Sophie's Story

      Last week I harvested carrots from our garden. I filled two gallon sized bags with carrots and there are more carrots to harvest. One of the things I did was make carrot cake. I always wanted to make carrot cake with carrots I grew myself. I only needed to use one carrot. Maybe I'm a little biased, but it might have been the best carrot cake I've ever made. I may make more and freeze it. We've also been having stir fry about once a week. It's another good way to use carrots.      C and I went to a movie on Monday, The last time this happened was when we went to see the movie 'The Post' in 2017. I get motion sick in movie theatres so I have to take medicine if I want to see a movie. I wanted to see the movie 'Conclave'.       I forgot how nice theatres are now. The seats are armchairs where you can put your feet up. There's a place to put a cup of soda. The seats are far enough apart that you don't have to share an armrest with anyone. I was

     I wasn't planning on writing about the election but after waking up to find that Harris lost, I decided I can't keep my mouth shut. If you want to disown me, unfriend me or stop receiving links to this column, fine with me. Let me know and I'll take you off my list.    I went to bed last night hoping that some miracle would happen and we would have our first woman president. The miracle didn't happen. Instead the "Republican" won. It is deeply upsetting, hurtful and frightening. I'd like to explain why to you.    My father-in-law, and two great uncles fought in World War II. All of them were overseas. My father- in-law landed at Normandy on Omaha beach. He watched his buddies die in the water. That experience and others left him a changed man. He didn't do it because he had nothing else to do. He had a wife and daughter at home. He enlisted because he believed in America and didn't want fascism spreading to this country. If he were alive today

     We've been spending the past few days getting caught up on things. Yesterday the weather was good and we decided to take a day trip to Red Wing. We were thinking about bringing our bikes but decided not to because of the wind.     It was a nice trip down although we did get into a bit of discussion over the radio. We have Sirius radio in the car and C likes to listen to MSNBC. I on the other hand would prefer music of no radio at all. There is a lot of talk about the upcoming election and frankly I get anxious when I listen to too much of it. Since we had agreed to have a relaxing day C turned the radio off.    Since we got a late start, we had lunch first. I got a jalapeno dip burger with tater tots. C got a California burger. The restaurant was really short staffed. It took a while to get our food. It was warm but not  hot. They did have tater tots which was something of a miracle. They are listed on the menu but when I order them I get told they are out of them. We ate, pai

      Several months ago one of the customer service managers brought something into the pharmacy to show one of the techs. It was a small plastic bag with a crocheted turtle and a note. After a short discussion, the CS manager left the bag. I went over to the counter to look at it. The note inside said keep going and don't give up. I wanted the turtle so I picked up the bag and brought it to my work station. When I changed work stations, I picked up the bag and brought it with me. Then I put it in my pocket.  I felt a little like the character Gollum in the Lord of the Ring books (but without the evil side). I didn't want anyone to take the turtle.     On my lunch break I took a good look at the turtle. He has a green shell with brown legs and face that had eyes glued onto it.  The note said the he was crocheted by one of the members of the Random Acts of Crocheted Kindness Facebook group. They crochet small items like keychains, wiggle worms and seasonal type items and leave

     We are about halfway through our trip and so far it is going very well. I've been able to spend a good amount of time in the hot tub in the pool area soaking away cramped muscles. C likes talking to other couples that are also soaking in the hot tub. It's fun for me to watch hi make new friends like he does.    Yesterday we visited a couple that are part of the amateur music scene here in Door County. They moved up to Sturgeon Bay a few years ago. We only intended to visit a couple hours and spend the rest of the time exploring parts of Sturgeon Bay. Instead we wound up eating a long lunch with them at the restaurant below their condo. We had never met, but is was interesting that we had several things in common. We just couldn't stop talking. When lunch was over we had an hour and a half before our dinner reservation.    Our dinner was at the dining room of a popular resort on the shore of Lake Michigan. It's a warm, cozy room. They put mocktails on their drink me

         It's that time of year again. Time for us to pack up the the car and head east to Door County. C looks forward to this all year and is always anxious when it  is time to go. He likes to leave early so we can get up there as soon as we can.     We have been doing this for 20 years. Our first trips were Monday through Friday only so I wouldn't miss too much work.. Eventually we stayed a week in Door County and one day in Green Bay. We had our trips cut short twice. Once because I messed up our reservations and once when C was asked to help at a baptism. (I was upset about the last one for a long time,)     When we first came here I was working full time this was the only vacation I got. I badly needed this week of rest in order to keep going at work. C and I both worked full time so we got to spend a lot of needed time together. One year we came here less than a month after a  friend of mine died in a car wreck and six months after my mother disowned me. I was in need of