It’s been quite a year, and I wish you all a Happy and Wonderful New Year! I’m sure that the past year has been similar for most of us… some ‘hav- to’ jobs, some happy moments, and lots of spare hours. As I wrote in our year-end newsletter, I did a bit of cooking, a bit of cleaning, a bit of napping, and spent many hours refreshing memories through boxes and albums of photos, writing letters, sending emails and text messages, and talking on the phone. I use my computer every day, but I’ve been reminded about the progress of the telephone in my lifetime.

The first eight years of my life were on a farm, and there was no phone to be had. There was no power and no running water, and the evening light in the room was an oil-burning lamp. When we moved to the city, our first telephone was attached to the wall in the hallway, and when we finally had a ‘curly’ cord, I could sit on the floor when talking on the phone. There was no area code, just a number like 75945, and we dialed ‘0’ to talk to the operator.

During my three years in Nursing School, each of us had a buzzer in our room to notify us if we had a phone call or a visitor. If it was a phone call, we had to run down the hall to pick up the call that was transferred by our ‘house mother’ who operated the switchboard. After training, my first ‘real’ job was in a 19-bed hospital in a prairie town that was still using the ‘central operator’ telephone system. Most of my work was on my preferred night shift, but there were times when I needed to contact the doctor, and the night telephone operator, who had the reputation of enjoying too many martinis in the evening, and sleeping too soundly in the night when she should have been listening for any emergency calls. It was exciting news when we heard that a telephone crew was coming to town to convert the central operator system to those fancy dial phones. It wasn’t many months after they arrived in town, that I married the ‘crew boss’.

We’ve been married 58 years, and telephone technology has gone through many changes. We were introduced to the ‘touch-tone’ telephone, the desk phone, and the battery-powered field phone. Then came the Motorola DynaTAC, the flip phone, the smart phone, and the iPhone. I’m on a new learning curve, discovering all the add-ons available that are intended to provide convenience to our lives. My newest phone takes pictures, connects my hearing aids to my TV and phone, and it fits in my pocket. I learned how to chat face to face with dear friends on several different continents, and that is a real treat now that we aren’t able to travel for a visit.

All I need to do now is remember which button to push when I want to answer a call.

Tags: Friends Communication Time Changes

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We have seen so many changes in the last several generations, and this past year, with many of us who have time to spare, may have reconnected with friends from our past, and some who we may have never met in person. Technology has given all of us the ability to communicate quickly with friends who live on the other side of our planet. Gone are the days of pen and ink used to write letters that were delivered by the Postal Service, sometimes weeks after it was posted.

Even though we understood that we would never meet in person, I have learned that two of my treasured cyber friends (Clydene and Barb), who I met on the NOTH website, have come to the end of their earthly journey. We enjoyed many chats online over the years and looked forward to meeting at our Eternal Home.

Clydene was the first person who sent me an invitation to be her friend, and I was pleased to accept. Her home was in an area that we would pass through on a planned road trip to Branson, MO. I have never forgotten the unexpected email from her, inviting us to stop by her home to enjoy some iced tea and conversation on her porch. It was an opportunity to meet face to face, but a local hurricane caused us to take a different route, and we didn’t get to her home. We continued to exchange many private messages on The Hill, sharing our interests, our hobbies, and even our families. I enjoyed reading her stories that she posted in Blogs on NOTH.

Barb introduced me to her location on the island country that my father visited on one of his ‘after retirement’ travel experiences. A visit to New Zealand was added to my ‘Bucket List’. I enjoyed Barb’s strong personality, her love of music, and determination to ‘keep learning’. Her independence was front and center, and I never had to wonder what she was thinking. She was opinionated and was quite willing to express it. I was attracted to that personality and our cyber ‘visits’ were often very long. We rarely exchanged graphics and pretty pictures, but enjoyed word ‘pictures’ that helped develop a treasured friendship.

