Nature Songs ~~~~
JUNE, 2002 ~
continued
June 22, 2002 ~
Youthful Glee ~~ Happiness in the eyes of the young most often could be spelled W - A - T - E - R. Give two or more children a water hose and let the fun begin. Little does it matter to them whether there is a shortage of water in many areas or not. They become intent upon the moment at hand and all the fun that accompanies the present.
Summer has arrived here in North Carolina to find yards brown with grass gone dormant due to lack of water. Large cracks form a crazy-like puzzle through the baked red clay of yards, fields and gardens. When our red dirt gets dry or even barely damp it is impossible to dig, much hoe around plants in the garden. Our own garden has been mixed with sand, leaves, sawdust, top soil and loads of manure and yet it get unworkable when it is too dry. Cities and other communities are already rationing water supplies that are dwindling fast. We are fortunate to have our water pumped from the Catawba River and Lake Rhodhiss which is one of the largest supplier of water.
With the critical need of water by so many, I’ve tried to prompt the Grandkids to take care and use water perspicaciously. Strange, that they know not what that means - to take care and don’t waste the water. Throughout my own childhood my family was constantly taking care to conserve and waste not. Even all the wash and rinse water used to wash the clothes was used on the plants or small trees. Nothing was ever carelessly wasted.
Thursday morning, NascarKid was asked to please take the water hose and water the flowers around the front of the house. Some were badly wilted and limp. He was reminded to keep dry and use the water with care. Once he pulled the pump-like handle up to release the flow of water through the water hose and the first jet stream leaped out the end of the hose, he lost all touch with reality. Nothing was in his mind but, "Water, water, oh boy, water." Water went up in the air. Water shot across the yard and twirled up and around as he spun around where he stood. Nary a drop happened to touch a flower.
My mind was spinning after BingoKid arrived and was promptly sprayed with water. Still no flowers included in the activities at hand. The eleven year old armed with a water hose paces off steps with the twelve year old armed with gravel from the driveway. At this point in the game one is enticing the other as much as the other goads him on. They agree to separate long enough for a tad of water to be aimed toward the flowers with constant reminding by me of the flowers skipped. Then it’s back to the game of water and gravel. Ears are deaf to directions given for the water to be turned off. BingoKid does agree to stop the stones after one of them bounces back and lands by my foot after rebounding off the foot. Water is all NascarKid can see or think. For him, I make a trip to the spigot and have to push the handle back and down to stop the flow of water. Funtime is over and they have to return to the house putting aside the wonders of water play for the day.
Evening comes and it is very apparent that the flowers got little water. They are almost as wilted as they were early morn. After NascarKid leaves for the day, I ask BingoKid if he could go back outside and get the plants watered. Yes, he knows how to do it and he will water them for me. First off, he hits toward the flower bed where the herbs and lilies are planted. The lilies are full of buds and an assortment of colors are opening each day. He get the birdbath and then gets a bit on the grass before heading across to the front door and all those plants he chose to place there to brighten up all the mulch spread around the azaleas and bushes. It takes such a little time to get all the plants watered, but comes in shortly to announce, "I got all the flowers watered. They’re all done." "Did you get the one out in the yard you gave me last summer." “Yes, I got it good and the others out there, too.”
Surprise! Friday arrives and some flowers are still wilted and yearning for water, their staff of life. No rain in sight, the plants really do need a good drink in order to survive till next week this time. Maybe this afternoon after NascarKid leaves,- but wait! He didn’t come this morning. He leaves for the Space Camp in Huntington, Alabama, for a week of taking part in some of the space testing and stuff there which introduces students to outerspace travel. That means I am picking up Giggles from daycare this afternoon and keep her till Saturday afternoon.
Allan has therapy at Quest for his back at two and I pick up BingoKid there so he can help me with Giggles. We stop by the local outdoor market for fresh vegetables and fruits - green beans, ears of corn, peaches, cantaloupe, watermelon, bananas, cabbage, grapes, rhubarb, and cauliflower. Of course, we overbought, but it was so fresh and inviting. We munched on some seedless grapes as we drove toward Morganton.
Luckily, we caught the daycare class as they were preparing to go out to the playground. Their area of play is the section furthermost from the building and we didn’t have to go through the new section of the building and across the huge playing area this trip. Giggle’s class had water play earlier today and there was a wet swimsuit and towel to bring home. What luck for her. Little did she know what awaited her at my house a little later.
Under duress from BingoKid and Giggles, it seemed nearly impossible for me to get my plants watered as they desperately needed. Only seconds outdoors and Giggles announces, "I’m going to get my pwim suit. I wanta get wet." She may be only three years old, but there are few clothes she has a problem with when it come to dressing herself. She was in and out of the house in record time and appeared wearing her bright orange suit with it’s purple straps. Not only was she ready to play, but BingoKid had that mystical gleam in his eye that only a kid can have when water fun is so near. He quickly had the handle of the spray pushed against the hose in a way that the water was shooting straight up in the air.
