Christmas Gifts

I've been so up-to-my-ears in stuff that I never got around to posting these photos so I'm going to do so now even though... good grief! It's almost New Year!

When we were doing our walk on the  morning before Christmas, we came across this.

One of our neighbors had left a box of Hawaiian fruit drinks for our garbage collectors. 

We gave our postal delivery lady a gift too. She has been working SUPER hard.

But hmmm... a gift for the garbage collectors after their hard work during this holiday season might be a nice thing to do.

We've also donated to the Salvation Army kettles, to the food vendors and Art does VERY diligent research before sending in our donations for the year online.

But let's see... Mom...

And here's what we gave Mom besides the liquor filled chocolate candy that she loves. 

Perhaps a decade ago, we put up this shower holder for mom on the left. The shower head wand eventually broke so we replaced it but it wasn't quite as secure as the original in fitting onto the holder on the bar. The vertical bar is also not meant to be a grab bar.

At 93 mom is a little more unstable, so Art found this shower head holder that is also a grab bar. The shower head can also be moved up and down more easily.

And yes, mom is very happy.

Christmas Waste

Have you wondered about all the waste that the Christmas holiday generates? I see neighbors' trash bins stuffed so tight that the lids can't close. We have neighbors who have asked to put their holiday trash in our bin because they just can't fit it in theirs.

Some of you know that Art worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Chicago. He's worked in the water, land and air divisions so is very conscious of the pollution and waste we generate. He also worked to promote recycling in different regions.

Think of the packaging. The wrapping paper? The cellophane bags? Cardboard? Chipboard? Styrofoam? Ribbons and bows?

For my small part, I will re-use those beautiful gift bags that we get from people. I enclose the names of who the bags came from and then fold and store them for appropriate gifts in the following years making sure it goes to different people.

My son and daughter-in-law would send us Amazon gifts along with gift bags they would pay an additional, rather exorbitant price for. It was really very thoughtful and generous of them.

However, I finally told my son to not pay the additional cost of those gift bags anymore and that I would be happy to just wrap it for him in biodegradable paper or put it in a re-used gift bag.

In fact, I sent him all the gift bags they'd bought for us so he could re-use them for the gifts we sent him through Amazon.

I was happy to see photos of the bags under their tree this year.

I didn't send this gigantic blue bag to him because I didn't think he'd have a use for it. However, Keola sent Art a small shop-vac and guess what? The bag was perfect for it.

Do you see it?

Then there's Christmas cards. And yes, we got some with only a name on it with no personal message.

If there's no personal message, I like photocards because you can at least see the faces of those people on it. And this is just me... so please don't tell anybody I said this. 

Oh... and it's wonderful to see photos of the grandkids, but I'd like it better if you put yourself in the photo with the grandkids, too. But hey... that's just me. (And don't tell anybody I said this either.)

As for myself, I will send hardcopy newsletters to friends and relatives by snail mail who don't do computers. That's about a 1/3 of my list. I send the others by email with a personal message and a few more photos that they can blow up on their computers to see.... sigh... my wrinkles. 

And now... what to do with the cards?

I scan them onto my computer. I then cut off the card front and use them for name tags for next year's gifts.

It's not much that I do.

But I feel like every little bit might help.

According to the USEPA: 

"Among industrialized nations, the U.S. is one of the largest generators of municipal solid waste per person on a daily basis."

And to my Canadian bloggers, I hate to tell you that other websites say Canada is even worse.

So anyway... like I said, every little bit might help.

Seeing and Sort of Understanding Hamilton

We went to see Hamilton with friends at the Blaisdell Center in Honolulu a couple of weeks ago. 

Although they said people should be mindful of COVID infections, we saw that only 1/3 of the people attending the evening show were masked. The couple next to Art and the couple behind us were unmasked and this guy was screaming his appreciation LOUDLY after each number until I made a show of putting my hands over my ears. I guess I'm an old fogey so I'm thinking enthusiastic applause is the way to show that you think the the performers did a great job. 

We'd been looking forward to seeing the show since we'd heard about all the accolades it has received. So many of our friends on the mainland had seen it (more than once). My daughter has seen it twice along with our granddaughter and son-in-law. She was happy we were going to see it and asked if we wanted to know the plot beforehand.  I said no because really... we already knew Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel. And we knew he was one of the Founding Fathers of the U.S. and the first Secretary of the Treasury. 

Unfortunately, I don't know if it was just the acoustics or the fact that the performers were rapping so fast and not enunciating as clearly, but I couldn't understand 2/3 of what was being sung/rapped. I thought it was just me but our whole party had difficulty understanding the lyrics. We used the intermission to check the synopsis on our cellphones before the 2nd Act which helped. 

