journal

A View From the Field

June14

Well, that was a night! The backup went to five disks, although the last one doesn't have much on it. I didn't move so I could change disks as soon as they were needed, which meant i had a very nasty, icky accident, which I ignored (a mistake). In the meantime, I got sucked into YouTube, listening to Haydn symphonies 56-60. I like Papa Haydn, and those middle-period symphonies are full of laughter. Finally, I started for the north end, via the kitchen and the powder room.

It became obvious that the only way to clean myself up was to take a bath, so in the middle of the night, I did, and it was disgustingly late before I finally got to bed. It was nice to be clean, although I was so tired I I was having a hard time moving. It was beginning to get light, although that happens pretty early these days. I slept well, but not nearly long enough. I hope tonight will be better, but we'll see. I'm hoping last night's accident will do for two days.

So I didn't do anything much. I made an appointment to see the nephrologist - in mid-July - and the associated appointment for my kidney ultrasound, for which I have to fast. I put in a call to Mary Ann for help with the bathroom, but she hasn't called me back yet. I might be able to wash the floor, but I can't lift that litter tray. Maybe we can get some of the bags of stuff out of here if she comes.

The weather started out cloudy and dull, but no rain, and by noon it was clearing up. The afternoon was clear and blue. The temperature got to 67º briefly, and there was a north breeze up to 16 mph.

Grayson was his usual self. We had a rather long love-in (for him). He has decided he would rather eat canned food all the time, but I'm not going to start that, at least not yet. So he sits in the middle of the room and looks sadly at his empty dish, or he lies down right where I am going to roll my cart. I think he has a hairball, but it hasn't come up yet.

The bathroom gets full of these little flying things that look like they might be flying ants. I'm not sure how they can get in, but they annoy me and they get into things, because they don't fly very well. This is certainly a buggy year! I'm only grateful that I don't have the bad allergic reactions to the black flies anymore. It's been mostly too cool for them for the last week, but I know they're just waiting when the temperature gets over about 60º'

Oh, yeah, and I forgot to mention yesterday that i was brushing my teeth in the morning (well - sort of the morning) when I looked in the mirror, which reflects the windows behind the tub, and there was my deer, looking in at me. I suppose he saw the motion and wondered if it was dangerous. He looked at me for a few seconds before he moved sedately off toward the north. I think it may be a male, although it certainly could be a female looking for a place o have her fawn. It doesn't look pregnant and I'm not sure how to tell the difference between the sexes before the males get their antlers. It just seems to me that this one is a bit more aggressive than I thought the does were. I didn't see it today, but it's nice to have a deer around again.

So that was my day, and I hope to get to bed a bit earlier tonight, but they're playing Brahms' Fourth, which I have to hear. i think it's clear and it's a cool night in the field.

June13

It didn't matter that i was so tired I couldn't keep my eyes open. I was late anyway. I got about 7 hours' good sleep, but then I couldn't go back to sleep, so I'm tired again now. I didn't do anything.

However, in the course of trying to figure out my email problem last week, I had to do a system restore and that screwed up my backup information. It wanted a disk that I had never made and it wouldn't take anything else, so i am now doing a complete backup. That just takes a lot of time, so I'm going to be late again tonight. I so wish there wish there was a backup program that would do what I want it to, but I guess the only way I could get one would be to write it myself, and that would mean learning a new computer language and my poor old brain just isn't up to that anymore. Since I still back up to DVDs, I have to be here to switch them out, since it takes three or four. It sort of looks like this one will be three, but if so, the third disk will be nearly full and I'll need another one next week. What a pain - but it's saved my neck several times, so I keep doing it.

The weather was sort of weird. IT started out clear, got cloudy around 1 PM, we had a few raindrops between 4 and 6, there was a bit more sunshine, and now it's cloudy again. The high temperature was 67º, early, and there wasn't much wind except when we were getting ready for the rain, when it gusted up to 29 mph.

Grayson hung around me for most of the day. He picked up a few interesting habits from Louie, and one of them was that when he wants his head petted, he rubs his left ear like he was washing it. They are the only cats I've ever known who did that. He wanted some of my dinner, and when he didn't get any, he went away mad.

So that was the typical lost day and now it's a dark, cloudy night in the field.

