The week of Work

I was able to run three mornings this week, working on gradually increasing my distance. So far my knee has cooperated. I probably need to have it looked at, but am reluctant since I may not like what they say! Not the best health response I know.

Tuesday I had a dental appointment for regular cleaning and tune up. All is good for another six months. Then on Thursday I saw the dermatologist so he could 'scrap and burn' a spot on my face near my left ear. It was not malignant, but had the possibility to become such. Both offices employed the same health precautions: wear a mask, met at the door, temperature taken, hand sanitizer used.

Wednesday I took a break from working to help a church couple with a ceiling fan installation. They are a little older than me, but his eye sight is so bad, he can't see well enough to attach the screws with any success; oh, and he continues to drive! This is the guy that for 30 years was out helping others, splitting firewood for them, showing up for service projects, helping them move in or out of the area. And now, he can't do any of that and it is difficult for him to ask for help.

The major focus of this week, as has been for the previous two weeks: get this rental house ready to rent again, and soon. And I can finally see some light at the end of a very long tunnel. It is anticipated that I will be done before this week is over.  I spent two full days sanding the living room and one bedroom floor; my knees were ready to go on strike and my back was seconding that demand. So I said enough is enough. Any existing blemishes will just give the floor character.  So tomorrow I will put on a couple of coats of polyurethane and that deed will be done. The plumber came out after I got the tub surround tiled to reconnect the plumbing; while there he discovered that the drain was severely clogged. He had to crawl back under the house and cut the galvanized p-trap to get all the hair cleaned out of the line. Here are some photos of my bath progress:

And the living room floor being sanded:

The bedroom floor is finished!

Things learned this week from local community businessmen:  

    Kelly at the local appliance store shared that appliance manufacturers have trouble obtaining the necessary parts to build their appliances because their suppliers don't have the parts in stock due to the virus. He indicated there is a definite shortage of appliances which has driven prices up. No good deals or sales. Yet in spite of all this, he stated that his business had its best June sales in 47 years, followed by a very profitable July. New home construction has slowed, but people are renovating or remodeling and they are the ones making the purchases. Kelly also remarked that the local new car dealerships have a diminishing inventory - you can tell by they way they park the remaining vehicles in their lots to take up more space.

    Fred from the local tool rental business said home owners were creating most of his business instead of the home builders. Lots of do it yourself projects going on. 

    Chad is a small family owned home builder who also does remodels, is far behind in his work. He can't keep up with the demand for his skills.

    Eric is the manager for the local distribution in our area of a major milk company. They supply milk products to local stores, gas stations, schools, etc. The schools normally maintain a two day supply for the students. Some are concerned that they will get an order in one day, only to have the schools shut down due to the virus. Their major concern this is financial; we paid for something we can't use. Last spring when this happened, the Mountain Home school district gave their food to the local food bank.

Here is a thought from Tad Callister: The Savior's Atonement can be looked at as a series of divine events, that were motivated by an incomprehensible love for each of us. It required a being who was sinless; who had infinite power over the elements—even death; who possessed a boundless capacity to suffer the consequences of all our sins and ailments; and who, in fact, descended beneath it all. This was the mission of Jesus Christ—this was His Atonement. The Atonement of Christ overcame four obstacles: physical death, spiritual death, afflictions and infirmities, weaknesses and imperfections. Without the sacrifice of the Savior, a perfect being with infinite power, there could not be a balance between justice and mercy for the children of God. The Atonement of Christ is like a merciful, spiritual parachute, given to counteract the law of justice which, like gravity against a falling individual, would pull all humankind to an exacting and unforgiving end. Because of His Atonement, the Savior has enabling powers, sometimes referred to as grace, that can help us overcome our weaknesses and imperfections and thus assist us in our pursuit to become more like Him. Christ’s enabling powers can refine—even perfect—us.

16 August 2020 Epistle

My week started off with my semi annual dermatology appointment on Monday morning. He always finds something to burn off; this time just one small spot on my arm. But he did find a suspicious spot near one ear and he took a biopsy of that. He also noted that I have flaky skin around my hair line across the forehead and he  recommended a treatment for that also. Either that or in a few years it can turn malignant and he can cut those spots of. The treatment, what I call the 'blue light special', involves coating that area with a solution, let it penetrate for a period of time, and then turn on the blue light. It is recommended to stay indoors for the next two days since the skin will be overly sensitive to the sun. The results of the biopsy came back; it is benign, but he wants to remove it which will happen later this month. The 'blue light special' will happen later in the fall.

