Smoke Signals and other news
Drip, drip, drip is normally an irritating and often expensive sound. Maybe you only need a washer or maybe you need a plumber; however, the sound was a welcome one this week letting me know my pipes were not frozen. Mine dripped from late Tuesday until sometime Friday. My house is well insulated and in recent years there haven’t been any issues with frozen pipes, but the cost to let the water drip in this weather was well worth the extra precaution to make sure nothing froze. Last winter during the truly cold weather, the well itself froze which was not a fun experience. Over the summer, I replaced the very old, and filled with holes, well cover. This seem to be the correct choice as it did not freeze during these frigid temperatures.
On Tuesday one of the stray cats that has adopted me disappeared. She has food, shelter, and water on my porch and rarely misses a chance to use any of these. She is allowed inside if she chooses, but normally prefers outside unless it is bitterly cold. I was prepared to let her stay inside this week. One of the men who work for me on occasion checked the sheds and garage as they had been opened. No kitty. On occasion, I could hear a meow and would go to the door but no kitty. On Saturday, I figured out this sound was coming from under the house. I opened the crawl space doors, called to her repeatedly, but finally just left them open. When I saw her on my cameras at the food dish on the porch, I went and closed the doors. Sunday morning, she is back under the house and again the crawl space doors are open. She must have slipped in one door while I was closing the other one. I am waiting for her to emerge again.
After the snow fell on Tuesday night, the little dog took a look out and decided a trip outside wasn’t necessary. Each time he went to the door he seemed to think it would have gone away, but that wasn’t going to be the case for a few days. He did finally go out but did not stay out long on any of his trips. I didn’t leave my house after Tuesday night until Friday when I knew I had to go to work for a few hours. I am grateful that most of my work can be done sitting in my recliner.
I worked on articles for the upcoming Profile Edition of the South Reporter. Finally, those are done. As always, I learned many things about each person I interviewed. I thought of several other people I would have liked to interview, but there are only so many hours in the day and, except for the week, I was so very ill, I tried to complete at least one article per week. Although I have completed many writing courses in high school, college, and courses required throughout my career, never did I foresee writing for a newspaper. My mother would have been delighted as she constantly wanted me to send in some writeup about one of her grandchildren. Make sure you put that in the paper, was one of her favorite quotes.
So far, I am tolerating the medication though I do seem to have more pains throughout my body. It’s hard to know if they are normal pains that come with age, the medication, or the weather. Itching has been my constant companion – is it the medication or the two foods I ate Monday night knowing I was allergic to them? Will power is not always my best strength.
Registration continues for baseball, softball, and t-ball throughout the county although it is closing soon. It will be warm again and kids will be practicing new skills and making new friends. The game teaches so much more than the rules of the game. There is teamwork, dependability, discipline, citizenship, and respect. Consider signing your child up to play.
I would love to report your news. Call or text me at 901 246-8843, message me on Facebook at Clair Wagg, or email me at jchwagg@gmail.com.