New Glasses At Last!

Aaah! New glasses! And just in time.

One of the lenses in the old glasses I was using, from putting them on and off all the time, was loose. At first I could not even see (with another old pair of tri-focals) whether the screw was still there or was gone. But the next morning in daylight, with magnifying glass and under a strong desk lamp, I found the screw head and with my tiny eyeglass-repair screwdriver was able to tighten the frame.

I have new insight into how frustrating and debilitating not being able to see well can be. Finally I can put on my glasses in the morning and not have to even think about them until I go to bed. And I can see fine. It took a little adjustment to the new lenses but I have adapted quickly.

Another good piece of news. Since I had paid for a lens protection program when I got my new bi-focal semi-tinted sunglasses, they changed the prescription in them for FREE. How nice is that!

I had promised my Aunt Jean I would come visit her and that visit got delayed much longer than I intended, due to cataract surgery. So I determined I would visit her in Virginia Beach for Thanksgiving. It’s quite a trip out there so I started thinking of other visits I could make since I was going that way.

It didn’t take long to realize I would be going through Richmond, VA, where they have a terrific library with lots of archival material, so that visit has been added into the mix. I will stop on the way going, as the library will be closed from noon the day before Thanksgiving through the rest of the weekend.

This really bitter cold weather is making excursions outside exceedingly uncomfortable. Even with my nice warm winter coat and scarf, my errands yesterday were no fun and by the time I came home my back was aching, just from the tension produced by the cold and wind when I was walking between car and buildings. The first thing I did when I got home was sit down and relax with a heating pad on my back. Within a few minutes, all the back ache was gone.

The Muro 128 2% finally came into the pharmacy so I have added that to my medicine cabinet, but I have only used the eye drops once. The warm compresses the doctor suggested work just as well, if not better.

It’s a good day to stay inside, though the sun makes it look so pretty out. I am just hoping this artic blast runs itself out before I take off for Aunt Jean's.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving. I, myself, have much to be thankful for.

Be seeing you... with my nice new lenses.

Not So Simple Pleasures

I was thinking on one of my drives to Cleveland, as I enjoyed the beautiful scenery, how fortunate we are to have eyesight. I know that vision evolved to make us aware of our surroundings, along with hearing and smell and all of our senses. But how miraculous is vision! I was counting the attributes of vision as I drove along. What is it that makes the scenery so wonderful? There is color, of course, but there is shape and line and depth and contrast and variety. I noticed how scenes with variety pleasured me to a greater degree than those with less variety. And of course, light and shadow.

Then I thought, what is the source of pleasure? Where in our body-mind does pleasure originate? For me, pleasure is a distinct feeling inside, in the middle of my chest, a warmth there that quickly diffuses my whole body. How is it that a sight can be transformed into a feeling? How does that happen?

It happens with our other senses too. I’ve been wafted away into the air listening to a concert. I can’t pass the vase of roses without taking a whiff, and that induces that same feeling. I remember the pleasure of the warm blanket tucked around me just before my surgery. Along with the pleasure comes a sense of well being. Or is the sense of well being synonymous with pleasure? (Webster says no, not quite.)

I tend to explain my feelings as coming from my thoughts. But the only thoughts I can decipher at the time of such pleasures are “Isn’t that beautiful!” or “That is so wonderful”. I don’t think this experience of pleasure is something I learned or copied from my elders; I think it is innate. I may never understand how it works; I am just so grateful that it is part of my experience, in this body, on this earth.

My rose bush is still putting out buds in spite of the cold nights. I hear the ducks and geese overhead. I bundle in layers to go walking. All the signs of impending cold weather are upon us. Yet even the crisp air brings pleasure.

The leaves are raked and piled at curbside, a pile about 3 ft. deep and 20 ft. long. I hope the city comes soon to scoop them up, so they don’t blow all over someone else’s lawn. And thereby reduce their pleasure, perhaps.

I’ve ordered my new glasses. They had to be sent away to have the anti-glare coating put on them. It will likely be another ten days before I have them. I am hoping I might be able to drive more easily at night with new glasses.

Be seeing you...

Day of the Dead

Cold the last couple days, but not as cold as Saturday when Amy and I were out. We attended a latino Festival Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead) in one of the western communities of Cleveland.

It was 40 degrees out and there was a strong northwest wind. We dressed warmly but we could only stay out in the wind for a short time before the need to seek cover became a burgeoning priority. Luckily there was a parish hall and a old church that provided a place to get inside. We found a series of “altars” sponsored by the Cleveland Arts Council in one hall and vendors and a venue for performances that would take place after the parade in the other.

When we ventured back outside, the parade was forming up. We enjoyed watching the many people with costumes and/or great face painting. Probably about 65 people marched in the parade. It was so windy that when the stilt-walkers came to intersections, they had to cross them sideways in order to stay upright until they once again got some shelter from the buildings along the streets. But they all looked like they were having a wonderful time.

I had never been to a Day of the Dead festival before. Amy explained the significance of some items in the altars we saw. We did not stay for the performances, but we did look at the “cemetery” where people had erected "tombstones" or memorials to honor loved ones. And at the gates of the cemetery were Dia de Muertos notes available for people to write to, or about, their loved ones and tie onto the gate. This was a popular site.

We saw snow flurries on the way home, just a few. As a child, we would say it was “spitting snow”, letting us know winter is coming - as if the bitter cold wind was not enough.

Three days ago I saw Dr. Lass for a final checkup on my left eye. He said that most of the swelling was gone; the pressure in both eyes was okay. Regarding the irritation in the right eye, I was told that there were oil ducts in the edge of the upper eyelid and it was not uncommon for the ducts to get clogged; the one in my right eye was clogged. They recommended warm compresses and gentle rubbing of the lid ONLY, not the eye. In addition Dr. Lass said not to use the "dry-eye" drops for irritation but instead to use Muro128, a solution with a little salt in it to help draw fluid through the cornea.

At the pharmacy to get the drops, we found there were two strengths of the Muro drops so we had to call back to the doctor’s office to determine which to buy. The pharmacy did not have the 2% that we needed, so I will wait until I get home and try again or have them order it for me. Using the warm compresses has relieved the irritation completely today.

