SPRINGTIME IN THE ROCKIES

A couple of weeks ago when the temperatures began to get warmer on a daily basis, and I could see buds on the trees and a tease of green out in the fields, I decided to buy a bowl of "sunshine" to put on the front porch.  In spite of COVID-19, WalMart has had an abundance of new bedding plants for spring planting and other decorative flowers for Easter.  It was all a very welcome sight.  

I'm not too keen on lilies or hyacinth or some of the other bulb varieties. So, I succumbed to a  pot of bright yellow begonias, not too big and not too expensive--$5.00.  I was happy.  They made the drab front porch look like a spot of "cheerful ".  Every time I backed out of the driveway, I backed up just a little bit farther on the street so I could take in the curbside view.  What a difference those little blossoms made!

Sometimes when the forecast calls for a certain kind of weather here, it never materializes.  After all, we are in the Rocky Mountain West in the Northern Hemisphere.  I once read where this is the most difficult place in all the earth to predict weather because of the upslopes and downslopes from the mountains causing unsettled air. 

However, this last week the weather forecasters have gone out of their way to warn of, not one weather system, but two weather systems that were coming our way.  One headed down from Canada and the other from the southern West Coast.  Colliding for Easter weekend, no less.  Actually, we had a great day on Saturday with bright sun and a high of nearly 80 degrees.  Then after dark, the wind began to howl.  The snow had already covered the fence when I got up to look out about 1 a.m.

When I first read/heard about a massive weather system signalling another freaky storm, I told myself to be sure and bring in my bright little flowers as they would never survive lows in the teens.  And, I forgot.  Wah! Wah!

When I opened the front door on Easter morning, that pot of yellow begonias looked like they were wax.  Standing at perfect attention, they were straight and tall.  Exquisite, even.  But when I touched the petals, the plant was frozen solid!  I should have taken a picture then as I was bringing them into the house.  Because an hour later the blossoms were completely collapsed and hanging over the edge of the pot.  Today they look like this.  But I don't think they are going to recover, as the stems are transparent and mushy.

  

I could just kick myself!  How could I have forgotten that one small act of opening the front door to bring them in for safe-keeping.  Not a very good steward, I.

This picture is our backyard about 11 a.m. this morning.  Day two.  Early morning yesterday and today both, the sidewalks and streets were covered in snow, too.  But, after all it IS April, and the ground underneath isn't frozen, so the snow has melted off the concrete and asphalt.  Yet the snow flurries continue.  Supposedly, for another couple of days.  Yikes!  (Another trip to DIA in sub-freezing temperatures and slick roads again early tomorrow morning.)

So it is when people who are new to the area or here visiting and can't wrap their head around snow in April, we "natives" merely shrug and say...

"It's just Springtime in the Rockies!"

GOOD FRIDAY!

When I was younger, I couldn't understand why the very worst day for Jesus Christ during Easter Week was called GOOD FRIDAY.  It didn't seem to me that there was anything good about it at all.  He suffered the beginning agony of the Atonement in the Garden of Gethsemane.  He was betrayed by a friend, insulted in a mock trial, sentenced to death by crucifixion, and forced to carry his own cross to the place of execution.  He hung from this cross in unbearable pain until He himself yielded his life when his work here on earth was finished.  

However, I have come to learn, and know for myself, that Christ's atonement which began on that day was very good indeed.  A divine gift freely given to all of God's children who would embrace it and use this perfect sacrificial love to not only be forgiven of our sins and transgressions, but also to find comfort through a power which can make our grief and tribulations bearable.

Now for Good Friday, April 10, 2020, our Prophet Russel M. Nelson has invited the whole world  to join a second time together in fasting, no matter what religious denomination or faith.   “...during times of deep distress, as when illness reaches pandemic proportions, the most natural thing for us to do is to call upon our Heavenly Father and His Son—the Master Healer—to show forth Their marvelous power to bless the people of the earth.”

And he said the following last Saturday in the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,

“Let us prayerfully plead for relief from this global pandemic.

I invite all, including those not of our faith, to fast and pray on Good Friday, April 10, that the present pandemic may be controlled, caregivers protected, the economy strengthened, and life normalized.”

