Waking From Winter

Dandelions cover many yet to be mowed lawns as spring begins.  People used to be frantic to rid their yards of those pesky weeds, but are learning the value of those yellow tufts as food for bees before other flowers open.  

The blossoming trees adorn roadsides and a chartreuse haze crosses the branches of multitudes of the winter dormant trees as tiny buds begin to open.  

Returning to the community of local poets and writers for the first time since the Covid19 pandemic halted so many activities, I felt very content listening to six Poet Laureates reading samples of their work.  

The next literary event for me was the Word Lovers Retreat up in Lakeside, Ohio.  Rain was thrashing down as I drove to North Olmsted to meet up with Claudia, the group’s director, who was kind enough to let me ride the rest of the way with her. The weather was so blustery that I would not have made the trip alone.  

Entering the  Idlewyld bed and breakfast was like  coming home after being away for a long time.  Slowly the other guests arrived, most were first timers but shortly the exchanges brought us all together.  

Sunshine warmed the remainder of the weekend and the story telling reigned.  Too soon we were bidding each other farewell and safe return home.  

Leaving Claudia’s home, I stopped at Half Price Books for a few treasures and ended my day with the five thirty Mass at St. Charles in Parma.   

Change of Seasons

Opening the door into the house from the garage upon returning from doing errands, I was greeted by the rancid smell of burnt toast, long since breakfast, tossed out.  Bad things just seem to linger, like a negative experience that keeps re-running though days and weeks slip away.  

The first friend I made at my present church stepped away from the congregation at the onset of Covid19 and two weeks ago she returned, to the welcoming smiles, hugs and words of several members attending the vigil Mass.  It was great to welcome her back.  

Our weather is lovely for a few days, then it shifts, though it has not been nearly as terrifying as reports of weather events across other parts of the country, even in our own state.  Just two weeks out from the great feast of Easter Sunday, it is hard for me to focus on the beginning of spring.

Until Next Month

It may have been a nod to Valentine’s Day later in the month that the St. Pio group was called to celebrate at the February meeting, with a plastic bubble individually enclosed cup cake for each attendee.  There were an assortment of flavors, each topped with a generous dollop of frosting and an aluminum foil wrapped chocolate heart.  

Marcia and Karen walked me to my car catching up on each other since last month. I tossed my stuff into the back seat and Karen said didn’t I want my cupcake in the front so I could eat it on the way home.  Oh no, I need to sit down with a big cup of black coffee at my TV tray.

Meanwhile Marcia had inserted the key into the ignition and backing out of the car was shaking the almost empty TUMS bottle I don’t leave home without, laughing, that there were only a few left. 

Karen tugged my purple knit cap off of my head to check the status of my noggin wound.  She said it had gone down considerably from the golf ball size it was a month earlier.  Whew!  

Once I was seated and fidgeting with the safety belt, Karen was asking, “Are you in?” So she could slam the door, “Nooooo!” She leaned in and when we heard the belt click, she closed me in and they headed away as I started the car and carefully left the parking lot. 

Losing Ground

This housing development is at the edge of a forest preserve and eventually the Canal Road Tow Path, usually populated with hikers and bikers and dog walkers.  

From my first years here, I have seen multitudes of deer, from the herd that crossed through my back yard, first grazing, then leaping through the adjoining yards to the main street, to once as I was walking down the main street to experience a large stag running full steam ahead passing on my right side.  Seeing them walking in the middle of the road, their four legged gait causing a peculiar movement of their bodies and heads.  

Many times I have seen single animals walking through neighbor’s yards or standing still and staring at me to see if I posed a threat on my evening walk. However, this past Friday on my way to my final post op eye exam, I saw the carcass of a full grown deer lying on the corner of the street.  I felt sorry for the deceased animal and assumed it had been hit by a car.  By the time I returned, it had been taken away.  

Perhaps this will be the last generation to see multitudes of deer as common in our neighborhoods as the little rabbits nibbling on whatever grows in our yards.

Ride ‘EM Cowboy! OOPS!

Stopping at the store near the podiatry office, I rejected the motorized cart in favor of the simple push cart and when I stepped away from it, leaving my cane in the barrel of the cart, my attention focused on the assortment of cut flower bouquets until I selected one to give to my neighbor, Aida along with all of the washed out containers she had sent me wonderful leftovers in.  

