A New Life! Retirement at its Best 2020-47

My new Mac

is wonderful! It works with the speed of light it seems, and has many new features I still have to learn more about. The desktop image is again a Hawaiian ocean scene: this time it is “dawn in Kailua-Kona”, on Oahu. The printer works again without having to turn off the WiFi, and I could even print from my iPad in the living room. I love all this modern technology!

New Covid Scare

Last Wednesday, all the relative freedoms we had in the past weeks were withdrawn again: no visitations, no scheduled activities, no meals in the dining room. A flyer from the Assistant manager stated these new regulations and explained that they had found one resident in Memory Care and one caregiver in Memory care testing positive for Covid. The resident was taken to the hospital, the Associate went home to wait in quarantine until she would be better. On Monday we would all be tested again, with the team going door to door. But on Monday morning all testing was cancelled because one of the testing nurses got sick. While many residents had looked forward to getting together with family for Thanksgiving, the Culinary team had envisioned a new lockdown, so the traditional Thanksgiving dinner will be served on the actual evening. In previous years, we had our dinner a week early, to give residents the opportunity to be with their families on the outside on Thanksgiving day and/or weekend. So this year we’ll just be together in our cozy cottage, connected to our three families by zoom. C’est la vie.

A purpose for each day

At a time like this, eight months into a lockdown with very little communication with family or the rest of the world, I feel we need to set a goal for each day, give each day a purpose; at least, that makes me happy. The problem is that I have so many goals for each day that I lack the time to do them all! I started on Sunday with the harvest of my ginger.

Ginger

When we lived on the Big Island of Hawai’i, we had a friend who had a ginger farm across the highway, in Papaikou. Once in a while he came over with a large “hand” of fresh ginger – clean and fresh and so beautiful. At that time I created recipes with ginger: ginger banana bread, ginger carrot cake, and, my favorite: banana ginger jam. For many years we had a slice of the banana bread or carrot cake (without frosting) with our morning coffee, and the jam was not only delicious on toast, but also made wonderful gifts.

Before Covid, when we dined in the dining room, I would sometimes bring an exotic fruit from the Asian store close by to show to people at our table. One day, I brought a small, 3×3″ piece of ginger as the topic of our conversation. Afterwards, I put it in the large antique fruit bowl on the kitchen counter. It remained there until I came across it the second time I emptied the bowl, sometime in March. The ginger had shrunk to a pitiful dry piece; yet I could not throw it away. I found a pot and some potting soil in the garage and planted it, according to Google’s instructions, 1/2″ below the surface and put the pot on our front patio. The following months I was absolutely delighted to watch first one, then another, then a total of eight green stalks rise up to a height of two feet. There was life in my shrunken ginger, life after death!

On Sunday I decided it was time for the harvest. When I started cutting off the stalks, I discovered a bud – a flower-to-come? How delightful! I did not cut that flower, but decided I would plant it again with the root attached. It was a little difficult to dig up the ginger root with my hands, because it filled up the whole pot. I found a tool to help me: my mother’s antique silver serving fish fork that I had not used since we live here, because I don’t cook anymore. It worked like a charm, and I got the whole ball of ginger, dirt and all, out of the pot. This was yet another item that served a different purpose in another time of my life!

Back to the front porch, where I have a garden hose at the ready (until it starts freezing). I cleaned the ball till most of the soil had come off, and continued to clean it on the kitchen counter. It was an amazing sight! With the sharpest knife I own, never used, I cut the ginger roots in pieces and cleaned those some more. (It’s like editing, you need to do it multiple times.) On Monday, I brushed some more dirt away until all the pieces were ready for consumption. I was going to make banana ginger jam.

In the mean time, realizing that I had a lot of bananas from the Club and fresh ginger from my patio but virtually nothing else, I ordered sugar and lemons and more from Amazon Fresh, and the wait is for the mason jars from Amazon. They will come today, Wednesday, so you know what I will be doing! Oh joy! Life couldn’t be better!

       

It’s a Wonderful Life!

