A day in the life of the flu

Both Asher and Truman were running fevers yesterday when they came to visit. Amy had an afternoon class and there was no school. We played games, ate lunch and watched TV...all through the day.

We played Skip-bo for about an hour, I jaunted off to Subway for sandwiches and then after a rest period (Asher's nap) the TV furnished the entertainment. It is no fun to be sick, but at the same time you do what you have to do to feel better...or so the pictures seem to indicate. You draw or eat fudge bars.

Today the boys are showing progress to recovery and the parents are coughing and running temps. Grammy and Pappy are fine, so far.

You have nice parents

Truman called earlier in the day to see if we would be home so he could come over while his mom went shopping (there was no school on Friday.) He said it was torture to go to the store with his mom and walk through the toy section and not be allowed to touch anything. When the time came Asher decided to stay with us too. When they arrived, Aleene was gone, so I took charge. "No TV until we play Uno," I crowed. The boys love to watch our TV because we get some neat cartoons by pushing our "on demand" button...for free.

I cleared the coffee table and shuffled the deck and the three of us played three hands of Uno trying to keep Asher constrained by rules of the game. He really felt involved because he can match numbers and he began to see how to think ahead and plan with the cards in his hand. It was one of those precious times you get now and then when working with small children. It was the sign of an almost five year old growing up.

Aleene arrived home and we ate lunch (I ran out for sandwiches at the new Subway not far from us) with the boys sitting side by side in "my" big chair. It was cute: paper plates? check; sandwiches? check; drinks? check...as they watched a batch of Tom and Jerry cartoons.

Amy arrived and we adults ate standing up in the kitchen making sure the boys had what they needed to keep them in the chair. "More sandwich!" Another chunk delivered.

"Apple slices?" I asked. No comment...just chewing and TV watching. That was a dumb question...so I whacked a jonigold into thin slices and distributed them to their
plates...more chewing and no talking.

"Jello?" I asked and a quick "Yep" came back from the chair.

Lunch was done and away they went...mom, dog, Truman and Asher. Quiet (nap) time and a chance to get some things done on a Friday afternoon.

Before they left it was decided that we would ride with them to Macaroni Grill for supper. Amy had a gift card that was burning a whole in her pocket and invited us to share it. So fast forward in your mind to about 5:30 and the 20 minute drive to the outdoor mall to where Macaroni Grill and a plethora of other eating establishments reside. We parked in the parking garage and began the walk...not far, but far enough.

Asher was scooted up on his dad's back...sort of backpack style and Truman hung back with me bringing up the rear of the parade. "Put me on your shoulders," he asked. I thought of the distance to the restaurant and the foot traffic and the low hanging trees not to mention my back...and put him off. "Wait til we get closer and there aren't so many obstacles," I countered. I was thinking of my ability to get him up there with his long legs and his increasing poundage...ugh, I thought, but the connection was being made. He held my hand, which he rarely does voluntarily when we are on city outings...until it seemed appropriate to try to swing him up.

It took two tries, but up he went to his favorite early childhood spot when traveling with Pappy. He giggled and hollered at the crowd ahead. I was worried about getting him down...I could envision both of us tumbling...Truman is a big kid and I am not as agile as I used to be. But we found a bicycle rack outside the restaurant where he could stand and I could simply back away.

Into the restaurant we went...seated quickly and the crayons were put to work on the butcher paper. Our table was a rectangle and as it happened Asher and I were at opposite ends with the mothers on one side and Tru and Bren on the other. I made eye conctact with Asher and gave him the "I see you" sign you see sports stars and others give to family members. He continued his coloring and then looked up to his mom smiling and said, "You have nice parents."

The joys of grand-parenthood! Was it the moment or the day or was it the many hours we spend together as we journey through life? No matter. You take those precious moments when they come. And where else do you have a writing space big enough to write antidisestablishmentarianism as you leave those little tidbits of information for the next generation to pick up?

What a lovely evening out.

Blood donation

I showed up to give blood this morning at George Fox. There were several students helping and were just then training to receive donors. One of the young women asked a question I have never been asked in my 45 years of donating blood: "Would you like to be a double red donor?"

My response was that I did not know what that meant, so, "Tell me more." It is more difficult to explain than it is to just have you got to the Red Cross website to get all the facts. Go there now and then read on....

It takes longer, but you end up taking more fluids home than you came with...but...you leave twice the red cells. They have a separator machine running the entire time you are on the couch. The plasma is pumped back into you with some saline. You watch the blood leave (deep red) and the plasma-saline flow back (a light pink), you feel the cool solution go into your arm...and...you do get a tingling sensation in your mouth when the return flow is finished (caused by the anti-coagulant and calcium additives.)

This is the first time I have seen this procedure and feel like a guinea pig, but hey...someone will benefit.

Rain today...

(Top: The Jordan Valley at Dead Man's Hill.
(Lower: Japanese Garden at Portland this summer)

After a couple of dry (almost) days, we have steady rain this morning. That didn't hamper the morning walk to the coffee shop, however. We got there (5 blocks away) before 7:00 which is not our usual time. We are still on Eastern time, I guess.

The foliage here is almost peak, I think. There is so much green from all the Douglas-fir and cedar that the deciduous trees do not make the impact that they do in the Mid-west. The other noticeable thing is the absence of scarlet, red and red-orange leaves. Not completely, but not as prevalent as we saw in Michigan. I mention this in case you are interested.

So we are into the fall mode...planing a trip to the coast to get refreshed at the sight and sound of the Pacific...and to the Japanese garden in Portland. We were there this summer and vowed to return in the fall to see the foliage in a different hue. It only costs $5 for seniors to walk the five acres, so I think we can manage that. We want to see the winter and spring foliage as well. It is such a peaceful place.

