Welcome 2022...

 Happy New Year

I'm gonna do my best to hang on.

R.I.P. ...

 

Coach Madden

I know it's after but I still like it...

 

K.I.S.S. ...

 Keep It Simple Santa

Merry Christmas however you give it.
Merry Christmas however you take it.
Merry Christmas however you make it.

***Merry Christmas***
🎅

Shortbread Christmas Cookies...

 Recipe here.

 

They could use some help...

 Red Cross tornado relief.

 

Wish this was mine...

 

I am always so jealous of all kinds of creativity.

 

Tired of looking at the turkey?...

 me, too.

Happy Thanksgiving...

 

Remember when...

Wish I could
find the photo
of me in my
cowgirl outfit;
black skirt
with white
fringe,
matching vest,
cowgirl boots
and a black hat.

Damn, I was cute.

I even had a cap-gun with a holster.

You lookin' at me?...

 

 

 

In case you didn't notice...

 

Boo...

The lights are off
Doors and windows
closed and locked.
No ghouls allowed.
Begone you evil
in the dark.
Scared me once
That's all it took.

if only...

If I were ever able to have cats again,
the male would be named Henry and
the female would be Petunia.
It can't happen for a lot of reasons, but
that's OK. I've had many cats over the years.
There was Hershey, Squeaky, Fishbait,
Max and Mandy, Patch, Felix, Pissy and Bubba.

 
And I miss all the dogs I had, too.
Just feeling silly-nostalgic lately.
Perhaps that's what old people do when they keep getting older.
Remembering silly little things from the past.

Success...

 

Hello October...

 

For me, it isn't just about leaves changing colors.
It's also about curling up under a warm blanket
on a chilly night and enjoying a good book.

Old-time Ohio...

 

Stop being stupid about covid...

" This disease is not the sniffles. It is not the nothing many of you claim. It affects real people, often in dangerous ways. Statistics overwhelmingly show the vast majority of the illness is among the unvaccinated. "

This is a small segment of a post by my blog friend, Joe.

It's about his 2 year-old granddaughter  who is in the hospital
with Covid. 

I'd like you to go there and read the entire post.
You are welcome to leave comments here but the comments
better not be negative in any way regarding him or
any part of his post.  If so, your comment will be deleted.

 

Longer nights...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It happens every year
but it still seems to come
as a surprise.

 

 

 

Folklore...

 

It's the green eyes that getcha...

My niece got a 9-week old puppy. Named her Willow.
She's a chocolate Lab with green eyes.
I've seen plenty of green-eyed cats but I don't remember
ever seeing any dog with green eyes.

Say "hi" to Willow...

in the right place at the right time...

 with a camera.

simply beautiful.

I like it...

 

I think I can breathe again...

 After a three month hiatus from all her cancer meds,
but in the meantime a plethora of scans and other
testing, Carol started a new chemo treatment this month.
She goes two Fridays in a row, skips a week and then
repeats.

She gets the third dose this Friday and I'm pretty
sure I can already see a difference. You see, the cancer
looks like a red rash across her chest. The good news is
that after all the tests, there appear to be no signs of
any cancer in any organs, bones or lymph glands.
This treatment is supposed to reduce the cancer on her
chest so they will have a smaller area to attack with radiation.

So far, the side effects are minimal. Mostly just being tired
the day of and the day after treatment. But, it's early,
so who knows if any other yuckies will show up later.
We'll deal with it if that happens.

Other than that, we're all completely, thoroughly and
most definitely ready for this Summer's extreme heat
and humidity to be gone. We don't have a/c, so other than
open windows and fans on high, it can get uncomfortable.
I really hope September will be milder.

simplestupid...

 baa-baa black sheep
give a dog a bone
Mary had a little lamb
cradle and all.
one, two buckle my shoe.
e-i, e-i, Oh!
keep it simplestupid.

How to read a poem...

by yourself.
in quiet.
better more than once.

Happy Birthday, Beatrix...

 A fascinating, intelligent, talented woman.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What's in a name?...

 

 

 

 

 

It will take time.
More than 100 years of history
will never go away.

A very good book...

 

Go ahead and dance anyway...

 

I don't know why this
makes me chuckle, because,
in fact I believe Disco
does suck.

 

 

 

(found at The Hammock Papers)

Wander on, big fuzz-ball...

 "THERE'S A BEAR IN THE YARD AND THE POLICE ARE OUTSIDE!"

Well, it was Park Rangers not Police, but there really was a bear in the yard. 

Our back yard is fenced. Carol will
take a few laps every day in good
weather.
She did that today and then sat on
the front porch for a bit when
all of a sudden she came screaming
into the living room exclaiming the
the first line in this post.

Ann and I were reading/ watching
baseball and reacted with more than minimal confusion...
"WTF are you talking about??".
We all scrambled for window views and,
sure enough, there was a black bear in the
back yard. He stood about three feet at the
shoulder. Plenty big enough to be intimidating.
He seemed confused, too, looking
for an exit in the fence.

