Deep Perco Haze

Is one responsible for what they say while in a drug induced state? Hmmm, I didn’t think so. Guess I’ll have to keep the moderation button pressed.

Kudos to the surgical staff and the nursing staff in post-op. In short the “patching” went splendidly. I only now have very vague memories of leaving pre-op and the recovery room. I do wonder if some part of our brain retains the knowledge of the happenings during the “forgetful, sleepy” stage.

So here I am, ensconced in my recuperating nest, kicked back in the easy chair with the necessities of life at my fingertips. You know, things like remote, phones, coffee pot, too much water, food, laptop (in my lap no less) and meds – OH YES! – not to forget those precious meds – WOO HOO – and no, there probably won’t be any leftovers TYVM!

The Buffledog is concerned, but has figured out that he needs to NOT tunnel through my legs as he is want to do often. Perhaps I’ll get over the penguin walk soon – that or I’m going to have to drag out the moldy tux.

I suppose it’ll be a few days before I can walk the dog again. Besides, there is still a ton of snow and ice on the roads here in the neighborhood. The best thing about the snow is that Taylor is in HEAVEN. He stays out longer and plays harder in the snow than at any other time. He has been a joy to watch!

Since I've got some unencumbered time I’m hoping to make my way through the blog roll today, been a while. Haven't exactly felt like writing much lately.

JUST

THANKS!

3 2 1

2 AM

I have absolutely nothing that I want to write about. It seems my well is dry for the moment. Drumming fingers…

Well…it is 2 AM and here I sit listening to The Wailin’ Jennys’ Firecracker CD. I just missed them here – dammitall! I last saw them at the Edmonton Folk Festival a few years ago. I just love this Canadian trio!

From Things That You Know:

“You've walked a good mile in your brother's shoes
'Til your legs could walk no further
And your tired soles would burn
You know there's peace somewhere around the bend
It's been a long time coming
And you're ready for your turn”

Speaking of music, I can’t get enough of Dylan’s latest – Modern Times.

I finally got into a new Orson Scott Card book – Magic Street.

More of the same on the house – I’m ready for this up-coming forced rest.

Bizarre weather today – rain (the most rain in a month on record for Seattle and western Washington), wind (crazy wind), hail, thunder and lightning (it rarely does that here). Taylor hated the thunder today!

Maybe I should just give up on sleep - mind in places it doesn't belong - sick of the chemical sleep!

FRIDAY COMES ON HUMP DAY!

End of the year BLOWOUT sale!

Y’all come on down, ya hear?

It’s the year end clearance sale by your local surgical practitioner.
It’s BIG, REALLY BIG!

Why if you come in today you’ll get THREE for the price of one!

~AND~

If you give us your insurance card and your first born child NOW you’ll receive as an EXTRA BONUS – DRUGS!!!! Yes folks you heard it right – DRUGS!!!! Pain with benefits! No folks it doesn’t get any better than this!

Just think! You’ll get that tire patched and it’ll be just like new! That’s right folks – you heard it right – NEW!!!

PLUS! As an added bonus they blow you up with CO2 and you’ll get to fizz just like a soda pop – THAT”S RIGHT! A SODA POP! Who wouldn’t want THAT???

And that’s not ALL!

Yes, titanium fasteners are FREE with the installation of SPACE AGE KEVLAR!

Those hernias won’t know what hit ‘em!

Come on in TODAY!

LOSE THE BULGE!

Bring your junk cards – we’ll trade ANYTHING!!!!

Insurance cards – we’ll take ‘em!

Credit cards – we’ll take ‘em!

Even cash!!!! We’ll even trade in CASH!!!!

Stop in today and give us your blood! YOU WON”T BE SORRY!

EKG? We got it!

LSD? We……er……

Come on down folks – you WON’T WANT TO MISS this event!

You’ll be kicking your heels and doubling over!

Come on down……………TODAAAAAAAAY!!!

The accidental panda

So............he eats almost any vegetable ('cept maybe lettuce and a couple of others), harvests his tomatoes right off the vine, finds the juiciest strawberries on the plant and will jump for the low hanging apples. Saturday, while I was working in the front, he walks over to a new 6 foot stalk of bamboo, gnaws it off at the base, picks it up by the middle and carries it off to the front walk where he eats, yes eats, the top half! He was a very happy boy!

HAPPY MONDAY!

Quiet

Half in Sha.dow

birthday gray

Being neither here nor there – not a bad place to be in as long as it is only temporary. It is not a bad place because it means that a change is coming. I have seriously been contemplating the second Bach quote I offered up yesterday and the 2 questions that stood out are:

Where is your home?
Where are you going?

That is particularly poignant this year since we are planning on selling in the spring and still have yet to decide “the where”.

“Why not?” you may ask, and the answer to that is far more complex than we would have ever imagined. Traditionally a move happens because of a job or family. This time though, we are doing it back asswards and choosing a place because it is where we want to be. Therein lies the rub though, and in trying to make a choice we find ourselves faced with an insurmountable choice – the options are endless. There are some practicalities that have to be taken into consideration and that does limit things some. There are also some notions of “perfect place” that no longer seem applicable and we find some of those hard to let go of – but it is a work in progress.

I suppose the question Where is your home? is a much harder question to answer for me. There are those who will say, “home is where you make it”, and I believe for some that must be true. Home for me is not my birth place and it is not a family farm or house. It is a more spiritual place for me and it has to do with “feel” - feel of the air, feel of the land, feel of the spirit there and has such an ethereal quality that it is hard to describe. I will be fortunate indeed if home is found in this next move.