We still enjoyed the evening and the cast did a get standing ovation, but just one before everyone filed out.

The next morning, my daughter sent us YouTubes of Lin-Manuel Miranda and the original cast doing a couple of the songs. And oh my gosh! What a difference! I could make out the lyrics! 

Tiffany told me even the elementary school kids were singing some of the Hamilton songs. Tif and family could not understand why we had such difficulty. 

Ah well... we still enjoyed being out to see musical theater. It's been a long time. It was fun.

And uuummmm... the production was more than just about the duel. Hamilton was an incredible American founding father and I can see why he is on our $10 bill.

Christmas Trees Revisited

Every so often around this time of year, I like to revisit the Christmas trees we've decorated as a family through the years. It brings back a lot of nostalgic memories.

In July, 1970 I'd gone on a college trip to Japan and stayed afterwards at my grandfather's temple for three weeks meeting family in Sendai for the first time. It was my first overseas trip.

I had not yet met Art. I lived in an apartment with three other friends next to the University of Hawaii. This was our tree.

1972, Art was in my life. We were engaged. He and my brother got to be good friends.

My life was changing.

In 1976, we had moved to Chicago and our daughter, Tiffany was our pride and joy. We didn't have an evergreen green then for Christmas, but decorated our palm tree.

1980 was the year our family became complete when our son Keola joined the family after being born in the hospital elevator with Art delivering his son himself.

The years flew by.

In 1990, Keola was in middle school and Tiffany was learning to drive! She could hardly wait to get her license and unlike me, she drives EVERYWHERE today. We also got an artificial tree for the first time. I was teaching 1st grade and loving it.

1999 came too quickly. Tiffany was now working in Chicago. Keola was at the university.

In 2000, Keola had graduated from college, was adventuring somewhere and said he was joining the Peace Corps and going to Africa.

Our lives were changing by 2006. Art and I were both retired. My father passed away and we had to return home to Hawaii to take care of mom. I'll always be grateful to Art for being OK with this. It was very difficult leaving our new granddaughter, daughter and son-in-law in Chicago. 

Keola was off living his life everywhere by then but would visit us in Hawaii.

This year, we had difficulty getting started with our holiday decorating or planning. Art set up our small (what we THOUGHT was temporary when our 2 year old grandson came to visit a few years ago) tree, but we somehow couldn't get motivated to putting on the ornaments. I finally put the garland on one day and left it alone. Art's thoughts were already moving onto 2023. 

However, when a present from Chicago arrived from Tiffany and family several days later, we finally got our focus onto this year's holiday and completed the decorating.

I confess we are missing our children, son-in-law, daughter-in-law and grandchildren, but 2023 is promising to bring us together. 

I'm looking forward to that.

Merry Christmas everybody! I am loving seeing the fun times you are all enjoying right now.

POSTSCRIPT:

Mom is always out (when weather permits) on the street sweeping up leaves from the big tree outside on the parkway.

Yesterday a couple of "older people who often go out walking" according to mom gave her a Christmas package and thanked her for keeping the neighborhood clean.

What a sweet holiday greeting and it certainly brought smiles to mom's face.

(And not to worry... I did check before letting her eat it. They are all safe prepackaged goodies.)

Finding Those Elusive KC Notes

I can't remember how it started but in 2018 and 2019 our granddaughter began secretly leaving loving notes for us to find after they returned to Illinois.

When KC was little, I vaguely remember us leaving a note or two for her to find after we'd left. 

In 2019, KC was 12 and left these notes for us.

She also did it in 2018 but I can't find those pictures.

I've actually left some of the notes in place these past years because...

well...

because...

it allows me to feel her presence in the house even though she's gone.

I know I've written about this before, but KC is 15 and has upped her game. She'd now numbered them and told me how many she'd hidden.

It has been about five months since my son-in-law, daughter and KC left and I still have not found them all. 

I actually gave up for a few months and then suddenly I found #8 in my sewing supply drawer for making masks. Since I haven't sewn a mask in months and months I never looked in that drawer. I just happened to look in there because I needed to use my sewing scissors.

And then I was gluing something onto a holiday present and had a little difficulty putting the glue bottle back into my glue box. When I looked in, I was shocked to find a slightly squashed Note #14. 

 All I can say is my wonderful, brilliant, graceful, thoughtful (yes, I'm biased) granddaughter has gotten even sneakier in her old age. 

OK... three more to go.

