A Continuation of Music

Having just played ALL our Christmas CD’s, I decided to continue listening to general music. This time I’m playing the discs that I collected through the years. I haven’t played them since I moved here eleven years ago. There was music in the house during those years, mostly John’s playing his music. That was fine, since I liked nearly everything he played.

I just put one disc in the reject pile. It was a trio, three women playing music for violin, cello, and piano. There were three selections on the disc, and only one was bearable. The others were modern and screechy. I must have bought it myself, but I wonder why.

Continuing with the following disc, I found myself listening to ocean waves on a beach. I knew what was coming. I unexpectedly reveled in it! The CD player was in the kitchen, and I was in the living room, typing on the computer. It was easy to imagine I was sitting inside, listening to waves crashing on a nearby stretch of sand. I enjoyed the rhythmic, foaming sound, even though I never heard that sound except in hot weather. My imagination was helped by wearing three layers of clothing, which kept me warm on a very cold day.

Dust Covers

I washed the Christmas shower curtains before putting them away. For drying, I draped them over furniture on the back porch. The moisture was gone almost immediately, but I wanted to make sure they were completely dry. Bringing them inside, I tossed them over chairs and left the room. When I came back, the first thought I had was that someone had put dust covers out in preparation for a lengthy absence. English movies have shown such a scene when the upper-class family was going for a stay in their country home. All the furniture would have been shrouded in dull covers to keep them clean. My chairs felt very special, being covered in Christmas glory.

Too Much Christmas Music?

I didn’t begin to listen to Christmas CD’s until daughter Lise went back to Denmark on December 7. I wanted to keep the airways cleared so that we could talk without shouting. I began rather slowly, starting one when I was pretty sure I’d be in the kitchen with it. The pile was not diminishing quickly, so I began putting a new one on as soon as the last one was finished. I wasn’t out of earshot often.

I finished listening to all of John’s CD’s a few days ago. All of the standard Christmas music had been in one storage tub in the garage. I’m sure some of the discs were mine originally, but I had another small tub of things that only I would listen to. There were a few for Winter Solstice, and John would not have listened to those. The others had Christmas music done by New Age performers. I used to play those at my desk at work. People would hear music only as they walked through to go to the kitchen or to go out of the office.

I rejected 6 discs before I started playing them. There were 127, with music ranging from Medieval times to the twentieth century. I’m playing the last few from my tub, 29 in all. This has certainly been the loudest Christmas I’ve ever had. I can’t think of any time I enjoyed music more.

About an hour ago I heard something begin to play and listened carefully. I thought I heard a tune that was not related to Christmas. It was “Mary had a little Lamb”. Before I could get critical, I wondered which Mary in the last 2,000 years it was referring to. Surely it wasn’t Mary, the mother of Jesus, but you never know. Maybe I’ve had enough Christmas music for this season. That is proper, since many churches celebrated Epiphany today instead of waiting until January 6.

My Scales Laughed!

My bathroom scales laughed before the sun rose on the first day of 2026! Where I expected to see a four-digit number, there was LO. Being used to LOL, I translate that to Laughing Out.

Just perhaps, it stands for “The battery is getting low. Time to change it.”

Before the scales could refuse to work, I found one button battery in the house that was the right thing. I’ll buy more today, but this won’t need to be changed for years. I may have replaced it two times in the last 10 years. Before I take another breath, I should send a mental thank you to the scales for being so faithful.

Celebrating the Year

The neighbors I rave about came together to celebrate the end of the year. We have never dressed up to visit with each other. This year one asked if she could wear pajamas, and another answered that she could if she was decent. Of course she looked fine. I wore lounge pants as part of dressing down.

We talked non-stop while nibbling on snacks. We were all glad no one has seen the skunk since Joyce’ s exterminator set off a bomb in a culvert under our street.

Two households had been targets of a scam from the internet provider we all use. That was a bit sobering.

My house seemed to be the only one that an orange colored male cat had not visited. No one is feeding the cat, but they said he looks healthy.

We were interested in hearing about Joyce’s Christmas, spent in a bed and breakfast house in the mountains of Arkansas. Her two daughters, one son-in-law, two grandchildren, and a dog were with her. It was wonderful to be together, but the nightmarish side was sharing the house with roaches, spiders, and deer ticks (the ones that carry Lyme disease).

We have all been amused at Bob and Shawn’s dog. When they have been out and have Izzie in the car, they let her out at the top of the street. She races the car to get home first.

Holly related how she met the newest neighbor. His dog escaped and pooped in her yard, and he was apologizing for it. I must be the only person who has not met him yet, although I wave at him fairly often as he drives past me while walking.

Cindy lives on a different street, but she is part of our neighborhood. She had just come back from visiting her daughter and family for Christmas. She says she always comes home sick, and this time it was a chest cold. Since she stayed home to protect us, we took a photo to send her. The pajama-clad one volunteered to take the photo with my phone.

Left to right are Jeff, Shawn, Anne, Joyce, Holly, and Bob.

Family at End of Year

Niece Kathie had the brilliant idea of getting us together before the year ended. She, Bob, and Beth carpooled from the middle of the state for part of the trip. Niece Julie and Mike had the dog Gumball with them. It was so rewarding to relax and catch up on everyone’s news.

I often take photos of people at the table, but the sun was not cooperative. It was shining much too brightly. No one wanted to shut out the sun on a very cold day, so they agreed to pose in another room.

Above are my brother Bob, wife Beth, Mike with niece Julie, and niece Kathie. Gumball posed, too!