Some will say home is within and we take ourselves with us where ever we go – adapting to our surrounds. Others say home is where the heart is. Perhaps it is some of all of that, but I believe that environment is yet another element - that there are environments in which folks flourish.

In the past we have moved opportunistically, both individually and as a couple. I hope to shed the opportunistic part this time around. Over this we are trying to gain some common ground.

There is one thing I am sure of though, when I find it I will know.

(So why is the period in the title? Google chaff! My second cousin has a collection of short stories by that name.)

Ruminations

12:52 AM. It is a peaceful hour. There are no cars passing, the house is asleep and even the furnace is quiet for the moment. The wind has subsided with the rain and the drips from the leaf clogged and overflowing gutter have slowed to gentle reminders of work to come.

Taylor has followed me from the bath to his bed beside the table that serves as a temporary desk for the laptop. He rarely lets me out of his sight these days, choosing even marginal spaces to lie down just so he can be close. He is snoring softly and “chasing rabbits” - the sound is a comfort in these early morning hours. I envy his ability to sleep as sleep still comes hard these days. Perhaps I will drug myself into a slumber later, but for now I will just listen to the quiet and the gentle click of the keys.

Tomorrow (14th) is yet another birthday and I’m reminded of a Richard Bach quote from There’s No Such Place As Far Away (1978)

“Fly free and happy beyond birthdays and across forever, and we'll meet now and then when we wish, in the midst of the one celebration that never can end.”

…and another from Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah (1977)

“The simplest questions are the most profound.
Where were you born?
Where is your home?
Where are you going?
What are you doing?
Think about these once in awhile and watch your answers change.”

What is truth?

I think I will sleep on these yet again.

CSI Seattle

Lets see if you can figure out who caused the injury!!!

I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
V

Whaddayathink???

Thursday shorts

While cooking up a batch of Lime’s stewed pumpkin to make use of the pumpkins (a.k.a. Jack-o-lanterns) this year I made a new discovery: raw pumpkin cubes are now neck in neck with broccoli as a Buffledog snack. Don’t ask me why, but he loves the stuff!

My doc said after my annual physical this morning that I’d live to see my next birthday. I was not pleased since it is just a few days away and told him so. He countered with a look that left me wondering – LOL.

Usually when I have blood drawn I just look away and hope for the best. Today I decided to watch – fascinating to see the needle disappear – so much so that this time I didn’t feel the usual sting.

When the nurse took my height measurement it was ¾” less than a year ago – I made her re-do it – it improved the 2nd time around. I think fasting overnight and no coffee makes one slouch – just sayin’.

To celebrate the end of the exam and fast a Starbuck’s peppermint mocha seemed appropriate. The Buffleboy got the dregs – he wanted his own.

The sun is finally out today. This is going to be one long winter.

The torrential rains as of late showed me a couple of minor leaks around the chimney flashing and a dormer. Good thing I’m replacing the drywall in that room!

Happy Thursday!

Renewal notice

How often is there something right under our noses and we fail to notice it and not just see it. By notice I suppose I mean to be able to view it for more than its physical presence and see how it intersects with our lives, or perhaps how we have influenced it? How when something or someone is viewed from just a little different angle that the presence or persona changes.

I suppose that sometimes that could be a blessing or a curse, but either way it changes our lives, usually subtly. However, it seems interesting that the shift in view can give rise to an entirely different modality with regard to us and our very existence and interaction with our surrounds.

Standing on the porch yesterday, rocky from too little activity and looking out through the gossamer veil of too many medications, I was cursing the rain and the wind of the current storm. I see this yard every day, but I guess I’ve stopped seeing it. I interact with it out of necessity - raking, mowing, trimming and pulling weeds. Somewhere along the line I stopped enjoying it and seeing its beauty. Suddenly my focus landed on the Japanese maple in the photo and I realized that this was a tree that I’d given up for dead. It had fallen victim several years ago to a systemic disease and I had cut it down, leaving a three foot stump to put a bird bath on. I didn’t want to dig out the stump since it is a soil borne organism and didn’t want to risk the other maples in the yard. Oh! You don’t see the stump? Ah, my point exactly. Somewhere in my mental absence I missed the fact that it had grown back, that it hadn’t died, but simply could not support the damaged limbs that were eventually removed. The leaves had changed overnight it seems; however, I suppose I wasn’t really paying attention.

Re-growth, renewal, resurrection – perhaps when something appears to be gone it just needs time…and notice.

1st of all...

I want to thank everyone for the well wishes and advice. It feels so odd to get my ass kicked like this, so a trip to the doc today is on the agenda – blek!

It is always such a surprise when seemingly perfect systems go down. The little things you count on, like breathing for instance, to get you through the day (and night). I know it’s trivial and I really shouldn’t expect perfection. Perhaps if they’d been given a better benefit package or a cushier office they wouldn’t be fighting for a reduced work load. Eh, who needs to climb those stairs and ladders? Who needs to walk the dog? Where are you going so fast?

Like when Eyesight decided to go to reduced efforts, we fought and fought. Squinting worked for a while, but they realized I was squeezing more work out of them and protested all the louder. Brighter lights for reading helped some, but in time they were having none of that and out came the water works, flooding the hallways and the headaches. After much negotiation, we settled on picture windows, large picture windows for their offices. I suppose sometimes it’s just the little things.

There have been a myriad of other disturbances and work slow-downs. All settled in negotiation, sometimes with the help of medical intermediaries, some just a rest would assuage their little stinking feelings. Guess it’s all about negotiation - *damn workers*

HAPPY WEEKEND!

*don’t forget to negotiate