Nature Songs ~~~~

JULY, 2001 ~ continued

July 26, 2001 - Thursday morning was a breeze. All was quiet around me and I rested much of the time. I even took that time to go through the batch of letters accumulated during the month and prepare those needing checks inserted and mailed back. Most importantly, I found the receipts where I’ve been paying for Mother’s medicines this year and made copies of them to mail with the forms I had to sign for her to remain at the center. Astonishingly, that amount added up to over two hundred dollars. Now to wait and see if I am reimbursed for that amount.

Mother called about midafternoon. She was seen by a “new” doctor and he impressed her. Actually, he is the older doctor of the office. He and my doctor started out in that same office together back in the eighties. They split up in the early nineties and my doctor began a new practice uptown. In fact, he was the doctor that saw me at the hospital the evening I experienced the stroke. The very first time he has seen Mother and he is concerned about the cough she has and he has prescribed a bone scan! Her last doctor had done nothing for the trouble she has been having with pain in her hip and leg. The cough only began this week and he latched on to it immediately. I’m happy to hear that he is now in charge of the nursing center.

Tbird came flying in to drop off the children and rushed on down to Hickory to get a perm. I had a very tired young Giggles that had no intention of taking a nap, but the boys were on good terms with each other today. While they were here Lady came to spin her magic for me.

Lady was on vacation at the beach last week. She was impressed with the fact that my shoes had been moved by the boys and lined up in pairs in the closet of the other bedroom. She also noticed that some of the boxes were gone from the craft room and that I had done some work around the house while she was gone. Who knows, I might get the house organized in a zillion years or so.... It just takes time to do some things. I did manage to back up against the pail of water Lady was using and splashed water out of it. There she was having to sop up all that extra water running over the floor.

I bought stuff at the grocery store to bake a low calorie cake, but never got around to doing it today. As a matter of fact, I never found my new recipe for it. Ms. Jay has the recipe and I phoned her and asked for a copy of it. I told her that I would send one of the boys out to get the copy, but she brought it out here for me. Maybe tomorrow will be a better day to work on a cake. Cooking didn’t seem to be my cup of tea today. Well, I did slice the bell peppers and spread them out on a cookie sheet to freeze. I’ll put them in a zip-lock bag later to store in the freezer to use in cooking.


July 27, 2001 - Strange, but after Tbird left yesterday around six p.m. - heading down the road toward Winston Salem to spend a night and a day with her friend, I stretched out to rest. I laid on the bed and truly intended to rest about thirty minutes before going over to visit with Mother at the nursing center. I haven’t been over since the first of the week and have only kept in touch with her talking over the telephone. Turns out that Mother phoned me at 8:30, “Where are you? I thought you were coming over!” I was - but I didn’t! I forgot all passage of time and drifted off into that moment in space that often eludes me. I was not eluded for much of the night as I remained exhausted and kept drifting off in that unknown realm punctuated with weird struggle dreams. I managed to right myself by midmorning.

Piddled around doing a tad of little things first in one room and then another room much of the time, but managed to stay in the kitchen long enough to wash a load of dishes. Attempting to sign in on my classes at B&N was a no go. Whatever the problem was, it apparently was happening to everyone else as well. When I finally got in to the message boards late this evening, there were NO new entries for today on any of the three classes. I certainly hope that the kinks are ironed out of the new format that has been put into use by B&N before the new classes begin. If not, I’ll forget about the two I’ve signed up for and center all my attention on the new classes at VU. This logging in to my personal room only to be booted out twenty or thirty times at a sitting is growing old. Not being able to post a message has its drawbacks as well - only one message posted all week by me.

When I got to Mother’s tiny cubical of half a room this afternoon, my cousin was there. He had brought his Dad up to visit with Mother and brought her a bag of her favorite peanuts - raw! He said that my aunt’s headstone was erected on her grave this morning and that it looked really nice. Of course, with all the rain, the workmen had to cover the newly installed stone with plastic. He will be leaving for New Orleans in a few days, so I promised him I would stop by the cemetery to see how it looks. I probably should take a polaroid picture of it so Mother will have an idea about how it looks.

He was telling me about seeing a fawn running across the newly cut field around the barn out at the lake this morning. Allan was out there and bushhogged the undergrowth around the ten acre field (more or less), and my cousin was saying that if it hadn’t been cut, he would never have seen the fawn. Allan also weed-eaten the area along the sides of the road leading down to the house and beach. That stretch of dirt road has held up well through all the rains lately.

