Beneath the Wraps

          At the end of last month/start of this month, Richard ’ s only living sister said she had been wanting to go to South Carolina to see their mom.  Richard has too and thought that perhaps they could go together – or else at least meet up.  His sister Jean feels somewhat in the dark because of a feud that has taken place between her and the youngest brother – who has taken it upon himself to become mom ’ s caretaker – although I think more responsibility has fallen upon his wife.  I don ’ t know if it ’ s something she has dealt with before, but Richard ’ s sister does not understand.  She believes that the youngest brother and his wife are preventing phone calls and supervision.  What a mess.  It doesn ’ t sound to me as if Jean has ever dealt with dementia.  That ’ s where there mom is at.         Last week Richard heard from Jean ’ s husband. They were in the process of traveli...

          My youngest son seems to be making more money than he knows what to do with.  Boo hoo, huh?  His wife's family has paid for a few outings for the entire family - like going to Mexico.  Recently he just purchased tickets to go to Hawaii.  Roland and I never traveled.  We barely had enough to feed the family.            There was one time we had gone to Logan to see my brother's performance in something.  I can't even remember what.  Each of the boys had made arrangements to sleep over with various friends and had not shown any interest in going to the play.  Since none of the boys were at home and Roland felt too tired to drive back, we just got a room to spend the night.          Our youngest (the first to have made sleeping arrangements) calls about midnight to find out where we are.  Apparently the sleeping over plans had fallen through and h...

              Randy really wants us to come to St. George – like now – which would be fine but the pandemic is far from over.   Almost half of all adults have received a vaccination shot – but there are still a high percentage that refuse.   They are too macho.   They are too proud.   They are determined NOT to let the government control them.   The same people who refuse to get flu shots or wear seat belts or have convinced themselves they are immune to any other law. So I read this article from Yahoo.   I hope that Oregon continues with its restrictions and those that think we ought to reopen can go spend their summer in Florida and see how well that works out for them.   International Travel is still a rare occurrence.   Other countries don’t wish to let Americans in.   I don’t blame them.   Americans are spoiled and have attitude.   The entire world belongs to them a...

          Driving to Canyonville should only take 11 minutes according to Google.   Though I have arrived at the school in less than 20 minutes, I generally allow myself at least 30 minutes on the road and arrive to the school just a few minutes early which allows me time to store my belongings in the staff room.           When I start to approach exit 101 and see I have plenty of time, I will take the ramp that leads to Stanley park and avoid the 99 exit.   Sometimes I have missed the exit and will take the off ramp at 98 – which is where the school is located just on the left hand side.   But it also requires turning left onto Main Street (which can get busy during certain hours) and make another left into the parking lot.   Google maps, the GPS and other sources will always have car exit 99 and drive through town.   I left the house earlier than normal yester...

         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 ...

If you were to make a bucket list, what is one thing that would be on it?           I have always wanted to see New England in the Fall. https://www.americansky.ie/new-england-holidays/top-10-things-to-do-in-new-england I would not mind visiting Ben & Jerry’s in Vermont, visiting an inn or two, take in a pumpkin festival perhaps.  https://newengland.com/today/seasons/fall/10-places-to-visit-in-new-england-in-fall/ I would want to visit some historic sites in Massachusetts and of course get some New England clam chowder. https://www.finecooking.com/recipe/new-england-clam-chowder          I haven’t gone as there is always something else that seems more pressing to spend my money on – like a new roof, new shoes, an overcoat, etc.   We have pretty falls in Oregon.    https://oregonfallfoliage.wordpress.com/2018/10/05/find-your-oregon-fall-this-we...

        Before we had dropped Jenna off, I mentioned that I had brought her sock and she could take it and open her gifts on Christmas morning, or she could wait for our return and open one gift each 45 minutes or so.  She opted to wait and decided to open a gift each time we stopped the car to get out.         I woke up early and put on my bathing suit.   I would have liked for Jenna to have one last swim - which she has never done on Christmas, but I really believed she'd enjoy being at her cousins better.   Maybe not.   I think there may have been pros and cons with each.         As I sat in the spa, not even remotely in the Christmas Spirit of activities one thinks of on Christmas day,   I found myself pondering upon the reason why we have this day - well, not December the 25th, but the reminder of Christ's birth which did not in reality take place in December (see here , here ...