Never In My Life!

Today is St. Patrick's Day. It was a special holiday to my mother-in-law, Mildred Annabelle Murphy Schulte.  She's been gone from us for years now, but she's especially on my mind today.  She was so proud of her Irish heritage.   

On an entirely different line of thought, our world has been turned upside down with the corona virus COVID19.  The first we heard of it was just a little blurb about people in China coming down sick. Just a few weeks later it became a global crisis.  Today, here in the USA we have been restricted to having no gathering in excess of 10 people.  Ten people!  We also have worldwide travel bans, no dining in restaurants, no gym activities, sporting events, churches are holding worship services online, schools across the country have closed, the grocery stores and big stores like Walmart are out of hand soap, paper towels, toilet paper, tissue, and the frozen vegetables are almost all gone.  Aldi's closed their doors.  Never in my life have I witnessed such reaction.  Even the attacks to our nation on 9/11 didn't create such fear.
I completely understand the measures being taken.  It's a desperate attempt to slow, or even stop, the spread of this new virus.  From all I've read and heard, this virus is unlike the typical flu virus in that it is spreading more quickly, and also that it mutates as it goes. Experts are saying that this virus has a greater health threat because it mutates, therefore humans aren't building up antibodies as they do with other viruses.
This virus is a catastrophic and global event, no doubt. Yet, we are not to tremble in fear.  Let's pray, pray, and pray.  And let's be sensible and make wise choices.  Stay home if you're sick!  Stay home if you're susceptible or more at risk than a normal healthy person.  Wash your hands!  Get enough rest.  Drink water.  Wash your hands!  Get fresh air.  Get proper nutrition. Don't touch your face, don't pick your nose, rub your eyes, or suck your thumbs, bite your nails....Keep your hands out of your mouth. Practice good hygiene.  Wash your hands!
And trust God.  He's not caught off guard.  He's made promises, and He is faithful. He keeps His promises.  And He says He is with us always.  There are so many Scriptures that assure us of His constant, unending love and care.  Read them!  Get into His Word and let Him calm your fears, take your burdens, and restore your soul. 

We Are So Blessed!

What a day!
4:20 P.M. - We were sitting in our all season room reading, saying to each other that we'd better be thinking about getting ready to head over to Nancy and Ron's house. We were going to play games there this evening, and figured we could read for another half hour or so.
4:24 P.M. - A thunderous crash! Snap! Sparks flying. What in the world was going on?  It was our utility pole. It snapped off and was laying on the ground, along with the transformer. Wires were pulled off of the house. The cows were going berserk!
4:25 P.M. - Called Alliant emergency number. Do you have an emergency? Yes, I believe it is! She promised to send a crew.
5:00 P.M. - First Alliant truck arrives. The lineman looked over the situation and then went down the road to disconnect the power.  He then proceeded to take the downed transformer off of the broken pole.  I began lighting candles.








5:40 P.M. - Second truck arrives. This one brought a new utility pole. Right behind him came a third truck. They pulled up what remained in the ground and prepared to set a new pole.
6:00 P.M. - New pole on the ground, being 'fitted' for the new transformer.  Sounds like drilling and pounding.
6:05 P.M. - Uh-oh! Need to go to the bathroom! But, no water, no flush, and no washy washy! I believe I'll wait a while.
6:10 P.M. - New pole is in the ground! They're backfilling. Rusty is watching the process, nervously. This is very good progress! I might be able to use the bathroom soon!
6:13 P.M. - They moved the third truck, blocked my view and now I can't see what's going on!
6:15 P.M. - Man in bucket going to the top of the pole. Looks like they're about to hoist up a new transformer.
6:20 P.M. - Really dark out now, but the crew has great work lights!
6:25 P.M. - So thankful that this happened today! Its a fairly warm day, a day that we are home, not in Florida or the Bahamas, not freezing for stock tank waterers, not cold in the house, and not while I was out feeding the cows! The way the cows ran through the gate, if I'd been out there among them I might have been trampled in the stampede! Or electrocuted! Also thankful for this crew of Alliant guys! They're doing a great job.
6:30 P.M. - New transformer going up.
6:45 P.M. - Transformer secured to the new pole. Looks like the big truck that brought the new pole is packing up. I've been playing my guitar, since it's my only non-electrical entertainment system. But, now I'm pretty sure I have blisters on my finger tips!
6:55 P.M. - Not sure what they're doing now. They have the pole set and braced with a new anchor wire. I'm hearing tapping....maybe putting in a new ground rod?
6:57 P.M. - Man in bucket going up again. Looks like they're getting ready to reconnect the wires to the transformer.
7:01 P.M. - Decided to use the outdoor toilet. Now, I'm thirsty! People with electrically dependent water supply systems should always keep a pitcher of water ready for such a time as this!  Sure thankful for all these candles. Heat and light!
7:10 P.M. - The wire going to the shop is about to be reconnected.
7:15 P.M. - They're reattaching the wire that was pulled off the house. What a crew!
7:25 P.M. - The third truck left, apparently to go down the road and restore power. The guys here are connecting the house wire to the transformer. They had to trim off a couple tree branches too. Looks like we're going to have power soon!
7:45 P.M. - Lights are on!




