Photos from the Thanksgiving weekend

I spent Thanksgiving on the central coast, Aaron came out to vist and we had a great party for Gramps and Grams. A longer update will follow shortly..well hopefully.
CLICK HERE

Just a few more pictures

Here are some fun pictures from this weekend.

A veteran's day walk

Last Tuesday I spent my day off exploring my nieghborhood. So many fun famous spots! Enjoy the pictures!

Happy Birthday to Laura

We had a great time in AG for Laura's birthday! It is hard to believe how cold it was last weekend and this weekend it was roasting. Click here for the photos.

BYE BYE CRANBERRIES ...ON TO THE WILD WILD WEST

The long awaited photos from the trip are here ...
CLICK HERE for pictures of Warren's Cranberry festival and other sights from my last week in WI

CLICK HERE for pictures from the trip.

Enjoy!!! We sure did! Stay tune for more updates from UCLA and Hollywood.

Plans are made to be change

So it looks like we are running a bit behind. Big surprise as I jammed so much into this trip. It looks like we will be in AG Monday night! All is well on our journey, yesterday we enjoyed the Badlands and tooks some pictures at Mount Rushmore!! This is a beautiful, barren part of the country. Today its off to Yellowstone, then on to Nevada. Salt Lake City will have to be another adventure. Looking forward to seeing everyone soon!! Stay tune for photos. Let plan on McClintoks Tuesday night!!!

Photos from the last two weekends in WI

Click here for pictures of my bike ride through the tunnels.

Click here for pictures of my trip to Baraboo WI and the International Crane Foundation.

My time in WI is wrapping up, two four days til lift off!! Here is the itinerary for all of those inquiring minds. It is going to be a challenge wrapping up all the paperwork and saying goodbye to my new friends, but I am ready to be back and CA and can't wait to see my family and friends. Tomorrow I'll be attending the world famous Cran Fest! More pictures to come.

Last night I had "Friday Fish" with a co-worker and her husband and a friend. This is a WI /Midwest? tradition where all the restaurants serve their best fish on Fridays all you can eat style. Of course you only eat one serving as it is so big. At this particular restaurant the fish broiled or fried, is served on a slice of marble rye bread. I hate rye and asked the waitress to hold it, she replied, oh you don't really eat it, the bread soaks up the grease. This was said in a matter of fact tone as thought there were not a thing in the world wrong with needing something on the plate to soak up the grease.

Wed night: Chamberlain SD
Thurs night: Cody WY
Fri night: Salt Lake City UT
Sat night: Yosemite CA
Sun night: Paso Robles CA
Mon night: ***Please join us at Little McClintok's in AG for dinner at 6:30***
Mon-Thurs night: Arroyo Grande CA
Fri night: Hollywood
Sat night: Wicked at the Pantageous
Sun morning Aaron flies back to Ohio
Mon:relax and organize
Tues: orientation at UCLA
Wed: First day of work!!
Thurs: Work
Fri: Work
Sat: open studios SLO
Sun: Hang with Gramps and Gram!

17 days left

I knew my time in Wi would fly, but I had no idea how fast. I have to be out of my little nest at the B & B by Tues. the 23rd because the apartment was already rented for CranFest. I guess CranFest is this areas main event, I can't wait to see it. I will be staying with a college from the VA who happens to be good friends with Suzanne who runs the B&B. She manages the kitchen at the VA so I've gotten to know her pretty well. She has an extra room and her house is within walking distance from work. I will be staying with she and her husband for about a week before leaving on the cross country treck.

The itinerary for the trip is done! CLICK HERE FOR THE MAP
I'm planning to get into SLO on Monday night. For those of you I haven't told, I'm traveling with a friend from Ohio named Aaron. I'm bringing a real-live mid westrener back for show and tell.

In other news I finally get to start doing Modified Barium Swallow Studies!! I have been waiting since day for a memory chip to make the system run, yes a memory chip that I could have bought at Walmart, just waiting for the buracratic paperwork to go through. I'm doing two a day until I leave to try and make up for the back log.

Here are some pictures from the beautiful Wisconsin country side, the leaves are already starting to change!