Friends (and including me) have often expressed disappointment in the changes in the activities on NOTH… friendships seemed to be more about pretty graphics that are available to any and all computer users, instead of developing a friendship that may become a treasure. Years ago, many of us were introduced to Pen Pals in school. We learned to write letters to someone our age who lived in another country. For some, the friendships that developed in school were treasured for many years, but rarely presented the opportunity to meet in person.

I miss the emails from Clydene and Barb, but am so thankful for their friendship. I treasure the ongoing cyber friendships that I still have, even though I have not been as active online these past several months. I appreciate the emails, the private messages and comments posted on my page, and the patience of my friends with the late or forgotten replies.

They are my treasured cyber friends.

Tags: Friends Letters Comments

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Our Canadian Thanksgiving has come and gone, November has arrived, and we've just experienced our first snowstorm of the season. It has been quite a year, and Christmas is just around the corner.

This year, we are being encouraged to shop early because supply may be a challenge. I am so happy that I don't have to go shopping. Years ago, our two adult children suggested that we should find a Christmas project to donate to, because none of us needed anything. We agreed with their request that if we wanted to gift the children, one gift for each was enough. One gift didn't mean one big box with six items in it... it meant ONE gift! During the year, we could still remember birthdays with cards and gifts, and “just because” gifts were always acceptable. We also stopped sending piles of Christmas cards with just a salutation, but send a New Year’s newsletter to our friends. It was not our original idea, but when we started receiving letters from friends that included their special Christmas activities, as well as highlights of their year, we enjoyed them very much. We had the time to read (and re-read) these letters after the hustle and bustle of Christmas preparation and activities.

What should I write in our 2021 New Year’s letter? We’ve all received far too many opinions and directives regarding the Covid pandemic, we’ve probably passed on our opinions too many times on almost any current topic to family and friends, and even shared our ‘boring’ days and how we’ve tried to keep our days filled with constructive activities. Of course, there seemed to always ample opportunity to share and discuss our medical history and current conditions, so what is left to include in our New Year’s greeting letter.

The more I think about it, the more I want this year’s letter to be more of a Thanksgiving letter. We have so many things to be thankful for. Our family is not shy in expressing and demonstrating their love and respect for us… and the feelings are mutual. The medical resources in our city are beyond our expectations, and following our medical challenges this year, my best friend and I are still able to enjoy living in our rural home. Above all else, we have learned that our faith and trust in Father God in Heaven increases in the ‘tough times’. When we experience unexpected and unexplained events, we start asking questions … When? Where? What? Why? This quote keeps coming to mind … a great reminder!

Coincidence is when God works a miracle
and decides to remain anonymous.

Tags: Christmas Thanksgiving Experience

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I don’t have to check my calendar … I just have to see the department in my chosen shopping location, to see the massive displays of Halloween costumes and other paraphilia to prepare for the end of the month. It seems that the majority of costumes are for adults. I grew up in a time when Halloween was a school party and a tour of the rural neighborhood, to sing a song or recite a verse at a neighbor’s front door as payment for a treat that could have been made in the their kitchen. There were a few pranks, instigated by some young adults, and most were accepted in good humor. There were no injuries, no food poisonings, no razor blades in home-made popcorn balls, and no defacing of personal properties.

Our costumes were put together at home, often using clothing from our own closet or our parents’ work closet. Most of the time, we used face make-up instead of masks, and often wore a warm coat and boots if there was a layer of snow, suggesting that winter was coming early. For the more creative kids, they would draw a face on a brown-paper grocery bag, and then would cut holes for the eyes, nose, and mouth, to make a mask. Common character costumes were of pirates, cowboys, and clowns were popular with the boys, and the girls liked being a princess, a fairy, or a cat with whiskers. For the kids who were braver, they would agree to be a ghost (if their mother gave her permission). We would dig out the inside of a pumpkin from the garden, carve a face on the pumpkin, then put a lighted candle inside. They were called ‘jack-o-lanterns’ and a special decoration by the door. We always hoped that there wouldn’t be any wind that evening that would blow out the candle.

