Change

 We all have to adapt to change.  Yesterday my baby brother and his bride and I moved our Mom from the hospital to the Nursing Home for some rehab after her illness.  We will see how she does and how motivated she is.   Olivia my Great Niece is working in Mom's area as a CNA...so Mom will get frequent hugs.   Mom needs to get much stronger and be able to do things for herself before she can go back to her apartment....it all depends on her attitude.

I am fine with either outcome. She would probably get better care in the Nursing Home...sooner or later she will probably end up in there.  Her apartment is connected to the Nursing Home by a connecting door so we were able to move some of her clothing and some familiar things quite easily.  Mom is still fairly depressed after the death of my Dad back in December.  The Doctor upped her anti depressant med...but I didn't see much difference....perhaps she is just sad when I am there! 

Mom during happier times...Oct 10 1950.

Far Side

Many

 So many cards and notes from people who attended my Dad’s funeral.  My sister opened all the cards, my Mom read them out loud and then I recorded them, my sister wrote the thank you notes and addressed envelopes.  I searched for addresses.  A tip for you all out there, please put your address somewhere on the card, we practically cheered when people did that for us.  

The church was full, the Pastor said that it was the most well attended funeral in a long time.  ( I have lots of cousins)

The cards are as complete as they can be,  more are in the mail everyday.

So life goes on.  I will head Up North soon.

My parents yard a few years ago.

Far Side

Me Day

I finally had a me day.  My "me day" may be different from yours.

Curious? 

I played "52 pickup and put away" at least once.  I deep cleaned the bathroom, washed towels and bath rugs.  Washed another load of clothing too.  I phoned a friend who has encountered many losses in the last month, she said I made her feel a bit better...I hope so.     I mowed lawn over at Katie's old place, then a small area over at my other baby brothers place of business and on the way home I mowed the back road.   I now have 71 Christmas Ornaments ready for stage two.  Stage two is being worked on.  I had a long nap (about 2 hours), and we cooked supper together...pork burgers without the bun, french fries in the air fryer and peaches. I spoke with my baby brother last evening, his daughter is recovering from surgery.  Oh yes Jen called and my other baby brother and sister in law stopped by.

It was really nice to stay home all day. I may not have had much time for "me" but I had the time to do things that were important to me.

Fish Hook River and the old Rail Road Trestle Bridge  August 8 2019.

Far Side

Discoveries

Every bottle of regular soda we had in the house was flat…only the non sugar kind had any fizz.  The pantry was cleaned out.

After X amount of time pancake syrup grows mold on the top even if it is stored in the fridge. Cleaning out the fridge is now on my list of things to do.  One nasty discovery may lead to another and expiration dates will be checked.

The walk to the mailbox is getting slick.  Especially the gradual decline to the actual mailbox…I discovered that the newly fallen snow at the edge of the road made a soft spot to land.  Chance came over to see what was the matter and Far Guy wanted me to get up right away…well I needed just a moment to figure out if anything important was broken.  Nothing was… but I am a tad stiff and sore.

Chance likes the black sunflower seeds and if left to his own devices will stand under the bird feeder and eat them…probably another source of his recent bout with pancretitis.  He cannot be trusted alone outside. He knows he is not supposed to eat them…but apparently he has forgotten in his old age.

Decisions

Right or wrong we all have to make decisions.

We decided to send Far Guy to surgery to have his port replaced.  It will happen soon.  He asked my opinion and I think that having a port keeps him out of the clinic and all the germy people…which in turn keeps him out of the hospital.  I am not certain how many times he can have it replaced, I suggested they just put a zipper in his chest.

I am going to start logging our hours spent at the clinic/hospital.  Last week one of the nurses was coughing…we are both a tad paranoid about that. I almost suggested that she should have stayed home…but I kept my big mouth shut.

The Income Taxes are done and were sent electronically, how about that …no last minute filing for us.  Our accountant answered all our questions. Cross something off the list.  Years ago after an audit, I made the decision to use an accountant and I am glad I did. 

The local hospital doesn’t have a copy of our Advanced Care Directive but I will make a copy so they have it on file.   The clinic has it and I hear that soon the hospital and the clinic’s computers will be able to talk to each other…sometimes change happens very slowly in the boonies.

