Halloween party

Decorating Sunday night

I am a member of the Hubbard Mothers homemakers group.  Each year we put on a Halloween party for the community.  Anywhere from 60 to 75 people show up.  I did the fish pond.  There are not many homemaker groups left in the county.  I think there is 13.  Enough to have a council.  In the 50's and 60's everyone belong to a club.  The sense of community has changed.  People have just gotten too busy.  But not in Fern township.  This homemakers group is active.  Each month there is a planned activity with a hostess and a business meeting. November is making a craft - I think a Christmas ornament.   I have enjoyed being a member.

Carpe Diem

November is National writing month.  There is a web site that is expressly for writing during November.  It is nanowrimo.org.  Their only goal is to get people writing.  They are challenging people to write 50 thousand word novel from November 1st until November 30th.  If you can complete you will get the satisfaction of the accomplishment and a certificate for your wall.  But also you will have that first book that you can edit and do as many rewrites as you want.  I have been published twice on a small scale so my interest is to get that novel from my mind into my computer.  Besides that I was challenged by an English teacher from Beach, North Dakota.  It's hard to pass on a challenge.

Retirement

I am  a year and half into this thing called retirement.  I am no different then any other retiree who says I am busier now then when I worked.  True statement.  My clock says it all.  The only difference between work and retirement is when you work you had to wait until 5:00 to take your naps.  This clock was my favorite gift that I got when I did retire.  I got it from Natalie's Mom and Dad. Natalie is my son's wife.   So that makes it even more special.    In the words of Dana Carvey "Now, isn't that special." (church lady skit)  I am here to report that retirement is wonderful. 

Anyone that knows me well, knows that my passion is quilting.  Well, the year before I retired I got to thinking that I probably would not be able to afford this high dollar pass time.  So I started buying quilt kits a $100 apiece.  I quit when they totalled 25.  So far I have sewn every day of my retirement, but only have done 2 of the prepurchsed kits.  Talk about funny.

I think it was my mind set.  Work equalled money.  Since I was not working I would not have money.  It is really nice to see money just drop out of nowhere into my bank account.  

Another old building is on the chopping block

The Bemidji City Council is planning on redoing the Library park.  It is a three year project.  But on October 19th an article in the Pioneer announced that the Bemidji's Carnegie Library could be torn down  or moved to fit their plans.  There has been much discussion, both real and virtual (facebook).  Today in the paper I learned something about the Carnegie Libraries. There was an editorial by Dr. Annie B. Henry(a professor at Bemidji State University) explaining how she as a black child in the 50's could not enter a library.   Mr. Carnegie attempted to minimize discrimination and racism by offering to build and put reading materials into Carnegie libraries in any city that agreed to his main requirement:  the Carnegie libraries had to be accessible and used by all Americans.  After that article's appearance tearing down a building that is steeped in that much American history might be more difficult.

Some of the buildings problems is that it has an entrance facing one of the busiest streets in Bemidji.  Another it needs an elevator and handicapped accessibility.  All are fixable.  Our church sealed up our front door entrance with a beautiful stained glass mural.  A  flower box sits where the front steps used to be.  Move the entrance to the back of the building.  I see opportunity for the vo-tech and BSU students to design a mural for the front door area.  Make it a contest. It is presently being used as the fine art center.   One could tap into that talent.  Also, they could use the arch saved from the high school as part of the designed entrance in the back.  I see beauty in the old, where as some people just see old.

 I will be truly saddened if tearing down this building does come to fruition.  I learned my love of reading and eventually my love of the written word from checking out books weekly from that very library.  I have already lost my high school building.  Now this??

Soup Kitchen

My graduating class,class of 64ever, works in the soup kitchen once a year.  Yesterday was the day.  The director is a classmate.  She does a wonderful job. Bemidji hosts a soup kitchen three days each week.   I am including pictures, but not of the people who come to eat.  Just classsmates. We served 130 and we did not even eat soup.  It was a chicken or beef, oven baked potatoes and green beans.  It is a very humbling experience.  It makes you wonder what happened to so many people that they are in this situation.

Bike Trails

Bemidji area has an extensive network of bike trails.  Two trails that I know of go from Bemidji to other cities.  One goes to International Falls and one goes to Walker.  My great nephew and I have for the last two summers spent every summer Monday together.   He is 9 years old this year.  We plan work projects and fun projects in a meeting that we lovingly call our safety meetings.  Generally a safety meeting starts our day out.  We make our plans for that day which always features my expectations of his behavior that day.  He gets input into the plan and therefore buys ownership to the plan.  Last summer we had a plan to landscape the front of my house.  When he arrived I was already deep into the work so he just jumped in and started working.    Then about an hour into the project he comes to me and exclaimed that we forgot to have our safety meeting.  Nothing short of stopping and having our meeting would do.  So, of course, that is what we did.   

This picture was taken in the Bemidji State  Park section of the bike trail that goes around the Lake Bemidji.  I think there is 33 miles of trails.  This trip we put on 9 miles.  I heard no complaints from him that he was too tired.  Anyway, we packed a lunch and ate it in the park.  What was a great way to end the summer of fun Mondays.

Oh no I am deaf

I recently had an MRI.  It took all I had to be able to complete the test.  First of all you are stuffed into a form so that you can not move.  Then they put a space-like clear helmet on your head to well I guess I don't know its purpose.  You put ear plugs in as the machine is so loud and abrasive to your hearing.  I just kept going to a happy place and trying to remember everything about it so I could block out the test.  But the strangest thing that happened was the quickness that I got out of that confinement as soon as she brought me out.  I was so paniced that I jumped out and started tearing all the gear off.  The technician was helping. But the funniest thing that happened was  I kept saying I am deaf from that loud machine.  I said it over and over.  The technician then said that I should take out my ear plugs and of course I could hear just fine.  I have been laughing all afternoon.

Walmart has pharmacies in most of their stores.  I now see that they are also giving flu shots in the main aisle.  Now I wonder how long will it be that tucked in the back conrner you can get a MRI or a Cat scan?????

I got my test results back this morning and found out that there were no aneurysms present.  Yippee.  One of my close friends said that I always knew you had a good head on your shoulders.