I will be heading back to Covington in a few days. I will be back to Cleveland for Christmas - and that’s not that far away!  I feel like I have been in some kind of time warp and lost a few months. How can it possibly be November already?

Be seeing you....

Just a Few More Days

I got my wish for a few Indian summer days. We have had three glorious days. Today it was so warm I walked in short sleeves. I even sat on my deck to read while the leaves drifted down on my hair and brushed by me like ghosts. Just a little distracting!

It was a day for household chores: laundry, making soup, cleaning out the refrigerator... that last has been like a recurring mantra this year. Every time I go away I have to clean out all the perishables. Hence the soup, great for using up leftovers. 

Two days ago in the midst of some trees stripped completely bare, and others that were thinning, I saw one huge well-rounded oak tree completely green, not a leaf changed. The very next day, it looked like it was slightly tinted with rust on one side. Today its leaves are changing quickly, but not to any bright color, just turning brown and falling. Curious how some trees drop their leaves so quickly as if tired of working, ready for rest, and others hold onto their leaves so tightly that some never fall until the winds of winter take them down.

I had heard that we can get allergies as we get older and it appears that I have. I never had allergic reactions until the last few years. Usually I am only bothered in the fall, and then not every day. I get a hoarseness in my throat and a drippy nose. Perhaps that was the cause for the scratchiness in my right eye because it has not bothered at all for the last few days. That’s a relief.

Son Jon called me from Hawaii today. He said they did not need as much recovery time from their Trek as they had anticipated they might. They are feeling rested and full of energy. The trail was expected to be rocky and require clambering up and down, but they had not anticipated how muddy it would be. What he described sounded like a soggy mess with debris and manure and it did not get much better as they went along. Of course the rain did not help improve it either. They are thinking they might do another trek in a year or two. Adventurous souls.

Speaking of adventurous souls, a distant cousin has written on Facebook about the first days for her family in Ethiopia where they have gone as missionaries. To go there on your own, out of commitment and calling, is a noble task. To do it with husband and eight children is a miracle. That is what she calls it. After weeks of preparation and hundreds of decisions, she is feeling “down”. Great stressors (like moving a continent away) can lead to being “down” or depressed. As time goes by I know her faith, as well as adjustment to her new life, will show her the opportunities she seeks to help this country that she loves. It is quite different from the life she knew in Montana. I can’t even imagine what it must be like to try and manage a household of ten in a city where one knows only a few words of the spoken language. She is braver than I.

I’ll be driving back to Cleveland to see Dr. Lass this week. I’ll probably be there a few days to take care of some business and than return home. It will be good to be home for more than a few days or a couple weeks at a time.

Be seeing you...

Anticipation - in Positive Mode

I’m getting caught up, little by little. Today I went to the dentist to have a loose crown cemented back on. This is the second time for this procedure. I hope it stays this time. Otherwise there will be another and much more expensive procedure to do. Next: my annual mammogram appointment.

My right eye is not so happy this week. I get more irritation in it and have been using regular eye drops in it almost every day. At first I thought I was doing too much close work and when it was irritated, I put my computer away for several hours. Then I thought it might be the fact that the heat is on in the house and the air is dryer. But when I woke this morning and the eye was “scratchy” when I woke up, I realized it probably was not close work, nor dry air in the house, more likely the Fuchs syndrome. I will ask Dr. Lass about it when I see him next week. I am hoping this is only temporary.

This week I made another favorite, parsnip soup. Again, this is pretty easy. Peel two parsnips. I buy the bigger parsnips as they tend to be sweeter. Slice the parsnips into quarter inch slices and put in about 2 cups of water to boil. While they are cooking, saute onion and thinly sliced carrots in olive oil and when the carrots are softened some but not quite tender, put the mixture into a blender. When parsnips are soft, add parsnips and their water to the blender. (I usually put the parsnips in the blender first, reserving the liquid to add, as needed, so I can adjust the thickness of the soup. However, the soup will usually take most of the liquid) Add salt and pepper to taste. It makes a thick, filling soup and a tasty way to add another vegetable to your diet.

Amy says all medical bills are fiction until you can ferret out their meaning. I would say not all of them, but I have been calling on two of them for several weeks and finally got clarification on one. I don’t mind paying for procedures that I have had, but I like to know what I’m paying for, and medical bills are often hard to decipher. I did have good luck calling Medicare for an explanation and, to my surprise, talked to a knowledgeable and willing-to-be-patient person, who eventually answered all of my questions to my satisfaction. I would say this is one of my better interactions with Medicare. They have improved their customer service quality since last we spoke.

The temperature got down into the 30s last night. It was very windy and pretty cool out yesterday, and I did not walk. Today I will walk. There are several lovely trees retaining their orange leaves that I look forward to seeing.

The raised flower beds have been cleared; all the dead stalks and fallen twigs carted away. Nothing blooming now except my rose bush and the white mums. I cut some roses and mums and brought them inside for a vase on my table. The roses smell so sweet, I can’t resist taking in a good whiff of them every tIme I go by. While the garden is settling in for a long winter nap, it rests in expectation, pregnant with tulips in the spring.

Be seeing you...

Fall Is For Corn Chowder

Another week just went slipping by. I am so happy I got home in time to enjoy the trees in peak of their colors before the week of rain we’ve had. The rain and wind stripped so many leaves that bare branches are visible in some places. I can even catch a glimpse of the pond behind my house which has been completely leaf-screened all summer.

This time of year lends itself to different recipes, have you noticed? Pumpkin pie comes to mind immediately. But this past week when I went grocery shopping, the last of this year’s corn on the cob was available in packages of 5 ears each. No way could I eat that much corn on the cob, but I knew just what I wanted to do with it.

Most of the things I cook are favorites and I know them by heart and never open a recipe book. However, when I pulled it off the shelf, the Joy of Cooking still had the marker at the page for Corn Chowder from the last time I made it, probably last fall.

It isn’t hard to do and it’s so-o-o good! Bacon, onion, celery, potatoes, all diced, added to saved water from boiling the corn the day before. While that simmered, I cut the corn off three long cobs, and scraped the cobs for the juices. Mix flour and milk for thickening, add the corn, and then several cups of hot milk. Salt and pepper to taste. Yumm. I had two quarts of soup, one for the fridge and one for the freezer. Nothing like a hot bowl of soup on a gloomy day to warm your tummy - and your hands around the bowl.

