Christmas Concert Canceled

 You may remember that several weeks ago I decided to not participate in the Grace Village choir at this time. Except for one other lady, nobody but me wore masks during the hour-long practice. I felt uncomfortable in such a situation; the risk was too high for me. 

Today I received an email from the choir director sent to the choir mailing list. The December 18th concert has been canceled. Currently there are 6 choir members with active COVID and 3 quarantining because of exposure to these sick people. Also, 4 other people have joined me in not attending. All of this has happened in the past 8-10 days.

I am grateful that I bowed out before all of this took place. It is sad but to me at least not surprising. Aerosolized droplets from singing contain the virus and travel at least 12 feet where they remain suspended in the air. 

Surgery December 22nd

 I am scheduled for surgery on Tuesday December 22nd. This will be at Parkview Orthopedic Hospital in Fort Wayne. I need to stay well until then so the surgery won't have to be postponed. I don't think there will be any occupancy level problems at that hospital; not sure about staffing. The surgery is considered day surgery; I will come home that day unless there are complications. I had an ACDF (anterior cervical discectomy and fusion) 17 years ago. The doctor will remove the old titanium plate and screws and install a plate that spans 3 levels (C4-C6). I will start physical therapy 4 weeks later as long as everything goes as expected.

COVID is rampant in our state and county. Fort Wayne also has a very high number of cases. My husband will not be allowed in the hospital except for a few minutes before I go into surgery. The doctor will phone him to update my status; the hospital will call when I am ready to go home (after 4-5 hours in recovery). It will be a long day for him. I had hoped he could spend time in a warm library nearby, but that won't be happening as people will no longer be allowed inside.

In some counties, libraries are open for curb-pickup only, banks have drive-up service only except when an appointment is needed and made ahead, and restaurants have gone from full capacity to 50-75% depending on the risk level in the county. It is going to get ugly the next few weeks as people travel and celebrate in large groups. The college students in my town (Grace College) started earlier than normal so that the instruction period would end at Thanksgiving. They won't start again until January, but that could be online.

My last activity I attended regularly in person (every 2 weeks) was Winona Literary Club. It has canceled its Dec. 2nd meeting. We always have a winter break; hopefully, by March we can start up again as usual.

I bought a few Christmas presents for my husband last week. I have a few things to buy yet online. I will be mostly doing online grocery shopping as well. I do plan to put up my Christmas decorations the weekend after Thanksgiving, and buy a poinsettia at Menards. I have 4 medical appointments between now and December 22nd all related to the surgery. I need to see if I can reschedule my dental cleaning; it was to be December 30th. A month seems like a long time, but I know it will go by quickly as I stock my pantry and freezer for my recuperation time. 

Have a safe and blessed Thanksgiving.

Crying

 Yesterday as I was looking at the items in my china cabinet I noticed several that belonged to my deceased mother. Today I received an email from a cousin remembering my mom and her death two years ago (November 20). Tears started sliding down my face. I know she is with Jesus and her loved ones in heaven, but there is still a void in my life.

Second Half of Autumn

 In northern Indiana where I live the first 6 weeks or so of autumn are glorious. Warm sunny days with cool nights and beautiful colorful foliage. 

But the last 6 weeks of fall are bleak and barren with cold days and some overnight frost. Before we officially leave autumn in December, we will probably have some snow. When I say I love autumn, I am definitely thinking of the first half.

Brrr! I am not a lover of cold temperatures. Usually Thanksgiving makes the second half of autumn special. This year we will not go to a buffet in a restaurant. My husband's sister will join us in our condo; there will be just the 3 of us. We will have the traditional turkey (I already bought a frozen breast) and pumpkin pie. We will probably work on a jigsaw puzzle or play games.

A card I received today from the Fort Wayne Hallmark store.

I brought the purple celosia in from the front porch several weeks ago. It is doing OK inside. It will eventually be replaced by a poinsettia. My cheddar pinks look amazingly fine after last night's heavy frost.

Covid is overtaking our state and county. An 85-year-old woman at my church who had Covid in early July has it again. That is not a comforting thought; that any immunity she had lasted about 4 months at most.

 I have dropped out of Grace Village choir for now. 20 people singing without masks was too much risk for me. Grace Village has put out an announcement that any health care and assisted-living residents that leave to spend time with family or friends for the holidays must quarantine for 14 days when they return. If they have no single room for returning residents to quarantine in, they may not be allowed back inside. Currently we have 5 health care workers who tested positive for COVID. We are supposed to get some National Guard workers to help with testing and other non-medical jobs. All of the staff, including independent living area, are being tested twice a week now.

I know a few people who plan to have big family gatherings for Thanksgiving. I hope they don't get sick. Since I don't have kids or grandkids, it is a little bit easier for me to stay away from groups.

