Blog: Reflections from Rural Route 2

 

Wednesday, April 16, 2008, 05:15

Spring is in the Air

Tuesday was one of those "hang onto your hat" days. The wind blew all day out of the south/southeast at 20 to 30 mph, gusting to 40 mph.

When I came out of the county board meeting at 11 a.m., I knew that spring was in the air. So to speak. My eyes immediately began to burn and water. And that meant the wind had picked up mold spores. The ground is beginning to dry out now, and was especially drying out with the strong wind, and with the wind came the mold spores that had been covered up by the snow all winter long.

By the time I was ready to go bed Tuesday evening, I had taken my fifth diphenhydramine of the day. And that was along with a Zyrtec in the morning. Cortisone nasal spray. And another prescription medication that also is for allergies. Ho-hum.

Oh, well. It's either that or snow and cold temperatures. I'll take some more diphenhydramine, if you please, rather than have the weather below zero again.

The wind also helped to dry up more of the mud in the horse pastures. Good. Then maybe I will be able to get at cleaning up the horse manure that's been accumulating all winter long. The garden *is* waiting, you know.

I was able to hang some clothes outside to dry on Tuesday, too. Sweatshirts, to be exact. I was hoping they were heavy enough that the wind would not blow them off the porch railing, but no such luck. When I came home, they were all the ground. They were dry. But they were on the ground. I like being able to hang clothes outside to dry. It means I get through the laundry faster. It takes several days for them to dry hung up in the basement.

Pixie
Pixie is still limping around some after her leg injury a few weeks ago, but I do believe she is limping less. It hasn't stopped her from roaming way out in the hayfield and snooping around. Monday evening after I had fed the horses, Randy wanted to know where Pixie was. As it turned out, she was way down at the end of the hayfield. It took her a while, but she finally made her way back to the house.

Randy
My poor husband is still sick with the flu. He came home early Monday afternoon. Along with the flu, he had a really bad migraine. Otherwise, he's been managing to make it through his days at work. This time of year, with the change of the seasons, is be bad for him for migraine headaches. Taking an antihistamine every day seems to help keep the migraines down to a minimum.

LeAnn R. Ralph

 

Monday, April 14, 2008, 14:04

Videos: Sing Thing and Alex

It's no wonder I sometimes suffer from a little bit of technology shock. The technology available today is amazing -- quite undreamed of even 10 years ago.

Sunday we had the annual "Sing Thing" -- an event where church choirs get together to perform a couple of songs each. Sunday was the 12th annual. Our choir hosted the event, but we had to hold it at another church because our church is not large enough. About 150 people attended. We haven't hosted it since the 2nd Sing Thing so it really was time for us to be the hosts. We provided the refreshments for afterwards -- an assortment of bars and cookies and cheese, sausage and crackers. A bunch of us spent some time after church Sunday cutting up trays of cheese and sausage.

Randy took our new little Kodak camera with him. The thing is not very big -- but it is able to record video as well as take pictures. That's where the "technology shock" thing kicks in for me. It's really just this small little camera, but it can take videos. The videotape of the choir is kind of blurry and a little bit jerky, but still. Randy was standing all the way at the back of the church to record, and yet the sound is pretty good. Personally, I don't mind that the video is blurry. Video is worse than having my picture taken!

I'm the one in the red turtleneck, if anyone is interested. Even though it was April 13, the temperature first thing in the morning was 18 degrees. The "high" temperature Sunday was 34 degrees. That's why I wore a turtleneck. The sun was shining on Sunday, though, and at this time of year, the sun was strong enough to melt the snow that had fallen Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Our choir is very small compared to some of them that were there. The song we are singing in this clip was at the end of Sing Thing. It is a benediction called "Go in Love."

Randy also uploaded a video to YouTube of my great nephew Alex playing with the camera strap when we went to visit two weeks ago. I am laughing because my nephew-in-law made some smart remark about my niece, and I said that I, too, was rather "behind the times" about technology. Randy and my nephew-in-law are technology experts and can figure out anything. I said I'm lucky I can figure out taking pictures with the camera, never mind figuring out how to shoot a video. Alex was fascinated with the camera strap. He likes to bounce up and down when he is standing on a lap, so that's why I sang Yankee Doodle to him.

Lettuce
I'm getting itchy to get out in the garden. I'm thinking I ought to find a big flower pot, fill it with some potting soil and at least get a little bit of my Red Sails lettuce going. This has been one long, cold winter, and I am more than ready for spring.

Randy
After going all winter long without getting sick, my poor husband has now caught one of the viruses going around -- fever, sneezing, coughing, nasal congestion and just generally under the weather. I have had enough complications from the stuff for both of us, so I'm hoping he can escape any additional problems and can start feeling better soon.

LeAnn R. Ralph


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