Darryl and Cindy Cunningham: Wintertime In Gautier, Mississippi

As the political rhetoric in this country gets out of control and blame for the Capitol Hill Riots is placed solely on anyone who dares to support conservative values and the work President Trump did during his presidency, our overly partisan Democrat House leadership could think of nothing else but ruining the future that President Donald Trump may have by impeaching him a second time. It didn't go anywhere and he was acquitted in the Senate, but I have never seen such a disregard for the rule of law and manipulation of evidence as the democrat house managers did in this process. What a sham and a shame.

Even with the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine in late December and early January under President Trump's program, evidently the number of people with covid was rising and most of the states (excluding Florida and a few others) re-implemented mask mandates and in our state recommended people not go to church or large gatherings. It wasn't a mandate, but our Stake President and Regional Representative stopped in person church, so it was back to online meetings in December. We started meeting in person again in February.

The problem is all of the data is skewed and probably will be for a while.

When Trump was in office the news media would run daily tally's of new "Covid-19 infections". Since when did we start counting and advertising infection rates? We didn't do it with the Hong Kong Flu of 68 or the Bird flu or the swine flu. They also put up in continuous bold lettering how many new Covid deaths we've had that day in our nation and the total for the past year. But they do not separate those who die "from" Covid from the people who die "with" Covid. A man may have been killed in a car crash, but if he tested positive for Covid it's counted as a "Covid Death". Our world is going crazy with this stuff. Incidentally, once Joe Biden was inaugurated as President of the United States of America, the media stopped the non-stop advertising of Covid 19 infections and deaths - even as the numbers spiked again. Hmmm.... I wonder why? (As I typed the words "United States" it struck me as odd; if I listen to the mainstream media it seems our country is so very divided.)

Jesse did test positive for Covid earlier in February but said she just thought she had a bad cold. Michelle's kids have had it as have John and Nancy and a couple members of their family and some cousins. We think that Shiloh, Skye, Cami and Hillary's family experienced it last year when they were all so sick with Flu like symptoms but there was no test for Covid. We are blessed as they have all recovered - but then they are all pretty healthy, and except for John and Nancy, they are in an age range where this virus does not seem to be very lethal at all. It will be interesting to see how the historians write about these times in the future. Will it be truth or political spin?

In spite of all this crazy news, life has been good for us. We have enjoyed this winter, so far cold temps only lasted a week, and now it looks like spring is on the verge of taking over here in South Mississippi.

An now, a few photos of the fun we've had this past month.

I sewed Sammy's 1st Birthday quilt.

Since Sam is a Leapling (born on leap day) I thought it appropriate he have leap frogs on his quilt.

The water birds are coming back to the pond...

We made a new friend, a collector of clocks named Becky who is also a master gardener. While Darryl works on her clocks I enjoy her backyard in Ocean Springs.

I did my best to cheer up Sister Angela Corke and her brother and sister-in-law as they took care of her when she was in quarantine for 14 days with Covid-19. Although Sister Corke is a quadriplegic and lives her life in a wheelchair, she wasn't sick a day with the virus. She tested positive but was asymptomatic. How very grateful I was for her being healthy, and to meet her family.

We rested on Sunday's

And I started painting again. First I hosted a 'watercolor' painting day with the sister missionaries, Sister Fronk and Sister Cheney.

In return they helped me move the bed and fix a couple of things.

I experimented with some Americana style paintings as Hillary wants me to do one painting for her home.

My rooster is too fat, but I enjoyed working on my watercolor technique.

I like the acrylic painting of Hillary's family that I did last week. She now tells me she wants a larger one for their living room.

So far the highlight of the year has been watching Emily and Jonas open their mission calls during a family Zoom meeting on February 16th.

Emily is going to the St. George, Utah mission, English speaking, and will be assigned to the temple visitors center. She enters the MTC on March 24th.

Jonas was called to the Busan, Korea (South Korea) mission and will be speaking Korean. He enters the MTC on May 5th. Mom and Dad are feeling so proud and a little overwhelmed! It's getting REAL!!!

Finally, on February 17th I lost a friend and mentor. For 30 years I've listened to Rush Limbaugh and was educated in politics and the world by this good man. Though I never met him, I considered him a friend because as I heard him talk to so many people on the radio it was like he was talking to me.