Leif Erickson Day

A very amusing article in today's New York Times titled "Every Dog (and Norseman) Has His Day" - a brief history of Presidential Proclamations for various and sundry persons and events. From the proclamation for National Fire Prevention Week: “As powerful as any force in the natural world, fire deserves our utmost attention.” You betcha!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/us/politics/11proclaim.html?hpw

"Even before there was Leif Erikson Day, there was a Leif Erikson, who rode this boat. Or one like it, anyway."

Well, it's been a busy week - and fairly productive, at that. Mom is now scheduled for knee replacement surgery on November 12th - barring any disqualifying condition her primary care doc might discover beforehand. She's ready to rumble. Once one of my elders makes up his or her mind about a matter- that's the ball game - there's no looking back... Let's get on with it!

I'm about half-way done photoshopping vacation pics. Hope to have some stuff posted in the next couple of days. I've been doing a little cooking. Been doing various errands. Hauled and stacked the last cord of wood yesterday morning. Got flu and pneumonia shots. I still need to do the fall clean-up at mom's and auntie's yards - it's supposed to be sunny tomorrow and Tuesday so will check-off those tasks shortly.

Had an excellent supper at Alison's and Doug's place last night - grilled leg o' lamb. Very, very tasty. Cousin Dick and Candy were the guests of honor. We played 'Apples to Apples' a very fun parlor game.

Cheerio.

Way to Go Leah!

Leah is now employed as a Health Educator for Clackamas County, Oregon - organizing H1N1 flu immunization clinics. Excellent! I know how being unemployed/underemployed has weighed on her this past year - Portland is REALLY difficult during this recession. I was talking to Jane last evening and she mentioned a recent notice in the Portland media where a company was hiring a handful of positions and hundreds showed-up to apply.

It seems that this downturn is particularly hard on young adults. No jobs and no health care. I spent an hour or so chatting with a guy Leah's age at the Seattle airport the other day. He was from Denver, just out of college and going through the job hunt ordeal. Denver doesn't sound a lot better than Portland on the employment front for young folks...

Meanwhile...back here in the 'burg I have successfully picked-up from where I left-off with the elders...

It's not as grim as I had feared. I assumed I was in for a battle yesterday on how to proceed with mom's knee replacement while assuring dad was cared-for. Turned-out that we're pretty much on the same page. I accompanied mom to the bone doc's office yesterday and we're now on course for surgery - probably in mid-November. She needs a physical from her primary care doc first - to confirm she's got a good chance of successfully tolerating surgery. Should have that appointment set-up today.

Dad is demonstrably weaker than when I left; but he certainly does not require 24-hour skilled nursing care. That's not to say that his care is easy or fun - but I don't see anything with which I cannot cope - particularly with ongoing support from the home health folks. I THINK I am as capable - at least physically - as crippled 82 year old mom!

So...the bottom line is I will be relocating to the elders while mom is in the hospital and for some period during her convalescence. I HOPE I will still be able to sneak-out for a few hours each day (could be 6 AM workouts). My sister cannot lift dad by herself if he falls and she is unwilling to undertake some of the more odious tasks so I will be on a pretty short leash. I am going to reconnoiter the neighborhood to see if there is someone who would consistently be available on very short notice to assist in case of a fall.

Just finished paying the monthly bills and now I'm going to start downloading vacation pics. It will be awhile before they're all processed and posted on the Kodak site - but I'm looking forward to the task. Later today I'm going to see if I can take mom and auntie to DMV and maybe stop at the doc's office so mom and I can get flu shots. And yesterday I bought the fixn's for chicken stock and zucchini bread...

The weather is supposed to improve today and be relatively nice for a couple of days. There's a couple of days of work to put mom's and auntie's gardens to bed for the season. If I'm ambitious, I may even plant some bulbs. And one last cord of wood should be dropped in the folks' driveway in the next couple of days...

Feeling reasonably chipper - all things considered...

Lock-Down

Got home last evening after a grueling 16-hour day - everything went as planned - but it was a long day.

