People

 People are funny animals, aren't they?

We have got an uncomfortable situation going on in one of  our buildings. 

We became aware of it when the guy made a very pointed remark about another tenant. 

Startled me a bit. I said, 'is there a problem?'

He snapped, 'I ain't saying anything. I need a place to live.'

I was shocked. I said, 'We have no reason to evict you. You have been a good tenant, but she has too.'

He snapped in a disgusted voice, 'I see that he couldn't even be honest about who he was...'

Ah. That is the problem, I thought to myself. It surprised me. I met him at his nephew's wedding. His nephew is gay. 

I leaned my arms on the side of his truck and said it plainly, "listen, we are aware that she is transgendered. I saw no need to check what is in her pants. Didn't look in yours, either."

He laughed disgustedly and shook his head.

About the same time, the other tenant came down. 

I thought the situation had been made clear, but it has not. It may have even escalated a little bit. During the last snowstorm, she offered to help shovel. That set him off.

The thing is, he has a temper. We know this. But they live in the same building, and we can't have him terrorizing another tenant either. 

I made a point of talking to his brother. I said, 'I am just going to ask the question. Is your brother dangerous?"

The answer was careful. "Why?"

I gave the briefest of answers, but almost immediately, he figured it out. His brother had vented evidently.

He said that his brother did have a temper, but did not feel it would cross over to violence. He suggested that our tenant just avoid making eye contact. Mind her own business. Don't try to speak to him.

I said, 'That is fair enough. Our advice will be the same to him as well." 

His brother agreed but hesitated. "It is the history, mostly."

"Your brother alluded to that. I know you all grew up together..."

He said, "yeah..." and related a prank that had gone awry with tragic consequences. From the thumbnail sketch, it happened in junior high school. 12 or 13 years old.

I said, "you know, I kind of think that she has paid a heavy price for this. It sounds like she has had a lot of counseling. She has always been good and helpful to us

 I think of all the dumb things I did as a kid that could have had consequences just as devastating.

He agreed. 

Strange isn't it? A fifty-something year old man feels justified to mete out punishment 45 years later for something that was not considered criminal.

Hopefully he will settle down, but he called this morning. One of his complaints was about the Christmas cards we left for each of our tenants. We had a gift card in each one. He would rather we just apply the money to his rent from now on. 

Sometimes, people just say 'thanks' when they get a gift. 

People story number 2:

Tim goes to a new church now that we have moved. He is comfortable there. His father preached there years back.. One of the elders recognized the name. "You are practically royalty!' Made Tim laugh. But I think it makes him feel the church is familiar and comfortable. He is a shy person, quiet by nature.

He brought home a few Christmas cards he had been given. "Could you make out some cards for me?" 

As I was doing it, one of the names caught my eye immediately. I made a little noise and he looked at me. "What?"

The man had graduated from high school with my parents. 2 months later, he was best man at their wedding. It was a surprise to see the name pop up all over again. 

I made out the card. "Invite him and his wife to dinner sometime.."

So Sunday, he went back to church with his handful of cards. As he was talking to the old gentleman and his wife, another woman was surprised to learn that Tim had a wife, and had a few questions about why I did not attend. 

It would have been interesting to hear how Tim answered the questions. Like I said, he is pretty quiet and not given to lengthy explanations.

The woman said, "well, just tell her you've got a girlfriend at church! That will get her here."

Tim said, "No. She is not like that."

I am not like that either, mostly because he isn't like that. We laughed when he told me about it. "Quite a church you have found there, Mister. Married men going there to find girlfriends..." 

People are strange.

The Celebration

 Last night was our Christmas with Levi and Mattie. To that end, I spent the day making food. The sloppy joes took 4 pounds of ground meat. 

Apache Doug asked for the recipe. I quadrupled my regular recipe, but here is what I use for Tim and me.

1 lb ground beef (you can use mix ground turkey and beef if you are cutting costs).