There were games at school involving apples on a string or bobbing for apples in a laundry tub. We learned songs or poems that we could use as payment for any treats that were available to us. There was always candy… orange and black jelly beans, jujubes, and the ever-enticing black licorice pipes (shaped like the one that Grandpa smoked) that had some red sparkles on the bowl that was to look like the pipe was being smoked. What fun to pretend that we were smoking! Our teacher would give us orange construction paper to draw and cut out ‘jack-o-lanterns’ to decorate the window in our classroom, along with black cats with arched backs that were supposed to scare away any ghosts that may want to visit us during class.

We don’t have any children knocking on our door at Halloween. For years, we had a community Halloween party because the homes were too far apart for the children to walk, and the parents were not all the willing to drive from one property to another. I do know that neighbors, as well as ourselves stock up on our favorite candy treat, just in case someone appears at our front door, pillow-case sack at the ready. If nobody comes, we enjoy our treats as long as they last. We don’t hear any local ‘spooky’ neighborhood stories of events; such as some that happen in the city (as reported on the news).

You may not agree, but I still think that Halloween is for the kids, not the adults. Aliens, super-power characters, ‘blood and gore’, and howling witches, are not what makes the kind of Halloween that I want to enjoy. I much prefer to celebrate Thanksgiving and look forward to Christmas and a New Year.

Tags: Treats Costumes Tricks Pumpkins

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What happens when its time again to celebrate your birth date. Are you as excited about it as you once were? Are you disappointed because the family didn’t come up with a ‘surprise’ party like they did ten years ago? I hope you answered ‘NO’ to both of those questions, and have filled your heart and mind with grateful and thankful thoughts… for another day, for loving family and friends, and acceptance of the challenges that all of us are experiencing this year.

September was my month, and I had prepared myself that whatever happened, I would be thankful and content. There were wedding plans for our only grandson and his fiancé, and the anticipation for several family birthdays, including my own. In the meantime, I had time to think about lots of things that have changed in my lifetime. Who would have thought that we would be able to experience a plethora of experiences that were so different from what we thought were normal. I’m hoping that when you continue to read, it will bring to mind events that have been tucked away in the recesses of your memory.

When I was growing up on the farm, we had no electricity ( only an oil lamp in the kitchen), no running water (only a manual pump in the kitchen and pails to carry water from the well to the washing machine and the bath tub), and no heat (except from the kitchen stove that burned coal and wood). We didn’t have a phone and the radio only worked if there were batteries in it. How did my mother cope when she didn’t have a phone available to call family and neighbors?

Learning cursive handwriting was taught in elementary school, when I was in grade three, but when my children were in that grade, there was no hint of cursive handwriting. All through their education years, it was printing notes and reports, and now, their children hardly know how to use a pen or pencil. They ‘tap’ on their computers and phones.

I could go on, and I hope that I’ve started something that we all can relate too, no matter your age. These days, I keep thinking about our opportunities to travel … short or long distances. As a child, we travelled to the city by train, pulled by a steam engine. As a married adult, I have travelled across the country, on highways and mountain trails, logged many air miles, for business and pleasure, to many states in the U.S.A. We have visited multiple European countries on a bus tour, and enjoyed a variety of cruises to warm and exotic locations. Little did I even imagine all this would be possible when I learned how to drive my dad’s car, equipped with the standard gear shift (remember clutch first, then change gears!). Now, due to physical limitations, and social and government restrictions, our travel days seem to have come to an end. I am happy to have our photo albums that bring back the memories of wonderful experiences.

As for my birthday celebration this year … I treasure the red roses that arrived from my beloved early in the day. Later in the day, our family arrived with a ‘take out’ dinner that we enjoyed on our kitchen table, served on our vintage china dinner set. A grand step-up from food served on paper plates.

The love of family surpasses any expectations to repeat past experiences.

Tags: Memories Changes Thanksgiving

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The summer of 2021 has created a lot of questions in “face-to-face” and “cyber” conversations with family and friends … ‘Who are you visiting these days?’, ‘What is occupying your time?’, ‘When were your happiest days this year?’, ‘Where are you most days?’, ‘Why have you stopped writing blogs?’ Here comes my attempt to answer as best that I can, and if this gets too long, take a break or find something that is more interesting to read.