From Beautiful Wi Fall day

From Beautiful Wi Fall day

Jumping in to the political fray

First of all, although the candidates would like you to believe otherwise, it has been shown over the past eight years that it is not the president who makes most of the decisions, but his advisers, and if they don't make the decisions they strongly influence them. This is of utmost relevance because we are not asked to elect one man, but rather one man plus a whole bunch of people we can only guess at now. The people who will be the face of our country on a daily basis around the world, shaping policy for health care and education: they are unknowns.

Second, I will admit I am not really going to do a ton of research about the candidates for this election, they are both flawed. Neither is exactly what this county needs, and neither will solve all that ails us. Rather I am using logic, psychology, communication and reason to choose who I will vote for. The media is all spin, from the spin one must pick the solid facts and make their own conclusions. So here we go.

On the topic of McCain's VP: Ms. Palin made a choice to have children, that was her choice, with that choice comes responsibility, the responsibility to raise those children to the best of her ability. Just 15 months ago she made a choice, to get pregnant with her FIFTH child. A child who is still in the bonding stage, foundational to all further development. A child with special needs, a child who will require exponentially more stimulation, attention and care to thrive and meet his full potential than a typical child of the same age. Yes, she has a husband but even if he is super dad, he cannot do it all, and outside help is not sufficient to replace a mother. Coming from the party of "family values" I would think Sarah Palin would understand better than her democratic counterparts, when you choose to have a baby, you choose to put your baby first, even when your baby is 17 and about to have a baby of her own. You take care of your family, even if it means sacrificing your political ambition. Am I judging? Yes you bet I am. Do I have all the facts? No, but it is obvious campaigning to be second in command is not compatible with the hours of support and love a special needs baby and a pregnant teenager not to mention three other children require. Yes you can be a mom and have a very successful career, but the day you get pregnant you make a choice, your family comes first. The message this sends to children breaks my heart..."Mommy loves me, but not as much as she loves her job". It will take a lot of counseling to undo that one.
This is the choice John McCain made for his running mate. A strategic attempt to balance the ticket, if Obama had picked a woman he would have picked a minority. John McCain has been part of the political landscape for the past 25 years, he is entrenched! The people you associate with are the people you know best, so it stands to reason the people he will have in his white house will be part of the political establishment as well. The political establishment has not been good for this country, I could go on and on about this, but for now I will only state, health care, education, the economy, forgien relations and the war, even McCain in his TV ads admits we are worse off than four years ago.

Unfortunately, I do not believe the Democrats have all the answers, I think less government intervention would be a good thing, capitalism can be used to solve social problems, but we are not there yet. Barack Obama has consistently demonstrated throughout his career that he is capable of thinking outside the box that is politics as usual. I read his biographies, the first written before his foray into politics. He has lived and struggled in the real world! A world where people daily struggle to make ends meet. He was not always popular, not always, the hero. He is a man who can bring together people from all walks of life and get the job done. No you won't get your stimulus check in the mail... did you ever stop to think how that was possible while we are fighting a billion dollar a day war...or why someone making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year needs a stimulus check? and yes those of you making $100,000 a year are going to have to start paying your fair share of taxes. Our country is at war, our young men and women are dying, daily and this country has not sacrificed at all. Gas prices go up but we still drive 80 mph to work on the freeways, we hear the body count on the evening news but it doesn't register. If it did we would not tolerate a candidate who did not have a time table for withdrawal. Our country enmeshed itself in a country with a history of sectarian violence and perpetual civil war, for oil, for power and money. If you think this war has anything to do with the Iraqi people or democracy or liberation you are sorely deceived. To see what this war is really doing please watch this documentary
We watched it at work and I almost started to cry right there in the staff meeting. These soldiers are returning home and perpetuating the cycle of hurt and violence they observed, it is effecting their families, communities and friends, their ability to obtain meaningful employment and complete their educations. So they sit and smoke outside the VA with men twice their age, refuse from a similar conflict, left behind, as one vet told me after finally getting clean "I'm thirty years behind the rest of the world and still can't remember what I had for breakfast this morning". At 23 they pray this is not to be their own fate, yet the memory loss and the sleep deprivation continue to prevent a meaningful existence, and all we can offer them is one psyc. appointment a month.