Do you have an Advanced Care Directive?  Do you have a Last Will and Testament and has it been recorded?  We were talking with a young widow the other day and her husband had no will…so she was making her way through a ton of paperwork.  Sometimes the decisions we don’t make can become real problems for those left behind.

Heliotrope

Lilacs and Stuff

The fragrance of lilacs fills the air.  Especially in areas where there are many lilacs.  It is a overwhelming fragrance.  Far Guy  said "I am so glad we have one small struggling to have two blooms lilac bush in our yard."

These are from the white house with the blue shutters, they never get to see the lilacs bloom.

It was a busy week.  Windows Live Writer is still incompatible with blogger...Google changed a setting on Tuesday and they won't change it back....so I am stuck with regular blogger blog software and that sucks.

I mowed lawn again yesterday, we got another 1 1/2 inches of rain that Far Guy dumped out of the rain gauge.

I worked on "stuff" upstairs.  Far Guy worked on the old tiller and a push lawn mower and I sold them both locally online.

One day we went to the Clinic because Far Guy needed another blood test before he begins his infusions...we are waiting on the results...there is a 33% chance that he will be allergic to the infusion and we need to know that before proceeding.  He has two support people now one from Alpha 1 and another from Baxter ( the infusion).  I cannot keep them all straight.  Far Guy visited with his Uncle Archie who related that many of Grandma Tracie's siblings had "lung troubles."  I will be tested for Alpha 1 Deficiency in June.

 We got news this week that a dear old friend died.  Mary Lou was 87 years old...we met her back in 1975.  She and her husband Ray had a lake cottage just down the road...they were good neighbors here just for the summers after they retired from the hardware business in Prairie City Iowa. She would often walk over and bring something baked for coffee.  When Trica got married in 1994 Ray and Mary Lou helped roast turkeys and peeled fifty pounds of potatoes for me to make potato salad for the wedding dinner. Ray could fix just about anything and carried a tool box in his Cadillac...payment was always a cup of coffee!   We visited with Mary Lou just two years ago before Alzheimers took her away. (Her husband Ray died a number of years ago.)  She leaves behind four daughters and three grandchildren and numerous great grandchildren.

I am not sure about the "comes in threes" old saying...but this is the third death in as many weeks. I hope we are done for awhile .

Pea Party

There was a gathering…a party in the peas. 

We sat on the country road and watched.  Chance hung his head out the window and sniffed the air…I think they were too far away for him to see.

AT first we thought there were just five.

There were six deer in that party. Six tick factories.

I am still struggling with the Lymes.  I am on my second round of antibiotics. I got too tired and too achy and sore to continue fighting it by myself.  I spoke with a good friend who is a nurse and my Doctor; they agreed that a second thirty day round of Doxycycline was appropriate.  I will be fine.  In a week or two I should feel like a new person.  In the meantime I will just keep plugging away:)

September 11, 2011

Here in rural ( in the boonies) Minnesota not much has changed since 9/11/2001.  The local fire hall got some new fire trucks and equipment with Homeland Security dollars. 

Of course I haven’t flown anywhere so I have not been subject to the pats downs or feel ups or whatever you perceive them as.  I have not seen any bomb sniffing dogs.  I have not seen any armed guards or Military men anywhere.  I did see a security cop walking the perimeter of the hospital/clinic one day..I said Hi and Chance wagged his tail.

I don’t have any radical neighbors..of course I am related to many of my neighbors and most of the rest of them I have known my entire life. 

Was I scared during the 911 attacks..of course I was..scared of the unknown. ( I was pretty sure in the boonies Minnesota was not a huge target.)  Not much has changed for me in the past ten years.  I  am lucky.

I heard one day on the news that one in five Americans knew someone who was  killed or injured in the 911 attacks.  I knew no one.

I feel sorry for the children.  The children that lost their Mothers or Fathers that day.  I feel sadness for the soldiers that have died fighting terror and terrorists.  I wonder if we can ever feel as free or as safe as we did on 9/10/2001:(

A Death In the email family

I have been communicating with an elderly gentleman for about three years by email. We met online, he loved jokes and had a wicked good sense of humor. He had been struggling with Alzheimer's and health problems, I could tell when he was doing well and when he was not. I could tell by his emails what time of the morning he got up. October 1st the emails I sent to him started coming back, I figured something was up..yesterday he died, we were notified by his step daughter..she said " He communicated with you alot..I just thought you would like to know."

