About a month or so I realized that when I woke up I had ankles but by the afternoon my ankles were swollen and gross.
They never hurt, so maybe it had been happening for months before and I hadn't noticed.
I told my GP, Mike Olsen, two weeks ago and he told me to stop taking one of my medications--Amlodipine besyate . I don't know what that was, but I'm glad to be down to 2 prescribed meds and it is 12:32 a.m. on September 9 and I still have ankles.
God bless Mike Olsen and God bless my ankles. So good to see you so late at night.....
Monday, September 9, 2013
Another WVU moment
Yesterday, I blogged about Gino Smith, former West Virginia University quarterback. Today, another reason to be glad that WVU is my Alma mater.
WVU is rated as the top "Party School" of all colleges and universities! Ahead of LSU and Alabama and UCLA and Penn State and, well, everybody.
Something that often happens and has for decades after a WVU football win is that students, for reasons only they know, drag mattresses out on the street and set them on fire.
It is difficult to imagine the symbolism in that, so far as I can tell.
When I was at WVU from 1965-69, mattresses were being burned on and off--but the football team was pathetic, so it didn't happen often.
And I suppose there were lots of parties, though it difficult to remember through the haze of alcohol and pot from those years.
I went to college with Jorge Gutierrez, who, like me, became an Episcopal priest. Years after college, someone asked me in front of Jorge, how long we'd known each other.
I said, "we went to college together."
Jorge, who was known to drop acid back then but today doesn't even drink, said, "that was you!?"
I rest my case. WVU deserves it's ranking as a college party school.
WVU is rated as the top "Party School" of all colleges and universities! Ahead of LSU and Alabama and UCLA and Penn State and, well, everybody.
Something that often happens and has for decades after a WVU football win is that students, for reasons only they know, drag mattresses out on the street and set them on fire.
It is difficult to imagine the symbolism in that, so far as I can tell.
When I was at WVU from 1965-69, mattresses were being burned on and off--but the football team was pathetic, so it didn't happen often.
And I suppose there were lots of parties, though it difficult to remember through the haze of alcohol and pot from those years.
I went to college with Jorge Gutierrez, who, like me, became an Episcopal priest. Years after college, someone asked me in front of Jorge, how long we'd known each other.
I said, "we went to college together."
Jorge, who was known to drop acid back then but today doesn't even drink, said, "that was you!?"
I rest my case. WVU deserves it's ranking as a college party school.
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Gino's day
OK, for people who don't care about football, this post is not for you....
It has to do with Gino Smith, who was the quarterback for West Virginia University for 4 years and now plays for the New York Jets--who, like the New York Giants--play home games in New Jersey, in the Medowlands. Go figure.
Anyhow, Gino started and won his first pro game today. The Jets beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 18-15 on a field goal set up by a pass and run by Gino with 38 seconds left and a totally stupid 15 yard penalty against the Buccaneers when a defensive guy shoved Gino after he was out of bounds on that run with 7 seconds left.
Let me tell you, coming from West Virginia, you don't have a lot to brag about. It is one of t he poorest and oldest and least interesting states in the union. But it does have WVU, where both Bern and I got degrees. And so did Gino Smith, the only pro quarterback I know of who was an English Major--as I was.
He started because Mark Sanchez, the Jet's usual quarterback, has a shoulder injury. He didn't do very well in the pre-season, but he put on a show passing and running and being cool under pressure today.
He made me proud for being from West Virginia. That doesn't happen much--so thank God and Gino Smith.....
It has to do with Gino Smith, who was the quarterback for West Virginia University for 4 years and now plays for the New York Jets--who, like the New York Giants--play home games in New Jersey, in the Medowlands. Go figure.
Anyhow, Gino started and won his first pro game today. The Jets beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 18-15 on a field goal set up by a pass and run by Gino with 38 seconds left and a totally stupid 15 yard penalty against the Buccaneers when a defensive guy shoved Gino after he was out of bounds on that run with 7 seconds left.