Until next time,

Ronny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A New Life! Retirement at its Best 2020-46

Presidential Elections 2020

How amazing it is that our country is so utterly divided! Today is Thursday, and they are still counting the ballots in several states, two late nights and long days later. Last night, I could not sleep, even though I was exhausted. So I finally got up at 1:00 a.m. and took a sleeping pill; we still have some back in the medicine cabinet from the time we needed them. At 1:45 a.m. the dog started barking, loudly. I got up, let her out, whereupon she barked outside, into the night. It was a bright, moonlit patio, but I sure did not see anything worth barking about and we went back to bed. At 2:25, she started again, and then again ten minutes later. Sigh! I then had three hours of undisturbed sleep, thank goodness. And this morning I saw that she had thrown up in her dog bed. She was scheduled for a bath at the Vet at 8:00 a.m., and I threw the dog bed in the washer and dryer, and now everything is clean again.

It was finally decided on Saturday, when the majority of all votes was in, that Biden and Harris were to be our next President and Vice President. Let’s hope they can at least get the Covid threat down and bring peace to this country!

It has been such a hectic week that I will cut this week’s post short. Not only car maintenance was on the schedule, but I needed and bought a new computer with our son’s help, and it’s coming today. That means that I will have to learn to use it, and so I will be super busy the rest of the week.  My old Mac was getting very slow, and was almost out of Memory. When the new one is installed this one will go to our ten year old grandson, who has been doing schoolwork on a borrowed iPad. He will be so excited, and I am overjoyed that my iMac is going to have a whole new life! And guess what? This new, powerful desktop Mac will be an early Birthday/Christmas present from Mike. And all the time our son spent on research and purchase and installation of just the right new computer will be his Christmas and birthday present for me. I had started thinking of what I would like for my birthday this year. I could not come up with even a short wish list, because I really have everything my heart desires. And here, out of the blue, I get Birthday and Christmas presents early! Life couldn’t be better!

It’s a Wonderful Life!

Until next time,

Ronny

 

A New Life! Retirement at its Best 2020-45

Halloween

has come and gone. A few people dressed up during the past week, bags of candy were handed out on Friday during Happy Hour, but that was basically it. On Thursday, after dropping off a special card at our son’s house, driving back along the inside roads, I discovered on a street corner a large pumpkin patch. I can’t remember the time that I actually walked around a pumpkin patch! So I immediately crossed over to the left lane, turned into the side street, made a U-turn and parked my car. It was fun! I had planned to get a pumpkin at Trader Joe’s, but this was better. It took me quite a while, however, to find a small pumpkin without blemishes, and I was surprised to see that not all pumpkins are round. There were many that were covered with growths, like large warts, colorful yellows, greens and oranges. Tall ones, and huge round ones, too numerous to mention, reminding me of the diversity of the human race.

Moves

The movers came early across the street on Monday. Sonia, the lady whose husband had passed away in August, is moving today to an apartment in the main building. She had ample choice of apartments on any of the floors, because I counted 26 vacancies. It is unbelievable, and I’m sure not good for business. Perhaps that is why the containers in which we get our food, oatmeal, soup, cottage cheese and fruit, are getting smaller, and therefore the portions have been getting smaller. I now order two oatmeal for Mike, and two soups. The kitchen is still struggling to get workers, and so sometimes we get three salads and no soup, or other kinds of mixups. Any new people they are hiring have to be trained, and sometimes you wonder how smart they are. For instance, getting all the containers in one plastic bag caused the problem that the boxes with dessert always ended up on the side. I then had to scrape off any whipped cream from the sides of the boxes put it back on top of the cake or pie. So I asked the chef to give me a second bag for the desserts. And what did I get repeatedly? A second bag; but instead of putting the boxes on top of each other, someone in the kitchen puts them neatly side by side, on their sides! So the pies are facing bottom to bottom and two whipped cream rosettes are squished somewhere between the top of their pie and the side of the box. Finger licking good!

Another move was taking place in Assisted Living: our son’s father-in-law was being moved to a whole new facility closer to the family. That was not done lightly, moving a disabled octogenarian to a whole new place. But considering the alternative, staying in an Assisted Living place where housekeepers did not do a satisfactory job of dusting and vacuuming, and an occasional mouse would come out of the bathroom, it would be my choice to get out of there too. We are so lucky to live in our wonderful cottage, are very independent, have a housekeeper that we hire from the outside, and we are thankful for every day.