I, with so many others, know that the Lord will answer our prayers.  We will see miracles!

Yes!  GOOD FRIDAY indeed!

TIME ON MY HANDS....

     

                                     

TIME ON MY HANDS....  

One would think I would be quick to put that time to good use.  Oh, I've had "good intentions"  of doing so.  But to actually say I have is an over-statement.   For all the years I said if I just had some time I could get so much done, it just hasn't happened.  Time has been spread out before me like a banquet, and I haven't even bothered to do more than nibble.

At first it was just nice knowing I had only one easy trip each week for the month of April.  I truly was surprised I was even awarded a regular schedule.  In fact I got my second choice.  The way things were being presented at United, I thought for sure that I probably would get a regular schedule, but one not of my choosing.  Wrong.  And I was really amazed and happy.

My initial trip was the very first day of April's work month.  March 31st.  After that trip the schedule called for multiple days home before the next 2-day assignment.  Wow!  I haven't had a chance to  be home that much since I had cataract surgery--and then it wasn't all that great because I had limitations.  So, the first few days I just basked in doing what I wanted when I wanted--or NOT doing anything at all.  Then that got old.

I began to think I had better start some serious effort to take care of the housekeeping details that are easily overlooked, just so there is enough time that the basic minimum is taken care of.  We are talking here of cleaning cupboards and drawers, washing all the artificial plants in the house--and there are A LOT of them, laundering the bedding, vacuuming the furniture, scrubbing the tile, dusting the baseboards.  You get the picture.

And in addition to that, how about finding repair people for the caulking in the shower since that is beyond the job description of other people in the same house, an electrician to replace some blown fuses which got that way when the hand mixer started smoking before Christmas and rendered the plug on the kitchen island and all plugs on the south side of the kitchen inoperable, and an arborist to do some serious trimming and repair on the remaining trees in the backyard.

Then there is a third level of jobs that need to be addressed.  Those pertaining to organizing the pertinent information of my personal financial and online life and put them together in one place in case anyone might need to go looking for a bank account number, a life insurance policy, or the like.  Or what about the stuff I always say I would work on IF I had the time (I'm thinking all the times I said I do have things to do AFTER I retire).  That would include tossing 95% of the recipes I have collected over the years--I mean REALLY getting tough and not thinking that "Hey, this might be a good and easy dish to make."  It ain't a gonna happen.  I know that, so I need to get tough and get rid of those recipes.  Compile the rest into a doable pile from which to make a final  NICHOLS FAMILY EATS cookbook.  And then again there is always the picture box if I run out of stuff to do.  Maybe edit and self-publish a second volume of V.T. letters with LULU.  And the never-ending specter of Family History which always looms over my head. 

Okay, I knew what I had to do.  Make a "To Do List" and start knocking off those jobs one by one. ( Oh, I do love to check off items on a list!)  Or at least make a start on SOMETHING!  Only, tackling that list was harder to take care of than I thought.  Some days I  have taken a look at that elephant and said--"not today".  I have to be in the mood for some of that stuff.  Like I already know the housekeeping details that are involved with many of these jobs, and sometimes getting a singular task done is downright hard work. 

I even tried the "Faye Nix" way.  Nixes were a family we knew in the ward when we lived in Berlin.  They had five or six kids, too, but Faye said she didn't stress over housework like I did.  She put three things on her to-do list every day.  If she got them done, fine.  If not, whatever was left went to the top of the list for the next day.  I used to think it was best to get the basics done every day before stuff piled up until the whole job of housecleaning was too overwhelming.  Now here I am emulating Faye Nix.  Unsuccessfully, I might add.

What has the outcome been...?  Not very much accomplished, I'm sorry to admit.  A drawer.  Three or four singular shelves.  Wiping down the kitchen counters.  A thorough cleaning of the laundry room, including pulling out the washer and dryer and scrubbing the grungy floor underneath them.  Washing the artificial plants in three small areas.  Tackling the under-sink cupboard in my bathroom just one little bit at the time as I have literally thrown stuff under there for lack of a more dignified storage for bars of soap, make-up mistakes, and the like.  And that's about it.  Pathetic, isn't it!