1/2 cup diced onion

1/2 cup chopped pepper

3 cloves of garlic 

1 cup ketchup

1 tbls brown sugar

1 tsp yellow mustard 

Brown the meat, drain grease. Sautee the onion, garlic, and peppers. Add the meat, mix. Add the ketchup  mustard and brown sugar and let it simmer (I dump it in a crock pot and let it simmer for an afternoon.) Salt and pepper to taste. 

Let me know what you think, Doug.

I made a loaf of Bovey Belle's date bread to take, finally finishing off a two pound box of dates that has been troubling me. 

I also made an ice cream cake. 

As I worked inside, the wind picked up outside and it was snowing hard. After a day of rain, it made the roads pretty slushy. As the temperatures continued to drop, things began to freeze. The winds got quite strong. 

It was quite a job getting the car loaded in the wind. It was icy and slippery. Once we set off, we had a bit of an issue with the wind. Roads were drifting and there were whiteouts. It took us 20 minutes longer than usual before we were pulling into their drive way.

The kids were beginning to believe we were not coming. I knew they would be worried. Reuben had run down to the neighbor's house to use their phone to call. Unfortunately, I had walked out of the house without my phone, which made them even more worried.

Levi said "The weather is bad..."

I said, "We would hate to disappoint these kids."

Once inside, dinner was served up very quickly. Mattie had made potatoes with sausage, and had set out some of their 'traveler's sausage' to try. (It was very good). 

We did not gather around the big table like usual. It was cold, and so we filled our plates and we all ate in the toasty livingroom around the brand new woodstove. 

There was hunting news to share. The three oldest boys had all taken nice bucks. Levi got a big doe. Tales were swapped on that topic. It had gotten so cold that the ice was thick enough to cut and fill their ice house before Christmas. Not unheard of, but an uncommon thing all the same. 

The kids ate very quickly and sat staring at the presents. The adults were still eating. I suggested that they look through the tote of books while they waited. I love how excited they get about books. The boys were pleased with the Patrick McManus books. They do love a laugh. They had never heard of the Island of the Blue Dolphins, and were amazed to hear that it was based on an actual event. Mattie said "I want to read that, myself!" Levi asked a question I thought was quite interesting: "after 18 years, did she even remember how to talk?" I had to admit that it had been 55 years since I read the book. So I did not know. The topic of books went on for a while. Little David stood in the middle of the floor 'reading' a book to himself. He got quite excited when he found a book about bears. 

Eventually presents were opened. It was a lively event as always. They loved 'Uncle Wiggily'. I told them that I had played it as a child more than sixty years ago, and that the game had originally been my mother's. Levi remembered playing it from his own childhood. There was a wagon full of blocks and they played and played with the tin carousel. The doll house was a hit. So was Noah's ark. Popping Pirate. Puzzles. Reuben worked the hanayama metal puzzle determinedly. I finally took pity on him and showed him the solution video. Someone in the house needed to know how to do it.

 That set them off. They have lots of tricks. An outhouse that explodes. Wooden puzzles which defy solution. Druscilla took great delight in using her hands to hide what she was doing when she solved one of them.

It was a fun night. Rudy fell asleep with a book in his hand. Lissy fell asleep by her father's chair. It was clearly time to go. 

We made our way back down the hill, quiet and happy. It really is just the nicest way to celebrate Christmas.

...and so this is Christmas

We have set it up. Our Amish Christmas will be Friday night. I will make sloppy joes and take buns. Mattie will make the 'sides'. 

I collect things for this all year long. The tote is filled with books. I have never seen people so pleased with a box of books. So every time, I see a book that I think they'd enjoy, I pick it up and toss it in the tote. Since there are all ages, the books vary widely from children to adult. 

Practically everything is thrifted. I don't feel bad about that...it is how they do it, so I do the same. The doll house was a dollar. It comes with furniture and two little dolls. The Noah's ark was a happy find. They love wooden toys. I have a brain teaser game in there. Games. puzzles, a tin carousel, play dough... To be honest, because I wrap them a few at a time, I don't remember what some of the things are. That's part of the excitement for me. 