Let me tell you, coming from West Virginia, you don't have a lot to brag about. It is one of t he poorest and oldest and least interesting states in the union. But it does have WVU, where both Bern and I got degrees. And so did Gino Smith, the only pro quarterback I know of who was an English Major--as I was.
He started because Mark Sanchez, the Jet's usual quarterback, has a shoulder injury. He didn't do very well in the pre-season, but he put on a show passing and running and being cool under pressure today.
He made me proud for being from West Virginia. That doesn't happen much--so thank God and Gino Smith.....
Friday, September 6, 2013
Dog heaven
So, tonight Bela got into the box of hand-made chocolate I gave Bern for our Anniversary. It is really fabulous chocolate made by a guy here in Cheshire, who, if I might say so, looks like he relishes his livelihood. But would you want to buy chocolate from a skinny guy, really?
Anyway, Bern left the box on the table beside the couch in our upstairs TV room and somehow Bela opened it (Bern swears it was closed) and ate, we don't know how much, but surely three or four pieces since I went looking for him since he's always with one of us and he wasn't. He'd have probably eaten all of it if I hadn't found him.
Since it was Bern's candy, she felt responsible so I called our vet and got the number for the Animal Poison Hot line in Urbana, Illinois, of all places and it turns out what we thought he ate would do not much more than giving him an upset stomach for a while.
Did you know chocolate is toxic for dogs? As are grapes or raisins and other things I don't remember.
Bern loves this awful, terrible, bad dog more than she's ever loved any animal we've been with--which are legion. She was so worried that I made those calls. Bela, in the meantime, is sleeping peacefully wherever we are. Right now behind me as I type.
He isn't vomiting or seeming anxious or any of the other symptoms of chocolate poisoning the woman in Urbana told me after calling one of their vets. All of which she told me before charging $65 to my credit card for her advice. But, hey, Bela went to the vet yesterday, got three shots and a RX that, hopefully, will make him able to travel to Baltimore next week for Morgan and Emma's birthday. (He is the worst dog ever in a car, barking unless you're giving him treats. So we want to almost knock him out for the trip.)
I knew the woman on the phone wasn't from Connecticut because she pronounced our town's name as 'Che-SHIRE' instead of 'Che-shire'.
So, all is well on the Bela watch for now....What a bad dog....
Anyway, Bern left the box on the table beside the couch in our upstairs TV room and somehow Bela opened it (Bern swears it was closed) and ate, we don't know how much, but surely three or four pieces since I went looking for him since he's always with one of us and he wasn't. He'd have probably eaten all of it if I hadn't found him.
Since it was Bern's candy, she felt responsible so I called our vet and got the number for the Animal Poison Hot line in Urbana, Illinois, of all places and it turns out what we thought he ate would do not much more than giving him an upset stomach for a while.
Did you know chocolate is toxic for dogs? As are grapes or raisins and other things I don't remember.
Bern loves this awful, terrible, bad dog more than she's ever loved any animal we've been with--which are legion. She was so worried that I made those calls. Bela, in the meantime, is sleeping peacefully wherever we are. Right now behind me as I type.
He isn't vomiting or seeming anxious or any of the other symptoms of chocolate poisoning the woman in Urbana told me after calling one of their vets. All of which she told me before charging $65 to my credit card for her advice. But, hey, Bela went to the vet yesterday, got three shots and a RX that, hopefully, will make him able to travel to Baltimore next week for Morgan and Emma's birthday. (He is the worst dog ever in a car, barking unless you're giving him treats. So we want to almost knock him out for the trip.)
I knew the woman on the phone wasn't from Connecticut because she pronounced our town's name as 'Che-SHIRE' instead of 'Che-shire'.
So, all is well on the Bela watch for now....What a bad dog....
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Things I wonder about
I wonder about a lot of things. These are but a few.
