Inch by Inch
Some days at the Y, the water in the swimming pool is shockingly cold. On those days, some of my friends just jump right in and get it over with. I go in very slowly, inch by inch, until I'm finally the whole way into the water. My friends tell me I need to take the plunge and it will be easier to get used to it. But, I resist.
However, this inch by inch deal reminds me of a story my dad liked to tell about his mom treating a sick pig when he was a young boy. The pig was sick. They didn't know what ailed it, but a neighbor told my grandma that he had heard that if they would cut a bit of the pig's tail off, it would cure it. (Why they believed that is beyond me!) But Grandma cut a bit of the pig's tail off. The pig did not get better. Then she decided that she hadn't cut enough of the tail off and she cut a bit more off. I'm not sure how many times she did this, but the pig did not get well. It died.
Dad thought she might as well have cut the tail off once and not inch by inch.
I wonder if I should take my friends advice and jump into the cold water. It might be worth a try.
I'll see if I can work up my courage (inch by inch) to take the plunge!
Rusty Stays Cool
Guess where I found Rusty this morning when he apparently didn't realize I was coming upstairs, or maybe just decided that he was tired of hiding his secret cool place. He was in the bathtub! I know he's been spending a lot of time by himself upstairs but I didn't realize that he's been in the bathtub.
The upstairs room is an interior room, no windows to let in light and heat. The porcelain of the bathtub stays cool. On these hot days, Rusty has found a way to stay cool!
Fireworks and a Parade
Our town will have fireworks on Friday night, the Fourth of July, which will be set off at the parking lot of WalMart. Years ago, when family would come home for the holiday and the fireworks were set off at the Route 6 Plaza, we would drive over there and wait for the display at dusk. When the display was over, getting back on the road again was a problem with everyone eager to get to the streets at the same time.
Now I'm not tempted at all to join the crowd to see the fireworks, and, I've discovered that I can see the fireworks adequately from behind the Lutheran Church which is very near my home. Often a couple friends come over and we walk down to the church with out lawn chairs and watch the display together. There is no crowd and no traffic problem.
Our town also has a parade to celebrate the Fourth, and this year, it will be on Saturday morning. The parade forms at the high school and proceeds west and goes right past my place. I can just carry a lawn chair out to the street when I hear the band music approaching, or I could just stand and watch if I don't want to be bothered with a chair.
I live in a good location.
Roses
Many years ago my husband gave me a yellow rosebush to replace one that got
ruined when he was digging a new foundation to enlarge our cellar.
After
a number of years, I was very startled to see red roses blooming on my yellow
rosebush. I thought I wasn't remembering accurately, but yet, I was sure it had
been yellow. Finally someone explained to me what had happened.
The
yellow rose had been grafted onto a wild rose root. Over that last winter, the
yellow rose had died, but the wild root survived and sent up the wild red roses.
They are soft, open roses. They bloom every two years. Two summers ago, I almost
dug it up to throw it away because it looked dead. I got the roots uncovered but
there I saw a little bit of green sprouting. I decided to give it another chance
to grow. It did grow well but didn't bloom that summer. It didn't bloom last
summer either, but this year, it did bloom, rather gloriously. I really liked my
yellow rose, but I appreciate my red roses which have replaced it since the
yellow part died.
A Kid Again
Today I felt like I was a kid again. At the Senior Center for the noon meal, I traded my beets for a piece of cake! My mom wouldn't have approved.
I didn't mean to trade, but that's how it turned out. I wasn't going to eat my beets. I never learned to enjoy them and I didn't want to make myself eat them. Ruth, eating beside me, said she'd like to have them because she really likes them. We put them into a container and she took them home with her. But first, she didn't want her piece of cake. I really didn't want it either, but she wouldn't take no for an answer. It ended up that we put her cake into another little container and I brought it home after all. So, I traded my beets for a piece of cake.
I got the best of the bargain! But if you like beets, you may not think that I did get the better deal.
Geocaching
While my son was visiting me, he, the grandsons and I
went on a Geocache in a wooded area nearby. We met some others who were hunting
for the same cache as we were. It turned out that though we didn't know each
other, one of the women was an in-law of one of my Aquarobics friends. It was
such fun to meet them, and even more fun to know they were friends of a
friend.
Yesterday morning the Erie Times News featured the hobby of Geocaching. It said that Geocaching is only 8 y ears old. It's a fun hobby that helps you learn things, meet and possibly make friends, and get some exercise.
The Lady and the Tiger
The Lady
A few weeks ago, she had friends visit from out of town and they showed her another game that she might like to play. She told me about it with enthusiam. "It's called Tiger," she said. "It's solitaire but it builds from the king down and then all the cards pile up at the bottom. At the bottom of the screen there is a picture of a tiger." Anne thought she could learn to play this game if I could help her find it on the computer in the lounge.
Last Friday the computer was available to her while I was visiting and I tried to find Tiger on the computer to help her with the game. I could not find it, but I found a neat little memory game that she was able to open and play without any trouble. As I was leaving, I apologized that I couldn't find the game but promised that I'd keep looking. "I couldn't find," I said, and my tongue slipped. I remembered seeing the icon for Spider, and that's the word I said. "I'm sorry that I couldn't find Spider for you." And she said, "That's it! It's not Tiger. It's Spider!"
Aha! I could help her find and play Spider. Today I spent some time with her and we opened Spider and she played it on the easy level. She kept saying, "What a lot of cards!" But she was getting the hang of it and doing quite well. She won that first game. That's encouraging, ---to be able to win right away.
When I left her, she was playing another game, contentedly. She's very happy to have found this new pastime. I'm happy, too.
Taking a Walk
Boys Walking Rusty
When my son was here for a weekend, we went to look for a geocache. This picture shows my grandsons walking ahead of me down the trail. Rusty loved to walk with them, and fortunately, they enjoyed taking turns holding his leash.
It was a beautiful day to be out for a walk.
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