(There are some advantages to having a brain like mine.)

As I collect these things, they get put away. If DJT has been particularly outrageous, I retreat to the bedroom and wrap a couple Christmas gifts (cue Julie Andrews) "...and then I don't feeeeeeeel so baaaaaaaaaaaad..." 

I have gifts stacked by family. One pile of gifts went out the door to my son and daughter-in-law's house. They are stashed away in the dresser in the guest room. My oldest granddaughter knows they are there and has been assigned a 'secret mission' to sneak everything under the tree on Christmas eve after her sister goes to bed. She loves being a spy, and is surprisingly good at it. Her parents know about the secret mission and will helpfully be otherwise occupied, I am sure.

Friday night, another pile of gifts will go  the pile of gifts pictured. Little by little, we are getting the guest room back. 

It will be another fun night. This is probably our 4th or 5th year celebrating with our friends. I need to go back in the blog and see. It is a beloved tradition for us. I hope it is for them, as well.

After our snow 'event', the temperature is 42. Tomorrow we will be in the fifties. Snow and rain mix through 'til Christmas, temperatures in the thirties. We woke last night to the sound of snow sliding off the roof. The wind was picking up. 

Tim laughed in the darkness. "Spring is here!"

I answered back from my side of the bed. "Winter may have been short, but it was a tough one. I am glad to see it go."

New day

Big news of the day: Red has posted from Hiawatha House. It made me glad to see his post.

Other big news of the day. Our snow event was supposed to end this morning. 

(Samuel L. Jackson voiceover) "But the snow event did not end this morning...)

We have 18 inches of snow on the ground, The tractor is stuck. Tim and I got our aerobic workout, for sure. We shoveled our three hundred foot driveway. Tim dug out the mailbox. 

Yesterday was a day of aggravation. Tim went to church. I was bustling around getting the house straight. We had Ray coming for lunch. Nothing fancy. It has been a busy stretch of days. 

When I went to use the stove, the burner did not light. Stupid gas was out. It had gone out twice the previous day. Tim suspected a faulty regulator and had bought a new one, but hadn't gotten it installed. He had a funeral. So dinner was a little late but that was okay.

Today the gas was off when we woke up. Tim did his magic. And then we went out to shovel. When we came back in, the gas was off. He turned it back on. He ran to Titusville to return a tool he had a $450 deposit on. While he was gone the gas went out again. Ready or not, today was the day to install the new regulator. Which required more shoveling.

I'd rearrange furniture but I am too tired.

Happier yet.

 I tried to take a video, but I can't upload it. I am tired. There are so great ones out there, so I am sure I figure a way to get it done at some point. Tonight is just not going to be that night. 

Cutting to the chase, we had 133 families come to shop for 395 kids. It was beautiful.

Has anyone heard from Red at Hiawatha House? He hasn't posted in 3 weeks.

Happy

there were 4 rows of tables. Everything was completely covered. There are toys underneath the tables. Probably 500 stuffed animals. 70 or 80 dolls

Books. DVDs. Puzzles. Stocking staffers. Just anything you could imagine. What was truly amazing was that probably 20% of this stuff was brand new. There are things for boys and girls of all ages.

There was a wonderful video, but I don't know own how to post in from facebook. It shows those amazing dolls and stuffed animals.

Our community did itself proud. So proud. 

A mess tonight.

Today. 

Yet another snow event.it seems like no where is escaping it.

When I stopped at the Mennonite store on my way homeand was pleased at their cheese collection. I picked up over 7 pounds of cheese, different varieties, enough to last us for the winter. Foreign cheese as well. One caught my eye.

I took a moment to remember Weaver. I miss her 'voice' in blogland telling the stories of her days. 

 

Does gz have superpowers? Seems like it sometimes. She is everywhere. She does everything.

I am kind of a mess tonight. Tomorrow is donation day for the toy giveaway. I am excited and nervous all mixed together. It seems positive, but tomorrow we will know for sure. 

The snow is not making me feel better. I just want things to go well.