*Bela, our dog, went to the Vet today and got 3 shots and blood drawn. He gets so tense at the Vet that she can't palpitate his stomach because it gets real hard. I wonder what he is thinking about all that.
*I wonder why people think such radically different things than I think. It stuns me to realize some people think homosexuals are sick and bad and that healthcare is a bad thing and that poor people somehow chose to be poor.
*I wonder why we can't see the Milky Way in Cheshire. On Oak Island, the Milky Way adorns the sky. There doesn't seem to be that much more light in Cheshire, but I can't see it.
*I wonder what goes on in Miley Cyrus's brain.
*I wonder what determines why Maggie, our parakeet yells so loud sometimes and not others. She listens to classical music all day on the radio beside her cage (unless NPR news is on) but some music makes her yell so loud it hurts my ears and other music doesn't.
*Our cat, Lukie, got in the basement today when I was washing clothes and stayed down there for several hours. Our basement isn't too interesting to me, so I wonder what he finds so fascinating about it.
*I wonder why I wonder about so much.
*I wonder if 'wondering' goes away when you have dementia or if all you do when you have dementia is wonder why the world is so different than it was.
*I wonder how Bern and I have endured for 43 years married today. I wonder what that 20 year old girl and 23 year old boy (we were a 'boy' and a 'girl' since people didn't grow up as fast as they do now back then) were feeling as they arrived in Roanoke, Virginia to spend their first night together as married people at the Hotel Roanoke.
*I wonder about Pelicans and Penguins and Pigeons.
*I wonder about most things that begin with 'P'.
* I wonder what it is that makes me such a happy, joyful person when so many of the people on our little island home called Earth are oppressed, miserable and forlorn.
*I wonder why 'forlorn' isn't a word used more often.
*I wonder if other people 'wonder' as much as I do. I hope so, because 'wondering' is one of the gifts of life to me....
*Bela, our dog, went to the Vet today and got 3 shots and blood drawn. He gets so tense at the Vet that she can't palpitate his stomach because it gets real hard. I wonder what he is thinking about all that.
*I wonder why people think such radically different things than I think. It stuns me to realize some people think homosexuals are sick and bad and that healthcare is a bad thing and that poor people somehow chose to be poor.
*I wonder why we can't see the Milky Way in Cheshire. On Oak Island, the Milky Way adorns the sky. There doesn't seem to be that much more light in Cheshire, but I can't see it.
*I wonder what goes on in Miley Cyrus's brain.
*I wonder what determines why Maggie, our parakeet yells so loud sometimes and not others. She listens to classical music all day on the radio beside her cage (unless NPR news is on) but some music makes her yell so loud it hurts my ears and other music doesn't.
*Our cat, Lukie, got in the basement today when I was washing clothes and stayed down there for several hours. Our basement isn't too interesting to me, so I wonder what he finds so fascinating about it.
*I wonder why I wonder about so much.
*I wonder if 'wondering' goes away when you have dementia or if all you do when you have dementia is wonder why the world is so different than it was.
*I wonder how Bern and I have endured for 43 years married today. I wonder what that 20 year old girl and 23 year old boy (we were a 'boy' and a 'girl' since people didn't grow up as fast as they do now back then) were feeling as they arrived in Roanoke, Virginia to spend their first night together as married people at the Hotel Roanoke.
*I wonder about Pelicans and Penguins and Pigeons.
*I wonder about most things that begin with 'P'.
* I wonder what it is that makes me such a happy, joyful person when so many of the people on our little island home called Earth are oppressed, miserable and forlorn.
*I wonder why 'forlorn' isn't a word used more often.
*I wonder if other people 'wonder' as much as I do. I hope so, because 'wondering' is one of the gifts of life to me....
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
43 and counting....
Tomorrow is our wedding anniversary. We were married in 1970 at Our Lady of Victory Roman Catholic Church in Gary, West Virginia. We were babies--23 and 20--and didn't know any better.
It was the first time ever that an Episcopal priest was on the altar at Our Lady of Victory. "Pop" Bailey was there, along with Fr. Cook. And we got married--Bern and me.
