Fleeting Thoughts:
This is the second night that Dennis is making me supper that includes all the cleanup. This is huge for the cowboy and very much appreciated.
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Noreen
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Noreen
The US Postal Service Loves Me
I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. When I logged onto the computer this morning and saw -13 degrees, I reasoned that there was no way I wanted to be out and about and rely on a vehicle to endure the stops and starts of being out and about. I know what the projected life of a car battery is suppose to be but I also know that cold weather can zap the life – right now.
Out came the stash of Christmas cards I had been working on off and on. Yes, I still send some out. Social networks can send out typed sentences in a heart beat to as many as there are on the ‘friend’ list – no cards or stamps required. I think about my aunts and uncles that are in their 80s that have no idea how to network unless it’s nose to nose and toe to toe or in this instance their mail.
I am 99.9% sure that I am the chosen one from my Mom and Dad’s four children to keep in contact with those that deserve the respect of a note coming in the mail during the Christmas season. Even during the later years of my parent’s life they were ready in a moment’s notice to check on family members. During good driving weather I have enjoyed continuing that tradition. And that my friends has gone by the wayside and not because the hours in the day have lessened. It may be that some have forgot that highways go both ways. It may be that some forget that one day it will be our turn when we look forward to a remembrance coming in the mail or sharing a cup of coffee around the kitchen table. What goes around comes around.
Monday morning the temps will be a little warmer and I will be at the post office picking out the best of the Christmas stamps that are available. The month is still early and no doubt as the days dribble by I will find a few more people that I want to greet with a Merry Christmas. As I said the US postal service loves me.
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Noreen
Of the Ritis boys – Art was the worst
Running errands today in the cold allowed the arthritis to bark when I got home to the warmth of the home and relaxed. The kid’s grandmother, Esther Schafer, told the stories of arthritis traveling through the body and then there would be a respite. O.K. – I have my ticket punched – are we there yet?
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Noreen
Fleeting Thoughts:
The Lord’s Light Shines Through
Only three above this cold morning but the Lord can make all things beautiful.
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Noreen
The First Heavy Snowfall
The Inch as Foretold
In the future when I hear we are about to get an inch of snow, I will automatically take the forecast amount and times it by six. The snow would have made perfect snowmen. Dennis and I worked together at a very “steady Eddy” but slow pace as the weight of the snow was unbelievable.
It is a given when Dennis goes out to the garage in the mornings to put the cat food out for the neighborhood homeless cats, Honey Bunny, our garage kitty, almost runs over Dennis to get out and start making her neighborhood rounds. This morning Honey Bunny didn’t venture very far from her pillow in one of the porch chairs. As the day went on and the snow got deeper I did take note that she shifted from one chair to another.
The Rest of the Story
I will comment on one thing, after a good work out in the fresh air, coming inside and feeling the warmth of the furnace is pretty sweet. Yes, we may have gotten six inches rather than the one inch we are safe and sound. When I saw school closings yesterday in the northern portion of the state I was feeling quite smug. Even when the rain began last night I kept hoping that we would be spared. But alas — not so much. Here on Stauffer, Honey Bunny knows she has it made, just as Dennis and I know the very same thing. Hunkering down when it gets white out with a slippery base, it is just the very best.
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Noreen
Fleeting Thoughts:
It can’t be denied – school closings flashing across the bottom of the morning news tells me that winter will again happen this year.
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Noreen
Is This the Place?
Always Room for More Hearts
The Christmas tree is down from the attic and it’s time to find just the right place before the decorations are placed. With our home on Stauffer we don’t have a lot of options but it is important. When the tree is placed, decorated and lit for the first time of the season – I know this is the place.
My oh my, how many times in so many places has the tree been lit for the first time. Riesel, Texas Orlin and I had a true Charlie Brown tree in a rental home that was $35.00 a month. The next Christmas we were on our very own acre and we had a pine shrub we cut down in the pasture behind our acre lot and it had a definite crook half way up the trunk. It stood proud in the living room of what had previously been a chicken house. Yes that was the perfect place.
The Christmas we had in Waco, Texas was in a rental home that had way more room than we had furniture for. That year we had no tree as it was decision time as to whether or not selling for Lutheran Brotherhood was going to be a good fit.
The next Christmas we had new born baby Carrie as she sat in her plastic infant seat under the wonderment of the Christmas tree that had again been found in a pasture at Beaver Falls, Minnesota where Orlin was working for his sister on their beef farm. This tree stood straight and tall and the fine strands of tinsel moved in delight when the space heater’s wave of warmth hit them. The farm house was huge and on the chilly side. Yes, that was the perfect place.