Will Obama change this situation, I don't know, but I know McCain won't. Our government sent these guys to their death physically or psychologically and either way our society needs to make it right or the "trickle down" effect will be much more profound than that of the stimulus package.
If it means raising taxes on the wealthy for the short term, to get these veterans help, to pay our teachers a decent wage, and provide health care for all, then so be it, the effects of not doing anything are far more devastating. I won't extrapolate here, but, small easily treatable problems snowball into large expensive disasters, enough said.

Which candidate has a long term focus in terms of energy policy? healthcare? forgien relations? The Republicans would like you to believe Obama is against nuclear power, but this is not true, he is just more willing (although not enough) to invest in clean energy, unfortunately his opponent is constrained by his relationship to big oil. Another issue specific thought; if the insurance companies know you have more money in your pocket to spend, don't you think they will raise their premiums and co-pays? I don't place much weight on the individual issues, most of which are merely campaign promises and political posturing, spun so fast and hard the details blur. The only thing we have to go on is the individual and the choices he is making in running his campagin the leaders he is choosing and the people he has aligned himself with in the past, who he admires and attempts to emulate.

This election comes down to two men and the choices they will make in deciding who should run this county. Will it be the Washington elite who have been living the definition of stupidity "doing the same thing over and over expecting different results" or will you vote for someone with the proven ability to energize hopeless situations by choosing leadership capable of thinking creatively and taking a new perspective to help our country take care of its own.

Chicago Weekend

Here are a few pics from the Chicago Trip last weekend. The weather was beautiful, the traffic wasn't too bad, the company was great and as usual we walked our feet off.

The fair

This last weekend I visited Becky Tim and Henry in Minn. for the world famous state fair, AKA "food on a stick fest". Here are the pictures, at some point I want to do a montage of all the food pictures. Don't worry we didn't sample all of it, although it was a splurge day, we divided it all by three :-)
Fair FOTOS. I downloaded a bunch of Becky's pics click here to see more.

Gramps is Back Home!!!

After six grueling weeks of rehab, Gramps is sleeping at home tonight! I have observed others on this journey and have seen what a struggle physically emotionally and mentally the task of relearning can be. Gramps has always been one of my heroes, but even more now. Climbing a mountain is an incredible feat but maintaining your determination to get better, relearning everything from how to eat to how to walk to how to preform the most basic biological functions, that is something to be proud of. Even more amazing is the fact that this is only the beginning, returning home is a big adjustment, there is so much more to re-learn. Now with Grams and Rascal to cheer him on I am certain his recovery potential is unlimited. Please keep them in your prayers as establishing new routines and juggling lots of home health therapy appointments provide new challenges and frustrations. I can't wait to get home in October and see Gramps, I have a felling he might just be ready to start hitting the trail.

Local flavor!

Not much appeared to be open here in Viropqua with the exception of the Viroqua Public Market; a Co-OP of stalls selling g all sorts of fair trade, used and handmade items. At the back of the market hidden away is a lovely cafe called Sibby's. the owner was working today. Everything is organic, whole foods. I felt transported back to CA this resturant would fit right in downtown Santa Barbara. This is the largest town associated with the area where I attended the organic sustainable farming festival two weekends ago. What a wonderful area the community is even doing work with bartering for services, as one of the closed restaurants had a sign in the window saying it accepts script. Someday I will land for good in one of these utopic communities but preferably one that does not spend a better part of the year covered in snow.

