Last July

Posted on June 30, 2020 by vanbraman

As June draws to a close I am thinking about what July will be like. Especially when compared to last year.

This July will hopefully see a shift back toward normal. On Sunday our congregation will meet together in person for the first time since back in March and the plan is that I will be able to work in the office again about halfway through the month. Hopefully things will start to improve again and this will all take place.

Khirbet al-Ra’i, archaeology, israel, digSo, what was last July like?

I started the month finishing up a dig in Israel. It was a great experience as I made some new friends and we found a lot of interesting items at our dig site. Hopefully next summer I will go on another dig.

archaeology, jeans, iron age dirt, dirty clothes, laundryI absorbed a lot of dust and came home with a bag of very dirty clothes.

agapanthus, yard work, summer, hot weatherI came home to a yard that needed a lot of work. Also, my agapanthus was in dreadful shape, but mainly because a neighborhood cat used that corner to jump down off of the fence down into the yard knocking over the scapes in the process.

Airport sunset, 777, Chicago, United ClubI was only home for a couple weeks before heading off again, this time to Sao Paulo to teach for a couple weeks.

Churrascariia, bbq, brazilian, all you can eatI had a lot of good food in Brazil, especially the meats and gained back all the weight that I lost while in Israel plus a little more.

giant anteater, sao paulo zoo, anteater, a-zI also visited the Sao Paulo Zoo and have now been to zoos on five continents.

Do you know what this animal is?

I will definitely not be on three different continents next month, but will go much further away from home than I have been recently. This is not saying much as I have not been more than a couple miles from home since the middle of March.

Now to go flip the pages on my calendars to see what pictures I will enjoy in July.

Steven

 

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Grocery Trip Thoughts

Posted on June 30, 2020 by vanbraman

Tonight I made another trip to the grocery store. It is nice that they are now open later hours so that I can go when I would normally go.

Winco, Covid 19, essential trip, grocery store, shelter in placeThe checkout clerk said that next week they may go back to being open 24 hours.

While driving to the store I was thinking about how I have had my new car for almost seven months and have only driven a little more than 4,000 miles. It will be interesting to see how much I will drive in the first year, definitely not as much as I had thought. I may also work from home more often in the future as long as I am not teaching a classroom course.

Aunt Jemima pancackes, grocery, gone away productsI am wondering how much longer I will see this brand on the shelves.

Aunt Jemima Syrup, food, grocery, bottlesHow long Aunt Jemima products remain on the shelf will be an indicator of how long the supply chain is. I am sure also that in some areas they will be removed from the shelves much sooner and sent elsewhere.

Pancake brands, Aunt Jemima, ButterworthsI am wondering also if the makers of Mrs. Butterworth’s will be changing the shape of their bottle.

Did you know that Jemima is a biblical name? Jemima is a name that makes me think of overcoming hardships and adversity. Do you know who Jemima was in the Bible?

groceries, trunk, shopping tripI brought home another trunk full of groceries, which is not too hard given the size of my trunk. I decided to shop for another two weeks as this will bring me close to the start of working in the office again. However that may change depending on whether restrictions continue to be lifted.

Steven

 

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