Not making any promises, though, to myself or anyone else. It will all probably still be here at my life's end for my children to spend countless hours sorting through while they grit their teeth and snarl, "Why? Why? Why?" over and over. 

...QUE SERA, SERA

ALL DRESSED UP AND NO PLACE TO GO!

It was a pleasant surprise last week when I learned that the dreaded round-trip scheduled for the last segment of my four day trip was cancelled--to Palm Springs and back. Got out of school early that day!

But as the days have gone on, it's not so fun now to get ready to go on a trip and find that the schedule has been riddled with the holes caused from more and more flights cancelling.  Wednesday it was to Wichita where I was supposed to have another 32 hour layover and back Friday morning  for our round trip to Portland.  The Wichita trip disappeared early on.  The cancellation to Portland wasn't finalized until late Thursday.  So, I had basically an extra two days off this week.

One would think that with the extra time off, I would dive into at least ONE of the projects that are constantly percolating on the back burners of my life.  The picture box.  Cleaning drawers and cabinets.  House cleaning.  Getting the  outdoor pots ready to receive new seeds.  Washing bedding. Recipes organized and a booklet prepared of the ones worth saving.  Getting my passwords, etc. in order.  Putting together a second volume of the Visiting Teaching letters I have sent in the last ten years.  I have a whole list of people, like 12 of them, on my do not contact but minister-to sisters, "checking in to see how you are" kind of thing.  I cannot even content myself to do those small greetings.  And on and on and on.

Yet I find myself at loose ends.  Oh, I did straighten, and "straighten" is the operative word here, the cupboard where I literally shove wrapping paper and mailing envelopes to have them handy for my needs.  But anything else of significance?  No.  I find myself checking my United schedule repeatedly to see if I am going to fly--or not.  Then I wander around the house for a while.  Then I land in a chair and read for a while.  Then I get up and go to the computer.  But once there can't remember WHY I went there in the first place.  It has been like whipping the donkey who will not budge to get me to fix a meal.  I would rather pick.  Eat a bowl of cereal.  Blend a smoothie.  You get the picture!

I did get my schedule for April.  It was less than half of what I usually fly.  But I was prepared for that.  The CEO made an announcement a couple of weeks ago that the lines would be only 36-40 hours.  My line has four trips.  Guess I am on tap to do those. 

Other news from United is that they are offering more and more COLA (company offered leave of absence) and will not be doing any involuntary furloughs until September, at which time they will re-evaluate.  The company is also offering a permanent termination for ANYONE of any seniority who would like to leave the company.  No money.  But they are offering three months insurance and passes for travel for a certain amount of time. 

That is not appealing to me.  When I leave, I want to leave as "RETIRED".  I'm glad I came to the decision several weeks ago that I would stay on with United at least until the end of the year.  Maybe that was the smartest thing to do--change my attitude about staying, as it looks like some jobs with other companies are in jeopardy, as well.  Best that there is SOME money coming in.  Interestingly enough, once I had that attitude change, work didn't loom so foreboding anymore.

So, long story short....I keep my suitcase packed and the rest of my stuff handy just in case there will be...

...SOMEPLACE TO GO AFTER I GET ALL DRESSED UP!

SECOND CHANCES

Have you ever been out and about doing your errands or walking or running—or doing anything—and have an encounter with someone, but instead of greeting them or starting up a conversation or saying something friendly you treat them “Swedish”?

Let me explain what I mean. 

When we lived in Sweden years ago, it was disheartening to pass someone while walking down the street or standing in line at the grocery store or waiting for a bus and the person next to me would drop their eyes, look the other direction, and act like I wasn’t even there. I thought it was because I was an American.

Our next-door neighbor Bigitta told me one day not to think anything of it.  That’s just how Swedish people are out in public.  In fact, she said, that where she came from around Stockholm that the people there were even MORE dour and unfriendly, if you could believe it.  (We lived in the southern part of Sweden across from Copenhagen.)