How does one explain a concept like butterscotch, Sweet yes but how does it differ from caramel say ... German tourists entered the shop while I was finishing my lunch, along with an English speaking woman who appeared to be a very demanding tour guide. I guess butterscotch doesn't translate, so the owner just gave them all tastes. Europeans love their espresso and cappuccino, a rarity in these parts, but ice cream sundaes...that was a different story. I realized something I have never really given organized words to before while observing the interaction between Sibby and the tourists, there were not many Thank Yous or Pleases. It is as if service , good service is just expected and nothing out of the ordinary hence we have this perception of snobbery European tourists. The snobby part I picked up on while waiting tables in one of the biggest tourist traps in the World Financial Center (they don't tip either) but I hadn't realized why until today. Culture is a funny thing, even for someone like myself who feels somewhat educated about intercultural communication, I so easily succumb to stereotyping based solely upon my own ethnocentriciy. Culture is so funny some of the nicest people I'm sure anyone would ever want to meet live on the European continent, but our own cultural bias must be subdued before we can be comfortable with the interaction: especially in the service sector.
Beans fresh from the local co-Op all sorts of , rice in a spicy tomato sauce fresh pizza and then cheese glorious cheese. Finnish Baked cheese I was thinking brie, but even better it was more of a curd, not fried (thankfully! it is everywhere here) it was squeaky just like good curds are supposed to be...so Ive been told. Fresh ingredients make all the difference, a dipping sauce fresh sour cream and herbs picked from the patio along with a tomato blended before my very eyes. Delicious! All this for less than $10.00 the 45 min drive was worth it just for lunch!

More photos from WI

Stay tuned for updates

Some photos from my adventures the last few weeks

quick photo update

Last few weekends in OH
http://picasaweb.google.com/talknmore/LakeErieAndFourthOfJuly?authkey=m1AHf1yKASo

My side of the road trip
http://picasaweb.google.com/talknmore/TheConrowSistersHitTheRoad?authkey=ZoZ_Omc2nho
Photos of WI anacdotes coming soon
http://picasaweb.google.com/talknmore/ExploringWi?authkey=ZBNnSJMR1IU

Farewell dinner in Mansfield

I have never been so appalled, yes I am prone to taking a writer's license and stretching the truth for humorous effect, but truly I have never been so appalled. I remember being the only white person in a Nigerian restaurant, the way the patrons all stared and whispered, I thought then I knew what it was to be a minority, but to truly be a minority is to be ignored by one your own demographic as they focus on the person they perceive deserving of more respect.

May I take a moment to remind you the year is 2008, Gloria Stienham is in her dotage, resting on her laurels, Debroah Tannen has moved on to other sociological battlefields assuming this one conquered. However, at dinner tonight in the very nicest Mansfield establishment we ordered a bottle of wine. The waitress had no idea when asked to recommend, the manager had a bit of insight making excuses about a new wine list (8 types of Robert Mondovi...draw your own conclusions) 1/2 priced bottle night , we decided to go with his recommendation , the Arnold Palmer, no not lemonade and iced tea, he makes wine now or at least he lends his name. The waitress came back 10 mins later (the wine must have been in the sub-sub-sub basement) with a plastic corkscrew. She battled with the bottle, no time for the wine to breathe, no eye contact, no explanation, she poured a taste for the solitary male at the table. We had all been discussing the wine list with the manager, but if we thought we were getting a taste we were sorely mistaken. I sat patiently looking in her direction waiting to be acknowledged with my taste. Her gaze never left his face and so he caved and sipped. As soon as his Adams apple bobbed in a swallow she was pouring glasses all around. Ignoring the tastes buds of her gender soundly profoundly shut down. Chivalrously timid the male attempted to direct her to the female expert but the wine had already splashed, she was off and running no care for our response.

It wasn't bad in fact pretty good so Arnold knows how to pick 'um. The manager afraid I assume our palates would not agree and we would send the bottle back, has not been near the table...smart man! Can he sense my wrath???

A quick update...

Gramps has finally made it down to the Santa Barbara Rehabilitation Center. (I won't exert the negative energy ...insert diatribe about faulty HMO controlled American health care system and the fact every other industrialized nation has figured out how to do this better and in a much more cost effective way...enough said) He arrived on Thursday and the reception was a night and day improvement from the experience at French hospital. They even have tri-tip on the menu; of course for now Gramp's will be pureed. Today was a tougher day for him, it seems he might be fighting a little infection so he is feeling pretty crummy. Mom is there with him advocating and organizing his treatment. Please continue to pray for both of them, this is a physical and emotional challenge, however any of you who have hiked with Gramps know what he does when the trail gets challenging. For those of you who haven't been so lucky, he lengthens his stride, his head drops and he leaves you in the dust. On the off chance he hears you panting behind him his response is "sorry sweetie I just have to stretch out my legs". I have labeled this final push to the finish the "mountain goat". I have no doubt Gramps will attack his therapies with the "mountain goat" approach that has taken him to the top of Mt. Whitney 10 times and kept him going up Valencia peak every weekend for over 400 hikes.

