Nature Songs ~~~~

May continued ~~

May 14, 2001 - Rest? I think not! At least not very much. Yet, there was not all that much accomplished. I got all my new class lessons downloaded yesterday and only had to check out the message boards to keep up with the other students. I got my Meta tags listed for my webpages. They were easy to do while I sat with Mother this evening as she ate her supper. I have a little work to do for the other two classes, but it will not take long for that. I’m meeting folks that have been in other classes with me which makes for a better time in the classes.

There were some hollyhock seeds here that were supposed to be planted last fall and for some strange reason, I never did get them out. This evening I went around the yard and planted seeds in among some of the other flowers that are already blooming. Other seeds went into a spot out front in the middle circle of the driveway. There are some wildflowers planted there and perhaps, just perhaps, the hollyhocks will grow and come up each year among the wildflowers. These seeds will probably not bloom this year since they are late getting planted. But, they should be in full bloom next summer.

Computer turned off. Lights off except in the bedroom, and I hear a car door slam shut. Only a few seconds later, and the new device on the front door chimes - announcing that someone has opened the door. No one can slip in quietly now and surprise me since an alarm is on each door and a chime option is turned on. I can hear it better than I can hear the doorbell, itself. Wes was going to finish cueing in the codes on the alarm system, but he needs one small clamp before he is ready to do the rest of the codes. I turned it on today and did okay with it. The push-button code is much easier for me to use than having to push-button a manual code into the machine Now to hold on to my clicker and not forget to disarm the system before entering the house after going out different places.

May 15, 2001 - Waking up to news such as this morning's was very heartbreaking. Making it more so was the fact that maybe I didn’t do as much as possible in the situation, I may have offered some feeble assistance. During our church service Sunday morning, a note was delivered and at the end of the service the announcement was made that Dr. Harry King had been in a serious plane crash that morning. This is a person I have known for a long time. He has treated me on several occasions. In fact his office was where I learned that I had a high frequency hearing loss - probably due to the loud music of the Billy Joel Concert I attended in Greensboro, NC, back in 1979. His area of expertise was surgery and treatment of the ears, nose and throat.

He worked with Tbird for years with calluses(Nodules) on her vocal cords which were a real problem with her singing talent. She actually had to go eight weeks without talking any at all and even more remarkable, she could not listen to loud, “jumpy” music because jut the sounds of such noise will cause the vocal cords to vibrate. Those were the popular songs of the time. Her throat has survived that era, but even today will get a hoarseness when she is overly tired. There are some times that she will have to sing lower than she normally does.

His services were even more remarkable with Cotton. Along with her asmtha and allergies adversities, she had a severe septum deviation which required surgery. She opted to have the surgery her first summer during her college years. He devised a plastic “wedge” from a milk jug that he used in repairing her nose problem which had to come out shortly after the surgery. In all her previous years of life, she didn’t realize all that she had missed by not being able to smell things. None of us were aware of her inability to smell and often referred to her inability to smell problem as being due to have a “stuffy nose” due to her sensitivity to so many things.

Then, too, Little Miss Giggles made a trip to him for the tubes to be put in her ears in an attempt to remedy her frequent ear infections. Strange that at the same time the tubes are coming out of her ears, he would encounter his disastrous accident.
Sunday he was on an Angel Flight Mission; one of many made throughout the past years. He and another man from Hickory flew an ill child back to her home in Virginia from a hospital. On the return trip, the plane crashed in New Market, Virginia. Both men were critically injured. We were asked to pray for them. I allowed the event to slip my mind. This morning I hear that he has died. A man that not only gave of himself to others through doctoring and operating in his hometown, but gave much time to taking trips to other countries aiding others as a missionary and working with the Charitable Organization, Angel Flight. His brother, also a doctor, shared the same office building with him and worked with eyes of persons much as he did ears, noses and throats. They took some of their trips overseas together. He will be greatly missed.

Oreo has curiously taken up a new activity which I have to wonder why. For the first time since he came to live with me he has done something completely out of character for him. He has never barked while outdoors as he runs around inspecting his territory and feeling the freedom afforded in exchange for listening and staying around the house. I’ve had to call him back three times so far. It took me a little time when I first called him back. I heard a barking dog at the new neighbors, and wondered if they had one visiting at their house. Yes, they did have a dog visitor! I realized the dog I heard was Oreo. Why he has chosen to go to their house and bark is beyond me. I don’t think they have a cat, but that could be one explanation. I need to talk with them one day and maybe find out why he is going to their house to bark; or at least let them know it is not something he has been in a habit of doing. He always comes back home prancing and perky as if he has done a remarkable commodity.

The garden tiller was running yesterday when I returned from Quest. Allan had almost finished with his chore of guiding it back and forth through the rows of his vegetable patch. There isn’t as much to do this year since he has long rows of plastic stretched out with holes cut in places that he has planted tomato plants. Cucumbers, squash and pepper plants. He has plastic on each side of his row of beans. Later he will come back and add strings to the wire that was strung up between posts two years ago for that very purpose.

I have hours of work before me, if I decide to go through my many pages on-line and add Meta tags such as I devised for my main homepages site. There are excellent reasons for me to do so. In order to be more inline with the appropriate procedures, I should do so.

