A better Friday

Posted on November 4, 2022 | 3 comments

You may remember, dear Reader, my lament at what didn’t happen last Friday: no cashiers at Target; cancellation of COVID vaccine #5. A week later, things are looking better.

Many of my Facebook friends said they no longer went into Target, instead ordering online and either picking up at the store or having their purchase delivered. I decided to go on the Target website and see if I could find one of the main things I was hoping to buy on the Friday Target run–children’s coats.The home liaison had told me there was a need for coats now that the weather has turned cold (37 degrees this morning).

I found 12 coats and a pair of boy’s shoes, all discounted. Six coats arrived earlier this week and were delivered to Columbia on Thursday. The rest of the merchandise will arrive in the next few days and I’ll take everything when I go next week. Although not a lot, it’s what I can do right now.

I rescheduled our COVID boosters for this morning, and CVS didn’t cancel the appointment. We got our vaccinations just past 10 and then went next door to grocery shop at the very fancy, upscale market that I’ve discovered I love. The pharmacy technician didn’t ask us to wait awhile to see if there was a reaction. I guess, after four previous vaccines with no problem, they have decided to let us run wild after the jab. We were, of course just fine and found lots of delicious goodies at the grocery store.

I dropped Terry and the groceries at home and then went to See’s Candy to get chocolate Santas for the Columbia staff. Now is the time to purchase Christmas candy even if it won’t be handed out until December. After that stop I went to pick up three dinners from the neighborhood bakery/cafe that has been helping to feed us for the last couple of years. I have to decide what to do about Thanksgiving dinner this year, and if I follow the same pattern as the last two years, get my order in for that holiday food. I will at least order pies because she makes the very best banana cream that I have ever eaten.

So, this Friday is looking much better than last week. When I told the story of last week’s cancellations to a friend, she gave me this advice, “Delaine, you always pray for God’s direction and guidance, and then when He changes YOUR plans, you complain. You need to have more faith that God will work everything for your good.”

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What did you do with all those years…

Posted on October 30, 2022 | 7 comments

From ASK MICK LASALLE column in San Francisco Chronicle, Sunday, October 30, 2022

But imagine: You live your life and then, when you get to the other side, you’re asked, “What did you do with all these years we gave you?” You don’t want the answer to be, “Oh, I watched ‘Ozark.’ ” Imagine the look on everybody’s face, and you standing there like a complete idiot, having to explain what you thought was so interesting about some lousy TV show, when you once lived in a universe of wonder and abundance that was full of nothing but interesting things that you chose to ignore.

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Don’t be gone

Posted on October 29, 2022 | 5 comments

Yes, Friday was a bit of a mixed-up day from what was planned to what really happened, but it was okay. I did laundry, worked in the backyard, and then sat on the couch reading my latest Marcia Muller book. The sitting on the couch thing had been in the works due to the covid vaccine. I figured resting afterwards would be a good idea. Resting after my busy week was also a good idea.

Two of the six classes at Columbia had substitutes this past week. The first graders are still getting to know me, and figuring out just how far they can push my buttons. With a sub, one class figured they would attempt another push.

They wanted to stay at their desks rather than go to the carpet for the story. That was okay with me, I’ve done that over the years. They reacted well to the story, but there was some noise and it didn’t seem to disappear unless I stopped reading. I gave them a warning and also reminded them about the next-door class who had missed a story a few weeks ago due to being noisy. They took the hint and finished strong. The sub asked if I could stay a bit longer. No, I have another class waiting for me.

The next day, one second grade class had a sub and the students were very noisy when I came in but cheered when they saw me and quieted. The sub explained it had been a crazy day. I took over the class. Now mind you, these are students who know me from last year when they were first graders. With my directions, they moved to the carpet, ready for the book. I had to make a few stops and remind them of proper behavior. They actually reminded one another. The sub asked if I could stay a bit longer. No, I have another class waiting for me.

The cheers went up when I opened the door for the last class of the week. Their teacher said they had been waiting for me. You may remember that I missed the first two weeks of October. One of the little girls reminded me of my absence:

“You were gone for two weeks.”

