Nature Songs ~~~~
October 6, 2000 - Preparations seem endless for all that needs to get done before I’m ready to leave for Cherokee this afternoon. I’ve made a short list of things not to be forgotten and only hope that all is accomplished on time. Most important of all and at the head of the list is getting a new battery for the car. Wes takes care of that by coming by before lunch to take out the old battery to exchange on a new one. The car will not boost off to be driven that far. We found that out last night - the hard way - through trial and error at the nursing home.
As things usually happen in our family, there were many last minute things to be done before we were off for the mountains for the weekend. First stop was to tell Mother goodbye and leave her the ballgame schedule so she could keep up with her favorite teams. Other sidetrips from there led to the bank and grocery store for items to use while gone and the middle school for BingoKid (we waited while he took his drum back to his locker for the weekend. Who would want to hear a drum out in the woods?), then to the daycare to pick up BusyKid. There was only one more stop and we were off. We took Bingo the Pomeranian by my house to spend the weekend with the other boy dogs.
A major traffic jam on I-40 slowed down our progress to the foot of the mountain. We seemed to take forever creeping along at five miles an hour and joined all the other cars and trucks racing through Asheville only to be slowed by where we intersected with I-26. It was nearly dark by the time we pulled into our campsite at KOA. We were just in time to turn around and back track to eat a late supper at a restaurant across the highway from the Cherokee Casino. Since it was so late no one wanted to fire up the grill to cook.
Settled into our cabin, we walked down the road about three cabins away to join everyone at Tbird’s cabin which was the same one we were in our last trip. This time we are closer to the bathhouse which I like. The walkway is directly in front of our cabin for those excursions we all have to make from time to time. Back to the subject - we sat around the campfire and ended the evening toasting marshmallows. Walking back to the cabin I glanced up to see stars! Stars I had not seen for years through all the smog of life today. Lights out was half past eleven and I shared my bed and covers with little Master BusyKid while the others took to the bunks in the other room.
October 7, 2000 - Six a.m. and I have to make that trek to the bathhouse, that is once I figure out how to work the lock on the door in the dark. All is quiet and dark and a little chilly. The sky is clear. I stopped for a short time to stare at the stars and pick out the Big and Little dippers and some of the Milky Way. These are things I have only had memories of for many years. When I was younger I loved to lay out on a quilt at night and watch the stars. They have always fascinated me and I’ve missed not sharing them with my grandchildren.
Breakfast took us all to Allan’s trailer on the other side of our cabin. We were sort halfway between the other two families. Biscuits cooking inside the camper, coffee sitting on a rock beside the campfire, a campstove fired up and cooking bacon, and an electric fry pan at work cooking hashbrowns had us sitting down to eat together after Grace was offered for our food and family.
We split up after breakfast with one carload heading up to Clingman’s Dome to climb around and view the sights. The rest of us drove a short distance to an old homestead working museum set up like a little village to walk through. It has been over twenty years since I’ve been able to walk through it. The path leading to it has changed and follows the river for a much prettier view than the path through the meadow I once took. I walked it without much to-do, only slowing down for the slight incline leading down from the parking area. We saw two roosters almost get into a cock fight with each of them fluffing up the ruff around there heads and flying at each other with their claws ready to attack. Before they had tested each other out much, some boy came along and threw some straw toward them and they immediately took their action toward him. That boy must not know that roosters can be very cankerous and attack people as well as each other.
We drove into Cherokee to watch some Plains Indians (not one was a Cherokee?) do a short program of dance, song and talks about some history of the dress and living. The boys were spellbound with the drums and dress of the Indians, but would not take the offer to come on the stage to dance the Dance of Friendship at the end.. I enjoyed not having a rigid schedule to take in a lot of things this trip. We could have toured the Annual Cherokee Fair, but decided to head back to camp and rest. We did take a drive up Raven Fork Creek to see what was beyond our campsite. We found many more campgrounds along the crooks and nooks of the road and creek. I never realized how many places were on that one long road leading to Big Cove. I was stunned how many fishermen had donned hip boots to enter the cold waters of the creek to fish for trout, as well. That water is cold on the warmest of days.
Dark brought us back to Tbird’s site for homemade chili and cornbread, with hot-dogs for the kids which they roasted on the campfire. I wore a sweatshirt with a hood attached under my jacket to keep warm sitting beside the fire. The little ones found all sorts of things to do with a flashlight during the evening, while the older boys rode bike up until dark and then played hide and seek and got into a game of tag with some kids at a nearby campsite. There were four men camping out that amused us to no end. They must have been afraid of the term camping in the dark. They had a huge halogen light plugged in that lit up their site more than a marquee on Broadway. Another tent camper had their loyal television friend plugged in and playing loud enough to be a bother to the peace and quite of nature and overpowering the sound of a screech owl.
