Backtracking the events of the past week, starting last Sunday. I spent most of the day at home and had a nice, long chat with Tom after breakfast. He is about one week away from getting back ‘home’ to Apache Junction and the news of the last few days was about wildfires in the Superstition Mountains, not too far from there. The Lost Dutchman State Park is evacuated and that is less than 5 miles from him. He checked with Shiprock RV park and they said there were no issues there. Fingers crossed that all in the area stay safe and the fires get under control.
There have been more than three cases of Covid reported in my community so the staff has canceled all group activities for the week, including Genevieve’s Art Class that was supposed to be held on Tuesday and locked the doors to the community room and library. Dang - I find the locked doors to be ridiculous, as we are adults and hopefully responsible to protect ourselves and others by quarantine, masking, and distancing. What ticked me off the most was having the library locked, preventing access to books and the puzzle that I have been working on and is mostly used on an individual basis.
I have spent several days helping Joann pack up her apartment, as she has recently gotten a diagnosis of Stage 4 pancreatic cancer and plans to go live with her son in Lincoln, NE. She also ended up in the hospital on Monday, so her friend Jayne and I have been packing and taking loads of boxes to the thrift store to donate. I also took a carful of stuff to the consignment shop for her. One thing I’ve learned from this - whatever you do, stop being a packrat and take care of your own excess stuff. I must have put 300 pens and pencils in boxes and tossed over the counter pill bottles and prescriptions (taken to pharmacy for disposal) dating back as far as 2014. It is so hard to be trying to make these decisions regarding stuff that does not belong to me and she is lost - has enough to worry about just getting through the days and preparing for her end of life. It sucks!
I picked up another house cleaning job that I will do once a month. It is for a young professional couple who are getting married in February. They have just bought their first home and are in the process of having it all painted and new flooring installed, then getting settled. I will start on the 25th. It is a beautiful home, nestled in a nice wooded neighborhood of west Bloomington - I feel it will be another easy and rewarding job for good money.
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris had a presidential debate on Tuesday and I felt that she held her own and got him doing his usual ranting of lies and attacks. The news reports the next day agreed with me. It sounds like that will be the only debate they have leading up to the November 5 election. Heaven help us if that PIG gets elected.
I met Mavis, Mary, and three of their friends for a birthday lunch for Mavis on Thursday at Olive Garden in Eagan. We spent two hours talking and eating - it’s always nice to see them every now and then. Deb and I went to Champps in Eden Prairie that night, sat out on the patio and had a beer. It was a very active day socially.
As I was watering the flowers Friday night, I spotted this adorable Hummingbird Moth (yes, there is such a thing) flitting around sucking nectar from them.
Deb and I just got back from a walk at the Cedar Avenue Bridge trail and it was exciting to see lots of avian wildlife. As we walked across the bridge, we saw Egrets, Herons, Pelicans, Anhingas, Geese and lots of ducks in the marshy area near the Minnesota River. It was a great way to wrap up the week.