 

Bahama Cruise

 We left Iowa just ahead of a big winter storm! Boarded the Majesty of the Seas in New Orleans and sailed to the Bahamas.  Our first stop was Key West, FL.  We walked around seeing some of the sights and visiting a few shops. While on board the ship, we learned to play pickleball, saw many excellent theater productions, enjoyed the Majesty of the Seas orchestra, were spectators at the belly flop competition and the sexiest guy contest. Of the six or seven men competing for the sexiest man title, not a single one of them would have got my vote!
Our second stop was Coco Cay, Royal Caribbean's private island.  I'd been there once several years ago, and it hardly looked like the same place. The beaches, and there were several, were lovely. They have really built it up. It now includes a huge water park, fresh water swimming pool, volleyball courts, bean bag games, lawn bowling, ping pong tables outdoors, basketball courts, and several other outdoor games, along with a trolley ride all around the island.  Of course, there was an over abundance of food available as well, and soft serve ice cream all day long. I was pleasantly surprised to find it such a wonderful place. We enjoyed a 'Perfect Day at Coco Cay'.
As we were leaving Coco Cay, there was a major life threatening storm toward Nassau. Our captain chose to skip Nassau for the safety of everyone on board, so we went back to Key West for another day.  While we were there, one couple got married at the justice of peace in Key West.  Later that night, while at sea, there was a Love and Marriage game in the theater. The couple that were married that day participated as the 'newest' married couple.  The had two other couples, one married for 60 years, and the other about 30.  It was pretty entertaining.
We also enjoyed two entertainers from Las Vegas.  Ralph Harris, a comedian, and Tony Tillman, a comedian/singer/dancer were great. Because of the storm they were not able to leave the ship as planned in Nassau, so Tony Tillman did a second show.
We had dinner every evening in the Starlight - a 'formal' dining room.  Lunch and breakfast we opted for the Windjammer most of the time.
It was a great trip. We returned to New Orleans Saturday morning and were among the first to disembark. We were on the road to home by 8 A.M.
No matter where you go, it's always good to get home!

Painting Fun

Recently I enjoyed a painting class at the Lost Canvas. We painted a snowman, and I actually thought mine turned out quite nice. We had a lot of fun doing it, and it gave me a little kick to get my brushes out at home. So today I tried painting a butterfly. It was enjoyable, and while it's not exactly right, it is recognizable, so I'm pleased.

It was a beautiful, sunny and warm day! What a gift that is in the middle of January.  I'm thinking I may enjoy doing more painting this winter!

Birthday Fun!

Today we celebrated this little girl's 5th birthday.  She's such a fun child, with boundless energy and endless imagination. She is, in our opinion at least, exceptional!  Among the many birthday gifts she received was a little girl make up kit.  She painted herself up with lip gloss, eye shadow, rouge, and then gave me a make-over.     I didn't get a picture of her face after her applications, but let me assure you that she was extremely colorful!    I think she did a pretty good job on me...except for the purple third eyebrow.                 

We are very thankful that the 'winter storm' predicted to be so bad pretty much missed us altogether. We ended up with a little bit of freezing rain which turned to snow. Total accumulation of less than one inch.  May it continue to be so until spring!

Celebrating a New Year and New Decade!

We brought the New Year in with our eyes wide open! We were invited to share the evening with friends and we had a great time. When we finally headed home, it was well into the first day of 2020.

The festivities continued with an "Old Fashion Miller Christmas" with lots of food, fun, and fellowship.  I was the winner of the chicken hat dance off! What non-sense! But it was fun.

Watch it Here

We then watched the Rose Bowl and had hoped to see the Big10 Wisconsin Badgers win, but they couldn't quite pull it off.

With the holidays, parties, feasts, and all the sweet treats offered at each event now behind us, we're ready to get back to our 'normal' hours, activities, and diet!  Someone must have lost a few pounds, because we've found them!

The temperatures have still be very mild and we've accomplished quite a bit on our outdoor projects. One of my favorite recent accomplishments was getting the automatic waterer to work! Now we don't have to water the cows.  Of course, we still check the waterer every day to be sure it's working and we'll feed the cows, but no more filling water tanks, running heaters in the tanks, and draining hoses to prevent freezing. Very nice!

That's just about as exciting as it gets this time.  Happy new year!