Surprise! The evening ended for us with a birthday cake, candles ablaze, carried to me to blow out the candies with the help of the Grandkids. I can’t believe that they took the time to count out 64 candles and light them all! They nearly lost the cake in the process when it nearly slid off the tray there in the middle of the roadway behind me. Then Allan couldn’t see where to walk because of all the candles lit there in his hands. It was a fun time for all of us.
Meanwhile, back at the cabin we armed ourselves with a heater to get us through a colder night tonight. There is mention that there may even be a snowflake or two this weekend. I believe it!
October 8, 2000 - Cold! Cold! Very Cold! As the wind blows it brings in more chilling weather and rains down leaves. We kept warm there in our log cabin last night with the help of our friend, the electric heater. BusyKid decided to sleep on the bunk bed with Mom last night, so I wrapped up in my quilt for a night’s sleep alone in the bed.
Morning found us once again gathering at Allan’s for a breakfast of pancakes. The campfire and pot of coffee was first on the agenda for us oldsters. The boys took to the roadways for a final jaunt on their bikes before we had them park because of so many campers pulling out from their sites today. We watched a couple from Indiana on the site next door as then rolled in their expanded living room and got ready to load up their car on the trailer behind their RV to pull out heading home. I choose to stay inside Allan’s trailer with the little ones while our crew packs up to make our trip down the mountain. It was great sitting there, chickening out bracing against the cold outdoors, feeling the warmth creeping back into my fingertips while the boys played around me.
We got into another traffic jam coming home. Two trucker lined up to block cars that kept getting out of line slowing down the whole shebang. Cars tried driving by on the outside edge and the truck in front of us pulled over blocking that lane as well. A girl that had been blowing her car horn at the truck took off in the grass to get around the truck. People were driving crazy! One guy even pulled in front of the truck blocking his way while the left lane that was supposed to be closed was allowed to let about twenty cars by. Then he drove into the left lane and blocked it himself for a mile or so... So goes life...
We converged on the Farmer’s Market in Asheville for one last get-together before descending back to reality of day-to-day activities. I purchased a jar of apple butter and a jar of pear butter since this is the only place that makes the kind I like. Tbird bought a bag of hot peanuts and gave most of it to Wes to give me after she left. I love peanuts, but choose not to buy them because they are like an addiction to me. I can’t say no after eating just one. We took time to run across the road so I could pick up a replacement vase for a butterfly “rooter” hanger that used to belong to my Aunt Ossie. While over there NascarKid found a walking stick which he liked and I did, too. He bought it for me for my birthday (with my money ;o)) which made his day. I promised him the use of it some time when he goes on a hike.
Home, sweet home, and three dogs waiting eagerly for some extra attention. Elsie Dawg was outside letting us know that she had missed us, as well. Before long, Bingo was on his way home with Wes, and I turned on the heat which I had forgotten was turned off before heading to bed to rest a spell. When I got up to talk with Ms. Jay and thank her for looking after the dogs, the temperature in the house had rose from 65 degrees to 72 degrees and felt much better on these old bones of mine. Age is more than a frame of mind.
October 9, 2000 - Getting back into the weekly routine this morning was an activity I looked forward to doing. In retrospect, the success of my weekend camping was due mainly to the fact that I have that weekly routine. Everyone commented on how much better I motivate this year compared to the last trip. I was almost completely self-sufficient and required little help from any of them other than supplying a chair to sit upon. Yet, they felt they needed to wait on me hand and foot, so I returned home a little bit spoiled perhaps.
This extra cold weather for this time of year makes a few bones and joints squeal out announcing they are stiff and sore. The steam room got a long visit by me and a lot of the other team members both before and after our water workout. The steam was heated up more than it was last week and penetrated into some of those sore spots to relieve the soreness that had built up. This is not an activity that everyone can do. For various reasons many people cannot take the steam or the heat so they are unable to experience the sheer joy the rest of us feel sitting in the small space with lights out and carrying on all sorts of conversation between the spurts of steam.
Checking email took a while since I’ve not been here for two days to keep up with the tidbits of information intertwined with bunches of junk that keeps sifting through the email system just as the snail mail endures its share of the same fate. I’ll save going online until later this evening since I know I’ll get lost somewhere in space and end up spending a while drifting around from place to place checking out everything I’ve missed over the weekend. I’m just a space-age drifter wandering through out the web seeking friends, advice, learning and sharing as I roam.