Jon and Beth sent along a picture of themselves, eating lunch in a restaurant, quite a change from trekking fare. They look no worse for their long walk. Jon, maybe a little thinner; Beth still fiercely toned and not even sunburned. They promise pictures once they get a chance to organize them. They're headed for Hawaii to soak up some sun.

Something about the way the wind swirls around my house, always causes it to dump leaves right in front of my back door. I keep sweeping them up so they don’t get tracked into the house or obstruct the opening of the door. But when, as now, the two giant sycamore trees start shedding, the leaves really pile up. These leaves, as big or bigger than my hand, are tough. They don’t break up easily. Every fall I haul huge plastic-sheet loads of them to the curb for city pick-up. Some years I will have a heap out there 3 ft. high and 20 ft. long. But it’s a chore I don’t really mind.

Last night for the first time in two weeks I did not have to tape the shield to my left eye at bedtime. And the frequency of eye drops has again tapered off some. Less than two weeks until it is time to return to Dr. Lass for my final check-up.

And then, new glasses!

Be seeing you...

Yippee! I'm Sprung!

Not that I don’t enjoy being with Amy and Barry; they have long been my favorite stopping place on my trips to New York and back and the welcome mat is always out! But I am anxious to get home and plant tulips and rake leaves and assess the damage the squirrels made to the re-seeded grass. There should be a few more days yet that I can sit on the deck and enjoy the colors and the sunshine.

Dr. Lass reported yesterday that the swelling in my eye had reduced - not all gone but - enough to his satisfaction that he returned the eye drop frequency to the normal post-op gradually diminishing regimen. I only have to put drops in 3x a day instead of six! That’s a treat.

Amy and I have decided that, In addition to being renowned for his work with Fuchs Distrophy, Dr. Lass has a great interest in the Arts. On past visits he has off-handedly mentioned Monet’s changing colors in his paintings and when he had laryngitis, he said he was glad he did not have to sing La Boheme that night. This week he told us that he is a member of the World Doctors Orchestra. They do fund-raising concerts around the world and he sounded excited that they would be going for the first time to Central America, in November, Santiago, Chile, in fact, and then to Patagonia. “Dressed in a tux and standing on a glacier”, he said, with a little smile. I asked him what instrument he played and he said cello. He is a tall man and I can just “see” him with his long legs wrapped around his cello. I’ll bet he plays First Chair. ☺

Tomorrow I am heading back to Covington. I will have to return to Cleveland in three weeks for my final checkup and I will not get my new glasses prescription until then but I can manage with my old glasses for now. It’s awkward taking the glasses off and putting them on frequently, and when I wear my solar shields outside, I look like a recluse hiding from the world. The people who speak to me on my walks must be really brave; some won’t even look at me, let alone respond to my hello. The solar shields are wonderful, though, because they never strain my eyes and I don’t have to worry about anything getting into my eyes; they are entirely enclosed.

Jon and Beth have only two more days of actual trekking. Then they will take a two-day bus ride back to Paro, Bhutan, a plane to Bangkok and a plane to Hawaii. Hawaii is their treat after the Trek, a time to soak up the sun. There may be sunshine where they are now but Jon wrote a day or so ago that at 16,000+ ft. there was ice on their tent in the morning. Makes me shiver just thinking about it.

Like the birds, I am heading south. Be seeing you...

Ghost Kitties

 Here at Amy and Barry’s house, we have other occupants whom we see seldom and usually just as they are rushing past us to get away - and under the couch. I was here a whole week before I even caught sight of one. 

  Amy explained that they had taken in two feral cats whom their cat sitter had rescued and had kept for a year. Janet, the cat sitter, was aware that Amy and Barry lost both of their cats some time ago and had not replaced them. Janet was moving and could not take the cats with her across country. Amy and Barry first agreed to take them as foster cats until the folks who had agreed to take them got moved into their new house. But you know what happened, or you can guess. The other folks backed out. But, never mind. As Barry says, we aren’t really foster cat people; they become our kitties. And that is what has happened.

Since the cats have lived on the street, they are afraid of a lot of things: loud noises, sudden movement, any approach to them. At first they only came out to eat at night and hid under a chair or the couch all day. But being cats they are curious. Gradually they came out in the day time to look us over. Now we usually see Tabitha every day; she will sit in the window across the room as long as I am seated and make no sudden moves. Bunny is much more shy; she is the flash of quicksilver rushing by, if I see her at all.

Last night as I sat on the couch watching TV, idly swinging a cat feather-toy on the end of a wand, Tabitha came out to play. She had a good time; I think I wore her out.

Different things wear people out. Very loud noise levels and crowds of people wear me out. Amy was talking about something she saw on the internet about introverts getting their energy from nature and quiet, while extroverts like plenty of company and talk and action. I have to admit I’m more of an introvert. Even though I enjoy people, I prefer to talk to them one-on-one or in a small group. I go all day without the radio or TV on; I prefer it that way. It drains rather than increases my energy. Now in the evening when I am ready to relax, I enjoy the TV - well at least I enjoy some shows, but if there’s nothing I like, the TV is off. 

Isn’t it curious that we are so different in how we re-energize ourselves. It calls for some compromises with the people we live with. We can share the other’s activities - but only up to a point usually. Accepting who we are and what the other person needs to get energized and feel happy goes a long way towards a peaceful co-existence. 

We are all giving the Ghost Kitties lots of space, letting them acclimate in their own time. We would love to pet them, but they don’t want to be petted - yet. And we respect their space and their need to feel safe.

Tomorrow it’s back to see Dr. Lass. I hope he has a better report this time. Be seeing you...

...And For Mourning

  October is beautiful but there is no way we can avoid that it signals the end of summer, a time of relaxation, a different cadence to life. October has always been a significant month for me, long before my sister’s death. My mother’s birthday was in October. All the rest of the family had birthdays in winter or spring or summer. But Mom’s birthday was in October.

   I imagine her parents, in their apartment in New York City, at the time she was conceived. They had not been here in this country long. Perhaps just long enough to have something to celebrate - a place of their own - a community of other immigrants that spoke their language - the launching of his small accordion business. I like to think she was conceived in much happiness and love, even if on a bitter cold January night.