Car maintenance and more

It has been a really hectic week: One day I had to take the car in for oil and filter maintenance, and when I was there, they reminded me that a year ago, they had given me an estimate for four new tires. It’s a good thing that after November last year I did not do a whole lot of driving! I made an appointment for the next day, after I had secured a ride from our son. The ride the garage offered was still too close for comfort.

On top of that, I needed to make appointments for Lani: a bath, an annual shot and a grooming session with a new groomer at another Veterinarian’s office, because the original groomer is away on maternity leave.

And then there were tons of daily political emails, and requests for money. It was quite a week. But today is Voting Day, and I am going to watch tonight who will be the winner. Think of all the money that was spent on this election! It could have been spent on disaster relief, the Food Bank, housing for the homeless and more. If only one president considered one term enough and another president would take over for the next term. That will not be the case, and next week we will know more. May the best team win!

It’s a Wonderful Life!

Until next time

Ronny

A New Life! Retirement at its Best 2020-44

Immediate improvements

Two days after I took the Executive Director on a short tour of the premises, miracles had happened. The coat closet was empty and clean, with just the wooden hangers on the rack and the items of Lost and Found on the shelf. Both the patios I had shown him were clean, and the dirty old rubber mats had been removed. For two days, Peter has been working on the front door, mostly sanding as far as I can see, and there is an appointment date set with the Roofer to look at the leaking gutter. Peter muttered that because they had to do these other, first priority jobs, all his other forty maintenance job orders had been put on the back burner, but he saw the necessity of cleaning up the face of the building.

I arranged the items on the Lost and Found shelf in the coat closet, as before, took pictures, put together a flyer and asked the Life Enrichment Manager (what a title!) to copy and distribute the flyer to all Residents, as before. This morning: immediate results. Three articles had been claimed by their owners and hopefully some more will follow. Unclaimed articles will go to Dorcas next week.

Red wheels

Mike has been walking with a cane for a couple of months, afraid to lose his balance and fall. When that became rather tiring, even with me holding his other hand, he decided he would like to try a rollator. We found a nice one on Amazon, a Nitro, a European brand, which was available with a higher seat and adjustable handle bars for tall guys. Three days a week, he now walks to the Fitness center on the first floor of the Club and back to work out with a Private Trainer. He likes it, because the trainers he works with are mostly women.

There was one problem: with inclement weather to be expected soon, we would be stuck, because I could not lift the Nitro into the trunk of the car. It took two days, searching Amazon and talking to our son, and the problem is solved. I fold the Nitro sideways by lifting a handle in the seat, secure it with a clamp, lift it a few inches off the floor by the frame and slide it into the trunk. The first time it did not work, but then I had a Junior Moment (the opposite of a Senior Moment): I could fold half of the back of the rear seat forward to create more space in the trunk. Yea! But in order to do that I had to take off Lani’s hammock from the head rests. It worked! Yesterday, we drove to the Club, had breakfast in the dining room and Mike had an early haircut appointment afterwards, all with his red wheels at his disposal. It’s wonderful. He is more independent and feels safe.

It is unbelievable how many people here just fall and break a hip. Other than inconvenient and the cause of a lot of pain, it seems to be common practice for hospitals. The fallen have surgery, come home after two days and then need physical therapy for a few weeks. Piece of cake! One of the ladies was back in the garden working with a rake and a broom in no time at all. Yet, I’d rather not go through it.

True, when I want to take Lani in the car for a walk in Wimbledon, I need to push up the back seat and hitch up her hammock, but when the weather is good (and it is still in the seventies now, on October 27), I can still traverse the Divide. The white mushrooms pushing up through dirt, fallen leaves and needles on the forest floor are as large as breakfast plates or my cereal bowls, and then there are smaller ones in various colors, just beautiful. It smells like Fall, and I am so enjoying my walks. So is Lani. I am training her to immediately sit when we walk along the street and a car is approaching. Everybody we pass says what a model dog she is. And she is!