We are back on track with grandparenting. Ashie comes for a couple of hours today while Amy has a luncheon meeting to attend. Aleene will pick him up from school and he will be hungry.

I am preaching Sunday (lay Sunday at Newberg First) so I have been working away at that. Our Thursday morning group is a big help. We discuss the Lectionary scripture and it is helpful to get the perspective as well as have me test out my understandings.

So, a rainy day is good here...the grass is green and the leaves are yellow. Won't be long until I am raking every day.

Home at last

It was fairly uneventful, those 2500 miles from Michigan to Oregon. As the comic that is making the rounds on YouTube says, "Why do we get so impatient? You can cross the entire U.S. in four hours sitting in a chair. Our forefathers took six months, people died and babies were born."

I know, I know, I am impatient with my fellow travelers. On the flight from Traverse City to Minneapolis a woman was sitting in front of us who had a small dog in a carrier, that once she got in the plane the the Flight Attendant checked the seat belts...out came the dog. Sure the dog was scared, sure it was cute, but why not allow people to bring chickens or geese? They let them carry on huge amounts of baggage after telling everyone that you get one carry-on that has to fit in a really small box that sits at most gates. Airplanes used to be fun to fly, now they are like a jar of pickles packed in with sour vinegar dripping off the faces of half the travelers.

I was already steamed since I did not notice that our boarding passes for the second leg that were issued at the counter said that we were on Standby for the second leg of our flight. This after I painstakingly got exit row seats Tuesday morning when I checked in for our Wednesday flight. We were sitting and waiting the obligatory hour when I discovered the "error" so back to the counter (outside of security) I went. The agent, dressed in a mechanic's uniform, told me he could not change it but that all I had to do was take care of it in MSP. Who knows how far you have to walk, or how long you will really have to check in? All I could see was someone else getting my exit row seats and us being bumped. Mr. Agent-dressed-as-a-mechanic said we had different exit row seats, but he could not reprint the boarding passes.

So as I watched the doggie get fed biscuits on the breast of the owner I said to Aleene, "I am through with flying."

In MSP, sure enough, the agent there had new boarding passes waiting....exit row. Half an hour later came the announcement that our plane was being abandoned for mechanical reasons and that a new one was coming out of the hanger to take us to Portland...three gates down. It was a different sized 757 it turned out...and our seats, exit row on the one size 757 missed being an exit row by 12 rows on this bird. So there we sat all scrucnhed in for a 3 1/2 hour flight... 50 minutes late. I was not a happy camper as the masses shuffled on the plane loaded with all sorts of luggage that either did not fit under the seat or sprung the doors on the overhead bins.

Ah...but 3 hours and ten minutes after wheels up....we landed in Portland. Our ride was waiting for us within minutes and both of our bags made it. Life is good. I will probably be ready for a four hour ride to Florida by January.

Back in Boyne City

After spending the weekend in Muskegon, we traveled north again today. When we got up there was heavy frost on the car...and soon after, bright sunshine shone through. I think the temp was 24 this morning.

There is mega road construction going on in Michigan. The main N/S route here is US 131 and it is closed north of Cadillac all the way to Kalkaska while they replace bridges. As a result we followed the detour through the Michigan countryside on a bright day in the middle of the color season. Beautiful.

But, before I go too far let me comment on Saturday's wedding. Hilary married Fred in what was a most beautiful ceremony. It was held in Central UM church in Muskegon..an old, gothic structure with beautiful inlaid wood (not surprising) paneling. They have a beautiful pipe organ and a very capable organist. There was a brass quartet and together with the organ they gave the most beautiful prelude and postlude at a wedding that I have witnessed.

Hilary's parents, Ron and Susan Hansen, served was our parsonage family for nine years in the nineties. Randy studied for and was awarded a D-Min while they were with us. That is where Randy and I worked closely together. After high school, Hilary graduated from Albion College and went to Chicago and landed a job on the staff of Field Museum. She has progressed from there and at 31 had developed into a most attractive and confident young woman. Chicago is where she met Fred.

So the wedding was fun and so was sitting with some of long-time Fennville friends. Blessings to the new couple: Mr. & Mrs. Fred Sanders.

Mary and her daughter Trisha's family went to Missouri for the weekend. They get back Monday evening. We ate lunch with Jeff and Karlie who was with her friend Dustin. We then came to our BC digs and settled in for the remainder of the day napping and watching some football.

So here we are back in Boyne City at the foot of Lake Charlevoix...in the heart of Northern Michigan at a beautiful time of year.

Hearing aids

I got my first hearing aid in 1997, I think. It was an analog device, very comfortable to wear and a good way to break into the HA business. I wore it for two years and oops up comes digital devices. I replaced the oldie with an updated version. I had the analog device updated with a new ear piece so I could wear two of them at the same time. That did not work. Analogs hiss a bit and to have quiet in one ear and hiss in the other drove me nuts. So I bagged the little sucker up and put it away.

This summer, after ten years, I LOST my digital device while jumping back and forth from day shift to night shift, etc. It never made it out of Hermiston with me. I began the process of getting the VA involved, which is going no where fast. But alas to day I rediscovered my first aid.

I plunked in a battery and hiss and all, I am wearing it. I enjoy being able to hear consonants again (S, T, K, especially) and will have it in my ear as I began my third year reading to kids in the SMART program at our neighborhood school. I did not need that new fangled (albeit 10 years old) HA anyway.

What's that you say? Eh?