'Tis the season

 It was interesting. I got up to put the turkey in and was surprised to see that overnight, we had just gotten a dusting of snow. Our bad weather was late!

So Thanksgiving went off perfectly with two turkeys, two hams and all the traditional side dishes. All the traditional people were there too. Good time. 

The following morning was a far different story.

The local news issued warnings about unnecessary travel, really stressing that the snow was hitting some places very hard and that made travel quite dangerous.

But in the very next segment, they talked about the Black Friday crowd of shoppers. Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday here. The Friday after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday and is considered to be the kickoff for Christmas shopping.

Stores offer huge savings on things to entice people into their store. The crowds are crazy bad. I did the Black Friday thing once. It was scary, with people pushing and shoving, and being rude to each other.

You could not pay me to be a part of that even if the roads had been good.

The news reporter showed long lines of people waiting for the store to open its doors. Some people had been waiting for 5 hours in the snow. Traffic was backed up a mile at the entrance to the parking lot.

And then there was this: I watched in total disbelief. So many are struggling right now. It almost seems obscene to me. Some stores are making it easy: buy now, pay later

I'm not a grinch and neither is Tim, but we have never gone into debt for the holiday. This year, we are even more cautious than usual. 

This excess just strikes me as foolish.

We have 10 inches of snow on the ground.

Happy Thanksgiving

 Cranberry sauce (check)

Blueberry pie (check)

Apple pie (check)

Turkey stuffed. Cream corn assembled and ready for baking. Carrots pared and ready to be glazed.

We celebrate Thanksgiving with my brother in law's family, nieces, nephews, and greats and grands and in-laws and out-laws, and whoever gets swept up in the rush. No one brings everything, but everyone brings something. As I understand it, we will have two turkeys and two hams and all manner of potatoes, vegetables, breads and desserts. 

If you leave hungry, it is your own darn fault.

That being said, it has begun to snow. The winds are expected to reach 50 mph over night and depending on who you are listening, snow accumulations are expected to fall in the 8-12 inch range over night. Travel warnings.

It will be interesting to see how this all works our.

 

If you are celebrating Thanksgiving, I hope it is a good one.

The Greatest Gift

 The Christmas project will always seem like a miracle to me. I had an idea. I posted that idea on Facebook. People got very excited about the idea.

The YMCA stepped up to provide a venue. People are volunteering their time, people are donating. A tech person has created a poster for it. 

She will add the times tonight, it will go live tomorrow. Under discussion is whether a newspaper will offer free ad space. A television reporter might be coming out on the 12th to talk to the organizers and volunteers. Members of the local Democrats have expressed interest in participating. 

Although it is being thrown together in a short time frame this year, a woman at the Y knows a group from Pittsburgh who have been doing this for 25 years. She wants us to meet up with them after the holidays and figure out how we can turn this into an annual tradition.

Crazy.

Something interesting that I realized today: Life has bit me hard and as a result, I have always been a guarded person. I mean I have always known this. I have known since childhood that there was something wrong with me. It is hard to explain, so I won't, but I know that I piss people off. I always have. 

This is a project that has the potential to make a huge difference. If I want to be a part of it, I need to let my guard down.

Today, it occurred to me that for all the focus on giving, I might be receiving the biggest gift of all - a new vision of myself and a changed perception of the world around me. 

Miracles and mysteries

Today, we had to go into town, and so we decided to drive Tim's 'newest old truck' into town. It runs just right, and Tim is so pleased about that. 

We loaded up the television equipment and brought it back to the house. We used Tim's phone as a hotspot, and used the ROKU to order Paramount+, and just like that, we were watching television.

Just like that did not happen just like that, mind you, but it got sorted out. 

Today's aggravation: I have a broom that has a dustpan that snaps on to the handle. When I got it, I thought, "I will never lose the dustpan" and for 6 months, that has been true. 

Saturday, i could not find that dust pan. Three days later, I still can't find that dustpan to save my soul.

What do you think?

Now here is something I am interested in hearing your opinion on:

Last week, I had a stubborn sinus infection. It has been a long time since I dealt with something like that, so I am standing in the aisle at our local Walmart reading labels on the various OTCs. I became aware of a beeping and I looked towards it. In the ceiling, much to my surprise there was a square screen displaying the flashing words 'Recording in Progress'. I stood there watching myself watching me.

I wasn't quite sure what to make it. I didn't like it. 

I moved on. We needed a curtain rod. We knew what length. We knew the finish. We looked at the different kinds. Before we chose, I heard that beeping once again. I looked up and sure enough, there we were. Along with the flashing red words 'Recording in Progress'. FFS! I mean, the curtain rods were in a 4 foot box. It wasn't like we would stuff that in a pocket. 

