March 2025

 Dear Family and friends,

March has been very rainy, a deluge in fact, causing the river to race by high up over its banks. The small creek that runs alongside the homes that face the river was also spilling out its banks well over its normal size. It was interesting to watch but we were never in any danger. One day, we were even surprised to wake up to snowflakes drifting down onto the already lightly covered streets and trees. It was a beautiful but totally unexpected sight. It's hard to tell about the weather these days.

However, we were dumbfounded when we began spotting places inside the house that were wet. It wasn’t coming from the rain outside and evidently had been getting things wet in the back room for quite some time. That room used to be True’s sewing room, but was later transformed into an office for me. It also contains a closet with the water heater - which proved to be the culprit. True turned off the main valve so no more water would flow into the tank until a plumber could be called in. That was definitely the wise thing for her to do, but it left us with cold water only for washing and showering for FOUR days until the plumber came. Burr! He found not only a leaking outside pipe, but also a ruptured connector inside, which meant the entire tank had to be replaced. Oh, Boy! Que sera sera. But what has to be, will be. After all, this mobile home is getting pretty old and things will wear out and need repair or replacing every now and then.

That very same day however, one of our neighbors who had noticed that some of our roof shingles had been blown loose came in from fixing them and told us that other shingles were bad and the seal around each of the vent pipes was rotted away and letting water leak through. So his advice was to replace the whole roof before the next winter season. Oh no! But I’m sure (fingers crossed) that we can it make through at least one more year without getting completely blown away. We’ll need some time to prepare for that expense.

As for myself, I always maintain I’m as healthy as a horse, with not even so much as a cold in 40 years or more. Well, I will now have to retract that statement because for some reason or another, I woke up one day in late February with a sore throat that slowly blossomed into a full blown cold, with a bad cough and other symptoms. True insisted that I stay in bed and take special medications and not be around people in case my ‘cold’ might be contagious. I agreed, since I didn’t think it was fair to be with others when you are coughing. Even the sound was terrible to hear, because I would blow my nose often and cough hard trying to get some phlegm up. So I did spend a lot of my time stuck in bed. I worried about this being an extra caretaking chore that True never expected to have to deal with. But once more she was my lovely angel.

Anyway, because the cold and its cough seemed to hang on for so long (3 weeks), I was sorry to miss out on our Stake Conference, my DUP meeting, several pot lucks and other fun gatherings, but thankfully it did finally end. After missing two Fridays at Norma’s for a good head scrubbing, I was able to attend the next Friday, promising not to cough while there. I sure did appreciate finally getting my hair tended to.

Now more about the backroom and my office: I have the use of a fairly long table as my desk and work area, with a laptop computer and other writing essentials located thereon. I have a card file of birthdays (sorted by date) for all my extended family and friends. I also have a box of birthday cards available along with a few others, which I use for all those having birthdays each month.  Each one of these is sent by mail and requires postage. Because I was given the job of being “Sunshine Lady” for the Riviera, I am also responsible for sending to residents a card for their birthday, anniversary, get well, sympathy, and any other occasion that might arise. Therefore, I have another box of all sorts of cards for the park. I was supplied with names and their dates for the whole year. There are 100 occupied spaces in our park and many have 2 or 3 occupants, so you can imagine there are quite a few cards to do for park people each month. True very kindly accepted the job of delivering each card to the proper person’s mailbox. She loves to be out and walking, anyway.

All of this explanation is leading up to the fact that one day in early March, I was busy writing birthday cards and putting stamps on those that were sealed and addressed. Linda usually buys me a roll of stamps to use, but this time instead, she bought five books of twenty stamps each. I had only used four stamps off of one of those books, leaving sixteen still attached. It seemed like only a short while later, as I was still surrounded by numerous envelopes and cards scattered all about, I went to reach for that book of sixteen stamps and could not find it anywhere. It was GONE!! How could that be, when I had just been using it?

But sure enough, after thoroughly searching through everything on the table, looking in the wastebasket, and even opening some of the recently sealed cards to see if one of them might contain the stamps, I still had no success! That book of sixteen expensive stamps had just somehow disappeared almost right before my very eyes! I kept hoping that it would magically turn up somewhere. I even prayed to God to show me where it might have gone off to. I know I do dumb things all the time. I'm always looking for something, only to later find it in the strangest, most unexpected place where you'd never think to look. So I vowed to keep on looking and praying and not give up hope, and so I finished my cards for March by using stamps from the next book.

Now onto something more pleasant. True’s orchid plants (that had been just bare stems for the entire time she was gone) sprouted buds in January and February. Then in March they sprang forth into full bloom, displaying their beautifully colored blossoms once again. I was delighted to see the window sills covered with blooming orchids once more.

Another pleasantry of March was a prestigious literary recognition that was presented to True called the Literary Titan Gold Book Award. We are all so excited about this, knowing how rare it is for a first-time book author to receive such high praise. It also means that all of her books printed will bear the award seal displayed on its front cover, certifying that Anasazi Vision has received the Literary Titan’s highest award for excellence. What a notable accomplishment for True. We are all very proud of her. Now she is starting on a second book and is beginning to receive promptings about its content. Gung ho, True!

Now I’ll leave you in the arms of Jehovah, and with all my love. 

Marie