1.       WHO am I visiting with these days?
- My husband any time of the day
- Chats with neighbor over the back fence or on the road
- Anyone who calls me on the phone or accepts my telephone call

2.       WHAT am I thankful for?
- The day my husband came home from the hospital after open heart surgery and complications
- For the love and support of our adult children and their families, even when we couldn’t be together.
- The circumstances in my life have increased my faith and peace of mind; God is faithful always.

3.       WHEN was I bored or wondering what to do?
- I don’t think I had time to be bored!

4.       WHERE am I most days?
- At home or in our van – necessary shopping and trips to the mailbox
- Doing a bit of cooking and cleaning,  and enjoying music, reading, some TV and YouTube
- Watching the wildlife in our backyard; deer, bear, coyotes, squirrels, and birds from my chair.

5.       WHY have I stopped writing blogs?
- I haven’t stopped yet, I’m just slow … and I don’t want to be boring!

I will be on the Internet whenever possible, writing notes, responding to ‘personal mail’, and trying to learn something that I used to know how to do. There is always something to learn … or ‘re-learn’!

Tags: News Friends Blog

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I think I’m hearing a bit of humming… from a reader or two who knows that song. Years ago, we would hear that song many, many times because it was our daughter’s favorite song that she learned on a visit to Disneyland. She loved the dolls and music, and her record player in her own room.

Some unexpected events recently have brought back that song… and for me, music sticks very hard in my ‘memory bank’. It has been quite a summer for us, some events were not pleasant but surprising, and some events were surprising AND pleasant. Being that I haven’t been ON THE HILL very often, I decided that it was time to write an ‘update’ blog, to let you know that we are still on the right side of the grass.

My husband is on a great road of recovery… and our hearts are filled with thankful thoughts and prayers from the ‘army of friends and family’ who were standing with us. Little did we know that this was the season for both of us to recover from successful surgery. I must say that both of us are grateful for the wonderful medical community available to us, but tired of all the medical appointments that we have attended since July. We should be close to the end of all that soon. We are still content to be at our home, but enjoying some freedom from the restrictions imposed on all of us by the pandemic. Contact with people on the phone and through emails and text messages are great, but there’s nothing more special than being with friends and family, giving and receiving hugs and smiles, sharing a meal together, and even having overnight guests. For us, two out of three of these has warmed our hearts.

We are looking forward to a date in mid-September, when friends and family will be attending and celebrating the marriage of our one and only grandson to his beautiful, talented and gracious ‘love of his life’. Recently, we were invited to a ‘Meet and Greet’ summer patio dinner at the home of the bride’s parents. It was a delightful afternoon for the two families to meet (for many, it was the first time) and visit before the ‘big’ day. It was parents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and grandparents, coming together to show their support and welcome a new member in the family. Ed and I were one of four sets of grandparents who were in attendance. The more we talked, the more we learned that we had some unexpected connections, in business, through mutual friends, in our spiritual journey, and in the neighborhood.

How did all that happen? Yes, it certainly is a “small world”!

Tags: Friends Memories Report

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Speaking for myself, I'm getting sick and tired of 'know-alls' who seem to be dominating the media. It seems that the only news we now want to check on is local news, in case there is something that we need to be aware of that has changed, even in the last 24 hours. The national and international news seems to be a different matter, and we don’t want to get into any unhappy conversation with friends and family, when we really don’t know the ‘facts’, particularly in the political world. In the meantime, we have been dealing with new experiences, locally, medically, and personally that have affected our every day journey. Life is interesting, and I must admit that I can’t say that I’ve had a boring day yet. I haven’t been able to participate in my usual ‘fun’ social dates and appointments, or have endless time on my computer, but I am learning that every day is a treasure, even when I really don’t know what to do.

