Beneath the Wraps

             It appears that I did not post last week on the 23 rd.  I did have 8 drafts to post.  I was distracted with other things.  Richard and I had left the house on Saturday morning.    It had been raining off and on.    Mostly on. Jaime had wanted us to take a walk with her downtown Ashland, but it was too wet and cold and Richard wasn ’ t willing to leave the car.          We brought  Jaime home for weekend and I became more interested in meeting her needs than posting to my blog.  She spent the night at a friend's house and we got up early Sunday to retrieve her. Spending time with her and the family was pretty nice.  We played several games while she was here.  It was so great having her here – short as it was.    We were able to park downtown before dropping her off at the dorms on Sunday evening.   Jaime excitedly took us on a tour pointing ou...

             I remember walking with the boys and then with Jenna when we lived in Kearns.   I walked with Jenna to the bus stop and to the school from the bus stop and returned to the bus stop and walked between.   I did a lot of walking.             Even when we lived on the rental property in Myrtle Creek Jenna and I walked nearly every day.   I go with her now when she is walking Bonnie and I have never felt so worn out.   Bonnie always sounds like I feel – exhausted and panting.   Maybe she’s not.   She’s overweight so I think the walk is stressful – especially because she always seems like she’s in a hurry.   She needs to pace herself.             I preferred the walks in Utah and around Neal and Riverside or Millsite park.   I no longer enjoy climbing – which is what we are doing each time we “...

Field Day is a way for the elementary schools to transit from the last week of school to beginning the summer vacation.   The idea is for children to have fun playing games and friendly competition. I remember volunteering for Field Day at South Kearns Elementary.   I believe I had signed up three different years.   I know we got rained out at least two years, but there may have been one room in which we were able to complete the competitions. There were a parachute and relays, water games, racing with a spoon and keeping contents from spilling over.   I don’t remember being involved in another field day until yesterday as I had agreed to sub this week.   It felt weird going back after having been off for a month.   I felt awake when I left the house but somehow grew tired after having entered the building.   I don’t know why.   Every time I entered a classroom I seemed to go deaf. I was constantly asking students to repeat themselves...

          Since spring break, the skies overall have been grey and have produced a huge amount of water.   The rivers are not overflowing, but                     definitely not dry as they were in winter.  The temperature has been 47 – 52 degrees on average.   On Thursday it was up to 82.   What is up with that?!?   Yesterday was not quite as warm – maybe 10 degrees less.   Now we are back to rain and clouds.    

We had a leak in our pipes right underneath the sink. In order to fix it, Roland had   to turn off the water to the house. The water meter to our house is not only in our neighbor’s yard, it is in their driveway. What’s up with that?

           I don't recall ever having attended a leadership meeting on a stake level, but it seemed as though I had been invited - although I don't know who had told me.   I asked Roland if we were going.   He said that he would but not the adult session as he says he never gets much out of it.   I on the other hand, have always preferred the adult stake meeting as I rarely have ever gotten anything out of the Sunday meeting - especially since we have moved to Oregon.           I had volunteered to work a shift at the Annex, but wore my dress so that Roland and I could just leave as soon as I returned home.   I returned home before he did and guessed that he probably wouldn't want to return to Roseburg.   I was right.   I should have just called around to see who else was going and if I would be able to catch a ride.   Instead I finished my homework for the week.   On...

                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 .  ...

This will be my fourth year going to South Umpqua Memorial Pool for water fitness.    I remember the temperature of the water being opposite of the air temperature in the past two years.   But this year has been like river water regardless of whether the air has been warm or not.    The last few times I've attended, I never did manage to warm up - except for yesterday.   And that was when I got out. Yesterday was the first day this year that I saw bugs in the water - all tiny corpses floating around.

The beds are dry Not all the river beds not all the way some have puddles It's hard to believe that they were near overflowing just four months ago. The haze comes and goes Lately . . . it lingers hard to breathe It's hot.   I think the smoke is holding in the heat I'm currently washing clothes It is hot enough to hang them on the line But won't the smoke defeat my purpose of having washed them in the first place. At least I have a choice to shut my door and keep the elements outside.   How horrible for those who have to deal with Hurricane Harvey and the mess left behind They can't close the door and leave it outside - the water and damage are still in their houses. Many possessions and loved ones gone. Should we have to evacuate, it will be due to smoke inhalation.   I don't think the fires will come. Why can't the elements even out so there are no floods...

        Nobody calls me baby duck,         but that is how I feel for the most part when I am in the pool with my class.           I   seem to lag behind.   Either I am all over the pool (that would be when we're supposed to stay in place) or don't move at all (that would be when we are going to or returning from         the deep end)         Yesterday was overcast until about 2:00.   The pool was warm, but the air was not.   About 56 degrees.   Possibly warmer.   But there was a breeze that seemed to make it feel colder.         The lifeguards wore sweatshirts and         jackets.   They often do.   Our regular instructor was out a...

        It is currently 74 degrees in the afternoon.   Warmest it's been all day.   This morning would have been perfect for picking blueberries, but we went to the pool instead.   And it was cold.         The water itself wasn't so bad, but if there were wet parts not in the water but on top of the water when a breeze would blow through, well, it sent a chill all over.   We had one guy in the pool with a wet tee that was cold.   I don't recall being in the pool the entire time when the sun hasn't come out and made us forget that it had been overcast.         Jenna's only reason for going with me today was to go on the slide.   I told her that the lifeguards will turn it on for us on Fridays.   Today was an exception as Tuesday was a holiday and the pool had been closed - those who have swim classes were told to come today to m...

        Roland was flipping through the stations one Saturday morning when all that was available was infomercials and landed on one for Nevo ( here ).   The informative non-actors told about a water filter for getting rid of hard minerals and replacing the antique water softener that ended up corroding your pipes more than did the minerals.   It was interesting to hear the details as it made perfect sense.   If we were living in West Valley still, I would definitely invest but the water seems to be more purified in Oregon.         Our fridge has a water source and filter and had to be changed every 2-3 months at the West Valley house.   Although we had used our fridge at first house we lived in upon arriving in Oregon, we had never hooked up water dispenser. I have also noticed - even without Wen (which my hair has not seen for over a year now) that my hair is softer than it ever was in ...

I LOVE the way the sun glistens through raindrops right after it rains.   I have tried several times to get pictures of what I see with my naked eyes - but it isn't always what the camera lens captures. Just before the first meeting started for Church yesterday, I looked out the window and saw many drops hanging from a tree and though the branches are brown, they seemed a brilliant white as though frosted in snow.   The sun glistened over the tree and through the drops resembling so many interpretations of Lehi's tree.   I tried to photoshop something similar to what I saw.   I failed. I attended a Sunday School class and the instructor talked about his love for waterfalls.   They really are awesome.   Most all forms of water are:

            We got up early yesterday morning to drive out to Riddle and assist our ward members in clearing weeds and cleaning head stones.   It was a really good turn out – I thought, but didn’t seem well organized as there were several of us kind of doing our own thing without specific direction.   It’s a huge job.   Two hours was not enough.             The young women and achievement day girls will be returning on Wednesday with cameras and writing pads to record information to put on grave websites and hopefully make somebody’s family history a little more exhilarating as he or she discovers relatives who may be buried in Riddle, Oregon.             We returned home for a while.   Roland frosted and decorated the cake that he had made on Friday night.   I made two scrap...