Say What?

It's rainy, windy and cool outside. A perfect day to put my feet up and sit by the fireplace in the sunporch and do very little. I'm taking care of Elaine while Tammy is out running errands. There's so much activity at our bird feeder forcing some go-arounds as there's no place to land. Elaine enjoys watching them. I walked a little more than 11 miles yesterday beginning with a 1.5-mile walk with the pups. I can't think of any other activity I do that is more relaxing. I've got nearly 60 Frontline episodes stored on my Nano which will oftentimes accompany me when I'm out there but sometimes I'll opt for quieting my mind instead and try and think of nothing at all, which is actually much harder than you might imagine. It takes practice. I've got my Shaman in the shop at Freewheel Bikes in Minneapolis having some work done so it's ready for cold weather riding. There's an upgrade kit for the RockShox front suspension that allows them to ...

I got up Saturday morning and drove to Bloomington to take some photos at Moir Park. It's a park a little more than 2 miles from where I grew up and one that I'd only been to one other time that I can recall and that was probably 45 years ago. I was talking with a friend about it on Facebook and it piqued my interest to go back and have another look. The one memory I have from that visit all those years ago was descending some concrete steps and how they led to a park that was so unlike the world above. The park was and still is a tranquil setting with a creek (Nine Mile Creek) running through it. I'm surprised we'd never gone there as a family for an afternoon picnic when I was a boy. When we finished our basement 11 years ago we purchased a Simpson's Pinball Party pinball machine with the idea that Rachel and her friends would have a blast with it. It didn't quite turn out that way though because pinball seems to be something that's of little interes...

Tammy's cousin Barb runs a non-profit that helps disabled adults plug into society in various ways. One of the ways is through a program of socializing with others while making crafts. Tammy took on the role of leading that group a few months ago and I've recently joined her. There's a fair amount of preparation involved but working with the people and seeing the satisfaction they get from being creative makes it all worthwhile. The group consists of people in Barb's program and adults at an assisted living facility where we set up shop once each week. Yesterday's project brought out a lot of smiles when people saw what they'd be making: a scarecrow and a Frankenstein on a stick. Trying to get everyone through the project can get a little hectic because not everyone arrives at noon when we start. Some straggle in as late as a half-hour after we begin and we just work with them and fit them in as best we can. I'm getting more sleep now than at any point e...

My life sorta-kinda feels like it's back to boring and I'm happy about that. I could do with an extended period of this. Facebook got very heavy and contentious last week after the school shooting in Oregon. So much so that it felt like the place to not be. Everywhere I looked there were heated arguments for and against gun control. I have my opinions but I got a strong sense that I wouldn't be changing anybody else's. The only gun I've ever owned was a Winchester 30-30 Model 94 that I got when I was around 15 years old. I purchased it so I could go deer hunting with my brother-in-law, Jerry. Truth be told, I never wanted to kill a deer. I only wanted to spend time with Jerry. I used to enjoy shooting it at the gun range the few times we went there. I can still recall the feeling I got pulling the trigger: the sound, the kick, and the smell of gunpowder. It was fun and I wouldn't want to deny that enjoyment to others. Nor do I think most reasonable people ...

Our hummingbird feeders have gone quiet as of a few days ago. In the days leading up to our little guys flying south, our feeders were as busy as I'd ever seen them. I couldn't look out there without seeing some activity. I'll miss them and I hope for their safe return next spring. Tammy and I had our first extended time away together since her mother came to live with us 4 months ago. (Elaine has Alzheimer's and needs 24/7 care and monitoring.) Tammy's good friend Brenda offered to stay with her overnight in our home to give Tammy a break. That was so incredibly nice of her but then that's who Brenda is. She's the most selfless person I know besides Tammy. We left home around 5:00 on Friday afternoon and worked our way toward Winona and our room at the Holiday Inn Express. We stopped in Cannon Falls to visit a winery and taste their assortment of wines while enjoying our temporary independence and freedom. It was nice. Yelp directed us to a restaurant...

I met with Rachel a week ago yesterday in Rochester. We went for lunch at 5 Guys and then she accompanied me to a couple of appointments at Mayo Clinic. The first was for an audiology exam to see if the hearing in my left ear had continued to improve since the previous exam 12 days earlier. (If you've just stumbled onto my blog, I suffered Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss  (SSHL) in my left ear one month ago .) I'm very relieved to say that the hearing in my left ear is now back in normal range. It's not quite as good as my right ear but it's wonderfully good and it may still get even better. For comparison, here's the exam from September 3rd and here are the results from the 15th . In both audiograms, the red plot line is for my right ear and the blue is for my left. There's still some tinnitus when I stop and think about it but otherwise, it mostly goes unnoticed. While we were waiting for the doctor to come in and see me, I was joking with Rachel about ...

Twenty years ago today, I went golfing at Highland Hills Golf Course with my then-stepson, Dave . I returned home to a message on the answering machine from Jackie informing me that Dad had died. He was a little more than a month away from his 70th birthday and much too young. But it was expected news as I'd just been up to visit him in Michigan's Upper Peninsula a few days earlier, quite certain that it would be the last time I'd see him. He hadn't been well for years, with most of his health problems related to emphysema brought on by years of smoking both unfiltered and filtered cigarettes: Lucky Strike and then Winston. He was happiest when he was either out in the garage or down in the basement tinkering on whatever project he had in front of him. I can still recall the days before Super Glue when he'd heat a fork or knife over a flame on the stove and use it to melt/weld broken plastic parts together for us. Of all of us six siblings , I think it was Jacki...