That afternoon  was the Hospice sponsored grief support conference call. Not as effective as meeting in person, but still good to connect with people in similar situations that I know.

Most of this week has been about Rebecca; specifically her rent house. After living there for seven years, the tenant moved. A single mom with three or four children and a couple of ankle biter dogs. She left the house in good shape, except... She wasn't the best house keeper. After seeing the condition of the 7 year old carpet, I joked that she moved because the carpets were so disgusting. No major damage to repair. But once the rugs were pulled, it was obvious two of the three hard wood floors will need to be refinished; the dogs really did a number on them. And there is a two foot by three foot section in the living room floor that was cut out and covered with plywood. How do you match that? I plan to see what is hiding under that spot. My resolution to the problem is use some of the excess hard wood flooring from our house to fill in that spot and hope by sanding it, the new and old will blend in. It has to be better than plywood!

I noticed that the toilet in the master bath was antiquated; I didn't know just how old though until I checked the date stamped on the underside of the lid: 1956! I am impressed that it served well for so long. Knowing that this house would need extensive painting, I invited Katie to come assist me. She came up on Tuesday after her dental appointment. Short story: she will not require surgery to realign her jaw/teeth followed by another 18 months of braces. She is excited! She was able to help on Wednesday and Thursday before heading home. In that time we got all the ceilings and 80% of the walls painted. I was also able to replace dated light fixtures, a toilet and other tasks. 

It is definitely summer; the temperatures are in the 90s; even at 630 am when I went running it was in the low to mid 70's. I come back after 25 minutes dripping wet; then it takes about 30 minutes to cool down enough to shower. 

Arkansas requires mask use in public and the people are mostly compliant. I avoid Walmart - too many people. I find it interesting that sit down restaurants are open with social distancing, but the fast food places are only using the drive thru. And our schools are scheduled to open on 24 August; the local school districts give students the option to attend school in person or at home. I will be following this development closely after what happened in the schools in Georgia.

I end with a quote from Gordon B. Hinckley:“All of us have problems. We face them every day. How grateful I am that we have difficult things to wrestle with. They keep us young, if that is possible! They keep us alive. They keep us going. They keep us humble. They pull us down to our knees to ask the God of Heaven for help in solving them. Be grateful for your problems and know that somehow there will come a solution. Just do the best you can, be sure it is very best. Then leave it in the hands of the Lord.” 

9 August 2020

 It was a busy week of doing...something!

I finished scanning my letters to Sandy during my first WestPac tour in 1975; scanned over 600 pages of letters and cards. It was an amazing journey reliving those special and challenging times of separation. And I continue to marvel at what an amazing wife and mother she was (is).  I am now starting on her letters to me during the 6 month deployment of 1982. Here are three interesting comments from a couple of her first letters to me:

    

    5 September 1982. The previous Thursday I had departed for another six month deployment with my squadron. Due to a last minute change, Sandy and Andy were not able to see me off at the airport as planned. This is what Sandy said:  "I decided that as long as we had the sitter, Andy and I would go out to Swensons. Andy ended up eating a chocolate covered banana...then a strawberry sundae...and then a double scoup cone with cherry vanilla and peach ice cream. Andy ate with gusto! About half way through he suddenly said. 'Hey! I forgot all about Daddy leaving!'"

    "I think the children weren't terribly upset about your leaving because you always leave. After one week, I said one week down 25 more to go. Rebecca replied: 'It's no use counting, Mother!' Why not? 'It's just too long!'"

    Sandy attended a Women's Seminar in Sept 1982 at Church and had this to say: "I think of all these marvelous programs we have for women...and I just can't understand how some people can think that women in the church are somehow underprivileged!"

One of my ongoing goals is to sort through all the bookshelves, desks, dressers and the like to sort through 50 years of accumulation. This process would have been so much simpler with Sandy; but when you think you have years more to live, this isn't a top priority. And when she got sick, our focus was on keeping her alive and comfortable. I tackled her office desk this week. Found enough business cards to wallpaper an entire wall. I am improving in the ability to discard stuff; I am sure there are stories to much of what I throw out, but they don't speak to me. Hope my children appreciate this downsizing so their lives will be simpler when my time comes. I just might leave the garage for them though!

With the corn over 13 feet tall, it requires a ladder to pick the corn; I have been enjoying eating fresh corn on the cob regularly. A friend comes a couple times a week to reduce my tomato and cucumber inventory. I did get the lawn mowed. I find that early morning or late evening is the best time; less dust and it is cooler. This week the temperatures were almost pleasant; it got into the high 50s at night and the mid 80s during the day. It was great running in the mornings. But this weekend we are back into the 90s during the day.