The reception was at the Gary Country Club, that I had boycotted as a Senior in High School because the Senior Prom was not open to the five black members of our class. There was no dinner, only hoers devours and wedding cake and alcohol in the basement for selected members of my family and all of Bern's family, leaving weak punch for most of my tee-totaling family. It all lasted about an hour and then we were off in my father's Ford since I had wrecked my car on the way for a second blood test a week before, running into a lake in Princeton when I misunderstood a truck's signaling--which I thought meant "Pass Me" (a message truckers often send in West Virgina since mountains loom and there is difficulty getting around them) and which really meant, "I'm turning left". There was a second blood test needed because they tested me for diabetes the first time rather than whatever it was the test was supposed to be about.
Forty-three years. Amazing.
I sometimes tell people I've been married five times but always to the same woman.
And that's true, accurate, real.
The first marriage was two children in love. That lasted a year or more.
The second marriage was Bern going to New York to act and me staying in Morgantown to be a social worker. Two years of that.
Then there was the 'children marriage', interrupted 11 years in by a separation that lasted several months.
Then, the second 'children marriage', lasting until Josh and Mimi were well away and on their own.
The fifth marriage was what we have now. The Empty Nest, it's just you and me again marriage, which has become the longest and best of them all.
God, I love my life and my wife and 'our life' for the last dozen plus years.
I was of the generation who thought we should "live fast, love hard, die young and leave a beautiful memory". But let me tell you, the last 18 years or so have been the best of my life. Bern and I have settled into what many would consider a boring and very routine life. And it is. And I love the rut we've been in. It is simply the life I've always wanted to live. Especially since I retired. We live to the songs of Maggie, our parakeet, the needs of Luke, our cat, and the wonderment of having a Puli dog named Bela. We read constantly, watch TV from time to time, always eat dinner together, seldom need to discuss anything since we know each other so well, and love each other in a way that is deeper and more profound than all the passion and lust that came before.
Forty three years with Bern (plus the years before--I was 17 and she was 14 when we met in Latin class) so that makes our time together 49 years...is exactly how I would have wanted to spend almost a half-century. Exactly the way--though it didn't always seem that way--but just right, just wondrous, just perfect.
43 years ago tomorrow, two children who didn't know any better, got married. And through all the marriages we have had, we have arrived at the best one, the one we meant to have when we said 'I do' four decades and a bit ago.
I realized a few years ago that Bern is not 'the Love of my Life'....In a real way, she 'IS my life', for better or worse, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health...for 43 years and whatever years the gods of marriage indulge us with in the future.
(I remember the child of 14 I met when I was 17. We first kissed under the bleachers at a high school football game. She was ethereal, mystical, foreign, unknown to me. A Hungarian/Italian child kissing a WASP of forever generations. I remember that first kiss--the kiss when I knew, against all odds and all reason, that somehow she and I would share our lives in ways we could never imagine but that would endure. I can't tell you how humbled and delighted and wonder-struck I am that I was right. A life with Bern is worth two or three or more in some other circumstance.)
Forty-three years and counting tomorrow....
Imagine my wonder, my gratitude, my joy......
It was the first time ever that an Episcopal priest was on the altar at Our Lady of Victory. "Pop" Bailey was there, along with Fr. Cook. And we got married--Bern and me.
The reception was at the Gary Country Club, that I had boycotted as a Senior in High School because the Senior Prom was not open to the five black members of our class. There was no dinner, only hoers devours and wedding cake and alcohol in the basement for selected members of my family and all of Bern's family, leaving weak punch for most of my tee-totaling family. It all lasted about an hour and then we were off in my father's Ford since I had wrecked my car on the way for a second blood test a week before, running into a lake in Princeton when I misunderstood a truck's signaling--which I thought meant "Pass Me" (a message truckers often send in West Virgina since mountains loom and there is difficulty getting around them) and which really meant, "I'm turning left". There was a second blood test needed because they tested me for diabetes the first time rather than whatever it was the test was supposed to be about.
