Gearing up

Today I am trying to get things ready that I won't be able to do while I'm out of commission. I'm way behind on pruning and trimming so I did some of that and I also decided to clean the gutters. That was an adventure. The roof was really hot in the middle of the day so I waited a few hours for the shade from the trees to hit most of it. The gutters were jammed with pine needles and other debris. I hadn't cleaned them out since last fall . That all went very well until right at the end when I stirred up a nest of wasps. They only got me once. A few years ago I had an allergic reaction to a hornet sting so I spent a little time after the wasp episode sitting there with my Benadryl, long-expired epinephrine syringe, and a phone to call 911. Nothing happened but it was an exciting moment. I'll spent some time today cleaning up part of the yard, hoisting the giant cat litter buckets upstairs next to the litterbox, and doing other similarly exciting things.

Time off from work

Well, I got my official form from the surgeon today. I will be off from work from July 9 to approximately July 31. Aieee! That's a long time. I'm going to have to cook up some activities to keep myself busy. I've thought of doing things like going through all my digital photos to organize and weed them down. That sounds interesting now, of course, but it may not be nearly as attractive when it comes time to actually wade in and do it. The other day I read the little hernia surgery booklet that they gave me and I looked up hernia surgery pictures on the web. That was not a brainy thing to do. I'm well-informed at any rate.

A sore day

I was sore a lot yesterday. That was surprising. I had played a little badminton and a little pool volleyball on Sunday evening and I was surprised how much it ached on Monday. This isn't a big deal but it's very annoying and made it just a little difficult to concentrate on things at work. We're finishing up a fiscal year/project year so not concentrating at the job isn't one of the options. I'll need to step up the exercise plan a bit so that this sort of minor exercise doesn't cause trouble again. Of course, all of that will have to go on hold again in July when I have my fun-filled hernia experience. As I said in a previous post - Grrrrr.

A low key day

This was one of those days that passes quietly and without peaks or valleys. Another one that is summed up by the poem Weariness by Sara Teasdale. I rolled that out back in November so I won't restate it now. I started by trying to go geocaching but the place that I selected seems to have been a hub for exuberant mountain bikers on Sunday mornings. I decided to try another location but my GPS device wigged out at that moment and wouldn't recover. I took that to be a sign and just headed home. For the rest of hte day I puttered in the house and watched movies. I had been sitting on "Into the Wild" which was good but maybe not the best choice for a low-energy day. I have had a busy run lately and have been scrambling to keep up. That pace isn't likely to change in the near future so I'm grateful for the hours this afternoon when I could extract myself from the mix. I need to be ready to sparkle and put on the show again tomorrow morning.

When the world really changes

Barry got bad news yesterday when he met with his oncologist. He is accepting and working through it in a way that is typical of his strength, sensitivity, and intellect. In doing this, he is making it easier for the rest of us to absorb and accept this information, too. I admire him so much for that.

River stones

I stepped up the walk today and added a bit more to it. Walking through Ellicott City early in the morning is very pretty. There was a lot of mist in the distance in the valley this morning. When I got to the river, there were some additions to the towers of stones in the river. While I was on the bridge the train came by. For the first time since I have been doing this it came from the other direction. I realized at that moment how superstitious I am. I couldn't help wondering if it meant something. If so, I hope it's good news.

Getting back on track

When I talked to Barry last night he reminded me that I have follow-up tests and appointments to make. With all that has been going on, I had let the planning for that slide. I need to get them out of the way so that I can be ready for my next exciting episode with the hernia. I will kick in today to get all those things pulled together, planned and scheduled. I realize that I just haven't wanted to think about it lately. This is probably a combination of avoidance and a naturally short attention span. I'm also kicking back in on the Tubby Tote Board (at the bottom of the sidebar on the right). I have seen negative progress in that direction so I'll wipe it clean and re-commit to that as well today.

Back from Jacksonville

I'm back from Jacksonville. It was wonderful to see Barry. We sat and talked a lot. He is being at once brave, courageous, determined and realistic. Visitors came and went both days that I was there. Today the room was jammed at times. It was good to have the chance to meet some of his friends there. I will check tomorrow to see when I can plan another trip down there. I'm so glad that I went.

Away for the weekend

Evidently I had enough anxiety over the events of last year that I had been grinding my teeth. I managed to break out three separate fillings. I had one replaced the other day and yesterday I had another visit to the dentist and he did the other two. It's exciting to be able to chew on both sides now.

