A Little Hung Up

The other day the kids were outside playing while lunch was getting ready.  When I called them in for lunch they were all over by the fence.  After a minute they were still there, they hadn't made a move to come in so I called them again.  It was then that it became apparent that there was something out of the ordinary going on.  One of them was stuck.

It was one of those "I told you so" moments we're often presented with.  This young man had been climbing on the small woodpile by the fence and had somehow managed to snag his shirt on the fence.  Sure enough, he was stuck.  So as I rescued him I had the opportunity to point out to him that this was one of the reasons we tell them not to climb on the woodpile or the fence.  Fortunately, no lasting damage was done to him or his shirt.  Ah, well.  Live and learn.

The End of an Era

This has been eventful year, at work and life in general.  But today we're going to focus on events at work.  A little over a year ago I moved into a new building that my company had built.   That came with some adjustment, but for the most part was working quite well.  Then there was a pandemic.  My company decided that as many people as possible should start working from home and suddenly, I had moved my workstation from the brand new office building to my basement.  At that time, we had no idea how long that was going to last.  As it turned out, the pandemic has lasted for months and is not over yet.

When the pandemic began I was several months away from retirement.  As it continued I began to wonder if it would last so long that I would end up retiring from home. And that is how it turned out.  So, after all these years, the day arrived.  Just like when I moved to work from home, I packed up my stuff and got ready to haul it back to the office.

All I really had brought home was my computer desk set-up and my chair.  So packing didn't take very long.

Then I hauled it up the stairs and loaded it up into the car.  I drove to work and took everything in.  Then it was time to clean out all the stuff I had left at the office.

The part I miscalculated on was packing up all my stuff at work.  After having just moved a year before, I had already reduced what I had at my desk by quite a bit.  But there was still more than I remembered.  After moving into the new building I had thought I would gradually bring stuff home as the final day approached but the pandemic kind of changed that.  So, as it turned out, I had thought I would just stick everything in the tub I had used to bring my computer and monitor in but it didn't hold it all.  It was close, but about a third of the space I needed short.  Fortunately, in the back of one of my drawers I had a bunch of plastic grocery bags.  So I filled two of them and that took care of it.

Then it was time to walk out of the building for the last time.  That felt weird.  My boss had met me there and helped me with it all, along with collecting the stuff I brought back and my security pass. 

It was kind of bittersweet but I made it.  I took myself down the road to my favorite ice cream place and consoled myself with some ice cream.  Not an entirely bad way to end a career.

Almost ...

We had a visit this evening from a future acrobat.  Schwartzbeere's youngest.  She was showing off her moves.

Right now she's working on her somersault.  She's got the beginning down pretty good.

The middle part is coming along nicely.

Alas, that's as far as she goes right now.  Maybe, after a little more work, she'll make it on over.  But for now, it's just cuteness.  Is more really needed?

A Day at the Lake

The other day Blaubeere called about getting together - we decided to get together at one of the near by lakes. 

So we each brought some stuff and got together for a picnic.  We picked out a picnic table and got all our stuff out.

Lunch was nice, even if some of the kids were a bit impatient to get lunch over and get in the water.

Soon enough, though, everyone was done eating and on to getting ready to getting into the water.

Some may have rushed things a bit.  What can you say?

The rest of the time was spent splashing about like fish and having a good time.  Kids and water - they never get tired of it.

It was a perfect day, not too hot, not too cool, not too windy, a good time to play and relax.

After a while we got the kayaks out and everybody that wanted got out on the water, paddling around to their heart's content.

After time out on the kayaks, everyone was happy enough to get back in the water and play.

We were there probably around four or five hours before it was finally time to be heading home.  But it was a good time, plenty of time to enjoy each other's company, play, and relax at the lake.  It was a good time, especially during this spring and summer where the stupid pandemic and kept us all in doors, and away from everyone else.  Sometimes its amazing how much you come to miss the simple little act of being out and about.  It was a good time.

Back Together

Last March, as a pandemic swept the earth, the church curtailed all public meetings and we truly became a "home centered, church supported" church.  Church meetings stopped, temples closed, missionaries came home; in many ways it was almost a complete shut down of all public church work.  Since then, each week, Brombeere and I, along with whoever else was here and wanted, have been having the sacrament and a brief service in our home.  Most of the time, the brief service was actually more a gospel centered discussion, more a Sunday School than a Sacrament Meeting.  There have been some nice things about it and we've enjoyed it.  Then, in May, the First Presidency announced the plans to resume meetings.  Each Area Presidency,  working with the Quorum of the Twelve and local Stake Presidencies, was to work out the resumption of meetings in a phased approach, phase one being just a short sacrament meeting for those comfortable with attending.  Wards and branches were to work with their stake leaders to make a plan, get it approved, and pick a date to resume.  Our stake president is a doctor, which I personally found reassuring, so our ward did not rush into resuming meetings.  Our Ward Council discussed it extensively and the Bishopric finally submitted their plan to the stake.  And the stake approved it.

So, with approval, all kinds of preparations took place; additional cleaning supplies was acquired, furniture was rearranged, and a "dry run" sacrament meeting was held with just the families of those on the Ward Council, to try our plan out.  A few little tweaks were made and information was sent out to ward members, and today was the first "regular" sacrament meeting our ward has held since March. 

It was a phase one meeting so it was shorter than the full hour.  There were lots of little things that were different to try to make it as safe as possible, given what we know about Covid-19 at present.  But it went well, attendance was about 60-70% of what it normally was before all the craziness.  It was nice to meet together again, nice to see a little bit of normalcy creeping back into life.  As so much of life has become so warped and distorted by this pandemic, it was nice to get back to something that we used to take for granted.  Slowly and cautiously, I'm looking forward to when things are more normal, even if that takes a few more months.

But Really ...

This guy acts all rough and gruff most of the time.  But really, there may be a soft spot in there somewhere.

Just noticing. 

Commonplace Book

A collection of thoughts, ideas, anecdotes, poems, observations, and quotes that stood out and caught my attention, some with comment, some without. Essentially a scrapbook, a repository of thoughts too good to just pass over and let go.

"If you never risk to lose

You may never get to win

If you never venture out

You will see nothing."

(Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), Doors)

"If you aren’t in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?”

(Often attributed to T. S. Eliot)

"Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one."

(Marcus Aurelius, 121-180. Roman emperor and philosopher)

"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."

(John F Kenney (1917-1963), Address on the first anniversary of the Alliance for Peace, March 13, 1962)