So, when I find myself face to face with someone, and I don’t even nod a greeting or I’m in a conversation with someone and don’t act on an impulse to say a certain thing that pops into my head, l invariably think later, “I shouldn’t have been “Swedish”.  I could have at least said ‘such and such’”.  Then I get after myself and remorsefully wish I had a chance at that encounter all over again so I could act differently.  What would it hurt to be the first one to look the person in the eye and say, “Hello!”  Or share a conviction I have from a personal experience.  Nothing!

Well, that happened today while I was delivering notes to the dozen women on my “ministering letter list”.  The first six were in my neighborhood so I walked while I delivered them.  The rest were across Highway 60, and I drove to their houses. 

I was in the very off-beaten area just south of County Road 44 that I think was supposed to be exclusive to the rest of Johnstown.  But the neighborhood didn’t develop that way after the initial beginning over 25 years ago.  Except for a few really nice houses on larger lots, the rest are a hodge-podge of single homes in a variety of styles surrounded by broken fences and rusted-out cars.  There are a few with horse sheds and the requisite one or two horses in a corral to fill them. But there is no order to any of it.  I’m always glad when this delivery is over during the times I take things to my sisters.

Today I arrived at my destination and found an AMAZON Prime delivery truck blocking the driveway.  Instead of waiting for it to leave so I could drive into the yard where the house is, I decided to get out of the car and walk.  In doing so, I came face to face with the delivery man—and said NOTHING!  He got into his truck and left.  I left my note on Chrisanne’s door and walked back to my car, all the while berating myself for not even saying hello as the guy and I nearly brushed shoulders. 

I kept saying to myself, “Why, why, why?  It would have been so easy to just open your mouth.” 

As I was driving down the winding lane to access the main road out of Northmoor, I suddenly saw the AMAZON Prime van just a few blocks ahead turn right into another cul-de-sac of houses.  I followed him and stopped out in the street.  After he had extracted the big box he was about to deliver and came around the back of the van to walk up the driveway, I called out.

“Just because we are social distancing, I didn’t mean to be rude!  The least I could have done was say, “Hello!”  His face broke out into a big smile.  “Thank you! And “hello” to you, too.  Have a good day.” 

That’s all it took.  It was as simple as that.  I had been granted another opportunity to connect.  My whole outlook changed, and the afternoon was sunny once again.

Most often, because of my shyness or my thinking that the other person doesn’t care anyway, those opportunities are there and gone with no reprieve, .

Yet I have believed for years that there is a great deal of orchestration that goes on behind the scenes.  I also believe that my job is to be in tune so I can act on the promptings I receive.  But I don’t always come through on my end.

So, thank you, Lord, for giving me that second chance today…. 

A PRISONER....OF SORTS

A SOB STORY....

I was pleased to be assigned one of my first choices, which included three four-day trips, for a schedule this month. But I told myself those trips were palatable because the first trip had only one leg to Portland the first day, arriving at 9:30 a.m. and not departing until the next morning at 4:30 a.m.  Ouch!  That one was going to hurt.  Compensation, though, was that I would be able to see my younger daughter and spend the whole day with her family.  

Plus, the next night there was a layover in McAllen, Texas, which is an elusive place to me.  (Every time it has been in my schedule something has happened, and I have NEVER been able to get there.)  Then the next day to Calgary from Houston, arriving about noon with the whole half day stretching out before me.  ( I do like Calgary layovers.) 

The part of that four-day trip I tried to ignore was the last day after we returned to Denver from Calgary.  We were expected to do a round trip to Palm Springs for our "victory lap", that painful several hours after a three plus hour sit at DIA at the end of an already LOOONG assignment.  

THAT was the scheduled trip...

Didn't happen that way.  I had a terrific  30 hour layover in Toronto as my first trip in February, so I needed my soon-to-expire passport to get me through the border.  Went right to the post office to renew said passport as soon as I could the very next day after coming home from Toronto.  Did I want to pay the extra $65 for expedited service?  No.  I was under the impression United would only pay the $110 passport renewal fee.  I was feeling pecunious and didn't want to spend the money.  And since I hadn't been awarded my March schedule yet, I put "NO" in the box on the application for renewal which asked if I had plans to travel.  