This evening I'll be leaving to visit my friend Barry in Jacksonville for the weekend. My friend Jim is going down with me. It will be so good to see Barry in person. We have been in touch quite a lot over the last weeks by phone and email but it's not the same as being there.

Surprising art - with a surprise

In the winter when was driving to work I noticed that someone had made a small tower of river stones, a cairn, near at the river's edge. It is a surprising little piece of natural art. Yesterday when I was driving home and crossing the river bridge I noticed that someone had made several of them just upstream from the bridge. I don't know if it was the same person - or people - or not. They were very striking in their way.

This morning I took my camera with me when I walked down to the river. The photo I got isn't the best. The morning light reflecting off the water created too much contrast. I'm including it anyway. As I was taking the photos I noticed that one of the cairns wasn't stone at all but was actually a blue heron. Maybe he felt comfortable there among all the standing stones. It was difficult at first to spot him. You can click on either of the pictures below for a larger view - the top one if you want to try to spot the heron yourself, or the bottom one if you want to see it without searching. As I said, they aren't the best photos but they certainly captured the moment for me. A surprising piece of art with an additional surprise.

A graduation weekend

I have been away from work for a few days for my nephew's graduation. It was an occasion for a lot of family to visit. There were a lot of events and gatherings and it was great to see everyone.
A great time. Too bad it happened on the first 100 degree weekend of the year, though! The graduation was Saturday night with a cookout/party on Sunday. I'm including two photos. One is of the clouds I saw on the way into the graduation. We rarely get that sort of dramatic sky. The other is of my nephew Joe and his father (my brother, John) at the party. The photo was taken in John and Jennie's barn. They're holding a memory quilt that Jennie's sister Julie made for Joe from his old t-shirts, sports uniforms, etc. She does a wonderful job with those.

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Monthly landmark day

It's June 6. It was eight months ago that I had that surgery. I still get out of breath sometimes and I get a twinge now and then but aside from that I really don't have much remaining ill effect from that. It seems so long ago.

A bigger landmark happened last night and it wasn't mine. Barry called to say that for the first time since his surgery he was able to walk a bit. This was wonderful news.

Event prep

I'm getting ready for a nephew graduation weekend extravaganza featuring visiting relatives, the graduation itself, an afternoon cookout celebration and an assortment of other activities. I've been getting the house ready so that my sister can stay with me. By "getting the house ready" I really mean just dusting, vacuuming, and neatening the place up enough that you don't have to kick your way through stuff to get across the living room floor. I'm trying to keep up at work at the same time. We have a lot going on there.

In my mind all the time is my friend Barry. I hate that he has to go through all these things. I speak to him regularly on the phone and it's wonderful to hear his voice. Next week I get to go down to Florida to see him. I'm looking forward to that.

Kayaking yesterday

I had a lot to do yesterday when I got home from work but it was so beautiful that I took my kayak out on the river instead. That proved to be a good choice. There were very few people out yesterday and it was a very quiet and serene way to spend the afternoon. I saw baby geese, a snake, several deer, lots of fish the usual mallard ducks and for the first time in my life some wood ducks - a mother and several babies. The river valley was once a major transportation route. The railroad still follows the river but the roads are abandoned now. Some very well built stone bridges and culverts remain, though. I'm including some photos here. There's a road bridge/culvert, a picture of the river, and a snappy shot of a deer who seemed more curious than skittish as I floated by.

Here we go again

Well, in the annoying medical news category, I have a hernia. To be more accurate I have two of them. Grrr. I did a lot of coughing during the first six months of last year with pneumonia and an assortment of other respiratory problems that led up to my tumor diagnosis. Not to be too blunt about it but evidently I coughed my guts out. They are the easy-to-fix kind and plans for that are in the works. Compared to last year, and compared to what others are going through now, this is an absolute non-event. Still, I was surprised to hear that I should expect to be out of work for two to three weeks. I didn't think it would take that long. All of this is scheduled to occur in mid-July. I'll be glad to get it out of the way. If this had come up last year I probably would have been emoting up a storm about it. It's interesting how your perspective can change.

Off to a new topic. Yesterday afternoon I went out into the back yard to see how some potted plants were doing. to my surprise, there was a big ol' toad sitting in one of them. He kept very still, pretending to be a rock, I suppose. I took his picture. When I went back about half an hour later he was gone. Toads are supposed to be evidence of a healthy environment. Since I don't use many lawn and garden chemicals, I guess I've earned the toad seal of approval. Here's the photo. Click on it for a larger view.