Wednesday, September 22 - First Day of Fall - (This is a very long post)
Rain for the past few days has ushered in a cold front. Fall weather is arriving on cue for a change, with lows predicted to dip near 50 for the next 2 nights. I have not written an entry in this log for a month, except for a few notes during the last week of August. Every day I have mentally composed what I might say about the day, but nothing has been transposed from thought to pen or keyboard. I had decided earlier in the summer to skip the handwritten entires and compose directly online. That method has not been as productive as I imagined.
I remind myself that I began this journal to remind myself that I had purposeful and useful activity every day, to keep one day from blending into the next, to highlight some unique element of each day. It was an exercise that served me well when social activities were cut off due to the pandemic.
During the early summer, activities began to open up again as COVID seemed to be waning. My daily schedule got busier and the garden kept me busy at home. The need for that daily reminder diminished. As August ended and September began, the COVID was surging more strongly than even. I had gone back to mask wearing in public indoor spaces. The start of school produced a surge of cases in children. The end of August also brought preparation for The Sale, Trinity's big rummage sale that had been postponed for a year and a half. We might have postponed again if we didn't have so much stuff to get rid of. And our UMW mission funds were depleted. COVID cases in Loudon County were exploding with a very high rate of infection. LCHS had to close for a few days after Labor Day due to staff shortages.
I read today that modeling data out of North Carolina shows that up to 90% of unprotected school children will contract COVID this year. I heard on national news that COVID deaths have now exceeded the number of deaths from the 1918 Spanish Flue pandemic, and that we can expect 100,000 more deaths by the end of the year. I am very distraught and angry with those people, including loved ones, who have chosen not to get vaccinated.
But still my life goes on in a more-or-less normal way except for wearing a mask in public. Life is still good at 1633 Woodlawn Rd.
A month in review:
Aug 23: On our morning walk we encountered a spectacular mushroom.
The garden produced in 3's today: 3 pints of tomatoes, e cups green beans, 3 cups shelled peas, 3 cups cut okra. Vegetable supper tonight.
Aug 24: Lots of social activity today. UMW work and meeting with the TUMC Vision team in the morning. Lunch with Bonnie, then working with Jim A on the Habitat grant. The grant itself is easy. The hard part is gathering the qualifying documents. There is no doubt that Jim qualifies by his income and need. We just have to gather the documents because he does not have them at hand.
Aug 25: Started the day with a MH walk. Then lunch with Marie on the deck at Calhoun's in Oak Ridge. Later in the afternoon I made the forms for the Silent Auction of antique quilts for The Sale. We learned today that Claire has been offered a job as a lab assistant for an MTSU professor who is working on a DNA research project. She is excited and we are so happy for her.
 |
| More mushrooms generated from the big one. |
Aug 26: This morning instead of a walk we took a boat ride with the intent of calibrating the new trolling motor. It was beautiful and we had the lake all to ourselves. When I got home, I worked on setting up a Square account for the UMW so we can accept credit cards at The Sale. In the afternoon, I picked up Amanda and took her to Gettysvue CC in Knoxville for a school match. I rented a cart and was joined by Laura & Mike on the 3rd hole. High School matches are only 9 holes.
Aug 27: UMW work day for The Sale, 9 am - noon. Then I watched a Zoom meeting on Creation Care sponsored by UMW and the organization "Act for Creation, Act for Justice." After a quick lunch with Bonnie, I went to see Jim A to get gather documents for the grant. For supper, we had a Friday Night Fish Fry, catfish & fried okra with green beans and left-over sweet potatoes.
Sep 2: We started the morning with a walk at MH. I never get tired of these scenes. Tennessee played the season opener against Bowling Green this evening and won as expected. It's officially football time in Tennessee!
 |
Sep 3: Baking and Cooking
Sep 5: Claire came home for the long Labor Day weekend, so we were invited over for supper and ping-pong. It was good to catch up with Claire's activities and have time to visit with Laura & Mike. Bill always enjoys playing ping-pong with Amanda.
Sep 6, 7 & 8: Most of each morning was spent working to get ready for The Sale. On Tuesday afternoon, I was the guest speaker for the Martha Circle at Central UMC to give my Creation Care presentation. Wednesday was Allison's 8th birthday. We had sent money for a bike and were rewarded with a video of her riding her new purple bike. Wednesday evening was the pre-sale for "family & friends and the culmination of the silent auction for quilts. We made more than $200 on the quilts.
Sep 9: I was out early to take Amanda to Turkey Creek for a hair cut and then to school. She isn't allowed to drive there yet. After dropping her off, I was soon back on the road to west Knox for my own haircut appointment. Thursday of sale week is traditionally baking day. I made a gingerbread cake and packaged it in individual servings for the bake sale.
