Old Age Day by Day October 9, 2013

Well, my roto rooter procedure is over.  Any budding problems have been trimmed away.  It wasn't bad at all.  They presented me with 10 lovely photos of my colon, which I told the nurse I would post next to famous celebrity photos to match up:  Can You Guess Which colon belongs to which Star?!!!
Look for it.

I'm going to attempt to make up for lost sleep last night and now that I've had breakfast, I hope not to dream of blts and milk shakes.  Actually, during the procedure, I was dreaming of lime green growing things, that bright spring color that is so hopeful.

I survived last night by being deeply engaged by a book:  Joseph Anton, the memoir by Salman Rushdie.  It's beyond good, it's just a terrific read, fascinating, informative and gives great background on his conceiving of his novels.  He's very honest, yet very likeable, as well as what I already knew; he's brilliant.  So the book rescued me from my physical discomforts, and how often, in my case, that has happened.  Book as rescuer.  Reading as lifesaving.  Magic as the antidote to a heavy dose of realism.

Old Age Day by Day October 8, 2013

I walked to my doctor's appointment.  I was up in weight and must crack down on my eating and exercise.  I'll come back to him next week to get the flu shot and the shingles vaccine, which I have to pay for as my insurance doesn't cover it.  I'm fasting today, so I'm keeping busy doing errands and and distracting myself.  This afternoon I'll begin the flooding of my gastrointestinal system preparatory to the colonoscopy tomorrow bright and early.  Ah, the joys of agedness.

I ran into two friends walking dogs on my way to the doctor.  A little human touch.  And it helps keep everything in perspective.  Both have lost their husbands to cancer, and are bravely soldiering on with their lives, involved with their kids and grandkids, taking trips together, enjoying life.  We all have our invisible courage, and our hearty choice to live this life we have been given, knowing how precious it is, how fleeting, how challenging.  I see heroism all around me, and it strengthens me.

Old Age Day by Day October 7, 2013

We had a nice time at the cabin, and got a lot of exercise, hauling and stacking the cord of wood for under the cabin.  My lower back was sore, but no real damage.  We came back last night pretty tired.  Tomorrow I have a day of fasting and then the colonoscopy bright and early Wednesday morning.  How I look forward to it all - not!

This morning I was walking the dogs and saw that our former neighbors' house on the street above us badly bashed in by the winds.  It must have been a huge tree, because it crushed the dome part and a lot of the roof.  That house was in the New York Times when it was built, because our friends' architect took a boring stucco bungalow and made it into a casbah kind of Thousand and One Nights dreamscape.  Then furniture was custom made for it and it was like stepping into a house in Fez, Morocco.  Right after they completed it, we went to war with Iraq over the Kuwaiti invasion, and it's been politically correct ever since to have an Arab abode.  Pretty funny.  Our friends sold the house a few years ago and it has had several owners since, each of whom didn't want the furniture, which was given to a nearby museum charity, and each tried to paint over the mosaic tile and garnishes and bright colors.  They washed it down, diluted it, and made it even stranger.  Kind of sad, but one man's dream is another man's nightmare, I guess.

I'm reading an old Josephine Tey I love, "Brat Farrar".  What a jewel of a mystery. 

Old Age Day by Day October 4, 2013

I had an early appointment to get set up for a colonoscopy.  Then I had to go to the lab, and to the pharmacy, and now I have lots of disgusting things to do in the next few days.  But I can't complain, as it's all preventative, and that's good.

Tomorrow we go up to the cabin to get a cord of wood tucked under the cabin before the snow hits.  Winter comes much earlier up there, though often we don't really get snow until December.  But once there is snow, the road is unuseable, and we'd have to wait until spring for wood. 

We had a howling windstorm last night, and tons of debris from the trees is everywhere.  It's just like having a tree service without the cost, though the cleanup is all ours.  It's still windy, so probably our cleanup will have to wait until next week. 

We went to a Charles Durang play last night:  Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike.  It was hilarious!  Goofy and silly and a bit sentimental, but a great sendup of Chekov and actors and playwrights.  I've missed seeing plays, and was so grateful to our friends who suggested we share a subscription.  We are so fortunate here, as there is terrific theater, music, opera, dance and whatever else artistic you could wish for. 

Old Age Day by Day October 3, 2013

I was awakened by my sometimes neighbor this morning.  They live in another state and have for many years, but they've kept the house for occasional visits.  She said her son and his wife were going to be living there for a few months and then she and her husband would be moving back here next year.  I don't know which is worse - having a bossy neighbor or no neighbor.  She immediately demanded we trim our trees because they were messing up her gutters.  I mumbled something.  What I wanted to ask is could she just have one conversation without a demand?  All she has to do is trim our trees on her property.  But she wants us to pay for it, and then always criticizes the tree guy and job after.  I'm not going down that road again.  She's unbelievably narcissistic, to the point where she never gets my name right, never knows the names of our kids, or what my husband did for a living. 
Her husband is not so bad, but really, there is no reciprocation.  We do stuff they ask, but they never do anything neighborly for us.  She leaves you feeling like a servant.  I once asked them to take in the mail for us for couple of days, and they said their housekeeper could do it if we asked, and I presumed, paid.  I've had a key for years, and every time she gets locked out she demands to be let into her own house.  I've helped her with her car, her mother, whenever she calls in a panic.

I'm done.  This one way street is closed.

Old Age Day by Day October 2, 2013

We had a busy day yesterday, setting up our trip to see our daughter for her birthday, trying to get a cord of wood for the cabin, getting my car estimate for the bumper.  A lot of things got done, which is satisfying, and I even had time for tea with a friend at her house.  We exchanged titles of books we'd read and liked, she showed me online classes she was taking, and the time flew.  Last night we watched the last two parts of PBS's Latino Americans.  I learned a lot, but I don't think it was as well done as it might have been. 

Today I have my foster granddaughter.  It's a beautiful day out, so we have lots of options.  Now we get warm weather, when the kids are in school and there is little time to enjoy it.  Oh, well.  It's the slight price we pay for living here.  For summer, we must go to the cabin, or just about anywhere else in the U.S.

Old Age Day by Day October 1, 2013

Yesterday was not my best day.  I was coming home from an errand, stopped at a red light, when the car behind me hit me.  I don't know if she was texting or her foot slipped off the brake or what.  I took down her information, and drove home, but was kind of stunned.  I hadn't actually considered I could be hit by someone while we were completely stopped.  Of course, it did damage to my car, and it will probably be expensive, and it will be trouble.  At least she was nice, and immediately asked if I was okay, and didn't put up any defense.  It was her father's car and his insurance, so I hope things go smoothly.

Last night we celebrated the dogs' ninth birthday, and our son came over with his dog, and a good time was had by all.  The three of us played scrabble after dinner, and as usual, our son beat us.  But we lost respectably.  Then we read for a while and got into bed after a challenging yet happy day.

This morning I'm taking the car in to the body shop.  Then I plan to not drive at all the rest of today.  It's a jungle out there, when you can get hit for stopping for a red light.