Winter 2020

So here is the thing. I haven’t written in a while. I don’t seem to have much to say. It’s not that there isn’t much to write about. This season I seem to be more into doing and less into talking. Talking seems to be something that is overdone anyway. I hear people, especially those in the news, saying things and I think, “What’s the point? Words seem to be quite meaningless since we can’t agree on reality. No matter how eloquent or impassioned a speech, what is the point?”  So, what is the point of writing. I have one very selfish reason for writing. It helps me remember where I’ve been, who I’ve spent time with, and what I did. When I post on my blog, I am forced to pick out pictures and so out of the thousands of pictures I’ve taken, a few will remain part of my story. When I hear that someone follows my blog, it makes me happy. I love that someone is enjoying what I’ve written so I try to make it interesting and add a little humor. That’s a good point. 

The White Board

This morning I went to yoga. Yes, we now have yoga at 8:00 AM twice a week. I never feel like going, don’t always enjoy it but of all the activities I’m involved in, I know that this is the best one for me. Kind of like eating kale, but I don’t do that unless someone sneaks it into food at potluck. One of my fellow yogis said to me, “You seem to do everything here. You are in every exercise there is.” There is some truth to that but some days I have to choose between line dancing and golf. I even play shuffleboard this year and have had my name on the white board a couple times.

Besides those activities, Don and I also go 3 times a week for a half hour walking exercise class. So now when the doctor asks if I exercise at least a half an hour 5 days a week, I’m not lying when I say yes.

My brother Dick is now a Winter Texan and brought his own camper down. He is parked out by the front gate. His favorite activity is sitting at his picnic table reading mystery novels.

Dick's Scamp

He is working his way through the Palmdale library and getting a pretty good tan in the process. He brought his big Kitchen Aid mixer and keeps it at my house. If he had it in his camper, it would take up most of the space and besides, he doesn’t have an oven. So, it stays here and he comes over sometimes to bake. Yesterday he made some dinner rolls to take to potluck. I love having him here.

Some of Dick's work

 

 

We have some new friends, Penny and Elmer from Alberta, Canada. Actually, they are from Alberta kind of like we were from South Dakota. Their son lives there so they are using him as their mail forwarding service though they say he is not very reliable. Penny and Elmer have joined our little group that gets together frequently to eat and drink on our screen porch around the Texas table. We enjoyed the Super Bowl together and have plans to do the Port of Brownsville tour and have a going away party for Ray and Cyndi. Big, sad face. Ray and Cyndi have decided not to come back next year. It has gotten too difficult to manage in their camper, so they sold it and are leaving before the first of March. We will miss them.

The best of Palmdale

Better than the best at the Kite Fest SPI

That brings me to one of the hardest things about living in a retirement community – losing people. Ray and Cyndi will settle in Florida sometime later this year. Maybe we will get to Florida sometime to see them but possibly not. We will for sure stay in touch. Palmdale won’t be the same for us without them as they came the same year, we did and we have enjoyed many adventures with them. We have other friends who didn’t come back this year for the same reason. Living in a place like this requires some kind of emotional nimbleness. To form good friendships, celebrate the time together and be able to let them go and mourn the loss. All the while making new friends, not to replace old friends because they are not replaceable. So, I guess it’s just kind of like life…only on steroids.

Kite Festival South Padre Island 02-02-2020

 
I went to Minnesota again this year. So far, I haven’t missed Edie’s birthday though technically this year I didn’t actually see her on her birthday. It was on a Tuesday, and I was in Coon Rapids (35 miles away) and I could have borrowed a car but driving after dark on a freeway in January in Minnesota is way too intimidating for me.

A sample of our watercolors

I had some alone time so I took it out

Jean, Elaine, Kay and me

I had all three of my sisters at my house in Coon Rapids for a few days and that was a lot of fun. We did a jigsaw puzzle, worked a crossword puzzle,

Kelly Jean

Unless I had visitors, I didn’t have a car. So, I used Uber, the commuter train, light rail and bus to get around. That worked pretty well. My biggest problem is that the trains are set up for people who work for a living. There are 5 trains heading into the city before 8:00 AM so on Friday, Kelly was flying in from Pennsylvania in the morning and a big snowstorm was forecast. I thought I’d better get to Greg’s house and be prepared to spend a couple of days. My Uber ride came early so I ended up on an earlier train and watched the sun come up as I went into the city getting to his house around 8:00 AM. That was a little early. Kelly arrived and we hung out for a while before going for lunch and as it turned out we were able to go back to Coon Rapids for a couple of days of the long weekend. We played some games and tried to walk in the new snow fall but the wind was biting cold and we stopped pretty quick. Greg had to work on Saturday, so we had some groceries delivered and cooked him a pot roast when he came home. That was the third pot roast that I enjoyed while I was in Minnesota as we made one at Greg’s house the first weekend, I was there. We went to a community theater to see “The Dot” on Sunday and Greg took his family home for a day of rest. Kelly and I stayed in Coon Rapids and made some fish chowder from some food I had left in the house. Enjoyed a lovely quiet evening.

The next morning, we closed up the house and Ubered into the city where we had lunch with my brother Byron and niece Kelsey. I spent the night with Greg, Peggy and Edie. I gave Edie simple little sewing machine and she and I spent some time figuring out how to use it. Greg dropped me at the light rail the next morning. I caught an early flight, came back to warm sunshine and jumped on the Palmdale activity train. Overall, a very satisfying trip and having a house there is pure luxury.

My Beautiful Granddaughters Christmas 2019