Sep 10: It's finally here ... the big day ... The Sale. I arrived first, before 8 am. People began lining up before 8:30 and doors opened at 9 am. I even had to escort out someone who had come in while we were taking stuff outside. My main job was cashier to receive credit card payments. We had lots to sell and plenty of customers. We required masks inside and monitored compliance. We also had 4 air-sanitizers spreading mists all day. By 5 pm we were all exhausted but happy about the proceeds of the day.
Sep 11: The Sale, 9 am - noon. We had another good sale day. At noon we began packing up the left-over and there was lots left. The better items went to The Good Neighbor Shoppe - a resale shop that donates profits (thousands of dollars) to community organization each year. Most of the rest went to KARM (Knox Area Rescue Ministries) which also has a resale shop in Lenoir City. They give the church coupons which we in turn can give to people who come to us in need of clothing or household items. Boxes and packing materials will be taken to the recycle center next week and I'll take the florist vases to "Random Acts of Flowers" in Knoxville.
Sep 13: Went to church to pick up recycling stuff and settle money with Sandra so I could make a deposit. Some good comfort food for supper - hamburger steaks with rice and gravy. It doesn't make for a colorful plate but it sure is satisfying. Amanda is out of school through Wednesday, a virtual-learning week because of staff shortages due to Covid. Her engineering assignment was to create a powerpoint showing a local building that started as one thing and is now something else. I helped her gather pictures and information on Ledbetter Apartments which was the original Lenoir family station (plantation) home.
Sep 15: Happy Birthday Trisha Whitaker! Jim A's SocSec benefit letter finally arrived so we were able to complete the application.
Sep 16: LoCo Dems hosted a "meet the candidate" for Dr. Jason Martin at LC Park this afternoon. He will be running for governor and made an impressive presentation. He was inspired to run because of the health care crisis exacerbated by Covid.
Our insurance renewal came today and it prompted me to go around the house and take snapshots of every part of every room. Bill made an appointment to review our coverage with the agent. Later in the winter we plan to do a room-by-room inventory.
Sep 17: Met with Chris C from Habitat at Jim's house for Jim to sign all the forms to authorize the work for the access ramp. It may be Nov before work actually begins.
 |
| Tony's tamales for Friday supper! |
Sep 18: Teaching colleague Carole David passed away on Monday after a major heart attack a few weeks. Her by-pass surgery had to be delayed by several days because of a shortage of critical care beds and staff. Maybe she, too, is a victim of Covid. Her visitation and service was this afternoon. Kathy has been sick with a respiratory virus for several days, following Aiden's similar illness. We did not get together for the game.
 |
| Tony's tamale with a Bloody Mary made a great game snack |
Sept 19: Instead of leading my Trinity SS class as usual, I was invited to give my Creation Care presentation to a SS Class at Alcoa UMC. There were about 18 in the class and they responded positively to my program. I was home early enough for a walk before the afternoon got too warm. Fall roadside flowers are blooming everywhere. They didn't seem to trigger an allergic reaction.
Laura, Mike and Amanda used the RV this weekend for a trip to Murphreesboro to see Claire. Amanda stayed with Claire Friday and Saturday while Laura and Mike camped. They had LOTS of rain. LeRoy was our guest for the weekend. We took him home and had a short visit this afternoon.
Sep 20: Despite the rain, I was committed to taking the vases left-over from the sale to Random Acts of Flowers, way down Middlebrook Pike in Knoxville. Bill went with me and I was glad for his help carrying the two heavy boxes and driving skills on the rainy roads. While in Knoxville, we went to Whole Food where I got some fresh shucked oysters and frozen haddock fillets. I've never cooked haddock and it will go in the freezer. I certainly know how to fry oysters, which I did for our supper tonight, along with fried okra and a salad. I was so eager to eat the oysters, I forgot to take a picture.
I enjoyed our walk yesterday so I told myself that I would walk 2 extra miles every day this week, even if it meant using the treadmill. Today it meant using the treadmill!
Sep 21: I worked on a Good Sam dental grant budget off and on today. Took a break for lunch with Bonnie. Did a treadmill mile in the morning and another in the afternoon.
Amanda played in the district golf tournament today representing Lenoir City HS. Mike took her and I did not go. She did well, but not her very score. Her 89 was good enough to move on to regional play next week. We are excited for her and proud of the way she plays the game - with grace, humility and resilience, very mature for just barely 16.
Sep 22: First Day of Fall. I've finally circled around to the beginning of this post. When I began, I did not expect to write a day-by-day account, but that is how it turned out. I hope going forward to write more reflectively and include some of what I'm reading. Today was baking day which means a day at home, culminating with 4 boules of sourdough bread. Between steps and during rising time, I've worked on my part of the dental grant and this journal. The rainy weather cleared by mid-afternoon and we were able to take a walk through the park. That is a much more pleasant way to log 2 miles and more strenuous with the hills. I am completing this online on Sunday, Oct 3! Transcribing is time consuming.
 |
| Dogwood is beautiful in every season. |
 |
| The journey continues... |
No comments:
Post a Comment