Thursday. 26. - Friday. 27. We arrived at our house sit in Asheville about 10am. The owners weren’t there, but Diane knew that we arrived as we stood in the rain on her front porch. She spoke to us through an intercom, “Oh, you got here early! That’s great. I’m not here, but I’ll be there in less than 10 minutes. We are at my dad’s house a couple blocks away. He has 5 leaks in his roof that are usually manageable, but our large catch containers are full and we are trying to move them and dump them, etc. On my way.” We went back to our truck to stay dryer as we waited. Diane arrived and we all went into her house. We met her 18 year old cat Phoebe as we toured the home and learned about the details of our housesit. We spent about 45 minutes and Diane talked fast, handing me a folder of this information that stayed with her house. Darrell and I left Diane's house to have lunch at a restaurant and return after noon. By then Diane and Eric would be on their way to the airport and then to England. (This is sad for me to write about as today is October 7th and I know the grief and the devastation that is still being discovered and coming through recovery in the coming days.) Our housesit was planned months ago in January. We chose Asheville knowing how beautiful it is there in the fall. Now we have arrived ahead of the storm. We enjoy a nice lunch. We take our leftovers from lunch, go to the grocery store and shop for 3-4 days of cooking. We drive to our house and unpack. We move in quickly with our 2 suitcases, 2 backpacks, 2 trunks, groceries, and coolers. We get settled. Later in the evening Darrell makes some delicious chicken and vegetable soup. Bedtime for us is usually between 9 and 10 pm. I slept good and woke up around 5-6am on Friday. We were in the storm. I don’t remember the exact time of losing power. I still had cell phone service. I posted to facebook on September 27th that our power went out in the night and that we had a battery for hot water. By lunchtime our cell phones were no longer in service and our water on tap stopped. We had 30 gallons of water, thanks to Diane, in the basement which we began using along with the battery. We minimized opening the refrigerator. We took some pictures of our back deck. The rains stopped and we went out for a walk around our neighborhood. Many others were out walking around too. On our street we observed a car under a large fallen tree. There was also a large tree on top of a house. The house was intact with someone living inside. We couldn’t see the roof damage from our perspective. In our neighborhood there were at least 3 power poles broken and hanging in precarious ways over or next to the road. We spoke to a few people briefly as we crossed paths. My next facebook post was on Sunday September 29th.
Nomad Notes.
Glenn and Phoebe:
Darrell is the 2nd of 5 siblings(Jeff, Darrell, Steve, Cyndy and Glenn). Glenn is the youngest. Glenn has always been a remarkable person to me. I met him when he was still in High School. He made school look easy. He absorbed information quickly, read tons and achieved highly. When he was a semester from finishing law school in NC, he left the US to go and marry Phoebe in the Philippines. He had met her while doing a mission trip in Hong Kong. She was a domestic servant there and where she trained in Chinese cooking. He married and stayed in the Philippines preaching for, I think, 9 years! They moved to the US with two small children. They had a 3rd daughter, moved to several places as Glenn preached and homeschooled their kids. Phoebe was always sharing and hosting church, homeschool or family events. She and Glenn took on big remodeling projects at houses they bought. When they first moved back to the US, Phoebe had to learn to drive. Glenn’s mom, our mother-in-law Shirley, taught Phoebe how to drive. Glenn was losing his eyesight. He always had poor vision and no night vision, but it progressively got worse for him. He was diagnosed late in life with Retinitis Pigmentosa. He’s been in a study for experimental treatments. He can see some but he is legally blind. More than 10 years ago his eyesight got worse quickly and he taught himself braille in preparation for his disability. When the girls were about grown, Glenn decided to get a government job to provide a retirement for him and Phoebe. It was his eyesight handicap that gave him an advantage for getting his job. He had great education and other qualifications but there was a lot of competition for federal jobs. Thankfully he found a government job that he’s been able to progress in.
So Phoebe is one of my heroes. She has immigrated to the US, been the driver for her family, herself and Glenn, gardened and made more beauty wherever she is. She makes it a point to find happiness in her life and to be a kind friend to many. She studies the Bible, sings and prays. She grows her character as a christian and works to help herself and others through life difficulties and life joys. She is amazing and encouraging to me. We enjoy an ongoing friendship.
My Name Game:
I decided on my 2nd or 3rd cruise to try to remember people’s names. I’ll credit my sister Annette for encouraging me to do this as a way to challenge myself and to get closer to people faster. I have learned so much by doing this for 10-plus years.
I write down people’s names.
I remember couples together.
I enjoy learning details about people like how many children, grandchildren and the names, etc. Where they live etc.
I introduce myself first.
When people explain that they don’t remember names, etc, I let them know that I don’t expect them to because this is my game.
I keep my notes for a while. Eventually my little notebooks get thrown away.
I have a lot of electronic notes that I have dated with places and listed people’s names and where I met them. (Example: Cruise 2023 Majestic (Princess). Kevin Laura Auckland getting on ship. A story here as I look at this entry. I can see what this couple looks like and how they talk when I think of them now. We didn’t see them for the month long cruise from Vancouver, BC to Auckland until we had gotten off the ship. We rolled our suitcases around the port and down the street, bought bus tickets, rolled back a couple of blocks, got on a city bus and there they were! They were on the same bus heading to their house. The four of us had our second conversation! Lol!)
Eventually my electronic notes will become obsolete or too much and will be deleted. For now I don’t follow everyone forever. My memory has gotten better with my game. I enjoy meeting people more. I give into my imperfect memory. I help myself be more interested in people. I’ve made some very good friends by introducing myself first. I’ve met people who introduce themselves first and we are both agreeing to that awkward hurdle and doing it together! It’s a great way to enjoy people.
On Princess cruises which we’ve sailed most, I have learned to enjoy the random dining room seating and the table conversation that ensues! There are times that my toleration is stressed and challenged by our random dinner companions. I get through it, breathe, relax, pray and move on.
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