The news that there is an effective vaccine in the pipeline keeps me plugging away, taking it day by day. There is still a long road, but there is hope for a brighter future.

Bible Studies and Devotionals

 This next week I will embark on two new studies. Actually, one is an extension of the 2nd Samuel study I just finished. Are you looking for some fairly short studies at this time? Why not join me in reading/listening?

The first is by Beth Boggs, a local Bible study leader. We just finished our study of 2nd Samuel which was interrupted last March. It was finally converted to online audio since such a large group of ladies could not safely meet together as we had been doing. This coming week she is starting a 4-week study of David's legacy followed by Psalm 23. You can go online at a time convenient to you (though the newest lesson isn't posted until Tuesday afternoons). The lessons are archived on her church's website. You need no password to access it. 

If you click on the 11-3-20 lesson, you will see a rectangle labeled LBS lesson Notes to click on to download/save the study questions for this new segment. However, she never goes through the questions as she teaches. She may touch upon the material covered by the questions, but the teaching goes mainly verse by verse. I suspect this legacy study will jump around the Bible some though. She is pleasant to listen to, and you will not need to do the study questions to benefit. Each lesson will be about 50 minutes long.

The second study is one centered on Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts book. I read this book several years ago and still have it on my bookshelf. I ordered the study guide on ebay. Faith Gateway would like you to buy the items from them, but you can get them elsewhere. Your public library may have the book. Grace Village library owns a copy. Maybe somebody in your church would loan you the book. I toyed with not even getting the study guide, but since I found it at a good price I went ahead and ordered it. The study goes November 16 through December 20, with the videos available until December 27. I am not sure how the videos will come out re timing. You can see an introductory video and sign up for the free study at this link to Faith Gateway I can guarantee that you will get emails because I already have. You can unsubscribe to them. 

Since I will not start this study until November 16, I am going to get started next week on a devotional 12 Days of Thanksgiving. The ladies in my church will start this together November 9th. Unfortunately, I do not have a smart phone and my ipad 4 does not have the latest ios because Apple no longer updates it. You have to download the app to interact with a group. But you can do the devotional online by yourself. That is what I am going to do. Or you can download the app and do it on your phone by yourself or invite others to join you. 12 Days of Thanksgiving has a daily reading and devotional thought. Since I didn't download the app, I am not getting emails, but I think you probably will with the app.

I do see this site has some Christmas devotionals as well. 

May God's Word bless you in the coming weeks.

A Beautiful Day for a Walk

 We have been bestowed with the gift of several days of Indian summer. I cut down most of my Veronica this morning, but there were two little patches of newer flowers I decided to let stay. 

I thought I had put my grill to bed for the winter, but this evening I am going to cook some marinated pork chops. I forgot how early it gets dark now that we have gone back an hour. Just got out the Forman grill and did them inside.

My husband flips on the TV from time to time to listen to the talking heads. I decided to walk around my neighborhood. It is peaceful and full of autumn beauty.

Despite the uncertainty of the results of the election, God is in control. 

Bandit is enjoying the porch sunshine. His mistress has given him lots of pretty things to view.

At the landscaper shed/garage there were plants gathered up in tubs for the winter I guess. I don't know where the pinkish "berries" were previously. 

A lot of trees are almost bare, but the ornamental pear trees are in full glory. They and burning bushes are the last spots of bright color each year in our neighborhood.

Maybe tomorrow afternoon I will sit on my front porch and drink in all of the beauty while I start a new book. Happy autumn days to you.

Plant Progression

 

Blustery winds the past few days mean leaves raining down and piling up. Most of the leaves in this photo taken yesterday have blown eastward today. We have just a scattered few in our backyard.

When the Grace Village landscaper planted a fothergilla bush next to my porch about two years ago, I didn't know what to expect. This was a new plant to me. I have been so happy with its coloration in autumn. The leaves are starting to blow off so it too will soon be bare.

We are getting a few flurries right now (3 p.m.). I kind of hated sending my husband out in the cold to pick up our Ruby Tuesday lunches today, but they tasted so good. Yesterday our back-door neighbor brought us some brownies his wife had baked. They were a nice change of flavor from the seafood we ate. 

By midweek we will be in the 60's. Thursday or Friday I should be able to cut my Veronica (speedwell) down to ground level in preparation for the winter. The flowers have remained bright and cheerful, but the leaves are starting to show damage from frost. I still have some cheddar pink flowers in bloom. They will be all the color I have left after Friday. 

I still need to change my watches back an hour. Managed to do all of the clocks before bed last night or when rising this morning (the kitchen clocks). I hate the time changes. I wish we would stay on a steady time all year long.