Pigeon Wars V

We are beginning to win the Pigeon War. Maybe. I think. Could be...

I wrote before about how Art's sling shot ice pellets were startling the pigeons away enough that they were now bedding down on the neighbor's roof. They only bed down there so they can fly over to our roof in the morning.

Art has been quite diligent with his slingshot and it's making a difference. He's been scientifically documenting how many pigeons are on the neighbor's roof every evening and morning.

It's a little darker now since it's winter but there were recently only 3 or 4 pigeons on the roof that we could see. 

The somewhat frustrating thing for Art is that the pigeons now recognize him (and our car). They know when we leave the house.

When I see reconnaissance pigeons heading to our roof and hear the bump when they land, I alert Art. (You wouldn't guess they had such big, heavy feet.) He goes out and they don't even allow him to load his ice pellets before they fly off knowing what's coming. The pigeon scouts will then go back to his/her flock and let the others know that it's not the opportune moment now to fly to our roof. 🙄

I saw a photo in the newspaper about a fellow in Waikiki who was going to the park to feed the pigeons and they were swarming all over him. He said the pigeons recognize him now and fly over when they see him.

Why is he feeding the pigeons? Arrrghhh!!! 

We haven't won the Pigeon War yet. The pigeons have not surrendered. But then, neither has Art.

POSTSCRIPT: We just saw a show about Woodpeckers on PBS and learned that those birds are able to recognize another woodpecker intruder to their area even though they look exactly the same! So... really... what makes you think the pigeons can't tell cars or people apart?

Deteriorating Rubber Laces

Oh doggone it!

I wrote a post about those rubber laces that my daughter introduced me too.  https://travelerswife.blogspot.com/2020/04/no-tie-shoe-laces.html?m=1 

I changed several of my sneakers to rubber laces so I wouldn't have to tie them all the time. 

Would you believe one of them broke?!? Aggravation!

I had to hunt all over the house for a spare pair of shoe laces.

It must be the Hawaiian salt air that somehow deteriorates everything.

Hmmm...

Is that what's causing all the wrinkles?

Whatever the case, I hope the other rubber shoe laces on my other shoes don't break because I don't have anymore spare shoe laces! 🙄

APPLE High Efficiency vs. Most Compatible Confusion

I recently upgraded my 4 year old iPhone XR to an iPhone 14Pro with my son-in-law's help. T-Mobile had a great replacement offer that I just couldn't refuse, never mind the fact that they made an even better offer later. Sigh...

Whatever the case, I suddenly noticed that the photo sizes with the iPhone 14Pro was a lot smaller than what I used to get with my iPhone XR. What the heck! And if I blew up the 14Pro photo, it wasn't super clear. I was expecting gangbusters with the 14Pro because of all the hype about the camera abilities.

And then I remembered being surprised that Art's iPhone12 photos that he sends me comes out as a JPEG whereas mine always shows as a JPG. What's the difference? I had to look it up. I saw on the keycdn website that there's actually no difference. Reeeallly?

Annnnyway...

The point is Art's newer iPhone 12 was giving me smaller photo sizes than my older XR. 

Why?

And now... why was my iPhone 14Pro also giving me smaller photo sizes? 

So what did I do?

Yup. Looked online for the answer.

It's turns out that it's in the camera settings and lots of websites talk about this. 

I found this answer on the ZDNET website:

"The reason for this is actually very simple: HEIF (also known as High-Efficiency Image Files) is Apple's secretive image format that's optimized for its proprietary products and nothing else. 

By default, your iPhone or iPad's camera setting has the "High Efficiency" option toggled on. That means that with family gatherings and holiday parties on the horizon, issues with image sharing are bound to happen. To prevent such problems, and so that grandma can get all her photos and videos in peace, here's how to change the default camera format on your iPhone (or iPad) from HEIF to the all-inclusive JPEG."  

Apparently the factory setting for the camera is set on High Efficiency so that it will take less space on your iPhone. However, your pictures won't have that extra great clarity because it's a smaller file. You won't notice it unless you're picky.

I'm picky. And I do try to clean up my photo file. 

Soooo... if you're picky like me, this is how you can change your settings.

First go to Settings and click on Camera. Then go to Formats at the top and then check Most Compatible.

And about that PROPRIETARY thing with Apple (They are the ones who went to the lightning plugger thing, right?) it's always irritated my techie son-in-law.

I texted my daughter asking what kind of phone he carries and she texted back...

Samsung Galaxy X22. 😏

POSTSCRIPT 1:

Hmmm... So now I was wondering HOW MUCH of a difference they made. I changed the settings back and forth and then I decided to take a photo with both formats of the same photo at almost the same time and blow them up. This is what I found.

