Happy Halloween!

Although here on the east coast of Iowa we will have 5 inches of
white fluffy love from above on the ground before the snow ends this
afternoon, the little ones will still be Trick or Treating tonight. It
looks, and feels, more like Christmas today.

The trees look flocked and grass is covered while the roads are
slushy right now. And life goes on. It just means we have to wear
boots instead of our house slippers when we go outside. It did look
like a Norman Rockwell painting when I went out earlier to feed the
feral cats, clear the driveway and get a few pictures.

Don’t want to overdo anything while I’m recuperating but also can’t
sit still. Might as well get it all done at once and come back in.
So far so good. I did get over to see Dad yesterday and glad I did.
When he opened the door and saw me with a bag of donuts he broke
out in a big grin and said he didn’t expect to see me.

Through the rumor mill he had heard I was in the hospital so I had to explain that I went to emergency room and was only there for about 4 hours. Then I made coffee and we sat in the kitchen and we had a good chat. I stayed a little longer than normal and when I got home the wife jumped my butt.

She claimed I wasn’t usually late getting back and she thought I had
a relapse. Didn’t happen, but I do appreciate her for worrying about
my health more than I do. Enjoy Halloween as it’s here.
Comments are always welcome.

Had to do it

We keep learning life’s lessons no matter how old we grow. I found out yesterday I may be stubborn. After over a week of suffering through what ever it was I let the wife talk me into going to the Emergency Room. Things have changed in the 5 years since I was last there.

Think it’s safe to say I do not like hospitals or going to same. But
there are times when even skinny old rednecks can benefit from a visit.
When back in the room a nurse told me to take off my t-shirt and she
would put a gown on me. I bit back a snide remark but did as she
requested.

So there I am with a hospital gown on yet still wearing my jeans and boots laying on a gurney hooked up to a heart monitor and various other machines I knew nothing about. When the doc came talk led to the Navy and he used to a Corpsman. Good enough for me.

After a quick examination doc announced my chest was ‘tight’ and I wasn’t taking in much oxygen, as if I didn’t know. But the little clip on finger reading oxygen level said 96% so I wasn’t too worried. So after a breathing treatment that lasted an hour and chemicals ran through an IV doc asked it felt good enough to go. We were gone.

I now have the medicine to get better fast and the wife and I found
something to laugh about. After picking up prescriptions for steroids,
anti-antibiotics, and cough syrup with codeine we were sitting at the
table when I scratched my belly and got a funny look.

It felt like since my ER visit a nipple had grown on my stomach! This
made me question what they injected with until I lifted the t-shirt to
discover the leads for the heart monitor weren’t removed before we
left. That was certainly a relief.

Enjoy our Wednesday as it looks like more snow here on the east coast of Iowa and I’m ready for the up to 5 inches of the white fluffy love from above.
Comments are always welcome.

Liking it!

This is what it looked like outside this morning when I took a peek
before venturing out. Last Sunday as the cats were grazing after being
fed, a turkey vulture was circling the neighborhood while wrens chased
each other around the old pine tree.

Have to love the weather. It was predicted, up to an inch of white
fluffy love from above but none was to stick to roadways or sidewalks.
Yeah, I think the roads didn’t get the memo they were supposed to be
warm enough to melt the snow.

No complaints here though. As always, the falling white fluffy love
from above is fun to watch and makes me smile. It’s covering the
litter and other man-made scars on the landscape and turning
everything white.

And we may get another round the night before Halloween. Those who get paid to look important on our TV news and guess what the weather is going to do say it may be bigger than this one! We’re ready. Not quite up to able yet, but working on it.

Was out twice yesterday feeding the critters and will be again today.
Should even make it over to Dads this week for a visit. It may be
snowing a little but we don’t have to worry about mosquitoes.

Enjoy our Tuesday wherever you are.
Comments are always welcome.

Sunday snicker

Bent over and obviously in pain, the old man with a cane hobbled laboriously through the sanctuary and into the pastor’s office while the choir was practicing.

Ten minutes later he came out, walking upright and moving with grace and speed.

“Good gracious,” the choir director exclaimed. “Did the pastor heal you by faith?”

“No,” the old man said with a smile. “He just gave me a cane that wasn’t six inches too short!”

Not as planned

When my eyes opened at 5 am this morning feelings of jummping up and getting things done sprang forth. In my haste to prove my super powers of recuperation I overdid it. Got a lot done in a short time then laid myhead on the pillow again for another 3 hours.

When I got up the second time, feeling better and again sure of my
capabilities, things were taken a little slower. I thought things
were going great until I saw a bug on the TV in the kitchen.
I crept over to behind the refrigerator to grab the fly swatter and
nailed the pest on the first shot.