We walked on discussing it. What was triggering that? Were we specifically being targeted as potential thieves? Why? We both agreed that we did not like it.

I saw USB cords. I stopped once again. I needed one that fit my phone and our charging block. I knew I needed a long cord. Before I could even pick one out, we heard that beeping once again. 

I said to Tim, "you know what? I think that when you stop, it triggers an alert." We began to look around and realized that these cameras were all over the store. 

I was kind of grumpy. Neither of us liked that, and in my defense you have to remember that I had a sinus headache situation. I said, 'Forget the USB cord.' I walked away, but not before flipping the camera off.

We had one more thing to look at: I needed to look at earrings for my granddaughter. I said, "you KNOW there will be a camera there. How on earth can you browse, and feel comfortable about it? I mean it is Christmas season, and it seems like they would expect that.." 

Sure enough, there was a camera. I was trying to hurry. I wasn't fast enough. When the team leader came over to unlock the cabinet to get the earrings out, I made it really clear that I thought the cameras were creepy and I did not like the feeling of being rushed. "If I can't look around without that being seen as suspicious, I will do my browsing someplace else."

He said he would pass on my comments.

We haven't been back. 

So...what do you think? 

As John Gray would say, "answers on a postcard."

The Miracle

A miracle happened for Tim. He has been working at fixing his truck for weeks now. Replace a part. Study the situation. Watch a few you tube videos. Buy another part. Replace the part. Study the situation. Watch a few more videos. Repeat the cycle over and over.

He is very patient. Very methodical. Still  truck was not right. 

As weeks went on, privately I worried. Sometimes he struggles since his stroke and because he is quiet, I don't always see it, and let's get real here: even if I did realize he was having a problem, it was not a problem I was going to be any help at all with. 

So I fretted as the weeks went by. I told myself that puttering on the truck was a good brain exercise for him, just like crosswords were good exercise for my brain, but then I heard him tell a friend 'I have gotten myself into a real predicament with that truck.' 

He sounded a bit discouraged. 

Later, I asked the question: "what if you can't fix that truck?" 

He said. "I don't know. I never had it happen before. 

And to be fair, this is true.

Today, I heard his truck running. I just assumed it was the '82 Chevy truck and wondered where he was going. I looked out the window and realized it was the new old truck running. It sounded just as smooth as the old old truck. I watched him standing there listening to it. He hopped back inside and revved it a few times. No miss. 

He shut it off. Tinkered. Started it back up. Revved it. Listened. Finally he shut it off and closed the hood. He walked back to the house with a jaunty little bounce to his step.  

"It sounds good," I said cautiously. 

He washed his hands, and went back out to take it for a test drive. 

He seems to have fixed his truck. 

The Opossum of Optimism

The idea of struggling families not being able to provide Christmas for their children was weighing heavily on my mind. I remembered what it felt like.

I knew that it was not something that any one person could accomplish on her own, so I threw it out into the community via  a local 'Helping Hands' site, just to test the water 

It just seemed to me that there are two extremes here in my community: the people who are weeding out their kids' toys  in preparation for the influx of new toys and the people who would be pleased to be able to put those things under their tree for their own children. I wondered if anyone else would be interested in trying to make that happen.

My modest expectations were blown right out of the water when the post got 161 likes, and 80 people volunteering donations. I really could not believe it.

The first thing was to find a venue. It is such a busy time of the year. While churches were my first thought, my phone calls to them went unreturned. To be fair, some are providing community meals for those facing food insecurity and are just too busy. Others are busy preparing for Christmas celebrations. I imagine some just do not have the space to donate to an endeavor like this. But no one got back to me.

This weekend was a tough one. I felt terrible that I might have whipped up such enthusiasm for such a terrific project only to be unable to even get it off the ground. It didn't help that my cold had morphed into a sinus infection. The thought that came to mind was 'when it rains, it pours'. Except that instead of rain, we got yet another lake effect snowstorm which dumped 8 inches of snow on us again.

I just felt bad about disappointing people. 

I received a message today, from someone who saw the post. She and her organization were completely willing to provide the venue. Staff it. One day of donation drop offs, with doors opening for pickup on the following day. They told me their two available days. 'Would that work?' she asked.

'Yes,' I typed back.

It needs to be brought before the board at tomorrow's meeting for final approval from the director, a formality, she assured me, since everyone who has heard the idea is as excited as she is. Then we can begin to put the word out into the community.

When that conversation was done, I made one call and sent two messages giving an unofficial heads up.

Everything unfolded so quickly that I still can't quite believe it. I cried.

LATE EDIT: I really want to make it clear that I only had an idea. What is making it happen is a community. It is truly a miracle to me to be reminded of the good people with good hearts that live all around me.