THEN I got my schedule.  On top of that first trip I just described, I also had a 32 hour layover in Calgary starting on St. Patrick's Day.  Oh, I needed that passport!  I checked the mail every day.  Nothing.  I finally had to go to the Crew Desk and admit I didn't have a passport.  What were they going to do to me?  THAT scenario was definitely a "no-no"!  The crew scheduler suggested I try to advertise the guts of my first trip on the trade board so I could still go to Portland.  Maybe someone would pick up the two days between my return to Denver after Portland...and I could do the turn to Tampa on the last day.  

And someone did pick up the trip!  But there were complications there, too.  The flight attendant is based in San Francisco but lives in Denver.  Picking up that trip would give her three days of hours and allow her time to take her dad to the doctor when SHE got back from Calgary on the last day.  She wouldn't have to commute to San Fran to work.  Just go to DIA.  Then I would take over for the rest of the trip.  Except, instead of 15 hours for the three days, she only got flight time which was about 12.5 hours.  AND...she couldn't pick it up until 14 hours BEFORE the trip began on the first day.  By the time all that was hashed out, she wasn't so sure she even wanted the trip.  Just when I thought MY idea of things was in reach.

WHEW!   Lots of complications....  But it all turned out at the last minute.  I did the Portland part and had a great visit with Britty and family then went home for two days. I did the Tampa turn at the end of the week.  Notice I again missed going to McAllen, Texas!  (I'll NEVER get there!  Not for anything special, but just to say I have been.)

Okay.  I was lucky enough for that first trip to work out.  But I still desperately needed my passport.  Didn't have a clue what to do about it.  DUH!  Go online!  So I did, and after reaching a live person at the STATE DEPARTMENT following only a five-minute wait time on a Monday morning, I paid $77 and the clerk jury-rigged my departure date to March 16th and told me to call back in two days to check the status of my passport.  

I got up on Wednesday ready to call the State Department again.  However, before I could do that, the doorbell rang and I saw the UPS man had left an envelope with my new AND old passport under the rug on the front porch.  With a week to spare before I needed the passport.  I was so happy that stress was over!  I began looking forward to that 32 hour layover in Calgary.

But it turned out to be more like a 32 hour prison sentence instead of the great layover I was looking forward to.  

I have always liked my Calgary layovers.  Louis has gone with me a few times.  We have driven down to the Cardston Alberta  Temple to attend a session.  That was the time he bought me a beautiful figure of Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus fleeing into Egypt.  It was a really special birthday gift, and I love the memories attached to it when I display it.

After the Calgary Temple opened, Louis went with me again where we went to a session in the new temple.  That temple definitely reflects the look and feel of Canada.  The mural is filled with big forest animals in the Canadian wilderness, .ak.a. elk and moose.  Plus the wood is dark throughout the temple.  That time we went to the zoo and the Calgary Stampede, though there was no rodeo going on at the time.  Other times Louis has taken me to thrift stores and surprise shops, places where I have found lovely one-of-a kind items for my Nativity collection. 

With previous experiences like that, I was hyped and looking forward to a pleasant time off from work in Calgary.  But...it didn't turn out that way.  

We started out going to Orlando, up to Chicago, then to Philadelphia and Houston.  But just before we were supposed to go to Calgary we got word that the Canadian border was closed to all but flight crews and trucks bringing in supplies.  In other words, as part of a flight crew, I would not have to stay for the 14 day self-quarantine. That sounded better. I was relieved.  We were still going.

When we finally got to Calgary, though, to make it more challenging, there were no restaurants open.  None of the stores and places to visit were open.  The coffee makers in the rooms were gone to protect from cross contamination.  So, I couldn't make hot water for soup or mashed potatoes or hot chocolate like I usually do in my hotel room.  It was 13 degrees and snowing.  Stupid me, it was March and the weather had been pretty good, so I didn't have my warm clothes to wear outside.  We couldn't connect to the WiFi.  On and on into limbo....

