Small thrill

It has been a nice but low-key holiday weekend. My biggest thrill was buying a new vacuum cleaner yesterday. I have been using an old Hoover upright that I bought for $5 at a thrift store about 16 years ago. It finally bombed out on me. I bought a fairly low-end new Hoover now and it works great. I am having a great time vacuuming up a storm. It's probably sad that I'm enjoying this so much but that's the truth. Another big day in my life!

Appointments to prepare for appointments

OK, the CT scan is scheduled as of this morning. It turns out that I had to schedule some blood work before I can have that. And before the blood work can happen I have to pick up a form that says what tests are needed. So, for the one actual doctor appiontment to come off as scheduled I have to make three prelminary trips to different spots. It's interesting how all this works. I'll do all this gladly with the expectation that the news from all these test and appointments will be good. I don't expect to hear anything but positive news but it's hard not to get jumpy as these things approach.

I'm looking forward to seeing what the CT scan results look like. Last time I had one of those I was able to convert the image files into a movie. I'm hoping to do that again this time so that I can compare the two. It'll be interesting to see what it looks like with less lung taking up space. I wonder if anything has shifted around.

Appointments and appointments

This morning I spent a little time setting up appointments that I need to have. By the middle of September I will have gone for a follow up CT scan and had a lung surgeon and a pulmonologist follow-up appointment. That will be interesting. I'm supposed to get a pulmonary function test at that point so I'll get a feel for exactly how much lung capacity I have lost. I also made an appointment with the eye doctor. New glasses - always good. This time I might spring for the fancy sun-darkening ones. I've always wanted those.

Up a tree

On Saturday I was thinking about all the things I said I wanted to do when I was out with the hernia surgery. One of them was climbing the tree in the front yard. I had been up it before but haven't climbed up there for several years. I decided to hoist myself up at least part of the way. The tree trunk divides so I decided only to go up that far this time.


It's an easy climb because there are so many branches. It would be possible slip but it would be hard to fall out.


Aside from the fact that it's just fun to do, the view from up in the tree is great. You can see down into my back yard and out over the valley to the east. On Saturday there was just a light breeze so the tree didn't sway too much. It would swing quite a lot in a brisk wind.



There is a taller pine tree in the back yard. You can see quite a long way if you climb near to the top. It has lost some branches at the bottom in recent years so it's harder to get started going up there. I might try it again some time, though. That one really is an adventure.

In the mail

Like everyone else, the first thing I do when I get home is to check the mail. Usually it's full of assorted junk mail and advertisements for assorted things. Yesterday I didn't have any of that, just two handwritten notes. I don't think I have ever had that happen before.

The first note was from Rick, thanking me for things I did to help during and after Barry's illness. It was beautifully written and he said some of the kindest and most helpful things. I will hold onto it for a long time. The second was from my nephew Joe to thank me for a graduation present. I kid my nephews that I'm only being nice to them so they'll feel obligated to take care of me when I'm old. Joe told me that he'd be the first to take care of me when I'm old and decrepit in the home. That was both funny and reassuring. After this past year and a half, decrepit seems to be coming on sooner than I had anticipated!

What a wonderful moment to come home to find two kind and thoughtful messages. It made me feel as if I just might be getting things right some of the time.

Full moon and heron

This morning I took my usual walk down to the river before dawn. I'm trying to step up the pace a bit to get some real exercise. It was beautifully clear and the full moon lit up everything. A heron was standing in the river by the bridge. She was closer than usual and didn't fly away as they sometimes do. It has been a very long time since I've seen a heron there. A good sign, I hope.

A perplexing surprise

Today I just happened to notice a box that had been sent through our internal delivery system that was addresed to me and had been left on a file cabinet outside my office door. I don't know how long it might have been there. It didn't contain a note, just a Lava Lite themed box of Puffs tissues. It was evidently sent by someone who knows me well - or at least sent by someone who knows that I have more than one Lava Lite and that getting these mystery shipments in delivery is likely to drive me round the bend with curiosity. I did the usual forensic analysis of the box, trying to read through all the scratched out labels to figure out where it might have been before but that didn't pay off. It's a cool box, too. It has a lenticular Lava Lite picture on one side that changes depending on your angle of view. A fun surprise on a day that I could really use one.

OK, it turns out that the box was from Sharyn. I suspected a much. The scary part is that she had sent me an email to tell me that it was coming and I zoned out on that info.

And a new week begins

The memorial service this weekend was as good as it is possible for something like that to be. It has been a long series of events over the last year and a half. I am hoping for but not counting on a period where life assumes a mundane pace for a while. I feel like I have been given a barrage of experiences to help me understand more fully what is important and to spend my time on those things.

Nine months

As of today it has been nine months out of my big lung surgery. A lot went on leading up to that day and so much since then. It's hard to sort it all out.

An early autumn

Just yesterday I saw that some of the leaves on a tree near the library where I work have begun to change color already. On the drive home I noticed that some of the sumac trees along the side of the highway have begun to change as well.

I took a picture of the leaves on the tree by the library. Yesterday in the bright sun the colors were even more vibrant but today is a grey day.

Home from the memorial service

Connie and I arrived back from Jacksonville last night. The trip went as well as we could have hoped. We had a chance to spend a little time both with Barry's family and with Rick's family. We also met several people Barry had spoken about but that we had never met in person. All good and kind people.

From what I heard this weekend Barry faced more difficulties than I had ever imagined. He might sometimes have acknowledged that they were happening but he never complained.

People spoke beautifully at the service. The remarks were positive and hopeful - just as Barry wanted them to be. There were plenty of tears as well. That is as it should be. All part of a fitting tribute to someone who was taken away from us far too soon.

This weekend was difficult for everyone and everyone stepped up to that challenge.

There will be a service this Saturday, August 9 at 10:00 in the garden at St. John's United Church of Christ for those of us in the Baltimore area. I will be helping with that as much as I am needed.

In his blog posts, Barry always tried to end with something light so I'll try to do the same. Not twelve hours after I was out of town, my washing machine hot water hose burst and sprayed water all over the basement laundry area. It ran across the basement floor and out the garage door. I had been home for three weeks before that with the hernia surgery but the stupid hose waited just long enough to be sure I was hundreds of miles away before it popped. It evidently hadn't counted on my neighbors who stepped in and took care of things. A very lucky break for me. I bought new steel reinforced hoses this morning and will install them tonight. A minor problem but one I could have done without just now.

In Jacksonville

This week has been a blur with phone calls, arrangements, and a busy schedule at work. There are services for Barry in Jacksonville on August 3 (tomorrow) and in Baltimore on August 9. Barry's friend Connie and I had made plans to fly to Jacksonville to see him this weekend so we decided to come down for the service. We flew down last night. We'll see what we can do to help with things today andPublish Post will fly home after the service tomorrow.