026 Always on

Always turned on

Connected, plugged in, and wired up

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would be connected, plugged in, and wired up at all times. But in this world of technology, I never miss a chance to text, email, or visit Facebook no matter where I am.

It all came about several years ago when my husband and I realized our two children didn’t answer their phones any more but were texting. We had no choice if we wanted to communicate with them; we had to become tech savvy.We already had cell phones, but it was difficult to text on them so we had to make the plunge and get ones for easy texting. We went the iPhone route and found them relatively user friendly. 

Now, it is rare that I pick up the phone and call someone. Texting by far is the quickest if the intended receiver is online. Email is a close second if the person is checking consistently.

Since then, we have upgraded our phones several times, purchased an iPad, and update our software. Here we are grandparents and looking at seven decades of life next year and staying turned on. Go figure.

Now it is hard to imagine life unplugged and out of touch. Just think, a few years ago none of this was even possible. Cell phones were revolutionary when they came on the scene, and now the latest models are way off the charts.

My first cell phone was what was called a bag phone --- the receiver was as big as a regular phone and the whole gizmo was in a black bag (thus giving it the name) about a foot long and 8 inches wide. The reception was great but it was not convenient to carry. Mine was basically left in the car to use on trips and when commuting to work. 

The next model was a teeny, tiny flip phone – easy to carry around for sure. And then there were several others with keyboards built in and often difficult to use. 




After the iPhone, it was a natural progression to the iPad which has opened up a whole new world with games, news, videos and more. Doing all the same things I did on the phone but with a bigger screen has been amazing. 


I was always addicted to games --- thousands of hands of Solitaire actually using playing cards and small hand-held devices with one type of game.


Now the games are all rolled into one device --- pure heaven for a gamer like me who looks forward to blocks of times when I can play uninterrupted. Some have consumed me --- Candy Crush, Pyramid Solitiare, 40 Thieves, and more.

Charging is sometimes an effort as we both seem to want to use the one on the first floor at the same time. The other will have to make the trek to the second floor to plug in.

Using them at work can be off putting to customers in retail settings, especially at checkout lines. In addition, customers who talk loudly on the phones are a terrible distraction for serious shoppers like me. I will get away from them as fast as I can.

Our grandchildren are definitely plugged in too with mini-pads and tablets. Even the three-year-old wants to use the Ipad for games. It is amazing how fast those little fingers move.

We have really come far in regards to technology. I can’t imagine what lies ahead. I am leaning towards purchasing a phone watch when they come out. Maybe I won’t misplace my phone if it is on my wrist.

But who knows. I am sure there is some form of technology and communication on the horizon that we can’t even start to imagine. Can’t wait to see what it will be!

Frances C. Lowe

025 Anniversary

25--Hooray!

This is our 25th blog posting!

We started with a joint column and then each of us has written eight. Who knew?

I love to celebrate anniversaries—big and small. Not only do they break the tedium of days, but also let us commemorate our accomplishments.

It may have started with my mother who loved to throw surprise birthday parties. Even though my sister and I sort of expected a surprise party, our birthdays were always special.

We returned the surprise for my parent’s 40th anniversary. With our husbands we flew to Florida and shocked them by showing up at a restaurant where many of their friends had gathered. My mother and I sat and cried while everyone else was enjoying the party.

We celebrated the library’s 80th anniversary in 1993 during my first year as director of Handley Regional Library. Some great young volunteers recorded people’s memories of the library. When we began writing the library’s history in anticipation of its centennial, many of those who shared memories had passed on. We were blessed to have their recollections for the book.  

Another anniversary I particularly remember was the ten-year anniversary of the opening of the Bowman Library in 2011. We had a contest for the child born the closest to the opening. It was great to see those ten-year olds who had grown up with the library. I might have shed a few tears during the festivities . . .

Of course, the library’s 100th anniversary was extraordinary.

We had been working up to it for five years so we thought we were tired of celebrating. But we were not! 

We had John Handley's portrait beautifully restored.  The centennial history was finally finished--thanks to the hard work of many. We had a great reunion of former library staff members and directors. I cried. 

Then we had a fabulous centennial celebration. It was amazing—from the wonderful 1913 costumes that many folks wore to the musical groups on every floor—we had a ball. 

The staff took bets on whether I’d cry, but I don’t think there were many bets on no tears. I surprised them and me—and not cry!

There will probably be a torrent of tears in 2021 when Harry and I have our 50th anniversary. I am already thinking about the best ways to celebrate!

Trish     

024 Junk

Junk, Stuff, and Clutter

Yes, you read the title. Yes, we have too much of it. We are working on getting rid of it. Well, some of it. Our goal (though not really a New Year’s resolution) is two hours per week of weeding out. Three piles emerge each session. GO, STAY, and the onerous and somewhat dangerous MAYBE.

Part of our dilemma is our lovely historic brick 207-year-old house. It is a treasure--high ceilings, wide board floors, many windows (some with original glass), Winchester mantels, etc., etc., etc.  HOWEVER, there is NOT a closet for coats or brooms or anything in between on the first floor. We’ve added a couple of closets to the kitchen in our 12-year-ago renovation. One of those closets is the “pantry”--i.e. dog food, soups, and paper towels. And, oh, yes, cereal and peanut butter. The other closet has cookbooks, vases, vacuum, mops, brooms, baskets, and picnic stuff for lakeside, (Yes, we are lucky enough to have the lake just across the field.)  This closet is a masterpiece of ingenuity. If one vacuums, one likely gets to rearrange all the stuff!!! 