Getting back to normal

Today I’m going to the monthly spelling bee, always fun, even though fewer people attend. And on Friday the monthly Residents’ Meeting will take place again; actually they will hold two meetings, in the dining room. We will have to keep distance, so two people per table and the tables set far apart. Safety first. And so, slowly but surely, things return to normal. We are all hoping that the new normal will soon be here.

It’s a Wonderful Life!

Until next time

Ronny

 

 

 

 

A New Life! Retirement at its Best 2020-43

Staff Shortage

On Sunday morning, when I came to pick up our breakfast, it was not ready. “You have to do it yourself today,” said the dining room manager, who was scurrying around with bags and papers. “Only two people showed up this morning, Eric and me, so we put everything on the table over there and drinks and yoghurts are in the cooler.” It was no problem for me, so I selected my breakfast items and went home, but I noticed that the dining room was full and Eric was carrying a tray from the kitchen to one of the tables. I felt so sorry for them that I went back to the club after breakfast. Eric and Mary were cleaning up in the Café. I said, “Mary, if you run out of kitchen crew again, please let me help. I am up very early, so I can come in before breakfast to help in the kitchen. I am able bodied, sure footed, sound of mind, and I can follow orders. I can work in the kitchen and nobody needs to know about it. The only thing I need is an apron.”

“Oh, thank you so much, Ronny. We have plenty of aprons. I will ask the Chef’s permission and I will let you know. This is my last day.”

“Are you going on vacation?”

“I am going on a leave of absence. My dad had open heart surgery on Friday.”

“Was the surgery successful? Is he going to rehab?”

“I will be his rehab and I’m going to take care of Mom as well.”

“Goodness! Please let them call me if the Chef approves, and best of everything with your family.”

People often complain; people have left and people have died. There are over twenty vacant apartments. But you never know what goes on behind the scenes. Mary will have her hands full at her parents’ house, and I know that she has three school-age children who are taking virtual classes at home; she never mentioned a husband.

I am glad I volunteered. They did not call me on Monday, but I will be on standby. And I will go to the Manager to discuss what can be done about this ten year old, once beautiful facility that now lacks luster compared to other senior communities that have recently opened up. They were planning a total makeover of the common areas in February. Then Covid struck and nothing happened. But that does not mean that a dead cockroach can be lying in the downstairs exit for ten days without the cleaning crew removing it; and it does not mean that the coat closet that I showed to new cottage residents on Monday is full of chairs, a wheelchair and a walker. And, walking around the building multiple times a day, I notice more such things that can be easily fixed and cleaned by the maintenance crew. So I am going to talk to the Manager. Because I care about this beautiful campus and the nice cottages. No other community has cottages surrounded by nature. That’s why we will stay put. We can not yet envision living in an apartment in a four story building.

I did go to the Manager yesterday. He could not see me until 4:30 p.m., so I had time to write down everything on a list for him. I know that when we have a conversation he starts scribbling notes on a small notepad, but I wanted him to pay full attention. When he was ready, I sat down in his office and said, “I would like you to listen to me for a few minutes, and then I will take you on a tour. And you don’t have to write down anything, because I did that for you”, waving my list. He sat back in wonder. Two blue eyes above a white mask. First I told him that yesterday I had proudly shown two cottage newcomers the coat closet: and I opened the door. He looked like he had never known there even was a coat closet, and was aghast at what he saw:  there was no room to hang any coats. “Yes, these chairs have to go. I wonder where they came from.”

“Everything has to go, but not now.”

Then I took him outside, turned around and looked at the front door, the first image clients get of Waltonwood. “Oh no, this is not an antiqued door. I will tell Chris to get some stain and then Peter can stain it.”

“And this floor needs a good scrub.”

Next, we walked to the “meeting patio”, where for months family from the outside could talk to their loved ones for ten minutes through the glass door of one of the vacant apartments.

“The corner of the fourth floor gutter leaks. Look, it has not rained in three days, yet you can still see the drops come down, one…two…see? And the wall is stained and rusty, the border is a mud pool and the patio is filthy. The guests have to tiptoe on two tiles to “get across” to the patio.” I showed him another patio and more.