Boon Lake Township in Renville County was very familiar as that is where I walked the mile and a half to rural school District #34. Who would have ever imagined that Orlin and I would be farming a half mile from that school. Old McDonald could not have held a torch to our life. It was the total deal. Home grown pork, beef, poultry (chickens, geese and ducks) filled our freezer that was adjacent to the fruit cellar. Who knew filled fruit jars could be so beautiful? Carrie was joined by Kevin under the Christmas trees that followed each year. Yes, that was the perfect place.
Jesus is the Reason
Carrie and Kevin were two little rag muffins as they sat next to me in the pickup (with no seat belts) pulling a wagon on our way to the elevator in Buffalo Lake with soy beans from our harvest. I can’t tell you how many times we passed a vacant rural school site on our trips with grain. Not too many years down the road we were living in a mobile home on that very site as plans were made to remodel the school house into our home. It was a challenge that would make any reality show on home improvements seem like Tinker Toys. What had been the gymnasium on the ground floor became our home with the entire second floor yet to be planned. We did it up just right with lots of room for the kids, family and friends. By that time we would have been a family of five but Orlin and I mourned the lose of a little boy that was just not meant to be. The fireplace that Orlin built into the living room warmed the home and our hearts. Each year we could have had the tallest of Christmas trees ever as the ceilings were very high. Of course they would have to be as previously there had been basket ball hoops. Yes, that was the perfect place.
I had never paid much attention to Minnesota geography so I really had to check on a state map as to where Watonwan County was. More to the point where Madelia was. It happened to be where we would be moving to. Goodbye to seeing family in trips of just a few miles. I really enjoyed coffee with my mom and dad in a moments notice. At that time Kevin was in grade school and Carrie in Jr. High. We actually lived in two different homes within Madelia and each time we made a home filled with laughter, hopes and dreams. Each Christmas we put up the Christmas tree – the same perfect artificial tree we had first purchased on the farm when we realized that the real deal made Kevin sick. Yes, that was the perfect place.
Farm building sites have their attractions and none so like the site in South Branch Township. More work than there were hours in the day. It was not unusual that a camp fire would celebrate a great day of work complete with wieners and marshmallows. The buildings were tweaked and fixed and the house was again a home but a bit more quiet after Carrie graduated and went to the metro for college. In time to come there were trips looking at different locations to move to. No, that was not the perfect place anymore.
Believe, Believe, Believe – and it Can be So
I stayed in Watonwan County, Orlin did not. Drastic changes within a family do not come about without damage. But by the grace of God the heart is the strongest muscle that God created. Understanding is not a given. Forgiveness is an individual’s option through grace. Through the years after our divorce Orlin and I became friends that shared the greatest gift of our lives – our children Carrie and Kevin and most important – memories. Life took Orlin and his wife Martha to Arkansas. My life remains in Watonwan County with my husband Dennis. Orlin and I had agreed to save the best of what we had and leave the rest where it belonged – in the past. Orlin has been gone for six years, but he will never be forgotten in my heart and I see the best of him in our children. We continue enjoying Martha’s visits when she comes from Arkansas to see family. Life really does not have to be complicated.
Dennis and I have lived on a property that many people can only dream of living in – a home, a true home. It’s cozy as only a home that is seven hundred and twenty square feet can be. My sister calls it a doll house. For sure Dennis and I call it home. When we are away we can’t wait to get back to familiar sounds and smells. Sitting here with coffee in hand and marveling at memories that a lit tree can evoke is truly priceless. Yes, this is the place.
In life, please give and have no remembrance of it, or take and remember it always.
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Noreen
Fleeting Thoughts:
Quilters never die – we just go to pieces.
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Noreen
Everyone Needs Extra Space
Stairway to Treasures
Some may say annex – some may say attic. Well, alright I’ll say attic as well. It all comes down to wonderful extra storage space. I couldn’t wait to ascend the steps this morning and begin pulling out the Christmas decorations. The day after Thanksgiving is the official start of dressing my home for the birth of Jesus. Though I have not bought any new decorations for decades it is as if each box contains a new treasure.
The rocking chair that I used to rock both Carrie and Kevin when they were infants and toddlers is sitting in the middle of the attic floor. When I seek and search items in storage containers it’s my favorite place to sit. Looking through the patterns for quilting or crocheting I can easily loose track of time. The rocker was purchased in Mart, Texas. Carrie and Kevin’s dad reupholstered it in 1978 when avocado green was all the rage.
It’s hard to believe that the chair is 49 years old. I digress: this morning Dennis brought down the Christmas tree from the attic and then he was off enjoying some of his friends in Jackson as they are setting up for a gun show for the weekend. This gave me a chance to have a bag of microwave popcorn for noon lunch with the coffee pot not having a chance to cool down. Several trips up and down the attic steps and it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas here on Staffer Avenue. If ever there is a missing person bulletin put out on me I do have a directive taped to the microwave – “check the attic.” -
Noreen