June12

Well, today it was the music. I wasn't too late last night and I got up at a sort of reasonable hour and did my usual morning thing on the phone. One of the things the Google app gives me is a link to a site called "Slipped Disc" (slippedisc.com), which is about all things music, I think from England. One of their (well, I guess it's "his" - it seems to be one guy) features is called "Daily Comfort Zone," which is links to music audio or video, and the first one that came up this morning was Schubert's Quintet in F Major (did he write more than one? I don't know). i wanted to see how it would stream, so I fired up my IFrogz and started listening, noticing later that it was 53 minutes long. I've heard movements from this work before, but I think it's the first time I've ever heard the whole thing, including a couple of movements I know I've never heard before. Besides, the players were so animated that it was hard not to watch them all the time, but I didn't, and I finished the second bamboo/wool sock = too late in the year to wear them, of course.

I always thought classical musicians sort of just sat there and played, but I've seen a couple of videos lately where they put a whole lot of body language into their playing. This piece was apparently from a concert at Utrecht, at some festival, but the credits went by so fast I couldn't catch who they were, although they were all fairly young. The first violin and the clarinet were amazingly good at some really difficult parts. the clarinetist had an open shirt collar and the double bassist's left arm was bare from at least the elbow down. Interesting. My only complaint was about the video. They spent much too much time on the first violinist and the clarinetist, even when someone else - like the violist or the bassoonist - were playing. Of course, the first violinist was a woman (the only one) and rather good looking, as well as wearing a rather low-cut gown and hair halfway down her back. But some other people did play. So now I'm listening to Mendelssohn's Octet, which I also like.

Anyway, following the Schubert, there was a shorter piece of Beethoven and that ,made me too late to do anything. I get good sound out of the iFrogz if I use both earbuds, but frankly, the fidelity of streaming audio isn't even as good as my not-so-hot local radio station. And the YouTube thing I'm listening to now on the PC isn't very good either. So my 700 or so CDs are probably still useful, if I can get to them.

the weather started out cool and foggy and it was 3 PM or so before the fog finally lifted, the humidity went down, the sun came out and the temperature went up. The temperature finally got up to 70º and I had to open a window a bit because it got hot in here. it was nice to see the sun for a change. My knees felt better, too, once the humidity went down.

Grayson didn't sit on me, but he spent a lot of time around me.

So it was another lost day, but a nice one. I know, I'm supposed to be the Bach person, but I do love a lot of other composers, too, Now it's a partly clear, relatively warm evening in the field.

June11

I don't remember exactly when I got to bed last night, but it was a lot earlier than lately. I slept well, although I was awake for about an hour between 6:30 and 7:30. Then I went back to bed and slept until 10:30, so i think I got enough sleep. At least I didn't try to go to sleep sitting up today.

However, I was late enough that the tasks I had decided upon didn't get done, as usual.

I did go to the post office, where there were several packages. I am happy to report that my rolling cart now has wheels again, although not the way I thought I was going to do it. I got some more sockets, but they still weren't big enough to fill my 5/8" pipes and besides, I couldn't get the stem of the wheel to go into them. So...I took the sockets I got last week, filled them out with duct tape (where would we be without duct tape?), pounded them into place...and I now have wheels. I am so glad! I have been moving my food on a tray on the sewing machine chair and it's not the best solution, but it was all I had. I wish the cart was a bit bigger, but I can't find one that bears any resemblance to the one I have (which has to be 30 years old) and it works, as long as the wheels work. It was cheap at the time, though, and the casters were very cheap. The new ones are much better. I moved everything onto it after dinner tonight, and now I have a cart again. I also use it in the kitchen to hold more than I can carry in one hand and I really missed that. Yay!

The weather wasn't good. It was cold. The high temperature finally got to 63º, after the fog finally moved out into the lake. From the foghorns, it was still foggy in the lake. The wind was from the south, and for a while it was gusting up to 23 mph. For most of the day the temperature was in the 50s. It was cloudy and while there was a little sunshine late in the afternoon, mostly it was very dull and gray. Oh, and the humidty was mostly around 90%. Not good for my joints, which all hurt.

Grayson was clingy again today. He got some fish for breakfast, and he ate it, although not quite with the gusto he shows for chicken or turkey.