Do you know what I felt like on this tour? A combination of The Ghost of Christmas Past and the Ghost of Christmas-yet-to-come. I had fun with it. Lastly, I handed him my list. He was very appreciative, thanked me twice, and said he would be able to get all this done in three or four days. Yea! Mission accomplished! And I am going to watch that movie again: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Will you join me?

It’s a wonderful Life!

Until next time,

Ronny

 

A New Life! Retirement at its Best 2020-42

Deaths

Two deaths in our immediate family within a month have saddened us deeply. Writing sympathy cards and notes and receiving them, sending flowers and receiving them, telephone conversations and virtual hugs, I had no idea this could have such a paralyzing stress on us. Magnified by two somber, rainy days, the sorrow feels even deeper. I can’t get myself to do anything; reading gives only a momentary relief, taking the dog on the trail the third day, now that the sun is out again, feels better.

I have no inspiration to write another post; but just today, a lady in Prescott, Arizona, sent me a review of my latest book Anguished. She was not able to put it on Amazon, but it appears on my website. I will post her review here, thankful that it arrived at a time that parallels my feelings of the past.

Anguished

Book Review on 10/12/2020 by Patsy L.Ray, Prescott, AZ

Written from her heart, author Ronny Herman de Jong lived the nightmare of Anguished and shares it as a warning that even trusted family members may not be trustworthy and that nursing homes and legal jurisdictions in various places function in different ways so that, should you find yourself in such a conspiracy, cover-up, and trial, they may consider you guilty until proven innocent.

We all hope that the last days of our loved ones will be handled with dignity in keeping with their wishes. That was Vera’s intention when she traveled from the United States to visit her mother in the Netherlands, who, at 101 years of age, was very frail. Five days into a 14 day visit she found herself being interrogated by the police. Behind her back, her nephew had accused her of planning to kill her mother.

The title of this book is perfect – Anguished. As you read what is happening to Vera, you viscerally feel the physical and mental torment she is experiencing: betrayal by her favorite nephew, being lied to by the nursing home staff, and being threatened by the staff’s doctor. In order to protect her mother from an unwanted autopsy, Vera returned to the U.S. where, after her mother had passed away alone, she learned that her nephew had embezzled all of his grandmother’s money.

It takes courage to find peace after a trusted loved one has deliberately executed a plan to harm you and your beloved mother. Ronny Herman de Jong has not only survived her anguish but has bravely shared her story to alert others who may have loved ones in nursing homes.

Life is a gift. Live it to the fullest.

Until next time,

Ronny

 

A New Life! Retirement at its Best 2020-41

Past and Present Posts

Well, last week’s Post did not come down the chute until about 8:15 a.m. because we overslept. We watched the Presidential Debate until the end and then some of the discussion afterwards. For undecideds this would have been an opportunity to get to know the plans for the future of both candidates, but they did not learn much. Chris Wallace could not handle the President, who did not adhere to the rules, and so it was total chaos most of the time. You will agree if you watched. We voted early, so we cannot change history anymore at this time.

This week’s post will be ultra short, because I spent a lot of time watching television after it became known that the President had contracted Covid-19. Well, the news gets repeated every time another newscaster comes on, so if you watch once a day, you will get it all. It’s a total waste of my time to just sit and watch all day the ongoing opinions of doctors and scientists, once is enough.

Garden maintenance and Wardrobe

This week, anticipating the cooler weather, I took in the bird bath and the hummingbird feeder, after I had seen no visitors. when I rolled up the garden hose in a corner of the border, I noticed a whole area of tiny red mushrooms, the size of a quarter to 1/8″. How special. I remember I saw a few last year in the grass; in the border they are more visible and I will keep an eye on them as they grow. When we walk in Wimbledon, it rains acorns, and squirrels abound.

I decided to exchange my summer clothes for the winter clothes this week. It’s a huge project, but I made a dent. Would you believe that I could put almost all my summer clothes away without having worn them even once? Since early March, we did not go to church, nor to dinner or parties at the Club, not on outings to the beach, you name it! We stayed put, and I discovered you can live with very few clothes if you don’t go anywhere. I am giving several items away, but will keep the rest, hoping for better days to come next year.