The sound of my apartment door closing behind me as I entered the joint sounded suspiciously like the clanging of a cell door. I suspect there's no chance of parole for at least six months.

Headed over to the elders shortly. Mom has an appointment with the bone doc this morning to assess her knee and (hopefully) pick a date for surgery.

My sister picked me up at the airport last evening and waited a whole four seconds before launching on how dysfunctional mom and dad are...

Great to be home.

More later...

Life is Grand.

Another post the same day...strange I know. But this is the proverbial end of the line. Tomorrow is a freeway drive back to Boston. So, for all practical purposes tonight is the end of the vacation. AAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH!

I had a great day. The weather was quite nice. It was a bit of a kurfluffle however...a KAL 007 moment as it were...

Over the past two weeks I have had several people recommend the Town of Woodstock for us leaf peeping types.

Yesterday, I drove near Woodstock, New Hampshire. I ASSUMED this was the Woodstock to which everyone was referring. I got a briefing from the landlords this morning. Woodstock was the place to go. I set off...having set my GPS for the center of the town of Woodstock, New Hampshire. Got there. Didn't look a damn bit like what anyone had described.

Got out the map my "landlord" had given me. Tried to enter some locations in my GPS. No joy. I FINALLY noticed that the addresses of the various places on the map for Woodstock had VT - not NH - as the state. Oh....

Recalculating....

The good news...this is what I missed yesterday.

A couple of hours later I arrived in Woodstock, Vermont. The bad news: It's a tourist trap. The good news: My detour took me back over roads I had traveled yesterday when the weather really sucked - and today I got some good pictures.

Whew! So here I am back at my digs. I've had an early supper. I've got a bottle of good wine and I proceed out to the lawn.

Elmo sits here

This is what Elmo sees

Elmo starts to think about the world -particularly the past month.

Elmo thinks about his elders back home.

Elmo thinks about his daughters and the trials and tribulations of youth. God I love those gals...





Elmo thinks about Tim and Mary Lou Milnes - the fortuitous email from another friend that allowed us to get together. And my Portland pals Arthur, Sher, Jim, Tim, and Jane god bless
'em





And the bloody golf tournament - poor cuz'n Dickie has got the golf bug bad! And my best friends in the whole world Alison and Dougie...

And in the Emerald City of course my dear friend T. (RIP Pogo); and my friend Brent Long who I look forward to seeing at Christmas in Juneau...


And then the wine is gone... Life is grand....

Rain with Embedded Downpours

Greetings from Lyme, New Hampshire...about 15 miles north of Hanover and the campus of Dartmouth College. I arrived in Hanover last evening just as the Hanover/Yale football game ended and got caught-up in a traffic jam that seemed to consist mostly of expensive European luxury sedans driven by old white guys. Poor drivers and highly litigious. I prudently pulled over for a late lunch/early supper.

I listened to a bit of the game on the radio - Dartmouth lost. This was NOT a nationally televised game. In fact, I got the impression that the radio guy (I think this was a college-run gig) had never actually seen football played before...which made the broadcast amusing. Ivy league folks...

The drive down from Bretton Woods yesterday was a bit of a disappointment. I'm sure the scenery was beautiful - but I cannot vouch for it insofar as much was hidden by rain, clouds, and fog. The forecast called for "rain with embedded downpours" and the weatherman hit the nail on the head. Even so, the Kacamangus Highway was pretty cool. Lots of colour - although I expect it is still a week or ten days short of peak.

A lull in the downpour on the Kacamangus Highway

A covered bridge

Well, today I'm going to mosey over to Woodstock, New Hamshire - a village that I have been assured by several people positively reeks of New England charm. The weather is much improved today so I hope to take pics to beat the band.

Hasta luego.

Mount Washington

Ah...finally a little sun. It was overcast this morning; but the weather has steadily improved all day. It's now partly cloudy and quite spectacular.