There are some prescriptions I dropped off at the drugstore this morning. Guess it is time to backtrack to pick up all the refills I need. From there I am off to the nursing center to spend some one-on-one time with Mother and feed her some of her supper. I may stop by and pick up something for me to share with her for supper. Then it is back home to face the computer and get to work. I took my digital camera with me for the weekend and gave it a try in many different situations. I’m eager to see how the pictures turn out since they were taken at different times of days and evening. Hopefully there are some good pictures to keep for the future.
All right! I got some pretty good pictures. The ones I had to lighten because they were taken in the dark are a little grainy looking, but with practice I will learn how to correct that.
Here is the cabin that I called home for two nights in Cherokee. There is a creek right behind it.
What better place for DynoKid to be than at the campfire?
One of my evening pictures of Allan on his bike with BusyKid.
Both mornings we had breakfast at Allan's camper.
One of the Indian dancers we watched. I didn't take pictures of the other dancers because this one was sitting on the folding seat to play the drum and his big circle of feathers kept me from getting a good picture of the others.
The farmhouseat the village we walked around. Of course the boys loved watching the pigs digging a large hole beside the fence.
Some of the fun of the evening campfire time.
October 10, 2000 - It’s a lovely day, today. It’s a bit on the cold side to say the least. All weather records for the past 105 years have been broken with our low of 30 degrees and lower this morning throughout the area. Our first frost of the season has come early for us. e thinks, I like the weather a wee bit warmer for myself. Then again, is there ever a perfect temperature for any of us that we could endure endlessly? How would we know what we like and dislike if we did not have the wide range from hot to cold?
Plans were made early this morning that I would pick up Ms. Jay on the way to Q4L. Luckily enough, I remembered before leaving that I had to be in Hickory for an appointment for another ultra sound treatment at 11:30 this morning. A quick call next door and we each left in our respective vehicles heading toward Quest. My treatment relaxed me so much today, I could easily have taken a nap, but I held off on the nap. Now to remember that next Monday is another treatment which I made for later in the day.
The drive-through at the Subway on highway 321 must have been turned off today. I was going to pick up a sub for lunch and being ignored, I pulled up to the window and saw that only two were working and they were busy with the walk-ins. I drove on up the road a little further and settled on a whopper junior to take the place of a turkey sub. Sandwich in hand, I walked into Mother’s room to dine with her today. She had part of her lunch that she could feed herself today and enjoyed being able to take care of lunch for herself. I left before time for her to play bingo, but she promised that she would try to play. I stopped by one of the CNA’s and mentioned to remind the others that she needed a little help with her game card on my way out of the building. She called later to say that she won seventy-five cents today.
I almost called my dentist today. I should have called my dentist today. I made a momentous faux pas in not calling my dentist today. Here I am desiring to go a year without having to have any major undertaking done on my teeth, because the new dental plan offered to us retirees has a twelve month waiting period on everything but routine checkups and cleanings. That is not going to be the circumstance.
The first evening in Cherokee, I had a front tooth bugging me to a great extent. It seemed that it may have chipped a little on the edge, yet I was not eating or anything like that when it happened. Guess it must have been one of those intervals when my jaw slipped as it often does and my teeth whack together. The rough edge has tantalized my tongue ever since then. I suspected that maybe the filling in that tooth may have loosened and thought of having it checked. I should have done exactly that! After dark this evening, the filling fell out! Now I am snaggle toothed. Searching through the drawer of my bedside table, I found some dental wax for braces to use to fill in the blank chasm until I get to the dentist. I only hope he can see me tomorrow and get it repaired for me. Hummmmmm, do I go to workout in the morning with this big gap between my teeth? Maybe they won’t notice anything different if I don’t talk and keep my mouth shut.(Could I get by with it?)
I’m getting curious-er and curious-er about how my prescription plan is working out for the year. Do I save money with the new plan I’m on, or will it cost me more money? On the other hand, I am very fortunate to have the help I have whether I pay more or less. Out of curiosity, with calculator in hand, I decided to add up the amount of money I paid this week for my drugs and the amount of money saved. I paid out $126.68 when I picked up my refills. Without the help of my insurance company, my refills would have cost me $852.61. That is a bbb-iii-ggg difference in cost. Think of those without the insurance and also have only Medicare for retirement to live on! Then attach the additional cost of gas for traveling and gas or oil for heat, and cost of living rise, it is a marvel how many of them are capable of survival. I am gratified to have the assistance I have available for me.