One of Rebecca's tenants moved this weekend. After being there seven years there will be work for me to do. I stopped by yesterday to do a quick inventory; not too bad. Will require painting through out, the carpet in two of the three bedrooms and the living room has to go (do I sand the floors, or overlay with laminate?), and something will need to be done in the bathroom - not sure just what yet.

This week I drove out to Cotter to check on something at another rent house; on the way I noticed the truck's a/c wasn't cooling. Since I pass by my mechanic, I stopped by so they could trouble shoot. After an hour, they determined the cause was the dash control panel. So I returned the next day and they installed a new panel and now all is well. I also checked on the canoes housed across the street from the chapel. They had recently been used by a church member and on the way home, one of the canoes flew off the trailer. Fortunately no accidents or injury were caused by this incident. The canoe fared amazing well; you would never know it was airborne and crash landed at 45 mph. Steps have been taken to ensure this doesn't happen again, if the user uses both tie downs per canoe.

One last item gleaned from the 1975 letters. In December of that year while in the Philippines, I was designated a Helicopter Aircraft Commander (HAC). This is what I had to say about that responsibility:

    "As copilot you aren't responsible if anything happens, even in many cases if it was the copilots error. If you, as copilot, didn't understand a radio transmission you ask the HAC; if you aren't sure of something, you ask the HAC. As HAC, you don't have anyone to turn to." I think I often turned to Sandy, as the HAC for guidance and help... and now I am the HAC. Good thing I have a testimony that Jesus Christ is my Savior and know that He has all the answers. He has certainly been getting a lot of inquiries from me lately...and I have not crashed and burned!

Back home again

Last week's post was written from Parker, CO while staying with my brother and his wife for a day before continuing my drive back home. While there Sarah did a clock count; she found at least 130 clocks in the house. I replaced three leaky faucets with new ones and helped change the filters on their reverse osmosis system in the kitchen. On Wednesday Sarah and I drove to Miranda's house for the night; they were still visiting Yellowstone sights, so we had the house to ourselves.

Thursday morning we left Bella Vista with a beautiful full rainbow on the horizon. I got Sarah safely delivered to her house and then proceeded home. After 3100 miles, it is good to be back home. It is just a lot quieter now that everyone has left. I harvested a good number of tomatoes, cucumbers and a couple of corn - one was eaten with dinner. Got the car emptied and things put away. I even managed to wash the car.

Friday I had a closing on the duplex we had purchased in 2009. This one was for sale by owner and next to a house we already owned. Sandy thought it was a good deal, but I was reluctant. We were preparing to go on a mission and another house was not what I wanted at the time. The previous owner did the finish work on it so both upstairs and downstairs could be rented. But it was a good rental and provided a steady income. I was one of 17 closings that day at this title company, and the realtor said his company has 32 pending contracts. Someone has money! On the way home, I went out of the way and bought a box of peaches for $22. They were ripe and would not keep too long, so I made three batches of jam, for a total of 10 pints. 

Saturday was a beautiful and cool morning; so I mowed the lawn - without sweating! Then back to the kitchen to make another three batches of jam. Unfortunately I only had two Sure-Jel packets, so off to the local market. I had to drive to three different stores and finally found some at Walmart - not my favorite shopping place, especially on a Saturday afternoon when everyone else wants to shop too. But I now have 20 pints of fresh jam. In putting them away, I discovered I still have 4 pints left from 2018! After dinner I got this great idea to can the rest of the peaches; so I stayed up late canning 5 1/2 quarts of sliced peaches. Can you tell I like peaches?

Today was church of one. A lot different from last week when we had over 30 in our Bear Lake resort.

Reunion Week!

 Last Sunday, one of my ministering families invited me for dinner. Callie and Rylee had a good time visiting with their four children after eating a wonderful meal. Then we hit the road to drive to the Roger's area to spend the night at Miranda's; they weren't home since they had previously driven west to visit family on the way to the family reunion, so we had the house to ourselves.

We were up early and on the road by 610 am; as we were driving off, Callie spotted a coyote in their yard. It was a long day with over 11 hours of driving; the two girls kept busy with their own devices and occasionally feeding me snacks. We stopped in Salina, KS at a favorite Mexican Restaurant that serves my favorite nachos. They had distance dining-in which was nice. Then we continued onto Sue and Steve's house in Parker, arriving about 7 pm. Sue had dinner waiting for us. The girls were intrigued with the clocks downstairs and the two small bunnies in the backyard.

