My dad was an outstanding mechanic. His gifts to me when I left for college were a flathead and a phillips screwdriver, a hammer, a pliers, and a 6-inch adjustable wrench. Unusual gifts for a college woman, to say the least.* I must have exhibited enough interest in helping Dad with little jobs and watching him work that he realized I’d want to keep my things in working order after I left home. I quickly discovered that those tools were some of the most useful things I brought to college, and I still have them. (Dad didn’t buy low-quality tools.)

Word got around, and my dormmates often came to me, asking to borrow one tool or another. The same thing happened when I worked in an office. Loose drawer handle? Picture to hang? My staff knew I had some tools, and they knew it was faster and easier to borrow my tools than to put in a maintenance order.

Ted has tools stored on the shelf below the workbench in our basement workroom as well as in some of the cabinets in that room. He’s less adept–but stronger–with tools than I am (his dad was not a mechanic), so I often say that I’ve bought him all the tools I need. All of Ted’s tools are useful, but many aren’t used very often. For those little fixer-up jobs that need attention, I keep a toolbox (actually, a plastic shoebox) handy in our laundry room so that I don’t have to go to the basement to get a hammer or a screwdriver for a two-minute job. My toolbox/shoebox is stocked with “essential” tools for little jobs. It has small, medium, and large flathead and phillips screwdrivers; a hammer; a level; a 4-inch and a 6-inch adjustable wrench; a 12-inch ruler and a pencil; a 25-foot steel tape measure; two sets of allen wrenches (metric and English); etc.

My toolbox/shoebox was getting pretty full, and it shouldn’t be (see “essential”), so I dumped it out one day to sort out my essential tools and those that could be stored with Ted’s for occasional use. During the sorting process, I discovered a second hammer that I don’t remember having. The hammer is small–only about 8.5 inches long.

But, . . . it comes apart and provides 2 flathead and 2 phillips screwdrivers as well. It’s a semi-essential tool kit in one unit. Nifty!

I can’t believe I didn’t remember that I had something this useful. Sometimes, you don’t know what you have until you find it!

* Dad was not a demonstrative man (huge understatement). On the day Mom drove me to college, Dad said, “I love you,” with the tools and with the words “Don’t get involved in any of those ‘Students for Lincoln’ or whatever clubs.” Translation: Those were the days of large, sometimes violent, student protests against Dow Chemical Company–the maker of agent orange–and against the Vietnam War. Members of the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) were the most violent protesters. UC Berkeley and UW Madison were among the most active and vocal protesting colleges in the nation with large SDS memberships. Dad was worried that I’d be hurt in a demonstration and/or be put in jail like so many of the protesters.

Jeff was playing with an AI app one day and decided to make his dream of being in a band come true. He actually played the drum for a short while in elementary school. Look how far he’s come.

If his dreams can come true, I asked him to fulfill my dream of becoming a super model. He did it.

When I was a child (elementary school) growing up in Wisconsin, my friends and I often went ice skating or sled riding at night. One night, while we were sledding, I remember seeing the Northern Lights in the sky. I watched them for a little while, then went back to sledding with my friends. It was pretty, but I didn’t realize at the time what a remarkable event I had just witnessed.

The last time the Northern Lights were visible in this area was May 2024, but Ted and I were not able to see them. Thanks to a major sun storm this week, the Northern Lights were visible again as far south as Missouri. This time, we joined a crowd at a nearby park and saw a beautiful light show.

After leaving the park, we drove to the top of a hill in our subdivision and we could see the Northern Lights from there as well. Surprisingly (to us), no one in the neighborhood was outside looking at them.

On one of his weather-related websites, Ted found these pictures of rare white Northern Lights that were seen in Alaska during this solar event. Beautiful!

Jeff and La came from their Montana home for a visit at our Missouri home and–no surprise–we had a great time together. The weather was nice, so a bike ride was on the menu.

Because I know that La likes puzzles, I showed her the puzzle Kathy gave me for Christmas last year. It has the most unusual pieces I’ve ever seen. There are letter-shaped pieces (LOVE) and pieces shaped like hearts, bunnies, flowers, leaves, butterflies, animals, etc. The edges are irregular, so there are no “edge pieces” to start with. I’m not that addicted to puzzles, so I put it away.

When La saw the pieces, she started looking for ways to put them together. It wasn’t long before Jeff and I were helping her. It was challenging at first because the picture of the puzzle was printed on a larger scale than the finished puzzle, making it hard to judge the perspective of where a particular piece should be placed. (Compare the small group of tiny pieces on the table with the large picture in the photo below.) With three of us working on it, I think it only took about an hour to finish the puzzle.

Look for those specially-shaped pieces in this close-up of the finished puzzle.

We spent the following day at Kari’s house with her family. Theo’s girlfriend, Lizzy, joined us and we all had a good time playing some games together.

To stretch our legs, we went to a nearby park and followed a circular path (1-2 miles) around the park.

Ted took a picture of our group.

One day, about a month before Jeff and La’s visit, I wanted to use my laptop computer, but when I turned it on, I saw a screen filled with (to me) gibberish. I tried all my (limited) tricks for rebooting a computer, but nothing worked, so I took it to the Geek Squad. The Geek’s verdict was that either the hard drive or the battery was kaput. My laptop could be fixed, but the cost of a newer laptop would be comparable to the cost of the repair. I decided to replace my 9-year-old laptop with a new one.

Ted and I had an exceptionally full schedule, so I had to fit loading my new laptop with my own software and files in between all the other things that were going on. It seemed to take forever, so I just decided to wait for Jeff to come, hoping that he could show me a faster way to get the job finished. He helped me with that and suggested I give up my (also aging) PC tower and simply connect my larger monitor, my keyboard, and my mouse to the laptop. I liked that idea and I like working with my new setup.

While Jeff and La were visiting, Jeff spent some time having lunch and catching up with friends one day. While he was gone, La, Ted, and I enjoyed a delicious salad lunch. We also had family gatherings that included Kari’s family at two of Ted’s and my favorite restaurants–Fratelli’s and Dewey”s.

The federal government was shut down during Jeff and La’s visit, and there were a lot of airline delays. The day before they left, Jeff and La learned that their flight home had been cancelled, but they were able to reserve seats on another flight. They had a class to teach in the evening and didn’t want to miss it, so they needed to choose the early morning flight that required us to leave for the airport at 4:30 a.m. None of us was thrilled about that, but it worked. Ted and I went back to bed after we returned from the airport, Jeff and La had a safe flight home, and they taught their class that evening.

I love family visits. Here’s a photo Jeff took of all of us.

One day, while I was sitting on the patio, I saw the brightest-colored caterpillar I’d ever seen.

I searched “neon-yellow caterpillar” online and learned that it’s a Polyphemus moth caterpillar, a member of the giant silk moth group. The moth is one of the largest moths found in Missouri.

I don’t remember ever seeing a moth that looks like this, but I admit that I don’t generally spend my outdoor time looking for moths. Still, it’s good to learn something new every day and now, if I ever see a spotted moth like this, I’ll know its origin. If I catch one, maybe I can make silk. 🙂