Whatever happened
to my blog post of last week? I could not line up the paragraphs properly on my Mac, and when I read it on my iPad I noticed that part of the text is in a very small font. No idea how that happened and I hope it will not happen again.
Snow and Ice
The past weekend’s weather forecast was so threatening that I went to Trader Joe’s on Thursday, in the rain, and stocked up on necessary items to be independent for three days. Even though we had about two inches of snow on Friday night, and temperatures in the twenties, the maintenance men here took the necessary precautions and the sidewalks were safe, a snowplow cleaned the road in the night, and the remaining snow was beautiful – and a new adventure for Lani. After walking in the snow, she came home with ice balls on her paws, which were hard to get off; but today the snow did not stick that much anymore and she was fine.
A Snowman
When the sun was out and I took a walk on Sunday afternoon, one of the old ladies was sitting in a chair outside the front entrance. “Are you going out?” I asked her. “No, I am just resting. I built that snowman over there.”
“A snowman? Where?” And there, on the front lawn, stood a cute three feet high snowman, with black eyes, a “carrot” nose, a red mouth, a red scarf, and a red heart at the end of one of his outstretched arms.
“Did you do that?”
“Yes, I was just going to take a picture.”
“Would you like me to take the picture with you standing behind your man?”
“Oh yes, you came just in time. How nice of you!”
On the sidewalk, she handed me her cellphone. At the same time, Lani ran around her, the poopy bag flew out of my hand and before I knew it Lorraine fell on the ground and her cell phone landed at my feet. I was shocked, helped her up and picked up her phone, which looked ok. Then I loudly commanded Lani to stay at a distance and sit. She did. “I am all right,” said Lorraine, “I landed on my butt and that is the best place to land on if you fall.” I was worried, nevertheless. Bad things happen when people fall. But she walked up to the snowman and posed for two different pictures and was delighted. She got her phone back and went inside, and Lani and I picked up the baggie and went home.
The next day I called Lorraine and asked how she was. She was delighted that I called and said the pictures had gone out to all her kids and grandkids. “They always sent me pictures of the snow, and now I could send them one of my own!” We had a delightful conversation. She is eighty-seven years old, no less, and we promised to meet again soon.
Busy Times, Happy Times
The snow is almost all the way gone and I can safely walk again with Lani. I am juggling my time between taking care of Mike’s leg, organizing things at home, making doctor’s appointments for both of us and much more. This week, we happily said goodbye to the Physical Therapist: Mike has reached his goals (or her goals?)! And today, the wound nurse will be here for the last time to sign him out; I think next Friday will be our last visit to the Wound Healing Center, and all of that because the wound has healed. Hallelujah!
Just yesterday, I heard that there are three more spots on my leg that are cancerous. The Skin Center will only do two surgeries at a time, so I am up for 2 of those! They will be under local anesthesia, thank goodness. I may even be able to drive myself home afterwards. We’ll see. I’m in the planning stages.
A blessing of the snow days was that I actually finished a book! Daughter of Moloka’i by Alan Brennert (his novel Moloka’i was a national best seller) brought back many memories of Hawai’i, but I also learned gripping and gruesome details of the detention camps in California where Japanese Americans were detained during World War Two. Those details were new to me, probably because I have been focusing my research on World War Two in the Pacific and the concentration camps. What a blessing for all that those war years are a thing of the past.
May your days be peaceful and happy!
Until next time
Ronny