But the bug was still there! So I swatted it again just as a commercial came and the bug was gone. Putting on my glasses I made 2 conclusions. The first was there were no bug guts on swatter and the other one was I had killed the station logo. No harm, no foul, and I didn’t have clean the TV screen.

So I decided I may not be all the way back to good health. Getting
closer yet not there. And since it’s drizzling outside today may as
well stay in and recuperate some more.

Enjoy our Saturday. Now for more coffee.
Comments are always welcome.

Still fighting

My experiment this morning at the grocery store almost worked and
almost failed. While we did make it all the way through the store we
did have to double back a few times for things forgotten. And when we
finally get home, get said groceries put away, and sit down, I felt
like I’d run a marathon.

I was wheezing like an old steam locomotive with a boiler leak going
up a steep track. A short 4 hour nap and I was back to feeling like I did when we first got back. But I didn’t feel any worse. And I noticed
someone had mowed our yard at some point today. Have a good idea
who that was and will talk to them when feeling better.

Not a bad time of the year to be sick as it’s cool outside with lows
in the 30s and perhaps some snow Tuesday. As much as I like snow
this time might be a see it from the window experience as we’re not
supposed to get much anyway.

When I went out to get the wife off to work the sky was half clouds
and half clear which left some stars doing their darnedest to twinkle.
I just didn’t have the gumption to grab the camera yet.

Halloween is next week so if you drive at night look out little ones
in costumes. You can’t always guess what they’re going to do. Enjoy
the rest of our Friday as it’s almost over anyway. Now for more coffee.
Comments are always welcome.

Seemed like yesterday

I got curious during a lucid moment today and decided to look into
the last time I got this sick. I remember ending up in the emergency
room and getting excellent treatment from everyone who came in, but
couldn’t remember the date.

Turns out it was November 30th, 2014 when I was mere 63 years old. I remeber the incident well and it was worse than this time but didn’t last as long. I also remember telling an old doctor to get his hand off my leg. He claimed he was checking for a heart attack and I told him my heart wasn’t that low.

Today turned out to be interesting in that I thought I was feeling a
lot better until I woke up and realized it was dream. Something to
shoot for. When this is over with no sleep should be needed for the
rest of the month as I’ve asleep more than I’ve been awake.

The wife has been a good sport about it and I’d like to thank her for
her patience. I can get grumpy when I’m sick but no longer sleep with
a knife under my pillow. I go from sound asleep to swinging faster
than most believe possible.

Tomorrow we cruise to the grocery store which will be the big test on
how well I’m doing. It should all go well an then perhaps the camera
will come out again. Tomorrow will be colder, but hey, I have a coat.

Enjoy the rest of our Thursday as Friday is just a dream away. Now
for more coffee.
Comments are always welcome.

Odds and ends

The moon could almost be seen through the clouds over the weekend
and the man in the moon fought valiantly to keep from being covered.
It was a great weekend for the most part.

This little sat in the neighbors yard watching me as I got a few
shots. Good looking cat.

Once again the sky looked fantastic no matter what direction you
looked. Really love being outside on days like this. Couldn’t say what
today looked like as I slept it away. When I finally made it to the
kitchen the said that I should be slept out now.

Oh no. Went back in and slept some more. Tired of only feeling
comfortable while horizontal under the covers yet feel like I’m in a
meat locker when I get up.

Also want to get the camera out again and see if there is anything
out there to get a shot of. I’m pushing for tomorrow but not holding
my breath. Enjoy the rest of our Wednesday as it’s almost over with
anyway.
Comments are always welcome.

Late update

You may have noticed I’ve been AWOL since Sunday. Well, that’s when
I got viral pneumonia and I’m finally able to put some clear thoughts
together. This is the first time this has happened in a while as about
10 years ago I got a ‘lifetime’ Pneumococcal pneumonia vaccine.

I was assured at the time that said vaccine would protect me for the
rest of the life so I guess I outlived the guarantee. Feeling better
today hopefully I can start posting regularly again. Don’t think I
could handle a relapse.

I haven’t watched much TV, didn’t make it over to Dads for a visit,
have taken no pictures nor been outside and have spent more time laying
on the couch than not. I’m ready to get a life again.

So if you bear with me we’ll get back to having a blog and posting
daily.

Sunday snicker

Pastor Larson and his council president, Sven Johnson ended up in a heated argument over a seemingly minor worship detail.

“I suggest we go home and pray to God to grant us peaceful hearts,” said Pastor Larson as Sven stormed past him into the churchyard.

After worship the next Sunday morning, Sven greeted Pastor Larson warmly. “I took your advice,” he said. “I went home and said a prayer.”

“Great!” said Pastor Larson. “So did I! I prayed that God would grant us both peaceful hearts and a fresh start.”

“That’s not what I prayed,” said Sven. “I asked God to help me put up with you.”