Forty-three years. Amazing.
I sometimes tell people I've been married five times but always to the same woman.
And that's true, accurate, real.
The first marriage was two children in love. That lasted a year or more.
The second marriage was Bern going to New York to act and me staying in Morgantown to be a social worker. Two years of that.
Then there was the 'children marriage', interrupted 11 years in by a separation that lasted several months.
Then, the second 'children marriage', lasting until Josh and Mimi were well away and on their own.
The fifth marriage was what we have now. The Empty Nest, it's just you and me again marriage, which has become the longest and best of them all.
God, I love my life and my wife and 'our life' for the last dozen plus years.
I was of the generation who thought we should "live fast, love hard, die young and leave a beautiful memory". But let me tell you, the last 18 years or so have been the best of my life. Bern and I have settled into what many would consider a boring and very routine life. And it is. And I love the rut we've been in. It is simply the life I've always wanted to live. Especially since I retired. We live to the songs of Maggie, our parakeet, the needs of Luke, our cat, and the wonderment of having a Puli dog named Bela. We read constantly, watch TV from time to time, always eat dinner together, seldom need to discuss anything since we know each other so well, and love each other in a way that is deeper and more profound than all the passion and lust that came before.
Forty three years with Bern (plus the years before--I was 17 and she was 14 when we met in Latin class) so that makes our time together 49 years...is exactly how I would have wanted to spend almost a half-century. Exactly the way--though it didn't always seem that way--but just right, just wondrous, just perfect.
43 years ago tomorrow, two children who didn't know any better, got married. And through all the marriages we have had, we have arrived at the best one, the one we meant to have when we said 'I do' four decades and a bit ago.
I realized a few years ago that Bern is not 'the Love of my Life'....In a real way, she 'IS my life', for better or worse, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health...for 43 years and whatever years the gods of marriage indulge us with in the future.
(I remember the child of 14 I met when I was 17. We first kissed under the bleachers at a high school football game. She was ethereal, mystical, foreign, unknown to me. A Hungarian/Italian child kissing a WASP of forever generations. I remember that first kiss--the kiss when I knew, against all odds and all reason, that somehow she and I would share our lives in ways we could never imagine but that would endure. I can't tell you how humbled and delighted and wonder-struck I am that I was right. A life with Bern is worth two or three or more in some other circumstance.)
Forty-three years and counting tomorrow....
Imagine my wonder, my gratitude, my joy......
Where would he go and why....?
Whenever our Puli dog
goes out in the back yard
the first thing he does
is check the push-in-the-ground fence
that separates the yard from the driveway.
Several times, he's found it down
and tried to run away.
Why and to where
has always fascinated me.
There is no better life
for Bela "out there".
We make his food:
ground turkey, sweet potatoes,
peas and celery and garlic,
green beans and blueberries,
cooked well and lovingly.
And we love him
like a rock.
Bern loves him so much
it makes me anxious
whenever he's with me
that something bad will
happen and she'll blame me
for his demise.
So, what is so attractive
about 'out there'?
Why would he run away?
Where would he go
and why? Is what I wonder.
Where would we 'run away'
to, if we only could?
And why?
goes out in the back yard
the first thing he does
is check the push-in-the-ground fence
that separates the yard from the driveway.
Several times, he's found it down
and tried to run away.
Why and to where
has always fascinated me.
There is no better life
for Bela "out there".
We make his food:
ground turkey, sweet potatoes,
peas and celery and garlic,
green beans and blueberries,
cooked well and lovingly.
And we love him
like a rock.
Bern loves him so much
it makes me anxious
whenever he's with me
that something bad will
happen and she'll blame me
for his demise.
So, what is so attractive
about 'out there'?
Why would he run away?
Where would he go
and why? Is what I wonder.
Where would we 'run away'
to, if we only could?
And why?
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