Leaving the nursing center, I drove my truck back home to be here when the children arrived to spend the evening with me. I drove my truck today with the hopes that the rain would wash away the dust and pollen. That didn’t happen. The rain was too soft and the dirt remained on the truck. I left it sitting out just in case a thunderstorm should happen along and beat a bit of the dirt away.

Before the children arrived I got a call from the firm that handles the alarm system at Tbird’s house. Once again it went off and the police had to be called out. This time they found an open door in the basement. That’s not a good sign, because they don’t generally use the basement doors. I had to beep Tbird to pass the message along to her, who in turn called Hubby to send him out to check out the house before they met their friends for supper. What a life they do lead. Better they than me!

The children were once again dropped off to stay with me while Mom and Dad dined out in Boone with their friends. Once again Little Miss Giggles was in no mood for sleep. Her mood for this visit was more in line with chasing after the dogs all evening and getting dogfood where it doesn’t belong. The boys mood called for pizza to be delivered for supper. My mood? Well, I’m not really sure....

Shortly after ten, the children were collected along with NascarKid’s bass guitar he brought in to practice and the Gameboys. They were off for home and hopefully a good night’s sleep. In the morning they are off for Raleigh for a day’s excursion and then on to the Outerbanks a few days. This is their summer’s trip before school officially begins, since Tbird begins work the first of August. Their parakeet, JJ died this week. He was seven years old, so it was probably time, but the hot house may have had something to do with it also. They bought him from a man at the Outerbanks that specializes with birds and they are in hopes of being able to find another bird or birds while they are in that area. This time it may be a larger type bird with a longer lifespan. I suggested Cockatiels and that they name them "Jake n’ Jay" in keeping with all the J names they have in the family.

I have several days before me without children. BingoKid and BusyKid will be back late Sunday. That means Bingo will be going back home when they arrive. That reminds me, the three dogs spent today barking, and barking and barking. Oh! did they ever bark!!! I never figured out what it was that kept them barking so much, but they kept the house from being any too quiet. All the commotion began with sirens along the road this morning about 6 a.m. There were more sirens around ten and then more even later in the day. What caused the barking in-between those times I’ll never know. At least they are quiet since darkness came. Guess they wore themselves out with using so much energy with the constant barking. I'm about ready to begin some new dog training to get them to be quieter, but then they may not alert me when someone strange comes calling at the door.

I might add that as of now that would be nearly 4 a.m. Saturday morning.


July 28, 2001 - Monsieur Charlie Dog done gone and made himself feel most terrible ... most terrible indeed. It was expected. He thought he was being clever when he slipped and grabbed a piece of crust from the pizza box NascarKid left in his reach last evening. Turns out that it only served to make him miserable inasmuch as it flared up a case of Pancreatis for him. His little stomach swelled up tight as a drum and all through the day he was begging for me to hold him. When he feels bad he thinks he is supposed to be carried around with his head on my shoulder, or be held on my lap. At least, he was not throwing up as he does sometimes when he consumes the tidbits of forbidden treats.

Meanwhile, I had my own little episode with an angry yellow jacket. Bingo found a morsel of food outside the front door which apparently the kids or Tbird dropped there the evening before. Guess the bee-like insects were around it along with some tiny ants. I opened the door to carry out the compact or bag which was ready for the trash can - and - POP!! In less than a second, I felt a stinging sensation on my breastbone. Glancing down, I saw the reason!!! The yellow jacket had stung me through my shirt and there it was caught in the soft knit material. It was hung on my shirt and had to be brushed across several times to be dislodged.

Bingo got stung himself on his right paw which took only seconds to swell twice its normal size. He was quiet about it until I was returning to the house and as I got to the door, he held up his right paw and whimpered as he limped into the house where he ran from one place to another trying to get away from the stinging sensation. I immediately took two Benadryl tablets, but since they were extra strength, it didn’t seem feasible to give Bingo one of them. I watched him to make sure he was going to be okay.

Mother had to wait until later in the afternoon for me to come over and keep my promise of working on her fingernails today. It wasn’t a good idea for me to be driving while the Benadryl was working in my system. Close to suppertime i gathered up the needed supplies for redoing her nails and headed out to the nursing center with a cup of juicy red tasty watermelon for her delight as she had ordered to be delivered, too. She’s not feeling well at all with the cough that has been plaguing her the pass few days. The cough syrup prescribed by the doctor has not worked on her and she’s not looking or sounding good.