It's not a HUGE difference unless you want to blow something up to see the details more.

It depends on how picky you are.

POSTSCRIPT 2:

OK... Art just came in and said I need to go closer to see the difference. 🙄

Fostering Kindness

A good friend of mine asked if I'd written any cute things my grandchildren might have said or written. Well... I know I have written a lot about KC in the 14 years I've been blogging. While looking for something else, I happened to find this post I wrote in July, 2011. KC was 4 years old. This an excerpt from that blog post with an additional photo from 2013 when she was 6 years old.

My daughter, Tiffany shared this email with me that she received from a mother who wrote to tell her what her son said the night before about a bedtime story.

Wanted to pass along a funny story. Last night we read a book called Henry In Love. It is about a little boy (cat actually) named Henry, who has a crush on a girl in his class. He thinks she's the "loveliest girl in his class." When we got to that part he said, "Just like KC!"

Tiffany has worked very hard to teach KC good manners. We're very proud of the patient, consistent way that Tif has tried to instill politeness from the time KC was very little. KC has written thank you notes from the time she could hold a pencil even though no one could read what she wrote.

The other day, Tif says a child grabbed a toy that KC was playing with at a party.  KC tried to explain that she was still playing with it and was not ready to share it just yet.  The other child grabbed the toy and ran off laughing.  KC was stunned and not a little upset.  She was furious, but didn't go into a counter attack.

On the way home, Tif says she tried to explain that life is like that sometimes... that there are other children and adults who won't behave as you would like them to.  You have to try to make your feelings known calmly, and then let it go.  Tif isn't sure KC got much out of their talk on the long way home because all tuckered out in her car seat, KC fell asleep.

Letting it go is hard.  I think even adults have a hard time with it.  Imagine how hard it must be for kids."

KC is not a push-over. She has grown up to be a resourceful, confident teenager. However, she is also kind and and still texts or writes us her appreciation and affection.

I'm proud of her as I am of her mother.

Lazy Baker Tip: Freezing Muffins

I don't really like to cook. Let's face it. I'm a lazy cook and baker. Art grew up in a small mom and pop restaurant that his parents owned. His mother was the chief cook/baker. When we were getting married, many people came to tell me his mother was the best cook/baker on the Big Island.

Friends knew cooking/baking was not my forte. It was rather a joke at the time. My mom did all the cooking and I just never learned from her.

Art KNEW all this before he married me in 1973. It wasn't a secret and he married me anyway. 

One of my very good childhood/forever friends even gave me this set of Maui cookbooks at our wedding that was famous at the time in the islands. It helped, but for the start of our marriage, Art did a lot more of the cooking.

All this just explains why I don't bake unless I have to.

Art (AND Mom) loves having the King Arthur's Bakery blueberry muffins for breakfast. Last month, I wrote a blog post about how he likes to toast the muffin top.

I always make a couple of recipes worth so I don't have to make it that often. Trouble is, it was worrying me to keep almost two weeks worth of muffins in the fridge.

So I wondered if freezing would impact the taste of blueberry muffins. I discovered on the Taste of Home website that you can certainly freeze blueberry muffins. I first put the cooled muffins on a baking dish uncovered in the freezer. Once it was totally frozen, I put the muffins on a cardboard sheet in a freezer bag and stuck it in the freezer.

Notice that I have perfected keeping the blueberries away from the very top of the muffins so that Art can get that crisp top that he likes so much.

When we took the frozen muffins out, defrosted and toasted it, Art says it tasted absolutely the same and that you wouldn't know they were frozen. 

Woo hoo!!! I wonder if I can make three recipes worth next time. 😁

Hawaii in a Nutshell

I know it's silly, but since I grew up in Hawaii I guess I just always assumed everybody in the world knew the basics about Hawaii. I discovered that wasn't true when I began teaching 1st grade in Illinois in 1984.

Parents thought I grew up in a grass hut. They asked if we used American money. And they were surprised I spoke English so well. 😏 I remember one parent telling me their son went home and was upset because he thought he was placed in an ESL (English as a Second Language) room. Eventually, I did have some parents request to have their children put in my room, so perceptions did change.

And yes, the misinformation did go both ways. When we moved to Chicago in 1974, I didn't know Chicago was in Illinois. We'd driven cross country to get to Chicago and when we entered the city and I saw a fellow standing at the crosswalk with a violin case, my eyebrows went up. Stories of Chicago mobsters popped up in my brain.

Anyway, all this is just a preface to why I'm going to do a little geography/tourism explanation of the Hawaiian Islands where I grew up and now live in again.