It’s a Wonderful Life!

Until next time,

Ronny

A New Life! Retirement at its Best 2020-40

Another mini vacation

Last week, just before the weather turned, our son invited me to go on a boat ride on Harris Lake. What a wonderful opportunity to get out and enjoy nature! Two of the grandsons came along for the ride, and we had a wonderful afternoon on the lake. All three men went swimming after we had thrown out the anchor, and I just luxuriated on the soft, padded seat. It was overcast with a glimpse of sunshine now and then, and we saw many herons, blue, grey and white, along the shoreline. It was a lovely time to be on the water; next time, weather permitting, I will go swimming too. They thought I would have a problem coming back on board via the small metal ladder, but I’ve done it before on Catamaran trips in the South Pacific. Although the water was warmer there!

Carpet woes

Last Monday, six months over due because of the Covid, we finally had our annual carpet cleaning done. And was it necessary! In the morning I put all the movable furniture out of harm’s way and took Lani to Camp Bowwow for a day of fun with other dogs her size. When the tech arrived, Mike and I left, had lunch at the Club and hung around until we could take our dinner home, around 4:30. The carpet was still damp, but I put part of the furniture back and then went to pick up Lani.

On Tuesday, I took Lani to the groomer’s and while she was gone, we brought the house back in good shape. Phew! Then, Tuesday night, Lani started barking just after midnight, highly unusual. So I tried to calm her down, then Mike admonished her, I put on a warm robe and let her out in the back. She did nothing, and back inside she continued barking. To make a long story short: Mike finally decided to get up and sit in his chair, after having cornered Lani into the office. At 7:00, I got up, we had coffee and then I got ready to walk Lani. When I opened the office door, Oh my God!  There  was poop in concentric circles all over the carpet. Poor Lani. I should have let her out on the street. After our walk I spent all morning cleaning up and I put in a work order for Maintenance to come with their machine to spot treat the 6′ x 6′ carpet in the office.

Photo albums

During these months of “leisure”, I thought it a good idea to go through our photo albums; throw away the photo’s that don’t mean anything anymore (sometimes we don’t even know the people in them) and to condense the good ones in fewer albums than we have now. Some photo’s, important to friends, I will put on the computer and send them the originals. It is a huge project, but the end result will be worth all the work. Luckily, we have loose-leaf albums we can take out pictures easily. This idea actually came from a good friend, and we are obliged!

Trails

Lani happily got used to getting in and out of the car, and riding in it. It’s a terrific solution for when the trail down and through the Divide is soggy after all the rains. The name “Wimbledon” makes her head go up, her eyes look at me in expectation: when? But not only can we go to Wimbledon in the car, we also went twice to the “Seabrook Trail” as I call it, a trail twice as long as the one in Wimbledon. She now also knows that name, and is ready at the drop of a hat! And the ride back and forth to Camp Bow Wow was fun as well. We’ve got it made!

It’s a Wonderful Life!

Until next time,

Ronny

 

A New Life! Retirement at its Best 2020-39

The Japanese Surrender memorialized

Almost a month after the fact, but still during the important year of the 75th anniversary, I want to talk a little about the commemorations of the Japanese surrender. That day was celebrated on September 2, when the Allied and Japanese delegations officially signed the Document of Surrender in 1945. Many  commemorations were held all over the world this year. We hung out the flag on August 15 and on September 2.

September 2, 1945:  The signing of the Document of the  Japanese surrender

It took place on the deck of the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Harbor. An Allied Armada of over 400 aircraft flew overhead.

September 2, 1995:  Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Japanese surrender

This took place as well on the deck of the battleship USS Missouri, in the harbor of Bremerton WA. USS Missouri (BB-63) or “Mighty Mo” was the last battleship commissioned by the United States and is best remembered as the site of the surrender of the Empire of Japan, which ended World War II.

I was invited to attend the ceremony that day, September 2, 1995, a survivor of the camps on Java and author of the 1992 book In the Shadow of the Sun, based on my mother’s secret camp journal.