This morning is my Better Weight Class. I have to wonder if I have gained or loss weight this week. Emphasis on weight gain or loss if not the best way to loss weight. Changing my lifestyle is the name of the game. I am changing some areas, but on the other hand, I am extremely slack in some of the most important activities - or lack of activity - in my daily life.

May 16, 2001 - Rain? Can we really expect some rain? It’s springtime and the world should be full of bright colors of new growth shining brightly against the darker greens of mature growth. Yards of green grass are turning brown as the red clay dries out and large cracks are created in the ground as the dirt shrivels up from lack of moisture. Gardens are only growing if some water has been brought manually to nurture the seedlings and plants. Farms and orchards are in grave danger of a very low production due to lack of water.

The prain felt throughout my body tells me that the conditions are conducive, but that could be one of those times that the heavens split overhead and takes the precious cargo of liquid to neighboring counties and towns. Lately, there is not much to be dropped anywhere. The winds blow with much force sucking off more of the moisture from the trees, lakes and ponds. The clouds blow right over without hardly a glance our direction. There is little rain here today.

The phone rings so early, I have to wonder who and what .. It was not anything I would ever have expected. A dear family friend calls with news that Auntie was taken to the hospital yesterday and admitted. Against Auntie’s wishes she is calling to let me know that she has experienced a stroke which has affected her speech. It happened during Monday night and she was unable to get to the telephone for help. The friend called Tuesday morning to check up on her and realized when she heard Auntie’s voice that something serious was wrong and drove out to the lake to check on her. She promises to keep me posted on today’s scheduled events.

Following my morning water session at Q4L this morning I had signed up for another class to execute. Turns out the class almost executed me! Twas a mite out of my limitations, but there I was and I was not about to pass up trying some of the offerings of the day. The class was on the use of Therabands which are strips of stretchy materials used in exercising. Different colors of the bands denote the level of strength used. We were using the blue bands used in our water class which are about average strength. (The bands I have a home which the therapists gave me to use are lighter weight.) Beginning the session was a breeze for those of us that have used them in the water. The demonstrations were the same movements we had been doing in the pool.

What could cause the problem? The legs! Tying the band to form a circle around our legs, we were expected to walk, hop, take long strides, walk backwards and sideways around the room. OOPS! Immediately I was in trouble. Talk about balance? There was none... it was nowhere within my system to do these things anywhere near agile. There I was groping the wall, a chair, the table - anything that was within my reach. I never actually left my little corner of the room to dance around like most of the others were doing. I tried them all. I succeeded only in attempting to go through the motions of moving in the suggestion direction. There is much for me to practice on in private and hopefully improve my skills.

Hurrying and scurrying to get there on time I had to make the drive over the South Mountains again to pick up NascarKid in order to get him to his dentist in Morganton for his appointment. Afterwards I stopped off at the Orthodontist to schedule another appointment for DynoKid because I forgot him and his braces Monday. Pizza to eat in the car as we traveled - he had to be at church by 5:30 - we made it....

The phone rings. It’s Auntie! She wants to let me know that she is improving and had hoped to go home today, but the doctor threw a monkeywrench in that plan. Her carotid artery on the left side is 95% blocked and surgery is planned for in the morning. She is worried about the procedure - with good cause - it is a dangerous step to take, but a very necessary one. Her speech has some problems, but because of my own experience I’m able to make out and help with getting the thoughts through. I’ve told Mother about the events of yesterday and today with her, so I make another call to bring her up to date on the happenings of the evening.

May 17, 2001 - Moan. Groan. Ouch! Do I hafto get up? Why? I rather not move. There are muscles that have been teased and stretched for the first time in many a year. Some of the muscles have a direct line to the lower and mid back. Okay, I’ll drag out of bed and maybe by hook or crook draw myself up to some kind of an erect posture. The doorbell sounds letting me know someone is coming in. It is Allan and no way will I let him know how much difficulty it takes to move. I only tell him that I’m running late and yes, I do plan to workout. I’m on my way ... Now to get the pep talks going and motivate that inner desire to move. Prainy weather isn’t helping my cause this morning, either.

One of my beautiful nails decided to pop loose at the cuticle yesterday evening. There goes my plan to wait three weeks before going back for the fill-in session. It’s been two weeks and a day. But, after all, two weeks was when I was told to come back anyway. When I arrive to get the repair work and fill-in where my nails had grown out, my lady was busy with another client. Her husband came to the front and worked on my nails. He clipped away the broken nail, plus the one beside which also had worked loose before beginning the preparation for renewal of the acrylic application. I was impressed with his work as he clipped at loose cuticle over and over when he found more as he worked with restoring my nails. He also did some extra filing and buffing which I did not experience with the initial service. I picked and fiddled with some rough places under the nails during the first two weeks. In fact, using a file, some of the rough spots were smoothed up by me after they bugged me for a while. He did not leave those spots. The underneath area is as smooth as the top this go-round. We learn as we go.