Oh, I have to report that the lupines are coming out, along with the lilacs. And the bugs are here...in force! I got two black fly bites the day before yesterday when I was out in the breezeway and today I had clouds of mosquitoes buzzing around my head when I was bringing in the packages. I brought some into the house with me, of course - they get tangled in my hair - but I think (I hope!) I got rid of all those. Last night when I went up to the bathroom, there were hundreds of those teensy ants in one spot on the floor and a bunch of flying ants or something. Yuck. I'm glad to say that I don't have the extreme reaction to the black flies that I used to, but they are itchy for several days. I react less to mosquitoes, but they itch, too and I can't stand having them buzzing in my ears. Today was too cold for black flies, but the mosquitoes were out in the garage, and now I'm sure they're in the breezeway, too. Well, I never said it was paradise. Pretty close, but not.

So that was my day and now I'm tired, so I think I will try to go to bed, It's a cool, cloudy night in the field and the fog is moving in (or down) again.

June10

Thankfully, today was a much less stressful day - in fact, no stress at all. Whew!

However, it hadn't ended when I wrote last night. I had one of the nastier accidents I've had lately, and while none of it got on the floor, I was such a mess that at 2:30 this morning, I was taking a shower. I slept fairly well, not great, and we had a short, sharp thunderstorm around 7:30. I went back to sleep, but I hurt and my feet felt cold, so I didn't sleep well. I finally got up around noon.

And I sat. I almost went to sleep sitting up in the middle of the afternoon, so as much sleep as I got, I obviously didn't get enough. And I didn't do anything else. Sue found another typo, but all I had to do about that was send it out to Steve, who will be doing the printing this week.

Oh, and it appears that my email is back together again. It amazes me how dependent I am on that app.

THe weather was stormy all day. That short storm at 7:30 dropped 0.47" if rain in not more than 15 minutes, and it has been raining off and on ever since - 1.7" total, until 9 PM. We didn't have a lot of thunder, but it hasn't rained that hard around here for a long time. Of course, it was dark and gloomy. The high temperature was 75º, but it was up and down - down during the rain and up between showers. The humidity has been pretty much over 90% - but my knees were telling me that.

Grayson didn't like the thunder very much and he hung around me for most of the day. He did get to sit on my lap. I tried one of the newer (to him) varieties of canned food on him and he seemed to like it, although I think he will eat just about anything out of a can.

I had gone up to the north end to change my bottoms (yep - another one) when I looked out the window and there, amid all the green, was a young deer. I think, from the way it acted, that it was a buck. It was standing parallel to the house, staring in the window when I saw it, but it turned toward me, stared in, and stomped on the ground with one foot. When nothing happened, it moved off between the trees at a trot. Things like that and the luna moth are the perks of sitting in the bathroom so much.

When the foliage is wet from the rain at this time of year, it's so green it positively jumps out at you. The lilacs are in full bloom here, finally. I think they're gone south of Mohawk. My hedge - well, it's actually my neighbor's hedge, but since my side faces south, I think I get all the flowers - is just covered with lavender, and even my little bush, which the birds planted, has two flowers on it this year. I can't tell you how sweet it smells when the breeze comes in the window.

So that was a lost day, and now it's a cloudy, cool and probably rainy night in the field. And I'm going to bed early. Really.

June 9

Well, this day turned out a bit different from what I expected.

I was late getting to bed, of course, but I slept well and I think I got up around noon. I was determined to work on the kitchen and the cat food, and although it was a bit late when I started, I actually got it done. All the trash is in bags sre sorted by recyclable and not, and all the cat food is in the pantry cupboard. Grayson will eat well for a long time. I have a few things to move out of the hallway, but it should be easier to get to the powder room when I do.

I went back to the office to relax a bit - it's warm in the kitchen - and when I sat down at the computer, there was a message on my email client that said I couldn't log in. Huh? So I tried a few things and looked around a bit. The display looked really weird, too, and I couldn't change it. Then I discovered that the reason no messages were in the "sent" folder is that they were all still in the outbox - and they wouldn't send. So I left a mesage with PastyNet and called Sue, who wasn't home. I collected some of the stuff I really needed to send and the contact list to send it to and put that all out on my thumb drive. Well, there were a few other steps in between, including that it isn't possible to copy email messages to another medium. Sheesh.