I’m thankful to have my husband home from the hospital, after a very challenging time and major surgery. I’m thankful for my surgeon who has used his expertise for my physical needs, and am back home, enjoying a time of recovery along with my husband. A friend has teased us that now that we are getting close to being best friends for almost 60 years, we think that what one receives, the other wants to have one too. I’m joking… but it’s better than being depressed and angry with our circumstances.

After my opening comment about the lack of integrity in the media, I have more to say about the amazing integrity that we have experienced. My ‘to do’ list was increasing almost daily, including the addition of my husband’s ‘to do’ list. The company who had been cutting our grass for several years is under new management, but has not increased our monthly charges. A neighbor recommended a new garbage pickup company in our area, and they are not asking for a contract, just a phone call when I need a pickup. No need for me to figure out how to get our trash to our gate, they will drive in our yard, load the bagged trash and pick up the payment in our mailbox. The hospital medical staff and Home Care team have been kind, thoughtful, and cheerful (for the most part), in spite of the pressure and uncertainty created by the pandemic. They did their very best!

I hope I can continue to focus on the positive, and appreciate our new experiences, rather than complain about how things keep changing and not done as ‘good’ as we used to do it.

Time always has a way of changing things.

Tags: Personal Neighbors Lessons

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After some discussion in bygone blogs about our use of the English language, it brought to mind one of the major projects that was presented to me some twenty-plus years ago. My abilities on the computer were being honed with persistence, and my first two major contracts were to design and print “advertising cards” for companies who wished to advertise through Welcome Wagon, and announcement cards for Christian Women’s Club. Being a home-based business in a rural setting added a lot of road trips to my adventures.

On one occasion, I received a phone call from a gentleman who said that he had received my business card from the Welcome Wagon representative, and wondered if I did proof-reading and script preparation for publishing; did that fit into the job description of “Your Choice Designs”? He was looking for someone to review his autobiography and ready it for printing. No, I had never done anything like that before. I told him that I was a retired nurse, I loved to read, and now was fairly proficient in ‘computer’ and ‘talking’. I passed English in High School, but that was the extent of my language skills. He suggested that if I would come to their home, his wife would be thrilled to serve some freshly baked cookies with coffee, while he told me about his project. I was persuaded (perhaps it was the cookies), and we agreed on the date and time for our first meeting.

In our conversation, I learned that he had previously contacted two editors who suggested that he needed to give more details in his stories before they would continue. He refused, saying that he had written what he could remember, and would not make up details as requested. His son had saved the text for him on floppy discs, and hoped that I would at least take a look at his work. He suggested that I select a random chapter in his files, review it and make any suggestions I might have. My computer accommodated floppy discs, so I decided to give it a try. I was pretty sure that he hadn’t written a book filled with risque stories and disgusting jokes.

To begin this project, I spent a number of days reading his files. It was an interesting read. He was the eldest son of a Seventh-Day Adventist travelling preacher, a conscious objector during WW II, an inventor, a world traveller long before guided tours, and a rancher, raising and marketing domestic buffalo. His formal education was minimal because of family responsibilities, but his knowledge was massive in diversity. His loving wife supported him in all of his adventures, and was pleased to now call our town their home.

I worked on his script for several months, arranging his short and long stories in suggested chapters, and he seemed to be pleased with the segments that I delivered to him for review. I found a local publisher who was very patient and helpful to me in every step of the project, until the book came off the press. The first printing was 1998, titled ‘Unprepared for the Adventures of Life on Planet Earth”. It is a 426-page book that included many vintage and current photographs, and an order form was on the back page, selling for $24.95 + g.s.t. My customer ordered 500 copies and was his own promoter and distributor. At age seventy-three, his life-long dream had become a reality. 

P.S. Not long after the book was finished, he decided that living in town was not for him. He purchased some rural land and a mobile home, and began again to raise domestic buffalo. We were able to visit them on the ranch, and even his wife seemed to be happy and content. However, two years later his wife passed, and he moved to the north country, near his son and family.

I missed him… he was quite a character!

Tags: Computers Learning Experience Surprises

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