Beneath the Wraps

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...

I was supposed to work this week but  the schools have been closed  first due to the storm and then  because we were part of  many that were without power.   During that time I've  had so many thoughts  going through my head  and have jotted a bit  on paper - some on my  laptop but nothing concrete.   I still have classes next week and  the week after that. I am grateful for the generator that gave me enough power to at least start my assignments  Amazingly I have finished up and can finish a few other things that got neglected during our power outage. I realize that four days is nothing compared to some others who have experienced without for much longer.  Roland's sister for example,  had gone two months as she lives in Puerto Rico and  Hurricane Maria was quite unkind. I'd rather lose electric power than running water - even if it was  equivalent to riv...

            Roland and I were both on our computers when the power went off and then back on.               I was trying to do my assignments.   He was at work.               The sky outside had darkened as if the power had not been fully restored.   The porch light shone on the yellow house across the street,             but that was it.   No sign of life anywhere for a minute or two.   Then there was a             brilliance in the sky.       my camera did not capture the brilliance that I saw Jenna took this from the church parking lot she said the power had gone off and on there also It was several hours before ...

                Roland had asked Troy if he would like to earn some extra money by cutting the grass on our hill.   What a chore!   Troy came by about 9:00 the other day and Roland showed him what we were attempting to do outside.   Troy said he could return the following morning to remove the debris so that we can continue our garden.                 So yesterday, Troy showed up with his wheel barrow and worked hard.   Fortunately the sun was not blazing yet.   Troy is a good worker.   He was the most productive yesterday.                 Ike is a retired electrician but had told Roland he would come over to check out some sensitive spots that we would like to change.   I had been on the computer attempting t...

          Marilyn lives at the top of the street.  I am using her actual name as she will personally never read this.  Not only is she computer illiterate, but she tends to give off vibes that work against electronics.           She does volunteer work at the library.  Regular patrons have learned to never request her assistance with the computers.  If they have questions - even if it's not computer or program related - they know they have to ask somebody else - for if Marilyn gets within four feet of the computers, they all start going haywire.           I was laughing as she was sharing her experiences with me.  But it's no laughing matter.  She is serious about setting off bad electronic vibes - and I think I may have caught her virus.           Recently I go...

         I don’t recall having seen a car accident the entire time that we were in Oregon.   That doesn’t mean they didn’t exist.   I did see one patrol card on the side of the road had pulled someone over.   I saw one other police car.   But that was it.          Someone had burned down the High School in Albany the night before we arrived.   We didn’t see the High School.   We just heard about it.         Exactly one week ago , when I took Jenna to school, the sun was so bright in the morning.   I generally stay in the parking lot an additional 30 – 40 minutes allowing the sun the rise further up in the sky before I get back on the road.          There is no normal in my routine as I haven’t been driving for that long and had forgotten how I did things a year and a half ago. Ha...

            I didn’t realize that Jenna viewed the crab apple tree as a friend.   A good friend at that.   True, it often did provide shade over her trampoline.   She also got bonked by tree branches when she jumped too high.   And she was always having to sweep debris off the tarp – mostly from crab apples and leaves.             There was a crab apple tree in the front yard of the house that I grew up in.   Beautiful pink blossoms filled the tree in spring.   Several of us spent hours climbing the trunk and branches.   I suppose it provided shade.   I didn’t dislike the tree, but I certainly didn’t love it. I never got why anyone would purposely plant a tree that produced such horrible fruit.   What is the point of crab apples anyway?  Thousands of cherry-sized “apples” covered our lawn.   I am guess...

           Lola gave the lesson yesterday on the gift of the Holy Ghost.   She asked for participation – though the first example that came to mind took more time to explain than I thought was appropriate.   As I listened to her lesson, I came up with a few examples from my own life.          The first example I thought of was one of Warning                   I was 17 and hadn’t had my driver’s license for long.   I hadn’t learned to drive a stick and thus drove the family station wagon (since it was automatic).          My brother, Patrick, and I both worked at Snelgroves Ice Cream Store – approximately a 15 minute drive from where we lived. I had asked Patrick if he would move the Honda, which was behind.   Patrick was only 15, but ...