Goodbye November

 

We bid farewell to November, a month of doctor appointments, EKGs, ultrasounds of the heart, bleak and endless gray sky weather, and booster shots. Goodbye November.

Today Roger is having a Zio patch put on his chest to monitor his heartbeats. It supposed to stay attached for two weeks and then get shipped someplace for some skilled reader to analyze the data of his heartbeats. It has not been an easy month. No results of the EKG although it's been more than two weeks since the test. No results of the Ultrasound. Small town medical care isn't always the best. Most test data get sent out of town for a doctor to analyze and then the analysis is sent to the clinic, then the clinic emails us the results. It all takes way too much time for a very impatient person that I am. Roger is much more relaxed about it. That's okay I'll worry and shout expletives enough for the two of us. 

Roger has been experiencing irregular heartbeats, shakiness, unsteadiness on his feet, and light-headedness for a while We only do our one-mile neighborhood loop these days and only on days when he feels up to it. We haven't been to the marsh in quite some time. I'm thinking about mapping a one-mile loop there so we have something beautiful to see while we're out. It would be good for both of us to see some pelicans, a few gulls, maybe even a river otter. 

Until then it's just photos of sunrises here, iridescent clouds, and halos. It's a good thing the sky is still full of beauty right out our windows.

We'll keep you posted. 

Goodbye November.

PS-- Thank you for all your kind words and comments on the previous post about my booster side effects. I'm fine now and happy to be boosted!

One Good Thing

 I'm still not feeling very well after my Pfizer booster. Headachy, chills, exhaustion. Pretty much a bummer. It's a good thing we didn't plan anything for Thanksgiving, because I would have had to cancel. We're still avoiding indoor gatherings and playing it safe through the holiday season. There was one good thing on Thanksgiving day, an ever-changing sky showing me halos and sundogs. Even though I felt crappy I still grabbed the camera to take a look. 

One of the most beautiful sundogs I've ever seen in a lovely Thanksgiving sky.  Something to be truly thankful for.  

Post Booster

 Well, I got my booster shot. I changed my mind about waiting and getting the Moderna shot December 10th at the health clinic and went to the local pharmacy Monday and got the Pfizer booster. It hurt. It still hurts. I felt crappy all day, and Tuesday as well. But as I type this I am starting to feel a bit better. I'm glad to have that done. I think I even feel a tiny teeny weeny bit safer. 

I wrote my siblings and told them about my booster adventure. I told them that I felt tired. That word "tired" started a very funny email conversation that went on most of the day. One of us remembered that my dad used to tell my mom that she was "born tired." Then someone remembered that she was also "born dizzy." It was very funny, and all in good humor as it was back in the day when my dad would say it. Then my sister emailed us the word battle-axe. Oh wow, we had forgotten and was reminded that our mom was a battle-axe. What is a battle-axe? 

Well one explanation found online was, "The prime example was the militant temperance activist Carrie Nation, who actually wielded a hatchet and made it her symbol, living in Hatchet Hall and publishing a magazine called The Hatchet. She became involved in the suffragette campaign for votes for women and this campaign further established the archetype." I think that describes the strength and power of my mom.  She was a force to be reckoned with.

So, a long post-booster shot day gave way to memories, humor and love. The perfect definition of family as we head into the Thanksgiving weekend. Happy Thanksgiving, friends. Stay safe and get boosted when you can. 

 

Changing The Subject

 I just had to make the previous post stop being the most recent post on the blog. Ugh. I was as sick of it as I am of being a neighbor to that house. Ugh. 

So in the interest of just showing you something different, here is a photo my twin brother took the other day in his neck of the woods in Santa Cruz.

My siblings know the sights I love. This is such a beautiful display of crepuscular rays at Schwan Lake. It does my heart good to know that this beauty radiates everywhere. 

We heard some sad news the other day. A high school friend, my brother's first true girlfriend, someone we hung out with in the late 1960s, who spent lots of time with us after school, that person committed suicide in March. I was friends with her on Facebook. She didn't post much, and when she did it was almost always links to music. Just a few days ago Facebook told me it was her birthday. I didn't write on her wall to send her good birthday cheer. I wish I had, even though by then she was already gone eight months. Her suicide made me think of this song. So, here's a song in memory of Susan.

We Went Inside

After seeing the raccoons on the neighbor's roof again, we realized that we should probably go take a look inside to see the damage. Roger had watched a video of the damage that raccoons can do to a roof and a house.  So, I called the owner and asked if it would be okay if we went in. She said, "Of course, that's why I gave you the key. Go in anytime and look around." Here is what I wrote the first time we went in in January of this year. 