I found this quotation online but without attribution. So, whoever you are who said this: THANK YOU!! I do believe that our historic home causes some of our problems. And just, FYI, the laundry room is in the basement (unfinished, concrete floor), which means all dirty/cleaned clothes go three levels – with only an outside entrance. (I am thinking servants those many years ago, but that is a topic for another day!)

Do not, however, mess with our junk drawer. We know what’s in it. 

LEAVE IT ALONE. 

I want my duct tape and my Gorilla glue when and where I know where it is!! 

Another impetus towards the cleanup, clear out was started last year. We do have a two-car garage. Neither car could go into the garage because yes, again, too much stuff. This past summer, we did masterful work on organizing the garage. One yard sale, Goodwill, and several truckloads to the dump, both cars now fit snuggly into the garage. 

How did we get so much stuff you may be wondering? Several excuses/reasons: 1) note date of house and lack of closets – the answer, carry stuff to garage; 2) we have both been blessedly cursed by inheritance – much of which is in the garage (that we can serve 109 people on china luncheon plates is a prime example); 3. We have both been married twice. Things we thought we had to save from our starter marriages were also in the garage. After checking in with grown children about a few things (Barbie dolls in their boxes are still in garage attic), everything else – except a very few things we felt we could NOT part with - is gone!! We hope our “treasures” are now someone else’s treasures.

Now that winter is here, we are working on our closets. If it doesn’t fit, out it goes. If I haven’t worn in two years, it’s gone! I kept two pairs of slacks to see if I can still wear (the MAYBE PILE), but the rest to Hospice. They are about to get four 33 gallon bags of clothes this week, plus two 33 gallon bags of NEVER AGAIN go to the dumpster. 

Here is our sage advice for de-cluttering clothes closets. Do it alone. Do NOT sit and watch your spouse. You will be sidetracked. You will talk to one another. Actually work for 45 minutes at a time; it will take 15 minutes to clean up and move your bags to their designated sites. Thus, your hour is wisely spent. 

I may have to put in an extra hour this week. I tripped over a box of old files and I have not picked them up. They are minutes of Wayside, PHW, our LLC’s, and Apple Blossom annual events. What do I do with these? NO, I am not going to scan them! But, please, please, please do NOT let me take them to the garage. 

Frankly, I think we need praise from our children. Think of the time and money we are saving them in their future now that we are “senior citizens.” And yet, I keep thinking of funny man, George Carlin, and his 1981 album and stand-up routine about STUFF. “…A little place for my stuff. That’s all I want, that’s all you need in life, is a little place for your stuff….This is my stuff, that’s your stuff, that’ll be his stuff over there.”

But a lot of our STUFF IS GONE! 

Glenne                  

023 Tree hugger?

A Tree Hugger? 

Losing good friends

I never thought of myself as a tree hugger until the trees lining, the front of the Handley High School campus near our home, were marked for destruction. It was like losing very good friends. 

We had walked on the sidewalk beside the trees for many, many years. We moved to the neighborhood in the mid-1970s, and the trees were a prominent part of the landscape. 

They were too big to completely hug so it is more of a figurative term, but nonetheless it defined my husband and me as true tree huggers. 

We realized we had taken the campus for granted with the lush greenery and open space, including the majestic trees, which were 75 years old. The school was completed in 1923 after years of construction, and the 16 trees came shortly after.

It was such a shock --- one day they were part of the landscape and the next marked for total destruction.

City officials on various committees ruled the trees too old and diseased and were in the way of a sidewalk improvement plan. Many other trees were taken down on Valley Avenue, but some of those had been pruned excessively due to electrical wires.

These along the campus were not in the way of electrical lines and had retained their shape. They had done their duty for many years heralding the majestic beginning of the campus, home of the school for seven decades.

But no one would listen to the passionate pleas --- save the trees. The die was cast and the execution was slated.

Watching the destruction was painful --- like losing loving family members. Memorials included candles, flowers, and even a flash mob. And then add insult to injury, the leftover stumps were ripped from the ground so no evidence would remain.  

We did observe the cuttings of the massive trunks and noticed the wood was very full and healthy. No diseases were apparent to the naked eye, but our leaders knew better, of course. Why couldn’t the ones diseased be taken down and others left? New trees could have been planted between the old ones.

If sidewalks were the problem, why not move the sidewalks toward the campus, leaving the trees for shade and environmental purposes.  But no alternatives were noted or discussed with the public.

After the murders were complete, we didn’t walk that way anymore. Small trees replaced the majestic elms, but it will take years to reach a size that would be noticeable.

It has been several years and to this day I avoid walking on that sidewalk. It has become an unconscious act --- avoiding the scene of a heinous crime.

Quite by chance, we came upon the opportunity to acquire some of the wood from our beloved trees. About two years ago, we were at a gathering when the hostess showed us wine glass stems made from the wood of the Handley trees. We were stunned and shocked as well as pleasantly surprised. When we inquired abut how to obtain the wood, we were directed to a local company that sold wood. My husband high-tailed it to the company and bought most of what was left. 

The wood is a gorgeous color, it made a wonderful kitchen table. Now we have a small portion of the trees we use daily. It’s better than nothing but we still miss those amazing trees.

Winchester is designated as a tree city, but after this tree annihilation, I cannot imagine how the title was bestowed.

Frances