Tuesday we didn't leave until just after 7 am. We had a shorter drive of only about 8 hours to Logan, UT where we met Rebecca and the other two girls at the Best Western. We visited a Seagull Bookstore to catch up on some shopping. And then we looked for a place to eat dinner. Denny's was open and since breakfast is my favorite meal...  Then back to the motel for the night.

Wednesday was a slower day. Check in at the resort was 4 pm so there was no hurry. I did go for a morning run;our motel was only a couple of blocks from the Logan Temple, so I ran around the grounds. The 6,000 foot elevation had me gasping within minutes, so I took it a little easier. And the temple is exquisite to see.

The plan was to shop visit the local DI which opened at 10 am, then eat lunch, and purchase food for the reunion. However, I received a text that we could actually check in to the resort by 1 pm, so we altered our plans. We did spend an hour at DI and then went to Sam's. Rebecca opened a membership while I started the shopping. The four girls were helpful, but soon became bored. Shopping for six different families and trying to identify just how much they might eat is challenging, but we persevered. 90 minutes later, with food stashed between two vans, Rebecca headed to Chick filet to grab lunch while I went to Walmart for the last few items. We connected 30 minutes later and headed to Garden City and our reunion home. We arrived about 230 pm and found Deborah and Adam's families already there. We got the food offloaded and Deborah found homes for it in the kitchen. Savannah made room assignments and the children ran amok. This is where we stayed.

The Arkansas Fox family had a total of 38 in attendance; Andy's family opted not to attend, but Nathan was able to join us for two nights. Josh brought his girl friend. I understand that between the three attending Swarthout families, there was a total of 116. Each had their own accommodations; our house was the furthest south and 20 minutes away from the northern most family. The house had a room with bunk beds and it was designated the 'girl's room'. The boys were jealous and wanted their own room as well; so they got portable mattresses on the floor in the downstairs family room. The house had a spacious kitchen with everything we needed to prepare meals. And there was room for people to eat. The house came with a pass to a beach 2 miles away and family members took advantage of that several times. Many of them have the sunburns to show.

Thursday evening there was a career fair and a game night and dessert. And the grandchildren had time visit and play.

Kenra offered to do family photos for us on the beach Friday morning. With 38 of us, herding cats may have been easier. But she did a great job. Here are a couple of my shots:

 Friday night we had the traditional 'wurst' night at the English house. Afterwords there was a variety of relay activities that kept us laughing for a long time. A good time was had by all.

Saturday morning the family hosted a 5K race along the walk/run/bike path in town. There were 36 participants; we had 10 of those. The altitude did take its toll on me again, but I did finish in just over 33 minutes; not bad for a guy who just had another birthday on Wednesday. Family members found some yellow caution tape and strung it across the finish line so everyone could cross the tape. Evidently lots of other runners ran the tape as well. We did have a short awards ceremony afterwords. Ethan got the one for youngest runner; I got the one for most mature runner. I suggested they call it the over 49 category since I was the only one over that age. Note the uniqueness of the award.

I was a little stiff and sore and took advantage of the hot tub. 60 minutes later, I felt like a jellyfish for awhile. But I was revived. That evening we held a Q&A for my brother Steve and myself. Some of his children had questions about his childhood and set up this opportunity to get the story from both us, at least as far as we could remember. It was fun to reminisce. The two Fox families teamed up to provide a taco salad dinner for the evening; then the English family joined us for the 'Family Feud' game. It was patterned after the TV show and was a good representation. Tim had sent out questions to family members and used those responses for the game. We all had plenty of good laughs.

Sunday we held church at our house. We had about 35 in attendance. Jonathan gave us a lesson and Miranda did a great Primary lesson. In the afternoon we hosted the English family for games. It was suggested to do dinner at their place, so we took our potato bar to their house and shared with them and also enjoy their home made enchiladas. 

Monday morning was a little hectic; getting 5 families out the door by 10 am after breakfasting, packing, clearing out the fridge, etc. But we managed to be on our ways by 940 am. We had family members heading back to Oregon, Yellowstone, Salt Lake area, and me with Sarah, to Colorado. Sarah was my designated copilot for the return trip since Rebecca and family are traveling to their new home in SoCal. Sarah was intrigued with the variety and quantity of clocks their house has. She counted over 80 just downstairs that were visible. Here is a shot of some that are hanging on the wall downstairs:

Friday afternoon Rebecca helped in my transformation:

Here is the before:

And the after:

And that has been my week!