It’s interesting how these workers talk almost constantly amounts themselves in Chinese as they work. Today a four year old girl was there as well, and part of the prattle was for her. My “nail-man” would talk in Chinese and in the middle of saying something, he would interrupt with words of a song playing in the background using English; then comment, “See, I know the words?” Then he returned to his fluent Chinese. As my nails dried, he played a game on his laptop.

Returning home, Allan was arriving as well, he had stayed home alone about as long as he wished and spent much of the afternoon here. Being an almost rainy day, he had no work to do outdoors - and besides, with the dry weather there were not yards to mow. Lady came early this afternoon to spin her magic. One look as she entered and she knew a lot of Grandkids had been around. (Tongue in cheek: I can’t imagine how!) I’m sure she would much rather still be at Cancun than have to attack my household chores.

Wendy picks me up and we drive down to the hospital to meet up with Wes and Tbird to visit with Auntie. She did well through her surgery this morning which lasted a bit longer than I expected. If all goes well tonight she will be able to return home tomorrow. I met her surgeon this evening and heard what he had to say. He told Auntie she should not drive. Her reply in true family style, “Just watch me!” Hopefully, most of her speech will self-correct now that the blood is getting to her brain. Only time will tell exactly what to expect. How well I know that! I’m still finding out things about myself....

May 18, 2001 - Whence goes the sleep when nightfall comes? Why does it tease and play until dawn when to restore the soul and mind is of utmost urgency? Again it chooses to abandon me dangling in midnight without a trace of repose. After two hours of attempting to drowse, meditate and succumb into a restful repose to no avail, here with laptop posed for work, propped on my pillows in the center of my bed - awake at 2:30 a.m.

Yep! Agreed, I rested not during the afternoon. The time was spent keeping up with on-line courses which will be much more time consuming than anticipated compared to previous endeavors. I chewed off much more than intended as far as working on the sessions, but they are a joy for me to partake and in only a few days, my appetite has been whetted for what’s to come with future lessons. My Writing For Children class is still posting on the message board with very informative information through next week. While browsing through the list of offerings to follow, what should I do but --- sign up for a new course that begins the first of June. This choice was The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings I ordered the J. R. R. Tolkien set once again to use for the class. It’s been a long time since reading it. Possibly I can hold on to the set for the grandchildren to read. Perchance now that I’ve ordered a new set, I’ll find the one I put up back in the early eighties and never found. (Boy, do I need organization!

There was much talking to be done with my son here as I worked. Calls were made to Mother, who stayed in bed all day today, my neighbor and to see how Auntie was doing. Prattle was exchanged back and forth with Lady as she told of her excursion last week. Time flew by in triple time and there was Wendy coming in the door. Time had come to travel to yonder side of Hickory to converge at the bedside of Auntie. Back home - rush in to cut several slices of aged cheese for Mother, grab her Cokes and CNA Sweets --- and I’m walking into the nursing center shortly after 8 p.m. .... how could I miss stopping at Max’s Mexican Eatery for supper with Tbird, the grandchildren, Wes and Wendy? Rest? Not on Thursday.

There’s much to whirl through this gray matter referred to as a brain. Many things are happening which leave me in a quandary with no notion of what or how any help or solutions may be sought. Talking things out with others is not a real option at this moment. Vocalizing for me at this instant would be of no avail to others in any case. One must wait until advice is required before stepping in with the explanation. It’s useless to endeavor to involve oneself in someone else’s problem unless first being acknowledged as needed.

Light of day begins another hustle of the course of time. Beginning with Q4L, the marathon will be on. The Friday Hustle would be a good name for these Fridays that are coming more often than was expected. On the other hand, the sound of The Tri-County Marathon more aptly describes the undertaking. Mother will have to play Bingo by herself once again; if she manages to separate herself from her bed! NascarKid has to be in Hickory for his guitar lesson. Mom has to be in Boone. Mom wants Dad to ride with her so they can have supper together before coming by my place to pick up the boys. Ergo, over the mountains to school, through the country past the city to have music. Back through the city, cross the Lake and up the Highway and hopefully we’ll get home by six. That has to be over fifty miles by the time I get back home. The cost of gas going up and up like a giant balloon, soon there may be a charge per mile for some off these trips. It took $24 to fill up the car Tuesday evening. More gas will be needed by tomorrow evening, because the Morganton trip on Wednesday was a mite long, too. Think I’ll go on strike!!!

NascarKid is supposed to be my “Slave” for six weeks in order to earn money for his Australia trip from his Aunt Cotton. Mom is not going to be generous with sharing him with me as much as his aunt expects him to be here working at tasks I designate for him to complete. So far he is behind and I expect him to get behind-er! Work is not a favorite past time for him unless it comes in the form of a computer or soccer practice. I choose not to give him anything on the computer to do. That is not needed. Now to connive some system to cajole him into doing that which I require of him. It will not be an easy task.. Hummmm, could be that he would have to work beside his Uncle Allan. He would get the work done without question. That could be the best answer to how to get him to work..

Sleep, oh sleep, where did you go?
Why have you left me so?
Please come calling upon my soul.
Please come and make me whole.
A short nap would do if only you come

Looking back:

MAY, 1998
MAY, 1999
MAY, 2000

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