My online journal where I share my interests in photography, nature, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, coffee life, spirituality and the mystery of it all.
My friend Jeff came by and picked me up for coffee at Mugs this morning, which became two hours of good conversation. He is moving to senior low-cost housing in Windsor and needed to talk about it. It’s something both of us have talked about for over a year. So this morning we talked about facing the reality that many of us do qualify for senior housing and for low-cost housing. Yet, our minds do not always follow our age. I qualify for both. In fact, I have my name on the waiting list for 2 of those facilities.
I was trying to figure out what to say in a blog post for this evening because it’s been a couple days and I don’t want my millions of readers worrying. I also have comments I’d like to respond to. As far as my health I am still not driving and I’m not lifting over ten pounds. I will see the surgeon this coming Friday and hopefully have the staples removed and be given the okay to to drive again. I am still taking it cautiously when I move, making sure I take care of my incision. Thanks to all of you who checked on me. It means a lot. They say we could see snow overnight here and I see some of you have already had snow or rain today. I hope you had a good weekend and stay dry and warm!
Nothing in all of creation is so like God as silence.
Meister Eckhart
Scenes like this do not require a drumroll or symphony to speak to the soul, we hear it in the silence of our hearts.
Update: Progress is being made, but at its pace not mine. I’m seeing where patience is one of the many lessons of our older years. I am being as active as possible but not cause any harm to the incision. When I removed the NPWT patch the incision was much larger than I expected. It must be 5-6 inches long and have well over 20 staples. I’d post a photo but…. you can take my word for it. I hope you have had a good weekend and enjoy the coming week!
I returned home Tuesday evening and slept in my own bed, without a machine beeping at me, without a nurse taking my vitals every 4 hours or a phlebotomist drawing blood. Bliss, I tell you! I had a physical therapist visit me Wednesday morning to give me instructions on taking care of myself and recover quicker She thinks I doing very good and doesn’t think I need her assistance but will check on me next week. I have done laundry and made myself both breakfast and lunch for two days now. It’s a slow shift back to normal. Today’s achievements have been emptying my bladder and a healthy bowel movement. That is exciting at my age and just after surgery. I am still sore at the incision but expecting that for now. We have had a light dusting of snow today just enough to cover the ground so I am not up to venturing out. This image is from 2015. Again, thank all of you for checking on me through your comments on this blog, the text messages, and your emails. They are all part of my recovery. I hope you have a wonderful day!
“In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.”
Bill Gates
Update: My dad had a restless night as breathing becomes more difficult even with oxygen and he is sleeping a lot. Both common aspects of the end stages of congestive heart failure. My sister says he is still sharp and witty and sharing those funny moments with her. What a gift to share! He has plenty of visitors as he is loved by many at his assisted living facility.
In reference to the above quote I’m not sure it pertains to retirees. For some retirees the coffee life is our real job. I hope you have a wonderful Sunday!
I had my oral surgery today. I’m happy to say I’ve had almost no pain and eating soft foods has been a breeze. I remember almost none of the procedure. As usual with IV’s it took three stabs to get a vein. Just after that its a blank. When Larry and I got home he said something about them taking me to the car in a wheelchair. I don’t remember that at all! It’s been a long time since I had a blackout from my drinking days. 😂 They also prescribed me 4 small pills for pain called oxycodone to take every 6 hours. I’m following those instructions and will take the last one in the morning then be done with them. Oh, and since I did not have to have the sinus perforation closure done, the cost was about half. From the x rays, it looked like they may have been a sinus perforation to repair but once the tooth was removed all was good.
Old Town Mocha latte at Mugs taken a couple weeks ago
This oral surgery experience is so different from the one I had over thirty years ago. I have to admit that because of that past experience, I experienced a couple days of anxiety. However, when I got up this morning and went through my routines, I had a calm about me. I will be taking antibiotics (Amoxicillin) three times a day for the next ten days. No coffee for a few days but I can still go to my coffee shops. It may be iced tea for a while. I’m full of gratitude this evening! Hope you had a good day!!!!!
