17 November …

 

 

While doing this blog over the last few years, I have endeavoured to share all the wonderful, beautiful things in my life. I have enjoyed sharing them and can only hope you enjoyed sharing as well.

But … now seems the time to share some unwelcome information which will explain why, if in the future, this blog is missing or drastically shortened.

George is failing.

 

It is a real roller coaster and it is all happening so rapidly.

There had been the really tiny changes we all experience as we grow older.  Changes no one but a life partner would notice.

 

Then the 30th of September, while working the Headwaters Trail Runs, something changed.  George and I were working Net Control, he on the radio and me transcribing, when I noticed he was unable to repeat information to the stations.  Then he told me he couldn’t remember what he was supposed to be writing down on the communications log and was unable to read what he had written.

After that, things settled into a new pattern.  He no longer argued about me doing all the driving.  He did what he could around the farm and that was enough.

 

Mark and his family, except for the older children, have been living here since summer, so I have good support with John just a few miles down the road and Mark right here.

 

George and I went to the radio club swap meet and potluck the 28th of October (you saw the pictures) and he wasn’t too bad … a bit confused but still able to walk and talk.

Then suddenly, within a two week period, George’s right foot began to drag (it had been shuffling for some time) and his speech became almost unintelligible.

We knew of a similar situation, which happened to a man about George’s age, which turned out to be the result of an atypical geriatric urinary track infection, so we got George to the doctor and started him on Cipro. 

That was last wednesday.  He has had five doses of the antibiotic, two of which were never swallowed but dissolved in his mouth and drooled out, and things have continued to worsen.

He now tries to talk but ends up making unintelligible noises which angers him.  He walks only by being physically supported.  That too angers him.  He appears to have right-sided weakness with loss of control.

 

There have been funny happenings along the way such as when he was mumbling and the word “dog” came out very clearly followed by, also clearly, “Where the hell did that came from?”

And yesterday morning he greeted me with “Hi, Babe” and a smile.

So that’s where we are right now.  I don’t leave him for any extended period of time … hence no or late blogs.

 

I know you all wish us well and for that I thank you.

 

For now I must remember …

 

Fate will break your heart … and break your heart … and break your heart … over and over again … but things are as they are and will end as they must.

 

So  … ‘til next time …

 

8 November …

 

It’s been a fairly quiet week.

Soft rain began during the early morning friday and continued until it snowed.

The birch trees are nearly bare, and it had just occurred to me that I should rake and gather the fallen leaf carpet to spread in the garden when it began to rain.  Oh well … maybe next year.

Paul and I had gotten 30 out of the 50 narcissus bulbs planted.  John suggested I put some bulbs in the refrigerator to force bloom during winter.  As soon as possible, I will plant the rest.

And it is currently raining with a rather strong wind.

~~~

Here are some pictures from the swapmeet-potluck at the radio club house …

 

 

the cook …

 

 

                                         and some “elmers”.

The food was good and plentiful, and George didn’t buy anything.

~~~

Mark’s idea to offer an amateur radio class at the middle school is solidifying.  There are thirteen students signed up.  They will learn morse code and physics and math and who knows what else, and those who pass the exam to become amateur radio operators will be given a free handheld radio courtesy of one of our club members.  The textbooks were provided by members of the local Masonic Lodge.

It will be interesting to see how many make it all the way to the radios.

~~~

The time change threw me for a loop AGAIN.  I hate it.  The one clock at which I look first thing in the morning is the one clock in the house which didn’t get changed.

~~~

And time isn’t the only change.  George is having cognitive changes.  We first really noticed them the day of the Headwaters Trail Runs.  He has seen the doctor and they have done some tests, but we do not as yet have a diagnosis.

It is causing us to rethink chores and times.  So with combining the two households and now this … life is undergoing changes big time.

~~~

But there is still beauty in which to walk. 

John took this picture of a section of Old Stage Road just to the south of us.

The white winter cactus is in bloom.

Winter approaches across the meadow.

And the Mountain has donned her Winter attire.

~~~

 

So here’s something to remember …

 

Every life situation has been sent to you as a test and challenge to help you grow.

 

 

So … ‘til next week …

1 November …

 

Chilly mornings … still dark at 0700 and dark by 1800.  Must be getting close to the shortest day.

Fire in the living room woodstove mornings.

Soup more often than salad.

More trees going bare.

Yup … must be getting close to Yule.

~~~

George has been having minor aphasic problems as well as a bit of confusion.  It could be delayed concussion from when a tier of firewood fell over on him and he got a hit on the head, or it could be transient ischemic attacks, or it could be old age.  We went down to the VA clinic in Redding last Monday for a series of tests.  No results yet.

The trip down through the canyon was full of colours.  This was the only picture I could get.  Spring is pink and white.  Summer is greens (plural).  Autumn is as you see.

Then on the way home we got to see a bit of the Mountain.

~~~

 

Next to last of the “reading” pictures. 

Girl Reading, 1853, William Morris Hunt

Looking at art through reading has been fun.  And I learned a bit by looking closely.  Surprise …

 

~~~

Mark’s knee continues to improve.  The puncture wounds are nearly healed.

I have a bit of a time warp when I see the amount of surgery being done through punctures rather than incisions.  Time and technology moves on.

~~~

Hallowe’en began at breakfast when Mark appeared in a wig.  Kamille became a seasonal RN.  Paul was Vader. The front door jack o’lanterns were by Paul and John.

I had time out under the waxing Moon.

 

AC has resumed his place under the bell beside the boardwalk.

 

There is still firewood to be moved.

The spinning for Paul’s sweater is almost done. 

Tyler’s sweater is started.

All is right with my world.

~~~

As we start November know that …

 

If you are super brilliant, there is nothing holding you back from being silly.

 

‘til next week …