I was in charge of four delightful grand daughters from Sunday afternoon until late Monday afternoon when Rebecca returned from seeing Dan off to Utah. We all survived!

Tuesday we had our morning run and I had to hustle to shower to make my 8 am chiropractic appointment. I go in once a month for an adjustment and find that this prevents me from having any severe back pain. Maintenance is better than rehabilitation.

Wednesday we left Callie (who cleaned the house) at home and drove to Branson, with a stop in Harrison so that Marian could take the written test for her drivers license. The Mountain Home office is closed so Harrison was the best option. Restrictions and health guidelines have not improved communication skills amongst government agencies. The agency that deals with licenses have different guidance on their website than on the recorded phone message, which is also different when you show up in person. Confusion reigns! But Marian passed! and now has a learners permit.

We had a good time in Branson. Rebecca knows where all the thrift stores are, and we stopped at least six to allow time to shop, mainly for clothes. This was a sign at one of the thrift stores that left me wondering:

We also hit two of the shopping malls; I was able to stock up on jeans and other items. We paused briefly in front of the store front that had previously housed the Harry and David store for a moment of silence (and unkind thoughts since they closed all their stores). We made a quick stop at Aldi's on the way home; it is possible to get five people in and out of there in less than 15 minutes if you stick with the list!

Friday I had a lab to recheck my PSA. We have been busy organizing items to take to the reunion. There are the two tubs Izzy delivered to Rebecca Sunday evening in Springfield for us to take to the reunion that will eventually end up at BYU. There is pile of stuff to take to Deborah and another to Miranda - all left behind after their last visits. And then I have several items that Adam has requested. And then there are the things I need to take to the reunion. I am beginning to feel like Prince Humperdink on the night of his wedding.

Saturday Callie mowed the yard and I weed whipped. Rebecca packed her van and was on the road with Marian and Delaney before 1030 on her westward journey to the reunion. The other two girls and I will start our journey this evening.

This past week Rebecca went through several tubs of stuff. She has been most helpful in helping me downsize. That means parting with stuff that Sandy may have had a need for, would not let me part with when she was alive, or no longer has a purpose. The shed is a lot emptier now.

The 13 foot tall corn finally has ears; I am hoping they will be ripe about the time I get home. I froze lots of zucchini and have given away a lot of cucumbers. Rebecca was good about cooking up what she could into yummy meals. And this is the hibiscus bush Kera planted last summer for Mom:

Each blossom is 10 inches or more in diameter.

Things are heating up here...

Scenes of happenings in the Fox home when family comes to visit (the previous week):

Monday Rebecca's family headed off to Andy's for several days where a good time was had by all. I was feeling puny with a runny nose and vegged. I did manage to clean and pack the canopies used for Saturday's pie celebration. Cookies were made and delivered to friends.

Marian is still looking for her prince:

The garden has been very generous with zucchini and cucumbers. I took several foot long zukes to church today and they all disappeared. The ten foot corn stalks finally have corn on them!

And Rebecca found this little guy munching contentedly on a cucumber today:

Thursday, seven of us, to include Dan and Delaney helped a couple move in. They had a U Haul and trailer, but it took us less than an hour to complete the job. He had been a Marine years ago as a game warden at Quantico; took care of the horses President Regan rode.

Rebecca has been helping me sort through stuff in the house. This week we went through one of Sandy's writing book shelves; I called a good writing friend to ask her opinion and she was very helpful in determining which books had value and which ones needed to be tossed. We also sorted through the many essential oils in the closet; I contacted a friend who connected me with a local salon owner. She came and purchased about a third of the oils. Any one interested in the left overs? I can provide a list. Half price. We also looked at the various USMC uniforms that have been in the shed for over 20 years. Any ideas on what to do with them?

Saturday morning, Dan, Rebecca, Marian, Callie and I drove to Cotter to run along the river in the shade with an overcast sky. Despite not running for over a week, I managed to run 3 miles (and survive!). It was nice to run on flat terrain.

In running some errands in the Model A with Marian this week, she asked a lot of questions about the levers and such. So I explained the best I could. Because of her interest

This is what happens when I leave my phone unattended and a certain grand child gets a hold of it:

Attended church at the building today. I did not do a head count but we probably had 70-80 between the two rooms we met in. Rebecca's family joined us.