Speaking of Gramps

Interestingly enough my last post was about my family. Late the night of the fourth I found out Gramps was in the hospital, he had a stroke. I'm sure I will write more about all of this later, but for now, he is recovering at French hospital and will be transferred to Cottage for rehab tomorrow or the next day. This is a huge adjustment for him and it is very discouraging to think about giving up the things in life (such as hiking) that he enjoys so much. He would appreciate any bit of encouragement those of you who know him (or not ...he's never met a stranger) would like to send. James Willmott c/o Rehabilitation Institute 2415 De la Vina, Santa Barbara, CA 93105-3819 I am very optimistic about his recovery if he can get some intensive therapy. He is one of the strongest people I know and he is raring to go.

It has been so frustrating not to be there with him. His swallowing has been compromised but the therapy services at French are very limited and the nurses have no idea about the importance of oral care in preventing pneumonia. I am trying to give Mom information but really she should not have to be begging for extra pillows to position him in bed. He is left alone to eat and has to beg to be moved to a chair. If it had been up to his HMO he would be moved to a local nursing home where he would languish further! How is a family without someone who knows the system from the inside out supposed to deal with this, how are they even supposed to know what to ask for. I am certain I was lead to Ohio so that I would have the experience to know what to do now.

We appreciate all of the prayers! In addition to prayers for healing, we are praying God continue to bring the right people to help Gramps. Despite all the frustration, Gramps has met a Chaplin who also served as a Navy Sea Bee, a rehab nurse who happend to be a traveler at French, and others I'm not even aware of. It takes an extra dose of faith to remember God is not constrained by shoddy health care systems and poor staffing ratios, He has opened the door to a rehab facility and I am certain He will continue to orchestrate every aspect of Gramps recovery.

From Celtic dacers to concert band...Pop goes the fourth!

Happy Independence Day!!! I am sitting on my couch air conditioner running with the Boston fireworks special on the TV. A year ago, Mom, Grandpa and I were standing in the rain wedged in with the thousand of other Boston tourists to see the display in person. Okay so pictures of fireworks never turn out . The second picture is of the subway (the T) after the fireworks were over. We decided to walk a bit further and realized we were in the neighborhood of the so far elusive Verizon building. Gramps had read on the Verizon website the lobby had a telephone museum and mural explaining the history of the company. Gramps worked many years for GTE (now Verizon) so he was intent on seeing the building while we were in town. Note the clock in the picture...after a full day on the freedom trail, fireworks, rain, humidity we end 7/4/07 chatting with a security guard in the Verizon building from Cape Verde. Between Verizon and Wonderland station I managed to loose my cell phone!


This year was an entirely different story. My life is in transition again (I started traveling on July 9 2007) I spent a good portion of the day sorting and packing clothes, I went for a long walk and discovered the horse flies have hatched (like your common house fly but HUGE, yuck!!) maybe it was the humidity.

Yesterday after work I got a haircut (pic to follow) and then Last night I went to a concert up in Ashland, a group called Celtic Spring, you may have seen if you watched the first season of the NBC show America's Got Talent (can't say that I did but cool none the less) Think a family of six doing Riverdance. They were very talented and the band shell at the park was beautiful. It was raining off and on all day so I wasn't sure how long I would be staying but the weather held, the temperature actually dropped down to around 60 degrees... down right chilly for this time of year.

Tonight, well it reminded me more of high school concert band...I think we may have played the very same arrangement of the Beauty and the Beast medley. I thought the Kingwood Center would be beautiful venue for a concert and it was with the exception of the screeching peacocks. Sure the peacock could have been commenting on the local vocal accompaniment, but the yelping was just as much of a distraction as the very corny MC. The predominantly 60+ audience ate up every joke this "nice young man" attempted to crack. Later I will post a photo of the latecomers (by two minutes) seat I had for the show. My view was limited to three clarinet players and trombonist who was using his head as a metronome. I've decided small towns yield great stories, even just watching the local news...which right now is highlighting a whiffle ball tourney.