               
It was a great honor and an unforgettable day. Standing on the deck amidst three of the huge 16″ guns, and looking at the seal in the deck on the spot where the document of surrender was signed fifty years before, I realized for the first time that I had escaped the horrors of the war and had gotten a second chance on life. It was the most emotional moment of my life.

 

September 2, 2020:  Commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the Japanese surrender 

The Official 75th Commemoration of the End of WWII was held on the Fantail of the USS Missouri, in Hawai’i. The guests of honor included WWII Veterans and others who witnessed the event 75 years ago.

  • Legacy of Peace Aerial Parade over the USS Missouri and USS Arizona. The Warbirds passed over the USS Missouri.
  • International Wreath Ceremony engaging nations who were part of WWII.
  • Missing Man Formation flyover.

This event was by invitation-only as well and was live-streamed throughout Hawai’i and around the globe. 

September 21, 2020: We received our ballots and we have voted! I personally took the ballots to the Cary Postoffice today.

September 22, 2020: We got a message via BallotTrax that our ballots have been received by the Postmaster and returned to the County Board of Elections.

The next notification we will receive is when our ballots have been counted. It cannot be more safe!

It’s a Wonderful Life!

Until next time,

Ronny

 

 

 

 

 

A New Life! Retirement at its Best 2020-38

 The joys of training a good student

When Lani was a 10 pound puppy, I would carry her through the Divide to the next-door neighborhood for our daily walks. Now, she is a two year old mature DOG, weighing 22 pounds, and carrying her has become a problem. So I walk her on a short leash through the bushes and brambles, on a narrow meandering trail that I made, ducking underneath a tree that had fallen across our path last fall, past the loops of barbed wire that are sticking out of the ground here and there, along the little stream, around a tree trunk and onto the pavement. I’m always hoping that any snakes will stay off our trail, because they are beautiful and I would hate to accidentally step on them, or worse, for Lani to attack them. I believe that snakes will leave you alone if you don’t threaten them.

This is the picture of a baby Copperhead that I found on the sidewalk (the Copperhead, not the picture) during my early morning walk around the campus two years ago. I did not know what kind of snake it was, so I put my cellphone really close to take this picture. The little snake did not move. A neighbor later informed me that it was a dangerous Copperhead and that babies have even more venom than the adults. Ignorance is bliss!

For a few weeks I have ordered from Amazon aids to get Lani into the car. She hates the car in the first place, and I would have to lift her in and out, but she is too heavy now. A ramp did not work because the door opening to the back seat was too narrow. Stair steps did not work either for the same reason. But then I found a plastic sloping platform with a carpeted top that I could put in front of the door opening. Eureka! Two days in a row Lani stepped onto the platform and onto the back seat and then jumped out again without any help. Several times! For several treats! But now, if she really gets the hang of it, I can take her to the Vet, the Groomer, and to other trails in the neighborhood without fear of ruining my back. I hope she will even get to like rides in the car.

The Navajo Code Talkers

420 Navajo Marine Code Talkers developed an unbreakable code in their native language and were instrumental in ending World War Two in the Pacific. The last of the original 29 Navajo Code Talkers who developed the code, Chester Nez, died on June 4, 2014. Four of the last nine Navajo Code Talkers used in the military died in 2019: Alfred K. Newman died on January 13, 2019, at the age of 94.

In 2012 we visited Navajo Nation and went to see the Monument at the Navajo Code Talkers Veterans Memorial Park in Window Rock. You can read about that in my book  Survivors of WWII in the Pacific

We also got a tour of the hospital by one of the nurses and saw all the old photographs of the reservation and the people hanging on the walls, heard stories about them. More importantly, a friend, traveling through the country in 2009, talked to one of the last Code Talkers and shared this fascinating, interesting video. It is timeless. In the early forties we fought against the Japanese, in 2020 we are fighting against Covid-19, an enemy equally dangerous and deadly. If we stand united, we will win. And it may take a long time, but hopefully less than four years!

Let me know if you found this video interesting!

It’s a Wonderful Life!

Until next time,

Ronny

P.S.

This is the picture of a Krait snake, common in southeast Asia, that Carol Thomas is talking about in her comment to this post. I could not get it into my reply so I posted it here. 🙂 🙂