So it is an end. We have an end to the story. Maybe we don't..you see Charles was an atheist. His father was a Pentecostal Evangelist in New York City.. Charles could quote Bible verse after Bible verse. His father committed suicide. Charles was a Marine..he was at Camp Lejeune..he always said that his children that were born there in 1957 and 1958 were marked..one had Aplastic Anemia and one had Cerebral Palsy. The love of Charles life was diagnosed with cancer here in Minnesota one summer..he said "That asshole doctor walked into the room, looked at my wife and said you are going to die." and then he walked out of the room. His lovely Rose died less than six months later. He remarried and his second wife died too..he said "I have out lived two women and one of my children..I am old and I can't remember lots of stuff.. I am done now." I guess you are Charles.. I guess you are.

Did I share my faith with Charles, yes I did. I would occasionally send him a real Bible thumping email..something that might get through that thick head of his. Occasionally he would send one back to me...it was like an email war. I can't be certain that he ever gave up his atheism..I guess I would like to think that those Bible Verses that he learned as a child came quietly back to comfort him the last few weeks of his life.

I loved it when he was in a reminiscing mood..he would write his thoughts to me..
"I was born in Newark New Jersey my father was a Pentecostal Evangelist. When I was old enough to remember we would go to the missions down in Hells Kitchen and The Battery in Manhattan. My Mother had one of those Fox Stoles with the head on I would go to sleep looking at the fox ( No wonder I like animals today, I guess they make me feel safe) Remember this was shortly after the depression. We moved several times and most of my memories then was being able to look across the river from the house and see the Empire State Building. We told the weather by the different colored lights on top. I got to go to Coney Island a few times to the boardwalk and the beach. The subways stops right at Coney Island, I never had enough money to ride in the park. At the entrance was this big Steeple Chase Ride. I need to stop now..I am tired."

I am sad. Really sad, I am not sure if there is a lesson to learn here or not. Don't communicate with the elderly..they will croak before you do. Do not give out your email over the Internet..you will be crushed when your friend who you never actually met dies. Don't get involved..Don't send jokes to anyone..they might die. Then I think of the jokes he exchanged with me and Far Guy, and the wonderful stories he shared .. how I worried about him during Hurricane Ike .. about the ruckus he caused and his cab ride back home.. about the smiles we shared across the miles. Is my sadness now worth it? I say yes it is..it was a pleasure to have met Charles and my life is richer and funnier because of him. Rest in peace my friend:)

The Neighbors Farmhouse

It was a landmark, the big white farmhouse with the big red barn and a windmill. The lonely house stood empty. Memories are all that remain. The children all grown with grandchildren of their own. The old timers both now gone one to heaven and one to the nursing home.

They moved from Nebraska back in 1954, to the big old house, full of hope and possibility. We welcomed them as neighbors. They were friends of my parents, when my Mother went to work at the Osage Boat Factory their house became the daycare home for my brother and I .. and the lovely lady became our "Second Mom." Through the years, they have welcomed us back to the neighborhood twice, we lived across the road from them when we lived at the resort, presently we live just down the road. You couldn't have asked for better neighbors.

Cookies warm from the oven, kids to play with, warm loving hugs.

A piano on the porch, playing hopscotch in the yard, a windmill turning.

A claw foot bathtub, fun in the girls room, memories made.

Laughter, old stories, blueberry pies, cookies made with lard and egg coffee.

Red Christmas doilies, Christmas bread braided, warm cinnamon rolls and a pickle in the Christmas tree.

Church quilts, a precious white puppy and plants in the kitchen window.

Tango red geraniums, pretty plates, Cardinals, and orange begonias.

Buttercup squash and cucumbers, jars of pickles shared, recipes freely given.

Coffee is always on, the door is always open, the sweet voice always hollers "Come on in" Welcoming hugs. Then silence..

The house, had stood for 109 years. It had served its occupants well, it was time to move on.
On Saturday it was used as a control burn for the local Fire Department to train firefighters. For many young firefighters this was their first time being inside a burning house.

Early Monday morning, the elderly gentleman was called home. It is the end of a generation. The windmill keeps turning, the next generation is in place. Wonderful neighbors they are, part of the family that moved from Nebraska so long ago. You couldn't ask for better neighbors:)

Photos from Saturday May 23, 2009