HALLOWEEN

As darkness settled in, the nightly breeze rocked the tree branches allowing the street lights to shine down their beams in a dancing pattern on the street and lawns.  The sounds of rustling leaves break the silence of the evening.

The sliver of a moon rose among the clouds of the night sky which moved so gently exposing the sparkling stars that would disappear again as if playing a game of hide and seek.

The sounds of a hoot owl mingled with the barking of dogs in the distance and the screech of fighting cats could be heard above the din.  The shadows mingled throughout leaving to the imagination as to what lay ahead or behind.

And on this night of the year, the tales of horror run rampant as ghosts and goblins move about.  Witches with their boiling cauldrons surrounded by the black cats with their gleaming green eyes piercing the darkness.  The shadows produced ghostly apparitions that floated over and around as if searching for a soul to overtake.

The apparitions and goblins along with the screeching cats and dogs disappeared into the night as voices began to fill the air with laughter and children in costume with faces hidden behind masks run from house to house calling out, TRICK OR TREAT!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

A Time For Change

Not much difference in my fictional book than what is happening in my real life story.  I've been wrestling with a decision for almost two years and I guess it is time for change.

I have fought it and argued with every possible argument but I'm losing ground and now it is time for action.  During the next few months I will be going through all my treasures and belongings eliminating those that are absolutely unnecessary and keeping those that I either can't part with or am not willing to give up just yet.  It will be a life altering experience downsizing but at the same time maybe I need to eliminate some of the "collections" I have accumulated that serve no purpose, except to give me pleasure.

I won't have to give up everything but I will admit that I am a collector, primarily of holiday decorations as well as object collections.  I have boxes and tubs of decorations for just about every holiday that comes along but once I leave this house, I know I will be in a smaller place and one that will belong to someone else so I may not be able to put out all the decorations that I do now.  I'm sure I will be able to put up a wreath on the door or maybe a small item on the porch but the days of stringing lights along the house and fence and setting up displays in the yard will be gone.

Christmas will be the hardest and I will keep some of it but the majority will have to go and I can only hope it goes to someone who will enjoy it as much as I have.

When Harold and I retired here, we had sold off a lot of our excess things but still this was our home and large enough for us to live comfortably and have the family visit and I was able to decorate so I replaced or bought new items.  But now he is gone and I'm here in a large house that has more empty rooms than full ones, a large yard that requires more work than I'm capable of keeping up with plus not to mention all the little repairs that need to be done.

I said at the time that I wanted to stay here until I had to be carried out to a care home or in a pine box but I thought he was invincible and would always be with me.  But that changed over three years ago and I've been on my own struggling to just keep up.  It takes me twice as long to mow and trim up the yard and once I get behind, there is no catching up.  The house, as I said, needs some minor repairs and recently I've had some problems with appliances.

Living on a limited income just doesn't cover the extra expenses.  I had to have a tree cut down, an unexpected expense and when I consider the extra costs of home ownership, I can see it is coming to an end for me.

I have a choice of trying to get into an apartment which I really don't think I would be happy as I've had my own home and most of the time in a rural area or one with a large lot so I have plenty of outdoor space or I can move into a trailer park where my daughter Michele lives.  It is in town but on the edge of town so I'd have the feeling of being in a rural setting and still have some privacy.  It is a quiet park with families and older residents and I would have a little more room.  I'm leaning that way.  I wouldn't have any yard work and if something breaks down or needs fixing, I would call the landlord.

So I guess this is my time for change and this time I am going to have to see it through to the end.  The decision has been made and there is no going back.  The house will be put on the market in the spring when people are looking for a lake home or retreat and hopefully will sell quickly and I can get resettled and on with my new life.  It is a sad decision and I am having mixed feelings already but it is one of necessity and so as I promised Harold, I will be strong and I will survive.

Training an Old Dog New Tricks??

That is probably what my grandson is thinking.  I had to get a new computer as my old trusty 8 year old HP finally gave up.  So this past weekend, my grandson, Zach, brought down the new one after he had made some adjustments to it and upgraded it for me.  It isn't brand new but almost and should last a while (I hope).  Anyway we all gathered for a birthday celebration as well and Zach hooked up the new computer and there were some updates and installations that needed to be done and then it was time to show me how to work it.

Now, I'm no genius when it comes to computers but I have learned a few things but they just keep changing things and making it tougher each time.

I can remember the first one we ever bought, a Commodore 64 in the 80's.  I did learn how to use it after I finally agreed to it.  I was really against a computer but I learned to do some simple programming and then when I got a job that had a computer, I had to learn more but I was fortunate that I worked for a company that did programming for businesses and they allowed me to explore the computer but also showed me so many things.  The computer that I was using was a HP 386.  I taught myself how to use Word Perfect, Lotus 123 and Quicken on that computer.  For one thing I had to use the Word Perfect in place of a typewriter and the Lotus spreadsheet was for record keeping while the Quicken was our banking business.  I called the time I worked there my computer training as I learned a lot but I realized later that there was even more to learn.

I can remember when we upgraded our Commodore to a 386 and then later to the Windows 98.  I was using that at my current employer and not only did it have all the things I knew but it also had a special program built in that I had to learn how to use as it was designed for the business.

I felt I was confident to use the computer for small business and fairly quick to learn new programs but then I began to get older.  We had to retire the Windows 98 in 2005 shortly after we retired because it had reached its limit and I say it was just plain tired.  I had used it extensively with our farm records and banking records and reports that we gave to the accountant each year to do our taxes.

In 2005 we bought another HP with XP on it and I was in love.  I had already used the old computer to write three books on and with this new one, I was ready to tackle more and soon had written the fourth and then on to the fifth and sixth and seventh plus numerous short stories.  It was a work horse and went for hours at a time when I was in the writing mood.  I didn't really have to keep any business records since we were retired.  However my husband got his own computer and after some tutoring he learned how to use it to keep records for his little retirement business.

And to be honest, I had heard about the "new" computers and how different the operating systems were from the "simple" ones I was used too.  I prayed each day for my HP to keep on working even though it was getting slower but then I'm older and I'm slower too so I put up with it.  But then two weeks ago, it decided it had enough and just quit on me.  I had no choice but to replace it.

So here I am with a new computer and a new operating system, Windows 7, and everything is greek to me.  Zach showed me a few things and I know the basics so have been able to do a few things but there are other things that have me completely bamboozled.

Luckily I have a wonderful grandson who has been patient and will be coming back down soon to help me transfer from files from the old hard drive over to this new one and maybe he will be able to train me on how to do some of the new fangled things that are on here now.

I've been spoiled by having programs available that help me through things and this time I don't have those easy to do programs so even though it will still do the same thing, I just have to learn how to go about it differently.  And I might be a little impatient as I want to do a few things but can't until I have been taught the new way of doing it.  

I guess you can train an old dog, but it might just take longer and bless his heart for putting up with me and my dumb questions.  Love you Zach.