Crabby Granny had to interfere with the fun of the moment and remind them that a water shortage is occurring and an extreme drought has the grass dormant. "Don’t water the grass. It has gone dormant and that keeps it from dying. If you water it now, it will bring the roots up to the top of the ground and it will die. We can’t water the yard; it is too big."
Huh! Did you say something? I didn’t hear you ..." Well, BingoKid could have said that if he had tuned me in, that is ... We sort of worked out a deal where I would water the flowers and new plants a while and the two of them played in the water for a short spell. Once I moved out to the plants further out in the yard, I watered the plants and they could run back and forth between where I sat in my yard chair and the flowers.
When in the yard with kids and a water hose and you have control of the water; do as the kids do. I caught them off guard and shot water directly on them at times. BingoKid announced the first time, "You got me wet!" I thought that’s what he wanted, but, "Well, I didn’t mean to get that wet!" To Momma Jeanne, wet is wet and there is no in-between. Miss Giggles decided she was cold, but couldn’t give up her playing in the water.
Once the flowers were taken care of for the week, Grandma weakened from her strict conservation upbringing. Well, here we do not have a problem with a lack of water or possibly doing so anytime soon. There are no restrictions on our water usage. The extra cost on my water bill shouldn’t be all that much for what time they are using the water hose. I decide to give them a little free time playing in the water without my constant interruptions and walk into the house turning my back on the gleeful sounds of the young at play.
It was all well worth the time and money when I stuck my head out the backdoor and told them they had five minutes more and must come in. A giggling Giggles ran up to the open door and announced, "I really like my cousin. He’s a good friend." She ran back into the darkening yard to chase a few more lightening bugs through the sprinkling spray of the water hose.
June 23, 2002 ~ A Skating Birthday Party ~~ Undoubtedly birthdays roll around quite often with six grandchildren watching and counting until that special day arrives and the long awaited great step up another year is achieved. This month was BusyKid’s turn and he became the magical age of five. Two wonderful entities occur at the great age of five. That feeling of being more grownup is nurtured when you realize that now you get to attend school just like big brother. Walking out to the car to ride up to see Uncle Allan, BusyKid looked at the back seat through the open door and announced proudly, “Move that booster seat! I’m five today.”
The birthday bash took place at the Skating Rink yesterday. This was the first party that all the cousins were not celebrating together. DynoKid returns from Australia bright and early Thursday morning - so early in fact that he will be nearly five hours ahead of sunrise as the plane should land at 1 am. NascarKid is in Alabama learning about space travel. The two of them were missed by the rest of us. BingoKid and I took Giggles with us and she was more than ready to don her skates and head out to the hardwood floor. Uncle Wes proudly took her all the way around the floor several times. Buddy Boy was all energy as he ventured out more on his own the second time he has been skating. The birthday kid took off on his own and spent a lot of his time out in the middle of the floor. BingoKid had plenty of room between Giggles and Buddy Boy along the outer edges and DynoKid in the middle to do all the fancy stuff he knows. The others in the skating party filled in the gaps and all had fun together.
Time to sing Happy Birthday and one of those short tubes that shine and glow in the dark was presented to the guest of honor. Before long more of the glow-in-the-dark necklaces began showing up as the other children were presented with one. Before long all of them were out on the darkened skating floor playing with the pretty bright colors and having the best time ever. All too soon the Bob The Builder birthday cake was cut and served and party time ended.
Giggles was so tired that she was sound asleep almost before I had driven out of the parking lot. Buddy Boy had spent the night with BusyKid and nothing doing but for him to go back home with Birthday Boy. Once Dad had picked up Giggles later in the day, I still had Mother’s hair to cut. After all, it may be a while before I can do it again.
June 24, 2002 ~ The End’s In Sight ~~ Oh, all right! So it is only 4 am. This is still the day that the beginning of the end of the long road traveled with the infected finger should be brought to a close. It has been seven long months since my index finger became swollen with infection and treatments began. It will be at least two more months of healing, what with the pin or pins that should be placed through the fusion of the two bones. The drain inserted early December; the bones and some infected area removed late December, left me with a malformed unusable appendage. All this time there has been swelling, pain, lack of use and whatever else could happen, but most importantly for me has been the fact that I didn’t loose the digit on the end. Now if all works out, it will be fused together where once there used to be a joint. I’ll be able to use my dominate hand without the pain and maybe adapt to using it better.
