Two Weeks Following Easter

The weather is kind of nice today. It's a bit breezy as I discovered when Ray and I went out this afternoon. Some gusts were pretty strong as I headed into the wind. When I turned at the halfway point the wind was at my back and I was faster! We've developed a routine and look at the weather in the morning to see if we're going out then or later in the day. I've been running every other day and walking on alternate days. On walking days, Ray and I walk together trying to keep a brisk pace. On our walk yesterday we saw many crab apple trees in the height of their bloom.

Which are prettier? White or red blossoms?

Can you see the effects of the wind?

This past Monday we heard about the passing of a Concordia member caused by Covid-19. He was 84 and had been in a nursing home for several years after serving as the church treasurer for a very long time. Everyone had beautiful things to say about Gerald. He had a real servant's heart.

We've had technological challenges this past week. Our satellite service was having lots of issues and we called for service. Everything seemed to be fixed by Thursday afternoon when the service tech left, but on Friday we had another error message and couldn't get any programs. We were able to watch our recorded shows but that's all. We called again and knew we had to wait until Monday for a service call. On Saturday morning, there was a knock on the door and the service tech had seen our repair request and decided to stop in. I presume it was on his day off or on his own time but I could be wrong. He got everything working again. However, when I tried to play Pandora, an app on our TV, I received a message that Pandora is not available in this country. What? We've played hundreds of ours of Pandora and never had this happen. I tried to make a phone call to get this corrected, but they don't have live help on the weekends.

Sometimes I like all the advances we have in technology. It's fun to have instant communication with friends and family. Besides the issues with our TV, I will not go into details about the other problems I've been having with the Internet or apps, because I'm starting this week with a positive attitude. We're going to get through this. You've heard that somewhere else I'm sure.

P.S. Just as I was about to post and head to bed, we had more issues with our TV. We rebooted three times this evening and get a signal about a half-hour later that "The signal on Satellite In is lost." The service technician is coming tomorrow. Unfortunately, we had scheduled three shows for recording tonight (two episodes of Masterpiece and Call the Midwife on PBS) and won't have any of those shows. Can I stay positive after this? I hope so.

Easter 2020

I believe it's been two weeks since last writing about our quarantine adventures. Ray and I have been able to get out for a walk or run every day. We had a few beautiful days when we didn't need jackets or sweaters but many days we are still experiencing cool winds. In fact, Good Friday dawned at 31˚. This week doesn't look to have many warm days. I'm glad I haven't put away cold-weather gear.

Last Wednesday, we had a warning of possible storms. We had just finished watching Jeopardy when there was a knock on our door. A young woman with two small children asked if they could shelter with us. She lived on the third floor and felt vulnerable with tornado warnings and sirens going off. Thirty or forty minutes later the threat was over. Later we heard of tornado damage in Mooresville and also noticed limbs and branches downed as we ventured out on our daily exercise.

As we drove home after our walk today, we passed a small church and noticed about a dozen cars parked facing a stage on the lawn. An Easter service in progress. I had already watched our streaming service at home.

Watching via streaming on YouTube

I was reminded of another time when I attended an Easter service on the beach. It was 1981 during Spring Break and our family had traveled to St. John, Virgin Islands. We spent a week camping on the island and attended a small service on the beach.

Easter on St. John

Another time, 1986, again on Spring Break, we celebrated Easter in a church on the island of Kauai.

Hawaiian-style altar paraments

Easter lilies decorate the cross

I became aware of Zoom just about a month ago. Many of you are very familiar with the possibility of visiting someone or conducting a conference using the Zoom app. Last Friday my two sisters and I connected through Zoom and enjoyed a half-hour chat. The only drawback, if there is one, is that you feel the need to comb or curl your hair or put on some mascara and makeup. 

We had a hat water problem last week. There was no hot water. In fact, it happened three times. The hot water unit has two heating elements. I'm not sure what happened when maintenance fixed it the first time, but two days later we were without hot water for the second time. They replaced one of the elements and when we had to call last evening, we were surprised and happy that the maintenance department responded quickly. This time, they replaced the other half and said they should have done that the first time. I think we'll have hot water for the foreseeable future.

Our Easter celebration continues each Sunday, but by 2021, we hope to be celebrating Easter Sunday together in the church building.