   Like the passing of the seasons, Mom’s life has passed, and sister Sally’s too. They were always so close in life, I am sure they are joined wherever they are. And my life is more and more often called upon to grieve, not just in October, but all throughout the year as old friends, old ways, old places, old times are gone and I must come to terms with a new context for my living. We all grieve. Sometimes consciously and sometimes not.

   Today I am grieving the loss of my lenses. Isn’t that silly? They weren’t doing such a good job for me and yet they were an intimate part of me from the time I was born. I am conscious of the fact that in place of those bits of me, I have substitutes, bits of other combinations of matter that can do the job of seeing better than mine could. (I wonder what they did with my old lenses...)

   Somehow it seems unfair that all this grieving has to come at a time in our lives when we have less stamina, less energy, more distraction, and fractious memory. But the one thing we do have is time and it takes time to grieve, time to discover new routines, new friends, new communities, time to re-stitch the fabric of our lives. We have been doing this over and over; it’s just that it becomes more apparent as we get older and the losses come faster.

  Don’t think for a moment I am not grateful for my improved eyesight or for the skill of the surgeon who made it possible. I am grateful - and looking forward to many more years of reading and living a full life.

  Speaking of that surgeon, Dr. Lass was not so happy with the check-up on my eye yesterday. A man of few words, he said nothing as he examined my eye. He made his notes and then turned and gave me the sheet of instructions for the next week. He increased Fred’s drops from 4x a day to 6x a day, Dick and Flo to keep their same schedule as before. When I asked why the change, he said we had to get the swelling down; the Fuchs had caused some swelling.

  So I have a chart. Drops six times a day. Maybe I’ll not be returning home as soon as I thought. But we keep on keeping on. It’s what we do.

Be seeing you....

Autumn's For Celebration

Yesterday’s travel back to Cleveland went without a hitch. It turned out to be a pretty fall day. When I started out from Covington, the hills were hazy and there was an overcast. When I got to Columbus a couple hours later, the sun was breaking through and the temperature rose immediately from 54, which it had been all morning, to 58, and from there on it climbed slowly into the 60s.

In the sunshine the colors became brighter as I drove north. Once, looking at a hillside, it brought back a strong memory of the hills as I drove out of Salt Lake City in September 2009. It was raining lightly and they looked like a lovely paisley shawl. Could it possibly have been only five years ago that I took that trip west? It seems like it must have been longer ago. 

Autumn is Nature’s way of celebrating the end of the harvest. What have I reaped this year? A week in Hawaii, two lengthy visits to relatives in New York, a study tour in Greece with a visit to dear friends there, a 50th anniversary party, sharing the excitement of family trekking in the Himalayas, better eyesight and new glasses for me, a couple months staying with my daughter and son-in-law, a scanner that works with my computer, 14 pints of applesauce canned, another milestone reached in settling Sally’s estate. I’d say it has been a productive year! (When I go to the chiropracter, about once every few months, he always asks what project I’m working on now. There's always some project, he knows.)

The colors of the fields, though muted, in shades of amber to siena to mauve, and every variation in between, are as pleasant to the eye as the turning leaves. I hear the migrating birds; I don’t see them, but I hear their unfamiliar calls. The squirrels are busily burying their hoards of winter food, much of it in my newly re-seeded patch of lawn. Any earth that is loose is immediately claimed as their pantry. If I plant flowers, they dig right next to it to hide their latest prize.

Speaking of planting, I have a whole bag of tulip bulbs to plant when I return home. Something to look forward to. But that will be a couple weeks yet. 

Today I am having surgery on my left eye. We did not have to get up so early this time. I am to arrive at 12:55 for pre-op preparations. Since I can’t have anything to eat or drink this morning, I have busied myself solving a problem with the Family Tree program on my computer. It insisted on recording one marriage twice and was lousing up the print-outs. In the end I had to remove some info and then put it in again. But it kept me focused and occupied and helped me not to think of food. 

Dick and Flo and Fred have been reinstated and await me on my nightstand. I don't look forward to their ministrations, nor to the eye shield and the sticky tape, but this too will pass. And before I know it I will have new glasses! What a blessing that will be. 

Be seeing you....sometime.

Where Did The Week Go?

Amy returned to Cleveland yesterday; we had a full week here in Covington. Amy, besides being busy updating the apartment in the other half of my house, which entailed a long list of vendor phone calls and appointments, spent time working with me. She is helping me to organize the boxes of papers stored in my closets in preparation for having them scanned commercially. A whole career’s worth, recording years spent in various agencies and places. I have some vague idea that someday I would do a memoir and want those papers to refresh my memory. But they need to be winnowed out and put in some format, other than papers buried in my closets, in order to be useful. I keep thinking I will get to writing, but events keep getting in the way. Someday...

It felt good to get caught up on housework and paperwork and to enjoy walks in the evening together. One day I had lunch and caught up with a long-time friend. (I almost wrote “old friend” but she would object to that: “I’m not old”, she’d say.) Once, after a particularly busy day, Amy and I dined out in the evening, thanks to my sister, Martha’s, Applebees’ gift cards. Our days were full; we retired early, had no trouble getting to sleep and rose early to greet another busy schedule. The weather was wonderful; we worked outside as often as we could. The deck had a particular draw as the trees in the backyard began to turn color. Twice we saw deer along the back fence. Yup, they cropped the tops off the hostas again. The squirrels have dug holes in the area we re-seeded - a wonderful place to hide their winter stores, they think.

While Amy was finishing up her to-do list, I enjoyed Soup and Bread Lunch at church yesterday. It was fun to see friends and hear their happy greetings. I feel like I have been away such a long time and indeed it has been several months, but trusting that all will go well with the cataract operation on the left eye Thursday, I should be able to return to Covington before the end of October. I’m looking forward to that.

Jon writes from their trek in the Himalayas that the mules ate, or at least chewed up, a pair of his precious merino wool socks. The trekkers had spread their laundry upon a fence to dry. No horses were there then and no one else’s laundry was touched. He decided the merino socks must be tasty to horses.