Having picked a bouquet, I returned to find the cart had been swapped out for a motorized one, and the culprit was a guard standing there insisting I could certainly operate the machine. He had even put my cane into it as I had it in the other cart. 

Climbing aboard and protesting all the way as he assured me he would guide me along, which he did.  I negotiated my way around the pastry island, adding chocolate croissants and poonchkies to the basket and then banging right into the wood stand.  

Backed up and onto a wider aisle, there were a few items I could reach without getting out of the vehicle and eventually with the basket full I drove into a checkout lane, where the clerk was kind enough to put all off my purchases into a normal basket so I could safely push it out into the parking lot. 

Evan, another employee, came along to transfer the bags into my car. The SUV next to my little car was beeping and I told it I was hurrying. Then the owner arrived to say she was not rushing me and she remembered Evan from when he helped her. The drizzle was becoming rain as the three of us stood behind my car. She asked my name and said she would call me Rose, as if we would meet again and Evan said he would be at Bowling Green next year. Her name is Susan and she asked what Evan would study and he said Business and we wished him well and she advised us that God is Good and handed each of us a copy of The Daily Bread, which I remember picking up when I attended healing services, years ago at a shrine in Parma.  On the drive home, I wondered why I am not an evangelist.

And the Next Order of Business

After the follow – up post cataract surgery appointment on my second eye, my aunt, who was my designated driver, and I set off into the predicted winter storm and found her favorite little eatery open for business, with most of the breakfast crowd gone or soon to be on their way. 

The coffee was great and hot and she picked out a veggie omelette while I asked for eggs sunny side up with a couple of link sausages and an English muffin.  The snow was fine and falling faster now.  

Having grown up in Ohio, the weather did not seem to deter us from our agenda, only, guiding me along, she asked, “Are you still talking?”  Something she said reminded me of a story to share, as happens to those of us who keep track of goings on.

Leaving the little restaurant after our breakfast and heading to my Aunt’s car, the waiter and his friend pulled jackets on and said they would brush the snow from her car. “No, you don’t have to do that,” she said.  “We have nothing else to do,”  they objected, each taking one of us by the arm and guiding us through the snow. Me saying, “That is so sweet of you!” as the waiter helped me into the vehicle. “God bless you, I added as he said, “…and you too, love.”  

Squirming to fasten the safety belt and seeing snow sweeping across the windshield, I watched my Aunt settle into the driver’s seat and start the car.  She asked, Do you think they were trying to hit on us?  When I stopped laughing, I told her about the time her late older sister expressed concern that we might get abducted, to which my response was, “I believe the aliens were only looking for women of child-bearing age, I think, we are safe.” 

A Somersault Out the Door

After my aunt called saying she was heading out, I got my things ready to step out onto my porch.  To my chagrin, I somersaulted out the door and landed a bit worse for the wear onto the concrete porch floor.  

A puddle of blood was streaming toward the walk as I struggled to get up.  My aunt arrived a minute or so later and after her initial shock, she went into the house and grabbed a few hand towels for me to start mopping up the blood from myself as  she closed up the house and guided me into her car where we decided to go to Parma Hospital, instead of to my cataract surgery appointment.  She said a tall thin man had come onto the porch and without a single word, lifted me up and set me into the chair near the door, then quickly left.  We agreed that he may have been an angel.  I did not see him at all.  

While I got registered at the emergency room, my aunt parked her car, then joined me.  The first nurses cleaned some of the blood off of my face and found a thumbnail sized scrape on the left upper side of the head to be the source of the gushing of blood.  In minutes, someone pushing equipment appeared and x-rayed my left hand, which still looks bad. 

My aunt called the eye surgery office to cancel my appointment and I called them yesterday to reschedule.   Next I was moved to the cat scan room where I had my first ever cat scan.  Thankfully, there was no concussion and nothing had been broken.  Once discharged we left and stopped at a Chinese restaurant nearby and picked up some lunch to eat back here. 

The postal lady looked very concerned and had already called her supervisor before my aunt went you-hooing after her to explain that we just returned from the hospital and that I was all right.  

My aunt then found a pail and a broom and gave the front porch a thorough going over and washed all that blood away.  