There are 8 main islands from a total of 137 islands that count as part of our Hawaiian Island chain.

Hawaii was once ruled by Hawaiian kings and queens until a group of American businessmen and lawyers in January, 1893 overthrew the Kingdom of Hawaii and even had Queen Lili'uokalani under house arrest at the Iolani Palace. In 1993, the US Congress passed a joint Apology Resolution regarding the overthrow and was signed by President Bill Clinton.

I won't go further into the history but it helps to know this to understand why Hawaiian descendants are still angry about what occurred.

OK, about the Hawaiian Islands.

Niihau: It is privately owned and the people there speak Hawaiian. It is off limits to outsiders unless they are invited.

Kauai: This is the Garden Isle because it is lush, rainy and beautiful. I'm sure my cousins can attest to that. We see a LOT of tourists there when we've gone for a visit. There's a mountain there called the Sleeping Giant because the peaks of that mountain range looks like a sleeping giant. I think Kauai is supposed to be the oldest of the 8 Hawaiian Islands. 

Oahu: This is my island and Honolulu Aunty's and Cloudia of Comfort Spiral as well. The state capital of Honolulu is on Oahu as well as Waikiki, Pearl Harbor, Hanauma Bay, Polynesian Cultural Center, etc. It is VERY crowded on our island and home prices are through the roof. However, we do have more medical facilities and shopping areas than the other islands and LOTS and LOTS of traffic... LOTS of traffic. (This is a photo of the Pearl Harbor Memorial and today, of course is the day of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.)

Molokai: Molokai is known for where victims of Hansen's Disease (leprosy) were sent in 1866. My grandfather who was a Buddhist priest went to Kalaupapa on Molokai in 1928 to tend to Buddhist patients who were isolated there. My mother spent her early years in Kaunakakai which is the largest town on Molokai with her two younger sisters.

Lanai: As of 2012, 98% of Lanai is owned by Oracle Corporation co-founder, Larry Ellison. Good grief! I don't know a lot about Lanai except when I was a teenager, I know kids were going there to work in the pineapple fields.

Maui: Maui is the second largest island and has the dormant volcano Haleakala on it. We always like to drive up to Haleakala to see the silversword plant and the magnificent views. You can see Lanai, Kahoolawe and Molokai from Maui. 

Kahoolawe: Much to the dismay and anger of many Hawaiian people, Kahoolawe was used as a bombing range by the U.S. Armed Forces. Today, it is uninhabited and used only by Hawaiian people for cultural or spiritual purposes.

Big Island: The Hawaii news stations now refer to this biggest and youngest of the 8 islands as Hawaii Island. Us old timers always referred to it as the Big Island so that's what I call it. This is where Art grew up and it is, of course, his favorite island. This photo was taken in 2017 at the Halemaumau crater. That's me and mom.

Actually, there's a lot to see on the Big Island from the Black Sand beach to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to Kona's coffee farms, downtown Hilo, Art's small hometown of Honokaa, etc. 

Now we have Mauna Loa erupting and everyone wondering how long Madame Pele (goddess of fire and volcanoes) will continue her fiery dance.

There you have it in a nutshell. Well, maybe its a rather big nutshell for a small state. 

And yes, we are the 50th state and we do use American money. 😂

The Awesome Mauna Loa Eruption

Some friends on the mainland were worried about Mauna Loa's eruption on the Big Island affecting us. We live on Oahu so we're quite safe. The translation for Mauna Loa is Long Mountain and you can see why it was given that name. Mauna means mountain.

The other volcano on the Big Island is Mauna Kea. The translation for that is White Mountain because of the snow at the top in winter.

I borrowed this photo from Reddit.

There are fissures from which there could be an eruption all along that long volcano. 

The last eruption from Mauna Loa was in 1984 so this has everybody quite excited. I'm hearing about the long, LONG line of traffic heading along Saddle Road  to see the eruption at night. Saddle road sits between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.

I was just going to make this a short post to show you a fabulous photo my good friend, Myra texted me that her cousin's daughter on the Big Island took of Mauna Loa at night. 

However.... then I thought I'd better give you an explanation about the volcanoes on the Big Island. I KNOW Art has taught me all these specifics, but my brain just didn't hold all that information so I had to look up a lot of it.

I got this public domain picture from the United States Geological Survey website.

There are five volcanoes on the Big Island. Four of the volcanoes are active.

The Kohala volcano is extinct. Hualalai's last eruption was in 1801. Mauna Kea last erupted 4,000 years ago. Kilauea is the youngest and most active. And now there's Mauna Loa erupting which is the largest volcano on the earth.

