Pre-COVID at this time of year I would be teaching at Noble Academy, which brought me great satisfaction. With that commitment my time at The Little House was more limited. Those years and hours with the students brought me much joy and I miss them. Realistically my time there was winding down because of my hearing loss. The Hmong students are very soft spoken and even with my good hearing aids I struggled to understand them. Seriously facing this handicap it was clear that I would soon have to give it up.
Life in The Little House has settled into a comfortable routine. Trygve and I walk one field each day on the pretext of pheasant hunting. Occasionally we get one but that matters little. The joy is in the walk and made more pleasurable by seeing pheasants, which we have with one exception. That exception was when we were on public land. Hunting hours begin at ten a.m. so we usually start about then. We're back in the house about noon. The afternoon and evening are for reading and telephone chats. The hearing aids that the V.A. provided sync with my phone so the sound transmits directly to my aids. Consequently, phone conversations are easy for me to hear...as are podcasts, etc., accessed by phone. It is very difficult for me to understand persons speaking when they are masked because I can't read their lips.
Solitude is not oppressive for me and my need for human contact is met by phone, email and snail mail. This current lifestyle finds me very content and profoundly grateful.
Takk for alt,
Al
Five Hmong and one African student(s).
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