“Yes, but I was back last week. Were you not here last week?”

She looks at me, with really big eyes, “yes, I know, I remember the book you read about Milo, but you were gone for two weeks. Don’t be gone.”

That’s how I feel about the Target and CVS employees–don’t be gone. People are counting on you.

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Stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down…stay, stay, stay

Posted on October 28, 2022 | 9 comments

It seems to be a frazzled Friday. Perhaps, like the young man who is manning the end of my street to allow people in and out said, it’s Halloween weekend, best to stay home.

First, I had planned a trip to Target to a get a list of items. It took me four tries to find a clean basket. Then as I rolled that cart along I overheard an employee telling a customer they would have to use self-check, there were no cashiers. I rolled my cart over to her and asked if what I had heard was correct. Yes, no cashiers. “Thank you, goodbye.” I left the clean basket and walked out.

Second, Terry and I were scheduled at CVS for the third COVID booster. They have texted and sent dozens of reminders. But this morning, while I’m making an attempt at Target, Terry gets a call saying the appointment has been cancelled because their vaccine tech is out ill. What? They have no substitutes? Schools have substitutes, why can’t CVS?

I spent 10 minutes doing all the rigamarole to get new appointments next Friday. I had made today’s appointments specifically to coincide with the 2-weeks since our flu shots and 6-months since our previous COVID booster. Now it’s pushed out further.

After that I decided to go to Fresno State’s farm store, across town. As I was driving out of the garage, I see Terry dashing out of the house, waving for me to stop. He had seen one of the cats run into the garage as I opened the door. Sure enough, he found her, scooped her up and showed me she was safe. But, I felt off-kilter, and after three misadventures, decided I better stay home. I slowly drove back into the garage.

As I walked the birthday card out to send from our mailbox, I waved to the young man who is part of the crew working on our street. PG&E will be putting in new gas lines and there is lots of prep work. This crew is opening the covers and cleaning out the old lines. Our street is blocked to through traffic and this young man is the flagman who allows residents in and out. I walked down to tell him I wouldn’t be going back out and all the whys and whatfors. He laughed and reminded me it’s Halloween weekend, best to stay home. I told him he should take the day off, too, as it seems everyone else is.

Terry and I had a good laugh about it and he gave me the cheer that I used as the heading for this blog post.

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October wrap-up

Posted on October 27, 2022 | 8 comments

It’s been a long month. There are STILL five days in October. I cannot remember such a long month in what seems like years. I’ve crammed a lot into the month, and there are still more days to do more cramming.

Today (Thursday) will be Day 2 of this week at Columbia. Thursdays are with second graders and we will be reading a new book, I Don’t Like Yolanda. There is so much in that book. Stamp collecting. Letter writing. Cooking. And the big lesson–making assumptions about people that turn out to be wrong. It goes along with last week’s book–Milo Imagines the World. We cannot know a person and their life just by looking at them. We must interact to learn more and make connections.

Friday is Vaccination Day. Terry and I have an appointment to get our FIFTH Covid vaccine. I don’t remember getting that many vaccinations for polio which was the other dread disease that our parents were frightened by. It appears that COVID vaccinations will be like flu vaccinations–every year. But, this will be our second Covid vaccination in one year. Our vaccine cards are full so I’m assuming we will be starting a new one. We got this year’s flu shot two weeks ago, and the only record of that is the one our doctor will keep.

Because I am giving the children’s sermon on Sunday I will be using Saturday to finalize my preparations. We will have a visiting missionary from Korea giving Sunday’s message so I’m tying the children’s story to being a missionary wherever you are. I have little bags of M&M candies to give each child as we finish. M&M for Mighty Missionary. There is a dining out event after church where a group of us will go to a local restaurant for lunch and conversation. It will be the first one since 2019 when, you know, the world changed.

Monday is Halloween but I’m not participating. We’ve had so few trick-o-treaters in the past that I’ve just given up with that event.

And then Tuesday will start a whole new month which appears to be dark and cold from the weather forecast. Rain is in the forecast, which we are all cheering for.