First thing this morning I will be dropping off Oreo at the Vet’s office to have his teeth cleaned today. He gave me a good stare not long ago with the hopes that I would give him some food since he usually eats about 3 am each night Before midnight the water and food was taken away from Oreo and Charlie. Charlie could care less and he will get food and water after I put Oreo in the car. This will not be the ideal day as far as Oreo is concerned. His vocabulary is large enough that he knows what is taking place. At least after the teeth are cleaned, he will not be coughing all the time. Wonder if I would win a bout of brushing his teeth each day? Chances are that he will make himself unavailable and well-hidden if I should try.
Eight a.m. and I’ll drop him off at the Vet’s office. Nine a.m. I am supposed to be at the Surgical Unit for pre op. Which reminds me, I have a paper somewhere I am supposed to take with me. I haven’t a clue where it may be. Seems I brought it into the house the day they gave it to me at the doctor’s office. Hope it’s easy to locate since I need it in only a few hours ... If I don’t find it they can just fax another one to the hospital so I shall not worry about it too much. This routine is all too familiar and it’s one I am tired of repeating. However, it is wonderful that medical expertise is capable of mending and make well such an array of problems including a small part of the body like a finger. Days of yore, the finger and maybe the arm would have been lost, maybe even a life ... I am thankful for all that is offered and appreciate the Good Lord looking after me. May He guide the work of the surgeon tomorrow as the repair work is undertaken.
June 29, 2002 ~ It’s a Done Deal ~~ Not that I know for sure what that deal may have involved. I do know what the deal was in Oreo’s case. He was most unhappy with me when I went to the vet’s office to pick him up about midafternoon. While cleaning Oreo’s teeth, the vet found loose ones that needed to come out. That included the three remaining incisors since he lost one of them while gnawing on a bone and the back four molars which were barely hanging in place. I was in hopes that his teeth would get healthier and improve after I got him since I changed him over to dry food and things to chew on. Maybe he had improved since the vet reported that the other teeth looked fine and healthy. I mentioned to the receptionist that I forgot to tell the vet about a lump on Oreo’s right side. Lo and behold! There were four stitches in his side where the vet removed the tumor. Here it is Friday and there is one doggie in the household that chooses not to get very close to me since he is still pouting about his Monday outing.
In my own case, I had to present myself to the nurse’s station in surgery at 6 a.m. Tuesday morning since I was the first on the list for my doctor to work on. Not long after transporting myself from the stretcher to the operating table, I zonked out and missed the first part of the proceedings. When I looked over at the anesthetist, she informed me that it wouldn’t be much longer. When I asked her if I had one or two pins, she peeked over the green towel clipped to a plastic tube keeping me from watching and informed me that it was neither; there were three. Interesting. Talk of a small bone and/or skin graft and suspicious spots near the elbow on my arm have left me to wonder what is concealed under the final packaging. I have a feeling that two joints were worked on instead of one. The larger joint area which bothered me before the infection in the smaller joint back in November is quite sore and throbbing, and a lot of packing is around it. The doctor reported to me that he removed a little more bone as well.
Guess I’ll have to be kept in the dark about it until July 7 when I have an appointment in the office. Meanwhile I shall sport this strange looking finger that reminds me of Pooh Bear’s back leg and foot hiding its contents from all. The metal piece that protects and restrains movement extends out beyond the pin at the end of the finger and is bent down making the foot of Pooh Bear. The first time I attempted to turn off a light, little did I think before acting. The longer metal extension at the end of the finger hit the corner of the wall close to the light switch bending a corner of the metal a wee bit. That only proved to make it look even more like the bear’s hind leg. It also proved that pain can last for a long time after a hit like that only a day after surgery. Ouch! Some lessons are not easy to learn. I now use the outside edge of my hand when necessary for flipping on and off lights.
I’ve not made the trip over to see mother since Monday afternoon when I refreshed her stash of candies for the workers delight and made sure she had enough Cokes on hand. Tbird and DynoKid have returned from Australia bearing gifts for one and all and are helping me out some. After I attempted to drive my car from the front door around to the carport, it was quite clear that I am not ready to hit the roads yet. Tbird took me up to the Sonic for a grilled chicken wrap which ended up being my supper. It was when we got back to the house I decided to try driving the car. First thing I did was to hit the finger on the gear shift. When I tried to use the other four fingers on the steering wheel as during the past seven months, it didn’t quite work the same. Any movement of the hand and other fingers is also felt in the one finger. I couldn’t grasp the wheel at all. Using the flat palm of the hand only relayed the vibrations and bumps in the road directly to the wrapped mystery of the index finger. I’m not quite ready to tackle the traveled roadway with all its curves and turns, not to mention other vehicles. Tbird took some watermelon over to Mother and visited for a while after I saw that I’m not ready to drive this day.
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Lenoir,NC 28645
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©2002 by Stormy Jeanne
