Say What?

Tammy and I went up to Virginia , MN, (215 miles north) this past week to see her father at the nursing home where he's staying. When we last spoke with him a few days earlier he wasn't at all happy about being admitted to the facility knowing that he wouldn't be returning home. He was caught off guard by his doctor's decision to have him remain at the nursing home and by the agreement of most of the other members of the family about the decision. Tammy went to Slumberland and picked out a recliner to bring up to him. There's a recliner in his room but it's seen better days. We also put together a couple of photo collages for his walls—one of black and white photos from his childhood and another of more recent photos. Tammy also picked up an inexpensive DVD player for his room for the occasional DVD we put together—mostly stuff of Rachel. Speaking of Rachel, we brought along a DVD of her dance recital from last weekend. This is the first dance recital of her...

In my last entry I wrote about Mike, a friend who had been in a bike crash the previous week. He's doing well, all things considered. He's pretty certain he'll never ride again; at least not on the road. He may do some tandem riding with his wife on the trails but not much more than that. I know how much Mike liked to ride so this isn't going to be an easy thing for him to let go of. I try to imagine myself having to put an end to my riding and those are thoughts I'd rather not have. Recital weekend is over for another year. Rachel has really found her stride with the Senior A company and is thriving in that group. Tammy went to all three shows while I opted out of the last one. There was no dads' dance for me to participate in this year; maybe next year. Videotaping the performance is not allowed as there is a videographer present who sells a DVD of each show for $45. That's fine but if you want to actually get some close-ups of your child you need to do ...

A good friend of mine, Mike Koch, is in the hospital. Mike was riding his bike Monday afternoon when an older guy in a car crossed the center-line and hit Mike head-on. Mike suffered a compound fracture in one of his lower legs with six breaks, a severely separated shoulder, and broken shoulder blade, several broken ribs and a punctured lung. He's expected to remain in the hospital for the next week before he's transferred either back home or possibly to a transitional care unit. Mike has been a roadie for the 25 years I've known him and I think this is his second crash. I hope he'll one day find the desire to ride again but I'm sure it's going to take some time. When I first heard about Mike's crash I thought that maybe an inattentive driver using a cellphone was to blame. That's my biggest fear out on the road these days. Last month I had a car pass me on the white line with me just to the right of it. For the split second that the car was next to me...