Both gates were closed so the only way for
him to get in or out of the yard was to scale the fence.
I don't think bears are known for leaping.

We turned away long enough to look for the Rangers parked
in the street out front and in that moment, the bear was gone.

The Rangers disappeared down a side street and all was quiet
here again. Except, the neighbors are seen once in a while
peering cautiously through windows or doors before venturing
out into the wild.

One room in Heaven...

 

Grandly comfortable,
softly quiet, a beautiful
view (beau voir), lined
with books from floor
to ceiling. Maybe a tv
discreetly placed next
to a perfect stereo
system.
Loved ones close by.
No desire or need for
food or drink.
I can't imagine better.

Ain't it a shame...

 

found at Cultural Offering.

Outta reach...

At times, we all know
how they feel.

West with Giraffes...

 

One of the best books
I have ever, ever read.
Truly.

 

Rest your eyes on beauty...

 

Found at Someitsjustaswell.

Remember and Honor...

 

Still here...

 ...just not very interested right now.

Surgery on her scalp done and healing well, still
waiting on biopsy results.
Pulmonary testing done, results (as much as I can decipher)
don't appear to be of serious concern.
Next meeting with oncologist might clarify what's ahead.
So much is a waiting game.

Enjoy what ya got while ya got it, right?

That includes friends like all of you.

Why Peacocks?... a very good book

 

Condensed version...

 Lots of doctor visits. Lots of tests.

They're stopping all her chemo meds temporarily
because tests are showing signs of heart failure
and pulmonary hypertension. They're adding
some meds to help combat those issues and give
her heart and lungs a chance to re-gain some strength
before going back to chemo.

The good thing is that she says she feels fine.

She goes next week to have the growth on her scalp removed.
We had to postpone the original surgery because all
the new doctors she's seeing said she could only have the
procedure under local anesthetic and the surgeon was
planning on knocking her out. Because of her heart and
lung issues, doing that could be "catastrophic".
The week after that she is scheduled for an entire day of more tests.

I try not to think too much, just take things one day at a time.
Sometimes that works, sometimes not so much.

Happy Mother's Day...

 

Paying attention...

 “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” -Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

(swiped from Hope Leslie)

Look really hard for some good even if it feels
like you're drowning in bad. It might just
save your sanity. (swiped from Me in a saner moment)

 

A sketch by Edward Hopper when he was only 9 yo.

Just muddling along...

 Nothing to add at the moment, which is a good
thing I guess.

Will be doing follow-ups with doctors in about
a week so they will hopefully explain the test
results in plain English.

Maintaining gratitude takes effort but needs to
be done. I guess it's good until it isn't.

False advertising...

 

Fear of dying...

 Originally
someone said life after death
Eventually.

Blue birds...

 

She passed the first
covid test so we can
take her for the heart
catheterization this
morning.

Staying positive but
still keeping my
fingers crossed.

My brain is tired...

 ...there's a clenched fist in my chest and my nerves
are as strained as catgut on a guitar (piano? violin? whatev).

I've been spoiled during the past year. It was February 2020
since Carol's last hospital stay and considering the Covid crap,
we have been very lucky. And very careful.

She got her second vaccination today with no side effects at all
and Ann and I are getting our second vaccination on the 19th.

So why would I be at all stressed?
In the last couple weeks she's been scheduled for multiple
procedures and tests that make me worry. One procedure is a
heart catheterization and another involves removing a large
growth on her scalp. And then the heart doctor decided just
the other day that he wants some kind of lung test done.
All of these procedures require blood work and a Covid test.
ALL of this rigamarole is scheduled during the next two weeks.

The only doctor who will allow me to go with her to her
appointments is the surgeon. The other doctors follow Covid
restrictions that only allows the patient in the facility unless the
patient needs physical help or help communicating.

So, I have to rely on Carol to fill me in and unfortunately she
often gets confused about what they're telling her. And she will
not question anything she's told when it comes from any person
she considers to be an authority. Well, you probably know that
I ask questions about everything. I don't like not knowing
especially when it comes to health situations.

I don't think anyone else worries because they know I will.
Does that sound like "poor me" whining?

So guess where I spent a couple of hours on Friday?

A funeral home.

Nobody died. This was for me.
Did the pre-planning thing for a simple cremation, no viewing,
no service. Even picked out a headstone. All that's left is to
talk to the cemetery people.

I feel so much better.

It's early...

 

 

Beiber did his job well. 12 Ks in 6 innings.
Still lost 3-2 even after Roberto Perez hit a 2-run homer.
The weather didn't help.

 

So true, so true...

 

One of a kind...

 

“Flannery O’Connor knew that not everyone would or could understand her work. She once received a letter from someone who told her that her book left a bad taste in her mouth. O’Connor wrote back, “You weren’t supposed to eat it.””

— Flannery O’Connor

 

80th Bike Week Daytona...

 Doesn't look any different from the 38 Bike Weeks I saw...