Here is a sample of our one and a half hour ride home with CA’s shattered shoulder to nurse along. It is only 51 seconds but you’ll get the feel of it. Normally it is a thrill to catch a boisterous sea. She was in some pain and at the time didn’t know anything about the seriousness of the break.
From Monhegan to Port Clyde MaineMany already know that Carol Ann, my partner in life, fell down some stairs Monday and tore up her left shoulder and upper arm. She was operated on Wednesday morning and the surgeon successfully set things back in place and screwed them down.
She already shows signs of healing and mobility. She can rest and manage fairly well with self maintenance tasks. PT will begin after the 1st, while she is already doing some passive dangling pendulum movement from a bended position to keep the joint flexible as much as possible. I am frankly amazed that she can do this after the agonizing pain she had in the beginning.
This has surely been a fast and furious week for us here on Elmwood Road. Hope things slow down some, and I know they won’t.
Soon the carpenter will bring the facing lumber for new windows that I will paint, then the windows will come and then he will install them upstairs. We hope for good weather for that. All the while there will be some PT going on with CA and the usual pre-winter preparation around the house. More on that below.
Only issue now is that CA has commandeered my couch – my favorite nap area – as it provides support for her shoulder leaning against the back while laying mostly on her right side. I may have to resort to the actual bed for my naps.
In other matters, there is a pile of brush to chip and a larger pile of brush to burn later on. Then there is the “final” grass cutting before end of season servicing of the lawn mower. I’ll change oil, wipe it down sharpen the blades and charge the battery.
Every fall I say I am going to deal with the ell and the cellar and throw tons of useless stuff away, but I never seem to get to it. So this year I am just going to leave it alone and see if anything gets done. Stranger things have happened. I’m OK with stranger thing slowing down a bit but I am wise enough to know it isn’t any of my damned business. Sometimes the strange things are the most fun. Sometimes, they’re not. That’s all I’m going to say about that. Life goes on here.
Time for the final cup of the day and the final rendering of the “To Do” list du jour. I wonder if anyone cares that a lot of that list is carry over?
I have been thinking about you lately and thought, wouldn’t it be nice to get together someplace for a visit. You could come here, of course, and we could sit on the deck like you always enjoyed, but it’s getting cooler and many afternoons it is just too windy and cool to enjoy a cup of coffee out there. The seasons are wild this year, as you have probably heard.
We could meet for breakfast at out favorite little diner. You remember the one with the uneven flooring. I drove by yesterday and you won’t believe this but it is closed until further notice. Lack of business I suppose. Another victim of this economic downturn.
Then I remembered how we enjoyed that little eatery inside the book store we used to go to and I called to find out when the restaurant opened and got this message on the phone, “We’re sorry. This bookstore is out of business, along with the little cafe you enjoyed so much. Too many of you are buying books at giant book barns online and cutting our prices by half. The rest are going totally digital. How you stick a book marker in that is beyond us. We asked our bank for a loan and they said they had no money after the bonuses were paid out. So we’re sorry. For a full detailed explanation go to our web site at www.blindbobsbooks.us“.
That broke my heart. But, then I thought it would be fun to go for a hike to our favorite seaside trail. So the other day while out looking for cheap gas I drove by the road that leads to the trail head and there was a road closed sign there. Seems there is a bridge out and there is no money to fix it now.
You know, all we want to do is visit each other. It looks like the best bet is to meet at the mall food court and get a cup of coffee and one of those hand held things with pseudo sausage and a splash of powdered egg and find a seat somewhere and watch what’s left of the passing parade. I hear the place is almost deserted these days. You know how I hate crowds. This might be the way to go.
It will be good to see you again. I’ll wait for you in front of that expensive boutique coffee shop we used to laugh about. It closed last month, but there’s a bench there that is usually empty. I’ll be on it.
See you soon.
Jerry
It’s September the 13th. Last year it was a nice mild to warm month – not hot – and quite enjoyable. This year it is cool. I said cool to a pal up on Sebec Lake yesterday and he corrected me: COLD he said – all caps.
I am sitting here gathering up what I think I have to get done this week and the cold is seeping in through my sweat shirt down into my hide. I finally decided to make the first fire of the season in my little Waterford box. Some kindling is all, but enough to take the chill off. It only dropped to 49 or 50 last night. Much warmer by a degree or two than predicted. But after a week or so of this it begins to soak in and one’s tolerance for it wears thin. Ye ha! Every year we go through this little game of pretending we don’t need any heat and then we look at each other with our warm clothes on inside and think, “Hey, we’re moderately well educated and aware people. You’d think we might be able to figure out it’s cold enough for some heat”. Like it’s not a contest to see who can hold out longest. Now that I have struck the first match, it won’t take as much emotional toll next time. It’s just early for a fire. Too damned early. We’re having the upstairs windows replaced beginning in a week and a half. It would be nice not to have frigid air coming in when they remove the old ones. Last year when the downstairs was done the weather was perfect. You just can’t count on anything anymore where weather is concerned. We are also going out to Monhegan Island for four days on the 20th. It really would be nice to have some warm and dry weather for that. We’ve been going out there for something like 15 years now and have encountered every kind of weather. You go prepared for what it can do not what you hope it will do. Not a bad philosophy for life, I would think. Anyway, it’s cool – umm, well I should say cold. I can feel the warmth migrating over here from the little cast iron stove already. A refill on my cup of darkroast seems in order. May this find you well and engaged at the beginning of your week. Jerry HendersonSo it is 48? here presently – 7:30 AM. No fire up here but a nice sweat shirt will do. Bare legs hanging out and your wonderful crocheted throw is warming them. Darkroast by elbow and the day looms ahead in the sunshine. It’s only Sept 11. May this find you well and full of cheer.
