November 14, 2022. Madison, Mississippi. Christmas Lights.

Ken loved to put out the outside Christmas lights.  Every year in after Christmas sales, Ken would buy more outside Christmas lights.  He hung so many light that the house was a bit garish.  But we did not mind.  Ken was so proud of his handiwork that we all cheered him on.  He even decorated the farm with outside lights that our neighbors loved.  People came from far and wide to see the farm decorations.

But when we moved to Mississippi, Ken had Parkinson's Disease and installing the outside lights was dangerous, so we stopped doing them.  This made Ken especially sad and mad.  The second year we were here, Bradley , looked after our exterior lights which were a mess.  No lights worked although there were fixtures and cords running everywhere.  But Bradley got it all together and we were happy with the exterior lighting.

Then I casually asked him if he ever installed Christmas lights.  He just laughed and told me that he has a separate company just to install Christmas lights.  So we hired him.  And Ken was happy.

Today, Bradley installed my Christmas lights.  He uses his lights.  Installs them.  And then takes them down to store until next year.  No fuss nor muss.   I also do the same for Christmas lights for Christina and Suzanne, but of course a different company in San Antonio.  The lights are lovely.  And I am happy.

Novermer 13, 2022. Madison, Mississippi. Allergies.

 Tomorrow morning, the ac and heating man is coming to measure my ducks.  On Friday morning, Irene wondered if there is something in the house causing me trouble.  Interesting enough, in the middle of the night, I wondered the same.  The only thing we could figure out to do was to vacuum out all the air ducks. So I will figure out if it is affordable.  If I agree with his price, he will complete the work this week.

We have lived here since April 2015 and we have never had the ducks cleaned out.  I feel sure that the former  owner never did it either.  So we will see if it helps.  I am not prone to allergies and I keep the ac and heat running all the time.  There is no criteria in the attic.  The exterminator was here two weeks ago and all was well.  So we will see if cleaning out the ducks will help.  I hope so.

November 12, 2022. Madison, Mississippi. Mississippi.

I never dreamed that I would ever live in Mississippi.  But I like it here.

I like my house, which overlooks the reservoir.  And the house is not grand but I have everything I need on the main level.  Downstairs I have a guest room with a full bath, Ken's office with another full bath.  Ken also enjoyed the solarian overlooking the water where he could watch and hear the fishermen.  There is also a small television room plus a furnace room.  I never venture down.  It makes me feel sad.

I also like the neighborhood which is quiet and safe.  My across the street neighbor is wonderful and helps me in many ways.

The people who live in Mississippi are gracious and friendly.  And literate.  You can discuss books with anyone.  Musicians, writers and artists are everywhere.  And I have enough good friends to keep me happy. From my standpoint, I see no racial tensions.  So I also like the people in Mississippi.

I can not attend right now, but there is a theater, a symphony, and two ballet schools who put on shows.  And touring musicals come to town too.  So there is plenty to do if you live here.

I am surprised that I like living in Mississippi.  Of course, I am never here in the summer or winter.  At some point, when I can no longer gallivant around, I will be living in Mississippi full time.  Then perhaps I will not enjoy the weather.  But at the moment, all is well with me and Mississippi. 

November 11, 2022. Madison, Mississippi. The Weather.

All this week we have had warm weather.  The furnace has not run for 10 days.  But in the middle of the night, the furnace came on in the bedroom.  I knew the weather was about to change.  Today we had a high of 75.  But in the middle of the night, it was 50.  Now it is raining pretty hard so I knew a front was coming.

All week, we will have chilly weather.  During the night, it will be 35 and tomorrow it will be 59.  And the forecast gets cooler.  During the night on Sunday it will be 29.  During the day it will be 53.  It will be the same all week.  Night temperature in the low 30s and day time not over 50.  So it will be time to get out warmer clothes.

