Hello!
September is another hot dry month of the year when
the ground is hard like concrete, the water barrels are running low, and leaves
begin to fall. It also brings some windy days super for drying wash on the line
with the relief of cooler nights to announce autumn has arrived. I am able to open my windows at night to let
the cool breezes blow through the house. What bliss!
I finally gave a haircut to the bushes in the front
yard now looking nice and trimmed and tackled my enclosed garden too. I started
a mulch pile near my burning spot, put loose bark in buckets, and stacked wood
lying around, which keeps the place looking so much neater. Our wood shed is
nearly full for the coming winter. Too
bad we can't somehow harness and store some of this heat for winter. Days when you break a sweat just walking
outside it is hard to believe that in a short while one will need a sweater or
jacket for outdoor work.
Most of the veggie garden is gone as I've not been
able to keep watering the tomatoes like I wanted too so each lone fresh tomato
I pick I savor. I made another batch of tomato juice and did up some more
tomatoes. This week I canned a bushel of green beans to finish filling up my
pantry shelves.
After sharing some joyful moments last month I
though it only fair to tell about a non-joyful experience recently so you can
rest assured that I understand life isn't always full of joy and bliss. I took
Dana about an hour away over to the next county to the dentist where they
charge you by income- where I go myself as it is more affordable. When we got
there I realized I had done the unthinkable- I forgot to bring the paper for
proof of income! I've always been organized living by a to-do list. Since care
giving Dana my lists have multiplied: his two-pages of typed medicines are kept
on my computer which I regularly update and print out, I have a clothespin of
clipped doctor appointments in my kitchen that is checked weekly, I do up a
weekly schedule that is broken down into daily lists, and I have a large
calendar by my computer filled each month with sticky notes of things to
remember along with a grocery list beside the frig. Besides all that I have
files for: bills, Dana's stuff, my stuff, banking, pets, household things, etc
not to mention my writing stuff of multiple files. One might even say I am a
compulsive list maker, but it is the only way I can keep everything together.
If I lose my lists I am toast. In fact I remember the summer when Dawn was
getting married. I was carrying around
not one but three lists. Lo and behold out shopping together one day I lost a
list. I went into a panic mode. Dawn thought I had completely lost my mind when
I went back to each store until I found my list. Guess what? Now as a mother she
makes lists to keep track of everything too.
Back to the dentist. When I realized I had forgotten,
I didn’t panic. My financial info was in the system so surely they could use it
for Dana as it is the same. Since it had been over a couple of months since I
had registered the girl told me they had to have something more recent. I still
didn’t panic. After all this is the age of technology right? I called my bank
and explained what I needed. The bank clerk assured me they would fax the
needed info. I settled down beside Dana with my embroidery. When I checked the
time over an hour had passed so I went back up to the window only to be told
that nothing had come in. I called the bank back and was informed that for some
unknown reason their fax machine was acting up that day. So the bank clerk and
I agreed on her emailing the info to the dentist office. Simple right? I
settled down in my chair and went back to working on my embroidery expecting to
be called up to the window any minute. When I checked my watch again over
thirty minutes had passed. I went back to the window- by now the girl and I
were like best friends. Still nothing had come in. The girl called their tech
guy, who said that of all things sometimes their email wouldn’t allow a strange
email in, which sounded crazy to me, but he would check into it. We gave him
the info he needed and went back to wait. Thirty minutes later still nothing.
The girl at the desk apologized because instead of the regular guy she knew
this was someone strange and new, who probably didn’t know what he was doing.
After waiting all afternoon, we ended up having to get another appointment. Can
you imagine??? I was feeling far from
joyful as we headed back home. The only positive thing at that point was the
sun shining so I didn’t have to drive in rainy conditions through the Big South
Fork around hairpin curves down into a huge gully and up the other side,
although if it had been pouring rain it would have matched my spirits more
perfectly. We took Dana back- I remembered- and he saw the dentist. If I was
compulsive with lists before, you should see me now.
I also took Dana to the lung specialist. His
breathing test didn’t turn out as good as expected. Instead of taking the first
pulse ox reading, Dana would often check other fingers or write down a higher
number. The doctor gave him a talking to, so now Dana is back on oxygen most of
the time again. With his dementia he is like a kid at times.
Then I battled a UTI and had to go on an antibiotic,
which reacted on me so was slowed down for about a week. Sometimes life isn’t
joyful. One must keep persevering day by day.
Our church family though surprised us with food and
money this month to help tide us over.
It was definitely a joyful time. We are blessed to have a caring home
church and pastor.
Meanwhile may you find joyful moments in your life
as well~
Dorcas