Increasingly, I miss parts of conversations in groups because my hearing is fading. I have a story to repeat, but it has holes in it. Kathie and son Max flew to Texas for a few days to be with her late husband’s family. Someone (hole one) ordered two boxes of snowballs for someone else (hole two). Yes! Snowballs!! It really doesn’t matter who was involved. Children in that part of Texas don’t have snow, or certainly not enough to make snowballs. In the evening, when the temperature had cooled off, they opened the snowballs and began throwing them at each other. It didn’t last very long, because the balls were very hard, perhaps hurtfully so. Waiting a bit, they really let loose and had a rousing snowball fight. The idea of buying balls of snow tickled my fancy. They bought an experience that is not normal for that area. What fun!

We’ve now texted each other, so I know all have safely returned home.

Christmas Day

I documented parts of the day to share with my far-flung children. They would remember that we always had German stollen for breakfast. Thanks to Lise’s taking me to Aldi’s, I was set.

I attended church online last night, as well as this morning. I’m so grateful that this is possible.

Neighbor Logan (15) came over to show me what he had gotten for Christmas, and it was as much fun as opening things myself. He wore his new bag, talking about how much it would hold.

I saw what he meant when he took it off and opened it up. It’s large enough to hold a basketball! He’s going to use it when he goes to basketball games and needs to pack extra clothes and shoes.

Logan was also pleased with new clothes. He modeled fashionable baggy jeans, new sandals, and socks.

I wanted to see him using his new game player, which was taking a while to load. Suddenly he got a text from Holly, asking him to come over to check out a burning smell. Emergencies first! Logan went to her house on the run. I never saw smoke, so thankfully nothing was on fire.

I was impressed with Logan’s appreciation for his gifts. Nothing was taken for granted, and he was eager to share his good fortune. He patiently let me take photos, which people have said they are eager to see.

The day passed quickly because of the church service, phone calls and text messages. Although I was home alone, it was not quiet! I played John’s CD’s all day at volumes that could have been uncomfortable for others. It was a lovely way to spend Christmas.

Chef Logan

Neighbor Logan (15) appeared at my door early in the afternoon to say he was cooking chili and would bring me some in about an hour. I was thrilled. The day was seasonally cold, and hot chili would be marvelous.

Logan reappeared. Not only did he have a bowl of piping hot chili, but he was also able to make the doorbell ring. No one else in the neighborhood can make the train whistle blow. He said the bowl was hot, so I knew I couldn’t ask to take a photo of him with it. I took the bowl and carried it carefully to the table. He would have run and reached his front door before I set the bowl down.

I took a quick photo of the chili. What an enticing aroma it had!

I ate several spoonfuls before taking a selfie. After that, I relaxed and ate at a steady pace, finishing before the chili had cooled. Oh! My! It was superb!!

There was no witness, but the evidence was there. A person licked that bowl!! An animal would have licked the middle of the bowl, as well.

Shawn wrote that it was a belated Happy Birthday meal from Logan. Wow! How every special!

I texted Shawn to tell Logan how much I enjoyed it. I also asked, “Would it be possible for you to take a photo with Logan and the pot of chili? I’d love to do a blog post on this, if that’s permissible.”

I laughed at the reply. Shawn wrote, “Hah! Bob did the dishes and the leftovers are in a smallish bowl. And Logan went to Holly’s!”

These neighbors are speedsters!

I had written about the chili above, but the story wasn’t over. The doorbell rang, and Logan presented me with five warm cookies! The photo shows only four, because I ate one before the plate reached the table. Oh! Yummy! Logan is a marvel!

Logan’s Chili

I took a quick photo of the chili. What an enticing aroma it had!

I ate several spoonfuls before taking a selfie. After that, I relaxed and ate at a steady pace, finishing before the chili had cooled. Oh! My! It was superb!!

There was no witness, but the evidence was there. A person licked that bowl!! An animal would have licked the middle of the bowl, as well.

Shawn wrote that it was a belated Happy Birthday meal from Logan. Wow! How every special!

I laughed at the reply. Shawn wrote, “Hah! Bob did the dishes and the leftovers are in a smallish bowl. And Logan went to Holly’s!”

These neighbors are speedsters!

A Supremely Happy Birthday!

I’ve had many birthdays, but the one this year has to be one of the very best. I was surprised and extremely pleased to hear from many friends and family members from the last eight decades.. I’m not counting the first three years, which I don’t remember, anyway. There were phone calls, text messages, greetings on the blog, a drop by visit, emails, cards, and e-cards. Oh! How blessed I am!

I had to laugh at being disappointed in one greeting I asked for. Addressing the Echo device while it was still dark, I said, “Alexa, today is my birthday.” She replied that she would sing Happy Birthday to me if I asked her. I asked for it. She sang slightly off key to a poor accompaniment of canned music. It was just short of awful!

I stopped to put a few pieces in the jigsaw puzzle as I went by it. David had worked half of the right side days before, and I finished that third. I love working a puzzle in sections! It’s a manageable challenge.

I had started writing this when I heard footsteps on the porch and a knock on the nearby window. It was Logan coming over to wish me a happy birthday! He stayed to visit, which was delightful. He is off from school until January 6 and is looking forward to relaxing and going to basketball practice.

I stayed home the whole day, but it was anything but quiet. I’ve been playing John’s Christmas CD’s all day every day for the past week. I may be able to play them all before Christmas ends in January. I’ll begin earlier next year.

Thank you to everyone who made my day so special. You are very precious to me!