We Are Community for the week of October 26th, 2020, by Joyce Steiner

 

Dylan McCurdy lost his grandfather this week.  Please keep the family in your prayers.

I read a book of Disciplines from the Upper Room group every morning.  This week one of the readings was about “touch”.  We touch for baptism, we touch for healing, we touch for blessings, we touch for ordination and so much more.  How I miss touching.  Covid has taken away our touching of others as well as shared hugs.  Babies need touch to grow and thrive, I know that adults do too!  There are so many reasons that covid needs to go away and the ability to touch and be touched, to hug and be hugged  are certainly two of them.

I used to receive phone calls daily about switching to alternate electric suppliers.  At that time, there was little way to compare prices and the callers were good.  I switched the stores and community center to an alternate supplier for a while.  It was not a good idea.  I switched back to Ameren.  I also used “power smart pricing” for a while for my home.  I thought is was an Ameren program.  It turned out it was not an Ameren program.  Though it saved me money for a while, eventually it did not save money.  Now I am receiving letters and cards from alternate suppliers since I wont talk to them on the phone I suppose.  Even if they are good talkers and the programs sound good, they probably aren’t.  Ameren still supplies the lines and repair for you even if you buy energy from someone else.  In the long run, it is best and cheapest to stick with Ameren for your energy supplier in my opinion.  CUB has quite a bit information on alternate suppliers and also some cost comparisons.

I have been the “winner” in the WEEKLY drawing for a MacBook Pro from Amazon Prime not once but twice this week!!  One catch is that I do not have Amazon Prime.  You are asked to click on an address to claim your prize.  Problem is you will never win a contest you did not enter.  Don’t be fooled by these messages.  I am sure that if I did click on the address that I would be asked to send shipping or have to supply other information or that my computer would be infected with some mal ware.

Bruce Morton had photos in a program on You Tube.  Asked him how to use the site.  He told me to go to You Tube.com and search for ” Illinois Humanities” and then to click on the video about Fulton County.  Did that and watched the video.  Bruce’s photographs were delightful and the whole segment was well worth watching.  There was a great deal of information about Neal Gamm and the Forgottonia movement of a few years ago.  Think I have mentioned that I have the original flags from that group, now if I just knew where they were!  There was also more information about Illinois.  On our election ballot there was a question about separating Chicago and the rest of Illinois.  I thought that central Illinois received back $1.20 for every tax dollar collected, I was wrong.  According to this piece, central Illinois gets back $1.87 for every tax dollar collected.  To those of you out there talking about the “New Illinois” movement, do you really want to lose almost half of the tax money returned compared to what we pay.

There are so many really wonderful people in our world and a lot of them live here  in the middle of the country.  When I stopped at the store to feed my ferals at noon, a man came rushing over to the store and asked me to open for him.  I did.  He was looking for Peoria collectibles and he found a milk bottle.  I looked through three shelves of collectibles and found a book from Peoria.  He stared to pay for the milk bottle but wanted to go to the furniture store also so I suggested that  he wait to pay for the bottle.  The furniture store has an upstairs with a “no entrance” sign.  He asked to go up.  I said “no”.  He asked to buy a Nichols Furniture and Undertaking sign from Plymouth  marked Not for Sale.  I said “no”.  He told me it was “ too bad that nothing I had was for sale”!!  That was after I opened just for him and he was in three store buildings with literally thousands and thousands of things for sale.  He drove away without purchasing the milk bottle he had put on my desk.

Living Faith has moved to indoor church as it has gotten cold.  We welcome you to join us with the protocols that are in place which include face masks for all and social distancing.  You may still see our services on the internet.

Went to the Dermatologist at the Carthage hospital this week.  Was very impressed with the facility, the employees and the service provided.  Hancock County is lucky to have this great facility.  Got a booklet in the mail about the hospital as well as the assisted living facility and the memory care units.  Was an interesting read and looked like it provided good options to home if being at home is no longer possible.

Had B&B guests this week who were in the area visiting relatives.  Really nice coup[le.  Soon the hunters will descend.  Have more wanting rooms than I have rooms.  Good problem for me, not so much for them.

Not enjoying the cold.  Have been riding my bicycle to get some exercise but it is just getting too cold.  Stationary bike not nearly as exciting as looking at the sunsets and leaves on a real bicycle.  Am mowing the leaves as they fall so will be doing that for quite a while as my leaves fall at different times.  The kitties are much more willing to go into the kitty house at night also since it is getting much colder.  They are suggesting the heated garage for bed but I am telling them it is not that cold so far!

Hope you are enjoying the beautiful fall scenery.  The leaves are brilliant this year.  The color is also lasting well.  Have a great week.  If you ask me to open the store just for you, I am happy to do that but at least  be kind to me.

Scatter Kindness.

Posted in Plymouth News