Category: Uncategorized

No, I do not yet have a dowager’s hump but I think I am heading that way if I’m not careful. Here’s my theory:

At some point in time some of us become afraid of falling. This may be because we’ve had surgery on our back/hip/knees or some other condition that makes us doubt our ability to get up. So we shorten our steps and watch the ground ahead of us.

You cannot watch the ground while holding your head up high. Nor do it very well while standing up straight. So we start bending over.

And we continue bending over until it becomes our natural posture.

That results in the muscles that support our spine stretching along the back side and tightening along the front side. Until one day we discover our muscles will no longer let us stand up straight.

And we develop a hunch back.

So, listen to you mother’s voice in your head telling you to quit slouching and to stand up straight.

Unless you want the neighborhood kids to start calling you Quasimodo.

TTYL,

Linda

My Mom died in hospice care very early this morning.

How do you say goodbye to someone who has been long gone?

Mom had dementia. Her memory died long ago. The last time I saw her she thought I was her sister, Eunice. So, I have since felt like I lost my chance to say goodbye to her when she was able to understand.

Now her body died, too. Sort of.

She willed her remains to a medical teaching facility. So, in a way she is still out there, helping the medical field improve its knowledge of the human body.

My brother thinks it will be about six months before they finish with her body and cremate it. The cremains will be sent back to him. Then he will plan a memorial service.

Is that the time at which I am supposed to say goodbye?

Some people say no one dies as long as there anyone left that has memories of them.

Does that mean I never have to say goodbye?

TTYL,

Linda

It’s a good thing Dave is an excellent driver. He got to practice some freeway maneuvers today.

He was in a lane left of a truck and about 100 feet back preparing to pass it when he saw part of its load tip a bit. Since there was no one directly behind Dave, he was able to hit the brakes. Fortunately, the port-a-pot that fell off the truck had no brakes so it managed to slide off onto the shoulder by the time Dave came even with it. No harm; no foul. And no need to head straight for a truck wash.

A much more pleasurable event of the day was meeting up with friends Steve and Carol. They were the first full-time RVers we met when we hit the road back in 2008. We’ve met up with them several times since then in both Arizona and Oklahoma. This time they are back in their home state of Oklahoma so they met there and had lunch at a restaurant by an airfield. That scenery would have made Dave happy since he has always liked planes. And, of course, getting to see Steve and Carol again even though Dave is no longer RVing was a treat. He said it was a good visit which probably means great since Dave is a master of understatement.

So, now Dave is about halfway home and I am pleased by that.

TTYL,

Linda

ps. Yes, my shower is fixed. No, the underlayment was not damaged. Yay!

Dave made it safely to Austin, Texas, on Saturday.

A day earlier than planned.

Only to discover there were no hotel rooms to be had in town that night.

So he called me and we discussed options. After all he had a bed and a comforter so he could go sleep at Walmart.

He forgot to bring his pillow but he could buy a new one at Walmart.

Only one of the Walmart’s in the Austin area allows overnights but he only needed one.

Then Dave wondered if they would let him just stay in the motel parking lot making it easy to move in the next day.

The desk clerk not only said yes he gave Dave a pillow a previous visitor had left behind.

But the day was still hot–Texas! guys–so spending the evening sitting in the van was not inviting.

Dave decided he’d sit in the motel’s lounge instead and use their free wifi.

Which was why he was handy when they had a cancellation for that night.

Score!

A wonderful eight hours of sleep was the result.

Some days you win.

TTYL,

Linda

My RV has an appointment in Austin, Texas, to have the shower, and possibly the floor under it, fixed on Monday. Dave picked that date as it fits between his model railroad operating sessions here in Minneapolis. He left yesterday morning and drove an eleven hour day. Why so long? This notice from NOAA:

“Multi-day Severe Weather Outbreak and Heavy Rain Event to begin late Today in the Central U.S.

The first multi-day, significant severe weather outbreak of 2014 is set to begin this evening in the Great Plains. Large hail and damaging winds are the primary threats today, with isolated tornadoes possible. A greater threat exists Sunday and Monday, including strong tornadoes, focused in the Ark-La-Tex area and MS valley. Rainfall could also bring flood concerns to parts of the MS & TN Valleys.”

On a map, the tornado possibilities look like this:

 

Which means a 2-5% threat of tornadoes later today along most of Dave’s route.

He plans to start early this morning from Wichita, Kansas, and drive eight hours today to be safely in Austin by the time this storm hits.

The first of these storms this season.

Couldn’t it have waited another week?

TTYL,

Linda