The entryway to the Mount Washington Resort

The Mount Washington Resort

Mount Washington from the resort

Today I took the Cog Railroad to the top of Mount Washington. The summit is about 6800 feet. It was overcast when we started out...climbed into the clouds...and then out of the clouds. The temperature was 27 degrees at the summit which claims to have the worst weather on the planet. Average wind speed - 30 knots. But fortunately today it was pretty much calm.

Steam choo choo chugs up Mount Washington

A diesel locomotive nearing the summit

Steam choo choo at the summit

Headed downhill - a 35% grade!

Last night I had a great supper here at the resort. The public rooms are absolutely wonderful - jackets required in the formal dining room. I have a reservation tonight and will have my pre-supper glass of medicinal pinot noir in the conservatory gazing at Mount Washington as the sun sets. Not a bad day!

A couple of pics from East Middlebury and the Waybury Inn - it was very comfortable. I can't get enough of these rural hang-outs...

The Waybury Inn in East Middlebury - supposed setting for the Bob Nehart Show

The Waybury Inn

Well, tomorrow it's off to Lyme, New Hampshire. Just a few miles from Hanover. I will travel along the Kancamagus Highway which is supposed to be the crown jewel of fall foliage. Unfortunately, the weather may not be too hotsy-totsy.

Later kids!

Killing Time

Just got to the Mount Washington Resort and have an hour or so to kill before my room is ready. Another mostly overcast day - with rain AND SNOW showers in the vicinity. It's about 37 degrees. I'm pleased I did NOT choose to lug my golf clubs back here...

I left East Middlebury around 9 AM and chugged east through the Green Mountains. At the summit it was snowing like hell although not (yet) sticking on the road. OOFTA! The route to Bretton Woods was a serious zig-zag. East on narrow winding roads, south on narrow winding roads, then south 20 miles on I-89, north 60 miles on I-91, south 25 miles on I-93 and finally zig-zagging up another winding road to the resort. Sure pretty though. There's some serious color out there - red, orange, yellow and green.

I have been stalking a bunch of bicyclists on a Vermont Biking Tours expedition. They were at the North Hero Inn on Monday night and at the Waybury Inn last night. A couple of them are looking a mite worse for wear. Serious headwinds and off-and-on rain for two days and this morning there was plenty of frost on the pumpkins.

Still, it looks like it would be big time fun in decent weather. You cycle for 30 miles or so each day and stay at really nice places with great food and drink. A van hauls your baggage from one destination to another. The terrain is relatively flat on their carefully mapped-out route. I had a nice visit with several of the folks including a couple of guys from Seattle. Ages ranged from 30 something to 70 something... They all claimed to be enjoying themselves the weather notwithstanding...

I spoke with Amanda night before last and she is still doing the camp counselor gig in Southern California. Some angst over what to do next; but clearly it's been a wonderful experience thus far. It was great to hear her voice. Sadly, she informed me of the death of an old family friend, Floyd Gammill, who had been battling Alzheimer's or a related dementia for a decade or more. Floyd was an absolutely delightful and charming man and his wife, Linda, a great gal. So sad...

Leah is holding her breath waiting for word on a job with Clackamas County as a health educator - doing H1N1 flu immunization work. She sounds optimistic - go get 'em Leah!

The news from the elders is fairly grim. Dad is getting weaker by the day and mom is at the end of her rope. She now concedes that she MUST have knee replacement surgery ASAP - which is a guarantee that her pain is damn near unbearable. I can hear it in her voice. Next week we will make a plan...

I have been reading the news online every day but have otherwise been disengaged from the world's trials and tribulations. There are no TVs in most inns - which I think is a good thing. Bet my blood pressure is lower than it's been in many a moon.

I did notice, however, that my former Governor has gone "rogue." Four hundred plus pages of nonsense due out next month - in time for the holiday season. Hah!

Well, tomorrow I'm going to take a little tourist choo choo up Mount Washington. Beyond that...no plans whatsoever...gonna be pretty chilly and wet for hiking - particularly since sneakers are the only walking shoes I brought. Bet there's a good gym around here though...

Finally, no cell phone service here in the wilds of New Hampshire. Emergency service only. So send me an email if you have something to say...

Cheers!