Arrived at Fremont Lake yesterday afternoon to clear skies and warm weather. I do not have wifi or cellular at my campsite, which is something I expected. Lets me know how much I use both.
My drive was without trouble. I encountered a ton of road construction on I-80. Seems they were working on the interstate all the way from Laramie to Rock Springs, Wyoming. I would also say 70% of all traffic was semi trucks. Once I turned onto 191 the semi trucks disappeared and the traffic switched to RVs, Vans, and trailers. The interstate follows two separate railroad tracks so I saw almost continuous trains going both east and west.
My campsite
There are 39 campsites at the Fremont Lake Campground. All were taken except two which I didn’t expect. I chose #7 because it had shade trees while the other one was wide open but had a wonderful view of the lake. That turned out to be a good choice because of the protection by my sisters the trees and they helped isolate noise, letting me enjoy the quiet. My back was sore when I went to bed from all the driving but slept well until early morning. Camping is cheap for us seniors as it only cost me $15 for two nights.
Yesterday afternoon at Fremont Lake
I did some walking after setting up camp so I was able to get my steps in, and some. The area around the lake is a large boulder field and I’m talking big boulders. Wildlife is everywhere, deer, antelope, hawks and squirrels everywhere I turned. I did not remember how much boating there is on the lake. But, that was 19 years ago. I drove around yesterday evening to explore the area and took the above image while sitting on one of those large boulders. Such peace and quiet. I just may do it again this evening. The silence and quiet was a primary reason for this trip.
The drama of storm clouds and the sun about to rise after the rain
The wind began blowing hard about 4:39 am, followed by lightning and thunder. Then, a nice gentle rain began falling and rained for a good hour. I stayed dry. The trees protected me from the wind and some rain. So that was a good reason to choose this site. There is something magical for me to lay there warm, dry and listening to the rain. I did not sleep much after it began raining, so I’ve been up for a while. But, there’s always the afternoon power nap!
There is something about the scent of wet sage and having an antelope checking me out.
I drove into town with hopes to get my mocha latte fix, my internet fix and hopefully some early morning photos fix. Got all three! Now in a coffee shop call Pine Coffee Supply. It’s an old converted garage. They do their own roasting. I was here at 7:30 am when they opened and they have been busy every since I arrived. Could be because they are the only coffee shop in town. That’s the end of this update.
Here’s an update on the surgery I had back on June 27th. The surgery went well, no problems. I now have 80% less of my prostate. On the post operative side though, I was not expecting the amount of pain from the surgery. Needless to say Monday and Tuesday were not comfortable times for me. Lots of discomfort from the CO2 pumped into my body during surgery. Then on Tuesday evening I began running a fever. For the next 24 hours doctors and nurses pumped me with antibiotics and probed and poked to find out what was happening. On Wednesday night I broke the fever and was quickly on the recovery side again. They discharged me late Thursday evening and I was a happy to be back home. Experiences like this remind us of what sleeping in your own bed is like.
It seems like naps are an everyday agenda until I regain my strength. I’m taking short walks each day and doing all I can around the house. I haven’t done much with the camera but have decided to start hanging it around my neck. As I do so there is some form of healing taking place with I compose and press the shutter button.
The catheter finally came out on July 5th. such a relief to have that gone. I had been wearing one since June 5th, four weeks. If anyone’s ever had to wear one then you know what I’m talking about. At this stage I’m trying to listen to my body and all that is its telling me. It has not functioned as designed for many years and will have to readjust.
My sister, Sheree, was a God send. Not sure I will ever be able to thank her. She took me in for surgery then took me home. She arrived early each morning and went home around 9:00 or 9:30 each evening. Even after bringing me home she filled prescriptions for me and picked up a few groceries. I’m grateful for all she did and all she is!
A friend of mine had these balloons waiting for me in my room and just loved the bandaged whale. One is for the recovery and the other was because the surgery was on my birthday. Not how I wanted to spend my birthday but it could be one of the best gifts for me. Thanks for any prayers and thoughts sent my way!