We took mom to the Big Island in March, 2017 to see the Halemaumau eruption. Anyway, Halemaumau is a pit crater within the much larger Kilauea Caldera at the summit of Kilauea volcano. I always get confused with what crater is where, etc. Sigh...

This is a page from our photobook of that trip. Mom was tired from all our sightseeing during the day so she went to bed. Art and I drove up to Halemaumau crater to see the eruption at night. It seems tiny, but we really enjoyed seeing it and talking to the people also enjoying the view.

The following morning we got up early and drove back to the crater so mom could see it. She did get to see it when it was dark, but also enjoyed it as the sun slowly rose.

This wasn't the first eruption we've taken her to, and she's enjoyed every one.

And now here's the reason for the post. My thanks to Myra's cousin's daughter for giving me permission to share it.

It's really breathtaking. 

You can see the lava flow heading slowly toward Saddle Road. My friend/classmate in Hilo tells me you can even see the glow of the lava from Hilo Bay.

I wonder how long this eruption will last. 

Hanabata Days

Red of Hiawatha House mentioned terms that he was surprised most people don't know. Red said no one seemed to use the term open fall or crakin around.  Open fall meant, "that he (Red's father) had time to do all the farm work that needed to be done.” Crakin around was someone being grumpy or out of sorts. 

I had never heard of those terms but we have a lot of local phrases here in Hawaii too. 

We were at a Kaiser presentation recently when another retired military couple there who were mainland haole (Caucasian) used the word hanabata days. They didn't pronounce it correctly, but they used the meaning perfectly. I was just surprised they knew it, but I wondered if they REALLY knew what the actual meaning was.

Hanabata days refers to your childhood years. Hana is Japanese for nose. Bata would be butter. In other words, runny nose mucous. I guess it was assumed little kids ran around with runny noses. 😂

And this is me and my brother during our hanabata days when we lived in the middle of a canefield.

Ahhh yes... "Those were the (hanabata) days my friend, we thought they'd never end...."

Here's the song, Those Were the Days.

So There's a Name for My Three Dots?

 Alexa's recent Question of the Day was, "What do you call a combination question mark/exclamation point? 

The answer was  interrobang (‽). Seriously‽

Well, one of the choices was an ellipsis. That sounded good to me so I chose that answer. And I was wrong. I'd never even heard of interrobang as a punctuation mark much less ellipsis.

I can't believe it!  Alexa informed me that an ellipsis is three dots to be used for these four things. I use it primarily for the "pause for effect" thing. I didn't even know I was using it correctly... at least I think I was using it correctly. 

I love the ellipsis and now I know it's a real thing.

Doug of ApacheDug's Teepee mentions at the end of his October 31st post that I also like "Sigh." 

I don't know why... sigh... I just do.

Thanksgiving Recap

We have kept mom safe from COVID now for three years. However, with her worsening memory problems and her feeling forgotten by family, we decided that we needed to get back to hosting a Thanksgiving family get-together so she could see everybody again.

Art and I along with mom always wear our masks when we are out or with anybody other than the three of us. We're all vaccinated and boosted. At 93, we just didn't feel we wanted to take a chance with mom getting sick. Our neighbor (same age as mom) was vaccinated also and managed to catch it when her sister visited from out of state. It took a long time for her to recover and she still doesn't look like she did before.

So we were nervous. But, of course... we also wanted to see everybody again.

We therefore asked everyone to test themselves before coming.

Art had to do his test twice because it was taking a long time to get his result the first time.

Although I trusted everyone to test themselves, they must have known I was nervous and texted me their results without my asking for it. 

I made the lup chong stuffing and Venezuelan flan (with the help of text messages from my friend in Illinois). It's been years and years since I made the flan and definitely three years since I made that stuffing. I forgot how much time (chopping and dicing and chopping and dicing) the stuffing required. My knees were aching on Thanksgiving Day from standing with locked knees over the sink on Wednesday.

Thanksgiving day was mom's turn to make her specialty macaroni salad. She has always been proud of that salad and everyone always tells her how much they love it.

I was figuring on doing just a little bit more of chopping, but mom (recipe in hand) struggled to put it together. Luckily, I'd written down her recipe and modifications in English years ago since I know how much family liked it.

I therefore was back to chopping and dicing, chopping and dicing.

I'm surprised at how she used to do it all by herself without any shortcuts like I would have done.

Once all the ingredients were ready, Art helped her mix it together.

I then helped her with the seasoning. Since I can barely taste anything, it was a matter of adding salt, pepper, soy sauce and having her taste it.