I've decided to spend my last free Sat in Ohio (yes next Sat. will be devoted to packing up the Sentra...Laura) to exploring lake Erie and its islands. I want to get an early start so I better wrap this up. Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday, especially the AG family who was celebrating Mom's birthday (I am missing you and the Conrow birthday party routine).

B&B and Amish Country

It is finally all settled. I have an assignment and a place to live! My sister, Laura is flying into Oh to make the drive with me and we will be spending a day in Chicago. I can't wait! The hard part will be packing up and loading the car, it is always quite the engineering feat. For those of you who are familiar with my visual spatial organization limitations, you can imagine the frustration...not to mention my pack rat tendencies. My company was unable to find me a furnished apartment...actually the apartment was not the problem, the furniture leasing companies were all sold out, something to do with Fort McCoy. This works in my favor as I will be staying in a studio at a charming B&B called Sunny Fields. I am trying to negotiate reimbursement for the extra commute but it will be worth the idyllic setting.
Yesterday I took a trip out to Amish Country about an hour east of Mansfield. It is a very charming area..but really tourist traps are alike everywhere...Pismo Beach to Sugar Creek Ohio. There is no doubt the Amish are capetalizing on their simplicity. You can't really blame them, religion doesn't inhibit the American enreprenual spirit. One of the funnier things I saw was an Amish boy riding a bike with an i-pod or some other headphone device on...no helmet (a rarity for most Ohioans, motorcycles and bicycles). I also explored the main drag in Berlin Ohio. I really didn't buy much, I decided a wheel of cheese or a handmade basket were not so practicle due to my impending relocaiton. I definetely don't need another mug even one with a buggy on it. I don't need a sign painted with witty quotes or a throw pillow. The drive was gourgeous! Rolling green hills, fields of wheat and corn not to mention the dark rain clouds that finally let loose around two o'clock, luckily I was home by then.
Last night I went to a birthday party for one of the nurses I work with at the civil war era home of another co-worker. It was really bitter sweet to share my plans with everyone as I have made some wonderful friends here and will be quite sad to move on from such a cohesive and welcoming team.

And the winner is....

Wisconsin!!! I will be making my home in the town of Tomah WI until mid November. The position is at the VA hospital which I am told will be a nice addition to my resume. It looks like an area full of outdoor fun and not too far from the big cities of Minneapolis and Madison. Laura is planing to fly out to make the drive with me and have some fun in Chicago. It looks to be about a nine hour drive from Mansfield...no sweat after last falls drive from CA to Knoxville. I really am going to miss Ohio, I have met some wonderful people and know I will miss the Buckeye state. Now that my destination is settled, its time for the bigger challenge: PACKING all of it into my Sentra.

The Waiting is the Hardest Part!

It is raining this afternoon, thunder, lightning, the works! Luckily I did my laundry this morning and had the clothes in the house before the sky exploded. I picked up boxes this weekend, three weeks from today I will be on the road. Even in the laundry mat a woman I had met over a month ago asked me...everyday at lunch they ask me ...my family asks every time they call...my friends keep asking... Where are you going next??? I don't know! We started looking at assignments almost a month ago, everything from Delaware to Oregon, Wisconsin to Texas has been on the table. I wish I had something definitive to say, if not for myself then to put everyone else at ease. I know I will be somewhere, I know that I have options. I can stay in Mansfield, work for another company, or take a school assignment with my current company. I don't mind the asking, I just wish I had a simple answer. "I don't know" seems to elicit looks of fear and questioning. I am convinced part of the adventure is watching all the pieces come together placing me exactly where I am most certainly intended to be. The most amazing thing about the past year are the number of moments when my choice to travel has been re-affirmed . Again and again I meet people in the community, patients at work, make friends and know I am a part of a plan much bigger than my individual experience. I should know by Friday...so stay tuned.