Sue called while I was actually out in the breezeway getting some potatoes, and she confirmed that she hadn't gotten any emails from me. So...I fired up the laptop, which of course entails a whole bunch of stuff I actually don't need to do, moved the thumb drive to it and sent out an email that actually worked.

In the meantime, I started a system restore, but unfortunately, it only went back to the 7th and not to the 3rd, which is apparently when whatever the problem started. At least Sue got my email this time, but when I started up mail, I got the same error. I made an attempt to delete the messages in the outbox and got another error - and then it worked. My guess is that there was something screwed up at PastyNet, but I don't know that, because they didn't call me back. It was a bit rocky at first and very slow, but so far tonight, it seems to be working (?). I haven't gotten very many incoming messages, but that isn't too unusual and most of the ones I get in the evening are ads anyway. I did hear from Pastor and Sue.

Sheesh. After that, I managed to make and eat my dinner, but wow. Computer problems I do not need.

The weather was nice. It wasn't as warm as yesterday and there was a breeze. it was clear all day. The high temperature was 77º, but with the breeze, it felt good. The wind was out of the south with gusts up to 25 mph. It's cooling down now, but I have to shut the south window anyway, because they think it may rain overnight.

Grayson gave up a hairball this morning. It came up so easily I didn't actually realize what was going on until later. He got something he liked for breakfast, which unfortunately I don't have any more of, and when I was rustling around, i filled another one of his kibble bowls, which made him happy. However, he was following me around and getting under my feet all the time I was working and I don't know why. He was a real nuisance.

So it was a more productive day than I might have expected and now I have to sweep the kitchen floor and get rid of the bags. I need to clean out the fridge, too. I got rid of a few things, but there is a lot of stuff that died in there that needs to be removed. I won't even think about washing it up. Maybe tomorrow.

My worst difficulty is that my knees have been so bad I've been having a hard time getting around. I guess it must be because of the humidity, but oh, does it make it hard to do anything!

So now it's a clear (I think) warmish night in the field and I can trundle off to bed feeling like I accomplished something for a change.

June 8

This is getting monotonous. It was another nearly lost day. I was late getting to bed and I didn't sleep very well, so I was late getting up, and I had a headache when I did - probably the weather. My knees are so bad I can barely walk.

I did finally haul the fabric softener in and finish the load of bottoms, although I had to wash it again. I will put it in the dryer when I go up to the north end. All my light-weight summer jeans are in that load and I may need them.

Not today, though, and I had to laugh at how far off the forecasts were. Overnight, the temperature got up to 72º, but the high during the day was supposedly 60º, although I didn't see it. The trouble was the dew point, which hovered around 50º and the wind, which was calm. As a result, it was foggy almost all day, and even after the fog left rhe harbor, I could tell it was out in the lake. I even got to hear a foghorn this morning! My knees were so bad I could hardly walk, which is one reason for the accident.

Grayson finally decided it was cool enough to sit on my lap and he was so happy about it he was wiggling, although he didn't stay long.

Oh, and the highlight of yesterday was actually the luna moth. When I got up yesterday morning, it was clinging to the windows behind the bathtub. I took a couple of pictures, but I couldn't get close enough to see it really well. So...when I went into the bathroom last night and turned on the light and looked out the window beside the pot, there it was, right at eye level! It isn't a big one, only about 3" across, and of course, I couldn't see its back, but I got a couple of pictures that are sharp enough that I can see the screening. It is such a pretty thing, and such a pretty color! This is only the second luna moth I've ever seen. the first one was a long time ago over by Grand Marais (MI) in an outhouse in the Pictured Rocks Lakeshore. It has to have been in the middle '80s, because my mother was with me. That one was huge. I did get pictures of it, but i doubt I could find them in all the slides and negatives. I will hae to upload the pictures I took with the phone. I was so excited!

So that's all there is, and it's a clear, cool night in the field, now that the fog has gone away for the time being.

June 7

Well, this was a lost day. I was very late last night, because I just couldn't go to bed without a bath. I was falling asleep on the pot before I finally did it, and I felt much better afterwards. I sweat so much that when it's hot, I get so sticky and icky that I can't stand it. I don't have to wash my hair every day anymore, but if it stays this warm, I will be taking showers anyway. Since I got nine hours' sleep, I was extremely late getting up and it was too late to do anything except a load of bottoms, which I had to do twice because I had an accident.

