped the gun and called animal control to come collect them though neither Jenna nor I agreed with his presumption.  She had taken pictures to post to instagram or other media in which others might be able to view.  Her friend dropped by and they both hung out in the back room with the two dogs.  They referred to the dogs as Collin and Bernard.  Jenna said she was willing to keep Bernard and Ruth could take Collin as she seemed to have a better relation with the dog and Bonnie was more tolerable of Bernard than Collin.

Both seemed to be well-mannered and friendly dogs.  They also appeared to be an added expense just in dog food alone.  And it’s not as though our yard has the best room to house a St. Bernard.  But there was a response to the post.  The information gave Jenna an approximate location.  The girls walked them to the area and let them off in a trailer – are you kidding me?  A dog that big needs more room than that!

Just after the girls returned without the dogs, the sheriff went around the house to claim the dogs which had already been returned.  The girls were happy that they no longer had them to put into his custody.  They said he looked mean.  I did not even see him.  When I went out to talk to him I saw a white SUV backing out of our driveway.

I hope the owner of the dogs is okay and that the dogs do not escape again.  I would love to ask them how it is they ended up in our yard.

Oh, That's Not Good

     Jenna and I both need our hair thinned.  I called the hair salon just the other day to learn that they are shut right now due to COVID, but do plan to reopen.  Well, great.  Do I even want to go anymore - although the last time we went, it was just the three of us there.

    A lot of businesses have closed due to staff members testing positive.  Businesses that are open are short-staffed.  I don't think any of us should be shopping anyway.  Unless it's essential - like toiletries and medicine.

    Jenna was supposed to start high school on the 31st this month.  A reminder was sent out last week on the 19th.  Yesterday we found this post: 

    Oh, please.  Jenna could have finished her schooling last year at ORCA but had wanted the opportunity of socializing with her friends once again.  I wonder how many of them will make it to graduation.  I wonder if there will be a graduation.

Your “Free Agency” is Infringing on Mine

        Sunday’s meeting was quite awesome. Our bishop tackled the sensitive subject of following the counsel of the prophet.  He started off sharing one incident in Church history in which the saints were being persecuted and how the division that exists today was alive back then.  I notice that during my studies how often our own lives parallel with the saints.  In a way we are “marching” to our own “Zion’s Camp” (here) as we struggle to do the right thing and shed our pride or judgment.  

https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/3-
little-known-details-about-zions-camp?lang=eng

       We have our free agency to follow the prophet or follow the crowd.  But I often feel that the “free agency” abused by others infringes on my own.  I remember airlines, restaurants, hospitals and other places who offered smoking sections – as if the smoke is seriously going to linger  only in those sections.  Come on!  I happen to be allergic to cigarette smoke.  Lighting up from two to ten feet away from my nose is the same as blowing it directly into my nostrils. 

       Eventually workers who came in contact with the second hand smoke started to experience health problems that were similar to the smokers.  So the smokers had their “freedoms” for a time, but eventually they were taken away.  Some places offer smoking sections but it seems like the majority of buildings (at least in the western states)have a no-smoking-anywhere-in-the-building policy.  Not only does the smoker have to go outdoors but are required to remain a certain distance from the building and only on a certain side.

       I can’t speak for everybody, but I enjoy the quality of non-polluted air.  I can breathe a lot freer in a building that doesn’t have that stench lingering.  I can’t even smell it when I am around it, but my body still reacts negatively when it does happen to linger in my presence.  So yesterday we were infringing on the rights of the smoker vs. the non-smoker.  Today’s issues are mask and no mask and the vaccination.  It’s a trial that each of us is dealing with.  Are you going to stand up to President Nelson or Joseph Smith or God?  Are you going to say they got it wrong and you know better? 

       I’m certain that it was not an easy talk to give.  I hope all those who were present (even those who attended virtually) were able to feel the same spirit that I did.    

Never Saw That Before

 We had been walking Bonnie around Millsite Park.  Jenna pointed out the pinecones and asked if they normally grow on the trunks.  

In all my days of seeing pinecone producing trees (and I have seen A LOT) I have never seen them growing into the trunk like what is pictured above.

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.

Polio Had Claimed Many Lives Back in the Day

    My brother posted an 11 minute video which he labeled as “ranting” but he had some valid points. One was that if you are purchasing a ticket to the place where he works you are agreeing to a contract to follow the rules – one being “Wear the mask”.  You DON’T have to purchase a ticket if you can’t wear the mask either by choice or because you are not medically able to.  It’s a rule.  The mask has to be worn.  The employees have to wear the mask the entire time they are at work – which is three to four times greater than those who purchase tickets.  Not a big deal.  At least it shouldn’t be.

Jenna and I have a mutual acquaintance who has decided to abandon her teaching career so that she doesn't have to get the vaccination.  OHMIGOSH!! Just overcome your pride and get the damn shot already.  Students are required to have certain vaccinations before they can be accepted into school - which I guess is one reason that some parents choose to homeschool.  Homeschooling doesn't require students to be vaccinated.

 Another one of Corey's comments was about our great uncle Reese who died of polio when he was only 17 years old. My dad loved his uncle.  He was only eight years old when Reese passed away.  More than 40 years later he still choked up about having lost him when they were both so young.

  The vaccination for polio did not come out until ten years later.  Polio was the COVID of the day. People then were probably excited to get the vaccination.  It prevented many others from dying.  We don’t even hear about Polio anymore.  We should be grateful for the opportunities we have to receive an effective vaccine and have it available without having to wait decades.

 How better off I think we would be if people could understand the seriousness of COVID as they did Polio or Measles or Scarlett Fever for example.  But  then again, those that think this whole COVID thing is a hoax probably don’t believe that Measles and Mumps were a real thing either. 

There are those who were against the vaccine who have chosen to follow the prophet and sadly there are so many others who most likely will learn and have learned the hard way.  Those (as the former educational instructor I suspect) that may lose loved ones that could have prevented it.  And sadder still, there are those who will never admit that they could have done something to slow down the disease to keep it from spreading.