Mississippi natives love these cold spells.  And they are disappointed if the temperature begins to get back to the 70s.  But it looks as if the cool weather will last 10 days or so.  My friends will be happy.  And we certainly are pleased with the rain.  The barges are still having difficulty getting up and down the Mississippi, especially with a full cargo of goods.    We should get rain all night.  And next Thursday, the forecast is for more rain.  It seems just like the Texas churches who all have signs Pray For Rain.  The churches in Mississippi need to do the same.   In the meantime, we will all enjoy our cool weather.

November 10, 2022. Madison, Mississippi. Coughing.

 I have never understood coughing.  For instance, when a person coughs, they take drink of water.  And it seems to help the coughing, even though the cough comes from the lungs up a tube and the water goes into a separate tube into the stomach.  Even Ken had no idea why it worked.  There are a lot of things about coughing that I do not understand.

Ken had a life long cough.  I always knew where Ken was in the house because I could hear him cough.  Sometimes he would go to bed and go to sleep.  Other times, when he went to bed, he could not stop coughing.  Great hacking cough which did not stop.  So Ken was required to get up, walk around, drink water, read, then try again to go to bed.  I asked him once if he could tell ahead when the coughing would begin.  And he said no.  He had no clue but it was certainly difficult for him.

After a cold or flu, I have always been left with a cough.  This has happened all my life.  Sometimes the coughing lasted for weeks.  Several times over the years, Ken has admonished me to just stop coughing.  My lungs were clear as was my head, yet I kept coughing.  He suggested that I had just gotten into the habit and urged me to control my coughing.  I was actually able to control the coughing  for a period of time.  Then I would begin coughing again.

Ken told me a trick to stop coughing.  He would take very deep breaths and let them go.  And repeat it.  Keep repeating it.  Much to my surprise, sometimes it works.  He had no idea how it works but he often used the technique when he was in a situation when coughing was difficult. Recently,  I have been using this drill.  But so far I am still coughing.

November 9, 2022. Madison, Mississippi. Social Life.

Ken and I always kept up an active social life.  We entertained and we were in turn entertained.  And we always attended plates and concerts.  But as we got old, our social life decreased.  We still entertained a lot in Nova Scotia but not much anywhere else.  But since my immune system  became low, we stopped attending big parties.  We still had friends for dinner but never with big groups.  And we attended dinner parties at friends homes when we knew who would be coming.  

Since I am alone, my social life is limited to lunch with friends, which I enjoy.  I do not have many friends in Mississippi, but I have good friends and they keep my amused and happy.  But  since I have been coughing, my social life has come to a screeching halt.  Since the past 10 days, I have been cancelling events.  Just today, friend Lisa was coming for coffee at my house but last evening I cancelled.  I was just not up to company.  I am still taking two naps a day.  Christina has urged me to take more rest inorder to get better.  Portia says the same.   But so far it has not worked.

So my paltry social life in Mississippi has been reduced to zero.  And of course, my walking program is non existent.  I just walk to get around the house.  But I am counting on a better week.  Cancelling a date is not my favorite activity.

November 8, 2022. Madison, Mississippi. Election Day.

Watching the results from an election is similar to watching a football game.  If your team is winning, you continue watching, at least according to friend Carolyn.  Some years Ken and I have watched the results late in the evening and other years we paid no attention.  I have no idea why we were interested and other years we paid no attention.  But it had nothing to do with who we thought would win.  But this year is different.  I live by myself.  And I was hearing that the Republican wave was coming.  So I watched all evening.  And it is not over yet.

The Republicans will take over the House but control of the Senate is still in doubt.  It might take days for all the ballots are counted.  So at the moment, there is no Republican red wave overtaking the Democrats.  Florida was a big win for both the Governor and Senator but many races that the pundits would counting a win for the Republicans ended up going to the Democrats.  It appears that many Republicans will be sad.

The whole process of elections I find fascinating.  When you lose the governors race, you must move out of the governors mansion and turn it over to the next person.  No fuss or muss.  Then when a person wins a Senate seat for the first time, the winning candidate must move to Washington, DC which is never easy.  I love the whole routine.  But it must feel terrible when you lose the election.  You have spent a year working to get elected.  And the voters say no.  What then?  But that is democracy in action.  And it is impressive.