October 11, 2000 - My good friend has a way of singing a little tune of mystery, doo-doo, doo-doo, when she is up to some type of mischief. Somewhere in the depths of my mind that tune has been playing today. What is going to pop out at me next? The unexpected is lurking and waiting; waiting to jump out at an inopportune moment. Life is full of all those unexpected intervals.
First thing this morning I made the call to my dentist to get my tooth repaired. Wonders of wonders! The whole office is shut down and on vacation for the full week. The answering machine gave out two other dentists and their numbers to contact in an emergency. I had to call twice to get the names and numbers jotted down. Looking in the telephone directory to locate where they were, I chose a dentist close to my regular dentist’s office to call for help. Turns out that this is a dentist that attended dental school with my own dentist many years ago. An hour and a half after arriving, I left $144 poorer and sporting a rebuilt tooth that looks and feels great.
I got to Q4L this morning and was surprised that the dental wax worked so well that no one was aware of me missing part of a front tooth. I was also surprised that the wax held up so well and stayed in place all morning, even in the steam room.
Mother was still in bed when I dropped by to spend some time with her this afternoon. There she was looking very uncomfortable slid down in the bed and all sort of sideways or something. She was holding a damp washcloth over her eyes and claimed that they were hurting her... and no! She did not want to get up! End of discussion! She promised the nurse that she would get up for supper, but no one came in to help her up. She had supper in bed. She was still in bed when I left her after spending three hours by her bedside. Our good friend came by and visited for a short time with us during that time, and helped to brighten Mother’s day.
October 12, 2000 - Snitches of comments here and snitches of comments there are starting to come together into a scenario I’m not to happy to accept. The ultimate outcome of all these trips to the pain clinic in Hickory have been with the expectation of becoming better than what I’ve been. True, I am doing somewhat better, in a way. On the other hand, when the treatments stop what will happen? I think I got a clue the last ultra sound treatment I had. A statement made was to the effect that once the pain is controlled then the next step is to be able to eliminate the stress and strain that bring it on and only work up to that limit. The goal is to be able to conduct myself up to the limit of what my body will allow me to do. I desire more than that.
During my workout this morning I strove to exert more energies into my movements There were a lot of jumping jacks with many movements from side to side and also turning back and forth. With our instructor of the day we always have a more rigorous routine to do tending to be more aerobic than stretch and tone. By evening I knew I had overdone it this morning. All I want to do is rest and not move. It hurts to move and it takes too much energy to force myself to do anything. I managed to get over to the nursing center and help Mother with her supper. She chose not to get up until late in the afternoon, but at least she was up today. I managed to stay with her till close to seven and then headed home and to bed.
All was not lost for the day. I watched a video while I rested on Ain Chi, or slow movements in water. I found myself breathing in and out with the exercises I was watching and picked up some helpful information about water movements and correct breathing. They stressed being in water at least 88 degrees to keep the muscles flexible. A rule to follow as to knowing when doing too much was determined by how you felt two hours after a workout. If there is pain of any type, then the routine should be shortened or eased up on and gradually increase on intensity.ow to put that knowledge to good use.
October 13, 2000 - Druthers would leave me in bed for the day. No, I am not superstitious about Friday the thirteenth. I am just so very tired and don’t want to have to move. I manage to struggled up on my feet and get dressed for the water. I give myself fifteen minutes to drive to Quest and get into the water. My movements are much slower today and not so intense as yesterday. We do more walking this morning. Most importantly, I made it! The steam room felt so good, I was not ready to leave, even after my 20 minutes, but I knew I had stayed long enough. There were other feats to conquer for the day.
A trip to Wally World, and I pick up some stuff that Mother has need of. Even though she no longer can see the bird feeders outside the window, we are keeping plenty of sunflowers in them. She enjoys hearing others talk about the birds that are out side and loves knowing what kinds are out there eating the seeds. Seems Wally World has decided to stop carrying the 20ounce bottles of coke, and once again I had to stop at the grocery store to pick up a six pack for mother. Plenty of candy was around for me to have to make choices of which ones to take back for the candy bowl. arrived at the center in time to help Mother with her lunch today. I knew if I planned to come later in the day, I probably would never make it.
As the afternoon progressed so did my soreness, stiffness and tiredness. Bed seldom looked any better than this afternoon. I am planted in it until Lady arrives to clean house for me. At that point I drag into the den and plop into the recliner where I settle the whole time Lady is here working. I feel so totally useless when I sit around doing nothing while she is working all around me, yet, there is not strength to do otherwise. Be it too much exercise, Fibromyalgia, weather or just plain feeling bad, I don’t know, but I do know that I don’t like the way I feel.
Continued - page three
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