My mother instinct was to want to send replacements; socks must be such an important article when trekking. But where would I send them? Son Jon, c/o Guide, The Hardest Trek in the World, somewhere on the Jhomolhari trail, Bhutan? Seems unlikely they would reach him by mule train before the trek had ended.

Of course, my mind righted itself, knowing that Jon, worker of detailed preparedness lists, has already accounted for any exigency and I need not worry.  It is a blessing, though, to receive the short notes (160 characters at a time) we receive by satellite hook-up. Recently he was exulting about how wonderful a shower felt in a 4x4x7 ft. canvas tent, after a week on the trail. Hardy souls.

The wind chimes are playing out on the patio and leaves are drifting down. Fall is definitely here. Be seeing you....

Cars Get Thirsty Too

The trip yesterday from Cleveland to Covington went well with only one caveat. I “stole away” in the early hours of the morning before the others were up, so that I could reach the Covington Post Office before it closed at 2:00. About twenty miles into the trip, I noticed the car was running hotter than usual. This always signifies that the coolant is low. Coolant is topped off when I have the car serviced and it was serviced not that long ago. But I have done a lot of “long-haul” driving in warm weather recently. I anxiously watched for the highway rest stop I knew was coming up soon. 

At the rest stop I checked the coolant and it was definitely down; the fluid level did not even come up to the minimum level mark. I always carry coolant in the car so I dug out the container and poured in enough to get it well above the minimum line, not too sure just how much to put in when the car was hot, and proceeded on my way. The engine temperature dropped off a little, but not to the point it usually indicated. So at the next rest stop, I filled it up with all the remaining coolant I had, and that did the trick. From then on, the temperature indicator rested at it’s normal level.

In Covington, I returned my unused audio books to the library and picked up some DVDs for the evening when Amy would be joining me. (We drove in two cars as she will be returning to Cleveland before me). Once the car was unpacked and I had some lunch, I started peeling apples. It was really pleasant on my back patio; there was a nice breeze rustling the trees and many birds. I prepared six pints of applesauce for the canner.

It is good to be home, if only for a short time. I’ve opened all the mail, but have not responded to any of it yet. I did manage to reconcile two bank statements with no problem. I doubt my brain would hove been able to tackle looking for errors. By this time I was really tired. Nothing like one’s own bed in one’s own home. I travel frequently, sometimes I’m away for long periods, but short or long, coming home to my own bed always elicits a luxuorious sigh of pleasure.

It rained in Bhutan. I gather from Jon's short message, their “rest” day was kind of soggy, at least underfoot. They were a little sore but not more than expected after their first three days of the trek. As I write this, (they are 10 hours ahead of us) they have just finished a ten mile hike reaching up to 13,000 plus feet and down again. He writes the views of the mountain peaks are almost unbelievable.

May all of your travels be pleasant. Be seeing you....sometime.

Chipmunks and Applesauce

Finally! I have been trying for two weeks to get the surgery for my left eye scheduled and there was evidently some snafu at the office. Today I finally got a call and it is scheduled for October 2nd. I was afraid I would have to wait another whole month for it to be done.

The good news is that at my final check-up on my right eye yesterday, Dr. Lass said that the cornea looked good and that I would not need a corneal transplant until much later - maybe never! That sounded really good. Now if we have just as good luck with the left eye....

I asked Dr. Lass for a prescription for a new lens for the right eye and he readily gave it to me. But we had the same problem as before. Neither LensCrafters, nor Vision World would do just one lens. It is a company policy. So if I want a different prescription for the right eye, they have to make me a whole new pair, using the current prescription for the left eye. And then when the left eye is done, a new pair of lenses all over again. At $200 a pair. Sounds like a racket to me. I think someone could make good money setting up shop to do single lenses for the hundreds of people who are having cataract surgery. Of course, one has to consider that Medicare and some insurance companies will pay for only ONE pair of glasses after cataract surgery.

So once again I have not changed my glasses. I now have to switch back and forth, putting glasses on for close work and taking them off when not doing close work. It is definitely easier to drive without my current glasses and it is not so easy to see the computer with my glasses. So I will be REAL happy when I am back to one pair of bi-focals again. Even with the new lenses, I will require correction for both far and near vision because of the astigmatism.

Amy and I are planning a trip to Covington for next week. I need to collect my mail and take care of bills and other errands. She is going to do some business related to the house I rent from my son, as my son Jon is on the Snowman Trek. They’ve been on the trail for a couple days now. The group has gotten to know each other and get along well. In one of Jon’s emails, he said they would be meeting up with the Bhutan crew and 30 mules! to pack all of their supplies, bags and equipment. The mules pass them each day so the crew can go ahead and set up for the evening camp. It should at least give them a breather to allow 30 mules to pass them by.

I am sitting on Amy’s front porch to write this and continually distracted by the chipmunks running across her lawn and under my car, and sometime nearly across my feet. They sure are fast. As Amy said, sometimes they look like their feet don’t even touch the ground. 

Yesterday I peeled some of the apples I picked up under Lucy’s trees and made a big batch of applesauce. The rest of the apples are going home with me tomorrow; I put up applesauce nearly every year for the winter. And the price was right - free for as many as I wanted. 

It is definitely feeling like fall. Cooler nights, warming up during the day time. Some leaves are beginning to change color. My potted dahlias are still blooming so pretty on the porch. I am pleased that I will be done with my cataract appointments while travel is still pleasant. The only “downer” is that the CD player in my car has quit. I miss the audio books when I drive long distances.

Be seeing you...sometime.

A Wonderful Party

It was a wonderful party! Several people said they did not know how it could have been better. We set up the punch bowl, the large cake, bowls of peanuts and mints and M&Ms on tables covered with a lace tablecloth while the musicians set up right next to the table. We were in the cafeteria of the Skilled Nursing Home.

The music was country western, Phil’s favorite. He looked really handsome in a light short sleeve shirt and navy pants. It was my job to keep an eye on him and I “lost” him in the first fifteen minutes. He wanders continually if left alone; I was pretty sure he hadn’t gotten by me at the door, but I immediately ran outside anyway to look and caught no sight of him. By the time I ran back into the room, he had been “found”; he had just wandered back into the kitchen area.