She pronounced it very good and even asked me to save some for us so we could have it the following day. 😄 She loves macaroni salad too.

And then suddenly everyone was arriving. 

Windows and doors were all open to allow a breeze to go through. 

Art and I decided a half hour before the party started to forgo the masks. Loved ones came wearing them anyway knowing how paranoid we were and were happy when we told them what we decided.

This little 2 year old munchkin was already comfortable enough with mom a few minutes after coming to sit next to her for photos. I was so touched to see this and mom, of course absolutely loved it.

Everyone brought a lot of food...a lot of food. My brother and sister-in-law roasted the turkey and brought over stuffing, devilled eggs, sweet and mashed potatoes and gravy.

We added Zippy's fried chicken, edamame (boiled soybeans) and a cauliflower-green bean-cranberry veggie dish to our lup chong stuffing, macaroni salad, quesillo, pumpkin pie and assortment of drinks.

But yikes! We forgot to take out the cranberry sauce. 🙄 (It was our special, deluxe, from the can cranberry sauce. 😂)

A dear friend stopped by with spinach rolls and the rest of the family brought over green salad, baguette and dip, grilled asparagus, homemade ice cream, cookies and special beer (I think) that mom rather enjoyed.

It was amazing to be together again after three COVIDful years.

Mom was smiling ear to ear.

There were 2 two year olds and a 5 year old who ran around the house in cheerful abandon. The entire house was filled with joyful talk and a cacophony of love and happiness.

I didn't hug anyone when they came. I was still in COVID mode. As everyone left we ALL hugged each other. It felt normal. It really felt normal again.

One loved one stopped, smiled and asked if we'd be getting together for New Year also.

Why not? 🤞

Fading Memory

Sadly, mom's short term memory is fading. In the past year, we're seeing dementia taking hold and it's spooky for us and very spooky for her. Her geriatric doctor suggested that the falls she's had or perhaps the shock of my aunt's sudden passing 5 years ago may have started this sad progression.

Now comes the problem of remembering what medication/supplements she should be taking each morning and evening.

At first I gave her a pill case so she could remember what pills to take which she filled herself. 

Then I had to fill the cases for her. 

Then I was noticing that she was taking the pills out of order or taking two days worth. I had to take away the pill case and give her medication to her each day at the correct time.

You have to understand that I have on occasion forgotten to take my own medication. It's difficult for me and a little difficult for her to have to rely on me to do this. 

(I'm actually using Alexa to remind me to give her the medication.)

Then I had to sort of hide the pills where she couldn't reach them.

That looks like a lot of medication, but most of those are her back-ups or supplements like vitamins, calcium, B12, mom's garlic pills, etc. (My name is in front of her medication in case she ever sees it and... heaven forbid... tries to climb on a chair and get it.) My (and Art's) medication is way too high for her to reach.

And yet, we're grateful that she's physically able to walk independently and take care of her other needs and functions. She's still walking on the treadmill and doing her gardening everyday and loving her time at the Adult Day Care once a week. She's also able to write amazingly elegantly Japanese characters for letters to her sister in Japan. Her fine motor skills are pretty darn incredible.

So there's a lot to be thankful for, but it's still a worry for us as we watch all that's happening to her and what could eventually happen to us.

Thankfulness, Even for Nothing

I remember Sunday school Buddhist teachings when I was growing up to always be grateful. And I am or try to be even when I'm down. 

I'm grateful for my family and my friends. I'm grateful for my home and food that is available to us when we want it. 

Tomorrow, I'll be thankful for our family who will be gathering at our home for the first time since COVID began. We are vaccinated and boosted, but we'll be careful to open all the windows and keep our masks on anyway as we gather.

I saw this article on the Spirituality and Health website and it struct a cord. The first lesson they mention is to be grateful for Nothing. No, it's not how you think it sounds. They recommend being grateful for things like not being sick, not losing your job, not living in a war zone. Be grateful that the air you breathe and the water you drink are not contaminated. Be grateful for any kindness shown to you. 

So yes... it's a good reminder to just appreciate what you have and not focus on the negative. It's not always easy and requires practice, but I shall do my best. 

And now I need to get going on the lup chong stuffing and quesillo (Venezuelan flan) I'm preparing to serve tomorrow. I'm very grateful to my friend, Daisy who taught me how to make it so very many years ago in Illinois. And I'm grateful to Carol who gave me the recipe for the lup chong stuffing with careful instructions before she passed away much too soon. And yes, I'm grateful to Art for always making the traditional pumpkin pie. 