(Jesus! 9/11! Oh well I know what the media will be all about today, which means I will avoid media. That thing has become so political. Everything about it is somebody’s hobby horse. A simple memorial service honoring and remembering those who died, and let it go. I am surprised Hollywood hasn’t gotten a-hold of that a′la Pearl Harbor. Maybe they have. I just don’t watch much.) What really gets to me about the seasonal changes is the light. It is fading precipitously. It changes at an irregular rate – about 2 1/3 minutes per day at this latitude and at this time of year. September seems to give it a kick in the ass and it just seems to fade faster. It’s the emotional effect that has the greatest impact.The tides are high now. Higher than I have “ever” noticed. I am sure that is a kind of fielder’s choice observation in meteorological terms, not unlike my perception of the fading light. I don’t stand there and watch it, but I love seeing the tides work. There are several places nearby where back waters are tidal finger-like sloughs that go far inland and flow in and out twice a day. I love it. It is perhaps my favorite regional feature. Gulf tides, when I lived there, were mostly unnoticed. (I thought that was a hyphenated word. My spell checker says no. Funny thing about spell checkers – they couldn’t care less about what word you use.)
Interesting factoid: Yesterday 9/10, now that I think of it, was the 61st anniversary of the “first time” I got married. That seems like another galaxy far far away. We eloped across the border into Mississippi, where such expeditious services could be found. We stood before the mantle in Judge Lee’s parlor with his wife in attendance. He wore the khakis he was working in, she removed her apron and we wore plain “dating style” clothes. Skirt, slacks and light colored tops as I recall. Nobody with any brains at all would have done that. But brains were not required at the time. I think it remains the custom today. It lasted 27 years. Three great kids. Must have been something there. It was probably a high tide day. Or a full moon. I guess I could check that out. As you can see I have nothing to say. I hope all is well for you this weekend. It will be quiet here with some random wood stacking, and possibly the last grass cutting and of course some gardening wrap-up. Be well dear Friend JHBig deal! We’ve had worse storms that were unannounced and did not rate one line in the papers. There was a little rain. Not a breath of wind. A candle would have survived. Lots of nervous anticipation and getting ready. The air this morning is still and heavy and at least cooler at 70?. All in all, this was an ocean storm.
That bunch of motor mouths on the tabloid Weather Channel, with heads full of dental masterworks, fairly worked the Eastern Seaboard into a frenzy which, of course, is their intent. I’m not complaining about the weather. I just get so tired of the continuous “over the top” reporting, a’la blood and guts news, that passes for information.
I read the National Weather Service on line. Not that what I do is best, but it is what I do. No emotional content. Just the facts, mam. It contains all the information you need without the patronizing attitude. Those Weather Channel bozos actually want us to think they are in the life saving business.
It’ll be a slow weekend around here. I’ll go for a walk. Cook down the fresh pasta sauce I made yesterday (talk about wonderful – and we are thankful for the harvest of great tomatoes). I’ll continue down the list of never ending chores here on the edge of the woods and read. God knows I love to read. Since the eyes got fixed, I can read all night it seems. This is both good and bad. I have to learn moderation. I can spell moderation. That’s about it. Be well and stay tuned JHBig storm is-a coming. I’ll take in the clothes. I’ll being in the beans and pick tomatoes. I’ll tie down the deck chairs and lay down the umbrella. I’ll plug in the generator and stock up the refrigerator. I’ll keep an eye out for alligators (No wait, that was another place and another storm) I’ll read my news aggregator before the web shuts down. I’ll check on the gin, the makings for biscuits and make sure the lard hasn’t gone bad. I’ll lay out my books and paper and pencil. I’ll line up my lights and batteries on the side. I’ll prime the oil lamp, lay out the cards, dominoes and the hard candy.
It could be worse. It might be worse. Be ready for what it can do, not what I think it’ll do.
That’s what I always say.
I’m a morning coffee head. I have this little cheap drip coffee maker that turns out a five cup load in about five minutes. It has a timer on it. I can set it to go off at any time I choose. It cost around 15 bucks at Target. I figured that I could now wake up and coffee would be waiting for me instead of fumbling around in a somnambulant morning fog. I love it. It’s the simple routine pleasures that count.
In a related matter: recently, I have had a persistent shoulder pain that prompted me to see my doctor. She sent me to a specialist who after looking at my MRI and taking a fresh x-ray told me that I had arthritis in that shoulder and that was my problem. So I said, “So what are we going to do. have a shoulderectomy?” I could tell he wasn’t used to using humor as a buffer against bad news. Instead he asked me if I had any drug allergies. I had already filled out a multi page thing on which I had answered that question several times, but I played along with him to protect his ego. He’s really a nice guy.
To make a long story short, he wanted to put me on some nonsteroidal anti-inflamatory drug. NSAID. So we launched into this regimen and I immediately had some mild side effects, the details of which we will not indulge for the moment. So I did some research and found these heartening words –
“People who take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (other than aspirin) such as nabumetone ( that’s my drug ) may have a higher risk of having a heart attack or a stroke than people who do not take these medications. These events may happen without warning and may cause death.”
Then I read that COFFEE can make things much worse! (God, I am doomed)
Then I read that cocktail hour can be dangerous!
Then I read that this chemical can cause holes in your stomach and intestines.
By now I am harboring a mild doubt as to whether or not I should be using this stuff.
By now I am thinking a call to my much friendlier acupuncturist is in order. He laughs at my jokes.
By now I’m thinking that there is something at the health food store that would help. Maybe yoga and incense.
By now, I am sure you can tell, I am in panic mode. But I’m feeling much better already. I can deal with panic.
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