As more people arrived and the musicians started playing, he was easy to keep track of because he loves to dance. When his wife is not immediately available, or her knee is bothering her, he searches for some other woman to dance with. I was standing next to some folks, with whom I had been visiting, and he came up to me, said not one word, took my cup of punch out of my hand, carefully set it on the table and pulled me onto the dance floor. Speaking in sentences is not easy for him. But on the dance floor he is fluid and keeps time with the music. It is a puzzle that he can dance so well, yet sometimes can not stand still without losing his balance or having a sudden weakness that requires him to sit down.

Actually it was the perfect setting for him; he did not have to try and make conversation as long as he could be dancing. And the cake and ice cream were a big hit! About 40 relatives, friends and neighbors stopped by to enjoy the music and watch Phil and Lucy dance. There was a lovely floral centerpiece and a basket of anniversary cards to take home. 50 years is a long time; “in sickness and in health” was certainly played out right in front of our eyes in the most charming and dignified manner. We were all enchanted.

Lucy was lovely and so happy to see the wonderful turn-out. Even several of her original wedding party were able to attend. And the cameras were out in force. We had our own version of paparazzi; there will certainly be plenty of pictures to commemorate the event.

Lucy was tickled with the note they received from Jon. He wrote that since he and Bath could not be there with them for the party, he was taking them with him on the Snowman Trek. He enclosed a picture of himself with a laminated picture of Phil and Lucy attached to the strap of his daypack.

I am so privileged to be part of such a wonderful family!

I called again today about scheduling surgery for the left eye; they are working on it, I was told. I’ll be heading back to Cleveland tomorrow or Wednesday, depending on the weather. Be seeing you sometime.

Rainy Day for Travel

Sept 13, 2014 10:00 P.M.

I am so glad I decided to break the trip to Watertown up. The first day, Friday was for the most part overcast, sun breaking through in spots and then more sunshine as I turned at Buffalo and headed east. It was cool but nice enough for Nancy and I to take a walk, wearing sweaters, after I arrived at her place in Newark. 

Saturday was the opposite; it rained all the way, never stopped until after I got to Lucy’s about 4:00. But since I had done more than half the trip the day before, it was not too bad. I doubt I would have been able to do it all in one day in the rain. It was slower going and I had to pay much more attention to driving and I could not drive without my glasses as the visibility out was not good. But I arrived safely and not too tired.

Lucy’s apple trees in the back yard are just loaded with apples and there are already many lying on the ground. Last year when I was here I picked up many, many apples, some were rotten and worm-eaten, but many were still good, Some even good enough to eat out of hand and others wonderful for applesauce. Just thinking about the wonderful applesauce that we made from apples last year makes my mouth water.

Tomorrow is the big party day. We gals have been checking out wardrobes and discussing what we will wear. All of the food has to be carried in so lists are being made lest something is forgotten. 

This is not the usual 50th wedding celebration. My brother resides in the dementia ward at a Watertown Hospital and we are taking the party to him. Lucy has faithfully stood by Phil as his condition worsened from forgetfulness to something that resembled Alzheimers and then was re-diagnosed to a much more complex form of dementia. He knows familiar faces when he sees us, cannot always come up with our names, but is happy to have visitors. We will have music as he loves to dance. And of course, pictures and lots of laughter. A small party of relatives and members of the original wedding party have been invited.

Hopefully all the rain is over; it is supposed to be cool but sunny tomorrow. The weather has turned cold quickly. It was 46º when I left Newark this morning and is unseasonably cold, even for this north country. Maybe we will get some “Indian summer” days yet. The leaves are not turning color much but if it stays this cold, it won’t take long before they do.

I discovered today that even though I had to wear my glasses all day today due to the rainy weather, my eye never got “scratchy” so that is a pretty good indication that it is too much close work with glasses that causes that discomfort. My eye feels really good tonight. There is hardly any difference in the feeling one eye from the other.

Since I do not have wi-fi here at Lucy’s I have dated this when I have written It. I will try and get to a wi-fi connection when I am in the city tomorrow. But that might not happen. At least when you get it, you’ll know I am thinking of you all. Be seeing you... sometime.

A Little Adventure, Anyone?

Today Jon and Beth, my son and daughter-in-law, set out on the first leg of their journey to Paro, Bhutan, where they will embark on the Snowman Trek, “The Hardest Trek in the World”. It covers some 225 miles across the Himalayas, at altitudes up to 18,000 ft. at times. They have been training for a year to get in shape and have done a whole series of day climbs this past month to test their mettle. At the end of the day’s climb which takes between five and six hours they ask themselves, “Can I get up and do it again tomorrow?” Because that’s what they will be doing, for over 20 days, with the exception of a rest day every so often.

I learned a new word as they recounted their preparations: flashtrekker - a person who takes along an unusual amount of technical equipment for purposes of recording events and transmitting communications. Jon has a satellite phone which will allow him to transmit a text message at specific times to us, giving us their GPS coordinates so we can follow along. 

Meanwhile Amy and I do our stretching exercises and pat ourselves on the back if we get in a daily walk. The motivation to prepare for The Trek and the discipline to do the hard work to get ready must be very strong and the desire very great. It will be the experience of a lifetime, I would think. We are excited for them.

Tomorrow I will get ready for a trip to Watertown, NY. I will be breaking the trip up so I won’t be driving the 6 1/2 hours in one day. Friday, I will drive to Newark, NY, and stay overnight with my cousin, Nancy. A visit to her is long overdue. Then Saturday, I will drive the rest of the way and stay a few days with my sister-in-law, Lucy. 

My eye is “scratchy” at times, particularly if I spend too much time doing close work. The drops do help to keep it more comfortable. My distance sight continues to improve. I can now read the writing on a cardboard box across the room, which I have been unable to do without my glasses until the last couple of days. And when I go outside to water the flowers, the sunlight no longer bothers like it did right after surgery.

I wanted to get the surgery for my left eye scheduled but so far they have not been able to schedule it. There’s some problem internally at the Doctor’s office. When I called about the appointment, I also asked about eye drop prescriptions for the left eye and the nurse said, “Can’t you get refills?”  It never occurred to me, but when I looked at the prescription label which was not on the bottles, of course, as they are too small, it said 25 refills! I hope that is not an omen that I might have to use more than one bottle of these eye drops for each eye. I sure don’t want to be putting drops in my eyes for 25 months!