Goundhogs Day

There are many reasons I am enjoying my new found nomadic lifestyle, but the one that sums it up best seems rather cliche, on the surface that is. "I love meeting new people and experiencing new areas of the country, every place I've been has something unique and special to see". This is the standard third or fourth sentence in the conversation that starts with the question "so what do you do?" I rented a bike today, there is a wonderful bike trail running from Butler to Mansfield, 18 miles paved and flat...smooth sailing no sweat. Famous last words, just past the half way point a suicidal rodent ran in front of my bike. For the California readership, rodent does not denote small! Rodent in this case is at least raccoon size, round, fat and fast! Groundhogs as I have come to learn never have traversed the Rockies. I learned from a patient earlier this spring that although these vermin are generally a nuisance the young ones are good eating, great for target practice and the meat is greasy like duck. Sometimes it is hard to keep a straight face, sometimes I find myself wishing I had not asked, sometimes I revel in the useless information. I swerved and both the groundhog and I lived to tell the tale. Later on the last mile of the 13 I received a phone call, pushing the boundaries of my coordination I switched off my music to answer it. Mom and I were catching up when my path intersected that of a grey corn snake. Gotta love cell phones ...Mom couldn't figure out why I was screaming and why I was talking about cornflakes. Only maybe two feet long he was skinny and slithery, I may not be writing this if I had the encounter while on foot. The hibeejibees subsided and the communication break down was mended and I returned the bike. The owner of the shop asked me about the ride and I replied, "Well it was eventful I met a groundhog and a snake ...I don't know which was worse really". "The groundhog, I suppose" he said smiling. "I don't know I said they both surprised me, but while the groundhog only elicited a brief expletive, the snake resulted in shrieking" . His smile morphed into the condescending you silly girl look. I paid for the rental as I left the shop, I added another microadventure to the ever growing list of unique and special things to see.

Eleanor

I met a man and his wife today. The man, a former guidance counselor at the local state university was rolling himself back and forth in his wife's wheel chair as he spoke. She begrudgingly woke up so I could see how she was eating. After nine days in the hospital he had clearly been deprived of stimulating conversation. In thirty minutes we ran the gamut from basic medical information, the election and the where are you from get to know you information. He went to grad school at Columbia, while he was there he had a job as a chauffeur for the university. His most well known guest was non-other than Eleanor Roosevelt. As they chatted she told him to visit her at Hyde Park. His wife was in the city visiting him and he was able to introduce her to Mrs. Roosevelt too. He went to Hyde Park the next weekend and "do you know" he told me with fresh excitement in his voice, "she remembered me". She gave him a tour of the museum and everything. A kid in his early twenties and a lady in her fifties or sixties, she cared so deeply about the next generation. It was so much more than autobiographical musings. I'm sure he's told this story hundreds of times but I felt it was a gift just for me. The coincidence of reading Eleanor Roosevelt's final book and then meeting a man who could have been in it, felt more like destiny. He had brought his wife deviled eggs, I watched her eat just one, gumming the white for what felt like five minutes then muttering "so now what" with her mouth still full of yolk. When she finally swallowed she accepted a few cleansing sips of honey thick sierra mist, a soda Mrs. Roosevelt missed out on. I asked her if she could tell me who she met while visiting Columbia (she was living upstate raising three young boys while her husband finished his education). Being hard of hearing she hadn't been paying much attention to the conversation besides she was focused on the egg. "How'd you know about Mrs. Roosevelt" she answered. I tried to explain but she was not listening, she was falling into a memory. "It was so quick", she murmured, "I didn't get to say everything I wanted but she asked me two questions right off the bat". How I wish the thread of memory hadn't snapped, I wish she could have followed it to the end so she could have told me about the questions. We just couldn't get her back around them. A night school teacher, mother of three growing up in the fifties. I hope her sons or grandchildren have heard this story, I hope they have written it down, I hope they know the two questions even if Grandma's answers weren't as profound as she would have like them to be. I can only imagine the nights awake replaying the moments, the things she wishes she would have said or the questions she would have asked if given more time to prepare, perhaps a second chance. Her husband got the same distant look in his eyes when I mentioned the familial nature of Mr. Roosevelt's fireside chats I have heard my grandparents describe. I think the nostalgia is part of the kindling fueling the older generations burning distaste for our current administration. We both agreed a man so brilliant would never run for president to day, he would be far to smart to subject every detail of his life to such intense scrutiny. How things have changed! Hyde Park had no metal detectors, the FBI didn't do a back ground check on the chauffeur, the secret service didn't ride along and Mrs. Roosevelt remembered all she heard. The husband described how in the moment he was with her it seemed nothing else was on her mind, she was completely focused on the moment, in the present giving and receiving, perfect reciprocity. No cell phones or buzzers, no radio or TV ; just two people from two different worlds exchanging opinions and sharing ideas; an interaction so powerful it has lasted almost seventy years. An old man, his wife in bed; and then there's me, barely older than they were back then, full of adventure and hope. He failed to relate anything specific she said gave no sound bites, no quotes, the gift she gave him was her conversation, her time and she listened. I needed to leave I had other patients to see, I asked if there were any questions and he was beaming as he said "I'm glad to have met you. You are just exuberant! Thank you!"I left them smiling, knowing in a small way Mrs. Roosevelt's gift is one we are all occasionally capable of giving.

