Beneath the Wraps

          I don’t know how it was that we ended up at Cracker Barrell in 2011.   They have nice gifts and marvelous food, not that we could afford it.   I think we were looking for something unique to send to Roland’s family – particularly his mother.   I ended up finding something for my mother instead.           Mom had a habit of falling asleep on the couch.   The entire time I had lived with her, she was always hot, but after her encounter with dementia, she would always seem to be cold.   I saw the cape as something she could use as a wrap.   It was a red check pattern.   Her favorite color has always been red.   I thought it would be perfect.   Kind of pricey, though.           Kayla said she had purchased a puzzle book for her but had been searching for something to go with it. ...

                "Some cultures believe the ladybug is a symbol of good luck.   Having a ladybug land on you can be a magical moment.   White other insects may pose as a threat to humans, animals and crops alike, ladybugs are harmless and even better: they're beneficial.   That is why so many cultures over the centuries have cherished ladybugs, believing them to bring good luck.   They are good luck to farmers" (Why Are Ladybugs Considered Good Luck?, 2016) "                 My mom and dad had purchased ornaments for their children for each year probably until dad's passing.   I still have many of the ornaments that had been given to me though there had been some that did not make it to my 18th birthday. Adding new ornaments to the tree was a tradition that I had wanted to start with my own family.   F...

            Ever since we have moved into this ward, the folding doors in back of the chapel have been open to allow an overflow - which I haven’t felt was necessary – nevertheless, it has always remained open until today.   The chapel still felt empty – more empty than usual.             The second counselor made the announcement that half of the ward was out sick.   I think it was more than half, and had actually never experienced such a thing before – or at least it had never been that obvious.   The primary was supposed to sing yesterday, but only four members of the primary were in the congregation at that time.   My student wasn’t one of them.             A lot of improv was made – particularly on the part of the primary.   It was announced that the young men and young women would...

                Gold, frankincense, and myrrh were left with the baby Jesus.   Three gifts.   We associate this to mean that there were three wise men, but we don’t actually know the exact number involved.   It’s highly possible that there could have been as many as twenty, possibly more.   There could have been several caravans arriving from many different directions.           In the song “We Three Kings,” we assume that they are from the Orient – which makes sense as it had taken at least two years from the time they began their travel until they reached their destination.   When they finally arrived, they weren’t actually a part of the nativity scene that is often displayed today with the wise men and shepherds attending the same event.   Oh, no.   By the time the Wiseman arrived, Jesus was no longer a newborn sleep...

      At the close of their broadcast, the anchors held up some paddles and asked the audience to play along on "Which holiday movies are fake, which are real?" and would give a title and brief description.   They gave three titles, two of which I'd seen.   I guessed the other was a fake       I think I have seen every holiday movie created by Hallmark, Lifetime and Family (before they changed their name;   I think they're called Forum now - although we discontinued cable before then - so I don't know if they actually went through with it or not) except for the last two years.       Roland gets tired of watching the same movies over and over.   And yet the stations show them over and over.   I've seen all the ones   on Netflix but have watched a few from beginning to end; we have started several but then remember - oh, this one was sappy, didn't care fo...

          We filmed the Coffenberry Middle School Band Concerts last year.   I had even posted them to facebook and shared with Coffenberry page.   We also filmed the spring concert.   But by then, Rolands phone would no longer communicate with my computer.   My brother-in-law sent him a chip so that we could download pictures that way, but thus far we haven't seemed capable of transferring the footage from the phone's hard drive to the chip.   Thus we didn't film any of it.           I was taking still pictures with my camera, though I guess I could have recorded some of it.   To start the program, the symphonic band played "The Star-Spangled Banner"   It was awesome!   They did a terrific job.   They only played four numbers and the beginners played six.   I think half of the "beginners" were students in both bands but wit...

                My mom read a lot but she also watched a lot of TV.   I think more often when her children gradually started leaving and it was just her at home.   So often she would fall asleep and miss the ending of whatever she'd started out watching.   Sometimes the station would be doing a marathon on Jimmy Stewart or Gary Cooper movies and she would fall asleep during one and wake up for another and always felt disoriented about what was going on.   There are a lot of family jokes about her sleeping habits and the TV.                 Jenna and I are okay with not having TV.   We are willing to forgo having networks.   We already got rid of cable, and now have Netflix.   The greatest part about Netflix is no commercials.   But I could do without Netflix as well.   I would want t...

       I have gained a better understanding for manufactured houses - which seems to be the most popular type of housing in this area.   Everything needs to be raised off the ground.   There are no basements.   It would be impractical.        I know I can't judge the whole state of Oregon by the few places that I have been, but from what we've seen so far, flat ground does not exist.   It is during the continuous rain that we learn just where all the dips and unevenness exist. The beds that were nearly dried up in summer are now at a fast moving and wicked flow.        Here are some pictures that I took today.   This is our back yard   . . . this is the land water behind our house.

        We'd been invited to attend a Christmas concert at a local Baptist Church in our area:         Roland and I dragged Jenna to it last night.   I don't know why she was being all glum about it. The concert was held in the chapel - which appeared to be bigger than the entire building of the LDS church.   This was our view from the side           The songs were not the traditional ones that I'm accustomed to hearing each year.   For the most part, I was actually unfamiliar with the tunes. I decided that may have been Jenna's problem.   She wanted to sing along, but wasn't able - even when she did know the words, it was only a part of a medley arrangement.           There was a man in front of us who sang along with a few tunes.   It made me smile.   He was a bit off key, but...

This story touches my heart

                       It has raining off and on for almost six weeks.   Mostly on, and I'm fine with it, except was hoping it would not be raining between 5:30 and 7:30 last night. Yesterday was quite a busy day for members of our community. Fortunately it was a nice day.   The fire trucks could be heard all day as they offered rides to youth.   At least that’s what I heard.   After we returned home from the breakfast, we pretty much stayed put until about 5:30 and then headed toward downtown Myrtle Creek. The community puts on a light parade the 2 nd Saturday of each December; they’ve been doing it for over 35 years now.   The parade starts in Riddle and goes up to Old Pacific Highway up to Riverside, down Neal, Division and end at Main Street -       - or so I thought. Last year we had w...