However, even that would be a small price to pay for good eyesight. Be seeing you.

Plop Goes The Drop

Plop! The drop fell on my cheek and rolled down my face. “Come on, Fred! We are supposed to be doing this together. First you are too slow, now you are too fast”. Fred says nothing. “Okay. Next time I'll be ready for you!”

I had noticed that the drops fall quicker from the bottles this week, perhaps because there is more air in the bottles as they are emptier. This week I only have to put drops in my eyes twice a day, and as of last Friday, I no longer have to plaster the Shield over my eye at night. That is a blessing.

But I am also beginning to understand why my father did not want to have his other cataract removed. This is just tedious! Boring! And I ask myself, since my eyesight is so much improved, do I need to have the other cataract removed? There is a temptation just to get on with my life, instead of fussing with my eyes for another whole month.

Then I apply the 10-10-10 assessment. What are the consequences of my decision in 10 minutes, in 10 months, in 10 years? Will I be sorry if I don’t do it now? 10 minutes or 10 months probably wouldn’t make a difference, I tell myself, but in 10 years I just might be happy that I had the other cataract out 10 years ago. So I will schedule the left eye surgery for early October. That way I will be able to come home in mid-October to rake leaves, one of my favorite chores, and return to Cleveland for my final check-up in November.

I could return to Covington now, but my brother and sister-in-law’s 50th wedding anniversary party is in Watertown, NY on the 14th and it makes no sense to drive home for only a few days and turn around to make the long haul to Watertown. So I am staying at Amy’s in Cleveland until Friday. I will break up the trip to Watertown, staying overnight Friday with a cousin in Newark, near Rochester, and finishing the trip on Saturday. I’ll be there for a few days and return to Cleveland for my final eye check-up on the 18th.

On another topic, (aren't you glad?) Amy had been wanting to try making kale chips. She had to go out to a meeting last Saturday and when I asked if I could do anything to help her, she asked if I was willing to try making the kale chips. I had never made them before either, but she had a recipe from a friend so I said, sure. Well it took me an hour an a half to make four cookie sheets of kale chips. They did - (the last batch that did not get overdone) - have a nice rich kale taste, but it was a pretty labor-intensive job for what one gets out of it. She decided it might be better to buy the chips, though she buys very little that has been processed at all. We eat lots of organic fruits and veetables. Today I am working on making vegetable soup. 

Be seeing you - sometime.

Great Road Construction Campout

Yesterday we missed the mailman. I offered to take the letters to the post office. It turned out to be a bigger challenge than I anticipated. Just as I turned off our street, I found a whole block of construction equipment that had not been there yesterday. There was a flagger but she was not being very proactive, so I waited and then carefully edged my car past all of the machines, workers, open truck doors and breathed a sigh of relief when past them. Then I realized that, even though Amy had drawn me a map to avoid another street all torn up with construction, I would not know when I got to the turn because I had not used that street before. I had to turn on my GPS to tell me the streets coming up. And then put on my glasses to see the GPS. 

That worked. Once I had correctly turned onto the new street, and then recognized the entrance to the service road where the P.O. was located, I drove quite a distance further than I thought I should have. I was about to turn around, thinking I had missed the P.O., when I saw it up ahead. 

Mission accomplished. Now to navigate back to the house. I turned off the service road where I thought I had entered, only to find myself on the torn-up street, (which we had been trying to avoid) Two-way traffic shunted into two lanes bordered with orange barrels. That made me very nervous so the first left turn I came to I turned, stopped my car and programmed my GPS from that point. With the GPS talking me through, I got back into Amy’s neighborhood okay and then, because I had walked enough in the area to know the streets there, I was able to navigate around the construction at her house. Even though it was not much fun, I did successfully accomplish the errand, and I am sure that since summer is the Great Road Construction Campout, I am likely to run into such situations again, so this was good practice and boosted my confidence a little.

Last night we made spaghetti with zucchini noodles. (Yup, that was new to me, too). Amy sliced the zucchini with a wide bladed peeler and then we sliced those into thin strips. She put them in a sieve and added salt, to extract some of the water from the zucchini. It was tasty, topped with spaghetti sauce and cheese, not as filling as regular spaghetti noodles, of course. But a good vegetarian dish.

Amy bought two hanging baskets, one of petunias and one of calibrochoa, and I can see them out the window, gently swaying in the breeze, a very pretty addition to her front porch. She does her daily meditation there.

Two days ago, I slept in until 9:30. I was amazed, but I had been up later than usual the night before typing up my last blog. (Sometimes it is hard to get on the internet during the daytime and I wanted to get the blog out.) Then at mid-afternoon when I put in my drops, I fell asleep and slept an hour. That surprised me too. I wondered if I would have trouble sleeping that night, but no problem, fell asleep with lights out. My son, Jon, says sleep is one of the greatest healers, so be sure and get enough sleep. Aye, aye, sir!

Be “seeing” you soon.

Where's The Popcorn?

Today I went driving for the first time since surgery. Amy and I went to the grocery store and to the drug store. We were gone about two hours total.

Actually driving without my glasses was a piece of cake. It’s the switching of glasses all the time that’s a pain in the neck. Once in the store I have to put on glasses. Then I couldn’t find the popcorn and I asked for help and the clerk took me to the correct aisle and said it’s just down there a little ways. It was in bulk foods, she said. There were at least 20 plastic dispensers for various bulk foods. I looked all the way down the aisle. Then I took my glasses off and I looked again and I still did not see popcorn. Later Amy looked and she agreed, there was no popcorn there. So I guess I got a bum steer. When we asked at the check-out counter, the clerk walked back to the snack aisle (where I had already been) and pulled a package off the very top shelf. I had been looking low, because that’s where it is in my grocery store. This time I was not “looking up” far enough.

Driving, I had no trouble at all. But when we got home, it was time for eye drops and after I put them in, I just laid there resting for another 45 minutes, not sleeping, just resting. So, since stamina may be an issue I am not keen on driving too far just yet. Normally I have no trouble doing 6 hours of driving a day.