It turned out hot again today, although not as hot as yesterday. The high temperature was 80º, but there was almost no wind until after 9 PM. Now there is a nice breeze from the southwest, which means the office has finally cooled down to 76º, but the rest of the house is still hot. It was clear and sunny all day.

Grayson is still dealing with the heat, and he doesn't like it. I'm sure the reason he hasn't sat on my lap lately is that I'm too warm. Well, so is he. He wanted some of my dinner, but he didn't get any.

And that's all there was except for a small change in the bulletin.

Now it's a clear, dark night in the field and it's cooled off a bit.

June 6 D-Day

Oh, yesterday was "une 5." Sorry about that. I just didn't copy right.

I wasn't too late again and I slept well until a little after 6 AM. Then I couldn't get back to sleep - I have no idea why. So I got up and sat and checked the weather until around 7 AM, went back to bed and slept until around 10. Weird, but it worked. I felt better today, although I'm tired now again. I think it's the weather.

I sat around until it was too late to have more than one meal and I wasn't planning to do anything, but first there was an email from Sue saying that she needed the bulletin early, and then Pastor sent out the information. So I got right at it and sent it out. And I just discovered that my "sent items" folder doesn't have anything in it after 6/2. What the....

Anyway, then I had a bad accident, so I soaked a load of bottoms. It's nice to have the laundry tub available and working, so I can rinse those things before I soak them.

It was too hot o do anything, and Grayson agrees with me. The temperature was up and down, from around 72º to 90º (!). The humidity wasn't too bad, but it was over 60%, and there was almost on wind. It was too hot to do anything. I have been sweating just sitting, and I'm more apt to have hot flashes when it's so warm. So I'm uncomfortable, even though I got a short sleeved tee and when I changed my bottoms, I put on a pair of shorts., I'm still hot. Every so often a breeze will come in the window but it keeps moving around and sometimes there won't be anything for a long time. I hate hot weather. Have I said that before? It was sort of clear, and there was a lot of sunshine, but the sky was white from those very high featureless clouds we get here.

Grayson got his favorite canned food, so that made him happy, but the temperature in here did not and mostly he just laid on the floor stretched out. I don't blame him.

So that was a nearly lost day and now it's a hot, sort of cloudy night in the field.

June 5

I wasn't too late last night and I think I fell asleep on my back, but after I woke up and turned over a couple of times, I was wakeful for a while, for no apparent reason. And when I woke up at 9 AM I decided to get up. That was a mistake, and I nearly fell asleep in the bathroom. I was so tired that I didn't do anything and I'll be going up to the north end soon. I do want to wash my hair, but maybe I can manage do do that and still get to bed at a semi-reasonable hour. Not early enough to get to church, but earlier.

Oh, I did bring a few things onto the platform, where it's easier to get to them to bring them into the house. I have to clean out the fridge before i can do anything more, though.

When I got undressed last night and looked at my leg, I discovered that I had bruises from my knee halfway up my tihgh. When I slipped while trying to get up on the stairs yesterday, my right leg got caught underneath me and got really messed up. It's a good thing I don't wear shorts where everyone can see my legs. The bruises are deep, so except for right on my knee, they aren't too obvious, but they're ugly and sore to the touch. IF anyone had any questions about my doing stairs...

Actually, I realized today that I screwed that up. I know how to go down stairs when the railing is on my left side, because it's how I get down the three steps in the breezeway, but I forgot when I was looking down at that great big staircase. Well, maybe I will remember when I want to go back up there in the fall to get the winter stuff I left up there.

It sure is nice to know I have all these "new" clothes to wear, even though a lot of the tops need ironing. I have been getting really, really bored with my clothes, even though I have a lot of them, and even if I had money to buy new ones, I am just not excited about anything I've seen online. Now that I think I can get into some of my older things, it's like having a new wardrobe. I need to do some trying on, but I think I will be able to wear most of those things.

