Life at a "Swell's" pace

Hello.

We realized this week that we didn't have a summer here in the Willamette Valley. With the Coronavirus pandemic and the wildfires, we completely missed out on a summer here. Everything is so weird this year and we are ready for 2020 to end. Hopefully, the next few month that are left in 2020 give us some positive aspects to end the year with. Since trick-or-treating has been canceled for a lot of people, we've decided to stay at home and just wait out the trick-or-treaters that dare the elements. I ordered some organic candy this year and are still waiting on that to arrive. We hung a few decorations, but it just seems weird this year. We plan on wearing our masks the entire time, hopefully others will respect that, as well. Here are five things this week.

1. This Puzzle.

We've been putting together a lot of random puzzles to pass the time through lockdown and through the pandemic. This puzzle is about our twentieth puzzle to put together, but it's been a fun challenge.

2. This Sticker.

Definitely something I'd had on my car, too.

3. This Sticker.

I got out of my car and it startled me a bit. I've seen a few others since this one.

4. This Player.

Been jamming out to our record collection this week. It's nice to hear some classics on vinyl.

5. This Bird.

This one-legged bird hangs out at Jeff's work. Every time we go there we look for it.

Positive affirmations this week: "Be patient. There is nothing you can't do. Don't think about it too much. It will come to you when you are not thinking intently about it." -Yoko Ono

Also, with the holiday season here, keep these things in mind when dealing with uncomfortable family situations.

Have a nice weekend.

With this past summer of wildfires, it's been an extremely stressful time here on the west coast. Loss of life above everything has been hard to hear as the cleanup from the wildfires has been happening here. Wildfire damage and loss of property is one thing, but people losing their life is on a whole new level of devastation. Oregon was literally caught off guard with these fires and the control of the fires was just not there. The winds didn't help and the fire crews literally just couldn't get ahead of the flames. We took a drive through the hardest hit areas near us and it was just heartbreaking. We had plans to buy a cabin in Detroit, Oregon, at one time, and something just told us not to do it. Oddly enough, the cabin we were going to buy was part of the loss in Detroit. That still bothers me. Someone did buy that cabin and those someone's lost it. And, every single one around it is gone, too. There really aren't any words to describe how overwhelmingly scary these past few months have been. I've had to call an ambulance once for everything happening lately. It's just too much. My anxiety has been over the top lately and the recent ambulance call I honestly thought my heart was going to stop. But, me aside, this year has been so hard on everyone around here and thinking positively only goes so far. I am really hoping things get better soon. Here's a look at some of the places around here that have changed since the wildfires.