18 November …

Second week in a row the blog has been impacted by medical appointments. 

Sorry …

Maybe I should switch the post day to a weekend.  Offices aren’t open on weekends.

~~~

Medical appointment last wednesday was for George’s annual cardiac checkup. 

PreDawnWe had to leave home before dawn …

Exam results were that all is as well as we can expect at our age.

George’s caffeine intake was cut off 24 hours before the appointment and he wasn’t allowed to eat for the 12 hours preceding it … I don’t eat when he can’t eat … by the time we got out of the office, we were really hungry. 

It was Veterans’ Day and some restaurants were offering free meals to vets … so we went to Applebee’s.  He had a big plateful of double crusty shrimp with slaw and fries.  I had a surprisingly good plate of fish and chips (except that the chips were actually fresh crisps) with slaw.

The place was packed with some folks waiting outside … weather was pleasant.

Parties with a vet were seated before others without.  And if we heard “Thank you for your service” once, it must have been at least twenty or thirty times.  Young people without a vet in their group were going out of their way to greet the vets.  There were a lot of “old fogies” there (we saw two other WW II vets) so we were right in tune.

Had we not been in Redding for the medical appointment, we probably would not have gone out … even for a free meal … too many people.  But it worked out okay.

~~~

Weather has turned winter. I’ve had to break the ice on the ladies’ water for the last few mornings.

Sunday Snow

And sunday morning it began to snow …

It seems like it has been ages since I was able to sit in my rocker by the wood stove, spin, sip my cuppa, and watch it snow.  Bliss …

16 Nov 2015

Monday morning was lovely …

Thanks to everyone who has been thinking snow. Keep up the good work.

~~~

Last Apple

 

You have all heard of the “Last Rose of Summer” … well, last week, before the snow and during the rain, I found the last apple of summer.  I don’t know how I missed it, but a worm and some birds obviously found it.

~~~

Lately I’ve been waking up with a feeling of disconnect, as if the world is going past me and I no longer have a reason.  I would guess that more “old” folks feel that way than are willing to admit it.

It’s not that I don’t have anything to do.  There is a lot to do and I’m busy and content.  Just that there is so much about the world to which I no longer relate or even understand. 

People buried in cell phones while the world goes past is one. 

Jingoistic patriotism is another (a recent post pointed out that it has been more than seventy years since we fought a war which was actually about “defending freedom” rather than supporting a political “friend” or defending corporate rights or taking revenge or … choose your own reason).

Corporate profit running the world regardless of who is harmed or how is another.

Things are changing … kvetch … kvetch … kvetch.

 

The latest change to set us back on our heels is a radical change in our medical provider situation.  Our GP is closing his practice as of 31 December.  He has referred us to a Medical Group which we will be checking out at a future open house.  This effects (and affects) me more than George, since our MD will continue as the VA doc.  My  choice appears to be between a female MD, a male MD, a male FNP, and an Egyptian trained male MD.

But the big blow for George (and me as well) is that the VA FNP he has come to respect and appreciate (dare I say love) will also be gone.  She has family in South Dakota so I guess she’ll be transferring there. 

One plus is that his retinologist is young, new to the area (and seems to be liking southwestern Oregon), and George likes him.  Another is that his cardiologist shows no signs of slowing.

Solution for me is to stay well.

~~~

Leftover

 

 

Yesterday there was a leftover in the backyard …

 

 

 

~~~

And finally … my thoughts are filled with the events of the past week.

My Nana was zeroed in on Armageddon.  She was years early, but it is looking more and more as if humankind is determined to destroy the Earth and in the process destroy itself. 

Word about the destruction of rain forests in South America and Indonesia all in the name of profit …

Ethnic, cultural, racial, or religious tribalism causing the killing of each other to “protect” ourselves leading to constant fear of the “other” …

The rise of unthinking fundamentalism …

Even hate behavior within tribes if someone dare disagree or in some way deviate from the “norm” … 

… all leading to what would appear to be the beginning of the third World War, a war which holds the potential to actually be the war to end all wars since there might be nothing and no one left.

What happened to “unto one of the least of these”, and “those with whom discussion is not possible should be passed by in peace” and “you shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you” ???

I realize these thoughts are negatively simplistic. 

I realize the kneejerk reaction is to blame the “other”. 

I realize I live a simple, protected life in that I am not part of a large metropolitan area or of an active tribe.

I am unsettled and concerned about the “seventh generation”.

 

And so … ’til next week …