The weather was sort of weird. The high temperature was 76º, but it was early this morning and this afternoon, it was mostly around 55º, plus or minus. There is almost no wind and it's very humid. It was cloudy until around 11 AM, and then it cleared up until around 6 PM, when it began to cloud up again. They say there might be a thunderstorm overnight, but if so, I don't know where it will come from, because it's clear to our west.

Grayson doesn't feel very good. I think one thing is, he's feeling the heat. While it was cool outside, it was hot in here. I have a couple of windows open, but I've hesitated to open up the house.

So that was my lost day and now it's a cool, cloudy night in the field.

June 4

I was late, of course, but I slept well. I woke up a bit before 10:30 and I was sort of awake when Mary Ann called. She agreed to come and she got here around 12:30 or so, i think - enough time for me to get dressed and get our breakfast.

I got upstairs with not too much trouble, although it was an effort. My first task was to try to find a belt - which I never did - and then we went into the upstairs bedrooms, where the doors are usually shut. I have to say, there was less damage than I thought. The floor in the bathroom is a bit loose, but it always was after the first broken pipe. There is damage to the floors, but not enough to warrant refinishing all the floors on the second floor. So i took some pictures - not very many - and we attacked the clothes.

My goodness, I have a lot of clothes! However, I found a bunch of tops and some bottoms that I think will fit. I also found a beautiful red wool cardigan that someone gave me that has moth damage. Sigh. Anyway, we brought a whole bunch of that stuff downstairs and put more of it in one of the dressers. I know I'll be able to get rid of a lot of that stuff eventually, but not now.

We did not find the blood pressure monitor, so where the heck that went, I do not know. I have a couple other places to look.

Then there was coming down the stairs. I got about three steps down and decided it was not going to work to walk, so I sat down and bumped myself down to the landing. Then there was the problem of getting up. The first time I tried, even though Mary Ann had ahold of my belt, I slipped, hit my head, a tooth (not seriously) and collapsed. The second time, with Mary Ann's help, I managed to get myself upright. I don't know what I would have done if she hadn't been here. Probably sat there for hours.

Anyway, she moved a few things onto the platform in the breezeway before she left, so I can do my thing with the cat food and I can wash clothes because I have fabric softener again. That's a future. After she left, I sat, although I did send the new pictures to the insurance agent.

Oh, yes, and just to add another little bit to my problem with my former insurance company, I got a bill for the last quarter of my policy - even though the policy is canceled. Sheesh. I guess I will have to call the old agent on Monday and find out what to do about that.

The weather was nice but warm. The high temperature was 81º and there was a breeze from the southwest. It was clear until around 4 PM, when the clouds started to move in, but the rain and thunderstorms are north of us over the late and in Canada. I discovered that Environment Canada has redone their website so that I had a hard time seeing their radar - and the Keweenaw Peninsula is missing. US-41 is there, but north of Houghton, it looks like it is in the lake. Weird. I sent them a message about it.

Grayson mostly slept and he did not try to get into the upstairs. He greeted Mary Ann and talked to her but then he left us alone. I don't think he feels very good.

So it was a productive day, I guess. I found the clothes I want to try on, I found the satin pillowcases, and we emptied a couple more boxes upstairs. It is a real mess up there, especially since they had to move the little desk into the room with the double bed and the single bed - and all the boxes. I will be interested to try on all those lovely tops I made so long ago. I hope I can wear at least some of them. I also found all my lovely silky blouses, but I didn't bring any of those downstairs. They go with the power suits and I don't wear those anymore. I also didn't bring down the two lovely pairs of wool slacks, because I don't wear wool anymore. It's not tha t don't like it, because I do, but the only dry cleaners is 50 miles away, so I don't want to wear anything I can't wash. Well, upward and onward.

However, believe me, it's going to be a while before I go either upstairs or downstairs and I definitely won't do it unless someone is here with me. Getting down the stairs was scary, and those stairs aren't particularly steep.

Now it's a cloudy night in the field and it's getting cool. I must close the window, just in case it rains.

June 3

I was late, but I got my bath and that was nice. I slept fairly well, at least for six hours or so. With all the humidity, my hip is very sore and the first time I was up it was only because I couldn't sleep on it anymore.

I didn't do anything. I keep thinking about all the things I have to do, and then I never do any of them.

