Beneath the Wraps

     I have wearing my  sweatshirt the last couple of  mornings.   Mist crawls over  the mountain.   Fall is in  the air.   It would be  nice if it would  last always.

                  When I left the house this morning the view was clear and I could see to drive.  There were clouds surrounding the hills across the way, but nothing obstructing my view. That is until I drove nearer to the church.  The fog seemed to descend upon Myrtle Creek as though the limits were completely swallowed.  I am grateful I did not have to drive up North or South Myrtle as the roads seem to disappear into the whiteness.           When Jenna and I returned home the fog had thickened our surroundings in Tri City.   It was as though the process of lifting was reversed.   It wasn’t particularly cold outside – or at least my body didn’t think it was.   It was nice to get home and off the road.           I had paid off a loan with my bank in Oregon.   I had written a check before December 7 th .   I h...

                  Rumor has it that the school district in this area has finally wised up to doing online schooling until the end of the year.   Cars were at the schools today but no buses on the roads.   Perhaps the instructors are still teaching from the school building. Seminary is still being held in person. It is now too dark for me to leave the house in order to pick Jenna up on time.   I used to leave the house at 7:00 and take a longer route to the church but did not have that option this morning.   As there were no buses I thought I could make it in time but as I rounded the corner and saw a familiar car driving toward me. I stopped and the other vehicle stopped and Jenna got out and joined me. Initially the driver didn ’ t want to make a stop on the way to the high school to drop Jenna off as he would encounter school buses.   Oh, I totally understand that, but as there...

Written Satuday Last year we were the only house on our street to put up Christmas lights and decorate our yard.  This year everyone started yard decorations early.  Our roof was being fixed and then it rained.  Until late today we were one of the few houses on our street that wasn’t decorated. We appeared to be "bah humbuggers" but we are really not. Our roof is finally finished I had noticed on Wednesday that the flatbed trailer was gone – the one Roland insisted remain at our house until the job was complete. It rained all day yesterday.   Sometimes the rain felt like snow.   I was doing crosswalk duty again.   All students had been ordered to go to the gym after lunch.   I would much rather stand out in the rain then be in the overly loud gym. It was nice today.   I didn’t even wear a coat. Roland wanted to go to Winston to look for a coffee table.   He took me with...

            It feels like a Saturday.   I suspect most of the days this week will feel like Saturdays.   On the 21 st my post gives a little detail about my dental experience.   The Novocain wore off eventually – long after the dentist was closed.   I don’t know when I first noticed that my teeth were not feeling right.   Well, two in particular.   Was it the tooth he just worked on?   The bite on the right side of my mouth made contact before anything on my left.   It didn’t hurt but was quite annoying.             I remember the dentist and his assistant having me bite on a paper and saw off some more.   Wait a minute!   I don’t think I am finished.   Something is sticking up that’s not supposed to.             That was Wednesday.   I allowed myself t...

         It’s been a number of years since Roland had purchased a suit.   An embarrassing number of years.   We used to go to the Big and Tall or the Men’s Wearhouse to get a proper fitting.   Douglas County doesn’t have the same variety of clothing stores (or any store for that matter) as is offered in the larger cities.           Roland had seen an ad for Shaquil O’Neal wear at JC Penny. We had gone to the JC Penny in Roseburg.   Though there was a small selection of suits he could try on, the formation around the shoulders gave one that he had been propped into his suit as a scarecrow hanging from a pole.   We needed something else.           The clerk had told Roland that Eugene would have a much larger selection.   Thus on Saturday we took the time to make the drive to Eugene.   We drove through fog practically the entire ...

Is it possible that the elements could be so cold that the signal for internet is lost?   The outside has gotten below freezing between 1:00 and 5:00.   Jenna, who has gotten up as early as three (strange child) was trying to sign up on the internet yesterday and was frustrated with it not coming up. If she couldn’t get on her devise (which she would seriously give up for non-electronic entertainment) I wasn’t even going to bother trying mine.   Mine has been having problems ever since Roland received a new updated computer from his work.   It must be sucking up more signal or something.   That isn’t fair. As Roland was toying with Jenna’s device, I got up and checked the status on the box.   One light was solid green, one light was blinking green.   One light was blinking orange.   The other two were out.   I mentioned that it was probably the internet – and the last time we had encountered that problem it was not so much a household t...

                Yesterday was overcast when I went to the pool.   I prefer going there when the skies are grey with moisture and not sun that blinds.   We are all hoping that the overcast skies and humidity will help with the fire.                 The fire started near the 97 mile marker less than 10 miles south of where I live.   The news reports that it had been started by an illegal camp fire.   It is the closest fire we have ever had and yet the air quality has been better than any other summer . . . for us anyway.   The smoke is thick and black and horrible to the south.   The smoke has infected Glendale, Grants Pass and of course Medford (has there been a summer yet that smoke hasn’t invaded Medford?)   Reports say the smoke has made its way as far as Ashland.   Oh, my word . . . I didn’...

It's Raining It's Pouring All the Snow has melted The sun is gone the Skies are gray And these are some photos from the last few days Yesterday afternoon the hills were green.  This morning they are capped with snow.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/hurricane-florence-death-toll-climbs-to-17-flooding-fears-surge-as-rivers-rise/story-l0hudSBdF6EyROjIY4l3iK.html         The weather forecast said that more rain was expected to hit the east coast.   Meanwhile, the map indicates fires still burning on the west coast.   It's been dry.   https://www.predictiveservices.nifc.gov/outlooks/monthly_seasonal_outlook.pdf   My breathing feels much like it did during winters in Utah.   My skin feels as if I have been rolling in fiberglass.   I feel bad and pray for those who have lost so much due to Florence and the amount of time that they will spend attempting to rebuild . . .  https://www.newsweek.com/hurricane-florence-aftermath-sparks-deadly-tornado-virginia-exactly-14-years-1126185 I wish there could be a happy balance.   I wish there was a cost effect way to remove the water from the east coast...

                Carolyn picked me up at 6:45 this morning.   I was happy to see misty clouds or fog hanging over the hills ahead of us, but from behind the appearance told us it was a hazy smoke.   From the pool, the skies gave the impression that it might rain, but to the north of us, there was also a musty haze covering the hills, trying to hide them as it had all of the blue that had been there last weekend.   What happened?             Two weeks ago after the smoke started to descend upon us, the haze made gave the sun the appearance of being blood red - like in this photo by Richard Bartz.  It was taken for an article for a station in Portland, I think.   The name of the article is Poor air quality could affect your dog or cat: Tips to avoiding respiratory stress in pets which you can find here .  ...