Turkey and Trimmings

Possibly four inches of snow was predicted for Mentor and Ashtabula and surrounding areas.  When I opened my blinds to see all green lawns, I was relieved.  The big snow is still expected between this evening and the morning.  It is a concern any time, but since I am scheduled for a dental visit tomorrow, I’d just as soon delay a messy snow fall.  

The Thanksgiving holiday went smoothly, with my cousin Maryann’s daughter and her beau coming to pick me up shortly after noon as they did last year.  I felt so honored that they made that effort. Again I felt like Maryann’s late mom, when she would get picked up and brought to family gatherings.  

The odd assortment of folks that now comprise the “family” were all there and we picked up with bits and pieces of conversations where we left off last year.  The meal was great, as usual, and Maryann packed a generous leftover container for me to take home.  

On the drive home she thanked me for listening as her ex-husband shared about his a various medical issues and I said it was okay, as it seems that one of my jobs in this dimension is to listen to people. 

Autumn Work Before Winter

American Optometric AssociationCataract | AO

The season of orange is nearly over.  I wore my very orange souvenir of cape cod tee shirt to my cardiology appointment and the doctor said I was not going to sneak up on anybody in that shirt.  Good thing I am not in the habit of sneaking up on people.  

Most of the autumn leaves have flown from the trees and the air temperature has lost all its warmth, even when the sun is bright.  

About five or six months ago an opaque disk appeared in the viewing range of my left eye, so I stopped at the optometrist’s office where I learned that cataracts were beginning to form, a few years ago.  In a follow up exam he agreed, they’re here and referred me to a local specialist who could remove them.  

An appointment there involved very  close examination and taking several pictures of the eye balls. I had to decide between the serviceable replacement lens covered by my insurance and an expensive higher quality lens not covered by insurance to be paid for a week before surgery by me.  I said I need  to give that some thought. The next day I consulted with a cousin who I bounce all important decisions off of. 

We concluded that I would elect the higher quality lens, as I have been a visual person all my life, with art and photography and even writing, I need to be able to see as well as possible.  The left eye is done, though I am still administering eye drops and will be getting the right eye done soon. The surgeon said the left eye has healed perfectly, for which I am very grateful.

My Sister Came to Town

Having heard nothing from my sister, I guessed that she and her husband were busy with his family and their friends during the early part of the two weeks of their visit.  So it was  a surprise when she called asking if they might come out for a couple of hours. Yes, of course! Part of my surprise was because it has been years since she has been to my home and her husband has never seen this house. 

Usually I have to drive out to our cousin’s in Wooster (where they always stay)  or I am invited to meet them somewhere for breakfast. Since our cousin Liz and her husband moved and are, still in Wooster now across from our one remaining Uncle, my dad’s youngest brother, and his wife.  

So I had been a bit apprehensive about driving out there, not sure of the way, beyond the local grocery store, Buheler’s. Shortly after two p.m. the doorbell rang, several times, in spite of my calling out “Coming!!” 

To my  surprise, though I am not sure why I was surprised, no brother-in-law, but there was Liz, who had been saying she wanted to drive out for the last few months, but kept getting called back to the job she left about six months ago, this time for sure, to do a special project.  

They stepped in, Joanne saying the ride out had been so nice at peak of the leaf change.  The boys were glad to be glued to the football game on television. (As usual!) They would not have any snacks or drinks, but were gracious enough to try the little deli drumsticks I picked up at Dave’s Market after Mass yesterday and they both said they liked the taste, which was nice to hear. Our Aunt Bernie, who lives right “down the road apiece” called. She sounded like she was right in the room with us, good phone, Liz.  

She called back a few minutes later to invite us all over as she just put a quiche into the oven.  In minutes we were organized and the two of them left as I got ready to head out separately.  Tom, Bernie’s eldest son, stepped out to make sure I did not do any fancy footwork between the car and the kitchen.  In short order we were talking, laughing and sipping hot coffee around the dining room table, with Joanne and Liz examining the table to see how the drawers pulled open to show the storage for the leafs.  The pleasant time certainly reminded me of our Sunday afternoons at our grandparents home so many years ago.  

Liz wanted to be home, or close to it before dark.  By the time I got to my car they were gone. I enjoyed the sun casting sharp shadows on various slants of landscapes until I returned to my driveway.