I had a shower and washed my hair! To wash my hair was becoming a bigger and bigger need each day. I’m not supposed to get the eye wet. Amy and I discussed going to the beauty parlor just for a shampoo or having her help me wash it in a basin, or getting one of those Dry Shampoos from the drug store.  Finally I taped the shield on my eye with lots of sticky tape and using the hand held shower, leaned my head back while in the shower and just used a little shampoo and lots of warm water. It felt so-o good!  And the eye stayed perfectly dry.

That tape on my face, though, leaves the skin irritated, so I am using a  special Vitamin E lotion on my face every time I remove the tape and that helps take away the discomfort.

This housing development where Amy and Barry live backs up against a ravine and some woods that are only a couple blocks from their house. I enjoy watching the animals. There are several deer who wander among the houses and browse. Once when I was walking I saw a doe cropping grass on the tree lawn. She saw me and just kept eating until I was coming up about 12 feet from her. Then she raised her head and stared. When I got about 6 feet away, she moved out into the street a few feet, which caused the motorist behind me to slow down, but when I got to the corner and looked back, she had returned to the same patch of grass as before. In our backyard there is a young woodchuck, a couple squirrels, a family of chipmunks and a marmalade cat that walks along the back fence. And a huge oak tree that is beginning to drop its acorns; I hear them rattling down the roof when I’m going to sleep. Which is where I’m going now.

Be “seeing” you.

Looking Up!

Well, the day after the “double vision” incident, I went for my walk without my glasses, wearing only the Solar Shield to protect my eye and to cut out glare. And ten paces down the sidewalk, I was surprised to see all of the outlines of the houses on the street were as sharp as a picture. Even the leaves on the trees had crisp outlines. I couldn’t stop looking up at the rooftops and the trees. I haven’t had such an amazing change in my eyesight since the doctor put my first set of eyeglasses on me when I was seven or eight. I just kept looking and looking, especially up.

When I was in third grade the teacher told my parents she thought I should have my eyes checked because I could not see the blackboard and she had to move me up front so I could copy my lessons. I distinctly remember after I had my new glasses, the first time I saw a robin. Up to that time, I had recognized their song but they were only a blur, and suddenly, with glasses, I saw this beautiful russet-breasted bird and I was thrilled.

In retrospect, my parents and I both remembered the times when my father wanted me to do something for him, and he wondered why I did not, and I told him I could not see what he wanted me to do. I’m not sure he believed me at the time. But my astigmatism and near sightedness meant that I would always wear glass from then on.

I felt I could not deal with contact lenses, even if they were possible for me, so I never asked for them. But a few years after I moved to Kentucky, a clinic in northern Cincinnati was advertising laser surgery of the eye for correction of astigmatism and I made an appointment for an exam and orientation. It was a bitter disappointment when, after my exam, I was told that they would not do laser surgery because I had Fuchs Distrophy. I said, “What’s that?” I’d never heard of it before, but I figured if it was serious enough that they did not want to do surgery on me, I should find out more about it. I started going to an ophthalmologist instead of an optometrist, so that the condition could be monitored.

You know the rest of the story. My ophthalmologist at home was reluctant to recommend cataract removal because of the Fuchs. That’s what brought me to Dr. Lass.

It is hard to believe that I can drive without glasses but I now can see speed limit signs and no-parking signs without them. The names on the street signs are some better; I can probably pick them out a little quicker, but time will tell if that improves. Dr. Lass says I will always need bi-focal glasses because of the astigmatism. He does not recommend implanting bi-focal lenses for persons who may need a corneal transplant, so I will have “standard” lenses put in both eyes and these lenses are for distance. Hence my intriguing sharpness of image in distance- and that is with only one cataract removed. 

I still need my glasses to read or use the computer, or to write this blog. But things are looking up - every day!

Double Vision!

We went back to Dr. Lass today, the end of one week, for a check-up. We had all of our questions written down.

First, his assistant had me try to read the eye chart. There was no doubt I was able to read the eye chart some easier than last time with my corrected eye. Then I saw Dr. Lass and he did a cursory check of my eye and said the Fuchs was no worse. I asked about driving; he said that my “far” vision at this time is good enough to pass a driver’s license exam. I was surprised at that because it still seems hazy to me. 

I then asked about having the right lens of my glasses popped out, or having a plain glass put in, so I would get more used to the “new” lens over the next couple weeks and he said I could do that if I wanted. 

Can we schedule the surgery for the left eye now? we wanted know. Well, that sent him back to his computer screen because obviously he had to do something there that would signify to the scheduler that it was okay to do that now. But he kept saying “after the last check-up for this eye is done”. In other words, one has to be completely healed before he will do the other. Then he whipped out a permission form for me to sign.

We got new instructions on tapering off the drops - YAY! - three times a day instead of four times a day for this next week. We verified my one-month check-up appointment. Then we went to LensCrafters to see about a plain glass lens for my right eye. I thought the plain glass lens would be better than no lens, for protection of the eye. The woman at LensCrafters said they had to have a doctor’s order to put in a plain glass lens, because, after all, it was changing my prescription and they did not want to do that without authorization.

She called the Doctor’s office, got passed on to a technician, it turned out, and talked for a few minutes, then said, “All right; I’ll tell her”. The news was that they would NOT recommend the plain glass lens; they “do not do that”. I would have to go back to the doctor to get his permission for a plain glass lens.

I thought it would be very difficult to go back and interrupt his flow of appointments, maybe have to make another appointment to discuss it with him, and I would just have the lens “popped out” and try that. The LensCrafter woman took the lens out quickly and gave the glasses back to me. SURPRISE!

I had been getting on so well with my glasses and my new “lens” that I was totally unprepared for the DOUBLE VISION - Big time! I looked around the room and said, No way could I drive in this condition. The “doubles” were not side-by-side even; they were offset to the side and one under the other. So I had the lens put back in my glasses. I decided that I would take my glasses off when I am not doing close work, as I can see “far” fairly well without glasses and that would give my eye opportunity to adust. 

This seems to be working okay so far. I just have to remember to take the glasses off and put them back on, like reading glasses. This is going to be a challenge because I have worn glasses all the time nearly all my life... I may need one of those chains I see women wear around their neck; otherwise I’m afraid I am going to leave them somewhere and then have trouble finding them. I’ll have to work on this for a while.

Be seeing you, and hopefully, not double!