The insurance agent said the insurance company wanted to know if all the "damaged portions" from the water had been removed, which I didn't understand, but after I talked to him, I took some pictures of the ceilings and the floor in my closet. I hope that is enough, but I now have several reasons why I have to go upstairs. I left a call for Mary Ann, but she hasn't called me back. I hope she's all right. If I don't hear from her in a day or so, I will just go upstairs with nobody here and hope I don't have any problems.

I still want to find that blood pressure monitor and there are some clothes up there that I think I can wear, I need to see what the damage was upstairs, independent of having to take pictures. Besides, It's been a number of years since I've been upstairs and I need to see what's there.

Oh, and I made rice tonight, so I will have some of that to eat.

The weather wasn't too bad. It was partly cloudy and the high temperature was 69º. I have a window open, but it was still hot in here. There wasn't any wind. It's uncomfortable because the humidity has been very high. Not good for my joints, either. My knees have been shouting at me.

Grayson mostly slept. He inhaled his breakfast and the bowls with his favorite kibble are empty. If he really is diabetic - and I suspect he is - he shouldn't be eating kibble, but he's so hungry, I have to feed him something. I think one problem I have is that I'm still thinking about Buster, who slept less than any other cat I've ever known. Grayson is probably about 12 now, which is old, and he will be sleeping a lot from now on, just like Louie did.

So that was my lost day and now it's a cloudy, humid night in the field.

June 2

I wasn't as late last night and i slept well, although I got up around 8:30. It just felt right. I didn't do anything with my time, so it was another lost day. I am still having trouble with my knees.

Oh, I did get the bulletin put together and sent out, but from now on, that's going to be easy. We're in summer mode, with not many events and green paraments for the next 26 weeks or so. Summer is always quieter.

The weather was partly cloudy and it got a little warmer than it has been lately. The high temperature actually got up to 68º briefly. No wonder i was sweating. There wasn't much wind and it kept switching from southwest to north and back. They are saying it's going to be summer by the weekend - up in the 80s - but they've backed off from the very hot temps they were predicting this morning. I was thinking I might try to go to church, but now I don't know. Of course, it's cooler in the morning.

The problems will be two-fold: getting up early enough and getting together some clothes dressier than jeans and tees. We'll see what happens. While I was doing my month end switch of the journal files, I discovered that the last time I was in church was exactly a year ago. That's too long.

Grayson was himself. I'm afraid he may have diabetes, but the only way I can confirm that is to take him to the vet and I don't want to do that. He wanted some of my chicken tonight, and he got some; not as much as he thought he wanted, but several pieces. We both thought it was good.

So that was my day and now it's a warmish, cloudy night in the field.

June 1

I was very late last night. i think it was so that I would be tired enough that I would sleep. I had just been up around 9 AM when the cell phone went off. Of course, it was in the bathroom and i couldn't get there, but I called right back.

It was the latest insurance agent and he had found me some insurance. It's with the high-risk pool (now, why did the other three not think of that?) and it's insanely expensive, but I have to have insurance. I hope I can pay for it. I can't pay for it all at once, but if it's on an installment plan, maybe. He seems to think I will need to pay a quarter up front, which is about what I'd been saving to pay my summer taxes, but I have to have insurance and we'll figure out the taxes later.

That set my mind at rest, at least somewhat, but it was too late to go back to bed, so now I'm really tired. I think I will sleep tonight.

Probably because I was tired and the humidity is high, I was not walking well today, so nothing got done. Debbie called this evening and we had a rather short talk, for us, but she had someone else to call. I was able to tell her about the insurance.

The weather was quite nice. The temperature got up to 64º this morning and it was in the upper 50s for most of the rest of the day. The humidity was around 70%, which is too damp. There was almost no wind. It was partly cloudy, which means the camera thought it was cloudier than it actually was. There was a lot of sunshine and the temperature in here got up to 81º. I finally broke down and opened the window a bit, because I was sweating.

Grayson mostly slept. He didn't want to sleep on me until just about the time i had to get up and visit the powder room, so he didn't get his usual loving.

So that was a nearly lost day. I'm relieved about the insurance. I wonder what we used to do before we had email and phones. The agent and I exchanged several emails with documents attached. Now I'm waiting for him to complete the hext steps.

It's a cool, partly coudy night in the field, and it's June. Sheesh.

ast updated 06/15/21 12:19 AM