It so surprised us when we walked in. We expected cobwebs and filth everywhere. We expected inches of dust and stinky mold. What we saw was beauty. It has not been touched in so many years, but the piano in the living room looked ready for someone to sit and play. There were lovely paintings on the walls, and family photos still attached by magnets to the refrigerator door. It looked like such a well-loved home, full of sweet history. It was such a stunning difference from what the exterior looks like. How is this possible? We have no idea. 

So, we went in. This is what we found.

The last photo is of the house exterior falling apart as much as the house interior. The photo above that is of mushrooms growing on the carpet in the living room. The rest is damage from rain and raccoons. The house looks like the raccoons have found a way in and have been rummaging through stuff, there's old mail strewn across the floor everywhere. Supposedly a contractor is going to call me and set up a time when I will let him in the house. No call yet, so far. 

That house is quite a science project. We're in for more rain, and on it goes.

Our Furry Neighbors Are Back

  It had been a while since we'd seen any sign of our furry neighbors. We assumed they were still around, but couldn't really be sure. 

Saturday morning I opened the shade in the kitchen before sunrise and was greeted by this view of our derelict neighbor's roof.

It was still pretty dark out there, but I could see one of those raccoon looking in at me. I waved. I called for Roger to come and take a look. We said our hellos and wished them a good day. I went back to making the tea and toast for morning. When I looked again they were back inside the attic for the rest of the day. I'm hoping we'll see them again. I'm sure they're hoping for the same. We're their very friendly not-so-furry neighbors.

Booster Mania

 I have literally lost hours of sleep trying to figure out which booster shot I should get and when I should get it. I had a Pfizer shot scheduled for Thursday (tomorrow), but cancelled it because I wasn't sure if I really should switch from Moderna which was what my first two shots were. There is so much information out there, it's hard to tell exactly which way to go. My sister switched for her booster and felt fine about it, both physically and intellectually. My twin brother is planning on sticking with his original for his booster.  

Roger got his booster shot on Monday. He stayed with the original. He is absolutely fine and had very little side effects except for the pain in his arm where the person jabbed it so hard with the needle that he literally cried out in pain. I was sitting next to him when that happened and I wanted to jump up and scream. 

We went for a walk on Tuesday. I told Roger that my vacillations between wanting Pfizer and then wanting Moderna and then back again is such a spoiled brat first-world problem that I am utterly embarrassed by it. But I still can't decide. I did reschedule my appointment for December 10th. That gives me a lot of time to drive myself crazy (otherwise known as be as informed as possible).

Have you gotten your booster? Did you have a choice? What did you decide to do? 

Then, I looked out the window at the beautiful piece of sun art on our backyard fence.

I swear it was sticking its tongue out at me. I completely understood why. LOL! 

The First Week of November in Photos

 It's so interesting when I think that it's been another boring week, and I go and look at the photos of the week. Wow! I had forgotten I had so much fun. 

The week started with this beautiful iridescent cloud.

And then we had a sunrise that gave us this view.

We love seeing crepuscular rays so early in the morning.

Then the rains came. It poured. But every now and then the sun would peek through and give us this.

The two ends of the bow at sunset. Yes, it was still drizzling out there, but so worth the little bit of getting wet to see this. Sunset bows are always so beautiful.

Even the raindrops on the rain gutter put on a little light show for us as the sun was setting.

And just when we thought we couldn't be more surprised by the beauty of our planet. We saw this.

A Killdeer, typically a shorebird or grassy meadows bird, but on our derelict neighbor's roof? That was quite surprise. Hello Killdeer, what big and beautiful eyes you have!

And that was how the month of November began. 

The Goal Has Been Surpassed

Remember that post I wrote in September about wanting to do more than 67 posts this year, which was the fewest posts we had done since we started the blog in 2005. Well, I am writing to declare success. This amazing post I am writing right now will be number 70. SEVENTY! 

I had warned that our posts would likely be boring, and I am here to say that I have been true to my word. So, in the interest of maintaining the utter boringness of having nothing to say, here are a few photos from the month of October that haven't made it on the blog yet.

Thank you dear friends for hanging in there with us. Without you we'd just be more empty words in the insane world of the never-ending internet reality.

22 Degree Halo in a blue, blue sky

Iridescent clouds in a blue blue sky

Geese flying over at sunrise, if you click on the pic you'll see a bit of sunlight on their wings

We let our artichokes flower, and if you look carefully you can see the one-eyed boogie man face on the fence (to the left of the flower) BOO!
 

Hope you all had a lovely Halloween. Happy November 1st, dios de los muertos.