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.