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I'm very grateful for every one of you. 

Biting the Bullet to Upgrade My iPhone

I have the iPhone XR that's 4 years old. It's working fine. I take good care of my phones.

Hooowever... I thought this was a good time to upgrade because I'd read that there was a big improvement in the photo quality of the iPhone14 Pro and I'm really liking the idea of getting better photos for my blog and photobooks. Granted, since I reduce the size of my photos before posting them, you would probably not notice.

Still, I figured it was time for an upgrade when the rubber sides on my not cheap Otterbox Commuter cover started crumbling off.

That's my excuse anyway.

It was a very difficult decision because you get a personal connection with your cellphone. I know it's silly, but it's always with me. I feel like it knows me. It has my pictures on it. It's got all my family and friends on it. 

It always scares me to change technology. I never know what's going to change. I never know for sure if all my information will move over to the new phone correctly.

I know. I know. It's silly.

But then my son-in-law texted me that T-Mobile had a $400 replacement deal for me if my cellphone was in good working order.

So I bit the bullet and did it.

I've read that I could do the iCloud transfer on my own, BUT I just didn't trust myself. 

So we went to the T-Mobile store and had them do it for me. Everyone there was very nice and it got done in about an hour.

And then came the hard part.

I hate this part.

I had to apply the Ailun glass screen protector. Arrrghhh... It's on, but not perfect, a little off center. Dang it! 😑

I bought a different Otterbox cover this time. It's thinner, but is supposed to protect your phone from 3X as many drops as military standard (whatever that means). And the rubber is different.

I also bought the Ailun screen/camera lens protector. 

But doggone it! When I put the Otterbox cover on after applying the Ailun camera lens protector (which was slightly too big), the Otterbox cover bowed and I couldn't easily press the buttons on the side of the phone because now they were misaligned.

I tried putting the camera lens protector on the outside of the Otterbox cover, but it just fell off.... of course.

Sigh...

And this is why I hate changing cellphones.

I also discovered that my photo sizes were suddenly much smaller than with my XR.

It took a lot of research before I corrected that feature on my iPhone settings.

I've just ordered a separate HLija camera lens cover and 🤞 that it will work.

Stilllll... I'm getting to slowly become friends with this new phone and hope all goes well.

POSTSCRIPT:

I received the new camera lens protector last week and waited a day before I got the courage to try again.

Thank goodness! It fit!!! 😁 Phew!

I think I'll wait 10 years before I upgrade again. 

Pigeon Wars IV (Are You Smarter Than a Pigeon?)

Art may have won some battles, BUT he is unable to win the war against his feathered foes. 

For those who don't know what I'm talking about, pigeons began nesting under our solar panels and using it for a toilet for several years. We started getting bird mite bites which drove us crazy.

So now it's war. We got the solar panel company to put critter (bird) guards around our panels after cleaning out all the nesting and debris.

Art has become adept at using a sling shot and small ice pellets to try to scare them off our roof. And yet, they kept coming back regardless of the fact they could no longer build nests under the panels.

So why is our roof so darn desirable for them? We don't feed them. We even asked neighbors not to feed them.

Whatever the case, Art has been documenting their habits, learning their battle schedules.

Art learned that they like to sleep on our roof at night so at sundown, he started shooting ice pellets at them so they'd go away. For the first few days, we were shocked to see over 30 birds fly off our roof.

However, eventually they merely flew over to our neighbor's house across the street so they'd still have a bird's eye view of our house. Arrrghhh....😡 They liked to group together for warmth (?), comfort (?), protection? We kept a wary eye on them.

At sunrise, they would ruffle their feathers, spread out and start their planning. They checked to make sure Art wasn't around with his sling shot and then would swoop toward our roof.

Throughout the morning, they would keep attacking in little skirmishes constantly coming back to see if Art was going to do something.

I've seen where Art will scare off a couple of the feathered fighters and have them fly off. Several other birds heading toward our house would see their retreating comrades, turn around and land on the street light in order to wait to fight another time.

Yes, the pigeons seemed to be winning, but then we counted how many birds were still coming to our house. 

There used to be over 30 flying fighters, but now there's about 15-16. 

I can tell you one thing.

Art does not give up.

The question is will the persistent pigeons?

POSTSCRIPT:

We went to the market in the early morning and was returning home when we saw several pigeons swooping toward our roof. 

Incredibly, when they saw our car, they turned around and flew away. 

So now you know. I can never tell cars apart and my brain can't remember car makes or colors that I see on the road. These pigeons know! These pigeons remember.

Now you know who's smarter. 🥴