One neighbor that came by is temporarily living in the neighborhood. He
and his girlfriend are house sitting for the owner. Another neighbor will not
be able to make it as he leaves for Arizona before the weekend. Still another neighbor,
directly across from us, said she will be over, and she is looking forward to
seeing the inside. Joe met a backyard neighbor over the fence today while he
was walking the property line. A small corner of our yard backs up to their
white picket fence.
Today was my monthly virtual visit with my cousin Eleanor. Today we
chatted for close to 2 hours! I shared with her the videos of three of our four
levels. Joe’s level is waiting to be videotaped until after his bookshelves arrive
next week.
My visit with Eleanor is one I look forward to each month. I hope she
gets out to see me in the next year or so.
Last night I dreamt of my sister, Jeni. I cannot remember the dream
itself. I remember that I was incredibly happy to see her, and she was happy to
see me. In my dream she was very slender. I remember thinking how wonderful it
was that she no longer had to struggle with weight issues. When I first woke up,
I still felt excited about seeing her. Then I remembered she died in September
2019 and my happy feelings dissolved and I felt sad that she is gone. I did
enjoy the dream while it lasted.
Joe attended a tradeshow at a tool distributor in Minneapolis this
morning for two hours. He came home excited as the salespeople said they would set
up an account for him to will-call tools once he has his home shop set-up. They
also gave him one of their catalogs. Now, a tool catalog is a treasure chest
for Joe. Tool catalogs have educational materials like speeds and feeds. His
visit put a smile on his face.
While I was chatting with Eleanor, Joe met with a landscape designer from
Minneapolis. Joe had told them upfront he only wanted advice. The man who came
walked our property and advised Joe on the best way to manage certain areas of
the yard to get to Joe’s objectives. Joe offered to pay for his time; however,
the man insisted it was okay and gave Joe his card. Yesterday a company Joe had
also contacted told him they were too busy to come out. About ten minutes later
the woman called back to get Joe’s email and then she sent him links to ethe
University of Minnesota’s (UMN) horticulture extension program. They have
online free sessions where people can ask questions and get answers from the
UMN local extension educator team. They list nine people on the team who are
experts on Minnesota growing from small farms to agricultural production systems
and general horticulture. I thought it was wonderful that even though her firm
did not make onsite visits she wanted to find answers for Joe.
Joe was particularly happy this evening as he had taken two loads of yard
waste to the compost site late this afternoon. He had all kinds of wins today
from starting his day with the tool distributor open house and meeting people
who speak his “tool” language, to working in the yard and clearing undergrowth,
to talking to a landscaper, to making two trips to the compost site. There was
a beauty to the rhythm of this day. Seeing Joe happy like this reminds me of
how he loved his yard and career in California. Yet, he wanted to take the
risk/chance and move to Minnesota as he thought it would be better for our future.
Today I saw that it can and will be good for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment