The apartment and pass-time activities

We live in a wonderful location.  We live in the middle of a huge park or garden – or so it seems.  I included some pictures that we have taken - not only of the building we live in, but also of the views that we get from our living quarters.  (Sorry that we had to take these pictures through the screens that are on all our windows).  Yes, it’s spring, so everything is in bloom.  The flowers are coming up in the little garden plots in front of each apartment building. The trees are unfolding their leaf buds.  And squirrels and birds of every kind are cavorting in the trees, across the lawns and through the air.  It is so much fun to take walks around the flats or down to the river – just a few blocks away.  Down there, the Canadian geese are busy raising their chicks, and honking madly to announce the glee they seem to be having in doing so.  There are turtles, and loons, frogs and, if you’re lucky, deer and other animals that are a little more bashful.

One of the first times we tried to cook something on the stove, our smoke detector went off.  Because the detector is so sensitive, we have learned to turn on the exhaust fan every time we do any cooking.  The electricity went out for most of the afternoon yesterday.  I don’t know if that is going to be a regular occurrence or not.  But as there were others on the flat that were without lights, we weren’t too concerned.  In reality, it helped us identify with our ancestors that lived here about 150 years ago.  They didn’t have electricity either, along with a whole bunch of other things that we take for granted – like running water and indoor plumbing.

We live in a four-plex.  Two couples live downstairs and two couples live upstairs.  We get to climb the stairs.  We were provided with a king-sized bed (actually two single beds pushed together, with a memory-foam over the top to make it look like a single bed.  We are not used to such huge expanses to sleep in, and frequently wake up in the morning, only having used about half the bed.  We are also furnished with all the necessities – even to the point that we don’t have enough room for all the chairs. 

We have TV, with VCR and DVD players – not that we have wanted to use our spare time thus far in such activities.  But I suppose they would be reasonable pass-times when the rain decides to persist for hours on end.  Right now, we would rather spend our time visiting the many sites that have been provided here around us.  We have been visiting only a few each day.  Yesterday, we visited the brickyard – to see how the saints made bricks.  That was the primary building material around here 150 years ago.  We still have another 19 sites (or activities) that we have not yet seen.  Hopefully we will get to see all of them before the many tourists start dropping in as summer draws nigh.

The temple is not that far away either; we could walk the distance easily within 15-20 minutes, but we probably won’t want to when things get too hot or too cold.  That is, of course, the place where we spend a good portion of almost every day.  Right now, before the crowds come, we are assigned to be patrons almost as often as we are to be ordinance workers.  As a result, we are able to observe how others do the work, and we can learn from their mistakes as well as from their successes.  When the crowds start coming, we will need to find other times to come if we want to be patrons.  We have just been asked to serve as assistant coordinators in the baptistery on Tuesday afternoons.  So if you want to come and do baptisms, come on a Tuesday, any time after 2 pm, and we will definitely be down there at that time.

looking west             -               looking south

 

looking north

 

Mom - at the NE corner of our 4-plex