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San Joaquin Valley feeds the world

Posted on October 26, 2022 | 9 comments

Fresno County farms reported a record-breaking $8.08 billion in gross receipts for 2021, up nearly 1.5% from 2020’s crop production value. Fresno County’s record-breaking crop receipts came as the pandemic precipitated a global supply chain crisis. Fresno County exports 89 different commodities for markets in 96 countries around the globe.

That puts Fresno County as the third-top agricultural producer in California, with Tulare County barely edging out Fresno by $4.05 million for the No. 2 spot.

In terms of crop value, Kern County was No. 1 in California for 2021 — the position that Fresno County held in 2020 — bringing in $8.34 billion.

For the ninth year in a row, almonds were Fresno County’s leading farm commodity, commanding a gross value of $1.44 billion. Grapes remained in the No. 2 spot generating $1.34 billion, followed by pistachios at $722.06 million.

“Fresno County’s agricultural strength is based on the diversity of crops produced,” according to a Fresno County news release. “Included in this year’s report are over 170 different commodities, 76 of which have a gross value in excess of one million dollars.”

Fresno County’s top ten crops by value are:

No. 1 Almonds
No. 2 Grapes
No. 3 Pistachios
No. 4 Poultry
No. 5 Milk
No. 6 Tomatoes
No. 7 Cattle & Calves
No. 8 Garlic
No. 9 Oranges
No. 10 Peaches

Again cementing the region’s status as among the richest global farm economies, the Central Valley’s combined gross farm receipts for 2021 — including Fresno County, Tulare County ($8.08 billion), Madera County ($2.05 billion) and Kings County ($2.34 billion) — was more than $20.55 billion.

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Generous folk

Posted on October 24, 2022 | 14 comments

Each year, right before Christmas break, the school chaplains, now named resiliency coaches, read the book, The Teddy Bear, and give each first grader a small stuffed teddy bear.

When I started, nine years ago, I would buy one bear to leave with each classroom, and when I shared this strategy with the other chaplains, the response was, “why not give each child a bear?” Because I am not wealthy! I could do 4 bears, but not 100.

Somehow, someway, someone took it upon themselves to buy a bear for each first grader the next year and it became a tradition. A very expensive tradition for a volunteer, charity organization. There was some money from the police fund and others gave to the cause, and as the years went on, and the stories of this spread, more people did give money, but it has always been a struggle to get the money and get the 2000+ bears ordered each year by December.

We are a smaller group this year, having lost almost 20 chaplains over the pandemic years. So instead of 40 schools, we are now around 20 and therefore need fewer bears. BUT, as with everything else, the bears have become more expensive, as has the shipping, and so as we headed towards Christmas, there was a need for $10,000 to get the bears to this year’s first graders.

A foundation was asking questions of the Resiliency Center, of which we are now a part and no longer part of the police department. What did the Resiliency Center do and what were its needs? Well, the Resiliency Program in the Schools was mentioned and the head of the foundation wanted to see the program in action. She showed up at the school where the director volunteers, watched him read the book, It’s Mine, and watched and listened to the children’s reactions and response.

She was so impressed with what she saw and asked why this wasn’t in all the schools instead of just the 20 or so. Well, there are not a lot of people volunteering to do this. “We need more people.” She thought she could have her marketing people look into that. “Anything else you need?”

“Oh, just $10,000 for teddy bears,” and he told her the story of the book and the bear hand-out for the last 7 years.

“We can do that.” And the check arrived the following day. And the bears have been ordered. And…miracles happen.

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In the valley of extremes

Posted on October 22, 2022 | 5 comments

In my last post there was joy in cooler temperatures. That joy comes with a disclaimer. The hot weather is gone and it will get cooler from here on in, and it will soon be cold. Our winter temperatures peg to the opposite end of the thermometer. I don’t do well in cold temperatures, anything below 60 degrees is cold to me.

