It’s Official. It’s A Cold

It’s official… it’s a cold. I’ve been fighting a cold for a few days, but I wasn’t sure if it was allergies acting up.  I’ve been around various candles, perfumes, etcetera and those sometimes set me off; as well as dust from cleaning. I thought it felt like a cold at times.  So, I’ve been treating it like a cold anyway, just to help with the symptoms.  And it’s working.  So, it feels like a mild cold.

This keyboard has to go.  I like it… but the keys are wearing out and I keep getting an “i” doubled or in the wrong place or skipping an “i” altogether.

I had a really rough night. I woke up constantly all night.  I had chills the first part of the night.  I had a bad time with my stomach after that.  Finally went to sleep for awhile after 4:30 or 5 and then dreamed. Or nightmared….. whatever you want to call it.

I dreamed that Rhillai and I were in a car in a snow storm.  I thought it was a car like an old one that my b.i.l. had when my sister married him.  Rhillai and I were trying to get somewhere and couldn’t.  I told him to try turning the wheels to the right; which he did and it got us some traction.  We were in a place where there were steep drop offs.  He got traction and tried to turn around or go back where we came. As we started backward, the car kept picking up speed and momentum kept it going.  He couldn’t stop it and we were soon going so fast it was as if we were going a couple hundred miles and hour backward. We both knew we were going to die.  As we were waiting to hit, we both reached over and grasped hands in a handshake for a brief moment. When we hit…. it was as if my mind didn’t want to allow me to die in the dream or we died and I wasn’t aware of it, yet.  We went into the past somehow.  I knew it because of scenes from the past I was seeing and because the clock in the car was all askew.  I thought it was reading 1988 in a weird fashion. And, the scenes I was seeing were from the 1980’s.

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The Elderly

Today, I worked for a client who is 91.  The last time I worked for him, he didn’t quite understand what I was trying to explain to him.  Then, he called once and left a message on my machine at about 3:30 or 4:00 a.m. He recently called and I set up an appointment for today.  In some respects, he still seems quite sharp. But, in others, he doesn’t. 

Today, I did some things that needed fixed and then he wanted me to explain email and also printing.  I explained them several times. After I finished, I thought I would talk to him for a few minutes. I saw a desk plaque which read “President and C.E.O. and a few pictures of him in a bank setting.  I asked which bank he worked at and he told me.

I asked, “How long did you work there?”  He got a puzzled look on his face and I asked, “A long time?” 

At that point, he replied, “Yes….. over 83 years. Wait.  No.  That’s not right.  I can’t remember.”

He pondered a little while longer and then said,” Over 100 years.”  Then he paused and said, “No.  That’s not right.  I can’t remember.  I’m embarrassed to say that I can’t remember.”  He had a look which was a mixture of embarrassment, fear, and sadness.  I tried to steer the conversation away from the topic for a moment, to keep it flowing so that he could think about it and answer at a later point.  But, he returned to it, saying that he was afraid he was getting Alzheimer’s disease. 

I said, “I think you would have had it already if you were going to get it.  I think that it has an earlier onset than your age.  I think that it’s probably normal memory loss for your age.”

“That makes me feel much better,” he said.  “I do my exercises and try to keep myself active.”

“Has anyone ever recommended memory exercises for you?”

“No.  Where would I get something like that?  Would the library have it?”

“I think the library would have books on memory exercises that you could try.”

So, we chatted a little more about that and I was about to leave. He was still sitting in the chair and he said, “That still bothers me that I can’t remember how long I worked there.”  By this time, he was welling up with tears and he said, “Mark, I want to thank you for taking the time and having patience.  People don’t take the time.  I appreciate it.  You have been nice and you have shown empathy.  And I want to thank you.  You’ve taken the time and been good to me.”

I shook his hand and we said our goodbyes and I left.

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Wind and Bald

There are wind advisories in effect with expected gusts of 50mph.

There is a commercial — for a drug company, I think — in which the woman says things like, “Friends are beautiful. x is beautiful.  And… bald is beautiful.”  It gives her name in the commercial.

When I saw that commercial; each time I would wonder “Is she an actress playing a survivor?  Or is she the real person?  If she’s real, how is she doing now?”  There was just something about her that piqued my curiosity.  So, I decided to search the ‘net. I found lots of articles on her and also found her website. So, I sent her an email.

An excerpt from it:

Each time, I would think, “It’s not so much that “bald is beautiful”; but more that “She is beautiful,” and that true beauty is more than physical.  I have always been a man who believed that true beauty is more than the appearance of the body.  The commercial — and you — have reinforced that belief and proven that true beauty is not affected by bald.

So…. there you have it. A stranger telling you, based on some gleaned information and a commercial, that you are beautiful.  Take it for what it is worth, but know that it is heartfelt and given honestly.

So…. maybe I’m weird.  But it is what it is…. and… insert famous Popeye quote here. 

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Iris DeMent

I was looking for some things on Youtube and found that there are quite a few videos of Iris DeMent on there.  I didn’t realize there were so many.

I think “Our Town” was the first song I ever heard from her.  I remember it was the closing finale of the series “Northern Exposure”; and that may be where I first heard her.  She is still one of my favorites.  I have seen her several times including on the NPR show “Mountain Stage”.

Here is “Our Town”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9-pDSYPrio

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