Mother’s supper eaten and some of the watermelon savored, I went in search of her CNA to have her put to bed before I worked on her fingernails. The nasty cough she has makes it hard for her to eat much since the effort to eat seems to trigger her cough. Once she is settled and her TV is on the right channel for her ballgame, I leave her to come back home and take another round of Benadryl for the nuisance that tiny spot from the sting is causing me. To be so minute, it radiates a stinging, burning sensation and looks more like a spot of infection instead of a sting.

Wes calls to let me know they are back in town from the beach. He will wait until tomorrow to come after their family pet. Other than his limping from the sting on his paw, Bingo is happy here with the other dogs. This seemed to be his day for getting into tangled messes. First the sting - later - he manages to get back under the computer desk while I am working and WHAM!! he causes the computer to shut down. Laying on the cord to the unit of tangled connections, he unplugs it.

Life has to be better - Tomorrow ... Even my arm is throbbing some from that tiny speck left by the yellow jacket. I have to remember, too, that in defending what he claimed his own, that insect gave his life by stinging me.


July 29, 2001 - Morning brings no change in that tiny spot where I was stung other than it resembling a pimple more than a sting. When I rub across it, the pimple opens, but it still hurts. Even my shoulder is swollen today. The toxin must have gotten into a gland. Oh, well, I’ll wait until I return from church before taking any more Benadryl. It probably did help some yesterday. The rains are still here. We need all we can get, so I shan’t complain of its effect on me and my joints I’ll only comment, “This is definitely a PRAINY DAY!!”

Our last pastor and his family were in our church service this morning. He had come to Hickory to attend the funeral of one of the retired ministers of our congregation who lived to be ninety-one. When I walked up to him, he did a double take before recognizing me, being very surprised that I was walking “normal” - no cane! I’ve lost a lot of weight since he left Hickory, too. In fact, I’m to the place I need to take up some clothes, buy a size smaller, or both.

The grocery store and gas stations were on my pathway back to Lenoir. Gas down the road was only $1.18 and I got a half tank to fill up what I ran out this week. Mother needed candy - again! That meant stopping off at the store to get a new supply. While there, I picked up a small salad for lunch and proceeded on over to visit with Mother before coming back home.

Duh.....!!.. Sometimes I forget things. It didn’t dawn on me yesterday when I got stung that there may be a nest of yellow jackets close by. I actually got stung three places. The place on the side of my face made a red bump, but didn’t bother me and the one on my finger hardly even shows today. When I mentioned to Allan about the incident, he immediately said, “There must be a nest near the door. Otherwise, you would not have had but one sting.”

Sure enough, when he went out to look he found a whole about the size of a baseball beside the landscape timber between the patio area and the fence for the dogs. Yellow jackets were busy flying in and out and it was obvious that it most definitely is located in a bad place. He made plans with Wes to make sure to dispose of them after dark when all would be collected inside the nest and quiet. Once when Bingo was out in the fenced yard he got near the spot and the “bees” swarmed all over creation. We decided to use the back door only through tomorrow.

As I suspected, when it came time to leave, Bingo chose to head toward his safe spot under the bed instead of leaving. It took a little coaxing to catch him and take him out to the car. He was happy to see all of his family and got all kinds of back rubs and pats; he just didn’t want to leave here. Along the same line - when it came time for BingoKid to go home, he didn’t want to go either. He ended up spending the night with me.

While I was working at the computer, the phone rang. Hummmm, 11:15 p.m. ... it can’t be good news this late at night. Gingerly, I reached for the phone. Yep! Not the best message to be receiving. The alarm had gone off at Tbird’s house again, and here they are near the Outerbanks this evening. No use to try to contact them! I decide the best thing to do is call Tbird’s step daughter that lives about a mile or so away from them. She was just over at the house this afternoon to feed the dog and makes a trip back to check things out again.

Par for course, this is not one of those nights I prepare for bed and go right to sleep. Just as I’m recording about the late phone call, the phone rings again! Yes, the alarm is going off at Tbird’s house - again!!! This time I look at the clock and note that it is 1:20 a.m. I’m stretching my luck and not calling anyone. Hopefully, if anything has actually happened and there has been a break-in, the sheriff’s department will give me a call and then I’ll decide the best route to take. With everyone having to work in the morning, it don’t seem fair to get them up and out running around on a wild goose chase this time of night.











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Lenoir,NC 28645
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©2001 by Stormy Jeanne