Our mornings are already feeling chilly when I get out of bed, while it’s still dark, mind you, because we have not “fallen” back from the daylight savings time that everyone is so crazy for. We are two weeks away from changing to standard time, and by then the sun won’t be up until 7:30. I want my sunrise to be early, like before 6 am, but I know that isn’t possible, no matter the time setting, in winter months. I must settle into the cold, dark mornings for a few months.

This week we will have some sunshine and lots of wind. The days will start in the 40s and go up to 70. What a shift from those 100 degree days just a few weeks ago. I will shift my clothing too from short pants and lightweight blouses to longer, heavier pants and knit shirts, some even with hoods. Maybe, just maybe, I won’t have to wear a coat yet. December and January are usually the coat-wearing months around here. Oh, and socks. The hamper will again be full of socks as I will wear them all day, even changing a few times during the day depending on where and when I go out. Have I ever mentioned that I have a whole drawer of socks? I wear a lot of socks, says the girl who goes barefoot all summer long.

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Autumn days are upon us

Posted on October 21, 2022 | 11 comments

It appears that fall will finally make its appearance here in the San Joaquin Valley over the weekend. Although the temperatures have been in the high 80s this past week, they will slip into the 70s over the weekend. There will be wind. Cooler nights. I’m expecting the leaves to start changing colors more quickly now, and in turn, start dropping. That means leaf-raking on my part.

I won’t mind doing yard work in cooler temperatures. It was so hot during the summer days that I didn’t want to accomplish much in the yards. I am fortunate that the yards can pretty much take care of themselves if I will just keep them watered. Large trees and shrubs help.

We let the front yard go wild this summer, allowing wild grasses to grow tall. Allowed flowers to seed in the lawn areas. The jasmine plant spread farther and farther into that area. The cats loved playing big, stalking, wild animals in the overgrown grasses. It would make us all sad when we cut it back a couple of times.

After two weeks away, I was back at Columbia on Wednesday and Thursday. The students cheered in each classroom when I opened the door and stepped in. All the students in one first grade class came running to hug me and tell me how much they missed me. All of them were excited to hear this week’s books–Mr. Gumpy’s Outing for first grade; Milo Imagines the World for second.

Mr. Gumpy is fun because there are stick puppets, a boat, and very specific directions for each character that gets in the boat. The big surprise comes when everyone on the boat does what they were told not to, and the boat tips over and they all fall out, into the river. Although forewarned, the assistant is even surprised when I knock the boat out of their hand and all the stick puppets scatter on the floor. You could hear a pin drop!

It’s almost November which means new book lists for the classes will go into their teacher’s boxes next week. I have work to do.

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A Tuesday at home

Posted on October 18, 2022 | 10 comments

Yesterday, Monday, was Ladies Who Lunch. We were a small group, just five of us who were in town and not ill or at the hairdresser’s. We met at a very new, upscale, popular Armenian bakery. Everyone is raving about the food here, and it is excellent. It is also very busy due to its rave reviews.

The building has been remodeled from a former a Parisiene bakery to this very modern, light, large room with a patio on the east side. Because the weather was near-perfect, we chose a table outside. Actually, we chose three! We moved twice due to sun and a too-small table and then a lovely couple asked us to take their table for our larger group. It was perfect.

As mentioned before, we have added a younger person who is three years away from retirement but wants to practice and who has a short day on Mondays so she can make it to our 11 o’clock meet-up time. She is a perfect addition. She fits right in with her good sense of humor and high energy. The energy factor got some discussion yesterday.

One of the group has just returned from a trip to New England and another woman is planning a trip to Iceland with a younger friend. Lots of talk about what was seen, what will be seen, places and hikes and transportation. Both women said they could not do these trips with some of their friends due to friends’ disabilities of aging. Both women, and our newer person, all exercise, walking as well as going to the gym. It’s definitely a lesson to those about to retire and those who have–keep moving if you want to keep moving.

All that said, Terry and I slept in until 7 this morning, and I’m planning to stay home today. I will stay busy, though, as the weather is a bit cooler–high 70s–and I plan to make bean soup. Wednesday and Thursday will be Columbia days with first and second graders.

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