Small Thrills

Last night
with all the expectation a first impression can muster
the what ifs bordering on am I crazy and why bother.
My eternal optimist wages a war of internal monologues with her cynic foe.

I painted my nails
a merely symbolic pale pink just enough color to hide the dings.
They will be revealed soon enough one nail at a time chipping, torn, picked away.

The joys of a new language the culture of me meets the world of who?
Possibility is the label I shall pin on this small thrill;
of conversation, connection and pasta.
I paint my nails in anticipation of really good pasta
... and maybe a glass of wine

In Ohio I started drinking my coffee black, up until then it had been light and sweet regular coffee in New York City. Hospitals have the best coffee, that my not be such a universal truth anymore as espresso carts are taking over the lobby and Starbucks has caught wind a great marketing opportunity. So many people empolyed in the effort to prevent early checkout or makeing the most of life altering situations. Everyone from business to surgery works long hours sustained by caffeine predominately in the form of coffee. Then there are the visitors, the other portion of the cafeterias clientele, they pay full price but can usually get a free refill. You need the caffeine to help when keeping vigil, just in case a doctor graces the room with his presence, you must be ready as the opportunity to ask the gnawing questions may not present itself again. The coffee they brew on the floors for the patients is not the same, in fact at meals that would be the number one complaint, "the coffee is awful". Especially the thickened instant coffee; or patients who already are having trouble swallowing this is guaranteed to make one gag. "It is better than nothing", I try to console, no one seems to be buying this. I hope Mrs. S has finally had her coffee she left for an extended care facility. All she wanted was one strong cup of hot black coffee. She said milk masks the taste, by the time ones late eighties foll around the pretence of milk is unnecessary. Open and honest, without pretension, living life like a cup of hospital coffee...black.

First Snow in Mansfield

Okay I'll be the first to admit it. I was compelled to got outside to day, I was due for a little exercise and yes I stuck out my tongue to catch the falling snowflakes. It has been about five years since I have been anywhere near the snow and that was for a weekend ski trip where the temperatures topped sixty degrees. It has been more like eight years since I have been outside when it is actively snowing.
Okay so nothing is sticking to the ground yet. I put on my green hat and leopard print gloves, my scarf and my jacket and a pair of closed toed shoes and made my way down the hill. I followed the rivulets of runoff, the iridescent streams composed of oil and other toxic fluids from the parking lots. As I pass the mailboxes I am keenly aware my shoes are not waterproof. My toes were just cold but now they are indeed wet. Time to turn around.
Okay so the lady pulling into the otherwise deserted complex looked at me like I was crazy to be out in the cold. As I passed her getting out of her car she asked me where I had bought my hat. I replied, I've had it forever, I really can't remember (not entirely true because it must have come from California where hats such as this one are more for fashion and less about function). “It's a nice one”, she said. “You know”, I remembered suddenly, “My sister gave it to me for my birthday a while back”. This is entirely true, she had bought me the perfect green knit hat for Christmas one year, it is not easy to find the perfect hat, I promptly lost it on a bus leaving New York City. The next year for my birthday she found me this one, only a close imitation of the first but it was sweet of her to remember.
Okay so I walk back up to my building wondering if the rivulets will be frozen in the morning and noticing my jacket is wet. It is snowing harder and I am glad I decided not to take a long walk. The warmth of reentering my apartment makes the cold worth it. Snow I am remembering, is best enjoyed from the inside looking out, but then of course it is much harder to catch with your tongue.