Then the hotel clerk told me there was a 7/11 open across the street and down the block.  Okay!  All is right with the world!  Shivering in the frosty air and dusted with snowflakes, I slid my way to that corner store where I bought a Big Gulp, a candy bar, two bags of potato chips, and a pastry which I consumed while I did a lot of screen time reading and watched a couple of things available in Canada .  Basically I ate my weight in junk food.  Ugh!

The only bright spot was the notice we received in Calgary that the last part of our trip to Palm Springs and back to Denver the next day had been cancelled because of California's lock-down.   I didn't even mind when it was time to get up at 2:30 a.m. on Friday and get ready to fly back to Denver.  Just let us get the heck out of there! 

The Calgary airport was a ghost town.  We were the only people besides the Border Patrol workers that were around.  We sailed right through customs which made it a memorable first!  I asked the agent to stamp my new passport to "christen" it, since they don't stamp passports anymore.  He obligingly agreed.

Generally, the time I spent in Calgary this time was pretty much  like I was in prison.  Kind of a swanky prison at a Westin Hotel, but I have lots to learn about filling dead hours with meaningful activities instead of resorting to a hand-held and junk food!  How lame is that!

Oh, COVID-19, what have you done to the world?!

ON A ROLL....

Had a 6 pm check in at DIA the other day.  That's not the best time of the day to be driving down      I-25, so I decided to leave a little early.  Sure enough, there was a delay somewhere after the Longmont exit, but the "parking lot" that had ensued after an accident on the NORTHBOUND lanes (those Rubber-neckers who slow down to check it out)made the delay only about 20 minutes.  So, I arrived at the domicile before my show-time with over half an hour to spare.  I decided to check out the "news", a screen that runs a continuous loop of flight attendant anniversaries and other recognitions--like MY Top Flight Award which I wrote about last month.

I stood there for several minutes and still didn't see the group picture of me and my crew and all the supervisors who had come to the gate on Valentine's Day to present me with the Top Flight Award for the quarter.  Glancing at the clock on the wall, I saw that I could stand there for another few minutes and see if  it happened to be in THAT batch of United News in Denver.  Right then Blake, the supervisor who actually presented me the award last month asked me what I was doing.  "Checking out the news."  Didn't exactly want to say out loud that I was looking for a visual of my claim to fame.

At the same time, Erin Holland who is my personal supervisor came up and told me she had something for me.  Did I have time?  "Sure," always have time for "something for me..."  Then she presented me with an identical blue United gift bag with the same blue and yellow, and white tissue paper, the same trappings as the last surprise was duded up .

"Congratulations!"  they said.  I was confused,to say the least.  I had just looked at the Base Supervisor's monthly report when I was on the bus.  I was listed as having received an award, but instead of the Top Flight award, the copy on the article said I had received the UNITED 100 Award, and had been selected as the top winner from Denver for all of 2019.  I was invited to the presentation dinner to be sometime in April and was welcome to bring a guest with me for the festivities--husband or someone else.  AND, my name would be painted along with the others' names on the outside of a specially painted aircraft.  (Don't know that I've ever even seen one of these planes. And what do they look like?) 

Then Blake said, "Your husband is REALLY going to be proud of you now.!"

But what about the other award?  "Oh, you got that, too!"  I was still confused, as NO WHERE does any list or buzz feed or anything say I got the Top Flight Award.  My picture isn't with that group, and my name isn't even listed.

Oh, well.  One award or two.  Doesn't matter anyway because all "Thank You!"  celebrations in Chicago have been CANCELLED.  Not POSTPONED...CANCELLED!  What are the odds of that?  Been at United 20 years.  In all that time I've received a couple of notices from passengers that I did something special.  Not NOTEWORTHY, but special enough to put pen to paper.  But the ONE time I actually shine--well, no one is going to know. How's THAT for humility!

The award is kind of cool, though.  It's one of those laser engraved ones.  I put it on a black background to better see the inscription.

Actually the skies have been kind of friendly lately, what with these two recognitions.  Some flight attendants might not have received something like this at all.  My outlook about having to stick around for another year is slowly improving

Sooooo, I am kind of thinking of this event as a "Rhapsody in Blue" instead of a two-fingered "Chopsticks".  HAHAH!

Play on....